Update 12-11-07

Hi,

For a start, Happy Chanukah. Last week was too early to say that, and this week is almost too late.

    For a second thing, this past week's Alumni Association meeting was almost canceled due to bad weather and wheezing.  But, from what I understand, it was able to go on.  But the early January meeting will be canceled because Emily is retreating to warmer Florida -- well, she's also doing good deeds and visiting her mother.

    Third, Allen Moss sent some great photos of his 1950s classic toy collection.  He had all the pieces of all the sets individually laid out, and they made me remember plastic cars, trains, and dinosaurs that Morty Jacobs happily blew up with firecrackers down by the creek.  If you want to see pictures of Allen's collection, e-mail him.  He'll probably send you annotated shots.
        Here's a sample of Allen's careful notes for three different sets of photos:
        JPG 31 1959 Marx Happi-Time Farm Set
        JPG 32 Collection of Mint-In-Box Marx Farm sets from 1951 to 1964 and Renwal 1956 Panama Canal Play Set
        JPG 33 Top Two play sets, left column: Marx MIB Rex Mars Planet Patrol Set and Marx Captain Space Solar Academy. The rest are MIB Marx Farm Sets. The right column top is 1952 Marx Super Circus Play Set, and the rest are Marx Prehistoric Play sets from 1957 to 1978
   
    Fourth, from Steve Cohen:  Hi, all.  If you Google "Marmarth Dinosaur," then click on "Scientists Get Rare Look at Dinosaur Soft Tissue," then click on "photo gallery," then click on "next," you will see some pretty cool CT scans and dino skin of a dinosaur I worked on.  You'll even see a photo of me -- in a hat and sunglasses strapping the specimen.
        Also, this past Sunday the National Geographic channel aired a special on this dinosaur.  It will probably be repeated.
   
    Fifth, Amy Lieberman has changed her e-mail address.  For those interested in writing her, they can now do so at:  amyliebermancasting@gmail.com

    Next, a series of letters exchanged between Ira Mitzner and me. They're kind of thought-provoking, but they do tend to drop all defenses. Ira may be comfortable with that because, lately, he seems to be wearing boxing gloves.  And I'm a designer, so I'm used to all kinds of people questioning my choices.  And mention of particular desirable women by name is only meant to be a compliment.  The guys can take care of themselves.
   
    First, from Ira:  When I look back at elementary and high school, I have many nice memories.  However, the class e-mails also have brought to mind things that were painful at the time, but which are laughable now. Here are some examples from my youth:
        1) Andy Dolich, calling me a "fag" when we were at Forest Road because I had done some TV and stage acting in my youth.  (At the 37th reunion, Barnet Kellman confessed that he was envious of me at the time because of my acting, something I never knew -- but which is not surprising given his career).
        2) Steve Gootzeit and Barnet being totally pissed off at me because I made Eagle Scout before they did. (When Mr. Bergen later unexpectedly announced my award in the auditorium, which resulted in a collective gasp and again brought up the "fag theme," I was totally humiliated and wished they had beaten me.)
        3) At the class "dedications" before we graduated, the class dedicated "Ira Mitzner to Alan Finder."  (The not so subtle slap was because Alan had a higher average than I did, but I got into Brown and he didn't -- supposedly because I was a wrestling jock.)
        4) I finally got up the courage to ask Alison Alman to an AZA party.  When I got there, as I've mentioned before, Stu Kandel came up to me and said he and Alison were dating -- and how about swapping dates with him.  In shock and disappointment, I did (I don't remember who she was and wouldn't tell if I did.)
        How about you?
   
    Rich -- I answered Ira:  Yeah, well, the problem of being called a fag when you knew you weren't one and could still get a date with Alison Altman if you wanted it is slightly different from my situation of being homosexual, having no outlet for it, always being very careful among friends, and occasionally still acting very inappropriately.  Supposedly, things are better for high school kids these days, but the thing is that kids are still kids and are still learning to behave.  So there are still unintentional problems, let alone those based on lack of information or fear.
        And did you want me to pass on your note to the class, or was it just for me?  I think it brings up interesting questions.
   
    Ira:  I'm shocked -- I thought you were still going to marry Nancy Garfield.  Seriously, I never knew what was going on in your head, but I can imagine it was very difficult for you.  I may have gotten a date with Alison, but not a relationship -- which I really would have liked.  As you say, things are better, but still not as they should be.  And, yes, I thought my comments might liven up the update a bit.
   
    Rich: I thought I was going to marry Nancy, too, and we were both looking forward to going to college together.  Then we ended up at different schools.
        All that was separate -- or at least I thought it was -- from my being interested in guys.  That mainly didn't give me trouble because I kind of buried myself in work that I liked to do anyway.  And I really like women and was looking forward to being married and having a family.  And I've had my opportunities with some great women, but I stupidly wanted a conventionally pretty wife to balance my Icabod Cranish tendencies.
        In high school -- and certainly meant as no slight to Nancy, who I couldn't have grown up without -- I wanted to date Alison, too.  Or Peggy Galinger or Robin Seader.  I just needed one clear-thinking adult to go to for advice, and that never happened.  But clear-thinking adults seem hard to find at any time, so there's no one to blame.  You just try not to pass the confusion on to the next generations.
   
    Ira: Your comments surprise me.   Are you suggesting that if you had married Nancy, Peggy, or Robin, you would have lived happily ever after?
   
    Rich:  No, I would have been Nancy's ex-husband.  I was way too immature, even after college, to get married.  It also took me a while to realize that some women marry not because their husband looks good or is interesting but because he'll provide good financial support.  And a man who's freelancing a design career is not what people call a good prospect.
        The funny thing is I have lived happily ever after.  I've had a very easy, very interesting -- to me at least -- life.  It just didn't turn out the way I plotted at 16.  But what do 16-year-olds know?
        Also, if you really don't mind, I think I will run this exchange of letters in the next newsletter.  See if it gets some reaction.
   
    Ira: Go for it.
   
    [Rich -- separate from all that -- I was at Chanukah party last Saturday night, not the kind of thing I've done a lot of in the last 40 years.  But it was for one of my students, and after she lit the candles, her sister sang a strangely familiar song.  But the family is Israeli, and the song was in Hebrew.
        "Does that have other lyrics?" I asked.
        "Nope," Nicole said.  "It's been a Chanukah song all my life."
        That's 22 years.
        Still, I started piecing together some lyrics I hadn't heard since I was 13 and mostly spent Friday nights tying knots in Andy Dolich's tallis fringe.  This is what I got:
     
        Rock of Ages let our song
        Praise thy sheltering power.
        Something something raging storm,
        Something something tower (?)
        Furious they assailed us,
        Something something ...ailed us,
        And thy word, broke their sword
        When our own strength failed us.

    Not bad, considering how lousy my memory is.  And feeding that much to Google gave me:

        Rock of Ages, let our song
        Praise Thy saving power;
        Thou, amidst the raging foes,
        Wast our sheltering tower.
        Furious they assailed us,
        But Thine arm availed us,
        And Thy Word
        Broke their sword
        When our own strength failed us.

    Words: By “Mordecai,” 14th Century; translated from Hebrew to German by Leopold Stein (1810-1882); translated from German to English by Marcus Jastrow (1829-1903) and Gustav Gottheil (1827-1903).  Music: Maoz Tsur, Ger-man Ashkenazic melody.

    I also learned that Judah Macabee retook the temple in 160 BC, not in some far older, Biblical time.  And that Jesus revealed himself as the son of God at a Chanukah party.  Ours was less eventful.]