Every Sentimental Lady Needs an Old Man

Next Saturday, the 18th, is New York Cares Day, and as a diminishing number of you may remember, this is a thing I do every year. To preface my pitch, New York Cares is a great organization that facilitates volunteering throughout the city. They have projects every day, and the projects require no commitment – it’s a lot like online shopping, but with making the world a better place instead of creating credit card debt and ruining our economy. (I lead a bingo night for seniors and reading with kids at a homeless shelter throughout the year, if ever you want to try it out.) Twice a year, NYCares has a city-wide day of service, in the spring at city parks, and in the fall at schools. Volunteers paint murals, spruce up greenery, organize storage closets, and more, at schools that would otherwise be denied amateur murals. Next Saturday, I will be the site captain at PS 323 K in serious Brooklyn off the 3 train. I’ll be designing murals and directing the frenzy of volunteers. Please join me! Come talk to me or email me next week if you are interested in learning more. I am totally behind schedule, but it’s going to be awesome. This halo I sport sure goes with every outfit.

Nice hike, Kurt et al. Fall is battling summer for most awesome season of 2008. Although someone told me that Columbus Day marks the end of nice weather…

Autumn Songs: Dear everybody here who was alive in the 1970s: How come you never told me about this song, Sentimental Lady? If you didn’t know about it at the time, I forgive you and I’m sorry. It’s totally great! And it sounds the way I imagine 1972 felt, lovely, melancholy, harmonic, californian, un-self-consciously cheesy baroque lyrics. Yes, these lyrics are Too Much. But it’s just so pretty, I can’t get mad at young Fleetwood Mac. In just a few years, most of the folks then in the group would be gone, and Stevie and Lindsay would be catapulting FM to stardom, but here, young FM evoked one of my favorite emotional crises, and revealed that they were Something Special. Every Sentimental Lady needs an Old Man, so here’s a favorite Neil Young song, also autumnal, also everything awesome about the 70s. Why aren’t there more songs about this? Am I crazy? These songs totally go together.