Saturday, May 26, 2007
There ain't no cure....
Say it with me...for the summertime blues.
But let's take a quick look at the other things there is on cure for.
W - the dumbest, most incompetent, most uncaring President EVER!!!!
Alberto Gonzales - the smarmiest and least reputable Attorney General since John Mitchell in the Nixon administration.
Heat - I hate heat. I hate hot days. Let's face it, you can always put on more clothes if it is cold, but you can't take off any more skin. I still have no idea how people living in Arizona (as much of my family does) survive that oppressive, gawd-awful heat.
Cliques - First, there was the large group of cliquish types in high school who I generally despised, especially once I figured out that they would only be nice to me when they needed my skills on history exams (classic nerd-abuse). Now there are cliques in our neighborhood. These are people who hold themselves out to be better than others, superior in some way only known to them and their spouses. There is one family in this neighborhood who have decided to be king and queen for the year (makes sense given he is a Brit). Their lack of caring for others and their obvious conceit make me want to be violent. Unluckily, I am a pacifist.
The DH - Baseball just won't get rid of it. Luckily, over time, Astro-turf went the way of the dinosaurs in baseball, but I hold out no such hope for the DH.
Summer TV - Used to be re-run filled, now filled with some of the stupidest excuses for reality TV ever. A show on being a pirate? 5 chef competition shows (I'd much rather see re-runs of the original Iron Chef)? At least we don't still have Temptation Island. Let's face it, the best reality TV is baseball.
Lawn-work - Is there anything more worthless than the time spent mowing, trimming, weeding or any other type of lawn work? I'd love to just hand it all over to a goat for the mowing and never water the lawn. If it turns brown, so be it.
Parents who do nothing to control their children - Exactly when did it become OK for parents not to practice some form of control over their children's behavior. Not that I'm the perfect parent (I'm not even close), but it amazes me that parents either look the other way or just deny anything other than wonderful behavior from their children.
List time - My 5 favorite beers of all time (brought on by my buying of a 4-pint pack of Bass Ale)
1 - Brand - From Belgium. A wonderful tasting beer, in a completely white bottle.
2 - Hanza - From Norway. The only place you can get it in the US now (that I know of) is Epcot Center
3 - Molson - From Canada . Other than Wayne Gretzky, the best import from that country
4 - Samuel Adams - From the US. Just very easy to drink.
5 - Foster's Lager - From Australia. Always loved the really big cans of beer. 2 and one was fully snookered for a few hours.
But let's take a quick look at the other things there is on cure for.
W - the dumbest, most incompetent, most uncaring President EVER!!!!
Alberto Gonzales - the smarmiest and least reputable Attorney General since John Mitchell in the Nixon administration.
Heat - I hate heat. I hate hot days. Let's face it, you can always put on more clothes if it is cold, but you can't take off any more skin. I still have no idea how people living in Arizona (as much of my family does) survive that oppressive, gawd-awful heat.
Cliques - First, there was the large group of cliquish types in high school who I generally despised, especially once I figured out that they would only be nice to me when they needed my skills on history exams (classic nerd-abuse). Now there are cliques in our neighborhood. These are people who hold themselves out to be better than others, superior in some way only known to them and their spouses. There is one family in this neighborhood who have decided to be king and queen for the year (makes sense given he is a Brit). Their lack of caring for others and their obvious conceit make me want to be violent. Unluckily, I am a pacifist.
The DH - Baseball just won't get rid of it. Luckily, over time, Astro-turf went the way of the dinosaurs in baseball, but I hold out no such hope for the DH.
Summer TV - Used to be re-run filled, now filled with some of the stupidest excuses for reality TV ever. A show on being a pirate? 5 chef competition shows (I'd much rather see re-runs of the original Iron Chef)? At least we don't still have Temptation Island. Let's face it, the best reality TV is baseball.
Lawn-work - Is there anything more worthless than the time spent mowing, trimming, weeding or any other type of lawn work? I'd love to just hand it all over to a goat for the mowing and never water the lawn. If it turns brown, so be it.
Parents who do nothing to control their children - Exactly when did it become OK for parents not to practice some form of control over their children's behavior. Not that I'm the perfect parent (I'm not even close), but it amazes me that parents either look the other way or just deny anything other than wonderful behavior from their children.
List time - My 5 favorite beers of all time (brought on by my buying of a 4-pint pack of Bass Ale)
1 - Brand - From Belgium. A wonderful tasting beer, in a completely white bottle.
2 - Hanza - From Norway. The only place you can get it in the US now (that I know of) is Epcot Center
3 - Molson - From Canada . Other than Wayne Gretzky, the best import from that country
4 - Samuel Adams - From the US. Just very easy to drink.
5 - Foster's Lager - From Australia. Always loved the really big cans of beer. 2 and one was fully snookered for a few hours.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
The Ins and Outs of Shiva
As I wrote a couple of days ago, my father-in-law passed this week. In Jewish tradition, this meant it was time to sit shiva. For those of you who are not Jewish, think of it as a wake after the burial instead of before. Also consider that instead of large amounts of alcohol, we jews have large sums of sweet baked goods.
So we sat shiva for two nights this week. It was both beautiful and worrisome.
The first night was amazing. About 100 people from our synagogue and elemetary school showed up to support us (in one case, came before shiva and ate with us...way uncomfortable). Unluckily, the person leading the service made a point of saying that this show of support was due to how involved my wife and I are in these communities. He didn't mention the widow, ex-widow or Tracey's siblings who were there. It was, I am sure, purely an oversight as he does not know these people. But as I heard it, I made a small bet to myself that her siblings would be offended.
There is only one problem with betting yourself. When you win, you get NOTHING.
I was right. Her sister in particular seemed to be offended. Not a shock, but a little understandable.
Of course, there are two questions that come to mind when this occurred. She belongs to a synagogue, but from what I can tell, not one bit of assistance or support was made from that community. Why the lack of support of the community she belongs to? Did she not make them aware? What's the deal with that?
Secondly, while here, she does her best to completely seperate herself from everyone. Sitting in a corner either feeling sorry for herself or anger at us...I'm not sure which. I could see this, I asked her if everything was OK. She said yes and turned away. At this point, I knew what was going on and I knew what would be the result. She would escape and not return until she felt either comfortable or back in control. But is that not an opportunity to show others that you are in need of support. I know this group well enough that they would be there for her in the same manner as they are there for us. Why not take advantage of all the love which was available?
This week does prove one thing to me (not that I needed more evidence). Being there for others always results in good things. It's not that Tracey and I give to our community and friends so that we can get something in return. If we were, I'm sure the world would see the dirtiness of our giving and assess us as hypocrites. But we do believe in being there for others...and this week those who we have touched came to give back to us. There were people here who I had no idea that we had made a difference to, but there they were.
All in all, shiva is supposed to be a show of support to those who need support. Now, whether one wishes to accept that support is a personal decision. Tracey, who generally doesn't do the accepting of support thing, gratefully accepted it this week. As tough as this has been on her, it is the support and love she has received from our friends which has made it easier on her. Whether that can be true for others, I don't know.
BTW, here's my list of favorite desserts which have been given to us this week, not in order of preference:
Cinnamon Rolls - Lord, I do love these.
A wonderful Chocolate-Almond Mousse Pie - Beyond good.
Norma's Outmeal Raisin cookies - just sooo delish.
Strudel - real, no kidding, fresh strudel.
Ruglah - this was special because it was amazingly good, and handmade by our neice.
So we sat shiva for two nights this week. It was both beautiful and worrisome.
The first night was amazing. About 100 people from our synagogue and elemetary school showed up to support us (in one case, came before shiva and ate with us...way uncomfortable). Unluckily, the person leading the service made a point of saying that this show of support was due to how involved my wife and I are in these communities. He didn't mention the widow, ex-widow or Tracey's siblings who were there. It was, I am sure, purely an oversight as he does not know these people. But as I heard it, I made a small bet to myself that her siblings would be offended.
There is only one problem with betting yourself. When you win, you get NOTHING.
I was right. Her sister in particular seemed to be offended. Not a shock, but a little understandable.
Of course, there are two questions that come to mind when this occurred. She belongs to a synagogue, but from what I can tell, not one bit of assistance or support was made from that community. Why the lack of support of the community she belongs to? Did she not make them aware? What's the deal with that?
Secondly, while here, she does her best to completely seperate herself from everyone. Sitting in a corner either feeling sorry for herself or anger at us...I'm not sure which. I could see this, I asked her if everything was OK. She said yes and turned away. At this point, I knew what was going on and I knew what would be the result. She would escape and not return until she felt either comfortable or back in control. But is that not an opportunity to show others that you are in need of support. I know this group well enough that they would be there for her in the same manner as they are there for us. Why not take advantage of all the love which was available?
This week does prove one thing to me (not that I needed more evidence). Being there for others always results in good things. It's not that Tracey and I give to our community and friends so that we can get something in return. If we were, I'm sure the world would see the dirtiness of our giving and assess us as hypocrites. But we do believe in being there for others...and this week those who we have touched came to give back to us. There were people here who I had no idea that we had made a difference to, but there they were.
All in all, shiva is supposed to be a show of support to those who need support. Now, whether one wishes to accept that support is a personal decision. Tracey, who generally doesn't do the accepting of support thing, gratefully accepted it this week. As tough as this has been on her, it is the support and love she has received from our friends which has made it easier on her. Whether that can be true for others, I don't know.
BTW, here's my list of favorite desserts which have been given to us this week, not in order of preference:
Cinnamon Rolls - Lord, I do love these.
A wonderful Chocolate-Almond Mousse Pie - Beyond good.
Norma's Outmeal Raisin cookies - just sooo delish.
Strudel - real, no kidding, fresh strudel.
Ruglah - this was special because it was amazingly good, and handmade by our neice.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
A book ends quietly...peacefully
I consider every one's life's to be a book. True, the vast majority of them are James Michener novels, but books nonetheless. This week Tracey's dad, Ed Jacobi, had the final chapter of his life written and published.
Ed Jacobi was an unusual and amazing man. He wasn't without faults. Oooh, so many faults. But he was also a man of much goodness.
He was a task master, but ordered folks around to bagpipe music and Gilbert and Sullivan tunes (ok, some would consider that torture...but not me).
He wasn't always honorable, but he seemed to find a way to honor others. He took the short-cut often, but the majority of the time it worked for all concerned.
He was a bit self-absorbed, but in making himself a bigger-than-life character he brought joy and laughs to those around him.
And above all else, he was stubborn. And when I say stubborn, I mean stubborn. Moving him off a certain position was tantamount to moving Mt. Everest a few hundred miles. But the result of his stubbornness was his amazing fight against cancer. I've never been more amazed by anyone's battle against this ugly disease. So many times, he was given a time frame which he would have remaining to live. And damn near every time, he blew past that time frame with ease.
He took round after round of chemo (breaking the record at Emory University). Day after day of radiation (often during his lunch hour at Home Depot). Seldom complaining, never holding himself out as better than others in the same fight. But bravely battling day after day.
He went into hospice on Thanksgiving day weekend. At the time, they said 3 to 6 weeks, at most. Stubbornly, he made that prediction a joke. He was there 27 weeks. His body slowly wasted away, but generally his mind was there. He still had a sense of humor, right up to two days before his body finally gave out.
He still loved watching baseball, until the very end. In fact, I find it interesting (maybe only to me as a lover of baseball also) that his last breath took place at first pitch of the Braves game on Monday.
In the end, he went quietly. His body no longer able to continue, his breathing slowed more and more, and then he just quietly stopped. Peacefully ending a remarkable life.
As with all good novels, there were many ups and downs. But in reading parlance, it was a good read. It taught many lessons, both what one should strive to do and what to avoid in life. And it was available for all to see, little of its ins and outs were hidden.
So we honor the life of Ed Jacobi. May he rest in peace.
Ed Jacobi was an unusual and amazing man. He wasn't without faults. Oooh, so many faults. But he was also a man of much goodness.
He was a task master, but ordered folks around to bagpipe music and Gilbert and Sullivan tunes (ok, some would consider that torture...but not me).
He wasn't always honorable, but he seemed to find a way to honor others. He took the short-cut often, but the majority of the time it worked for all concerned.
He was a bit self-absorbed, but in making himself a bigger-than-life character he brought joy and laughs to those around him.
And above all else, he was stubborn. And when I say stubborn, I mean stubborn. Moving him off a certain position was tantamount to moving Mt. Everest a few hundred miles. But the result of his stubbornness was his amazing fight against cancer. I've never been more amazed by anyone's battle against this ugly disease. So many times, he was given a time frame which he would have remaining to live. And damn near every time, he blew past that time frame with ease.
He took round after round of chemo (breaking the record at Emory University). Day after day of radiation (often during his lunch hour at Home Depot). Seldom complaining, never holding himself out as better than others in the same fight. But bravely battling day after day.
He went into hospice on Thanksgiving day weekend. At the time, they said 3 to 6 weeks, at most. Stubbornly, he made that prediction a joke. He was there 27 weeks. His body slowly wasted away, but generally his mind was there. He still had a sense of humor, right up to two days before his body finally gave out.
He still loved watching baseball, until the very end. In fact, I find it interesting (maybe only to me as a lover of baseball also) that his last breath took place at first pitch of the Braves game on Monday.
In the end, he went quietly. His body no longer able to continue, his breathing slowed more and more, and then he just quietly stopped. Peacefully ending a remarkable life.
As with all good novels, there were many ups and downs. But in reading parlance, it was a good read. It taught many lessons, both what one should strive to do and what to avoid in life. And it was available for all to see, little of its ins and outs were hidden.
So we honor the life of Ed Jacobi. May he rest in peace.
