Too much diffusion?

The pulmonary condition with which I was diagnosed following an open lung biopsy back in 2000 is known by the acronym DIPNECH: Diffuse Idiopathic Pulmonary NeuroEndocrine Cell Hyperplasia, thought to be a precursor to what are known as carcinoid tumors of the lung. The cancer with which I was diagnosed five years ago is Primary Central Nervous System Lymphoma. It was only this week for the first time that I realized a rather odd connection between these two completely unrelated conditions. Although both cancers and carcinoids can occur as solid lesions that can be surgically excised, in my case both presented in spread out, scattered, dispersed forms not treatable by excision.

This sudden insight came to me as I was chatting with Dr. Michelle Kim, the new physician who has taken over from the long-time carcinoid guru at Mount Sinai, Dr. Richard Warner, who retired last year in his late 80s. As far as Dr. Kim and I could tell, there is absolutely no medical significance to this observation, but as I have continued to think about it I cannot help but wonder whether therein lies some sort of cosmic or spiritual significance. Perhaps my life has not been sufficiently focused to achieve the things of which I might have been capable with more directed effort. Maybe I just needed to be a lot less scatter-brained, so to speak.

I may not have accomplished all I might have been able to do, but I can still enjoy the things I am able to do. And one of those that was quite a lovely surprise was the newly released movie version of “Beauty and the Beast.” Let me first say that despite large numbers of charming little girls in princess dresses at the late Sunday morning matinee, this is absolutely not, in my mind, a movie for young children. Although we all know it has a happy ending, there is a lot of violence along the way. The movie has a PG rating, but I think most parents just ignore that “P” and assume that since it is animated it must be just fine for young children. Our granddaughter Ella (10), saw it Saturday night with her Mom and a friend, and we took Eliana (11) to the early Sunday matinee. Maya, who is 8, did not want to go, and in retrospect we are glad she made that choice.

Having said that, it was really a very good film. I do not believe you have to have children to go and see this – it is even playing on the Luxe Level where patrons must be at least eighteen years old! The movie was done as a live action/digital hybrid, meaning that the human characters are all played by actual actors, while the various inanimate objects that “come to life” as part of the story were obviously done using digital animation. Emma Watson is absolutely charming as Belle, and her father Maurice is warmly played by Kevin Kline. There are quite a few other well-known actors, including Emma Thompson, Audra McDonald, and Stanley Tucci, as well as many unfamiliar names all of whom were superb. Eliana would have been quite happy to sit through a second screening if we could have done so.

But Barry and I had three tickets for the Celtics vs. The Miami Heat: a Chanukah present we had gotten for Joshua. What a game that was! The Celtics had a rather weak first quarter, but sometime during the second quarter they woke up and it was truly neck and neck until the second half of the fourth quarter, when they finally managed to pull ahead by enough points to win the game. I am not much of a sports enthusiast but I have to say that was an exciting match.

We returned to New York on Monday morning, back to the regular grind of doctor appointments and such. We completed most of the Passover preparation in our Sharon apartment and now we are working on getting the house here ready, since we will be spending time in both places again this year.

Right now I will just be happy if the weather improves a bit. I am really tired of the cold!

Love,

Rebecca

New musical horizons

Whenever I meet a fellow respiratory patient the topic of oxygen providers inevitably comes up, and I have yet to find anyone who is completely happy with the service they have. I started with a company called American Oxygen and they were so unreliable that after a couple of years I decided to take my chances with another company. Lincare has provided my oxygen needs for the past five years or so, and I have a great relationship with Reuben, the fellow who is assigned to this area. However, the Lincare office is not very well organized, so they can only give me a fairly wide window for arrival, which means I am often stuck at home all day on Thursdays, the day they make deliveries in this area. Aggravating as this is for me, it is a source of great frustration to Reuben, who bears the brunt of clients who take out their annoyance with the office management on him. Lincare used to have a location not far from here where we could just drive and pick up oxygen ourselves, but they closed that office, leaving the nearest one in New Jersey. Unless we want to spend anywhere from 1-3 hours driving there,  I am completely at the mercy of their schedule.

For that reason, although there are two very interesting classes at Hebrew Institute on Thursday mornings, I only attend them sporadically. I had gotten oxygen last week so was free yesterday and went to both. The classes are generally attended by senior citizens, some well into their 80s, most of them women. They are an impressively knowledgeable and engaged group.

The first Thursday morning class is a text-based course taught by Senior Rabbi Steven Exler on The Book of Kings. Rav Steven is an enthusiastic teacher and has attracted quite a devoted group of regular attendees to his classes.

The second course, taught by Rabbi Ari Hart, is called “The Torah of Music: Exploring Jewish Musical Traditions, From the Tanach* to Today.” I have only learned with Rav Ari a couple of times but today was really special. I don’t know what he has covered over the past months since the course began, but this morning he covered two songs composed and recorded by contemporary Israeli artists.

The first is called “Tefillah HaChiloni,” “Prayer of the Secular,” written and performed by Kobi Oz, a man who has clearly struggled with his relationship to Jewish tradition. Mr. Oz is an equal opportunity critic, finding fault with both secular and all shades of religious (Haredi (Ultra Orthodox), modern (“National”) Orthodox, and Reform) Jews and offering hope that we can come together and focus on praying for peace. Some in the class found his words offensive, but I think that if we are honest with ourselves we must all own some of his criticism.

The second song, written and performed by Eviatar Banai, is called “Aba,” “Father.” This piece is as much a prayer as it is a song. “Father, I want to be sure with all my heart that this journey I’m taking has a happy end.” What more beautiful prayer can there possibly be?

Father, I want to stand here before you

And believe you’re a good Father

Father, I need to know that you love me

Just like this (for no reason), my good Father

Father, I want to be sure with all my heart

That this journey I am taking has a happy end

That whatever I encounter in the way

Will turn weakness into great strength

Father, I want to return to me

And find you here with me

In my origin I am purely good

And there, only there, I believe in myself

My dove in the clefts of the rock

Let me hear your voice

Sing me a song, a new song

That will light up my heart and my cords.

Have a safe and peaceful weekend.

Love,

Rebecca

*Torah (five books of Moses), Navi (prophets), and Chetuvim (writings)

A time for every experience

On Sunday we had hoped to go see the new 4K digital print of Woody Allen’s 1979 film, “Manhattan,” which was playing at The Film Forum in SOHO. But then we heard on the news that his beloved island was hosting a half marathon that day, and we have lived here long enough to know better than to venture into the City when such City-wide events are taking place. Even if the route does not go through the specific neighborhood you plan to visit, it throws off traffic all over the City and is just not fun.

So instead we went to see a movie at a small theater up in Westchester, “The Sense of an Ending.” The movie travels back and forth in time, emphasizing the stark contrast that can exist between the events we remember and the events that actually occurred. The life being examined is that of a fellow named Tony Webster, and you are never really quite sure which is the real version of the events that shaped much of his adult life. To be honest, I felt lost during much of it. I had a very hard time figuring out who was whom then and now.

In our music class this week we studied Mozart’s Piano Concerto #23 in A major. Barry and I had never heard this one, but the instructor, Louis Rosen, is quite fond of this particular concerto, particularly the second movement. This fact led to an interesting discussion about proper behavior at the symphony: to clap, or not to clap, between movements. Should applause be viewed as a dictum from Kohelet (Ecclesiastes), in which Solomon wrote

A season is set for everything, a time for every experience under the heaven:

Should we add to the list of experiences:

A time to applaud, a time to refrain from applauding

The rules of etiquette at concerts have long dictated that applause is reserved for the end of an entire piece, although there is much evidence this was not always the case. Louis said he never thought about this much until he took his teen-age son, not a particular fan of classical music, to a concert, and the young man began to applaud after the first movement. I have to admit that, before this discussion, when I would see someone clapping before the completion of a piece, I would just assume that the person had never been to a concert before. Perhaps it is a “rule” worth reconsidering. Or perhaps not. Call me old fashioned, but the rules of decorum at classical music concerts add a reverence that is a valuable part of the experience. For now, I choose to continue to value the tradition.

After a routine medical appointment in the City yesterday, we decided to head downtown to catch the final day of “Manhattan.” Woody Allen’s alter-ego in this movie is Isaac, a twice-divorced television writer. When the movie begins, Isaac, a man around 40 years old, is dating Tracy (Mariel Hemingway) a 17-year-old senior at the prestigious Dalton School. Then he meets Mary (Diane Keaton) and the two become romantically involved. Meryl Streep has a small role as Isaac’s ex-wife.  We have seen this movie a number of times but it is always a special experience to see Woody Allen movies in the neighborhoods so often featured in his New York films.

Take care, all.

Love,

Rebecca

About children but not for children

The winner of the Best Animated Film Oscar for this year was a movie we saw and I wrote about in March of last year, “Zootopia.” This week we saw another one of last year’s nominees, “My Life as a Zucchini,” a story told in Claymation. The original version featured a French cast, but the movie now showing here has an English-speaking cast that includes Will Forte, Nick Offerman, Ellen Page, and Amy Sedaris. Like “Zootopia,” it is a film worth seeing.

Do not be mistaken, this may be a movie about children but it is not a movie for children. The little boy at the center of the story is named Icarus, but he goes by the name Courgette (Zucchini). He is a lonely little guy whose father has long since abandoned the family and whose mother is a chronic alcoholic who ignores or abuses him. A freak accident causes her death and he is taken in as a ward of the state, where he is placed in an orphanage. But he continues to have a relationship with the social worker who handles his case (if you are familiar with Ron Swanson, Nick Offerman’s character from “Parks and Recreation,” you will agree that Mr. Offerman is perfectly cast here as the sweet heart under the somewhat gruff exterior) and also develops a kind friendship with a girl named Camille who comes to live at the orphanage when all she has is an aunt (voiced by Amy Sedaris) who is more interested in the girl’s inheritance than her wellbeing. Things start out rough but Zucchini eventually finds his voice and carves out a friendship with the bully of the group.

The story does end optimistically for Zucchini and Camille, but you are left saddened by the realization that they were just a couple of lucky ones in a cruel world that leaves far too many children in very sad situations. I recognize that these foreign language films are not widely distributed in the United States, but if you do have a chance to see it, you should. The care and patience that go into producing a full length movie with Claymation are awe-inspiring.

Have a great weekend.

Love,

Rebecca

Evening the playing field

One of the many routine e-mail notices I receive is The Times of Israel Daily Edition, the self-described “one-stop news site covering Israel, the region and the Jewish people worldwide.” Yesterday, I noticed the following article with some interest:

By law, Israelis over 80 can now skip to front of lines: 

Legislation allows elderly to ask to be served first at public offices, stores

  

Israelis aged 80 or older will no longer have to stand in line for service at stores, pharmacies, banks, post offices and other public services, thanks to a legislative change approved by the Knesset on Tuesday.

The only exceptions will be made for disabled individuals, who will get priority over the elderly.

The Knesset passed the bill into law in its second and third readings in the plenary on Tuesday, with 37 lawmakers voting in favor and none opposed.

Social Equality Minister Gila Gamliel (Likud) said it was unfortunate that the Knesset had to legislate the measure, which she said should simply be an obvious gesture for all Israelis.

“From today, …everyone will make way for them [the elderly],” she said.

The law stipulates that those over 80 may jump to the front of the line upon their request.

MK [Member of Knesset] Itzik Shmuli (Zionist Union), who introduced the bill, said he was waiting for the day when giving way for an elderly person became the norm in society and legislation was no longer needed.

My fellow Americans, you may need to pause before you begin to gloat that we have no need for such a law in the United States. On the relatively unusual occasions when I am out in public on my own, I am frequently surprised by the kind helpfulness of strangers as I try to maneuver my way around. Having said that, offers of assistance are certainly far from universal even when the need is obvious. So while I am not sure it is the most compelling or appropriate use of time for our busy legislators to worry about this accommodation of disabled or older adults, it should give all able-bodied younger folks pause.

On a somewhat related note on social matters, I completed a brief survey this morning about the New York Times crossword puzzle that, in addition to age, requested the following demographic information:

Which of the following best describes you? (Select ONE)

Male

Female

Not listed here / Other

Prefer not to answer

Is this in the category of “too much information”? What do they plan to learn from this information that would change the puzzles?

Have a great day!

Love,

Rebecca

Elvira Madigan

I am sitting here in the comfort of our warm home looking at the accumulating snow. This storm has been predicted quite extensively over the past couple of days, and for us the timing worked out exquisitely: we were able to spend an enjoyable Purim in Sharon with our family, drive back to New York in time to pick up some groceries and attend our Monday evening class (more on that in a moment), and be safely ensconced in our Riverdale home before the first flake fell.

One of the traditions on Purim, particularly for children, is to dress in costumes. Maya chose to dress as Fern Arable, the spunky eight-year-old girl from Charlotte’s Web.

Eliana, a huge fan of Minecraft, dressed accordingly:

Our niece, Sarah, who lives in Boston, came to visit and spend time with us. 

All in all, we had a fun day.

 In early February I wrote about the class Barry and I are taking at the 92^nd Street Y, “Mozart and Beethoven: The Concerto for Piano and Orchestra.” This week the instructor, Louis Rosen, chose Mozart's Concerto #21 in C major. Each week, he brings a recording of the piece(s) to be discussed, plays and describes sections of each movement in detail, and then plays the entire movement. I can never remember the numbers or keys of the various Mozart piano concertos but many are quite familiar, and from the first notes I was sure I knew #21. I quietly pulled out my iPhone to look it up and lo and behold it is, indeed, the concerto that, since the late 1960s, has come to be known as the “Elvira Madigan Concerto.”

Hearing this piece in this setting brought back memories and it was a struggle to contain a giggle. The second movement of this concerto, the Andante, was popularized in a movie called “Elvira Madigan.” Here is what Roger Ebert wrote about the film when it was released in December of 1967:

Somewhere in these pages today there is doubtless an advertisement describing "Elvira Madigan" as the most beautiful film ever made. That has been the New York critical line, expressed in turn by the New York Times, Newsweek and the New Yorker. I think it does an injustice to Bo Widerberg's great film.

"Elvira Madigan" is indeed remarkably beautiful, Almost every frame would make a painting, and yet the film is alive and cinematic, not simply photographs of pretty pictures. Widerberg composes his shots of muted colors -- usually white yellow and green -- and of the remarkably attractive faces of his stars, Pia Degermark and Thommy Berggren.

But then he uses a style of moving his camera away from the direction of the movement on the screen. The camera moves left, for example, as Berggren, on the left, passes a glass of wine to Miss Degermark, on the right. Conventional camera work, I suppose, would require the camera to follow the action. What Widerberg establishes is both the static beauty of the scene and the subtle sense that the "art" is moving against the "reality."

This sense, I believe, is what "Elvira Madigan" really conveys. And that is why it is so similar to "Bonnie and Clyde," although on any objective level the two films are unlike. Widerberg started with a legend well known in Sweden, and he has directed and photographed it with a very smooth, beautiful surface. But what is underneath is altogether different.

The story is a simple one. Elvira Madigan, a beautiful 16-year-old tightrope walker, ran away from her family's circus in the summer of 1889. Count Sixten Sparre, a young lieutenant with two children, abandoned his family and deserted from the army. After a summer together, they committed suicide in the autumn.

Widerberg begins his story with a scene in a sunny clearing. Sixten removes the brass military buttons from his uniform. He shaves off his beard to avoid recognition. They make love. Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 provides the sound track. The scene, and most of the following ones, are pure romanticism and are intended to be.

But small events take place. During a picnic, Elvira spills a bottle of red wine and it gurgles into the ground like blood. When the couple is forced to flee detection, the woman who warned them hurries to return Elvira's knitting: "You'll need it when the autumn comes." The couple runs out of money, and a charming early scene in which they dip raspberries into cream is contrasted now with a scene in which Elvira, driven by hunger, crawls on the ground eating nuts and mushrooms until she vomits.

What we have here is the story of two beautiful, stupid, selfish, romantic people, intoxicated by the legendary aspect of their own love affair. Although they seem at the beginning to be simply a young couple in love, the degree of their fanaticism becomes clear in their decision to commit suicide. This is not a tribute to love, but to the human ego.

In that class the other night, I sensed that most if not all the students had their own “Elvira Madigan” stories. Here is mine.

While growing up in St. Louis, I studied classical piano at the St. Louis Institute of Music, which appears to have ceased operation.

The Institute was founded in 1924 by J. P. Blake Sr. It was originally known as "The Progressive Series Teachers College". It was also known to be an orphanage home at one time. The address of the Institute was 7801 Bonhomme Avenue - Clayton 5, Missouri. This was at the intersection of Bonhomme and Bemiston. The building does not exist any longer.

When my family moved to West Hartford, Connecticut in 1969 when I was 17, my parents enrolled me in the Hartford Conservatory, which apparently closed its doors in 2011. I cannot remember my teacher’s name but what I very definitely remember is that he was a HUGE fan of that movie. Of course, in those days there were no computers or YouTube, so it was not until a few years later that I happened to have a chance to see the movie. By then Barry and I were a couple and we went with another young couple (if memory serves, the husband was also a student at the University of Rochester). I was SO EXCITED about going to see the movie I had long waited to see. But it turned out that it was nearly impossible to stay awake through it, and from then on none of our friends were much interested in my movie recommendations. It has only been in more recent years that I have redeemed myself and some of you who read this blog have actually gone to see movies I have recommended and even enjoyed them. I am relieved to say that you have restrained yourselves from any temptation to do me bodily harm for bad advice.

Lastly, our little Maya made it on to the front page of The Sharon Advocate, where she is seen playing with Neko, a Portuguese Water Dog from the Pets and People Foundation at the local public library.

  

http://sharon.wickedlocal.com/photogallery/WL/20170309/ENTERTAINMENTLIFE/309009986/PH/1

Stay safe and warm!!!

Love,

Rebecca

LXV

Yesterday was one of those days on which I could not help but thinking about how different it might have been had my life not veered off-course five years ago. Yesterday was my 65^th birthday.

Lucky for me, Barry did not allow me much time to wallow in such morbid thoughts. Five years ago, when I turned 60, Barry and our daughters had planned a beautiful and heartfelt celebration for me. I was not feeling very well, and Barry recalls considering cancelling the party, but I am glad we soldiered on. I ended up being diagnosed just a few weeks later.

This year our plans were somewhat lower key. I knew that he had purchased tickets to “Book of Mormon” on Broadway. But I didn’t know that he had also purchased tickets for the November 1^st performance of the show everyone wants to see, “Hamilton.” He topped it all off with a beautiful opal pendant necklace that goes well with a pair of opal earrings he bought me a few years ago.

Like all long-running Broadway musicals, “Book of Mormon” was filled with talent, enjoyable music, and tremendous energy. The play was made especially enjoyable by the couple seated next to us, who (we learned chatting before and after the show) have lived for many years in Park City, Utah and are vacationing for a week in New York. They are not Mormons, and acknowledged in our conversation after the performance that they did not imagine their Mormon friends would have found the play entertaining. But I cannot remember the last time I saw anyone laughing as hard as that fellow! Because we are not that familiar with the Mormon religion or community, there were probably a lot of references that we simply did not appreciate. But laughter is infectious, so I suspect that the play seemed funnier to me than it might have had we been seated differently.

Having said that, I have been offended at times by plays and television shows that have poked fun at Jewish stereotypes. The line between humor and insult can be quite thin. In the end, it seemed to me that the real take-home message of “Book of Mormon” is that love and respect should always have the upper hand. I hope that any Mormons who may have seen it have felt the same way.

So now I am in my LXVI^th year. Cool.

Love,

Rebecca

Clear and obvious

I have tried to stay away from political issues in my posts. I am not a student of history, and my memory and cognitive function are not sufficient to allow me to absorb and process everything I need to know. But some issues are just so simple and obvious that even I can understand them. So when I saw this yesterday on Facebook I simply knew I had to share it.

For those of you not familiar with Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, the author of this brief essay, here is a brief biography from his webpage.

An international religious leader, philosopher, award-winning author and respected moral voice, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks was recently named the winner of the 2016 Templeton Prize in recognition of his “exceptional contributions to affirming life’s spiritual dimension.” Described by H.R.H. The Prince of Wales as “a light unto this nation” and by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair as “an intellectual giant”, Rabbi Sacks is a frequent and sought after contributor to radio, television and the press both in Britain and around the world.

Since stepping down as the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth – a position he served for 22 years between 1991 and 2013 – Rabbi Sacks has held a number of professorships at several academic institutions including Yeshiva University and King’s College London. He currently serves as the Ingeborg and Ira Rennert Global Distinguished Professor at New York University. Rabbi Sacks has been awarded 17 honorary doctorates including a Doctor of Divinity conferred to mark his first ten years in office as Chief Rabbi, by the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey.

Take a few minutes and watch this video. You may even want to watch it more than once.

Lord Sacks releases anti-BDS animation video

Have a peaceful weekend.

Love,

Rebecca

Two moving films

In response to a few questions about that lovely car we have our eyes on, there are (only?) 400,000 souls who have placed their names on the wait list, each of whom has a $1000 bill on their credit card for this honor, fully refundable if minds or plans change. So who knows?

On that subject, here was the clue for 1-Down in this morning’s New York Times Crossword Puzzle

Autos with charging stations

6 letters, and I knew the 3^rd letter was an “s”…..

TESLAS

Amazing timing, huh?

Back to the Oscars, one of the movies nominated for Best Picture was “Lion,” a film based on the true story of a very poor family in India, a mother and her three children. The two older boys, who seem to be about 5 and 10 years old, go off to try to help earn some money. The little one is tired so his big brother leaves him to rest while he goes off to find work. But the big brother never returns (we later learn that he was killed that same evening), and the little guy is left wandering around unable to find his way home. After searching for his brother from place to place, narrowly evading a number of threatening situations, he eventually ends up in an orphanage, from which he is adopted by a lovely family from Australia. He has a wonderful life with this loving couple but as a young adult he decides he must try to find out what happened to his birth family. Through the miracle of Google Earth he eventually finds his way back to his mother and his young sister, twenty-five years after having seen them last.

This was a gripping story beautifully told. I am almost surprised myself at how much I loved it and cannot recommend it highly enough. I can now see why it was one of the nominees for Best Picture. The actors who played both the boy as a young child (Sunny Pawar) and as an adult (Dev Patel) were outstanding.

The second movie we saw over the past few days was quite a bit less enjoyable, but extremely well done and an important film, a documentary called “Keep Quiet,” which received a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. This film is about a Hungarian man named Csanad Szegedi, the former vice president of the Jobbik far-right political party in Hungary. A few years ago he discovered, much to his initial hooror, that his maternal grandparents were in fact Jewish. In the Jewish tradition, Jewishness is inherited through the mother’s line. His grandmother, who had survived Auschwitz, had hidden her faith in the hopes of never again being persecuted. Szegedi hooks up with a Chabad rabbi in Budapest, Rabbi Boruch Oberlander, who helps him find his way back to his traditional Jewish roots. But not everyone in the Jewish community embraces him, and even law enforcement officials are uncertain of the sincerity of his transformation.

Barry and I did not grow up in traditional Jewish homes, and like many of our friends we became more involved in Jewish life in our twenties. We certainly can relate to the idea of people shifting their religious focus as adults. But that is just not the same as this. This young man was a virulent anti-Semite. At the end of the film he expresses the possibility that this newfound religion may not be a permanent transformation. I suppose time will tell.

A lot to think about.

Love,

Rebecca