The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men

To A Mouse

Robert Burns

Small, sleek, cowering, timorous beast,
O, what a panic is in your breast!
You need not start away so hasty
With hurrying scamper!
I would be loath to run and chase you,
With murdering plough-staff.

I'm truly sorry man's dominion
Has broken Nature's social union,
And justifies that ill opinion
Which makes thee startle
At me, thy poor, earth born companion
And fellow mortal!

I doubt not, sometimes, but you may steal;
What then? Poor beast, you must live!
An odd ear in twenty-four sheaves
Is a small request;
I will get a blessing with what is left,
And never miss it.

Your small house, too, in ruin!
It's feeble walls the winds are scattering!
And nothing now, to build a new one,
Of coarse grass green!
And bleak December's winds coming,
Both bitter and keen!

You saw the fields laid bare and wasted,
And weary winter coming fast,
And cozy here, beneath the blast,
You thought to dwell,
Till crash! the cruel plough past
Out through your cell.

That small bit heap of leaves and stubble,
Has cost you many a weary nibble!
Now you are turned out, for all your trouble,
Without house or holding,
To endure the winter's sleety dribble,
And hoar-frost cold.

But Mouse, you are not alone,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes of mice and men
Go often askew,
And leaves us nothing but grief and pain,
For promised joy!

Still you are blest, compared with me!
The present only touches you:
But oh! I backward cast my eye,
On prospects dreary!
And forward, though I cannot see,
I guess and fear!

I really like this poem, especially the last two stanzas. 

I'm a City Girl Myself...

Nature

O Nature! I do not aspire
To be the highest in thy choir, -

To be a meteor in thy sky,

Or comet that may range on high;

Only a zephyr that may blow

Among the reeds by the river low;

Give me thy most privy place

Where to run my airy race.

In some withdrawn, unpublic mead

Let me sigh upon a reed,

Or in the woods, with leafy din,

Whisper the still evening in:

Some still work give me to do, -

Only - be it near to you!

For I'd rather be thy child
And pupil, in the forest wild,

Than be the king of men elsewhere,

And most sovereign slave of care;

To have one moment of thy dawn,

Than share the city's year forlorn.

One of my favorite poems by Thoreau. I've been looking for Thoreau quotes to post on the North Fork Audubon Society's Facebook page to promote their hosting of "Beyond Spheres" -- a fine art photography tour of nature based on the principles of Henry David Thoreau, using the camera technology of the time. Pretty cool. 

Anyway, just some random musing.

Only in New York

So last Saturday I had to go into the city to shoot some scenes with my project group for film class. They told me to meet up with them  at one person's apartment on 51st Street at 8:00 am. So I got up about 5:00 am to get a train into the city to be on time. When I get there, after waking up before the sun, almost missing my train, and avoiding bums in the subway, no one is there. So I called someone, and they said that they decided last night to meet up at the Apple Store on Fifth Ave, because we need to film a scene at a toy store and FAO Schwarz is right next door. No one told me anything about this the night before! But what can I do? So, I walk all they way to the Apple Store. At this time I'm still half asleep and now throughly pissed that no one told me about this change of plan. So I'm walking and taking in the calmness of Manhattan this early in the morning,which really is peaceful. If I wasn't already so pissed, I'd have enjoyed it. So I'm on my way to 59th and 5th, and I look to my right and see this:

Just someone taking their camels for a walk, like you would a golden retriever....... Only in New York..... I wonder why they were there. I don't think I was by some studio or anything, but then again who knows; could be someone's pet. Like that idiot in the Bronx that had a pet tiger in his apartment a few years back.

So after snapping this wonderful pic with my phone (gotta love camera phones), I continue my journey to the Apple store. Everyone is already getting ready for the Christmas season. All the stores on Fifth Ave are decorated. I passed Bergdorf Goodman, and they had their windows beautifully decorated. As a history lover, I love the early 1900s feel to the displays. So if by chance someone actually reads this post and before the end of 2010, check them out.

So I get there, then get a text from the group saying that they think they want to go to the Toys R Us in Times Square instead! So I (begrudgingly) walk all they way back to Times Sq. And it was not until 10:00 that everyone got there!!!! From 8:00 in the a.m!

We friggin wound up buying a FOA  brand teddy bear for the kid actor anyway!...... I love my project group though. They're awesome, so I really shouldn't complain.

But yeah, the camels were the main part of this post anyway. I love this city.

Manor House

Am I the only person in the world that researches Edwardian etiquette? Quite possibly. In my musings, I found this fantastic show from PBS (I love PBS) called Manor House. It's a reality show that takes 21st Century British people and makes them live as if they were living in a 1905 English estate. One [real life] family are the masters of the manor, while others act as their servants. The show reinforces my beliefs that I am damn lucky to be born when I was.

I love Edgar. All he wanted to do was be the best butler he could be and do his grandparents proud. Kenny comes in a close second. Mrs. Davies too. I love everyone below stairs to be honest. I wasn't too fond of the family though, except the sister-in-law. I felt bad for her . Sir Oliff-Cooper was a douche-bag though. He got a little too comfortable being the master. But I don't know them. They might be the best people in the world.

Check out it on Youtube and for more interesting Edwardian facts go to http://www.pbs.org/manorhouse/

Crossing the Brooklyn Fer...ummm...Bridge....Okay maybe going half way.

Fall is the season of accomplishments. I can yet again cross off another item from my bucket list: visiting the Brooklyn Bridge. It is hard to believe, that in the 21 years of my existence, and having lived so close to this world-famous New York icon, I've never been there until yesterday. I think tourists see more of New York than most natives. I've still never been to the Empire State building. (Note to self: add Empire State Building to B-list)

I've always been in love with the image of the Brooklyn Bridge. It's graced the backgrounds of many a electronic for me. I just think that it's a beautiful structure. It was completed in 1883, so the inner history lover in me just had to walk the same bridge that people have been walking for the last 130 years.

So no interesting fact post today. Just wanted to urge my fellow New Yorkers (and everyone else) to go see the bridge. At least go half way up like I did. The view is worth it. I love seeing all the tourists there, especially the international ones. The Brooklyn Bridge should also be called "Babel Bridge." I think you can hear every language spoken just walking up to the midway point. I just love seeing others enjoy this city---my city. It's like the author Thomas Wolfe said "One belongs to New York instantly, one belongs to it as much in five minutes as in five years." It truly is the best city in the world. 

It's been more than 50 years thence, even more than 100 thence, Mr. Whitman, but I still get it. Yes I do.....





BTW the photo doesn't belong to me. Click on the picture to get more info on the photographer. 

For the Insane

Last Saturday, I got to do something that I always wanted to do---visit an insane asylum. Okay, so they are not called insane asylums anymore, but at least I can cross that one off my bucket list.

My psych class had a trip to Pilgrim Psychiatric Center in Brentwood, NY. I'm not a psychology major (I'm a communication arts major), and my psych class is actually Consumer Behavior in Marketing, but my professor had extra room, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity! How else am I going to see the inside of a mental hospital? (Without being committed?)

To be honest, I've wanted to visit Pilgrim for some time now to see the small history museum they have there. I grew up in Central Islip, NY, and C.I. is famous for being home of the Central Islip Psychiatric Center, which at one time was reportedly the biggest asylum in the world (...I think....don't quote me), until Pilgrim was opened in the 1930's, then it [Pilgrim] became the largest asylum in the world (I'm 100% sure on that one). Central Islip and Kings Park, another big and old asylum on Long Island, are now closed, and the patients were moved to Pilgrim. Now there is a small history museum with artifacts from all three hospitals. They actually have a tranquilizing chair like in the picture above.

The C.I. hospital was opened in 1889 as a New York City farm colony for the overcrowded Manhattan asylums. This was the time before medication, so the doctors believed that the fresh air of the country side would help the patients with their disorders. At that time, Long Island was mostly undeveloped land. The only efficient ways to get into Long Island was by boat or railroad. The Long Island Railroad ran right through Central Islip. C.I. was already an established town before the hospital, but once it opened, the hospital had major influence on how the town grew.

Since many Americans didn't want to work in a lunatic asylum, they ---like the Americans of today--- left the dirty work to the immigrants. [Some things never change. People today are always complaining on how things are getting worse, but after studying a bit of history, I'm a firm believer that the problems don't change, just the faces. Today's immigration problems are with Hispanics, but before that was with the Irish (remember NINA from high school social studies?) and Chinese, and before that it was with the Germans, and everyone else before, after, and in between. I hate people who say that this generation is the worst. The truth is that the world was hell of a lot worse even a generation back than it is right now....... Sorry I digressed.] So....yeah.... The Irish were sent to work in the asylums. There were even advertisements in Ireland to come work in Central Islip. C.I. was even called "Little Ireland" at one point. Even today some of the older Families in C.I. are Irish. These NYC farm colonies started off as self-sufficient little towns with their own post-offices, bakeries, stores, fire departments; the workers lived on the campuses with the patients; but by the 1950's they started building houses outside of the hospital grounds for the workers. That is how my family came to live in Central Islip. My grandfather and grandmother both worked for a short time for the hospital. My grandmother's stint there was extremely short. She quit very shortly after being hired for the cafeteria staff after a patient threw food at her. But that's why all the houses by Lowell Ave look the same. They were all built at the same time for the hospital workers.

In the C.I. exhibit in the museum, there is an old plaque from when the hospital first opened that read "New York City Farm for the Insane." My favorite part of that sign is "for the insane." That just wouldn't fly today. I noticed that when I was in Pilgrim the workers called the people being treated there "clients" instead of "patients." I guess calling these people "patients" is not considered PC (politically correct) nowadays. Calling them "insane" is completely out of the question. But it was common back at the turn of the [last] century to call those with mental disorders "insane" or "lunatics." An old asylum in NYC was actually called Bloomingdale Lunatic Asylum. There are some interesting articles in the New York Times archives that have titles such as Insane Men as Farmers or A Lunatic at Large from this time period.

Back then it didn't take much to get you put away in a place like Pilgrim or C.I. They took in the people that were not wanted by society, even if there was nothing "wrong" with them. If a parent didn't want to take care of his/her child anymore, they could give up custody to the State, and the children would wind up in asylums alongside mental patients, alcoholics, and drug addicts. During its heyday, Pilgrim housed about 14,000 patients, but thanks to higher standards in the medical field and modern medicine, that number was lowered to the 400 that they have today.

I could go on and on about this, but I'll be kind and end it here. Before I finish up this post, I want to mention this great documentary they recently had on PBS about Dr. Walter Freeman, the man who made the lobotomy famous in America. It was part of their American Experience series: The Lobotomist . You can watch it free online through the link! But I have to warn you that it is very graphic and at times disturbing. They show an actual lobotomy being performed.

Oooohhhhhh.... and if anybody wants to visit the Museum at Pilgrim, the website for the hospital is no help. The museum is open to the public, but I think you have to make sure that a museum worker will be there first. So I would call before you go. The museum is in building 45 on the second floor. When you get there, there is only one map at the entrance that is no help at all, and the signs are so small they might as well be invisible. If you arrive at the entrance from the Pilgrim exit of the Sagtikos Parkway, go left. Building 45 should be on the right side. I think building 102 is on the left. If you hit the 80s buildings, you've gone too far. (That's what happened to me :)

Gangsters, Preemies, and Pygmies ...Oh my!

Here I thought that I would have to wait for next summer for True Blood season 4 to satiate my need to obsess over things, but HBO once again fulfills my needs with their new series 'Boardwalk Empire'. I already had an existing obsession with the 1920's, and although I'm not a huge gangster movie fan, with a show set during in Atlantic City during Prohibition, I am hooked by the opening credits.

I love the scenes on the Boardwalk with all the vintage ads and shops. In one scene, Nucky Thompson passes by a storefront that had preemies (prematurely born babies) on display, and for 25 cents admission one can go in and see them in incubators. This reminded me of an episode of 'History Detectives' (PBS) where a woman claims to be one of the babies displayed in incubators in the 1933 Chicago World's Fair. The baby incubator was invented around 1890, and before its use to help premature babies, these precious under-weight infants would usually die . As far as I can tell, babies have been displayed in incubators since the 1904 World's Fair (maybe even before that).

It is seems so strange (and maybe a little unethical) to have human beings on display, but at the turn of the last century their were many attractions that displayed human beings. There were the sideshow 'freaks' in the carnivals, and most famously Coney Island. In one of my favorite blogs 'Old Picture of the Day', one theme of the week was Coney Island. There the author put up old pictures taken from Coney Island's heyday. One of them was of a sideshow and another showed a display of native Filipinos. Boardwalk Empire actually touched upon this in a later episode. Apparently at this time, there were many exhibits like this around the world called 'human zoos'. In the same episode of the 'History Detectives' they mentioned a pygmie man named Ota Benga who lived at the Bronx Zoo in the monkey exhibit for a while before people were upset and sent him to live in an orphanage.

Crazy, crazy stuff

Tavern music

I've been in love with this song since I heard the first note a couple of months ago. I mean who doesn't love old funky Gaelic/Celtic songs?.......hmm?.....Ok maybe just me then. Excuse this randomness. I'll get back to the posting pictures soon. I just had to share my love for this song. It's Called "Slingshot" by Gaelic Storm. Cool Band. As you can tell by my music player on the bottom of my blog....... I love folk songs. :P