A Sad Story

A Sad Story

Originally uploaded by Hank LNU

So I’ve been doing some geneological research to find out about my
father’s family. I actually spent the better part of an entire day
off in the musty archives in downtown Manhattan, finding out as much
as I could about my grandfather. My paternal grandfather. You see,
he died when my father was 10. My father really didn’t remember much
about him, and I couldn’t blame him, thinking about what I would have
known about my father when I was 10. He was the biggest man in the
world, is just about it, I think. I was able to find my father’s
father’s death certificate, which led me to his cemetery.

But that’s not this photo.

You see, my father had a sister. His sister died before he was born.
I always knew that my Nana—the only grandparent I ever knew—had a
tough life. I never realized, and I mean never, not until now, what
that meant. You see, Marilyn, my father’s sister, died when she was 5
years old. And my Nana’s husband died about 15 years later. My
grandmother raised my father on her own, in a crappy part of Brooklyn,
with no money at all. And she had a child die. The reason I never
knew how tough she had it was because I never had children. Now I do,
and it’s the worst thing you can possibly imagine. Literally.

So I found my grandfather’s grave. But on the way, I got lost. You
have to understand, my father didn’t know where his father was
buried. I don’t blame him, he was 10. So all I had was a plot and
row number. I miscounted the rows, and ended up totally lost.

Which is when I found my father’s sister’s grave. Marilyn. As I
said, she died at 5. Until I found her, no one had likely visited her
grave in 70 years. Or thereabouts. Pretty staggering. And I found
it by accident.

My Favorite Painting

My Favorite Painting

Originally uploaded by Hank LNU

This hangs in the Louvre. I don’t know why I like it so much, but I’ve
loved it for at least 15 years, and I look for it whenever I’m in Paris.

What’s your favorite painting?

Back Porch

Personally, I think “back porch” is two words.  But evidently I’m not correct, because a really smart person, and a great blogge, thinks otherwise.

Go visit  The Cubicle’s Backporch

She’s awesome.

It’s Not Paranoia If They’re Really After You

I remember a Woody Allen quote, “I have to live in New York.  You see, I’m a paranoid, and New York City is the only place where my fears are justified.”

So that’s a piece of background.  The other is, I used to prosecute people who go on the internet and proposition minors for sex.

So I surf a bit, obviously, and I continually come across sites about kids.  And they have lots of baby pictures.  Now, I have four kids, as both my regular readers know, and I just love them like nobody’s business.  I take tons of pictures of them.  Some of those pictures I even send via email to friends and family.

But I have never, not once, posted a picture of my child on the internet.

Am I being paranoid?

Life Imitates Indexed

Life Imitates Indexed

Originally uploaded by Hank LNU

An ad in today’s Wall Street Journal.

Really, Really the Last Meme

This isn’t a meme. Not really. It’s been a meme, but it’s not the reason I’m doing this. I was listening to music yesterday in my office, talking to my secretary, and she mentioned that my taste in music was eclectic, and she didn’t know what song would come up next. So I clicked to the next song. And the next.

I remembered an old meme, “what are the next 10 songs on your iPod.”

So, here they are:

Odalisque, The Decemberists
Zeh Hayom, Chaim Dovid [This is Israeli music. I'm not Israeli, I just like it.]
Someday Never Comes, Creedence Clearwater Revival
Shadowboxer, Fiona Apple
Spirit in the Night, Bruce Springsteen
Jealous Hearted Man, Muddy Waters
Next to You, The Police
Wild is the Wind, Nina Simone
Paint it Black, The Rolling Stones
Lonely No More, Rob Thomas.

All I can say it, thank G-d that Aly and AJ’s “Rush” didn’t come up. That would have been embarrassing.

Spam?

OK, spam is getting a bit…abstract.  The following is a comment that’s currently awaiting moderation.  The site that’s listed in the comment is wellsurviving.com.  I’m not linking.  It’s basically a health and fitness ad site.

Is this spam or not? (I think yes).

I have called in on this location on many an instance now but this post is the 1st one that I have ever commented on.

Congratulations on such a first-rate critique and site. I have found it to be very helpful and educational – I only wish that there were more blogs online like this one.

I never disappear from this blog without learning anything, from time to time I may feel a tiny bit saddened that I may not agree with a blog article or comeback that has been made. But hey! that is existence and if every one decided to agree on the same thing what a boring old world we would exist in.

Please maintain your admirable work.

Having said all of this, and if I’m kindly allowed to continue with my entries I will come again to post on your blog site soon

Cheers, have a great day and thank you.

The Last Meme You’ll See Here, I Promise

Seriously, I don’t know what possessed me. I saw this on Hotfessional, and just needed to do it. Please forgive me.

By the way, it’s completely and totally accurate. I grew up in the South, but I’ve been in the north for 14 years.

Your Linguistic Profile:

40% General American English 40% Yankee 15% Dixie 0% Midwestern 0% Upper Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Celebrities and Politics

I saw this quote from the Wall Street Journal’s Law Blog, and really liked one aspect of it.

Read the quote, then I’ll tell you what I loved. It’s actually a quote within a quote.

To set the scene, this is from the creators of the show “The Wire.” Truly a fantastic show, and one which I wish they’d add to iTunes as soon as possible.

And, with the series concluded on March 9, they offer their take on what we, as a society, can do to “bridge” the “two Americas — separate and unequal” produced by the country’s failed drug war. The piece begins:

We write a television show. Measured against more thoughtful and meaningful occupations, this is not the best seat from which to argue public policy or social justice. Still, those viewers who followed The Wire . . . .tell us they’ve invested in the fates of our characters. They worry or grieve for Bubbles, Bodie or Wallace [pictured], certain that these characters are fictional yet knowing they are rooted in the reality of the other America, the one rarely acknowledged by anything so overt as a TV drama. . . .These viewers, admittedly a small shard of the TV universe, deluge us with one question: What can we do?

What I absolutely love is the humility displayed in the first sentence of the embedded quote. “We’re not in the best position to comment compared to other more thoughtful professions.” They go on to do just that. Comment, I mean. But it’s nice that they made pro forma motions toward humility.

Go Toward The Light

Go Toward The Light

Originally uploaded by Hank LNU

Going down this hallway between terminals in an airport scared me a
little. I’m man enough to admit it.

I’m Still Pissed

I’m still incredibly upset from the other day.  I looked around the news tonight, and nada.  No follow up.  Barely any condemnation, even.  Because, let’s face it, a good portion of the world is secretly, if not happy, then not too upset.  I mean after all, if only Israel would do this or that, the palestineans wouldn’t be upset.  As if. These are people willing to kill kids.  No, excuse me.  Not “kill.”  Try instead, “brutally slaughter.”  Yeah, that’s more accurate.  I don’t know of an epithet strong enough for someone who targets children.  Motherfucking cocksucker comes close, I guess, but not really.  Piece of shit.  Yeah, motherfucking piece of shit.  That’s closer.Because it’s not just like they drop a bomb and a child happens to be there (by the way, go back to the last Lebanon war and news reports there about how Hezb’Allah based their fire teams in civilian areas so any counterfire would hit civilians and they could get better press.)Someone walked into a religious school and aimed an automatic rifle at kids.And pulled the trigger, again and again.You know, I really was going to make this a lighter post about my new iMac, and how psyched I am about it, but as soon as I started typing, this came out.I’m traveling on business next week, starting tomorrow morning, actually, and I won’t be back for a few days.  I’ll post something from where I am, another “What Time Zone Am I In” post, so look for it. 

Not So Funny Today

I had a funny post in mind about random things that pissed me off, like people not washing their hands after using the facilities.

But yesterday’s shooting in Jerusalem has me simply too upset.

In case you didn’t hear, an arab went into a Yeshiva and started shooting, killing eight (some reports say 10), and wounding more, before being shot dead.

These were 15-year-olds, mind you.  It was essentially a high school.

My wife said that the worst thing was that it was kids.

I said that the worst thing was that this act of true utter barbarism would not change one mind.  No one is going to say because of this “wow, you know, those Hamas people are really bad; maybe I shouldn’t support the partition of Jerusalem.”  By tomorrow, this is going to be a non-story.  One more episode in the “circle of violence.”

Israel targets terrorists, they target children (do a google search on Shalhevet Pass, if you have the stomach for it).  Israel makes every effort to avoid collateral damage, including dropping leaflets saying “we’re going to bomb here in 4 hours.”  They celebrate the murder of children.  Celebrate.  Think on that, just for a moment.  When news of the attack got out, Hamas called it “heroic,” and palestineans went into the street and celebrated.

I have no humor today.