PERSONAL NEWS #144

[Duchess Note – Another edition of personal news and events in a condensed version. Enjoy!]

Tuesday evening, May 13th, I attended my second Brooklyn Community Board #1 meeting. This one wasn’t as heavily attended as the one back in April, but it was still interesting. I also did some networking with some individuals for NYDoP CCR project.

Wednesday evening, May 14th, I participated in a conference call hosted by Gili called “Field Talk”. I know Gili through the weekly “Brooklyn Peace Circle” I used to attend before it was discontinued.

Friday evening after work, May 16th, I headed down to Union Square to purchase new bird feeders at Petco. Afterwards I strolled through the farmers market to see how the City Harvest volunteers were doing and ran into Joe. Told him I had terrific news regarding a 45-minute phone call that afternoon with Congresswoman Velazquez’s legislation director [Layth]. [Topics of discussion during the call were on Iraq war funding bill, Brooklyn housing, DoP legislation and the upcoming election.] Joe and I strolled over to a diner in Gramercy Park and were joined shortly afterwards by his wife Marie. I arrived home in time to see the season finale of “Moonlight” on the telly.

Saturday evening, May 17th, found me back at Union Square farmers market doing volunteer work for City Harvest.

On Sunday afternoon, May 18th, I joined my friend Jackie in going to see the new Narnia film called “Prince Caspian”. We’ve both read the Narnia series of books [7 total] and enjoyed the film with its terrific visuals. Afterwards we walked across the street from the cinema to a Cosi for dinner and catch up on news/gossip.

Monday evening, May 19th, I attended the PDA CD14 NYC Town Hall meeting at SEIU on West 43rd Street. The featured guest speakers were; NY Congresswoman Maloney, Michael Schwartz [writer], Daniel Black [retired soldier], and Dahlia Wasfi [writer]. Main topics of discussion were Iraq war and occupation, counter-recruitment, energy crisis, US foreign policies, global warming, impeachment and a need to change strategy in the anti-war movement. Suggested website to check out is http://www.liberatethis.com/

Tuesday, May 20th, after my foot doctor appointment, I headed up to Columbus Circle to attend the 7th Annual Adult Student Recital at Frederick Rose Hall at Lincoln Center. One of NYDoPs board members, Karen M, was performing at this recital along with six other pianists. Each performer played one or two pieces by the following composers … Beethoven, Stravinsky, Pozzuoli, Schumann, Bach, Schubert, Chopin and Moszkowski. Afterwards the student pianists were given awards and a prize. After some socializing, Karen’s group went down to the next level of the Time Warner Center to party at the Stone Rose Lounge.

Thursday evening, May 22nd, I participated in a conference call with fellow NYDoP CCR committee member Kevin regarding DoP resolution 627. Discussion mostly centered on structure and composition of faxes we’ll send to some of the City Council Cultural Affairs committee members. I also told Kevin about the 45-minute conference call I had on May 16th with Layth at Congresswoman Velazquez office. Whether anything develops from that May 16th call remains to be seen.

May 24th through 27th I visited my family in upstate NY for the Memorial Day holiday weekend. Weather was nice and sunny most of the time. Main highlights of the weekend was riding my new bicycle, building a fire pit, attending the Memorial Day parade, several yard sales, dining out and relaxing.

Evening of May 27th I attended the monthly NYDoP board and core team meeting at our new location near Madison Square Park in Manhattan. The two hour meeting was good and very productive. We are working towards re-launching the new and improved NYDoP website, plus the upcoming Inwood Retreat.

On Thursday, May 29th, after work I joined Cielito in attending an Isagenix meeting on 7th Avenue. These monthly meetings remind me of pep talks and also a way to introduce new people to the company/ product. I’ve been utilizing Ionix Supreme and Want More Energy since mid-April, plus I’ve been a member of Isagenix since end of March. Both are great products! With Ionix Supreme I feel more energized, sleep better at night, and more focused or alert during the day. To learn more, go to the website link in the left hand column of this blog. Three quarters of the way through meeting I had to leave and head home to watch the 2-hour season finale of LOST. What an amazing and thrilling two-hour season finale.

Friday, May 30th, I did volunteer work with City Harvest at Union Squares farmers market.

On Saturday afternoon, May 31st, I went out to lunch [Jackson Diner] with Anni and her hubby David, plus their daughter Rachel in Jackson Heights, Queens. Enjoyed some good Indian food and a drink made with mango, which I might add was so tasty. [The #7 subway makes a stop at this predominately Indian neighborhood.] Afterwards we went shopping in the many clothing stores for India style tops known as kurti or kurta. I purchased a soft white embroidered cotton kurti, plus small meditation chimes. For dessert we stopped at a street vendor for a mango flavored ice cream called kulfi, which was delicious. Overall I had an enjoyable time and caught up on news/gossip with Anni.