In my never-ending quest to stay away from politicizing my blog today (which isn’t easy), I’m going to complain about something that’s driving me crazy: TV commercials that: –feature thirty-somethings complaining about “crow’s feet” around their eyes, and, therefore, they need Botox injections –push pharmaceuticals that have so many side effects that, when the fine…
A Day in My Life – School Volunteer Edition – January 10, 2023
I am part of a local program called Reading is Fun. The purpose is to do one-on-one work with students who may not have people at home to work with them on reading, and to instill a love of reading in them. I’ve been associated with this program for seven years, including the pandemic year,…
A Day in My Life – Catching Up Edition – January 9, 2023
After a crazy day yesterday, in which I: –sang in the folk group at church –played in a USTA tennis match –attended a party at the home of one of my oldest friends –wrote a blog post –spent two hours editing I figured today would be a day to chill (as much as I chill)….
A Day in My Life – January 4, 2023 – Kindergarten Edition
/> On Wednesdays, I’m an aide with a kindergarten class in a Schenectady City School. In my other volunteer work, I read, one-on-one, with specific students. I’ve worked with the teacher I was with today for more than six years, although the pandemic quarantine year (2020) stood in the way of what would have been…
A Day in The Life – January 3, 2023
Exciting times in the Schenectady School District today! I am a volunteer reader at two of the city’s elementary schools. On Tuesdays I work with a second grader and a third grader, both boys. This is the second year I’ve worked with the third grader. I went to the second grader first. It’s his birthday,…
A Day in the Life – January 2, 2023
Lethargy has set in today. I have a thousand things to do and don’t feel like doing any of them. In some ways, I’m still recovering from our trip to Michigan, which ended last Wednesday night–very late last Wednesday, I might add. We had to drive back the long way in order to avoid going…
Celebrating an Idol – A Day In The Life
Sunday, January 1, 2023…The Greenwich Village Folk Festival held an all-star–in folk music terms, anyway–85th birthday celebration for Tom Paxton. I listened to the on-line show, co-hosted by two of my folk DJ friends (Ron Olesko and Mike Regienstrief), from 7-10 pm. The reason I devoted so much time to this is that Tom Paxton…
And Still…
I did everything right. I was one of the first people to sign up for the Pfizer vaccination and got both of them. And still I got COVID19. I have both Pfizer boosters. And still I got COVID19. I have worn a KN95 mask to all public places–grocery stores, drug stores, etc. I have confronted…
Memories of the Hungarian Revolution
In October 1956, I was just about to turn eight years old. We had just purchased the first television ever in our household, which, at the time, had an antenna, a bunch of tubes, and frequently went out of service so that we had to call a repairman to fix it. The set was humungous….
War–What is it Good For? Absolutely NOTHING!
Turn on the news. Pick up a newspaper. What’s the top story? Will Vladimir Putin actually invade Ukraine? Will the 100,000-plus troops he’s sent to surround Ukraine begin moving in on the country he considers to be part of Russia? Is his goal to re-create the old Soviet Union? I mean, he’s already taken Crimea….