I don’t remember the year exactly. It could have been 1965 or 1966. I do remember being in the fourth or fifth grade at Public School 30 on Staten Island. Certain things stand out. The neighbors with three blonde daughters … Continue reading Hank’s Wall
In the photo below you can see the word “gifting.” Gifting is used there as a gerund or the noun form of the verb. But “gift” is not a verb, you say, so how could it possibly form a gerund? … Continue reading Gift This!
I don’t travel well. I usually schlep a carry-on, hat, cellphone, ticket, passport, pen, and book with me wherever I go and whichever form of transportation I take. Add a cappuccino, and movement becomes cumbersome. I have to think strategically, … Continue reading Near Occasions
It’s true. I just bought a pineapple. That in itself is not a major achievement. But it becomes something extraordinary when you consider that I left the grocery store and carried the pineapple two blocks back to my apartment in … Continue reading I Just Bought a Pineapple
You haven’t lived until you’ve seen the fall colors in New York. And listened to the leaf blowers. You’ll find leaves and leaf blowers everywhere. They go hand in hand like yin and yang, left and right, Jekyll and Hyde, … Continue reading Autumn Leaves
If you’re not a Jew or from New York, then I need to explain “meshuggana.” It means crazy and refers to someone who is off the wall, unhinged, not playing with a full deck, having a screw loose, not having … Continue reading Midterm Meshuggana
In the late 1980s, Jon Lovitz played a character called the “Master Thespian” on Saturday Night Live. He strolled around a Victorian drawing room in a silk smoking jacket, puffed on a meerschaum pipe, and made ridiculous claims about his life and … Continue reading “Teaching!”
