VOTE IS IN… OUTSTANDING NYC WEBSITE!

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Kevin Walsh, 'Man of the Hour!'

Every now and then I like to point out certain things that I enjoy and share them with you. One of them is a web site I’ve shared with you in the past: It is written by someone I consider an old friend: Kevin Walsh and here is what it is all about: http://forgotten-ny.com/ The proprietor of Forgotten NY, an author and proof reader who will take this article apart if he ever reads it.

Recently Forgottenny.com was named a website worthy of an accolade richly deserved! So I am pointing it out to you and giving you a gift, a chance to read and follow something worth while and you will not be disappointed. Here is in his words a response to his good work being recognized, and with it I will leave you two alone while I take a nap, see you tomorrow folks!

“I’m honored and humbled (by the way, why do people say “I’m humbled” when they win an award? About twenty years ago, I was truly humbled at a bus stop at Nostrand Avenue and Avenue R when a miscreant winged an apple out of a moving bus window and it hit me in the coconut) because Forgotten New York is the first-ever recipient of Outstanding New York City Website by the Guides Association of New York City.

FNY has been associated with GANYC since 2012. The Guides Association of New York City is New York’s only organization representing licensed, professional New York City Sightseeing Tourist Guides. It’s also one of America’s oldest guides associations.

The awards ceremony, at a packed Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre at Symphony Space, Broadway and 95th Street, March 2, 2015, attracted the cream of NYC-based websites, authors, tourguides, historians, restaurateurs, and many others who contribute to NYC’s status as the world capital of tourism. Among other winners were the Bowery Boys podcast and longtime New York Times Streetscapes columnist Christopher Gray.

The first recent photographs of the webmaster, flapping jowls and all, were occasioned at the ceremony. My guest was my dear friend and fellow Greater Astoria Historical Society board member, DeeAnne Gorman, a renowned singer in her spare time.”

 

http://www.ahrcsuffolk.org/

 

LOOKING FOR GREAT GIFT IDEAS FOR YOUR CHILDREN OR GRANDCHILDREN?

http://www.ebeanstalk.com/?store=42

http://www.mountaintoptoys.com/

Address: 1231 Taft Hwy, Signal Mountain, TN 37377

Phone:(423) 886-6943

Hours: Open today · 10:00 am – 6:00 pm

  

DO YOU WATCH THE BIG BANG THEORY?

You should,it will help you find great websites!

http://forgotten-ny.com/

AN UNIMAGINARY TRIP THROUGH GOOD AND EVIL

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A lawyer was just waking up from anesthesia after surgery, and his wife was sitting by his side. His eyes fluttered open and he said, "You're beautiful!" and then he fell asleep again. His wife had never heard him say that so she stayed by his side.

 
A couple of minutes later, his eyes fluttered open and he said, "You're cute!" Well, the wife was disappointed because instead of "beautiful," it was "cute." She asked, "What happened to 'beautiful'?" His reply was:

 "The drugs are wearing off!"

Being a man of tradition, I have always enjoyed nostalgia and the memories that become re-enforced by the experiences from timeless frozen moments with old photographs and that instantaneous appearance of those past moments once again. For that brief moment you are caught in a time long ago, with all the smells and memories, the nuances and inflections of those times that help re-enforce you feeling of being ‘there’ once again.

When I’m feeling down for some reason, I like to look at the pictures of my kids growing up, and now a new source of let’s say a: joyful revenue, pictures of my granddaughter, La Principessa!

But the best connections I ever make are the ones on the radio or YouTube, the music I loved from the past. There are songs that make me cry and songs that make me nuts, songs that I sing a long with and songs that trigger memories of people in the past, sometimes songs that bring out the evil in me. We all have that, we are all subjected to our memories and culture and it is what makes us who we are.

Whenever I hear Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, I see myself once again, a 3-year old listening to mom’s radio on top of the refrigerator, Catch a Falling Star brings me back to my grandfather’s death.

Third from your right bottom row

But give me a black and white photograph with a thick white border and a squiggly edge and I am back in the 40’s and 50’s, carried away to a way of life, a memory of a park or a school or even a church.

Of course there are the mementos, the things that give a memorial, an attestation to being somewhere at one time, so maybe long ago. A hat, pen, maybe a tool, all give testimony, all carry us all back, one small way to say to someone who has passed, I love you still.

I think sometimes I am so busy that I don’t think about the fact that somehow I got here: something or someone made me what I am today!

One of the greatest pleasures in life I have had is the honor to help run a class reunion. I did two of them and they made my life feel a little more fulfilled than it would have otherwise. It took home again; to classrooms and places I hadn’t seen in many years, I am grateful to my classmates for allowing me that opportunity

http://www.ahrcsuffolk.org/

LOOKING FOR GREAT GIFT IDEAS FOR YOUR CHILDREN OR GRANDCHILDREN?

http://www.ebeanstalk.com/?store=42

http://www.mountaintoptoys.com/

Address: 1231 Taft Hwy, Signal Mountain, TN 37377

Phone:(423) 886-6943

Hours: Open today · 10:00 am – 6:00 pm

DO YOU WATCH THE BIG BANG THEORY?

You should, it will create great memories!

BEING POOR

I was so poor: I was walking down the street with one shoe, someone said, "Hey, you lost a shoe." And I said, "No, I found one!"

Once upon a time, in a land called Brooklyn, there lived a family of poor people. They didn’t know they were poor because all around them lived poor people. They had a strange habit of acting like they were rich and like all the families, ignored their poverty. The children were well scrubbed and dressed neatly with polished shoes and combed hair, and always packed a lunch when on their way to school. No one ever told them they were poor.

What little money had was spent on the basics, parochial school educations and food to feed them and of course shelter and a pack of cigarettes for father. The idea was for the mother to stay home, run the household and be there for the kids, as they barged into the apartment after school and announced: “MOM! I’M HOME!”

What a relief it was for mom to know her little darlings were home, since she had worked all day to clean her house, and now she would have good reason to clean it once again tomorrow. Yes, her children were a blessing.

Father of course worked all day, taking the job to get out of helping with the housework and listening to the kids and the misses. He would return at night to listen to the long litany of complaints that emanated from the jaws of the misses and to put his head in his hands and sob, often thinking of immersing his head, nose first into the lentil soup.

They owned a TV, a luxury but also a necessity for father, since it was his way to drown out the chatter of the little ones, as they fought over their inalienable rights to breath and not have their things touched or their siblings looking at them.

As for luxuries, they had few being so poor they couldn’t even afford to pay attention! They played with toys that were so old the museums accused them of stealing, and play clothes that stood the test of time of both grandma and mom’s sewing needle.

I miss those days growing up in Brooklyn, wish I could relive at least one day more, but we were so poor, the Hell with it.

http://www.ahrcsuffolk.org/

LOOKING FOR GREAT GIFT IDEAS FOR YOUR CHILDREN OR GRANDCHILDREN?

http://www.ebeanstalk.com/?store=42

http://www.mountaintoptoys.com/

Address: 1231 Taft Hwy, Signal Mountain, TN 37377

Phone:(423) 886-6943

Hours: Open today · 10:00 am – 6:00 pm

DO YOU WATCH THE BIG BANG THEORY?

You should, it will enrich your day!

FINDING TRUTH WITHOUT RHETORIC

Sometimes in the social media, aside from the gibberish of posting other people’s ideas, I come across someone who ‘sees’. To ‘see’ to me means to cut off the excess of rhetoric from either a liberal or conservative bent. To free one’s mind from influence and to think it through without prompting and buying into philosophies that are not thought out carefully. Usually such a thinker uses experience, not emotion to justify their belief, that is someone I admire.

I can’t reconcile my beliefs on one issue being conservative and one issue being liberal in philosophy and call myself either liberal or conservative. There is no way I will buy into anyone party platform, the issues are too important.

For myself, I am neither a member of the Liberal or Conservative persuasion, I don’t subscribe to either the Democratic or Republican point of view. I try to stay away from newscasts and media that hold political agendas and infect what should be free and independent opinion.

Recently I had the pleasure to read an opinion from a former high school classmate of mine, who speaks from the heart and from truth, and she said:

“So hard to find those that truly are seeking "truth." As a social worker (and this is Social Work month), I have leaned toward the Liberal and supporting the disenfranchised. I have worked with the poor, the elderly, the chronically ill, victims of domestic violence and have not seen the Republicans lean in a helpful bent. But, lately, I have been so disgusted with every party. They all play games with our lives, like we are figures in a chess game. The stakes, however, are very high. But, this is still the most wonderful country in the world and we are blessed to be able to have our opinions and disagreements. God Bless us all, and we can only pray that we leave our grandchildren a peaceful and sustainable world.”

I think that we need to support each other, not seek ways to prove others wrong, but to enlighten one another through our experiences and willingness to sit and discuss our differences. Sometimes we are so wrapped up in our beliefs that we don’t see and we don’t hear because we are blindly repeating what sounds good to us without asking the most important person what he/she thinks-ourselves.

I think my classmate is right on, there is too much playing with the wrong people, those who suffer most, who get promises from both parties and are used as pawns only for one thing, the disingenuous plans to gain power on the backs of those who are disenfranchised.

FROM THE PAST

Thank you Grandma,

For this food,

That you have made soooo good,

Wrung the chicken,

Plucked its feathers,

Lit the fire,

Chopped the wood,

Folded the mixture

Watched it rise,

Baked the bread,

Picked the fruit,

Made 6 pies,

Shucked the corn,

Washed them clean,

Whew!

I'm tired,

Lord,

Bless this scene.

There once was this man named Fred, a writer and a very good one, who although he was talented, stunk! That’s right, he had the most odious body odor imaginable. His saving grace was his pipe, he smoked it a lot, and in those days it was legal to smoke in the office.

There was something else about him that was amazing; he could do the New York Times crossword puzzle in about 10 minutes. Why? Because he only had to do across, not down because when he finished across, there were no clues to do down.

I once had the unfortunate ‘dis-stink-tion’ of sitting next to Fred at a fancy dinner. It was a large round table dinner holding a priest and about 15 of us. The priest said a prayer before eating this rather large and sumptuous meal. Complete with different wines, and cocktails along with desserts, the white glove service was constant, water glasses filled, napkins folded if one left the table, and to cap it off; cigars and brandy. The agency was celebrating the landing of Lufthansa Airlines as an account, and so the celebration. This was a frequent practice of the owner of the agency, so there were many dinners like this.

Fred had an early warning system built into him, his smell reached you before he even entered the room, and hung around long after he left. He was a good man, a man without hygiene, never said an unkind word, just killed you with his presence.

Sitting through this meal all I wanted to do was gag, and he would lean over to me and whisper a funny line or two into my ear, and I in turn would laugh and gag, stifling both as we went.

After the dinner, I went to hail a cab outside the restaurant to get to Penn Station to catch the train home, the cab pulls up and who is right behind me asking to share the cab but Fred, I could not get away from this man! The stench stayed with me for the whole trip home, lodged in my nose and would not quit! Excuse me a minute…

http://www.ahrcsuffolk.org/

LOOKING FOR GREAT GIFT IDEAS FOR YOUR CHILDREN OR GRANDCHILDREN?

http://www.ebeanstalk.com/?store=42

http://www.mountaintoptoys.com/

Address: 1231 Taft Hwy, Signal Mountain, TN 37377

Phone:(423) 886-6943

Hours: Open today · 10:00 am – 6:00 pm

DO YOU WATCH THE BIG BANG THEORY?

You should, it helps keep your dinner down!

AS BIRTHDAYS GO

Sometimes I wake up grumpy -- other times I let her sleep.

Its really frightening if you think about it, he is still breathing. His wife never killed him, and Lord knows I tried many times, but like the common cold, he just lingers, until you want to kill yourself.

Now I’ve known Phil most of my life, which makes me nervous, irritable, twitchingly crazed from the experience. I though about therapy but stopped short of an appointment when I thought: “What if Phil used him once, he would be no good as a therapist anymore, just a broken man!”

A lot has happened since January of 1965, when we first met. He was already crazy, and I was working on it myself. Being a quiet individual, I sought to have a peaceful education, just go to school, get a degree and get out. But no, instead I met Phil, who was always one step ahead of the police, the dean and his latest girlfriends father.

Phil was poised to make a name for himself and he did: ‘NUTCASE’ and he has through hard work earned it. If you walk along the streets of Staten Island, you will see people, a shell of themselves, talking to no one, shaking and even drooling, these are all acquaintances of Phil’s, people, unsuspecting when they shook his hand for the first time.

We have hung out together for these so many years, 50 to be exact, and the friendship has never faulted, my spirit might have, just like those droolers, but I hung on. Why? It is my solemn duty to mankind to take the brunt of his shenanigans and keep the world safe.

Now he has defied the odds, confused the expectations of the world about him, he is married, with children. They have manage to keep their sanity and maintain a sane appearance, defying the odds!

WOW PHIL, YOU GOT OLD!

You can’t mistaken him either, he is a Jewish kid with a loaf of Italian bread between his teeth and smiling without his horns. His lovely wife Linda was once interviewed by a local radio station and asked how she came to marry him, in which she replied: “married! Who? Us?” Well he says he is.

Anyway, he is crazy and I love it, and love him as a brother!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE BEST FRIEND A GUY EVER HAD! MOZEL TOV!

           

http://www.ahrcsuffolk.org/

LOOKING FOR GREAT GIFT IDEAS FOR YOUR CHILDREN OR GRANDCHILDREN?

http://www.ebeanstalk.com/?store=42

http://www.mountaintoptoys.com/

Address: 1231 Taft Hwy, Signal Mountain, TN 37377

Phone:(423) 886-6943

Hours: Open today · 10:00 am – 6:00 pm

  

DO YOU WATCH THE BIG BANG THEORY?

You should, it will keep you from meeting Phil!

IT SEEMS LIKE ONLY YESTERDAY

Wife: "How would you describe me?"
Husband: "ABCDEFGHIJK."
Wife: "What does that mean?"
Husband: "Adorable, beautiful, cute, delightful, elegant, fashionable, gorgeous, and hot."
Wife: "Aw, thank you, but what about IJK?"
Husband: "I'm just kidding!"

Where have all the days gone? I see the year 1975 and I think: that was only yesterday! But it was 40 years ago! Where are the people of those years? Where have they all gone to?

Where is that little kid I knew, he was full of life and wanted to know everything, but now knows more than I do, where is he? He lives in West Chester and California, not needing me any more.

Where is the dance I went to, getting that date and smelling her perfume long after the dance, and dreaming of her? Where did that go?

Where was the first day of college, the feeling that I had the start of my future in my hands, where is that?

Where is the first day of my career, feeling insignificant and alone, but hopeful, what happened to that.

There was the letter from the motor Vehicle Office informing me that I passed my road test, I was now on my way! What happened to that sense of accomplishment?

I remember the proposal and the courtship, the wonderful dinners and events, the milestones and benchmarks of life, all rolled into one, where are they?

I remember a young bride, with little children and driving ambitions for the future, that future being today, where has it all gone? What happened in between the day and night, why has dusk fallen so soon? Today is just another word for yesterday!

It is funny, I wish I could recall all those days once more, just like an automobile needing a touch up, I would want to recall my life and touch up my life, make it better and remember it more. I would change certain attitudes and expand ideas, but it is too late, you can’t recall, you can’t redo, you can only accept what is.

I wish I were more accepting of new concepts when I was young, not so head strong and unwilling to acknowledge the truths. I believed what I was taught and should have challenged everything I was told, but I was too trusting.

Somewhere in this world there is a young fellow, filled with dreams and ambition, hope for his future and enough piss and vinegar to climb Mt. Everest, swim the English Channel and fall in love all in one day. He will ask himself: Where has it all gone? Some day.

http://www.ahrcsuffolk.org/

LOOKING FOR GREAT GIFT IDEAS FOR YOUR CHILDREN OR GRANDCHILDREN?

http://www.ebeanstalk.com/?store=42

http://www.mountaintoptoys.com/

Address: 1231 Taft Hwy, Signal Mountain, TN 37377

Phone:(423) 886-6943

Hours: Open today · 10:00 am – 6:00 pm

DO YOU WATCH THE BIG BANG THEORY?

You should!

IN A HANDBASKET

Juan comes up to the Mexican border on his bicycle. He's got two large bags over his shoulders. The guard stops him and says, "What's in the bags?"

"Sand," answered Juan.

The guard says, "We'll just see about that. Get off the bike." The guard detains Juan overnight and has the sand analyzed, only to discover that there is nothing but pure sand in the bags. He releases Juan and lets him cross the border.

A week later, the same thing happens. The guard asks, "What's in the bags?"

"Sand," says Juan.

The guard does his thorough examination and discovers that the bags contain nothing but sand. He gives the sand back to Juan, and Juan crosses the border on his bicycle.

This sequence of events is repeated every week for three years.

Finally, Juan doesn't show up one day and the guard meets him in a Cantina in Mexico.

"Hey Buddy," says the guard, "I know you are smuggling something. It's driving me crazy. It's all I think about...Just between you and me, what are you smuggling?"

Juan sips his beer and says, "Bicycles."

Yes, as I cranky old man, I’m telling you this country indeed is going to Hell in a hand basket! There are too many things wrong in society today that really anger me. Now you know I’m a sweet, calm and level headed guy that doesn’t get too excited, but…

I was driving the other day and there is a turning lane next to me that allows you to turn left. Behind me is a young man in a beat up old car and immediately my radar is turned on to him. We are stopped at a light and he is now next to me. Sure enough the light turns green and instead of turning left, Batsman decides to pass me. A cute little trick but it scares the Hell out of me, and left TLW (The Little Woman) speechless. I never realized that driving crazy was all it took!

When I was growing up, I was taught by my parents, teachers and clergy that there has to be some courtesy extended to older people and women in particular. If a lady is getting into your car, you hold the door open for her as a respectful show of her rightful place in society as one who is responsible for the propagation of the species. Without women, there would be no children, no calm and no sense in this world as a whole. Just ask your mom if you don’t believe me. Yet what I see is young people just not holding doors for their wives or girlfriends, I do it for TLW and I think it is something we should continue to do to help us all keep our places in society strong.

I have to say that when I enter the gym for my workout, or leaving it afterward, the young guys do hold the door for me if I am heading in that direction. But I see many younger people leaving buildings and not bothering to be courteous at all. Old people seem to do it for each other but the custom is dying out!

Then there is the barking dog. There are dog owners who will leave their dogs out all day, and the poor animal will bark all day long! These are people who shouldn’t own a dog, not only is it cruel to the dog, it is annoying to the neighbors, and don’t you hear your dog-barking owner?

Ever go into a theatre or supermarket and try to get by people who just stand in the aisle, oblivious to your wishing to pass by? They pretend they don’t see you and want to cause you to walk around them. These morons get only one chance with me, because if I’m coming back and they don’t move, a shove will do it.

Then there is my favorite: the parker who intentionally parks either on a particular angle or over the lines so no one will park next to him/her because they have a brand new car and are afraid of getting a ding in the side. Well guess what, you can’t do that the rest of your car loan: eventually someone will nail you both figuratively and literally!

So folks, let’s be courteous and not selfish, make nice and watch out for each other.

http://www.ahrcsuffolk.org/

LOOKING FOR GREAT GIFT IDEAS FOR YOUR CHILDREN OR GRANDCHILDREN?

http://www.ebeanstalk.com/?store=42

http://www.mountaintoptoys.com/

Address: 1231 Taft Hwy, Signal Mountain, TN 37377

Phone:(423) 886-6943

Hours: Open today · 10:00 am – 6:00 pm

DO YOU WATCH THE BIG BANG THEORY?

You should!

AND THEN THERE ARE DAZE

I never make a mistake, I thought I did once, but I was wrong.

Ever have a day where everything goes wrong? It starts by just getting out of bed and doesn’t end until you get back into bed?

Years ago before desktop publishing, I used to design advertising and I had this long statement I had to hand-letter. Hand-lettering took a long time and you tried to replicate the design of the fonts you wanted, so it wasn’t a simple thing of just quick strokes, but repeated strokes and adding things like serifs to the design of the letter style. I did these in either chalk pastels or magic markers and sometimes pen and ink or paint and brushes and it was tedious.

This one assignment had me lettering 20 lines of type on a page about 14 x 20 inches and it was close work. After about 45 minutes to an hour, I finished and looked at the job, and there stood my source of aggravation, I carried the word ‘the’ which ended a line and carried it to the next line too, a typo that looked like: “Can you find the mistake?” I had to re-letter the whole thing once more!

Once going to work, I got a flat tire and was in Old Westbury near C.W. Post College and so had to call my office to tell them I would be late for a big meeting. I was so in a hurry that I put the spare tire on and forgot to tighten the lug nuts! I drove with this wobbly sound and pulled over to realize my mistake!

But of course the worse mistakes are often the time consuming ones like the time I should have put on my GPS and instead went by a map that I downloaded from the Internet. Coming out of a crowded and congested airport for a major highway, I missed a turn and went hours out of my way and instead of getting to my destination in an hour at 3:30, I didn’t get there until late at night in the driving rain. This was Arizona, and it never rains there!

http://www.ahrcsuffolk.org/

LOOKING FOR GREAT GIFT IDEAS FOR YOUR CHILDREN OR GRANDCHILDREN?

http://www.ebeanstalk.com/?store=42

http://www.mountaintoptoys.com/

Address: 1231 Taft Hwy, Signal Mountain, TN 37377

Phone:(423) 886-6943

Hours: Open today · 10:00 am – 6:00 pm

DO YOU WATCH THE BIG BANG THEORY?

You should, it will keep you on your toes!

I FINALLY COME OUT OF THE CLOSET

So Dave's praying and he prays "God, I've been your loyal servant for all these years - why won't you let me win the lottery! I helped those homeless people, went to church every week for the last 10 years, even when I was sick. But still you don't let me win the lottery!"
And a voice from the Heavens comes down "Dave! Dave! Meet me halfway on this! Buy a lottery ticket!"

I finally came out of the closet, the drawers and even my desk!

Yes an ongoing battle of the home office continues, the valiant fight to eliminate paper, some of it dating to 1994 is ongoing on a few fronts. Hitler fought a war on two fronts and lost, and I’m losing too. My problem lies in the fact that I believe that as soon as you toss it, you will need it.

I mean do I really need a map of Saratoga Springs? When I go to Saratoga, I can get a map from a hotel. Do I need copies of the same info, will one copy disappear and I’ll need another? But won’t it be with the one that disappeared? Do I need TLW (The Little Woman) reminding me that she can’t see the desk?

Then there are scraps of paper, with phone numbers, nothing else, but to whom do the numbers belong? Business records that go way past the statute of Limitations, I am afraid to toss.

Names? I got enough names to start a small city, and I’d need a phone book to list them, because I don’t know whom the heck these people are! Do I throw them away?  NOOOO! They will call me or worse, visit and then what? Nothing, that’s what, but I must hold on to the scraps of paper.

Books, there are so many that I’m not sure if I read them or not. Many are reference books, but toss them? NO WAY!

Now there is the question of an old Rolodex that has addresses from companies I did business with throughout my career. These are businesses that are extinct, as is the thing and service they sold me, or clients that no longer exist. Is it sentimental, is what I do now a sentimental journey?

My dream is to toss everything, lock stock and barrel, but if I do, I just know I’ll need it all, and it will be a hard day. When I die I want everybody as they celebrate, get all that paper and cut it up into little pieces and toss it as confetti.

http://www.ahrcsuffolk.org/

LOOKING FOR GREAT GIFT IDEAS FOR YOUR CHILDREN OR GRANDCHILDREN?

http://www.ebeanstalk.com/?store=42

http://www.mountaintoptoys.com/

Address: 1231 Taft Hwy, Signal Mountain, TN 37377

Phone:(423) 886-6943

Hours: Open today · 10:00 am – 6:00 pm

DO YOU WATCH THE BIG BANG THEORY?

You should, you'll feel better organized!