PERSONAL NEWS #171

Tuesday evening, October 20th, I had a foot doctor appt, and then attended the NYDoP speaker meeting held at the Hope Martin studio, and our guest speaker was Matthew Albracht from The Peace Alliance. Good turnout for the meeting, and I was quite surprised when Michael Jay came in halfway through. I haven’t seen him since 2003. Last time we spoke on the phone was a year ago, after he moved to NYC, plus we keep in touch via emails. It was a good surprise and he looks great.

Thursday, October 22nd, I had lunch with Sallie [ie: fellow activist] at Simply Pasta. We were catching up on activism news, plus continuing to celebrate my birthday. Sallie is one busy lady and involved with so many projects. It is really quite impressive.

On Friday evening, October 23rd, “New Yorkers for a Dept of Peace” celebrated their 5th Anniversary at Stout’s pub on West 33rd Street. NYDoPs actual 5th anniversary date is Sept 12th, and that is when I first connected with the group back in 2004. They held an event at the “Frying Pan” at Chelsea Piers and Marianne Williamson was one of the guest speakers. So much has happened with NYDoP over the five years, including attending three peace conferences in Washington DC, plus hosting several events to promote Dept of Peace campaign [HR808]. As you can see from the photos, those who attended the celebrations at Stouts had a good time.

On Saturday, October 24th, I joined fellow NETS member, Dennis, in viewing the Tolkien [FotR] manuscripts at Quinn Library [Fordham University at Lincoln Center]. It’s a small, nicely detailed exhibit. The Tolkien and LoTRs related books, also on display, were impressive. I wrote down in my notebook titles and authors, as I want to eventually purchase these books. Afterwards we did some shopping at Borders [Columbus Circle] and I picked up a book called “The Letters of JRR Tolkien”. From there we had a late lunch at Sushi A Go-Go. That evening I crocheted non-stop from 8pm to 11:30pm to finish a baby blanket. In the background I had WBAI radio station on and listened to the funky “Liquid Sound Lounge”.

On Sunday afternoon, October 25th, I journeyed down to Bay Ridge [Brooklyn] to attend Anni’s baby shower and present her the crocheted blanket. Nice turnout at a charming cafe, which Anni’s hubby David organized, and the food was delicious. [p.s. Anni had a healthy baby girl on November 5th.]

Tuesday evening, October 27th, I participated in the NYDoP CCR team conference call regarding R627.

Wednesday evening, October 28th, I participated in the NVC “To Be Peace” conference call

Friday evening, October 30th, I attended a birthday celebration at COVO [bar & restaurant] on West 136th Street. Margaret, whom I know via Fort Tryon Park medieval festival, celebrated her 32nd b-day and invited friends and acquaintances. Not an easy location to track down, but once you get there the drinks and appetizers are really good. Atmosphere is cool and funky. Everyone had a fun time chatting, socializing, drinking, eating and just plain ole getting into a cool groove. Poor Margaret had a wee bit too much to drink and later learned she got abit ill. But, overall everyone had a great time. Left Covo around 11:45pm and the long walk to 138th Street subway stop. I arrived just as the last train left and service on parts of the #1 line were down for the weekend. %@$&#%$@!! Got chatting to a young chap and we decided to take the bus down to 96th Street stop for the #2 or #3 express lines. We waited and waited, no buses, so Thomas offered to pay for a taxi down to 96th Street. A very nice young, college chap, who lives in Brooklyn Heights, and had just come from a party at City College. Once we got to 96th Street all was okay with other subway lines. I’d been up since 6am, as I had an 8:30am eye doctor appointment, plus it was a busy day at the office, so by the time I got home at 1:40am I was very tired.

On Saturday, October 31st, I volunteered with City Harvest at the Union Square farmers market.