Monday, December 30, 2013

From Sunrise to Evening
on Christmas Eve [12/24]
in upstate NY





Wednesday, December 18, 2013

 Chillin with some Tea at the
Downton Abbey truck on Dec 12th
 A leisurely and tasty
Sunday afternoon tea break
 My Lovely Holiday Tree

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

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.

Monday, December 02, 2013

PERSONAL NEWS #226
Nov 1st I had a private yoga class with Fabrice and Shiva.

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

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

Nov 6th, 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 7th, 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 8th – 10th, I had health issues over the weekend due to lung condition and on anti-biotic.

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

Nov 12th, 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 15th, I had a private yoga class with Fabrice and Shiva.

On morning of Nov 16th, 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 17th, 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 18th, I had a private yoga class with Fabrice and Shiva.

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

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

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

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

Nov 23rd, 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 25th, I had a private yoga class with Fabrice and Shiva.

Nov 26th, 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 28th, 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 24th Street.  Weather was cold, windy, but sunny.

Nov 29th to Dec 1st, 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.