Leave a comment Posted on Mr. Rogers, return to teaching, student teaching, students, teaching

Learn, Earn, Return

Well, my 42-day stint back in the classroom has concluded.

How did it go?

Better than expected.  Eighty-five percent of the experience was positive and rewarding while 15 percent was deflating and stressful.

Most students were fun.  They were interested in my lessons and in me.  A small minority of students were apathetic and disrespectful.

Throughout the nine weeks, I met inspirational instructors, supportive secretaries and a glimpse into the future of America which looks promising.

A teacher is not just teaching, but learning from their students.

Here is some of what I took away.

  • I still love standing in front of a group of young people and inspiring them.  This performance part of the job has always thrilled me, something that my current job as a university supervisor of student teachers does not satisfy due to working with one teacher at a time.  Having an audience ready for you to “edutain” them is exhilarating—and a challenge.
  • I feel alive when designing lessons.  Creating meaningful work for students is part of my duty and it stimulates my brain that nothing else does.  For six years I was on low revs, but now I was back at full throttle.  The ideas would wake up me in the middle of the night as it did all those years ago.
  • The essential thing I realized was how important the job of teaching is, more now than when I first began in 1989.  Combating for children’s attention amid social media saturation and device addictions requires skill, patience and practice. Most of my students honored my cell phone policy, but some took umbrage that I disallowed their use as if I were removing oxygen from their lungs.
  • The best part of all was making a connection with the kids.

The students enjoyed our unified daily greeting, “Happy [fill-in-the-blank]day!” and our closing “make today count!”

On my final day, one class presented me with a cake and a card full of wonderful wishes.  Another class designed their own card and in unison shouted out a thank you.

One student said that this may be another teacher’s classroom, but it will always be Mr. Crosby’s Neighborhood, a moniker I attached to my workspace a few years back in honor of Mr. Rogers who preached kindness via his PBS children’s show.

There’s a saying that we all learn, earn and retire in our lives.   An amended version is “learn, earn and return,” meaning giving back and remaining vital in one’s senior years.

I proved to myself that I still have it, returning to a place where I had my greatest professional success—in the classroom.

As for my future plans, I may pursue what I was initially looking for:  a permanent teaching position where I would have one or two classes.  That would be enough to satisfy my passion of teaching kids not only essay writing, but decency in the decency-deprived society in which we live.

Leave a comment Posted on return to teaching

Serving Students Since 1989

If you’re curious why I haven’t been posting recently, here’ s why.  I’m back in the classroom teaching to teens, something that I haven’t done in 2,350 days since March 13, 2020.

The itch to teach returned to me when I recently digitized home videos from 20 years ago.  Among the hours of recordings were complete lessons that I had recorded   At the time, I was pursuing National Board Certification (the highest honor available for teachers) which required submitting tapes of me teaching.

Watching myself interact with the kids, making them laugh, reminded me of the delightful times I had as an educator.

It also gave me pause on my six years of retirement.  After the initial excitement of not working and doing what I pleased, soon I became acclimated to a more leisurely pace. And while I remained employed part-time at the university observing and evaluating student teachers, the number one goal of mine was to write another book, which I did, and get it published, which didn’t happen.

I knew that when I left teaching whatever I did would not match the demanding yet rewarding work that kept my mind humming on all cylinders.

Flashed in my head was the notion of reaching out to a handful of schools requesting to teach one or two classes of advanced 9th or 10th grade English.  I figured that I could handle one class every day.

In July I snail mailed the letters and waited.  And waited.

A couple of weeks later I got a call from the one principal that I personally knew.

“I got excited to get your letter,” he said.  “Unfortunately, I can’t give you what you want, but I do have a long-term sub assignment for nine weeks at the start of school.”

This would mean I would be back working a full day, six years older, though only for 40 days (how Biblical).  It would provide me an opportunity to have a proper sendoff to my teaching career, something that was derailed when I retired in June 2020 due to the Pandemic.

Could I do it?

I took the position.

That was the easy part.  Now I had to jump over hurdles and through hoops in completing the mountain of forms for the district.

The day when I finally received confirmation that my credential was renewed was like a renewal of my life’s purpose.  The world was wonderful.  I listened to the Sirius radio station playing hits from the 1970s and every song was a good one.  

Suddenly, the circuit breaker that had been off for six years returned to the “ON” position. Everything I experienced—a story, a song, a video—was possible material for my students 

I race to my laptop, type the idea, and while I’m typing that, another one overrides the earlier one, so I have to type faster to keep up with my brain.

When I’m on the elliptical machine at the gym, I come up with more and pause the music to record on my phone to memorialize the spark before it flames out.

At a signal stop I noticed a plumber’s white van with the inscription “serving customers since . . .” and quickly produced my own slogan to hang in my classroom:  serving students since 1989.

I had so much anticipation there was no way the reality would match it.  And it didn’t.

I crashed back to earth when I found out that the air conditioning unit for my classroom was broken right in the middle of a scorching hot and humid August.  This forced me to move to other rooms in the afternoon (during the third week, a new unit was installed).

Technical glitches interfacing my computer with the classroom projectors, monitors and printers were another matter that did not get fully resolved for a while.

A small number of students, namely the seniors, tested me even though they knew I was a veteran teacher.

In the ensuing five weeks thus far, I’ve learned much about myself and today’s students. When I finish next month, I’ll let you know how it went.

As Michael Richards’ Kramer often exclaimed, “Giddyap!”

Leave a comment Posted on Apple TV, Bernard Herrmann, Cape Fear, Jeff Russo, Steven C. Smith

Cape Bernard Herrmann

Fifty years after his death, iconic film composer Bernard Herrmann rises from the grave.

This summer, Apple TV has one of the most popular series on television, “Cape Fear.”

Based on John D. MacDonald’s book “The Executioners” and first adapted in 1962 and redone in 1991, this is the third version of the same story.  After years of incarceration, ex-con Max Cady seeks vengeance against Sam Bowden, the attorney who put him in prison.

What makes the new version “must-hear” TV is composer Jeff Russo’s employment of Bernard Herrmann’s original score which Elmer Bernstein also used in 1991.  The opening scene of each episode is highly effective. It’s a 6-8 minute segment that builds up to a climax with a powerful blast of Herrman’s music with the block outline letters of the words “cape fear” overfilling the screen to squeeze back to normal size.

That the show is this good has little to do with Apple TV.  Lately, streaming services are cutting costs of its content.  For “Cape Fear,” Apple was looking to reduce the budget and insisted on a more modern score than composer Russo’s choice of Herrmann.

After executive producers Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese (both who hold rights to the material) held their ground, the budget remained robust and the Herrmann score was used.

More than half of the credit of why the series has captivated the public has to do with the thunderous and vertiginous bars of Herrmann’s score.

It’s a reminder how a masterful score can elevate the visual content and how few composers these days design memorable motifs.

Credit goes to Russo for headlining Herrmann’s score as if it’s a main character in the drama.  It envelops the Bowden family in a shroud of nightmarish despair, a hypnotic glue that tightly holds the suspense and captivates and sustains viewers for nine hours.

Even if the average person can’t articulate it, at a subconscious level, it enters their brain as a hallucinatory drug. We are ensnared in the maelstrom of the Bowdens’ misery, a relentless whirlpool of terror that draws us inexorably toward the abyss.

Which is why the producers should have put Herrmann’s name in the opening credits instead of burying it in the end credits which automaticlly cuts away to play the next episode ensuring that most people will never know who wrote the music. 

Herrmann biographer Steven C. Smith told me he agrees. “He’s one of the reasons that this story keeps being remade – a key character in the drama and its atmosphere.”

“At least the re-use of the score is bringing him to the attention of a new generation,” Smith said.

His musical fingerprints are all over this show.  Give him his due.

Leave a comment Posted on Christopher Nolan, IMAX 70mm, The Odyssey

The Odyssey:  A Journey Worth Taking

In a year when much has been made of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, another event has gained more traction across the nation about something that is more than 10 times older than that.

People are flocking to movie theatres to see a film adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey, an ancient Greek epic poem dating back to 2700-2800 B.C. that follows Odysseus, a king who encounters monstrous obstacles in trying to sail home to Ithaca after the Trojan War.

It is doubtful many people even know the meaning of the word “odyssey” yet sold-out screenings are populating across the U.S. since Christopher Nolan’s film opened on July 16th.  No fourth of July fireworks display matches the attention of this movie event.

How strange but exhilarating.  Part of the buzz has to do with how Nolan shot the whole film on IMAX 70mm film stock, the first time that has been done for a feature-length movie.  That non-cinephiles have educated themselves about this format seeking out one of the 25 theatres in the country equipped to show the film in the proper ratio is thrilling.  Suddenly, viewing a film actually running through a projector is fashionable.

“Something old is new again” applies to this feat in other ways as well.

Since Nolan could not shoot dialogue scenes using IMAX cameras due to the noise they made, he and his technical team came up with encasing the camera inside a blimp that dampened the sound, much as filmmakers did when sound pictures came around in the late 1920’s.

Then, the idea of moviegoers leaving their homes to see this film in special theatres echoes what studios did in the 1950’s to extract people away from their TVs to see a widescreen film shot in Cinemascope.

Nolan is one of the most ambitious filmmakers in the past 25 years.  While his epic trilogy of Batman and other big-budget movies garner the headlines, it’s his clever storytelling devices of moving time intervals like pieces across a cinema chessboard that keeps audiences engaged especially in “Memento,” “The Prestige” and “Oppenheimer.”

Nolan’s unbridled passion for loving film—refusing digital cameras, demanding theatres project his products on projectors, insisting that his movies have a longer window of exclusive theatrical exhibition before they appear on streaming services—makes him a champion for the future of movies and exhibition.

I saw “The Odyssey” in an IMAX 70mm presentation and thoroughly enjoyed myself.  For three hours, I was engrossed.   While I wouldn’t declare the film a masterpiece, it is a remarkable achievement, the power of attracting a large audience for something so archaic. For that, fans should give him grace if every product he produces isn’t THE BEST.

Let’s celebrate when these rare spontaneous moments surface reminding us that people when they want to can come together in the dark for three hours to share something special.

These days we crave what little binds us.  Who knew that a piece of literature thousands of years old would capture such enthusiasm, a sign that better days are on the horizon.  Just like Odysseus, we just have to sail through some nightmares first.

Leave a comment Posted on Disclosure Day, Steven Spielberg

Listen: Spielberg Still Has Something to Say

Spielberg’s latest film “Disclosure Day” is his best work in years. Though not without minor flaws, the film’s ambitious camera work and heartfelt message of empathy are remarkable—especially as Spielberg approaches 80.

I’ve been lucky to have lived during his lifetime, allowing me to see all but three—“Empire of the Sun,” “Always” and “The Terminal”—of his 35 feature films on the big screen when they were first released.

I feel a special connection to Spielberg in this regard:  we’re both Jewish and made Super-8 movies as teenagers, aspiring to become filmmakers.  Of course, that’s where the similarities end.

His off-the-charts talent of connecting with audiences with his ideas of what makes us human is why he is the best director of his generation, not to mention the highest-grossing one surpassing $10 billion.

He’s created many of the iconic movie moments of the past half-century.

“Jaws” (1975):  When the giant shark catapults out of the water onto the boat surprising the men during the climax.

“Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981): The opening sequence when the enormous boulder is about to crush Indiana Jones.

“E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” (1982):  When E.T. says goodbye to Elliott.

“Jurassic Park” (1993):  The sighting of a T-Rex in the side view mirror of a jeep.

“Schindler’s List” (1993):  When the prisoners he saved present Schindler with a gold ring fashioned from their teeth, and he replies, “I didn’t do enough.”  Also, the last scene of the real people Schindler saved placing stones upon his grave.

“Saving Private Ryan” (1998):  The disturbing violence when the film starts of soldiers arriving at Omaha Beach on D-Day.

“Munich” (2005):  The telephone assassination scene in Rome.

“War Horse (2011):  The climatic scene when Albert unable to see reunites with his horse Joey by whistling for him.

“West Side Story” (2021):  The exhilarating “America” dance number performed outside on the streets.

Spielberg is driven by his desire to captivate an audience’s attention. He perceives the shared experience of strangers watching movies together in a dimly lit theater as a quasi-religious ritual.  The shared reactions to images on the screen unite people in ways that few other art forms can. The power of movie-watching or screen-watching, realized in a global way near the end of “Disclosure Day,” is thrilling and life-affirming.  I have often felt this same way, that if only everybody was to watch a particular film at the same time, life would be better. 

During the Cold War, when tensions between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. were high, I had a naive thought:  what if Nixon and Brezhnev could sit together in a movie theater and watch “It’s a Wonderful Life”?  Imagine them moved to tears, grasping the shared humanity they both possess, leading to the de-escalation of nuclear arms.

“Disclosure Day” is a relentless, one-long chase with no opening credits, a roller coaster ride that never seems to end. Spielberg’s camera moves in magical ways, constantly seeking to astonish. One scene was so intense that I experienced an out-of-body sensation, realizing my rapid breathing and how tightly I was gripping the armrests as my eyes froze open at the engrossing images.

But Spielberg’s use of camerawork and editing is his technical side.   To match that dexterity with emotional scenes that connect the audience to their naked emotions is what stays with an audience after the lights come up.

Seeing “Disclosure Day” is a rare pleasure achieved by very few directors.  Spielberg urgently beseeches us to see the awe-inspiring potential in movies and in ourselves.  I can’t wait to experience his 36th feature.

Leave a comment Posted on Father's Day

Celebrating Life and Fatherhood

Last Tuesday morning, I needed milk and bananas at my local market so I went into to my car and—nothing.  No power at all.  Dead.  Immediately all my plans for the day went up in smoke because I had to call the Auto Club to jumpstart my battery which was replaced only six months ago.

I took my wife’s car and went to Ralphs.  Oddly, instead of going through the self-checkout as I always do, I chose the one with a cashier.  “How’s your day going?” she asked me as she robotically scanned my items without making eye contact.  (How many times that day would she press the play button on that question?)

Within milliseconds, two possible responses appeared “Terminator”-like: “fine” which was false but a quick way to curtail conversation or tell her the truth.

“Well, my car didn’t start so that’s no good,” I revealed. 

“Oh, I’m sorry.”  Her sympathy for me transformed this inconsequential exchange into something philosophical.  She wasn’t expecting an honest answer from a customer and I wasn’t expecting what I said next.

“But you know what?  My car didn’t start this morning, but I did.  And me starting is more important.”

She looked at me for the first time with her eyes widening and said, “You know, that’s right.  That’s a real good way to look at it.” 

I can’t explain how I came up with those words, but they flowed quickly out of me as if some other force took over my body, just as I can’t explain why I went to her instead of the self-checkout.

Suddenly, the black cloud was lifted and I felt much better exiting the market.  Today is a day worth living.

*          *          *

As I grow older, each significant day on the calendar rises in importance because the weight of a birthday or Christmas magnifies due to the decrease in future days to come.

I’m looking forward to spending this Father’s Day with my two sons.  It will be my 28th as a father; I only had 15 with my dad before he passed away.

I don’t need gifts, cards or a fancy restaurant meal.  Just the boys.  We’re going out to see a movie and I will barbeque burgers, maybe play catch.  That’s enough.

My last column about Father’s Day was four years ago when my wife and I were about to become empty nesters, our two sons leaving within a three-month period.  Our oldest, 22, got hired by Goldman Sachs in Salt Lake City so was moving out within days; our youngest, 17, was moving to San Luis Obispo to attend Cal Poly. 

That Father’s Day breakfast at Lucky’s in Montecito was bittersweet so we had our waitress memorialize the moment with a photo, an item to go into the Crosby time capsule of our family.

Suddenly, four years have passed.  Last year, Ben returned to Los Angeles for a new job and a new life, getting married to our delightful daughter-in-law Azriel.  Max graduated last week and has moved back home.  We are no longer empty nesters—happily. 

One life lesson I’ve learned is that the stage in life one is living cannot be comprehended until one is in a later stage; living longer provides one with reflection on the past.

Everyone has a birthday, it’s not something that you control, it just happens to a person.  But being a parent is an intentional act.  Making a decision to bring new life into the world is a remarkable choice.  My life would not be as worthwhile without fatherhood.

1 Comment Posted on Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Iran, John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts

Time to Celebrate America’s 250th birthday—Sanity Returns to the Kennedy Center

A minor miracle occurred in the early morning on June 13th—Trump’s name was removed from the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.   A judge ruled that the name change was illegal and therefore anything related to the venue had to expunge his name.

For once, Trump did not get his way.

Hundreds of people began gathering around to see this event including thousands via YouTube, applauding yellow-vested construction dudes as if they were members of Springsteen’s E-Street Band.  One worker even entertained the crowd pretending to fall off the rickety scaffolding that took longer to erect than an ADU.  The drip-drip process of removing 18 letters tortured the spectators.

Ever since he put his name on the memorial for the fallen president back in December, the complex has lost money. Consequently, Trump decided to use renovations as the reason for the closure, thereby avoiding the appearance of his name being associated with a financial failure.

Once the crew began removing the letters the entire work area was shielded behind curtains as if to conceal what was happening.  Why?  So that the man would not be embarrassed by the spectacle?  How apropos, the concealment of removing the letters symbolizing the concealment of how much damage this president has done in grifting for his family’s fortunes.

Underscoring the man’s enormous insecurities about himself, he forces those who work for him to proclaim their undying devotion to their king.

They all say it—Cabinet members, press secretaries, MAGA pundits—as if brainwashed like Stepford wives.  Eerily, the wording is exactly the same no matter who’s speaking. 

“President T is the greatest champion for [fill in the cause] of any president in American history.”  

But when journalists pose challenging questions to him, he avoids answering them, lashing out at reporters—”you’re stupid, you’re the worst person in the world.”

You’d think this person who embraces everything gold would follow the Golden Rule; however, he is the antithesis of it. 

Can you imagine the outrage if President Obama had done any of the things Trump has done?

  • Added his name above John F. Kennedy’s to the Kennedy Center.
  • Hung a giant poster of his likeness covering the Justice Department building.
  • Had his likeness on U.S. passports.
  • Plans to have his face on currency even though Congress in 1866 outlawed living people from appearing on money.
  • Charged taxpayers $1.8 billion to pay off rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.
  • Tore down the whole east wing of the white house, charging taxpayers $1 billion for a ballroom.
  • Invaded Iran without approval from Congress, then surrendered to most of their demands, leaving Iran the strongest it’s been since the 1979 revolution and America emasculated on the world stage. When J.D. Vance told reporters that the Iranians “promise” not to build nuclear weapons was jaw-dropping in its naivety.

A few days ago when Obama delivered his speech at the inauguration of his presidential museum, it served as a stark reminder that just a decade ago, we had a leader who embodied qualities that any parent would cherish in their own children.

No wonder few are in a celebratory mood to commemorate the semiquincentennial of the United States.   The removal of Trump’s name from the Kennedy Center is a beacon for so many Americans thirsting for the return of sanity, competency and decency to their country.

Leave a comment Posted on 60 Minutes, Bari Weiss, CBS News, David Ellison, Nick Bolton, Scott Pelley

60 Minutes Has Expired

CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” the longest-running primetime program in television history, stands as a testament to the enduring power of broadcast journalism. As one of the few network TV shows I religiously tape and watch, I have been captivated by its content since discovering it as a teenager in the mid-1970s.

The magazine’s signature three-segment format within an hour exemplifies the pinnacle of broadcast journalism. It covers a wide range of topics, including world affairs, politics, travel, sports, and entertainment. Through its stories, I have gained valuable insights into various aspects of life. Even when I initially lacked interest in a particular subject, the reporting made watching the program essential, particularly when reporters posed challenging questions during investigations into instances of mismanagement or corruption. Moreover, “60 Minutes” fosters a sense of community, a show that people share with others.

During my teaching career, I utilized several segments to broaden the knowledge of my English and journalism students about the themes we studied in class.

Therefore, it is deeply concerning that when “60 Minutes” has its 59th-anniversary premiere later this fall, it will be a shadow of its former glory due to managerial changes within CBS News that have permanently compromised its independent operation.

The issue began when the current president criticized CBS News for the editing of an interview with Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024. As is his customary behavior, he sued CBS News.

In 2025, right before Skydance acquired Paramount, CBS’s parent company, Shari Redstone paid $16 million to the president to make sure the purchase would be approved.. However, this was only the beginning.

The new management’s objective was to control content within its news division to appease Ellison’s buddy; after all, he needed the FCC to approve the Paramount Skydance acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.

CBS News appointed Bari Weiss as its editor-in-chief without any prior broadcast journalism experience. The decision was made to disrupt the newsroom and ensure that content did not negatively portray the president. A notable example of this was the “60 Minutes” report last fall on the mistreatment of detainees in an El Salvadorian prison that the White House used to deport Venezuelan men. Weiss delayed the airing of the report to include comments from the administration.

Last month, Weiss appointed Nick Bilton, another individual without broadcast journalism experience, to lead “60 Minutes.”  Subsequently, he dismissed executive producer Tanya Simon, a veteran of over 30 years, along with other producers and two on-air correspondents.

When Bolton addressed the “60 Minutes” staff on Monday, veteran correspondent Scott Pelley, who has been with CBS since 1989, challenged Bolton, questioning his “slender qualifications” and accusing him of “murdering ’60 Minutes.’”

It is no surprise that Bolton dismissed Pelley.

Here are excerpts from Pelley’s statement:

“For my part, new management has instructed me to inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story. I’ve been told to include assertions that are unverified. I have managed to ignore these instructions or refuse them. Recently, politicians have been invited to choose correspondents for interviews on the broadcast. Giving politicians control over 60 Minutes interviews is not how this is done. Incompetence and unprofessionalism in the new management have wreaked havoc. But now the collapse of values at the top has become untenable. The leadership of 60 Minutes is no longer recognizable. The principles I hold dear are gone, and so I must leave as well.”

Pelley’s courage in speaking out directly to his superiors underscores his passion for safeguarding the free press.

Within a few weeks, CBS has lost its top news show and its top late-night show, and it has canceled CBS Radio after 99 years. What a way to end the legacy of the Tiffany Network, which was a major force in journalism that championed freedom of the press, not freedom of the president.

Leave a comment Posted on Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Frank Lloyd Wright, Green Mill, Los Angeles Opera, Second City

The Happy Wanderers

My wife and I just came back from a week in Chicago. What made the trip extra special was that we traveled with a favorite couple of ours, Leslie and Grant.

I got to know Leslie over 25 years ago when I began taking my students to the Los Angeles Opera.   She was a guest speaker for my English classes as part of the Opera League.  She would drive from Pacific Palisades to Glendale with props to supplement her lectures.  When doing a presentation on Puccini’s “La Boheme” she designed a French café ambience with freshly baked tea cookies and juice for my classes.

Her enthusiasm for sharing her passion for opera with young people was contagious.  In fact, it was because of her that I grew to enjoy opera.  A relationship grew.  My wife and I began socializing with her and Grant, her partner.

Leslie came up with the idea of starting an Opera Club at Hoover High School where I worked.  She’d teach a select number of students after school about operas that we all would see, courtesy of her generosity.  She even treated everyone to dinner beforehand.

After a few years, I stopped taking students to the opera, and soon our connection went dormant. 

The 2019-2020 academic year was my final one as a teacher so I wanted to teach opera again, taking my students to see a new production of “La Boheme” at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.  I instantly knew that Leslie had to be part of this experience.

I scoured through my filing cabinets for the opera lesson plans in hopes of finding her phone number—and I did.

Just as she had done years ago, Leslie made the trek from the Westside to Glendale, bringing her materials and cookies for my students.

Since then, my wife and I have enjoyed the company of Leslie and Grant.  Every couple of months we schedule an event and/or a meal together.  We never tire of sharing stories of our lives, often talking for over three hours. 

Earlier this year we discussed taking a week-long trip together to Chicago, a first for our relationship.  From the start we agreed that we would see each other at least once a day, for a meal or an outing, leaving the rest of the time for each couple to be on their own. 

We each created an itinerary, compared notes, then chose the times when we would all be together.

By the way, Leslie and Grant are the most active people we know—world travelers—with an insatiable curiosity to discover something new.

When they travel, they don’t limit their activities to sitting on tour buses.  They take long walks, ride horses and go kayaking, an inspiration for older adults who may put boundaries on what they can do in their golden years. 

It was fun sitting together in the first row of the airplane, Grant and Leslie on the left, my wife and I on the right.  We stayed at the same hotel and often had breakfast together.

Most of the trips my wife and I have taken have been with our sons so this was a refreshing change to travel with another couple.

I’m happy to report that the vacation was memorable. 

Over the course of the week together we discovered that each of us contributed something that enriched the experience.  Grant and Leslie’s enthusiasm for Frank Lloyd Wright inspired us to visit his Robie House in Hyde Park, a tour they themselves took a couple of days earlier.  I suggested attending a magic show that wasn’t on their radar, while my wife showed them how to use an Uber app so they didn’t have to only rely on taxis. 

Besides the magic show, all four of us went to the Green Mill, the oldest jazz club in the Windy City, to hear a band play swing music while semi-professional dancers put on a show. 

We visited Second City where so many famous comedians from the past 50 years got their break. 

We traveled to Oak Park to explore Frank Lloyd Wright’s home and studio he built in 1889, then walked with a docent throughout the preserved neighborhood where houses with beautiful architecture abounded.

We went to the Art Institute of Chicago to see a special exhibition of Henri Matisse’s “Jazz” book.   Then each couple continued exploring on their own.  One must for me was to put my eyes on Marc Chagall’s “The Praying Jew” painting which preceded his “Rabbi with Torah” work that I wrote about earlier this year that hung in my family’s home when I was a child.

After exploring several gallery rooms and not locating it, I got nervous because some spaces were closed for renovation and I thought how unhappy it would be if it wasn’t on display.   But after getting help from an employee, my wife and I finally found it.  What a mesmerizing work of art.  We sat on a bench so that we could spend more time with it, when suddenly I heard “Brian”—it was Leslie calling my name.   How serendipitous that the four of us reunited in the museum in front of that painting.  Wow.

We look forward to more excursions with Leslie and Grant in the future.  In the 1960s there was a syndicated TV travelogue program called “The Happy Wanderers.”  Next trip, all four of us will be wearing custom-made shirts with that moniker.

1 Comment Posted on Donald Trump, Iran, Norah O'Donnell, President Trump, Strait of Hormuz

Is There a Doctor in the [White] House?

“Leave the F—in’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell—JUST WATCH.”

“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” bombing Iran “back to the Stone Ages.”

In your wildest imagination would you ever think such vile statements would come from a U.S. President?

Whatever diminished mental capacity former President Joe Biden may have had, what we are living through now is much worse—an unstable man during a time of war. Even berating Biden as “sleepy” has come back to haunt him as myriad videos reveal the president as “sleeping” during meetings.

The Atlantic writer Tom Nichols summarizes the president’s state of mind this way:

“[We] should be very worried about a commander in chief who is trying to govern the country between social-media binges, who attacks religious leaders in narcissistic frenzy, and who imagines himself as a deity. If an elderly parent did such things, most people would be concerned. The president doing such things is far more alarming.”

His nastiest comments are posted in the middle of the night.  When does the faucet of his venomous social media megaphone get turned off?  Can’t he think of ways to use his time in a productive way?

When he made the decision to attack Iran, a move that his predecessors had refused to undertake due to the inherent risks, he didn’t do so based on facts but on feelings.  Most troubling is that not one person told him this was a bad idea.  Even his own vice president had reservations about the “excursion” yet ultimately supported his decision.

Whenever the war ends, it will leave Iran more powerful than before.  If he’s lucky, his negotiators may end up with a deal that resembles what the Obama administration had already accomplished in 2015.  That’s the agreement that he tore up.  In the decade since, Iran has been on a nuclear enrichment spending spree.  And now, the Strait of Hormuz will forever be a weapon Iran will use against its enemies.

His public appearances are also disturbing because he constantly dwells on his “greatest hits” which consumes his thoughts—windmills, Greenland and the ballroom—none of which impact Americans struggling with gas prices.

When asked on Fox News about how the citizens of Iran are doing when it comes to basic living necessaries such as food and water, he didn’t answer the question, choosing to comment on how beautiful the female reporter was who asked the question.  That’s where his mind is during wartime?

He sits at a cabinet meeting, with the secretary of state on one side and the secretary of “war” on the other, and they have a permanent bemused expression as their commander rambles on for several minutes about the quality of the pens he has when signing executive orders.

Just yesterday he sat down for an interview with “60 Minutes” correspondent Norah O’Donnell to discuss the shooter who attempted access to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.  For a moment, the president seems unusually open to having an improved relationship with the press based on his reception.  Yet when O’Donnell asked him a question he didn’t like, his real self reappeared, lashing out at O’Donnell as “horrible” and a “disgrace”.   There’s the president 77 million people voted for, in all his glorious vulgarity.

If he doesn’t have dementia, then he has a personality disorder.  In either case, accountability needs to happen finally to this man.   Send a doctor, psychologist or anger management therapist to the White House because the leader of the free world is not well, and if he continues acting like a recalcitrant toddler, America will end up in the intensive care unit.