Metamorphosis:Après Le Déluge,Avant Le Déluge

The cupboard, painted, fixed, shelved.....

There is no history in it and there's no storytelling coming out of it. 

It suddenly looks like the homes all the expensive magazines tout, insisting real people really do live there, and all the clothes match in neat, small piles.

But, real life isn't small, monochromatic or neat.  It's overflowing, messy and filled with color.  It gets stuffed into corners and falls on the floor.  It clashes and sticks out and everything seems to be arguing with everything else.

Still, for just a brief moment, ignoring all the stuff piled all over the place, waiting patiently to be put away, the fantasy of a life this still entices.  Sorta like interior design porn.

 **
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Metamorphosis: Skeletons In Closet

When One Door Closes And You're Headed Towards The Other Door Opening...

Emptying Into Open

Rainy Day and Monday Encore: "You Say You Want A Revolution..."

Rainy days and Mondays lend themselves to glancing back at other times.  Although not necessarily better.  Or worse.  Just a reminder of the original home

Originally posted July 5, 2009

Monty's Mom asked what everyone in the courtchyard asked. "What are you doing with your mother's apartment?"

(actually it was more like "whatcha gonna do wit ya motha's apartment?" note: the "t" is silent)

I gave the usual answer about renting and the piano.

"You still play?"

No. I had put my foot down at 13 and refused to play anymore. If I was going to be forced to study music, go to music school and attend the music department at the School for the Performing Arts for violin, I wasn't also going to study the piano. In a rare nod to my individualization, Florence agreed.

I never liked it, I told Monty's Mom.

"Well," she said, "You were a rebellious one."

I was? I had played with Monty when we were little little but like most of the neighbors in the courtchyard it never really felt like anyone knew me, just of me as I ran past in a game of tag.

"Oh yeah. You were power to the people. I mean it was the 60's. But yeah, you were. You were little, too. Yeah. Power to the people."

Sunday Memories: When Late Comes Early

When the sky gets darker, the lights brighter and the streets come alive, Childhood reappears in the middle of middle-age.

The delight of staying up late, the excitement of holidays coming even if we didn't celebrate them, the flurry of promises made between pedestrians and cars...

**
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Sunday Memories Of Light And Night

Miracle On Grand Street

Friday's Child Is Loving And GivingAnd Happy And Healthy!

GOLDIE UPDATE!

(RESCUED BY SOCIAL TEES 
AND ADOPTED BY HER NEW YORK)

Goldie, no longer a painfully skinny girl, runs the show at home.  

And when she needs a nap, she curls up in curtains by a good poem and rests...

LOTUS IS SO HEALTHY 

SHE IS READY TO GO HOME!!!!

YOUR HOME!!!

Lotus, the super cute munchkin, and FORMER-abused dog is well on her way to total recovery. Needs a loving, fun, warm foster home with someone who can send Social Tees lots of great photos so it can continue sharing her story at Facebook.com/SavingLotus. 

She's 5 years old, 15 lbs, and wee pad trained and housebroken.  Loves going for walks and playing, great with other animals, very food driven, needs daily meds and to gain weight. 

Email samantha@socialteesnyc.org if you can foster her!!

AND DAISY IS DANDY!

Daisy, the diabetic Shih Tzu mix that was stuck in a cage at Social Tees' vet for months and recently FINALLY found an amazing foster home where she could be a dog again?    She's still doing awesome... but STILL NEEDS A FOREVER HOME!!!!   Her foster mom says: "Nothing excites Daisy more than going for a walk or meal time. She jumps and dances, she talks and practically sings.  When she's tired she either curls up next to you on the couch (she's a great snuggle buddy) or puts herself to sleep by sprawling in the middle of your bed by herself, ha!   She's a sweet girl who just wants to be loved with a spunky little attitude who loves to have a little playtime each day. She's great about getting her shots at mealtime, so it's not a big deal at all. Daisy is a wonderful, sweet girl who deserves a home with as big if a heart as she has!!"

CAN'T FOSTER OR ADOPT??  HOW ABOUT A PARTY!!!

    ** Related Posts:    GOLDIE'S STORY 

LOTUS' STORY

DAISY'S STORY

Son Of New Camera, Old City

Metamorphosis: Skeletons In The Closet

It was like this in 1976, only without the nice fancy wooden pole that let it pretend it was a real cupboard.  A beat-up broken one, badly painted white was there instead. 

It was into this cupboard I'd crawl, when, all the age of 17 or 18, I got struck by words or deeds too big to stand up to.   I'd pull the doors shut after me and only then, in a darkness made by roommate's clothes could I weep in fury or heart-break.

Life got bigger, badder, better.  The stuff inside the cupboard became a mirror of the changing world inside the apartment:

• a roommate's wardrobe
• another roommate's wardrobe
• yet another roommate's wardrobe
• the winter coats of a long-time partner
• the boxes, containers, files of my own efforts in the world
• the wardrobe of a new partner
• my own wardrobe after throwing out all the clothes of that no-longer-new partner (well, he told me to)

And as things came and went (really, he told me to throw everything out), odd flotsam and jetsam got left behind, becoming a graveyard of the mundane and the marvelous:

• the dozens of reel-to-reel audio tapes documenting my father's youth, Florence's talent, my sister and my playing our piano pieces with Florence drilling us to recite the piece's name and composer as we practiced performing before whirling tape
• the reel-to-reel player
• the ice machine and the ice compressor heralding in a new age of old knees and middle-age ailments
• the bags of wrapping paper and bows and boxes from just received gifts that could be used for presents because you know you never should buy any of that stuff new
• hats marking different commercial or travel or sports moments that would be forgotten if any hat got thrown out
• a box of jewelry no longer worn but standing as a monument of family fissions and vengeful acts
• a really bad painting of a naked woman in the ocean that was so bad it couldn't even be hung in a bar over the cash register (I was only 13)
• my beloved old wooden toys I used to decorate little homes for my dollies, wishing I could live in with them

 That collage of old skeletons, stuffed precariously into cracks and peeling paint, stayed that way...

...until almost forty years later, flushed with a little bit of money and magazines and catalogs touting how closets could become meccas of  easy-to-use serenity, a new partner's teeshirts and hats marking different commercial or travel or sports events needed a place to go. 

There are no more reasons left to crawl into dark corners.  Very little strikes that hard any more.  Emptied of the past, that old cupboard will soon be filled with a much nicer life.

**
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Beauty In The Eye Of...

Sunday Memories: The Difference

Sunday Memories:Friending,Old School Style

We hung out in pizza parlors, rarely sitting since there often weren't chairs and tables, but it didn't matter.  We were too busy talking, laughing, joking and eating a second slice to even notice.
**
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Sunday Memories: Our Facebook

A Labor Of Love

Friday's Child Is Loving And GivingAnd A Bear Of A Babe

MAGGIE THE BABY BEAR!!!

Also known as Maggie the adorable, loveable, delicious, cuddly CHOW!  

Maggie is about 3 years old, 35 lbs, and a major love bug. She adores being held and she she loves cuddling. She's friendly with everyone, very mellow, and housebroken. Interested in adopting this not-bear?

Complete an application at socialteesnyc.org! — with Lauren E. O'Connor.

and Maggie isn't the only one:

Puppies, doggies, 

and your new best friend

Why does Her New York
care about animal rescue?

BECAUSE and BECAUSE....

JOIN THE LOVE!!!!!
ADOPT!!
FOSTER!!!!
SUPPORT!!!

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 

New Camera, Old City

This Ain't Your 1970's 14th Street

It used to be if you stood too long in one spot, a neon sign started flashing above your head, going "Mug Me! Mug Me!"

But now, you can hang out and have dinner with your best friend and all you get is fed.  And maybe fat.

**
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Sunday Memories: When The CityWas A Black And White Photograph

The thing is the first photographs or movies we saw of our city were in black and white.

It was Florence's WeeGee on the wall, the pictures on the front page of the New York Times...

... the rare glimpses of television shows...

But it wasn't just those images that made the city a thousand shades of gray. 

It was the seeping loneliness whether inside a thought or home....

....or wandering empty streets in deep night....

....even when photographs became colorful, along with more frequent television viewing.....

....the city still only looked like itself in that starkness.

**
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Friday's Child Is Loving And GivingAnd Waiting For You!

SUCCESS STORY

A PRINCE AMONG PRINCES!!!

This gorgeous spotted man was adopted earlier this year as a fuzzy little puppy -- my, how he's grown!

Social Tees just got this sweet email from his dad:

"Just wanted to give you a little update on my border collie Prince I adopted from you. I am so pleased to say that you guys have given me my best friend.

This dog is completely awesome. His personality is very sweet and friendly.  He plays great with other dogs and I keep him very social. He is a genius (sometimes smarter than me I think) so training is a breeze for him and he is always eager to play ball or with a disk. Sometimes he can be a pain but thats a border collie puppy for ya."

WAIT!!! NO!!!! IT CAN'T BE!!!!

BUT IT IS!!! IT'S LOTUS!!!!

A couple of weeks ago Lotus was rescued, a special Facebook page was set up to help her and other horrifically abused animals, and Friday's Child highlighted her.  She has barely any fur and gaping wounds all over her.

Look at her now.

Social Tees says: 

That's right, our girl Lotus! She was kind enough to give us a nice brisk stroll in this lovely warm October weather. Lotus was so jazzed to get out of her kennel for a while, she skipped down the street with the most adorable little strut. 

This girl's booty is happy! She walks super well on a leash and stops all over the place to soak up all of the smells the East Village has to offer... just like a normal dog. 

Her skin is still a bit crusty and sour smelling, and she's got some weight to gain, but her fur is starting to come in nicely. We walked along, shared some pizza crust, stopped here and there for petting sessions, and we can't wait to see her again tomorrow. Her pushed in little face and curled up tail are so irresistible!

PS -- THANK YOU to all of you wonderful supporters who have donated money toward her vet care and material donations via our Amazon wish list. We left her with some chew sticks today and boy was she thrilled. More pics to come!!!

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

When It Comes To The World Series, Plus ça Change, Plus C'est La Même Chose

We'd walk from newstand to bar to candy store to building lobbies to hardware store window with all the TVs on the same station, everybody's radio blasting the game, people crowding around....

The whole city became one big stadium.  

But then private TVs the size of a small island and the internet built a world filled with selfies and streets and restaurants filled with people whose idea of eye contact involved staring at a tiny screen.

Except...

When October comes and suddenly walking from candy store to bodega to bar to... crowds gather and the score is shared shouted over the din of the standing-room only crowd and texted into phones by caring friends who, still at work, watch the game over illegal streaming or listen through one of the last transistor radios being made.

Beneath Her Surface

The chance to peek below couldn't be missed.

Is that rope a safety rope for the guy down there, I ask the FIOS guys?

Nah. We don't like him that much.

The yellow tube, however, was blowing enough oxygen while they took turns looking for tree-trunks of cooper wrapped in melted lead.

They're getting rid of all the copper wires, the guys says.

15,000 telephone wires, 15,000 telephone calls, 15,000... all those phones calls, seventy years of phone calls.



I'm not giving up my copper wire, I tell them.

Me neither, says one of them.

Another trunk gets hauled up, all three guys hauling it up together.

It's so beautiful, I tell them.  Can I take another picture?

Sure.  Nobody is ever interested.  Usually, they just come over to complain to us their phone isn't working.

Cowboys or Redskins, one of them shouts to the other.

Royals, I tell the guy standing over the open pothole.

Probably Giants, he says.

Sunday Memories: Play Ball

I was always a Mets fan but never went to a game until a rich man I was working for as a housekeeper took me out to the ballpark.  We sat near third base and Lee Mazilli who was young and cute and nice, signed autographs for little kids.  NOBODY was there because it was the late 1970s and the Mets really sucked.

Joni introduced the Mets into the family in 1986. That's when they won the World Series again.  "You went to China and left me here and there was nothing to watch on TV and baseball every day was spontaneous," she reminded me.

When the Mariner found out I was a Mets fan he was more thrilled with that than with my tolerance for long hours of writing apart from one another.

The Mets weren't in the Series this year, but the Giants were and they're National and so they're loved but it would be great if Kansas City won even though they were American League.  It had been a while.

However, much of the night, after the traditional Joni-back-in-NY-fried-chicken meal, was spent trying to explain the history and the game of baseball to El who only saw it in Austria when they broadcast the Bad News Bear. In German.

The following is actually dialogue:

Then the Giants left Brooklyn and the Dodgers got this canyon in L.A. so when the Mets came they took the orange and the blue...

We love the Mets

It's an abusive relationship

They're getting better.

Every year Ted says Next Year they're going to be better.

This year they were close to 500...

...talk to me when they get to 500...

....they were 4 games down from 500...

...500 is BAD!

Why was that a strike?

He can foul off.

I think that's a stupid rule.

500 is mediocre.

Now you have to tell her about sacrifice fly!

Ok in 1999...

NO!

But  this is great!

In 1999 the Brave were tormenting them and they had a hitter Robin Ventura and he had wrecked his legs he was the all time grandslam hitter and all they .... they call it the Grand Slam Single.....it's in the rule book as a ....

OH! That was almost a bunt we haven't talked about a bunt!

Whatever.

I said, what about that sorbet?

Now we're going to get into tag play verse forced play...

He slipped!

Because it's wet.  Because it was RAINING.

That's not raining. It's heavy misting.

Rain.  Raining.
 
Take Me Out To The Ball Game Take Me Out.... DO THE WAVE

I don't know where I am right now.

Finally, we all gave up and let Abbott & Costello explained it.

**
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And Just Around The Other Corner

Who's On First

Friday's Child Is Loving And Giving And Just Worth It

 There's a reason Friday's Child

is now a part of Her New York

if only to say thank you.

Get your own chance to thank you!

Social Tees Got Tons Of Puppies!!

Puppies and kittens are up for adoption!!!! 

See who's ready for a forever home on our Petfinder page at www.petfinder.com/shelters/NY835.html and complete an adoption application at socialteesnyc.org!

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