Looking for work... Ever since 9/11, paying clients are more scarce. Of course, I could always fall back on my career as a gifted opera singer, or invest in a sure fire pyramid scheme. Or... I could find a regular job with a paycheck doing what I do anyway - representing people in a jam. So today I went for my first job interview in about 10 years. It's a not-for-profit type place, the kind that I applied to massively after getting out of law school and passing the bar. They are very active in a lot of interesting projects and missions, and it seems like the type of place I could do something interesting and good. I get there and am doing OK, not too overbearing ( I hope), and then the interviewer, a girl from Buffalo who is younger than my son, asks me the trick question "where do you expect to be in five years, what are your long term goals?" Now, when you get to be a certain age, this is the type of question that tends to throw you. Should I say the truth? "I'll probably be dead, or marginalized as an old person", or should I invent some lofty goal on the spot- "My long term goal is to be elevated to the Supreme Court", or "I expect to be working on a book while serving time for civil disobedience." Once you reach a certain age, long term goals and five year plans become superfluous. They have their place when you are young, to sort of whip up your enthusiasm and get you off the couch, but as life continues, experience teaches that you should do as much as you can right now and do it as well as possible, because this may be as good as it gets. I'm not good at this, I stammered something about retirement and working as long as possible and then helpfully added, "but I may be dead."

Values in the Shrubbery...People coming out of the voting booths in the "heartland" gave "personal values" as their biggest reason for voting in the shrub. What are these personal values the heartland voted for? Definition of marriage? How is gay marriage threatening to straight people? No one is forcing people into same sex marriages. A few years ago, the best Mother in Barry's class was the gay transvestite uncle. Permitting women a choice? Why are unborn unconscious lumps of cells more important to us than living breathing children living in poverty? Where are the heartland's moral values when we kill 100,000 of our fellow human beings as they sleep, eat, or go about their daily business over in Iraq? Many more people died over there from our war than would have died under Sadam. Then there's our young people over there fighting a useless war. Isn't their life worth more than an unconscious clump of cells? And, how come these people don't come out against the death penalty? People are sitting on death row who were represented by a real estate attorney, or an attorney who fell asleep during their trial. Where are their personal values then? And. how about the 50% of all children in our country who live in poverty? How about those children from families without health care who are living in poverty even though both parents are working? How come those living children don't rate the same priority enjoyed by the unborn? Although I go to Church, attend retreats once a year, and serve as a trustee, I have no illusions that my actions are endorsed by God. I don't even know if there is a God. As an attorney living in New York City I do not have any "personal" values. Here, we just labor away in the darkness, trying to love our neighbor and do good works.

It's better to fight terrorism in Iraq... than over here. The shrub makes this statement, or some varient of it in almost every day . Then he pauses and smirks, looking about proudly as the shrubbites cheer. I don't believe the war over there is keeping us safer over here, but aside from that heresy, t here is something immoral about cheering the idea that innocent Iraqis are dieing to spare us over here in the USA. Yes, when we see road side bombings over there, we are glad they are not right on Broadway. Push come to shove, I would rather that some lady in Iraq die in a terrorist attack than me. But , is it moral to take comfort in the misfortune of the Iraqis, so we do not suffer over here? Was part of the reason the war was mismanaged was to create a magnet for terrorists so they wouldn't bother to come over here? That's a radical new theory. Up til now. I thought we were trying to control the largest group of oil fields in the mideast, and/or find WMD, and/or stop the development of WMD, and/or punish and remove Saddam because he was an evil man who may have been implicated in 9/11, and to bring God's gift of democracy to the Iraqi people. I didn't realize we had another role for them- that through their death we may live. Sounds familiar somehow.

Black Dirt Country...I don't think most people are aware that New York state has its very own gourmet onion country. About 65 miles away, up around Pine Island, New York in Orange County is an area called "black dirt country" where the best onions in New York come from. It's unmistakable when you are out driving because it is a large flat area of black dirt, with huge onion farms to the horizon. It's the lakebed left by a glacier lake about 10,000 years ago. The town of Pine Island is literally an island in the middle of the old prehistoric lake. Apparently, leaves and vegetation dropped into the lake forming the thick layer of black muck. Clients of mine have a house on high ( normal) ground nearby and they told me they are forbidden to take any of dirt from the lakebed and that the black dirt land may only be used for farming. The nearest big town in Middletown- which is not in black dirt country. Yesterday we ended up at an Orchard store- Soon's Orchard off Route 6 near blackdirt country, where I bought 10 pounds of grade AA black dirt country onions for $2.59. Soon's is memorable for its unlimited samples of cider donuts. They also had cheap winter squashes, pumpkins fresh vegetables and about 15 varieties of Apples. Winesap, Northern Spy, Macouns, RedCoats, and all the more common varieites like MacIntosh, Empire and Cortlands. There are also big bags of "Utility Apples" by variety, and I got a bag of Utility Redcoats for cooking. They looked great, just as good as the other apples, very large, and make nice apple sauce. In spite of very dank weather, the leaves were lovely going from the Palisades parkway over Route 6 and west on Roiute 17 and 6. They will be gone very soon- perhaps mostly by next week end if it's windy with rain this week. It's almost Halloween, and 2004 is almost over.

Free Association, after the Last Debate... What is it that people like about the Shrub? Everyone says he is such a likable guy. I just can't stand him, he reminds me of all the obnoxious frat boys I ever knew. Do they like Shrub's take on foreign policy? He believes that freedom is a gift by the creator to all peoples. Does anyone really believe we went to war to spread freedom? Does anyone really believe that more Iraqis would have died if we left Saddam in place? The Shrub wants us to believe we are doing God's will by warring to bring freedom. What part of the teachings of Shrub's Messiah inspired this war? Isn't it more believable that we went to war in Iraq because they have the biggest known and unknown unexploited oil reserves? I didn't hear any follow up at the debate about the disappearance of machinery and buildings and materials in Iraq which could be used to manufacture WMD. The UN inspectors and satellite photos show the disappearance of entire buildings after the war and stuff from Iraq is being sold on the black market in Holland. Kerry wants to deal with terrorism like an international crime. Which it is, only on a much more serious scale. But doesn't it seem more sensible to go after it with detectives, spies and black ops than to go into neighborhoods which may harbor terrorists with tanks and blast away? Think about it. How effective would it be if we went after organized crime by going into the lower east side and blowing up the buildings where suspected criminals hung out? Last night Shrub was pushing the medical savings account for health care . Apparently, this tax free savings account is combined with a health insurance policy with a very high deductible. So if you get the flu and call the Doctor you pay for that out of your health savings account. But if you need dialysis, the insurance kicks in. For someone like me, who rarely gets sick ( knock on wood) it sounds OK. But what if you've got a lot of little cheap health care expenses that are not covered. And if you need dialysis, will you have to pay the high deductible every time you go? I can see those health accounts won't go very far once you get a chronic condition needing constant care. And no one said why it's still OK for the VA to get medicine from Canada, now that the Shrub has officially classed it as a third world country. There were no real answers on how other things are going to get paid for. Kerry is going to raise taxes on the people earning over $200,000 yearly, and we're supposed to go to a web site and look at his plan. The Shrub, after telling us that Rubin looked at Kerry's plan said it won't work, just wants us to go to his web site. No thanks, I'll just read Krugman and the financial pages of the Times. Also, something about Shrub's demeanor seemed to indicate that Social Security may turn out to be a little bit negotiable. No one talked about the latest findings on the environment, and information about accelerated oceanic warming and heightened storm cycles. Years from now, people will look back on these debates as historic records. I wonder if they will find them willful, or shortsighted for their failure to deal with the most important issues that affected the future. Well, in the words of the Shrub, as reported by Bob Woodward, "we'll all be dead"

Free Association, before the Last Debate... Will this be the last debate of the free world?? Will this mark the victory of the right wing and the establish a one party system firmly in control of our country, and by extension of the rest of the world?? What will happen to the Supremes? How about a woman's choice? Health care insurance for the uncovered? Will a large proportion of people continue to get their health care from the most expensive source- the emergency room? Will poor children get a better education? Will we continue spending $50,000 a year to jail young black men instead of funding education for them before they get to jail? Will the deficit really get as big as the Dems predict? What about the trade deficit? Will Iraq break the bank or will the winner cut and run? What happened to all the unguarded ordnance in Iraq? What happened to their equipment to manufacture WMD? Who stole it? Will we still be at war someplace 4 year from now? Will there be a nuclear strike somewhere soon? How will it affect the environment? Is it too late for global warming? Will the ocean temperatures continue to rise, fueling ever more hurricanes? Will Florida continue to be habitable? Will there finally be a north west passage, from Alaska to Greenland, and a north east passage from Alaska to Europe? Will we find oil under the Arctic sea? Will the price of Oil hit $100 a barrel? Will there be laws about driving to conserve fuel in my lifetime? Will food transport make the price of food go up? Should we be burying our good local farmland under subdivisions? Is Canada the land of tomorrow?

Cell phonage...Saturday I went by the Garden on West 89th Street and our craft ladies were out in front of the Garden gate selling quilts, knitted and crocheted items. They had been rained out at our September Arts and Crafts Festival, and we had given them this past week end as a rain date. I asked, "How are things going? " Eleanor, the craft lady who crochets's unusual hats sniffed, "OK , lots of people coming along, but most of them are on cell phones. They don't see us, they don't see anything, they just go along in their own little bubble. It wasn't like this last year" She's right, the market penetration of cell phone has finally made them ubiquitous, and a necessary object. Down in court a few weeks ago, a Judge on the bench demanded that I call my client right then and there to check on a date for a conference with the parties. In the hallways of justice, on Centre Street, the din of haggling has been heightened with the buzz of cell phones ringing ( lawyers eschew fancy ringtones) and shouting over poor connections. Along Fifth avenue, well dressed people alone on the street walk along, talking loudly and gesticulating to imaginary companions. Look closer, and you see an unobtrusive earbud screwed into their ear. Barry, my signficant other, tells me his teaching assistant at school has never had a conversation with him when he walks her to the subway, because she is always on the phone. The craft ladies commiserated, "its just like living in the suburbs, where everyone is in cars and don't notice anything." There has been major shift in New York street life this year. Before you could always go out and there would be throngs of people relating in a semi social manner. People noticed the guy begging at the corner, the voter registration people with clipboards and the "published poet" sitting at his little table selling original poems. Now, part of informal street life has been chilled. People pass along, in the throng, but not part of it, sealed in a bubble, talking to the ether.

18 Permanent Bases in Iraq...I ran into one of the anti-war activists in the neighborhood and she was grousing as to how come none of the pundits have commented on the fact that we are building 18 permanent military bases in Iraq. I heard Kerry say it during the debate, but no one has said anything about it anywhere I've looked. A commentator on NPR on Friday did remark that we will probably have US soldiers guarding oil fields, refinerys and pipelines all over the world for most of this century, until we work out some alternate fuel. It is true that once we establish permanent bases we tend to stay a long time, and a whole culture and presence springs up around our overseas bases. Once its safe, we build US style hospitals, housing developments, supermarkets, gas stations. hotels and recreational areas, and even snack bars along the highways for US citizens with Department of Army ID cards. Spooks and counter spooks establish them selves, US insurance agents and lawyers set up shop, and we establish schools for the American children. When I visited Heidelberg in 2001 I was surprized to see that our presence at that time, over 50 years after WWII, was even greater than it was during the "cold war." I lived over there for almost 10 years in the sixties and seventies and worked varioiusly for the Heidelberg Opera Company, the Festspeil at Bayreuth, and for the US Military doing plays and musicals at Roadside Theater in Mannheim, and touring to various bases in Germany. Another job was as the Protesant chior director at the Mark Twain Village Chapel " on Roemerstrasse in Heidelberg. That Church was ( and is) across the street from Headquarters US Army Europe, "USAREUR" and the American army as well as all the civilian employees and dependants had a big presence in Germany and an impact on the economy and culture. USAREAR Headquarters in Heidelberg is not only on the site of the old Roman garrison (Roemerstrasse- get it?) but also in the Nazi Wehrmacht buildings that we took over after WWII. On the red sandstone gates you can see the bar relief of German Soldiers with their distinctive helmets. I thought all this would be gone when I returned for a few weeks in August 2001 , but there seemed to be more Americans than ever. My landlady,Frau Beck, ( I had rented a small studio apartment for the few weeks) agreed and when she drove me to the supermarket she pointed out all the new apartments buildings occupied by US Department of Army civilian employees, US service people and their dependents, and a plethora of other US citizens living in Heidelberg who had employment connected to the American military, schools, or companies that serviced the military in some way. One of the first modern terrorist acts I remember against our country took place in Heidelberg in 1972. A terrorist war protester drove a car loaded with explosives into Headquarters USAREUR and it exploded about 5:30 in the afternoon. Thankfully, just after most of the employees had left. I was at my garden in Handschuhsheim about three miles away and heard the explosion. Nixon was President. We thought we'd be safe after the war was over and he resigned.

Chutney Again! Italian Prunes really make the best Chutney. Better than mango or peach. The fresh Italian prunes give it a deep winey flavor. (See Thursday September 30 posting). We had it on scrambled eggs this morning, and will have curryed vegetables with rice and chutney tonight. . I just wanted to add that a quarter teaspoon of dried red pepper flakes or half a small chopped Ancho pepper would be a good addition with, or instead of, the black pepper. I tend to add the hot stuff to the stir fry on a meal by meal basis which is why I left it out of the recipe. Also green bell peppers are almost as good as the red bell peppers in the main recipe.

Shrub on the Run... like a petulant little peanut during most of the splitscreen reaction shots, our leader kept repeating the same important phrases... "support our troops, don't give mixed messages, we're winning, stay the course, evil in their hearts, don't forget Poland, a group of folks who don't want democracy" Shrub on the Run sounded like a crazy Mel Gibson in "Conspiracy Theory." when he defensively said " I know Osama bin Laden attacked us, I know that" in his comeback to Kerry's point that Iraq had not attacked us. At the end he came out with a wonderful bible image referencing the promised land about "standing on the mountain top looking down into the valley of peace." But, consider the high place the devil took Jesus up onto when the devil promised Jesus "all this can be yours" as they looked down at some middle eastern real estate.
Hey what about the Sharpster? I wanna see a debate between Shrub on the Run and the Sharpster up there with Kerry. That would spice things up.

Downtown Harvest... Downtown on Chambers street today Italian prune plums and red bell peppers were 3 pounds for a dollar from the street vendors. I couldn't resist the prune plums and red peppers so I made chutney when I got back. Three pounds of washed and pitted sliced up prune plums, two thin sliced red peppers, a medium sized diced onion, about a tablespoon of grated ginger, and three cloves of pressed garlic went into my enameled soup stock pot with a cup and a half cider vinegar and a cup and a half of sugar. I mashed these things around a little as they heated up. After things started cooking I put it on simmer and added a half teaspoon fresh black pepper, a table spoon of pickling spice and a half cup of raisins and about an eighth of a cup of honey. This mixture simmered down nicely in about a half hour, and I filled a large cleaned and boiled pickle jar with chutney for the refrigerator, and filled a two cup storage tub with the rest to freeze. There was a small amount- mostly thick liquid, on the bottom of the pot so I poured it into a jar for immediate use. Chutney on grilled chicken with curry rice and vegetables tonight during the debate! The downtown neighborhood between Chambers and Canal has some weird bargains- the aforesaid fruit vendors, (the cheapest two are near Broadway and Chambers) the Linen Depot that has huge panels of earthen color velour curtain panels out in front on the street for seven dollars, Ralph's Discount on Chambers near Church has two packages of Peak Freens for a dollar as you walk in the door, two loaves of Vermont organic assorted breads for $1.25, various spices, tuna fish and candies. Dee & Dee is good for dollar t-shirts and jerseys, and Ruby's Book Sale down Chambers near west Broadway still has a great selection of cheap maps, and back issues of popular magazines in back. Going north on Broadway from Chambers there's Anbar Shoe Sale on Reed Street just off Broadway west where anything in women's shoes is liable to show up for under $40, Italian Shoes, Swedish sandals, European Boots etc. P&S fabrics is up past Worth Street on the west side of Broadway. P&S has the best fabric and ribbon and yarn bargains at the door as you go in. This week they have unusual novelty yarns for making fringed sweaters on sale, three large hanks for ten dollars. They also have wonderful linens and silks Dupioni Silk for 5.99 a yard, ( downstairs) large pieces of African fabric for $20, dress fabrics, woolens, cottons, denims, odd buttons, patterns, decorations, ribbons, edgings, tassels and cords. Downstairs at P&S, the door is hung with weird curtain fabrics to suggest a household fabric wonderland and there remnants and bolts of upscale upholstery fabrics marked down, and a corduroy section including bolts of printed corduroy and velveteens, and a plastic section with weird plastic lace panels, plastic and oilcloth table coverings by the yard. Further up, just before Canal there is Fabric Warehouse which has leather panels for between $5 and $15 dollars. You could make yourself a leather coat for $20. Walk east on Baxter past Centre and stop at Dragonland baker for some pastries. Miniature custard pies for .80 walnut tarts, coconut cream buns, or various Chinese style buns filled with cabbage or pork with decent coffee or assorted bubble teas and drinks. Coffee and a pastry runs under two dollars. And, you get to sit at a table with a window in it, look down and see a giant live turtle inside the base of the table, sitting on a rock with some water and looking up at you. The tables are all giant "turtleariums". There is a new Dragonland bakery opening up on Worth east of Broadway, but I don't know if they are going to have the turtlearium tables.

Another Opening, another show... This summer the Children's Shakespeare festival continues with a performance by the Meri Mini Players of "Comedie of Errors" in the beautiful West Side Community Garden  floral amphitheater. The production is adapted cleverly from the original by Morna Martell who also directed it. The actors are all professional young actors. Admission is free and performances are 5 pm Sat and Sun through the second week end in August. If  outdoor theater is not your thing,  the Garden is open daily from 9 am- (or whenever I can get someone over there to open the gates) to dusk every day of the week all year long- icy conditions permitting. It is located on West 89 and 90th steets midblock between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues in Manhattan and is a more pleasant place to sit and day dream than the local Starbucks. If you feel like exercise, I need fresh blood to turn the compost. All work is done by volunteer members. Membership is $15 yearly, and if a vegetable plot is your goal, there is a two year waiting list, but caretaker plots come up pretty quickly. Check us out at westsidecommunitygarden .org.  

Food Shopping Above West 100th Street

Well I've ducked out long enough on the blog site, and will start posting again. This has been a depressing spring in the Upper West Side. The West Side Market at 110th Street closed and there is no place to shop along Broadway in the neighborhood between 100 street and 125th Street that has the variety and reasonable prices they had.. It's very sad, because the West Side Market was open 24/7 and had everything I'd ever wanted on two continents for the past 40 years. They had the special German Linseed bread and Chocolates that I used to have to search for when I lived in Heidelberg, they had a huge selection of juices, including European black currant juice, Indonesian noodles, red curry, and fish sauce, all manner of sauces, soups, and curries, health cereals, including a low glycemic cereal that I was addicted to for only 1.99 , and a vast array of produce, including bok choy, giant radishes, tropical fruits, and strawberries year round. (Strawberry Shortcake for Xmas) The Associated that took over the University market at 116th Street is as expensive as a Food Emporium, and the D'Agostino's on 110th street tries, but it is tiny and limited as to selection. The vegetables at both places are extremely pricey. The Gristedes at 107th Street closed, and is being replaced by a Garden of Eden- the most expensive food store in the City. The other day I was in the Dags at 110th buying three bagels for a dollar, and the woman in front of me spent $53 on nothing at all. A ready made salad, a vegetable brush and some sponges, some yogurt, a couple of frozen dinners, bread, juice, and cheese. She didn't seem to care, but I was mystified as to what cost so much. We've been reduced to buying vegetables near the Post Office at the Used Vegetable Market at Amsterdam and 104th Street. It's not really called that, but the produce is extremely cheap and looks like second hand produce. Some things, like the Corn, are always bad there, but the Onions, Green and Red Peppers, Lettuce and Tomatillos are usually a good deal. Of course they always have Plantains, and I've learned to plop a few slices in the pan with onions, peppers, garlic and cilantro near the end of roasting chicken or pork for a nice side dish.

Ordinary Time Out in Queens... Sunday I went out to a church in Queens to sing for a service. Being the only attorney in New York who sang at the Wagner Festspiel in Bayreuth, I sometimes get singing jobs even now. Anyway, this is a truly beautiful church painted with bright murals in a lively area filled with Italian Pastry Cafes, Polish Pork stores, Mexican Restaurants, Irish Gift Shops and cheap supermarkets. Theres even a chaotic National Wholesale Liquidators set behind a parking lot over on nearby Northern Boulevard. When we finished the service, some second sopranos invited me for coffee at one of the Italian Cafes on 30th Avenue. I got a latte and a cream filled pastry for 2.85 - both much better than Starbucks, and we sat down to discuss the Choir Scene. They are raising a volunteer choir to sing at St. Patrick's Cathedral in commemoration of Police killed in the line of duty and need strong voices, because one of their New Jersey contingents can't make it this year. I said yes, because its a good cause. We all agreed the acoustics are bad, but it's a chance to sing at St. Pats, which has its own cachet. One of the ladies at the table had a lilting Brogue, and told us about the vicissitudes of handling the family farm in Ireland. It has a thatched roof and you can' find anyone these days at a reasonable price to fix a thatched roof. After coffee, we moved out into the sunlight. We were in the wind and it was cold, but there were people sitting at the outside tables along the Avenue. Getting into my car, I drove over to Queens Boulevard to look at a construction site that is of professional interest across from the Georgia Peach Diner. Sitting in the warm car, the side of my face felt hot, as if a space heater was aimed through the open car window. I suddenly realized the heat was soming from the strong early spring sunlight flooding the inside of the car and hitting the side of my face. The thermometer at a BP station on Queens Boulevard read 25 degrees F, but spring is on the way!

GAY MARRIAGES AND AWOL ...I don't want this election to be about Gay marriages and Bush's going AWOL for several months in 1972. It looks like the right thinkers are going to pump this gay marriage business into another knee jerk issue like abortion. Instead of being happy that people are getting married and committing themselves to a lifetime relationship, they act like its some kind of a slippery slope- if they let the gays get married, then all of a sudden masses of straight people will turn gay. Your mother will suddenly want to abandon your father and go off with her best friend from high school. Your boyfriend will see married gay guys and suddenly change his sexual orientation and start picking up men. This whole idea is moronic. All the gay people I know knew they were gay since the age of 12 if not earlier. Why would we deprive someone of the benefits and recognition of marriagebecause of an accident of birth or early childhood conditioning? Everyone in our society deserves the same honor of full rights and responsibility that come from being a member of society. Speaking of responsibility, why are the lefties so interested in Bush skipping out of the Guard to work on a political campaign in Alabama? Vietnam was an unpopular terrible war, and many people, especially the more left leaning socially responsible types, did what they could to stay out of it. But with all this recent history to chew over, why bother with something that's tired meat? How about the environment, the loss of jobs, the failure to secure our container ports, the war in Iraq, the mess that followed, and our country's unpopularity in the rest of the world. I was in Europe when Bush turned his back on the Kyoto Accord, and his unpopularity overseas shot up right then. Every time they showed him on the TV my landlady would start into a tirade about "my president." Europeans softened up after 9/11, but we totally blew it in the windup to the war in Iraq and its aftermath. The war is widely perceived in Europe as stupid and blatant imperialism. The problem is that we are all responsible for what our country does, not just the few in Washington. Go overseas. When people perceive you as an American, they want to talk about your country's foreign policy, like you personally just thought it up. No I don't want this election fought over gay marriages and Bush's attendance record in the Air National Guard thirty years ago. There are real issues here that need to be addressed.