Today's my fourteenth birthday. My parents took me to Benihana's to celebrate. Good choice! I ate a lot: salad, miso soup, fried rice, Chateaubriand and shrimp. I enjoyed it all.
Some months ago I finished middle school. It was an okay experience, but I know I can do better.
Next week I start high school, as a freshman. It's the start of a new phase of my life. I'm determined to have it all, at least the way I define all.
All for me is to decide what I want and then to go after it with gusto.
What do I want? To be a top student, to make the freshman baseball team and finally to have a good social life, especially with girls. Is that too much to ask?
What could get in my way? One thing I have to deal with aggressively is self-confidence. Without it, I'm lost. With it, I can accomplish anything.
But how do I get it? Ah, there's the rub.
Sunday, January 26, 2020
Saturday, January 18, 2020
Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison was born February 11, 1847 in Milan, Ohio, but grew up in Port Huron, Michigan, about 63 miles from Detroit. His grandfather, Samuel Edison, Sr. was a Loyalist refugee who fled the United States after the Revolutionary War. His father, Samuel Edison, Jr., born in Canada, fled from there after he was involved in a political rebellion of his own in 1837.
As a child, Thomas Edison "sold candy and newspapers on trains running from Port Huron to Detroit (similar to what my father did as a boy on boats between Troy and Albany, New York)." He was earning $50 a week by age 13.
In 1878, Thomas Edison began working on an electric illumination system to replace gas and oil based lighting. His first successful test of a long-lasting incandescent lamp occurred on October 29, 1879, lasting more than 13 hours. In January of the following year, Edison received a patent (#223898) for his invention of a commercially practical light.
On January 19, 1883 (137 years ago today), "Roselle, New Jersey (20 miles from New York City) earned its place in history when the first electric lighting system employing overhead wires went into service."
"The system was built by Thomas Edison as part of an experiment to prove that an entire community could be lit by electricity from a shared, central generating station."
"A steam-driven generator sent the juice through the wires strung overhead to a store, the town's railroad depot, 40 or so houses and 150 street lights. The First Presbyterian Church of Roselle made electrical and ecclesiastical history three months later when it became the world's first church to be lighted by electricity."
"The electric chandelier still hangs in the church. In the centennial year of 1983, a bronze and granite marker was dedicated at the original site of Edison's generator at the corner of Locust Street and West First Avenue in Roselle."
Thomas Edison died on October 18, 1931 (age 84) of complications of diabetes. He has been described as America's greatest inventor.
As a child, Thomas Edison "sold candy and newspapers on trains running from Port Huron to Detroit (similar to what my father did as a boy on boats between Troy and Albany, New York)." He was earning $50 a week by age 13.
In 1878, Thomas Edison began working on an electric illumination system to replace gas and oil based lighting. His first successful test of a long-lasting incandescent lamp occurred on October 29, 1879, lasting more than 13 hours. In January of the following year, Edison received a patent (#223898) for his invention of a commercially practical light.
On January 19, 1883 (137 years ago today), "Roselle, New Jersey (20 miles from New York City) earned its place in history when the first electric lighting system employing overhead wires went into service."
"The system was built by Thomas Edison as part of an experiment to prove that an entire community could be lit by electricity from a shared, central generating station."
"A steam-driven generator sent the juice through the wires strung overhead to a store, the town's railroad depot, 40 or so houses and 150 street lights. The First Presbyterian Church of Roselle made electrical and ecclesiastical history three months later when it became the world's first church to be lighted by electricity."
"The electric chandelier still hangs in the church. In the centennial year of 1983, a bronze and granite marker was dedicated at the original site of Edison's generator at the corner of Locust Street and West First Avenue in Roselle."
Thomas Edison died on October 18, 1931 (age 84) of complications of diabetes. He has been described as America's greatest inventor.
Sunday, January 12, 2020
Responsible Son
My mother, Margaret Lasky, died twenty-five years ago in January 1995 when she was 88 years-old. One day this coming week will be the 113th anniversary of her birth. We always celebrated January 16th, but her birth certificate said the 13th.
I want to be fair to my mother's memory. Last month, I posted a rather grim review of her parenting (The Night God Died). However, there is more to the story of our relationship.
After I turned sixteen, my mother started to loosen up her rules and I learned how to better deal with her. We then developed a more peaceful relationship.
One time, she and I spent many happy hours together converting a large quantity of fresh strawberries into frozen ones we would enjoy the following winter.
And then I went off to college. I'll never forget the moment she and my father left me in my dorm room and I faced the rest of my life with trepidation. Could I handle being on my own? Yes!
I returned home from Penn on holidays and at the end of each school year. In the summer of 1966, I spent virtually the whole time helping my mother do various outdoor chores around our pink brick house (now a dental office) on the western edge of Oswego.
Over the next 29 years, I visited my mother periodically, first in Oswego and then in Fort Lauderdale, Florida where she moved with my father in 1971. At first I did it out of a sense of obligation. But later I started to visit her because I wanted to.
Why the change? Because she changed. She became a nicer person. I grew to like her.
My mother once told me she read an article in a magazine which said it was important to tell your loved ones you loved them. So she started telling me she loved me. I knew she did, but it was so nice to hear the words come out of her mouth.
In 1987, I arranged for a party to celebrate my mother's 80th birthday. Besides my daughter Rachel and I, my brothers Joel and Paul flew to Florida for the event.
Some time later, my mother sensed she needed help, not only in dealing with her finances, but also to be her responsible son in making decisions that affected the remainder of her life. I was proud she chose me.
Happy birthday, Mom. Love, your Kleiner.
I want to be fair to my mother's memory. Last month, I posted a rather grim review of her parenting (The Night God Died). However, there is more to the story of our relationship.
After I turned sixteen, my mother started to loosen up her rules and I learned how to better deal with her. We then developed a more peaceful relationship.
One time, she and I spent many happy hours together converting a large quantity of fresh strawberries into frozen ones we would enjoy the following winter.
And then I went off to college. I'll never forget the moment she and my father left me in my dorm room and I faced the rest of my life with trepidation. Could I handle being on my own? Yes!
I returned home from Penn on holidays and at the end of each school year. In the summer of 1966, I spent virtually the whole time helping my mother do various outdoor chores around our pink brick house (now a dental office) on the western edge of Oswego.
Over the next 29 years, I visited my mother periodically, first in Oswego and then in Fort Lauderdale, Florida where she moved with my father in 1971. At first I did it out of a sense of obligation. But later I started to visit her because I wanted to.
Why the change? Because she changed. She became a nicer person. I grew to like her.
My mother once told me she read an article in a magazine which said it was important to tell your loved ones you loved them. So she started telling me she loved me. I knew she did, but it was so nice to hear the words come out of her mouth.
In 1987, I arranged for a party to celebrate my mother's 80th birthday. Besides my daughter Rachel and I, my brothers Joel and Paul flew to Florida for the event.
Some time later, my mother sensed she needed help, not only in dealing with her finances, but also to be her responsible son in making decisions that affected the remainder of her life. I was proud she chose me.
Happy birthday, Mom. Love, your Kleiner.
Sunday, January 5, 2020
A Serious Man
A Serious Man, a 2009 black comedy-drama, was written, produced, edited and directed by the Coen brothers, Joel and Ethan. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture (won by The Hurt Locker). The Coen brothers were also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay (won by Mark Boal, also for The Hurt Locker).
A Serious Man stars Michael Stuhlbarg as Larry Gopnik, a religious Jewish man whose life is crumbling both professionally and personally. He doesn't understand why and looks to God when facing such serious problems.
Larry is a college physics professor whose job is at risk because his department receives "anonymous letters urging (them) to deny him tenure." A student who received a failing grade, but asks Larry to change it, leaves an envelope full of cash on his desk.
Larry's wife wants a divorce as she has fallen in love with another man. His brother is in trouble with the police. Larry's son smokes marijuana just before his bar mitzvah. His teenage daughter is "always washing her hair and going out."
Larry goes to Rabbi Marshak for help to understand his life. In response, the Rabbi tells him a story about a Jewish dentist (Dr. Sussman) who saw Hebrew letters on the back of a goy's (non-Jewish person's) teeth. Translated, the letters spell out, "Help me, save me."
The dentist is desperate to understand the meaning of this revelation. He also goes to Rabbi Marshak for an answer. The Rabbi told the dentist to forget about it and go on with his life. There are so many things humans are incapable of understanding, so why bother trying.
But, that's not sufficient for Larry.
Larry: Why does God make us feel the questions if he's not gonna give us the answers?
Rabbi: He hasn't told me.
Larry: And what happened to the goy?
Rabbi: The goy? Who cares?
The end of the movie is very disturbing. Larry is sitting at his desk in his college office and has just changed the above student's grade from F to C- when the phone rings. It's Larry's doctor.
Doctor: Larry, could you come by to discuss the x-ray results? You remember the x-rays we took?
Larry: We can't discuss them over the phone?
Doctor: I think we'd be more comfortable here. Can you come in?
Larry: When?
Doctor: Now.
A Serious Man begins with a 19th Century scene in Yiddish in a Eastern European location. A husband comes home on a cold winter night and tells his wife a man whom he knew helped him on the road and he invited the man to come to the couple's home for soup. The wife claims the man must be a "dybbuk" (a malicious spirit) since she knows he died three years ago. When the man/dybbuk arrives, the wife plunges a knife into his chest and he stumbles out the door, bleeding.
According to the Coen brothers, the dybbuk story has no meaning. It is only an attention getter.
The brothers also put on the screen the famous quote from Rashi, "Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." That does have meaning.
A Serious Man stars Michael Stuhlbarg as Larry Gopnik, a religious Jewish man whose life is crumbling both professionally and personally. He doesn't understand why and looks to God when facing such serious problems.
Larry is a college physics professor whose job is at risk because his department receives "anonymous letters urging (them) to deny him tenure." A student who received a failing grade, but asks Larry to change it, leaves an envelope full of cash on his desk.
Larry's wife wants a divorce as she has fallen in love with another man. His brother is in trouble with the police. Larry's son smokes marijuana just before his bar mitzvah. His teenage daughter is "always washing her hair and going out."
Larry goes to Rabbi Marshak for help to understand his life. In response, the Rabbi tells him a story about a Jewish dentist (Dr. Sussman) who saw Hebrew letters on the back of a goy's (non-Jewish person's) teeth. Translated, the letters spell out, "Help me, save me."
The dentist is desperate to understand the meaning of this revelation. He also goes to Rabbi Marshak for an answer. The Rabbi told the dentist to forget about it and go on with his life. There are so many things humans are incapable of understanding, so why bother trying.
But, that's not sufficient for Larry.
Larry: Why does God make us feel the questions if he's not gonna give us the answers?
Rabbi: He hasn't told me.
Larry: And what happened to the goy?
Rabbi: The goy? Who cares?
The end of the movie is very disturbing. Larry is sitting at his desk in his college office and has just changed the above student's grade from F to C- when the phone rings. It's Larry's doctor.
Doctor: Larry, could you come by to discuss the x-ray results? You remember the x-rays we took?
Larry: We can't discuss them over the phone?
Doctor: I think we'd be more comfortable here. Can you come in?
Larry: When?
Doctor: Now.
A Serious Man begins with a 19th Century scene in Yiddish in a Eastern European location. A husband comes home on a cold winter night and tells his wife a man whom he knew helped him on the road and he invited the man to come to the couple's home for soup. The wife claims the man must be a "dybbuk" (a malicious spirit) since she knows he died three years ago. When the man/dybbuk arrives, the wife plunges a knife into his chest and he stumbles out the door, bleeding.
According to the Coen brothers, the dybbuk story has no meaning. It is only an attention getter.
The brothers also put on the screen the famous quote from Rashi, "Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." That does have meaning.
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