"Get thee a good husband and use him as he uses thee." (All's Well That Ends Well)

HAPPY HALLOWE'EN TO ALL MY BLOG FRIENDS

Today I had a date with the dermatologist because I have a squamous cell carcinoma on each arm. These are about a dozen of those I've already had in the past few years. Fortunately, in 1982 when I retired, I bought a Cancer Insurance policy for which I pay $46 a year. With the lab reports and doctor's bills they require when you make a claim, I've gotten paid several thousand dollars already! I expect for these two I had taken out today I should get at least $750. I really don't know anyone else who has such a policy, and I don't have a clue as to why I bought it.

When I got home, I got a call from the Biker Son saying that he and his brother the Spy Son were coming to spend a couple of days with me which came as a shock and a surprise, since they haven't been able to get down here for a long time; the last time they all came was when I was performing in "Pirates of Penzance" here in our clubhouse in February, 2003. So it will be a joy for me to see them when they get here next Sunday. Maybe we'll have a catch or play stickball; what else can 80+ year old fathers do with 50+ year old sons? Maybe they'll like some casino action or some basketball. I know we'll have a lot of fun talking about things past.

As of late, I've been playing house husband...or First Gentleman. Rhoda is out all day, most every day at meetings, luncheons, or the beauty parlor. Since I no longer can play golf, here I am in the apartment making the bed, emptying the dishwasher, taking out the garbage, getting the mail, picking up the comforter at the coin laundry....and sundry other un-husbandlike chores. Now that I've finished my book I spend my spare time writing this blog. However, I have been thinking about writing another book...fiction...either about Spinoza or Aristotle. They led fantastic and fascinating lives. I may have to do a bunch of research to make up a plot. I believe there may be an audience out there for a book about one of those guys. Which guy shall I do? Or not?

...October 30 continued...Shakespeare and the Jews

My adopted cousin, Ruth Grimsley, from the UK, a very, very bright lady with whom I am having a rousing e-mail dialogue has asked me if I thought that Shakespeare knew any Jews in his time. Yes, there were Jews in Elizabethan England and London in particular. They were not allowed to practice their religion openly, but otherwise were permitted to engage in trade, professions, etc. They were *marranos* from Spain and Portugal, usually, but other Jews visited from time to time during the period of Exclusion,including one Joachim Gaunse, who helped found the mining industry inWales. But whether Shakespeare and Marlowe actually knew Jews personally or not is quite irrelevant, or so it seems to me. They were mainly drawing on literary tradition and other sources for their portraits.

Any judgment concerning Shakespeare's anti-semitism must, then, be made on the basis of _"Merchant of Venice"_. The observation of some that "Shakespeare--and the English--didn'thave any Jews to hate" because Jews had been expelled from England in 1290 and were not permitted to return until 1658 is not quite accurate. Witness the celebrated execution of Lopez, the Queen's physician. But whatever the"physical" presence of Jews in England was, they were certainly present in other ways. They were much in evidence in the Bible which literate Englishmen were privy to. They were evident in sermons and in the liturgy. They were evident in the cycle plays, some of which were still alive in Shakespeare's day. In short, they were very much a part of the culture of Shakespeare's time. What anti-Semitism is, is perhaps impossible to determine. Maybe the perennial question "What (or who) is a Jew?" can provide an approach to anti-Semitism as well. A late friend, a psychologist preferred this answer. "A Jew is a person who considers him- or herself to be a Jew or whom others consider to be a Jew." I'm not saying that I agree...but neither do I have any quarrel with that definition.

"...the miserable have no other medicine, but only hope." (Measure for Measure)

It's quite amazing what you can do with a computer. I know that I could never have written a book without it. Banging things out on a typewriter is not my thing. Yesterday Rhoda (who was RH+ all day) needed a letterhead for the City of Hope so that she and the corresponding secretary of the chapter could use it to write official letters. But she said she would need the COH's logo on the letterhead, and I asked her if the logo would be on the organization's official website. Sure enough when I went there, I found the logo and somehow got the image sent to "My Documents" where I will now upload it to this blog! There; now isn't that beautiful? So, Rho and I used it to create a letterhead as a Word document. Remarkable!

The only "fun" I'm having now in my otiose existence is with "quips and quotes" in emails with various intelligentsia. I won't name them here for fear that they would prefer not to be "outed". Many times people will not want to socialize with you if you have more brains than they do. It is an aliquot of the burden of education. At any rate as an example, I've been communicating with a lady in the UK who insists that she is my cousin. She bought my book so she can call me "Cuz" as long as she wishes. She claims that the word originated with Rosalind in "As You Like It" when she uses the word "cos" referring to her cousin Celia. Since 1559 it has changed its spelling and is still useful thanks to W.S

So, this UK "cuz" continues with her historical linguistics (my minor in college) by asking what my thoughts were on the usage of "lip", "cheek", "nerve", "gall", and the Aussie word "hide" to mean "effrontery" or insolence. She seems curious as to why all these words are so "physical". My thoughts as I relayed them to her were that I preferred the word "chutzpah" to all of those. Too bad Webster wasn't Jewish.

"...bring forth men children only." (Macbeth)

To all my blog readers, I'm so sorry I haven't entertained and informed you for the last few days. It's too long a story to explain. So on to today's adventures and it was a good day. This afternoon, I took RH+ (altho, sometimes it's RH-) to her eye doctor. Her cataract surgery restored her vision completely in her right eye; too bad it didn't turn out the same for her left eye in which she has no vision. The doctor gave her a prescription for new glasses, and with that, her two year ordeal is over. She is ecstatic about getting good sight back so that she can read even small print books...like mine. Speaking of books, my MEMOIRS is now for sale on dozens of online sites like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, etc. It's even on a Japanese website. Now is won't be long before my poetry book, will also be available in those bookstores. Truth is, I really don't expect many sales--perhaps not even one. But who knows?

Another very good thing that happened not too long ago was a phone call I got from number 2 son, Bobby the Biker, who said he missed me and wanted to come here from November 9th to the 11th. Not only was that a surprise, but also a shock! I said of course he could come...but then an even huger, humongous shocking surprise occurred when he said he wanted to bring his brother, Joel the Spy along. Boy, do I miss those two guys...and also their sisters. I told Bobby I'd be delighted to see them for those three days. We'll have some guy fun. I can't believe they are both in their 50s. When people ask me if I have any children I tell them "no"...I only have adults--two men and two women. They don't come here very often; they do have jobs to go to and homes and wives to support. So, I understand.

For our dinner tonite, I asked Rhoda what we were having and she said, chicken...and I said we needed to celebrate her successful eye surgery, so we stopped at the fish market and bought Florida stone crabs for me and crab cakes for her. I really don't know anyone else who eats stone crabs, but as for me, if you read my book, you might remember that my sister and I lived right behind the famous Joe's Stone Crab restaurant in Miami Beach and we learned to love stone crabs when we were kids. You eat them cold...with mustard sauce and a Dr. Brown's black cherry diet soda. And maybe a sweet potato and matzoh

"...I am married to a wife which is as dear to me as life itself." (Merchant of Venice)

Today was my day to visit my head hunter, my mind boggler, my brain bubba, etc. at the VA Medical Center in West Palm Beach. Every time I go there it costs me $10...about. It's a 30 mile drive each way, and since my Malibu gets about 24mpg I spend a little over 2 1/4 gallons I suppose; and at $2.90 a gallon on average, I'm guessing about $7 on fuel. Then the tolls are about 1.90 each way...so probably over $10. But...every doctor and every medication I get there comes out to $0.00. Therefore I'm not permitted to complain about the cost of driving there...except if I stop at a Plaza and have a Nathan's combo, it costs about the same thing! But the great thing about the VA is that I have never had to wait more than 15 minutes past my appointment to see a doctor, and their equipment is state of the art.

Dr. Zayas is of Cuban descent, and I'm guessing she's in her late 40s. I gave her a copy of my poetry book, although I'm not sure if she's big on poetry. She is big on doling out medication. I told her I'm having a problem putting a letter in those little crossword puzzle boxes because of a tremor in my hands, and right away she wanted to get me off one medication and onto another one. I told her no way I was going to take on a new pill, tremors or no tremors. We had a nice 40 minute discussion. I mentioned to her that my wife thinks I'm depressed. Zayas asked if I thought so, and I told her I didn't think so even though I sleep until 11am, wear the same clothes for a few days, have no appetite, can't walk a block, gave up golf and sex, have exhausted all my goals, and rooted for the Marlins and Dolphins. So what makes anyone think I'm depressed? What really depresses me is the thought that if a genie told me he would grant me one wish, which would I choose--golf or sex? I sure need some help with that one. I'm glad Dr. Zayas didn't ask me.

She said most of my problems come with age.

When I tell Rhoda I'm ageing, she denies that; she says I'm merely "maturing". But she knows that's a euphemism. She graduated from American University.

"Your silence most offends me..." (Much Ado)

Good morning. Well, it's really 11:15 but still morning. Rhoda was up bright and early to pick up clothes at the cleaner ... and just as I got to that word, "cleaner" the telephone rang and it was my daughter-in-law, Barbara, who was calling from her mother's condo in California. She asked to talk to Rhoda about hearing aids for her mom, but I told her that I'm the hearing aid "expert", and that Rhoda worked for an MD not a hearing aid guy. Barbara complained that the aids her mother was not wearing cost about $1500 and wanted to know what to do about that. I told her that her mother was probably having a big problem adjusting the volume controls on those aids because they are usually much too small for an elderly person to learn how to use, and that her mother would most likely never wear them for that reason. I had the same problem with the first hearing aids I got from the VA, and I said, the hell with it. I got tired of taking each one out of my ears and trying to adjust the volume for every occasion by twisting a tiny button on the aid. Ridiculous. But now I have gotten aids from the VA that have a remote volume control. The control looks like a cigarette lighter and is very simple to use. However, it most likely is out of the price range that Barb and her brother are able to afford. So, again...a Gordian Knot. I'm very fortunate that I don't have to pay for medical things at the VA, but I paid the price for these perks a long time ago...and am still paying.

But as I was saying, after Rho got home, she had to run off to her first meeting as President of the City of Hope. She spent most of the day yesterday preparing for the meeting, and I'm sure it'll go fine. They start at noon, serve bagels and cream cheese, hear from all the committees and then are regaled by a speaker. Meanwhile, I'll get dressed and most likely get out to have some breakfast of my own. And perhaps sometime during the day, I'll actually get an email or a call from about a dozen people to whom I have sent copies of my Memoirs and have yet to receive acknowledgements.

"It's not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game."

Since my God answered my prayer yesterday and allowed me to win $160 on the slot machines, and Rhoda only won $79 then the only conclusion that can be drawn from this event is that my God must be more powerful than her God. Although it really felt like Sunday, it was a very relaxing and enjoyable day. With the Strumlauf neighbors we left here about 2pm and 25 minutes later we arrived at The Isles Casino in Pompano in the rain. Is that good luck? We separated when we got there and decided to meet back at the entrance at 5pm. I don't ever recall 2 1/2 hours ever going by so quickly. When you are playing a slot machine with bells and spins and jingles and jangles all around you, time seems to stand still. At any rate it was a lot of profitable fun, and this time instead of dining at the buffet we started off to a Chinese restaurant which Annette said she heard about. "Well, do you know how to get there?" we asked her, and sure enough, she said she did; and sure enough we almost landed in the ocean before we had to turn around and change our plans. I said we could eat at Gary Woo's on Rte. 1 in Boca, and so we agreed on that until Rhoda chimed in with "You know, Woo's is pricey." Well that put a damper on that one until I suggested Red Lobster which was only a few blocks north of Gary Woo's and so it was agreed. I don't know why people we know look down at that restaurant. We never had a bad meal there, and last night was no different. When we got back home, we spent the rest of the evening playing cards and so to bed.

Before we left for the casino the mailman delivered 3 copies of my poetry book, "SHADOWS in the SUNSET." This is the same book of poetry that was originally called "ADDENDA" which is all in color, and then "ADDENDA II" which is in black and white. Each of those editions has a different cover, but this latest one is simply awe-inspiringly beautiful (at least to me). You can get a slight idea of what it looks like by going to my Lulu Store and clicking on "Print to Cart"; when you get to the next page click on the book cover to make it larger. And while you're there, you might as well buy a copy so as to kill two birds with one stone...as it is said somewhere in the Bible. No, I don't mean that the Bible says to buy the book, but like Tevye says, "It must say something about birds." The black and white images in SHADOWS that accompany many of the poems were formatted by my son, Joel and my daughter-in-law, Barbara. So, it's like a family project.