Winning Is Better Than Not...

Whitney Huston and Oprah Winfrey
x

WELL, THIS SENT A CHEAP LITTLE THRILL UP MY SPINE. There I was, wasting time on the Internet for the 400th time today,(as usual). Check the mail, delete the mail, browse Overstock, check bottom of the barrel specials, write a poem, think of Blog, check who's not blogging, check out Twitter, why did I give in? Crikies!!

x

And the NYTimes, like I own them and have to see if they're doing good. But they do update every 10 seconds. And gossip like the Enquirer these days. Who do you think had more ink on Adam Lambert? Guess again. So I write in to everything that says "Comment". Politics, foodie hang outs, instant celebs,(is it you, yet?). And lately I've discovered Laugh Lines/ cartoons that need a punch line. I'm hooked. Do I want to make you laugh? Does a fish have lips? So for a couple of weeks I nudged my funny bone, and today when I idly scoured the cartoon site... I did a double take! Because there was my toon...and I won, well 1st runner up..same prize as first place...NOTHING...but, I'm not a materialist.

x

Can they sue me for publishing their photo, my words? Hey, this is almost the end of the year of living dangerously, so what the heck. If the "intruders" got to shake hands with the Prez, surely I won't get into more trouble than they did for making a joke. Anyway, as they say, dieing is easy, comedy's hard. We''ll see.

x

My caption, (see photo)..." It's a great diet Oprah. All you have to do is lean forward like this and push the food away". Entered by Linny. My NYTimes byline. In my dreams.

x

x

www.minblu.blogspot.com

Matchmaker...

STRANGE DAY. THERE I WAS, BUBBLING WITH THE MILK OF HUMAN KINDNESS. Must have had a pinch of something else in there too. It was Thanksgiving morning, and I arrived at the church on time to help get things ship-shape. Had nothing on my mind but pushing up my sleeves and getting to work! Mixed aromas wafting my way..turkey, stuffing, I'd know that smell anywhere.
x
Stepped over the threshold into the holiday decorated gym...gallant elderly fellow at the doorway reaches out to greet me. Help me into the room? Is he the maitre'd? When did that start? Very noticeable. Maybe 6'5''. Shoulder length , good quality grey hair, handsome at any age. Familiar face..old rock star? Blue work shirt, faded jeans..Woodstock, rich hippie? Who??
Turn and greet instant pal, Lucy, from yesterday and the yam table, slice and dice. Throws her arms around me , air kisses.."My, you look sexy today!" I do a double take. Black leather sexy?
When did that start? Mr. Foxy Loxy gives me the once over, I catch it because I looked back..never look back!!
x
Someone calls out to me, "Oh, don't hang that jacket up..someone's going to take it, for sure. Just tuck it under the supply table..it'll be safe there". As I'm removing my jacket and disguising it as a basketball, Lucy comes dashing over, grabs my hand and tells me that Foxy Loxy is looking for a relationship! And I quickly realize that I'm it. Was it the hunger in my eyes that gave me away? I thought that was for Pumpkin Pie! Clearly I showed longing and yearning for the geriatric idol at the door. As I protested, NO NO, I was being pulled in the direction of my future boyfriend. I told Lucy,"Not now". Not sure what I meant..I'm not available? I'm in love with someone? I'm married..well, not, but how does she know anything about me except how I cut yams? Matchmaker to the rescue. I will in the future have to turn off the blinking sign on my forehead.."NEEDY". Walked away from Lucy as she called out,"Why not"?
x
Avoided that encounter, crawled under the table, tucked my jacket as far away from stealth as I could. Put a white plastic apron on, neutralizing my sexy outfit, placed my name tag on, and found my place in the scheme of things. I became the mixed veggie lady, standing next to the turkey lady, who for some reason took it upon herself to shred the huge trayful of turkey into minceable pieces. So that there will be enough to go around. Of course there will be enough, there's a dozen more in the kitchen. But she told me that she's a control freak, and I really didn't need a Thanksgiving confrontation. So I dished out veggies and passed the plate on to yams. Servers kept rolling their eyes at turkey lady's little bits. And coming back for more.
x
Kicked my shoes off. Some cute servers made eye contact. No rush toward a relationship. Folks at my post were members of the church, Episcopal, I said I hadn't been to services in a while. They said I must come back. I smiled charmingly. We spoke of ethnic extraction, they were all English/Scottish..I said I was of Russian ancestry..Amazement all around, you'd think I was Anastasia. And did I go to the gorgeous Orthodox church down the street? No. Funny how people think they have you pegged.
x
One more sort of unusual sidelight. Gilbert, the main chef, always on the job, stopped by to chit-chat for a moment. Reassured Control Freak that she could actually give a slice of turkey instead of shreds. And told us that all of our turkeys had been roasted at Riker's Island. That the prisoners there, (Riker's Island is a prison in NY harbor) had done the work, sliced the birds, and packed them up to be shipped to a church on the Upper East Side.
x
There's nothing like being in a room full of strangers, drawn together in celebration. What I like best is knowing, at heart, that we're really just people. And I can hardly wait to do the MEAL all over again for Christmas. Maybe I'll even take another look in Foxy Loxy's direction. Or whoever Lucy has picked out for me by then.

CHOCLAT SIN..#6

THE HORN OF PLENTY/ THANKSGIVING, 2009
X
God, thank you for my life on this earth...
x
There must be somewhere to go on Thanksgiving. For everyone. For the last few years I choose to be in the midst of a particular crowd. I go where the homeless gather, where the elderly and poor can sit down at a table, spread with a white cloth, flowers at the center, candles flickering in the breeze as we rush by with platters of turkey, heaps of stuffin', cranberries doing the shimmy shake. And baked sweet potatoes, mashed and smashed whites. Don't spill the gravy, and seconds already? Coming up. And how about a plateful to take with you, for a tasty snack later on.
x
I think I spot a carrot that I peeled and sliced. Yes I can tell for sure, its my special angle. I somehow have to pop a bit of turkey that I catch, before it floats off the plate I'm rushing to place in front of that flirtatious old fellow, the one who told me last year that he was an extra at the Metropolitan Opera. Hey there, we've survived another year...yeah, yeah, I bet you say that to all the girls. And there are the twins, always in suits and ties, 11 years old by now, I'll say hello, but their grandfather always just nods. And that pretty woman, still a hippie.
x
Five hundred come, every year, for several seatings at the two huge gyms at this landmark church, The Church of the Heavenly Rest, one of many who allow us to be generous to the ever increasing numbers of those in need. I belong there in a very good way.
x

And not to forget, at the end of it all, I can put my feet up, and please, pass the truffles this way!
x
Happy Thanksgiving!!
x
x
http://www.minblu.blogspot.com/

Weston's Muse...

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Edward Weston
x
CHARIS WILSON/ May 5, 1914- November 20, 2009
x
Another muse has passed. Charis Wilson, muse, model and wife of the great photographer Edward Weston, died on November 20, 2009 at the age of 95.
x
She met Weston at the age of 19 at a concert in Carmel, Calif. Weston was in his late 40's at the time. Shortly thereafter she became his model. At one point she said,"It was a very pleasant thing to be glorified"....She inspired his art: elegant, simple, intimate, and sensual. His photographs of her on sand dunes, in pools, her face hidden, revealed, are among his most long lasting.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Edward Weston

x

Helen Charis Wilson was born in San Francisco on May 5, 1914. She dropped her first name, which was the same as her mother's, because she was tired of being called Little Helen. She preferred Charis, the Greek word for grace.

x

In her own right she was a creative writing teacher and a speaker of her time with Edward Weston. She published a book of photographs, "Edward Weston Nudes", appeared in 2007 in a documentary,"Eloquent Nudes", and her memoir is, "Through Another Lens".
x

Weston had said: "Perhaps C. will be remembered as the great love of my life".

x

x

www.minblu.blogspot.com

Penny.

PENNY

X

When I was a tot I put a penny on my tongue

and tasted what they ate in a cave.

The bones of dragons,

licked clean of sinew,

flavored by the iron arrow that made him slain,

a soup stirred by a crone

whose  ragged sleeve dipped into the steaming gruel.

My grandfather was a giant,

chief assassin when kin gathered,

who always placed a nickel on my forehead,

pressed it to cling with drunken spittle.

My mother brushed the coin away

to keep my price pure and high.

c copyright all rights reserved

x

http://www.minblu.blogspot.com/

Friendship...

GETTING TO KICK UP YOUR HEELS WITH A NEW FRIEND is not an every day occasion. So there I was, waiting at home on Tuesday night, with great anticipation, for the real Jeane to appear. You all know her Blog, ARTIT, filled with artistic accomplishment. And soon she would be crossing my threshold.
x
The doorman rang me. "Send her up, please". Waited at the door..elevator stopped..and coming towards me, an incredible smile attached to a very radiant woman, was Jeane...hurray!!Shrieks all around as she entered with her friend Lisa. Jeane had announced on her blog, a trip to NY. I had casually mentioned "Call me" in a comment. The blog was coming to life, because Jeane said she would. Very simple. Not for a minute did I think that we wouldn't get along as great pals. You can really tell about that sort of thing. Hey, you could be here right now..you just know we'd be fine.
x
So we toasted, and drank a bit of wine, and toasted, and drank a bit of wine. We are all quite talkative, surprise! Jeane is such an ingratiating person, laughs easily, has a happy and open demeanor. A very attractive woman with a welcoming smile. And her friend Lisa was charming and fun. Our conversation was the best talk show around!...Plus a little wine, and a bit of chocolate cake. After all, this is the home of Choclat Sin! And I tried to live up to that standard.
x
I'm so grateful for the confluence of forces that play within the bloggy world, that could bring strangers from opposite coasts to a place where we would sit down as friends. My only regret is scaredy cat Milo, who spent the whole time under my bed. Well, maybe next time.

CHOCLAT SIN..#5

I LIKE THIS RECIPE A LOT. I KNOW IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE CHOCOLATE, BUT TRUST ME. IT'S AN UNEXPECTED COMBINATION, BUT IT SURE WORKS. Something I'd like to suggest, instead of using ground powdered ginger, I personally like to grate a comparable amount of ginger root. It gives a heady zip to the bars, and besides, I love to just gaze at ginger, for it's other wordly weirdness. That this gnarly root is the basis of most Asian food, just shows how daring some folks are. Also I'd like to recommend sipping a dry, fruity Riesling with these munchies. Mmmm, very nice! And of course, let's not forget that these contain chocolate. Extremely rich...go off the diet...hey, it's the holidays!
x
GINGER CHOCOLATE-CHIP BARS
X
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsps. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
x
Heat oven to 350 deg. F. Butter a 9x13 baking pan and line with 2 crisscrossed pieces of parchment paper, leaving an overhang on all side. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, baking soda, and salt.xxxxxxxxx
With electric mixer, beat butter and sugars until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and beat to combine. Gradually add the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Mix in the chocolate chips.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan and bake about 40/50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely in the pan, then cut into 32 bars (8 rows x 4 rows).
x
x
http://www.minblu.blogspot.com/

Blockbuster !

HERE IT IS MONDAY AGAIN. SOME FOLKS REALLY LIKE TO KNOW WHAT THE TOP EARNING movie of the weekend is. If a blockbuster thriller about the end of the world has hit the movie houses, you can bet your popcorn that it's going to come in #1.

x

Critics weep as once more the box office reflects the taste of the country, which seems to be made up of 12 year old boys with too much spending money. "Non-thinkers" rushed to this doomsday flick. Lest I forget to inform you, the movie is "2012". It raked in $65,000,000, making it one of the biggest openings of the year, and the highest worldwide "ever" for an original movie. Meaning, not part of a franchise, or pre-existing brand.

x

Sony hooked onto a brilliant marketing campaign, which emphasizes the Mayan prediction that the world will end in December, 2012. I for one really trust the Mayans...they discovered chocolate, right? That makes them pretty credible in my view.

x

I'm generally one of those East Coast snobs who tsk at this sort of fare. Yet joining fiction to truth, 2012 seems a reasonable date for us to finally be forced to settle the healthcare question, by reason or by special effects. Or act of God.

Chuckles The Clown!

Chuckles' Funeral / The Mary Tyler Moore Show
x
DAVID LLOYD WROTE SCRIPTS FOR MANY TV SITCOMS of the 1970's, 80's, and 90's. He wrote for The Bob Newhart Show, Taxi, Lou Grant, Cheers, Frazier, and on and on.
He also wrote monologues for Johnny Carson, Jack Paar, and Dick Cavett.
x
But the most memorable could be said to be an episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, "Chuckles Bites the Dust". If you saw it you'll never forget it. If you didn't, you should put it on your bucket list. My gift to you.

Rest In Peace, David Lloyd/ July 7, 1934- November 10, 2009....and RIP, Chuckles.

CHOCLAT SIN..#4

WHAT IS THIS THING CALLED CHOCOLATE? Think about a world in which it had never been discovered. Imagine that the ancient Mayans never climbed a forty foot tree on which grew a pod, and found in the pod, not a pea, but a bean they christened Cacao, which they eventually called," food of the spirits". Unthinkable!
x
The Mayans worshipped the cacoa bean as a heavenly gift. I'm not arguing against that...I do not worship false idols, and certainly am careful about what I place on a pedestal. Yes, I fell for chocolate a long time ago when it presented itself as a kiss. The beans were used historically to heal many ailments. The Mayans drank hot cocoa in its bitter state. Spices such as chili peppers were added. The Aztecs were the ones who added vanilla beans and honey.
x
Skipping ahead a bit, currently scientists are studying chocolate and how it changes the brain. In it's raw form, chocolate is more addictive than heroin. Recent research in Sweden shows victims of heart disease are 70% less likely to have cardiac problems if they eat chocolate. Even eating it once a week can help. Dark chocolate is rich in antioxidants, but there is a caution..and that's the sugar that helps to make it what we want it to be.
x
Let's pause here to give a nod to Christopher Columbus, who did more than discover the New World. He returned with the first cocoa beans. And by 1528 Cortes returned to Spain with the equipment to brew chocolate. Originally the "heavenly gift" was available only to royalty. Finally by the 17th Century, the beans became available to the masses, and Chocolate Houses became popular in England. In the 1800's Johannes Van Houten, in Holland, produced cocoa powder, and candy companies made fortunes producing chocolate candy, as well as cocoa powder for beverages. Van Houten still is known for their product.
x
I salute the first Mayan who decided to climb a forty foot tree, perhaps out of curiosity to find a pea, and instead discovered a universal obsession. And I want to leave it in your hands to choose your chocolate of choice today...no recipes...just indulgence. Go ahead, melt some chocolate, lick a spoon..or pop a truffle, serve some double chocolate chip ice cream...have a slice of devil's food cake...just do it, do it, do it...I'm with you all the way...
x
x
http://www.minblu.blogspot.com/

Again..

GIRL, RECYCLED

X

My best friend says she wouldn't go back

to the years of reckless abandon.

So happy to age naturally

without even dreaming

of tucks or lifts.

But what if I do

stitch my face

pushing here, pulling there

hoping that the shell

doesn't turn heads

and bring about a giggle.

x

I'm glad there's no mirror under my skin,

where an old lady sits waiting.

x

What if I saw a girl dancing alone,

not even seeing two partners approaching.

x

She's touching her hair,

twirling beads,

smoothing silk across her hips,

a purple light streams from her eyes.

She's painting the town to a red beat

x

and suddenly, watching her,

I ask time to stop

because I want that.

x

Could I perform incantations,

abandon good karma

for just one more beginning

to be a girl again,

stride and flirt,

heeled up high,

wild as I fancy,

tossing a shiny mane?

x

Don't save me from

the little imp

who hangs around for such as I,

waiting to grant my desire.

x

And dreaming further,

I promise to live without a prayer,

to dance again once more.

x

x

c copyright/ all rights reserved/ 2009

x

http://www.minblu.blogspot.com/

Cover Art

DAN IVAN PUNCHATZ... SEPT. 8, 1936- OCT. 23, 2009

X

It's possible you've never heard of Dan Ivan Punchatz. Lots of outstanding people only come to our attention as we read their obit. I think that upon making his acquaintance, you won't forget him quickly. He was an illustrator of popular horror and science fiction, and the first "Star Wars" poster. He was a great influence to a generation of illustrators, and a master of the absurd and fantastic. His cover art included Isaac Asimov's "Foundation". He was associated with the genre know as magic realism.

He also contributed to Rolling Stone, Esquire, and Playboy. Ray Bradbury was another author that Punchatz illustrated..."his ability...is endlessly stunning".

To ease his workload he opened Sketch Pad Studios as a training ground for dozens of apprentices known as the "elves". His studio was said to work like a Renaissance workshop. Mr. Punchatz did the first sketch, then passed it on to a group of assistants with varying skills. Renderings of flat colors, transparent washes, and surface detail were handed out. Punchatz finished with a final highlighting and calligraphy.

He also worked as an assistant television art director and produced animations. In the army in 1959, he worked as a medical illustrator, and producer of animated training films. Till he retired in the 1990's he worked on accounts for Pepsi, Exxon, and also illustrated children's books.

His work appeared in many galleries and his portrait of B.F. Skinner is in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery. He taught illustration for 35 years at Texas Christian University.

x

Dan Ivan Punchatz was hired to create the packaging for a new video game. The game, "Doom", became a runaway best seller.

CHOCLAT SIN..#3

This is a really terrific dessert to make for the holidays. It's also great for a tea or coffee party. And it serves loads of guests!
x
CHOCOLATE CHIP CHEESECAKE
X
1 cup chocolate wafer crumbs
3 tbls. sweet butter
Combine crumbs and butter. Press into 9" springform pan. Bake at 350 deg., for 10 min.
x
3- 8 oz. pkgs. cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
3 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate bits
x
Combine cream cheese, sugar, flour, and sour cream. Mix at medium speed on mixer until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, and vanilla, mixing well. Stir in chocolate bits, pour over crust. Bake at 325 deg. for 55 min. Loosen cake from rim of pan, cool before removing rim of pan. Serve chilled. 10-12 servings.
X
Adapted from Epicurean.com
x
Recommended Film:
THE SCORE/ 2001
4 Stars.
Directed by Frank Oz
Cast: Robert De Niro, Marlon Brando, Edward Horton
Extremely well acted, breathtaking, suspense caper drama. Amazing display of great acting when these three are together. Di Niro is the master safecracker, Brando, in perhaps one of his last roles, is the wily fence (very funny), and Norton is the young thief. Setting is Montreal. Unpredictable.
x
http://www.minblu.blogspot.com/

More Poe...

POE COTTAGE, Poe Park
x
This small cottage in the Bronx was the last home of Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849). It is set in a small park in an area now known as the Grand Concourse, and is the only house left from the old village of Fordham. Built in 1812, it is typical of workmen's cottages. I was brought up a bus ride away from this landmark, and the very crowded and commercially busy Fordham Road.
x
Poe and his wife Virginia leased the house for $100. a year. Virginia was 13 years old when she married her first cousin in 1836. She was ill with tuberculosis when Poe decided that the country air of the Bronx would be healthy for her.
x
Troubled times followed. They were penniless despite literary success. Virginia's mother came to live with them, and sadly had to forage in neighbors fields to feed themselves. Poe wrote many of his outstanding poems in Fordham, including, "The Bells", "Annabel Lee", and "Eureka". Virginia died in 1847, and Poe died two years later in Baltimore. You can refer to the previous post about Poe for more details.
x
The cottage was saved from destruction in the 1890's by the Shakespeare Society, and moved to another not too distant location on Kingsbridge Road in 1913. Poe Cottage is one of four Poe house museums in America. The others are in Baltimore, Richmond, and Philadelphia. Items in the cottage include a cast iron stove, a desk, a rocking chair, straw bed and mirror. A narrow staircase leads to the couple's attic bedroom, the ceiling being barely six feet high.
x
When I was a very young teenager, we, my girlfriends and I would go to Poe Park in the summertime, on Wednesday evenings, to hang out and maybe even dance to the live band that played on the bandstand. We flirted a lot, and probably giggled, and every once in a while some very brave boy would approach one of us. We danced without touching, asked "where are you from"? That was probably the extent of the conversation. Oh yes, what school? When the music ended, we took a bus home. No boys. This was really the Bronx. Yankee stadium was in the other direction. Go Yanks!!

After Halloween...

Edgar Allan Poe
x
THERE ARE MANY THEORIES AS TO THE CAUSE OF POE'S DEATH on October 7, 1849. Some say it was alcohol poisoning, some other illness or heart disease. Found near death in a public house on Oct. 3, he was taken to Washington College Hospital, in Baltimore, where he was kept a virtual prisoner and allowed no visitors. His last words, after days of delirium, were "Lord, help my poor soul".
x
His funeral, the next day, was a three minute ceremony on a damply chilly day. The minister declined to give a sermon, because hardly anyone attended. He had no headstone, because it was accidentally destroyed in a train accident. But in 1875, he was exhumed and reburied, and the gravesight was given a monument. Several leading poets were invited, but only Walt Whitman attended.
x
The words of Poe never disappeared. Nevermore...160 years after his death, Edgar Allan Poe has finally been given a proper funeral. There was a re-enactment, a "viewing", of his body in a casket. A wry touch that Poe himself might have smiled at. There was a funeral procession with bagpipes, a memorial service with eulogies thought up to cover the buried years. More than 700 mourners and admirers attended and listened to the words delivered by actors, about the great "master of the macabre". And maybe floating and hovering in an ethereal dimension, Poe's ghost...and an admirer by the name of Whitman.
x
x
http://www.minblu.blogspot.com/