"Life is but a walking shadow, a poor player.." (Macbeth)

".....In my next life I want to start out backwards.
You start out dead and get that out of the way.

Then you wake up in an old people's home
Feeling better every day.

You get kicked out for being too healthy,
go collect your pension, and then when
you start work, you get a gold watch
And a party on your first day.

You work for 40 years until you're young
enough to enjoy your retirement.

You party, drink alcohol and are
generally promiscuous, then are
ready for high school.

You then go to primary school
you become a kid, you play.
You have no responsibilities,
you become a baby until you
are born. And then you spend
your last 9 months floating in
luxurious spa like conditions with
central heating and room service
on tap, larger quarters every day,
and then Voila!
You finish off as an orgasm."

.....and then Woody Allen says, "I rest my case."

,,,,,Baron believes that this is a unique idea, and very philosophical, although a bit unscientific. I like the part where you get a gold watch and a party on your first day. I don't mind missing the party as long as gold is worth $1275 an ounce.

The idea that you must work for 40 years kind of turns me off. I presume, though, that at the end of 40 years you are 40 years younger; then you could really enjoy your retirement. The promiscuous part is also not too shabby. I do wonder why Woody had nothing to say about marriage. Ah well, I enjoyed every one of Woody Allen's movies and I wouldn't mind seeing them over again.

.....Now that the holiday is over, the next auspicious event we have to look forward to is Allyson's Bat Mitzvah in November. I told RH+ several months ago that I did not want to fly another minute. If we had to go to Virginia, or New York, or California that we would drive. Now driving is out of the question for several reasons that I won't dwell upon. And so we will be flying to New York in November. It's going to be a "black tie" event and I'll have to wear my tuxedo.

I tried it on yesterday. The shirts and vest and jacket fit fine, but the pants need to be let out about an inch. They are too snug for dancing. Oh, I forgot; I can't dance either.

"To sin in secret is not to sin at all." (Moliere)

.....Tonite is "erev" Yom Kippur" or Day of Atonement the last of the High Holy Days which began at sundown Sept. 8 with Rosh Hashana--or the new year--fifty-seven something. I can't keep track. These days are a time to examine one's life, repent of shortcomings and resolve to correct them. The service this evening features the Kol Nidre, a prayer set to medieval music. The prayer asks for release from "all vows" to God that have not been kept. That means the sins that you have indulged yourselves in all year. Then tomorrow, one must fast and attend synagogue services. The last service of the day is "Neilah" signaling the closing of heaven's gates and the sealing of ones fate for the coming year.

.....Rhoda has placed eight candle-glasses, on a tray, to be lighted this evening in memory of our departed ones: my mother and father, my step-father, Mike Kallman, her mother and father, Richard Higgins, Sabrina Ross, and a candle for all those in the world who have no one to light a candle for them (her idea!). And then Rho is off to temple, and I have to fend for dinner myself--because I don't have a ticket. You need a ticket to pray (not to "ride" as per Beatles). Actually, I didn't wish for a ticket--and that, perhaps, is my first sin of the new year; I can't handle the boredom--it's the same one every year, and I can't get up and sit down every few minutes as the service requires. Oh, well, why make excuses--which may qualify as my second sin of the year; I'm just not very religiously minded.

.....If one needs to look back on the past year and the major events in our lives, I suppose the one that is most memorable is the time I had to spend in the Whitehall rehab facility for five weeks after breaking my hip on a cruise ship late in December, 2009. My most vivid memory was being placed in a room with a very obnoxious "roommate". My daughter, Robin, who had come down to help Rhoda and me mercifully garnered me a private room. If RH+ is my angel, then Robin is my guardian angel. A couple of other significant events were Rho turning a year older and I reaching 86. 86! O my God! (I forget now and then that I'm not "religiously minded"). My God? Well, perhaps it's Zeus. Why not? I keep thinking of Wordsworth who wrote in one of his poems that the world was "too much with us, getting and spending" and wasting our powers, and that he would rather be a pagen "suckled in a creed outworn" so he might have sight of "Proteus rising from the sea or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn."

L'Shanah Tovah--Happy New Year.

God Bless America

FROM A ROMANIAN NEWSPAPER
Date: Wed, 25 Aug 2010 18:03:54 -0700

.....We rarely get a chance to see another country's editorial about the USA Read this excerpt from a Romanian Newspaper. The article was written by Mr. Cornel Nistorescu and published under the title 'C'ntarea Americii, meaning 'Ode ToAmerica ') in the Romanian newspaper Evenimentulzilei 'The Daily Event' or 'News of the Day'.~An Ode to America ~

.....Why are Americans so united? They would not resemble one another even if you painted them all one color! They speak all the languages of the world and form an astonishing mixture of civilizations and religious beliefs.On 9/ll, the American tragedy turned three hundred million people into a hand put on the heart. Nobody rushed to accuse the White House, the Army, or the Secret Service that they are only a bunch of losers. Nobody rushed to empty their bank accounts. Nobody rushed out onto the streets nearby to gape about. Instead the Americans volunteered to donate blood and to give a helping hand.

.....After the first moments of panic, they raised their flag over the smoking ruins, putting on T-shirts, caps and ties in the colors of the national flag. They placed flags on buildings and cars as if in every place and on every car a government official or the president was passing. On every occasion, they started singing: 'God Bless America !' I watched the live broadcast and rerun after rerun for hours listening to the story of the guy who went down one hundred floors with a woman in a wheelchair without knowing who she was, or of the Californian hockey player, who gave his life fighting with the terrorists and prevented the plane from hitting a target that could have killed other hundreds or thousands of people.

.....How on earth were they able to respond united as one human being? Imperceptibly, with every word and musical note, the memory of some turned into a modern myth of tragic heroes. And with every phone call, millions and millions of dollars were put into collection aimed at rewarding not a man or a family, but a spirit, which no money can buy. What on earth unites the Americans in such a way? Their land? Their history? Their economic Power? Money? I tried for hours to find an answer, humming songs and murmuring phrases with the risk of sounding commonplace, I thought things over, I reached but only one conclusion... Only freedom can work such miracles.

Cornel Nistorescu GOD BLESS AMERICA !!!