"The Jewish Lady, Black Man and the Road trip"

The bouncing balls and the Symphony

2011-04-09T19:20:00.000-07:00

The New World Symphony in Miami built a spectacular new theater. They groomed a large lawn, that was once a city parking lot, with freshly planted green sod intermingled with walking paths and palm trees. Once a month they open the grounds to the public. While the symphony is playing inside, we can enjoy the concert on the great lawn. People come in droves bringing, chairs, blankets and food and wine.

The new site cost maybe a billion.

I met my two girl friends, Susan and Gail, on the lawn choosing our spot, plopping ourselves down chatting and eating. As the music was about to begin we noticed a German Sheppard and his owner lying next to us. There was nothing strange about this until we began to relax. AND So did the dog!

When the dog turned over and spread his legs relaxing on the grass, he exposed a pair of the most humongous balls that one could ever imagine. If that was not enough the dog breathed heavily and each time he took a breath his balls shook. We three ladies were fixated on his every breath watching his balls bounce and shake. The concert held little interest to us and the sound of its music was overcome by our nervous giggling. We were enthralled. We got a break when this very special well endowed dog turned over covering himself and giving us the opportunity of watching the concert. But he was a restless dog so before we knew it, he rolled back again on its side breathing heavily and exposing more of his bouncing shaking balls.

As a grand finish the air suddenly changed; Yup, he passed heavy deadly wind! In a whirlwind second, the owner picked up his gifted dog and disappeared into the crowd forever.

The moral of the story: Artists who have studied all of their lives to play instruments, conductors who studied all over the world, architects who dreamed up the new hall and landscape design spending billions of dollars to bring it all together, did not stand the chance of getting the attention of these three ladies.

What a ball!

Carol Sue Gershman

.

Oleta Adams - Embracable You

2011-03-19T06:46:00.000-07:00

Once a Mom always a Mom

2011-03-05T07:17:00.000-08:00

My daughter 50 years old plus, who lives in Switzerland, went for a routine colonoscopy. I have had two myself and know it is an easy procedure. However, at the end of the day I called my daughter to see how it went. SHE DID NOT ANSWER THE PHONE. I figured she was still asleep. With the time change, I knew when I woke up there would be an e mail from her. BUT THERE WASN'T!

I called her apartment again this next morning. NO ANSWER.. Panic was slowly setting in! Something happened for sure! Her husband doesn't want to call that something went wrong! I called her cell phone. NO ANSWER.. OMG, any minute my son will be at my front door breaking the bad news...I could do nothing but wait.

About half hour later as I was painfully looking for my son-in-laws cell phone number, my phone rang.

"Hi Mom, did you just call?" "Oh yes, I did, I said as casually with as much composure as possible; ' was just wondering how things went." "Oh fine mom, I am now at the top of the mountain skiing; it is gorgeous up here, and we are having so much fun and my colon is perfect." Sorry I didn't call.

As I revived myself I rushed her off of the phone and lied down on my bed to recover.
WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE ANY COMMENT..

Carol Sue Gershman

Please go out get a face lift if your time has come!

2011-02-20T17:08:00.000-08:00

If you are of the age and of the means to have a face lift pleeeeze do not wait a moment longer, go out and get one!

Not only will a face lift make you look and feel like you again, it will rejuvenate you in ways you never dreamed.

For me, there was never a question. At 40, eyes, at 50 face lift at 55 laser, at 65 a face lift again. Why? Not because I am an ego maniac but because I believe in looking as good as I possibly can and nature never went along with my way of thinking.

Why am I talking about this now?

Well I have a childhood friend who at 74 never had any cosmetic work. How did you look next to her contemporaries? I will tell you how; old and hanging.

She talked about getting her face done for many years but fear would set in. I do not quite know what her particular fears were but there were enough of them to keep her from checking herself in!

Well, at 74 she finally decided to heck with it; I'm doing it!

I saw her last night at her 75th birthday party and I was astounded. She looked beautiful She looked refreshed, she looked kinder, she walked faster, she moved faster, she dressed better. She is a reborn sagger. How wonderful.

Of course because she never had any work done before, it had a greater effect. I always believed in little by little.

A face lift is a wonderful thing physically and mentally with only one precaution. DO YOUR HOMEWORK; GET A REALLY GOOD DOCTOR WHO KNOWS WHAT THEY ARE DOING. This is not the time to clip coupons. This is your face and soon to be your uplifting happy face.

Carol Sue Gershman

when you are lying in bed sick; you think nothing is going on

2011-02-16T14:36:00.001-08:00

Actually that is not true.
I returned from Ca. with the worst flu cold so have spent the week in bed. There was no other place for me to go this week.
I was bored, sleepy, achy and all the rest.
Guess what? Today I am beginning to feel better; my head is clearing, my energy is getting higher by the minute, I am writing lists on what comes next, I hired a maid to clean and air out my joint, tomorrow I will go on errands, next day beauty parlor.
YES, YES, silly as it might sound I am coming to life and.... Life is awaiting me again waiting for me to participate.
I must admit something about my trip to California. I visited my adorable grand kids and family. But you see there I was Grandma and that is all there is to it!
Here I am a hot sexy woman with untold energy.
How is your week going?
Love,
CArol Sue

How is your Valentines Day?

2011-02-14T14:45:00.000-08:00

Well must admit mine is not what it used to be.
To begin with I am sick in bed with a cold.
I don't mind the relaxation but I do mind the lack of attention.
Let's start from here.
Who are my Valentines? My family, that's who!
My ex-husband usually sent me flowers but not this year. I sent him an e mail and he sent me back one that was nice. Let us say we will always be kind to one other.
My daughter sent me an e-card and I loved it; she has never done more than that in the past so a card was nice.
My middle son is beyond words... I emailed him TWO WEEKS AGO and asked him to be my valentine this year. He wrote back: "Absolutely" I will call you..... That was the last of him..... P. S. I had never asked him that question before, guess I won't ever again.
My younger son, a true romantic always sent flowers on V. Day but when I received them as a Mother's day gift as well, I said, "I would love a gift you picked out, no matter how small." Perhaps he confused V day with M Day thinking I don't like flowers period; so none for me.
He did call and send a great e card.
I sent 3 of my grand kids V day cards, one to each..... no response.
My very on occasion lover sent (not a word)
My daughter in law sent kisses,
My girlfriend sent kisses
Oh well, my cold is getting better. Like they say... nothing more important than health.
Love to all you Valentines
CArol Sue Gershman

Bus travel teaches us more than being alone in our cars.

2011-01-29T16:47:00.000-08:00

Early this morning I went to New Jersey from New York City by bus.

While I was waiting at the Port of Authority for my late bus, I noticed an attractive woman talking on her cell. Her back was towards me but I admired how she was dressed in leather and fur. She was neatly put together on this early morning.

I on the other hand taking the same bus was dressed like a slob. Oh my clothes were clean, but my boots from the snow and wear and tear were shabby. My "Head" ski jacket from about 25 years old is still colorful but far from sexy; my warm hat and ear muffs messed up my hair but I did not much think about it, I was warm, until I saw her.

How could she look so attractive on this same morning taking the same bus? I studied what I was doing wrong. When she turned around she smiled and walked towards me. She was a pretty lady too. Funny enough, we did not stop talking from the moment we met making both our trips entertaining; I told her I liked how she was dressed and she thought lightly of it. We exchanged e mails hoping to be friends. Oh, and I think I will buy a new ski jacket and boots!

I went about my business in New Jersey and another lovely lady drove me back to the NYC bound bus instead of having to take a cab.

Oddly enough on that bus I met another lady. We struck up a conversation about weather and went on to other topics. I found it unusual to have two long conversations with two strangers in a three hour time limit. She and I will meet too.
Actually, I will try hard to bring the three of us together. Wouldn't that be nice?

Carol Sue Gershman

Decorating/ Decisions/ Dust/ Do's and Don'ts...

2011-01-15T12:12:00.000-08:00

I absolutely love to decorate, but the decisions I have to make drive me insane.

We are talking kitchen. Sure I can call someone in and tell them to gut my 23 year old kitchen and pay them $25,000 to do it, but what fun is that?

It would be too perfect and I wouldn't have the opportunity to be creative or drive myself mad; like should I choose mirror as a back splash, yes,mirror, or tin tiles, gorgeous.... what ever happened to good ole Formica? Yes, I know it is still around but don't think a Formica man is going to run over and replace my Formica for a couple of hundred dollars. No now, it is a process, an architectural drawing, a layout; I want white, but he said, "There are so many whites." "Just bring me a shiny white and let it shine,I will worry about the rest." While you are doing my drawing put in a new sink and faucets. How I wish I had gone to a tech hi school and gotten some building skills.

I was going to treat myself to a new stove till I heard the prices. Never mind the price of the stove with self cleaning; but then there is delivery, installation, a new microwave, and then the charge to attach it to the stove and take away my perfectly good stove.

So I made myself a lot happier and richer by buying a new stove top, nice and white, new stove knobs, and now will put some mirror over the side to hide the old stuff; Funny enough, it actually works great; it self cleans and the microwave is already attached, and so is the stove.

Oh, the cabinets.. Have you heard the price for new doors for the EXISTING cabinets? How bout $11,000 plus.... paid out over a year, no interest. No not me, I will take one main front cabinet, make a hole and add glass. The rest will get new handles. P. S. Meant to say, I live in a NYC apt with a small kitchen.

The floor. Do I tear up the old tiles and put new? or can I just put the new tiles on top of the old? These are the questions .
You see, all of this could have been taken care of easily if I just went with a designer, but then I would never be writing about this or having the fun of creating and practicing the art of saving money all in the same time or occupying my mind with decisions and samples or driving myself mad.

I will get a new panel for my dishwasher and new handles for my refrig.

I will paint the back wall Black, yes shiny black, or should it be orange and add mirror touches... Why not see myself as I cook; others have to look.

When I am through I will post a before and after; which reminds me better get the camera out right now.
Thanx for listening. You must have gone through the same.
Carol Sue

Broken bones/Does that mean I am getting old or just a klutz?

2011-01-13T06:14:00.000-08:00

Broken bones/Does that mean I am getting old or just a klutz?

Oh how I love to fall and break my bones. Just kidding, but seems like it is my fate.

I have had 7 falls with 4 broken bones. I guess my first fall happened in my 50's. (years old) I slipped on a plastic bag in my apartment, landed on my hard wood floor on my shoulder. It was horrible. When the Dr. told me It would be at least three months till I healed, I did not know how I could possibly just stop my life. After all, "Every thing I do is so important." I learned otherwise! The only thing I learned that was important was to heal. The shoulder affected other bones so I had to use a cane, my body was crippled. When I thought I would never be normal again, suddenly I was me. Nature heals us, the body heals, we are all lucky. OK. that was number one.

#2 : I fell off of my bike and broke my wrist. Not so bad to fall off my bike, but did my wrist have to break? so there I was again in a sling, physical therapy etc,

#3 got even better. This time I slipped on a Clorox floor falling backwards and landing on my elbow. Yup, shattered and broken; I was on my way out the door going on a trip wanting to leave the apartment sparkling clean. OK, all I had to do this time was have two intense operations, go to therapy, be incapacitated and heal.

#4 This was a nice fall on the sidewalks of NYC falling again on my lucky left wrist; ambulance, doctors, settings, healing. Good bye to those who had no sympathy for poor me.

Those were the broken ones.

I once fell off of a train in Eastern Europe, I was grabbing my luggage as the door closed, so went with the luggage on to the platform landing on my back. Next thing I knew I was in an East German hospital Ward wheeled in as The lady from New York City.... so that makes five. I had sprained my back.

The 6th fall was in China at the Ritz Carlton after sipping their lovely tea. Upon exit I missed the 2 steps down and there I was flat on the floor being escorted out of the Ritz and into a limo back to my hostel. I had sprained my ankle.

For the life of me I cannot remember # 7 but I know there was one.

As soon as the last fragment healed, I was up and off with my life, never looking back. OK. lucky 7 has made me more cautious. I have slowed down a bit and look more where I am going; spending more time looking down than looking up especially on the side walks of NYC. A fall can happen any time and at any moment. It is awful; nothing teaches you more how life can change on a dime.

So what you think am I simply a Klutz? Maybe we should all have four legs.
Carol Sue Gershman.

Ladies Unite! A New Years eve treat for all.

2011-01-02T07:25:00.000-08:00

I questioned what to do this New Years. A date? Had many on New Years. How bout a party? Ok, but what kind of a party, a party for two, No! A party with several couples, No! Friends stopping by, No.!

Well then, how about a Mah Jongg Party?

4 beautiful ladies came marching in all dressed in glitter. I wore my hot sequined dress and hat; we hugged and sipped champagne. For me it was an O'Douls. I decorated my studio apartment in red and gold and candlelit the room. The sofa was called my living room and there I introduced my friends to the Burning Bowl. "Write down what you do not want in your life from last year." I marched us into the bathroom sink and lit a match to all the 2010 negatives. Then we wrote our goals for the next 3 months. We each put them in a sealed envelope and on April 1, I will mail them out to see if we really lived up to our hopes and dreams.

We took 2 steps into the dining room, my card table set in the middle of the room, the centerpiece my mah jongg set all decorated in silver and red. I served a luscious green organic salad with garlic oil dressing. We each devoured our own Rock Cornish hen in orange sauce, cous cous with vegetables and string beans in garlic and oil. After all we were all ladies.

After dinner we threw the dishes in the sink, removed the cloth and set up the mah jongg set. Hard to concentrate going from spirituals, to gourmets and now gamblers. The chocolate chip thick cookies, the bombalini's filled with chocolate and the pumpkin cheese cake kept us delighted.

At 11:30 we tore off our glitter and changed into warm clothes, walked 2 blocks to Central Park's awesome fire works party.
There was snow on the ground, the trees over head, music was playing, the runners were getting ready for their 12:00 a.m. marathon, all of this with fabulous exciting fireworks bursting over head.

Happy New Year beautiful ladies. We could not have done it without each other.

Carol Sue Gershman

Oh how I loved this decade and now on to the new!

2010-12-28T05:45:00.000-08:00

How was your decade? I hope it was enjoyed in good health and with lots of new adventures. I was 65 when our century turned, my life was good but empty; nothing was wrong but nothing was right. I felt lonely lacking friends and some outs with family. I believe it began all over again when my son gave me a gift of dating on line. Soon love began to storm into my life and in the age of retirement my life became more and more exciting crossing boundaries never crossed before. I wrote a book for the first time in my life; written out of passion. In order to promote the book I had to learn to speak, so I went to Toastmasters and had an over the top book launch entertaining 100 guest. I became my own agent and booked myself across the country into Barnes and Noble, Borders etc.driving 9000 miles driving alone in my mustang. It has been two years since the book was launched and I am still busy promoting giving lectures on Living agelessly, Living passionately. Of course I was disappointed that it was not a best seller. After all my ego thought it would be. Nor did it become the major motion picture with stars clamoring for the lead; at least not yet. However, it led me to meeting new people including having Alec Baldwins arms around me in the Hampton's, newspaper articles lots of books sold and "Author" as part of my resume. I left Miami beach my home for 18 years and moved back to NYC becoming closer to my family. We still all live on opposite sides of the universe, but NYC seems more central and I get to see much more of them. There were two major trips for me this decade, 2 months in Africa and 2 months in India backpacking both times while learning and having fun. There were cruises and short trips here and there. And then there were the falls, the broken bones leaving me incapacitated for months, reminding me that I was a major Klutz or just simply getting older. But when the last segment of bone healed I picked myself up, like it never happened, and went on to the next adventure.
At 75, I am happily single, I am in love with my life and my family and NYC. More love will come and more friends will come as this is what is already happening, love storming in again.
What I want from now on is simple:
Good health and to have a good time and the same for my family.
The point of me telling you this is that, "yes, I am older but that does not mean I have to be old. Going to Doctors has not become my new social life as I see in many contemporaries. I do all I can to help nature by following the rules to good health and taking it seriously.
Presently, I am writing a new book, this time for children. It is taking me a bit longer to write this time, but does it matter? I am speaking to women's groups on living agelessly and living passionately and am booked in several places next year.
The second point of me telling you this, is life holds so much for each and every one of us. What we choose to do with it is in our heads and how we feel about our own selves.
If you do feel lonely or lusterless, lacking adventure, at no matter what age, go out and MAKE A STORY. People like to listen to good stories and when it all comes down to it, that is who we are, a story to be told.
love,
carol sue gershman

Xmas lunch invite to my family laughed my head off writing it.

2010-12-21T09:52:00.000-08:00

DEAR LITTLE FOXES, LITTLE KUSTERS, LITTLE DAVIS' LITTLE LIPMANS AND MEEEEEEEEEEEEE

We are going to meet the FOCKING LITTLE FOCKERS on Xmas day.

First, We will have a FOCKING roasted Duckling FOCKING lunch at 1:30

We will leave my FOCKING apartment at 4:15 so those FOCKING LITTLE FOCKERS don"t start with out us.

Afterwards we will come back here for a FOCKING FOCKER Dessert filled with FOCKING calories

See you at the FOCKING Copley in my FOCKING apartment

MERRY FOCKING XMAS

xxoo
Carol FOCKING sue
P. S. Foxes, drive your FO

A good salesman is a good person and salesman

2010-12-14T08:33:00.000-08:00

Went to buy a mattress early this morning. The store was barely open when I met an employee in the entrance way.
I said, "Let me in, I want to buy a mattress." P. S. After 23 years I could not wait another hour.
He was a nice guy and I told him to go take off his hat and coat and show me mattresses. He laughed and politely told me to wait upstairs.
As I reached the second floor a woman salesperson approached me. I told her I was waiting for someone to help me. She said," He thinks he will wait on you but I get the first customer of the day." "Oh, I said; "O. K."
She asked me a lot of annoying questions but I was stuck with her. She led me from one mattress to another and there I was lying down all over the store.
Then came the first salesman but she told him, "sorry I am waiting on this customer." He shyly walked away.
Then she said, "he was out of order."
I said, "I thought he was nice."
'I am sorry and I apologize for his behavior, he had no right to this sale.'
"I did not think he showed bad behavior; I liked him, in fact I would like him to take over THIS sale." P. S. I held my breath not to tell her she was the one showing bad behavior.
She had no choice to go and get him and yup he made the sale and I have a new pillow top mattress coming Thursday.
Moral: Do not tattle to a customer about a fellow employee.
Don't try to steal a customer.
What you think? Do you like a pillow top mattress?
Carol Sue Gershman

Runaway Jewish Ladies from Katz's Delicatessen/nyc

2010-12-11T11:38:00.000-08:00

Walked into Katz's (a rare treat) with my friend. We were handed 2 pink slips, one for her and one for me. The doorman said, '"Bring them back when you leave.'
We indulged in pea soup, hot pastrami, pickles, happy to taste the good food, enjoying our treat.
The waiter wrote the bill on one of the pink slips. We went to the register and paid.
The doorman said, "I am missing a pink slip." I responded, I am sorry, I don't have it, somehow it got lost, but we did pay."
"I am sorry, he said, you cannot leave without giving me the other pink slip."
I said, "What are you talking about as I tried to exit." If you touch me I will consider it an assault and will call the police; go find your pink ticket."
You listen to me, It is no longer on the table, I do not have it and you are making us late for the movie."
"No ticket, no exit."
"Call the manager, I said."
We waited patiently and angrily, standing in our fur coats and hats, for her to wobble over, taking her time as our clock was ticking to make the film, we were pressed for time.
"Sorry ladies, you need your ticket, where were you sitting, who was your waiter?"
Exasperated, I replied it is no longer Is on the table or in our possession."
"Stand here and I will try to find it, as she wobbled away from us."
"We are going to miss our movie."
As the blocking doorman leaned over to talk to someone, I saw our exit. I grabbed my friend and said, "RUN."
There we were escaping down Houston Street, running down the street, looking over our shoulder to see if we were being captured, huffing and puffing, dashing into the subway and on to the train, leaving no trail behind and just in time for the movie.

Carol Sue Gershman
"

My daughter Leslie's Happy 75th Birthday to me

2010-11-30T16:47:00.000-08:00

My Mom

My Mom, in life she dares
but the bottom line is,
she always cares.
There is no one else like her
In the world,
She is bold and gorgeous,
And looks (and acts)
The opposite of old.
An independent spirit,
No one can match,
Traveling alone across the oceans path.
She is fearless and strong,
And yet deep down,
Is a kind sweet soul we
knew is there all along.
Capable of all kinds of extremes,
she is hot and sexy,
and yet can cook sweet potatoes,
beyond all of our dreams.
Who ever could know she could
Write and speak so very well.
An inspiration, a role model,
She continues to impress me,
Oh so well.
She is dedicated to her family,
And wants the best for us all,
And in that she’s a little Jewish,
because she gets very upset
If you don’t call!
I’ve been lucky to feel her love,
since I’ve been alive,
And only wish I’m as
Amazing
Inspirational
and Genuine,
When I’m 75!

Happy Birthday Mom! I love you, Leslie

India 2010 at 75

2010-11-01T22:21:00.000-07:00

India represents all of life and no place does it better than Varanasi. From the sweet infants, to the thousands of children, to the absolutely gorgeous Indian girls and young moms who grow into fat women, to the deformed, the beggars, the pushers, the old and then the burning ghats where 60 dead people a day are put to rest. This is India all out in the open each day, every day.

The last week I decided t6o go to Osho Ashram in Pune, outside of Mumbai. I had heard about it for many years. I had no idea that I was entering a spiritual concentration camp where I would have to abide to their orders. I had to buy a maroon robe, a white robe to be allowed in. I would have to wear the maroon robe all day long until it was time to change into the white robe in the evening. I was not allowed in their gorgeous lavish pool until I bought a maroon bathing suit. If I was one minute late for any program I would not be allowed in. Once inside I could not cough, sneeze, or clear my throat. There were guards all over checking my ID. I had to take an aids test and after paying their entrance fee, I had to pay to swim in their marble pool. It all gave me a headache and stressed me out. But once they tamed the tiger, I did not want to leave.

I would say, if you have not been, hurry up and go. India is growing rapidly and change is, and will be coming fast. Some places are already somewhat westernized; some are caught between at this point. Already they are tourist friendly and tourist ready. This will be the place we are all looking for!

Love,
Carol Sue Gershman

India 2010 at 75

2010-11-01T21:47:00.000-07:00

As I watched one hot sunny afternoon the air conditioned comfy tour bus, filled with white face faces pull away, I wondered why I sat on the dusty,dirty curb waiting for the National rickety bus to barrel down the road to take me to my next stop.

I took my seat at the open window and felt the fresh breeze on my face from the mountainous air and smiled. Across from me sat two wildly gorgeous Hindi gypsy women lavished in vibrant red and purple saris.Their jewels started on their fingers and their bracelets covered both arms right up to their shoulders. They had a large piece of festive cloth that they tied to the seat handles in front of them making a unique crib for their baby. Another son was dressed from the waist up only. Their husbands who paid no attention to them during the almost four hour trip wore white, with red turbans and they were great to look at as well. At the front of the bus was a Muslim woman who was having a bout with an Indian man. Of course I could not understand one word, but she was screaming at the top of her lungs and putting him in his place. I sat mesmerized the entire trip and why I take the local bus.

It has been much the same here in India for the past six weeks. I feel like I have been on a continuous movie set, part of a strange new world. I have not read more than a few page of Gandhi's auto biography as life is far too interesting; so I watch, witness and then I sleep.

They told me not to come. What are you nuts? India alone? at 75? It is different, the sickness, the poverty, the dirt, the filth. At least take an organized tour or at the very least have an itinerary. I listened, but I believed more in myself and how I like to travel.

I have seen all of the Temples, Palaces and Forts that I care to see. I have walked the narrow packed cobblestone paths in their town along side of loving cows. I watch them drink out of public water fountains and had flirtations with many. The dogs roam on the other side of me and monkeys jump over head. I played tic tack toe jumping over the cow shit and dog shit and missed twice. The horns beep from the thousands of motor cycles, rickshaws and cars. Here they ask you to please beep and they do till you want to scream from the noise. The merchants are pushy and try everything to lure you into their shops and again you want to scream "get away from me" and I did.
I have met lovely people and have met myself over and over again. The shopping is beyond fun and must admit I have gone nuts. My favorite kind of day is cash machine, rick shaw, shop. Next day, cash machine, rick shaw, shop. I have never felt more self indulged.

On the whole, the people are lovely and kind and will do anything to help you. One man gave up his desk and phone for 45 minutes while I tried to correct an airline ticket I bought; bad enough to do in the States. They do not smoke, but chew tobacco instead. While the streets are filled with dirt and dust, the people are clean. The weather has been divine. Rain for one hour the entire 6 weeks.

I witnessed the most poverty at the train stations. Children sleeping on the cement, rats running around, beggars and the terribly deformed with beautiful smiling faces.Then a cow wanders in and I shook my head and laughed. Once on the train there were banana peels under my seat, so I called the attendant. He stooped down, looked and stared and had no idea what I wanted him to do. So I slept with banana peels under my bed.

What is so fascinating about India is that each place is different. The Indians are wildly colorful,I have swam in the Ganges along side of cows, enjoyed the fresh water pools; The Taj Mahal will never let me forget my 75th birthday and to watch the prayers and their cleansing in the river is amazing.

There seems to be plenty of food and a lot of the children are well schooled. In the slum areas they are put to work early depending on their parents. One morning I went out to get my wash that I hung on the line only to see across the field a shack with a mother and two babies. I thought to myself, how can live be this divided. I wandered over to meet them and was invited into their shack. There was one cot, and blankets on the cement floors for the children. They cooked outside, I gave them some money and when I said goodbye I crossed the field back into my life of swimming pools, massages, gorgeous room and delicious food. There by the grace of God go I.

New York, What a wonderful town, especially if you are single!

2010-08-29T05:17:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was a quiet day, no plans so I simply went out.

I found myself in Harlem (116th st) looking for kitchen tiles, heard there was a great place to go.
They were closed but enjoyed the ethnic crowd, amazing street life, people eating, laughing, selling, and dancing the salsa on an outdoor platform, the music blasting onto the street.

Stopped in for a $16.00 manicure and pedicure (perfect) while munching on my lunch of sliced turkey, Munster cheese and organic greens bought at local super market. (not so ethnic but healthy)

On the side street neighbors were gathered on their own chairs, some in African attire. I passed a church lady getting ready for Sunday in a fabulous hat and colorful dress, men gathered and playing chess.

Then, there it was, the brand new condo just completed with expensive cleaners, health club, bank, and brokerage firm. I asked if I could use the bathroom at the health club and had to go through the interrogation; "Am I a member?" Sorry, this is for members only. ( change is on the way) P. S. Wendy's was more accomodating.

Took the subway down to Lincoln Center (my blessed area) and fell right into a movie at the cinema, Cairo Time. Great travelogue on Cairo.

Started walking home when I saw a crowd at Lincoln Center. Opera season was under way. Chairs for 1000 plus people outdoors on the veranda with a huge screen. The weather was gorgeous and we sat in awe watching and listening to the intense Tosca.

Would I have had as much fun if I had plans? I doubt it.

Carol Sue Gershman

A vist to my Ex-husband/ Basalt, Colorado

2010-07-30T14:28:00.000-07:00

LIFE IS A STORY.

I know Norman now, how excited you were that I was coming to visit you. I know Norman now that you went all out to clean and beautify your already clean and beautiful home for, in your words," The Queen was arriving." Not only that, I know now, that you went out and bought $500.00 worth of magnificent flowers to place around the house; there were chocolate truffles on my bed.

You anxiously picked me up at the airport, happy to see me, as I was to see you On the way home I told you that I wanted nothing more than to hang out and have a peaceful time. This enforced the good time you were going to have with me.

NEXT SCENE...2 hours later

Hearing that a mutual friend was in town, I innocently invited Tita and her clan over thinking how nice it would be to see her. She wanted to take photos of her 3 nieces. Knowing how you love photography and your home, I thought you would enjoy having your home as the background of their Xmas card. I did tell you but I did not ask you.
In they walked, in a group , with platters of cheeses, salamis and crackers; their white wine is poured and within 2 hours of my arrival, l I know now, that your peaceful perfect home was turned into a party scene.
NEXT SCENE

We all went down to the river enjoying conversation and the beauty of the river, but back in the living room (party room,) your 2 puppy's are having a hey day. They are eating cheese and crackers and in order to get into the wine, they knock over the bottle onto your perfectly cleaned sofa and rug.

NEXT SCENE
You arrive back in the living room and I follow only to see you standing in a frenzie with a sofa pillow in hand, practically crying, "My sofa, my rug" look what happened; I have just had everything cleaned to perfection as your face changes from peace to outrageous anger. "Don't worry, Norman I will clean it," I said, as I ran into the garage to find the best stuff to remove the stain that might or might not have been there." "Don't touch my carpet, you screamed with horror;" but I was compelled to clean it for you, knowing that I could. "Stop taking over the house, you are a guest here, you yelled." " I can do it, I can do it Norman ," as you called the carpet cleaner with horror in you voice.

NEXT SCENE ... 15 minutes later
You left on a bicycle and when you did, I ran to the back deck to chase the clan out. "You must leave IMMEDIATELY. You can not stay a moment longer. Tita, please go, Norman is outraged."

As they left my anger about the outrage turned to depression. How could this have happened; how can I stay in this house for a week? Do I leave, do I stay, I am upsetting his life, his routine; how he yelled at me is inconcievable, like back in the old days, over a sofa and a rug. What is wrong with him? What has happened to him?"

NEXT SCENE
Norman, as you might not know, I stayed clear for a few days, the library, the baths, not knowing until this morning, that it hardly had anything to do with a sofa or a rug.

NEXT SCENE
This morning we had tea and you told me about "the scene." You told me what you felt and I wanted to cry. I heard from you that within 2 hours how I destroyed your dream; the love you were feeling. How could I, I thought as I listened. I reached out and apologized to you as I had done earlier in the week, but this time with the same heartfelt emotion and love you had.

NEXT SCENE
I LOVE YOU TOO NORMAN, always have, always will. Be healthy and happy.
Carol Sue
AND WE ARE STILL HERE TO MAKE STORIES.

Daring Business man/good lesson

2010-07-21T04:13:00.000-07:00

loved Colonel Sanders bio. (Fried chicken) At 65 a new daring business selling it for $2,000,000. However, he was old fashioned, did not believe in stock, so took the cash, only to see his guarded recipe turn into billions. He sold his name as well. Moral is guard what is yours and what you believe in; as they say in some countries: Guard your camel. Once it is sold, it is sold... P. S. He died a happy man, I understand.
Carol Sue Gershman

Thank You.... Say it more and more

2010-07-21T04:08:00.000-07:00

How many times a day do you say Thank you? I hear myself saying it more and more. Have I become more humble? more polite? more appreciative? kinder? It is a lovely term!
Carol Sue Gershman

Broken bones/Does that mean I am getting old or just a klutz?

2010-07-19T09:44:00.001-07:00

Oh how I love to fall and break my bones. Just kidding, but seems like it is my fate.

I have had 7 falls with 4 broken bones. I guess my first fall happened in my 50's. (years old) I slipped on a plastic bag in my apartment, landed on my hard wood floor on my shoulder. It was horrible and when the Dr. told me It would be at least three months till I healed, I did not know how I could just stop my life. After all, "Every thing I do is so important," I learned otherwise! The only thing in my life that was important was to heal. The shoulder effected other bones so I had to use a cane. When I thought I would never be normal again, suddenly I was me. Nature heals us, the body heals, we are all lucky. OK. that was number one.

#2 : I fell off of my bike and broke my wrist. Not so bad to fall off my bike, but did my wrist have to break? so there I was again in a sling, physical therapy etc,

#3 got even better. This time I slipped on a Clorox floor falling backwards and landing on my elbow. Yup, shattered and broken; I was on my way out the door going on a trip wanting to leave the apartment sparkling clean. OK, all I had to do this time was have two intense operations, go to therapy, be incapacitated and heal.

#4 This was a nice fall on the sidewalks of NYC falling again on my lucky left wrist; ambulance, doctors, settings, healing. Good bye to those who had no sympathy for poor me.

Those were the broken ones.

I once fell off of a train in Eastern Europe, I was grabbing my luggage as the door closed, so went with the luggage on to the platform landing on my back. Next thing I knew I was in an East German hospital Ward wheeled in as The lady from New York City.... so that makes five. I had sprained my back.

The 6th fall was in China at the Ritz Carlton after sipping their lovely tea. Upon exit I missed the 2 steps down and there I was flat on the floor being escorted out of the Ritz and into a limo back to my hostel. I had sprained my ankle.

For the life of me I cannot remember # 7 but I know there was one.

As soon as the last fragment healed, I was up and off with my life, never looking back. OK. lucky 7 has made me more cautious. I have slowed down a bit and look more where I am going; spending more time looking down than looking up especially on the side walks of NYC. A fall can happen any time and at any moment. It is awful; nothing teaches you more how life can change on a dime.

So what you think am I simply a Klutz? Maybe we should all have four legs.
Carol Sue Gershman.

Being Part of the Crowd

2010-07-10T04:10:00.000-07:00

Twice this week I went with the crowds, Fireworks and Lady Gaga... Guess what? My girlfriend stayed home for both and had a remarkable experience of joy in front of the TV... Me? I was pushed, shoved, told by cops where to go, where to stand, aching feet in high heals, no transportation home from the works. But I wasssssss there!
Carol Sue Gershman

July 4th/NYC

2010-07-05T07:05:00.000-07:00

Fun in the city.
Have you walked the Brooklyn Bridge? They are out there in droves and it was something I never did before. Before I knew it I was in Brooklyn. Charming area I must say, even though I nearly had heat stroke on the way over.
Fireworks atop a restaurant roof top called Print was divine. I could have been anywhere in the world high in the sky with champagne and yum yum desserts. Only $100.00 per person to get to the roof top.. Ha Ha.
P. S. For the one hundred there was none of the outrageous music that accompanied the fireworks. They were tuned into jazz. Another ha ha.
It felt like New Years Eve in the heat getting home, not a bus, not a cab in site all the way over on 11th Avenue. Finally took off my shoes and walked the very dirty streets till I could find transportation. I sure did not care running barefoot on the side walks.
Lately, my favorite going out is staying home in my delightful apartment.
HAPPY 4TH TO ALL.
Carol Sue Gershman

Wake up call/ The Fall

2010-07-05T06:19:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,
Recently I had yet another fall. This is my 7th with 3 times broken bones. What is interesting about a fall, as my cousin just said, is you are perfectly wonderfully fine and the next minute you are in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. Last year I broke my elbow and needed two operations. I healed well over time.
Now this particular time, I had just had breakfast with my lover. Mind you, we do not see each other often, but i know him for many years. It was divine to see him. Soon we would get together to have the wild sex that we both enjoy.
Moments later, after leaving him, I fell. I laid on the sidewalk not being able to get up, but did not want to call him. I waited till I got to the emergency ward and then called saying, "You would never believe where I am." He lives only 3 blocks from the hospital but did he come over? Absolutely not!
He did call later in the day to see what happened. I told him I had broken my wrist and had excruciating pain when they set my bone. We talked how life changes on a dime and he said he would call the next day.
One month later I heard his apologies. I told him to go see the Wizard, you know, to get a heart and some brains. We both laughed.
We hung up on happy terms.
WAKE UP CAROL SUE..... My fall proved to me that this man does not care one bit about me except for our wild sex evenings.
My fall proved this to me because I did not get it before.
Now do you see how my breaking of bones was a gift?
READ BELOW BLOG
Carol Sue Gershman

A Surprise Gift/Open it up

2010-07-05T06:15:00.000-07:00

The Gift

Have you ever known anyone who said: I’m going through the worst time in my life -- I’m so happy! I doubt it, because when tough stuff happens it just hurts and its just stinks. Loss, illness, separation, not fun stuff. But what I have learned and what I want to talk about tonight is how some of the really tough stuff in my life ended up being wake up calls for me to change. And that these wake up calls, if you look at them in another way, are actually gifts. Maybe veiled a bit, maybe not the box of chocolate you wanted from Sprungli, or the new ipad, but another sort of gift.

Because there is one thing I know for sure, and that is stuff happens, and sometimes real crappy and painful stuff happens. The truth is no one walks through life’s doors without having some challenge come their way at some point. So the question is not how to avoid those experiences, because you can’t, but rather, the question is what will your attitude be towards it when it hits. Can you use it as a wake up call, or do you see it as a total pain in the neck and wished it would just go away. Do you allow it to make yourself miserable and angry and resentful and walk around with a poor me face? or do you take it and learn from it and change and deepen. That is the real meaning of free choice. How are you going to choose to react to the tough stuff that comes your way? Because it could bring with it changes in your life you never knew would come like where you live or what you do, and or it could bring with it feelings that you don’t often have.

A good example of this is, I remember some years back having abdominal surgery which made walking around outside really painful and tough, I was so slow, and I remember all of a sudden seeing people who were permanently disabled in wheel chairs and canes, - people I never even looked at before, and all of a sudden I felt so much compassion for them. That compassion and real understanding I never had before to that extent. That was its gift to me, to experience real compassion and understanding when people are vulnerable.

Or, recently my Mom broke her wrist and she told me She has never been happier. I said it has forced you to be more nurturing and self loving and maybe that’s why you feel happier, and she said well why didn’t I feel this way when I broke my elbow last year and I said probably because you didn’t learn to be more nurturing and self loving to yourself, and life just keeps throwing the punches until we wake up and learn the lesson, or experience our life differently

And that is just what happened to me. Years ago, I really wanted to have children. But I instead had miscarriages. I didn’t have one, not two, not but three miscarriages, and it was really very very painful. I cried all the time. But I have to say those miscarriages pushed me into a spiritual life that I probably never would of walked into without them. And so I’ve come to think about them as my wake up calls, but it took 3 hits for me to wake up. It was like, the first one came and boom, and I didn’t change anything, and then life said, oh no, she’s not getting it, lets go for another punch, and boom another miscarriage, and nope, she didn’t make any changes, and then life said, better go for the big bomb, and boom, the third one just propelled me out like I was a cannon ball and pushed me and made me take huge risks and give up my whole way I was living, who I was married to, where I was living, everything changed. Because that is how wake up calls happen, life just keeps giving out the punches until the thing that has to shift shifts. Some people get it faster, and some need a lot of beating.

Why things happen I really don’t know. Why you got that, and she got that, and that happened to this one, and that happened to that one. And this one has this, and that one got that. We really don’t know why.
Sometimes I think we are like an ant walking on a persons arm. The ant doesn’t know its walking on a human arm. It doesn’t say wow this is a nice arm, I think I’ll walk up to the wrist, or I think I’ll hang out on this hair, or I’ll rest on the persons freckle. It’s just unconscious it’s just an ant not really knowing or understanding whats going on. We are like an ant; we don’t really know what is going on. Sometimes I think we are programmed to not know.

But the one thing I do know, is that its not the experience but rather our attitude towards it that matters. Do you allow it to bring you down and feel angry, or do you see it as a potential opportunity. One thing difficult things do bring is a feeling of vulnerability. Maybe vulnerability and the willingness to be in it and to show others that is where we are is the highest state we can be in. Because in that state the heart is so raw and open, so not hidden in its shell of pride and self important.
And so fellow Toastmasters and guests, perhaps the next time you are just living your life, having a cappuccino at Starbucks, driving home, walking into your office, whatever it is, and some difficult thing hits you, hits you hard, perhaps you can look beyond the painful experience and wonder what kind of wake up call is this for you. What is life pushing you to see or to change, where is life pointing you? What kind of human emotion is it bringing to you, compassion, understanding, love, because hidden behind the rotten experience, could be the one thing you needed that will push you to really live who you are. And that friends is a gift.
Leslie Kuster.... (my daughter)

Organize, prioritize, satisfy your life

2010-03-23T14:23:00.000-07:00

Make your to do list, prioritize, set your goals, do time management, organize, get up earlier, don’t waste time, don’t waste your talents, do more, do it faster, use your gifts, don’t waste your life, reach your potential. What all these expressions that I just said boils down to is one thing: Be productive. But what I’m telling you tonight instead is stop focusing on being productive, Just throw all this productivity crap out the window, and replace with something a lot more satisfying, which I will tell you about shortly.

Being productive is seen in our culture as a incredible virtue and perhaps in some of your families as well, certainly in mine as I come from a family whose every member accomplishes great things such as profitable businesses, to writing books, to being an artist, to helicopter skiing in powder, AND being gorgeous all at the same time. Sounds good does’t it,

But the problem with it is when we are not as productive as we want to be, we can get very disappointment in ourselves or start to feel inadequate.
I’vie experienced this lately a lot myself, and have been feeling a bit anxious about all the things I have not yet accomplished. The reason I wanted to talk about this tonight is perhaps some of you feel this way too. And so I have come across some ideas that I want to share with you which could help. What we need is a whole new way of looking at getting things done. So what is it?

There are three important steps.
The first is to Focus on Fulfillment. The first shift is to switch from asking how many things can I get done to what actions can I take that will make me fulfilled. Just this slight alteration is totally revolutionary. For example some things that make me feel fulfilled is having a cup of tea first thing in the morning in my favorite china cup and journaling, or spending time with my husband somewhere in nature, Now it doesn’t’ seem like I’m getting much done, I’m not checking off all my to do list, but I’m creating a lot of positivity feelings inside myself which brings me to the next very important step which is:

#2. Create value: Creating value is much more meaningful way to view how effective you spend your time, than just being productive and crossing off lists. If you are always focused on productivity, get it done, quick faster, move on to the next easy to lose focus of the value in what your doing. When you think of Value think about asking three questions is it creating value for you personally, is it creating value for your family or partner, or is it creating value to the community or world.

For example, I could of chosen not to do this speech today which would of freed up a lot of time to work on many of the other things on my to do list like my web business, but I choose to do this because I felt that exploring this topic had value for me, it resonated with me and appeals to what I’m going through and hopefully it has value for my community, you the toastmasters and the guests here as well, as perhaps it resonates with some of you and so. And so when you are deciding what to work on choose it based on how much value it has, not on whether it has to be done or not.

3. The third important step in all of is called following your natural rhythms. That might sound a little airy fairy. But it is an intuitive way of living. It requires some flexibility. It means paying attention to how you feel. Nature functions within the laws of expansion an d contraction, growth and death, and we forget that we are part of nature and there are times to create and times to withdraw.

And the beauty of this system is when you are fulfilled and you do things that have value, and follow your natural rhythm then guess what? surprise you are very productive and accomplish many things!

These steps may seem impossible and unrealistic if you work in a company and someone else dictates your time, but perhaps you can bring just a smidgeon of these ideas even into your day. Remember the 3 important steps when approaching that long to do list #1, focus on fulfillment, Second, Create value, and lastly pay attention to your natural rhyums.

Throw the idea of being more productive out the window, cancel that time management class you were thinking of taking, and replace it with doing action that creates fulfillment and value. Bringing these practices into your life will bring more joy and contentment and This is truly what is most important. Thank you.

Leslie Kuster (my daughter)

My famous ex-husband

2010-03-22T15:51:00.000-07:00

Norman turned out to be my best friend. He is a particularly good ex-husband and I am a particularly good ex-wife. We are family and he is still the head of our family even though we are divorced and apart for almost 30 years. He is as well a great Dad.

Now he has become a famous person. How? He sought out the people of Albania; Muslims who saved the Jews during the war.

Nobody knew of these people untll Norman arrived and began interviewing and photographic. Until then and all of these years it was a well kept secret. Actually the Albanians did not so much as consider that they were keeping secrets. It was something they never thought enough to mention. They were doing what they wanted to do and that was to save the Jews of their country.

The holocast museum in Israel honored Normans work with a huge exhibition; next came the UN and now this unforgettable photographic journey is going world wide.

To learn more visit www.syracuseuniversitypress.syr.edu/.../besa-muslims-saved-jews.html

carol sue gershman

Don't forget to smell the flowers

2010-03-15T05:05:00.000-07:00

We met at a lovely sushi restaurant. When he walked in, I knew he was not for me but never=the =less, I always enjoy meeting new people. He was much older than he looked which was a plus. From several wives, women, he accumulated 8 children, 2 adopted.
He must have told me 2 times at least what he did but I still could not figure it out; somehow his sentences rambled making no sense to me. No matter what I said, he turned it into a lecture with questions period. With crossed hands, probably feet too, holding on to the table he went on to many topics asking many questions. I knew he was struggling. To impress me? to show himself how bright he was? As the evening went on (food delicious) I was becoming more and more exhausted and bored. Finally, I told him in the nicest way possible, because he was nice, that he was quite intense. He said, "I have been told that before," I assume he thought it was a compliment and so he continued on. When the dessert menu came and he asked what I wanted, I knew I could not stay any longer, I had to get out. But then too ease his pain, I asked him, "What is your favorite flower" "Alpine, he responded. I asked when he first saw it and what it was about the flower that made him love it. Slowly, he uncrossed himself, leaned back opening his arms wide and smiling. "You are good, he said." You see I took him out of his pain and performance and brought him down to love. I stood up and said, "You need a hug, keep it simple my friend," and left the restaurant. Here is the poem he sent the next day.
Alpine flower, clear and bright
Perfection not purpose, is your plight
Delicate and graceful, upright on barren soil
Each pedal a dream, and a sensual foil
Robust and resilient, many seasons you have seen
Not cynical nor jaded, by winter, nor by drought
You guard your self, lest someone doubt
The true beauty that sits and resides in thee
Even a blind man cannot diminish the beauty that be
To be seen is not the reason thou be, more now
Hands need not prove your gentle touch
It is real, to those and all with much
A headless man could never taste, nor smell,
All that makes your spirit alive and well
The same you are, no more, nor less
It is not about any of the rest,
You hold the key to your inner beauty that be

Growing up at age 74

2010-03-09T17:07:00.000-08:00

I do believe at 74 I have grown up a bit (don't laugh, its true) Usually when I go to Ca. I want to of course see everyone but then go out and have fun, dinners, parties, etc. But this trip I only wanted to be with my son, daughter-in-law and 2 grand kids. I felt blessed and happy spending most time at home.

First I will begin to tell you that they were not home when I arrived. Well I knew that they were in Aspen and missed their flight and would not be in till the next day.

For me it was great. I don't know bout you but I kind of feel bombarded getting off a long flight meeting, and kissing and hugging. This time I took a taxi, found the key to their gorgeous house, showered and relaxed. Next morning I bought groceries and prepared dinner for their homecoming. When they walked through the door it was brilliant to meet, greet, hug and kiss.

I visited their schools, sat in as a teachers helper, my son Roger invited me for a delightful lunch and visit to his sumptuous office. Daria and I went to the gym, had lunch and shopped and the last day we got into our pj's at 4:30 and just hung out with the kids till my son got home.

Highlight: I have begun a children's book and the kids class loved it. What greater test is that?

Do I have to tell you how much I adore the kids? Well I will; I am in love.
Carol Sue Gershman

Wow, could they eat

2010-03-01T11:23:00.000-08:00

Today I went to a small breakfast cafe in Ca.
A decent looking couple sat next to me awaiting their food. She ordered a 3 stack of pancakes with a side of eggs and he ordered eggs Benedict with fried potatoes. The food really looked good and was prepared well.
While I was waiting for my vegetable white egg omelet, I had nothing else to do but watch them.
She coated them with lots of butter and then poured the syrup over, not so unusual but watching her devour those pancakes dipping into her egg was something else. They both ate in total silence; they had been chatty before.
Half way through they exchanged plates. He now had the pancakes and she had the Egg Benedict. She delved into her new order without even taking a small breather, and lapped it up with the french fries her friend had left.
Then they exchanged again.
He had left some pancakes and with the remainder came more butter and more syrup. Yum Yum.
Now of course this was all accompanied by a double size cappuccino.
Truly I have not seen people eat that much since 35 years ago at a Livingston Diner in N. J. when 3 very overweight people came in and ordered much the same and at the time dazzled me.
P. S. My omelet was delicious; I was full and wondered how they really felt from such a breakfast.
Have you ever eaten that way?
Carol Sue Gershman

My poor little Mustang

2010-02-26T15:36:00.000-08:00

Oh, Look what happened to gorgeous Ms. Florida Convertible. Parked out in the cold and weighed down with snow. What was even more uncanny was me getting into it with a long fake fur coat, boots, gloves, hat and ear muffs.
It is all a far cry from the breezy, easy "Jewish Lady, Black Man's Road Trip. "
Carol Sue Gershman

Avitar/ not a fan

2010-02-25T18:06:00.000-08:00

Yes, the world is going ga ga over Avatar but I did not. Yes I know it had many spiritual messages both racy, good vs. evil with the heroic savior, but I must say I squirmed for at least half of it. Lucky for me I am a meditator and when there is no other escape, I meditate, a great practice for any of us. I don't mean to say my meditation goes on for long intervals but when I can't take the boredom I leave for a few moments. I found the movie aggravating and loud. I found it brutal and ugly with gorgeous scenery. I thought the floating mountains were awesome but all and all I walked out feeling down and depressed. Oh well, maybe it was just me but am I that alone in this world? I liked the 3 D , that's fun and also seeing it today a snowy day in NYC was also fun... I was grateful when it was finally over. Hooray! I saw it and now I never have to see it again.
Carol Sue Gershman

Are you a sitter or a recliner

2010-02-24T11:52:00.000-08:00

I am a recliner. By that I mean when I am home I do not enjoy sitting in a chair or on a sofa. I love to lay around on a bed or lie down on a couch
.
My girlfriend Janice likes to sit. Once she gets out of bed in the morning, she does not lie down again till she goes back to bed in the evening.

My girlfriend Clara likes to recline. Sitting in a chair exhausts her. When she visited Janice, she was sitting up-right in a chair for hours as they gossiped away. She had to leave the room and go to bed earlier than usual as sitting knocked her out.

Me? My old apartment had beds throughout..My patio had a divine bed to lounge, my living room was set up with futons so even when company came we would lounge on the futon beds and then of course I had my real bed. I would go from the patio bed, to the living room bed, to my bed.

So what about you? Are you a sitter or a recliner? Have you ever given it a thought?
Carol Sue Gershman

A sabatical

2010-02-24T11:42:00.000-08:00

Sometimes we need to get away... know what I mean? even from our own selves. I was feeling quite sluggish so this week in NYC I stayed home, fasted and slept... I fasted on water and light tea. At night I had blueberries. I slept practically all day. It was the foods I had been eating that dragged me down and tired me out. I could not believe how great I felt the next day. Transformation. It is really important to watch the foods we eat. Green tea is my indulgence but even a little caffeine accumulated can hurt my system. Also bread is a difficult one. Better not to eat it or eat wheat free bread. Be careful with what you put into your mouth each day. It will make the difference on how you perform and feel during the day.
I also think past a certain age, too much exercise may be difficult on our bodies. My motto is be careful. Our wonderful bodies need to be babied; especially those of us who are seniors. Take care of you.
Carol Sue Gershman

A new friend

2010-01-14T05:20:00.001-08:00

At a recent party I met a beautiful lady named Nancy; she had a little dog sitting on her lap. She said she carried her small dog with her at all times. She is my sisters mah jongg friend and I was longing for a game; Nancy showed interest. My sister e-mailed me her last name and telephone number the next day, and something struck a bell. I reached back 24 years into my memory and by the time Nancy picked up the phone I figured out we were sisters. I asked if the name "Per" meant anything to her and sure enough, she was the lady whose arms took Per from me 24 years ago. He was all of 22 years old at the time, while I was 50; he was a beautiful tall blonde Swedish guy with the sweetest smile, and I was crazy for him.

I knew back then how they met but now Nancy told me exactly how. "When he walked into the restaurant I was in, I tripped him." How jealous I was about this other woman back then. I wanted to know all about her, who was she, was she pretty, was she nice. I found out through a mutual friend (I do not recall at all who she was) that Nancy had not murdered anyone and was a nice person. Not only that I heard she was pretty. OOf! I longed for her to break up with Per and sure enough a year or so later she did; and I welcomed back his broken heart. He told me she had packed up and moved to Aspen and shortly later married some guy. Nancy knew nothing about me in this life and the effect she had on me, but I sure knew Nancy.

Neither one of us knows what happened to beautiful Per, the sweet man we both knew who gave us lasting memories sisterhood and now friendship.

Carol Sue Gershman

more to come I promise.

2010-01-09T08:50:00.001-08:00

Lots of good stuff to come as soon as I get my camera fixed.
Please stay tuned!

happy New Year

2010-01-01T09:48:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year

Do you tell your age?

2009-12-13T15:59:00.000-08:00

Living agelessly means not paying any attention to your age and doing the things you want to.

To begin with, keep your self healthy so you can be here to accomplish all that you have set out to do in your life. Give up the foods that you are wearing on your stomach hips and thighs. It does not matter at what point of life a new adventure comes to you as long as you get it in in your lifetime. Please don’t have regrets when you are really too old; And really, too old , means when nature tells you to stop. There are the simple things one might do. Some women won’t go to a restaurant alone, or go to a movie alone thinking that they must cling to another person, their husband or a friend. I can relate as I remember the first time I went to a movie alone. It was to see Superman. It was back in the 70’s and I remember looking around at the audience thinking that the audience was watching the woman sitting alone and not the movie. We can begin new dreams at any age, new dreams that might take you down a path. Keep your spirit young and alive, refresh it with water as you do a plant and your spirit will grow

Do you tell your age? There is nothing more freeing than telling your age. Movie stars do, why don’t you? When you can tell the truth to yourself about who you are as a person, you will free yourself from hiding within your own self. It is a hard thing to do for most of us, but it is a catharsis. I remember as a young girl and not so young girl, lying to my diary. Imagine lying to myself to make myself look good to me. I could not face the truth. I colored how much a boyfriend liked me and the good times I was having even though it was not true. Have you ever done that? Readers have come up to me and can not understand how I could divulge so much about myself by admitting my weaknesses and my intimacies. “Why would you put that in print’” they ask. Well, why would I not put that in print? It is who I am.

Keep the fun alive in you that is god given and take baby steps in living an ageless and passionate life. There is always time for a good time and I might add that we all spell good times differently at different times of our life. A good time to me now is writing or speaking. A good time to you may be to go to that disco and dance all night, or start a neighborhood job or have a shopping day all to yourself. How about a two day road trip to a new town staying over night? Or starting a new business that you believe in, a new course. There is the fun of getting dressed up and going out for a good dinner with or without someone across from you. Keep doing enjoyable things and looking good and please do not think you look good without makeup because you probably do not. Be grateful you were born a woman and can wear it. Men are not so lucky! We all need to take some time for ourselves in this extremely faced paced and busy world. Don’ t you think?

To my contemporaries, I say, we do get older, but that does not mean that we have to be old. Going to doctors does not have to be the new social life. Sitting, saddening and medicating because we have reached a certain age does not have to be our new life style. So many friends of mine are doing exactly that primping up to see their doctors, waiting their lives out in waiting rooms just to get that one degree of attention from the other side of the door. Let me explain; doctors are important when we are sick but running to doctors for every little thing and talking about your visits is another thing. Mainly not listening to what your own body is telling you and relying on your doctor to tell you what to do, can really make you sick. Be your own doctor always. I hear women talk about their doctors as we used to talk about our boyfriends, “Oh my heart surgeon, Oh my dentist, he is fabulous.” Please do not get me wrong. I suffered a terrible fall a few months ago and needed two operations and doctors visits, but as soon as I was healed, I was on another new path.

I say, “trade in your pills for passion.”

I recently had my 74th birthday luncheon. It was an idea passed down from a friend. I took a table at a great restaurant and invited my friends to come dutch treat, no gifts please, and I arranged for each one to be given a separate check. They would come to honor my birthday, the day for us to acknowledge that we are here and that we are important on earth. In return they would meet new friends and give themselves a great day. Most came, some could not, but one good friend stands out. She had a doctors appointment that she felt was more important. She did not even try to change the day or the hour. She preferred to keep her appointment than come to a party. That to me is the sign of an aging spirit. Don’t get me wrong! Health always first, but this could have been postponed. She missed a good time. P. S. My friends all chipped in and treated me, a kind gesture.

I would love to know how you related to my obsessive behavior towards Xavier one of my downfalls, in my book. The women who read my book and answered that question, thought well, that is how women behave after a love affair. It was the men who were shocked about my obsessiveness. I have come to the conclusion that men simply do not know what women go through when they begin their departure from our lives. They cannot believe how a strong woman could go so whimpy over a guy. Yes, we can, yes, we do guys.

Now to the main question: How were the sexy parts received by my children?

When I was writing those parts I read one to my girlfriend and she said, “You are going to write about that?” “I said yes, it is part of our story.” She said, “You have children, you have grandchildren, what are they going to think?” So I went right to my therapist and had he said, Carol Sue, please leave that out, I would have. But he said quite the opposite. “This is your story, this is your life and if you want to write about it, you go right ahead.” I loved his response and continued to entertain myself with the good stuff. When the book came out, I crossed off the naughty parts for my kids and as far as my grand kids are concerned, well maybe they will learn a thing or two, at least they will know what old grandma was about. And to the younger generations who wonder if older people still have sex, the answer is YES WE DO!

I have also learned that how a person views their own sexuality is how they will react to the sexy parts in my book. Some eat it up, some find it an embarrassment and skim over those parts and others think it is a disgrace that I would write about such things when I have children and grandchildren. For me, it was the passion I felt for Xavier and like anything else that is great, why not talk about it. Especially when it happens at 70...

My way of living is not necessary smooth sailing. It causes me to have lots of traumas, lots of ups and downs and back then many frowns from friends. Those frowns I have learned come from their own insecurities and their own fears. How else could they possibly respond to you when you are beginning a new path, one they can not identify or handle themselves. On the path of living agelessly and passionately, one must consider that your friends or spouse might not agree with any changes you might want to make in your life. On this long road of learning I have learned it is best to listen to your self and make your own moves and if you do not get the support you need, keep moving on; don’t let anyone stop you from living agelessly. Your friends mean well but they simply don’t know how to get out of their own box. And it is those women who are in that box and don’t know how to get out that I speak.

By stepping out of my own box in the last few years with an interracial love affair, not only did I have a amazing time, but a whole new career followed and a whole new way of looking at life with endless possibilities. Look at how timely my book is; imagine that we now have a black president from out of the blue and while it is still not the norm to have a interracial relationship, it is not looked upon as anything that unusual. However, to my knowledge we have not arrived and there are still many who are extremely closed minded about this topic. I ask to give book talks in certain organizations and when they hear the title of my book they want to have nothing to do with it, even libraries are reluctant. The thought of a Jewish Lady having an affair with a black man is not anything appetizing. I can well understand because I was one of them up to four years ago. These same women to not want to be enlightened. They have their views and that is where they will stay till death do them part. My book is for those who are open minded and curious about life and life’s adventures.

Now having just turned 74, I have returned from another dream; a three month road trip reliving the cities and states I wrote about on our trip. I packed my hot yellow mustang with books, clothes, sports equipment, shoes, blankets, an array of hats. There was absolutely no room for a passenger and I drove nine thousand miles My very first book talk and signing was in St. Augustine, Florida. The town people were waiting for me as the book store put a write-up about me in the local paper. From there I travelled up the coast speaking and signing books at Barnes and Noble, Borders and other independent stores. I slept in a different hotel every two nights and financed the rooms by renting out my own apartment. I had a blast. Each day I would wake up and drive to a new place all the way up to Stowe, Vt. I took a one and half months break taking a room in Sag harbor, N. Y. I fell into a mecca of authors. I used to go to the Hamptons to play with young men, but this time I went with a built in playmate; my book. I met countless writer movie stars, took photos, and had my arms put around me by Alex Baldwin, met barbara Walters, Julie Andrews, Candice Bushnell the author of Sex and the city, went to parties and openings. I was written up in newspapers, appeared on local TV and radio. My last stop three months later was in Tampa at my nephews big birthday bash. There again, my friends asked, “how could you go alone?” Won’t you be lonely and fearful in strange places?”

So now, you can open your closed eyes that I asked you to close a few moments ago..... Have you opened them to something new? Take little baby steps, one hour at a
time and make the good and necessary changes in your life that you never thought possible.

My motto is 50 is fab. 60 is sensation and 70 sizzles.

Carol Sue Gershman

Our dormant talents that lie within

2009-11-26T10:50:00.000-08:00

Here is what I have learned from writing that I would like to pass on to you. We all have dormant
talents that lie inside of us. Can you imagine what you might have inside
of you that has not yet surfaced? I say this because if I can write a 325-page
book—which hopefully has kept you entertained if you have read it, —can you imagine the
endless possibilities in all of us? I do not doubt that we need something to
inspire us or trigger the passion, but maybe there is an easier way as well.

Just take one moment. Please close your eyes and take in a deep breath and
think about something you might have wanted to do at one point of your life,
but now feel it is too late. Keep that thought.

Peggy Lee must have had her own reasons for singing the plaintive tune “Is
that all there is?” but we don’t all have to see life like that. I live agelessly and
passionately and so can you. Many of us think that it is too late to change our
lives or begin something new; especially those women who are forty, fifty, sixty.
Are you now worrying about being “age appropriate”? Maybe you have cut your
hair or lengthened your dress or have stopped wearing sexy clothes with the fear
that you now look silly. Perhaps you have shied away from doing something
you really wanted to do in your life and are saying the words, “If only it were
10 years back.” Some people are truly happy with themselves and their lives,
and I say Bravo because there is nothing better.

However, I am speaking to the women who are letting their lives go by because they think that nothing new lies ahead of them and feel they are getting too old to change it. Their children
are grown; they were their life and they long for grandchildren to come so they
can start all over and feel purposeful again. They follow their husbands or if not
married worry about finding another mate to fulfill them. They do not think
there is anything ahead that they can do to change or excite them.

I say there is. Lots, but you need the spirit in you to come out and to make
new things happen.

Carol sue Gershman
MORE LATER ON THIS TOPIC

New York City. I have arrived!

2009-11-23T18:05:00.000-08:00

Do you enjoy New York?
It is a action packed city and presently the city is packed. Truly I have never seen anything like it. You can hardly walk on the street.
I moved back to my apartment on the upper west side after having driven from Florida. I think what I enjoy the most in life is car travel going from one place to another with all of my possessions with me. It is quite entertaining but more about that later.

The city is bursting with pride and now some of the streets in the Times Square area are for pedestrians only. We can now sit at little tables sipping coffee at what was once a busy transit street. It is so cool. I think I might have seen it in Europe or maybe South Beach on New Years eve. But never New York. A lovely change.

Ido not have much luck in my apartment. Do you remember the smoker in Miami? Well now I have a sax guy who practices his instrument right above me. This is crazy. I do not like noise or smoke under any circumstances; yet the Lord seems to send that to me.

What will NYC bring to me after all of these years? Will it send me back to Miami or will it allow me to find a good life here; maybe a new man, new friends, new book talks. It is a incredible city, and as I said, packed with people excitement and goodness..
But surely lacking that balmy Miami Breeze that feels oh so good.

Come and visit and most of all hav a Beautiful Thanksgiving day.
Carol Sue Gershman

All about you. The working Woman Part 3

2009-11-16T16:51:00.000-08:00

So you are the one who deserves the real applause. Imagine, you have awakened the kids, cooked breakfast, tried to do a little straightening in the house or at least scheduled the plumber, you had to get yourself dressed, say goodbye to your husband, who was racing out of the house and also needed some help, and maybe even had to run a car pool. Oh my goodness!

Now with two hours already packed in with chores you are finally on your way to work. Not only did you have a job this morning in your home, a job with your kids, but now you have to go to a money paying job with all of the pressures that will be put upon you today.

Don't let me sound as if this is terrible, it is not, it is admirable. Women are able to accomplish so many things and all at the same time.

It is a marvel that we keep it all together. And then there is the job of keeping your husband and your relationship rewarding and fulfilling. With some hope you have a good working relationship where you are sharing and discovering newness each day, at least each week. I had to laugh today at Sarah Palin on Oprah, when our brilliant Oprah asked here how she thought she would take care of five kids, run her life and run the country had she been elected. Well Sarah, did not think it was any big deal, as a matter of fact, I don't think Sarah even thought about it. She would figure it out as she went along. She responded there are tons of aunts and uncles and cousins in Alaska, we all would have helped one another. Well maybe so, but the White House is in Washington Sarah, and most of us have a job running our lives and kids never mind running the U. S.

So with all of the pressures upon you, the most important thing is to keep yourself looking good. Vanity is wonderful! Never thing that it is not. Please do not get fat (over weight) it deprives you of the energy you need. Please exercise, if you don't that too will lower your energy level. But with the right diet, exercise and right hair style accomplishment just comes.
Keep up the good work! (and I mean work)

Carol Sue Gershman

Stay at home housewife... It is all about you Series 2

2009-11-12T03:12:00.000-08:00

It is early morning; you are frantic waking up the kids, running to the kitchen to start breakfast, yelling or calling out their names because they are late coming to the breakfast table, the kids are already arguing, you husband is rushing and sprouting orders, your dog is yelping. Finally the House empties and there you are alone. Ahhh!

You are now facing a sink full and table full of dirty dishes, bedrooms that have to be cleaned, is it laundry day? Is it a more through cleaning day? How much do you have to accomplish in the next seven hours until the kids come home again to mess up all of your hard work? Take in a deep breath; it is all about you now.

Maybe times have changed but that is what it was like for me as a housewife.
Here is what to do.

Clear the table and get rid of the dirty dishes
Then, take a shower and fix you up.
Pretend you are a housekeeper coming in for the day. they have to arrive neat and clean, so that is what you need to do.
Make yourself look like you are ready to go out, put on makeup, fix your hair and dress comfortably with yes, a sexy top.
You will immediately have a different attitude when you pick up the dust mop
Between phone calls and watching your favorite shows , music is preferred, do some stretching.

Actually house work is good for us, think about how many times you have squatted, lifted, twisted, swung your arms with a vaccume?

The house is neat now, so perhaps you will run some errands. Wow, look how good you look, ready to go out!

Think too of what you might be creating if you were not a housewife.. Remember those thoughts, in fact write them down. They are your dreams for a bit later on.

Tomorrow, the working housewife in "It is all about you"
carol sue gershman

It is all about you Post 1

2009-11-11T04:16:00.001-08:00

How are you today and what are you doing to fill your day?
Most likely you are going off to work or staying home with the kids or sleeping. Here it is 7:17 a. m.
If you are going off to work, I hope you look your best. I never had the luxury of dressing for work as for me my work usually was done from home. But the few times that I did, I remember feeling empowered and important. It was nice to dress in a sophisticated style and put on high heels early in the morning. Is that how you look? However you dress, looking good makes us feel better. It lifts our spirit. Compliments feel good. There was a point in my life that compliments annoyed me as strange as that might seem. I did not like the fuss and felt embarrassed. Then one day I looked the other person in the eye and said thank you. Enjoy your compliments, and the person who is giving you one, and by all means give them back cause it could change an entire day for someone. I know it had that effect on me.
So today's all about you is the take a better look in the mirror and refresh yourself with shiny hair and a smile. Off you go!
carol sue gershman

New York City. Here I come

2009-11-09T17:44:00.000-08:00

I am a New Yorker, although for 15 years I have been a Miami an.
Not such a bad life style, but now it is time to move back. Lucky for me I kept my apt. in NYC. It has been rented out all of these years with periodic visits from me.
New Yorkers have the right idea. They live in NYC and in summer go back and forth to the Hamptons.
Snow Birders have the right idea. The live 6 moths in the north and 6 months in the nice warmth.
I have never had that kind of luxury because wherever I go, I must rent my apt. to pay for the one I am going to next.
I can never come back early-on cause I do not have a home. It is rented.
Going back and forth to the Hamptons is not possible for me; it must be one or the other. My lifestyle is dependent on tenants.
Years ago I would travel to, let us say Europe and come back richer than if I had stayed in New York. Our dollar was worth so much more elsewhere.
But now it is pay back time because it will cost me more to live in NYC than Miami, but you know, it is all about the Jewish Lady, the black man and the road trip. I need to be in ny to promote it; it has just turned out that way, so I will spend my winter in NYC.
I will miss your ocean breeze Miami; people love the surf, I love the breeze. When I walk out into that balmy warm breeze, I always say. Ahhh this is too too wonderful.
I like the snow too and hope it snows lots this winter.
Anyway see you in NYC.
Carol Sue Gershman

Halloween 09

2009-11-01T08:04:00.000-08:00

Halloween Miami Beach, Florida

Always the biggest parade of fun on Lincoln Road.

And this Halloween my friend Lynnia and I were given tickets to see the Color Purple by dear friend Cheryl who would be out of town.

I was eagerly looking forward to it; Lynnia has a great spirit who loves to dress and together we would kill, joining the yearly lavish fun Halloween parade on LIncoln Road after the show. My outfit was wild. Long gold loose pants, a fringed shawl given to me by my friend Clara and over that I wore a red velvet and gold trimmed cape topped off with a straw and gold sequined top hat. Fun was ahead. I will tell you the secret of my cape; you know how they wrap material around a bark of a Xmas tree, well I turned it into a cape.

Cinderella took the bus and heads turned at the bus stop looking at me, but it was surely the easiest way to get there.

Lynnia arrived decked out in a harem costume and by the way out of the thousands in the audience only 5 dressed for Halloween. Are we five that out of the norm? I guess we are! I noticed she did not look as well as she usually does.

The curtain went up and the colorful purple show began. They were doing a great job on stage when Lynnia let out her first sneeze. I knew it was the kind of sneeze with more to come. Now we all know about the flu and protecting ourselves. And me? I am laughed at in my family when anyone shows any signs of a cold, I run and say, “don’t come near me!” Then she stared to sniff, so I turned and asked her, the question of the night. “Are you sick?” “Yes, she said, I just don’t feel well.” Oh my goodness, she actually is sick.

How would I get through the rest of the evening with a person who is coming down with a cold while I am trying to be compassionate towards her? First I moved as far to the end of my seat away from her as I could and when she spoke I covered up my nose and mouth with my red velvet cape. All I could think about was that I was already incubating. The curtain came down and with that she said, “I don’t feel well and want to go home, do you mind, she thinking that our fun night together was ruined and I would be upset. “Oh no, I don’t mind, go home and take care of yourself.” And let me breath please. So the Harem Queen departed. Relieved, sat and watched the second act and here is my review. I loved the movie and watched it many times, it broke my heart and filled me with emotion, the cast so brilliant. I do not understand why they would turn that story into a musical loosing the heartbreak of the book and film. But the characters did what they were told and all did a great job.

All the time I wished I was on Lincoln Road parading around on my own stage.

It finally happily ended and I scooted up the aisle. I would take the bus again to Lincoln Road and avoid the hassle. Walking up the still empty street I ran into my neighbor Rosalie and her husband. We exchanged greetings and she asked if I would like a ride. I was thinking if it would be just as easy for me to go by bus when suddenly I felt something loose on my foot; my gold sandal shoe had just broken. There I was without a right shoe limping; no way to keep it on when I said, “Yes, please I would love a ride,” I removed my shoes now walking completely barefoot. Who cares if I am barefoot, just let me get to Lincoln Road hoping that Rosalie would move swiftly.

It took no time at all to get the car and then the traffic came, the traffic, the traffic. Unimaginable bumper to bumper crawling at a no speed traffic as I quietly sat in the back seat. What if I had been on a bus after having waited for one to come? What is more, I know Lynnia would have only considered a cab to Lincoln, the meter ticking away at hundreds of dollars at this very moment. I sat back happily.

Rosalie was driving only caring about my bare feet. Our shoe sizes did not match and while I was insisting I did not care if I walked bare footed, I just wanted to get to the party scene, she was insisting that she would have to find me a pair of shoes in her closet to fit. She thought about her flip flops; she would run upstairs and get them for me; and so she did along with a plastic bag for the broken shoes. Now this is one fine lady.

I took off on foot, now glad to have the shoes; it was nearing midnight and I could hardly wait to get to the place I REALLY wanted to be on Halloween.

It is hard to describe a true nightmare. There were thousands and thousands of people shoved together in frightening masks and sweaty costumes, pushing together, and only moving just a few steps at a time. Lynnia’s cold? Nothing could compare to being locked in to the masses of people with no outlet coming in either direction. Surely, I would not have survived in bare feet. This went on for blocks, thinking that the next block would have to be better but it only got worse; I never saw anything like it. People actually having fun pushing each other drinking, cursing and sweating more. Have I lost my spirit? Is this what I loved so much for years and years or were there simply the triple amount of people who usually come out or just more sweat?

Somehow, I made my way to Ghiardelli ice cream parlor. I needed a reward. Strawberry ice cream with whipped cream, wonderful as I sat matching the ice cream with my frozen face; the outfit I was wearing now feeling heavy and uncomfortable loosing all of its glamour especially in flip flops. I sneaked down a side street and made my way to the bus home. As I got to the bus stop, it pulled away. Another one came, a mom with her kids giving them hand sanitizer and wipes sat next to me.

Peace and quiet my room finally; throwing my worn out attire on the floor getting into my wonderful bed. Oh Lynnia, I do hope you feel better today and thank you Cheryl for the tickets. Next year I will go to a retreat.

Interview with Carol Sue Gershman

2009-10-20T15:16:00.000-07:00

Interview with Carol Sue Gershman, author of The Jewish Lady, The Black Man, and the Road Trip

Where are you from?
Bayonne, New Jersey

When and why did you begin writing?
I began my writing career at age 71. My lover walked out on me and my passion and goal was to get him back.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
When I finished writing the book.Ssometimes I still wonder how I did it . Am I really a writer?

What inspired you to write your first book?
I took all of my negative energy and pain and put it into writing. It was passion and pain that drove me each day and night for nine months.

Do you have a specific writing style?
I tell the truth in a narrative style.My imagination does not take me to the unknown. Therefore, true stories are my style.

How did you come up with the title?
I am a Jewish Lady, He is a Black Man and we took a road trip. It seemed to be a simple title that turned out to be provacative.

Is there a message in your memoir that you want readers to grasp?
Yes, the reader can live agelessly and passionately if they do not pay any attention to how old they are. Life goes way way on after 50 after 60 and after 70 and during those years you can go back and do the things you forgot to do or were not able to do back then. We can re-live our lives in one lifetime.

How much of the book is realistic?
EVERY SINGLE WORD IS THE TRUTH

Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
They are my thoughts and my adventures and my events.

What books have most influenced your life most?
Well I guess the Amboy Dukes , Gone with the Wind and any story that was hard to put down. So few books are real page turners.

If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
True crime; and memoirs.

What book are you reading now?
Actually a novel, South of Broad by Pat Conroy.

Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?
Yes all writers now grasp my interest as I know what they have been through.T

What are your current projects?
I am all about promoting my book.

Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.
Certainly my Dade class teacher who let me be free and supported me all of the way.

Do you see writing as a career?
YES. It is all about writing now.

What do you think makes a good story?
If I turn the pages quickly, it is a good story. I feel the same way about a movie. If I do not look at my watch, I have been entertained.

Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?
Yes, how much undiscovered talents we all have inside of us. Who would believe that I became a first time author at age 71?

A Birthday poem from my friend

2009-10-15T12:13:00.000-07:00

Carol Sue

The Hip Jewish Lady has written a book
It's quite an adventure, so do have a look.
She isn't the typical gal you'd expect...
She's gorgeous and gutsy and loves to reflect.
She started out married, a mother and wife...
Then later decided to start a new life.
She granted her New self the right to explore,
And oh how her passions keep begging for more.
To know Carol Sue is to love and admire,
A woman quite fearless, her feet to the fire.
With no risk there's no gain; so Do follow your heart...
That's one of the lessons she seems to impart.
I could write a whole book on Dear Carol, so Hip...
The Jewish Gal, Black Guy and Oh what a Trip!

Happy Birthday to a warm and wonderful friend!
Sharon Daniels

Im my Youth

2009-10-13T05:33:00.000-07:00

In My Youth
A look back at youth gone by
Home About

Interview with Carol Sue Gershman, author of “The Jewish Lady, The Black Man, and The Road Trip”
October 12, 2009amateurdelivreLeave a comment
What was the one possession you had that you were miserable without?
Roller skates or can I call my dog a possession. My dog Dusky would have been it.

What cartoon did you love to watch?
I did not have TV back then and never enjoyed reading cartoons either. The only one I did like was Blondie!

What do you miss most about being a kid?
My little private shady patch covered with trees in my back yard. P. S I am more of a kid now then back then when I was trying so hard to grow up.

What was your least favorite age? Why?
Teen age years. I was way over weight..

What did you always want to be able to do, but were too young?Drive a car.

What did you want to be when you grew up?
GET MARRIED.I had no other ambitions.

Did you have any pets? YES If so, what did you have?
DOG named Dusky who passed away with a ton of stories I told to her..

Do you have siblings?
Yes!
Did they influence who you are today?
Not back then. I was the oldest and paid not much attention to them which was my loss as they are both great people.

What was your favorite class in school?
Spelling.. I enjoyed grammar school, but not much afterwards as far as school is concerned, until I entered my memoir writing class 3 years ago.

Who was your hero and why?
Gregory Peck in Duel in the sun. I thought he was strong and sexy at 11 years old. He was a bad boy and I fell in love with him. When I met the man of my life at 14, I knew I had met the Gregory Peck of my life. The bad boy in him was that I had to do the chasing as he never seemed much to care.

What games did you enjoy playing in your spare time?
Cards, hop scotch…

Would you still play them today?
Sure I would.

Did you have a curfew?
11:00 P. M.

What was it, and did you break it?
NO I DID NOT .. I still keep it most of the time.

What was your parents punishment of choice?
I could not go out.

What is your favorite memory?
Around the kitchen table sitting with family even though the conversation was about them with little focus on us kids.

What do you wish you could have changed about your childhood (if anything)?
That my mom stayed home, rather than working, so I could have spent more time with her and that my parents did not argue.

Please send comments

2009-10-09T04:26:00.001-07:00

To all of my 7000 readers,
if you leave a comment it will be answered.
I look forward to what ever you have to say with great enthusiasm.
love,
Carol Sue

Love after 50....My own opinion

2009-10-07T13:33:00.000-07:00

MONDAY, OCTOBER 05, 2009
Guest: Carol Sue Gershman

I personally have had more love affairs after 50 than ever before. In fact, love started pouring in after 50.

How can I explain this...

As a 14 year old teenager I fell in love with a guy. I knew the moment I saw him that I wanted to marry him, and while I did date, I was more of a lady in waiting for him to come around. Yes, I did win him over and we had many, many happy years together and are dear friends to this day.

However, we ended up separating after all, and I began to date.

I had the opportunity of going back to when I was 19 in spirit, the age that I married and re-living those same years. It was at the time that the younger man, older woman came into focus so I had a slew of potential dates.

I travelled all over the world and met men; in fact I probably enjoyed the company of men in most countries of the world. Please do not get me wrong as I was not promiscuous. I was making up for my teenage years and having experiences.

I had shorter term relationships as I did not want anything close to marriage, but as I grew and got older, my relationships got longer. I can honestly say that fifty is fabulous, sixty in sensational and seventy sizzles all with passion and all by dating. My theory is to keep yourself in good shape, keep yourself healthy and stylish and stay up with the times. If you do that, it makes no difference what so ever how old you are.

I think on line dating is terrific. When I put up a great picture and smile and write something clever I am inundated with responses. I might do that for a month at a time, stopping and later picking it up again. I have met some great guys on the free sites like Craigslist, Google; there is no need to sign up for expensive sites that lock you in.

I imagine it is good to set your goals, rich man, poor man, handsome, charming, etc. but I am an independent woman so good companionship is what I look for. I also have no qualms about sharing expenses with a man. Unless if he is very wealthy, I am sure he is watching his money as well, and I do not take advantage. At this point of life men usually have a ex-wife or kids to think about, so sharing is fine with me.

There is nothing wrong with calling a man, in fact setting it up that way is a blessing. Nobody likes waiting by the phone.

The next time you are attracted to a man ask him for his card immediately!. How often have I made that mistake and sometimes the opportunity passes...

Love after 50 or 60 is more passionate than back then. And with the right partner it can be a lot more fun. We know the tricks.
Carol Sue Gershman

Girl friends.. are they not the best?

2009-10-02T04:50:00.000-07:00

I have been blessed with many good friends in my life. When I was in my thirties and forties I had five best girlfriends. I truly loved each of these ladies and they loved me. Each one thought that I was their best friend and to me they were all my best friends. I guess there was one that stood out more than the other and if they should read this, they would automatically say, “That was me.”

At other times in my life, such as my teenage years, I also had a group of wonderful girlfriends These girlfriends were the ones I grew up with and I loved them all and they loved me. I am happy to say that two still remain my close friends but the others moved and we lost touch.

Then there ware the wonderful friends I had raising my kids; we shared our stories about bringing up babies and developed a social life around them. They knew my children and I knew theirs and the bond was strong.

So where are all of these girlfriends now? I must admit that the majority of them have disappeared from my life and two, sadly, are deceased. Perhaps I am the cause of why they are no longer in my life. For example, one turned out to have a difficult life and manipulated me into being there for her during these times but excluding me from good times. It became an unpleasant friendship according to her terms. Another friend was the cheapest woman I ever met. She would not even treat herself to a glass of water and she had lots of money. It became discouraging as she sat in front of me with her mouth watering as I ordered dinner. In the beginning I would treat her, and then I realized I was only playing into her neurosis. She liked sitting with me but refused to order. The friendship broke up when she saw the man I was crazy about with another woman and told me. It devastated me at the time and found it not to be necessary for her to tell me. Another, I loved lots more than she loved me and we had two arguments. In one of the arguments, I called her a bitch and that did not go over well; so she kept me at three arms lengths for the rest of my life. Then there was is my vagabond friend who flits around the world and impossible to reach by telephone or email. She likes to remain distant popping in and out of my life over the years staying at my apt and even when she is there, makes her own plans. I would long to talk to her. Another has a completely different life style than mine and many friends who she shares that life style with; but I do know that she is probably the most sincere of any of my friends and while we do not speak often when we do, history enfolds. My best high school best friend disappeared as soon as we got married. When she came back it was thrilling, but no sooner did we connect, she would disappear again; and the same disappearance happened with my other best high school friend who I have not seen or heard from since high school.

Now I have new friends and at 73 years old which is my age, I am lucky to connect with these terrific ladies. They have come to me in the last two years and each one is divine. One is my last boyfriends prior lady, and the others I met at Mah Jongg. I stopped playing for thirty five years and now we are have come full circle. We have also connected on a different level and have become friends. We all have our individual lives but when we see each other we thoroughly enjoy one another and have fun. They are also wonderfully supportive of me as an author.

So is this the way it is supposed to be? Is it me who has let them go or is it them that have let me go? Is it because we change over the years or is it because I have not been a good friend or accepting of their ways.

I often thought how great it would be to bring all of my old friends together. Maybe we can all get in a circle and play what we used to play in grammar school. I don’t like you because: But even told the truth, at this late date would we change or should I just be grateful for who I was and who they were at the time. Are relationships meant to last?

The Walker

2009-09-27T10:11:00.001-07:00

Black, homeless and quietly he walked. Let us call him Harold.

He walked all day and I wondered how that could be possible. But the truth is, he did! He was in supreme physical condition; tall, slim and shirtless with a flat stomach. He walked at a slow and even pace. People stopped their cars to offer him money which he politely took from the passing driver, then he quickly turned and walked on, almost as if he had to get back to his job. He particularly liked walking on the island that I lived where there were bridges and waterways. Sometimes I would see him on the sidewalk of a busy highway. It has been years now that I have followed Harold, intrigued by this homeless man. The Florida heat does not seem to bother him; perhaps he was brought up on one of the tropical islands and enjoys the warmth. He is in better shape than most young men and a stand out amongst homeless men. He might be handsome if he was cleansed and dressed appropriately. He might be anybody's son, husband or lover. Could he be my Pygmalion? What does your new boyfriend do? “Well, he walks.” From experience I know there is nothing more wonderful than walking, letting thoughts come and go while the body becomes invigorated. When I was in my late forties, my boyfriend at the time invited me out for a walk. I kind of laughed, thinking it was a strange kind of date. But Paul, on this wonderfully romantic date held me close as we walked embraced through the small and interesting streets of Key West, Florida. There were many walks to follow all with wonderful memories. Paul gave me a life time gift of walking for pleasure and exercise. I remember telling my girlfriend and she laughed at me. “walking, he took you walking, so what is that,” She did not understand that it was bigger than any gift he could have given to me.

Where did Harold go at night? Where did he sleep? Had he found a special place for himself? Had he made friends with neighbors who invited him to sleep on their property? Did he have any other possessions other than the pants and shoes he wore or the shirt tied around his waist? What was his real name? Did he ever go to school? Did he have a high IQ? Where was he from? This lonely walker with a stench, and I knew he had one, as I was one of the people who gave him money, fascinates me. I need to approach him. I need to find out who he is. I need to find out what has compelled him to live a life of walking. I need to know him and write about him. I need the world to meet him so that we can know his story.

2009-09-09T17:51:00.000-07:00

Subject: News from the Hamptons carol gershman
The Jewish Lady, The Black Man and the Road Trip
Issue No. 7 August 09
Dear carol,

A book takes one down un- known paths. Here I am with the Rabbi's from South Hampton Chabad Synagogue about to give a book presentation about living agelessly, living passionately based on my memoir, "The Jewish Lady,The black Man and the Road Trip."
Polo matches in the Hamptons

Always something a little different going on in the Hamptons. First a charity soft ball game for the stars on a lovely afternoon in East Hampton. Next came the Polo Matches; one huge party scene under a tent packed with people drinking and partying. I wonder if anyone so much as looked out at the polo players? Oops, there's two guy taking it in! The crowd arrived in Rolls Royce's, gorgeous convertibles, (me too) and dressed to the nines.
I ran into an old boyfriend from 31 years ago. Wow! have I been single that long?

Lunch at Roger and Daria's Montauk Beach House

My son Roger has the most divine home on the sea; three sides face the Atlantic. We had a wonderful lunch with sizzled salmon from the grill, corn and salad. It was one of those glorious beach days and nobody wanted to leave till late day. Life goes in circles!
Here is what I mean. Roger and Daria are taking the kids to Ca. back to school and the house will be empty for three days. So... I am movin in with a bunch of friends. Remember how we couldn't wait to get rid of the parents so we can party... Now I can't wait till my kids leave their house to me..

FROM MY MEMOIR, PAGE 145
My son Roger chose to live in the farthest point in the Hampton's, Montauk. I had worried how my kids would feel with their mom arriving with a black man with dreadlocks even though I had told them beforehand. But as cool as Xavier is, my kids are brought up to be sophisticated and even cooler. When Xavier got out of the car with his long dreadlocks blowing in the wind, Roger looked and me and said, "Cool dude mom, as he hugged me hello."
Article Headline

Now at the East Hampton Library standing with Anne Jones about to give a presentation. Interestingly enough, the librarys in the Hamptons have huge support and clout. It is the Hamptons mecca for culture with celebrity events going on all summer.
I have met so many celebs this summer. Julie Andrews still lovely to look at, Barbara Walters, never knew she was so tiny, Candice Bushnell, you know Sex and the City, author, then there was Alec Baldwin and numerous other authors and artists.
I know it is trouble but pleeeezze forward this on and..........DO TELL YOUR FRIENDS TO BUY A COPY OF MY SIZZLE...............GIVE IT AS A GIFT; A SIGNED COPY DIRECTLY FROM ME........PLACE ORDER AT
CAROLSUE@ATLANTICBB.NET

Girl friends.. are they not the best?

2009-09-07T17:23:00.000-07:00

The minute I heard that my son and his family were going to leave their beach house in Montauk, N. Y. for 3 days, I immediately jumped on the band wagon and asked to take it over. I had a plan. I wanted to invite my girlfriends to come and hang out with me. Why? Because they are great ladies and the added bonus is that they all love to play Mah Jongg. Just like me! My family said sure, take it over! On a moments notice Sarah dropped everything and flew all the way from Colorado, would you believe,? Lynnia threw away her return plane ticket changing the return date. My sister Judy could not wait to pick the girls up in NYC in her Party Artistry Van.

We were excited to see one another as Judy pulled up to Roger's beach house surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean on all three sides. They went wild about the house; who would not? It is on two glorious levels all facing the sea. Each of us had our own rooms but Lynnia and Sarah preferred giggling and talking all night so decided to share the master suite. I prepared an advanced Thanksgiving dinner, roasting a turkey, yum, sweet potatoes, string beans and relish. I bought the most awesome chocolate cookies, each one the size of a huge piece of cake for dessert. No sooner did we finish dinner, we were at the table playing Mah Jongg.

The next morning Lynnia who dresses to the nines preferred staying in her pj's relaxing, and in her own words said, "This is the most relaxed I have been in 10 years."

Sarah, beautiful woke up early to fix her self up dressed to perfection in her work out clothes, ready for a walk. Sister Judy always adorable was just herself.. Me? who cared? no makeup, hair strangling and dressed in Capri tights and a tee, non disrupt. Later the girls yelled; "Put on makeup you look ten years younger when you put some makeup on." Oh well, who really cares girls? I am still an eye stopper when I get dressed up. No?

The house has a patio with lounges and a built in fire pit; there is an enormous grass area with lounge furniture and umbrellas with at least 80 step leading down to the beautiful beach. But us ladies liked staying indoors, you know perfect air temperature, no sun on our precious protected faces, no chill up our spine, and heaven forbid any form of wind.

We hung out on the coach with the mah jongg table at arms length, set up to play at any given moment. It is a fascinating game as you can think of nothing else while you play. We gambled away at what we consider high enough stakes. We all love to win and cheer ourselves when we do; calling out the amount owed, with our hands out, making sure we are paid on the spot. Next to us we keep little dishes of our winnings and loosings.

We took breaks piling onto the huge couch placed in the middle of the room telling each other life stories. Lynnia talked about the beautiful angels who came to her rescue many times in her life; one climbing Ares rock in Australia, another time on the streets of Singapore. It made for good listening and many questions. Judy talked about her angel who was not an angel, her husband who passed on, and for sure Ira may he rest in peace, always made a good story...Sarah a great listener, asked lots of questions to keep it going and I had already spilled the beans in my memoir, so just took it all in for a change.

In between we ate, me sneaking the cookies at any given chance. At night we transformed ourselves into beauties and went out for dinner. Years ago we would hit the club or music scene. Now we piled into the van, Judy chauffeuring us round town, me shouting out turn here and turn there. We adored our water side table at Gosmans landmark restaurant, eating lobster and having fun and ice reams cones at John's famous for dessert. No sleep until we played rounds of mah jongg into the night. The days went quickly; we bonded and enjoyed each other. On the last morning we waited for the king of the house, Roger, to return. I wanted to show him off to my friends as he is quite cute. In he came looking adorable having flown in on the red eye and immediately went to hang up the drape I had knocked to the floor.

We said our farewells after breakfast; Both Judy and I were caught in bumper to bumper traffic. Judy dropped Lynnia off at the airport, I dropped Sarah off at the Jitney to the airport and I went home to sleep.

We love our girlfriends!

My Mustang and Me

2009-09-07T16:51:00.000-07:00

I compare myself to my car. My hot yellow mustang convertible. Sure she is getting older, 5 years now, but she sure does not look or act old.

Me too. I am getting older, 73 now, but I sure don't look or act old.

We may be getting older, but that does not mean we are old!

We enjoy life especially when we are in our element, on the road. She does better than me, never tiring, not even needing oil and water. How could she last 5000 miles without a drink? I must admit I need lots of water and lots of oil especially on my skin and hair and a good shot of cod liver oil never hurt anyone.

My mustangs hot yellow color inspires me to wear a fun hat and look perky; I sure don't want it to have one up on me. Yes, there is a rivalry between us; I would rather hear, hey you look hot, rather than what a hot looking car you have.... Now shut up and drive Mustang, you know sometimes I need the attention.

I love when the top is down and the weather is good. When it is brisk I often ride with the top down and the heat on.
I cannot pull my top down as far as my mustangs for obvious reasons but when I am in the drivers seat, the heat is always on in my life.

The mustang does not care how packed it gets. Right now it is bursting at the seams cause we are on the road. There is not a inch left in the trunk and the back seats are filled as well as the floor. There are no complaints. it still bobs along.
Now take me, when I get packed, what happens? I burst from all ends.

So the tires need rotating, and it gets scratches and scrapes but it always looks pretty.
When I am not being rotated and get scratches and scrapes I feel and look like hell.

Best of all it listens to what ever I have to say and goes exactly where I want it to go. What a partner!

Well we could go on and on and that is exactly what we are going to do. The older we get the better we will get.
Me and my hot yellow mustang.

Carol Sue Gershman

The end of summer "09

2009-09-02T13:48:00.000-07:00

So how was yours?

I wonder if anyone who tunes into my blogs writes or wishes they could write or wants to write a book?

I can only say DO IT..

There are no words to describe how a book can change your life.
It opens up avenues because so much goes into the writing and even more than writing the after writing process. The layout, fonts, publishing if you do it yourself and then, the 'oh my god promoting'. None of this is easy but I can assure you rewarding.

Take myself, what dd I know about writing? Nothing! Outside of my 2 semester Monday evenings at Dade
County schools, I never studied writing in high school; was there such a course? or college.
Somehow within nine months I wrote 325 pages. I had to go through editing and re-editing and re- editing and then re- editing but I wrote a good book and told a good story.

Then I had to talk about it, right? What did I know about standing up in front of any audience? Nothing. I was scared to death. and boring. I bored myself and the audience. Why? Because I was focused on me and not them. I was worried about what they were thinking of me and I was over the top insecure. So I went to Toast masters. What did I know about Toastmasters? Nothing, I can assure you. Well thanks to my daughter Leslie who is a member, I enrolled and learned what a brilliant organization it is. In a short time I learned to speak in front of an audience marveling at the members who could do it so well. And now, give me an audience and I will engage them..Who would believe?

Then I had to sell books. what did I know about selling books? Nothing, I can assure you. So I hit the road, me at seventy three putting forty five hundred miles on my Mustang, sleeping in motels, driving, driving, and promoting and inspiring on a one to one basis at Barnes and Noble, Borders, independents all up the east coast.

There is so much more to come. My book is my friend and right now my purpose in life. After almost one year of promoting I know I am just at the beginning.
Do see my video by clicking link above top.
If you need inspiration or would like to ask a question, please comment.

Carol Sue Gershman

PRESS RELEASE.WHO NEEDS AN AGENT OR A PUBLISHER

2009-08-22T07:20:00.000-07:00

PRESS RELEASE
Contact: carol sue gershman
tel: 305-672-4264
e mail: carolsue@atlanticbb.net
web site: www.jewishladyblackman.com
Who needs an agent or a publisher?
73 year old first time author self promotes Memoirs to roaring success

August 18, 2009 Carol Sue Gershman decided not to wait around to find a publisher or agent . She self published her memoir and hit the road. Through her own efforts and putting 4500 miles on her hot yellow mustang convertible, she has signed in more than 25 locations.

When she decided to reenact the places she wrote about in her memoir; road-tripping along the same route, she spontaneously called the Barnes and Nobles, Borders and independent book stores along the way and interested them in her story. Much to her surprise she got bookings. “I had a story to tell, and at my age, I wasn’t’ going to wait around to see if any professional agent agreed with me. I picked up the phone, and booked myself. I have always been a believer in following ones dreams and not taking no for an answer.”

The highlight was Washington, D. C. Omar Berry, store manager of Borders placed a banner covering an entire window of her in the heart of downtown Washington. “Now that was a thrill,” she said.

Now taking a break and residing in Sag Harbor, N. Y., she gives formal book talks. She tells her audience that they can live agelessly and passionately too. She says by discovering what your passion is and by paying no attention to how old you are, you can follow your dreams at any age. Keep yourself in good health and follow your spirit! You would be surprised she said, at how much you have inside of you that needs to be discovered.
.
There is so much more to come she says a new world where good things happen every day.“Just think, if I had waited for an agent or publisher none of this would have happened. I might still be waiting to be chosen, and if my book was published, it would have taken another one or two years to hit the shelf.”

Would she turn down a publishers offer? Not sure she said, you know those contracts.
There is a new self publishing world out there. When I run out of states, I might consider driving around Europe and Australia? Why not?

2009-08-10T05:49:00.000-07:00

Great photos from Book Signing.

2009-08-10T05:48:00.001-07:00

Book Signings in the Hamptons

2009-08-10T05:40:00.000-07:00

There is no question that writing a book opens doors in new directions! Promoting the book is what it is all about! Now solely promoting, and with more than 4000 new miles on my yellow mustang here I am in the Hampton's and part of a new world.
Book signing event in East Hampton
Exciting day for 120 authors in East Hampton, me with Alec Baldwin, Barbara Walters and other celebs signing our books. An attendance of perhaps 500 people graced the lawn under the huge white tent. Wine, brie, sushi, shrimp were served as people strolled to the author's tables buying books. There were wonderful after parties hosted in private spectacular homes like Diane and Allan Lieberman hosting Candice Bushnell. That was the one I attended!
Life is great for me in Sag Harbor, where I have taken up residence for awhile. How I love the Hamptons!

FROM MY MEMOIR; PAGE 138
'The top was down and we were on our way to Montauk to visit my son Roger and his gorgeous family. I had particularly loved the Hampton's which was filled with sublime memories. As soon as I would leave the city a feeling of peace and happiness came over me.'

Book signing Party in Quogue
Last week I was the honored guest at the charming and delightful home of Marjorie and Ken Cohen, after my book presentation at library. The large table was filled with wonderful foods and oh, those cookies! (Might add that this weeks honored guest is Michael J. Fox.) The room was filled with people who came to hear me speak and to support their exquisite library. It was a special day for me as my son and family, Roger and Daria, Alex, sister Judy, and niece and nephew Tracy and Marty graced me with their presence..................FROM MY MEMOIR, PAGE 139

'"I took Xavier on a quick tour of South Hampton showing him the magnificent mansions, one after another on the sea. I showed him the beach that I had loved and through the towns business center finally reaching the Driver's Seat restaurant in the center of town. It was there that I became silent, going back into my thoughts and remembering my incredible love affair with Gerhardt.'

contact me at carolsue@atlanticbb.net to order signed copy

Price: $14.95 includes shipping

Marjorie's Day

2009-08-03T16:11:00.000-07:00

One never knows who will be sitting in the audience of a book talk and who will lead you on to other things. In this case it was Marjorie who happened to be passing Books and Books in Miami and saw a sign that said 'Book talk, champagne and cupcakes.''Lets go," she said to her friend.
The next day she went to a local spa and met Lisa, my prior pr agent. They struck up a conversation and my name came up. Marjorie said, 'oh my goodness, I heard Carol Sue speak at Books and Books.' Once thing led to another; Marjorie hired Lisa for an up coming event. Not knowing any of this, I was invited to that party where Lisa introduced me to Marjorie. " I heard you speak and loved it and mentioned she lives in the Hampton's."
Knowing I would be in the Hampton's this summer, she excitedly suggested who I should contact for book talk.
Reporting back to Marjorie that the place was booked, she took it upon herself to call the library and say, 'come on now, I am sure you can find one day for Carol Sue to speak.'
Well, yesterday was the day. It was a excellent event; about fifty people, my son and family, my sister, my niece and nephew all surrounded me as I gave my talk and then I learned that next weeks agenda is Michael J. Fox, standing where I did.
Not only that, Marjorie hosted an after party at her exquisite country chateau for thirty people in my honor. I arrived famished and after expending over the top adrenalin at my signing, I ran to her beautiful table and ate her out of house and home; three bowls of pasta, all of the delicate lacy chocolate cookies and then took three brownies for the road.
Thank you Marjorie, I had a blast, so did my family and I think you and your husband are sensational.

Not much time

2009-07-30T17:05:00.000-07:00

Dear friends and bloggers,
Not much time for writing about anything else this summer as I have been on the road as you might know.
It has been extraordinary running from city to state promoting my book; all news to me.
So here I am at 73 with a car filled with books, hats, water aerobic equipment, and just enough room for only me. The plus is I like to drive.
A typical day was to get up in the morning, head for the nearest Starbucks, yes, I am addicted, and hit the road. For instance I started in St. Augustine. I liked sleeping in the comfort inns, the sleep inns because there was no hassle, my car parked right outside of my room, so easy for me to carry in what I needed. After settling as I did in St. Augustine I toured the town seeing things I never did before. There were restaurants and then to my book signing.
Just waiting for people to come, listen to what I had to say and buy my book.
Now how much fun is that? In St. Augustine I was written up in the paper and made some wonderful new friends who shared their life stories.
Writing opens up doors, that is all there is to it.
I will continue to write about my adventures as time goes on.
Is there anything you would most like to hear about? Is hitting the road something you have wanted to do?
Carol Sue Gershman

The Road Trip continues to Stowe, Vt.

2009-07-30T17:01:00.000-07:00

Reply: carolsue@atlanticbb.net
THE JEWISH LADY, THE BLACK MAN AND THE ROAD TRIP
Issue No. 5 July 09

The great part of traveling on a road trip is seeing friends and family. Ronnie and Marcia Lipack enchanted me with their visit in
Charlotte, N. C. and now take a look at my grand kids in Stowe, Vt. on this visit.

Excerpt from my book, page 164

Ziggy (3rd from left) knew that we were coming to visit him in camp, but was not sure exactly when. When the director alerted him that Xavier and I had arrived he came running down the path to meet us. We walked to the archery class which was about to begin. He ran over to his friend, pointed to us and delivered the best line of the trip"
"MY GRANDPARENTS ARE HERE"
Eric and Robin's gentleman farm in Stowe, Vermont

Excerpt from my memoir Page 175

Xavier was completely blown away. I had told him nothing prior to our arrival about the estate. He sat on the front porch, throwing his arms out wide, joyfully laughing and shouting out "My dowry, my dowry."

MORE FUN TO COME.... PLEASE STAY TUNED..
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News from Washington DC and Williamsburg, Va

2009-07-21T05:18:00.000-07:00

Washington, DC and all of its power. The weather was glorious and to see the monument, Capital, Obama's pad, Arlington Cemetery, Smithsonian, was a thrill. The town was packed with tourists and the energy is vibrating. AND there amongst all of its power, was MY poster on the corner of 14th and L hanging in the window of Borders! Oh yes, there is was....

HERE IS A TASTE OF WASHINGTON, FROM MY BOOK, WHILE VISITING MY COUSIN, FORMER SECT. OF THE NAVY.

'I wanted to bring him flowers but Xavier spotted a watermelon at a market and suggested we bring that instead. I thought it would be different and thirst-quenching in the heat. Xavier put the watermelon on his shoulder, the typical picture white folks have of a black man and this is how I introduced him. I was amused and humiliated at the same time but we all had a good laugh and a year later my cousins and I recalled the funny incident."

BACK TRACKING TO WILLIAMSBURG

I AM SO WIPED!

3 great weeks on the road but now backtracking to Williamsburg, Va. because of schedule, was a wipe out for me! But the early morning tea in the historic village with hardly any tourists and free parking was great.. Then on to my book talk at BN.....FROM MY BOOK:

'We briefly ran in and out of the wonderful historic shops, the cobbler, the p o, the sweet store, the hardware store, as authentic as they were back in time. But neither one us needed to drag out the historical visit; we were on the same wave length. It was hot and we were attached to our car and couldn't wait to get back into it. It was our little cool cocoon of security."

ENJOY YOUR SUMMER AND PLEASE STAY..............TUNED.

From Charlotte, going North

2009-07-11T03:49:00.000-07:00

4 JULY 09
Dear carol,

Charlotte, N. C. was not part of our road trip, yet I found myself passing by the city. Much to my delight at the Joseph-Beth Book store, I found quite a large image of my book embracing the store. Their beautiful store goes all out for authors with a table ready and waiting in anticipation of my arrival. Had lunch prior at California Pizza and recommend their pizza with arugula salad on top with shrimp! Really yum yum..

WHY IN GOODNESS NAME DID I PUT A PHOTO OF I HOP.... I WILL TELL YOU.
My mom would love to go and I would say, "Mom, I don't eat that kind of food, (meaning it was not gourmet enough for me) let's go somewhere else." Well, I have now fallen in love with I Hop on this trip. Those omelettes, the service, the efficiency and with all of the madness on Hilton Head , which was my next stop, it was a refuge, cause they know how to run their establishment...
I Hop..... all the way for me from now on. Sorry Mom....

Then it was Fourth of July at Hilton Head, not really one of my very favorite spots. Everything seems so hidden behind trees and bushes; exclusive what? And, oh yes, you know how exciting it is to go for ice cream, especially when it is home made.. Well, the ice cream scoopers of Hilton Head tourcher. Stood in line for at least 10 minutes with only 2 people in front of me. Finally got my ice cream in a wet cone cause the kid just did not know how to hold the cone and scoop the cream , and yup, I got into my car and the top scoop fell off...... Xavier and I felt the same way on our trip, yet it is packed with people who cannot get enough of the island. with people wwho cand had fun selling my books.....

Spent 4th of July in Beaufort, S. C. historical yes, hot yes, fireworks yes, but to me what made Beaufort is : An OLD FASHIONED DRIVE IN MOVIE THEATER WITH POP CORN AND ALL THE WORKS.. I have not seen one of those since I went to one with my husband Norman25 or 30 years ago... What fun to bring back those good old memories even though I had no one to NECK with in the car.

WOW! NEXT STOP WASHINGTON D.C. Time really flying by! Although, I have to do some back tracking after Wa.

Have a great summer AND PLEASE STAY TUNED.

2009-07-06T16:42:00.000-07:00

Issue No. 3 July 09
The Jewish Lady, the Black Man and the Road Trip

Charleston, the most charming of the charming! Noticed it looked dryer than last visit, not as many flowering trees and greenery. Sure enough, they have been suffering a drought for many years. The delightful early morning carriage ride through the gracious residential area, taught me that good old George Washington had his own church pew, as did many; that many shop owners lived above their store, and I do remember visiting family as a kid running from their home to their store downstairs. In today's world we have home offices! Right? While photographing, I went back to the Indigo Inn where we stayed (page 98) and an idea popped into my head to show the manager page 98 of my book; WHAT REALLY GOES ON BETWEEN THE SHEETS AT THE INDIGO! Sure enough they had to buy a copy to keep as a fireside book!

A TEASE FROM PAGE 98 FROM MY BOOK

We enjoyed our room in Charleston especially the soft large bed with the messy covers I had disrupted. We made love never able to get enough; with our lips locked, we wanted, as usual, to crawl inside of one another.

Book signing and selling out at Waldens

My hat stood straight up from all the excitement around me!
Charleston was good to me! This nice gentleman bought my book for his mom. hoping she will pass it back on to him! Another stop at The Blue Bicycle book store in Charleston. Must admit I have never had this much fun ever!

A TASTE FROM PAGE 96

Charleston is known for southern cooking. We found a little family-owned storefront restaurant. Sitting next to one another, rarely across, we read the menu together. "Southern fried-chicken and grits. What a treat! Sounds good to me," Xavier said. "Let's get one platter between us," he said, and then we can have two desserts." So what else is new? I thought. As usual, there were no worries about me getting fat. His cheapness drove him, but I didn't care. I had enough to eat; besides there were always more peanuts back in the room. When the food arrived, he proved he was right, sharing an order was a much better idea. The portions were large, with more than enough for both of us and plenty of room for dessert. Sharing our dinners made me realize how much I over eat.

Day 1 and 2 of the Road trip (relived)

2009-06-29T11:26:00.000-07:00

Left Ocean Spray Hotel, Miami Beach with a car so jammed packed you could never believe it; that is why I took the photo.
Believe it or not with all of the wonderful B&B's, fancy hotels along my path, I feel most comfortable at a "Choice hotel" like a Sleep Inn..
Why? comfortable, car outside the door, swimming pool outside the door, easier than porters or carrying luggage up the winding charming staircases of a B&B, and suppose I do not like the host and rules he might have?
STOP 1:
St. Augustine, the oldest town in U. S. is ever so charming with its winding streets, museums, restaurants, walk ways, discovering sights I never saw before. No place is ever the same the 2nd time round or for that matter ever! Book Signing a smash at a book store so old that it matched the oldest city. I sat out on the lawn and people strolled by to listen to the story of the Jewish Lady, The Black Man and the Road trip. Such fun talking to people and hearing their stories too.
Everybody has a story..

Here are a few lines from my memoir while visiting St. Augustine

"As we sat side by side in the restaurant that first night, I suddenly burst out into uncontrollable laughter. It might have been anxiety; I felt shy. Maybe I wanted to say I love you, or I am thrilled to be here with you but it was easier to laugh and cover up my uncomfortable feeling of closeness."

STOP 2:
On to Savannah early the next morning to my first Barnes and Noble with a sell out of books! What fun is this! Savannah gorgeous with its river walks and Georgian mansions! Great food and cordial people.
Here are a few lines from my memoir while visiting Savannah.

After dinner at a riverside cafe, we sat at a park bench along the river. It had stopped raining and we enjoyed the peace and beauty in each others arms. We kissed as he held me tight. We needed the closeness knowing that we were getting farther away from home."
The next morning we rode down Martin Luther King Boulevard into the raunchiest part of town, and I wondered why they always chose to put the name M.L.K. in the most run down parts of town.

NEXT STOP CHARLESTON!

HItting the Road

2009-06-26T03:34:00.000-07:00

I AM HITTING THE ROAD THIS FRIDAY JUNE 26th ON A TEN CITY BOOK SIGNING TOUR.

The yellow mustang is in the shop getting ready for the big adventure; still hot and sexy! And yup, so am I.

The path of the road trip will be taken, the same one taken four years ago, re-living the cities/states visited, this time with a book in hand.

Who would have believed as Xavier and I "passioned" each day, that a sizzling memoir was in the making?

Talks will be at B&N, Borders and other local stores and radio..I hope to keep you posted with passages from the book from each city, then and now.

Here is the first exert from "The Jewish Lady, The Black Man and the Road Trip." Page 75

'The best thing in life for me is freedom but that beautiful late June morning, I was leaving it all behind. I excitedly picked up Xavier in my hot yellow mustang convertible, the incredible car my son Eric had given me. I could hardly wait to get to Xavier's building. The top was down and as he came through the door, I saw that his bright yellow sneakers and bag matched the car. He was ever so cool with his long grey dreadlocks, wearing jean shorts and a t-shirt that said "Needs Supervision." His legs were a womans dream, shapley with not a mark on them. I was dressed in nothing more than roll up jeans and a hospital shoes as my toe injury still had not healed. The t-shirt I chose to wear that morning read "C I A." He said "come up to my apartment. I want to show you my new piece of art and say goodbye to my cats before we leave.'

Have a wonderful summer and................PLEASE STAY TUNED!

Carol Sue

My book signing tour begins next week

2009-06-19T17:16:00.000-07:00

Four years ago the black man and the Jewish Lady (Xavier and Carol Sue) left on their road trip north.
For those of you who have read my book you know that the trip took place from Miami to Montreal. It was me, Carol Sue, who picked up Xavier in my hot yellow mustang convertible that lovely June morning in 05 . We giggled and laughed about what was ahead. We were putting ourselves in a 5x5 space for a five week trip. We had made a pack that if we did not get along he would be dropped off at the next airport. It was an exciting morning for both of us; His tee shirt read "needs supervision" mine read "CIA. " Funny enough it was not planned.
To fast forward, next week I am going on a book tour re-living all of the cities/ states that we visited. I will be speaking at B&N, Borders and other local stores. It was unbeknown to me back then that a book would come out of our trip.
I hope to blog about the trip noting the differences from then to now.
I hope you will check in and see how it goes.
Carol Sue Gershman

What a trip! "VAT A TRIP"

2009-06-05T14:25:00.000-07:00

Friends, who live in Switzerland, treated themselves to tickets FOR THE WEEKEND to the Sacred Musical Festival in Morocco.

The trouble was there was no direct flight to Morocco from Zurich that was reasonably priced. They found a flight from Basil, Sw. to London with one trick; they had to get up at 4:00 a. m. and drive an hour plus to catch it. Not so bad.

So off they went driving through the dawn and arrived within plenty of time to catch their 7:00 a. m. flight! They parked the car, dragged their bags to check in and there it was on the screen. Flight delayed until 11:20 a. m. What chance would they have of meeting the flight in London to connect to Morocco? Almost impossible!

Well of course they wanted to scotch the trip and go home except for one thing! Everything was pre paid. So they proceeded in the 4 hour waiting time to make endless calls to get their pre-paid money back. The airline said, "not me, it is the other air line that was late," the hotel in Morocco said "sorry" and of course we know ticket master would not even think of crediting monies, oh not them! There was no chance what so ever of getting their money back. So they decided that they might as well go! Maybe they would actually make the flight, take a chance they said, why go home defeated? So they did!

Yup they missed the flight !

So..there they were in London. It would now cost them an additional $900.00 to continue on. So do you completely loose the $2000.00 already invested or do you spend another $900.00 and fulfill the Sacred Music Festival Concert dream? They could not even use the return portion of the ticket because the airline immediately bounces you if you missed the front portion . A whole new ticket from London had to be bought. "Take the money, they screamed, just take it and get me to Morocco."
Finally, they were on their way arriving at 1:00 A. M. (almost now 22 hours) for what could have been a 21/2 hr. flight from Zurich if they did not try to save money flying from Basil.

They had booked a superb room, but because of late arrival they gave away their $200.00 pre booked room. They were put in a room without any windows or air looking over a courtyard of an enclosed restaurant. They could not breathe or sleep and woke up exhausted. So a fight was in store with the management the next morning until they won their room back and yes, it was a good one. Alah!

The concert was great, but between you and I, they might have slept through it. .
The weekend past, they enjoyed the winding streets of Fez with all of the goodies, and became mesmerized with the carpets of Morocco, and ended up buying one worth thousands, but here in Morocco it only cost $350.00... You guessed it! it simply does not look the way they had imagined in their apartment. In fact it looks terrible!

The day came to go back to the airport with plenty of time to spare. Suddenly someone asked them "What time is it?" When they told them the time, the passerby said, "that is funny someone told me it was an hour later."

Yup. They forgot to go on Morocco time and the flight would be leaving and they would miss it again. They grabbed a cab and went through endless amounts of traffic and chaos, literally running through the airport and with the gate closing they.... MADE IT.
They would have a 6 hour delay in London waiting for their connection so they rented one of the Japanese little sleep a thons where one could rest between flights, good idea except they were closed into a closet the size of a bathroom with once again no windows or air.

Funny enough, anytime I rent a room, one of my questions is,"Does it have a window THAT OPENS" Sometimes I get laughed at but who cares. You would be surprised at how many rooms do not have windows or seal their windows. Me, I need air.

$3.500.00 later, Switzerland never looked so good!

The irony is that there is no help out there. Oh yes, wait till you hear this one. They had flight insurance but they would not pay because it was a weather related delay... Is this all too much?

Looks like Uncle Sam will foot the bill next IRS day. Only in America, Only in America!
Carol Sue Gershman

How sharp is she!

2009-06-03T17:03:00.000-07:00

Here is the story....
Girl meets boy on vacation. They have a fling spending the week together. They part, leaving for different states far away from one another. He writes to her saying how much he enjoyed their time and says" Time will tell if our paths will cross. Stay in touch."

SHE IS HORRIFIED AND DISAPPOINTED! AFTER ALL SHE THOUGHT HE WAS CRAZY ABOUT HER AND NOW, STAY IN TOUCH, PATHS CROSSING...
She composes herself and writes this back:

"Do you think that a NY, fun loving, party planning, if there's a will, there's a way, kind of gal who really likes you, could possibly leave our next meeting to "Time will tell, perhaps our paths will cross, who knows when, let's stay in touch?" Well you're no fun at all.
If you want to participate, understanding that perhaps you don't, for various imagined reasons, I'll share with you over the next month or so just where and how WE WILL MEET."

So you see dear friends, this lady took the bull by the horn, dropped her ego, stopped sulking and turned the whole thing around.
Now before I tell you the outcome, how do you think HE responded?
Carol Sue Gershman

Back from the big City

2009-06-03T16:50:00.001-07:00

Is there any place like New York City?
Went to book expo America where authors, agents, publishers, speakers meet.
Jacob Javitz Center is huge. I think at least a half mile in width and if you walk through all of the four floors back and forth, well you add it up! Oh my legs have not looked this good!
Is there any place like Miami? arrived back and immediately went into the warming sea, divine temperatures, open windows, convertibles.
I count my blessings to be part of two great ciities...Where do you live? Would you like to tell me something about your city.
How passionate are you about it? How long have you loved it or how long have you been thinking about moving?
Lets begin the conversation.
Carol Sue Gershman

How good she made me feel

2009-05-23T16:10:00.000-07:00

Did you ever get a bad haircut that made you feel terrible? Of course you did, who ever escaped one? Well it was my turn today; much my fault as I requested short fringe bangs (like in the 50's)
Well they came out short, so short, that to me I looked idiotic..Bet you can picture what I mean.
A lady in the beauty parlor overheard my cries and popped up and said, "They are cute, you look great, as a matter of fact you look like Gweneth Pal trow.
"Oh really, I said, how nice of you to give me such a compliment."
A total stranger was kind enough to made me feel good about myself. How many times could I have done the same, but simply did not bother.
It is so important to pass on positive thoughts rather than think them. One never knows how down in the dumps the other person might feel.
Carol Sue Gershman
or
Ms Pal trow

The Blouse

2009-05-23T15:56:00.000-07:00

The lovely Peruvian lady wore a white crisp peasant blouse. It had embroidery down the front and large puffed sleeves. I said , "oh, how pretty, is it from Peru?' She said, "no, it is European," which still sounded exotic to me.. I said "Oh really, where did you buy it?" Her response:
SEARS
(it is all who wears it)
Carol Sue Gershman

The insecurity in women

2009-05-17T16:22:00.000-07:00

A friend, let us call her Jane, went on a cruise and met a delightful man. They ended up holding hands, kissing and then the big bang into one of the bunk beds. yummy. A loving find on the high seas.
Jane came home on a high! What a trip! Imagine booking a trip, expecting to read a ton of books and ending up enchanted by a delightful new man.
Yes, this is how life is supposed to work, yet it takes a special two to connect and make it happen.
Well Jane was hardly unpacked when the e-mail came, he thanking her for a great time and stating it remains to be seen if we ever meet again (they living far apart in the states) and signing, keep in touch. Jane was devastated by his seemingly cold welcome home. She felt that he felt it was simply a shipboard romance and now good-bye to her.
My advice was to pay no attention and to pursue.
So she sent him a flirtatious note planning a rendezvous, when the second bomb shell landed.
One of the other shipmates saw him walking arm in arm with another woman at the last port stop; she for friendship sake sent my Jane an e-mail spelling out how surprised she and her husband were to see her lover with another woman, seeming intimate. After all she said, "I thought you both were a great couple." P. S. The other woman was part" of their table at sea so all knew one another. Jane was heartbroken...How could I have meant so little she thought?
So who was the culprit?
HE?
THE OTHER WOMAN?
OR THE BITCH THAT SPELLED THE BEANS?
JANE WAS DEVASTATED; SHE WOULD NEVER SEE HIM AGAIN NO MATTER!

And then; In response to her flirtatious note, sent prior, came a response from the lover.
Completely delighted to hear from her, and apologizing for his aloof note to her. He stated that he was not expecting Jane to continue with him, thinking it was strictly a adventure for her on the high seas, and apparently wanting to be the one to take the first out.
So you see how egos get in the way of what ones really feels;and why men and women have such a tough time getting it together? When will we ever learn to follow our hearts?
Carol Sue Gershman

The uncomplicated life

2009-05-11T17:41:00.000-07:00

There is no question, I have complicated my life; oh too many times to talk about here.
But what I would like to talk about is an uncomplicated life. How to keep things simple and easy and make the simplest task interesting. Here is what I am trying to say.
It was Saturday night and you know how we are programmed, a date, a party, sex, a play, movie, dinner, friends over and the list goes on.
Well here is how I spent last Saturday night.
I had laundry to do and no washing machine in sight at the small hotel I now call home. I learned that the closest Laundromat was about 2 miles away.
So I made plans with me to go on a date to the Laundromat.
I placed my laundry in a bag on wheels, waited for the sun to go down, put on my sneakers and took the two mile hike dragging my laundry along the boardwalk and on to the avenues. The temperature was perfect, a balmy breeze pushing me along. I stopped in a little market for a bottle of ice cold water. Rather than fumbling inside of my bag for change I asked if I could charge the water on the credit card I had around my neck placed in a little case.The teller told me the minimum was five dollars. A good sole overheard the conversation and while I was struggling to look for the change, and without me seeing him do it, he paid for my water. He drove quickly away before I could thank him. How kind he was and how sorry he must have felt for this poor over heated woman with laundry and messed up hair.
I passed sidewalk cafes, people out on Saturday night. I treated myself to a smoothie, each sip delicious. I stopped in little shops and finally arrived at the huge busy Laundromat. People carried in over sized bundles of laundry, doing the same thing I was doing on their Sat. night. Their kids ran wild having to hang out with their parents, and their dirty laundry. My clothes got washed and dried and the time flew by. Ahhh, clean sweet smelling clothes of mine! A great feeling! I had left at six and it was close to nine. I took the free bus back, seniors do not pay in Miami and went back to my simplified hotel room so exhausted that I went straight to sleep. Simple night, a good healthy walk, thirst quenching water, fruit smoothie , clean laundry to wear and a roaring sleep. Life at its best!
Carol Sue Gershman

Do you have a TRUE LIFE STORIE

2009-05-08T05:02:00.000-07:00

Do you have a true life story that you would like to tell me about? I would love to hear a few paragraphs.
Please send it to me
carolsue@atlanticbb.net
I will publish it on to my blog

The broken bone family

2009-05-07T19:29:00.000-07:00

How can everything happen in a family all at once? Well it did.

Within a month:
My daughter sprained her shoulder
My daughter in law broke her wrist
My son had knee surgery
My ex husband needs back surgery
I broke my elbow

We are lucky! What if all of the above happened to just one of us?
Carol Sue Gershman

Luck....how is yours?

2009-05-07T19:19:00.000-07:00

Has my luck run out?
As you know I have gone through surgery on my elbow after a terrible fall by slipping heals out on a Clorox floor. No, I cannot blame Clorox. I can only blame myself for not wiping it up.
So now I am three weeks post surgery and found this uncomfortable bump on my elbow. I have found out today that one of the wires inserted has pushed out, has not held, and in order to fix it I have to go back for another surgery. Is this all too much? Not only that, they can not do the surgery till my arm heals which could be up to six months. And what about if this wire decides to push out from the inside to the outside? Now did you ever hear of anything like this one?
Here I was one healthy exuberant lady ready to venture out on another one year travel adventure but decided to get a spot off of the floor with some Clorox and my entire life has shifted. Will my arm heal properly. Will It ever be what it was or for that matter who I was?
Once I venture into something it usually turns out well, but I must admit this is not too lucky.
Carol Sue Gershman

How I got out of a slump

2009-05-02T16:18:00.000-07:00

From my slump dogs, I dressed and went out for a Tasti Delight ice cream with hot fudge on top. Delicious.

The trouble with sweets and or chocolate is that it makes me crave more; After scraping the cup, I simply had to have more fudge. While Tasti Delight fudge is wonderful, Giardelli ice cream shop down the street is the real thing. I hesitated and decided the heck with it, after all I have been suffering so! I went inside refusing the offer of the free candy samples they humbly give out, and rushed to the the back counter asking, "Do you sell hot fudge separately in a cup?" ' " Yes, he said, we do." (I thought I was the only one who dared such a treat)
He said it would be $1.09 with the tax; a cheap thrill I thought; never imagining how many of us crave the same thing. I ordered.

Oh how yum yum could anything be, my own cup of hot fudge!. I practically skipped home, my craving over and no need for anything more from my evening out.
You see from my slump, I dressed with high heels, put on makeup, a cute new hat, had a treat and that is all it took. Simple! Could I really be just that simple?

Once home, my computer also brought me joy. A well wish from a love and a great opportunity to rent a awesome apt. in n. y. c.

Suddenly I loved all of my friends again and grateful to them for listening to how great I felt after being in such a slump.

My mom always told me, "It always gets better" How it happens I do not know but it does.

Carol Sue Gershman (Please see below)

Where do we go from here?

2009-05-01T13:59:00.000-07:00

I am feeling lonely! How about you?

I am healing well from my fall and elbow operation and have now become more and more in love with my precious elbow. You see it it was not for it, I would have landed on my head , and if it had cracked as my elbow did; well you have got the picture. I have spent weeks in pain and lots of sleep, but now I have awakened. Having slowed my life down to a snail, I can see it clearly.

My book is selling slowly! If I am not out there promoting it, nobody buys it. That is how it goes. Those who have read it, love it, feel inspired, find it powerful (I like that word) but no matter what I am an unknown author and not on any best seller lists as mine is self published. Are you hearing my frustration? I know my book is for women and a few good men, it is well written, interesting, etc. yet sales are slow with no big T V or movie requests YET.

My love affairs are over for now with no one new in site, unless if I wanted one of the new pursuers, the ones I have not met who do not seem all that interesting. I am lacking friends and annoyed by many of them. I am beginning to outgrow some of my dearest as the conversations and jokes are getting stale. Do you consider me a brat yet?

Excitement lies within I know, but where is mine. o. k. I am going out and making some tonight. will write more tomorrow.

Carol Sue Gershman

The Room

2009-04-26T15:16:00.000-07:00

Living in one room as a single person is all that I require.
I am tired of condominium living with all of the rules, assessments, boards that never let the residents win, and oh those neighbors, the bad ones we get stuck with.
Yes, I have a choice to have my own home out on a farm but I am a city girl; besides I am not brave enough to live by myself out in the woods. No, not for scardy-cat me. I like urban city living.
So, here I am.
In a room
in a small residential hotel
and I love it....
All it is is a bedroom and bath. It is a large room with windows all around facing the street and a corner desk with a draw circling round the windows..
Hear this! It is a smoke free building, such a brilliant rarity. It is an elevator building for all of its 7 floors. There is maid service once a week, costs extra $15.00 plus tax. There is a 15in. flat screen TV which I can turn in either direction instead of my big heavy cumbersome TV.
In the lobby is a concierge to help on any of my needs, and while I do not frequent the food, a small SUBWAY has opened in the building and they do have great soup and pizza.
It has a lovely front porch with tables furnished from Subway and all of this is ONE HALF BLOCK FROM THE BEACH; close enough to come back to my room to go to the bathroom.
There is a drawback because there is no kitchen. Just a little refrigerator, so it would be hard to live here permanently , but for now I buy food, fruits, vegetables in package.I use plastic utensils, one plate, one take out cup for hot tea, one take out container for iced tea. And oh yes, no laundry cause I rinse my things out every night. The cost? No more than what my condo costs to live and nobody here to tell me what I can and can not do.
It is quiet, simple and I feel free. I adore my room. Come visit!
Carol Sue Gershman

Left sided sisters

2009-04-24T05:09:00.000-07:00

My daughter had taken a fall cross country sking on March 20th. Nothing broken but lots of pain on her left shoulder. She sought a therapist and now a osteopath as it needs much attention.

On April 6th I fell down shattering my left elbow and needing an operation. My story lies below in another blog.

On April 21 my daughter in law did a flip over the handles of her bike and sprained her wrist.

Funny? not funny? kind of strange don't you think?

Should we bond closer to one another, are we deeper sisters than we think?

Carol Sue Gershman

Broken elbow and homeless

2009-04-22T16:39:00.000-07:00

Oh what an adventure I have just been through.
I rented my apartment for one year putting everything into storage. That Monday I was packing the last of my things, one pile of suitcases would stay in my car for my trip north (after I returned in a month from S. F.) the other pile of cases going to S. F. I took in a breath and lay down to rest on a mattress on the floor that I had kept behind for my last two nights in the apartment. I was about to meet the the girls for mah jongg; yup I play. I was proud of my accomplishment of getting away for a year and now only two days away from my departure.

AND THEN I STOOD UP. From out of no where my heels went straight out in front of me; I had poured some Clorox on the floor and had forgotten to wipe it up. I went crashing backwards, screaming, as my back and elbow hit the floor; Oh yes, the hardest, brightest white epoxy floor that one could ever imagine especially designed by me for me. I lay for a time trying to come to myself, and realized I could get up which is always a good sign.
In pain I drove to the emergency ward and 6 hours later was diagnosed with a broken elbow and sent to an orthopedic surgeon. The next day, one day to go now till vacating day, I ran for a referral; you know those HMO'S, and when I saw the Dr. after a 2 hour wait, he said, "bad, bad, you need a specialist who does elbows, I do not touch a break like yours." I looked around his waiting room and could not believe my eyes, people were coming in on stretchers, on walkers, on crutches with broken up and down bodies; was my astonishing black and blue elbow actually worse than those injured souls? I would be homeless within 24 hours; what was I going to do? All bets were off for me to go to S.F. And then I realized it might be less overwhelming for me to actually go to Ca., after all I was guaranteed a bed with my son and family!

I decided to go." I am going," I said. I would blow off the elbow specialist, my second referral. Oddly enough I was not in much pain. I lay down on the floor mattress to sleep, ready to leave in the A. M. and waited for the alarm to go off. I was startled out of my sleep at 5:00 A.M. "What am I crazy, how can I go, how can I endure such a flight with two changes no less? So at 5:15 A. M. I cancelled the flight and shuttle service, and at 9:00 A. M. I was ready to vacate my apartment.
I did a once mop over with my good hand, the valet packed my mustang with just enough room for me to sit. There I went, driving my self to the specialist assuming he would admit me pronto and I at least would beat the game and not be homeless. The hospital would take good care of me. I figured it out perfectly!

The specialist agreed that an operation was the only way to go; but not just yet. It would take at least 5 days over Easter and Passover weekend to get it together and with that he said, ' There is s no harm in you going to S. F. and having it done there.' OMG, should I really re-book? My son agreed," come on out; I don't know why you cancelled in the first place." With my car packed, I drove back to my building where I would leave my car, stopped at Walgreen's to fill a prescription to avoid blood clotting on the flight and called the shuttle service to pick me up to board my new re-booked flight in the A. M.

I took the suitcases for S. F. leaving the rest in the car as planned, and boarded the shuttle service having made a reservation to sleep at an air port hotel. I would fly out early the next morning.

The shuttle took me to the wrong hotel. After arguing with the receptionist that I had a reservation, I realized it was true; I had mixed up the hotel name, so back in the van with all of the cases, my head spinning, and finally arriving at a lovely place with two of the most delicious beds I ever saw and collapsed into one of them for the night.

I had made the right decision; I would endure the plane ride but then it would all be smooth sailing with lots of attention from my family.

Until I opened up my e-mail and found a message from my son. "Mom, how bout going to Lake Tahoe for the weekend?" I could not believe what I had just read. That did it. I was shattered, homeless, broken, in pain, needing an operation, exhausted, but that statement pushed me to where Thelma and Louise went.

What was wrong with him; how could I come off of a seven hour flight and drive four hours the next day to Tahoe in a van with the kids? OMG. In his defense, he figured, nothing will happen till next week, so why waste a perfectly good ski weekend? Exactly, except that I needed tender loving care and was willing to travel 3000 miles to get it! it was not about you dear son. My blood soared, my sister called her nephew while I freaked out knowing I would now cancel my second flight. I would stay in Miami and would give the TLC to my self. I had now spent $300.00 in re-booking fees within 24 hours.

I fell into a deep sleep. I called the surgeon the next morning and said," I am your patient; please operate." He said, you need to get to the hospital today for pre op or I can not operate for a whole week. I was devastated; there was no way logistically that I could get back to the hospital and what about all of my luggage; how could I move into the hospital with all of my things and I would need a room to come back to. It was Passover, nothing mattered; I had an English muffin.

The hotel was quite nice, I rested and decided that it was not life threatening so would let the week go by and stay put; not so bad, as long as I was comfortable. The Dr. called back the next day, reconsidering," get to the hospital tomorrow and I will do the surgery on Monday."

It was a date, but wait, I had to find a place to stay post op. Remember I was homeless.

Craig's list brought up two possible apartments; I made arrangements to take a look at them both on the way to surgery

My little brother Mark was born to save me that Saturday morning. He picked me up, in his 27 year old Cadillac; he had a brand new sports car, but since I had so much luggage it would never fit. The only problem was that every time we stopped, we prayed it would start. We made it to South Beach to apartment one, and I would have taken anything that was half way decent but not that disaster, better to live with a broken elbow sleeping on the beach. The bed was in the kitchen and when I picked up the window shade it was hiding a parking garage. But yes, the ad was true, it was on the beach. P. S. for $1200.00 a month.

We got back in 27 year old and stopped at hotels along the way just in case apartment two did not work out. But either the receptionist was off duty or the sign to the office was pointed in the wrong direction, there was literally no one to talk to and I was exhausted from running around South Beach and had to get to the hospital immediately. We continued on to apartment two, and yes, it was great. Just a hotel room with big windows, light bright and ready. I booked it for my return.

But what to do with the luggage? I did not want to rent the room 5 days early just for luggage storage, so we brought it all back to my car and packed it up again with the N. Y. luggage. Mark and I stopped for a Starbucks and proceeded to the emergency ward. I hugged him and thanked him goodbye.

No sooner did he leave that I realized I had gone to the wrong emergency ward. The nurse said, "don't worry, it is just across the street;" I believed her. In the Miami heat with my hospital bag on wheels I walked 10 blocks to the right emergency ward, and 10 hours later after all of the pre op tests I was admitted to a private room with the second best bed I ever did see. The 10 hours in the emergency ward showed me life on the inside, the terrible traumas people go through and now I was one of them, flattened down to a pulp, helpless, homeless and broken. I always thought I was younger and stronger than all of the poor souls who had misfortunes. I was learning fast to be compassionate and human.

Hospitals don't care; there is no time zone, what is wrong with being awakened at 4:00 A. M for a X ray ? Does it matter? If one thinks they are going to a hospital for rest, forget it. I then got the surprise of my life, my son Eric from Vt. came to visit. True he had a business appointment the next day, but decided to come one day early to see me. It was great, he listened to my nonsense and pain. I told him that I had cancelled all of my book talks in S. F., I cancelled my yoga retreat and all else. Roger, my Lake Tahoe son called several times and sent a beautiful bouquet (yes, on his way to Tahoe.) Norman my ex husband sent a room full of roses, Leslie called each day from Switzerland.

Passover and Easter passed and that Monday I was wheeled in. Eric came back to visit me in the trauma ward before they put me under. The operation was a success, I came out of it, but with increased pain. I had a private room, my Internet worked and so did my cell and I was a happy Hospital patient.

I was re-leased 2 days later, learning to shower, learning to take care of my self; I lucked out with my HMO, a great Dr. the best hospital and even pick up and delivery service from and to my new room.

So here I am in my new room, a whole week has already passed, a true sabbatical to heal and mend. Nothing to do, nowhere to go, just heal. No more broken elbow, no more homeless. It is a simple hotel room with a little refrigerator, a comfortable bed, wi fi, cell and a bath. There is staff and guest to talk to, visitors come and go.

I did fall, I did get up from the fall, and I did survive and I did it all by myself; except for brother Mark.

Carol Sue Gershman

Clutz or Putz?

2009-04-12T13:58:00.000-07:00

We do have accidents even though supposedly there are none; but I think most of us who break bones fall into 2 categories. Either we are a KLUTZ or a PUTZ!

Now take me who shattered my elbow by falling backwards on the floor. I had put Clorox on the floor to clean a spot and forgot to wipe it up. So was I a KLUTZ to slip and fall or was I a PUTZ not to have wiped it up? See what I mean?

Now take a friend trying out for the big triathlon. She was going at it so hard that she finally flipped over her bicycle handle bars and landed on her head and bruised her body spraining her wrist. So was she driving her bicycle like a KLUTZ or was she simply a PUTZ by driving her self so hard that she landed in a ditch?

My daughter went cross country skiing. She had been to an acupuncturist who had told her she was tired and run down a bit and to take it easy on her ski vacation. So instead of skiing she thought cross country would be easier on her; except she fell down and hurt her shoulder. So was she a KLUTZ or a PUTZ not to hear the signals given to her.

Someone else I know was gardening and fell down. He saw a bruise and put on a band aid on it and forgot about it. About a week later he began to feel feverish and this was right before his big 70 birthday. He went straight to the Dr. who immediately admitted him for a staff infection and there he was unable to meet his guests. Was he A KLUTZ to fall or a PUTZ not to have checked what was going on under his band aid?

Well you got the picture. If you have been a KLUTZ or a PUTZ or both, send me your story. Maybe it will become a book.
Carol Sue Gershman

Stranger things have happened?

2009-04-04T18:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday when I was showering, suddenly there came a drilling noise; I peaked out of the shower curtain wondering what was going on in my apartment but the sound remained within the shower area. I realized the sound was coming from my neighbors pipes above me. I figured sure, just one more thing; my luck, now his water pipes. In this building in order to report noise or such to the management, the doorman has to come and take a listen. It has to be proven that it is not all in my head. So After I dried off, and with the sound continuing, I called the front desk. Wonderful Steve came running up, and luckily the noise persisted so Steve could hear what I heard. Yes, I had a case for the management. "Sounds weird; can't imagine" he said. By now the chief engineer of the building arrived at work and Steven sent him straight up to me. He too heard it wondering if the new set of pipes the neighbor installed could be it! And then he saw it. He saw with his own eyes the disturbing noise... Yup. I had forgotten to shut off my new battery operated tooth brush....

And here is a funnier one. Several years ago in another apartment I heard music. Well it was the same song playing over and over again.
So I called the management and we decided it had to be coming from the upstairs apartment. Probably they left the music on and had left home. So the management entered with a pass key, but there was dead silence in the upstairs apartment. The management went downstairs knocking on doors asking, could the repetitious music be coming from their apartment. No, no , no as the music played on.
We were baffled, and then oh then, we realized that I had set something off. In a box in my apt. was a greeting card that played music and somehow I had put something on top of the box which set it off.

So look at me blaming the world!
Carol Sue Gershman

Interesting film named "Medicine for Meloncoly"

2009-04-03T18:58:00.000-07:00

We have a little cinematic here in South Beach and tonight an independent film maker named Barry Jenkins introduced his film to the Miami audience.
He made the film for $4000 and it has been shown at all film festivals around the world. The story is about a BLACK couple who meet by chance and decide to spend the day together. She has a WHITE boyfriend who is out of town, and while she is reluctant to cheat on him, the male character draws her in and she surrenders, but only for the day.
What I found interesting about the film is that it took place in San Francisco and I happen to be headed that way next week. It was a great travelogue about the city and I will be sure to go to their many museums and will take my granddaughter with me.
The film brought out the question, why is a BLACK person drawn to a WHITE person for a mate? Is it to become part of the WHITE world?
So why are WHITE people drawn to BLACK people for a mate? I do not think it is to become part of the BLACK world. I can only speak for myself. I found the inter-race exciting. I thought the contrast of color was beautiful especially if both people are beautiful to begin with.But in essence I wish there was not any difference; I wish we did not see color; yet we do no matter how hard we try and so does the other race.
But here is another question; does a BLACK person or a WHITE person have to be beautiful, exciting, charming to draw in the other race? Is it just for a special few who are lucky enough to cross over, spread their horizons and become more worldly? In years to come, maybe it will all be behind us broadening the circle of life forever.
Carol Sue Gershman

When was the last time you moved?

2009-04-03T13:34:00.001-07:00

What is it about us people? Why do we have so many possessions? Do you know how many boxes I sent to storage today? 42 and it is only me and from a one bedroom apartment.
I did down size and I am not a collector except for: books, photos, dishes, silverware, linens, appliances, clothes, drug items and brick bra ck. I guess you can call me C Bay..(c for Carol)
And this time I have to pay for it. Those storage units are not cheap and what a business they have going on. I looked into one of them to see what other people were accumulating; what a bunch of junk and what a mess I did see.
Yet, that is who we are, what we have spent money on, what we own and think we need.
Truly one person does NEED a bed, a pair of sheets, a cover, one TV, normal size, two place settings, a can opener, 2 pots, OK. clothes and a tooth brush. That is it. Oh no, not my computer, I ain't given that up. You know that thing we all had to learn a few years ago that I wanted to throw out of the window from frustration?
Well you get the picture and oh the poor moving men, they work so hard dragging every one's stuff around the universe. Truly I had them sweating and begging for water. I even gave one of the movers a glass of ice water to take with him.
Oh well, you get the picture!
Carol Sue Gershman

It must be cancer

2009-04-01T19:05:00.000-07:00

What fears we have about cancer.
You see the last few weeks I was not feeling like me. My stomach was gnawing and my back hurt too. What a combination. ut oh..better go on line and check this one out; too early to bother the Doctor. So there I was, ulcers? kidney? stress? hemorrhage? No none of those. It had to be cancer, but oh my God cancer of the stomach, it could not be worse. Still too early to bother the Doctor. I will just pay attention to my stomach and back and clock the symptoms and suffer within.
Had I done everything I wanted to do in my life? Were my affairs in order? Did I say I love you? I quickly changed my diet; only comfort foods, lots of water to flush it all down, lots of rest and vitamins. Stay away from Advil or other pain stoppers, that could really make my stomach hurt.
O. K. I better go to the Dr.on an emergency visit as a real appointment would be too far in advance. So there I sat yesterday waiting in the office hoping to be pushed in between the legitimate appointments and finally, there he was; my Doctor. "What is wrong he asked?" I told him all of the symptoms and told him the really bad news. I was leaving town next week on an extended trip and my insurance only worked here. He not being an alarmist said, o.k. better get a cat scan; you have to make sure you are o.k.to travel.
So I got the referral and ran up the steps to the lab and made an appointment for the next day. I was handed some gooky looking syrup to take and no food what so ever 4 hours before the scan, meaning my morning tea would have to wait. Horrors!
I went to sleep and guess what? I WOKE UP FEELING FINE. How could this be? I am supposed to be sick. Maybe I will postpone the appointment for the next day to see how it plays out.
Well, the next day I was fine too. You see this is the moral.
I was queasy and my back did hurt but that did not mean I had CANCER. We, I, are so filled with fear of the dreaded that our imagination runs wild when anything slightly out of the norm happens to us.
I do thank god that I am fine but it amazes me how my mind actually works.....
And yours?
Carol Sue Gershman

Hilarious/ lotto ticket

2009-04-01T18:29:00.000-07:00

Oh sure, we all want to win the lottery; some more than others of course. Even those with money want more. Why not?

Now take this Swiss guy Henry living in Switzerland. He really wanted to win.. His gut told him, play, play, play; THIS IS THE ONE. It was a huge payout, so much so that the player had to fill out proper forms just to enter. The timing had to be accurate. Henry followed all of the rules without any problem because he knew; he knew without a doubt in no time he would be RICH..No more work, he and his beautiful wife would travel, buy homes and lead the good life. Oh yes, no doubt about this one, it belonged to him.

But Henry made one mistake. He booked a trip away from home the very night of the drawing. He forgot one rule. He had to be home to answer the phone in order to collect his prize.

His wife would not hear of cancelling the trip they had planned, as she was not quite as vulnerable as Henry. What to do? Only one thing; call mommy and daddy and ask for help. So there came his elderly mom and dad who had to drive 50 miles on snow bound Alp roads to get to Henry's apartment in time to answer the phone. They made it. There they sat, waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting.... and waiting...

Henry bought a dream; who knows in the end it could have been more of a thrill to dream than to actually win. You know what they say, money does not buy happiness. And Henry and his wife are truly happy and as you can see were fortunate enough to already be on a trip; they already had won lifes lottery.

Carol Sue Gershman

I get it now

2009-03-21T18:57:00.001-07:00

My generation is checking out. By that I mean dying. One by one we go, merry oh...... It does look like the men go first although one family member was a woman. It is all so ironic, is it not? It all goes so fast, our lives, and when one gets sick now, that seems to go pretty fast too.

Take my sweet brother-in-law Burt. He died today. Not quite 75, the kindest, nicest and most gentle man who made delicious chocolate moouse and loved to bake bread. There was a time he would not disclose his moose recipe and then one day I begged him cause I was having an all chocolate party. Yum Yum, he agreed it should be part of my festivities.There was never a time that he did not smile and welcome me when we met; ask Burt to pick me up and drive me somewhere, the very first to say," sure." In other words, there was not anything Burt would not do to make the day better. He and my sister in law Arlene have been together about 58 years. They eloped one evening 50 years ago on New Years Eve and we were the first ones that they told. I was married to Arlene's brother Norman. There came a knock on the door one evening 50 years ago; it was Arlene and Burt all giggly; they decided to run away that evening and marry.

It was a brilliant marriage and until today I do not remember them ever leaving each others side. What made their marriage so great was mutual respect for one another. They came first, by that I mean before their kids. They stuck together united and no body came between them ever. They stood up for one another never siding with one of their kids if the other was upset, at least not in front of them.

They lived simply, never a fuss, no big parties or extravaganzas for them, they liked travel and when they were young they did a lot of it. Since their retirement a few years ago, they continued doing the thing they liked most to do, taking trips.

So what happened? Well, the cancer bug got him. All of a sudden his stomach started to hurt, he turned pale and went for tests; after a while he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. At first there was the chemo that made him even sicker, so they stopped that, and put him in the hospital, and then into rehab, then home and hospice came, and it did not take Burt long to check out. It all happened so fast. He liked licking Haggen das ice cream for breakfast. He was only back home for one week when he decided to close his eyes forever.

Arlene will be alone now for the first time in her life. Wow... How she chooses to live her life remains to be seen. Will she survive and go on? Absolutely but being alone at 70 for the first time in her life will not be all that easy. After all they were a team.

Tomorrow I fly to N. J. to pay my respects; I have to turn right around and come home, as free me has been booked for three months to speak at a luncheon. I can not disappoint them. I will visit Arlene again this summer take her out and talk about sweet Burt. I am glad he did not suffer; he got sick and never got up again. I love you Burt.... Rest well. It was a pleasure to know you.
Carol Sue Gershman

mommys poem

2009-03-19T20:47:00.001-07:00

I AM YOUNG

2009-03-19T20:46:00.000-07:00

When my mom was 82 she wrote this poem. I loved it so and flew her to Ca. to enter a special poets contest and guess what she won!

I don't have space for more wrinkles on my face but
I AM YOUNG

My skin is flabby and a little shabby but
I AM YOUNG

I get so mad at me that I can cry
When I run to the kitchen
and can't remember why but
I AM YOUNG

When I see a show or watch TV
My eyes are not what they used to be

And my hearing sometimes is not so great
So I listen closer to what is my fate
I AM YOUNG

Maybe it is too late to learn to skate
But never ever to go out on a date!
I AM YOUNG

The hedges

2009-03-13T18:31:00.001-07:00

There were so many problems from the builder. He sold me a apartment with no privacy, and when people walked by they could see directly into my apartment. It was terrible and nothing I could do. I bought the apt from plans, a little dream with my own private gate leading to the pool and tennis courts, a sacred home with all of the amenities of a luxury condo, but I was stuck.

I was heart broken, my investment down the tube. Anybody I showed it to was horrified. I tried to sell it but something held me back. It then dawned on me that if I could get the rites to the builders planter box, I could enclose it with hedges. The rich do it all the time....One longs to look in to their homes, but cannot through the many hedges

Easier said than done

The builder did not care. He had my money and had no desire to turn over his planter boxes to me. I would wait out side of his office to talk to him for hours but he would brush me off; he was a mean one...I was insistent and consistent; I knew his planter box was the only way to save my investment. Lo and behold, one day I got him and he gave me a letter granting permission to his box. At my own expense of course I planted ficus and they grew and I was thrilled.

P. S. I needed a faucet to water them and the builder and I fought again.... till a wonderful plumber came along and said, it is nothing I will put one in for you.

But the board was not happy and would come along and order the gardener to cut them down. I would scream and cause a scene to get them to respect my bushes. It was an on going nightmare and battle and of course they were cut down when I was not at home. Then if it was not the board it would be the non English speaking gardeners who did not know any better than to sizzle them down with their angry machines, and there I was screaming again at these little men who did not understand what I was talking about, looking at me with my soaring blood pressure, with a blank.

Then came the new neighbor. He demanded to see the pool that was being blocked by my ficus from his apartment and the board again came and cut them down. I completely lost it. I had fought and fought and yet nobody had any respect for me and my ficus, and the letter from the builder, my worhless investment without my privacy bushes.

One day the board got it. They came with a ruler, according to the rites given to me by the builder, and marked off the height they would maintain the bushes. You see it was their responsibility to maintain them, something i would have done, but had neglected to put in the builders letter.

This year the neighbor conceded and so did the board. They now respect my ficus and me. Not only that but there was a terrible bug that killed ficus bushes all over the city and guess whose was spared?

Carol Sue Gershman

Oh, how things can backfire!

2009-03-10T12:42:00.000-07:00

Last month I wrote to you about my ex-boyfriend who remembered me and 10 other ladies on one valentine card.
I thought it was in bad taste, so I blogged about it, but it was ONLY between you and I.

Well, I sent him a video the next week saying,"check this out" not realizing that the link to my blog address was on that e-mail.
Yup. I directed him right to my nasty blog.

What is so ironic is that I, we, have always preserved each others image; always being polite and caring for one another, never loosing the attraction between us. I did not want to hurt his feelings or insult him, yet I have plenty of stuff in me from his past behavior. So there after all of these years, and unknowingly, I destroyed that image in one link. Or was it the left hand of God that did it?
Carol Sue Gershman

Keep it simple when it is so complicated.

2009-03-07T15:36:00.000-08:00

I have to move from my beautiful apartment in South Beach. It is unique, a garden setting in a full service condominium. Why am I moving? For my health. My upstairs neighbor smokes and I am getting his weapon and he refuses to remedy the situation.
It is a pity and lots of bad luck for me.
So I have many choices; New York City, L. A., Co. or another apt here on South Beach. But which one shall it be is the confusion.
The easiest would be another apt. in South Beach, but you see I really want to be in N. Y. to promote my book and or L. A. to promote my book. AND So far I have not had a bite on my own apt. Then I don't know if they will want it furnished or unfurnished. Furnished would be easier as I can just leave with my clothes, but I can not prepare because it could go either way.
If I move to N. Y. the rents are high; I am willing to share even though I own an apt. in the city but it is rented and I don't want to loose my tenant, so better I get something else. Do you see how confusing?
I would also like to be in the Hamptons; more confusion.
Ideally, if I can sell the one I am in, then I would not have to worry about a tenant and if they wanted it furnished or unfurnished. but it is a big IF in this market.
Ideally, I would move to N. Y. C. in my own apt.
Ideally, I would rent it for a month and go to the Hamptons
Ideally, I would rent it for another couple of months and go to Ca.
But then again, I could get another south beach apt. and :
Ideally rent a place in n. y. c. for a month
Ideally rent a place in hamptons for a month
ideally go to Ca. for 2 months
Ideally come back to Fl. in another apt.
O. K. get the picture........ where to start, what to do? thanks for listening....
Carol Sue Gershman

5000 mark

2009-03-04T12:01:00.001-08:00

Today I reached the 5000 mark on my blog, meaning 5000 people have looked at, read, liked, did not like, were inspired, were disappointed, were bored etc. in what I had to say.
It is difficult to reach out and not get responses for the most part. I do not know what that means but since I have been blogging, and even from my friends who enjoy my site, there is never a response.
Then I thought, wow, if everyone who read my blog ordered a book, I would be on my way to stardom which makes me think that perhaps I should start a promotion.
For instance, for every 100Th person, I would send a free autographed book and YES my book is inspiring.
More later. Do you like that idea?
Carol Sue Gershman

Cruise Life

2009-03-03T17:05:00.000-08:00

Been many times on a Carnival Cruise. I thought at first, repetitious, and it was, but by the time you leave a Carnival Cruise you can not help but feel up beat because that is exactly what it is. They keep you going. Between the ports and the shows and the dinners and the enormous amount of people, music, bingo, and for me my grand son and my book talk made it a memorable week. Best investment yet was giving my grandson his own room. Yes, quite indulgent as most double triple, and quadruple up but for us it was worth it and it worked. Beautiful scenery and water to swallow it was so delicious , the blue green turquoise sea with a slight tingle to the water left us refreshed and delighted.
My book talk was a smash hit and 20 women and a few good men seemed to love the talk as was told by the large amount of books sold. So here is to Carnival and what they know about people and what they like.
Carol Sue Gershman

Cruise

2009-02-21T06:21:00.000-08:00

hi everybody! I'm Zach, Carol Sue's grandson. she's taking me on a cruise in the Caribbean for 7 days as a present for my bar mitzvah. (for bar mitzvah see previous posts). I'm VERY excited. we leave for the boat in 2 hours! my grandmother is also very excited to give her book talk on the boat. i don't know the exact time or date that her talk is going to be on but i think that she does. we're hanging out in her apartment and she's on the phone. this is pretty much my first time blogging so forgive me if i don't know what to write about from here on out. i explained to my grandmother everything about the cruise ship today. o i almost forgot! i get my own room on the boat! my grandmother is a clean freak. she says BRUSH YOUR TEETH EVERY MORNING BEFORE YOU SEE ME! ha ha. we just finished filling out our check in forms for the boat. it would have been easier to check in online LAST NIGHT, but some people(carol sue) felt that they had to go to bed at 9:00 so i couldn't get all the info needed to check in. now we have to wait in this HUGE line before we get on the boat. well I'm gonna end this post now. bye everyone! comment please.

-Zach Gershman