Apartment Living...

                                           egyptianaaa.org


THE IRON FIST just delivered the latest edict in the battle between management and the utility company.  If any of you recall, I posted, on Jan.30, a pretty complete rant about the situation in my apartment building.  For those in the dark,(as we probably soon will be), let me fill you in.

Because of a yearly "High Noon" showdown, Con Edison and my landlord are re-enacting the same old, same old.  Allegedly, landlord isn't paying utility bills.  So on March 14, or so, electricity/ gas will be turned off.  Therefore, I am modeling what is sure to become my new indoor attire.

But there seems to be a way out...any resident who has a serious health problem that would be affected by icicles in their apartment, can phone the New York Heatline, report the condition and a caseworker will visit to see if you are legit, and or have frozen to death.  Have no idea if they will ship us off to Florida, or distribute space heaters and candles.

I imagine that even if I take this heroic step to rescue my fellow tenants, I believe that because of budget constraints, I may not see hide nor hair of a rep from Human Resources till oh, my guess is, July/ August.   When I will have won anyway, by default.

By the way, management says it's nonsense.  

Tenants unite!!


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

Waking...

  Andrew Wyeth



ANOTHER DAY

Another day Momma,
here I am in another day.
I thought your spirit would finally understand me.
I talk to you,
I talk to my cat.
You're everywhere,
all the time,
sitting on cushions,
not stirring the dust.

Lift me up or tuck me in,
just take me away from this dream of days.
Maya looms in my mythology,
you argued for a stricter God.

I woke in someone else's life,
where did my faces go?

Mom and Jesus,
please take a chance on me.


c copyright/ all rights reserved/ 2010


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

Just Looking..

DIFFERENT DAYS

Different days, different ghosts,
poles apart,
whistling to me as if,
I was a taxi,

hailing me to take them to hell?

The one walking along the wall today,
brought Dickens to join his wit to mine,
to help me construct my carol.

A worthy past,
a present that keeps on sliding away
to become a wiggle through a black hole
into the future.
Where's the soul mate to share
the guilt of long ago?

This wraith seeks me out;
this mask, imagined?
Or is it just a cold damp conscience?

I yell out to the lurking shadow,
hopping like a fool in a funhouse.
I round the corner.
I've seen this before
in black and white,
it's not just my mind anymore.

My soul sees you, you can't hide.

I'm sort of jumping the gun.
This is a dress rehearsal for the time
when I haunt you.

c copyright/ all rights reserved/ 2010


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

Magpie/ Prompt #3

photo/willow/willow manor

Another Magpie Tale... 

  

THERE WAS A SIGN in the window of Maximilian Godot's bakery.  Help wanted, no experience necessary.  Good pay, plus...Plus what?  I imagined, hoped for, all the baked goods I could carry at the end of the day.  I dreamed of tarts and donuts brought home each night, sugary bliss endlessly caressing my lips as lemony tea warmed me from the evening chill.  I stepped inside, heavy wafts of Sri Lankan cinnamon tickled my nose and seemed to settle in the folds of my dress.

A tray of petits fours, tiny pink rosettes glistening, seemed sculpted by a Florentine master.  Chocolate ganache icing was just then being spread along the sides of a tiered cake, by Max himself.  He called to me and pointed the spatula as I closed the door, the entry bell tinkling for several moments.

  

"Are you going to be the one?" he asked, eyeing me.  Strangely, it was almost as if he was waiting for me.   He handed me a strange metal object.  "This is the key to my  success...it's a 1 kilogram weight..all of my exquisite ingredients, flour, sugar, butter, chocolate, must be perfectly weighed to get the results I'm famous for." 

He tucked the weight into my hand.  It felt heavier than it appeared.  Max smiled broadly, as if he were presenting me with a jewel.  "Believe me, if I entrust this weight to you, it will be a huge responsibility.  You measure a bit  too much, ruined..a bit too little...."  He shrugged his shoulders.

He took the weight from my hand, and placed it back on the scale.  "This was my grandfather's, and then my father's.   And it earns me the Cake Guild Award year after year".   He pointed to a golden Napoleon, (the Emperor, not the pastry) displayed on a glass shelf, a beam of ethereal light shining on it.
   

I slipped my yellow shawl off my shoulders, draped it on a bistro chair.  It seemed to me that an aura was drawing us together.  An inevitability.  It wasn't an accident that I was here but fate or karma itself.  I reached for the apron that Max was handing me.  And I suddenly realized that now I was to be the keeper of the kilo.  I had the job of weighting for Godot. 

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

   

March...

IF MARCH IS ENTERING LIKE A LION, I'M OPENING the door for it to transform into a lamb...this poem is from my book of poetry, TWO GHOSTS.  I may have posted it before, maybe last year.  I'll have to check that out...

AGAIN

March tosses its lion's mane

every year as the month begins.

The bite of ice, a slice or rain

March tosses its lions mane

as the lamb starts to walk again

Free of death, devoid of sins.

March tosses its lion's mane

every year as the month begins.

c copyright/ all rights reserved

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

http://twitter.com/lynxny

Blizzard Food...

One thing I like to do during a blizzard is not go out.  After all, I'm not 12 years old and panting to drag my sled to a hill and swoosh to the bottom.  Again and again.

What I do is generally cook something yummy, steam up the windows, and create a nice, warm cocoon that disguises the persistant winter that keeps raging outside.

Very easy is my motto, and very easy indeed is this recipe for CHICKEN CACCIATORE, that I've been lucky enough to find and adapt from myrecipes.com


CHICKEN CACCIATORE

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
2 tbls. olive oil
2 cups sliced mushrooms
3/4 cup chopped bell pepper
1 1/2 cups pasta sauce
1/4 cup dry red wine
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/2 cup Parmigiano cheese
2 tbls. thinly sliced fresh basil

1.  Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Sprinkle chicken evenly with salt, black pepper, oregano, dried basil, and red pepper.  Coat pan with olive oil. 
2.  Add chicken to pan, saute' until lightly browned, stirring frequently.
3.  Add mushrooms and bell peppers.  Saute' 5 minutes.
4.  Stir in pasta sauce and wine, bring to a simmer.  Cover, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.
5.  Sprinkle with cheese and fresh basil.  Serves 3/ 4.
     Drink the rest of the dry, red wine that you used in the recipe!!


http://www.minblu.com/
http://twitter.com/lynxny

UNFRAMED

UNFRAMED

The brass monkey
spilled wax
and just stood there
in total innocence.

Its flickering light
was cast upon
a photo of me, running.

Why is it still unframed?

Can torn and ragged edges
support it forever?

Is having an intention
not to fall
good enough?


c copyright/ 2010 all rights reserved


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

Magpie/ Prompt #2

                                      photo from willow/magpie tales

MATCHLESS...
       Let me take you back to 1988. I was sitting on a dark red sofa in the lobby of the Hotel Forum in Bratislava. It seemed more bustling and crowded than usual. I decided to sort through the matchboxes that I had recently bought for my cousin, Count Esterhazy, who was a rather renowned collector of museum quality boxes. Some people like to sort by sports, or animals, but Cousin Niki preferred to sort by countries.  I had before me three treasures, all rated by the Match Book Society: 1. An "Always Ready" label.  2. An English Co. label, issued in 1885.  3. A Thomas Gee label, issued in 1875. I couldn't wait to see the look on his face when I handed them to him.

I looked up to see him headed towards me, but he paused every few seconds to scoop up whatever matchbox he could lay his hands on. Had he been so reduced in taste and judgement, that he was now collecting hotel matches?

He stuffed his pockets with as many as he could, looked around to see if he was being watched, abruptly stopped in front of me, kissed me quickly on both cheeks, and said, "Let's get out of here"!

     I gathered my scattered packages, making absolutely certain to stow the gift I had for Niki. We walked very quickly out the door, turned right and headed across the plaza to the Cafe' Camouflage. Niki pushed me towards the back, grabbed a chair for me, and waited until I was seated for him to empty his pockets of dozens of Hotel Forum matchboxes. "These are for later", he said.

     That night came to be known as the Candle Demonstration, a first step towards the destruction of the Communist regime. 3000 Slovaks protested in the square. I stood pretty far back, the presence of the military being a big warning to me. But Niki made his way through the crowd, striking Hotel Forum matches and lighting candles for the mostly young protesters.

     I walked back to the Hotel, having been assured by Niki that we would meet up later. I still had a gift to give him. And for myself, a single box of Hotel Forum matches, matches from a revolution, that I've saved to this day.

                                  The Crowne Plaza Hotel

                                   previously/ HOTEL FORUM

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

http://twitter.com/lynxny

Beeeeyooootiful!!!

A GREAT  BIG THANK YOU TO CatLadyLarew, a blogger of great talent and humor for honoring me with the Beautiful Blogger Award!  I sent the bouquet of flowers to myself!! I'm just a big kid at heart...                                                                                                                                           

 Here's what I have to do when I accept the award: 

1.  Thank and link to the person who gave me the award...Thank you, CatLadyLarew.
 

2.  Pass Award on to 7 bloggers I've recently discovered, (more or less), and whom I think are fantastic!!  Here goes:

      1. Blue Sky Dreaming

         2. Everyday Goddess

         3. Snooty primadona's sparkling outlook..

         4. Lucy Fur Leaps

         5. Nature Nutz

         6. One Pink Goose

         7. Schererart

3.  Contact Bloggers to let them know to pick up Award.  Will do that very soon..I'm dancing as fast as I can!

4.  State 7 things about myself:

     1.  In the 1980's I resembled a DJ who worked here in NYC.  Got into everything free!
      2.  I'm a LDH/ Reiki Healer, (Long Distance Healer).
      3.  I'm first cousin once removed from the guy who invented Snapple.  He became a  zillionaire, nothing changed for me.
      4.  I have a double lens implant..can see 20/20 now, almost blind before!!  Don't hesitate to take care of yourself!
      5.  Best movie of the year:  "The Hurt Locker".  What's that got to do with me?  It's what I think!
      6.  As a tourist in Monte Carlo casino, was mistaken for ??? and paparazzi swarmed, clicked!
      7.  Listed in psychic reference book and Woman's World as one of top 10 psychics in NYC...wooooo....

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



      

I'm Dancing....

                                                                             Boucher

DANCING

I'm not thinking,
I'm dancing.
The body knows how to dance
before the mind can form a thought.

Dancing is:
my body's dream.
It erupts like a spring on a barren plain.
God disguised?

When my mind fills my head
it always wants to name the dance,
name the step,
direct from backstage,
sell tickets to its IQ.
My foot just taps a beat.

Dance
comes from the whole cloth of my karma,
not words.

My body remembers my sins,
my joys,
it spins and fancy dances
into the past,
predicts the future.

Pull the plug on my mind
still my foot will go en pointe
when music seduces me.

Quiet down, grey cells,
watch that leap of faith take hold!


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