Susan's Musings

Worth Their Weight

It is entrapment, pure and simple. My local bookstore has beautiful, hard-cover, classic books for sale for under $5 (using my 30% off coupon).

Titles like Swiss Family Robinson and Little Women coquettishly peek from the shelf, enticing me to come closer. A quick calculation tells me that my eldest grandson won’t appreciate the Wyss father and son collaboration just yet and that my oldest granddaughter is at least eight years away from enjoying Louisa May Alcott.

Mustering immense self-control by picturing my husband’s response if I was to walk in with these purchases, I regretfully leave the volumes behind. Our latest marital agreement is to give away or throw out two books for each one we bring in to the house which has substantially crimped my impulse buying.

We travel a great deal and increasingly passengers in adjacent seats are reading on NOOKs, IPads, and Kindles. Perhaps one of those devices even has a place in my future. But as millions of parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents look for a gift to delight a child this December, I can’t help but hope that they opt to buy real books. There may be a cool factor in possessing an electronic reader, but a book with real pages to turn and a new book smell isn’t just an acquisition. One enters into a relationship with a book; it possesses you as much as you possess it.  A book that is read over and over looks and feels different than a new book. Like a well-worn pair of shoes, it exudes comfort and adjusts to the owner. Favorite pages are more worn than others; the book opens of its own accord to beloved sections.

There was a time when prognosticators envisioned the end of home-made bread. Not only did most people live within reach of a bakery, but sliced and wrapped loaves were easily accessible in supermarkets. Yet, over the past years there has been a resurgence of home baking. One type of bread is a food item, the other is an experience. Does anyone doubt which is more valuable?

I don’t think I am alone in pitying a child whose room isn’t full of books even if he can instantaneously access thousands of volumes electronically. Technology can be wonderful, but books feed the soul. The bargains in my bookstore may not have fit my immediate needs, but the hour I spent browsing reminded me of so many physical, tangible treasures I can’t wait to share.

The Reel Romney?

During the golden age of Hollywood, movie studios ‘owned’ various actors. The studios picked the vehicles for their stars guaranteeing that Mickey Rooney would no sooner be cast as the sophisticated man about town than Mae West would be as a nun. Even the stars’ personal lives were subject to manipulation with contrived romances covering up all sorts of behavior that was unacceptable to the public.

That system was long gone by the time West Side Story premiered in 1961. Yet the power of the medium still blurred and continues to blur the line between certain actors and their roles. Years later, when as a teenager I saw West Side Story (numerous times), Natalie Wood and Maria were one and the same to me. Beautiful, young, tragic and innocent were the words I associated with the actress as befit her character of Maria; I certainly didn’t think of drunkenness or domestic fighting.

Fast forward fifteen years to when my husband, parents, baby daughter and I anchored our sailboat in a cozy bay off Catalina Island. For sailors living in the Los Angeles area, Catalina is the default overnight destination.  Like so many others we were regular devotees of the small island’s charm. We bicycled, watched taffy being pulled in the candy-store window, and regardless of what was playing, saw the movie being shown at the historic Avalon Casino.  At night, the sailboat’s gentle rocking lulled us to sleep in a tranquil harbor. On this trip however, news of a night-time drowning disturbed the morning mood as murmurs about Natalie Wood’s death spread.

It felt strange this week to read about that night again as front page news. But it is a reminder that the face which people present in public does not always match the truth. At the moment we have a president whose image was protected and burnished by the media as carefully as the movie studios shielded their stars back in the days.

And that may well be Mitt Romney’s handicap. Had he been an actor in the 1940’s he might have been central casting’s choice as a politician. His good-looking and high-achieving family would have even provided the perfect backdrop. In today’s cynical times, those same features seem false. As he avoids controversy, standing to the side while other candidates self-destruct, he comes across like an actor playing a politician rather than a committed statesman. I watched several interviews with Mr. Romney yesterday and couldn’t help feeling that he was parroting lines. I could almost see the notes “sound emphatic” or “smile” on a paper in his mind. It wasn’t as bad as a certain president who uses a teleprompter even to speak to kindergarten students, but it lacked authenticity.

I have met people who have known Mitt Romney for decades, both as personal friends and business acquaintances. They believe in him as a person and as a candidate in a way that should induce trust. And it does – until he starts speaking and something is just…off. 

Like so many others, I fear for our country if Barack Obama is re-elected. I have trouble with Mr. Romney’s record, but that is not an insurmountable barrier. For the overwhelming majority of my friends in the Evangelical community, I don’t think Mitt’s faith is the obstacle the media presents it as.  I am coming to the conclusion that Mitt Romney’s real problem is a perception that he radiates insincerity. This may be far from the reality, but he is hiding behind a barrier which safeguards him from attack but simultaneously stops him from connecting with those whose votes he wants.

Natalie Wood was not Puerto Rican and gang members don’t perform ballet steps around the slums of New York. A beautifully executed movie is not reality. Can Mitt Romney step out of his script and reveal his true passions and core values? If he can’t, he should try for an Oscar, not the presidency.

 

 

 

Lucy, Lucy and Herman Cain

This time of year, cartoonist Charles Schultz used to present a recurring theme in his Peanuts© comic strip. Lucy (van Pelt) would offer to hold a football for Charlie Brown, and as he ran towards her for the kick-off she would yank the ball away. Charlie Brown always ended up falling on his back. Year after year, Lucy reassured her hapless friend that this time would be different, but invariably, it wasn’t.

Another Lucy from my childhood, this time Lucille Ball in her role as Lucy Ricardo, was constantly searching for ways to enhance her finances. In one episode, she planned to benefit from a ‘double your money back if not satisfied’ offer, buying first dozens and then thousands of cans of beans only to return them. The episode culminates when, after a hard day’s work of buying and returning cans, she hungrily opens one and discovers that they actually are the best beans she has ever eaten. Her conscience demands honesty, thwarting her dreams of riches.

Two Lucy’s; two prototypes. Though sometimes foolish and greedy, Lucy Ricardo has a moral core. Schultz’s Lucy may make for a funny comic strip, but truth is not a virtue in her life. Unfortunately for Herman Cain, America is sick of playing Charlie Brown to politicians.

I watched the Cain news conference with a heavy heart. Separate from his presidential aspirations, our country needs to see articulate businessmen who are upright in both their personal and business lives.  We need to see more African American leaders who succeed through hard work rather than climbing upwards through demagoguery and manipulation.

It hurt to see Mr. Cain declare that he unequivocally refuted the sexual harassment accusations because he assumed that his statement would be enough. He presumed an America which no longer exists. He was talking as Lucy Ricardo while this country’s citizens view politicians as Lucy van Pelt.   We have been lied to too many times. By running for president, he became a professional comrade of Anthony Wiener, John Edwards, Bill Clinton and numerous other politicians who stared directly at the camera and falsely proclaimed their innocence.

Whether or not Herman Cain would make a good president, I am willing to consider him innocent of these allegations until proven guilty. I despise the ease with which one person can ruin another’s reputation in today’s culture and am convinced that the adage, “where there’s smoke there’s fire,” is false. However, asking to be considered as a candidate for president demands being in touch with today’s world. Sadly, that means understanding that the very act of running for office renders one’s honor and character suspect.  In some areas of business your word may still be your bond; in politics skepticism reigns supreme.

 

 

 

Overflowing Gratitude

Earlier this week, my husband and I joyfully celebrated our youngest daughter’s wedding. God has given us the enormous privilege of escorting our six daughters to the chuppah – the marriage canopy.   He has presented us with six outstanding men to embrace into our family, finally giving our son, Ari, the brothers he desperately craved throughout his childhood.

Our family spent Shabbat before the wedding together, hosted by long-time family friends. One of our daughters reminisced about the time she frantically called me up to  report that one of her siblings was chasing another sibling around the kitchen with a butcher knife. Another recalled how frequently she was exiled to walk around our block holding hands with another offending sibling, my chosen punishment for cases of incessant bickering. At times we thought that we would be fortunate if future sibling relationships would be frosty rather than hostile; we couldn’t even envision loving.

We were sorely, and mistakenly, lacking in faith. As they have matured and grown, our children have become one another’s staunchest supports. They provide one another with emotional, financial and physical care. They have sacrificed their own comforts for their siblings. (A special shout out to Ruthie and Asher who came from their home in Israel for Miriam’s wedding two months ago only to be confronted with Tamara’s engagement. They made great sacrifices to stay in the States through the latter’s wedding.) We were thrilled by the palpable love among all our children on Tamara’s special day.

There is another reason my husband and my emotions at this wedding were so intense. This was the only one of all our children’s marriages that took place in the city where we spent the first fifteen years of our own marriage. During that time we led an amazing synagogue, Pacific Jewish Center. Its members, most of whom were single when they first came to my husband’s Torah classes, were not only our students but also our closest friends. My husband officiated at most of their marriages. They rejoiced with us at Tamara’s birth and it is impossible to describe the special feeling of having so many of them, as well as our newer friends, share in the birth of her new life as a married woman.

God’s bounteous blessings have kept tears of gratitude and joy running down my cheeks this week. My constant prayer is that Elliot and Tamara, along with all our children, build homes which bring pleasure and delight to our Creator.

 

 

Fairy-Tale Elections

In company with past presidents, President Obama has discovered that one can get elected by making glorious promises. Fulfilling them is quite another story.

Whether it is classified security concerns that one only finds out about once in office or the reality that a president does not have dictatorial powers, campaigning and governing are completely different activities. Even star power has its limitations. To the disappointment of President Obama and his supporters, expectation that America’s enemies would be as enraptured with him (and hence America) as teenage girls were with the Beatles, were decidedly overblown.

Unfortunately, most of us fall prey to catchy slogans and starry-eyed promises. That is why you never saw the following policy and campaign slogans: “A chicken in most pots; a car in many garages,” “Fewer children left behind,” “Hope and change which you might like or might hate.”

These sayings aren’t as catchy as the ones which were actually articulated, though they are far more truthful. Yet we continue to elect politicians who run by making outlandish promises and then we are disappointed when their campaign commitments evaporate. Sometimes, even worse, the platforms materialize but don’t deliver the positive results which were dangled as guaranteed before voters’ eyes.

As a populace, generations of Americans have been raised to enter marriage with the dream of, “they lived happily ever after.” More accurate would be, “they had their ups and downs, joys and sorrows, triumphs and difficulties, but overall they were incredibly grateful to have found each other.” Perhaps reform in the political system needs to start with an electorate whose attitude to all spheres of life is firmly grounded in reality.