A Day in the Life of....

For those few of you who may be interested here is a brief overview of my day:

6am: Out of bed to pee
6:40am: Same as above then to kitchen.
6:43am: Turn up heat, open door, get paper and prepare crossword page.
6:47am: Start hot cereal, soft boiled egg, rustic artisan roll in toaster oven (if available) make
coffee in my super-automatic.
6:52am: Spouse appears. We greet each other with coughs.
7:37am: Same as 6:40am.
7:49am: Granddaughter calls. I hope she will sing "Mocking Bird" song on speakerphone.
7:58am: Spouse leaves to walk with friend.
8-10am: Waiting period
10am: Leave for 6-7 mile walk. (This week I am dog-sitting)
12:01pm: Return and lunch
1-3pm: Waiting period and same as 6:40 am.
3pm: See if Terri Gross sounds interesting.
3:48pm: Same as 6:40am.
4-6pm: All Things Considered. Spouse appears. More coughs.
6pm: Supper (either a salad with spinach leaves, lasagna or sometimes fish or chicken.
Also watch Newshour.
6:40pm: Same as 6:40 am and more
7pm: A little of Katie Couric. Floss teeth.
7:20-10:40pm: Sit and/or pace. Check to see for comments on blog. Read New Yorker.
10;45pm: Into bed. Hope for sleep.

I know this is incomplete but I just thought I would include the high points.

Hype

Can anyone believe how much hype there is about the Superbowl? In fact, it's all hype designed to temporarily distract you from your woes while being entertained bymen playing bumper bodies or balls flying through the air. The only thing halfway exciting is watching a player sit on the bench after being taken out of play looking like a Kabuki actor with black smudges under his eyes and steam gusting out of his mouth. The camera cuts away after he spits. Is this what football fans look forward to all year? What a letdown after it's over (but I suppose it's the human condition to feel sad after excitement.) Actually I get more pleasure fro listening to a small child sing Mocking Bird than from viewing this spectacle. But I guess this is what sells HDTVs. Just think, in the HDTV ads would it be better to show football players or soemone being interviewed on the Newshour. I'll get my thrill from not watchibng and convincing myself that I've outgrown such ephemera.

Our Game...

My spouse says all the right things - I say all the wrong things (or inappropriate things). I don't agree with people when I think they are wrong. For instance, insurance. If we are with other people my spouse is always in favor of being insured for everything you could think of. For someone (like me) to question the value of insurance is shocking. So everyone piles on with worse and worse stories of what can befall an individual and I make more and more provocative comments until silence ensues and we distract to another subject. But, in private, she is a different story as I point out the cost of insurance balanced by the risk. And when it comes to money she is torn by her fear of risk and her aversion to spending. So why can't she admit that I might be right? Is she afraid "to tempt fate?" Is there such a thing as fate?
But this is the way it goes. If I say we don't need snow tires she'll say "I think we should have them" even though our roads are thoroughly plowed and salted. Better safe than sorry. It's like a dialectic we have (yes and no) like a piece of music with fast and slow movements. Maybe we feel sub-consciously that that is what makes us entertaining (sort of like Alice and Ralph Kramden ((for those old enough to remember)) ). And couples that agree with each other are kind of monotonous, aren't they? You have to guess who is trying to gain points with the other.

What Can I Buy Next?

In case you're not aware you're due to get some money back from the government before the end of summer - it's supposed to be an economic stimulus. So now you've got something else to worry about (unless you're good for more than $75K as a single or $150K as a family, in which case you get $0) which is what to buy with the money. Buying more goods made in China probably won't do much good for our economy but will boost pollution by encouraging Chinese manufacture. So why don't we try to make ourselves happier, instead (legally, of course) and buy super doses of Omega 3's? I'm thinking of trying this myself because I've heard some good things about them. And if we make ourselves a little happier we won't feel the pain of inflation and declining portfolios as much. In addition we won't be adding to the clutter of our residences either. (I have to go now as I'm going to check out the latest flat screen TV's at Best Buy.) Have a good day!

I Like Hillary

Two things standout in my mind when thinking about Hillary Clinton: first, I like the way she handled herself when she as First Lady was called down to the special prosecutor's courthouse to testify in the Whitewater case. Everyone knew it was a trumped up political vendetta initiated by the Republican congress. But I'll never forget how she presented herself at the courthouse where a crowd of photographers and reporters was waiting: she was attired in a black dress with a cape that had an inner red lining as I recall. And she stood like a fashion model in front of the photographers with complete self confidence and ease, smiling. That was a great presence, and, of course, the charges came to nothing. But she had copmpletely upstaged her enemies.

The second was when she was grilled by Matt Lauer on the Today show after the Lewinsky scandal. She did everything she could to support her husband. That's loyalty!

That's why she would have my vote. Obama is a good man but I've yet to see how he would handle himself in a moment of crisis and I think this is important when considreing someone for the Presidency.

To Be or Not to Be (Jewish)

My dual heritage, Jewish and Gentile, was always problematic for me. I wasn't a 'pure' Jew but I was technically Jewish enough because my mother was. I think that gave me the right to make "aliyah" to Israel if I wanted, whereas someone with only a Jewish father would not be accepted as easily.

So what does it mean to be Jewish? (Hardly anyone wants to be called "a Jew") No one wants to be judged on the basis of ethnicity alone since this could be comically offensive, and it would lead to stereotyping which leads to much worse things.

So if ethnicity and genealogy are out what is left to "Jewishness?"

Tradition, as symbolized by one or more of the Jewish holidays would be one thing. For example, Passover, which can be celebrated as a kind of yearning for freedom by all people. You could make some modifications to the Haggadah (namely references to the "chosen people") that would make it more inclusive in spirit. And the food is great! Learn about matzo ball soup, egg soup and haroseth.

Or you could just associate with Jewish people and cultivate some Jewish friends. Call this Jewishness by association.

Also if you are a member of a synagogue it shows...that you belong to a synagogue. (You may be completely secular and that's OK too.)

And even just saying "I want to be Jewish" is enough of a signal without having to go through all the motions. Most people would probably accept your desire. Especially if you were a nice person with even just a little sense of humor.

Of course you shouldn't feel you need to change your personality to adapt to the image of Jewishness you have in your mind. Some people will always be a little more or a little less Jewish than others. Basically I feel that if you practice the golden rule you will be as Jewish as you need to be.

My visitor today was our rabbi. We discussed many topics: sex, marriage, Jewishness, God, films and our past histories. Whatever may happen to ethnicity or genealogy as a component of Jewishness, its practice as a discipline and code of conduct will endure...

Shabbat Shalom,...Hey!

ghosts of the dead

I just read Adam Gopnik's piece in the latest New Yorker about mourning the Civil War dead. Three different books. One, by the new Harvard president, describes the ghastly way these men died at close range, left on the battlefield to rot. All the deaths from war, disease, tsunami, earthquake and murder are on my mind on an almost daily basis - and makes it impossible for me to believe in a benevolent God. I recommend this article.

weekend visit

Saydee say "Shabbat Shalom Heyyyy!" Daisy smile and wave her arms. Kasama show me how to blog. Josh and I take a walk, notice the full moon, and he say Saydee spotted it in the car on the way up. We have good lasagna dinner with wine. We all hug and they wave from car...go back. Which better: hello or good-bye? So great...soul medicine to be with people you like to be with. "How are you today?" says the woman the checkout. So many days I say fine, but today I really mean it.