"Problems are only opportunities in work clothes,"

.....Mass shootings again? The NRA is citing the second amendment along with the Confederate flag. Now why doesn't (or isn't) there a mass cry for the victims of these killers. You may be certain that there will be deranged "hunters" out there--anywhere, more copycats. These will happen where people congregate: schools, churches, synagogues, (Please! not the Mets or the Cubs, or the World Serious.) Why not a mass American Memorial Day throughout the country? A day in which the NRA will lose their powers over politicians? Why not? A day in which people will tear themselves away from watching CNN and especially FOX News? And why not. When the bullets start to fly from the nut job who is going to stop in their spot and have time enough to pull out a gun stashed on their hip, and not run like everyone else? Just how many idiots do we have in our government?

 

.....I've been thinking--what else is there to do when you're 92?  Trump is ahead of everyone in the polls, as we know, and some lament that reality. Is it because of his public speaking skills that are louder than anyone running for President? Or is it owing to a personality which could be a leading role in a play?  Falstaff perhaps? And just why are so many people gravitating toward him?  Is he not so different in speaking his mind as Khrushchev was when he banged his shoe on his desk at the U.N.? He didn't give a tinker's damn (who or what is a "tinker"?) what anyone thought about him or about Russia's warped political ideologies. 

"Problems are messages." Shakti Gawain

.....Well, it's Sunday and I have nothing much to do, except to find a picture of me in WWII. Problem is I don't have any loose ones hanging around, they are either in my 90th birthday book or RH+s book of me as I looked in WWII and now. I don't mean that I look now as I looked in WWII, but it's close.  I need a WWII copy for an event here in November about all veteran's who live here or elsewhere. Problem is that all of these me pictures are either in a frame hanging on a wall or glued into a book that the kids made for me as a birthday gift. The book is a beauty  with pictures of me from the time I was born-- and I'm not about to cut the picture out that I need, thus spoiling the book. 

 

.....I suppose I can try to keep this open so that it looks as though I had no problem typing it.  But that is not the case, at all.  I had a plethora of problems correcting all the typos. I don't know if it pays to continue this blog. It takes up a huge amount of time. I don't know if too many readers are out there--or a paucity of them.  According to the comments that I get I can say that there are, or used to be, JR, BF, MH, EJ who used to be EB, PB, RH and a few more who read this blog occasionally. There also are about 749 who never read it! Now I can say there is one sure reader, and that's RG who comments on every post.  And insofar as there may be several typos in today's posting, who cares? ....

 

.....Having nothing much else to do, I've been working on a musical for next March. I call it "Generations America"  I plan to have skits, historical events, songs, celebrities, war casualties, & etc. from each generation since the Revolution. Problem is that I only have a stage manager--RH+, of course, and I have no Producer, Treasurer, Curtain Puller, Back Stage crew, & etc., etc. And as of now I don't even have the performers to do the songs.  It will be a doozie finding all this show talent!  I'll finish this off by informing you that each of us is healthy.

"God heals and the doctor takes the fee." (B.Franklin)

.....Yesterday, Aug. 14, 2015,was the anniversary of the celebratory day 70 years ago in 1945, the day WW11 ended-- the most ferocious war in history. I joined the Navy Air Corps in 1942 when I was 18 years old. I have lost all of my buddies, excepting one. All of my friends at home in Fort Apache, on Kelly Street, in the Bronx, are also gone, but have died either of old age or in aerial combat. I was a combat aircrewman, who during most of that war survived 60 perilous missions flying in a B24 Liberator--which, at the time, was called "the flying coffin." (I never told my children or my students that name.) You can see my wings to the right of this blog. I received those wings at the end of my training (to kill).  I was very proud when they were pinned on me. Not so proud of the killing part.

 

.....My father was a triple amputee, and died when he was 33, the result of his service in WW1, and I was 9.  And when I claim that WWII was a "ferocious" war, the number of the young who died in combat has been documented: In WW1, 53,000; Korea, 33,000; Vietnam; 47,000; Korea, 33,000; and in WWII we lost, in combat alone, not counting the wounded, 291,000 young men. That's atrocious! And that may be why the Yankees in WW1 have been called "the Lost Generation". That is the first time a generation has a used name.  I am thinking of writing a musical honoring the American generations. I wrote one two years ago, but the script was stolen--really, truly, actually stolen. I guess they thought a guy with a walker couldn't be a director. They also mutilated the script. After the "show" I took the thieves to court for violating my copyright! I won some  of their money, and laughed for three whole days!

.....Well, enough with the wars past, we are at war here--with doctors for both of us. RH went from RH- to RH+. Still no one knows why she lost weight. As for the ailments that she thought plagued her. I told her that there was really nothing wrong with her, and after a myriad of testing her doctors told her the same thing. Me? I feel chipper!

 

 

 

 

My First Amendment rights protect one's "twisted logic.".

.....The French Consul Brunet awarded the Legion of Honor, the French government’s highest medal, to eight veterans because of their contribution to the liberation of France in WWII. Only a small number of Legion of Honor medals are awarded each year in the United States and much care is taken to recognize only those with the most distinguished records. (Brunet was or is now the Consul General or France)

 

.....and the Legion of Honor medal was awarded to me in a ceremony last November. However, the bottle of wine they gave to me was appreciated more than the medal, although neighbors helped RH+ to imbibe it on the catwalk  on New Year's Eve while I slept!
  

.....Well we have arrived at the wonderful...perhaps despised would be a better word--(what the hell is wrong with me?) Is old age catching up with me...perhaps elderly would be a better word.The Presidential election era is the time when we hear about it on the TV, and we get phone calls from the candidates, and we see them on Utube, and we hear about it in the newspaper, and we learn about their ratings on the polls and etcetera, etcetera. I feel like the king of Siam, etcetera.  At any rate, it's a real pain. It's like taking pills each day.  We even have a comedian alleviating our stress in The Donald. Gee, I'm glad he's a real T-Party Republican.  And, by the way did you hear that Lebron James sold his palatial  home for $19,000,000 and he only paid $13,000,000 when he bought it. (You can tell that I love zeros).  Apparently we live on a different planet. 

.....We've been to a plethora of MDs recently--mine: Dental Hygienist, Pulmonologist, Internist, Psychologist, etc. RH+: Internist, Gastroenterologist, & Cardiologist & a few more that I can't remember.  These are the Golden Years? And worst of all, I hate when they call me "mister."
.....There is supposed to be a hurricane here tonite.  The weather guys call it "Erica", so if it does come, with it already named, it's like a baby's birth without the possibility of an abortion--which should make quite a few politicians very happy to religiously interfere with a woman's choice. It's much like many people in the south refusing to acknowledge that the Civil War is over and that they lost, and that Lincoln did not really release the slaves, and that waving the confederate flag gives them the opportunity to express their racist views. The Confederacy was "aborted" you know.

 

 

 

 

",,,not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters." (Seneca)

.....Once upon a time I was connected to Trish Ravitz whose dad was a member of Fleet Airwing 7. Well I received an email from her today to say "Hello". She said she found me on my blog. I didn't know that anyone was looking for me.. But I'm glad she found me--alive! I say "alive" because I suspect that FAW-7 has been decimated by old age. Trish's dad has passed away.  Anyway, I was very happy to hear from her, and it made my day.  I am connected to one guy who was on our flight crew--Hal Mack, that is.  I don't know if Trish knows him. The rest of my crewmates are gone--unfortunately. Hal is a terrific guy, but I very much doubt that he reads my blog in order for him to increase his terrificness.  Amazing! Trish, I love you--   Rosie
(nee Baron Von Rosieberg)

.....Received news today via Bonny that Sean's grandfather passed away.  Of course, he once was Bonny's father-in-law and I am fairly certain that Gene was in his late 90s. I knew Gene very well when Bonny was married to Sean's dad, and I and my very own -ex saw him and Sean's grandmother quite often in those days. But "those days" are water under the bridge. (I wonder who made that up?) Well life goes on, and those who don't know, Sean is my grandson.

,,,,,I've been able to type fairly well these days without making a lot of mistakes, and thus I am able to work on my blog without getting really very angry and go around the house cursing at computers, keyboards, printers, Facebook, and Tweedle Dum. However, the doctors I have visited recently have given me a clean bill of health. I even feel healthy, and I have all my mental acuity to go along with it.  If you can recall how you once felt in your 40s, well that's the way I feel.  And since I have all my hair, people don't believe I'm 91. Neither do I.  I attribute my age to the running I used to do when my legs worked. I was used to taking one aspirin and running 10 miles a day for many years after the war. We will observe how far I can go now...maybe even to 92!!

"To know how to grow old is the masterwork of wisdom." AMIEL

.....Is reaching 91 an achievement? It may be, but I'll leave it to others to decide. However, in reminiscing I know I have accomplished many goals in my life; I believe there are not many around who have done all the things that I have done, ergo: In golf, a 7 handicap, I've fought in a war and earned two Distinguished Flying Crosses and 11 Air Medals (yes, that was a premium goal), I received an Ed.D from Columbia (another angsty goal), I raised a family of 4 great kids (a really tough accomplishment), I taught English for 30 years, I ran many 10Ks and two marathons, performed leading roles in 3 Gilbert and Sullivan operettas and several productions of Broadway shows, I back-packed around the world for a year, I was a soccer and track coach, I wrote and published a book, but now I need to use a walker in order to get anywhere, and I can do barely nothing!!  Pardon me for claiming the skill I am gaining is a goal in doing nothing.   

 

.....Now, my only exercises are having RH+ put on my shoes and socks and driving me to MDs. These activities are not the sine queue non of enjoyment, entertainment,  or education. I did, however, learn that most doctors here are incompetent-- except very skillful in the art of making money. But we still visit them hoping that by accident they might find the cure for whatever illnesses we come to them with. In the meanwhile we continue to suffer. RH+, though certainly not 90, still has her own ailments, but continues with the chores of driving me places--besides all the other chores she is capable of.  But, fortunately, the odds are great that I will go before she does. And my twins are approaching 60, my eldest daughter is in line for medicare and SS, and my eldest son on the road to--who knows?

 

.....I know it has been awhile since the last post to this blog; I am sorry for that, but I have lost a lot of energy and motivation and I cannot figure out Facebook and Twitter. 

 

 

"A second time I kill my husband dead, When second husband kisses me in bed." (Hamlet)

.....While trying to get all my things in the places I want them to be, I came across a letter I received prior to have taken a year's sabbatical to go around the world. (Now that sounds so silly--("... around the world")?? It is dated August 8 1976.  That was when I was young and energetic...well, comparatively young and energetic.  Today I can barely walk around the block. Comes with age. Anyway, I met this young lady at a local pub in Manhasset. She must have been 30 or 40ish. We met as friends in this bar fairly frequently, and also on a very comfortable chair in her apartment. She is an elementary school principal. Our relationship was strictly Platonic.  Well, perhaps not too Platonic.  At any rate, I came across this letter which appears rather Platonicish, and thought I would share it with you.  She sends me off on my trip saying a few things about me, although some of her observations are a little off the beaten path:

 

Dear Norman: ( That's how she starts).

 

     You left me not very long ago, and I'm feeling very peculiarly.  It's a feeling I can't put into words. (I leave her speechless). I just read all four sonnets that you wrote, and they become more beautiful with each reading. (Actually I wrote more then four)

      As I have been working around the house, (changed the bathroom light switch all by myself!!), I have been reflecting about all the wonderful moments we shared. I'd like to say " Thank you" many times over.  (RH+ does better)

     You know I wish you well.  I certainly hope your trip is a fantastic experience, and certainly a dream come true. It's been great knowing you.  You are unique. (so I've been told) Knowing a person such as you has been one of the most marvelous experiences I've ever had.I hope it will be an ongoing experience, even through the mail for the time being.

     You are truly the most sensitive, understanding, kind, gentle, generous, loving, intelligent, liberated human being I have ever met. (!!!!! italics mine. All those things?)

    

     Please write as often as you can--and share your experiences. I miss you.

 

                                   (You don't need to know her name, but she has one, trust me. I share these letters with you so that my descendants will know of the impact I had in this world) 

 

"Japan will fall! The American girls are atomic!!" (Ross)

....Well, I am now addicted to "scratchoff" tickets.  I generally buy 20 $1 tickets and have a lot of fun scratching them to see if I won anything.  The fact is that I usually win enough to match what I paid for them.  Yesterday I put my head in the noose and bought 10 $2 tickets--and win I scratch one off I won $100! $100 for a $2 scratchoff? I can now graduate to the $5 tickets if I choose to.  Nah, I'll stick to the $1 tickets.

.....You guys have no idea what trouble I have using the keyboard. I make a lot of mistakes and I have to go back to erased them and make the corrections.  It's a pain in the buttocks pulling out the arrows there. Ruthie will look for the meaning of that. Speaking of Ruthie, I watched the England vs. Japan World Cup game last night. Of course cuzzin Ruthie lives in England, but I don't know if she is into sports.  Well, it was heartbreaking for the British girls to lose that game in extra time.  I wanted to fly immediately to Canada for the purpose of consoling one of the kids with a big hug, and tell her how wonderfully she played.  I remember when I was coaching varsity soccer at North Shore High I had many a heartbreak ending to games. 

.....Its been several days since I wrote the previous info, and I don't really have too much to say.  I'm trying to do some writing, but I haven't been in the mood. RH+ is having some medical problems, and I have to be there for her when she gets depressed about it. We are working on getting her well. You know--doctors and all. 

 

.....Today I'll be watching Japan vs USA.  And did you know that during the Revolutionary War there were no "Americans"? Most everyone in the 13 colonies were British when they went to war.  And did you know that during the Boston Tea Party, the colonists threw all the Lipton tea back into the harbor, and only kept the tea that was caffeine free? Come on! Brush up on your Revolution. 

 

.....Yay USA! Let's kick some Japanese ass! The Germans were beaten by England, but the war is not over.

Laws grind the poor, and rich men rule the law. (Goldsmith)

.....Of the presidential wannabees I've seen in the newspaper, I've come to the conclusion that we no longer have a democracy; that is if we've ever had one.  George Washington started us off as a plutocracy actually with democratic intentions professed in our Constitution. He was a very rich man who owned a plethora of slaves. And at this hour, only the rich can run for office in America.  (So, I decided not to throw my name in the ring.)  Or, perhaps we are an oligarchy where only a small cadre of wealthy families are running the country--especially if the name is Bush or Clinton or Kennedy or even Roosevelt. He went around in a wheelchair--so, I could get around in my walker if I were President.

....Most recently, Jeffrey Winters has posited a comparative theory of "oligarchy" in which the wealthiest citizens – even in a "civil oligarchy" like the United States – dominate policy concerning crucial issues of wealth-and income-protection.  The poor will remain poor, and if the Republicans have their way with Obamacare, the sick will remain sick. And speaking of protection of the innocent in this country, they are being killed, man, boy, and child by idiots who can't wait to pull the trigger on their guns thinking they were sold in Walgreen's toy department. And what is being done about it by the Plutarchs and the Oligarchs who control our country? Nothing. And why? Because the NRA'S can't resist shooting things or people. 

 

.....I see the flag of the confederacy still flying in the United States.  Those who like it believe that the Civil War is still being fought, and by raising their flag convince themselves that the battle is being won by them; and flying the stars and bars makes them feel better about themselves.  Shooting and killing Black Americans is a warning to them, that they better get back to their duties as slaves. Look what's happening in Africa. Wouldn't they be better off in the good ole USA? I learned that recently some nut on my side climbed a flagpole in Charleston, was arrested.  His fine for such a nasty gesture was $3000. (I figure that he is on my side because I was carrying a flag with 13 stars.)

.....I think that I will stop reading the paper. There are simply too many gosh awful crushing events happening in this world. I'll just do something I like. Por Exemplo: I will not toss any tea bags into Boston harbor because they are caffeine free.  Instead, I will join the Tea Party to get up a game of Canasta.

 

"The reward of a thing well done, is to have done it"

.....I just got off Joel's Book of Face.  I had no idea how to manipulate that devilish social confusing program.  I am certain the confusion arises because we are from different generations....and although the generation during the American Revolution had no name, except perhaps, "Patriots" who wanted nothing more to do with King George's taxing without representation.  You all know about the Boston Tea Party.  No, we are not talking about those rabble rousers in the modern Republican Party. We all know something about the incident on December 16, 1773, when Boston's Sons of Liberty dressed as Mohawk Indians and tossed 342 chests of tea from three ships into the Boston Harbor to protest the taxes imposed in the Tea Act.  But few people know that there was a sequel to the Tea Party--on March 7, 1774--probably because they grabbed only 16 chests of tea for themselves. 

 

.....and Boston still has the Patriots around smashing heads with Tom Brady leading them.  Just a coincident?

 

.....I'm trying to write a musical which will encompass the history, casualties of America's wars, and the music of the Generations since the Revolution.  Did I say I'm trying to write it?  I can admit that at my ripe age, it is damn difficult, but that is another challenge I will attempt.  The naming of the Generations began with The Lost Generation.  They were specifically a group of U.S. writers who came of age during WWI and established their literary reputations during the 1920s.  It was Gertrude Stein who named their generation as the Lost one. Hemingway used it in "The Sun Also Rises."  There were others who made Paris the center of their literary activities. They included F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Dos Passos. E.E. Cummings, Archibald Macleish, Hart Crane, and many others...Lost, lost, lost. And by the 1930s, they were gone.   

 

......OK. This is the best I can do today. Need to see an M.D. today. Well, actually almost every day. I'll get back to you and give you a list of all the generations.  I'm sure you'll be waiting with baited breath.

"With stupidity the gods themselves struggle in vain." (Von Schiller)

.....I've recently set up a "Trust" called "Norman and Rhoda Ross Revocable Trust."  You'd think I know something about Trusts, but I know little or nothing about them--or it, except that it is supposed to protect your assets from Probate. And I'm not certain about that either!  The attorney says that I should put my money into the trust.  Am I supposed to get a large bag and dump the cash into it?  That's about all I know about trusts.  Now where can I get a bag large enough for all the money I own? RH+ has a lot of bags that she got from Publix, our super market. Perhaps one of them will do.

.....At the moment, if I have a moment, I've completed all the research on the Revolutionary War, and I am ready to write the musical I will be working on.  I will run through all the "generations" since the beginning of America--their history, their war casualties, and their music.  So far I have "Yankee Doodle" as the song Washington's army loved the most.  Actually, they stole it from King George's British army.  This is the doodle with the feather in the cap called "macaroni"--not James Cagney's "Yankee Doodle Dandy", two different lyrics.  I don't know if I will ever finish writing this musical or see it performed.  Time will tell. Oh, yes, I've always wondered what a "doodle" is. My research cleared that up; it refers to a "simpleton".  The British sang it with derision, but the rebels enjoyed singing it about themselves before they got some fancy uniforms.

 

.....I'm not sure if this story has gone around the globe--the story of the killing of nine African-Americans in the church they were attending in South Carolina this past week.  They were all shot to death by a young man with hatred in his heart and a gun in his hand.  Now who is saying that it is "people who kill people" and not guns who kill people?  How many stupid people are there in this country?  And around the world for that matter?  Stupidity is running rampant on our planet, which indicates, according to Darwin, that in the evolutionary process, we humanoids have not evolved sufficiently; to the point where we are not beheading each other. However, Jefferson evolved OK; he wrote that "all men are created equal"; except for Blacks, Gays, Trans-genders, Lesbians, migrants, and the poor. 

 

About a 10th of my education--or less!

 

.....Here you are, JR: #31 Look Homeward Angel (Thomas Wolfe). #32 The Old Man and the Sea (Hemingway). #33 Ulysses (Tennyson) #34 A Farewell to Arms (Hemingway) #35 The Bridge of San Luis Rey (Wilde) #36 All the Kings Men (Robert Penn Warren) #37 Lord of the Flies (William Golding) #38 The Naked and the Dead (Norman Mailer) #39 The Rubyot of Omar Khayyam #40 Paradise Lost (John Milton). 

.....These books--from #1 to #40 are the books I've read and enjoyed.  Little did I know that I was getting an education. Who needs to sit in boring classrooms with teachers who do not know their subject.  Someone who professes to be a teacher must immerse themselves into the body and soul of their subject.  It won't hurt to take a couple of lessons in acting and public speaking as well.  If you asked me now to tell you what any book is about, I doubt that I could tell you. I know, though, that it has taken root in my brain.  I still recall some memorable lines I wish I had written, such as "...the moving finger writes, and having writ moves on; nor all your piety and wit can lure it back to cancel half a line; nor all your tears wash out a word of it,"

"...A book of verses underneath a bough, a jug of wine, and thou, beside me singing in the wilderness; Ah, wilderness were Paradise enow.

Well, I don't want to get too pedantic here because Mikie may be listening, and I hate explaining things to him.  Most of  the time he will claim that I'm mistaken, whereas he has skipped over the nuances of our debate.

A Litle Poetry Won't Hurt

            The Wanderer's Song

I have had enough of women, and enough of love,
But the land waits, and the sea waits, and day and night is enough;
Give me a long white road, and the grey wide path of the sea.
And the wind's will and the bird's will, and the heart-ache still in me.

Why should I seek out sorrow, and give gold for Strife?
I have loved much and wept much, but tears and love are not life;
The grass calls to my heart, and the foam to my blood cries up,
And the sun shines and the road shines, and the wine's in the cup.

I have had enough of wisdom, and enough of mirth,
For the way's one and the end's one, and it's soon to the ends of the earth;
And it's then good-night and to bed, and if heels or heart ache,
Well, it's sound sleep and long sleep, and sleep too deep to wake.

.....Now you have the privilege of reading one of my most treasured poems.  Why is it in the top 10 ? Because it strikes a rich chord in my heart.  It chills to the bone.  It beckons a tear in the eye. And, my friends, a poem should be read aloud to catch the music in it...and perhaps it will fire an arrow into your loins. Loins??  Oh, yes, I believe I shall share my top 10 for you.  And the next in line to "The Wanderer's Song" is T.S. Eliot's "Love song of J.Alfred Prufrock," which must be read aloud. And the best time to do that is when you are alone. The first line resonates like a symphony and then takes you on a tour of Prufrock's life.  It's sick. There is no joy in his life...And #3 is "Ae Fond Kiss" with a poor guy who is heartsick and broken hearted by Robert Burns. #4 is Robert Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening".  This guy has promises to keep and miles to go before he can sleep...a poem filled with symbols.  Work on it. It's notoriously magic.

.....OK. Now I wonder why I have chosen poetry like this?  Why do I love these poems so much? Read my book, "Memoirs of a Tail Gunner". I believe that one can find the answer(s) to these questions embedded in that book which I wrote eight years ago--when I could remember a lot more than I can summon up now--at 91. I do remember though eating six hot dogs with potato salad atop of them at a nickel apiece every Saturday night--like a religious observance.

.....I know that it's been a long time between blogs.  The reason being that I had a battle in a bout of pneumonia.  I just felt dog sick for a long time.  But not to worry because I plan to emulate Methuselah.  (I don't know too much about him except that he is in the Bible. I think.) 

"These are the times that try men's souls" (Paine)

.....Dear Reader (if any are left), I cannot keep up with these posts, so they will be infrequent. Thus, once in a while take a peek. The tremors in my fingers make it very difficult to type without correcting much too often.  Also, I have been very sick lately with a severe case of bronchitis--or something. The x-ray of my chest shows something, so the MDs have asked me to take the x-ray again. And to complicate matters I fell again the other night and had to call 911 to come and pick me up.

 

.....I have also stopped working on the musical.  There will not be one from me next March.  Or ever again. It is simply too much work, and too many problems.  The only other thing left is my "novel".  I'll check to see if I can work on that.  That is, if ever I can ditch this illness.  The fact is, I am sick.  If I didn't have Rhoda, I would be ten times sick! She is unsparing and diligent in her caring for me.

"My cup runneth over" (PSALMS XXIII)

.....Yesterday was kind of a dull day. RH+ went to a luncheon where all the women wear red hats.  Weird.  How come guys don't go to luncheons ? Then for entertainment each guy could get up and reveal what they've done to achieve a legacy. Most guys, I imagine would give a litany of their accomplishments. Not me. I don't feel that a legacy should be based on what one has accomplished. Most of the guys had no accomplishments. They just worked.  I believe a legacy should be based on how one survived all the perils on the road of life. Everyone has had several bumps along the way which they survived--or not. Therein is your "legacy"--the guy who survived some serious, harrowing bumps is on his way to heroism.  Besides, listening to survival stories would be vastly more interesting than listening to one's accomplishments. 

.....I am busy trying to write a musical that would be acceptable to the Board of Directors.  "GenerationsAmerica" would, no doubt become a smash hit. However, there are some bumps in my road. I have been on Google's UTube looking for songs of the Revolution. I've found the songs, but not the tunes. Not only that. I have looked for costume vendors without success because I have a use for the hats of the Civil War and the Revolution.  No luck. I will have to go to the theaters here in Palm Beach and ask for a loan if they have the hats I need. We did that for My Fair Lady and found the props we needed. 

 

.....I realize that I've been away from my blog at lengthy times.  If I had frequent visitors perhaps many of them have dropped away.  I've  written over 600 posts on this blog, and also received many interesting comments to all 6,341 of them.  I started on August of 2008. I don't recall why I began it or how I got to it, but it was begottan. I advise readers to check for it occasionally.  I'm sure I will be motivated from time to time. But I hope the tremors in my fingers will not get worse and not allow me to type one.

"Think much, speak little, and write less" (Proverb)

.....In case anyone is interested, this font is courier. I'm getting bored with the same fonts all the time. April appears to be the month for anniversaries. I don't mean the marriage kind, although

April is a good month in which to marry. However, for several events you needn't send a card. April is tax month; if you don't get your tax report into the IRS by yesterday, I believe; you are subject to three lashes one for each month leading up to April. Then April 19th marks the bombing of the Oklahoma building killing 168 people. On April 19, 1775 the American Revolution began with the battles of Lexington and Concord. In April 19,1897 the first Boston Marathon was run from Ashland, Mass. to Boston. In April 19,1951 Gen.Douglas Macarthur was relieved of his Far East command by President Truman. He bid farewell to Congress by quoting from an old ballad, "Old soldiers never die, they just fade away."

 

.....As a matter of interest William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1654 and died on April 23, 1616. I believe he arranged it for that day; you might say it rhymes. I wasn't going to do it, but one of my ***** students incited my energy. I could go up to 100, but I am not inclined: 

.....21. Henderson the Rain King; (Saul Bellow), 22.Appointment in Samara;(John O'Hara), 23.U.S.A (John Dos Passos),24.Winesburg,Ohio;(Sherwood Anderson), 25.A Passage to India;(E.M.Forster), 26.The Wings of the Dove;(Henry James), 27.The Ambassadors;(Henry James), 28.Tender is the  Night;(F.Scott Fitzgerald),29.The Studs Lonigan Trilogy;(James T. Farrell,30.Memoirs of a Tail Gunner;(N.Ralph Ross)

.....And now, dear friends, acquaintances, readers, and cuzzins, I think I'll go and spend a little time (very little) on the musical I propose to write without the qualified skill. Uh O! the VA just called about my lab report and said my thyroid is elevated. Don't know if that's good or bad.

Retirement is the ugliest word in the language. (Hemingway)

.....Well, I began my research for "GenerationsAmerica" trying to find a song that our militia sang during the Revolutionary War.  I had labeled this generation as "Generation I".  Of course the generations didn't have names back then.  I found the titles to many a song, but no music to them that would allow anyone to sing.  So, instead I wrote a short skit of our famous men attempting to write the Preamble to the Constitution.  (I could not find a skit of an event back then.) I think my skit came out as comedy--which I wanted to begin my musical.  I found plenty of battles on UTube, but nothing I cared to use.

.....At the moment, I don't know if the musical I plan to write will ever climb onto the stage.  I am aware that the Board of Directors has an idea of what it is, I hope to accomplish, but I told them that I do not know how long it will take me to finish it.  I'm old enough now not to have the imagination I had a long time ago.  At the same time, I want to write a sci-fi novel.  I have already written 65 pages, but the poor thing has been waiting at least six months to get back to it.  That's what spending time in the hospital twice does since then to a great unknown novelist.  OK, so what's next in my life besides whatever needs still to be done?  Aha! I've published the 10 best books that one can read and add to one's education.  Let's see what a vexillologist can do with that to show that the next 10 "best" books is ready to peruse:

11. Under the Volcano (Malcolm Lowry); 12. The Way of All Flesh (Samuel Butler); 13. 1984 (George Orwell); 14. I, Claudius (Robert Graves); 15. To the Lighthouse (Virginia Woolf); 16. An American Tragedy (Theodore Dreiser); 17. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (Carson McCullers); 18. Slaughterhouse Five (Kurt Vonnegut); 19. Invisible Man (Ralph Ellison); 20. Native Son (Richard Wright). There! I found something I can do without having to think! Look for 21-30

"These are the times that try men's souls" (Thomas Paine)

.....Every now and then I get a nasty email from a friend or an enemy complaining that I didn't publish their comment to the latest post on my blog--and if you are not my friend--then I suppose you're my enemy.  Anyway writing a comment is the simplest of activities. You just write it at the bottom of the blog where it says "reply"; then click on the little blue box that says "Publish".  Get it. Then I get a copy in my email and that is where I get to decide whether or not to publish it. I publish anything and everything, so there is to be no complaining--just figure out how and where to write your comment!  If it doesn't get published, then you've done it wrong dummy!

 

.....Today is Monday and that is the venerable day that Rh+ goes a-bowling, and if you are in her way, you get knocked down--or if (perish the thought) she has a luncheon or a doctor's appointment or any other reason that keeps her from the bowling alley with her team, she gets grumpy.  So I wait in another room reading the Bible until she leaves.  The only way I get out of the house myself is it I have a doctor's appointment--or we go out for dinner.  I have no contact whatsoever with any of my friends. They've all passed on.

 

.....In the event that I get to put on a show in 2015 or 16, I just stay by the computer and do a lot of research.  My idea is to have the songs. popular to every generation that had or is having a war. I am looking for the names of every generation since the Revolution.  Suppose I will have to call that the Independence Generation and the Civil War kids, the Uncivil Generation. (tee-hee!). Then comes the Lost Generation, also known as the 1914 Generation whose youth fought in WWI. Tom Brokaw gave us The Greatest Generation whose veterans fought in WWII also known as the G.I. Generation whose children were born from around 1901 through 1924. They also went through the Great Depression. They were followed by the Baby Boomers, (1943-1960), Generation X or "Gen. X" (1960-1980), Millennials or Generation Y (1980-2000).And here we are smack in the middle of Generation Z (2000--) whose youth is now in college, I suppose. Now don't take the dates as hard face for they are not. Let's say they are estimates.                      "

 

.....I imagine that I will find a plethora of war tunes and pop tunes that entertained each Generation.  Now, I have to find skits for this show.  That's a challenge!

"For knowledge, too, is itself a power." (Bacon)

.....RH+ is now about at the end of her very unpleasant experience with bronchitis.  That must be so because she and I adventured to Costco.  As for me, I felt that I was in the midst of an anthill. Not only did the people bump into you, but they also used their enormous carts to push you from the path they wanted to take.  I only witnessed people from "millennia".  Millennias tend to be as rude as it pleases them.  These are the people who walk around with their smart phones pointed in the air.  No wonder that they bump into you. I have black and blue marks over my body.  I will go to the nearest temple and pray that I remember never to experience Costco again.  I really don't know how these Millenias  got the way they are.  When I first came down here, I taught Shakespeare to 45 or 60 people from the Greatest Generation.  When I had registration now, three people signed up.  What fools these mortals be!

 

.....I wrote the above a couple of days ago because I didn't have the time to do this.  But finally I was able to take my sister and my niece out to dinner.  They both adore lobster so we went to the Bird Nest, the Chinese restaurant that sells lobster.  All four of us ordered the 2/14 lb-ers. That thing should be 2 and a quarter pounds but I don't know how to make it. Perhaps JR will send instructions. He's like Google or Bing when it comes to answering questions.  To continue: It seems rather strange that all the Chinese restaurants around here sell lobster which I don't believe is Chinese food at all.  Of course everyone ordered the lobster with sauce "on the side". I ordered it with black bean sauce, and they went for Cantonese sauce, the only thing Chinese on the table. I think my sister is still grieving over the loss of her Mickey--but she's beginning to accept it. As we all are.

 

.....I understand that no one has come forth with an "InHouse Show" for March of 2016. We have had one here for 30 years and I hate to see it come to an end. The problem is that the "Millennial" generation appears that they only like to go to the pool and talk about doctors, restaurants, partying and politics but at registration for the play I wanted to teach this year, as I've said, only 3 Millenials showed up. Didn't their parents tell them about education?  It was Socrates who said "The unexamined life is not worth living."  But I have a couple of ideas for a show. How about "An Evening with Cole Porter."? or "America's War Songs" beginning with songs of the Revolution?

 

 

"Men at some times, are masters of their fates" (Julius Caesar)

.....If police are being shot in Ferguson, the solution might be tried by giving Ferguson's police jobs elsewhere and leaving the protesters and cop killers without a police force.  I wonder what it would be like in that town without police?? I think it would be fun to see what happens. I wonder if the crime rate would go up??  Or down?? It might be worth a try.  OK. Bad idea.

.....A year or so ago, when the copyrighted musical that I wrote was violated, I sent four or five emails to Gigi Minsky (who was on the Board of Directors), seeking an answer as to why this "theft" was going on. Gigi was my friend for many years but I received no responses from her. I heard from Bob Fox yesterday, and received the following email from Bob, a former athlete and student of mine. 

.....Norman, always a pleasure talking with you. Gigi is the sister of Yvette. I introduced Yvette to her husband, Wes, over 40 years ago. Wes has been one of my closest friends because he's like you and me loving the active life playing ball, traveling and teaching. He's an accomplished magician, volleyball and basketball referee, and volunteers at the Moat in Sarasota giving nature tours. He was a science teacher in New Jersey for 35 years. I only know Gigi through my long friendship with Wes and Yvette. I see Gigi when Wes and Yvette come to Delray and Gigi joins us for dinner.I haven't spoken to Gigi about you or your situation with the play but I suspect she just didn't want to get involved. In my life as an educator and on various boards I was different. My philosophy was to always try and help and sometimes it did and sometimes I ruffled feathers. But I notice that in today's world more and more people seem to opt for passive responses when confronted with requests to get involved in anything they see that holds no benefit for them. I believe you and I are 'old school:' we see something that's wrong and we speak up and that isn't always wise in this world but maybe, just maybe, why our society might have been healthier years ago when teachers and citizens did go out of their way to help others, correct children when they were inappropriate, and work to make their communities a safer and more secure environment. You are a special guy, a fighter, a man with standards of personal excellence, and many of us have drawn strength from your example. Thanks and remember, I told you many of my classmates at our 50th reunion five years ago, upon hearing of my contact with you, went out of their way to tell me to say hello to you because you are remembered and appreciated for your teaching, coaching and leadership example. Bob

.....Like many other persons, (like Bob has claimed about me) I would like to leave a legacy so my great great grandchildren would know about me, and so I've had several different "careers" that I really really wanted.  I wanted to be a Naval Aerial Gunner in WWII--and I did that. I wanted to get a Ph.D.,--and I did that. I wanted to teach English Literature and Linguistics--and I did that for 30 years. I wanted to run a marathon--and I did that. I wanted to get on the stage and perform--and I did that.  I wanted to be a soccer coach--and I did that.  I wanted to write an autobiography--and I did that.  And I wanted to take off for a year and travel around the world--and I did that. And if this is the legacy I leave, so be it.  Who else has done it?

 

.....As you may know, today (3/15/2015) is the Ides of March, the day, in 44BC that Julius Caesar, the dictator of Rome, was assassinated primarily by dudes named Cassius and Brutus. Although many other Senators also got in a stab, but Casca was first to his discredit. Altogether, it is said that he was stabbed 23 times, which was somewhat more than was needed.  Marc Anthony retrieved his body.  Caesar need not complain about this event--he was warned by a "seer" not to go to the Roman Capital that day.  Perhaps we all ought to heed this advice.

 

"Valar morghulis" (All men must die)

.....Tpp (bad) that yoy weren't here a week later (or good). Unckle Mickey was buried yesterday and then everyone went back to Jaynees;s house for coffee and little sandwiches. RH+ stioooed at Dunkin; Donuts to pick up conta8pners 9f c9foffee. the "good" thing would have been that you would have gotten to see Nary Guruenm /sakkyl /firl , Sally Formanmm,, Sonnhy Weinstein, Aunt Betty  (who cried buckets and buckets), Jayne, David, Z, Mark, Sarah, Jake, Derrick, Phaedra, Shayne and husband, Ronnie and his wife who I haven't seen since Aunt Belle died,  I was happy to see all these people once again.  Brouht back many memories of when all of them were children growing up in East Meadow.  Too bad it was at the expense of mickey. Oh, yes, there were two soldier's there--one who blew taps and then both of then folded the flagwhich draped tha coffin and tave it to Betty.  If this is the extent of a military ceremony, then I don't want one. Huston and Brooks won't know too much, if anything about their Great Ganfather, anywhay. Except of course if I wrote of the more garish of my exploits in WWII which I have never told my own children or students.

 

.....In the story above, you can see the problems I have in writing this blog--me who once was able to type at 60 words per minute.  Now for a problem that RH+ is dealing with.  Ilana, her granddaughter, is graduating from Penn State and '''''''''''''''''''rRH+ will not be able to go. Never mind the air fare and the $350 hotel charge for sleeping in one of  their beds.  Besides the fact that she does not like the idea of my being alone for a few dys.hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

"THE DEAD ARE WELL" (Antony & Cleopatra)

.....If you haven't heard by now, my brother-in-law, Mickey, has died. Funeral services will be held in the Veterans' section of the Eternal Light Cemetery on Monday morning.  There was a three line notice in the obit section of the paper today.  There are four of Mickey's kids here and you would think they would at least recognize him as a WWII veteran with a Purple Heart.  How much more could it cost?  Anyway, I would expect to see Mary Gurien, Sally Forman, and Sonny Weinstein at the funeral on Monday. Mickey will be buried right across the street from where my mother was buried.  I wonder if there will at least be a military funeral for him. It doesn't cost anything.  Oh, if you only knew how difficult this was to type this and correct all the errors, besides the sad content involved.  Unfortunately, I cannot shake the memory of at least 100 funeral services many years ago.
.....The line of the title to this post is spoken by Cleopatra; the meaning is that the dead are well out of the world's suffering...or, if you prefer, the dead are well and in heaven.  The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind; the answer is blowin' in the wind.

It is a wise father who knows his own child. (Shakespeare)

.....Well here I am again, trying to write without mistakes. I haven'nt the time to go back and correct every mistake, so you will have to read this and make head or tail of the mistakes.  Friday is my 91st and here I am still.  Feels important. I need a cap that has WWII on it. Went to the VA today and did not see one other guy from WWII.  Only saw guys from Kuwait, Vietnam, Korea, and several other wars.  I did not see one guy with ISIS on his cap for having faought in the war against those barbarians.  Wen are the genitals going real9ze that the air war is not ever going to stop those ICes idiots. Only a war on the ground will do it.  Muslims \?? a religion?  They haven't reached that stage yet. Neandathatls don't qualify, yet theyre all over the place.

.....Here I am again! Tomorrow I will get to see Robin, Bonny, Don and Sean; Don is my brother-in-law and Sean (pronounced "Shawn") is my grandson. They came all the way from California to celebrate my birthday 2/27/1924.  I made reservation at Snappers; seafood menu. Then on Saturday we are all going to an Italian place called "Saltabucca".  It should be a terricic two days. My two girls love eandh other. In fact all of my four offspring love each other.  Problim is that the two boys, Joel and Bobby live in Virginia and D.C. and the two girls live in California.  Not a very good split.  However, I am very proud of the fact that my family is a functial one while so many are not with the children not getting along with each other.  What others may not agre, I think my "kids" are amazing!  I am super proud of them. And why not?   Well, I'll be 91 tomorrow, and isn't that a blast!

.....Of a sudden my computer went wacky.  Since I'm teaching Hamlet, this is going mad as well.  I can't email JR to see if he has a cure because I cnt geeeeeet to my email.  So, here goes JR: My whole monitor screen moved to the right and I have a two-inch wide black column running down the left side of my monitor screen, and the whole screen moved two inches to the right.  If there is any text, it can't be read because it runs off the right side of the monitor screen!  And what's that all about? I'm from the "Greatest Generation" and so what I know about computors can fit into a thimble.  Thus I have to call on a "Baby Boomer" to see if he can get my screen to move back to the left.  He can send email to RH+.

 

A FEW DAYS LATER:

 

.....Called in a techie from Comcast and he fixed it in a jiffy.  Then the next bump in the road was me.  Of a sudden my voice sounded as tho I was talking underwater in a pool.  RH+ insisted that I call 911, and since I knew the medics would take me right to the hospital I told her that the strange words being discarded from my mouth would soon pass. Nevertheless a shower of tears from her made me change my views and so we called 911 and shonuff they carted me off to the hospital and I stayed two days. I was given every test invented before they released me. It was determined that I had a TIA.......I don't want to talk about it anymore except to say that RH+ stayed true to her name.

 

A FEW DAYS LATER:

 

.....Now I had to get busy editing some documents for the NORMAN ROSS & RHODA ROSS TRUST.  This trust will contain our wills & last testaments, our power of attorneys, etc., etc.  We have a trust so that our executor will not have to suffer probate when both of us pass. If you could read the legalize involved, your head would spin & you would necessarily need a psychiatrist.  And o yes--I had to abort my Shakespeare class because I never learned how to teach 3 students.  I have so much to do now that I will have to put this blog on hold for a few days.

"Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil." (Isaiah V)

.....I'm teaching a new class called "Fun With Shakespeare" and we are reading "Hamlet". The last class that I taught here was in 2009.  Same title.  Same play.  Of course I am teaching this on a high level--on a college level.  Why am I doing this while I have to sit at a table, I don't really know.  I just felt like doing some teaching. I didn't know how many "students" would show up to register, but I guessed about 12. It was 8!  Should I have such a class for 8 or should I cancel the class? I decided that I could not disappoint 8 students, so I began the class.  I gave them books called "No Fear Shakespeare" with the Bard on one side of the page, and modern English on the other side.  I brought a dagger to the first class two weeks ago on Friday from 3 to 4:30 and I threatened to cut their throats if they read the modern English before I asked them to.  I would never give such a book to a high school class, but these were elderly people who never went to college.  I couldn't believe that out of about 5000 residents in this community only 8 people showed up for the class!  And so I decided that the rest of them were down at the pools discussing restaurants and doctors.
.....It took me a very long time to write the above news without making a typo.  So now I think I'll give myself a break and just type and let the errors fall where they may.  The latest news I got about my ex sister-in-law, Norma, was not the best that I have been hoping for.  After all, she is 93.  I was married to her sister for 30 years, so you can understand that I grew very fond of her.  I was amazed at the way she accepted RH+ whenever the two had occasion to meet after her sister and I were divorced.  She must have realized that it wasn't my fault.  My ex went to California one day to "find herself" and never came back.  I have never found whether she found herself or not.
But I will give my ex her due: she was a good wife for 30 years; she raised four outstanding kids; so I suppose that after 30 years, she could do what her heart told her to do.  May her sister, Norma, be blessed.
.....I wish I knew what the problem is.  I think if one American citizen leaves the country to go fight with ISIS or Al Quaida, they should be given a choice: never come back or if they come back, let them in and try them as traitors--because that is what they are.  Or they may be given a third choice--come back and get their genitals dipped  in boiling oil.  If there is anything else I can think of, I'll mention it in a future posting on this blog.  I really would like to be appointed as Secretary of Testicle Affairs............

"The time is out of joint" (Hamlet)

.....Ok, so I haven't posted anything on this blog for a few days.  Been very busy with other things.  Such as preparing to teach a Fun With Shakespeare class since 2009.  I've been planning to teach Hamlet, my favorite of his plays.  Perhaps I see some of me in Hamlet.  I think that meeting the ghost of his father is a PTSD experience.  Actually, I'm not in any way anxious to meet a ghost of any sort.  Since 2009 it seems that the residents of this community have changed from an educated 55+ group to one that is solely interested in sitting by the pools and discussing restaurants they've discovered and doctors.  I am used to having as many as 45 senior students.  This time only 8 have registered.  I aimed for at least 12 before I would teach a class, but what the hell, 8s ok I've decided because I like teaching Hamlet.  So getting involved in this venture is what has interrupted my attention to this blog.  Just expect a little more time between each posting.
.....Now, about ISIS and other terrorists groups who entertain themselves by shooting "infidels" and/or lopping off heads.  So what's the problem with these heads of state? (no pun intended. OK so it's intended) ,,,,,,Don't they see what's coming and the need to do something about it, Now?  If I were a king of some country--say like ours perhaps.  Constitution or not, if some citizen decided to join the Muslim thugs, he should not be permitted to return in order to commit his (or her) thuggery  They are traitors, and what have we done to traitors since the Revolutionary War?  So, if we know who you are, and you leave the country, and you learn how to become
a S.O.B, don't expect to return.  What's wrong with that?
.....My ex sister-in-law is in a bad way now.  Perhaps her time has come--as it comes to everyone.  I really like and respect Norma and the news I get is that she is under hospice at home...in California. If I needed to know, I would know that she is at least two years older than I, and I hope she will recover from whatever it is she is suffering from, and stay with her nieces, Robin and Bonny--and her sister Thelma for a few more years.  Ninety something is too young to leave us.

"Young men think old men are fools; but old men know young men are fools" (Boileau)

.....About 10-15 years ago, I told my kids to sock away as much money as they could afford.  And the reason for this?  I just knew that by the time they were of retirement age, $100,000 would not be enough to allow them to live in the same way they were living.  So, as of these days, one would need in the red zone about $275,00 if the wanted to live well.  In retirement where would the money go?  Well, eating out quite often.  The wife has cooked lont enough, she feels.  So, then the oven becomes a big flower pot.  Then of course, there are cruises. Every retiree needs to go on a cruise.  Gas prices have gone sky high, and money is easily lost in nearby casinos.  If any of your grandchildren are sending their kids (my great-children. I have teo now) to college, tuition eats cash like a vampire suchs blood! I could go on, but it's too late now to "sock it away."

.....Just got an email today from Jimmy Zurer. I can't believe I have one more former studed from North Shore High reading my blog-although I don't see what's interesting in it.  But Jim reminds me that next Friday I'm going to teach "Hamlet" to some elderly people here.  When I say "some elderly" I'm talking about 8 who have registered.  Imagine.  Of the 5000 people who live in Huntington Lakes, only 8 people signed up. Perhqpq 5h3yr jot interewted in Whalespeare, or the $47.50 price tag is scaring them.  See?  They failed to sock it away.  Eight people, when about 10 or 15 years ago, I got about 45 signees on aferage in eadh class that I taught.  I was only going to hold a class unless there were 12, but 8 would give me something to do on Frifays.
.....The other day I went to my neurologist and when I left, he gave RH+a prescription fir me to go to a pyst ed facility to get some, well,--phys ed.  Now, all my life I've been pumping iron, swimming a milek, and jogging 5-10 miles. Besides this kind of exercise, I've spent 30 years, indoors and outdoors coaching soccer and track running and jogging and practicing with the boys. All this exercise got me into shape to run 26 mile marathons. Which I did before retiring to Florida to get a rest.  Now, I'm to schedule phys ed for an hour twice a week. I JUST WANT TO REST.  I'll be 91 next mongth and I want to be left alone.  Is it too much to ask, or do I skip the exercise?