a little red hen

"It's the little things..."

When the that phrase runs through my head, the song from the musical, "Company" comes to mind. It is, however,  a less positive take on the words.  A youngish Elaine Stritch (in white hat) sings rehearsing for  the original 1970 cast recording...    

In my old lady life, the good small stuff is an email with picture plus short note from daughter about our 7 year old grandchild, "Zoe learns to tie her own shoelaces."  To avoid turning it into not-so-good stuff, I gave into iPhoto's refusual to rotate the image.

Or, the two women, encountered in recent months. Both resonated to the message of the 17% button, pleased to take and wear one. At left, a much decorated checker at a local Whole Foods store; right, a dedicated Planned Parenthood petitioner at Powell's Books.

                       

Happy find while searching for Stritch performances.  Isotop Films is raising money for "Elaine Stritch:  So Shoot Me," a  documentary of this funny, bawdy, show-biz survivor, now 87 years old.  Clip has song bits from her one-woman show, "At Liberty"  in 2002. Living in NYC then, saw her at youthful 77!  [Click on red letters for video] 

 

"I've got money, I've got fame...if I could drive, I'd really be a menace!"

"Mitt Romney Rap" by WWII vet, now 87

Have four minutes and two seconds to spare?  Even if rap is not your favorite popular music mode, try this one...

 

Every visit to Tenured Radical  (see blogroll at left), I need to get there  more often. Usually Claire Potter's writing and thinking educate me.  This time it was the unexpected headline above this video, "WWII Vet Stuart Hodes Headed to Top of Rap Charts at 87." 

Reminded of Hodes' rap (and how I'd thought about posting it) on reading Saturday's miscellany at TGB where Ronni Bennett asks for viewers' take on Randy Newman's new political song, "I'm Dreaming."  A longtime fan of Newman's earlier work, I was disappointed with his result though appreciated his message: there is rampant racism toward Obama by right wingers.

Back in 1977, we'd lived in Baltimore for a decade when Newman's song of the same name created some much controvery with its dark lyrics--

“ Beat-up little seagull
On a marble stair
Tryin' to find the ocean
Lookin' everywhere
Hard times in the city
In a hard town by the sea
Ain't nowhere to run to
There ain't nothin' here for free”

Speculating on why the song was written, Cenarth Fox and Shawna Hansen Ortega gather several theories from simply random to my own favorite, "Remember, this was ... 1977, when Baltimore, like much of the country, was suffering through a crippling economic recession."

Yes, those days seem similar to the present-- though more hopeful that things would improve.  And they did-- until unresolved issues of "rampant capitalism" (apt turn of phrase from yesterday's Up! with Chris Hayes) came charging back again.

I may relate more to Stuart Hodes' "Mitt Romney Rap," in this beleaugred moment, but I'm still waiting for another Randy Newman effort.  One with his own lyrics like "Baltimore" or the whimsical, "Short People" (1978).  He was on quite a creative roll in the 1970s (many of us now-old people were likewise).

And then there were his words and music for "Louisiana, 1927," composed in 1978, referencing his knowlege of  the state's abandonment in an early devastating flood. Few people knew this history until Katrina (personal link to New Orleans) happened.  Then we heard Newman's elegy over and over in the days after the flood.  As the New York Times' Geoffrey Himes, said, "...it has become the state’s unofficial anthem in the wake of the 2005 tragedy."     

Black & white image altered by new media

Fan that I am of hard copy newspapers, one of my favorite reads is the Friday Art section of the New York Times.  It is unimaginable using an electronic device giving as much pleasure--tactilly, visually.

Folded back to an image that strikes me,  the paper lies on the couch, for a day or two.

Something about the gray tones of this painting appealed to me.  This is my photo of the newspaper itself. Running beneath it was Roberta Smith's review.

In “Chinatown” Ms. Weatherford lays down a broadly brushed expanse of regal reds, deep blues and golds, finished off with a low-lying horizontal line of aqua neon. 

Its neon light was only a white line, a detail I'd missed, in the newspaper picture.  This, below, is the picture itself I found at Mary Weatherford's gallery-- the "true" Chinatown she imagined, electrical outlet included.   Without electronic assist from Google, I experienced the image of work I thought I'd like to see in real life. In color, lighted up, I'm just fine with the gray newspaper.  But, if I had been to Weatherford's exhibition, then seen the Times, I might have said to others, "Oh, you must see painting itself!"

I wonder what Marja-Leena Rathje  (see blogroll) would make of all this.

Happy Cup Coffee, featured in Huffington Post!!

Much has happened with our daughter's Happy Cup Coffee, a fledgling coffee roast in an intensely competitive market: Portland, Oregon.  Or, as Rachel says herself, in the video at the end, "One of 50 local roasts."

Last week it was mentioned--along with a terrific local photo in the Huffington Post. Happy Cup began only nine months ago.

The smiling guy above is offering samples of the brew at New Seasons Market, one of seven in Portland.  The Hawthorne store featured in the Huff Post is in Rachel's neighborhood.   (We mostly go to the older and larger Seven Corners store.)

Over the summer, Happy Cup Coffee has had much attention from media outlets as well as coffee drinkers.  There may be 50 roasters in town, but this one has a Mission: providing a competitive wage and a full life to adults with disabilities--people with potential.  As part of Mom's Marketing effort, I've posted about the coffee earlier here and here.  It will, of course, reappear.

Featured in the August issue of The Oregon Jewish Review, Rachel described how the growth of Happy Cup has been fueled by positive response from local businesses:

"We found ourselves in 19 groceries in three months.  We went from zero pounds in month one to 2,000 pounds in month three...no matter [how big we grow] don't want to automate.  We want to create jobs." 

Rachel began Full Life twelve years ago to develop programs for the disabled.  It is the parent company for the roaster.  One hundred per cent of Happy Cup's profits go to Full Life's vocational and recreational programs.

Last month she wrote an Op-Ed article for the Oregonian, "Fixing Oregon's ADA lapse by creating meaningful jobs for adults with disabilities."  Developing employment opportunities in the current economy for her clients has always been a challenge, especialy jobs with meaningful wages. She suggests that Oregon encourage private companies like hers to encourage the creation of private companies offering:

...integrated employment -- either full time or part time -- for which employees would earn a competitive wage, something many adults with disabilities are not used to receiving. These companies would be safe places for adults with disabilities where they could learn job skills, perform meaningful tasks and interact with the community.

Of the several local TV news stations that ran stories about her program, I especially like this one where you see and hear Full Life women and men working at the Happy Cup Roaster--and Rachel explaining how it all works. 

KGW8 'Making a Difference' story from Full Life on Vimeo.

                                                        *********************** 

The HAPPY CUP COFFEE BLOG  from the roaster's website is newest addition to my Blogroll.  Stories, new ideas, products featured from  the disability world.
  

Urban summer, Northwest style

Tomatoes grown in pots on the roof   in a dry, hot summer.  Sun-bleached, thick-skinned, but good flavor.

School was out...lunch with Zoe after a
doctor visit... in a former Montgomery Wards warehouse, now a fancy office building.  With a live piano player to accompany salad bar (her favorite food at the moment.

Who knew there were so many kinds   of beets--Chinoggia, cylyndrical Forono!

Candidates in "that other party," via Stephen Colbert

Says everything, right?  Here's the entire CHAIR MEDIATION from Colbert.  Tempted to print out this "truthiness" and add to sticker array on our car's bumper.

• This is also a tribute to  Kay Dennison, an exceptional  Elderblogger in Toledo, Ohio, who keeps her sense of humor through many personal challenges, and has been knocking herself out for months in the Obama campaign.  Check out her "Groaner of the Week."    

Couple of other commenters noted their political activity yesterday at TimeGoesBy.  Wish Tarzana who has joined "Iowa Seniors for Obama" had a blog...that would be fascinating. Local media could do an important public service with focus in this direction.  

Courage, My Love, we've learned from her

Of all the wonderful, inspirational women at the Democratic Convention, it is Gabriela Gifford whose remarkable courage stays at the front of my thoughts.  I want to know more about her life as a Congresswoman.  Public office comes with a very high price.

What will we do in her memory to change that?  Here are some choices, this one or another one, or showing  this film to mothers in your community.  And keep demanding that candidates for public office talk about what changed Gabby's life.