Some days just don't get any better.

Every time we go to either a Stop & Shop or an A&P grocery store I tell the old joke "Did you know that A&P and Stop & Shop were merging;? They are going to be called Stop&P." James groans in both amusement and boredom, Katie just groans. Lucy just ignores me. Yeah, they have all heard it a million times.

Who could have asked for anything more than walking up to a Stop & Shop today and being greeted with...... just watch the video.

It's TUESDAY!

Last Saturday I sat on Santa's knee, we did not much discuss what I wanted for Christmas nor whether I have been naughty or nice, but either way Wal Mart promised a free photo if I came back Tuesday. Here it is.

All the photos were just in a pile and the clerk went through one by one until she found the one your were looking for. When I asked for a photo that was taken Saturday, the girl behind the counter asked if it was "a little boy or little girl" I was looking for. Uh, no, it is a photo of me and Santa, her expression (well really, her absolute lack of expression) was priceless.

It's beginning to look a lot like..............

Wall Mart, Santa and me. Oh, and if I go back Tuesday I can get my free picture.

Our rights back soon.....

Many years ago, before the Berlin Wall came down, I was in East Berlin. While I am sorry that the Wall, and the Eastern Bloc existed, I am glad to have seen the results first hand. Passing freely through Checkpoint Charley and various other checkpoints into and out of East Germany was something as an American that I was able to do, if you were an East German you had no such rights.

I just came back from Lhasa, Tibet and the the quote above is from our guide, "I hope we have our rights back very soon." Lhasa is currently an occupied city and Tibet an occupied country under the thumb of Communist China. The Chinese are pushing more and more ethnic Chinese into Tibet in order to overwhelm the balance of culture and society; they are forcing the use of the Mandarin language, both spoken and written, at the expense of Tibetenese; they are creating puppet government and religious leaders all the while calling their actions the "liberation" of Tibet. I have never been particularly interested in the politics of this situation but seeing the occupation firsthand gives a great deal of cause for thought.

The following video is of a group of soldiers posted at the crossroads of the "Chinese" and "Tibetan" sections of occupied Lhasa. These soldiers and the hundreds I saw throughout the Tibetan areas of Lhasa have only been at their posts since the Buddhist uprising of 2007.

As a foreigner, had I been caught shooting this, my camera might have been confiscated and destroyed, I might have been harassed or beat up, I might have been "detained" or expelled from the country. If I were a Tibetan caught shooting this I most certainly would have been beaten, arrested, imprisoned and possibly executed for attempting to spy or export "state secrets." In New York, there are many, many soldiers posted as "security"  following the 9/11 attack. The Patriot Act and other Bush era measures have severely damaged our Constitution and civil rights, I hope the United States does not lower itself to the same level of paranoia and total destruction of human and civil rights that currently exists in China and Tibet.

Some things are just wrong.

The title say it all.

Tianjin Pancakes

Food is the same all over the world. Every single culture has some form of pancake served either sweet or savory, crepes, blintzes, etc. the Chinese version is a Tianjin Pancake, a thin pancake with an egg on the outside, chili sauce, hoisin sauce, scallions and a crunchy fried noodle inside. I have only had these from street vendors or at most sold by vendors in a telephone booth sized "kitchen" with a window to the street through which they hand you your 40 cent breakfast. Warm and tasty, wish I had one right now.

Somebody did not learn their lines.

Thank god the last post is over and done with, now we can get back to frippery. In addition to the romantic dancers in the park are hoards of other groups including this skit performance, well really I don't have much of a clue what they were singing about, but James tells me the guy with the book gave me the "evil eye" when I shoved my camera in front of him. Seems resonable enough.

You think I am going to eat that?

Hot pot, the red bubbling, hot, boiling hot, spicy hot, incredibly hot stuff on the right is what you are supposed to dip your meat, vegetables or noodles in. And we ordered the kiddie version.The clear broth on the left is safe for human consumption.

Did I mention the shit is spicy!

Adjective or noun?

I always wanted to see the Great Wall of China in the snow and the experience was all I hoped for, but James' comments are what this video is about. From the mouths of one time babes.

Supposedly, when Mao was embalmed a bit too much formaldehyde was used and he exploded, he has been restored.

Dancing with the Chinese

Okay, okay, okay, so not everything is meant to be made fun of.

The first time I was in China years ago I was walking through a park in Xian at about 5am and was first introduced to the Chinese experience of massive community involvement. With tiny apartments, Chinese are forced outside to participate in group activities, often in parks. Tia chi, hacky sack and my favorite, ballroom dancing. I found it really charming to see Chinese of all ages dressed to kill, enjoying themselves at sunrise, dancing to both Western and Eastern music blaring from a portable sound system. It does not seem to matter how wonderful of a dancer one is, it is the enjoyment of the moment and being with others that makes it fun. I wrote a postcard then to Lucy describing how for the first time in my life, I really needed video to truly describe the scene.

Now on my third trip to China I finally have a video camera with me and hopefully can give a sense of the sights and sounds dancing in the park. This is about 11am on a really really cold day in Beijing.

Sometimes it's hard to be a woman.

Even in the bastion of communism and equality of the sexes life just ain't fair.

Mao is still dead.

My cousin Alan has only seen 2 dead people in his life. I was there for both, is this bad karma?

Is there a board of health in Beijing

I promised to have caught up by now with all of the old videos from the summer and have not done so but now that we are back from China/Tibet/Hong Kong, I really want to get the newer stuff up and then work back from there.

China was, as always, wonderful and was, as always " a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside and enigma" (borrowed from Churchill.) The people are always fabulous, the food amazing and the sights extraordinary.

Our first morning in Bejing, I don't do "hotel breakfasts"  so we stumbled out of the hotel,  and found a tiny, unheated shop making bao and jao steamed dumpling. Fresh, handmade, I think they cost all of 60 cents for 10 dumplings. The title of this video is completely unfair, the place was clearly clean, the food both delicious and freshly made, we just have a different expectation of what the physical facility of a restaurant should be.

Medical recommendations of a drug store photo clerk.

I speak loudly and snore more loudly. Poor Lucy has to put up with it, but knowing the score (my snoring is almost like an operatic score) she decided ear plugs would be in order for Alan and James sharing a room with me in China.

Katie gets a checking account

9th grade, cell phone, laptop, and checking account. Did we have checking accounts when we were in 9th grade, I know damn well we did not have cell phones or laptops. Lucy had a checking account in 9th grade.

Man it's cold inside.

Remember Alan?  You know, Alan of who would not take the shirt off my back.  Anyway in just over two weeks we are heading to Tibet and Mt Everest. This is a travel light trip, Alan, my son James and me, almost 3 weeks in China and Tibet. My idea of this kind of trip is you take your oldest clothes and ditch then when they get too dirty (or smelly) to wear even one more day. I even plan on dumping a winter coat in Lhasa as we leave Tibet for our last stop, nice warm tropical Hong Kong. Easy solution, just go to Goodwill and buy a cheap coat, wear it and leave it. The problem is that Alan lives in Tallahassee, Florida, land of sunshine and warm weather. Not much call for winter coats in Tallahassee, and even less options for buying a winter coat at Goodwill. Easy solution, Lucy and I will pick up a coat here for Alan, obviously Lucy is closer to his size than me so she will try coats on. The perfect coat, the perfect solution, all for $9.99 gotta love Goodwill, gotta send Alan a video of his new coat.

This is where we have the SF Posterfair.

After 2 weeks of madness dealing with the NY Poster Fair, the various IVPDA meetings and packing, shipping and setting up my own booth at the NY Fair, SF is a major annual vacation for me. The weather is fabulous, the location easy and the people friendly.

The meaning of life.

When you have nice embers you toast marshmallows.

Was I s'posed to?

I'll be 50 in a few months and recall the dark ages of technology, but I suppose that this is what my parents felt like and their parents before them, except changes in technology are coming faster and faster. My kids have never even seen a B&W TV, never used a fax machine (because it came AND went before they would have ever used one), and on and on. Lucy's house in Maine still has a relic, a rotary phone. Until not so many years ago, it was even a real "party line" which I am sure probably has a new meaning in the world of Facebook and Twitter. 


Just watch the damn video.

Our first day in Maine

Lucy has a house on a small island in Maine, that nice young man Andrew came with us this summer and had never been to Maine before.  Maine can be cold, hot, clear, dry, cloudy, rainy, and foggy all before breakfast.

Andrew has a drinking problem with full bars.

Nice and cool.

Did I mention that Andrew is a nice boy? And he is cool, just ask him.

Then you're screwed

When Andrew was 13 I let him drive my car on our lawn, all of about 10 feet and at 0 miles per hour. This was his first time behind the wheel, and when you are 13, this is pretty cool, now that Andrew is 17 and with a license of his own, well you know. But Andrew learned to drive in Florida where a speed bump is a mountain. The rolling hills of Connecticut seem to require continuing education classes for young drivers.

Henry Kissinger's Blueberries and Something About Mary

Who knows if the story is true, but in Kent CT at the old Kent Girl's School there is a fabulous patch of blueberries that supposedly were transplanted there by Henry Kissinger. The story is that when Kissinger moved to Kent there was a large area of blueberries on his property. Not wanting the berries and not wanting to destroy them, he payed to transplant them to the school property. Makes a nice story. No matter how they got there, the berries are now lovingly cared for and open to the public at no cost. Nice to be able to gorge on berries for weeks and then be able to open your freezer all winter for a bag of berries. By the way, I could probably be shot just for divulging the location of this secret patch.

Sclafani's

I probably should not divulge this secret either but possibly the best cheese steak and/or cheeseburger in 100 miles comes from a red school bus. Sclafani's on Route 7 in New Milford, CT. That nice boy, Andrew, had a loaded chili, cheese steak, a fine choice.

If you go to the youtube page of this video, there is a location marker that shows exactly where to find this culinary treasure. (unless the marker is mis-located to throw you off.)

Daddy Longlegs are not spiders.

Who knew?

And then came Andrew

He's a nice boy, a nice boy. My cousin Jackie's son Andrew came to visit for about 2 weeks, 17 years old, nice boy. Not sure if it was good or bad, but he made great video with his different views. NOTHING was scripted or planned.

Did I mention, he is a nice boy?

And oh yeah, there are lots of Andrew videos for the next couple weeks.

It was a beautiful morning.

Jogging's not so bad

Rain and driving. Could be worse. Rain, driving and taking a video while driving.  Or maybe rain and jogging.

The Shirt off My Back

Today was one of the most poignant days in my life. Last night I got to Sarasota and stopped in briefly to see my Grandmother before going to my cousin's house to sleep. At about 6 am, after only 4 or so hours, I woke up and went back to her nursing home with the intention of staying with her until she had passed away. My aunts and uncle have been coming and going and taking care of her for years and made the decision at the beginning of the week to remove all of her medications. After 97 years, she had seen enough and done enough with us for all of us to know what she wanted for her care.

As the morning wore on, relatives came and went, hospice workers came and offered any comfort they could and at one point the medical staff indicated that we should prepare for her imminent passing. My cousin Alan, who was driving down from Tallahassee, had not yet arrived and I called to find out where he was and when he might arrive. Alan is a few years younger than me and we always had a good relationship when growing up, we see each other not too often now, solely due to geographic distance. When Alan arrived, it somehow quickly became clear that he and I would stay with our Grandmother until the end. Late in the day he and I ran out for a bite of dinner before everyone else left for the night. We had bought an iPhone Scrabble app and were planning on spending the night playing and hopefully reminiscing about our Grandmother.

I could write so much about the next 2 days Alan and I spent together, it was for me a bonding moment. You can't choose your family but you can choose your friends and I hope I can call Alan both. Lets see if he feels that way after our trip to Tibet.

This may be the single video that forced "Marshmallows" on the world.




Oh, and our Grandmother stayed with us for another 2 days, I know Alan wrote a story about the journey, perhaps he'll let me share it here.

Raining in Sarasota

It's been a tough day, at about noon, I decided that I should fly down to see my 97 year old Grandmother who is not doing well. Found a flight from LGA directly to Sarasota where my Grandmother, aunt, uncle and various cousins live. Got to the airport in New York to find every single flight to anywhere either canceled or delayed to the point that you knew it was going to be cancelled. Rain on the east coast, west coast, central states and everywhere in between had devastated the entire air system.

Having traveled for many many years, I fortunately knew my options so I begged and groveled my way onto the only flight that actually existed, going to Tampa. Using my handy dandy phone I booked a rent-a-car and made it to Tampa, then drove to Sarasota at about midnight. My relatives had all told me that I could not get into my Grandmother's nursing home after 10 pm, as they lock all the doors. But hey, what are locked doors for? I just showed up (and probably should not reveal this) but know that electric sliding doors, like you see at the grocery store are not really locked unless they are locked. They are rather, just turned off so as not to open. I pushed my way into the nursing home by manhandling the doors and had a brief visit with my sleeping grandmother. The staff could not have been more pleasant or supportive telling me that I could come at any time day or night and stay as long as I wished. Because I had already woken my cousin once at about midnight, I figured I should not stay too long and left to drive the few miles to their house. Noah had nothing on Connecticut this spring and early summer so I was happy to be in nice warm, dry Florida. Right.

Because I'm 12

More food. Watch the video. Nuf said.

fyi, this is James.

Dinner for 500

I said I help my friend the caterer occasionally so it seems odd that the first two blog posts revolve around her jobs, but really, I do only help out once in a great while. Yeah, so my life revolves a little bit around food. But hey, I like cooking, shopping, and playing with food. One of Lucy's complaints is that our kids think a trip to NY is nothing more than a shopping excursion to a variety of ethnic grocery stores and restaurants.

Anyway, the day after I got my phone I had to help Bonnie the caterer, put out plated dinners for 500 at a big fundraiser. This annual event is always one of the most amusing days of my year. Each time the function is in a different location, never with a real kitchen, no running water or proper refrigeration and always in a tent. My daughter Katie had graduated from 8th grade the day before and Grandma and Grandpa were visiting from Arizona so I left my wife and son with them for the day and took Katie to work with me.

As always, arrived to find problems, one of the 2 small rental trailer refrigerators was not working and the usual general chaos. 4 hours to put together plated salads and main courses. Dinners got done in time and 500+ plates went out in under 16 minutes. There are always about 20 women and me putting out the food, what could be better?

Why is it called "Where are the Marshmallows"?

Okay, so I am a late adopter, a really late adopter, a really really late adopter. Like the next generation has come and gone before I even get there.

Back in March I was at dinner with several professional colleagues who soundly made fun of me for having the oldest cell phone left in the modern world. Not even a flip phone, it was more than sufficient UNTIL June 19, 2009 when my life was changed forever. After a whole lot of kicking, screaming and protesting I picked up my new iPhone. God I hate Apple (well really I love Apple,) they are the scummiest company in the world. They have the most fabulous products and treat their customers like dirt. This is sort of a digression but Apple made me stand in line for hours just to pick up a stupid phone. If I had shown up the next day, I could have walked in and just got my phone in about 4 minutes, but you know Apple, they have to play the scarcity game, it's a damn phone, not the holy grail. Well there is the rub, once you have your iPhone for a while it is the holy grail. Man there is nothing like it. 

What does this have to do with Marshmallows anyway?  So I play and play and play with my phone, shooting videos and sending them to my wife and kids. Nothing important, just a few seconds here and there, unplanned insignificant moments. As time goes by, these videos pile up, my wife finds them amusing and wants me to share them. She is correct in that pre iPhone, I would only have pulled out a video camera once in a great while and only to shoot weddings, graduations, birthdays. With my phone there is none of this, just fleeting  moments of  daily minutia. So here I am writing a blog, cheating a bit. I am writing this on Oct 30 but will date it June 19 and go from there filling in the story as the days and videos go by until I catch up with the present.

Oh yeah, and the marshmallows, I almost forgot. A couple times a year I help a friend who is a caterer and on Sept 12  I cooked chicken breasts and pork tenderloins for 140 of her closest friends. Well really, they were just her clients, but you get the idea. If either of you who actually reads this blog gets as far as Sept 12 you can watch the Marshmallow video, for the rest of you, "Where are the Marshmallows" pretty much says it all. What is life without marshmallows? I have plenty of marshmallows in my life, I hope you do too.