From Sunrise to Evening

on Christmas Eve [12/24]

in upstate NY

 Chillin with some Tea at the

Downton Abbey truck on Dec 12th

 A leisurely and tasty
Sunday afternoon tea break

 My Lovely Holiday Tree

Evening of Monday, Dec 9th, the “NYC Area Friends of JRR Tolkien and Fantasy” Meetup group was at the AMC Empire 25 on 42nd Street for a special exclusive screening of "The Hobbit: the Desolation of Smaug".  This is part two of Peter Jackson's new "Hobbit" trilogy.  [We saw the film at IMAX in 3D, so that explains the special glasses we wore.] What a roller coaster ride of a film! Excellent! My only real gripe was too many Orcs. I sat with Wendy, Margaret and Pauline.  [Pauline took this photo of Margaret, me and Wendy]  It was great chillin with everyone and seeing others from our meetup group.

PERSONAL NEWS #226

Nov 1^st I had a private yoga class with Fabrice and Shiva.

Nov 3^rd, I watched the NYC marathon in my hood on Manhattan Avenue, while listening to the live Reggae tunes performed by Nando Griffiths.

Nov 4^th, I had a private yoga class with Fabrice and Shiva.

Nov 6^th, I attended a talk given by Rashid Khalidi on the Middle East situation.  Mr. Khalidi is the author of the book … “Brokers of Deceit: How the U.S. Has Undermined Peace in the Middle East”.  This deceit, by the US towards the Middle East, and its continued support of Israel, has been ongoing since 1975.

Nov 7^th, I attended a talk given by author Ann Jones at the Brecht Forum in Brooklyn.  She was speaking about her latest book … “They Were Soldiers: How the Wounded Return from America’s Wars – The Untold Story”.  The event was hosted and co-sponsored by Haymarket Books, Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, IVAW and BFP.

Nov 8^th – 10^th, I had health issues over the weekend due to lung condition and on anti-biotic.

Nov 11^th, I had a private yoga class with Fabrice and Shiva.

Nov 12^th, I attended “The Future of Stop & Frisk! Can We End it?” community forum in Fort Greene area of Brooklyn after work.  The forum was an amazing event with speakers who are passionate about seeing to it that real change happens.  Even with the temporary setback that happened when 3 current judges over rule the decision of the initial judge on the case.  Over a 100 people were in attendance at the forum.  Also, discussion shifted to potential actions that people could take, starting from a grass roots level. With most things it requires social media as well as on the ground face to face contact to motivate and keep people involved.

Nov 15^th, I had a private yoga class with Fabrice and Shiva.

On morning of Nov 16^th, my cleaning lady stopped by to tend to my apartment.  Afterwards, I had a much need appt for acupuncture therapy with Dr Tan, and following that with an equally needed pedicure.

Sunday, Nov 17^th, I joined other members of “NYC Friends of Tolkien” for a delightful “Brunch with Bilbo” at Stone Creek lounge.  We socialized, enjoyed good food and watched the extended edition of The Hobbit.

Nov 18^th, I had a private yoga class with Fabrice and Shiva.

Nov 19^th, I participated in the monthly BFP Arts & Culture committee meeting, which was productive, and we had two guests attend.

Nov 20^th, I volunteered at the WCW national office to assist with computer work.

Nov 21^st, I had an urgent dental appt in the morning to fix a chipped tooth.  Ouch!

Nov 22^nd, I had a private yoga class with Fabrice and Shiva.

Nov 23^rd, I joined my friend Debbie S at Stone Creek lounge for an enjoyable Doctor Who event in the afternoon.  Afterwards we headed over to a friend’s apartment for a social visit.  We drank tea, played with Dobby [cat], nibble on tasty pastries made by Deanna and talked about all sorts of topics.

Nov 25^th, I had a private yoga class with Fabrice and Shiva.

Nov 26^th, I had a consultation with my dental specialist about implants.  My office dental plan covers half and I would have to pay the other half, which amounts to $1,900.  Ouch!!

Nov 28^th, since 2006, I volunteer with Project Find in Manhattan to assist with bringing hot meals and goodie bags to home bound seniors.  This year I helped with getting the goodies into those bags; then working with Gloria [driver] and Diane [another escort] in delivering meals and bags to 16 people along West 24^th Street.  Weather was cold, windy, but sunny.

Nov 29^th to Dec 1^st, I visited the parents, brother and sister-in-law in upstate NY for the remainder of the holiday weekend.  Weekend did not run smoothly for my father, and we had to have the ambulance take him to hospital around midnight on Friday.  [Mom and I followed in the car to hospital.]  Learned he has Strep Pneumonia and has to stay in hospital through Wednesday.  Visited him on Saturday afternoon … the shakes and fever have dissipated.  He is on the slow road to recovery.  Amen!  Rest of weekend Mom and I did some shopping, dining out, decorate house for Xmas, hair salon and watching HP on cable TV.