M.C.N.Y.

Sing it to the tune of .. yeah you guessed it.

When you tell people you plan a visit to the Museum of the City of New York, they usually have a positive response.

My friend M said something to the effect of , “I love that place.” You get the drift.

I loved the Manny Vega exhibit. That especially, but there was a lot to like in every gallery.

So, a chance to enjoy tea [and crumpets?] with a curator just seemed like a perfect lunchtime activity.

One such event passed us by on the 2nd (with Sarah Henry), and The Curator’s Cup: Afternoon Tea with Sarah Seidman is on Oct 22nd, aka this Tuesday.

I am intending on attending the November 19th. I look forward to The Curator’s Cup: Afternoon Tea with Lilly Tuttle.

New York Teams

Just as we spent our time at the Garden [and one crucial year at Radio City Music Hall] watching the Lady Liberty play hoops, we also rode the 7-line to see the Mets.

The year hubby got us Saturdays season tickets was also the year that 2 New York teams competed in the World Series. We went to all the final series, including several World Series games.

Right now, I am watching my husband’s team battle the LA Dodgers for the National League Championship.

Will they, like the Liberty that tied up their contest last night, come out 1-1 today?

It’s a beautiful sunny afternoon in California, and, at this early point, the New Yorkers have tagged Ryan Brasier for a 6 to nothing lead.

My husband grew up going to Ebbets Field with his dad. Since he was a Giants fan, he never mourned the Brooklyn Dodgers when they left for the West Coast. He and I never  discussed his feelings about the NY Giants leaving the Polo Grounds for San Francisco.

By the time he started teaching me the fine points of baseball [and there are so many fine points to this game], he was a solid fan of the Queens team. Despite my ignorance about the sport, I was in the Yankees camp.

To be honest, I tend not to be your traditional fan. I like a good game and root for interesting play rather than for my team. I mean, now that I understand what’s in play.

This attitude tends to rankle dieharders, but I like it.

Sports partisanship is limiting, but tonight, I want to see our NY guys win. Another Subway World Series would be exciting I think

Go, METS! Go, Yankees! GO Liberty!

Speaking of New York teams, each borough but one has hosted a baseball arena.

The very expansive Staten Island only has a Triple A field near the ferry terminals. It could build a ballpark and (Field of Dreams) “they would come.” Major League baseball fans delivered by ferry or spilling over bridges would love another National League team. [Yeah, I don’t like the DH thing.] The S.I. Ferriers might be a big draw. Don’t you think?

NEW YORK LIBERTY!

For years, many years ago, my husband would get us tickets for New York Liberty games. I like basketball and although he didn’t we went to see the Knicks play as well.

For a woman like me – who enjoys basketball and roots for women, the WNBA was a must-see. Burt got tickets.

In all those years, the ladies of the Liberty never made it to a championship

We had shirts because that was a frequent giveaway before each game. Until recently, when it fell apart, we had a 25th anniversary WNBA tee.

I contend that if they win their first championship, the New York Liberty owe us a couple of t-shirts this year.

Look at ’em now!

Leisure time

What is your favorite hobby or pastime?

Pasttimes are crucial to keeping us involved. Hobbies often augment and eventually replace work in our lives.

Leisure activities become the “what we do” when we retire from our jobs.

For some of us, the bowling league runs parallel to our paycheck activity. It might be karaoke Tuesday that makes your week even while you’re still going to a 9-to-5.

Some of us are serious about physical endeavors, like preparing for a marathon or biking new trails.

I enjoy my classes at the gym alongside long chats with friends over lunch or coffee. Or just like that- even if we communicate by that new-fangled texting thing.

I consider writing my actual occupation now. I feel as if this is what I have grown into and prepared for in all my years past.

I have landed on a true pasttime to pass my time.

It’s past time

There is a point in life when we realize that there is more behind us than ahead.

We have come to the juncture when we won’t squander our time or reconfigure who we plan on being.

This may sound grim to those of you who still can experiment on your life’s path. Know that it is not.

It is a different kind of luxury.

For me, it’s a reflection-point. I am grateful for getting this far.

It  is an unimaginable age; aka one I never thought of as being old because I was sure that 30 or 50 were old.

I have grown into my own true self. And I can still learn more about who that self is.

Here I am with less time and lots of time on my hands. All the time in the world.

Journaling

Lately, my favorites have been those that specialize in Japanese paper goods; there are so many adorable, and useful, little amusements to discover. I recommend starting out in midtown, at Kinokuniya USA, a giant bookstore whose basement level is almost entirely devoted to notebooks, pens, and letter-writing sets. You can then trek to the East Village, to niconeco zakkaya, a cute-as-a-button spot that specializes in journals, sticker books, rubber stamps, and washi tape.

The New Yorker Daily                     By Rachel Syme

There are many platforms for the many disciplines of self-expression.

Journaling is a way to get control of your life or at least chronicle its natural disarray. Generally, the journal is used to report to oneself on oneself.

In my books, it’s separate from the  blog posts I share with others. [There is an intended pun in there.] My writing is often a chronicle of my life, but the one I post is more organized than it would be in a journal.

Here, I try to make some order of it all. My posts, whether poems or opinions, intend to make a point.

My preferred “journal” is Samsung Notes. I type, therefore, I can read what I wrote. In my long hand, yesterday’s entry would remain a mystery; well, not just yesterday’s but most days’.

Nonetheless, I am attracted to the paperback book journals Rachel Syme describes and recommends.

Greetings

Describe your life in an alternate universe.

I never noticed this before, but we oldies nod and smile as we pass on the street.

I was going to blame my lack of attention to this being a new phenomenon or to me being new to oldness.

Truly doubt either proposition.

It is kind of nice, a recognition of our cohort in a population of carriages or bikes.