Sunday, January 18: MLK Day

Hello we got up and got prepared to do our walk to Manyunk Trail. We stayed up very late last night watching episodes of House until  three in the morning. Well we did get out before the sunset which is pretty good very good. We got out around three and went to the Manyunk trail it’s called the Manyunk  Cynwyd trail. 
I really like walking there. We walked from Manteo to Cnwyd station. 
like the end of the trail I like taking pictures of the Kenwood station to quit. The weather held out. We had a very short snow squall  but no other 
precipitation. It was a little bit windy though. We got back to her place close to 6 PM. We had salad 

Matt and Tanya Get Married!!

Saturday May 18th. It was time for Matt and Tanya to get married.

Matt Signing the Ketubah

It was planned and now was the time.I never been to a Jewish wedding before. The wedding was very nice. It was a traditional Jewish marriage with the wedding canopy of silken cloth above the bride and groom.

This is called the Chuppah. This is symbolic of the new home the couple will make. I will let a better authority called the Jewish Wedding Glossary describe it for you:

The Chuppah, or wedding canopy, is a covering, often cloth, held aloft on four poles. The Chuppah is symbolic of the first roof the bride and groom share together, representing their new home. That there are no walls in this new home, encourages the couple to follow in the ways of Abraham and Sarah, whose tent was always open to guests.

I was one of the 2 witness to sign the  Ketubah (literally the marriage contract). Cindy and I signed the Ketubah just before  wedding

the ceremony. That was really very solemn and I was touched that I was chosen to sign it. Here is a description from the Jewish Wedding Glossary:

Traditionally spells out the husband’s obligation to his wife, everything from sustaining her with basic necessities to honoring and cherishing her. Additionally, the traditional Ketubah discusses how the husband must support his wife during their lives together

The ceremony was direct and to the point with the Cantor reading in Hebrew and English. I was up on Seven Circles I have heard about this but had never seen it before. It was nice to see Tanya circle around Matt. Again, I will turn to the Jewish Wedding Glossary for the symbolism of this tradition.

Where the Wedding Took Place 

the platform with Cindy and her daughter as well as Matt's younger son. One of the unique parts of the wedding is where the bide circles the groom 7 times. This is called the Seven Circles 

The custom of the bride circling the groom seven times is rich with symbolism. The following is a sampling of the meaningful interpretations that have been ascribed to this custom :
1) This parallels the seven days of creation, and symbolizes the fact that the bride and groom are about to create their own “new world” together.
2) Seven circles correspond to the seven times in the Torah where it is written “…and when a man takes a wife.”
3) When Joshua led the Children of Israel in the battle for the city of Jericho, he was instructed to circle the city seven times, resulting in the walls of the city crumbling. As two people enter into marriage, they face the challenge of breaking down the “walls” that may exist between them.

Witness Signature

 Last but NOT least there is The Breaking of the Glass. This is in my mind that the marriage is How Stuff Works. Its a pretty good description of what I witnessed at the wedding.

Tanya and her Father.

official and the celebration for the couple begins.  Here is a good description from a site called

Matt and Sons!

After the groom places a ring on the finger of his bride, he stomps on a glass wrapped in a napkin or cloth.breaking the glass is extremely symbolic. It echoes the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem and reminds the newlyweds and all the guests of the commandment in Psalms 137:6 to "set Jerusalem above my highest joy," even in the happiest of times

There were about 40 people there. When Matt stomped on the glass the assembled exclaimed MAZEL TOV! That was way fun! Here is the meaning of Mazel Tov!

Congratulations!!! :)

It's a blessing and congratulatory statement that essentially means good luck. It can be given at any time, but most non-Jews are familiar with its role in weddings.

Fun After the Wedding

They have some nice friends and the people were nice to me.  It Siouxie and the Banshees in the synagogue that's pretty funky. In my case finding myself dancing to their song "Kiss Them for Me" with a nice

Stepping Lively

was interesting  to listen to the likes of New Order and

Having fun with Patricia

woman having fun while negative thoughts of WXPN playing this son TO DEATH. Also being fired from a volunteer position with the station. Geez.. hearing Michela Majoun still makes me gag! Umm... resentment much? So, enough about my issues back to the wedding!

Reception!!

It was a nice fun wedding and the first one I have been in YEARS! Its the first time I have seen Matt since he was last married in the year 2000!!

 I put up photos on Facebook that I hope folks will like. I was bummed that I had to leave early in the morning yesterday at 8 am. Matt dropped  me off on his way to work to work. The ride home

The DJ

was not bad since I got to sleep and well that is a new entry for this blogger. Good luck Matt and Tanya, I will see you in NYC later this Summer!!

"Steane"r and her Son

Fun and On the Bus

/Cruising Down Market St.

I Left My Scripts Here!

Its Thursday May 16th Now lets see. I worked welfare and it was mellow. I used my earphones to good effect and tuned out. I do however think my Supervisor is a wearing of my hyper self.

I then went to group and it was LARGE. I got to share and it was good. I was a we bit disturbed when a young woman seemed to cut me off. Then again she just continued where I left off. I also made another a bit nervous but I just went my way on the 21 bus.

This wedding trip to Portland ME should be a trip W/the Luggage. HA..

HA!!

Yeh, it's gonna be funky up there. I feel closer to the the bride then the groom. I have known him since 1987 but i spent the last 8 months making a new friend w the the bride. Plus I do not know anyone. I hope there are some flirty women. I think a meeting may be good!.

Well a funny thing happened on the way home for my 11pm bus to Maine.

Man!! Left  my 2 Scripts at Le Bec Fin!!

Chillin in the Sun

I just realized it as I was going to Pats for dinner. Pat saw me freaked our and thought I was drunk. Well turns out that he is meeting a friend at Ortleib's Jazz House.

 Pat was getting ready to ride his bike and I got a quick ride back to Le Bec Fin and got my stuff. I waked in the place and it was

11PM at Greyhound

like a movie set. I was just breathless!! I took a video to document this split moment in time. It's 9:34Pm and I was lucky to catch a Rt 21 bus with our a wait. I am now on 40th where a wheelchair is being strapped in. So I guess I will have 30 min to blow my nose and pack. I may have tine to have Pat's leftovers.

Sheila

I am now riding on the Greyhound bound for New York. I will eventually end up in Portland ME around 11am  EDT tomorrow, Friday May 17th. I am sitting next to a young woman who from the Dominican Republic but has lived in New York most of her life. She manages a restaurant called Pie Face. A couple owns this franchise.

Pie Face in NYC

They started in 2003 in Austria. They have 15 company owned and 60 I am told its a chain from Australia that just came to New York about a year ago. There are 4 in New York so far with a new one opening next week.

PIE FACE was SUPER! I hung w a woman named Sheila who was going to Hartford for an antiques show. We got separated since my bus was COMPLETELY full. I hop she did not miss her bus.! Almost missed my bus to Boston. Bus driver left at 3:24! 6 Min Early!!

I  bought Rush "Moving Pictures" from 1982. 

I heard it from those cool dudes. One was a drummer and he LOVED Neil Pert. A stoner album that ain't the Dead or Pink Floyd. What does FC/ Khuna sound like??

Here is the Joke of the day-

You might be a hillbilly if: the exterior of your home has plenty of decorative license plates and hubcaps. Your vehicle, sadly, has neither.

Well back to the non-joke world that I walk though.

My battery on the computer is dying and I do not have access to the plug since I am sitting in the aisle seat next to the biggest man on this bus to Boston. Its now4:32am

I AM Tired: I Want to Rest

Its NOT the Johnson Atelier!! Lets be snooty shall we??

Hello it just rained last night worked very late last night. Its Thursday I got all these

Cleo!

packages when I went back to my house it was really good. the only negative is my fridge was off so I had to jump the thing so I tossed out almost everything in the fridge but there wasn't much, fortunately. I also was invited to see an art  opening in New York on the 24th. That's going to be cool!! I have never been to an opening in New York City before  and

I Came \Back to Rain and too much Work!

I am looking forward to it. I got some coffee at Saxbys and  went to the meeting and I'm wearing my GRUMPY

Spring and I am TIRED!

CAT shirt today! Today is Thursday already busy weekend Mother's Day on Sunday and I eat going to go to Baltimore someway either Friday or Saturday and we shall see right now hungry for banana I like bananas okay checking out for now.

At Larry's Being Tired!

To the Tired Void I Venture.

Its Friday am and I just exhausted. I have decided to go to Baltimore tonight but have not EVEN reserved the hotel yet. I am just in the mood to sleep the morning away. The last 2 days of work have been grueling with too many folks to interview and a night of staying till 8:45. (Weds). Its humid everywhere I go. Group last night was real cool. Nice people attractive women and a new friend who wants to share her stories. I like this.
I am tired.....I am tired... I feel so tired I just want to stay home and lie down after work and all day Saturday. I will see how I feel after the Sunrise and when I arrive at work. I must be getting old since my libido feels like a 2 on the 10 scale and I just want to lie around and just be still for awhile. I think I made my point.

change. Have a good weekend. Next week is Maine and another red-eye 12 hr bus trip to Portland. Man the thought of that just makes me want more time off from work. I do not like being tired. This is not me. I thrive on my energy and I am not used to having to slowdown. I am in need to accept this and not fight it. Fighting it just makes me want to sleep even more then I want to already. Gee, am I making myself clear?? Oh OK. Have a good day

Blurb and Other Life Happenings: 25 April

I went back to sleep working on my book.

I decided to go back to sleep and be late for work. I got up early for meeting and instead bought 2  books by a glass artist I know on Amazon. I found out she made a photo book on a website called

Gee I Wonder Why

blurb.com. Well they this option that you can create your own photo book from your Facebook photos!!
Well I spent over an hour working on my own book of Facebook photos and when I went to save and order it, their server went down! I got a password & account and tried 4 times, I then went back to sleep. I got up at 11 and am just getting to work NOW!

It's 11:31 am.

Fruit Stand Across from My Place on 44th Street

Well I sent an email to Blurb.Still cool at this hour. At least I won't fall asleep at group tonite. I also have a Psych apt at 9:30 tonite!
I got the email back from Blurb and this is what I got.See below these photos to see what I have to do to make my browser work with Blurb

City Hall

Thank you for contacting Blurb. I'm sorry to hear the site isn't behaving properly for you. Please try the following steps to get this working:
1) Make sure your browser's privacy/security settings allow cookies (at least from Blurb.com). The option is usually found under the Preferences or Tools/Options menu, privacy or security tab. 2) Please clear your browser’s cookies and the cache (cache/private data choices are usually near the cookies options) 3) Update your browser (either via the browser's website, or from within the program's Help or About menu) 4) If necessary, please try again using a different browser (such as Firefox instead of Internet Explorer). One of these workarounds should do the trick! If not, please let me know. Best Regards, MaríliaBlurb Customer Support

Walnut Street Looking East.

I had a very busy day at the welfare wakka. The day just breezed by cause I arrived about 2 hrs late. I then met Larry for a coffee at Starbucks. The scene was pretty cool and we went to group. It was good we had a dental student join us. She knows another friend of mine. Its a small world after all. I plan to go on a 3rd date

Heading to Starbucks!

Saturday on City Line Ave at the Corner Bakery Cafe at 12:30. Before that I plan to attend the men's meeting. I

Outside Starbucks

hope to have Drew over to gear the apartment for Dean's eventual arrival. I have no idea when he is going to be set free from the clink. Of course the bonehead social worker is not helping much. Oh well no need to rush myself in to an upset. No reason at all
I ended up not going to Dr. Cohen. I just remembered at 11:55 pm tonite. I am good with the meds, I need not worry about that for the time being. I am going to to keep work on making my own photo book with Booksmart .I want to  make a coffee table book that folks can enjoy. Right now its an indulgence that I have been meaning to do for YEARS! That is my passion and I hope I can move forward with it this Summer.

My Place

As for now its Buffalo starting next Weds night for an all night Megabus Trip. Then 2 weeks later its Greyhound to Portland Maine for my friend's 2nd wedding. I checked out the Official Facebook Wedding Page and I appear to be the only person coming from the Philadelphia Area. I was invited to a Goth event that Friday night. Well, THAT ought to be a trip for this 51 year old man to experience. Instead of me scaring the young girls, I think I am going to be the SCARED one for sure.
Good night and be well.

Monday: The First Day

Its Official!!

Hello. It was the first day back in the real world of welfare. I slept in and it is the first day not going to a meeting here in Philly in awhile. I just need to slow down and move a little slower. it's such a nice day to hear the birds chirp. One day I'll get together with Sue.

The Sketch in Question

She called and I finally talked to after a long hiatus I'm inpatient with folks who moan and bitch! I'm went to see Pat and take pictures of his etchings I made a bank deposit which  was a pleasant experience. The  sunset is  pretty nice and gives me the Spring. fever and Linda found my glasses hurrah I don't have to buy new glasses!!' hooray!

Pat Creating Sketch

While I was was at Pat's, I had a delicious pasta dinner, He asked me to take a photo of an old picture of a woman on horseback. He asked me to crop the photo and send 3 or 4 copies. Pat then went ahead and spent the evening drawing a really nice sketch which you see here on this blog entry.

Again!

In other news my Maine friends seem to have kissed and made up. Hey! I get important stuff on my timeline!! So I might be going to Maine after all. Maybe, I will take Greyhound and if they break up again, it's a ROAD TRIP!'
Well, just got home and get this., I am on Jury Duty AGAIN! I have lived here on Sansom since Nov 2011 and this is my 2nd time in LESS then 2 years!
Better news, GOT MY DRIVERS LICENSE BACK!! It came in the mail and it was officially reinstated on April 4th, so I was legal when I drove from Va to Millville last Saturday night and into Sunday morning. So I will save my state ID Card for future use. So I can rent a car again.
Well, time for bed.