by Naomi Rayman

Posts by Naomi Rayman

Nighty Night

Posted on March 13, 2020

In 1959, following her cardiologist’s orders, my mother took to her bed for a year. Her arteries were found to be compromised (later determined to be angina), with the concomitant restricted blood flow, necessitating dramatic measures of treatment. These were the antiquated days of medicine, apparently. Leeches and cupping were no longer in vogue and bypass surgery was in its developmental stages. Bed rest for cardiac patients seemed to be the prescription of choice. It had only taken three months of hospitalization for my mother’s doctor to arrive at a diagnosis and the resulting prognosis. While my mother languished in Peralta Hospital for an entire season and my father fretted over how to care for his 8-year-old hand-wringing daughter, family friends took action and…

Keeping Time

Posted on January 5, 2020

The venue certainly was nothing to write a blog about.  And, I definitely didn’t RSVP “will attend” for the promise of chicken wings and ribs. Anyway, how do you eat those things while working a crowd?   Despite decades of insouciant memory high jinx about my high school years, I finally and somewhat emphatically announced to my long-time posse of 4th-grade buddies that I wasn’t going to miss this 50-year salute to being one of the survivors of my high school class of 1969.  I may decline that finger food at the buffet, but I would need that cocktail. As the soiree’s fall date approached, the wunderkinds who were orchestrating the weekend’s jamboree began sending out emails asking those of us who apparently had a viable…

More Later #1

Posted on August 16, 2019

Dear Reader, If you’re up for a journey with me, I invite you to read my latest writing. I am developing a longer, fiction (ahem, memoir truth be told) body of work and I’m starting with this entry. Basically, I need the practice/experience of a different sort. Call it cross training. The working title for this project is, “More Later,” and from time to time I’ll move the story along (fingers crossed); my regular blogs will also be published too. I’m full of ideas but we will see if I’m up to the task. I appreciate your willingness to be part of this exploration. You might be a fan or an occasional reader. It’s just nice to know you’re there. Happy reading! Evelyn –…

A Little Less Quixote; A Little More Sancho

Posted on June 26, 2019

My own and most recent flight of fancy was actually a fancy flight. It’s amazing how much better champagne tastes when it’s free and served in front of equally deserving airplane passengers who have to suffer the indignity of flying coach. Full disclosure, and I’ll bet you already guessed this, what took my husband and me to the front of the plane were mileage points. Lots and lots of them. We were headed to Portugal and Spain, and what better way to get the fiesta started. “Salud!” I said to my husband before he secured his noise-cancelling headphones on his skull. From then on, it was a most pleasant way to spend 24 hours… eating every thing the flight attendants could place before me,…

Rhythm Method

Posted on December 28, 2018

Sergei Rachmaninoff, the Russian-born composer who died in 1943, was reputed to have enormous hands. Helpful, these mitts of his were, when sitting down to play the piano.  Many consider him to be one of the greatest concert pianists of all time. It was said that Rachmaninoff could hold out his right hand, palm side down, and reach his thumb under his four other fingers to extend his thumb about four inches past his little finger.  Try that at home, if you wish.  I dare you. My mom relayed that piece of piano history as we were driving to lunch following another one of my tortuous Saturday piano lessons.  I was about 9 and drank a lot of milk.  That latter fact may seem incongruous…

Play Through

Posted on May 22, 2018

I grew up in a golfing family. By family, I mean my parents who both played the game. I, however, preferred amusing myself with my Barbie dolls any chance I could get. This included bringing Barbie, and often a reluctant Ken, along in the golf cart when I was made to accompany my mom and dad to the course. On the very rare occasions I was allowed to remain at home, which was during their rounds of twilight golf on Friday summer nights, I not only was left to play with my dolls but also to enjoy my favorite meal of all: Swanson’s fried chicken TV dinner. I loved Friday nights. On Sundays, however, our family time was spent on the golf course. Our…

Forty Winks

Posted on November 10, 2017

I read that Martha Stewart gets by on 4 hours of sleep. Lapses in judgment about stock shenanigans and the frequent berating of her underlings notwithstanding, she does all right on just a few hours of sleep. Nocturnal omissions can also be said of Jay Leno, Tom Ford, Kelly Ripa, and Donald Trump. If there ever were an argument for the benefits of getting a full 8 hours of shut-eye, let the latter individual prove my case. I’m not sure when my own inability to sleep through the night began. I’ll blame menopause for the first wave of insomnia. Once that ditch was dug, it was quickly filled in with worries about money, children, their children, and nuclear war. Like a rubber mallet to…

Working It Out

Posted on September 1, 2017

Albert Einstein was once asked how he would spend his time if he were given a problem upon which his life depended and he had only one hour to solve it. He responded by saying he would spend 30 minutes analyzing the problem, 20 minutes planning the solution, and 10 minutes executing the solution. I operate in a completely different way. This is one of a myriad of ways in which I am nothing like Albert Einstein. Except for my hair, which can resemble his, when I wake up. In other words, I jump to conclusions and operate at about a 75%-success rate. This gives me the confidence to think that, in most circumstances, I have a better than 50/50 chance of figuring out…

M (OM) A

Posted on August 11, 2017

When I travel to New York City, which is quite often for someone living in California, I pack the usual necessities along with a few luxuries and a lot of cute clothes for my young grandchildren who live there. Also, it’s critical to bring the most stylish but comfortable shoes I have in my closet. This last item being a nearly impossible feat, if you will excuse the pun. Comfort can be diametrically opposed to style especially where footwear is concerned. Boot season is, therefore, my favorite time of year to hit the streets of Manhattan. It’s hard to go wrong with galoshes. Regardless of the weather, the most important item on my packing list is a New-York state of mind. From the minute…

Face Off

Posted on April 21, 2017

I recently visited New York and was so busy there with my super-sized days, I didn’t have a chance to see the recently opened Broadway show, “War Paint.” The production tells the story of the rivalry between the cosmetic magnates, Helena Rubenstein and Elizabeth Arden. It’s on my ever-growing to-do list for the next visit. Nevertheless, reading about the musical triggered memories of my own connection to the world of makeup or lack thereof. As I rode the train from Brooklyn to Manhattan one soggy morning last week, there to my left and across the pole-pierced corridor that separates the bench-style seats on the subway sat a young woman deftly applying her mascara. Recalling my own makeup application that very morning, complete with magnifying…