well?

Did you go over to marjorie-digest? So nu? How come no anonymous comments about my "empty and pathetic" life? Go over there and GET BUSY! I miss ya, darlin'! I do, I do! Oh! I disabled anonymous comments.... Ay! There's the rub! Did ya head explode?

"hold it!"

"I think you're going to like this picture." That was the opening line to the Bob Cummings show. And here are a few photos of me, taken earlier today in my building's lobby.

"Only in New York, kids, only in New York"

Yesterday, I was walking over to Whole Foods and as I got closer I could hear screams and see the students (who had just been dismissed from the school up the street) running and laughing and screaming louder. One student was banging the sidewalk with a cardboard tube.

I approached and asked what the commotion was all about. One student screamed again and laughed and pointed: "It's a rat over there." I went into the store and informed security. A few workers left armed with equipment to trap the rat.

About 15 minutes later, I exited the store and asked one of the students who was still standing around: "Did they catch the rat?" Without missing a beat, she replied, "Yes. The guy from Whole Foods got it and took it over there across the street. This lady told him to give it to her. He asked her why she wanted it. She said, none of your business. It was in a bag and he gave it to her and she put it in her pocketbook and walked away."

"Only in New York, kids, only in New York."

please visit marjorie-digest

I have up new interviews with: the Wegman dogs, Billy Cunningham, and an entry about "the interview that got away." Shall I open comments? Perhaps...

a visit to the High Line Park

In NYC, there is a brand new elevated park. It is the only elevated park in the country. It was built on the old railroad tracks. I went over there today and took a walk though the gardens. As Cindy Adams says in her sign off, "Only in New York, kids, only in New York."

new at the "digest"

Please go to marjorie-digest to read a new interview and the story of the interview that got away.

Jacob and Gertie's son, Ruby

Here is some more about my family: my father's first cousin, Ruby Lazarus...
Ruby

He was also mentioned in Ed Reid's 1969 book, "The Grim Reapers."
He died in 1991.

I have an audiotape that was transposed for me from three very old records. It was made by a sound specialist who works at Lincoln Center. The records were created by my father for his parents during a stopover in St. Louis as he headed to the Aleutian Islands during WWII. In one of the recordings my father mentions Ruby, who was with him in St. Louis as he also waited to be shipped out.

take a detour

Take a detour over to marjorie-digest. I have up some interesting interviews and many more are soon to be posted. My days in retirement are so full I hardly have time to eat.
Today, I got tickets for three Broadway shows, including the play that President Obama and Michelle Obama saw last week: (Joe Turner's Come and Gone). I am glad I got a ticket for that since it is closing on June 14th.
I saw the Teddy Roosevelt House, the Louis Armstrong House, the Valentina exhibit at the Museum of the City of NY and I saw the Lois Wright "Grey Gardens" exhibit at the National Arts Club. I took a backstage tour of Carnegie Hall, and a tour of the Waldorf Astoria. I love being retired.

Women of Washington Square, the tour

Today, I went on this tour with The Transition Network. We saw the homes of Eleanor Roosevelt, Emma Lazarus, Edith Wharton, Ida Tarbell, Dawn Powell, and Mabel Dodge. This was a walking tour organized by The Transition Network as part of the "Explore NYC" series. And while I was not able to interview these interesting women whose homes we saw on the walking tour, I learned much about them from our guide, Jane, who said:

"Greenwich Village is renowned for the extraordinary women who’ve lived in this historic area over the decades....Eleanor Roosevelt, Emma Lazarus, Edith Wharton...to name just a few. On this hour-long walking tour we’ll see where these women, and other notable feminists, lived and worked and we’ll talk about their lives."

These are some of the photos I took along the walk.

letters, we get letters....

After I retired, I wrote many pieces on education that were published in "Letters" in the "New York Sun."

Here's one:

"The Stepford Teachers"

I will add more when they are located online.

updates

In today's Philadelphia Inquirer, there is an article about Jerry Torre going to see the musical "Grey Gardens." You can read it here and then go to marjorie-digest to read my interview with Jerry Torre.

BTW, if any of the dudes who banned me at forums want to be interviewed for the "digest," please E-mail me. lmao...

please visit the digest

Please read my interview with Robert Siegel, the writet of "The Wrestler." It appears in the month of May. Also, please read my interview with Jerry, the Marble Faun. He was in the documentary "Grey Gardens."