Is it wrong...?

To be 43 years old and still love Ovaltine?

From my "Personal Astrology Planner"

On November 21, the Sun joins ever-hopeful Jupiter, and then enters Jupiter's enthusiastic home sign of Sagittarius on the 22nd, followed by Jupiter's return (after a 12-year absence) there the next day. This is an all-out, full-blown, high-powered boost to hope, energy, and creativity that can lead you to a whole new level of joy. This is you at your best-and there is even more to come.

I didn't have one...

...but I wanted one so badly.

The Six Word Memoir Contest

Can you sum up your life in six words? Click title to enter.

Robert Altman

"He was a giant of the industry who kept the energy of a youthful rebel until his 81st year." ~Julian Fellowes

Listening to at the Moment...

Tuesday Morning

Katie: "What would be so wrong for a coffee house in New York to play a little John Coltrane in the morning?"

Susanne: "No one would go to work."

From the Dashboard

This past Friday, after I dropped Annie off at my brother's for the weekend, I drove home under this beautiful New England sky.

Turn up the volume before you play, a slice of Bill Evans, a favorite piece of music from a favorite album.

Katie the critic

In my self-righteous opinion, this film was entertaining but forgettable. It was a bit like watching old news coverage of Princess Diana's death performed by actors in a style similar to a television movie of the week.

Helen Mirren is, in my opinion, beyond reproach as an actress, but although it was attempted, there wasn't much depth in the character of the queen so her performance left me unmoved (no fault of hers).

Director Stephen Frears did one of my favorite movies of all time, "Dirty Pretty Things," so I refuse to criticize him.

I know, I suck at this, and I would stick to my day job, but I need to get one first.

Katie Rating for "The Queen:" Ho hum say I.

Side Note: If you want to see an amazing film about the inner lives of repressed Brits, rent Howard's End with Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson.

Annie says:

"People who are goth are vegetarians and they want to save the planet."

More unsolicited advice from me

Go into a gourmet market and buy something you’ve never tried before.

When you see teenagers laughing at a crazy person on the train, remind them that the person was once a baby, and to have sympathy.

Don’t rack up points against a friend who you feel has let you down. That's not being a good friend.

Read “War and Peace” from cover to cover, even if you don’t want to and even if you don’t like it. That way you can say to yourself, "I’ve read ‘War and Peace.’”

Don’t feel silly for feeling pleasure every time your eyes rest on your Persian rug mouse pad.

From Harper's Index

Number of books published in Britain since 2004 that have “shit,” “shite,” or “crap” in their titles: 23

Beautiful Love

Bill Evans Trio, Berlin 1965

Vlad is Back!

I love when a friend who has been away for many months finally returns. It's like having a new friend all over again.

Cold quote

"'Cold Tea' is like a little angel that kissed you." ~Maggie Reyes

Saturday morning

When a man goes into a jazz club alone, people's perception of him is that he's there to listen to jazz. But when a woman goes into a jazz club alone, people's perception of her is that she is looking for a man. ~Katie

Tonight

The clouds are varying shades of rose; rain pours from the trees.

The concrete, awake and alive and slick with sound, the click of my boots, the swing of my coat, my hair drenched, heavy on my back.

It’s a beautiful night, a romantic night, and with my palms open and a smile on my face, I feel a deep sense of longing.

Tonight

I'm tucking Annie in to bed. She looks up at me smiling and says, "Cuddle me into the deep pillow of dreams!"

Thursday morning

Cherrios with rice milk, turkey bacon & hot chocolate. An Annie favorite.

Photo by Annie Kosh.

My unsolicited advice

If you're going to tip $2, tip $3 instead.

Be friendly to nasty people.

Eat toasted English muffins with cream cheese and blueberry jam.

Wear brown suede or black leather (unless you're an animal rights activist).

Never keep too many empty CD covers in your apartment.

Don't wear beige shoes. Ever.

Don't carry a beige handbag, it's not right.

Don't be ashamed of liking the panda bear pattern on your paper towel.

From Harper's Index

Number of congressional resolutions proposed since 1989 that have contained the word, “delicious”: 5

After School

Annie says to her friend:

"There's a book with ALL the Archie comics in it, even ones from the eighteen hundreds, when our parents were kids!"

Secret...

I used to think that if I looked like her I would be a happier person.

Leo Horoscope by Rob Brezsny

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):

In his book "Thumbsucker," Walter Kirn explores the tension between security and passion. We all yearn to feel safe, he says, and yet we also need to express our native wildness, which is crucial in giving us a visceral sense of being ourselves. If we put too much emphasis on being careful, we squelch our primal urge for unpredictability and lose touch with our need to play.

According to my analysis of the omens, Leo, you're at the end of a phase when caution and self-preservation have made sense. Don't wait too much longer before you put your ass on the line in search of too much fun.

Happy Birthday Aaron Gallegos!

What a cute little Scorpio!

New Visitors to The Half Note

Denmark, Dubai & Suriname

Picture of Interest

From Harper's Index

Number of films since 1960 that feature an evil albino: 55

Fighting the Force

Katie: "Why don't you read for a while?"

Annie: "I want to do something ELECTRONIC!!!”

Things That Make Me Go Hmmm...

Making Disney a part of one's wedding, honeymoon, or romantic getaway.

Fellow High School Drop-Out

Better After 40

Diane Lane

Be Back Later...

It's All Annie Day At The Half Note

Reality Bites...Me

David and I are always teaching Annie, hopefully in subtle ways, that she has much to say about how her days turn out and what her experiences are. We pass along to her the idea that we can, and do, create much of our own reality.

I mentioned a while back how, out of the blue, Annie asked me to take her to The Big Apple Circus. (It was out of the blue because we hadn’t been in a couple of years.) And sure enough, a few days after her request, I received an email saying that, although I had no knowledge of being entered in a drawing, we had won two free ringside tickets to the circus.

This past Saturday, while Annie and I shared popcorn and cotton candy under the Big Top, she turned to me and asked if I would buy her a stuffed animal before we left, specifically the dog with the red leash. I told her no.

I've tried countless times to explain that one's experience does not need to be validated by purchasing a souvenir on the way out. (My God, I sound just like my father!) Then Annie said it was really the leash she was after, to use when playing with her stuffed animals at home. It seemed like a reasonable request, so I told her we could stop at the pet store and buy an inexpensive collar and leash, and that seemed to satisfy her.

After the show was over and we were exiting the tent, I noticed that the price of the stuffed dog wasn’t much more than what I would most likely spend at the pet store, so after making sure the collar was removable, I bought her the dog.

Annie thanked me profusely and as we walked outside she declared, "I created my reality AGAIN!"

I asked her what she meant and she replied,

"While the show was going on, I kept saying to myself, "I WILL have the dog with the leash, I WILL have the dog with the leash!"

Real Men Wear It

Annie and her friend Giselle are watching the movie, "Grease."

Annie: "John Travolta looks good in pink."

Giselle: "Yeah, for some reason."

Annie: "Yeah, it actually makes him look tougher."

On Second Thought

Annie and I are crossing Broadway on 92nd Street.

She sings, "I like Pina Coladas... and getting caught in the rain..."

She pauses, "Actually, I don’t like either of those things."

Me: "I like getting caught in the rain."

Annie: "You don't like Pina Coladas?"

I think, remembering a trip to the Florida Keys a couple years back. "Mmmm, yeah, I guess I do."

Annie: "And I guess I like getting caught in the rain."

Annie Twirls the Baton

Lincoln Center Saturday

Like Mother Like Daughter

Cotton Candy Lovers

Seth Says:

“Be reckless with your energy and be reckless with your being.”

City Skies

Yesterday we took a drive downtown.

I literally gasped when I saw the sky as we headed south on the West Side Highway, and lucky for us, we had the camera.

That's Jersey across the river.