-
“THAT CERTAIN PLACE”
“THAT CERTAIN PLACE” Jake Haberfeld, Jerusalem~ 1983 Most Americans, particularly of the male gender, like to think of themselves as stand-up guys without a need to revert to nuances and/or euphemisms. There is nothing wrong with nuances and euphemisms, but there is also a virtue in calling things by their proper names. For reasons…
-
IRA HUDAS: A SOMETIME SOLDIER
It is peculiar or perhaps amusing to find that one memory prompts another one. I am writing this on September 17 which is the day after the horrible tragedy at the Washington Naval Yard. In this case, the memory that has been revived goes back to 1942. If my mathematics are correct, which are not…
-
GIFTY’S SURPRISE ANNOUNCEMENT
As some of my readers know, I have employed home health aides as a means of avoiding institutional care. I require help during the evening and midnight hours. Among other things, my ability to stand up or get up during the night time is limited. During the course of an evening, I may stand up…
-
MUSIC AND MEMORY
Those of you who have followed Ezra’s Essays know that during my childhood I was forced to attend religious services of the Protestant faith. There were the Southern Baptists, the Nazarenes, the Pentecostals, and, finally, the Free Will Baptists. In the last case, the Free Willers banned musical accompaniment to their hymn singing on the…
-
A TWOFER
The title to this essay is a phonetic one as spoken by Americans. Its real derivation comes from baseball. If a hitter gets two hits in his four or five at-bats, he will announce that he had a “twofer.” (If he was hitless in his times at bat, he would mournfully say, “I had an…
-
SLEEPING WITH SYLVESTER
Luncheons around this house consist primarily of foie gras and truffles. As I was consuming my sixth helping of truffles, news came over the radio and television that shocked me. It seems that Larry King, the ace broadcaster on the CNN network who does wide-ranging interviews, is now being sued for divorce by either his…
-
Grub
I have been writing these essays for the last 16 years. It all started with an injury to my brain which impaired my speech as a result of a stroke in 1997. I started writing these essays and somehow after 764 such essays, I have still continued. As a matter of fact, I seem at…
-
Thanksgiving 2010
The title to this essay has underlining under the date of 2010. This is to distinguish it from an essay that was written here four years ago called “Thanksgiving 2006.” Since that essay of four years ago was written, there have been some encouraging developments. The players in this essay are Jenny M and her…
-
GIVING A (Insert Adjective) RAT’S ASS
In 1942, we were at war with the Axis powers of Germany, Italy, and Japan. In the summer of that year, I joined or enlisted in the American Army. During that period dating back to 1940, there was a draft system in place which compelled young men to submit to military discipline in, most likely,…
-
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO SILENCE?
When I was a youngster, John Gualdoni ran a grocery store in Brentwood, Missouri. It was located on North and South Road. The people in the grocery store were the clerks Bob and Louie, the butcher, and John himself. We had to put up with what Bob and Louie had to wisecrack about as well…