The other day I heard on NPR a critique on the movie NINE… It was late at night…(I usually fall asleep with the radio on…) so I only absorbed part of the critique… and it was bad, but it mentioned the fact that the film was inspired by Fellini’s film “8½” … Being of the opinion that Federico Fellini is the Grand Master of (Italian) Cinema… and “8½” on the top of the list… I decided to go and see it… and judge for myself on the quality of NINE…
So I emailed my friend Bill asking him if he wanted to go…knowing that he was a Fellini admirer…
Below is the email I wrote Bill a few hours after seeing NINE…(Taken from his blog…
www.costleybill7.blogspot.com)
The day after Xmas, I went with Ginny & Ivo, an Italian friend of ours who was a teenager in Milano in the early sixties, to see the new film "NINE" based on a newish play based on Fellini's film “8½” (1965):
Daniel Day-Lewis wonderfully plays an anguished, imaginatively burnt-out Fellini in his fifties; semi-clown Fellini would have envied looking as craggily anguished as Day-Lewis does. Ivo noted there are none of the usual Fellini clowns in it (unless, of course, you consider Day-Lewis a tragic one.) Here's Ivo's Italian take on the film:
I think the reason "pundits/experts" fail to appreciate NINE is that they are looking at it as a musical without considering its Italian character.. For a (non-Italian) critic, this movie is a musical which could be set in the South Pacific...or Chicago... but it's Italian Teatro Del'Arte...
When one sees Fellini, one sees a modern Goldoni, (Servitore di due Padroni)...rather than a "West Side Story"...
I am glad we went to see this parody...
And if you are curious enough and want to understand the meaning of Italian Neorealism… or just the beauty of Art in Cinema… go and enjoy seeing NINE…
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
Double Miracle
A Testimonial by Ivo Adam
Oncle Gustave
The first time I heard of, and met, Oncle Gustave I was four or five years old, I remember going, with my mother, directly from pre-school to see this important uncle. I learned later that Oncle Gustave was my grandmother’s favorite brother.
I remember being proudly dressed in my school uniform, I was sitting down shaking my leg to the point of having my aunt Nelly to tell me to stop shaking… was that the first sign of Parkinson?
It was some three decades later that I saw Oncle Gustave again, I was in Paris on business and Nonna Clemy asked me to come with her and see Gustave.
What I saw was an older man sitting on a chair in the living room of this classy apartment where pieces of art were hanging on every wall.
Oncle Gustave, I learned later, was afflicted with Parkinson Disease, could barely move his legs and had extreme difficulty talking. None of the art pieces or other fortunes could make this man walk and talk again. He died a few years later.
It is with this knowledge of Parkinson Disease that I found myself, a decade later, outside Stanford Hospital in my car crying like a baby…
I had just found out that I had Parkinson’s, like Oncle Gustave. But he was in his seventies, I was only 44 years old. Shall I end up in a chair like my uncle…
The optimist in me forced me to refuse to look at such a bleak future and understand my options, I remember asking my doctor what was I to expect and his answer was “Well, there are certain things you will not be able do in five to ten years.”
So I decided to start playing tennis, and I found a partner and played every week for some ten years.
I allowed myself to forget my condition and focus on the pleasures of life.
I achieved this while remembering my responsibilities and obligations of fatherhood. I was very lucky to have two daughters who were very understanding and rewarding.
I ignore if there is anything more satisfying for a father than go to his daughters’ graduation. Thank you Gal and Sharon.
Maybe I am being sentimental but I really enjoyed the times I was discussing things with my daughters’ classmates and see them grow up.
Spending numerous hours on the air, or in airports, gave me time to read; and since I found interest in history, I spent my free time visiting museums or churches when traveling in Europe. I always admired the beauty that surrounds us, whether it is the Pantheon in Athens, the four thousand year old cuneiform tablets in the British Museum, the Mona Lisa in the Louvre, or some ancient temple in Seoul, Korea.
As time went by my Parkinson required me to increase the dosage of artificial dopamine for me to feel and function “as I was before”. But it was an illusion, I knew that my shaking and tremors would continue, and I had to keep my positive outlook, not withstanding the terminal nature this Illness on my future, hoping for a new development in finding a cure for this illness.
As I look back, I noticed that I was becoming more and more defiantly assertive. I was trying to live with, and have several behaviors which I never before would have dreamed of, the most severe was my propensity to smoke crack cocaine.
In all the past years, living a very active cosmopolitan life style, I never found the need to ever try taking drugs, even growing up a Beatles fan in the sixties in no way gave me the compulsion to look beyond Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds… never requiring a little help from my friends.
But as I took more and more crack, I entered a life style which I never dreamt I would participate in, and culminating in my going to jail for ninety days, because the judge did not believe I was serious about quitting the cocaine habit…
Over the past years, I have tried seriously to stop smoking crack, but every time I would tell myself with all sincerity, no more, I would turn around and go buy some more… I had a sincere desire to stop… but something was impeding me to do it.
I tried going to several programs, but after a couple of weeks outside, I would do it again… all the promises I made to myself, and others, I was unable to keep… and my tremors and shakes increased, so I would increase the dosage of medication, never dreaming that there was a link between them.
A few months back I tried, through my neurologist at Valley Medical, to register in Stanford Hospital’s Deep Brain Surgery program... hoping for some miracle.
Luckily, I received a letter from Stanford Hospital, inviting me to go and test for DBS. During the long six hour session the doctor asked me if I had any compulsive behavior, like gambling. Having read about compulsive behavior as being a form of addiction, I said yes… and it is not gambling, it is cocaine…
Apparently, the Parkinson medications I was taking for many years (Requip and Mirapex) had a side effect of giving a compulsive behavior, The medication gave a dopamine punch so strong that it had the brain go for compulsive behavior.
When the doctor heard that, she immediately took me off Requip, in a two day phase-out plan… and that is when the miracle occurred… as I stopped the Requip my craving for cocaine disappeared… that desire I had every morning, and was fighting daily for drugs, disappeared…
I just found it unbelievable, all the desires I had “for living on the wild side” are all gone. It is as if it is a very distant memory of someone else. Today, it is hard for me to believe that I craved for such things as picking cigarette butts in bus stops and going to sleep in shelters.
It appears that I totally killed this Albatros away from the realm of my existence.
With crack cocaine behind me, I now focused on getting ready for my surgery, remembering that I had just switched from Requip and was taking a much weaker medication… which allowed me much less mobility.
The surgery was performed in two phases, the first one was to implant a couple of probes deep in my brain (making me a cyborg), a week later a pacemaker/generator was implanted in my thorax and connected to the probes. Apparently both these surgeries were positive.
The probe was not connected to the generator, and would not be for another week, so I had to wait for the results…
During that week, even though everyone was telling me that all was OK, I was very restless, praying that everything was really going to be all right.
Then, I went to connect and calibrate my generator… and it works!!! My shakes (after twenty years) are gone.
For those who have known me for a while… Ivo is now free of drug addiction and free of any tremor and shake…
Can this be called a double miracle I guess it is…
And to praise the surgical team in Stanford… I reduced my medicine intake to zero after a year…
Oncle Gustave
The first time I heard of, and met, Oncle Gustave I was four or five years old, I remember going, with my mother, directly from pre-school to see this important uncle. I learned later that Oncle Gustave was my grandmother’s favorite brother.
I remember being proudly dressed in my school uniform, I was sitting down shaking my leg to the point of having my aunt Nelly to tell me to stop shaking… was that the first sign of Parkinson?
It was some three decades later that I saw Oncle Gustave again, I was in Paris on business and Nonna Clemy asked me to come with her and see Gustave.
What I saw was an older man sitting on a chair in the living room of this classy apartment where pieces of art were hanging on every wall.
Oncle Gustave, I learned later, was afflicted with Parkinson Disease, could barely move his legs and had extreme difficulty talking. None of the art pieces or other fortunes could make this man walk and talk again. He died a few years later.
It is with this knowledge of Parkinson Disease that I found myself, a decade later, outside Stanford Hospital in my car crying like a baby…
I had just found out that I had Parkinson’s, like Oncle Gustave. But he was in his seventies, I was only 44 years old. Shall I end up in a chair like my uncle…
The optimist in me forced me to refuse to look at such a bleak future and understand my options, I remember asking my doctor what was I to expect and his answer was “Well, there are certain things you will not be able do in five to ten years.”
So I decided to start playing tennis, and I found a partner and played every week for some ten years.
I allowed myself to forget my condition and focus on the pleasures of life.
I achieved this while remembering my responsibilities and obligations of fatherhood. I was very lucky to have two daughters who were very understanding and rewarding.
I ignore if there is anything more satisfying for a father than go to his daughters’ graduation. Thank you Gal and Sharon.
Maybe I am being sentimental but I really enjoyed the times I was discussing things with my daughters’ classmates and see them grow up.
Spending numerous hours on the air, or in airports, gave me time to read; and since I found interest in history, I spent my free time visiting museums or churches when traveling in Europe. I always admired the beauty that surrounds us, whether it is the Pantheon in Athens, the four thousand year old cuneiform tablets in the British Museum, the Mona Lisa in the Louvre, or some ancient temple in Seoul, Korea.
As time went by my Parkinson required me to increase the dosage of artificial dopamine for me to feel and function “as I was before”. But it was an illusion, I knew that my shaking and tremors would continue, and I had to keep my positive outlook, not withstanding the terminal nature this Illness on my future, hoping for a new development in finding a cure for this illness.
As I look back, I noticed that I was becoming more and more defiantly assertive. I was trying to live with, and have several behaviors which I never before would have dreamed of, the most severe was my propensity to smoke crack cocaine.
In all the past years, living a very active cosmopolitan life style, I never found the need to ever try taking drugs, even growing up a Beatles fan in the sixties in no way gave me the compulsion to look beyond Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds… never requiring a little help from my friends.
But as I took more and more crack, I entered a life style which I never dreamt I would participate in, and culminating in my going to jail for ninety days, because the judge did not believe I was serious about quitting the cocaine habit…
Over the past years, I have tried seriously to stop smoking crack, but every time I would tell myself with all sincerity, no more, I would turn around and go buy some more… I had a sincere desire to stop… but something was impeding me to do it.
I tried going to several programs, but after a couple of weeks outside, I would do it again… all the promises I made to myself, and others, I was unable to keep… and my tremors and shakes increased, so I would increase the dosage of medication, never dreaming that there was a link between them.
A few months back I tried, through my neurologist at Valley Medical, to register in Stanford Hospital’s Deep Brain Surgery program... hoping for some miracle.
Luckily, I received a letter from Stanford Hospital, inviting me to go and test for DBS. During the long six hour session the doctor asked me if I had any compulsive behavior, like gambling. Having read about compulsive behavior as being a form of addiction, I said yes… and it is not gambling, it is cocaine…
Apparently, the Parkinson medications I was taking for many years (Requip and Mirapex) had a side effect of giving a compulsive behavior, The medication gave a dopamine punch so strong that it had the brain go for compulsive behavior.
When the doctor heard that, she immediately took me off Requip, in a two day phase-out plan… and that is when the miracle occurred… as I stopped the Requip my craving for cocaine disappeared… that desire I had every morning, and was fighting daily for drugs, disappeared…
I just found it unbelievable, all the desires I had “for living on the wild side” are all gone. It is as if it is a very distant memory of someone else. Today, it is hard for me to believe that I craved for such things as picking cigarette butts in bus stops and going to sleep in shelters.
It appears that I totally killed this Albatros away from the realm of my existence.
With crack cocaine behind me, I now focused on getting ready for my surgery, remembering that I had just switched from Requip and was taking a much weaker medication… which allowed me much less mobility.
The surgery was performed in two phases, the first one was to implant a couple of probes deep in my brain (making me a cyborg), a week later a pacemaker/generator was implanted in my thorax and connected to the probes. Apparently both these surgeries were positive.
The probe was not connected to the generator, and would not be for another week, so I had to wait for the results…
During that week, even though everyone was telling me that all was OK, I was very restless, praying that everything was really going to be all right.
Then, I went to connect and calibrate my generator… and it works!!! My shakes (after twenty years) are gone.
For those who have known me for a while… Ivo is now free of drug addiction and free of any tremor and shake…
Can this be called a double miracle I guess it is…
And to praise the surgical team in Stanford… I reduced my medicine intake to zero after a year…
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Ship
Ship
Yesterday (or was it today)… in the news I read about the Iranian cargo ship caught by Israel… it was full of arms to be delivered in Lebanon to Hezbollah…
This shows the insincerity of the Iranian and the Syrians…
On the Syrian issue we are told that Syria wants to sign a separate with Israel… or maybe in their mind they want the Golan Heights back so they can shoot these missiles to Haifa and Tel Aviv…
We should all in unison say to Mr. Assad “NICE TRY”… and for us to remember… like father like son…
With regards to the Iranians… enough has been said and written… we are smart enough to see insincerity…
On the Palestinians… Arafat, their supreme leader… refused the most generous offer by Ehud Barak … because that would lead to peace… and Arafat wanted to continue the struggle for the annihilation of the Jews…
My answer to them is “Tough”
Yesterday (or was it today)… in the news I read about the Iranian cargo ship caught by Israel… it was full of arms to be delivered in Lebanon to Hezbollah…
This shows the insincerity of the Iranian and the Syrians…
On the Syrian issue we are told that Syria wants to sign a separate with Israel… or maybe in their mind they want the Golan Heights back so they can shoot these missiles to Haifa and Tel Aviv…
We should all in unison say to Mr. Assad “NICE TRY”… and for us to remember… like father like son…
With regards to the Iranians… enough has been said and written… we are smart enough to see insincerity…
On the Palestinians… Arafat, their supreme leader… refused the most generous offer by Ehud Barak … because that would lead to peace… and Arafat wanted to continue the struggle for the annihilation of the Jews…
My answer to them is “Tough”
Africa - Zimbabwe today...
Africa – Zimbabwe today… tomorrow another place…
We are shown on television how people are mal nourished… and yet on the day fertilizers are distributed… the population of that village stand in line and… start dancing…just to celebrate the receipt of the fertilizers… and, probably, to celebrate life…
Throughout the literature we read about “Lucy” and other primate-like ancestors… all of them started their trek in Africa… I always wondered how come our ancestors were so primitive… one would expect that our ancestors would be the most developed “homo…”
When seeing these people dancing and singing while waiting for their portion of fertilizers… it led me to wonder who is the cultured and who is the educated… can we state with contempt that we are superior because we can count our money and goods to make more money… or are the people who take their famine with a song and dance the more mature of species…
We are shown on television how people are mal nourished… and yet on the day fertilizers are distributed… the population of that village stand in line and… start dancing…just to celebrate the receipt of the fertilizers… and, probably, to celebrate life…
Throughout the literature we read about “Lucy” and other primate-like ancestors… all of them started their trek in Africa… I always wondered how come our ancestors were so primitive… one would expect that our ancestors would be the most developed “homo…”
When seeing these people dancing and singing while waiting for their portion of fertilizers… it led me to wonder who is the cultured and who is the educated… can we state with contempt that we are superior because we can count our money and goods to make more money… or are the people who take their famine with a song and dance the more mature of species…
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
A Little Bit Of Love
A little bit of Love
This morning I was watching an old silent movie… made in 1922… very dramatic… the camera was focusing mainly on the faces of the actors… one statement struck me…
”with a little bit of love… nobody shall have to suffer and be lost”…
I guess that is how cinema started… facial expressions and a few statements by the main actors… It is curious how the art of cinema developed…
First the development of the camera… from still photos to the movement of actors on a stage… and a few lines of text…
Then the actors were on the outdoors… creating scenes and special effects… and noises on a few lines of text…
Then came the vocal film… followed by Technicolor… making mega effects and focusing on everything…
In watching this film… I realized that Aldous Huxley was writing Brave New World in that same period… in the “Belle Époque”… after the War that will end all Wars… and before the Holocaust…
I guess we forgot these old silent movies… we even forgot Brave New World…
”with a little bit of love… nobody shall have to suffer and be lost”…
This morning I was watching an old silent movie… made in 1922… very dramatic… the camera was focusing mainly on the faces of the actors… one statement struck me…
”with a little bit of love… nobody shall have to suffer and be lost”…
I guess that is how cinema started… facial expressions and a few statements by the main actors… It is curious how the art of cinema developed…
First the development of the camera… from still photos to the movement of actors on a stage… and a few lines of text…
Then the actors were on the outdoors… creating scenes and special effects… and noises on a few lines of text…
Then came the vocal film… followed by Technicolor… making mega effects and focusing on everything…
In watching this film… I realized that Aldous Huxley was writing Brave New World in that same period… in the “Belle Époque”… after the War that will end all Wars… and before the Holocaust…
I guess we forgot these old silent movies… we even forgot Brave New World…
”with a little bit of love… nobody shall have to suffer and be lost”…
Friday, October 2, 2009
Quake
Quake…
As I watch the various disasters… I try and list them to understand what is going on…
- Tsunami in Samoa and Tonga
- Earthquakes in Indonesia
- Mudslide in Messina, Sicily
- Typhoon in the Philippine
Then we have… unemployment at 9.5%… and other “bad news”…
We then have the debate(s) on Health for all Americans…
what is there to debate… I thought that the well being of its citizens was part of the Constitution… how can you have pursuit of happiness without well being…
On the good news side… let us go to Rio de Janeiro and celebrate the 2016 Olympics… the one thing that the Brazilians excel is to celebrate…
Peace
As I watch the various disasters… I try and list them to understand what is going on…
- Tsunami in Samoa and Tonga
- Earthquakes in Indonesia
- Mudslide in Messina, Sicily
- Typhoon in the Philippine
Then we have… unemployment at 9.5%… and other “bad news”…
We then have the debate(s) on Health for all Americans…
what is there to debate… I thought that the well being of its citizens was part of the Constitution… how can you have pursuit of happiness without well being…
On the good news side… let us go to Rio de Janeiro and celebrate the 2016 Olympics… the one thing that the Brazilians excel is to celebrate…
Peace
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tennis 1
Tennis 1
Well, I did it… my first steps in holding a racquet and shooting some balls against a wall…
This afternoon I took my racquet and some balls and off I went to the park next door and did just that…
I am still a bit stiff… and hesitate in moving laterally… but that was expected… with Parkinson’s and all…
But I am confident that my muscles will develop… and I will ignore Parkinson… in the same way that I continue living without any Parkinson medication…
Other than tennis… I am proceeding in my de-boxing… and trying to fit all my stuff in a studio smaller than the one I was living before… but the atmosphere here in Stevenson House is much more positive… so I hope getting more involved… and find my niche…
Gone are the sirens of the two to four ambulances which come daily at Valley Village… but also gone is my seeing the little cat that lives by the mall where I had my daily coffee… I have to convince Bill to go visit the kitty…
More to come as I settle down…
Well, I did it… my first steps in holding a racquet and shooting some balls against a wall…
This afternoon I took my racquet and some balls and off I went to the park next door and did just that…
I am still a bit stiff… and hesitate in moving laterally… but that was expected… with Parkinson’s and all…
But I am confident that my muscles will develop… and I will ignore Parkinson… in the same way that I continue living without any Parkinson medication…
Other than tennis… I am proceeding in my de-boxing… and trying to fit all my stuff in a studio smaller than the one I was living before… but the atmosphere here in Stevenson House is much more positive… so I hope getting more involved… and find my niche…
Gone are the sirens of the two to four ambulances which come daily at Valley Village… but also gone is my seeing the little cat that lives by the mall where I had my daily coffee… I have to convince Bill to go visit the kitty…
More to come as I settle down…
Friday, September 18, 2009
Omnipresent Tikva
Omnipresent Tikva
In the last couple of weeks, I have been thinking alot about Tikva... such a sweet girl... I am with you my little angel... very much with you...
This morning I went to see her and got her two roses... one a peachy yellow... and the other a sweet pink... Ethel, of the grey army, told me that it was very appropriate for a little girl...
It kinda caught me by surprise... because I have been thinking of Tikva as a little angel, rather than a little girl... I guess i should widen my horizons...
Then I thought... Tikva is with me in this new year and the move to Palo Alto...
Thank you my little angel...
I love you
Nonno
In the last couple of weeks, I have been thinking alot about Tikva... such a sweet girl... I am with you my little angel... very much with you...
This morning I went to see her and got her two roses... one a peachy yellow... and the other a sweet pink... Ethel, of the grey army, told me that it was very appropriate for a little girl...
It kinda caught me by surprise... because I have been thinking of Tikva as a little angel, rather than a little girl... I guess i should widen my horizons...
Then I thought... Tikva is with me in this new year and the move to Palo Alto...
Thank you my little angel...
I love you
Nonno
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
I'm Moving
Yes, I am moving... to Palo Alto... it is more familiar... more pleasent environment... more activities... it feels like going back...
Some twenty three years ago I found out I had Parkinson's...
I remember asking my doctor what does that mean... I was fortythree at the time... his answer was simple... "In five years from now you will be unable to do certain things you are doing today..."
That is why I started playing tennis, and continued playing diligently for some ten years... till I dislocated my elbow while playing tennis...
Well, inspite of the rigidity of my legs(due to my Parkinson) I will try and shooting some balls on the wall in Mitchel Park, just one hundred meters from my new home...
Here is my new address:
Ivo Adam
455 east Charleston Road
apt A321
Palo Alto, CA 94306
ivo.adam@gmail.com
408-627-3333
the e-mail and telephone remain unchanged
good luck to you
Ivo
Some twenty three years ago I found out I had Parkinson's...
I remember asking my doctor what does that mean... I was fortythree at the time... his answer was simple... "In five years from now you will be unable to do certain things you are doing today..."
That is why I started playing tennis, and continued playing diligently for some ten years... till I dislocated my elbow while playing tennis...
Well, inspite of the rigidity of my legs(due to my Parkinson) I will try and shooting some balls on the wall in Mitchel Park, just one hundred meters from my new home...
Here is my new address:
Ivo Adam
455 east Charleston Road
apt A321
Palo Alto, CA 94306
ivo.adam@gmail.com
408-627-3333
the e-mail and telephone remain unchanged
good luck to you
Ivo
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Jair
On September 12th would have been my friend’s Jair Levitt (ne Yankelevitch) sixty fifth birthday…
Unfortunately, Jair was so deep in his addiction to Alcohol that he succumbed and ended his life…
I keep wondering if I could have intervened… and saved him… but I was, at that time, so involved in combating my own addiction that I was unable to deal with Jair’s problem…
Well… I made it… over three years of sobriety… and I am proud of myself… proud of refusing to look at any temptation which will remotely lead to addiction…
Jair my friend, rest in peace… and may you find serenity in your eternal life…
Unfortunately, Jair was so deep in his addiction to Alcohol that he succumbed and ended his life…
I keep wondering if I could have intervened… and saved him… but I was, at that time, so involved in combating my own addiction that I was unable to deal with Jair’s problem…
Well… I made it… over three years of sobriety… and I am proud of myself… proud of refusing to look at any temptation which will remotely lead to addiction…
Jair my friend, rest in peace… and may you find serenity in your eternal life…
Monday, August 10, 2009
Yesterday
Yesterday I went to see my little Tikva… she was very close… but also very far… My sweet angel… my little drifter… my blessing… I feel you so close… even when I noticed that one little bear had moved a few slots away to visit a friend… well, he is back with the other two bears… making… “three little bears sitting on chairs…”
I also noticed that someone came by and put some yellow poppies in the vase… Thank you, whoever you are…
This morning I went to the Mall for coffee… and I passed by kittie’s house… as soon as he saw me he came and asked where have I been all these days… I told him that I brought him some snack… I also told him about my visiting Tikva… but the cat was so intent in eating his snack… his attention was on his food…
Well, that’s how cats think… I’ll try again next time…
I also noticed that someone came by and put some yellow poppies in the vase… Thank you, whoever you are…
This morning I went to the Mall for coffee… and I passed by kittie’s house… as soon as he saw me he came and asked where have I been all these days… I told him that I brought him some snack… I also told him about my visiting Tikva… but the cat was so intent in eating his snack… his attention was on his food…
Well, that’s how cats think… I’ll try again next time…
Friday, July 10, 2009
A Five Dollar Man
A Five Dollar Man
A few days ago, as I was walking back home… I noticed a homeless man sitting at the bus stop across the street from where I live… He was there with his shopping cart and an umbrella… Instinctively I gave him a five dollar bill… he was surprised and happy… he thanked me for it and I could see a smile in his face…
The next morning he was still there so I went and gave him another five dollar bill… I doubt if he recognized me… but he thanked me saying “Thank you… I will go and get some breakfast”…
The following day I was at the mall and bought a plate of rigatoni… but I failed to finish my plate… so I thought of giving it to my five dollar man… as I got to the bus stop I offered it to him, expecting a thank you… Instead he asked me if it was water… I told him it was food instead of water… so he said “Keep your food… it is water I need”…
I felt disappointed and hurt at his refusal… telling to myself… OK I’ll keep it for myself…
The following day, I saw him at the bus stop… and I arrogantly passed by him and totally ignored him…
That disturbed me all day… as I felt ashamed of myself for showing anger for the man who was sincere and refused the food I offered…
Today… I failed to see the five dollar man at the bus stop… but I am hopeful to see him again… and give him a five dollar bill…
A few days ago, as I was walking back home… I noticed a homeless man sitting at the bus stop across the street from where I live… He was there with his shopping cart and an umbrella… Instinctively I gave him a five dollar bill… he was surprised and happy… he thanked me for it and I could see a smile in his face…
The next morning he was still there so I went and gave him another five dollar bill… I doubt if he recognized me… but he thanked me saying “Thank you… I will go and get some breakfast”…
The following day I was at the mall and bought a plate of rigatoni… but I failed to finish my plate… so I thought of giving it to my five dollar man… as I got to the bus stop I offered it to him, expecting a thank you… Instead he asked me if it was water… I told him it was food instead of water… so he said “Keep your food… it is water I need”…
I felt disappointed and hurt at his refusal… telling to myself… OK I’ll keep it for myself…
The following day, I saw him at the bus stop… and I arrogantly passed by him and totally ignored him…
That disturbed me all day… as I felt ashamed of myself for showing anger for the man who was sincere and refused the food I offered…
Today… I failed to see the five dollar man at the bus stop… but I am hopeful to see him again… and give him a five dollar bill…
Sunday, May 10, 2009
From my cousine Angela... on Rosy, my mother
Dear all,
I wondered what your mother, your grand mother, Rosy, learnt to me?
So much, so many things...
To love, to hope (oh Gal maybe Tikva was related to Rosy before her birth, maybe it's an essence of our family to trust, to hope, to continue to live and to lovewhatever the circumstances)
To be optimistic
To be full of energy
To be active in silence
To be an independent women
To like her job
To be a lovely sister.
That two sisters may be very different but loving eachother so much
To be an attentive wife
To not complain
To be strong
To cook so good. I have just to close my eyes to smell her food:
I don't know all the words in english but in french:
boulettes de viande et de poisson,
lesfeuilletés à la viande ou au fromage,
les confitures,
les pâtes (of course for an Italian),
le harotset,
l'agneau cuisiné,
les épices: la corandre, le curcuma,le safran, la cardamome
To sew.
I remember she sewed the towels at Lina's home and her Singer apparatusis still there
To love travel
To love the boats and the sea
To not regret
To speak so many languages
To love her mother and takes care of her
To not judge anyone but be besides if necessary
To help those who need
To smile to the life...
For me, that's the essential.
But I have so many other memories... big andlittle...
Love and kisses at each one of you.
See you soon (at least in my dreams...)
Angela
I wondered what your mother, your grand mother, Rosy, learnt to me?
So much, so many things...
To love, to hope (oh Gal maybe Tikva was related to Rosy before her birth, maybe it's an essence of our family to trust, to hope, to continue to live and to lovewhatever the circumstances)
To be optimistic
To be full of energy
To be active in silence
To be an independent women
To like her job
To be a lovely sister.
That two sisters may be very different but loving eachother so much
To be an attentive wife
To not complain
To be strong
To cook so good. I have just to close my eyes to smell her food:
I don't know all the words in english but in french:
boulettes de viande et de poisson,
lesfeuilletés à la viande ou au fromage,
les confitures,
les pâtes (of course for an Italian),
le harotset,
l'agneau cuisiné,
les épices: la corandre, le curcuma,le safran, la cardamome
To sew.
I remember she sewed the towels at Lina's home and her Singer apparatusis still there
To love travel
To love the boats and the sea
To not regret
To speak so many languages
To love her mother and takes care of her
To not judge anyone but be besides if necessary
To help those who need
To smile to the life...
For me, that's the essential.
But I have so many other memories... big andlittle...
Love and kisses at each one of you.
See you soon (at least in my dreams...)
Angela
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Move ?
Move ?
Do I want to move… hardly…
Even though I turned in my application in Stevenson House… it hardly commits me to move to Palo Alto… Especially when I think where to go in the New and Improved Palo Alto…
Gone are: Café Sophia, La Pastaia, Palermo, Sushya… Left is Dr Owyang and Safeway Midtown… Left are the tennis courts in Mitchell Park… but gone is Anne Curran my tennis partner… Left next door to Stevenson House is Hoover Elementary… Hoorah
Yes Valley Village lacks the class of Palo Alto… and three blocks away, on Charleston is the new Jewish Community Center of Palo Alto… This JCC will probably have some activities of interest…
Anyway… there is a six months waiting list at Stevenson House so why panic… just because I hate the temporary living status… I like the feeling of Going Home… rather than “that is where I live, for now”
Well… let’s wait and see what will happen in six months…
Do I want to move… hardly…
Even though I turned in my application in Stevenson House… it hardly commits me to move to Palo Alto… Especially when I think where to go in the New and Improved Palo Alto…
Gone are: Café Sophia, La Pastaia, Palermo, Sushya… Left is Dr Owyang and Safeway Midtown… Left are the tennis courts in Mitchell Park… but gone is Anne Curran my tennis partner… Left next door to Stevenson House is Hoover Elementary… Hoorah
Yes Valley Village lacks the class of Palo Alto… and three blocks away, on Charleston is the new Jewish Community Center of Palo Alto… This JCC will probably have some activities of interest…
Anyway… there is a six months waiting list at Stevenson House so why panic… just because I hate the temporary living status… I like the feeling of Going Home… rather than “that is where I live, for now”
Well… let’s wait and see what will happen in six months…
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Good Year Blessed Year
Good Year… Blessed Year
This last Saturday I brought my application for Stevenson House… Am I moving… why… Well I am going back to Palo Alto… Why… Because, having ruined the pre-living years… It is about time that I return to normalcy…
In my pre-living years I was controlled by controlled substances… and was unable to think of happiness… but I tried… and tried… and tried…
Then one day I received a letter from Stanford Hospital… and that started it all… I got rid of my addiction… it turned out to be a Compulsive Behavior… a side effect of my medication… and I got rid of my tremor and stiffness… thanks to the Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS)… surgery…
As time passed I felt stronger and more at ease with myself… my living years are far from pre-living… they are LIVING YEARS…
Little Tikva… my grand-daughter… came in a flash in my life… she was a fighter this girl… until she was too tired to fight… she was exhausted… I remember coming to see her at UCSF and bringing her the book Goodnight Moon… which I read to her diligently…
Then the time for her to give up came… I took my talleth and drove to San Francisco…
According to Jewish custom, one is buried in his talleth… Tikva is buried in my talleth… what an honor I was granted… what a bond has Tikva and I established…
Whenever I pass by the cemetery I stop by and read her Goodnight Moon…
What a Blessed Year… I am finally awake from all the junk I put in my body… from my Compulsive Behavior… and through my DBS surgery…
FOR OVER TWO YEARS… Then Tikva came… and although she had to give up fighting… she left her mark in our heart…
Then a few weeks ago… I called my mother to wish her happy birthday and found out that she passed away a few hours before… But to every cloud there is a silver lining… now she will take care of Tikva…
Goodbye Mamuni… Goodbye Tikva… may your voyage through eternity be full of smiles… Smile to Life and Life will Smile to You…
This last Saturday I brought my application for Stevenson House… Am I moving… why… Well I am going back to Palo Alto… Why… Because, having ruined the pre-living years… It is about time that I return to normalcy…
In my pre-living years I was controlled by controlled substances… and was unable to think of happiness… but I tried… and tried… and tried…
Then one day I received a letter from Stanford Hospital… and that started it all… I got rid of my addiction… it turned out to be a Compulsive Behavior… a side effect of my medication… and I got rid of my tremor and stiffness… thanks to the Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS)… surgery…
As time passed I felt stronger and more at ease with myself… my living years are far from pre-living… they are LIVING YEARS…
Little Tikva… my grand-daughter… came in a flash in my life… she was a fighter this girl… until she was too tired to fight… she was exhausted… I remember coming to see her at UCSF and bringing her the book Goodnight Moon… which I read to her diligently…
Then the time for her to give up came… I took my talleth and drove to San Francisco…
According to Jewish custom, one is buried in his talleth… Tikva is buried in my talleth… what an honor I was granted… what a bond has Tikva and I established…
Whenever I pass by the cemetery I stop by and read her Goodnight Moon…
What a Blessed Year… I am finally awake from all the junk I put in my body… from my Compulsive Behavior… and through my DBS surgery…
FOR OVER TWO YEARS… Then Tikva came… and although she had to give up fighting… she left her mark in our heart…
Then a few weeks ago… I called my mother to wish her happy birthday and found out that she passed away a few hours before… But to every cloud there is a silver lining… now she will take care of Tikva…
Goodbye Mamuni… Goodbye Tikva… may your voyage through eternity be full of smiles… Smile to Life and Life will Smile to You…
Les Parapluis de Cherbourg
Les Parapluis de Cherbourg
There is on my TV an ARTS channel which shows various clippings of old movies, ballets and symphonies…
They were playing Les Parapluis de Cherbourg… (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg)…
For those who never saw it… or probably never heard of it… This was the typically French love movie/story of the sixties…
There is on my TV an ARTS channel which shows various clippings of old movies, ballets and symphonies…
They were playing Les Parapluis de Cherbourg… (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg)…
For those who never saw it… or probably never heard of it… This was the typically French love movie/story of the sixties…
In my opinion it stands close to Jules et Jim as the movie to see when in love…
So if you are… were… or will be… in love… get hold of this musical and watch the young and beautiful Catherine Deneuve sing…
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
I Love My Girls...
I Love My Girls...
I really do… I am only sixty five, so I am far from being an old man… and I hope being able to be a father for a long long while…
When they were kids I had tried to be a good father… and… seeing how they are today I must have done a decent job…
There was a moment when I almost lost them… both of them… I was screwed up and very unstable… and unable to be coherent… I remember calling Gal two days before Thanksgiving telling her that I would be unable to come… I was homeless and spent Thanksgiving at a City Team Homeless shelter in San Jose…
I remember wondering when I would be able to see my girls… and when I would see my Grand Daughter Dahlia… I was wishing I could get rid of that crack…
That was a few years ago… that was the past…
Today, I found my girls… and they found their father… and so did I…
Friday, May 1, 2009
Lave toi les mains...
Lave toi les mains…
Lave toi les mains, wash your hands… that is what I heard Nonna Clemy tell me on every occasion I was about to do something… She told it to all her children, grand-children and great-grand-children… It was her trademark which, I hope will be passed to the coming generations…
Today… with the wave of influenza around us we can hear Nonna’s voice saying “Lave toi les mains”… I remember, every time I was going to see my little Tikva I had to “Lave toi les mains”…. We are a strange family, and we have strange customs… so next time you go and wash your hands… think of my Nonna Clemy saying “Lave toi mains”
Lave toi les mains, wash your hands… that is what I heard Nonna Clemy tell me on every occasion I was about to do something… She told it to all her children, grand-children and great-grand-children… It was her trademark which, I hope will be passed to the coming generations…
Today… with the wave of influenza around us we can hear Nonna’s voice saying “Lave toi les mains”… I remember, every time I was going to see my little Tikva I had to “Lave toi les mains”…. We are a strange family, and we have strange customs… so next time you go and wash your hands… think of my Nonna Clemy saying “Lave toi mains”
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Thank You Mammi
Thank You Mammi
When I was around seven or eight… I joined the BBS Cub Scouts… The Scout leader was a teacher at BBS (British Boys School) and she befriended my mother…
My mother was therefore present to some of the events… One event we had was to camp at the edge of the football field and light a camp-fire… Then we had some porridge… and stayed awake till midnight…
I remember my mother mixing the porridge with cacao… making us a chocolate porridge… which everyone loved…
That was my mother… always do something to please people…
When my parents divorced my mother took me on a bus tour of continental Europe… we toured Italy, France and Switzerland… it opened my view of the World… It taught me to think global… and I have, ever since… Thank you Mammi for… everything.
Thank you Mammi for making my life so fulfilling...
When I was around seven or eight… I joined the BBS Cub Scouts… The Scout leader was a teacher at BBS (British Boys School) and she befriended my mother…
My mother was therefore present to some of the events… One event we had was to camp at the edge of the football field and light a camp-fire… Then we had some porridge… and stayed awake till midnight…
I remember my mother mixing the porridge with cacao… making us a chocolate porridge… which everyone loved…
That was my mother… always do something to please people…
When my parents divorced my mother took me on a bus tour of continental Europe… we toured Italy, France and Switzerland… it opened my view of the World… It taught me to think global… and I have, ever since… Thank you Mammi for… everything.
Thank you Mammi for making my life so fulfilling...
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Nonna Clemy
Nonna Clemy
He is good because he cares… That was what someone said about Obama…
This reminds me of my mother… She is good because she cares…
That is why she and her sister Lina took care of their mother, Nonna Clemy…
Nonna Clemy loved to travel and see things… so her daughter Rosy (my mother)… took her in a ship cruise of the Mediterranean… that was when Nonna Clemy was 90 years old… and could barely see due to the cataract in both eyes…
My mother used her connections to be seated at the captain’s table, for the whole trip… She did all that for her mother because she cared…
Nonna Clemy split her time between Paris, at Lina’s and Brindisi with her younger daughter Rosy, my mother… she was treated like a queen by her whole family…
When in Paris she was going every Wednesday afternoon to see her brother Gustave… who was afflicted with Parkinson Disease… and see the remaining brothers and sisters of the Riches clan…
Every spring her daughter Rosy would take the train for a two day trip to Paris… and take her mother to Brindisi and take care of her for the summer… Although for Nonna Clemy the family was far away she never complained on that fact… I guess my mother learned from her mother never to complain about things which are beyond your control…
Smile to life and life will smile to you…
He is good because he cares… That was what someone said about Obama…
This reminds me of my mother… She is good because she cares…
That is why she and her sister Lina took care of their mother, Nonna Clemy…
Nonna Clemy loved to travel and see things… so her daughter Rosy (my mother)… took her in a ship cruise of the Mediterranean… that was when Nonna Clemy was 90 years old… and could barely see due to the cataract in both eyes…
My mother used her connections to be seated at the captain’s table, for the whole trip… She did all that for her mother because she cared…
Nonna Clemy split her time between Paris, at Lina’s and Brindisi with her younger daughter Rosy, my mother… she was treated like a queen by her whole family…
When in Paris she was going every Wednesday afternoon to see her brother Gustave… who was afflicted with Parkinson Disease… and see the remaining brothers and sisters of the Riches clan…
Every spring her daughter Rosy would take the train for a two day trip to Paris… and take her mother to Brindisi and take care of her for the summer… Although for Nonna Clemy the family was far away she never complained on that fact… I guess my mother learned from her mother never to complain about things which are beyond your control…
Smile to life and life will smile to you…
Monday, April 20, 2009
Smile to life...
Smile to life… and life will smile to you
My mother died two days ago… she was in Brindisi in a hospital…
Her name was Rosetta Abouskela Favia…Rosy for short…
My mother was a very jovial person… her motto was “Smile to life and life will smile to you”… and she really lived with a smile…
I was thinking… what if she is with Tikva, what would she do… she would take charge and make sure that her great granddaughter has all she needs… because that is what my mother did… take care of people…
When I was four I went to kindergarten… my mother was picking me up from school (called Homecraft House)… and on the way we passed by the house where she lived when she was a teenager… The apartment was on the mezzanine floor… and my mother showed me where her room was… and she told me that she was sometimes sneaking out by jumping out of the window… she must have been quite precocious…
When she was fifty her husband Guido had a heart attack and died two days later… It was the first time he had a heart problem… so sudden a departure… Yet my mother took it with a lot of courage… she had a son of fifteen to take care of… my brother Giorgio…
Why did she stay in Brindisi… instead of moving to Milan or Paris… where she had family… instead of staying in the deep south of Italy…
Except for a brief period in Venice, my mother had always lived in southern Mediterranean… in Alexandria where she was born… in Athens, in Haifa, in Beyrouth and in Brindisi… She felt more comfortable in that part of the world… people are warmer and more hospitable… what is a pity that she became a widow that early in her sojourn in this port city…
My mother had a full life… and she made the best of situations… always… whatever the hurdle… When my wife Orit left the house… my mother hopped on a plane to take care of her granddaughters, and stayed quite a while…
Whenever Gal or Sharon had some friends traveling in Europe… they were given two addresses… either my Aunt Lina’s (my mother’s sister) in Paris… or if they were going to Greece, to my mother’s house, in the dead center of Brindisi where they could take the ferry to Greece…
That of course is after being fed with a meal of the best Mediterranean cuisine…
I’ll miss you Mamouni… I certainly miss your cooking… how you made things out of nothing, whether it is in the kitchen… or in repairing a suit I burned when ironing… I always knew that if I needed something… I could call you…
Ciao Mamouni, je t’aime mamman, Iassou Kiria Rosy… Sagapo miteramou…
SMILE TO LIFE AND LIFE WILL SMILE TO YOU
My mother died two days ago… she was in Brindisi in a hospital…
Her name was Rosetta Abouskela Favia…Rosy for short…
My mother was a very jovial person… her motto was “Smile to life and life will smile to you”… and she really lived with a smile…
I was thinking… what if she is with Tikva, what would she do… she would take charge and make sure that her great granddaughter has all she needs… because that is what my mother did… take care of people…
When I was four I went to kindergarten… my mother was picking me up from school (called Homecraft House)… and on the way we passed by the house where she lived when she was a teenager… The apartment was on the mezzanine floor… and my mother showed me where her room was… and she told me that she was sometimes sneaking out by jumping out of the window… she must have been quite precocious…
When she was fifty her husband Guido had a heart attack and died two days later… It was the first time he had a heart problem… so sudden a departure… Yet my mother took it with a lot of courage… she had a son of fifteen to take care of… my brother Giorgio…
Why did she stay in Brindisi… instead of moving to Milan or Paris… where she had family… instead of staying in the deep south of Italy…
Except for a brief period in Venice, my mother had always lived in southern Mediterranean… in Alexandria where she was born… in Athens, in Haifa, in Beyrouth and in Brindisi… She felt more comfortable in that part of the world… people are warmer and more hospitable… what is a pity that she became a widow that early in her sojourn in this port city…
My mother had a full life… and she made the best of situations… always… whatever the hurdle… When my wife Orit left the house… my mother hopped on a plane to take care of her granddaughters, and stayed quite a while…
Whenever Gal or Sharon had some friends traveling in Europe… they were given two addresses… either my Aunt Lina’s (my mother’s sister) in Paris… or if they were going to Greece, to my mother’s house, in the dead center of Brindisi where they could take the ferry to Greece…
That of course is after being fed with a meal of the best Mediterranean cuisine…
I’ll miss you Mamouni… I certainly miss your cooking… how you made things out of nothing, whether it is in the kitchen… or in repairing a suit I burned when ironing… I always knew that if I needed something… I could call you…
Ciao Mamouni, je t’aime mamman, Iassou Kiria Rosy… Sagapo miteramou…
SMILE TO LIFE AND LIFE WILL SMILE TO YOU
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Guns
Guns
The other day I was looking an Italian detective film on TV and the Police Chief was commenting on guns… he was telling his assistant that he was without a gun… we must learn to live without using a gun… we are not God… our life is fulfilled without it…
That made me think… Why is it that all TV series, except for sit-coms, all entail guns and death… the whole alphabet of abbreviations CSI, CIA, FBI, NCIS, ATF… etc… involve guns… and death…
Then I started to think… how many people I know own a gun… ONE… This guy, I knew a long time ago… told me that he had a gun collection (which I never saw)… his name is Bob G…
Other than that nobody I know has a gun… so why is it that so much of the entertainment, and unfortunately news too, we are shown involve guns…
Are guns such a necessity that a show will be unsuccessful unless someone is killed by a gun… is the NRA philosophy so much impregnated in our daily lives… that we absolutely need their tacit blessing…
I wonder how long it will take for the Networks to devise a “reality kill” show… or we will let the armed forces and the police force with that priviledge…
The other day I was looking an Italian detective film on TV and the Police Chief was commenting on guns… he was telling his assistant that he was without a gun… we must learn to live without using a gun… we are not God… our life is fulfilled without it…
That made me think… Why is it that all TV series, except for sit-coms, all entail guns and death… the whole alphabet of abbreviations CSI, CIA, FBI, NCIS, ATF… etc… involve guns… and death…
Then I started to think… how many people I know own a gun… ONE… This guy, I knew a long time ago… told me that he had a gun collection (which I never saw)… his name is Bob G…
Other than that nobody I know has a gun… so why is it that so much of the entertainment, and unfortunately news too, we are shown involve guns…
Are guns such a necessity that a show will be unsuccessful unless someone is killed by a gun… is the NRA philosophy so much impregnated in our daily lives… that we absolutely need their tacit blessing…
I wonder how long it will take for the Networks to devise a “reality kill” show… or we will let the armed forces and the police force with that priviledge…
Monday, March 9, 2009
A Winner
A Winner
My grandchild is a very social person… One thing she dislikes is playing games where she may lose… Instinctively one may say… She has to learn to be competitive… Does she… is this a necessary ingredient to life in the XXI Century… Must we always compete with one another…
Should we direct our children towards playing games where the sole objective is winning… preferably with some destructive violence… that was certainly remnants of a XX Century mind… but that frame of mind can be stopped… If one creates games that makes one forget having adversaries… just the joy of enjoying one self…
Sounds like a nostalgic hippie… but I lived the first sixty five years of my life without having a single fistfight… yes I had competitors in business but I was thinking of winning… in a win win situation… rather than beating my competitor… and so far it worked…
The other day I went to NASA Ames Center to watch the launch of the Kepler Mission Spacecraft… In Search for Habitable Planets… It is a mission where the spaceship’s… telescopes will look for other planets similar to Earth… thus increasing the probability of it being inhabited… results are predicted in three and a half years…
What I found totally out of place was that this very noble intergalactic mission was preceded with the USA national anthem…
If there is a habitable planet with intelligent life… and are looking… what shall they think of us…
Thursday, February 19, 2009
A Day In The Life...
A day in the life…
A day of intensive thoughts… Went for my walk with Bill, and told him about the interview with Ninoslav Randjelovic, I saw yesterday on Russia Television… Nino, a Serb Movie Director was complaining that he was unable to get anyone interested in the disappearance of some 1,300 people from Kosovo over the last ten years…
Pouf… these people disappear “without a trace”… like they never existed… none were found… none escaped… no remains… nothing… and nobody cares…
His theory was that they were victims of a trade in “body parts”… apparently bodies go for a million Euro each… you do the math…
Is this for real… is there a post nazi world which allows the killing of individuals as in a slaughterhouse… what are we becoming…
Later, on the same day… I heard that the catholic bishop (which I refuse to give him the importance of mentioning his name)… who refuses to acknowledge the holocaust, has been found in Argentina… and the Argentino government told him to leave…
I thought that it might be good to send him to Guantanamo… for a refresher…
I then saw on PBS a program on Himmler’s doctor… who saved some 60,000 Jews and Gentiles…
Another program I saw (on PBS) was on slavery and their ancestral roots… one of the people interviewed was Mae Jamyson… the first black woman astronaut… I was thinking, when she looks up and says “i’ve been up there…” what a feat… from slavery to astronaut…
A day of intensive thoughts… Went for my walk with Bill, and told him about the interview with Ninoslav Randjelovic, I saw yesterday on Russia Television… Nino, a Serb Movie Director was complaining that he was unable to get anyone interested in the disappearance of some 1,300 people from Kosovo over the last ten years…
Pouf… these people disappear “without a trace”… like they never existed… none were found… none escaped… no remains… nothing… and nobody cares…
His theory was that they were victims of a trade in “body parts”… apparently bodies go for a million Euro each… you do the math…
Is this for real… is there a post nazi world which allows the killing of individuals as in a slaughterhouse… what are we becoming…
Later, on the same day… I heard that the catholic bishop (which I refuse to give him the importance of mentioning his name)… who refuses to acknowledge the holocaust, has been found in Argentina… and the Argentino government told him to leave…
I thought that it might be good to send him to Guantanamo… for a refresher…
I then saw on PBS a program on Himmler’s doctor… who saved some 60,000 Jews and Gentiles…
Another program I saw (on PBS) was on slavery and their ancestral roots… one of the people interviewed was Mae Jamyson… the first black woman astronaut… I was thinking, when she looks up and says “i’ve been up there…” what a feat… from slavery to astronaut…
Monday, January 19, 2009
A Doll
A Doll
When Gal was four… we were living in Paris at that time… we came to California on vacation. In addition to Disneyland… the San Diego Zoo and other marvels… there was one place Gal was in awe… ToysRus…
Being at the Barbie age… she wanted to get a couple of Barbies… one of them was a black female Barbie… she already had a Ken… so she bought some dresses and some other stuff… She might remember what other stuff we got…
About a year later we went to Florida on vacation… Gal wanted a doll so we stopped in a Woolworth in Miami and went to the toy department looking for the Barbie section… and we found it, but… impossible to find a black Ken… Luckily one of the sales clerk spoke French… and he had heard Gal ask about the black Ken… he interjected and told us… black dolls are far from being popular over here… When I told him that they were sold in California… he told me that California is different…
Today… some thirty odd years later… I wonder what color dolls did the Obama children bring with them in the White House…
When Gal was four… we were living in Paris at that time… we came to California on vacation. In addition to Disneyland… the San Diego Zoo and other marvels… there was one place Gal was in awe… ToysRus…
Being at the Barbie age… she wanted to get a couple of Barbies… one of them was a black female Barbie… she already had a Ken… so she bought some dresses and some other stuff… She might remember what other stuff we got…
About a year later we went to Florida on vacation… Gal wanted a doll so we stopped in a Woolworth in Miami and went to the toy department looking for the Barbie section… and we found it, but… impossible to find a black Ken… Luckily one of the sales clerk spoke French… and he had heard Gal ask about the black Ken… he interjected and told us… black dolls are far from being popular over here… When I told him that they were sold in California… he told me that California is different…
Today… some thirty odd years later… I wonder what color dolls did the Obama children bring with them in the White House…
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Gratitude
Gratitude
This morning, as I was driving in San Jose I crossed two “bums” as my friend Bill defined them…. I must say it surprised me… because Bill is very learned in his knowledge of the English language… why did he choose that term… to depict these two unfortunate men crossing the street…
Are we really set to consider ourselves in an “us versus them” world… a world divided into privileged and under privileged… and if that is so… where do I fit in… have I graduated upstairs… because I look far from looking like a “bum”…
But did I… did I graduate from “bummery”… just because I am clean and drive a car…
When I look at these “bums”… I feel a deep sadness, knowing that I detached from them just because of sheer luck…
Lucky that I stopped taking Requip and went through Deep Brain Stymulation (DBS)… and for that I am deeply indebted to the Neuro-surgery staff at Stanford…
Thank you…
This morning, as I was driving in San Jose I crossed two “bums” as my friend Bill defined them…. I must say it surprised me… because Bill is very learned in his knowledge of the English language… why did he choose that term… to depict these two unfortunate men crossing the street…
Are we really set to consider ourselves in an “us versus them” world… a world divided into privileged and under privileged… and if that is so… where do I fit in… have I graduated upstairs… because I look far from looking like a “bum”…
But did I… did I graduate from “bummery”… just because I am clean and drive a car…
When I look at these “bums”… I feel a deep sadness, knowing that I detached from them just because of sheer luck…
Lucky that I stopped taking Requip and went through Deep Brain Stymulation (DBS)… and for that I am deeply indebted to the Neuro-surgery staff at Stanford…
Thank you…
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