If you’re going to live with one view for eternity, this one ain’t too bad.
My grandfather’s final resting place
March 14th, 2010
california here we come
March 12th, 2010we fly to the bay today! it’s gray and rainy and a few days of early spring will be good for the soul. i wish the circumstances were better but it will be wonderful to have the family all gathered together to celebrate the life of my grandfather.
i’m a little concerned about the state of my back – it’s better than it was a few days ago but it is by no means healed, and a long cross-country flight will be rough. but i’ll manage. at least i get to fly with my wife. i’m still getting used to saying that!
i found this video a while back and have been meaning to share it. i’ve spent a fair amount of time in hospitals over the last couple years, and by day three or four it gets pretty old. but this poor man has tuberculosis and is stuck in quarantine for weeks. he’s staving off the insanity by making movies. love it!
new yorker cartoon contest
March 11th, 2010ohhhh… i remember this pain. it’s been a long time since back pain took over my life. i am completely disabled today and it is no fun. i love the new dining room set (which is, i’m told, mahogany, and not golden oak) but i wish i had been more careful in my exertion. luckily my doctors have given me some good painkillers to use until the pain fades, which it usually does after a few days.
so my friend tempy entered the new yorker cartoon contest and i think she has a legitimate shot at a win. check it:
“We’re not sure if insurance will cover him because of a pre-historic condition.”
oops.
March 10th, 2010the new furniture is absolutely stunning. we will have a lifetime to enjoy the hand-carved golden oak table, chairs and sideboard, and come thanksgiving (which we are hoping to host this year), we will have a table that seats 14 easily. amazing. thanks to you, dear reader and old friend, for changing our lives for the better. a million thanks to my friends in the boston and new york loading crews. i owe you all big time!
the only problem is that i have completely and utterly destroyed my back. i fell off of a balcony back in 2003 and hurt my back so badly that i had to quit the job i loved, teaching preschool (my present resume includes the fact that i toilet-trained ten children simultaneously). after the fall of man (me), i became all too familiar with a life of back pain.
and now my back is out again, for the first time in a decade, and each step is agonizing. i have ballroom lessons tonight which are pretty much completely out of the question. i really thought i was lifting properly and watching myself, but i guess i pushed a little too hard. i’m hoping that a day of rest (after radiation and a couple appointments of course) will loosen things up a little. but if it doesn’t stretch out quickly, i may need to call in some favors for a meal or two this week before we head to california on friday.
thank you again to all involved in getting this incredible dining set into our now even-more-beautiful brownstone!! i’ll get some pictures at some point to share with you.
puppet dance party
March 9th, 2010i’ll be busy moving furniture tomorrow, so here’s a quick post before bed. i didn’t realize that the link to this video was changed not long after i posted it. so many of you may not have had the opportunity to see this remarkable, quirky little piece brought to you by my friends amber, sam, kirsten and chris (and featuring us newlyweds on the day of our wedding!). the puppets in this video are from a puppet show based on the children’s book city of hamburgers that my friends developed and continue to perform in the new york area. kirsten and amber help run an amazing organization called alphabet arts that you should totally hire to perform at your child’s next birthday party!
on with the show!
i’m on a boat.
March 8th, 2010i am not on a boat. i am on a bus. i’m going to boston for the night and coming back with what sounds like a gorgeous dining room set. it’s sort of a wedding present (although we don’t want wedding presents… yet…). i haven’t seen it but it’s supposed to be beautiful, old oak, matching chairs etc. and i’ll get some time with my dad, and my cousin, and some old friends. which is always nice.
i have been up to so much that it’s hard to remember all of it. we had a massive jam session on friday with lyrics and chords projected on to the wall. with some amazingly talented musicians and friends from across the country present, we managed to banjo/harmonica/handclap/found object percussion our way through decades of classic sing-a-longs. as usual, we performed part of your world from the little mermaid. the song below (hey! they’re on a bus too!) was pretty awesome as well, thanks to my favorite personal trainer tickling some serious ivories.
spring is in full effect here (no more winter, please!) and we are taking full advantage. our friend works at a mindblowing art studio in red hook and we rode our bikes to visit him. they have been working on a stop motion movie of a barrier reef for many years and it was remarkable to see. it is made entirely of found objects. everything around the studio was just beautiful, creative, entrancing, magical. here is a bird made from strips of pizza boxes. it is animatronic.
in red hook, looking out at the harbor in its glorious magnificence, the statue of liberty towering over the serene blue water, we took care of some unfinished business. you may have forgotten that a few weeks ago we hosted a ball-off, a potluck where everything had to be shaped like balls. the crowd favorite was a ball that was really more of a work of art. it was called SpHERE. it was a giant popcorn ball, two feet across and dyed groinstrong pink, which i always appreciate. even with a good crowd, we barely made a dent in the thing. so on saturday, standing on the edge of the water, we set the ball free.
thus the SpHERE completed its artistic life cycle, as we returned the popcorn back to its natural oceanic habitat. and it will find new life in the bellies of the many birds, gulls and terns and others, that swarmed the marshmallow-covered gooey goodness. the SpHERE held its shape for a remarkably long time as it floated along the breakfront. i hope birds like marshmallows.
of course sunday started with brunch, as sundays should. as many of you know, the last section of old elevated subway track in manhattan has been converted into the high line park. it is absolutely stunning, a new way to look at the city, a new way to see the urban environment in all its glory and chaos. the park is full of interesting, experiential art, like the installation of stained glass that slowly shifts in tone and mood as the day passes and the sunlight and shadows crawl.
the art and the stroll with my loving and lovely wife was not all the day had in store for us. above the high line sits the standard hotel, which has become infamous for its exhibitionist clientele. the windows of the hotel look down on the park, and as kathryn and i walked in serious conversation, we glanced up and saw a couple at their window. they were draped in towels. they waved. we waved. suddenly OOPS! the man’s towel fell. it must have been an accident…
this coming saint patrick’s day marks four years since i moved to new york. the word on the street is that it takes five years to be a local.
but i have now seen a naked man at the window of the standard hotel.
i have finally arrived.
rest in peace
March 5th, 2010i have no idea how this post didn’t get up – somehow it saved as a draft without being published. i’m sorry for those of you who were waiting for news on my grandfather – i wrote this last week the day after he passed away. kathryn and i will be in california for the memorial service next weekend.
my grandfather passed away last thursday evening. he was much beloved by many and will be sorely missed. but he put his passing into his own hands, entering hospice last month when he knew it was time. we should all be so lucky, to greet death with respect and understanding, to be able to say goodbye on our own terms. and he will live on, in the values he taught all of us, in his infectious wonder and enthusiasm for life.
a couple years back my cousin matt asked my grandparents to write statements of belief, brief stories of their lives and their values to be shared and cherished. it is a gift to have that statement now as we mourn his passing.
THIS I BELIEVE – CLYDE ELLER
I had a very happy and carefree childhood, growing up in a small town, surrounded by family and friends. However, the Great Depression affected us greatly, from 1930-1938. Our area suffered from severe drought during much of this time which greatly exacerbated the impact. I suspect some of the trauma lingers in my attitude toward life.
My values were shaped early – as a product of my family and community. We were constantly reminded by little sayings, i.e., aphorisms that reinforced the values and morals we were taught to live by. My father impressed on us the absolute obligation of our responsibility to family and the community that has stayed with me throughout my life. And this led to a long series of volunteer responsibilities, from leader for Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, to membership in church boards and civic organizations such as Jr. Chamber of Commerce, Rotary and Kiwanis. My Life’s work in Environmental and Public Health, at the City, County, State, and Federal levels also carried out my desire to improve the quality of life for individuals and communities. I was proud to receive the National Samuel Crumbine award and the Public Health Services Distinguished Service Medal in recognition of this effort.
The church I have belonged to for the past 50 years or so has always stressed the process of searching for meaning, from any and all sources of wisdom and thought. It is only in my more mature years, after much searching and thought that I have become comfortable with my humanistic view. I believe this life, this time, is our only chance to impact our thoughts and values and that our immortality exists only through this impact on our family, friends, and community.
In looking back over my very long life, I have many things to be happy for, especially my long relationship with my wife, Linda, and the pleasure of seeing our children become adult friends, and especially the joy of interacting with our eight grandchildren as their lives unfold. I feel fortunate to have had such a long life and so many wonderful friends in our retirement years.
Clyde Blaine Eller Jr. lived to be 89 years old. He raised four children, and he got to become friends with all of his eight grandchildren. He loved life, travel, the outdoors, and all its wondrous beauty. He was an intellectual, and a compassionate humanist. He was dedicated to his church, the Unitarian Universalists, as its ideals of community and tolerance appealed to his values of civic duty as well as acceptance of all people to work for a better world. But most of all, in all his life, he loved his wife Linda, with whom he was married for 66 years.
folk opera
March 5th, 2010you guys the folk opera is amazing. i know a lot of you have seen it already – this was my third viewing but first with full instrumentation, last minute violin and bass players who filled their roles with remarkable ease. this video below is not of the best quality but maybe you can just play it in the background as nice music. because it is definitely nice music!
also, just so y’all know, i’ve been posting again on adventures in brooklyn. this morning i delved into the disturbing world of domesticated hippopotami.
strictly ballroom
March 3rd, 2010today is christmas day! hooray!
well not really of course. but it is the first day of a christmas present that i gave to my lovely wife (!!). i registered us for a month of social dance classes at the 92nd street y.
obviously she will dance circles around me. but she will have her own challenge: letting me lead after years of playing the six foot tall lead partner in her own classes. i think it will be something like this video below, except replace fran with me. but keep scott… just to have him around.
yes i will take my glasses off. it’s evidently an important part of the transformation from meek and shy to sexy and talented. i will no longer live my life in fear. by the end of our classes it will probably be something like this.