Scary memory from my yoot

I was 13 years old.
I sang this song at a school assembly.
Solo.

Just for fun.

Aicheemama!
Whatever was I thinking?!?

Impetuous yoot.


Scary.

Tony left it...

and so did I.

Last night, whilst driving along the winding road towards home - I was listening to a mixed cd of fave songs when The Tony Bennett Signature Song came on the player.

True to form when'ere I hear 'I Left My Heart in San Francisco', I experienced a sustained moment of being in the 'Wow Zone' - which is not unlike the 'Seinfeld style Desperado Zone'. This is not altogether a great idea when driving a meandering road into the forestlands lit by a scant moon, so thanks for your concern, but I did just fine.

Like the song, my mood was definitely dreamy.
Perhaps it was the dark and quiet of the drive.
Reviewing random thoughts of the day's events while navigating the familiar turns of the mountain roadway.
That end-of-day peacefulness as one moves homeward for food, comfort and relaxation.
This, the perfect scenario for focused listening. For me, it was like hearing 'I Left My Heart...' for the very first time. Things sometimes get so familiar that you start taking them for granted. People. Places. Even a song. Given a change of setting or viewed from another perspective, that something can suddently breathe with new life.
When one is in the moment and truly attentive, clarity can reign.
Everything old is new again when captured in a moment of renewed appreciation.

As a native San Franciscan, the melody and words of 'I Left My Heart...' seem woven into my very essence. The song begins with the simplest accompaniment: a piano. I embrace the 7 sweet little notes that are repeated throughout the piece. They are played with a delicate touch that illustrates well what it means to 'tickle the ivories'.

I hang on every syllable of Tony's sensitive phrasing and take note of the effortlessness of his delivery. No one else can sing the word 'fog' the way Tony does in this song. Soooooooo S-M-O-O-T-H.

He moves through the song with the ease of a leisurely stroll. Anyone who has been to The City can imagine the picture painted by those lyrics: to be where little cable cars climb halfway to the stars (and where ) the morning fog chills the air (I don't care).

It's [sigh] Absolute Perfection.

Thank you thank you to the romantic duo of New Yorkers George Cory and Douglas Cross for penning this song.
It has become Mr. Bennett's exclusively, yet others have dared to try it on for size:
Sinatra?!? No Thanks - NY NY is your song, babe.
Gavin Newsom?!?! Ai Ya! Please don't!

As for Tony leaving his and me leaving mine...
Well, if you must know, a little bit of my heart is left here and there and everywhere with places I've lived and loved, visited and loved, and with people I've known and loved.
The thing is - the heart isn't diminished but strengthened by and made all the more whole...

[sigh again]

The artsy heart pictured on the pedestal was painted by Tony B. and is located in Union Square (Robert Shields?!? I worked a block from Union Square in the early 70's and would see him performing at The Square; and made sure to walk on the other side of the street so he couldn't target me to mimic and mime after...) and is part of the San Francisco General Hospital Foundation's Heroes and Hearts Program.

Looking towards a new year filled with good times ~
I've just added to B's Things To-Do/ Places to See/ People to Meet LIST:
Field trip to (the new improved) Union Square.
Bring iPod with aforementioned Tony Song.
Sit by Tony's painted heart and have a listen to the song.
Go into serious I Left My Heart Zone.

Then head somewhere nearby for a simple but delicious San Francisco-style lunch.
(Any suggestions?)
Feed the heart and soul and then the tum-tum.

T'is the season...

...to be knitting.
It's Post Christmas. Whaaaaaaa hoppened?!?!?
The last week has been something of a blurrrrrrrr.

But hey - and hurrah! Christmas Day has come and gone, and The Post Christmas Season knitting bug just bit me - hard. It happened last night when I finished my very first felted project - a bowl (well, it's more like a small bucket) from this book. Aforementioned bucket is air-drying in front of the heater vent as I write this. No promises, but there may be before n' after pix of that felted knitting project posted on this blog in the not-too-distant future. That is, if I'm not too pre-occupied with more of the same...

Oodles more simple knitting projects beckon. After I've got a few 'quick n' easy' (though no knitting projects are ever quick or easy for me) things completed, then perhaps - just maybe - yes, it could happen - I'll be getting back to that unfinished sweater from - what - 2 years ago? Now wouldn't that be nice? I may yet emerge from the Wannabe Knitter cocoon I"ve been stuck in for far too long - and get back to being a Real Knitter again.

Yes yes.
Start small (scarves!)(felted bowls and clutch bags and flowers!)(already it seems that 'I Feel Like Felting' may warrant its own post before long), then move onward to more involved projects.

Settling in on a cold winter afternoon with bamboo knitting needles (given a choice, bamboo is the ONLY way to fly) and yarn has got to be one of the cozier crafting choices for the upcoming months...

Guess what.
Post Holidaze t'is also the season to begin crafting for the next year's Holidaze Season, don't you agree?
If one were smart about it.
(All good intentions aside) I am not.

P.S. Check out this crazy wonderful knitting fanatic!

Merry Happy Joyous Be Good to Others and to Yourself

Curse of the Golden Flower (a wee Curmudgeon Post)

Of course I'm looking forward to this movie (be sure to enter site and watch the 'making of' featurettes). It's a blockbuster that will open soon in mainstream America moviehouses.
What's not to get excited about?

Set in The Forbidden City, it looks absolutely spectacular. It's based on an old Chinese story. It stars Gong Li and Asian-Man-of-the-Hour Chow Young Fat. It's shades of (Chinese) Crouching Tiger.. Hero...Flying Daggers and - at the risk of contributing to the typical lumping of Chinese and Japanese into the same All-Asians-are-Alike Pot...this movie even promises something of the silken dreamy imagery we saw in Memoirs...

I first viewed the movie trailer for 'Curse of the Golden Flower' yesterday. HD and I went to see Daniel (WhatABody) Craig as the 'new James Bond' (a silly notion, seeing that there is really only one James Bond. We just allow the other guys to use the 007 moniker and identity for a movie moment or two...).

Ahem.
So - uh - where were we? That Daniel Craig Guy Who Hints of Steve McQueen got me ...well...a bit distracted...

Excuse the digression. Back to 'Curse of the Golden Flower'..
Regarding the trailer, my In-Theater-Exclamation (replete with HubbyDear rolling his eyes and shushing me) was 'OhGod. Another Chinese movie with swishing swords and flying leaps?!' 'So when do we get to see Chinese/Asians as everyday people doing everyday things and not necessarily as SuperLeaperKungFuConcubine types?!?'

Soon after, I settled down.
Follow-up reaction: Really and truly, I'm usually ever-so-happy to see Chinese cinema cross over to Big Screen America - the exposure can be a positive one. Even if I do cringe when it means playing the MartialArtsSuperInscrutableAsianDemeanorDemureFlawless
AsianBeautyWithExquisitelyPaintedRedLips race card once again.

[sigh]

I really hoped the popularity of 'The Joy Luck Club' would kick-start an understanding that Asian-Americans can be, more or less - your 'everyday Joes/Josettes'. People who wake up in the morning and get through their day without resorting to using their jewel-encrusted swords to slice and dice anyone who offends. Without taking a step and having it become a leap into the tops of a bamboo thicket or bouncing light-as-a-feather over rooftops.

Amy Tan is second gen American, yet she was able to successfully offer up something of contemporary life involving ABCs which, when swooped up by Hollywood, became a movie that proved a refreshing change from the Dragon Ladies or KungFu Masters flicks the Hollywood Machine typically churns out.

Are Asians only palatable to the Western moviegoer if packaged in the all-too-familiar stereotypes? Sure, we've come away from the likes of Fu Manchu and the inscrutable Charlie Chan (#1 Son rocked, though, didn't he?). Bespectacled Asian nerds are hopefully a thing of the past. We suffered through completely goofy nerds then admired the fight and might of Bruce Lee. Then we went on to laughing along with (not at) funny groovy wannabe hep fightn' guy Jackie Chan (Hey! Chinese guys can be funny without wearing horn-rimmed specs and acting nerdy!).

The ladies have run the gamut from Anna May Wong's in-the-shadows exotica to Suzie Wong's heart-of-gold prostitute exotica to Lucy Liu's exotica Angel to Ziyi Zhang doing high kicks as an exotica Asian Gang Queen. Not much of a gamut there, though, come to think of it.
Now we have the classic Asian beauties who float around in long silken robes but can also double as defenders of Good and Right using their kick-ass KungFu skills. All well and good.

We're still talking Mainstream here. Ya gotta work, ya gotta bring home the paycheck. Whatever roles are available, right?
[Is anyone else sick of seeing Asians on TV/ in movies wearing white lab coats and/or scrubs?]
You've got to know that Asian actors are chomping at the bit to portray more complex characters in diverse roles. Moreover, they are talented enough to deliver.

Recognition of Asian actors and moviemakers is a good thing. A wonderful thing. But subject matter within the 'Asian genre' as far as popular movies could benefit greatly from a widening of scope. I mean W-I-D-E. It's doable.
Asians are all that and more. So writers, moviemakers and promoters - tap into it awreddy!

(A special Huzzah here for Sandra Oh, who is trying to break through the glass ceiling with whatever opportunities are available...)

A few Asian artsy films earn art house media attention, but that's not hardly enough to educate the movie-going masses and change a few perspectives.
There's no denying the plethora of quality Asian film in the foreign archives, with more in the making every day. Keep in mind that I'm focused on the messages that continue to go out on the Mainstream Waves. Mainstream is where myths perpetuate or have the potential to be dispelled.
Isn't it high time to add a few up-to-snuff Asian reality feathers in our proverbial blockbuster movie cap before calling it a day?

I'm going to see 'Curse'.
I will love it. I will be sure to buy the movie when it's released on DVD. Yet I will always want for more.

Damn it.

Last minute Lydia

Eleventh hour Eleanor.
Too late Tilly.
Catch-up Cassie.
Pokey little (puppy) Petunia.
Lagging behind Letitia.

Holiday cards...eeeeps!
This is the latest I've ever gotten them out.
Truth be known, they aren't even 'out' (read: mailed).

The cards are still on the drafting table. Works in progress.
I am determined to have them ready for mailing by mid-afternoon, and will be taking said cards directly to the main post office for processing!

With any luck, the cards will arrive into the intended snailmailboxes by this Saturday, the 23rd.
My official countdown is on!!!

Egads Edgar.
In the future, perhaps this is a lesson to be learned > to not put this additional holiday pressure upon myself. Keep it simple - and enjoy. Those who need to know I'm thinking about them - will know it all year long - through my words and deeds - e-mails and other e-communication.

Truth be known, Last minute Lydia is actually All the Time Alison.

A spicy life...

...gone awry.

Whilst perusing my latest issue of 'everyday FOOD', I came across an ad for McCormick spices. 'Get rid of your old spices' was the gist of the ad. I state the obvious, but 'Buy new spices' is the other half of the message.

The ad shows a picture of McCormick's 'old' packaging in the square-ish tins as well as a bottle of McCormick's with a 'Baltimore, MD.' on the label. OLD STUFF. At least 15 years old!

I went straightaway to the kitchen drawer where my spices/herbs are kept. Sure 'nuff, there were 6 tins of ancient McCormick's herb-spices in the mix! I'm happy to report, though - that I have NO jars with Baltimore, MD. on the label.

However.
Though I'm 'busted' as far as being one who keeps old spice TINS, rest assured that not all the spices therein are past the usable due date. I like the look of the old-style tins so much that I've refilled two of them in the past fifteen years: whole allspice and whole celery seed.

Hmmmmmm, the cardamom, turmeric and mace tins are indeed old, but still over half full...
[sniff]
Hmmmmmm....they still smell....spicy...
(to keep or not to keep?)
(how often do I actually use cardamom, turmeric and mace anyways?)
(though I am planning to cook more East Indian fare in the coming year....)
(trash 'em and start anew, then?)

Moral of story as interpreted by O Baffled One: buy the spices/herbs you need but don't use often in teeny tiny quantities from the bulk section of a food store. Forego any size of the packaged or bottled stuff if all you need is a pinch.

OOOOPS! Counterproductive advertising!

I'm taking the liberty of combining adverts here, but this post begs the question:
'What's in YOUR spice rack/ drawer/ cupboard?!?'

Chanukah, Hanukkah, Hannukah

This one is for DollinkDaughterLLS

I have confidence in YOU!

The Sound of Music: Edelweiss

Lest we forget...

We should not overlook the fact that for many folks...it will not be a merry happy joyful best season of the year holiday time this month.

It will be:
sad
cold
lonely
depressing

They may be:
- Wanting for basic comforts: shelter, food, support of family/friends.
- Overwhelmed with missing someone who is temporarily absent or permanently gone.
- In need of (and not in receipt of) attention/ acknowledgement/validation of their existence.

The commercial (as well as emotional) OVERABUNDANCE at holiday time may only serve to magnify feelings, wants and needs that are not in keeping with the obligatory merry-making and joyfulness of the season.

Though they may wish to, not everyone has the facility to jump on the Happy Holidays bandwagon...


'The Pain on Christmas Eve' artist: Asbjorn Lonvig

words

Here are just a few words (from a long list) that I'd like to incorporate into my vocabulary and begin using with relative ease and/or wild abandon in my speech (without sounding too highfalutin to my sistahs and brutthahs in da 'hood):
Pundit
Braggadocio
Loquacious
Hubris
Pontificate
Irascible
Salubrious

Of course, I'll always use my many made-up words and phrases: yonky, skizzy over, yoi, snortling, etc.
But increasing one's vocab is always a good thing, wouldn't you agree?

[P.S. I do so luv quite a few of those BeeGees songs...]

KISS me once and KISS me twice

and KISS me once again...

These little chocolate candies look more like miniature game board pieces (which makes them loads of FUN to play with) than Hershey's kisses, but no matter. With that candy-coated outer shell, they taste a lot like double m's. They are YUMMY.

Kissables are made from Hershey's milk chocolate, which of course doesn't compare with the full, rich, deep cacao flavor of Scharffen Berger. So don't compare awreddy!

Instead - KISS me once and KISS me twice and KISS me once again...

Up on the housetop...

The inspiration for today's post is courtesy of DollinkDaughterJrS, who called to chat this morn.

JrS had a hard time falling asleep last night because she was trying to remember the names of Santa's reindeer. Instead of counting sheep, my DollinkDaughter is counting and naming reindeer. She could only remember 7 of the 9 (how many of us can even recall there were a total of 9?!)

I happened to be at the computer when we were having our phone conversation and 'googled' Santa's Reindeer. Within seconds, I was able to tell her the names missing from her reindeer list: Prancer and Vixen. It's interesting to note that as young'uns, we never questioned the reindeer's unusual names: i.e. Blitzen.
Or Donder (aka Donner).

For more info, check out these little known factoids about the reindeer.

Here's another fun reindeer site for you to peruse until the 24th...when...up on the housetop...(there may be a bit of caterwauling..).

NaBloPoMo

Some of you may have noticed that I posted every day in November.
I was kinda sorta participating (without officially signing up for it) in a blogosphere challenge.

The experience of a daily post was much like:

Feeding a brandied fruit starter (which I did in the 1970's).
which was similar to:

Feeding a Never-Ending quick-rise bread sponge (also popular about the same time).
Can't find a link to this, but it's much like the brandied fruit starter. The starter sponge wasn't a small bit of bubbling live culture for (yummy) sourdough bread that could be tucked away in a warm, dark corner of the kitchen to 'do its thing'.

This sponge, with each weekly addition of flour, sugar and water - begat another full-sized recipe of soft batter. There was enough in each batch for baking into one or more loaves of sweet white bread (tasty, but no big whoop). At the time, no one in our family could eat as much bread (not even with it being fresh-baked and slathered with soft creamery butter!) as this stuff yielded.

The major difference between the two 'feeders' is that the fruit concoction was contained in one large glass jar and feeding the bread resulted in an increasing number of bowls of fermenting bread dough all over the kitchen. The quantity of dough grew to such proportions that it threatened to take over the fridge/ kitchen/ adjoining rooms/ house.

Many a Domestic Diva in the 70's & 80's happily accepted a small baggy of this innocent-looking starter from like-minded bread baking friends without foreseeing the inevitable consequence, which was becoming slave to the mixture. Towards the end of its run in my kitchen, friends would turn tail when I offered them yet another little batch of this 'lovely bread starter'...

I finally rid myself of bread starter the same way I got out of the brandied fruit cycle: I quit feeding 'em and kill the damned things off. Sans guilt.

Back to the NaBloPoMo challenge.
I took it on as a personal goal, met it - and am now very happy indeed to see the back of it. Posting every dang day was too much like feeding brandied fruit and bread sponge. The commitment ended up being more of a drag than not.

Having successfully completed NaBloPoMo (arrrrgh, it's such an awkward acronym, isn't it?), I'm returning to the day (or two or more) breather between posts.

To be sure, I will once again enjoy writing the posts the way I did before NaBloPoMo.

BTW: HD suggested I 'refresh' my blogger create-a-post page, and doing that brought back the toolbar I thought was lost forever. Huzzah! for techno input from the otherwise very-low-tech HD!

That's odd...

...very Twilight Zone-ish.

I've just returned from a few days away.
When I tried to create a post, my 'create' page looks VERY DIFFERENT. As in
there-are-no-tools-to-add-links, pix, change font colors etc.

The entire toolbar thingy is gone.

There's no tab to switch views to html (not that I ever used this) and back.
Can't preview.
Nothing.

I don't get it.
Not understanding the terminology, I hesitate to ask blogger.

This sucks.

Hmmmm.
and
Arrrrgh.
(insert unsmiley face here)