Gay Games 9

     Page Two Hundred Eighty.
     Many months ago I mentioned that the 9th International Gay Games are coming here to Cleveland. Well, they're here now and the place just isn't the same.
     The gay games are similar to the Olympics. Indeed, some of the competitors have been, or will be, in the Olympics. But unlike those games, the gay games are open to anybody of any ability and are extremely inclusive. Gay men, lesbians, straight people, transgendered individuals... anybody, and the post man, are invited to participate. And they do. In the past, the games have been in gay meccas like New York; San Francisco; Stuttgart, Germany and so forth. The 10th games will be in Paris, France. So why are they in Cleveland now?
     Cleveland rolled out the best red carpet 4 years ago for the search committee. That's why. We were up against Boston and Washington D.C. and when Cleveland got it, the other cities' reactions were "are you kidding? Cleveland? What sort of joke is this?" You see, only slowly is the international community of tourists coming to realize that Cleveland has a lot to offer travelers. But they are nevertheless coming to realize it now. That's also one reason why the 2016 Republican National Convention will be here.
     Now to be sure, another reason that the games are here is because the organizers wanted to go a little more mainstream. The days of the novelty of homosexuality are numbered. By having the games in Cleveland, they're making a statement of "we're everywhere, not just on the coasts and not just in big obvious cities". Which is also to say that the Republican National Convention, 2016, is going to be in the most blue county in Ohio. Literally. Clevelanders haven't voted Republican for much of anything in years. Cleveland's last Republican mayor was Voinovich in the '80's. The RNC just wants to be in Ohio, the most purple state in the USA. Don't be surprised if the Democrats hold their convention in Columbus or Cincinnati for the same reason. (Does everybody on the planet openly acknowledge that Ohio picks the president?)
     But back to the games: It's being featured in the daily news and I see the visitors during all my shifts at the Cleveland Museum of Art. It's nice for the city and for the visitors (9,000 visiting participants; 20,000 visiting observers). But, ultimately, it's like having a teacher's convention in town. It really is.

A One Day Staycation

     Page Two Hundred Seventy-Three.

University Circle is concentration of bldgs. at top, near horizon

     Yesterday, I took a walk down to University Circle, Cleveland's cultural, medical and educational hub. We certainly have copious museums, hospitals and educational facilities strewn all over the region; but 100 years ago the city planners decided that Cleveland should have many of them in a centralized location. So, a disproportionate amount of those facilities are in a relatively small section of town. I'm sure I've spoken of Cleveland's University Circle region in this blog before, so I won't get into it again. But really, any out-of-towner invariably ends up there.
     I visited the Museum of Contemporary Art; the Crawford Auto Aviation Collection and the Botanical Gardens, in that order. And, I was quite giddy with glee as I flashed my Cleveland  Museum of Art employee badge and received free entrance to all of the above. (The CMA is one of the grandaddies in University Circle, along with Case Western Reserve and a variety of massive, cathedral-like churches. But all the museums have a reciprocal relationship with each other.) Nothing better than a day of free museums! That's pretty much it, as far as I'm concerned.

Museum of Contemporary Art

MOCA

The Botanical Gardens

 2 different rainforests with their glass outer walls and roofs

     I live in Cleveland Heights, a suburb on the hills which overlook University Circle. So I walked down and around and back up again - about 5 miles. It was just a wonderful afternoon.

Dear Readers...

     Page One Hundred Seventy-Seven.
     Dear readers (don't you always get concerned when you read a column in the newspaper which starts that way? But, oh well...) starting soonish you may notice a new tone added to this blog. That's because I'm merging another blog in with this one. My other blog, "The Mystery Of One Self" discusses some of my philosophies of life, God, the universe, gratitude, hope and all manner of things which make the world an easier place to live in. That blog is only a few months old but already has a devoted, albeit small, regular readership. I'm simply too busy to work on two blogs. Look, I can barely get three of these blogs written per week, let alone six once the other blog is included. Too much is too much.
     As it is, this blog was supposed to be primarily about my experiences with food, children and food combined with children. But, I've already strayed from those topics so much it just makes my head spin. I mean really, what's with all this crap about Cleveland, Ohio anyhow? (I just really love my town, Cleveland, and find it an endlessly fascinating thing to discuss.) And, the Cleveland Museum of Art??? (By the way, have you been there yet? I saw the newest galleries two days ago. Mind-boggling, just mind-boggling.) So adding my thoughts about God is only the next step in the evolution of this blog. Plus the fact, I've discussed God with almost all the children I've nannied over the years. They have tons of questions about Her and those questions really inspire a lot of contemplation. Children want to know.
     The other thing you'll notice about those blog entries is my inclusion of photo illustrations which seemingly appear to have nothing to do with anything. Pretty flowers, amazing buildings, beautiful people, gorgeous snowstorms, etc are included alongside those God-thoughts. Those pretty pictures simply illustrate God's handiworks in all their infinite varieties. (Can anybody honestly tell me that God didn't spend just a little bit extra time on Elizabeth Taylor's face and body?)
     The address for the other blog is www.mysteryofoneself.blogspot.com if you'd like to get a sneak preview. Being new, it's only about 20 or so pages long. Thanks for reading. I truly appreciate it.

French Actor, Sami Frey circa mid-1960's

One Way To get More Hot Preztels

     Page One Hundred Fifty-Five.
     Here's my biggest problem in life right now. How do I get more hot pretzels from Playhouse Square without actually attending a show in one of the theaters?
     Last Friday evening I attended a glorious show at the Palace Theater and prior to the curtain rising, I naturally treated myself to a hot pretzel. Now, I've written in this blog before, numerous times, about Playhouse Square's hot pretzels, but last Friday's was particularly God-like. I was about to cry for the LSD-like euphoria, gratitude, emotion and profound thankfulness I was experiencing. While eating, I truly felt what it was like to win a new car on The Price Is Right. And, I began thinking right then and there that I really deserve hot pretzels more often than just when I attend a show. Granted, I've been attending shows regularly for the last few months, but I don't have anything planned now for the foreseeable future. How will I get through?
     Here's my devious plan. There are something like nine (?) stages/theaters at Playhouse Square. All these stages are within about four hundred feet of each other. (You'd have to see it to believe it. The combined seating is about 10,000.) Most of the theaters are on one side of Euclid Avenue but not all. Now here's the scoop... I think that the Ohio and State Theaters have their concessions outside the ticket-takers. All the other theaters have their food inside the ticket-takers realm, I'm pretty sure. So, in theory, when I get a serious craving, I can simply hop on down there (a 15 minute drive) and sneak into the lobbies of said Ohio or State and chow down. The only conflict might arise if there's no live performance of one type or another in those theaters when I'm dying for some doughy goodness. I envision that to be a rare occurrence though.
     I'm telling you, they're that good. At least to me. I recognize that everybody has their own taste, but I think these things are heavenly. 
     By the way, The show I went to last Friday was a retrospective of Big Band dance music of the World War Two era. I was surrounded by people who were really ancient. I'm sure they were wondering why some guy was moaning and groaning while sitting and eating his stinkin' hot pretzel. (I admit that I really was doing my best imitation of Sally from the movie "When Harry Met Sally". I'm sure you know the scene I'm referring to...)

Mmmmmm... Yummy...

Euclid Avenue

     Page One Hundred Thirty-Five.
     I'm currently reading a book which is all about a major thorough fare here in Cleveland: Euclid Avenue. I've mentioned in this blog before that Cleveland has a long history of tremendous wealth and during the 19th century most of that wealth was concentrated in one five mile section of Euclid. Well, reading about those people and their homes is just amazing. Can you imagine a private home with a basement large enough to house a real boxcar so the inventor-homeowner can improve the national railroad system? Or, how about a backyard with the world's largest windmill so the inventor-homeowner can improve national electrical systems? How about a residence with an observatory in back so its inventor-homeowner can observe the stars and distant galaxies?
     Some of these homes were up to 40,000 square feet in size. The smaller ones on the strip were maybe 5,000. John D. Rockefeller's home was average sized coming in at under 10,000 square feet but his estate was 2 acres and over 200 feet wide, much larger than his neighbors.
     Nowadays, only about three or four mansions remain of the couple hundred which were sitting there in 1900. After World War One, some of the homeowners gradually moved to the suburbs to get away from the grit and grime of the city. Other homes were gobbled up by commerce as Euclid was slowly transforming from residential to commercial. Some of the homes were too big for 20th century lifestyles.
     That five mile strip today is (in order): Downtown; Playhouse Square (Cleveland's theater district); Cleveland State University; mixed use combined with future development and last but certainly not least, The Cleveland Clinic.
     If you ever make it to Cleveland, Ohio drive down Euclid which recently underwent a $197,000,000 overhaul and street-scape project. Just imagine the ghosts.

Matzo Ball Soup - The Secret

     Page Forty-One.
     Soon after moving in with the Van Myms, in '82, I was rummaging through Amanda's spice cabinet. I picked up a bottle labeled "Cardamom" and smelled it, never having heard of it before. I thought it smelled like chicken soup. Amanda explained that cardamom is used primarily in central Asian cuisine and Scandinavian desserts of all things. But she did have to admit that I was right, though she'd never noticed it before; cardamom smells like good chicken soup.
     I'd learned to make Matzo Ball soup by that point: buy the box and follow the directions. But I decided to doctor it up with cardamom the following Passover. It was really good! I've been adding it to my Matzo Ball soup ever since and also add just a pinch to my real chicken soup. People enjoy it tremendously.
     A couple of weeks ago, a friend hosted a pop-up shop in his backyard and invited artists and craftspeople to come and sell their wares. I showed up and sold my soup. I SOLD OUT. Of course it helped that the pop-up shop was outside, here in Cleveland, on February 9th (30 degrees fahrenheit). Frozen people walked into the enclosure and immediately smelled my hot soup. So, of course, they bought. But still, I sold 43 pints of soup in seven hours. That's pretty good no matter what the temperature.
     If you want to improve your chicken soup or make even better Matzo Ball soup, add a dash of cardamom to your broth.

Fish Out Of Water

     Page Thirteen.
     Age nineteen saw me get my first job as a hairdresser. It was '81. Through connections I ended up working at a salon named Salon: Alpha-Omega. It was located in Rocky River, a far west side Cleveland suburb with a predominately well-to-do population. It's a very white, conservative and rigid community. It's also quite beautiful. I've always lived in Cleveland Heights, still do. CH is an inner ring east side community with a long history of Judaism and heavy racial integration. River has some stunning homes and property which juxtapose Lake Erie. CH has many neighborhoods with 5000 plus square foot homes, many reach 10,000. Both cities were developed during the Jazz Age. Culturally, they have nothing in common. Alpha-Omega was getting ready to open up a new east side salon in CH and hired me to work in the new location, once I was through with my apprenticeship, that is.
     I grew up in an old world home. My father came over on the boat and my mother had somewhat conservative beliefs. I grew up in a middle class environment but under no circumstances was it one which might be described as "Prosperous-Jewish-Consumerist," if you know what I mean. Retail therapy didn't exist, nor household bells and whistles. My particular Cleveland Heights neighborhood was very modest. It was just normal working people. Many of the upper-middle class Jewish families who settled in Cleveland Heights during the forties and fifties moved farther east to Beachwood in the sixties.
     Alpha-Omega catered to Cleveland's elite. The owners didn't care if it was rich west-siders or rich east-siders, just so long as they were in the social register. I started in July of '81 and the new salon opened in November of '81. (I took the bus to River everyday: two hours commute.) At the time of the new location's opening we were considered by Clairol International to be one of the three best salons in Cleveland with the other two in Beachwood. We were for the rich Wasps and Cleveland Heights and neighboring Shaker Heights had busloads of 'em.
     In spring of '82 I moved in with The Van Myms: ubber Wasps. Their family name is well known to American History buffs, general movers and shakers and various other blue bloods. I was the live-in nanny to people who were related to names which are American household words, in fact I met some of those people. Mrs. Van Mym, Amanda, told me that she recognized me from the salon when we first met. The VM's had one of those large houses in one of those extraordinary neighborhoods. Our next door neighbors had to have had 7000 square feet of 1925 ultra-luxury. We weren't far behind.
     I had to acclimate to living with and servicing great wealth. It was weird. Home and work were filled with people who I'd only read about. That's an element to both of those industries that receives far too little attention. Sociologically, I was fascinated. Talk about "Gorillas In The Mist?" This was the REAL DEAL. I truly was an outsider, but the level of kindness shown me, in both arenas was generally so great that I didn't feel as alienated as I realize today I was. They were saints actually. Admittedly, my basic personality is colorful enough and gracious enough that it carried me. Though I was so young and naive I could've made PeeWee Herman look like the host of Masterpiece Theater.
     As the years would progress, I would be grateful for so much of what I learned in those environments. Many of my vocational and avocational endeavors over the years have brought me into contact with people similar to those whom I met in the early-mid '80's. In fact, many people have mentioned to me that I behave like someone who's been around (and not in the bad way.) And they've been saying that since the '80's. They wouldn't believe how much of my apparently cultured background is really post-childhood.