Honored? Honored by What?

When Barack Obama released the long form of his birth certificate today, Donald Trump responded, "He should have done it a long time ago. I am really honored to play such a big role in hopefully, hopefully getting rid of this issue.” Have no doubt, I am no fan of President Obama for a number of reasons, but I would like to know what exactly you feel honored by, Donald. That you forced an American President, holder of the most prestigious and powerful office in the world, to stoop to the level where had to release his birth certificate to quell the lingering controversy over his birthplace when there should never have been a controversy? That you and other birthers are essentially questioning his “Americaness” as it has needlessly been questioned time and time again. When no one would even think to ask these questions if he didn’t seem – let me repeat, seem – different because of his exotic name and lineage? That you wasted the President’s time – the President’s - (also the American public’s time) on this non-issue, which he rightfully refers to as “silliness,” at a time when there are real issues that require his attention? That you and the birthers spent time on a non-issue that demeans our intelligence? You have nothing to be honored by; instead, you should feel ashamed.

Best Books of 2010

Publisher's Weekly has posted its Best Books of 2010. There are many good and tempting titles on the list, both fiction and non-fiction. Two have been on my radar for a while: The Big Short and The Warmth of Other Suns (I actually passed on this originally because I felt it was too long, but then I went and read almost 2,000 pages on Theodore Roosevelt). Despite my vow to stick with the books that I have at home, I'll add them to my queue of books to read. I passed on a chance to buy Man In The Woods on the cheap at Borders, but will add it to the ever-growing pile as well. I shall read on!

Tweeting

I'm now on Twitter.

"Not on a Twain"

I bought Green Eggs & Ham at the local Barnes & Noble yesterday. The girls picked up on it immediately. After one read through, Morgan takes it, starts leafing through it, and recites from memory passages from the book: "Not here, not there," "Not on a twain" over and over. Rachel chimed in as well. They're only two! But obviously precocious. It was also very cute. How I love them so much.

Surgery

Last October I herniated a disc in my lumbar spine when I tried to pick up my mother off the floor. I didn't feel anything right away, but the next day the back was tight and I couldn't bend. The day after that I felt numbness in my right leg. After a series of doctor's visits and an MRI, I was diagnosed with a herniated disc that's pressing on the L5/S1 nerve, causing pain throughout my entire leg. The pain is constant and often severe. For example, I'm typing this at 5:40 am because the pain kept me up overnight.

I tried physical therapy and injections into the affected area. Neither worked, and I have pain 7 months later. After two surgical consults in which I was told surgery was the only option at this point, I'm scheduled for surgery in a week on Monday, May 2. It's band aid surgery where they will make a small incision and remove the part of the disc that's compressing the nerve. It's a 50-minute procedure, and I could be out of the hospital the same day or worst case scenario the next day.

Not looking forward it. Was hoping to avoid it. But at the end of the day my quality of life will be drastically improved and I'll be able to do more things, especially with my daughters and at home, where my wife Judy has picked up a lot of the slack. Examples: I cannot give baths except on rare occasions, cannot get on the floor to play with my daughters and to do educational play sessions, cannot vacuum except on rare occasions, and almost always stay home on Saturdays when the girls go for their therapeutic horseback riding (helps with their physical development in terms of core strength, posture, and balance). There will be short-term pain from the surgery - I'll be on my back most of the time for the first 5 days afterward and expect there to be pain where they operate - but long-term gain.

Featured

My post on the cuts to the Queens Public Library system has been featured on Book Blogs, where I also posted it. Not only is this cool for me, but it helps to draw more attention to this important issue.

(Dis)investment in Our Future

I live in Forest Hills in New York City and am a regular patron of the local library branch, which is part of the Queens Public Library system. Because our finances at home are tight, I generally get most of my books at the library, including most of the new releases. Unfortunately, because of steep budget cuts proposed for 2012, the library is no longer buying new books. It is also proposing to shutter most branches for all but a couple of days during the week and on weekends. While this has a direct impact on me, it has a devestating impact on the community in general. Libraries are key. They are key to people who love to read, key to people who like me cannot afford to buy many books, key to engendering a love of reading in people, key to providing social services. . . in short key to our livelihood and future as a society. It is unfathomable that such a vital resource faces such a bleak future - 27% of its funding or $23 million cut just like that, 424 employees or 52% of its workforce (devestating to them immediately) laid off, service to countless number of people, including many needy people, cut off. I don't understand how NYC government could in good conscience allow this to happen. Our priorities are just plain wrong, and if you agree, here's where you can help.

Desert Island Books

K W posted about Must Reads in Book Blogs. I pose a similar yet different question: what are your three desert island books? There are many books I love and that I qualify as a must read, but only a select few that retain their freshness no matter how many times I read them. My three choices are all fiction despite how much I enjoy non-fiction and have been on a non-fiction binge the last six months. There are subtle nuances to be discovered in fiction books - I'm talking specifically literature, not pulp fiction - in every read. By contrast, I'm not sure how much is to be gained from non-fiction, unless it's philosophy, after a finite number of readings. At least that's how I feel about, but it's only my HO and I'm sure others will differ. Anyway, here are my three choices:

Hamlet, who is a dithering character up until the end of the story when he finally gets it:

There is special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come—the readiness is all. Since no man, of aught he leaves, knows what is't to leave betimes, let be.

With this line, in which he cites the Biblical passage that God cares even for the fallen sparrow, Hamlet becomes the consummate man of action and a fully realized and alive character. We do not know our fate or the plan that God has for us; therefore, we should just “let be.” Contrast this to Anse Bundren who uses the same passage to justify his lack of action: “and I know that Old Marster will care for me as for ere a sparrow that falls.” Hamlet is the much more satisfying character, especially more so when he dies in the fencing match with Laertes. In this sequence, when he gains all only to lose his life, he becomes the true tragic character and a hero for the ages, in turn elevating the play to a timeless classic.

Night by Elie Wiesel. Granted, I'm partial because I'm Jewish and my father was a Holocaust survivor, but I never tire of this story. It portrays the story of another Holocaust survivor. It is not an easy or a pleasant read - far from it - but in depicting the horrors of the Holocaust, it tells a story that must be told over and over again lest we forget.

The Brothers Karamazov, which uses religion in a different way in the Grand Inquisitor chapter. In this chapter, Christ comes back and is arrested and sentenced to die by the Church, but not because the Cardinal believes him to be delusional. The Church arrests him because they know he's Christ and too much of a threat to them and to the average man, who cannot live life outside of society as Christ preaches. We need the structure and guidance of the Church and need to know where our daily bread is coming from. It's a damning critique of religion from an author who was a nihilist.

Those are mine. What are yours?

We Shoot, We Score

$100! That's what we just won on last night's Power Ball ticket. I didn't believe our Lotto retailer at first. But indeed we won. As Marv Albert would say, "Yes-s-s-s-s!" We're going to put it towards our 5th anniversary, which is coming up on 9/10.

Never Assume

Felix Unger: "Never assume because when you assume, you make an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me."

A classic line from "The Odd Couple" that I have never forgotten and that a co-worker who's a big fan of the show likes to quote. This same colleague, who's Irish, vented to me today about the current movie "Kill The Irishmen." His beef: it's a xenophobic slur against the Irish. He asked me how I would feel if someone made a movie called "Kill The Jews." Not knowing anything about the movie he's referring to, I said I wouldn't like it, but stopped short at supporting his assertion that people can say things about the Irish that they can't say about other groups. I simply don't have the facts to make this claim. Good thing I hedged because tonight I find out upon researching it - something that my colleague should have done - that the movie is actually called "Kill The Irishman" and is the real-life story of an Irish mobster from Cleveland that the Italian mafia targeted for extermination. Ah, yes, seems like my co-worker needs to heed the advice he so loves to quote.

Like A Kid In A Candy Store

I love to read and now that we don't have TV that's my number one hobby. I read on the subway, I read during lunch, I read at the doctor's office, I read at night, I read when I have a spare moment at home. Bottom line, I read incessantly.

And I collect books incessantly. Whenever I spot something interesting, I usually place a request at the library, and if something especially catches my fancy, I like to buy it, but only if I can get a good deal. I walk into a bookstore and I browse for that something special.

Last October, I took my daughters to Barnes & Noble one Sunday and walked out with three paperbacks for the price of two: American Lion about Andrew Jackson, Satchel about Satchel Paige, and The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, the first book in a trilogy about our 26th President. I enjoyed it so much that I devoured the other two books in the trilogy: Theodore Rex, covering his time in office, and Colonel Roosevelt, about his post-Presidential years.

And just yesterday, I took advantage of a going out of business sale at the Borders Book store in Kips Bay in Manhattan, snagging five books - three non-fiction books and two thrillers - for $35. The score includes a biography on Thomas Jefferson that rings in at 1,009 pages - daunting, sure, but when you've read about 2,000 pages on Theodore Roosevelt, it's child's play - that I got at 90% off (list price of $55, cost me $11.70).

Books so enthrall me that I feel like a kid in a candy store whenever I'm in a book store or library or come across an interesting new title. So much so that when I put all the books in my queue in one spot the total came out to 19 titles - and that doesn't include The House of Morgan, which is on it's way as I type, or the four books on request at the library.

One can probably say that I'm obsessed with reading, which I'd agree with. So here's my resolution: methodically work my way through the books in my queue before tackling (or buying) anything new. Alas, there's a new John Sandford coming out next month. Sigh, the list grows ever longer and will never be winnowed to zero. However, I have been so spendthrift this week, I'll request it from the library - I canceled my order with Amazon - and restrain myself from other purchases in the future,

Now, on to Washington: A Life, by the same author as The House of Morgan (Ron Chernow). I'm enjoying it thoroughly - it's a great education on Washington and the American Revolution about which I aim to post more at another time.