For Me, A Taste Of Heaven

I think there are two types of people in the world. The first category are those who rush even when there's no reason. The second group is those who don't rush even when there is a reason. The first group, the rushers, includes people who cut you off on the highway so they can get home a minute earlier, turn on the TV, and do nothing. The second category, the moseyers, includes people who will keep talking to one person while another waits for them.

I want to re-mention an interview I did with child actress Quinn Cummings, in case you missed it. I've been following her blog tour with great interest. I was honored that she stopped by here on her way to "The Huffington Post."

I remember being a kid and watching a specific skit on the Carol Burnett show that struck me. I hate to sound old, but why don't they make them like they used to? Man that show was something! The skit that re-entered my mind today was called "Morton of the Movies" and co-starred Burnett and Alan Alda. I vaguely remember being in my grandparents' apartment when I watched and was blown away by the sketch. I remember it vividly, although I only saw it once at young age, because I experienced it so strongly. (It reminds me a bit of a film I synopsize in the middle of this post.) I don't want to give away too much but I think this skit was funny, touching, and smart - all in the best senses of these words. (Although, I think that the last line could have been cut. That's one thing I noticed as I did some youtube hopping through old CB shows, they tend do an sophisticated skit and then tag an incongruous punchline onto the end. An extreme example of that phenomenon is this lovely skit called Day Shift/Night Shift) featuring Carol along with Tim Conway. It is like a mime act or silent movie with beautiful music in the background and elegant movement and rhythm displayed by the performers. Then out of no-where there's a clunky punchline spoken at the end.) It aired on December 21, 1974. Don't walk, run to a youtube site near you and check it out.

Netflix has taught me an interesting lesson. There is nothing intrinsically better about a new movie over an old one. I admit that I am biased to modern era color films with contemporary actors over ones made shortly after sound and speech were introduced to the process. In this context when I say new I mean within the last ten or twenty years. They make so many movies today, and they're pretty much all available on netflix. And there's nothing better about a movie presently being advertised than one that was advertised five years ago. Yet it's so easy to fall prey to the advertising, forgetting that the only reason we think we're interested in a film is that it's been so put in our face. It's a pleasure to skim through myriad titles on netflix and pick what sounds interesting and worthwhile, although I may never have heard of it before.)

When I was a kid my brother had a can on a high shelf in his room, a gift from college friends. I think it's still there with stuff left behind shrine-like. The can was light, empty, and the label had a bright label on it declaring that the contents were 100% Florida sunshine. I wish that I could package and store the moments right after I wake up. Those moments (they are moments more than minutes) are so lucid yet ephemeral. Within minutes the brilliance I emerged with from sleep is usually flushed away (I don't know how that technically works).

This is kind of a rambling post. I guess I could tighten it up, but I feel no such need. I've been written since long before blogs. I write - not only, but to a large extent - for me. When I say "for me" it means different things. I write because I have a need to get things out. As you can imagine, much of that doesn't appear here. I also like sharing ideas with others, if anyone happens to be interested. I've been offered ads here and turned them down. This is not about money. Similarly, I hope to get a poetry book together one day - and in the footsteps of Rabbi David Ebner my dream is to have the book so that I can give it to people. He self published and never looked back. Did I mention that I'm rambling, kind of the written equivalent of moseying. It's like continuing to talk to one person while another waits.

I write because I have what to say. You can take it or leave it. I have a friend who guest posted on a well known blog. All he wanted was to share Torah. He really could have lived without the many comments that the piece garnered. I don't think he'll be writing there again any time soon. One thing I am thankful for is that is that my commenters are generally very kind and gentle in their comments. And my readers who don't comment are generally kind too. Early on when I wondered if anyone was out there Esther Kustanowitz said, "Put in a stat counter and you'll know." Now I know. People read, and appreciate. And I appreciate that.

There's a conference coming up for J-bloggers. One of the presentations is called No-One Cares What You Had For Lunch. I disagree. A teacher of mine had us read Frank Conroy's Stop Time, and one of the main reasons was to learn that if you make it interesting you can write about anything. There's a chapter in there about his learning to use a the yo-yo that's well written and pulls you in. Earlier this summer I read a book about the circus during The Depression. It's a topic I never thought I was interested but the storytelling pulled me in. I don't know if I can pull it off or want to at this moment - but there are plenty of writers (Billy Collins, Chris Buckley, Quinn Cummings, Phillip Roth, Dara Horn to name a few) who I could see working literary wonders with their lunch.

I could sit here for hours and write and write. It is a taste of heaven. Still, somehow, I feel the need to tend to other things. First (and last), as Columbo used to say, "Just one more thing..."

Miniature fish

Breaded by Dr. Prager

That was today's lunch

Hopefully, unlike last week

This week I will lose some weight