"Remembrance of things past" (Proust)

.....Since RH+ has been ill, and I have been helping her with things that she needs done, I thought it would help me with my blog to print one that I did some time ago and which was published in the newspaper. Perhaps no one will remember it and it will seem like new.

"Like a dull actor now, I have forgot my part..." (Coriolanus)

.....I was lying on my bed about 9pm minding my own business and working on a crossword puzzle while my wife was playing games on the computer when she suddenly appeared in the doorway and asked a silly question: "Is there any reason why the water in the kitchen sink is running?" Well, of course there was a reason. It stands to reason that there was a reason; the reason being that I had recently washed a fork that I had used on a piece of cake. Now I thought that washing the fork was a thoughtful thing to do; the unthoughtful thing to not do was to not turn the faucet off. I really can't be expected to remember everything.

..... But this was not the first time that I forgot to turn something off. The other day I made an Eggo for my breakfast in the toaster oven. When I had finished off that cardboard waffle and went to check my email, my wife...as was her wont...appeared in the den doorway and asked a silly question: "Is there any reason why you left the toaster on at 350 degrees? Do you want to start a fire?"

Well, of course I wanted to start a fire; why else would I leave the toaster oven on? I always wanted to try pyromaniacle things. (Well, maybe that's not the right terminology for lighting fires). But, so I left the oven on; I can't be expected to remember everything every single day.

.....But remembering to turn things off (or on) is not the only thing that I'm being admonished for...or rather, for which I've been admonished. A couple of times, while driving at night, and having to make a left turn, I accidentally turned into the lane of oncoming traffic instead of the lane I needed to turn into on the other side of the center strip. So I was again asked a silly question: "Why are you turning into this lane? It's the wrong lane! Do you want to cause an accident?" Well, of course I wanted to cause an accident. Why else would I turn into the wrong lane for the second time in two nights? How else is a person going to find out if the premiums he is paying the insurance company are going to lead to some road service? How else is he to know whether or not the police are doing their job?

..... If only my wife would understand these things a little better, growing older would be a snap. Hey, I'm not forgetful or blind driving at night; I'm just a daredevil at heart. If the lady would only try to understand that I was a combat air crewman and I feed on danger, and that there is always a reason to explain my actions...or reactions.

.....Yesterday we went to the Isle Casino and I won $160 on the slot machines. We got there about 3:30 and left at 8. They were giving away $500 every 15 minutes as long as your players card was lodged in a machine so they could call out your name. Our name was not called. Perhaps because we went to the buffet at 5:30 for our dinner. I had vowed to bring home a piece of the chocolate checkerboard cake that is outrageously delicious before we left for home, but while in the car, my wife asked a silly question: "Is there a reason why you forgot to order the checkerboard cake?"

"The heart is wiser than the intellect."

.....After all these years, one wonders whether or not any wisdom has been achieved; that is, wisdom that can be passed on to others who are in need of it. Yesterday, RH+ and I dined at a Chinese restaurant and I couldn't wait until we got the fortune cookies to see if there was anything wise in them that I might be able to use. However, I ordered lobster in black bean sauce and I didn't want to rush though a dish I like to savor. I wolfed down the chocolate ice cream I got for dessert and then Rhoda opened the fortune cookies--we were lucky--we got four of them containing the great wisdom of China, and these are what we got:

"You know where you are going and how to get there." Very wise, but I couldn't use it because I've already gotten there. Next was, "You are an outgoing and fun person." This didn't strike me as being a wise saying; in fact it is incorrect--I'm not very outgoing, and I doubt that I am considered 'fun'. Still looking for wisdom, we got "You are what you do, not what you say." Of course, this could be considered wise, but I'm not so sure about it because I can't interpret the full meaning. And finally we got, "You are the crispy noodle in the vegetarian salad of life." This, a great disappointment. I never figured myself being a crispy noodle, especially in a 'vegetarian salad', since I'm definitely not a vegetarian. If these 'wise sayings' out of our fortune cookies represent Chinese wisdom gathered over 5000 years, then one wonders what in the world they were doing all that time.

.....Well, perhaps we were in the wrong Chinese restaurant. Either that or the owners were Korean; hard to tell. I don't remember learning Korea being a source of wisdom. What I was looking for was something like the following:

"A road twice traveled is twice as long." Very wise, but tiring. "A smooth sea never made a skilled mariner." Could be wise, but suggests sea-sickness to get there. "Never exaggerate your faults. Your friends will attend to that." Don't see any wisdom here. I would never discuss my faults because I'm not sure what they are. Or, "When you read about the evils of drinking, give up reading." Now, finally some wisdom! I wonder if Confucius came up with that one. I guess I've lived long enough to acquire a bit of wisdom myself without having to go looking for it. It's good to have some; one is in great need of it to get through life but don't look for it in fortune cookies. Now, there's wisdom.

"Speak low if you speak love..." (Much Ado)

..... I've always been saddened by the story of the two great lovers, Pyramus and Thisbe. Oh, I suppose everyone knows about Antony and Cleopatra and Romeo and Juliet and Pygmalion and Galatea but Pyramus and Thisbe? Perhaps not. But once in one's life one needs to know about true love and Shakespeare said, "Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds..." In other words, love doesn't die because of a great problem, which is the kind of problem these two lovers encountered. They both lived in Babylon the city of Semiramis in houses so close together that one wall separated them both. They were both beautiful young people and as time went on they learned to love each other and desired to marry. However, their parents forbade it--for reasons unknown. Maybe Thisbe was Jewish.

.....Fortunately, in that wall between the houses, there was a little chink which heretofore no one had noticed. The two lovers then, although they could not see each other or kiss, they were able to whisper sweetly to each other and as night came on they pressed kisses to the wall which could not go through to the lips on the other side. As time wore on their love grew passionately and exponentially, and one dark night they agreed to slip away into the countryside and meet by the Tomb of Ninus. While Thisbe waited for Pyramus she saw a lioness with mouth all bloody from a recent kill. The beast was far enough away for Thisbe to run and escape, but as she fled she dropped her cloak. The lioness came upon it and ripped it apart covering it with blood. (Aha! now you're getting the idea!). When Pyramus came and saw the cloak he kissed it again and again knowing that she had died. He believed it was he who bore the guilt for not being able to protect her, so he went below a mulberry tree whose berries were snow white upon the ground. He took his sword and plunged it into his side. Shortly, Thisbe, believing she was now safe went back to the site of the tryst and there beneath the tree she saw her dead lover and vowing never to be separated from him plunged his sword into her heart and the blood of these two lovers turned the mulberry tree's berries red and ever since the berries of a mulberry tree are red. The two were united in death and the parents placed their ashes together into one urn. Why does life deal ill unto good people? Also, where was Zeus all this time? No doubt chasing women.

.....In Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream" he pokes fun at this mythical story by having "mechanicals" perform "Pyramus and Thisbe" before a gathering in a forest--a play within a play. One guy--a tinker or plumber, I believe, is given a leading role of the chink in the wall; now if I played the chink I would put my thumb and index finger together in order to make a little hole for speaking through; another plays moonlight; another performs the part of the lion. I don't believe this play would go over in Shakespeare in the park. Perhaps on HBO.

The Pursuit of Joy.

.....During my training for combat, there was only one option allowed by the Chief Petty Officers who were responsible to see that whatever it was that we were trained to do had to be done with a fierce quest of excellence. Consequently, I motivated myself to achieve that quality, and beyond, in my work. Since I was trained to be a radioman and a combat air crewman, I knew that at some point in WWII I would need the skills required for those assignments in order to survive. Consequently, I learned Morse Code to the point where I could say it backwards. I was able to send messages with the key faster than anyone in the class, and to receive fast messages with ease. In combat school, I could take apart and put back together a 50 caliber machine gun with my eyes closed. In skeet shooting I learned to destroy the flying "plates" whether they came from the back or from the sides and at whatever speed they could be launched--even though the shotguns almost destroyed my shoulder. I learned to identify enemy aircraft--both German and Japanese when their images were flashed on a screen at the speed of 1000th of a second. And the same went for their naval ships--destroyers, cruisers, battleships, aircraft carriers, and even submarines. As I was able to do all of these requirements with great skill, it brought me joy. And I learned, too, that joy was the accompaniment of excellence.

.....Now, when I went into the teaching profession, I wasn't simply a young college graduate, I was a warrior. My first entrance to each class was a silent one. I didn't say a word for several minutes; I just stared at each student, and the noise abated as the class grew quiet and the learners looked at me. My first words to them were "Now I expect each of you to do the work asked of you here with ruthless personal standards of excellence." I saw that my statement had an affect on them: I could tell by their body movements and by the look on their faces, and by their eyes as they looked at me. "Remember what I've said. Ruthless personal standards of excellence! I expected no less from them. I wanted them to experience joy. And so I launched my career as a high school English teacher. We read, analyzed and discussed great works of literature: Shakespeare, The Canterbury Tales, Milton's "Paradise Lost", The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, Lord Byron's "Childe Harold's Pilgimage", the poetry of Robert Burns and William Wordsworth, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. If I asked them to write an essay critiquing what we've read I told them to apply "ruthless personal standards" to that work; not simply to dash it off, but work on it until they believed it was perfect. Such is the job of a teacher--motivation and education.

.....Now just a few weeks ago, the Florida Legislature, consisting mostly of members of the Republican Party decided that accountability of the teachers was required. And so they sent a bill to the governor that ended teacher's pay based on experience and advanced degrees, that ended tenure and that new teacher's be given one year contracts, and that teachers' pay would be based on test results. This Law of Insanity would surely destroy the Florida public schools. Fortunately it was vetoed by the governor. Academic tenure is primarily intended to guarantee the right to academic freedom; it protects teachers when they dissent from prevailing opinion, openly disagree with authorities of any sort. Without job security, the scholarly community as a whole might favor "safe" lines of inquiry. The intent of tenure is to allow original ideas to be more likely to arise, by giving teachers freedom to investigate the problems and solutions about which they are most passionate.

.....Also, tenure protects the teacher from unwarranted and wanton dismissal for doing unpopular things such as failing influential students, becoming a whistleblower, union activity, and lack of favor for almost any reason with changing school administrators and school board politics. A new superintendent or a new principal might decide that they want to hire their own teachers. Or the school board might fire their older teachers and hire new ones with a smaller salaries, thus saving money for the budget. It's true that tenure makes it very difficult to fire a bad teacher, but before a teachers can get tenure they must teach at least three to five years. That should be sufficient time for administrators to decide if the teacher is good or bad. If they can't do that, too bad. Tenure is the price the school has to pay in order to have and to hold their good teachers.

"The world is not thy friend, nor the world's law." (Romeo & Juliet)

.....Looking for something to read rather than Time or Sports Illustrated, once again I came across Edith Hamilton's book of mythology on my bookshelf. It's been a very long time since I taught mythology--in the tenth grade if I remember. But it doesn't matter; I'm delighted to reacquaint myself with all the crazies coming out of Zeus's heaven and of paganism itself. For those who have forgotten--or who never knew, paganism is a polytheistic religion in antiquity, especially when viewed in contrast to an adherent of a monotheistic religion--such as Judaism, Christianity, or Islam. To me, there is something passionate and romantic in knowing about the many gods worshiped by the Greeks and Romans, and the stories they had to tell. Perhaps the time is ripe to go back to that time, even for a little while. It was William Wordsworth who wrote, "The world is too much with us, late and soon, getting and spending; we lay waste our powers..." Finally, he writes "Great god, I'd rather be a pagan suckled in a creed outworn so might I standing on this pleasant lea have sight of Proteus rising from the sea, or hear old Triton blow is wreathed horn." Proteus and Triton being sea gods, of course. Perhaps the shofar, blown on Rosh Hashanah, is a descendant of Triton's horn. I'll have to research that one! The real interest of the myths is that they lead us back to a time when the world was young and people had a connection with the earth, with trees and seas and flowers and hills, unlike anything we ourselves can feel.

.....In that infinitely remote time primitive man traipsing through the woods might see through the trees a fleeing nymph, or bending over a clear pool to drink, behold in the depths a naiad's face. How the Greeks explained the beginnings of the world and the Gods is a fascinating story. The gods did not create the universe--it was the other way around. Before there were gods there were Heaven and Earth. They were the first parents. The Titans were their children and the gods were their grandchildren. The parents must have spent lots of time in the bedroom because they produced many Titans. They were of enormous size--great for football, and of incredible strength. The most important one was Cronus (Saturn). He ruled over the other Titans until Zeus, his son, dethroned him and seized power for himself. Familiar, isn't it? A couple of other notable Titans were Prometheus, who saved mankind, and Atlas who bore the world on his shoulders. But the family of the gods who succeeded the Titans were called the twelve Olympians. They were called that because the great mountain, Olympus, was their home. Or so it was thought.

.....I'm trying very hard to make this as easy an education as I am able. The twelve Olympians made up the divine family--Zeus (Jupiter); his brothers Poseidon (Neptune) and Hades (Pluto); Hestia (Vesta) their sister; Hera (Juno), Zeus's wife, and Ares (Mars), their son; Zeus's other children were Athena (Minerva), Apollo, Aphrodite (Venus), Hermes (Mercury), and Artemis (Diana); and Hera's son Hephaestus (Vulcan). Zeus was the primordial Tiger Woods. He is represented as falling in love with one woman after another and resorting to all manner of tricks to hide his infidelity from his wife. However, Hera became chiefly engaged in punishing the many women Zeus fell in love with, even when they yielded unwillingly. Hera's anger was, well, Olympian. Well, these are the men and women---I mean gods who ruled the world in Greek and Roman antiquity. So what if I should worship them?

"O memory, thou bitter sweet--both a joy and a scourge." (Mme. De Stael)

.....I received an e-mail today from the daughter of a man who was in my outfit--Fleet Air Wing 7 in England. Her name is Trish and we have been corresponding for many years. Her Dad has passed away. Trish lives in Seattle, and I was stationed in Whidby Island after the war in Europe preparing to fly against the Japanese in the Pacific. Whidby is very near Seattle and I paid many visits there. Even found a girlfriend named Lenore Secord. Her father owned one of the biggest department stores in Seattle. She was very pretty and lots of fun. We became quite intimate. After the war ended and I came back east, we lost track of each other. But back to Trish. As far as I can tell from her letter, she has five children of various ages. While I was in the Navy, I was always addresses as "Rosie" and that's what Trish calls me. Trish is a child of a WWII veteran, and I have four of them, myself, but I don' t recall getting as long a letter from any of them as this one--well, perhaps I did, but memory fails me. I will attach her letter here because I think you'll find it interesting.

Hi Rosie,
It was so nice to hear from you! I’m so sorry that you and Rhoda have been under the weather, but I hope that it’s nothing a little Florida sunshine can’t cure. Bronchitis is not fun. Oh my, your broken hip, too. Are you walking again and feeling fit? That must’ve been tough, but you are a special guy, of the Greatest Generation, and no one has fortitude like you guys do.

It’s funny you should mention Whidbey Island... A group of women friends and I are heading up there tomorrow morning for the weekend, a mom’s getaway. You can bet we’ll enjoy a glass or more of wine, do some hiking at Ebey’s Landing, and catch up with each other. We’ve known each other since our kids were toddlers and now the youngest of the group are heading off to college next year. So far, no weddings in the future. No one’s holding her breath, either.

John took off with our youngest daughter, Emma, for the weekend, too. They drove out to the Olympic Peninsula and will drive a big loop. The National Park is all ocean shore and they will do some day hiking. They just called from Port Angeles and that is logging country out that way where the trees grow tall. Managed forestry now, thank goodness.

Our middle daughter, Molly, just returned from a six month trip to South America. She was in Chile during the quake, but was out of harm’s way. It was touch and go for a few days there. They went to Patagonia, did some climbing, several days of backpacking in the Andes, and saw much of Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina. It is great to have her home and she is living with us trying to save some money to get her own apartment. She will work for the Washington State Dept. of Ecology this summer. She got her BS in Geology last June. Our son, Andrew, is teaching sixth grade math in a charter school in inner city Newark, living in Hoboken, and exploring the NYC area and beyond. Then there’s Sarah, our oldest, who lives in New Orleans. She’s assoc. editor of New Orleans magazine, and is such a busy bee running around for articles and interviews. She had an article in the Jazz Festival program- she interviewed an old timer, who was a drummer with Louis Armstrong. He is a solid ol’ guy and lives in the lower Ninth Ward. Harry Connick, Jr. has a housing program there called the Musicians’ Village. And that old city’s heart is still beating after Katrina, which is good.

John keeps busy with his work on ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) and is my best buddy.
My mom is doing well in Rochester, Minnesota. I will be seeing her in June for a nephew’s wedding. She misses Dad, as do we all, but we are blessed with his memory. And t hat ‘s the way it should be. His photo taken when he was a preflight cadet is on my desk. You handsome Navy men are heroes, all.
Well, Rosie, if I ever get down to your neck of the woods in Florida, I will take you and Rhoda for dinner!!
Nice to hear from you, as always.
Take good care of yourself and Rhoda,

Trish
trishravits@comcast.net

Equality of two domestic powers breed scrupulous faction." (Antony & Cleopatra)

....An article in the newspaper this morning quoted Sarah Palin at the Boston Tea Party Bash as saying, "...the government should be working for the people, not the other way around." Duh! I believe the government just expanded insurance coverage for 32 million Americans who are currently uninsured. I believe the government also allowed children living with their parents to remain on their parents' health plan until the age of 26. I believe the government has worked for the people by preventing insurance companies from denying coverage to people who are sick and for pre-existing conditions. What kind of misinformation and nonsense is Sarah Palin spewing from her vituperative mouth?Let's examine some of the accomplishments of Democratic administrations: Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, the GI Bill, the Federal Deposit and Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Minimum Wage law, the eight hour day, the Peace Corps, the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, the Equal Pay Act, the Federal Reserve System, FEMA, and Unemployment Compensation. Every one of the foregoing programs/laws were initiated and were passed despite the objections of most Republicans. They are all historic accomplishments. It seems to me that Obama is moving in the same direction--that is, passing legislation like the historic health care reform bill over every single Republican's dead body. Just go to Google and type in "Republican accomplishments", and see what you get over the past 20 years--nada.

.....Here in South Florida, there was a local election yesterday that sent Ted Deutch, a Democrat to fill out Congressman Robert Wexler's term in office despite Sarah Palin's Tea Party hosting radical elements which have questioned the legitimacy of everything from President Obama's U.S. birth place to his college degree. What a hysterical reaction to his election. Here in Palm Beach County Sid Dinerstein, chairman of the county Republican Party said "Too many people in Deutch's district are so committed to the Democratic Party that even when their own care is being rationed, Israel is being threatened and their grandchildren are being bankrupted they'll still vote for a Democrat." Well, thanks for that. I'd like to ask how is care being "rationed"? How is Israel being "threatened", except by Iran? And how does this wise Republican who thinks he is smarter than the president know that our grandchildren will be "bankrupted". What is he? Some kind of Guru CPA? So, we still have to deal with "no, no no, no" from Boston to Palm Beach--the same kind of obstructive nonsense that occurred while Democatic presidents passed legislation that, indeed, worked for the people. So, Sarah, opposed to the kind of change this administration is seeking says to her Tea Party (De-Caf Lipton?) "Is this what their 'change' is all about? I want to tell 'em, nah, we'll keep clinging to our Constitution and our guns and our religion --and you can keep the change." Oh, really? Her guns and her religion and her Constitution? Quite a trifecta. And I guess her President Bush used her guns, her religion, and her Constitution to go to war and to pass the Patriot Act.

"The web of our life is as a mingled yarn, good and ill together" (All's Well)

....I've been giving some thought of late as to whether or not retirement is better in life than one's working days--or vice versa. Well,let us begin at the beginning--going to college. Of course, in order to get your BA degree you have to write a lot of papers without knowing if the professor reads them or not. After four years of hard work--and I'm thinking before computers--just a typewriter for those papers, one finally gets out, gets married, finds a job. Or finds a job then gets married. Either way, it's a life sentence; or supposed to be if one is faithful--enough. Then it's time to find a place to live so you rent an apartment somewhere in Queens--or Brooklyn, or let's even say somewhere on Long Island. Doesn't matter. Lucky enough you find a job as a high school teacher and your wife becomes a secretary. You must get up at 6am, come home after a hard day in the classroom, turn on the radio and listen to Red Barber doing a Dodger game, or Mel Allen for the Yankees. The wife doesn't cotton to baseball, so you switch to Jack Benny or Fred Allen. After a couple of years she yearns for a baby, so you have a couple. She has to quit her job, and money becomes tight.

.....These babies require a lot of equipment, their own room, carriages, car seats--and yes, cars have been invented, but unfortunately no automatic steering, or CD players, so only stick shifts. You're driving home from work one day and you would like to take the wife out to dinner, but you can't call her--no cell phones, no iPods, no music for your ears all day long. Then babies grow up to be teenagers and they are impossible; they can't believe that their parents know so little. By now you've saved enough in order to buy a house. You take out a 30 year mortgage and hope you live that long. At school the kids are eating you alive and the principal assigns you to lunchroom duty for a month. So, now after 30 years on the job you are burned out and ready for retirement. At this point let's examine retirement to see whether or not it's more acceptable than your college, your marriage, your job, your kids, and your life.

.....You're 58 now and healthy and fit. You drive to Florida, buy a condo in a 50+ community with a grand clubhouse containing a billiard room, a gym, an indoor pool, card rooms, a ballroom, and a theatre. You wake at 8 or 9am work out at the gym, run five miles, go for a swim. Next day it's off for 18 holes at the golf course. What a life! After seven years at this Elysium you finally get your Social Security and eligibility for Medicare. You've had to go to a few doctors in those seven years to get medication for high blood pressure, iron deficiency, neuropothy, penile malfunction, and stuff. Suddenly you are taking some pills like lopressor, lasix, Pravacol, aldactone, coumadin, restoril, flomax, K-Dor, xanax, gabapentin, aerohist, asmanex, omeprazole, and Vitamin D. Probably everyone else in your community is on the same menu. When you're 70 you have to have cataract surgery, prostate surgery, and surgery for skin cancer--too much time in the sun. You get a surprise party when you're 80. By now, your back problems cause you to quit golf and your other exercises. Your hair has turned gray and you've developed a rotund figure. When you're 90 you can no longer walk without a walker to aid you. At 95 you're in second childhood and mere oblivion, "Sans eyes, sans teeth, sans taste, sans everything." So, then, which life is preferable; 30 years of working life, or 30 years of retirement life? Take your pick.

"The thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to." (Hamlet)

.....Both Rhoda and I are suffering from bouts of bronchitis, an energy sapping illness. I got over it once a couple of weeks ago, then she picked it up and I got it once again. We're both on anti-biotics and hopefully this nuisance will dissolve. RH+ is now RH-. She is completely worn out, and I am sad for her. We are sleeping in separate rooms. I also am contending with some kind of infection in both eyes. She is pouring prescription drops in them, but nevertheless, my reading ability is affected. Right now, we are the sadist of sad sacks with a minimum of energy to do anything. I'm doing my best to write this miserable blog. Daughter Robin is due here for the weekend next Saturday, but if we are not cleared up, she ought not to come. We don't want to infect her because shortly she is leaving Tallahassee for Big Timber, Montana to spend the summer on her ranch.

.....Robin is having a big, big birthday in December and I haven't the slightest idea what to do for her. No point in giving her money as a gift; she doesn't need it. And as far as a party is concerned, her mother and sibling Bonny lives in California and her two sibling brothers are in Virginia--and we are in Florida. Her "niblings"--my grandchildren-- are also scattered over the globe. Where could this party be? Rho and I are certainly not up to going north in December. Something needs to be done--and shortly. Joel thought it a good idea for her to be Bat Mitzvahed, followed by a "reception" but without months of study it's doubtful a rabbi could be found who would agree to that. I believe somehow there will be a celebration.

.....Well, I know this is anything but an intellectual, political, or humorous blog. But....

Sick..so sorry.

Dear Readers: I am quite sick with bronchitis. I also have an infection in my eyes, and when the prescribed drops are in, I can't read the keyboard. This will be awhile--I hope no more than a week.

Red Baron

"One man's folly is often another man's wife." (Helen Rowland)

.....Perhaps Alan Levine (former student), doesn't remember and would like to--Ellin Bliss Jaeger wrote the following comment--to his attention in a previous blog; "Reminiscences", I believe:

Ellin Bliss Jaeger said:
.....You certainly entertained us, that and your love for literature and your deep understanding of the material is what (I think) made you the teacher we all remember and still revere.
.....I remember Alan Levine - and where he lived, but would doubt he remembers our car pool to Sunday School (where?) his Dad was a Doctor too.
.....I love G&S. They used to produce the plays at the old Sea Cliff Summer Theater that burned down the night of our Junior Prom.........
.....2 glasses raised and 4 "cups of wine".... to the Doc

.....Well, now, let's get on with it. I've been amused and fascinated in the past few weeks and months--and no doubt, years, with the stories of adultery I read about in the media. Webster defines "adultery" as the sexual unfaithfulness of a married person. Doesn't mention the sexes, but the media pays most attention to married males, the likes of which are Eliot Spitzer of New York, Mark Foley the Congressional groper, former President Clinton, South Carolina Governor, Mark Sanford, Nevada's Senator John Ensign, Senator John Edwards, and the most skillful adulterer, Tiger Woods. At first glance, it appears that only the rich and powerful are subject to dalliance, but that is not the case. Adultery goes back over 2000 years when the Greeks worshipped Zeus (or Roman, Jupiter), who is represented as falling in love with one woman after another and descending to all manner of tricks to hide his infidelity from his wife. So, adultery is as old as the institution of marriage, and exists throughout the Bible as well.. Adultery is the most widely condemned of the sexual sins; it is mentioned in the seventh of the Ten Commandments, all four gospels, and ten other books of the Bible. Not that I'm an authority on the Bible--but that's what my mentor, Prof. Myron Herbstman tells me. I do know that David committed adultery with Bathsheba--but God did forgive him because he was contrite. I don't think God will come down to forgive all the other guys I've mentioned.

.....We now go down through the years to the sixteenth century and there is no question that when Shakespeare left Ann Hathaway for London to make his fortune he surely knew several barmaids carnally. And in "Othello" and "The Winter's Tale" the protagonists reach their downfall through the belief in their wives' unfaithfulness. In Hamlet, no doubt Gertrude had an illicit relationship with Claudius, her husband's brother, even before the King's death. As a matter of fact, the theme of adultery has been used in literature down through the ages. Jane Eyre, The Great Gatsby, Madame Bovary, The Scarlet Letter, The Crucible, are only a sample of the many works that have adultery and its consequences as a major theme.

.....So what is society supposed to do about the concept of forgiveness? At one time in history, both the adulterer and adulteress were condemned to death by stoning--if a field with enough stones could be found, of course, no small problem. And according to Prof. Herbstman, it took a whole village to finish the job and probably required a good aim. Should the presidents, governors, senators, mayors, congressman, Republicans, and golfers be required to resign from their positions? Does adultery have anything to do with they way they perform their duties? Hard questions to answer, and no one has come up with a good answer as far as I can tell. But the Baron believes that the spouse--if female, can forgive, and yet divorce the guy, kick him out of the house, and sue for alimony. It's the only way.

"Just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined." (Alexander Pope)

.....The following is a comment I received back in December from a former student of mine, and published belatedly in the comment section of yesterday's blog. I'm publishing it here because what follows is a great story about this student's career.....and if he was 17 or so when he graduated in 1960, he must be on Social Security and Medicare by now!

Reminiscences in the rear view mirror.

.....RH+ just left to see a show at a local high school with her girlfriends, of whom she has many. I don't know the name of the show, but what does it matter...it's entertainment, and I know a little about that; entertainment was my second career. What I mean is that when I came to this community, I read in the newsletter that comes out once a month that there would be auditions for parts in Gilbert and Sullivan's "HMS Pinafore". I loved G & S's music since I was in high school and I decided that I would try out for a part; what would I have to lose? So I did, and that began my second "career" because I got the lead role--Sir Joseph Porter, KCB. Please don't ask what KCB means; I don't have a clue. Perhaps I'll google it. Anyway, that show took place in 1992 in our 600 seat "Theatre of the Performing Arts." Following that, I played Major General Stanley in "Pirates of Penzance"; and Koko in "The Mikado." Besides Gilbert and Sullivan's operettas, down through the years, I had lead roles in "Showboat", "Music Man", "Pajama Game", and I played Tevye in "Fiddler on the Roof". What more could a retiree like me ask for as a second career? I decided that I got my start as an actor while I taught English in high school. You had to be a good entertainer in order to prevent the students from falling asleep. So, for 30 years, I entertained them. And that's how I managed to get leading roles in Broadway shows played way, way off Broadway, but nevertheless the shows sold out.

.....Between shows, I had the time to write and publish my autobiography, "Memoirs of a Tailgunner." And so, besides being a famous unknown star, I became also a famous unknown author. In addition to writing that book, I've been writing this blog--I guess since 2007. All of these have also come out in book form so that they will be available to my descendants--in the event that my great, great grandchildren care to learn about an ancestor's life in retirement in the tropical paradise of south Florida. I am now recovered from the melanoma surgery, the broken hip surgery, and the bronchitis so I'm a free man for whatever affliction attacks me next. But I do have my cane for protection.

A bit of Education... Scholarly, of course.

.....Since I can't think of any other topic today, I thought that one posting disseminating a little bit of culture wouldn't hurt. It only takes a minute or two to read the soliloquy, and then comes a little bit of interpretation to help some readers get the idea. OK?

"To be or not to be" Meaning Is it better to live or to die?

Origin

To be or not to be is probably the best-known line from all drama or literature. Certainly, if anyone is asked to quote a line of Shakespeare this is the one that first comes to mind for most people. It is, of course, from Shakespeare's play Hamlet, 1602 (Shakespeare's actual title is - The tragedie of Hamlet, prince of Denmarke):

HAMLET:
To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.

.....What Hamlet is musing on is the comparison between the pain of life, which he sees as inevitable (the sea of troubles - the slings and arrows - the heart-ache - the thousand natural shocks) and the fear of the uncertainty of death and of possible damnation of suicide.

.....Hamlet's dilemma is that although he is dissatisfied with life and lists its many torments, he is unsure what death may bring (the dread of something after death). He can't be sure what death has in store; it may be sleep but in"perchance to dream" he is speculating that it is perhaps an experience worse than life. Death is called "the undiscover'd country from which no traveller returns". In saying that Hamlet is acknowledging that, not only does each living person discover death for themselves, as no one can return from it to describe it, but also that suicide is a one-way ticket. If you get the judgment call wrong, there's no way back.

.....The whole speech is tinged with the Christian prohibition of suicide, although it isn't mentioned explicitly.The "dread of something after death" would have been well understood by a Tudor audience to mean the fires of Hell.

.....The speech is a subtle and profound examining of what is more crudely expressed in the phrase ..."out of the frying pan into the fire." - in essence 'life is bad, but death might be worse'. Especially for a sinner.