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and all the customers were politely asked to leave.

Raindrops started to fall the minute my clogs touched the sidewalk.

Talk about your water water everwhere and not a drop to drink.

I shot these just as I found them near Dojo’s in Greenwich Village.
There’s a story here.

I was poking around the FAQ here at WordPress.com, and came across something about m.wordpress.com.

Now if this post actually appears on my blog that will mean posting is possible from my Sidekick aka mobile phone. I love moblogging, so my fingers are crossed, it’s making typing a bit difficult.

Coming at you from my local Starbucks where I am sipping on a Vanilla Steamer.

I found five bucks on the floor here, and the guy at the next table is describing a murder he witnessed to his date. He has to testify in court and is quite upset about reliving the experience.

Everyone in the place is trying to pretend they don’t hear him. The guy has a voice like a foghorn.

Take care all

1. Where and when were you born?

I was born December 12th 1961 in New York City.

2. Do you have siblings? If yes, tell us more.

My only brother Joey passed away at age 26 in February, 1990. We looked just a like, though he was 13″ taller. Our voices were very similar; grandma could never tell us apart on the phone. We were very close when we were little, and then again in our twenties. My daughter is named for him.

The only time I can remember being taller than Joey

3. What are your parents’ names?

Nickie & Annie

4. Did you (or do you) know all four of your grandparents?

I only knew my father’s mother who raised us after we lost our mother.<

My grandmother Josephine (1910 - 1993), my grandfather Joseph (1888-1961) & my favorite Uncle Peter (1943-1993) at his first communion.

5. Do have children? If yes, tell us about them. If no, do you want them?
I have one amazing daughter who just turned 25 this past week. She has been happily married for four years.

6. Do you still live in the general area that you grew up in?

I have lived on Manhattan’s Upper West Side all my life.

7. Do you have cousins? If yes, are you or have you been close?

I know I have a few scattered about the country. My side of the family tended to be loners, so we were never close.

8. How often does your family all get together?

Whenever time permits. I’ll be going to visit my daughter in her new apartment this coming month. Totally looking forward to it.

9. Is your significant other close to your family?

My husband was very close to my family. Unfortunately everyone is gone now, but we have great memories.

Visit more Saturday 9 participants here

If you click on the memoir in my categories you’ll see more old family photos.

It’s nearly 80 this after, and I have to tell it feels soooo good.
These old bones can’t take the cold weather anymore.
I’ve spent my morning and afternoon working on this project and that.
And of course, there were frequent breaks for e-mail and bloghopping.
Yesterday I watched Lars and the Real Girl. Talk about your unique plots. One day the very introverted Lars brings home the girl he met online. Here’s the thing she’s a life-size doll. On the advice of a physician every one goes along with the delusion. Every one is not only Lars’ family, but the entire population of his small community.
I’m not one for spoilers, so that’s all I’m saying here. You won’t regret renting it at your local DVD emporium.
You like the pic of the glasses. I took it Sunday when my friend J came to New York for the day.
We spent most of the 9 hours she was here walking.
The first part of our day was spent walking through Central Park.
I shot mating dance by the reservoir.
These two photos which I call Central Park Yogini also appear on my photoblog Photostroll.





We ended up on the Upper East Side, and boarded a subway for Astor Place.
That’s where I got the wild glasses you see at the beginning of this post.
We went strolled through St. Mark’s place, where we stopped for sushi.
Then it was on to Union Square to see what the artists had out for sale.
This the Beauty Bar. It’s an old time hair salon that some smart entrepreneur turned into a nightclub/bar. Cool, huh?



Next was the Lower East Side where we stopped for coffee and nibbles at the Cloister Cafe.
They have a lovely outdoor seating area with hookah bar.



After coffee we walked down to Houston Street, and headed for the glamour of SoHo.
We spotted this adorable fellow anxiously watching his human.



All this walking worked up our appetites. We decided on Italian - where else? Little Italy of course.
The freshly made focaccia bread they put on the table was so delicious you could make a meal out of it. I had Fettucine with Bolognese; J had the Alfredo.

Needless to even with all the calories we burned walking - we skipped dessert.

We walked back to Canal & Varick and caught the train to Times Square. J wanted to see the bright lights before she went home.
I actually posted these a couple of days ago, but what the heck here you go:







From there it was back uptown to the garage where we parked her car. The last thing you want to do in Manhattan is drive!
What a great day. There’s nothing I love more than showing people New York through my eyes.
My daughter’s birthday is coming up soon, and I’ll be heading out to Massachusetts to spend a day with her. She’s in the ‘burbs, but we will head into one of the nearby town for lunch and shopping.
It’s a rare thing for me to go out of the New York/New Jersey area.
And I will be taking a lot of pictures.
Stay tuned.

Every once in a while I try out a new meme.  Today I found Manic Monday.

Is there any question you can’t look up the answer to on the internet?

I just asked the search engines why I didn’t get my laundry done this morning - no answer - lol.

Actually I often say the Internet is the biggest encyclopedia ever.  It’s also the cheapest and best public relations tool in the world.  Quite a few folks with minimal computer skills have gotten famous off an inexpensive or free website.

Invent a new word that you feel would improve the language and define it.

Blogdacity - blogging without apologies.  I made that word up a while ago, and bought the domain.  It’s one of the new blogs I have in the works. 

What is your favorite texture?

Velour - the expensive plush kind.  I have a wonderful wine colored top that just feel so good when I wear it.

And That’s My Answer

Would you define yourself as courageous?

Definitely.  Grandma said it was the Irish in me

Tonight I stopped in at one of my favorite neighborhood haunts for a raspberry spritzer and a nibble.
I didn’t want to take a table, so I sat at the bar and chatted with the barmaid.
Or should I say bartender? Or barperson?
You know all this having to watch every word you say makes me crazy sometimes.
It reminds me of when the term MS came out. Everywhere you went you heard; “that’s Ms. So and So to you thank you.”
Wonder if anyone still uses the term?
I still read Ms. Magazine from time to time, and it still has some great articles.
There I go rambling again.
Well the term Ms reminded me of the magazine, and the magazine reminds me of Gloria Steinem.
Gloria Steinem reminds me of Playboy because she was a bunny.
Playboy bunnies remind me of one of my favorite old TV shows The Odd Couple, because there was a whole show about Felix’s wife wanting to be a Playboy bunny. The Odd Couple reminds me of my grandmother, because she always said my room was as sloppy as Oscar’s.
And my grandmother reminds me of so many things that I could blog for hours.
Oh and by the way did you know Reddi Wip is spelled without an H?
I just noticed a can sitting on the bar.
As you can see from the pic I took with my camera phone there is no H.
What can I tell you - I notice things like this.
Okay so what does whip cream remind you of?

The artist is the confidant of nature, flowers carry on dialogues with him through the graceful bending of their stems and the harmoniously tinted nuances of their blossoms, Every flower has a cordial word which nature directs towards him.
Auguste Rodin

This meme came to me by way of  Candid Karina

I’m posting the answers to her interview questions here on my blog.  Anyone I interview will post the answers to my questions on their blog.

Ok, here we go:

I’ll start with the question I’m asking everyone, which is: Tell us the why and when of your blog. When did you start and why did you start?

The Internet came into my life in late ‘98. I remember a lot of sites like women.com and Ivillage were giving members space to create their own sites. I made my first site at women.com. Every page was a different color with every animated graphic I could find online.

Eventually women.com and other sites like it stopped the free web hosting. That was just about the time I saw my first identifiable blog. It was at Xanga. A free easy to update online journal that came with a community of people. Why not? I started my own that very afternoon.

Since then I’ve had a lot of blogs at a lot of places. I left Xanga after about a year and a half and went to Angelfire. While my blog was at Angelfire I let my friend Heart read it. He loved it, and that gave me the confidence to expand a little. I went to Square Space and then Blogger. While I was at Blogger I created a second blog just for memes. I moved both blogs here to WP, and added one for creative writing. My Photostroll site is over at GoDaddy, and my mobile and audio blogs are at Blogger.

I was brought up in a very business-oriented family. Artistic endeavors, other than sewing, were not encouraged. Blogging has allowed me to be as artistic as I want to be. All I need is my laptop, digital camera and cell phone.

She Who Blogs came into being in May of this year. It’s been an experience that only gets better as each day goes by.

I’ll be blogging till they carry me away to my grave. I’ve always said I want my headstone to read Have A Great Time Wish You Were Here. Love, Frances. A web address just may be added to that.

It seems I’m also asking this of all the bloggers who are married, I wonder if it means anything about me? Hmm…Anyway, tell us about your husband. How did you two meet? How did you know he was the one?

My husband and I met in the summer of ‘82, by the cigarette machine in my dad’s grocery store. We sold our cigarettes for only a dollar; everyone else charged a dollar twenty-five. We both smoked at the time.

Our first date was July 4th, and we decided to get married two weeks later. We were in our own apartment by August 18th. We’ve been together ever since.

He gave up cigarettes ten years ago; I still sneak a few now and again.

I know you recently wrote about your daughter in Sunday Scribblings, but here is your chance to really brag about her. Tell us all about her.

My daughter will be 25 on April 30th. She’s been married for three years now.

I guess every mom thinks her kid is the best, and I’m no different.

If I had to pick one incident that would show you the kind of person she is it would have to be this:

It’s Audition Day at The High School of the Performing Arts. The lobby is jammed with anxious parents. My daughter is led away from me, and I want to grab her leg and hold on.

Every girl seems be a size four blonde in jeans and a tank top. My daughter is size twelve with long auburn hair reaching her waist. She’s wearing a black pleated skirt, a blue top, stockings and heels. Her dress for success outfit.

It’s about 8am. The chair I’m sitting in is regulation uncomfortable.

The clock is ticking. No cell phone. I try to read, but I read the same page over and over again without knowing what it’s about.

None of the parents are talking to each other. It’s like we’re all competing or something.

9. 10. 11. Noon. I’m told that I can go for lunch and come back.

What’s going on down there?

Kids who completed their auditions have been dribbling steadily out. There’s hundreds of kids. I hope she’s going to get a chance to be seen.

I’m slipping in and out of meditation at this point. It makes the time go by much easier.

The big hand is on the 12 and the little hand on the two. Six hours in the same chair. Nope gotta do something.

Get up and head casually for the ladies room. The security guards turn to talk to an anxious parent.

Window of opportunity. Gotta act fast.

I’m through the stairway door so fast I shock myself. At the bottom of steps is a big metal door that I inch open slowly. Good no one is in the hallway. I slip out and walk slowly down the hall. Each of the dark wooden doors has a little window; I just want to see her. If I see her I’ll be okay.

By the third door I see her. All the kids are practicing scenes outloud as they wait there turn to audition. Each is in their own world. My daughter is sitting on the floor with a young girl who is sobbing. My daughter pats her shoulder and whispers something in her ear. She sits back against the wall, the girl wipes her eyes picks up her playbook and begin to read outloud. My daughter’s smile makes her smile.

Tears fill my eyes now, as they did then.

I creep back down the hall, and up the steps. As I come through the door, a security guard says “No parents allowed downstairs!”

“I’m looking for a ladies room.”

“Oh, right over there ma’m”

“Thanks”

Two hours later my daughter was accepted as a student at the school.

Really, how do you do it all? You have…is it 6 blogs now? And you run SheWhoBlogs (and do it very well, I might add). And from your posts I know you live a busy “real world” life as well. How do you do it?

When you love what you’re doing, the way I love what I’m doing, it just happens.

Tell us something about “your” New York. I just love reading your posts about your days in the city, tell us a little something.

My New York is waiting for me right outside my door every morning.
Like a good lover it always has a little surprise and never disappoints.

I often just wander the streets, taking pictures and stopping in little cafes and stores.

There’s always someone to talk to, something to do, something to see.

If you’d like to be interviewed let me know via the comments section.

Sending bloglove to you all.

I’ll be taking on a 30 day project that is going to take every available & unavailable minute in my life. It was a quick decision, but I know it is going to be a great for me.

Both blogjem & The Meme Section will be closed for the month of April.

Everyone have a wonderful month.

I’ll be missing you.

Take care,

Frances