40 Diamonds for 40: "Martha Stewart" Ms. T***.

Ms. T*** pictured here (not her real name) was the first to respond to my invitation for this project, and what a way to kick it off!

It is she who really is the diamond. I was so happy and relieved to learn that although I was leaving my "home" at Caramoor, I was going to work at a place where there were other crafters. I remember meeting her and her officemate, Lori, on my first visits to the Big J prior to my start date and feeling just wholeheartedly welcomed. Ever since then, whether I need an ear to listen, band-aids for boo-boos, thread to fix a rip or loose button, other crafty presents for family or friends, or a snack of the most delicious baked good around, I know I can turn to my multi-talented musical Ms. T***.

I love the Yankees and she lives near the Bronx, so diamond conjures up another meaning for me, but wait, that’s not it. She's asking the diamonds-in-the-rough, the little carats that we are, to help build an archival jewelry box of good ol’ stories suitable for her milestone birthday.

It is not every workplace where you will find a colleague who is a dedicated, productive, maniacal crafter. She makes it easier for me to come into the office with traces of yarn, flour, ink, and thread all over my professional clothes. I may dabble in crafts but she is a prodigious hooker, which I now know is the technical term for one skilled at using a crochet hook. In her presence, yarn stops leading the quiet life as a skein and becomes blankets, clothes, toys, and accessories. Crafting is transformative, not just for the yarn or baking ingredients, but for the joy of making things and sharing them. May her sparkly gift and talent flourish for decades more.

Thanks Ms. T***. Play on!

Cultural Escapades

There are some really great things about living and working in one of the cultural capitals of the world. Within a span of a month (or even a day for some people) you can see a serious play, attend free concerts, learn about little known international instruments, and then see a sneak peak of a new film.

A few weeks ago I got to catch up with my dear friend Poopeh and see the Theatre for a New Audience production of Hamlet at the Duke Theater on 42nd Street that everyone was raving about. Our schedules are always so busy that sometimes it takes six months to synch up, so it was great that this get-together got organized relatively quickly. Four of the leads were Big J alumni from various decades, so it was wonderful to see how the School's Drama Department has contacts everywhere. I also had a wonderfully unexpected reunion with some friends from my Caramoor days during the first intermission ... one of those only in New York moments when someone in the crowd passes you by and you go, I KNOW that lady. I turned around and looked up into the seating risers and decided for once not to be my normally shy and retiring self, but go and say hello. Even after more than two years the couple was so lovely and gracious and gave me a big warm hug and kiss. It's good to know that you are missed and that you made an impression at a job -- though after 12 years one would hope so.

The next week I had a double dose of culture, with a lunch-time recital of harps and guitars (much like last year's, but with no fun lyrics) followed by an after-work musical presentation by my lovely colleague T***. As previously mentioned, T*** is a very accomplished domestic goddess, who has an interest in shakuhachi flute. She was recently awarded the jin-shi-han license (to teach shakuhachi) as well as her own Japanese name, and was asked by the Big J's international relations department to do a presentation for the students and interested faculty and staff members about this little-known instrument. Between the q&a, her fun anecdotes, and the very zen music, I felt very educated by the end of the day. These kinds of presentations are a great way to learn about the other side of your colleagues. I knew T*** rocked ... I'm glad that other people got to find out too.

T*** Yuuraka M*******d

Finally, last week I volunteered to help at a membership event for some of the Big J donors, where they were cordially invited to attend an exclusive pre-opening screening of The Soloist, a new film starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr., based on the book by Steve Lopez.

The event was at the Paramount Screening Room in mid-town, near the MTV studios and Shubert Alley/Theater District. I usually avoid mid-town at all costs because it is crazy with tourists to the point where you cannot walk down the street. This time I had no choice.

[A word of advice to out-of-towners! People, please do not do the following or one of these days I PROMISE I will knock you over and swear at you like the commuter I am! Do not text and walk -- you have no idea how slow you are walking. Contrary to popular belief, you cannot do two things at one time. The same holds true for cellphones. Do not talk on your cellphone and wander aimlessly down the street, or stop abruptly, OR stop in the middle of the subway stairs to finish up your call and/or text. If you are on the stairs or the escalator, STAY TO THE RIGHT! Also, if you MUST take a picture with a camera or a phone, GET OUT OF THE MIDDLE OF THE SIDEWALK! COME ON ALREADY! Sorry. Mini-rant finished, for now.]

Before the guests arrived, I totally acted like the blogger that I am and took pictures to prove I was there.

The room was on the third floor of this building and the elevator banks opened into this little lobby. The walls were covered with floor to ceiling pictures from some Paramount films, along with this bench at the end of the hall. It took me all night to finally go over and realize that it wasn't a just a place to sit to wait for the elevator, but there for a reason.

That plaque .... read it closely.
It's the bench from Forrest freaking Gump!

Matt's a good sport. I got him to pose for me,

and take another picture.
(Yes, I'm a geek!)

I am also such a theater dork that I was taking pictures out the window of the screening room to the area next door, which happened to actually be Shubert Alley. How strange is it that I first noticed the architecture, then I noticed the marquee.
I have to get tickets to this play. I loved the film as a teenager, so I can't wait to see what this production is like. I can't understand why Broadway has to be so expensive though!

All in all, it's been a great month for the cultural outings. It does make for some late night though.

Let's just put it this way, when Grand Central look like this ...

and you can almost see the tumbleweeds rolling by ...

and the clock looks like this ...

meaning you've missed the "early" train and you have to wait for another 30-60 minutes ... it's no wonder that even The Shushing Librarian passes out on the train!
The End.

Roll Credits

Happy Anniversary!

In the rush of the hollydaze I always seem to almost forget another very important date, my parents' wedding anniversary. This year I didn't want to forget, so I "banked" this blog post months ago for release today.

Happy 41st Anniversary Mom and Dad!

Auntie Nettie's parents in 1967, around the date of their wedding. They were both in their very early 20s, but Mom was the "older woman." You go Dad!

Many years ago for a Church bulletin, my mother wrote a little essay on how she and Dad met. It's not quite the story that my brothers and I grew up hearing, but it's pretty close.

Which version of this courtship do you want? Dad tells the children that Mom chased him, he tripped on his untied shoe lace, could not get away, and then Mom caught him. Mom remembers that she was blown away when Dad asked her on bended knee to marry him because most of their time together previously had been spent listening to Dad’s problems with girlfriends in Corpus Christi, Texas and Memphis, Tennessee. [Go Pop! You dog, you!] Whichever version one believes, the facts are that Mom was teaching junior high school English in Norfolk, Virginia and Dad was transferred to Norfolk by the Navy for a three month school. They met at the Norfolk Ward after Easter. This was the Vietnam era; therefore, there were as many as twenty LDS single service men in the ward at one time. They had firesides, dances, group activities all the time, as many of the group as could getting together and getting to know one another. They all got along well and were friends helping each other to grow in the gospel and careers. Most of the servicemen were not officers nor returned missionaries but were faithful to the Priesthood and the Church. Those who were not did not look up the Church and got lost on the bases of ships. Anyway, Mom and Dad became friends, did a lot of talking, and after Dad either got on bended knee or tripped on that shoe lace and Mom caught him, they have continued to be friends and to do a lot of talking for the last [forty plus] years.

Thanks to my colleague T*** for this lovely present for last year's anniversary; the infamous shoe lace is at the bottom of the art work. It's done up here -- to symbolize their lasting tie.

It's a Good Thing

I was surfing The New York Times today (instead of working ... of course) and stumbled across this August 10th article about my "favorite" person, Martha Stewart.

"On Sept. 16, Fine Living will unveil a new original comedy series built around a provocative premise: mocking Ms. Stewart. For a half hour, two hosts will critique — in “candid and often acerbic” language, according to the channel — old clips from her 1990s cooking and craft show. Fine Living ... calls the series “Whatever, Martha!”

There's probably been a college drinking game along these lines for years and I just didn't know about it (there's one for almost anything). This is PRICELESS.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 and mocking Martha Stewart?! GENIUS
Why didn't someone -- besides Martha -- jump on this bandwagon sooner?

My Cablevision package doesn't carry Fine Living. That's NOT a good thing.

Yummy Treats aka Tribute to T***

Is your office fortunate enough to have a resident baker? You know, the person who brings in treats on an almost daily basis? The person whose baking is really the only reason you get up to go to work on Monday? The wonderful person who makes all the office birthday cakes ... from scratch?

In my department at the Big J, this person is T***. We love her. People don't want to leave the School because of her. Not only is she an accomplished baker, but she's also a crafter and a "rockin'" shakuhachi flute player. She created this applique memento for my parents' 40th wedding anniversary.

We jokingly call T*** the "nice" Martha Stewart.* When Ms. Stewart had occasion to be at the Big J for her companion's receipt of an honorary degree, we made sure that our two Marthas had a photo op.



Mom, don't faint now, but T*** even got me to eat zucchini -- that much loathed vegetable -- by sneaking it into a killer chocolate cake. It's oooohhh so good. (When your garden makes too much zucchini Janey, I have an idea for you!)

T***’s Chocolate Cake
Aka Chocolate Zucchini Cake
From The New Good Cake Book by Diana Dalsass

9 Tbs butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
3 1-oz. squares unsweetened chocolate, melted, cooled
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp grated orange rind
½ cup milk
½ cup shredded zucchini
21/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp salt

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
Grease and flour a 9 or 10 inch tube pan.

Cream butter and sugar.
Beat in eggs, chocolate, vanilla, orange rind, and milk.
Stir in zucchini.
Whisk together dry ingredients.
Stir into zucchini mixture.
Turn batter into pan.
Bake about 1 hour.
Cook in pan on rack 15-20 minutes.
Finish cooling cake on rack.

Serves 16+.

* MY opinions about Ms. Stewart are too well known to be re-voiced in cyberland. Needless to say, I did NOT get in a photo op with her.

EBS -- Enviable Blog Syndrome

It's blogs like these that contribute to what I'm dubbing EBS -- Enviable Blog Syndrome.

It's like "Molly Mormon"* syndrome (or inadequate homemakers disease aka Martha-Stewart-makes-me-feel-unworthy-for-not-making-EVERYTHING-from-scratch-including-your-clothes to you non-LDS types) crossed with literary envy.

I wish I had the time and talents to be like the following:

Homemade by Jill

Moosh in indy
and her other blog
Linoleum Dynamite (the best name EVER)

I'm sure there are many more blogs of this caliber, but for just my recent explorations into the blogosphere, these ladies really (excuse the pun) take the cake.

Jill and Casey -- you ROCK!



* I don't mean Molly Mormon in a bad way, purely the crafty/homemakery kind o' way, thank you very much.