Monday, March 22, 2010

Monday - BREAKING NEWS FOR THE GOVERNMENT!!

Good morning my loyal and faithful readers on this gray and dismal Monday morning in The Big Apple. I have BREAKING NEWS FOR THE GOVERNMENT --


Need to extract a confession from suspected terrorists? Do the following: seat them in the rear mezzanine, row H seat 5 (the last row), of the Walter Kerr Theater in NYC, between two 6’3” guys, for the 3+ hour long production of Stephen Sondheim’s A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC. They cannot leave at intermission. Trust me, the pain in legs and back in the final 15 minutes of the show will force them to confess to anything, and I mean ANYTHING. You are welcum!!


I only report - you decide.


Go Gators!!


Billi Pod

“Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.”

-

Sunday, March 21, 2010

March 21 - A Poem About Billi Pod

Hello my loyal and faithful readers. I want to thank all of you who took the time and made the effort to send me emails, texts, postings and snail mail in response to my 20th AA Birthday on March 18th, they were all so very special to me.


Now, I want to share with you something very special, at least special to me - a poem written by Ginger Flowers of Atlanta, GA, a former High School girlfriend and now Best Friend Forever (make that ... and Forever) entitled: “From Dorm Room to Penthouse in Ten Short Years,” or, “A Special Poem for Bill's 20th AA Anniversary.” The reference to “Dorm Room” is about the 4th floor walkup studio apartment on E. 53rd Street where I was living 10 years ago, before moving to E. 51st Street and then to 420 W. 42nd Street on June 1, 2009.


Anyway, here it is totally unedited and in the exact form as sent to me:

++++++++++++++++

“From Dorm Room to Penthouse in Ten Short Years

or

A Special Poem for Bill's 20th AA Anniversary”


He's at a theater or a concert most of his nights

Days are for museums and only-in-NY sights


Season tickets to this, season tickets to that

- and of course to the Yankees in that ubiquitous hat


He's comfortable on the subway; dislikes taking cabs

He's grateful for his doctors; he's sick of all the labs


Household necessities are within two blocks

(except for the subway station where he buys his socks)


He risks The Norris Travel Curse when he travels by air

But he'll leave The Big Apple for events special and rare


Like, to visit his family or check London theater's latest rave

Currently his dreaded birthdays are in Paris with friend Dave


Walking on water? That's so old hat!

Bill Norris can now walk on ice - how about that?


He compulsively lists what he's seen and done

Before sharing totals though, he omits one under "Fun"


Always leading with his pecker; he lets the chips fall where they may

- and they fell on number 20 this Very Special Day.

+++++++++++


What can I say except Thank You Honey!! I love you lots and lots and lots..


Go Gators!!


Billi Pod

“Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.”


Thursday, March 18, 2010

March 18, 2010 - 20 YEARS OF SOBRIETY!!

Hello my loyal and faithful readers. Today is a very important day for me because it is the anniversary of my 20th year of sobriety. Yes, it is a mind-boggling 20 years without a drop of alcohol entering my body. As I reflect on the events of the past 20 years it is apparent to me that much has changed in me, almost all of it for the better.


I guess the most important change has been my ability to live my life by one of the fundamental teachings of Alcoholics Anonymous, that is, "One Day At A Time." This concept was totally foreign to me prior to March 18, 1990. Now, on reflection, it was the major thing that saved me during that first tumultuous and frightening year when it seemed that my world was crashing down around me. People who I thought were my friends were calling for my resignation, my young grandchildren were being approached by aggressive reporters and my home was being picketed by the KKK.


I think I survived, especially during that first terrible year, because I came to believe that my Higher Power, whom I choose to call God, would not deal me more than I could handle on any one day. I also began to make my way through the AA program by attending meetings and by working the suggested 12 Steps Of Recovery, which are:

+++++++++++++++


“1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable.


2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.


3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God, as we understood Him.


4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.


5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.


6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.


7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.


8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.


9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.


10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.


11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.


12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all of our affairs.”

++++++++++++++


As I have written before, at my retirement party in January 1995 I made reference to the role of Alcoholics Anonymous in my recovery by reading the following from the book called "Twenty-Four Hours A Day" --

+++++++++++


YESTERDAY, TOMORROW, AND TODAY


“There are two days in every week about which we should not worry, two days which should be kept from fear and apprehension. One of these days is yesterday, with its mistakes and cares, its faults and blunders, its aches and pains. Yesterday has passed forever beyond our control. All the money in the world cannot bring back yesterday. We cannot undo a single act we performed. We cannot erase a single word we said. Yesterday is gone beyond recall.


The other day we should not worry about is tomorrow, with its possible adversities, its burdens, its large promise, and perhaps its poor performance. Tomorrow is also beyond our immediate control. Tomorrow's sun will rise, either in splendor or behind a mask of clouds, but it will rise. Until it does, we have no stake in tomorrow, for it is as yet unborn.


This leaves only one day - today. Any one can fight the battles of just one day. It is only when you and I add the burden of those two awful eternity's, yesterday and tomorrow that we break down. It is not the experience of today that drives us mad. It is the remorse or bitterness for something which happened yesterday or the dread of what tomorrow may bring. Let us therefore do our best to live but one day at a time.” Twenty-Four Hours a Day, July 29, 30, and 31

+++++++++++


This is how I have attempted to live my life for the past 7,300 days.


I deeply regret that 5 dear friends, David Patterson, Ray Coker, Marvin Mounts, Tom Macdonald, and Randy Bentley, who were with me at the beginning of my first steps toward recovery, are no longer able to share with me the wonderment of these 7,300 days lived One Day At A Time. I miss you guys, I really do. I also must add that none of this time in recovery would have been possible without the continued support of my family, Ginger Flowers of Atlanta, GA, and so many of you loyal and faithful readers. Thank you so very much.


To my NYC AA buddies, and you know who you are, thank you for allowing me to stand beside you during these difficult and trying times. Together we will continue to survive, in sobriety. Seeya at the 12:30 Beginners Meeting


In closing - not to preach but aren’t The 12 Steps and One Day At A Time, in and of themselves, pretty good guidelines for living a meaningful and manageable life?


I report - you decide.


Bill

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Saturday - CONGRATULATIONS SCOTT REED!!!!

Hello everyone. Yes, Billi Pod is alive and well in The Big Apple and is in the process of finishing a much-too-long updating posting about things and stuff since I last posted way back on February 17th.


But that comes later - the reason for this posting is to give a major, and I do mean, major SHOUT-OUT to student/bartender/manager Scott Reed for something that has just happened in his life. What is it you loyal and faithful readers are no doubt breathlessly asking? Well, here it is --


After 2 years as a manager at Spitzer's Corner, a new American gastropub

with 40 craft beers on tap located in the trendy Lower East Side, Scott has just been promoted to The General Manager position of the newly opened Los Feliz, a taqueria/taquileria also located in the heart of the Lower East Side. Los Feliz is owned by the owners of Spitzer’s Corner and about a month ago Scott was re-assigned from Spitzer’s to a management position at Los Feliz. And in just a month’s time he was promoted to the head management position there - a huge accomplishment for a 23 year old. Awesome!!


A quick bit about Los Feliz - it is a 3 level dynamic space, “designed to transport people out of the typical New York City restaurant/lounge feel.” It is located at 109 Ludlow St. (between Delancy and Rivington), 212-228-8383. Their website site is: losfeliznyc.com. Check it out.


Scott told me that he will direct all aspects of the operation, working with Chef Julieta Ballesteros (Iron Chef) to continue menu development that complements the 150+ tequilas in stock.


You know, the truly amazing thing is that Scott is also able to maintain an active social life (yes, that is Joan Rivers in the picture) and is still enrolled in Hunter College and pursuing a degree in film-making.


What the future holds for this 23 year old young man only time will tell. I do know this, his parents, Stan the Man and Donna, are proud of him and Billi Pod feels indeed honored to be included in Scott’s circle of friends.


Keep it up Scott!


Billi Pod

“Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.”