Keep Talking: #1 Drunk, Drum and Noisy Bird

Keep Talking: #1 Drunk, Drum and Noisy Bird: The bird perched in the tree.  Great Blue Heron with a s-shaped neck, sleek feathers, arched beak, long and slender legs. Gracef...

Keep Talking: #2 Of A Scruple Popping Up and Getting Squashed Do...

Keep Talking: #2 Of A Scruple Popping Up and Getting Squashed Do...: Sitting on the subway and a homeless person walks on. Actually, two homeless people- no, three, four, five, six…….a whole subway...

Keep Talking: #3 But She Came Back

Keep Talking: #3 But She Came Back: The good day when the sun is out and there aren’t any constraints pulling one down into a dark place. The day when all the assig...

Keep Talking: #4 With Can Opener, Book of Poems and House

Keep Talking: #4 With Can Opener, Book of Poems and House: Just returning from a walk in the Park where we enjoyed the Conservatory Gardens. Especially, the empty Koi pond now partially...

Keep Talking: #5 With Shotgun, Middle Manager and Carnival Ride

Keep Talking: #5 With Shotgun, Middle Manager and Carnival Ride: Two women get onto the subway with identical giant red suitcases. When I say giant I mean that one suitcase alone could a...

Keep Talking: #6 With Someone Who Can't Stop Sceaming

Keep Talking: #6 With Someone Who Can't Stop Sceaming: My mother-in-law is 82 years old and suffering from mid -stage dementia. She can remember the past as far as you could th...

Keep Talking: #8 Messing With The Icarus Myth

Keep Talking: #8 Messing With The Icarus Myth: Malaysian Flight 370 disappeared over the Gulf of Thailand. From Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, the flight is missing. No contact, fam...

Keep Talking: #9 With Lizard, Tattoo and Sun God

Keep Talking: #9 With Lizard, Tattoo and Sun God: In the Bahamas there are lizards. You can be lounging in the sun next to the pool and they scamper around so quickly like little...

Keep Talking: #10 In Which Someone Has Unmasked You

Keep Talking: #10 In Which Someone Has Unmasked You: Kids come in dribs and drabs after their games and some cry, some are greeted with hugs some shrug off their losses and play on ...

Keep Talking: #11 Of Something That Doesn't Get Better

Keep Talking: #11 Of Something That Doesn't Get Better: There is this band of soft flesh that has galvanized around a portion of my torso. I refuse to allow it to rule my life so there...

Keep Talking: #12 In Which Someone Falls Down

Keep Talking: #12 In Which Someone Falls Down: I am fairly certain that the bus driver who operates the 96 th Street Crosstown gets baked, stoned, high or whatever you choose...

Keep Talking: #13 From The Sick Bed

Keep Talking: #13 From The Sick Bed: The sickbed is where the tired, weary, sweaty and weak rest until they are capable of standing on their own.   Infirm, dizzy...

Keep Talking: #14 With City Bus, Sequined Dress and Jar of Marm...

Keep Talking: #14 With City Bus, Sequined Dress and Jar of Marm...: Get into the groove Boy you’ve got to prove Your love to me Get up on your feet And step to the beat Boy what will it ...

Keep Talking: #15 In Which a Scruple Arises At A Cocktail Party...

Keep Talking: #15 In Which a Scruple Arises At A Cocktail Party...: The last cocktail party I attended was an absente party. It was at my friend Wally’s new apartment in Brooklyn. He just moved ou...

Keep Talking: #16 Of Fighting About Food

Keep Talking: #16 Of Fighting About Food: We have our coats stripped off and are waiting on line for the butterfly exhibit at the Museum of Natural History.  Over the yea...

Keep Talking: #17 Hello My Life

Keep Talking: #17 Hello My Life: My upstairs neighbor usually lives on some outcropped island adjacent to Hanoi. I believe he does this for most of the year. The...

Keep Talking: #18 Describe in Excruciating Detail How You Star...

Keep Talking: #18 Describe in Excruciating Detail How You Star...: 7:15 The alarm goes off. NPR wakes me up. A depressing report on Syria spoken in a soothing voice. I am exhausted. I press snooze. I he...

Keep Talking: #19 With Artichoke, Bathing Suit and Pier

Keep Talking: #19 With Artichoke, Bathing Suit and Pier: Once upon a time there was a beautiful artichoke. It did not bother anyone and it was remarkable to look at. It was the armadillo of vegeta...

Keep Talking: #20 In Which Someone Hollers, "Love the Hat!"

Keep Talking: #20 In Which Someone Hollers, "Love the Hat!": The women all collect at Au Pain Quotidian at exactly the same moment.   They are an army of middle aged woman who treasure the time with t...

Keep Talking: #21 Life Is A Goat. Is Life A Goat?

Keep Talking: #21 Life Is A Goat. Is Life A Goat?: Life is a goat, a Scape Goat. I was raised with this belief. I come from a large herd of Scape Goats, or family, or just a bunch or a gro...

Keep Talking: #22 With Sage, Rosemary and Thyme

Keep Talking: #22 With Sage, Rosemary and Thyme: Let us be lovers we’ll marry our fortunes together I’ve got some real estate here in my bag Every time I speed past Newark airport I ...

Keep Talking: #23 Entitled To Silence

Keep Talking: #23 Entitled To Silence: Today I visited the Conservatory Garden, again. The Magnolia tree blossoms are a mass of elevated chubby pink angels fluttering just with...

Keep Talking: #24 Of Being Inappropriately Dressed For An Occa...

Keep Talking: #24 Of Being Inappropriately Dressed For An Occa...: Adele had been struggling with body issues for quite some time.   Looking in the mirror and getting an accurate visual picture reflected ba...

Keep Talking: #25 With Broken Tooth, Haircut, and Abdominal Pain...

Keep Talking: #25 With Broken Tooth, Haircut, and Abdominal Pain...: Slowly, slowly going up the roller coaster hill. Seated, tilting backward with gravity holding you down. The earth is at an angle never see...

Keep Talking: #26 In Which Someone Fails To Move Something Too ...

Keep Talking: #26 In Which Someone Fails To Move Something Too ...: “Mom, it’s me. Can you hear me?”  Her son kneels next to her, not sure if she is alive or dead with the detritus spread around her, buf...

Keep Talking: #27 How Far Back One Must Go To Find The Beginning...

Keep Talking: #27 How Far Back One Must Go To Find The Beginning...: Candy Land Chutes and Ladders Twister Trouble Sorry Jenga Mancala Uno Battleship   Zingo Clue Monopoly Yatzee Apples to Apples Mouse Tr...

Keep Talking: #28 With Mouse, Radiator and Sky

Keep Talking: #28 With Mouse, Radiator and Sky: I am on Court Street in Carroll Gardens, or Cobble Hill, eating a meatball sandwich staring at the sky cause it was gonna rain any minute a...

Keep Talking: #29 Debi's Laugh

Keep Talking: #29 Debi's Laugh: I’ve much to say on her behalf yet nothing parallels Debi’s laugh it’s sort of a snort but not quite a sneeze it comes out fast m...

Keep Talking: #30 With Liar, Sissy and Rotten Egg

Keep Talking: #30 With Liar, Sissy and Rotten Egg: Guilt and shame stink like a rotten egg. A smell so foul leaves a residue of scum that lingers and is not easily scraped off. ...

Keep Talking: #31 Set Of Keys, Empty Cup and Girl With Blue Hair...

Keep Talking: #31 Set Of Keys, Empty Cup and Girl With Blue Hair...: Three sisters with blue hair are sitting on the couch. They all wear glasses and Christmas sweaters.   Their physical build varies and it i...

Keep Talking: #32 Of Something I Do Remember (written on Feb.18t...

Keep Talking: #32 Of Something I Do Remember (written on Feb.18t...: All the things I forgot I remember, too. I just think that I wish they were clearer memories, but maybe that’s why I think I don’t rememb...

Keep Talking: #33 In Which You Get Out Of Lying By Saying Somet...

Keep Talking: #33 In Which You Get Out Of Lying By Saying Somet...: Another train story starting at Bleeker Street on the uptown 6. I am sitting there and three separate groups of young Asian people get on o...

Keep Talking: #34 First French Kiss

Keep Talking: #34 First French Kiss: I need a love to keep me happy. I need a love to keep me happy. Baby. Happy. Sorry to go there, but the tongue: The Rolling Stones ...

Keep Talking: #35 A Persistant Sound You Cannot Find The Source...

Keep Talking: #35 A Persistant Sound You Cannot Find The Source...: You will not believe this, but for the past hour, at least, a car alarm is hogging up the air with its howling barf. It isn’t the 90’s anym...

Keep Talking: #36 Yellow Lawn Mower, Mormon Friend and Kmart

Keep Talking: #36 Yellow Lawn Mower, Mormon Friend and Kmart: I have a Mormon friend who is intrigued by my Jewishness. When we spend time together, not more than 5 hours will pass without a reference ...

Keep Talking: #37 That's The Way It Is

Keep Talking: #37 That's The Way It Is: It is not fair. It is not fair. It is not fair. Brush your teeth and Brush your hair. You lost your mom. You lost your mom. You los...

Keep Talking: #38 Spoon, Kindergarten Teacher and Typewriter

Keep Talking: #38 Spoon, Kindergarten Teacher and Typewriter: When I met my kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Figatner, for the first time I am certain I was traumatized. I had terrible separation anxiety for...

Keep Talking: #39 Vogue In The Doctor's Office

Keep Talking: #39 Vogue In The Doctor's Office: I have a few things to say about Vogue Magazine. Aside from the fact that it costs $5.99, it is useless fluff weighing about 4 pounds. ...

Keep Talking: #40 Pot & Patchouli

Keep Talking: #40 Pot & Patchouli: We pull up in front of a ramshackle tenement on 9 th Street. The brass numbers above the entrance are askew and the crescent of the 5 is c...

Keep Talking: #41 About Something That Takes A Little Time (or T...

Keep Talking: #41 About Something That Takes A Little Time (or T...: When I was walking through Dean & Deluca yesterday, I felt so happy. I have been living in NYC for 26 years and I am proud to call it m...

Keep Talking: #42 The Smell Of Money

Keep Talking: #42 The Smell Of Money: I am getting my annual breast MRI at a new location near Columbus Circle. I’m nervous because I think there will be no tiny peek-a-boo mirr...

Keep Talking: #43 In Which You Do Something Bad And Have No Remo...

Keep Talking: #43 In Which You Do Something Bad And Have No Remo...: James hated Jacob. Everyone in the third grade hated him. As a parent who hated an eight-year-old, James felt sad, pathetic and righteous. ...

Keep Talking: #44 One Woman And The Sound Of A Thousand Babies

Keep Talking: #44 One Woman And The Sound Of A Thousand Babies: How is it possible that in one day I took the subway twice with the same very cranky baby and his mom? What are the odds that I would be in...

Keep Talking: #45 Gingham Is Taking Over The World

Keep Talking: #45 Gingham Is Taking Over The World: All over the city, men are wearing the exact same patterned shirt: gingham has taken over the world. This morning as the subway was sliding...

Keep Talking: #46 City Of Brotherly Love and More Bad Parenting

Keep Talking: #46 City Of Brotherly Love and More Bad Parenting: Perched on top of that beautiful building, William Penn is presiding over the City and the view must be fabulous. She loses many games ...

Keep Talking: #47 Friendships: Old, New & Confusing

Keep Talking: #47 Friendships: Old, New & Confusing: Slithering through the years (1972). We started in New Jersey and moved West to Harrisburg in central Pennsylvania. When we realized that o...

Keep Talking: #48 Icy Lane, by my mother Evelyn Rhea Eichen Weis...

Keep Talking: #48 Icy Lane, by my mother Evelyn Rhea Eichen Weis...: ICY LANE The snow feels soft beneath my sodden feet, As falls white dandelions' feathery down, And it performs God's greatest wi...

Keep Talking: #49 Blue

Keep Talking: #49 Blue: Sitting around the pool at night and it is a strange, beautiful luminous blue; lit by underwater lamps which make the splash of fins look l...

Keep Talking: #50 Something Vanished

Keep Talking: #50 Something Vanished: For two weeks it was out of sight and A didn’t care much. Compensating for the missing __________ was easy enough. It didn’t cost a lot and...

Keep Talking: #51 Never Again

Keep Talking: #51 Never Again: “If anyone is separated from their child, there is a TA employee with them at 59 th Street.” It is 33 rd Street or 23 rd or 51 st w...

Keep Talking: #52 Age Of Innocence

Keep Talking: #52 Age Of Innocence: In.no.cent. adj. 1. free from moral wrong. 2. not guilty (of a crime, etc.).3a simple;guileless. b pretending to be guileless. 4 harmless. ...

Keep Talking: #53 Ten Years Of My Life, Using Three Word Senten...

Keep Talking: #53 Ten Years Of My Life, Using Three Word Senten...: Painting large paintings.   Painted tiny paintings. Wallpaper flowery collages. Great Soho studio.   Met cool people. Mourned a relations...

Keep Talking: #54 Blue Girl

Keep Talking: #54 Blue Girl: I’m sitting on the Uptown 6 train and a woman gets on. Her hair is blue, not ordinary blue but cerulean blue which reminds me of fuchsia he...

Keep Talking: #55 Red Chair, Bunch of Knives and a Man Named Roc...

Keep Talking: #55 Red Chair, Bunch of Knives and a Man Named Roc...: The kid won 1 st place in her chess section. She just moved up recently, and won first place in two separate tournaments. I’m sure the fam...

Keep Talking: #56 Shelter Island

Keep Talking: #56 Shelter Island: Rice, wind and water. Wind pours through the trees: a giant bag of rice pours onto a table Eyes closed.   I can see the inlet where s...

Keep Talking: #57 Tight Jeans. Ugh.

Keep Talking: #57 Tight Jeans. Ugh.: Sadie is too young for this. For most of her life everything fit fine. Clothes fit her well and were easy to put on and take off. She likes...

Keep Talking: #58 A Banksy Knock-Off And The Teenage Threat

Keep Talking: #58 A Banksy Knock-Off And The Teenage Threat: Early last week, Essie walked down the same section of Broadway between Houston and Prince that she always traversed. It had been years and...

Keep Talking: #59 Brindle French Bulldog on the Uptown 6 Train

Keep Talking: #59 Brindle French Bulldog on the Uptown 6 Train: Back on the uptown 6 train, Lorraine is sitting next to a tall black man with colorful patches of Africa all over his denim shirt. They are...

Keep Talking: #60 I Went To Yale. I Went To Yale.

Keep Talking: #60 I Went To Yale. I Went To Yale.: I went to Yale. I went to Yale. My mom is coming to town this weekend. She is coming to town. He beat his arms against the window in a rh...

Keep Talking: #61 Beautiful Balloons From Big Hearts.

Keep Talking: #61 Beautiful Balloons From Big Hearts.: Essie suffered some losses recently. The losses were hard for her, but harder on loved ones even closer to those who passed: beloved in way...

Keep Talking: #62 I Turn 53 on Friday: Clown Time Is Over. Not ...

Keep Talking: #62 I Turn 53 on Friday: Clown Time Is Over. Not ...: In the scheme of tragedies, and miracles which surround us- it is no big deal. But that is wrong. I just finished Lowlands , by Jumpa Lahir...

Keep Talking: #63 The Three Little Pigs And The Cowardly Lion.

Keep Talking: #63 The Three Little Pigs And The Cowardly Lion.: Essie has been thinking a lot about courage. One thing on her mind is the tale of the Three Little Pigs, especially the picture of the bric...

Keep Talking: #64 Thanks Giving.

Keep Talking: #64 Thanks Giving.: There is a certain buzz in the air on public transportation today. Essie is thinking about the small plastic bottles, textured in the shape...

Keep Talking: #65 Elf On A Shelf!

Keep Talking: #65 Elf On A Shelf!: Don’t mind me with my pointy nose and sparkly, twinkly eyes and my Grinch Who Stole Christmas grin! I will sit here and collect December du...

Keep Talking: #66 Mortar, Pestle & Gingerbread Cookies.

Keep Talking: #66 Mortar, Pestle & Gingerbread Cookies.: You are so tired you cannot lift yourself up. It is as if your body is being ground to tiny bits like allspice and pepper corns with a mort...

Keep Talking: #67 Out To Dinner On A Freezing Friday Night In NY...

Keep Talking: #67 Out To Dinner On A Freezing Friday Night In NY...: Walking to the restaurant on Second Avenue in the 90’s requires stepping over a fallen traffic light with a wire stretching into the broken...

Keep Talking: #68 Ten Flights Of Stairs In Soho And A Cigarette...

Keep Talking: #68 Ten Flights Of Stairs In Soho And A Cigarette...: Because this is my blog, I realize I can do whatever I want. Which is what I thought I was already doing- except I will try something diffe...

Keep Talking: #69 Ice Fields.

Keep Talking: #69 Ice Fields.: Jim, Lisa, Izz and Suzan were connected. Izz was in art school in Chicago and was dating Suzan. Jim lived in Wisconsin and Lisa was visitin...

Keep Talking: #70 Coming Clean About My Tween.

Keep Talking: #70 Coming Clean About My Tween.: My daughter turns 12 next month. She is in 6 th grade and now attends a public middle school in NYC. She commutes by a MTA bus 20 blocks t...

Keep Talking: #71 Where Have You Been?

Keep Talking: #71 Where Have You Been?: Gillie hadn’t seen his brother in 30 years.   He wasn’t sure when and where their paths uncrossed, but occasionally he pondered it. Likewis...

Keep Talking: #72 Review Of Sally Gil's Installation At Jack Ge...

Keep Talking: #72 Review Of Sally Gil's Installation At Jack Ge...: Yes, I think it’s going to be a long, long time Till touchdown brings me 'round again to find I’m not the man they think I am at ...

Keep Talking: #73 La Guardia Airport and Thinking You're Losing...

Keep Talking: #73 La Guardia Airport and Thinking You're Losing...: Traveling  from a Marriot long term parking facility in a van with sleep deprived until hysterical merry pranksters who are wearing flight w...

Keep Talking: #74 My Parent's Keeper

Keep Talking: #74 My Parent's Keeper: Essie called La Toya on her cell phone. They hadn't spoken before and when La Toya answered she heard some newish hip-hoppish stuff play...

Keep Talking: #75 Mary and Me

Keep Talking: #75 Mary and Me: It was time to haul her sorry ass out of the house. She was tired of feeling that feeling. That one she felt when something good didn’t hap...

Keep Talking: #76 Daffodil On 45th Street

Keep Talking: #76 Daffodil On 45th Street: A daffodil grew up the hill and a chocolate egg fell down. It is 45 th Street and the flowers smell really great next to the pile of garba...

Keep Talking: #77 "Dear Family, I Love You" said Cancer.

Keep Talking: #77 "Dear Family, I Love You" said Cancer.: They are little jelly bean cells. All different colors stacked next to each other. Smooth and round. They are multiplying like an animate...

Keep Talking: #78 Cinco De Mayo

Keep Talking: #78 Cinco De Mayo: The Moon is hanging out in the sky full of itself ready to explode with orange-gold dust all over the streets sprinkling on the river. It i...

Keep Talking: #79 Psychotic Arthritis

Keep Talking: #79 Psychotic Arthritis: It is the first day of June. Cold and rainy. A woman selling boots in a shoe store said, "this weather is strange. I'm not sure i...

Keep Talking: #80 The Last Day Of June.

Keep Talking: #80 The Last Day Of June.: The sun has been shining for three days. Winter was interminable and sunshine is still unbelievable. Each day Essie walks outside and the su...