I deleted the post above. I love writing in the newest WP and find myself mindlessly writing which really isn’t the point. The post below is pithy and comments are opened. I’m thinking of moderating them–something new for 2009
I have been changing the theme so much I didn’t realize the blogroll doesn’t show.

The blogroll is below here for now Continue Reading »

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One night there were seven adults and two kids staying in a one bedroom, one bath apartment. We not only survived but enjoyed it.

And I made my best friend a cocktail, candy, and egg cream party. With non candy appetizers. The candy was from a store in the Lower East Side–I forget the name. It’s a tourist place but has nostalgia candy. I spent most of the visit hearing my mother say (in the little voice in my head):
It will break your teeth
I actually said that out loud to my bff, Lucia, her sister and brother in law who are my landlords and close friends and watched as they all sheepishly put Turkish Taffy away. I am a spoilsport.
On New Years Eve they all went to Central Park for the local fireworks. A friend who didn’t want to go was over and a kid was sleeping. Selflessly I said I would stay to baby sit. It had nothing to do with the 17 degree windchill in the zero’s temperature. No nothing at all.
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I’m still interviewing contractors. I’m losing patience and beginning to get very crazed as I haven’t been living with my stuff for fourteen months and I’m a “stuff” person.

Minimal furniture; maximum pottery and glass. I’m doing all the renovations to maximize and beautify the house so I can get away with as little furniture as possible

I’m very psyched about this new stage of my life. The deck is so perfect for writing. So is the Carolina room. I just don’t have the patience necessary for this stage.

The whole past fourteen months have been about patience. I so want my house to be ready for seven adults and two kids….
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I put the countdown clock up because I couldn’t remember how many days were left. Now I just like staring at it.
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I hope to be back into literary blogging in a week or two.
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I have to find some Democrats to be with on 1/20. This post was going to be about how really I’m just a moderate, not even a true liberal, but I kept rewriting and editing that one.
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If you have ever left a comment and want it taken out several years later don’t leave me a comment on Flicker. The account is so old Flickr treated it as a new account and I couldn’t get into the message. I can’t believe that I tried….

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I will be in New York. Five adults. One bedroom. One bathroom. Some others coming for a night or two, and others for an evening.

Usually the excess stays at my house and the annual First Saturday in January Party or Lucia’s Annual Surprise Birthday Party is there also.
ThMy brain hasn’t embedded the simple fact I no longer own an apartment in the city. It feels strange.

But alas, I crossed sell apartment off the to do list.

I also crossed: buy house. Begin new life; off the list

And the most important: vote for Barack Obama. Bear witness to history on 11/04/08 and 01/20/09.

I had my true New Years on November 4th. Whenever I’m slightly depressed, out of sorts or think but great thoughts I think back to that night and how New York was one huge celebration.

Thank you who read Courting this past year. I know its quality wasn’t great, but my to do list though short in number was large in scope.

I fired one contractor and hired another today.

I love this city which I will always think of as a small town. It’s accepting of new people. In New York people like to think that people other places are surface friendly but scratch the surface and find a stranger.

That’s so untrue in North Myrtle. I feel so blessed and fortunate. Can’t wait to actually move into my house. It’s perfect for writing. Perfect.

And my next door neighbors are over educated, socially aware Obama people. We’re in the “I can’t believe you live next to me” stage. I knew patio houses attracted great people.. And I thought this was a sleepy sort of redneck town. It can be sleepy….

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People are out of work. People need work. One out of ten people in The Grand Strand (the area of the Carolinas I live in) is out of work. Especially hard hit are people in construction.

I’m trying to give people work A decent amount of work. And I’m getting grumpier and grumpier as I have been living without my furniture and things for the better part of a year. My boots and favorite sweaters are in storage.

I want to sleep in my own bed in the house I paid for. I understand that last week was Christmas and this week is New Years but if people say they will call me I expect a call back.

I know there’s a great work ethic here. I saw it when I first moved and the water heater in the next townhouse exploded.

I just want all the bids from the contractors. I want to know when the work will begin and the estimated time.

I do feel that my life’s been on hold. It’s becoming harder and harder for me to focus.

I don’t know if I should take this personally. If it’s because I’m a girl or a soft spoken New Yorker (something nobody expects) or what.

I met my next door neighbors for the second time today and saw their house which is a lot like mine and gorgeous. They’re attorneys–she used to be a nurse and has a masters in public health. They have two kids, adopted from South America, who are seven and ten, and they’re (the parents) are my age. I think they’re amazing and can’t wait to really know them.

I know I shouldn’t have gone to New York for ten days at Thanksgiving and stayed here to find workers. I shouldn’t be going on Tuesday til Sunday and really have no desire to. But I have a life in New York that can’t end just because I moved. My family and friends are acting as though I deserted them. I’m going to try not to go back for six months if possible. I want to live in my own house so badly

When I looked at my charges the storage for my furniture and clothes wasn’t included. The moving company forgot to charge me. This wasn’t a good thing as it took two days to straighten out.

I just want to feel settled.

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I was given these pictures. They took me back and had me listening to Christmas music until 3:30AM–here in North Myrtle they play great Blues and Shag Christmas music.

It’s difficult to explain who I was then. A chameleon with different looks and different personalities for every hour and every person. Not that I tried. I thought myself lacking personality and any type of charisma or “why do people want to meet me?”

I hadn’t been very popular in Jericho. Really I didn’t give anybody a chance to know me. I was lost in my own insecurities.

Then I began college. To say I was “popular” is to understate it greatly. Later I became convinced that I was Robbie’s first PR project. But even after the years of Robbie, I had no problems meeting people (usually guys first.)

What I had was a problem understanding that people liked me for myself not because I could look like some girl they once had a crush on, or a less dissapaited Joplin

Yet I remember thinking, often, “be careful what you wish for….” I was given a gift. An opportunity to have a great life. When all is said and done I have to admit I didn’t take that gift and purposely go with it, but somehow though my life hasn’t been conventional I have had an amazing life.

I believe in second and third, fourth and fifth acts. Both the girl in the pictures and the me today have much to say. And we have only just begun

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Usually I agree with Paul Krugman, and who am I to argue with a recent Noble Prize winning economist? Never stopped me before–obviously I found out I have a strong personality in answer to my post above.
Anyway when he talks about FDR and the New Deal programs having oversight built into them he leaves out one important fundamental. There were no programs similar to them before.

FDR, Harry Hopkins, Harold Ickes, Francis Perkins etc didn’t have to go before Congressional committees, have votes taken, even Constitutional Amendments. It’s much much harder to begin a program today as we have so much red tape to snip.

About Obama vacationing in a luxe house. I want my president well rested. I expect presidents to vacation grandly.

Caroline Kennedy–I’m conflicted. I like her, I think she has as many qualifications as anybody else really. She has written several books on Con Law. I would much rather have her as Senator than say Al D’Amato. Moynihan was an Ambassador first and a scholar who had written some brilliant books that I didn’t necessarily concur with but found myself totally immersed in.

I had no qualifications to do the job I was hired to do on his campaign staff. I volunteered and was offered a job the next day. It was overwhelming. I knew why I was hired. My looks. Unlike most girls I didn’t think that a good thing and didn’t use the opportunities to full or any advantage. On the other hand I had a great time

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Those five of you who still believe in the Bush admin can find comfort in its answer to The New York Times article blaming it for the housing mess. Henry, my blog isn’t a democracy. The Bush admin was directly responsible for or looked the other way throughout this whole mess. Most of us are paying for their refusal to reign in Freddie, Fannie, brokerage companies etc
The New York Social Diary has a PDF document in this article from somebody in the SEC who called Madoff’s Ponzi scheme three years ago. I can list a hundred reasons why I left New York yet I find myself thinking I will use that very cheap ticket I bought for New Years. I need to establish my life here without being pulled back to the city every month. Really I must.
Thanks Cooper I might never have an RSS feed but I have a theme that’s compatible with the newest WP. I would boycott Google who tookover feedburner but they own too much of me.

I thought I was fat. I thought my nose lacked personality. My mouth was too small as were my teeth.

.I grew up in the era of Twiggy. I suppose as I’m from Long Island, aneroxia and other body image problems came to us earlier than most of America. I have always loved food too much to be aneroxic.

But in my town a girl’s face, breasts and waists didn’t count. It was all about legs. I can still tell you what every girl in my high school class had or lacked

I wish I had known the things I know now.

I lacked confidence yet somehow I knew I was pretty. I had a magical late adolescence though forever.

Looking at the pictures I was sent yesterday caused me to remember so much

In the digital era we tend to assume everybody documents every aspect of their life. We can see sometimes too vividly see our lives. Or photoshop a more perfect one Wasn’t like that before. I was lucky. First my father documented my babyhood and early childhood.

Then seen through somebody else’s eyes and lenses, I see who I was. These photos–will put in more–are untouched. Some are fuzzy. Some show why I sometimes thought my features too sharp. They are all me

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For a long time I didn’t care about Courting. I went through the motions but….I care again. I can’t really talk about my politics here. I don’t mention my religion. Not that I did in New York, but Jews are rather common there (in all senses,if I want to include one who has been occupying much more newspaper space than Bush and I do as I’m “obsessed” with Madoff–his charm and his ability to con people who “should have known better.”

OK I want to seriously blog. I even want to comment on 20 blogs a week I haven’t been commenting on.

But my “iconic” template isn’t compatible with any new version of WP. I love the newest version as it has certain features I have always wanted.

When I attempt to find out why I can’t use an RSS feed I get an error message I do understand but can’t apply to my “appearance” sub headings.

I’m very tempted to make this a plain WP blog using my url. I used the Vargas pin up as I love pulp fiction and noir. My house actually reminds me of something that would be in an noir film or a pulp novel. Though I hope it’s a happy house without the pulp/noir drama.

I don’t have the time or the will to spend days trying to fix the problems myself or even finding people to do it

My house has wall to wall carpet everywhere including the bathrooms. I suppose it’s pretty carpeting. I know it’s thick, good and new. But when I think about it it reminds me of mud. The contractor and painter found that funny–until they left the house and the image of the floor that remained with them was of green grass covered by brown mud.

They find my color choices “interesting,” at first and then become psyched. The kitchen has solid oak cabinets. I saw them in a magazine that said “outdated,” and was going to bring the picture to show the contractor.

I understand and appreciate the thrifty values here. I love how people don’t have their hands stretched out all the time. I bought the house at a rock bottom price that was significantly below the amount I had budgeted–for a house that had everything exactly the way I want it to be.

This house is in perfect condition but needs much updating. I was feeling all apologetic about having the money to renovate–and know I will be living on a strict budget when I’m finished. I want to renovate as it will make me happy. The house will be much easier to keep up, and my guests won’t have to worry about tracking sand or dirt around.

I have an outdoor shower. This thrills me more than I can explain. One problem. The shower head is above the roof. Everybody stares at that in fascination. It will be changed.

I have never owned a house before. It feels so much more than owning a coop.

I have left the world of doormen and investment bankers behind. Certain people in my real life who shall remain nameless and couldn’t understand why I was doing this now think I was brilliant. That’s the thing about me. In retrospect I always seem so smart.

I’m not when it comes to blog design and appeal for any help

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ONE MORE MONTH!!!
I’m a baby boomer. I think that means I’m supposed to like Leno. I know many baby boomers and don’t know one who likes him. I know this as “Leno? Letterman?” Is a friend/family/lover/etc. question. In my circles it’s assumed you like Letterman. If you liked Leno you would be considered weirder than you already are, in a bad way. You would be the recipient of Metamucil and other supposed geriatric items. I own an Ipod Nano, an Ipod Touch and am getting a new one for the docking stations in my house. (That’s supposed to show something but I’m not sure what) I don’t mourn the death of TV as we knew it, and I will need one less TV (I’m not big on buying them but gave away my NY sets.) As my bedroom is next to the living room it’s going to be a TV and computer free zone–the bedroom that is

The house renovation will be the subject of many blog posts. And I haven’t even begun talking about outdoor work–my sister has an incredible Provencal stone patio and she’s emailing me pictures. Not that I copy or anything.
There’s a lot of guilt attached to this but I’m giving people work. Yes the house has great bones. Great bones get you far in life but there comes a time when both people and houses need some work. I choose to put money and much time into my house because I like to live in beauty. I believe the economy will recover and this will be a good use of money.
I’m not sure that we will ever see the gains made in the past decade and don’t think that’s a horrible thing.
I have lost enough in the stock market I did some stupid things but nothing as stupid as putting my trust blindly in one man.
I’m totally fascinated by Bernie Madoff, and the list of people he scammed keeps growing. Oh what a year this has been. In the worst of years I learned what’s important to me and turned into a happy person. Unfrigging believable but…
Here’s Krugman on Madoff.
The title of this post says it all, almost Here’s a link to many articles on Bernie Madoff

This is a link to a blog post by Paul Krugman where he argues we don’t need a middle class. I think (hope) he’s saying that to be provocative. One of the big reasons I left Manhattan was because of the demise of the middle class–I began to leave long long before Bear Stearns imploded

I would argue that a vibrant middle class is needed not to eat at McDonalds but to support affordable interesting experimental theater, museums, and yes affordable restaurants, hotels and stores

Manhattan became a much more boring island during the day of the Investment Banker. Beautiful yes; a showplace, yes. It felt like a shell of what it once was.

That’s only my opinion and I don’t have the time to go into specifics–have a house to renovate. People here are thrifty and hate to see money being wasted. So different than Manhattan where everybody has a hand out.

This is my first Christmas in many a year where the majority of my budget doesn’t go to tipping a building staff

That all said, I hate to see anybody fall except Madoff and the titans of Wall Street–which doesn’t include the average broker.

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I understand that Rick Warren represents a “new generation of evangelicals”

I’m not sure an evangelical pastor swearing in Obama represents religious freedom in America.
I hate to play the liberal Jew card and I’m not going to go into civil rights history or the similarities between Blacks and Jews in America–yes we can hide behind white skin. Yes I might find it not the most horrible thing that South Carolina was going to offer license plates with a Christian cross and the motto “I believe,” as it’s a personal choice and while could be construed as a tactile endorsement of Christianity, we do have that choice.

an evangelical pastor swearing in a president offers a tactile endorsement of that pastor’s beliefs. I understand and like what Obama has been doing in his cabinet. By selecting people with different political beliefs there can be great debates and discussion. I understand what Obama is doing. Yet religion is different.

For the seventeen percent of American’s who aren’t Christian the selection of Warren drives home with great force that yes we are a Christian country.

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