Random pix taken one morning last week

Blockbust

ME (passing movie theater): Movies out now: Bad Teacher, and Horrible Bosses.
HUBBY: What does that say about society?

Huh, uh...

I logged into this when I meant to log into something else.

So...hi everybody!

I hope you are having a good summer. Don't let it pass you by!

Another good song from a commercial

Are you ready, get set... The original song is better than in the NY Lottery commercial.

Although it reminds me of this other song that was in a car commercial last year.

Good fer nothin'

Babies R us has a coupon for 20 percent on any regularly priced baby item. Underneath it says:

Excludes ALL toys, baby food, diapers, formula, wipes, Ameda Baby Brezza, Baby Jogger, BOB, Britax, Bugaboo, Cybex, ERGObaby, Mamas and Papas, Motherhood Maternity, Nap Nanny, Pediped, Peg Perego, Phil and Teds, Robeez, Tommee Tippee, under Armour, electronic learning toys, netbooks, tablets, video game hardware, video games, Apple products, FAO, RobotGalaxy, gift cards, photo studios, phone orders, special orders, assembly fee, delivery fee, and shipping and handling.

Did they forget anything??

Summer scenes

A good day to play hooky

Alleyway, as seen from window of our building

Italian cookies from Giorgio's

True delight

Home from work, resting, feet up on the couch, and my infant son is snoozing comfortably in his playpen a few feet away.

Writing stuff

I love this. Just love it. It's from Glimmer Train, a lit mag. The guy writes, "This is a picture of me trying to write while caring for my one-year-old son, Colton. He’s made my process more erratic and uncomfortable, but he’s so damn cute...."

I also like his writerly wooden desk and accountant's lamp. But I could never write long-term on a laptop, and I don't know why people do it voluntarily. I'd get too hunched.

Also, new review of my book is up on Amazon. Yay! It's nice that people are still finding it, even years after it came out. She read it on Kindle.

Writergate

I often send risque Twitter pics of myself to all 9,564 of my secret lovers. I hide my identifying features so they can't tell who I am. But it recently came out that it's me. I'm not sure how anyone could tell! I hid everything important! How did they know?

?

The High Line

Ten new blocks of the high line in NYC will open Wednesday, extending it to 30th Street! It's an old railroad line that they've converted into a long walking trail/park.

We saw some pretty sights when we went, the perfect juxtaposition of meadow growth and urban industrial decay. We'll have to go back to see more, with baby this time.

Good morning!

Found the photo that went with my Wildwood memory, although it doesn't appear to be raining at that moment.

Nature in the city





Saw this a few blocks from my house yesterday.

I can't tell which of these it is, but it's sure pretty.

Update

From: George Karagias info@criterionchocolates.com
To: lizzner lizzner@aol.com
Sent: Fri, May 6, 2011 1:39 pm
Subject: Re: coconut

Yes, We made vanilla,chocolate, and strawberry cakes. They were uncoded ( no chocolate on them) and we no longer make them.

----- Original Message -----
From: lizzner@aol.com
To: info@criterionchocolates.com
Sent: Friday, May 06, 2011 1:17 PM
Subject: coconut
Hey, when you guys were in Asbury Park, did you used to make vanilla and strawberry coconut patties? I used to love getting those at the candy shops on the boardwalk. I don't remember if they were yours or someone else's. No one makes them anymore!

I want candy

A while ago, I wrote here about not being able to find my favorite vanilla fudge candies. Eventually I did.

Well, I have a new challenge. When I was a kid, the candy shops on the boardwalk at Asbury Park (Criterion Candies, maybe Fanny Farmer) used to have round coconut patties - both vanilla and strawberry.

I can't find them anywhere now, except maybe chocolate covered. I want to find them without chocolate. They're big flat patties, white or pink.

You are welcome to try to look on the internet, but you shan't find any either, I bet.

Last r0und of memories

Janelle wrote in with a chaper of a book she wrote a while ago. And another reader, Mickey, submitted this:

"I was ten years old in 1965 and we were on vacation at my favorite place in New Hampshire near where my grandfather had built a small diner. We would eat there a couple of times during the vacation.
"I remember that he served the greatest tasting ice cream ever made. I always would order a big serving of Coffee flavored ice cream. I have never been able to find any that comes close to that brand.
"Anyway this story is not about my love for that ice cream, however it is about love. That was the year that I met a girl from Maryland, Clarkesville to be exact. That was the summer when I fell madly in puppy love with a girl. To this day I can remember her house number.
"I didn’t know anything about the anatomy of girls back then, but there was something about her that made my head spin. I have many found memories about those summers spent in Merrimack County.
"Some wonderful memories were born on those vacations. My happiest days were spent with my brother and father fishing on Chase Pond. "

Blogfan Sam writes to share his childhood memory:

"I was maybe 4 or 5 years old. We lived in a huge house and rented out part of it on occasion, but it was empty at the moment. There was a phone on the wall, not yet in service. I remember entertaining my sister making "phone calls" to a make believe witch, and my sister laughing her head off. She didn't laugh a lot (still doesn't) but for some reason she was really laughing that time."

Thanks! I remember doing stuff like that with my brother too. In fact, that stirred more memories of my own.

I had a photo to go with my entry about Wildwood, and I was going to find it and put it up here today, but I can't seem to find the photo album now that has it. It's my mom and brother eating the pastries on that patio. That album must be in one of the moving boxes still. I will have to post it when I find it.

Any other readers who want to share some random childhood memories for me to post, e-mail 'em to me at lizzner@aol.com.

Random childhood memory

Some of our happy childhood memories are of big events, but sometimes it's something small and random that occupies a warm spot in our mind.

One of my random good memories is this:

My mom, brother and I are on vacation in Wildwood, N.J. with its boardwalk and fine sand and long strip of old hotels. One morning, we wake up to a steady, melodious rainstorm. It's the kind of rain that is strong but not pounding, and it provides a musical lull. Even though the beach is meant to be enjoyed in sunny weather, there's something calming about watching the waves roll under a stormy sky, and I don't mind the break from hot weather at all.

We head a few blocks to a pastry shop and sit at one of the outdoor tables under an overhang. There's a white railing around the patio, and as I eat my sticky bun, I watch the rain hit the railing and splash in different directions. Beyond that I see the little shorehomes of the town. Political stickers are plastered all over the poles, and a resident is dropping something into a mailbox.

It's just a calm morning scene I remember. Why has it always stood out? I have no idea. I don't remember anything else about that trip, just eating pastries in the morning in the rain and observing the town.

I bet you have a few kind of random memories like that, slices of life that are nothing fancy, but just make you happy when you recall them. What are yours? Tell me!

Mailbag

James from college writes:

Seriously, the best way I have found to bring our children up right is A) Be an example for them B) Role play, use examples from real life...how would YOU handle that? What would YOU do if... C) Give them plenty of opportunities to "do good." (or bad). Give your son either a lot of positive feedback if he does well or make it a teachable moment if he falls short. We are all works in progress.I am so grateful that you share your wonderful, joyous life with all of us via the Internet. Jim