A Mensch

He was born Joseph Levitch but the world knows him as actor and comedian Jerry Lewis. He was one of my childhood favorites and I laughed hysterically at his mania.  

But the belly laughs didn’t stop then. The Sunday before Thanksgiving, I went to see his televised 87^th birthday tribute that airs in March 2013 on PBS. I should have taken a box of tissues, his comedic intent is pure insanity and I along with the audience was enthralled by his nonsense and idiocy. However don’t be fooled—as a human being he’s as sharp as a needle and his lively mischievous mind never waivers. The man is brilliant and has a flair for improvisation, as well as being multi-faceted, he has achieved international fame. The French love him, so much in fact that they presented him with the Legion of Honor and gave him a medal. I think they appreciate his gift for pantomime. And judging by the large Brazilian contingency in the audience, that flew in to see him live, they too adore him. 

A few old-time celebrities were papering the house.  Two rows behind me were Tim Conway, Edie Gorme and Steve Lawrence who called out, "hey Laaa-dy." Also to my right across the aisle was Cuba Gooding Jr.

That night I found out that Lewis has made Las Vegas his home after marrying a show-girl thirty years ago. And it was in Las Vegas where he hosted the annual Muscular Dystrophy telethon in which he raised nearly 2.5 billion dollars. That’s what I call the world’s greatest fund-raiser and a mensch with a big heart.

Penny wise, Pound foolish

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I suggested to my family (on me) that we see Leo Tolstoy's tale of love and marriage in imperial Russia in a modern adaptation of Anna Karenina http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPGLRO3fZnQ

What a disappointment it was!  Having not seen any prior screen version and only reading the novel, the film opens with a shaky start as a staged performance and is disjointed.  I questioned who was playing whom and what their purpose was, and when the characters traipse across the stage, I couldn’t wait for the tale of doomed love to begin.

Although the visuals are often magical and overly-indulgent—the film is overtly theatrical and a few scenes are simply ridiculous.

The film like the book isn’t concerned with observing social etiquette—it's about raw, often uncontrollable passions, emotional and sexual betrayal, mixed-up people with mixed-up lives.

Keira Knightley stars as Anna, literature's most tragic adulteress. Jude Law is Anna's cold-hearted husband, Alexey Karenin, a statesman who is principled to the point of callousness.

Anna Karenina was not the book Tolstoy intended to write, but his thoughts turned increasingly to an incident that haunted him: A neighbor's mistress had thrown herself under a train after being jilted by her lover. From this tragic seed grew an epic of sex, duty, marriage, and moral regeneration that many consider the greatest novel ever written.

I expected more from filmmaker Joe Wright who gave audiences Atonement certainly the film that Ian McEwan's novel deserved. I left the theatre feeling jilted myself, for having thrown away good money on a stylized film with little character development.

The Story of My Life

Today I’m a guest blogger on Joe Bunting’s The Write Practice.  For those who have the desire to tell and sell, and contemplating “The Story of My Life,” I’m giving some pointers. It’s a post designed for those who are ready to turn memories into memoir.  Or perhaps you’re not sure where to go from here. You may have written several pages and have a clear idea of what sort of memoir you want to write. But you are asking yourself why anybody should care about reading your story. I can help you take the next step. Join in at http://thewritepractice.com/moments-memoir/ and feel free to comment. Cheers!

Where life leads

Last year at this time I was writing to my nephew while in New york.  He was an exchange student. Now he’s in his first year of College, the youngest, the tallest and thinnest and most likely the baby-face of the freshman class. Today I wrote him a letter. When I considered making something edible and sending off the letter inside a care package, with either home-made peanut brittle or apple butter, the thought took me back to when I visited him at his school, in his first year.  In those days I not only got to drop him off and pick him up, but on occasion was able to eat lunch with him as well.
 
One reason I remember it so well is that I had made him dinner the night before. While we were dining he turned to me and said, “Tante do you think you can make this dish again and bring it to my school tomorrow?”

The next day I woke up early and began my preparations for the Coq au vin—that he liked so much.

As I approached Lycée Français de San Francisco, I saw a blackboard out in front of the school with a menu posted. Flabbergasted, I couldn’t understand how my cooking could compare to their elaborate full-course menu. I read the board that included—an entrée, vegetable, salad, bread and cheese and dessert. To my chagrin I thought of the paper plates and paper napkins I had packed thinking it was practical and made for a lighter load. If there was cutlery inside, I would have to look the other way. Then I realized that my meal however short on courses was made from an essential simple and powerful ingredient... and that was love. I had anticipated his birth and he was (and still is) very special to me. So in I proudly walked with my picnic basket of coq au vin, a green salad and French bread. I looked around the room. The school had a structured program when it came to meals and allowed plenty of time for consumption. It had all the little personal touches, the way the children waited in line, how they got everyone to quiet down and I felt comfort in the structure. I can only imagine what I must have looked like among all those 5 year-olds. But I figured if my nephew didn’t mind, then why should I?

Going to lunch was so much fun and so invigorating! I took out the entrée and bread, and all the other kids were in awe. Naturally being in San Francisco fruits and vegetables were organic and their plates had no signs of peanut butter or any of the fare I grew up with. We ate slowly and enjoyed our lunch together.

Afterwards, I placed my basket aside and stayed, chasing after him as we ventured over the playground. We went up the ladders for a chance to zip down the slides. It was cold, we were red cheeked, breathing out of our mouths, giggling and enjoying those moments of pure freedom. I had children tugging on my arms and pulling me in different directions and kept hearing, “Can I play too?” “Will you be my Tante?” They were wonderful children and it was great fun.