REMEMBERING THE DAYS WHEN WE WANTED A TAN! A BLOGPOST MEMOIR!

Don't know about you, but I can remember the days when we WANTED a tan.  We didn't want to burn because that looked and felt terrible and peeled - icky! - but who hadn't gotten a few burns in pursuit of a tan?  Some of us only burned, some of us, like me, could slowly deepen in color until we were very dark - and we prized those tan lines!  

Laying in the sun for hours felt GOOD even if it was on the concrete of a pool side and we thought we looked good.  Better to show off those summer clothing colors like WHITE, LIME, PINK, better to show off the pink lipstick and nail polish . 

It felt healthy and athletic to be tan.  No one was worried about skin cancer.  We used lotion to make us tan like Coppertone; the smell of it still says SUMMER to me! 

We also used BABY OIL!  (Talk about treating your skin like steak!) 

Maybe we cherished tanning so much because we were indoors for 9 months of the year, in school, and in the snow belt.

Now I live in a place of ENDLESS SUMMER - Southern California and guess what?

I tan without trying to. 

I tan without going to the beach!

I don't have "tan lines."  It's as if my skin has adjusted to a different weather system!

Now I wonder, why is it that I tan but many of my family members burn?  Is it my Hungarian DNA?

YOU?

CROWS! UTNE READER WRITER LYANDA LYNN HAUPT WROTE THIS FANTASTIC ARTICLE!

UTNE : AS THE CROWS FLY 

The urban wild's most resilient creature shows us what's beautiful, what's ugly, and what's missing.  By Luanda Lynn Haupt, from the book Crow Planet

November-December 2009

EXCERPT:

" I heard of a crow that accompanied a mail carrier on his daily route every day for more than two years, walking behind him like a golden retriever before inexplicably disappearing. I heard from a Benedictine nun that a crow in the woods surrounding her monastery befriended a large black, green-eyed cat named Ashford, and that the two shared in feasting on the birds that Ashford caught and killed. I heard from a friend that she was watching a crow work for some time to balance a medium-size stone atop a larger stone. “Was it making art?” she wanted to know. I heard from a pilot friend that his friend (for many crow stories spiral compellingly through some kind of lineage in this way), also a pilot, watched the Snowbirds (the Canadian Forces’ equivalent of the Blue Angels) practicing for an air show, and afterward, a crow in the trees near the airfield practiced flying upside down. Am I incredulous? Certainly, somewhat. But can I deny it? Who hasn’t seen a crow do something we do not expect of “simple” birds, or any animal, for that matter? Who doesn’t have a crow story? And the more attention we offer, the more the crow stories spring up around us, like grass..."

A MURDER OF CROWS : NATURE FILM

Crows are seen on many a Hungarian surname/family crest or shield.  The image begins with the early people of Hungary who fought against the Turks - the Muslims - and saved Hungary for Christianity. I wanted to know more about the crow.  This is why I decided to watch a film called "A MURDER OF CROWS."  The video could use a better title, though there is a reference to murder somewhere in the film.


Actually, this film is about the latest scientific research about crows, which is so revealing of their nature and aptitudes.  It made me proud to think that early Hungarians were thought of as crows.  The surname Corvin or Corwin is the Latinized version of the word crow, as in Mathias the Crow, the first King of Hungary.


Crows turn out to be one of the most intelligent animals alive3, smarter than dogs, and on par with apes!


They must be to survive because 50% of them don't make it to their second year of life, though they have been known to live up to 20 years.  Crows live in family groups and sometimes parents have help feeding their young by brother and sister crows. These days many of them get hit by cars and are killed.  Scientists believe that when a crow dies, its group holds a silent vigil for the departed!  The crows mate for lie and raise their young for up to five years.  This long period of time is thought to have aided in their mental development.

Crows recognize individual faces and inform their fellow crows if someone is a friend or enemy.

Scientist have proven that this information is transmitted to younger generations.

They are always watching and learning.  They even memorize the garbage truck routes so that they will arrive in prime time to forage from the garbage bags!

Hawks are their natural enemy.  Crows will remember a field where one of their members was attacked and avoid it for a couple years.

Perhaps most fascination was the way scientists have set up experiments to let crows prove themselves.  One of these experiments shows that a crow not only uses tools but makes them and can think ahead to a third move in using tools to get a prize piece of food.

TONY CURTIS AND THE EMANUEL FOUNDATION FOR HUNGARIAN CULTURE

BOHEMIANINK : TONY CURTIS LEAVES A LEGACY IN HUNGARY link to full article and pictures...

EXCERPT:

"So saddened to hear about the death of Tony Curtis yesterday. In Budapest, Curtis, who is of Hungarian descent, is as well known for his generosity as he is for his movies.  In 1998, he founded the Emanuel Foundation for Hungarian Culture, a New York-based organization that works for the restoration and preservation of synagogues and 1300 Jewish cemeteries in Hungary.

Within the confines of Budapest’s Great Synagogue exists the Tree of Life Holocaust Memorial, funded by the Emanuel Foundation, in memory of the 600,000 Hungarian Jews who were murdered by the Nazis. The tree, which is made of stainless steel and silver, is fashioned to look like a weeping willow. The shape of the tree resembles an upside down menorah. Inscribed on its 4000 metal leaves are the names of Hungarian Holocaust victims. And on the top of the black granite double archway that sits in front of the tree, a Hebrew inscription asks: “Is there a bigger pain than mine?”

Updated February 2021  I'm sorry but I don't find the link... The name Emanual Foundation brings up a different organization.  Some years have passed.  So maybe the work has been completed.  October 2022 Since this is a popular post, I tried again to find the TONY CURTIS EMANUEL FOUNDATION and it does not appear.  From past research I know it was located in Brooklyn New York.  For those of you intent to find this foundation, perhaps Brooklyn is the place to look.  Another idea is to get in touch with Jamie Lee Curtis...

BLUE DANUBE WALTZ : JOHANN STRAUSS

BLUE DANUBE WALTZ : JOHANN STRAUSS   new video August 2022  

THE DANUBE FLOODS : EARTH CHANGES?

DANUBE FLOODING EFFECTS 10 NATIONS article

"Winding 2,850 kilometers (1,777 miles) across 10 nations, the Danube is the second-longest river on the continent, making its way from Germany's Black Forest to the Black Sea bordering Romania and Ukraine. Only the Volga in Russia is longer."

SARAH JAROSZ : BLUE GRASS DEBUTANT

SARAH JAROSZ official site

Just got the CD called "Follow Me Down" and listened to it over and over again, the way some of us used to singer-songwriter albums in the 70's.  Listed as BlueGrass, Sarah is known for her Americana.  Produced by Gary Paczosa and Sarah Jarosz, this singer-songwriter is also capable of playing several instruments.

To quote the bio on her site, "Sarah Jarosz has as rich a skill set as anybody in acoustic music. She plays, not just one instrument, but enough of them to be a one-woman string band: mandolin, octave mandolin, clawhammer banjo and guitar. She sings – in supple tones that transcend the boundaries between folk and pop – and she writes – old-timey ballads and modern singer-songwriter ruminations alike."