PERSONAL NEWS #143
Thursday evening, May 1st, I attended my first NYC Harry Potter group meetup and it was “Trivia Night”. Was held at a pizza place on the upper eastside of Manhattan and about 25 members [ages 20 through 70] were in attendance. Everyone was very nice and some were wearing HP related stuff. One of the group members, Racheline Maltese, was selling her book [The Book of Harry Potter Trifles, Trivia’s, & Particularities] and I purchased the paperback for $12. Then it was time to choose my Hogwarts house before the trivia game started. After some reflection on my part I went with Hufflepuff. [Next day, online, I did the Sorting Hat quiz and it said I was a Hufflepuff, followed closely by Griffindor.] Everyone had a lot of fun and I must say that many of the trivia questions were not easy. Despite that I did manage to get two correct for my house. Throughout all this we noshed on pizza, fruit and birthday cake. At the end of the game the scores were tallied up and Hufflepuff beat Griffindor by a small margin. Wow! Hurray! The prizes were some galleons, stickers and buttons. I left the meetup shortly after 9pm and got home in time to watch a new episode of LOST on the telly.

On Sunday, May 4th, I attended the housewarming party at Carol and Gary’s place in the Inwood area of Manhattan. Day before I baked up a tasty batch of chocolate chip cookies and fudge brownies for the party. The day turned out warm with patches of sunshine as I strolled from the subway to their new abode in Inwood. Nice, spacious place with a sunken living room and a step up from their tiny apartment on upper Westside. The buffet table was laid out with an assortment of yummy goodies from Carol, Gary and their guests. Conversations varied on numerous topics and I even made a purchase of one of Carol’s watercolor prints. Overall I had such an enjoyable time and afterwards strolled through a nearby park before heading back to the subway.

On Tuesday, May 6th, after my foot doctor appointment, I traveled up to the IBM Atrium on East 56th Street for the monthly Knit & Crochet meetup. None of the regulars showed up and I was going to leave around 7:30pm, when the gals at the Spin City meetup a few tables away invited me to join them. They were spinning skeins of yarn using different materials [ie: cotton, wool, silk, etc]. It was fascinating to observe and hear about different spin techniques throughout the world. One of the gals showed me some new ways to do crocheting and I encountered another Harry Potter fan. Yah never know where one will meet someone who shares some similar interests, whether it’s a guy or gal.

Thursday evening, May 8th, the NYDoP CCR committee had a conference call to go over in detail the meeting we had with Yassky’s policy director, as well as plans and strategy going forward.

On Sunday, May 11th, I attended the 2nd Annual Mothers Day Peace March in Manhattan, which was organized by CodePink and Granny Peace Brigade. Like last year, everyone congregated at Columbus Circle, next to Central Park. I got there abit early, briefly chatted with Janey and was given a sign [“Waiting for Peace”] to carry throughout the march. Then this tall, cute guy [Tim] came up to me and inquired about what we were protesting. I enlightened him on that point and then we enjoyed a long, wonderful conversation about protests, City Council, Pedicabs, MySpace, TV and movies. We seem to have many things in common and he gave me his business card. The march started shortly after 11:15am with about 30+ people, plus some instrumental accompaniment. Not as many in attendance as last year, but that didn’t stop us from spreading the word. The march progressed up along Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues before making its first of two major stops at Museum of Natural History. Along the way we handed out flyers to pedestrians/shopkeepers/ motorists, sang out protest chants [see below], and flashed the peace sign to all.

VETS AT WALTER REED
[Tune: “My Little Playmate”] Lyrics by Nora Freeman of the Westchester Raging Grannies

Ain’t got no healthcare,
Say vets at Walter Reed.
Dubya supports the troops,
He makes them jump through hoops,
To get the benefits,
That they so sorely need.
Puts them out on the street,
And Shuts the door.

When it was his turn,
Of course he didn’t go.
His daddy pulled some strings,
Took care of everything.
Now War on Terror Vets,
May have PTSD – Severe brain injury,
Says he, “What’s that to me?”

They’re facing homelessness,
divorce and suicide.
Miz-ree is all around,
That’s what our vets have found.
So don’t let Dubya,
Play out his deadly game.
It’s Time we all stand up,
Its time we all stand up,
To shout NO MORE!!

Many folk were very receptive to us marchers shouting encouragement and applauding. Before heading across Central Park, with a very nice police escort, we lost some of our marchers. Several, including the musical accompaniment, had other commitments to attend too. 15 of us remained and we ended the march in front of the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art on 5th Avenue. The Julia Ward Howe proclamation was read, we asked everyone to observe 2 minutes of silence for our dead US soldiers [plus Iraqi], and then more protest songs were sung. We were well received, much applause, and many “tourists” and locals took fliers. On the way to the subway, I purchased a print from a street artisan, and then it was homeward bound.