Comments on: Escape from Reality on the Lower East Side

By: Gail Storey

Gail Storey — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:16:04 +0000

I’m so glad to have discovered your blog (via Marsha Canright), and will subscribe. Although I live in Boulder, where Nature offers undeniable comfort, I admire your resourcefulness in finding your own way to take a deep breath after the events of the last couple of weeks.

By: g

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 02:41:43 +0000

We visited the Tenement Museum a couple of summers ago, and it was truly fascinating! I’d love to go back. I bought the book about the creation of the museum and how they gathered some of the artifacts and info about the families.
Although I am chagrined about the Scott Brown victory in MA, I am less worried about that than about the Supreme Court decision. That’s a serious blow for democracy

By: Cindy A

Cindy A — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 22:20:40 +0000

I’m with you, Tessa.

By: Tessa

Tessa — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 19:50:01 +0000

Early on in the process, I remember reading somewhere that the MA senate election “was Martha Coakley’s to lose.” With that kind of complacency, is it any wonder that she did just that? I think it’s time for American liberals to stop clapping themselves on the back for Obama’s election. Everything that has happened since, from the ridiculous opposition to universal health care to the rise of the Teabaggers, points to a deep groundswell of conservative rage, fuelled by unscrupulous financial, industrial and media interests who have been looting the US for the past eight years. Meanwhile the Democratic Party continues to tear itself apart, thanks to people like Joe Liebermann and the Blue Dog Democrats, who masquerade as liberals while their spouses/families/they themselves are working against Democratic principles.

By: Winston

Winston — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:59:16 +0000

Thank you for sharing the fascinating Tenement Museum! I checked their website and was enraptured already just by the luck of Abram and Jacobson in finding a “time capsule” to fit their quest. I love the discovery of spots where a sense of place unites seamlessly with a place in time. The Tenement Museum does offer an opportunity for citizens to learn or relearn why America differed so vastly from the rest of the world that so many would abandon their old homes and align their allegiance with a New untested home. One can only wonder why the building of greatness and of a nation becomes a common denominator in the heart’s of its citizens, yet when the thing is built there is a shift toward an inner power struggle within. Time and again I overhear snatches of conversation with phrases like, “we can’t ever win against them,” or “they always get us in the end,” and “they’ve taken us again.” Hearing these bits, I conclude We and Us are the American Citizens. But who are They? How did They come to be? Can They be won back into the fold? Surely another chapter of history waits to be written.

On the lighter side . . .

Yesterday, you divulged your realty addiction. Today, you tell us of your need to temporarily escape reality. And to where did you escape? Back to an apartment building! And brimming with discussions of antique wallpapers and linoleum, no less.

By: sarah henry

sarah henry — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 05:03:53 +0000

Seems to me, Ruth, you took your namesake’s advice to heart.
That would be Ruth Reichl, who this week wrote:
“We all have a moral obligation to do whatever we can to help the Haitians during this terrible time. But talking about it doesn’t help; we need to take concrete action. We should help in whatever ways we can.
But in times of trouble- especially in times of trouble - it is important to celebrate life. We need to remind ourselves – and others – that it is good to be alive. If only as a promise that better times are coming.”

By: Julie

Julie — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 22:43:13 +0000

I’m with you on feeling helpless about Haiti. We gave money and will give more come payday, but it doesn’t feel like enough. I can’t even describe the sadness I feel for the people. But that’s not enough.
Thanks for telling us about the Tenement Museum. I have got to go there! Those stories of human struggle and survival are amazing to me. It hasn’t been that long ago, either, which also amazes me. Many Americans nowadays cry when they get a blister, and they forget (or never learned) about the past. I like what you say about the human need for beauty. It is so true.

By: Alexandra

Alexandra — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 20:35:14 +0000

I, too, have always wanted to visit the Tenement Museum.
I have been wandering around in a daze today, and after reading your blog, I realize why: Scott Brown’s election. I feel as if the residents of my own home state had obliged the country to take a giant step backwards. Oh, the shame of it! How very frustrated I feel and unable to do anything constructive with my day. Nature doesn’t help. Politics really sucks. Wish I were in the city and could get instant distraction the way you did!

By: Marsha Canright

Marsha Canright — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 18:55:57 +0000

Cafe Katya: sounds dreamy but please MORE details about the food. David and I visited the Tenement Museum a few years ago and I couldn’t stop thinking about it; obsessing about how I could birth and raise children in those tiny rooms , if they survived, with dozens of neighbors close enough to hear you snore. It felt so personal. No wonder our people headed for the wide open spaces. Haiti. Mass. FOX. Disaster and sadness all around. Keep the culture coming; it’s needed .

By: Cindy A

Cindy A — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 17:30:02 +0000

As Will Rogers once said, “I don’t belong to an organized party. I’m a Democrat.”

The Dems failed to come up with a viable candidate and the people of Massachusetts failed to realize the implications to the rest of the nation who do not have the Massachusetts health care protections.

And now we have a Republican former nude model in Ted Kennedy’s place, one who swears to single-handedly take down any kind of health care reform that would help people like me with pre-existing conditions.

It feels like Republican fear-mongers tie us to the railroad tracks and then say, “I can’t untie you when the train comes. That would be socialism. And you should be very afraid of anybody who comes to untie you.”

I need more than a trip to the museum.