Musings by Tulis

...here is to the New York drivers who don’t know where they are and keep on moving. May we all take a page out of their travel guide. Chances are, if you keep moving, being lost will be an adventure. Continue reading My Monday Musing ~ Keep Moving at Musings by Tulis.

... on 911 Danny the bartender in front of me was 11. “I was just a lad,” he said. “Can you imagine?” ... On 911 I was 51. That made Danny the bartender 40 years my junior. Forty years. And here he was the little pipsqueak pouring me a glass of wine. What was going on here? As they say in the old country – I was gob-smacked. Continue reading My Monday Musing ~ CORRECTION September 11 Remembrance f...

... on 911 Danny the bartender in front of me was 11. “I was just a lad,” he said. “Can you imagine?” ... On 911 I was 51. That made Danny the bartender 40 years my junior. Forty years. And here he was the little pipsqueak pouring me a glass of wine. What was going on here? As they say in the old country – I was gob-smacked. Continue reading My Monday Musing ~ CORRECTION September 11 Remembrance f...

You weeren's born. You were evicted. Your mother had to work to get you here. Why do you think they call it "Labor?" Continue reading My Monday Musing ~ From The Archive ~ Labor Thoughts on Labor Day (Summer Recess Continues) at Musings by Tulis.

The other day I signed up for a Lifetime Membership for a Meditation App. It seemed like a no-brainer, until I heard myself think, “Wait a minute – how long would I have to live to make this lifetime membership worthwhile?” Continue reading My Monday Musing ~ From The Archive ~ Lifetime Membership Considerations (August Recess Continues) at Musings by Tulis.

My life is like a quiz show. I have so many names, places, things, summer vacations, Christmas Carols stuffed into my head that it is difficult to sort through them all on a moment’s notice. More and more I depend on the kindness of strangers. Continue reading My Monday Musing ~ From The Archive ~ My Life Is A Quiz Show (August Recess Continues) at Musings by Tulis.

“Blessed are those who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused.” Someone said that somewhere and it is now on coffee mugs all over the planet. Continue reading My Monday Musing ~ From The Archive ~ How Stupid Am I? (August Recess Continues) at Musings by Tulis.

this epidemic of good deeds and dispositions was out of my control. I watched as the Samaritans began to multiply out on the street. A pizza guy stopped to hold a door open. A woman stood still while her dog said hello to a puppy. A man on his phone paused his call and executed a tiny soccer move to stop something rolling down the street being chased by a panicked teenager. And when I asked the an...

Creating a budget is just like aging. Nobody tells you anything except the people who whisper, “Don’t get old,” which is not a conversation starter. There is no guidance. You sleep through a few stops, and when you tell the conductor you would like to get off and take the train back a bit, you are told there is no getting off the train. Just like you cannot unspend your money. There is only forwar...

I am feeling vindicated today so watch out. I heard an interview with Alice Walker the other day and the interviewer referred to her relationship with another female writer and used the term “you guys”. Walker stopped him cold. She said, “I don’t like to be referred to as a guy.” The interviewer apologized and said he was not even aware he had used that phrase. “Most people aren’t.” she said. News...

WHY people are missing shows is their business, but the people who step into their shoes deserve more than a pat on the back and a “thank you so much.” They deserve recognition and a big fat award. Continue reading My Monday Musing ~ Tony Awards for Understudies – Yea Or Nay? at Musings by Tulis.

This is an essay I wrote in March 2023. When there is a positive patch in your life - think back on how you got there. You stuck your neck out. That's how. Continue reading Stick Your Neck Out ~ An Essay From 2023 I Needed To Hear AGAIN at Musings by Tulis.

What happened to following up with a phone call? Follow up phone calls or checking in phone calls or confirmation phone calls or gossip calls or “Can I come over?” calls or “I’m asking you out on a date” calls, or “Got time for a drink this week?” calls or plain old, “I miss you” calls.” What happened to them? Continue reading My Monday Musing – Where Did The Telephones Go? at Musings by Tul...

Remember the Mulberry tree scattering her ripe berries on the sidewalk so that someone will see the message in the mess and look up. It only took me 15 years to figure that one out. Continue reading My Monday Musing ~ The Mulberry Tree Message at Musings by Tulis.

Last week I got three emails from three adult human beings with whom I am taking online classes. Yes these are teachers. Leaders with followings. People a person might look to for guidance. Here is the deal - In each of these emails from three different people the subject line of said emails featured the word WANNA! W-A-N-N-A “Wanna Work With Me?” “Wanna hop on Zoom?” "WANNA"? Seriously??? Continu...

The Everything Drawer - You know you have one. Everybody has one. Right NEXT to the silverware drawer OR the gadget drawer where you keep the wine opener and the candle stubs and the used corks. Continue reading My Monday Musing ~ Secrets Of The Everything Drawer at Musings by Tulis.

Long ago - Memorial Day did not give you a long weekend. It was on May 30th and the next day was May 31 and you went back to work or school or Saturday chores or Sunday church. We filled Memorial Day full to the brim and returned to life the next day. Continue reading My Monday Musing ~ Memorial Day Part Two at Musings by Tulis.

MOST EVERYONE who lives in New York City has a "Moving In Story." This is mine. Memorial Day 1976. Continue reading My Monday Musing ~ Memorial “Moving” Day 1976 at Musings by Tulis.

Then whammo – you wake up one day and someone has handed you a Medicare Card – with YOUR name on it. Not you parents’. Not your boss’s. YOUR name. And where are you? You are rounding Second heading for third. And what is going on? Memories, folks. Memories that you didn’t even know you had. Continue reading My Monday Musing ~ The Shortstop and Time Management at Musings by Tulis.

But Peggy, Betty, and Marylou cherished me unconditionally. From them I learned how to feel love, because I was loved. They taught me there are two kinds of mothers – the one you are born to and the ones that choose you. The ones who love the wayward travelers. I bet you’ve chosen a few yourself, right? Good for you – AND them. Continue reading My Monday Musing ~ Mother’s Day: Let’s Ta...

I didn’t know how young my parents were. I didn’t know how little they knew because they were so young. I didn’t know that they were winging it. I didn’t know that they didn’t have a plan or a treasure chest of facts and knowledge and certainty. I didn’t know that every day they woke up in a house with five kids all going in different directions. Continue reading My Monday Musing ~ “I Didn&#...

... if we humans can go to all this length to consume a thorny clubbed vegetable that tastes like nothing ... and if there are actual farmers who get paid to grow these plants, and in turn, people who will pay to eat them – how is it that world peace eludes us? Continue reading My Monday Musing ~ The Artichoke and World Peace at Musings by Tulis.

Highschool. We had no idea or vision of the future, and the thought of being 70 or so and looking back was not on our agenda. Being there in the parking lot, leaning against one car or another, no one smoking or drinking, sharing gossip and the tiny markers in our lives that seemed enormous, with the peepers as our background music, that was a place we felt safe and hopeful. You bet we dawdled. Co...

Having seen Marilyn Maye many, many times for over a decade I know in advance there will be at least one point where she will leave me face down sobbing in my soup (should there be any around).  That is because she has reached into me and touched my poor, poor heart.  I know this and I look forward to it.  Maye reminds me that I am alive and there is a lot of living to do.  Sobbing in my soup is s...

As a public service I am offering is a sure fired remedy for Writers Block. Here it is. Stand on your head until the words fall out onto the floor. Continue reading My Monday Musing ~ The Cure For Writer’s Block at Musings by Tulis.