Seeking the Sublime in the Everyday

How could I have written about Christmas presents without mentioning this gentleman?  Santa! I can't tell here how I'm feeling about sitting on a stranger's lap.  This is my granddaughter Molly on her first visit to Santa. She was not ambivalent. Two years later she hadn't changed her mind. Her brother, the boy formerly known as Teddy, now Theo, says, "Should I be worried? I'm new to all this." A year later he got the message--this is definitely a scary guy. I could have told him that this Santa is our dear departed friend, Steven Davis, who was not at all scary but that would be giving away the secret. But Theo grew up and figured out that even scary guys have some good points such as bringing presents so he decided that he wanted to meet Santa, no matter what his big sister said.  Molly couldn't let her little brother be braver than she was so she mustered her courage, grabbed a stuffed animal for comfort and agreed to a visit. Molly reported that sh...

Celebrating in the Village  Tonight is Christmas Eve Eve and the sixth night of Hannukah!   Are you ready?  Have you done all your shopping and wrapping? I LOVE wrapping presents. This is our coffee table, all ready for our big day.  I've added an innovation--gift tags!  I used to say, oh, I don't need to label this--I'll remember who this is for and then on Christmas I'd have to open it just a bit to check.  The tags are very helpful. Don't be too impressed--it's not all it appears.  Here's the real story. Yes, I wrap up practical gifts like  socks b ut really, what's wrong with a little ceremony and celebration, like clinking glasses and saying Cheers before dinner, even if it's just leftovers on Tuesday?  And I must say, I give really  great  socks*.       There's nothing like the perfect present;  like this. My brother, Alan and his bride, Donna, bought it for me on their honeymoon. It was a mobile with about...

 I think I've finally finished the Yellow House.  Now I'll put it away for a while and when I take it out again I'll see everything that still needs to be done.  But for now I'd like a break.   That's what I did with Blue House and sure enough, it still needs work. It's almost there but the golden border between the first and second floors needs to be toned down; not quite sure how I'll do that but I will.  Maybe I'll make the pillars a darker tone.  I could keep going for a long time.  As a teacher of young children I learned that the way to get good art out of them is knowing when to take it away from them.  Maybe I need to apply this rule to myself. I said that to playwright John Guare at lunch a long time ago and later heard my words in his movie, Six Degrees of Separation. It was a moment that told me I should start writing. This morning on the radio I heard a report on Morrocco's wonderful performance at the World Cup that has come to an end...

This week I went to see The Tudors; Art and Majesty in Renaissance England. It was great. A few highlights;                                                                                       Baby Prince Edward         I love his baby hands.                                                                                                                    ...

 Well, I had a lovely Thanksgiving celebration and went to bed happy.  Friday I woke up feeling awful and tested positive for Covid.  It's exactly what happened after our Easter/Passover celebration back in April, which turned out to be a superspreader event. My dear son-in-law suggested I give up spending holidays with family and friends.   That reminds me of a conversation I heard between my parents.  My mother suffered from psoriasis, and it really is a heartbreak. She tried everything.  One suggestion was that she give up smoking and drinking.   "Gin!" said Dad, "You can't give up life itself!" He was kidding, of course, but that's how I look at Lee's suggestion.  But let's move on.  I tested negative this morning. Christmas is coming and also Saint Barbara Day! December 4.  Here's a review of what I've done so far in my  Saint Barbara Series. I've incorporated photographs of lightning by Photographers Gary Hershorn and my broth...

  As I write this I'm getting ready for the big dinner.  I've already made the turkey soup, always a highlight and my family's favorite part of the meal so when I bought my turkey I got extra thighs, roasted them, and started the stock for the soup on Monday. Also, we cut up the bird and cooked the wings, neck and back to make more stock for the stuffing and gravy.  Later today we'll roast the legs and breast separately.  It has made our apartment and also the hallway smell great. I hope the neighbors appreciate it. Do you ever have a chance encounter that really makes your day? I had one last week, as I walked down Broadway at 168th Street to see the eye doctor.  A man sitting on the wall said to me, "Hey, Mama, you got something for me?"  I smiled and said, "Sorry."  And he said, "Well, you look gorgeous!"   That certainly put a spring in my step so after my check-up, which was good news, I found a dollar in my pocket and decided that if ...

 I've had to face a sad loss this week. You know that little envelope The New Yorker tucks into each issue so you can renew your subscription?  For years it's carried the image of Eustace Tilly, New Yorker's cover boy taking a walk with his nose in a book.  I always cut him out and paste him into my date book like this;      Suddenly they've changed it to something not nearly as engaging. I loved that little man and now he is no more.  It's the end of an era. Once again, I'm deeply saddened but I must move on.       On to more collages. I'm happy to say that Vogue, Ralph Lauren and the World Wildlife Fund gift catalogue have come through for me.        Look at my second-grader's Mona Lisa here.  She likes what she sees.      I'm happy to announce that my drawing, The Red House, is in an online show titled Seeing Music,  curated by Yvonne Lamar-Rogers and Cheryl Aden, sponsored by the cura...