Thanksgiving - 4 Brothers, The C-8 & Poppi

We have just returned from Atlanta where we went to celebrate Thanksgiving with the entire Cohen Family. It had been nearly 15 years since we all gathered together for Thanksgiving. I guess that is my fault since I am the renegade brother that moved his family away from Atlanta 27 years ago. The other 3 brothers have all remained in Atlanta although 3 offspring (besides my kids) have left Atlanta in recent years. So, we all gathered at Alan & Barbara's for a scrumptious meal and frivolity. Only 1 of the offspring was absent as Adam recently moved to Denver and had to work all weekend. I am sure it was especially enjoyable for my dad to have "all of his chickens" in one place.

My Brother, Alan, once facetiously remarked that I, having run away from home when I was 10, have been running away ever since. Nothing could be further from the truth. I moved away from Atlanta for opportunity but would welcome a return if the opportunity presented itself. However one has to wonder if the age old question, "Can you really go home again?," is a valid one. Although we have tried to be a part of my 3 brother's and our nieces and nephew's lives, I always wonder if we are missing something. Maybe I can do a better job of staying in touch with everybody in the family!

It was especially fun to see the C-8....the Cohen cousins and their kids. The kids are especially delicious and a delight to be around. It was really the instigation of the C-8 that caused all of us to gather for the weekend. So, the cousins travelled from the San Francisco Bay area, Denver, Baltimore and New Orleans to gather with those still living in Georgia.

This was one of the few times that we did not stay with my Dad when visiting Atlanta. Lisa reserved his guest room so that she could spend more time with her Poppi. I have to give 5 stars to the accomodations at Hotel Jan and Heidi...the extras, such as unlimited cocktails, exercise facilities, meals and use of the Movie and Sports Theatre made it especially appealing, but the company pushed it over the top! Thanks, Jan and Heidi....unfortunately, you made our stay so nice, we might want to come back more often!

What a nice Thanksgiving weekend! We got to be with all of the Family, the food was delicious, the Scotch and wine sublime, Georgia beat Ga. Tech, and the weather was just cold enough to make us appreciate living in South Florida.

And The Journey continues................

Music is what life sounds like!

"Music is what life sounds like." -Eric Olson

I saw this quote the other day and loved it! Not knowing who Eric Olson is, I did the obligatory Google search and surmise that the author of the quote is Singer, Songwriter, Guitarist Olson...not Economist Olson or Professor of Stem Cell Research Olson or Admiral Olson of the United States Navy. In any event, the quote kind of sums up my feelings about music.

It was my Mother who initially introduced me to and nurtured my deep love and appreciation for music. She certainly loved all kinds of music, played it beautifully on the piano and was always playing it on the radio, the hi-fi and later on the stereo. She even started me on piano lessons when I was a pre-schooler and I could actually read music before I could read a book! My meager abilities were developed enough over the years that I could fake some semblance of talent - Given the melody and the chords, I learned to improvise so that it actually sounded like I was a pretty decent musician. What nobody told me was that is how Jazz musicians actually play!

Maybe that is why my favorite genre of music is Jazz...I love the Great American Songbook, Standards and inventive Jazz interpretations. Although the soundtrack of my pre-teen and teen years was R&B, Motown, Elvis and The Beatles, I was a secret fan of Sinatra, Bennett, Streisand, Nat King Cole, Ella and others that were more popular in the 40's and 50's. Most people I knew were into straight Rock or in some instances the Pop-Folk, Singer-Songwriters of the day like Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor and Carole King. And I enjoyed those musicians as well, but never was much into the hard, acid rock genres of music. Later I discovered Miles, Coltrane, Thelonious, Brubeck, Ellington, Herbie Hancock, Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson and more. My love of their music lead me to artist like Keith Jarrett, Benny Green, Marcus Roberts, Christian McBride, Brad Meldhau and others. The best thing about listening to all of these artists is that every time you listen, there seems to be something new you haven't heard before. When I started to collect Jazz music, I was advised that the one essential album in any collection HAD to be "Kind of Blue" by Miles Davis....still, today, always on the top selling Jazz Album list at ITunes. I have listened to this album several hundred times and never tire of it - it is as near to perfection as any music album can be.

However, I have not limited myself to just Jazz Instrumentals and The Great American Songbook. On my IPod (one of the greatest inventions of all time!), I currently have 6,388 songs from Jazz, R&B, Rock, Pop, Indie singer-songwriters, Standards, African, World, New Age, Folk, Blues, Alternative, Country, Big Band, Soundtracks and Classical. (What I don't have is Hip-Hop or Rap, since I believe those are mostly poetry set to a beat - not really music. Yes, I am a music snob!) I have artists from Aaron Arinito to Zee Avi; Songs from A-Tisket, A-Tasket to Zombie Jamboree; and Albums from After Hours to Zee Avi. To listen to every note, it would currently take me 19.9 days of straight through listening. But that's not how I listen....I listen based on my mood. I have created play lists for Bedtime, Exercise, Working, and just generally hanging out. I have themed play lists like keyboards, Dixieland, Oldies, Jazz Vocals, Classical and Standards. Most often though, I set the Ipod on shuffle and enjoy the surprise of not knowing what song will come next. Listening to music - even if it is just background - is a great way to lose yourself in what you are doing.

One of my favorite music endeavours is the hunt for new artists that nobody has ever heard of and then introducing them to family and friends. I have found artists early in their careers like Diana Krall, Madeline Peyroux, Jamie Cullum, Corinne Bailey Rae, Zee Avi, Hiromi, Renee Olstead, Nikki Yanofsky, Peter Cincotti and Yael Naim. What fun it is to introduce these unique talents to others and then even get some, such as Adele, in return. Recently, I have re-introduced myself to Classical Music by downloading The 50 Most Essential Pieces of Classical Music from ITunes. What a delight to listen to this eclectic collection of the classics - my Mom is smiling somewhere every time I play them!

The Guiness Book of Records says that the most covered piece of music - that is, the song that has been recorded the most - is Yesterday by The Beatles. Others disagree and say that Amazing Grace and White Christmas top the list. Interestingly, on my IPod, these don't even make the Top 25! In fact, I only have 3 recordings of Yesterday by The Beatles, Ray Charles and David Grusin; 5 recordings of Amazing Grace by such diverse artists as Elvis, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Pete Fountain, The Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Sam Cooke and none of White Christmas. (As an aside, I don't have Dreidle, Dreidle either!) My Number 1 recorded song is Over The Rainbow, the song introduced in 1939 by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz. Why have 26 versions of the same song? Well, I didn't set out to do that...it just seems that artists that I enjoy feel the need to include this classic on their albums. Of course, I have the original by Ms. Garland, but it might not even make my Top 5 in terms of enjoyment. Each version has something different to offer. The soul full rendition by Ray Charles or the innocence of Jane Monheit or the interpretive version by Erroll Garner or the deeply-felt version by Eva Cassidy or even the Israel Kamakawiwo'ole smash-up version with What A Wonderful World all make the song sound unique - that's what is so cool about music - it is what you make of it. By the way, the other most appearances on my Ipod are the Hoagie Carmichael classic, Stardust, Harold Arlen's I've Got The World On A String followed closely by George Gershwin's Summertime.

As I write this, I have been grooving on many different tunes ranging from Count Basie's One O'Clock Jump to Harry Connick, Jr.'s Lofty's Roach Souffle - one of my all-time favorite instrumental jazz albums. Most people don't realize the diversity of Mr. Connick's talents and although I enjoy his vocals, his Jazz Instrumentals are quite incredible! One should listen to all different types of music and they will find that "Music speaks what cannot be expressed, soothes the mind and gives it rest, heals the heart and makes it whole, flows from heaven to the soul." (Author Unknown)

So, if Music Is What Life Sounds Like, then my life must be a diverse, colorful, inventive, soulful, jazzy, improvisational and classic life..I'll take it!

And The Journey Continues.........

Easy Button? I Don't Think So...And Other Assorted Stuff!

Staples Office Supply Stores tout an "easy Button" in their advertisements. Cute device, but totally not realistic...nothing is easy any more. Or was it ever easy? It seems that the old law by Murphy is the rule rather than the exception: "Anything that can go wrong, WILL go wrong." Now, maybe I am overstating it a bit, but how come it seems that whenever I get involved in something, it never works out as simply as it has for others.

Case in point: I hired an insurance adjuster nearly one year ago to advocate for us against the Insurance Company that insured our house nearly 5 years ago during Hurricane Wilma. We have had plenty of problems with the roof since the hurricane; replaced skylights, patched leaks and the problems never stop. After being assured that this process was a "slam dunk," we proceeded to do everything necessary to get the Insurance Company to pay for a new roof. They agreed about 7 months ago to reimburse us for repairs to date (after the deductible, it was not enough to buy a cup of coffee!) and then made us jump through hoops to go any further. FINALLY, it was agreed that we go to binding arbitration and an award was set down by the arbitration referee for over $30,000 to replace the roof. After the deductible and what they already paid and the 15% to the adjuster and other assorted costs, we would squeak out just enough to replace the roof! All sounds good in theory...but nothing is simple any more! After hearing that "the check is in the mail" for a month and a half, the envelope arrived today - with a check for $3300...some $20,000+ light from what was expected. Now, I guess we have to go to war to get this straightened out...nothing is easy any more! What really gripes me is that friends and neighbors used the same Adjuster, had less damage than us and got paid, in full, within 4 weeks of making the claim....nothing is easy any more - at least not for me!

Today, I saw the beginning of the end for Book Stores as we know them. Our local Borders is closing! I know, I know, bookstores are soooo yesterday. With the advent of Amazon.com, Kindles, Nooks, IPads and the like, printed books are going to be obsolete. What a shame! I am usually an early adopter of new technology, but I am just not sure I can do the electronic book thing....I love my books...I love the feel, the smell, the heft...I LIKE turning the pages! And I love to share my books. How do you do that with a digital download? I like to kill time browsing in a bookstore. It just doesn't feel the same "browsing" on Amazon. I have yet to find a hidden gem on Amazon, but have done so many times in a bookstore. But, I guess I am as much to blame for the bookstore's demise as anyone else. I browse at the bookstore but usually buy my books from Costco or Amazon if the books aren't deeply discounted at the traditional bookstore. I guess they couldn't survive on my once in a while purchase of little known books. By the time my grandchildren get to school, they will probably be issued an electronic device with their textbooks preloaded. I guess it lessens the load in the backpack, but it just won't be the same. That is why we are already buying books for our Grandchildren to be named later....I hate to think that they won't have real books to enjoy!

Speaking of the subject of getting old(er)....I had minor hand surgery this week. I have suffered with multiple trigger fingers over the last few years. Either my fingers gets stuck in the bent position or hurt so bad that I can't make a fist. Either way, it is a royal pain. 2 years ago, I had one finger surgically repaired and it is working fine now. Monday, I had the middle finger of my left hand repaired and the middle finger of my right hand injected with steroids. For the first few weeks, the cure is worse than the ailment - it takes a while to regain total mobility. However, it is kind of funny that people think that I am flipping them the middle finger (shooting a bird?) since I can't fully bend those fingers yet! But the surgery went fine. In fact, the anesthesia gave me the best 40 minutes of sleep I've had in a long time!

Anyway, there are a lot of things to look forward to in the next few weeks. Thanksgiving with all of the Cohen clan in Atlanta, my Dad and Sharon arriving for the Winter and the imminent arrival of our first grandchild due January 10th! Winter is coming, so I have regrown my Winter beard in anticipation of a winter trip to visit Lisa in Colorado.

And The Journey continues........

In Celebration of 60!

In our family, it has become tradition that we uber-celebrate those birthdays that end in 0 or 5. Like 25, 30, 40 ,45, 50, 55, 60 or in Poppi's case 80, 85, etc. I am not sure how this really got started, but it is a fact that we place greater importance on those birthdays than the other numbers. If you think about it, this practice is really kind of absurd. Is 60 really more important than 61? In reality, 61 is a greater accomplishment than 60 since it is a year longer.

However, not being one to upset the apple cart, we recently made a big deal out of Connie's 60th Birthday - or as I have been stating, the 21st anniversary of her 39th birthday. So, we planned a celebration in New York - a long weekend in The Big Apple to celebrate The Big Birthday!
As the Tour Director, I tried to make as many plans as possible before the trip. This way we avoid the indecision that usually plague dinner plans -"I don't know, where do YOU want to go?"

Arriving on Friday, we took the roller coaster of a taxi ride from the airport to our Hotel in mid-town Manhattan and met Brad and Claire who had arrived on Thursday night. After a quick non-descript lunch, we walked the streets of the Lower East Side so that Brad could visit The Pickle Man. Another subway ride back to the Hotel before more walking to the vegetarian Asian restaurant, Franchia, on Park Avenue and (as usual) I went with the flow and ordered my totally vegetarian meal. Not exactly my choice in the culinary expanse of New York, but I found it surprisingly tasty and everybody else seemed to really enjoy the meal. A quick cab ride across the avenues to The Broadway Theatre brought us to the doors of the Neil Simon, Burt Bacharach-Hal David musical comedy, Promises, Promises. With superb comedic performances by Sean Hayes of Will and Grace fame, Molly Shannon of SNL fame and Kristin Chenowirth, the show was a refreshing no-brainer. The only problem was that it had one of those songs that stuck in my head for 3 days - "what do you get when you fall in love.....I'll Never fall in love again."

Saturday brought the changing of the guard - or in our case, the changing of the offspring. Lisa had arrived late Friday night from Denver and Brad and Claire had to get back to Baltimore for work. So, after a brisk 30+ block walk, we all met across from Union Square for Breakfast and then took a stroll through the Green Market in the Square. After subway rides back to midtown, we bid Brad and Claire adieu and went to The Carnegie Deli for a much anticipated pastrami sandwich. And, as usual, the actuality was not as good as the anticipation. Now, don't get me wrong; it was not a bad pastrami sandwich - just not as good as I remembered. More walking around town, a trip to MOMA and Connie began her quest for a new pair of boots - and it only took her until Sunday to find the pair that she will never wear in Florida unless we have a really long cold spell! A delicious comfort food dinner at The Eatery on 9th Ave. in the area once known as Hell's Kitchen was only upset by the texts announcing Georgia's football loss to Florida. We walked on to the Gershwin Theatre to see Wicked - an apropos choice for the night before Halloween! Many have told us that this show is their favorite and although it was very good, I still don't place it in my top 5 Broadway shows. Connie's favorite moment was not the show, but the sighting of Matthew Broderick and Sara Jessica Parker and their young son sitting a few rows in front of us.

We awoke Sunday morning to sirens and tumult in front of our hotel. A movie was being filmed with chase scenes, emergency vehicles and lots of people. Taking a detour out of the hotel, Connie and I walked to Central Park for a long walk, only to run into another movie (or was it the same one?) being filmed at Columbus Circle and getting yelled at by one of the assistants that we stepped into the scene. Oh well - take 2? After meeting Connie's sister, Ellen, back at the Hotel, we went back to the Lower East Side for a trip to Katz' Deli - you know, where Harry met Sally! Another case of the hype far surpassing the reality...but we met up with Lisa and walked the streets to Canal Street, Chinatown, SOHO, Chelsea and ended up on 6th avenue to watch the Greenwich Village Annual Halloween Parade - an event listed in 100 Things To Do Before You Die with 50,000 participants and 2 million people lining the streets to watch. If we had dressed properly and if it wasn't so cold, we might have lasted a bit longer, but gave up after about an hour and weaved and dodged until we found ourselves at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill - a delicious respite from the craziness that reigned supreme on the streets. More subways, since a taxi was an impossibility and another walk through my favorite building, Grand Central Station, got us back to the Roosevelt Hotel.

Monday morning, Connie's actual birthday, started early with a brisk walk to be part of the crowd at The Today Show. Since the temperature was about 38 degrees, the crowd was small and we were right behind Matt, Meredith and Al during their outdoor segment. Meredith wished Connie a Happy Birthday, and to her credit braved the cold long enough to greet just about every person in the crowd. What a nice person and a class act! Connie, Ellen and I jumped in a cab to go to Barney Greengrass, a well reviewed mecca of smoked fish for some lox, white fish, herring and sable only to get all the way to West 88th Street to find that Barney is closed on Mondays! What a bummer...but we walked down Amsterdam Avenue until we found a small bagel store and got our New York Bagel fix before continuing another incredibly long walk. Walking the streets of Manhattan, in and out of multiple stores, shopping for nothing in particular and lunching in Grand Central preceded our trip to meet Lisa at The Apple Store on 5th Avenue - a crowded, boisterous, modern tribute to everything Apple. Here, Lisa surprised Connie with the "Family Gift" - an IPad from Lisa , the Cohen Brothers and wives, Poppi and Sharon and assorted nieces and nephews. The birthday culminated in drinks and apps at The Spice Market and dinner at Pastis in The Meatpacking District of west Manhattan. Our attempt to go to the Blue Note or the Village Vanguard for some jazz was thwarted by being in between sets at The Blue Note and the Vanguard being sold out, so we decided to call it a night....except for a bump in the night! (A story for another time)

Tuesday morning's limo ride to Laguardia and the trip home was uneventful and it has taken me a week to get around to writing about the trip. Reflecting on the trip, I am thankful that we did all of the walking that we did, or else all of the eating would have added at least 5 or 6 pounds. Anytime we get to spend with Lisa, Brad and Claire (and Chicky-Monkey) make for a great time and we are thankful for the time we get to spend together. After all, if it takes celebrations to make that happen, then by all means, lets have plenty of celebrations!

And The Journey continues.........