Suprise Me

Doctors Hospital and the Very Sharp Cheese Plane Until it closed in 2004 and the building was razed to make way for a new luxury high rise,  Doctors Hospital stood on East End Avenue two blocks from our apartment. Opened in 1929 as a small, private hospital,  originally for maternity cases,  it was soon favored… Read More

When I was little, Susan and the Rain was one of my favorite books. Of course it was partly because my name is Susan, but also because I hated the rain. Here’s how it starts: Susan Amantha Cottonwood   was a little girl      who was always good –         when the sun… Read More

My dad lost his Chrysler dealership, due to bad business deals and the UAW going on strike, leaving him with no inventory, in 1967. My mother’s 1967 Plymouth Valiant was the last car to come from that dealership. I student taught my senior year at Brandeis and needed a car, so I bought it from… Read More

It is said that a predictor of happiness and longevity as we age is maintaining strong friendships. Read More

While at first I didn't relish the extra burden, the experience turned out to be a gift. Read More

My father instilled an appreciation for art in me, filtered through his lens of what constituted good art. Read More

I would go to bed half dressed in a tee shirt, and at the first sound of the alarm, quietly roll my legs over the edge of my top bunk and slide onto the floor, already standing, trying not to disturb the roommate.  Read More

All efforts to improve health are based on helping the body to heal itself, be it through emotional support, listening, suggestions for nutrition or activity, medications or surgeries, self-care or connection to a healthy environment. Read More

Magazines for the Principal I had a long and happy career as a school librarian,  the last years spent at Jane Addams,  a small vocational high school in the south Bronx.  The neighborhood was poor and rather sketchy,  and the students,  burdened with lives lived in those mean streets,  were sometimes difficult.  But our dedicated… Read More

Starting in the late 80s my computer professional career took me around the world; America (25 of our 50 states), Japan,  Canada, England, Scotland and Ireland. Everywhere I worked  I would go out and shake my booty (dance) and every (and I mean every) dance locale would end up playing (then and even nowadays) the… Read More