"If ladies be but young and fair, they have the gift to know it..." (AYLI)

I slept until noon today, and may have continued if not for the fact that RH woke me when she put her head by mine to see if I were still breathing. As luck would have it, I certainly was. So, I reluctantly left the comfort of my bed and my hugging pillow. When Rho left for lunch with her cousin, I took out a frozen bagel and defrosted it in the microwave, toasted it and spread it with some leftover vegetable cream cheese that I had for breakfast/brunch in the deli yesterday. In fact, dinner was also served with leftover turkey and ham from Maggiano's last night. I was grateful that dinner did not cost another 100 dollars.

As a matter of philosophy, life includes a lot of leftovers. For example, my goal of climbing Mt. Everest is a "leftover"; so is my plan to swim the English Channel and break Gertrude Eberle's record. Another leftover is my dream of playing Hamlet in the film of the same name. I'm afraid the next leftover will be the fact that I will probably never win the Florida Lottery. I don't even have much luck with scratchoffs. One of my biggest leftovers will be not to have parachuted out of an airplane nor learning how to fly. A leftover which can never happen now is to have sex with three women...I could not afford to take them out to dinner. Perhaps it would have been easy just to venture a goodnight kiss as they returned from the pub to sick bay where they worked.

It won't be very long now before we go on our 10 day cruise to the Caribbean. The lousy part now is that I have to get into my closet and decide which clothes I'm going to need. Packing is not much fun. We have a couple of excursion when the ship docks at some of the ports. We tried to pick them out so I wouldn't have to do a lot walking. I still can't walk more than a 100 yards or so without suffering a lot of pain. So, I just hobble along. Anybody want to buy some golf balls? Cheap? Clubs? Tees? Gloves? Golf bags? You pay for shipping. CIAO.

"The truest poetry is the most feigning..." (AYLI)

When Rho and I went to the movie at the clubhouse the other night, several people who were formerly in my "Fun With Shakespeare" class asked if I were going to do another in January. Actually, I haven't decided one way or the other. It does take a lot of energy to teach Shakespeare and keep the class from falling asleep. At any rate, (it seems I use that expression a lot), they are my "fans" . I get many more women than men to register for the class; it seems perhaps that many women never had a chance to go to college, and thus missed opportunities for learning that they just now have discovered, and I really hate to disappoint them. However, even if I don't teach a class, residents will have an opportunity on January 11 to attend my presentation in the clubhouse library--a program which I was invited to do by our resident chief librarian. The title of the program is "THE POWER & PASSION OF POETRY & A POTPOURRI of ME". There's purposely a lot of "pee-ing" there, if you've been paying attention. And probably the following blurb will appear in the next issue of our Hunting Lakes newsletter--

"Through reading and discussion of excerpts from some of the classic works of poetry as well as a selection of poems from his newly published books, ADDENDA and SHADOWS in the SUNSET, Dr. Norman Ross will attempt to show how to "reinvent" yourself through the magic, the mystery, and the dynamic of great poetry--and to convince you that poetry is all around you and plays a part in your life."

Last night we went to Thanksgiving dinner at Maggiano's which is an upscale Italian restaurant. I've had a wonderful evening, but that wasn't it. The food came at us in waves; two kinds of salad, bruschetta, turkey with traditional side dishes, stuffing, creamed corn, smashed sweet potatoes, ziti with sausage, rigatoni with chicken marsala, and I'm sure I left something out. There was enough food to feed a herd of buffalo. Then came dessert with profiteroles filled with vanilla ice cream and some kind of apple pastry. The food was very good but the bill for the two of us came to $100 and I figure I only ate about $5 worth.

Home of the Red Baron: "ANNUIT COEPTIS" ($ Bill)

Home of the Red Baron: "ANNUIT COEPTIS" ($ Bill)

"ANNUIT COEPTIS" ($ Bill)

Today is Thanksgiving and true to the spirit of the holiday, it behooves us to count our blessings and all we have to be thankful for. And so, I'll try to ex posit all my favorite things: I am thankful for the parents I once had and wish I still did; I am thankful for having lived into my 80's because there is much still to learn and to do. I am thankful for having survived WWII and for my crew members who are no longer with us; I am thankful for the post war support I received in the VA Hospital that led eventually to my college education. I am grateful for having spent 30 years in the classroom teaching the people and the subjects that delighted me; I am thankful for having soccer and track teams that gave me much joy, not so much for the winning, but for the relationships established with young men and women, and how they taught me lifelong lessons. I am grateful for the opportunity I had to travel for a year around the world; I am happy to have successfully completed two marathon runs--an obsessive goal; I am grateful for having loved two women, each of whom has graced my home for over 25 years; and I am most thankful for having four children who have pleased me in every possible way. I am thankful for all the friendships I have found in retirement, and I am thankful for the opportunities to perform in theatrical productions where I could act and sing, because I am a true "ham" whose milieu--besides the classroom--is the stage. And finally, I am thankful that I had the mindset and energy and will to write and publish two books. And after a traditional turkey dinner at Maggiano's tonite, I will have been fully Thanksgiving surfeited! And not least, I am thankful for the luck I had in finding RH+ for my wife, lo these past 25 years....LOVE TO ALL--AND THANKS FOR BEING YOU.

"This world is not for aye, nor 'tis not strange that even our loves should with our fortunes change." (Hamlet)

If you've been around here lately, you will notice a different look on my blog. I think it has a little more class than the original format...easy on the eyes. Hope you like it. Sometimes in life you've got to change some things when you get bored or tired of them. I'm thinking of things like your job, or your kitchen cabinets, or your golf clubs, or your wives. I've had two of the latter, but I've never gotten tired of either one. Perhaps one of them got tired of me...Can't blame her for that. Sometimes I get tired of me also, and I have to make a change; like letting my hair grow long, or growing a beard, or anything else I can think of that would make a change in me. There are many times in life when a person has to reinvent himself...or herself.

Last night we went to see "La Vie en Rose" the story of the life of Edith Piaf. I do remember her from my previous life (which has had several "changes"), and I enjoyed her songs. However, in the film I learned that she was an alcoholic, a drug addict, an adulteress, a prima donna, a manipulator, and a generally unlikeable person. The film was in French with English subtitles. I might have enjoyed the movie more had there been subtitles for the songs that she sang. Therefore I was disappointed in the film. One thing I couldn't remember is that she had an affair with Marcel Cerdan, who won the heavyweight championship with a K.O. of Tony Zale. He was her one love and was killed in a plane crash coming from France to America after Edith had begged him to. She carried guilt for that and despair at his death for the remainder of her life. Hasta la vista!

"A merrier hour was never wasted there..." (Midsummer Night's Dream)

Arose at 11am this morning. I had about a dozen dreams last nite similar to others that I've been having--but not in such profusion. All my dreams are very brief and in full cinematic technicolor. (Unfortunately not in 3D). Each of them involves someone offering me something to grab hold of--like a spoonful of ice cream, or an envelope, or a book, or a pen, or a golf club, or a bottle of soda--anything that I can hold in my hand. But when I reach for the damn thing--whatever it is--the dream bursts open like a balloon; I wake up with my hands in the air and there's nothing to hold on to! My VA doctor assures me that the medication I'm taking is conducive to produce vivid dreams. And so it does. One of these nites I am going to grab something that's offered ASAP before it wakes me up!

Rhoda went to her ob/gyn this morning, and while I waited for her, I checked my e-mail and found one from my buddy Phil Bergovoy which had the text of a review he wrote for my book, "Shadows." In case you haven't read it, here it is:-

One of the world's greatest living poets shares the beauty of language Rated by Guest - 11/18/2007

Because Norman Ross is a modest man, he has hitherto not published many of his best poems. After many years of urging by friends, critics, and former students, he has finally consented to reveal some of the work that has gained him a first-rate reputation among the privileged literary elite. Mr. Ross is truly a Renaissance man--military hero (two Distinguished Flying Crosses and 11 Air Medals before the age of 21); outstanding athlete and coach; an incredibly talented teacher; a published author in many disparate fields; a loyal patriot and fried; and the progenitor of four outstandingly talented, successful children. If you are a poetry aficionado, you will relish these finely-crafted works of art. If you are not, you may become one as a result of the lively expression of ideas that Dr. Ross has put into verse.

Now I truly appreciate Phil's having taken the time to write a review (so far the only one) but I don't know why he thinks I'm "fried". I rarely drink enough to get fried and he knows that.

When RH+ returned home, we drove to Boca's Town Center mall where she had a number of errands to run and I dragged along. It was not my merriest hour. But first we stopped at the "FirstWatch Cafe" where she had her lunch and I had my breakfast. They make the best Belgian waffles around and it comes with bacon and two eggs, and likely enough it's called a "Trifecta". The only previous trifecta I ever had was at Roosevelt Raceway in Long Island where I was with another long time friend, Irv Forman. We won $600 on that trifecta for which you must pick 3 horses to finish 1,2,3 in any order. Unfortunately the raceway has been torn down and only more shops have replaced it. Now trifectas have been reduced to bacon and eggs and a waffle. I wonder whatever happened to the "Perfecta"??? They probably will have knocked off the waffle. BON JOUR, MON INFANTES

"He has eaten me out of house and home; he hath put all my substance into that fat belly of his" (2 Henry IV)

Today my poetry book, SHADOWS in the SUNSET appears on sale on many online book stores including Amazon, Barnes & Nobel, Borders & many others that can be found at the following link...if it works. Otherwise one can just go to B&N online and type in the title--or copy and paste it on your browser window. So now I'm a two-time famous unknown author. I can't wait for the royalties to come flooding in.

http://www.bookfinder4u.com/IsbnSearch.aspxisbn=0615170919&mode=direct.

I'm going to need an ocean full of royalties (to mix a metaphor) because it's becoming very expensive to dine at home or out. Rho just gave me a bill for groceries of $67. Wednesday we went to Sweet Tomatoes with the Herbstmans for $20; Thursday we went with the Bergers to Quarterdeck for $38; Friday to Flakowitz for $35 with the Strumlaufs; and yesterday with the Horowitzes for $71; and tonite--besides that grocery bill, we are dining with the Zions at a Cuban cafe. So I figure for the last five days, it will have cost me $50 a day to stuff my mouth. And I'm supposed to lose weight? Fat chance! (No pun intended). It's nice to have friends...but give me a break.

Now for the holidays. Of course for Thanksgiving we are going to Maggiano's, an Italian restaurant with the Zions. That seems to be a tradition since we've gone out with them for several Thanksgivings. Of course, even though Maggiano's is Italian, they will have Turkey on the menu. I still might pass on that for some shrimp oregano. Following that, a couple of weeks later we are going on a cruise where the food is elegant and the desserts mountainous. And then, of course, there's New Year's Eve when we are planning to join the Strumlaufs at The Isle Casino, where not only we may lose our money gambling, but also there's that buffet which presents a cornucopia of food from all nations.

Ho hum. Felice Thanksgiving!