"The older the fiddler, the sweeter the tune." (Pope Paul VI)

.....Today, I struck 87...that's a lot of birthdays. However, today was a weird day--happy but not happy.  I was stunned this morning for having received birthday greetings by telephone from China. No kidding; straight from Hong Kong! For me, hard to believe the technology. Well, it was from Magda Machado-Garshol! Magda was an exchange student from Brazil who came to study at North Shore H.S. in the class of '68, same class as Robin. She stayed with another family for a while, but when that didn't work out, she wound up in our house. Now, she's with her third husband, Knut Garshol--yeah, he's Norwegian and a great guy, who just recently got a very good job in Hong Kong--and that's how Magda got there. Now for the "not happy" part. I had to go to a very good friend's funeral today--not something I had planned for the day. When I say a good friend, I mean a friend I've known for over 50 years. We both raised our kids in East Meadow, L.I. I didn't go to the service at the funeral home, but just to the cemetery for the burial. Afterward, we went back to Murray's house to see his wife, Sunny, and their "children" (now fully grown). There was a table loaded with food--bagels, lox, cream cheese, whitefish--etc. We stayed a couple of hours and then came home.

.....At home, I headed for the computer to check my e-mail--and I was amazed at all the e-cards I received from former students: Peter Kehrig, Wally Kaufman, Ellin Jaeger (nee Bliss), Bob Marsden, Hugh Gilson, Vern Graham, Saul Schacter, Deborah French,Bonny Butler (nee Ross)& Betsy Krumrine Hunter. Also got telephone calls from son, JR.& step-son, Jon T. The whalerider, R.Higgins (nee Ross) left a message.But the really big news is that Phil B. not only left a comment on my blog, but also mailed me about 8 boxes of Mallomars from Amazon. I thought they only sold books. I wonder if you could download a Mallomar to a Kindle?? OK that's enough for the birthday. There will be another one next year, but I don't know whether or not I'll still be blogging.

"Homines dum docent discunt.....Even while they teach, men learn." (Seneca)

.....Yesterday I found this email in my inbox and I  was astounded!  I did not have Christine in any of my classes, and I am sorry that I do not remember her...I suppose if she was 17 when she graduated in 1966 she must be pushing 60 by now.  I am terribly sorry that I did not have her in my class.  I have no memory of any of my high school teachers, and I find it hard to understand how former students remember the names of some of their teachers after so many years, and how they have been influenced by them.  (Governors, take notice).  Bruce Mooney, to whom she refers, obviously had a role in how she shaped her life.  I hired Bruce to take charge of the drama department, and he was a master teacher--much loved by his students.  I have no clue as to how Christine "tripped over" my blog--by accident!  I'm glad she did; and I wish her a very productive retirement.


.....Dr. Ross, I literally tripped over your blog by accident while Googling my way to Bruce Mooney.  I graduated from North Shore in 1966.  I didn’t have you, so you won’t remember me, but memories of you and the high esteem so many of my friends had for you lingers.  I have been teaching in North Carolina for thirty-two years and am retiring at the end of this year (!!!!).  As with your lovely student, I MUST tell Mr. Mooney of the life-long influence he has provided me, and now I must add you to that list. We had a glorious school, didn’t we?  Drama, theatre, Shakespeare…the freedom to be joyously geeky….were great gifts. You had a reputation as a Shakespearean and an actor that impressed. I have tried to give my students at least some of that, having taught in the N.C. prison system for a time, at the NC governor’s School for thirteen years, and two large public schools for the last twenty-five, finishing up at NorthWEST High in Guilford County, a proud (and quite exhausted) VIKING.  Funny how that works, isn’t it?  I have  studied the teaching of Shakespeare at the Globe in London with other English teachers for two summers and am known here as quite the “Weird Sister.” You helped plant seeds for that joy,  along with Mr. Mooney and Mr. Haulenbeck.  I still e-mail  my oldest friend (our mothers went to high school together in the 1930’s) Bette Nyhlen Basilevski, and her mother, Agnes, who at 92 has every memory intact and is a delight to me always.  I shall add your blog to my “Must-reads”, and thank God for the serendipity that led me there this afternoon.  With joy,  Christine Chambers-Merriman

"If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear as it is," (William Blake)

.....Perception is everything.  I have one good friend and colleague with conservative perceptions and one good friend and colleague whose perceptions are to the left--or perhaps I should say that they perceive our world from pole to pole, and thus cannot see each other.  Oh, I don't mean that I have only two friends; I do have others who also interpret events culled from different influences in their lives.  Now, my perceptions have been developed over a longer period of time from anyone I know, and from being exposed to wartime horrors which my friends  thankfully have no first hand knowledge of, who have grown up in different parts of this country, who have been influenced by their parents, grandparents, and friends other than mine, and no doubt also from teachers in high school and college.  Our perceptions of everything are colored by the lives we have led.  It doesn't take a great intellect to arrive at that truth.

.....For example, in a previous blog's comment, a good friend refers rather cavalierly to President Franklin Roosevelt as "Rosenfeld".  This kind of saddens me; it is obvious that he doesn't think much of Roosevelt for whatever reasons. My perception differs; Roosevelt's administration was responsible for passage of the G.I. Bill which altered my life to a great extent--and not his.  Because WWII did a number on my head, Public Law 16 allowed me to go to college tuition free, with books paid for, and with a stipend of $100 a month.  But the fact is that we do not think the less of each other because of differing views.  I will, however, always respect President Roosevelt.  And I will refrain from calling Bush, President Botch.

.....Our views are firmly entrenched because we tend to see and recall only evidence that supports our beliefs.  The tendency to adopt this confirmation bias is a failure of rational thought. Reason is supposed to be the highest achievement of the human mind, and the route to knowledge and wise decisions. But as psychologists have documented, humans are really, really bad at reasoning.  We follow our emotions and perceptions from voting to ethics; and argument, after all, is less about seeking truth than about overcoming opposing views.  Let it be known that my perception of whatever there is to percept is the correct one, and I can't understand why everyone can't see that.