I put what I was planning on writing on the back burner. It was a deep philosophical dive into politics, economics, and pop culture. Instead I’m going to write about something I actually know, myself. That’s not being honest, or virtuous, it’s being lazy. It’s much easier to write about me.
I went on adventures the last two days. Any time leaving the house is now an adventure. Didn’t Gandalf say something very much like that to Frodo in the first chapter of The Lord of the Rings? Yesterday’s adventure was getting my infusion. I found out on Friday that it was moved from the Moses Campus of Montefiore, ten minutes from my house, to the other side of the Bronx, the Montefiore Medical Park at Eastchester. That did not give enough time to arrange a ride through Medicaid, so I had to take two buses. In an attempt at making lemonade from what life gave me my first thought was to stop and get coffee from Marie’s on the way home. Turns out that doesn’t work. It would take me two buses to get to Marie’s. Then I saw there was a bagel store a block from the infusion center, great, I’d make bagelade. It’s much more pleasant getting tested at this facility than at Moses. I had to look at a map to find the name, I asked someone that worked there what it was called, and she said, “We just call it the green glass building.” The wait there is shorter and the surroundings more pleasant. It’s worth having to take a trip there now that I know I get rewarded with bagels.
I almost always like the people that work in medicine. My phlebotomist’s name was Theresa. I can remember that because I asked her if it had an “h.” That is my best memory device for names, asking the spelling when there’s more than one that’s common. The guy in the next chair was clearly a kindred spirit, he was snoring away while getting his infusion. I often nap. As for snoring, everyone lies and tells me that I do but that’s a conspiracy. I know better.
As soon as I was done I went to get my bagels. I was delighted to see that they were the old-fashioned hand-rolled variety. Those actually have a hole in the middle. I ordered my usual half dozen salt bagels and headed over to Stop & Shop. That’s right next door. How did I not know that? I will no longer think of going to the Medical Park as inconvenient. It saves me two shopping trips. Too bad it’s only once every eight weeks. It’s all about perspective.
People were quite good about mask wearing on the adventure. There was one woman shouting into a phone with her mask off almost everyone else was covered. There were a few dangling noses. I woke up early and had breakfast before I left the house but decided that as I had fresh bagels that I’d have peanut butter on one of them for lunch. Then the disappointment hit. I asked for six salt bagels. I got six bagels, none of which were salt. One was everything that I don’t like. One was poppy, which I ate, one sesame, the rest unidentifiable. I expect that the guy in the store couldn’t quite make out what I said. He heard “six salt bagels” as six %&^%# bagels and instead of asking me what the word he didn’t catch was thought it was assorted. That has some of the same sounds as salt. Next time I go I will check before I leave. It was still nice to have peanut butter on a bagel.
Today’s adventure started with a trip to CVS to pick up my meds. The bolt that holds the toilet seat to my toilet broke and I had to get that replaced. I checked and found a hardware store just a couple of blocks away from CVS. I brought the broken bolt with me, showed it to the woman behind the counter, and told her what I needed. She said she didn’t carry them. I was shocked. How can they not carry a standard part like that? Then she reran the tape in her head and listened to what I said instead of trying to recognize what I was holding. Of course, they had one. Without one of the bolts using the toilet was an adventure as the seat could slide.
Then I was off to Marie’s Coffee and Gifts for whole coffee beans. They are worth the trip to Arthur Ave. They have great coffee for only $8 a pound. It’s as good as far more expensive coffees elsewhere. I’m a loyal customer. I buy three pounds at a time and go back every two months or so.
I have discovered two new musicians that I love. Katherine told me about Yasmin Williams and The Ladles I saw in a post from Jalopy. I checked them out because I thought I recognized two of the three women in the trio. I was wrong, it wasn’t them, but their music is great. There are many female harmony trios, it’s a great sound, but not many that can remind me of the Roches. I’ll be exploring their music and I suggest you do the same. Katherine sent me one video of Yasmin Williams and I was mesmerized. She plays a lap style acoustic guitar with a kalimba attached to the body. Is an mbira different from a kalimba? You might know it as a thumb piano. While she holds the guitar on her lap she doesn’t play slide. She plays in two styles I’ve never seen. One method is to strike the strings with a mallet as if it were a hammered dulcimer. Her left hand plays the chords in a style that looks like playing piano. Then she will put down the mallet and play the guitar in the style of a mountain dulcimer. She’ll also switch off and use the guitar body as percussion and of course play the mbira.
I wasn’t sure at first if I loved the music or was just enchanted by the novelty. I sent it on to Pete Kennedys, the best guitarist I know, to ask what he thought. He loved it. He said he closed his eyes and listened as to not get distracted by the spectacle. I tried that and he was right. It’s like listening to Bach. The music is that intricate.
The first thing I did after hearing the Ladles and Yasmin Williams is send links of them to John Platt so he can spread the word. The next thing I did was write about them here. And now after 1142 words I’m finally getting to the point of this entry. I am an atheist, it’s part of who I am. I don’t believe in any god or gods. But in a sense I’m a polytheist, as there are many things, that aren’t gods, that I worship and evangelize for. Much of what I write here is on the objects of my worship. In this one entry I sang hymns to Marie’s Coffee, the Ladles, and Yasmin Williams. Now do yourself a favor and check all of them out.
Wise Madness 