PERSONAL NEWS #187

Wednesday, Sept 1st, I joined Jade and Marianne at the Community Board Manhattan #10 monthly meeting up on West 125th Street. I brought Dept of Peace and Resolution 14 materials to hand out, and Marianne was our speaker. Large turnout at the CB M#10 meeting and many wanted to “speak”, Marianne’s 3-minute segment got shot down to 2-minutes. At this meeting we learned that original Resolution 627 co-sponsor Thomas White Jr passed away in August. This explains why he hasn’t become a co-sponsor of Resolution 14. Marianne and I didn’t stay for the whole meeting, but Jade did as she lives in the CB M#10 district. On my out I called Kevin to discuss the developments of the meeting, etc.

Thursday, Sept 2nd, I attended TGTSNBN meetup at Kennedy’s on West 57th Street. Main topic of discussion was the upcoming Cosplay set for October 16th. Great evening, lots of fun, and good to catch up with many friends.

From Sept 3rd to 6th I visited the family in upstate NY for the holiday weekend. Felt good to get away for a few days away from the craziness of work. I caught up on reading, drawing, painting, knitting, laptop stuff, yard work, apple picking, cable TV, shopping, hair salon, etc.

Tuesday evening, Sept 7th, I had dinner with Nancie and Sam at Siggy’s in Brooklyn Heights. Nancie was helping her son move into his new apartment in Brooklyn. It was lovely seeing them and catching up on news.

Wednesday, Sept 8th, I had lunch with Stephanie and we talked about my doing some volunteer work at the “World Can’t Wait” office on West 27th Street.

Thursday, Sept 9th, I chaired the NYdoPeace CCR committee conference call regarding Resolution 14.

Friday – Sunday, Sept 10-12 – I headed down to my beloved Cape May for 5 to 6 days. We had great weather the whole time, except for Sept 12th, which was overcast, cool and rainy. Started out at the Chalfonte hotel where I was registered for Marge Chavooshain’s watercolor workshop. I’d never taken a workshop before and felt this would assist me with drawing and especially painting. In the past, I’d seen Marge conducting her workshops at the Chalfonte. Last year I spoke with Marge, gave her my contact info and the rest is history.

Regarding the Chalfonte hotel … the room I occupied was sparsely furnished, bathroom across the hall, no air conditioning, thin walls and no central heating. I have to admit the beds are very comfy, plus the staff is nice, friendly and helpful. Truth be told, I so prefer staying at the Macomber. I only stayed two nights at the Chalfonte and that was enough for me. Several kids [under age 10] running around yelling and screaming on the Friday night, and with no parental supervision. Crazy! Then Saturday night having to deal with the couple next door having loud sex until 11:30pm. One heard everything, which was punctuated with the headboard of their bed banging on the wall.

Enough of that, back to the workshop, which was wonderful. Marge is delightful, charming and one helluva talented lady in her 80s. She’s been teaching watercolor and drawing for 50+ years and imparts such enthusiasm in her students. There were about 11 to 12 of us taking the workshop. Some had been taking her workshops for many years. Friday evening was the registration, orientation and the hotel provided wine with assorted nibblers. Mostly hung out with Leslie, who is also my age, plus got into diverse conversation with two gents in their mid to late 60s [ie: Eric & Lin]. I found myself attracted to the latter; who was good looking, interesting, but very much married. What a shame, he had such a twinkle in his eyes and a nice smile. After the orientation, I changed into sporty togs and did a brisk power walk up at the promenade before calling it an evening.

Next day we meet on the veranda at 9:30am, and Marge plotted our course of action for the day. We car pooled to Sunset Beach with our “art things” for a painting session on the beach. [Note: I came prepared with hat, sunscreen and long sleeved shirt to keep the bright sun from burning me.] Marge would give a lecture and then a detailed demo on the scene we were to paint. Then it was our turn to paint, and while we painted Marge would walk around to observe our efforts, give advice or answer questions. I really liked her method of teaching. We had a brief lunch break and back to more painting. Between 2pm and 2:30pm we packed up and drove to an area near the Cape May lighthouse to paint a different scene. Again Marge would lecture, and then a detailed demo, and then we’d go paint. Before we packed up around 4pm she’d look over everyone’s efforts of the day and impart her thoughts, plus give suggestions. On my second painting, Marge said she liked it and felt it was a “clean painting”. That evening Marge, Leslie, Carol, Amanda and I headed out for dinner over to A Ca Mia, which is part of the Washington Street Mall. Good meal, but the service was so-so.

Next day we met up again in the shelter of the veranda, as it was gloomy and raining. This didn’t discourage Marge, and I don’t think much does. She picked a spot on the veranda, gave a lecture on drawing architecture, and then the demo followed. As the day progressed the rain stopped, so some ventured off the veranda to paint other “scenes”. I stayed on the veranda and attempted my first architecture piece. It didn’t turn out well and I was very disappointed. During the “review” segment, Marge didn’t “down” my piece, but admired my courage in taking on a tough piece, then made suggestions. During the reviews I noticed four from our group whose pieces were always outstanding. Their styles were different, unique and stunning. I hope to one day be as good as those four.

Throughout the 2 ½ days I enjoyed many diverse conversations with everyone in our group, but especially with Lin. His friend Eric was such fun, and always made everyone laugh. Yes, I know, Lin’s married, but we both enjoyed each other’s company and decided to meet Sunday evening for drinks at Jackson Mountain Café. It was strictly platonic and he behaved like a gent. I so enjoyed those two hours, over drinks with Lin, and interesting conversation. It was like the icing on the cake, and I’ll never see him again, but during those 2 ½ days he made me feel special in many “little” ways.

I checked out of the Chalfonte on Sunday around 5pm and walked a short distance down the street to the Macomber for the remainder of my stay in Cape May. I always stay in the same room, which I love, and it’s so comfy with a nice view of the beach.

Monday – Wednesday, Sept 13-15, I continued my vacation in Cape May, NJ and also hung out with my friend Dennis. [I’ve known Dennis, via the NY Tolkien Society, since 2006 and he’s a very nice chap, plus he’s married with children.] This is the first time, since 1998, that I’ve hung out with a friend in Cape May. Over the course of three days we rented a touring bike, visited the shops in the Washington Street Mall and elsewhere, dined at some nice places [ie: Mad Batter & Lobster House], watched two stunning sunsets, strolled the streets taking pix, enjoyed a trolley/estate tour, went on a dolphin watch boat ride out in the ocean, or just sat around leisurely drinking smoothies and watching humanity stroll by. The weather, during those three days, was sunny and not a cloud in the sky. Absolutely perfect! I did my power walks on the promenade, visited with my friend Joe at the bike rental place and towards the end realized I was getting abit ill with a mild bronchial infection. But I didn’t let that stop me from enjoying myself to the fullest. I pushed myself to the limit, and by the time we were driving back to NYC late Wednesday afternoon, I was not feeling well. Overall, this was one of my more enjoyable visits to Cape May. I always feel sad when leaving Cape May … I so love this charming, seaside resort town.

Thursday – Sunday, Sept 16-19, I spent rest of my vacation at home working on recovering from allergies and a bronchial infection I must have gotten while in Cape May. Did several errands when I felt well enough; but mostly stayed indoors working on my vacation pix, checking emails, Facebook, surfing the net, phone calls, chores around the apt, laundry, etc, etc.