Hookah IMG00730-20101109-1205.jpg

Hookah IMG00730-20101109-1205.jpg, originally uploaded by hoongyeeleekrakauer.

Catching Up With My Youth In Breezy Point

Allie, me and Nancy

I knew it as soon as we pulled up to the guard house at Breezy Point.

“What’s up?”  Seth leaned out of the window towards the woman with the cigarette attached to her lower lip leaning against the No Smoking sign.  She glared back and without missing a drag, she said, “Me on my two legs.  Who the hell are you and where do you think you’re going?”

“Oh, we’re going to see Dave Mason at the Colony Theater with OUR FRIEND WHO LIVES HERE  and oh – look at that, here’s a real official parking pass.”  I can tell when Seth settles into his Don’t-Even-Think-You’re-Going-To-Play-Me thing and wondered if I would get shot if I tried to catch this on my Flip.

It must have killed her to finally hand over the grubby token for the barrier but we finally got through and found Allie and her sister Nancy in front of the theater.

“Enjoy the show.  Hey, where’s your cooler?”  said the guy taking tickets.

Note to self:  When listening to Dave Mason and getting into all that great head music that goes on and on and on, do as the locals do – stake out your spot and don’t move.  You could kill yourself tripping over coolers once the music starts.

the Colony Theater

Oh, to be  rocker chick and hang out with the band!

Allie has way more chops than I ever did doing this and as soon as the last encore was over, she was behind the velvet rope hanging with the musicians like nobody’s business.  If Pat, from the carpool, were here, I could just hear her say,

“Oh, that Allie has more balls than a Christmas tree.”

Allie, the rocker chick goddess with the drummer

Yes, the music sounds just as great as it did when I sat around in my dorm room in Oberlin listening to Traffic albums.  It actually sounded better because tonight it was our kids, and everybody’s kids who were home or in their dorm rooms, while we were out catching a moment of our youth in a Dave Mason concert with the Breezy locals.

Ah, here youth is wasted on the sober.

Get more Wow!

If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:

Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good

Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit

Style Notes from me, your artspy

Hoong Yee

– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day

– Forward the link to someone you think would be interested

– Link to a post on Twitter (follow me @hylkrakauer)

– Put a link to the blog in your Facebook status update

Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.

Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?

Surfer Dudes and Divas

Me and Seth after jumping in the water

Every time I get in the water after Labor Day I am thrilled.

There were surfers everywhere on this beautiful October weekend and I am very tempted to take surfing lessons next year so that I can ride waves into Indian summer too.   I appreciate living so close to the beach and want to share a recent post by Beth Kanter about the great work being done to protect our beaches and oceans by the Surfrider Foundation.  I didn’t realize that it was because of their advocacy efforts that Rockaway now has dedicated surfing beaches.  They also have a very cool game.  Here’s an excerpt:

Surfrider is a global network of surfers who want to protect the world’s beaches and oceans. Their use of social media to support and leverage their network is filled with great examples of best practices. They recently launched an Iphone app called “Trash-Tetris.” The goal is the same as in regular Tetris, except you play with trash. It is a virtual beach clean up game. It’s on itunes here (free).

Get more Wow!

If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:

Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good

Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit

Style Notes from me, your artspy

Hoong Yee

– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day

– Forward the link to someone you think would be interested

– Link to a post on Twitter (follow me @hylkrakauer)

– Put a link to the blog in your Facebook status update

Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.

Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?

Unfinished Sentences

There was a time in my life when my sister and I played piano duets.

photo by silentsnaps

I usually played the bass part and worked the pedals.  Hoong Wei played the melody and turned the pages.  If she started to speed up, I would slow down.  Or give her a sharp nudge with my elbow.  She would step on my foot and hog the pedal if she thought I was dragging.  Sometimes you couldn’t really be sure what we were doing.

You get the idea.

Years later when we both had small children, it was impossible to finish playing a duet together without a little voice or two asking for something.  We also found it difficult to finish a conversation, even a sentence.

We decided to run a 10K race together in Boston figuring that we could catch up with each other as we were running.  And we did this for many years as our children were growing up.  They had a great time jumping up and down cheering the runners on and my sister and I enjoyed our time running the race together.

Three years ago, lung cancer entered her life.  Last year, we mostly walked the race but made sure we had enough energy to sprint gorgeously in front of all of the cameras positioned along the race route.  It was hard for her to breathe and I ended up doing most of the talking.

This Columbus Day would have been the 25th anniversary run for Hoong Wei who we lost in April.  I am going to Boston to run the race with my niece, Tonia, and a group who will be running in her honor.  It will be good to be among her family and friends.

This upcoming race will be the first one I run without her and I am achingly aware of the unfinished sentences and the unplayed piano duets in my life.

Will let you know how my solo run goes.

My funny feet 7-29-10

My funny feet 7-29-10, originally uploaded by hoongyeeleekrakauer.