And so can you. When we went to the Galapagos in 2018, I watched a group from California, who were traveling with us, jump up and down when they spotted rare birds. I thought they were nuts. I have to admit, I enjoyed watching them get so excited.
Being a city kid, I never thought I would be interested in what flew by me when I walked down the street, or sat on a park bench. Somehow, somewhere, I read about the app “Picture Bird.” All you have to do is take a picture of a bird and post it on the app. Less than two seconds later, a full description of what you just saw appears on your screen.
I’m not saying I’m a full time bird watcher, but you can be sure I’m taking photos of most of the birds I see with my iPhone. I’m learning a lot, and all of a sudden, I am aware of these flying objects. I’m so sorry I ignored them for so long.
Eliot took the photos of the birds below when we were in the Galapagos in 2018.
Last Night’s Miami Sunset. Photo by Eliot Hess.
Last Sunday our girlfriend Katerina Cozias, along with her boyfriend Aristotle, climbed all the way to the top of Mount Bierstadt, 14,000 feet up. That’s the hikers way of quarantining. Congratulations!!!
A Harlem Restaurant That’s Withstood Gentrification, a Pandemic and Time
Miami After The Storm
I just found out that these two gorgeous kids that I featured in a recent blog about the garden roof in our NYC building are the children of the couple who bought our apartment. It makes us so happy that our coop unit is being occupied by a family who appreciates it as much as we did.
American Museum of Natural History Announces September Reopening
I wanted to share this with you. We often forget what is happening in the waters right below our windows. A friend posted this on Facebook and I copied it.
Hoping you are well. Eliot and I are waiting out the virus in the Murano. Everything is delivered to us, (food, pharmacy, supplies, liquor). We have to go out for doctor appointments but that is rare. We are concerned about making one wrong move. No one is safe, no one is a big shot.
The one big problem around here is that too many young, and even older folks, are not wearing masks. The news stations interview residents, and tourists, that simply don’t feel masks are important. Friends tell me the same thing exists in the Hamptons, LA, Manhattan, Chicago, Dallas, etc.
Enjoy the video. And don’t get too relaxed.
Slimmed-down Adele is unrecognizable as she praises Beyoncé’s ‘Black Is King’
Adele continues to showcase her recent weight loss in a new social media post praising fellow songstress Beyoncé and her latest visual album, “Black Is King.”
Seen wearing the sameMarine Serre look as Bey,the fresh-faced, curly-haired diva points to her television while acknowledging the “Queen” in her Saturday afternoonInstagram post,writing “Thank you Queen for always making us all feel so loved through your art ♥️♥️.”
Pete Geracimo, a personal trainer who worked with Adele for four years between 2012 and 2016, called for less judgment of the newly-lithe mom-of-oneon his Instagram page, addressing those whomay have felt “betrayed”by her fitness goals.
“My hope is that people appreciate the hard work that Adele has done to improve herself for the benefit to her and her family only,” he wrote. “She did not lose weight to make others feel bad about themselves.”
We are so excited. We keep getting better and better. Just waiting for a producing partner.
Urban Secret Gardens
Photos by Marilyn Scher
I am so proud of my NYC neighbors. They have turned our rooftop into a social distance event space. Many folks gather there for birthday parties, different types of celebrations, and a safe space during the pandemic.
Then they really got smart and started growing vegetables and spices. They turned a very challenging time in our lives into an opportunity to explore and grow. I love watching them.
Today I watched one of the most incredible interviews between Gary Shapiro, CEO CTA and Corie Barry, CEO Best Buy. I was shocked to learn that the youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 company (Corie) is the daughter of two artists. She was brought up traveling the country with her parents helping to sell their art.
Gary asked the most informative questions that only tells me the new CES is going to advance us into a digital world we never thought possible. I did a terrible job recording the session because I was multitasking but all the content is there for your consumption. It’s cut up into seven short clips. Thank you CTA!
My father never lived to see his dream come true of an all-Yiddish-speaking Canada.
–David Steinberg
I once wanted to become an atheist but I gave up. They have no holidays.
–Henny Youngman
Look at Jewish history. Unrelieved lamenting would be intolerable.
So, for every ten Jews beating their breasts, God designated one to be crazy and amuse the breast beaters. By the time I was five I knew I was that one.
–Mel Brooks
The time is at hand when the wearing of a prayer shawl and skullcap will not bar a man from the White House, unless, of course, the man is Jewish.
–Jules Farber
Even if you are Catholic, if you live in New York, you’re Jewish. If you live in Butte, Montana, you are going to be Gentile even if you are Jewish.
–Lenny Bruce
God, I know we are your chosen people, but couldn’t you choose somebody else for a change?
–Shalom Aleichem
The remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served us nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found.
–Calvin Trillin
Let me tell you the one thing I have against Moses. He took us forty years into the desert in order to bring us to the one place in the Middle East that has no oil!
–Golda Meir
Even a secret agent can’t lie to a Jewish mother.
–Peter Malkin
Humility is no substitute for a good personality.
–Fran Lebowitz
My idea of an agreeable person is a person who agrees with me.
–Benjamin Disraeli
It’s so simple to be wise. Just think of something stupid to say and then don’t say it.
–Sam Levenson
Don’t be humble; you are not that great.
–Golda Meir
God will pardon me. It’s His business.
–Heinrich Heine
I went on a diet, swore off drinking and heavy eating, and in fourteen days I had lost exactly two weeks.
–Joe E. Lewis
Bankruptcy is a legal proceeding in which you put your money in your pants pocket and give your coat to your creditors.
–Sam Goldwyn
A spoken contract isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.
–Sam Goldwyn
Everybody likes a kidder but nobody loans him money.
–Arthur Miller
I have enough money to last me the rest of my life unless I buy something.
–Jackie Mason
I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve immortality through not dying.
— Woody Allen
Whoever called it necking was a poor judge of anatomy.
–Groucho Marx
A politician is a man who will double cross that bridge when he comes to it.
–Oscar Levant
Too bad that all the people who know how to run this country are busy driving taxis and cutting hair.
–George Burns
Liberals feel unworthy of their possessions. Conservatives feel they deserve everything they’ve stolen.
–Mort Sahl
I don’t want any yes-men around me. I want everybody to tell me the truth, even if it costs them their jobs.
My tooth ache started in February. It was subtle. That didn’t stop me from getting it checked out. The dentist said it was a very big cavity in my upper left wisdom tooth. It had to come out.
We made another appointment to remove it. I never went back because of Covid 19. I was able to maintain the pain by chewing on the opposite side.
An oral surgeon removed the tooth yesterday. Easy as can be. Didn’t feel a thing and no problems today. If you need a great dentist, or an oral surgeon in Miami, call me. Dr. Allen Ressler and Dr. Eduardo Nicolaievsky.(Nico) run two separate practices that are a step in to the future. Filling out the forms proved to be the most difficult part of the experience.
One of the smartest moves I have ever made was to subscribe, and listen, to Mitchell Kaplan’s podcasts. His interviews with daring authors has opened up a whole new world for me without ever leaving my condo.
Today I was thrilled to read in Variety that an author Mitchell Kaplan featured June 26th, is going to have her book made into a movie on Hulu. I don’t know about you, but I feel like I’m part of the in crowd learning all about her weeks ago. This is a very clever book. Author Curtis Sittenfeld provides an alternative life for Hillary as if she never married Bill Clinton. The story will surprise you. The Variety article also includes a Zoom interview that actress/comedian Amy Schumer conducted with Hillary.
Listen to Curtis Sittenfeld describe why she decided to write about Hillary Clinton. It’s all on The Literary Life with Mitchell Kaplan on Apple Podcasts.
DigiDame 