Loosely based on the renowned Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story is a beautiful movie-musical classic set on the finger-snapping, pulsating West Side of 1950's/1960's New York City.  It involves love and  romance that develops amid conflict between two warring NYC street gangs;  the white Ethnic American Jets and the newly-arrived Puerto Rican Sharks, only to be destroyed later.

The Jets claim and stake out their turf with a tough, macho bravado, and are determined to drive off the Sharks who're also vying for a piece of the small amount of turf that both gangs must share.  A melee between the Sharks and Jets erupts on the playground, which is broken up by Lt. Schrank and Officer Krupke. 

Tony, the founder and ex-Jets gangleader, who is looking for something beyond gang life and the streets but doesn't know what he's looking for, has been hired to work fulltime at Doc's Candy Store.  The elderly, kindly Doc attemps to mentor the kids, but to no avail.

Back on their turf, the Jets, under Riff's leadership, are now debating what to do, and ultimately decide to challenge the Shark gangleader, Bernardo, to a rumble.  Riff decides that Tony would be the best lieutenant and calls on his old friend to help .  He goes to Doc's Candy Store to enlist  Tony's help, but Tony turns Riff down several times.  Riff then persuades Tony to come to the dance at the gym that night,  with  "Who knows?  Maybe what you're lookin' for will be twitchin' at the dance tonight!"


  Reluctantly, Tony agrees to meet Riff  and the Jets at the dance, where Tony and Maria meet  and fall in love. The sparks really begin to fly, as steadily rising tensions between the Jets and Sharks worsen.



Maria, the sister of the Shark gangleader, Bernardo, is a pretty 17-year-old girl who has come to America to marry Chino, another member of the Sharks who  is Bernardo's friend and right-hand man and works as a delivery assistant .

At the Bridal Shop where Maria and Bernardo's girlfriend, Anita, both work as seamstresses, Anita is busy altering a white communion dress for Maria to wear to the dance.  Despite Maria's pleas that  the neck be lowered, her complaints that she'll be the only  one at the dance in white, and attempts to distract Anita by talking about other things, Anita continues with her work. Maria tries on the white dress, loves it, and is excited about coming to the dance.  The Sharks finally come to call.

That night, at the dance,  attempts by social worker, Glad Hand,  to engage the Jets and Sharks in a "get-together" dance,  which fails miserably.  The Jets and Sharks each rally with their own kind and the dance quickly becomes a fierce competition between the two gangs.  At that point, Tony arrives, and is greeted and embraced by his old friend Riff and his girlfriend, Graziella.



Tony and Maria see each other from across the room, meet,  fall in love and begin dancing together,  but are pulled up short by an angry Bernardo, who orders Chino to take Maria home despite her protests that it is only her first dance.

At this point, Riff intervenes and insists that he, the Jets, Bernardo and the Sharks meet at Doc's at midnight for a war council.  Bernardo agrees.

Meanwhile, after bringing Anita home from the dance, Bernardo, Anita, the other Sharks and their girls party on their tenament rooftop, where they argue about the virtues and vices of the American experience.  On the way down from the rooftop, Bernardo invites Anita to meet him on the roof later, to which Anita replies  "I'm an American girl now!  I don't wait!"

Tony goes to Maria's apartment, calls for her, and mounts the fire escape, where they introduce themselves to each other and agree to meet at the Bridal Shop at six o'clock the next evening.

Shortly before midnight, Riff, the Jets and their girls assemble outside Doc's Candy Store.  Officer Krupke arrives, warns the Jets against troublemaking, and is lampooned by the Jets when he departs.  The Jets and their girls enter the Candy Store and sit down, awaiting the Sharks' arrival.  Riff makes it clear to the girls that they don't belong at the war council, while Anybodys, a  tomboy and sort of a Jets "wannabe", tries to make herself invisible by hiding, only to be spotted by Riff, who gestures for her to go despite her giving him a "let me stay" look.  Unlike Graziella and Velma, who exit quietly,  however, Anybodys shoves the Sharks like a big tough guy. 

  Doc's pleas with the boys to talk it out instead of fighting fall on deaf ears.  Jet gangleader Riff then challenges Bernardo to a rumble, which is promptly accepted.  After a  spat that culminates in the exchange of racial and ethnic insults by both gangs, the war council begins  The Jets and Sharks agree to meet for the rumble the next night, after dark, under the West Side High way, after which Riff and Bernardo shake hands to seal the deal.

  As the Jets and Sharks are calling the weapons, Tony comes in, ignores Riff's entreaties for him to line himself with the Jets, and suggests that the Rumble be clinched by a fair fight...a fist fight involving the best man from each gang.  The fair fight is agreed upon and Ice is chosen by  Riff to take on Bernardo, despite Bernardo's obvious disappointment over the fact that he won't be fighting Tony.

In comes Lt. Schrank, who openly displays his prejudice against the Puerto Rican Sharks for their ethnicity and culture by roughly banishing them from the Candy Store.  He then asks the Jets where the rumble would be taking place, declaring  "I'm for you!  I'll even lend a hand if things get rough!"  When the Jets ultimately refuse to disclose where the rumble is taking place,  Lt. Schrank insults the Jets about their ethnic immigrant/family backgrounds, strongly revealing his dislike for the Jets as well as the Sharks.

When the Jets leave the Candy Store, Lt. Schrank remains vitriolic, promising the Jets  "I'll find out where the rumble's gonna be!  But be sure to finish each other off before I get there!  'Cause if ya don't, I will!"

  After bitterly  mouthing off to Doc and lifting a cigar from the counter, Schrank angrily leaves the Candy Store.

When the Jets have left, Tony, who has been cleaning up the store, tells Doc not to let it get him, and that he's very much in love.  Doc, however, is not reassured.

The next afternoon, at the Bridal Shop, Maria gaily prepares for her upcoming meeting with Tony, and the other girls who work with her make fun of Maria for acting so vain.

That evening is the big evening, which will mean different things and have markedly different results for different people.  The Jets and Sharks prepare for the rumble. Tony and Maria meet at the Bridal Shop as planned,  and Anita, who has made plans for a big evening out with Bernardo after the rumble, and clearly disapproves of Tony and Maria's romance, admonishes Maria to "be Home in 15 minutes", and then leaves the shop. Tony and Maria then pledge their love among the
shop mannequins.

Despite Tony's decision not to go to the rumble that night, Maria makes Tony promise to go and stop it.  Tony agrees, despite knowing that his efforts to stop the rumble will have disastrous results.

That night, the Jets and Sharks meet at a deserted place under the West Side Highway for the rumble.  After encouragement and support by their respective gangs, Ice and Bernardo begin to fight.  Just as the rumble is getting underway, Tony arrives, ignores Riff's command for him to get with the Jets, and gets between Ice and Bernardo.  He attempts to shake hands with Bernardo, and tries to assure both men that there's "nothing to fight about".

Thoroughly enraged at Tony's interest in his sister, Bernardo angrily pushes Tony away, slaps him around, roughs him up and insults him for his trouble.  Despite Riff's warning Bernardo to cease and desist, Bernardo refuses.  Losing patience, Riff hauls off and hits Bernardo.  The forbidden switchblades appear and the two gangleaders, Riff and Bernardo, begin the knife fight.

Just as Riff is about to decimate Bernardo, Tony, who has been held back by Ice and Tiger, breaks free and tries to stop Riff.  Bernardo ultimately stabs Riff to death, and, Tony, to avenge his old friend Riff's death, stabs Bernardo.  After a brief free-for-all, the Jets and Sharks, stunned by the killings, flee the police and go into hiding, leaving behind Riff and Bernardo's bodies.  Tony, in a state of grief and bewilderment, calls Maria's name, until Anybodys appears and drags Tony away from danger. The Jets, now led by Ice, and hiding out in a garage, are advised to keep cool.  Baby-John, the youngest member of the Jets, moved to tears by the killings, is comforted by his buddy, A-Rab. Graziella, also moved to tears by Riff's death, is comforted by Velma and some of the Jets. Despite learning that Tony has killed her brother, Bernardo, Maria  still loves Tony, who comes and hides out in her bedroom as she prays that Bernardo's death  not be true.  Tony then advises Maria to meet him at Doc's Candy Store so they can elope together, and then exits out the bedroom window.  Anita knocks on Maria's door, figures out that Maria has been hiding Tony in her bedroom, and severely upbraids Maria for allowing Tony to come near her.

Meanwhile, Tony has been found and sent over to Doc's by Anybodys, who has been spying around in the shadows.  Learning that Tony is in love with Bernardo's sister and is presently being hunted by Chino, who is gunning for Tony to avenge Bernardo's death, Anybodys reports what she's heard back to the Jets, who are determined to protect Tony from Chino.

Meanwhile, Lt. Schrank stops by Maria and Anita's and questions them about the dispute that occurred at the dance the night before.  Under questioning, Maria tells Lt. Schrank that she'd danced with a Puerto Rican boy named Jose.  Anita, who has learned that Chino is hunting down Tony with a gun, warns Maria.

.  At Maria's request, Anita reluctantly goes to Doc's Candy Store to warn Tony about Chino.

At the Candy Store, Anita encounters the Jets.  Due to prejudices against Anita because of her cultural and ethnic background, and their determination to protect Tony from Chino, the Jets refute Anita's appeals that  she wants to help them protect  Tony, and begin to  harass and rough her up.  Enraged, Anita retaliates by spitting out the message that Chino has learned about Tony and Maria and shot Maria dead.

Meanwhile, Tony is still hiding in the cellar, awaiting Maria's arrival.  Instead, Doc comes downstairs and relays  the message that Anita has given him to give to Tony:  that Chino has learned about him and Maria and killed her.  Devastated by the message, a disbelieving Tony  runs from the cellar into the street, calling for Chino to come get him too.  Despite Anybodys warnings to Tony to leave, Tony refuses, continuing to call for Chino.  Meanwhile, Maria appears and she and Tony fall, briefly, into each others' arms.  Chino suddenly appears from behind a building and shoots Tony dead.  Tony dies in Maria's arms. 

The remaining Jets and Sharks, who seem on the verge of clashing once again, are held back by Maria who intervenes, aiming at several Jets and Sharks with Chino's gun, but, overcome with grief, is unable to fire, and collapses on Tony's body.  Loudly, Maria states the message that they all killed Bernardo, Riff and Tony with their hatred.  Several Jets and Sharks converge to carry Tony's body off,  united, at least for a fleeting moment, in understanding of tragedy.

While using the stationary bike is certainly not the same as riding outdoors, on the road, it's better than nothing when it comes to the wintertime, or for rainy or extremely not weather, when I retreat to the shelter of my A/C'ed apartment.

Bicycling, whether it be for recreation or for commuting to and from work, appointments, errands, etc., is a tremendous pleasure, as well as being beneficial to the heart, body and overall physical and psychological well-being. Whether one bicycles in the city or out in the country, especially nowadays, a certain amount of vigilance and defensiveness is required: In the city, one has to be on the lookout for pedestrians, cars turning, people in parked cars opening their car doors, and, especially during the morning/evening rush-hours, one also needs to be especially careful of drivers going home from work who're clearly anxious to get home, have had a nip or two before heading home from work, etc. One way I deal with this, if drivers seem especially nervous and upset, is to pull over to the side, wait for a break in the traffic, and then resume my riding.

If there's a red light, I'll use a pedestrian walk light to ride through the intersection whenever possible, hence avoiding the crowd of cars and getting a head start. To make a left turn, if there's a great deal of vehicular traffic, I'll do this particular maneuver as a pedestrian, whether it be here in the city or out in the country.

Anyway, Saturday was a gorgeous day here in the old Bay State, so I went on a 15-mile bike ride, The route I did has some moderately steep, long hills, as well as gently roilling terrain. Hence the "granny" gear, as the smallest front sprocket on my touring bike is called, comes in handy. For gently rolling terrain terrrain and/or straightaways, the middle to upper gear ranges come in equally handy. Oh, for having lots of gears to use!

For my long-distance country bike rides, I drive out to Concord Center, parked, and ride my favorite 12-15 mile route, through Concord, Carlisle, and some of Chelmsford. Even when going along at a moderately fast clip, hunkered down on the drops (the lowest position of the handlebars), I still find time to observe the now-green countryside, now lush with leaves and flowers. Since Mother Nature has cloaked everything in green for right now, it's there for all to enjoy and appreciate. On nice days, many others have the same idea as I do, and I frequently see other bike riders out on the roads.

For long distance country riding, I like the feel of the dropped handlebars--they cut down on wind resistance, I get a chance to really lean over into the wind and stretch my upper body, and I feel like I'm soaring along with a sense of power and control. Yet, at the same time, there's still time and opportunity to look around at what Mother Nature has provided, and to appreciate the beauty. If the green woods could talk, what stories they could tell!!

Now, since I use bicycles with both the dropped handlebars (I also love the way they look, btw), and the flat, upright handlebars, I'm well aware of the advantages and disadvantages to both:
In the city, the flat, upright handlebars, not to mention the fatter, knobbier tires and heavier frame that a mountain bike has to offer, are far better, I think, for commuting in city traffic, and the fatter, knobbier tires are far better for commuting on Boston's streets, which can be pretty nasty. The flatter, upright handlebars and the fatter, knobbier tires aren't so great for touring, since one can't bend forward into the wind to cut down resistance and gain speed, and the fatter tires are also not conducive to really gaining momentum and speed.

Dropped handlebars, on the other hand, are perfect for that. Since there are also three different positions on the dropped handlebars:(up on top, riding over the brake hoods, and down on the drops), there's also the advantage of being able to adjust one's whole upper body and hands as one wishes. I take full advantage of this, moving my hands into the three different positions on the dropped handlebars, which givese me lots of advantage. I can take off and gain some speed--hunkering down on the drops, hence really gaining some momentum.

Of course, however, with a touring bike, which has a thinner frame and wheels, one has to be more careful of bumps, potholes, etc, which can and do come up even while riding on roads out in the country. The touring bike, imo, is really not good for city riding.

All that being said, I cherish riding both of my bicycles, and riding both in the city and in the country. Bicycling is something that I've been doing with much relish since childhood. When I was very little, I had a tricycle. Then, I got a two-wheel bike with coaster brakes and training wheels, when I got to be a good enough and confident enough rider, were removed. I road my one-speed bike with coaster brakes from transition through the summer before entering the 4th grade.

In fourth grade, I got my first geared bike for my birthday, which I still remember to this day: a 3-speed Raleigh bike that my parents had even stenciled my name on. I rode that bike all through the 5th and sixth grade. After that, I got another, better 3-speed Raleigh bicycle, which was sturdier. I used to enjoy riding my bikes to school during all those days, even when I went to high school, which was the next town over from the one I grew up in. Those were the days when bikes weren't ripped off so readily, and I managed to get by with a skimpy little combination lock chain, with which I'd lock my bike to a tree in a wooded area behind our high school. I rode the green Raleigh 3-speed bike through high school, too.

A year after graduating high school, I wen ton an 8-week hosteling bike trip through Europe, for the summer. I was already to have my 3-speed Raleigh bike overhauled for the trip, to take along. The bike store manager, however, recommended that I get a 10-speed bike because I'd be much happier and more able to ride to ride long distances on the trip, and he was proven right. I got my first advanced bicycle for my trip to Europe--a 10-speed English Dawes Realmrider bicycle, with dropped handlebars, which, although somewhat big for me, I rode for 20 years....yup, you read right.....20 years!

In the early 1990's, I got an even better, more advanced bike...a 21-speed Japanese Bridgestone RBT road and touring bike, also with dropped handlebars. The old 10-speed Dawes was left up in the house in Vermont that my parents had for awhile but was sold shortly before my dad's passing. Well, I rode that Bridgestone bike to and from work in Cambridge while in my present residence, but that was a somewhat heavier, tougher bike. Bridgestone pulled out of the American market for whatever reason, and, when my Bridgestone bike really began having other issues, and parts could no longer be obtained for my Bridgestone R-BT bike, after 11 years of good use, I knew it was time to move on to other things.

My latest advanced bike is the 27-speed Fuji Touring Bike that I now have, which I enjoy tremendously. My mountain bike is a cheap bike, which I only use for here in the city, and therefore don't worry as much about its getting stolen, even though I enjoy it.

Living in a high-theft area, it's necessary to secure bicycles as best as one can, and obtain the best locks too. When one or both bikes aren't in use, I keep them stored on a pole-cat rack in my apartment.

Both of my Raleigh 3-speed bikes, as well as my one-speed coaster brakes bike were girl's bikes, with upright handlebars. Now, for the past 30 some-odd years. I've thought nothing of riding bikes with the bar going across the top, since it's stronger. Anyway, I'll be doing more bicycling this summer. Bicyclling in early to mid fall is rather pleasant, too, weatherwise, when Mother Nature teases the beholder with beautifully colorful leaves and the nippy crisp air that's frequently prevalent during the autumn months. The disadvanteges, however to bicycling at that time of year are as follows: One must be more careful on the roads, since the presence of many fallen pine needles, pine cones, acorns and leaves can and do present a potential hazard that could lead to spills. It's also true that many of the "leaf peepers" are out in their cars and aren't always so careful. I've survived by being careful, taking care of, and enjoying myself.

One of the things I do is to make sure that I take a bottle of water and a bottle of cranberry juice along on my long distance bike rides, which is helpful. Whether I bicycle in the city or the country, I always, without exception, wear a helmet for protection. One can take a nasty fall, at any time, anywhere.

I believe that anyone, with rare exceptions, can learn to ride a bicycle. My mom admittedly regrets not having learned to bike ride as a young girl. My brother and sister also bike ride on occasion, although not as enthusiastically or often as I do. Having a good bike shop to go to also helps, but one must make sure that s/he buys fits properly. That is of utmost importance in purchasing a bicycle!! There are many wonderful books and magazines to do research on bicycling, which provide much useful information regarding purchasing, types of bikes for different lifestyles, budgets, etc., how and where to ride, and upcoming riding events.

I live in the city, which I love, and I also love having the best of both worlds: Living in the city and visiting the country is my cup of tea.

Later on, in the dormitory, my dormmates and I watched rather scary things on the evening news; people being horribly stranded in their cars and not able to get home from work, or wherever, and people were even stranded at their places of work. Some patients who needed medical prescriptions of some kind or other were helped out by others, who helped these patients procure their necessary prescriptions. People ended up buying soap, toothbrushes, and whatever, due to being stranded  at their school or workplaces.

The day the Blizzard of '78 hit had started out like an ordinary day. A snowfall was predicted, but nothing nearly as big as it was going to turn out to be later on. I was still working in the metalsmithing studio at the school, along with a number of other people. As tiime went on, the forecasts became somewhat more ominous and urgent. As the snow arrived and began falling thicker and faster, it became clear that this was not going to be just one of our usual snowstorms.

It was clear from the satellite patterns, and from the fact that people were having a tougher-than-usual time driving and walking around, and that this was going to be a much worse, and much more intense snowstorm than they'd been predicting earllier. The snow dumped a total of roughly 3 feet on the whole state of Massachusetts. When it finally stopped snowing and the sun came out, it was a rather festive time for everyone. The whole state of Massachusetts had been effectively shut down.

Since then-State Governor Michael Dukakis had declared a state of emergency in the entire Bay State, nobody was allowed to drive, except emergency vehicles, i. e. police, state, fire, snow-removal vehicles, and ambulances. It was actually a big test for everybody: the elements vs. humankind--bigtime! Since nobody could drive, it seemed that pretty much everybody was out walking or cross-country-skiing around the city! It was actually a very festive time, especially since no cars were allowed on the road.

Classes at B. U., including the Program in Artisanry, which I was attending, were also called off for that entire week. Since I was living downtown, I also spent lots of time in the metalsmithing studio and got a lot of work done. Walking around the city was fun--I also met up with some friends of mine from an outside-the-university class that I was taking.

Meanwhile, huge pieces of snow-removal equipment had to flown in from the Mid-West, and, all over the city and state of Massachusetts generally, people were busy digging out, and the snow was being put into great big trucks and hauled away in huge, huge trucks. There were some mountains of snow near some college dorms in the city, including B. U.'s, and many people were having fun, climbing on them, having snowball fights, etc. It proved that people, in a crisis, are quite capable of pulling together, which,for a short while, they did. It seemed like one large community out there during this time.

I admit to one thing, however; as much as I love my family, I was happy to be living downtown, being able to have access to the studio and getting work done, and not having to worry about getting around, since there was public transportation and I could go on foot if need be. Had I been living at home, which was then Lincoln, MA, out in the suburbs, I admittedly would've been more nervous, tense, and worn everyone in my family out, because I admittedly do get that way if and when I feel too confined and not in control of things. Anyway, this whole thing passed, and things eventually returned to normal, for which everyone was more than grateful.