Unfathomable Grief X 2

Newtown was my first "Unfathomable Grief" post and now I'm back again.  My family lived through 9/11 in NYC.  Abe was in Harlem, Josh was in The Bronx at Bronx High School of Science, and Liz was in her new H.S. in Brooklyn named for Edward R. Murrow and I was in a hospital in downtown Brooklyn watching planes go into buildings across the harbor.  I am speechless today.  I have spent the day trying to do good deeds for everyone I have contact with.  Finding jobs, supporting projects, being thankful for Austin figures who have made our transition easier.  But today I am happy I am an older person.  Because I cannot bear to hear more of loss of life, limbs, and the possibilities of evil that innocent people can be victim to.  I cannot bear a lifetime of this violence.  I am happy I am 64.

'The Place Beyond the Pines'/Violet Crown

This is surely one of the most painful films I have ever seen.  It's a lengthy and complex  discussion of generations of relationships between fathers and sons.  None of the characters are simplistically developed, they all have elements of good/bad (except for the adolescent son played by Emory Cohen---he's pure "dick.") Derek Cinanfrance has done something unusual, creative and important here.  He's made a film about families, their men, the women who love and leave  them without resorting to the current trendiness of what's marketable. It was compelling to see young people in their real and painful lives in high school having real conversations with each other, their families, without the antics played over and over again in current cinema and television.  In some ways it reminded me of how I felt about 'The Deer Hunter' when I saw it a thousand years ago.  A different screenplay about real lives.  The setting in Schenectady, New York helps with the truthfulness.  For sure the performances are wonderful and I frequently was at the edge of my seat.  See this movie, not to be entertained, but to be drawn into the truthfulness of the human condition.  This film left me sad, thinking, and grateful for the father/son relationship in my own world.

Art City Austin

I cannot say enough good things about the amazing arts and crafts today we encountered at this arts festival.  And of course we love supporting artists and crafts people and talking to them about their visions so we purchased two new pieces for our round walls. Now  if I could only get Verizon to upgrade my phone to take photos we'd have been set and I'd post.  Back to my Canon film camera....Verizon you blew it!

John E. Dee and Chicken Marsala

My favorite KUTX program is Friday night with John E. Dee.  The music is back in the day soul and I know the sounds and I cook and drink wine having myself a hell of a good time.  So when the first born son asks "chicken marsala tonight?"  I am on it.  He's been traveling around the country pitching transportation sharing throughout the midwest and coastlines as well..so meeting his request is a no brainer for this Jewish mother.  So here's the recipe.  It comes from a really old edition of "The Not Quite Vegetarian Cookbook."  It is vintage!
 4 boneless chicken breasts
2 green or red bell peppers sliced
1/2 lb fresh mushrooms (I omit)
3 garlic cloves pressed
1 lemon
1 Tbsp parsley
1/4 tsp basil
1/2 cup tamari
3/4 cup marsala wine
1/2 cup flour
oil
Cut chicken into small pieces. Squeeze lemon over chicken. Shake flour mixture over chicken.  Brown on both sides.  Remove. Add garlic, onion,peppers,mushrooms, parsley and basil.  Saute 5 mins.  Add chicken, tamari, and wine.  Simmer 20 minutes.  I serve with whole wheat pasta except when first born son is here.  He gets white linguine.  Bon appetit!

4 Years in Austin

April 9, 2009 was the first time in my life I didn't sit down at a seder table to celebrate Passover.  Instead, Abe and I  sold our loft early in the day and went to our closing with lawyers, brokers, agents, new buyers.  There were 10 of us in the room.  Afterwards we walked the hood, said goodbye to store owners, neighbors, and then our neighbor drove us to JFK where I used our new lap top for the first time. Abe was silent and looked worried. We arrived in Austin and slept at the Garden Hilton.  The next morning we were picked up by our RE agent and met with a broker in an office and signed off on our new home.  There were 4 of us in the room (already Texas was telling me "I'm From Texas, Screw You.") We couldn't get into our new home because no one left keys for us.  Our RE agent called another agent and he had the garage code to let us in.  Someone finally brought us keys.  It poured the next day after we slept on the floor.  A Time Warner guy came out to set us up with cable and phone lines and told us our new home was going to explode because the gas was connected to the electricity.  After Abe had a semi heart attack we learned he was mistaken.  He has since apologized (I'm certain he's strung out.)  It was a rough beginning.  Abe's adjustment was rocky, rocky, rocky and I was in heaven.  Yep, a Woody Allen script here.  It's my blog so I can say it's been a great ride and I am so happy we're here.  Our lives are filled with a new culture, beautiful art, a garden that brings us enormous gratification, Foundation Communities, UT RTF, Cohen New Works Festival, AFS, AFF, SXSW, Paramount, Stateside, Polvo's, Roaring Fork, The Blanton, The Long Center, The Alamos, Laurel Vouvray's acting classes, tennis for Abe at the South Austin Rec Center, and most important Josh and Liz, our kids.  Home at last...far from home. 

Angelique Kidjo at the 2013 Wobeon Fest

A perfect evening to head down to this world music concert at Mexican American Cultural Center to see Angelique Kidjo, a Brooklyn neighbor and gym mate whom I haven't seen in 4 years.  Angelique as always was filled with energy, great African dance moves and oh that voice.  Everyone in the audience was upright and dancing and she had a crowd of twenty up on the stage dancing with her.  A real group of quintessential diverse Austinites.  I was over the moon thrilled when she pointed to me from the stage with recognition and when I reminded her "Brooklyn was in the house" she asked "why'd you leave me girl?"  This started off the audience calling out where they came from and Angelique responding with native languages and her global wisdom.  Oh what a night!

Ray Wylie Hubbard in Studio 1A/KUTX

When we first moved here from Brooklyn Ray Wylie Hubbard was one of the first sounds I heard on KUT.  He really spoke to me with 'Snake Farm' and 'Whoop and Hollar'.  Then we went to the Armadillo Crafts Fair where I heard him sing 'Mother Blues', introduce his son, a fine guitarist, and I was sold!  This guy is a poet and his words sink straight into the mind and heart of this Park Slope Brooklyn transplant.  So when Kim Cates, KUT Volunteer Coordinator sent out an email yesterday asking for 2 volunteers for the live Studio1A performance of Ray Wylie I was in heaven!  And fearful  for sure that someone else would get this opportunity.  I answered immediately and in 5 minutes I was told that I would be volunteering to sign people in and see the performance myself.
What can I say?  From the moment Ray Wylie entered the reception area he communicated warmth, happiness and when I opened the door for him he returned my  beaming smile with a good ol! smile.  I was speechless  (hard to imagine for those who know me.)  And when Kurt (my co-volunteer and wonderful to work with) and I entered the studio to sit down and listen we were in the midst of an extraordinary performance.  All of the audience was so happy to be there as we checked them in and Jay Trachtenberg asked the best questions and commented beautifully in that soft style of his.  He really knows how to talk to people.  I could go on and on and tell you what he played with his accompanying guitarist, but that's not needed here.  When the performance ended and he graciously took photos and shook hands I waited to let him know how much I admire him and I quoted a line from 'Mother Blues':  "On the days I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations, those are my good days."  Ray Wylie, you have brought me through some challenging moments with that thought, and for that I am eternally grateful.  Thank-you KUTX for this extraordinary opportunity.