"Ah take the cash and let the credit go." (Omar Khayam)

Last January 1, the market was teeter-tottering--shaking like a leaf in the wind, rocking like a ship at sea, trembling like an Aspen tree--and above all, making me very nervous. I had no intention of taking the chance of losing a lot of money that I saved for retirement, so I dropped the funds I had in my IRA and had them put in a one-year savings fund at 3%--a paltry but safe investment. Today, I went back to check what my investment would be if I had kept the two IRA funds in the market; the result was that if I had left the money with the mutual funds, I would have lost $10,000 in 2008. Did someone say the economy was in a recession? President elect Obama is coming into office with more major problems than any previous president; the economy, health insurance, three wars to worry about--Iraq, Afghanistan, and Gaza. I cannot help but feel the pain that so many people are undergoing over their finances, their homes, their health, and their sons and daughters in conflict. What can one man do to alleviate the national distress? Hopefully, as Plato suggested, our government will be filled with "Philosopher Kings" who will address these problems and find solutions for them. Or what's a government for?

Lately, I've begun to wonder whether or not the computer adds dimension to one's life or takes it away. I find that Rho and I spend altogether too much time with it, writing and reading dozens of nondescript emails of jokes, coming events, idiotic articles, games, movie and book reviews, sports news, world news, new news, and many other items that take one's time away from doing meaningful work--like housecleaning, the laundry, freezing food, making beds, reading books, taking adult courses, chatting with friends and a myriad of other things that were once done before computing and cell phoning. Besides the email of the computer, snail mail keeps piling up all over the house; hospital and doctor bills, insurance premiums, credit card notices, coupons, bank statements, requests for donations, electric and phone bills, catalogs of every shape, color, and product. What kind of life is this? Consolidate! Consolidate!

As promised, I am continuing the practice of providing my blog readers with my "10 best lists". I indicated that I would give you my 10 best foods--but then I thought, why not start with the appetizers before going on to the entrees? So here are my 10 best loved appetizers--not necessarily in size places: 1) Shrimp cocktails 2) Garden salad with 1000 Island dressing on the side 3) Caesar salad 4) Matzoh ball soup with matzoh ball on the side so more soup will fit in the bowl 5) Wonton soup 6) New England clam chowder 7)Lobster bisque 8) Split pea soup 9) Half a grapefruit 10) A beer

After such a salutary beginning, the rest of the meal--including dessert is mouth watering. My next 10--the meal itself will be coming along shortly. But at the moment I have to begin preparing for my "Hamlet" class. My friends who are reading this ought to sign up or miss the cultural experience of their dull and listless lives. "Fun With Shakespeare" opens on Friday, Jan. 9.

"This fellow is wise enough to play the fool; And to do that well craves a kind of wit." (12th Night)

There has been some comment feedback to the "10 Best" lists posted on these blogs recently; one of them questioned the omission of Hank Greenberg from the list since he went to my high school and am I "anti-Semitic?" The fact is I never saw him play and the list contains players I have seen. He actually went to Red Baron's school in Little Timber, Alaska, which Gov. Palin can see from her kitchen window, And if you feel that Hank got the cold shoulder, hold your fire until you see the list of foods. He only played 13 seasons, and got a D- in Baron's English class.

Now, it's time to settle once and for all the debate over the first references in print to the game of baseball. The 10 best earliest references to baseball occur in the plays of William Shakespeare and include the following: "And so I shall catch the fly." (Henry V) 2. "I'll catch it ere it com to ground." (Macbeth) 3. A hit, a very palpable hit!" (Hamlet) 4. "You may go walk." (Taming of the Shrew) 5. "For this relief, much thanks." (Hamlet) 6. "You have scarce time to steal." (Henry VIII) 7. O Hateful error." (J. Caesar) 8. Run, run, O run!" (Lear)

9. Fair is foul, and foul is fair." (Macbeth) 10. "My arm is sore." (Antony & Cleopatra)

And so much for that. Speaking of arms being sore--mine is very sore; I still have the bursitis pain in spite of the cortisone shot I got yesterday. We will be getting to the pharmacy today to pick up the pain-killer prescription the doctor gave to me yesterday, and I am hopeful it does the job. Rhoda and I are going to a movie today and perhaps it will take my mind off the discomfort-- if you prefer to call it that.

I will be teaching "Hamlet" to a group of 15 in the clubhouse, beginning Jan. 9 for six Friday sessions. I do hope I have something of some teaching skill left to hold their interest. We shall see. Keep your mouths open for the blog that will contain my "10 Best Foods".

"I do not like the way the cards are shuffled, But yet I like the game and want to play." (Eugene Ware)

Since the last two days on the Noordam cruise ship, I've had a whopping pain in my left shoulder caused by--I don't know what. I let it go for the past week and it only seemed to be getting worse. Two tylenols had no effect on it at all. If you've ever been to an ER or a doctor's office that had a chart with a "smiley face" guy getting pain from 1 to 10 as his face changes according to the level of his pain, well at its worst, my pain was a 9. I think if you get a 10, you're dead. But the pain seemed to level off to a 3 or 4 and then started up again. Today I went to my orthopedist--the same guy that tied up my Achilles tendons in 1982. He said I had bursitis and gave me a cortisone shot. It was fine for about 4 or 5 hours, but now the pain seems to be coming right back. He gave me a prescription for a pain killer, but it hasn't been filled yet. Oh, well, I'll watch one of the bowl games to take my mind off the bursitis.

If you think I've taken my mind off the "10 Best" things, well I haven't. No, I'm not going to put down the ten best pains I've ever had; however, I will note the 10 top baseball players I've ever seen. Of course I haven't seen some of the really old guys, so I can't put them on my list. But here follows my list of the 10 best baseball players I've ever seen. If you've seen any better, well...you're wrong.

1) Willie Mays 2) Joe DiMaggio 3) Barry Bonds 4) Stan Musial 5) Jackie Robinson 6) Mickey Mantle 7) Sandy Koufax 8) Lou Gehrig 9) Cal Ripken 10) Babe Ruth

Now these guys are not in any "best" order...it's just a list of my choices. If you think I've missed a couple, I'd be happy to hear about it, but I don't think you'll find any to break into my top ten. Oh, I know there was Ty Cobb, Cy Young, Roy Campanella, Yogi, and one guy from Pittsburgh ???

This is getting to be fun, so I'm going on to some other top tens. My next blog will contain the ten top foods that I've been privileged to partake now and then--mostly now. Yes, make your own list and see if it breaks into mine! While I'm at it, I think Rhoda would be on the list of my ten best wives. Of course, I'll need eight more so you'll have to wait a little bit for that.

"We are never so happy, nor so unhappy, as we suppose ourselves to be." (La Rochefoucauld)

Happy New Year! May we all get through this year with health and get back all the money we have lost (in various places, investments, activities, and lousy restaurants). And since January is named after Janus who was two faced, looking in different directions at the same time, just as January looks back at the previous and forward to the new year, and since Robert Burns wrote in "To a Mouse"--"...mousie, the present only toucheth thee, but backwards I cast my eye on prospects drear, and forward tho' I canna see I guess and fear." It's time to look back at all the movies I've seen and pick out what I think are the top ten. You already have had a look at the ten best poems I've ever read in a previous blog, but as for movies--here goes: 1) Casablanca 2) Gone With the Wind 3) The Razor's Edge 4) Four Feathers 5) The Godfather 6) From Here to Eternity 7) Hamlet 8) Spellbound 9) Treasure of the Sierra Madre 10) The Lost Horizon. And so there you have it--but not necessarily in like order. Sure there were other films that affected me spiritually, emotionally, and intellectually like "Henry V", "On the Waterfront", "The Gold Rush", and "The African Queen" and some that I can't remember so they are not included in my list because obviously they were not memorable. If you haven't' seen some of them, I'm sure you can find them on Google.

Last night, I had every intention of staying up until midnite to watch the ball fall in Times Square, but as I was watching a football game on TV, at about 10:30 my eyes started to close and I could not keep them open. Rhoda was next door having a drink and a chat with some single neighbor women so I decided that I really wanted to go to sleep--so I did. She came in at midnight though and woke me with a kiss. So much for that. I just went back to sleep and she followed. We have nothing special planned for today--just catching up on paying the bills that we failed to pay while cruising. I know it's New Year's Day and not Thanksgiving, but I'm really happy that Rhoda is cruising back to her own feisty self, and though I believe that happiness does not come from without, but only from within, she brings it on, and simply confirms my belief--if you get what I mean.

2008 A very good year?

Well, now--here it is, the last day of the year, and looking back what kind of year has it been? Of course, if memory fails me, I can always read my blogs for the year, but one real event that stays with me was the trauma of injuring myself on the Auto Train on the way to Virginia. It took me a long while to heal and a long time to be uncomfortable and in pain. The other unfortunate event was having to cancel the cruise we had planned in the Scandinavian countries to celebrate our 25th Anniversary in July. I became sick--of what I can't recall, but we just didn't get to cruise because of that. Otherwise, I believe it was a pretty good year. I got to publish a couple of blog books, and another will be published next year. Rho and I did get to go on a Xmas/Chanukah cruise to the Caribbean for ten days, and this time Rhoda became very ill and as soon as we got home from the cruise, I called 911 and she went to the hospital for a few days. She came back yesterday, and today she feels fine. 2008 also saw a Wall St. disaster and a new President-elect. At least, the guy of my choice won for a change. I had to wait eight years for that satisfaction. With the economy the way it is now, it is virtually impossible to find a place to put your money. I like to buy CDs which I believe is the best choice for retirees, but the interest rates for them are way down. The best rate I could find was at the Ever Bank in Jacksonville @ 3.25% for 12 months. I didn't know too much about that bank until I discovered a very helpful web site that gives you information about the security of any bank and if it's FDIC insured. (http://www.fdic.gov/deposit/deposits/index.html) Go to this site and click on "Bank Find". When you get there, just type in the name of the bank you want to find out about and the state it's in. I hope it works for you.

Because of Rhoda' illness, we had to cancel one more event. We were planning to go to the Isle Casino tonite with Mike and Helen H. but now our plans are to just go out for dinner and then come home. We may go next door for a drink later. I only drink soda--diet coke with the caffeine in it. I don't think next door carries it. Well, y'all have a very Happy New Year. I hope to start the New Year off tomorrow with a new blog.

"All men are poets at heart." (Emerson)

The poem "Invictus" in my blog yesterday is one of my favorites--maybe in the top 10. Letterman has a lot of top 10s on his shows, but I'm guessing never of poems. So, why can't I start a top 10 theme for various subjects on my blogs?

Since I don't hear any objections, why not now? If you've had a high school or college education, you should know every one of these--if not go to Google:

1.Invictus, (Henley); 2.The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, (Fitzgerald); 3. Stopping by Woods (Frost); 4. The World is Too Much With Us, (Wordsworth); 5. Kubla Khan, (Coleridge); 6. Dover Beach, (Arnold); 7. To a Mouse (Burns); 8. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (T.S. Eliot); 9. Ode on a Grecian Urn, (Keats); 10. Ode to the West Wind, (Shelley)

So there, you have it. It wasn't an easy task for me to gather all these ten poems out of the hundreds I have read, but even though some may deserve to be in my top ten and they're not in it, I'm sure they'll get over it. It's like picking two teams for the NCAA football championship. There certainly are more than two who deserve to be in the game. Well, perhaps when we come home from our cruise I'll try to pick out the ten best of something else that has captured my interest...including culinary treats of course. Speaking of the cruise, I am all packed for tomorrow while Rhoda hasn't even begun--and it's now 1pm. I'm not concerned--she'll be ready tomorrow. A limo will be picking us up at 11:30. Besides our luggage, we are going to bring along the parts of my scooter to be assembled at the port. We're going on the Holland American ship, Noordam for ten days. So, this will be my last blog for at least the next ten days. Bon jour and have a wonderful holiday.

My only Priest is my Conscience.

Yesterday I obtained an ISBN for my book "Pater Noster in Condoland Vol. III". So now it's an official publication to be listed in the Congressional Record, or wherever, and also on Amazon, etc. for sale if anyone out there wants to buy a book of blogs. It's a book that's dedicated to my four children, but I believe I already sent them copies. It wasn't so hard to get that ISBN and it didn't cost me a dime. It didn't cost me a dime to get the book published either...it only cost me to buy the book, but even I don't have to buy it if I don't want to. It, of course, can be located at the right hand column of this blog by clicking on the "My Lulu Store". I'm working now on Vol. IV of Pater Noster, and it will be dedicated to a feature and voluble commentator on these blogs, Mr. Phil Bergovoy, teacher, coach, and friend, extra-ordinaire. However, I have to be very careful about what I write on these blogs, so I don't upset his political equilibrium. For example, when I write in the blog to be "liberal with the chocolate icing on the cake," Phil gets a hissy fit and reminds me how the Democratic governors of the State of Illinois have been put in jail, although I fail to see the connection between "liberal" doses of chocolate and criminal governors. But Phil is so bright that he reads between the lines and sees stuff that the rest of us are unaware of. Incidentally, did I mention that this blog "Liberality" was published in the Florida Sun-Sentinel on Saturday, Dec.13? Yeah, think I did yesterday.

As a result of this insignificant accomplishment, son Joel suggested in an e-mail (tongue in cheek) that I write away and offer to be a columnist for the paper. Phil suggested that I was a combination of J.L Mencken, Jimmy Cannon, and Damon Runyan. I feel more like Charlie Chaplin, Harpo Marx, and the Mills Brothers. However, whenever my feathers are blown thither and hither I think of the poem, "Invictus" by William Henley.

INVICTUS

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstances
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the honour of the shade,
And yet the menaces of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishment the
Scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Don't you just love it?