Month: December 2020

The New Year’s Eve/New Year holiday has always been, to my mind, the poor step child of holidays. It is played up as a wonderful excuse to let loose, have fun and celebrate the passing of the old year and the promise of the new. In my experience, it has been anything but that. 

I should start out by saying that my parents had New Year’s Eve down pat. Year after year they got together with the same group of church friends and had an alcohol-free good time. They ate well, played games and laughed a lot. It was the one night of the year that they would come strolling in at 3 or 4 in the morning.  

Silly me thought that was the way it should be. When I got into high school the kids of that church group would get together as well. While it was an OK time, we inevitably ended a lot earlier than the old folks and never seemed able to match their high spirits.

It all went downhill from there. I don’t remember what I did on most New Year’s Eve nights over the years. I do remember one night when my South Carolina “friends” plied me with shots of Jack Daniels, which I was drinking on an empty stomach, by telling me that they had all done shots when I was out of the room. Let’s just say that the results were not pretty. 

There were some good New Year’s Eve parties at the Broder/Bernstein home in Mount Airy with plenty of good food. That being said, I definitely paid the next day for eating too many of the excellent Broder hot wings, and I had a much stronger stomach back then than I do now.  

One year Julie and I went to one of the New Year’s Eve extravaganzas which promised a buffet dinner, live music, a comedian and complimentary champagne. The food was terrible and the live music was generic. The comedian, though, was the worst. He went around the room asking people what they did, but then had no quips to follow it up. He asked either Julie or I what we did and whoever was asked answered that they were a lawyer AND HE COULD NOT COME UP WITH A LAWYER JOKE!!!!! You should not be allowed to call yourself a comedian if you can’t even rag on lawyers. (Q. What’s the difference between a lawyer and a vampire? A. A vampire only sucks blood at night). We drank our complimentary glass of flat “champagne” at midnight and were out of there by 12:15.  

Once we had kids and they were old enough to want to stay up until midnight on New Year’s Eve we would make appetizers and plan a movie marathon, which my sister seems to be able to pull off pretty well. Inevitably, by 11:30 a couple of the kids has wandered off to bed and the rest were asleep, along with Julie. I would wake everyone up around 11:55 to watch the ball drop, and then we trudged upstairs to call it a night. Not exactly a New Year’s Rockin Eve!!! 

Last year Max, Will and I were in Seoul, South Korea for the New Year (back in ancient times when you could travel). Max and I made the mistake of going to the New Year’s Eve festivities there because we heard about a tradition of ringing a huge bell 33 times to welcome in the new year. It was just as jammed as New York is, if not more so. We heard a K-Pop band, saw people making speeches we could not hear, and would not have understood if we did, but didn’t hear the bell. We saw them strike it, but the sound did not carry. At least on the way back to the hotel we ran into a celebration at a Buddhist temple which was very cool.  

Julie and Calvin were jam packed into Red Square in Moscow with the Boy’s Choir. Apparently the Russians like to welcome the new year in by standing cheek to jowl as well, though they did have a terrific firework display from what I was told. I am not sure that Julie saw it as she was running around trying to locate some wandering choir boys. It wouldn’t be a KSB tour without some drama.  

Sum it all up and you have a pretty forgetful holiday that we remember every year. I’m not sure what this year holds, but hopefully we at least make it to midnight. More importantly, here’s wishing everyone out there a very Happy New Year!!!!   

I know that everyone has holiday rituals that stem from childhood and are so deeply ingrained they are not even considered. One of the most lasting for me are holiday movies. I know that I am not alone. 

This was really brought home to me last night when I watched “It’s a Wonderful Life”, which I hadn’t seen in a couple of years. It was so satisfying that I realized how much a part of the season it was for me. When I was growing up this movie was in the public domain and so was on constantly during the holiday season. I usually caught at least parts of the movie 3 or 4 times through the month of December, and sat down to see the entire movie once or twice. Every time I would choke up at the ending (“Attaboy Clarence!”). 

Other Christmas movies or shows were also a must. I had to watch “A Christmas Carol” – the Alister Sim version of course (“There’s more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are!”). I would plan for “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and the original “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” on network TV. Also, for some reason, the Bass and Rankin “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” was on the list. I think it was the Burgermeister Meisterburger.   

There are plenty of others that, while not essential, entered the canon in recent years. “Elf” is incredibly funny, and really caught me by surprise when I first saw it in the theaters (have I said recently how much I miss theaters?).  For Julie it’s “Love Actually”. And a family favorite is “The Muppets Christmas Carol” (“We’re Marley and Marley Whoooooo!!!”). But for me the classics cannot be replaced.  

All of this is what makes the holiday season so different. It is not just the enjoyment of what you are doing that year, but a reflection of what you have been doing your whole life. It is as much nostalgia as it is present reality. While living your entire life in the past is probably not a good idea, finding some time every year to wallow in the memories is healthy, and nothing gives you the chance to do that like the holidays.  

So, whatever your holiday rituals – whether its movies, music (viva Vince Guaraldi), decorations (a Starr on the tree), presents, or food (let’s not forget the food!!!!!) – enjoy the next few days and relish the season.  

Happy Holidays!!!!!!!!!!

One of the really nice things about working at home during the pandemic, and then retirement, has been that it really let me be consistent in doing something physical every day. I have gone through spurts in my life where I have been getting regular exercise, but I finally feel like it is part of my everyday existence. That includes a good bit of walking, both around the neighborhood and in local parks. Since walking can be very boring, this has led me to podcasts. 

I know how silly it is to say that I have entered the podcast world years after it became hip, but it just didn’t fit until now. When I could have listened to podcasts, I read, like on the train, and reading always came first (and still does). But it’s very difficult to read a book and walk at the same time, or at least do so without walking into something (and don’t think that I haven’t done that). So I started listening to podcasts. 

Part of the reason I was resistant to podcasts was that I hadn’t been drawn to what I had heard. My family have been podcasters (is that a word?) for years, and so I would hear what they followed when we were travelling. While there were many enjoyable parts to these podcasts (like, My Brother, My Brother and Me, Comedy Bang Bang, Hollywood Handbook) too often it struck me as people laughing at their own jokes, and laughing much louder than was warranted. I didn’t hear anything that made me want to listen on a regular basis. 

Julie had, however, told me about an episode of the podcast Mobituaries by Mo Rocca, who I knew from the Daily Show, that talked about the sudden end of the career of comedian Vaughn Meader. I remembered hearing Meader’s album parodying the Kennedy family, though I was too young to appreciate it when it first came out, and knew it had been a huge hit (Won Grammy for Album of the Year in 1963. Really, it did). What I didn’t know, though I could have guessed it, was how his career came to a full stop on November 22, 1963. The story of his ultimately unsuccessful struggles to reshape his career, which I listened to while on a long delay in the Boston airport, was interesting and entertaining.  

Years later when I decided that I needed to do something when walking, I came back to Mobituaries. Rocca’s in depth look at people or events that had been significant at the time, but then faded into memory were always engrossing. My walks went quickly as I was drawn into the fates of Chang and Eng, the cojoined Siamese twins (between them they had 21 kids, 11 of them Chang’s, 10 of them Eng’s. Try to get you head, or heads as the case may be, around that) or learning about the tortured life of Thomas Paine, or television’s Rural Purge of the late 1960’s, or the disappearance of the first Darrin on Bewitched (the only real Darrin in my book!!!).  

I had found my niche. I realized that I liked history, cultural or otherwise, that goes into some depth, makes me laugh every now and then and puts things into the context of what else is going on in the world at the time. That’s not too much to ask, is it?     

All of that led me to Malcolm Gladwell’s Revisionist History. I want to be Malcolm Gladwell (except for the goofy hair, though looking at mine right now you might say that I am one to talk – You choose). As far as I can tell, Gladwell dives into whatever strikes his fancy, which is a lot, has the pull to talk to anyone he wants on the subject and people to help research and find obscure news reel or oral histories to bring the topic to life.

It’s taken him (and me) from Wilt Chamberlin’s free throw shooting (underhand is fine, Wilt), to the way universities misevaluate potential students (don’t get me on a rant about college essays), to the tragic impact of Brown vs. Board of Education on black teachers and beyond.  

But I’m hitting the wall on Malcolm. Plus, his season 5 has been his weakest (Four episodes on “Bombs Away” Curtis LeMay? Please!!!). I need to expand my horizons. Find new exciting podcasts. Boldly go where no other podcaster has gone before (Sorry, I got carried away).

Any other podcasters out there? You have my criteria. Any thoughts on what I should listen to now? I welcome your suggestions.    

Be afraid, be very afraid. I have decided to do something that I never thought I would do. I have decided to take over control of our kitchen. (Pause for a gasp from the crowd).  

Anyone who knows me, knows how silly an idea this is. I have absolutely no feel for cooking. None at all. I can follow a recipe, kind of. I get very flustered when I have to juggle two or three things cooking at once, or time when something goes in or comes out of the oven. Spices scare me. (I have no idea what adding Allspice or turmeric does. Sweet, spicy, sour? Your guess is as good as mine).  

I never really saw myself doing this. When people asked me how I was going to spend my time when I retired, cooking was not on the list. Oh, I knew that with Julie still working, and with her schedule, I would have to put something together to eat many nights, but actually cook? No, not me.  

So, what has prompted this radical shift? Reality has taken over. With a houseful again it just doesn’t work to start thinking about dinner at 5:30. The truth is that everyone else here is a lot busier than I am during the day. Plus, I am really tired of giving that blank stare when someone asks me, “What are we doing for dinner tonight?” The bottom line is that it was time to make a plan!!!! 

We tried a calendar, but that really wasn’t working. Too many empty dates. Max suggested that we decide over dinner who will cook the next night, but that seemed like it was going to get us into an endless round of discussions, and we have enough of those already. There was just nothing to do, but for me to make sure that there is something decent is on the table every night.

 Calvin actually started the process when he cleaned out our spice cupboard. It’s amazing how much room you have when you toss items that are long expired. (By the way, is Onion Salt with an expiration date of February 2007 still good?) Julie helped by passing along an article on the well-stocked pantry. Max and Will pitched in by helping me come up with a list of quick, easy to make staple dishes that can be thrown together on those nights when I am too lazy to think very far ahead (and we know that there will be plenty of those nights). 

I took my own first step by making an inventory of what we have, throwing out things that we will never eat (“Oh My Gouda Moon Cheese” nuggets anyone?) and making a list of what we don’t have that we should. Next, I have mapped out what we will eat through the rest of the week (tonight is spaghetti in a spicy cream tomato sauce – Max Cooking). Last, but not least, is to cook as necessary!! 

I should be honest here. I will have plenty of help cooking. All of the kids, and Julie, will step up and cook if they have a night free (last night Cal made a mean Shakouka). Also, once people know what we are having they are happy to contribute, or even take over, which is a good thing because they are all better cooks than I am (Max is king of the stir-fry and Will owns shrimp). Does my filling in on the nights when they are unavailable make me the head chef? No, (emphatically) it does not. However, I will make dinner when needed and I will decide what I am cooking before 6:00 that evening!!!  

So, we see again that there is no way to know on what paths life leads you. You think that you have it all worked out. You think that you know what you’ll spend your time doing, and what you will avoid. Then you hear that “ahem” in the back of your your head telling you that you know nothing (Jon Snow) and you push blindly on ahead. You never know, I might be taking notes while watching Iron Chef soon, but I wouldn’t hold your breath.