This is the 6th installment in an on-going series on my experience training to be a court reporter .

On a frigid Monday in February, I waited for the  Seventh Avenue bus to take me to the Grand Army Plaza subway station. Once on the train, I ran into an acquaintance from my daughter’s elemetary school. I made a point of not telling her that I was on my way to Park Place for my first day of court reporting school.

I felt stealth, a secret agent embarking on a new career .

When I entered the classroom at the New York Career Institute, more than thirty people were already seated and waiting for the teacher to arrive. At 9:30 on the  dot, Miss G, a skinny woman in late middle age with short spiky hair with specks of grey, entered the room.

The teacher!

She had big expressive eyes and bright red lipstick on her lips. Her outfit, I would later learn, was her teaching uniform: a flannel shirt, a wool scarf, grey sweat pants and white tennis shoes. She looked well put together, even stylish. Maybe it was her hair cut, which was neat and well coiffed.

Miss G, in a voice shrill, sharp and clear, directed a question to the classroom of newbies, mostly women in their early twenties and thirties.  “Why are you here? Nobody comes here without a reason. Rarely do people think of this themselves. They have to be told.”

I was sitting next to M, the grey-haired woman I met at the orientation (“I think you’re in my demographic”). At 63 and 53 respectively, M and I were the two oldest people in the room. As Miss G went around the room, people described aunts who worked as court reporters, friends, and mothers who had done it years ago.

I told the group that I was inspired during jury duty. M mentioned that she looked it up on the Internet.

“It’s the second highest paying job you can get without a college degree.” she told the group.

What’s the first?” someone shouted out.

“Air traffic control,” she said.

The room erupted in laughter. All the faces I would come to know so well blended together that day. There was a man who never came back and a few others we’d never see again. Satisfied with the group’s answers, Miss G addressed the class:

“I am offering you a wonderful, well-paid career. If you work hard and practice and take this vey seriously, there is an opportunity for you here. Don’t squander it. Many people have come through this school. I have seen people who’d never studied before and took to this thing. This was something they were able to do. It has literally saved people’s lives…”

I was moved by the sincerity and passion of her speech. Afterwards, she sent us downstairs in groups to pick up our machines. Most of the class had purchased machines, which wouldn’t be arriving for another couple of months. In the meantime, the school was loaning out what Miss G called clunkers, rusty, old machines used by multitudes before us.

Down in the administration office, there was a room full of clunkers lined up in black canvas bags (not rolling suitcases). I was very excited to receive one and proudly carried it back upstairs. The others were already putting their  machines together. Out of my bag I pulled out the machine itself, the foldable tripod legs, and the awkward metal drawer. Miss G went around the room offering aid to those who needed help. When everyone was set up, she told us to unwrap our first package of steno paper and showed us how to thread it through the machine.

We were ready to go.

Miss G showed us where to rest our fingers on the black keys. We learned a few letters: the two  S’s and the two T’s.

“If the letter is on the left side of the keyboard it’s called ‘initial’ and if it’s on the right side it’s called ‘final,'”she instructed us.

The initial S is hit by the left pinky on the far left of the keyboard (see diagram, above). The final S is hit by the right pinky on the right side of the keyboard (but don’t hit the D and Z by mistake). Sitting at her desk at the front of the room, Miss G began to drill us in a voice something between an army sergeant and a stern piano teacher.

“Initial S, final  S, initial S, final S, initial S..”

“Use the pinky,” she yelled out if she spotted someone who was using their ring finger instead of the pinkie.

“Initial T, final T, initial T, final T, initial T…”

Miss G drilled us for the rest of the class period, keeping an eagle eye out for fingering mistakes. A young woman, who had failed the class previously and was taking it again, sat near Miss G. She wore Pink brand sweat pants, hoodie, and expensive Nike sneakers and used the wrong fingering.

“I told you, use the correct fingers,” Miss G admonished her.

M approached the fingerings with great seriousness, she seemed to be struggling.  That first day I felt surprisingly calm. I enjoyed pressing the keys down as Miss G shouted out the letters. It was a satisfying sensation that reminded me of playing  an instrument. I hadn’t used my pinkies that  way since playing the  guitar. I liked the way it felt.  I almost wished the machine made a musical sound.

The time passed quickly. Before I knew it, it was noon and the class was winding down.

“The party’s over,” Miss G. said to the class. “Go home and practice.”

I was sure I would, and I knew I’d be back the next day.

To be continued…

This is the 5th installment of an on-going series about my experience training to be a court reporter.

There is a long and interesting history of written and machine shorthand. There is even a permanent exhibition, The Gallery of Shorthand: The Evolution of a Timeless Profession, in the Alfonse M. D’Amato Federal Courthouse in Central Islip, Long Island.

Now that sounds like a very worthwhile excursion, doesn’t it?

In lieu of making the trek out to the Richard Meier designed Islip courthouse, I  was able to gather quite a few nifty historical tidbits from their interesting website.

In Ancient Rome there were scribes, individuals responsible for transcribing minutes of the Roman Senate. Before 63 BC they wrote from memory and these transcripts were sometimes published.

In 63 BC, Cicero, the great orator of Rome, developed Tironian Notes, the very  first system of short writing. To save time, this system used letters to represent common words, and left out letters, usually vowels, that weren’t necessary. Sometimes initials or other parts of several words were joined.  Speed was achieved by rarely removing the hand from the wax tablet.

In 59 BC, Emperor Julius Caesar sought to eliminate the secrecy of Senate deliberations, and ordered that they be recorded using Tironian Notes.

Hail Ceasar.

Apparently some Tironean Shorthand is still used in contemporary shorthand such as abbreviating by using only the first letters of common phrases (am, pm, USA).

During the middle ages, shorthand was outlawed because it was  viewed as crytography or secret writing, and therefore inherently evil. Despite the prohibition, monks were allowed to use shorthand to write. And that’s a good thing. Much of what we know about the intellectual and religious history of that time we know form these shorthand writing monks.

But I digress. Machine shorthand, as taught at the New York Career Institute, is what we are interested in here.

We have Miles M. Bartholemew to thank for the invention of the first English-language stenography machine in 1879. That precursor to today’s steno machine utilized dot/dash codes to form one letter at a time. It makes me think of Morse Code. 150 words per minute was the top speed you could reach on this machine. Apparently vowels were eliminated and words were written as phonetic abbreviations.

In 1866,  George Kerr Anderson designed the first word-at-a-stroke shorthand machine called. The Anderson Shorthand Typewriter. It used printed letters  instead of codes and was capable of fast writing speeds.

In 1911, the Ireland Stenotype Shorthand Machine was invented by Ward Stone Ireland. This steno innovator spent six years analyzing the arrangement of letters and sounds in the English language. He’s responsible for the chorded method and the ” two-row, tripartite key arrangement of initial consonants, final consonants, and middle vowels” that those of us who have studied Steno know and love. This groundbreaking system allowed” the greatest output with the fewest strokes.”

Indeed, that is the essence of steno: the greatest output with the fewest strokes. Make THAT your mantra.

This is part 4 of an on-going series about my experience training to be a court reporter.

The afternoon of the orientation for new students, maybe sixty of us were herded into a third floor classroom at the New York Career Institute. I looked around at the people sitting in folding chairs. Most looked only a few years older than my  19-year-old son.

There were white girls, black girls, hispanic  girls, Orthodox Jewish girls, and even a few Orthodox men wearing yamulkes (I later learned that court reporting is quite popular among the Orthodox). The average age was probably 25 but there were a few scattered middle-agers, as well.

I was heartened when I noticed one women with short, grey hair and made a note to speak to her after the orientation.  I struck up a conversation with the young African-American woman sitting next to me. She told me she studied steno in high school. “It was very difficult,” she said.

People sat in groups of two or three, friends from home, from high school. I eyed a table of cookies, donuts and soda but didn’t dare get up. No one did. Everyone seemed nervous, eager for the meeting to begin. I studied the stenotype machine at the front of the classroom. With its black keys, it looked more like a piano than a computer or typewriter keyboard .

When Mr. G, a short Hispanic man, who runs the court reporting program, came into the classroom, the crowd quieted down.

“Are there any paralegal or medical students in the room?” he called out.

Ten or fifteen people raised their hands. He told them to go to another classroom for a separate orientation meeting.

“Now that they’re out of here. Is everyone here registered for court reporting?” he said. There was a chorus of yeses.

“Court reporting is a great career. I did it for 18 years,” he told the group. “You can make a lot of money as a court reporter whether you decide to freelance or work in a court. But it takes a lot of work. Be prepared to practice  two hours every day. Every day. Alright, I’ll give you Sunday off. But you must practice for two hours, six days a week.”

I was starting to stress out. Two hours a day? That seemed like an awful lot of time to devote to that little machine. I was still in denial about how much time and practice it would take to reach the required speed of 220 words per minute. How hard could it be?

I’m not sure if this happened or if I imagined it but I think Mr. G lifted up the stenography machine and hugged it to his chest.  I am certain, however, that he said the following.

“I love this machine. I loved this machine from the minute I saw it. This machine gave me a life, a profession.’

My first thought: I will never love that machine. I was sure of it.

After the meeting I went up to Mr. G with a question:

“I’m a really fast typist, will that help me in court reporting?”

“Not really,” Mr. G told me. “One has nothing to do with the other.”

After that discouraging interchange with Mr. G, I sought out the woman with short grey hair.

“I think we’re in the same demographic,” I said cheerily.

“I don’t know about that. I think I’m a little older than you,” she said. “I’m 63.”

“Okay, you are a little bit older. So what did you think?”

The grey haired woman, who turned out to be smart and friendly, told me that she was excited. She’d been laid off from a development job at a major non-profit and was game for something new.

“I love school,” she said. “I have two master’s degrees. I love to study.”

“But aren’t you worried about learning to type that fast?” I said. “And the textbook. All this stenography. It looks like  gibberish.”

Anxiety was seeping out of me. I needed a reality check.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be fine,” the grey haired woman said. We exchanged phone numbers and decided to stay in touch.

For me, the orientation was actually disorienting. Afterwards, my doubts returned with a vengence. Leafing through Therory for Court Reporting Volume 1, the text book for the beginner class, I became unhinged. Why is ate spelled AEUT? Why is sew spelled SWE? Why is will you be HRUB? I wondered to myself.

This is silly, this is crazy. The book’s introduction wasn’t much help :

“The greatess of this keyboard lies in its simplicity. The four fingers of the left hand control all of the beginning consonants by striking two, three, and sometimes four keys at a time…”

What the hell was I getting into? My anxiety turned into full fledged panic. When I got home I was on the verge of tears.

“I’m not going back there. It was a terrible idea,” I told my husband.

He heard me out and didn’t try to change my mind. Just a few weeks before, he seemed shocked when I decided to become a court reporter in the first place. He’d gotten used to the idea, but I don’t think he was really sold on it. The next day, a Friday, I cried to a friend over coffee at Sweet Melissa’s that I had made a terrible mistake.

“Maybe I should learn digital video editing instead,” I remember telling her. I had been a film and video editor in a former career. At least it was  creative.

By Sunday night, I was feeling calmer and a thought floated into my mind. Why don’t I just try it? If this thing is really so wrong for me it’ll be obvious at the first class. If I don’t go, I’ll never know.

I slept soundly that night for the first time in days…

To be continued…

This is Part 3 of an on-going series about my experience training to be a court reporter.

In Janaury of 2011, I put my doubts aside and decided to register for court reporting classes at NYCI. Sitting in the waiting area of the administration office, I was again struck by the plethora of young girls just out of high school, who populated the halls of the school.

I had a real Dorothy moment: You’re not in Park Slope anymore.

The look of the women couldn’t be more different from the schleppy boho meets Agnes B style of Connecticut  Muffin on Seventh Avenue in Park Slope. I saw tons of eye make-up, blow-dried hair, big earrings, and stylish clothes a la Forever 21 and Juciy Couture.

Bridge and Tunnel chic with a rolling backpack.

The girls looked well put together and smart.  Not worldly but looking to get ahead in the world. Many, I later learned, were from Staten Island. And many were there for their two-year college degree. As I waited I took at look at one of the school’s brochures:

New York Career Institute provides individuals with a higher educational experience designed to prepare them for productive careers in contemporary fields. The College’s programs offer students the opportunity to build a foundation for lifelong financial independence and success in their professional lives.

A certificate in court reporting is also an Associates Degree, equivilent to two years of college, so there are academic requirements for those with only a high school diploma, like math, English and psychology. Court reporting students are also required to take medical terminology, English for court reporting, courtroom procedures and computers for court reporting.

The director of admissions, who registered me, told me that that I’d be required to take beginner computer classes, because I never took college level computer classes (did they even have computers when I was in college?) and Written and Oral Communication.

I was dumbfounded. Didn’t years as a freelance writer and public speaker count for anything? And what about my computer expertise? I was a blogger, after all. I spoke with the Dean, who told me I could probably test out of the Computer Concepts class but I would not be able to skip the Oral and Written Communications class because I’d never taken a college level speech class. Needless to say, I was irked.

By the end of my registration session, I was registered for three classes: Intro to Court Reporting, Oral and Written Communication, and  Civil Litigation as an elective.

I was set to begin classes in February but not before the new students orientation.

To be continued…

This is Part 2 of an on-going series about my experience training to be a court reporter.

Riding home on the subway after my admissions appointment, with my folder of New York Career Institute materials on my lap, I felt a mix of emotions.  The idea of studying to be a court reporter was like a lifeline. A rope had appeared out of the blue that would, hopefully, pull me out of my mid-life doldrums.

At the same time, the “I’m nots” were reverberating loudly in my head: I’m not young anymore, I’m not the mother of young children, I’m not employed, I’m not rich, I’m not successful, I’m not famous, I’m not especially happy, I’m not secure…

This court reporting lifeline was oddly compelling. At that moment, it seemed like a direct  route to something—a profession—that in my fantasy contained some of the elements that fueled my  passion for life: words, stories, personal histories, characters, listening. The challenge of achieving a steno speed of 220 words per minute was far from my mind.

The economic stability was also very seductive. The flexibility of such career would enable me, I thought, to continue as a writer and creative person. It would be the monetary crutch I needed to survive and move ahead in the world. Court reporting would be my  ticket to success, my armor against failure and economic demise.

In the weeks after my admissions’s appointment, I left the NYCI folder untouched on the dining room table. I entered a period of confusion and felt like I was split in two. “Old Me” was dead set against being a court reporter. She didn’t want to let go of the fantasy of a life as a sucessful writer, blogger and columnist.

“New Me” was being “realistic” and “practical.” She knew I needed to change course and find a way to reliably support the family.

“Old Me” and “New Me” were fighting it out. And they would be fighting it out until I made my decision…

To be continued…

I’m thrilled as punch to be in an essay collection called Make Mine a Double, which was published TODAY. To make matters even merrier the collection, edited by Gina Barreca, is garnering great reviews like this one in Library Journal:

Make Mine a Double: Why Women Like Us Like To Drink (Or Not). Univ. Pr. of New England.Sept. 2011. c.192p. ed. by Gina Barreca. ISBN 9781584657590. $19.95. BEVERAGES

You don’t have to drink to enjoy this fine collection of short stories, poems, and essays edited by Barreca (English & feminist theory, Univ. of Connecticut; It’s Not That I’m Bitter…, or How I Learned To Stop Worrying About Visible Panty Lines and Conquered the World); the complex web of social, cultural, and political factors around women and alcohol will envelop both partakers and teetotalers. The selections run the gamut: Greta Scheibel recalls challenging norms by imbibing publicly in Tanzania; Sarah Rasher discusses negotiating the mores of drinking (and sexual preference) in Japan; Sarah Deming cleverly decries snobbishness and asks for a bartender who will simply make what’s ordered; Susan Campbell narrates her search for the perfect drink, which ultimately led her to soda; and Louise Crawford considers the volatile social cocktail of moms and booze. This reviewer swallowed the collection in a single, greedy gulp, but other readers may prefer to savor slowly the nearly 30 works by an impressive list of contributors (e.g., Amy Bloom, Jill Eisenstadt, and Wendy Liebman). VERDICT In lieu of an evening out with the intelligent, witty contributors, this laugh-out-loud funny, touching, thought-provoking collection is highly recommended.—Courtney Greene, Indiana Univ. Libs., Bloomington

Two trees at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden have been entered on the New York State Big Tree Register. You're probably wondering what this Register is:

Don’t believe everything you read: The famous “Pink House” of Garfield Place is not for sale.

Bloggers and even the Daily News were buzzing this week that Bernie Henry, who famously painted his classic Park Slope brownstone salmon pink in the 1960s, was selling the empty nest and moving to a smaller place nearby.

But the house is not on the market, a real-estate source told The Brooklyn Paper, because Henry’s grandson is under investigation for forging key documents that have put a cloud over who has legal ownership of the building.

Henry, 92, said he couldn’t speak about the matter on Wednesday because his ailing wife had just died

Erica of Fucked in Park Slope was at Beth Elohim on Saturday and participated in the counter-demonstration when the anti-gay, anti-Jewish Kansas group picketed the synagogue. Here's an excerpt from her excellent report that also has great pictures.

I just got back from the hate parade
that the Westboro Baptist Church staged this morning in front of Temple
Beth Elohim on Garfield and 8th Avenue. There's a bunch of shit that I
want to tell you about it, but basically this was my take away:

• As much as we may bitch around here, I'm so grateful and proud to
  live in a community that totally gets that these people are hateful,
  pathetic idiots.
• These people are hateful, pathetic idiots.
• Fuck yeah, Jews!
• Fuck yeah, Fags!
• Fuck yeah, counter protesting!

I have to admit, I gave some serious thought to Jake Taylor's comment on our original post about just ignoring these lowlifes–how getting all riled up about them is exactly
what they want. However, after waking up early on a Saturday morn and
hauling my ass down there, I have to say: I now totally disagree.

Cause it felt AWESOME to be there on the other side of the street from
the Westboro-tards with a huge, loud crowd that included my husband, my
Twitter friends, BREEDERS, BALLERS, politically active dogs, adorable
kids (yes, you read that right), and loads of other peeps who were all
spreadin love, Biggie style, the Brooklyn way.

Park Slope's Dr. Philippa Gordon has taken the time to answer some urgent questions about this flu season and the vaccine. This appeared on Park Slope Parents and with her permission is on OTBKB. She writes: "I am already working triple time fielding questions, and I anticipate
it only getting worse as the vaccine is released and as flu cases
start  occurring.   So the more info out there, the better.  I will
continue to post answers to questions that psp'ers send me off line,
and you may feel free to use them also, also to let me know if there's
any other info you think is needed."

1.Why is this flu different from all other flus? 

The flu virus changes (shifts) slightly every year, enough to cause
annual  epidemics — the normal community-wide outbreaks that we 
experience every winter.  But every once in a while — 3 times per
century on average –a major change (drift) occurs, resulting in a 
novel strain.  It is so different from all other strains that even if
you've
been exposed to or vaccinated against all previous flu strains in your
lifetime, you are unlikely to be immune to it.  Therefore there are
widespread outbreaks all over the world — a pandemic.

2.  Will there be a vaccine for this novel pandemic flu?  Will it be
safe since it is so new?

Yes
— in October.  Since the strain was first isolated last year, the 
vaccine makers have been working on it.  Although it is a new strain,
the vaccine is made just the way other flu vaccines are made —
immunologically, every flu vaccine is specific to the strain expected
to emerge that season, and therefore new every year –but the  basic
recipe, if you will, for the vaccine is exactly the same.  So it is
neither newer nor more experimental than the  annual flu vaccine, which
has a good safety record.  Moreover, since the H1N1 strain has remained
very stable since its emergence, we know that the vaccine is a good
match for the virus, whereas the annual vaccine may sometimes miss the
mark a bit.

3. Will there be special chemicals that are untested added to this vaccine?

No.   Some
vaccines have immune- stimulating compounds called adjuvants added to
them, and there was some discussion of adding these compounds to the
H1N1 vaccine in the event that the vaccine supply fell short, butthe
discussion was theoretical  only and these technologies have not been
implemented in the US.

4.Does the H1N1 vaccine contain mercury or thimerosal?

All flu vaccines are available in thimerosal-free  formulations.

5. Who should get H1N1 vaccine and will seasonal flu vaccine protect
against the H1N1 strain?

Eventually,
as supplies permit it, widespread vaccination will truncate this
pandemic (the first of the century).  For the present, vaccine  is
being triaged to pregnant women and children, as well as those with
chronic illnesses.  This is because so far, more cases have been
occurring in children, perhaps because older people have partial
resistance, and because pregnant women are at higher risk for
complications.  An added benefit  is that the infants of vaccinated
women
will be born with some immunity to this strain.     Seasonal flu
vaccine is recommended for everyone age 6 months and up, especially
pregnant women.  Seasonal flu vaccine does not appear to give any
protection against the H1N1.

6.  Since seasonal flu is usually mild, and since so far the H1N1 is
tending to be clinically mild, is it necessary to be vaccinated?  Why
not just catch the flu, and  take anti-flu drugs such as Tamiflu
(oseltamivir)?

 
    Influenza is usually a mild and self-limited disease. It tends to
be more severe in young children, the elderly, pregnant women, and
people with chronic illnesses. However, the majority of the 40,000
deaths
and 200,000 hospitalizations  per year from influenza in the USA occur
in previously healthy people.  Since flu is so highly contagious,
eating well, taking supplements, and following guidelines for healthy
living, are not helpful strategies for preventing infection , or for
preventing complications of infection which may lead to
hospitalization, severe illness, or death. In the current pandemic,
more deaths would be expected in the pediatric age group as more cases
are occurring in children.  Another factor in the estimated burden of
disease has to do with the number of acute or intensive care beds
available, and the number of respirator machines available throughout
the country.  In a serious pandemic it is possible that the nation's 
capacity for acute respiratory support  would simply be overwhelmed.

 
   Currently, anti-flu medications are recommended only for children
under age 2, hospitalized patients, and those with underlying chronic
disease. It is desirable to restrict use of these drugs to prevent
viruses from developing resistance to them.  Widespread use of
currently available vaccines will decrease the number of cases and the
duration of outbreaks, and thus the overall burden of disease in our
communities.

     In recent years, especially in Great Britain and the USA,
vaccination
has taken on other social meanings, associated with fear of
environmental toxins, suspicion of the government and pharmaceutical
industry, fear of neurologic damage or long-term side effects, or the
desire to raise one's children in a simple or more natural fashion. It
is legitimate for individuals  to take these issues into consideration
as long as the risks are clearly understood — this is informed
consent.  Those choosing, with full knowledge of the facts, to decline
the flu vaccine, are making an acceptable decision both ethically and
legally, as this vaccine is not mandatory.  Those who do not have such
fears or objections should feel comfortable in taking the vaccine,
because the more uptake of vaccine, the less disease, and the less 
disease, the fewer adverse outcomes will occur. Widespread uptake of
vaccine not only safeguards individual health, but contributes to the
health of the community.

7.  How much will the vaccine cost?  Will insurance cover it?  How will it be administered?

All
doses of the H1N1 vaccine have been purchased by the government, and 
will be distributed through state and local health departments. 
Strategies
for distribution will vary from place to place.  There is no charge for
the vaccine itself, although there may be an office visit or
administrative fee charged by clinics and private offices.

Both
seasonal and pandemic flu vaccines are available in an injectable form
which is made from killed virus, and in a nasal spray containing live
virus which has been weakened, or attenuated, so that it cannot cause
infection.  Nose spray can be used in healthy patients aged 2 through
49 years, who do not have asthma or egg allergy.

As regards
co-administration of the vaccine, most patients age 9 and up will
receive one dose of each vaccine, in either or both modalities.
Children age 8 and younger will need 2 doses  of the H1N1 vaccine, and
1 dose of seasonal flu vaccine, and children receiving the seasonal flu
vaccine for the first time in their lives will need two doses of that
vaccine as well.  Final details regarding the timing of multiple doses
in young children and the mixing of the two forms of the vaccine will
be determined and made public when the vaccine is released for
administration in the next few weeks.

Sources:  Red Book of the American Academy of Pediatrics, CDC.gov,
Mandell's Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases,Elsevier 2005.

Submitted by Philippa Gordon

A young raccoon looks for food in the bushes in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park.
When he gets tired of the attention he climbs out of sight.
I saw this coming home on Labor day weekend, on the walking paths, near the Vail of Cashmere.
This video was sent to me by Efrain Gonzalez. I’m not sure if he is the videographer but I think so.

There's a whole  lot of early American history in the Park Slope/Gowanus/Sunset Park area. The first battle of the Revolutionary War took place in Washington/JJ Byrne Park and that's what's celebrated every year during Battle week. Marilyn Pettit, Chair of the Old Stone House Board of Trustees explains:

Sunday August 23, 11 AM – 1 PM

Evergreens Cemetery Walking Tour

 

Evergreen
Cemetery presents a walking tour of the revolutionary war-related sites
of the cemetery. Meet at Evergreen Cemetery Main Gate, Bushwick Avenue
and Conway Street, Brooklyn.
718-455-5300/www.theevergreenscemetery.com/

Canoe
the Gowanus Canal and learn the history of this infamous escape route
for American soldiers during the Revolutionary War. 2nd Street between
Bond and the Gowanus Canal, Brooklyn.

718-768-3195/www.gowanuscanal.org/

Friday, August 28, 6 PM – 8 PM

Battle of Brooklyn Neighborhood Walk

Saturday, August 29, 11 AM - 12 PM

Maryland 400 Remembrance Ceremony

Saturday, August 29, 10 AM - 5 PM

Battle Days Reception

Old Stone House, JJ Byrne Park, 3rd Street at 5th Avenue, Brooklyn, OSH Gallery. Reenactors Welcome!

10 AM – 12 PM Green-Wood
historian Jeff Richman and author Barnet Schecter conduct a trolley
tour of the cemetery. Reservations necessary. $20 for the public, $10
for Historic Fund members. 718-768-7300

11:30 AM Tributes to George Washington's Irish Generals, The Bold Fenian Men/The Civil War, Irish Korean War Memorial, Matilda Tone

1:30 PM Parade to top of Battle Hill

2 PM Memorial Ceremony at Battle Hill; Micahel Callahan, Guest Speaker
 

The US Postal Services is set to close post offices all over the country. On the local level it's the Seventh Avenue PO plus others in Brooklyn that are facing their demise.

Anyone who has ever walked by the Seventh Avenue PO knows how crowded it always is. It's not the most efficient place in the world but it's obviously a heavily used resource in this community. What are people supposed to do without a post office? Sure you can buy stamps online but what about packages.

People are wondering what they can do to fight this. Who should they call or write to make their opposition known?

Some thoughts:

Let's get our local elected officials on the case. Obviously we need to send word to our Borough President Marty Markowitz (who likes to think of himself as everyone's closest link to big government).

Next: Councilmembers David Yassky and Bill deBlasio, who both represent parts of Seventh Avenue, should be on the case explaining what's going on. 

And then: Craig Hammerman, District Manager of Community Board 6, could also be of help.

From there: The Mayor.

Maybe some of the City Council candidates have some BIG IDEAS about how to stop this from happening.

And then there's Bill C. Thompson and Tony Avella, candidates for Mayor.

Hellooooooooo out there. Anyone know how to stop this???? Anyone want to explain what's going on?

Apparently elephants like watermelon. Does everyone know that? So on Monday, August 3rd: "the
planet's premiere watermelon artist will lend his talents to Coney Island
icons, and the precious pachyderms of The Greatest Show On Earth!"

Okay.

I'm not really sure what they're talking about here. Just trying to drum up some interest in the circus I guess:

WHAT: An elephant brunch featuring one of their
favorite treats: watermelon — of course! … a fascinating foursome of
truly unique carved watermelons — you'll be amazed and awestruck by
the melony magnificence of the Wonder Wheel and the Parachute Jump! …
and free watermelon for all attending — bring a napkin!

WHEN: Monday, August 3 — 11:00 – 11:30 a.m.

WHERE: At the corner of 21st Street and Surf Avenue in Coney Island.

WHY: Because it's National Watermelon Day and
watermelon is the ultimate summer fruit — because Coney Island is the
ultimate summer destination for New Yorkers — and because The Coney Island BOOM A RING is the ultimate seaside circus celebration!

Its seems that the proposed plan to close Park Slope's Post Office on Seventh Avenue between 3rd and 4th Streets is part of a much larger plan by the US Postal service to close many post offices around the country. Thanks to Eliot Wagner, OTBKB's music columnist, I have this article from Linn's Stamp News dated July 27, 2009:

The cupboards are close to empty at many food banks around the city because in these economic times the need is greater than ever and contributions are down. Babeland is doing a food drive. I also heard that the Church of the Gethsemane in Park Slope is in need of canned goods and other food items. Here's what Babeland is up to.

I hear from Jill.Weiskopf over at New York magazine that this week's issue takes a look at the past, present, and future of the area around the Gowanus Canal , otherwise known as the “Gashouse District,” that is home to:

 Here is the resolution from Community Board 6 that went out to Commissioner Palmieri, Borough Commissioner of the DOT. CB6 supports the Department of Transportation's proposed installation of bicycle lanes on Prospect Park West.

Volunteers needed for Macy's Fishing Contest in Prospect Park:

Hugh and I were walking down Seventh Avenue after the Breakfast-of-Candidates interview with Tony Avella when we saw something akin to a stoop sale in front of the Laundromat near 4th Street. 

On closer look, I saw that it was a new shop within a shop at the Laundromat that spills out neatly onto the sidewalk.

Owner Robbin Farrell teaches Bikram Yoga at two Park Slope studios. A former Peace Corps volunteer she's a well-travelled collector who is selling (or "releasing" as she calls it) merchandise from her trips to Niger, Jamaica, and the Marshall Islands ( where she taught and developed yoga curriculum for the past two years).

Her shop, Robin's Nest, features a various and sundry collection of merchandise, including clothing, pottery, leather bags and more.

"I will be here as long as I'm able in this economy. Hopefully things can work…I'm starting with this nice phase and will transition into yoga merchandise. Releasing things from the past and transition into the future…That's the nesting idea, the image, the logo, three little eggs that will grow," Farrell told me. 

"I am also a longtime Park Sloper. Worked my way through college on 7th Avenue at an art supply store…the one under the drips," she said. 

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one
people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with
another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and
equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle
them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they
should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of
Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted
among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,
— That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these
ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to
institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and
organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely
to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate
that Governments long established should not be changed for light and
transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that
mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to
right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably
the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute
Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such
Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such
has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the
necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of
Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a
history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct
object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To
prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

Continue reading The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America →

On All About Fifth, the new Fifth Avenue blog produced by the Fifth Avenue Business Improvement District, there's a list of things to do on Fifth:

The Dinnersteins of Park Slope were cited in 2006 in the very first Park Slope 100:

Simone's father, Simon Dinnerstein, is wonderful painter, who likes to sketch distinctive Park Slope locals like Thomas Park, a barista at Connecticutt Muffin and Wajih Salem, one of the owners of D'Vine Taste. He was featured in a Brooklyn Paper article by me.

Renee's award-winning talents as a teacher are well known. In fact, when my son was first at PS 321 all the parents prayed that their children would get "the great Renee Dinnerstein" as a kindergarten teacher. I believe that she developed PS 321's Reading Buddies" program, which matches an
older and younger student to spend a library period together throughout a school year.

That program is one of the many best things about PS 321. And the Dinnersteins are lovely neighbors to have.