Memories of Memories: "I'm Your Memory"

Technical difficulties and medical happenings welcome in reruns of technical difficulties and medical happenings.

Originally posted May 25, 2014

That's what Len says every time Seymour says he can't remember.

Not stuff like the thousand of jokes or remnants of Marx Brothers songs or ditties from the lower east side my father can rattle off for hours on end.

No.  Just the next five minutes.  If he and Len are going to the bank or the supermarket. If it was lunch or time to sit the couch.

"I don't remember."

"Don't worry about it.  I'm your memory."

Len is.  He remembers the schedule of each hour and every day.  He know every doctor and every check up.  He knows what meals are incoming and what medicines are running out.  

But I wonder who holds the other memories.  Not the joke or that the supermarket is next.  But the other ones....

...like the smell of the cake his mother used to bake in coffee cans when they lived at Knickerbocker Village.

**

Related Posts:

Sunday Memories:  Lost In The Dangling Conversations

Ode To Spring, New York Old School Style

Encore:  When Does A House Become A Home

Friday's Child is Loving and GivingAnd Is Practicing Detente

Two adopted cats

after 18 months,

have accomplished

what some Governments

around the world

have not.

Learned to live together.  

And when the need arises, 

attack only the shadows...

You too can have 

international peace in your home!!!!

PERFECT PAIR OF LOVELY LADIES

NEEDS A HOME!!!

Meowsers, this girl is a stunner! Molly and her sleepy sister are very cuddly and affectionate. They rub themselves against the bars of their cage asking for attention and swoon at the gentlest touch. They are 8 years old and need a home together because they've lived their entire lives as a dynamic duo. They will make wonderful pets for a very lucky cat lover! Come visit them during Social Tees' regular hours (see below!).

ANYONE HAVE DOG CLOTHES 

TO DONATE  TO 

SOCIAL TEES' RESCUES?

It's freezing out there and all the rescue puppies and dogs need some extra layers! Social Tees will more than happily take used sweaters, coats, shirts, etc.

Please email samantha@socialteesnyc.org if you have questions.  Donations accepted anytime during regular hours! Thank you!! (This well dressed boy was adopted last week!)

EMERGENCY!! 

THIS POODLE NEEDS A FOSTER HOME 

NOW!!!

His foster parent just canceled and Social Tees doesn't want him stuck in a cage!

Coco is amazingly friendly and playful, awesome with other dogs and all people he meets. Loves to cuddle, 8 yrs old, only 12 lbs, just groomed.

Email samantha@socialteesnyc.org NOW if you can help! Pickup is ASAP at Social Tees

SOCIAL TEES IN THE EAST VILLAGE

COME VISIT!

COME VOLUTEER!!!

COME ON OVER!!!

Mon to Fri 5pm-7pm
Sat & Sun 12pm-4pm

Social Tees
325 East 5th Street
New York, NY  10003
socialteesnyc.org
https://www.facebook.com/SocialTeesAnimalRescue

Waiting for Godot. Or the World to End.Whichever Shows Up First.

Used to be a Sunday afternoon found the Henry Street Theater packed with kids.

Used to be going to the theatre was more normal that watching TV. 

Used to be being in a theater was as precious as riding the Staten Island Ferry.

So I was surprised to see them sit down.  And thrilled.  Suddenly, braving bitter winds and cranky subways to see a show didn't see like such a rare event.

It reminded me of what leaving home used to be all about: watching alive, vibrant masters of their craft do what came naturally.  In this case, re-enacting the radio show, the War of the World and my favorite book, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. 

I hear next week there is even more.  Back to the Future!!

BRING THE KIDS!!!

**
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Sunday Memories: Television, Old School

Sunday Memories: Getting Out of Town

The Stork Has Arrived!

And when you write about cloning, it's an extraordinary stork, indeed.

Welcome to the world, The Only Ones.

An extraordinary book by Carola Dibbell and published by Two Dollar Radio is now available for purchase, for delight, for a flight into another world.  Be the first on your block.

***

Originally Posted June, 2014 and REVISED!

You can spend years in a room.   Wondering if that whole "caterpillar in a cocoon" thing was just a fairy tale that kept you locked up.   Until one day you're done and it's finished and you push open the door to a huge world and you come out, bursting with brilliance that would make the most beautiful butterfly weep with envy.

And that's exactly what Carola Dibbell's debut novel, THE ONLY ONES has done. 

And it IS AVAILABLE NOW!!

Below are excerpts from TWO DOLLAR RADIO's announcement and interview:

With a stylish voice influenced by years of music writing, The Only Ones is a time-old story, tender and iconic, about how much we love our children, however they come, as well as a sly commentary on class, politics, and the complexities of reproductive technology. It is an outstanding book, grand in scope, relatable, heartbreaking, accessible, that I know will turn a lot a lot of heads.

TWO DOLLAR: The Only Ones is your debut novel, and we’ve scheduled it to publish in March 2015, which is a month before your 70^th birthday. That’s pretty rad.

CAROLA:  Having said all that about the dignity of unrecognized labor, let me be clear. It is a life-changing event to have  work I’ve put so much into about to head out in the world. I find myself thinking I should finally start cardio workouts so I’ll be alive to write the next novel. I think about the shape of a life with this late-breaking twist.  It is very, very sweet.

It also would have been sweet at sixty.

Even fifty.

Happy Birthday, Carola!


And thank you for being such an inspiration.

**
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Sunday Memories of the Future of Love

A long time ago, watching life through Fred and Ginger movies or Gene Kelly with just about anyone, I thought love would come just like it did in plays.  A happy ending - period! For the rest of your life. All I had to do was be as beautiful and slim and graceful and smoldering and...I was none of that, even with eye makeup.

When I got older, I thought love would come in flowers and I would become a melting heart as they were handed to me.  And there was a time they did and sometimes I did.  Except, while the flowers smelled so sweet and were touted as an expression of great feeling surpassing words, they didn't change the snappish remarks or the broken promises and my heart just wouldn't stop being... well... tough.

I always thought love was a wall of candy, particularly licorice or chocolate .  It definitely felt that way at the beginning.  It's just that when the wall was all eaten up, Love was no where to be found.  What was left was just great regret and an awful feeling I still was myself only much, much fatter.


While all this swirled about, life shifted and changed and lost and gained and knees got cranky and waistlines stubborn and slowly the miscellaneous burned away.

What was left meant more than candy and flowers and fairy tales told in song and dance.

It was someone's absolute delight in whoever it was I was and fierce support for whatever it was I could do.

On a day where candy and roses filled the street, and arms seemed filled with hearts and stuffed animals, the Mariner gave me the best Valentine ever.  "Look," he said.

And without even needing any more words, or having to be told where to look,  in the snow and late hour we both stopped, took out our cameras and loved each other for nothing else except being who we were.

**
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Friday's Child Is Loving and GivingAnd Wants to BeYOUR Valentine's

SMOOCH A POOCH 

THIS VALENTINE'S DAY 

AT THE SPECIAL ADOPTION EVENT 

SATURDAY!!!!

Let Social Tees' pooches smother you with puppy love this Valentine's Day! Have your picture taken with Suzy the irresistibly gorgeous rescue bulldog in the kissing booth*, meet insanely cute adoptable dogs, sip yummy cocktails, and get 20% off your purchase at Love Thy Beast.

Where: Love Thy Beast -- 341 Lafayette St. (at Bleecker)
When: February 14, 2015 from 12pm to 3pm

*$5 donation for a kiss and photo in the booth... which you can of course share all over Instagram etc. ALL proceeds go straight to animal rescue.

MAMA POODLE

AND THE POODLE PUPPIES

NEED A NEW FOSTER HOME!! 

This tiny mama and her even tinier babies are a little stressed in their current foster home because there are too many other pets around. Can you help?? Ideally needs a quiet home with no other pets or with a quiet room where this family can chill alone. Fostering starts ASAP and lasts a month. Email dimitra@socialteesnyc.org if you can help!!!

SUCCESS SUCCESS SUCCESS!!!

Lucy aka Sasha traveled up to NYC from TN a few months ago.  She is about 8 or 9 years old and had been living at a sanctuary for a few years before heading north to find her forever family.  She chilled out in a few foster homes up here before her soul mates came along, and now they couldn't be happier.

Her new mom says: ""We renamed Sasha Lucy (to which she has quickly taken on the nick name Lucy Goosey). She's been a great addition to our little family- and adjusted well to her new brother Max (also a senior and a rescue!). Her extremely calm temperament was a blessing for that transition- and is overall! Yet another benefit of a senior!!

At first she was a bit aloof as her foster parents noted but she seems to be settling in- we're forcing our cuddles and hugs on her and she's gradually starting to come to us for them instead of the other way around!!! We also now get lots of tail wags and eye contact which may seem small but is so rewarding- she even gets excited when we get home! We love her dearly and are so happy to have her as part of our crew!"

THE GOLDIE REPORT

(a Social Tees' alum)

IT'S A BIRD! NO IT'S A PLANE! NO!!! IT REALLY IS A BIRD!!!

SOCIAL TEES IN THE EAST VILLAGE

COME VISIT!

COME VOLUTEER!!!

COME ON OVER!!!

 

Social Tees
325 East 5th Street
New York, NY  10003
socialteesnyc.org
https://www.facebook.com/SocialTeesAnimalRescue 

Night Shifts...

... and things becomes clearer.

**
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You Got Your Nature I Got Mine

The only trees I knew growing up were carefully protected by cement and pretty linked fences and rules about not touching them.  Most of them were tall.

Since they weren't something to play with, who the hell cared.  They were just there and all the old ladies sat under them kvetching and gossiping. 

And yeah, the trees filling the Men's Park let me know the time of season and when summer was coming and when summer was leaving but they were more like a clock.

No, the forests I looked out upon were not grown from things.  They were made of things . They were the Con Edison smokestacks up on 14th.  They were the water towers of the old buildings my parents had struggled to get out of into better housing.  They were as normal as the sound of the subway  They were my forest and my view.

They were my nature.

I still don't get trees.  I mean, I like them and everything.  They're nice to sit under and nice to walk under.  They are very, very pretty to look at.  But if you ask me to take out my camera and take a picture of one that tells its story, I'm lost.

No.  What makes me whip out my camera in delight and awe and repeatedly look at the horizon in wonderment is steel and smoke and wood holding water and the millions of stories I told myself all the years I've stared out on them.

**
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Sunday Memories of Winter

Sunday Memories of Winter

dying Brooklyn snowman

photo by E.M. Smith

Snow days used to be fun.  The only thing going 40 miles an hour was a car on some highway, and school was closed because secretly the Board of Ed wanted to say home too.

As the inches piled up and covered the tidy squares of grass no one was never EVER allowed to touch, let alone walk on, every kid on the Lower East Side raced downstairs.  It was the only time we were allowed to step onto that carefully kept piece of nature.

We hooted and hollered, jumped and leaped and rolled and got wet and cold, and then rushed into a lobby to throw our mittens on the radiator to dry up enough so we could rush out again for such a rare day, the smell of steaming wool trailing us

Except for all our happy I-don't-gotta-go-to-school joy on a rare day, all around us the city felt like a lullaby.  Soft and quiet and peaceful. 

**
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MAMA POODLE AND 
THE POODLE PUPPIES!

Social Tees rescued this obscenely cute and wonderful poodle out of a kill shelter in Los Angeles area two weeks ago, at which point she was super duper pregnant.

She gave birth to five healthy, equally cute and wonderful little curly puppies last week!!!  Big thanks to her awesome foster family who helped her through the birth.

Now Social Tees needs to collect the puppy supplies to take proper care of this mom and her babies over the next two months -- wee pads, cleaning supplies, puppy food, small dog food, and more.

PLEASE HELP!!???

You can make a material donation via Social Tees' Amazon Wish List here.

BABY NEEEEEEEDSSSSSSSSSSSSSS YOUUUUUUUU!!!!!

Baby is a sweet little lady but she doesn't really like other animals so she's miserable at the shelter. Please help this girl! She needs a foster home ASAP where she can be the only pet, chill out, and soak up all of your attention. Please email samantha@socialteesnyc.org if you can give this girl a chance.  She needs you!!

POPPY IN THE HOUSE!!

(Or on the Chair...)

Poppy arrived this morning and has already made herself at home with her two foster sisters, Toast and Muppet - @toastmeetsworld and @muppetsrevenge. Thank goodness for these lovely Cavalier ladies and their amazing family! Poppy is about 6 years old and only 8 lbs, as sweet and toy-like as they come. Interested in adopting?  Complete an application at socialteesnyc.org!

SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE

SOCIAL TEES HAS 
MODKAT LITTER BOXES 
FOR CHEAP!!!!

These schmancy top entry litter boxes by Modko go for $180 retail. BUT Social Tees is selling gently used or new Modkats for only $50 each.

Woah!

Social Tees is part of Modko's special "Return to Good" program where returned boxes are donated to shelters.  If you're interested in buying one, come to Social Tees during regular hours or email contact@socialteesnyc.org for more details.

SOCIAL TEES IN THE EAST VILLAGE

COME VISIT!

COME VOLUTEER!!!

COME ON OVER!!!

Goldie, a Social Tees alum, hanging out


Social Tees
325 East 5th Street
New York, NY  10003
socialteesnyc.org
https://www.facebook.com/SocialTeesAnimalRescue

Night Songs from the Second Floor (revisited)

**
Related Posts:

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Walkin' After Midnight

Guest Artist: Marian Lews, Birdwatcher - Walk This Way

Marian Lewis, truly a city birdwatcher, knew something was up...

As I hurried up First Avenue with all the other people walking briskly, something caught my eye.

There on the sidewalk, by the wrought iron fence around a tree pit, was a small bird.

It was not unusual to see birds on the Upper East Side.  Often pigeons or sparrows scurried and fluttered by winging their way into a bush or tree.

This one was different.  This one hopped out into the middle of the sidewalk and started walking down the sidewalk with the flow of human traffic.

I knew it was a starling. I kept walking the opposite way, but kept glancing over my shoulder.  This bird was still marching boldly in the middle of the sidewalk.  I turned toward it thinking I would need to rescue it.  Maybe it couldn’t fly.

But it seemed fearless.  I walked faster to catch up.  Just as I was closing in, it reached the intersection of the cross street.  I was not near enough to grab it before it got to the curb but I could see it was a young starling not yet afraid of the perils of New York streets.

It stood still at the curb’s edge.  I wondered if I could get to it.  Suddenly it flew across the street just skimming over the moving cars.

“Surely it will perch in a tree,” I thought.  But it came to a landing right on the sidewalk across the intersection.  Standing on my tiptoes, I looked over moving traffic, straining to see where it would go.

The little starling continued strutting down the middle of the sidewalk amidst the parade of human feet.  No one paid mind to my little bird of wonder.  I turned around and walked on my way.


**
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Encore: Sunday Memories ofWondering Why: Untitled Puzzlement

Originally posted January 28, 2010, it still begs the question why Art loses out. Even when it isn't Super Bowl Sunday.




Watching a dedicated amateur pianist in an under-heated recital hall in the basement of an institution that somehow has become less important and much less funded that watching over-muscled men bash each other into early dementia and Parkinson while the whole world cheers them on.

Friday's Child is Loving and Giving and ABSOLUTELY PRECIOUS!

SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Henry and his little boy

 Social Tees says:  It's moments like these that keep us going when things get challenging... which they often do in rescue. We hold onto these messages and memories in our mental treasure box and lovingly bring them out on darker days.  The scruffy little mutt here was adopted just a few days ago and has happily found a boy to call his own.

His new mom says: "Henry (formerly Sonny) is already right at home. True to his foster mom's description, he is most content cuddling next to you and getting a good belly rub. He follows the kids around as they play and has staked out two favorite napping spots around the house.

Henry is loving the snow and according to my 4-year-old son, he likes making snow angels (really, its him romping and rolling around in the snow and doing some kind of funny army crawl with a goofy grin on his face).

Every morning, my 2- year-old daughter excitedly gets out of her crib to go right to Henry and gives him a kiss and she makes sure to end the day the same way.

 We couldn't be happier to have Henry join our family. Thanks to Social Tees and the AMAZING foster care families who so lovingly take care of these babies until they arrive their forever homes!"

Social Tees says:  Thank goodness for fabulous families like Henry's. Thank YOU for providing our rescue dogs with the forever homes they so dearly deserve.

NEW PUPPIES ARE WAITING 

TO MAKE YOU HAPPY!!!!

We have lots of puppies available for adoption now!!! Omg!!!! Get 'em while they're cute!!! Just kidding, they will always be cute lol.

Golden mixes, lab mixes, Schnauzer mixes, and more!! Find details at socialteesnyc.petfinder.com and complete an application at socialteesnyc.org NOW!!!

ELLA THE BOXER 

NEEDS A FOSTER HOME!

Ella is an amazing lady with a heart of good and a strong spirit.

She had it rough for a while where she was used and abused as a breeding machine, but she's been resting up and recovering for a few months and is feeling much better!

She is 5 years old, about 55 lbs, and as absolutely fantastically warm and loving as dogs come. She is friendly with everyone, adores cuddling, walks well on a leash, and NAPS ALL DAY - PERFECT FOR A WRITER!!!  Or anyone else who sits still for long periods of time.

Please give this girl a warm home and lots of cuddles! Fostering starts today and lasts 2 to 4 weeks, pickup is at Social Tees. Email samantha@socialteesnyc.org NOW if you can help!!!

SOCIAL TEES IN THE 
EAST VILLAGE!!!

Come Volunteer!!!

Come Visit!!!!

 Come On In!!!!!

 Social Tees 
325 East 5th Street, NY, NY 10003  
socialteesnyc.org 
www.facebook.com/SocialTeesAnimalRescue

From a Distance...

No matter where I was coming from, whether it was heartbreaking or hopeful, lovely or just the work of life, the minute I saw that skyline I knew I was home and whole again.

**
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Finding Florence In Her New York

Life goes on.

What was once normal or familiar or home becomes a memory almost out of grasp.  Like trying to remember what the street used to look like before it became a gallery of high-end chains.

But, every once in a while, a homage to Florence bursts out of lost days and a former city.  In this case, a fierce runner, unimpressed and not intimidated by a blizzard, charging down Second Avenue.

**
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An Encore of Sunday Memories: When We Were Young*

An encore of the delight  that turning a year older used to bring.  And a thrill that delight has returned.  The new number may be 56 but the glee of being loved and celebrated just like at age five has been the best present ever.



It was our Christmas. And for us it happened twice a year because whoever's birthday it wasn't still got a couple of presents.

a troll doll
a guitar

The rustling of packages being snuck into the house, the sneaking around the closets

a real doll baby
an owl bank

figuring out ways to open the presents without leaving a trace, the desperate wait on the eve of turning older, the early morning rush into the living room or the kitchen to

books
books
books

the pile, the pile, the wonderful wonderful pile of presents, everything we could of wanted or hoped for or wished for and even if it wasn't it was thrilling a day where abundance showered upon us.

a real bra
a tin rolling fish
a microscope

There was no other time during the year this kind and delicious and rich.



*A.A. Milne

Sunday Memories: The Long And Winding Road

The last of this week's series commemorates LoFish Studios which will close in a few days because of a rent increase.

It wasn't just a place for their art to grow, but a place for New Yorkers of every ilk to sing, like the rockers, the hip hoppers, the opera singers, the jazzers.  

And the man who wanted to record a song for his father who had just died.

As El said, there is no other affordable place in New York for that. 

**
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Elisabeth Lohninger

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Friday's Child Is Loving And GivingAnd You Deserve That In Your Life

Every day, Goldie and Jupiter keep my heart open just by being fabulous.

 Goldie being fabulous

WANT YOUR OWN FABULOUSNESS???

Whitey is 6 years old and extremely absurdly friendly. He's a total catch, wonderful with everyone!

SUCCESS STORY!!!
YOU'RE NEVER TOO OLD!!!!

Social Tees rescued 10-year-old Kaiser aka Elvis (the darker dog) a few months ago when his former owner was hospitalized.   At the Kaiser had terribly long nails and wretched teeth, and he was very overweight. He had spent almost no time outside for years.

Social Tees placed Kaiser in one of the best foster homes ever had the pleasure of finding where he had time to decompress and socialize and learn to be a dog again. He also had a dental (most of his teeth were rotten so they were removed) and lost loads of weight! Then fate recently helped his forever family find him, and now he has a Dachshund brother named Luddy. 

His new mom says: "Kaiser is great. He's very cute and funny. He has a lot more energy than you might think and acts crazy outside and when we come home from work. He kind of hops with happiness. He cracks us up. He's always loose in the house even if we are not home. 

I feel bad about his teeth, I think he misses them, but he eats canned Natural Balance very easily. Sometimes we have farina together as well. We love him and so does everyone who meets him. He's irresistible. 

You know, he lost his owner who took marginal care of him, went to a great foster home, had a ton of medical stuff done in a short time, then had to leave his foster and come here -- and none of that got him down. 

And because of Social Tees his luck turned and his never failing hope was rewarded. So many dogs everywhere, softly wagging their tails and hanging on to hope. You show fate that a life in trouble doesn't have to stay that way.  I tell people that's what you do; you wrestle with fate until happiness wins. I say, 'Consider adopting that older dog. You won't regret it.'" WOW. Literally choking back tears right now."

NOW'S YOUR CHANCE!!!!

This warm, loving Ridgeback-Greyhound mix was just abandoned because her former owner can no longer care for her. 

She is 7 years old and about 55 lbs. She is a little shy but very sweet.   She's good with other dogs and well mannered.

Please help!!! We can't bare to put her in a cage after she's been through so much. Give this girl a warm place to sleep!!! Fostering starts tonight and lasts 2 to 4 weeks; pickup is at Social Tees; email samantha@socialteesnyc.org NOW if you can help!!!! 

SOCIAL TEES IN THE 
EAST VILLAGE!!!

Come Volunteer!!!

Come Visit!!!!

 Come On In!!!!!

 Social Tees 
325 East 5th Street, NY, NY 10003  
socialteesnyc.org 
www.facebook.com/SocialTeesAnimalRescue