Jim’s Jottings for December 15, 2017

Holiday issue: Well, my friends, here we are at Hanukah/Christmas/Kwanza/Almost-New-Year time. On Tuesday our local paper had a nice article about Hanukah and some discussion of latkes. It was then that I realized I have never had latkes! Me, who used to haunt Canter’s deli on Fairfax in LA, mostly for the hot pastrami, I’ll admit, but now we know Stan Cohen is a latke master so???? I still think it would be grand to have a series of classes, each one focusing on one faith tradition…and its FOOD. This is why it would be nice to have a kitchen here at OLLI.

I am delighted to find that even at my age great ideas come to me, the pursuit and development of which should require another lifetime. [Writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]

Very nice to see everyone at the bazaar and reception on Wednesday. Each time I hear our New Horizon’s band, they sound better. What a wonderful thing. Thanks to all the exhibitors and the band and our staff and volunteers.

I also want to give a special thanks to whoever donated the funds to get our new ten-foot wide screen. I felt a little shy about asking for it, but it was all you loyal Film Forum fans that made this possible. For its premiere, I’ll be showing “Lawrence of Arabia” on Jan. 19…and beyond that, I am beginning to search for good films that are best if seen in their original wide-screen formats to include in our regular series. Now, if only we had a Cinerama screen…anyone remember that awesomely wide-screen format? The screens were 35’ high and 105’ wide.

I am an old man and have known many troubles, but most of them never happened. [Writer Mark Twain]

Feliz Navidad! This, by way of saying that I much prefer the lesser-known carols than the ones we are subjected to relentlessly in big box stores and elevators. Two weeks ago, a lady in church asked when we would be having carols to sing, so last week, I chose a couple and also played Kathleen Battle’s recording of “O Holy Night,” an exception to those well-worn carols. If this makes no sense, I have been filling in for our tiny church’s first reader, whose car blew up, so that’s why I am picking hymns. Anyway, in a week’s time, Christmas eve will fall on Sunday, so I expect there will be a busy time in local churches…and abundant caroling!

They say stress is a killer. But I think no stress is equally deadly, especially as you get older. If your days just seem to slip by without any highs and lows, without some anxieties and pulse-quickening occurrences, you may not be really living. [Actress Helen Hayes]

The latest “Star Wars” film opens today. Someone reminded us that it has been 40 years since the first one came out in 1977! Good grief. You know you’re getting old when you can recall that you saw this or that film when it first appeared and then find that all this time and life has rushed by until now. I remember quizzing my mother about her memories of 1939, perhaps the greatest of all years for movies. That was the year of “Gone With the Wind,” “The Wizard of Oz,” “Stagecoach,” “Wuthering Heights,” “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” “Goodbye Mr. Chips,” and “Ninochka,” plus many others. Mom was remembering from about a 40 year distance.

Now do you believe me that I learned everything at the movies? [Curmudgeon J. D. Held]

Bon Hiver! Yes, winter is now upon us, the leaves have all fallen, and the color pallet has gone from greens to mauve. The angle of the sun has lowered, making the late afternoon a challenging time to drive. But it’s also fireplace season. Our two new cats had never seen fire before so we have had to stand by so they won’t hop up on the hot top of the woodstove. They are just about recovered from leg surgery, spaying and an ear infection and Zoey is ecstatic about losing the cone around her neck. Sweetie did try her best to wash Zoey’s face while the cone was needed. Oh, yes, it’s also the season when cats love to drape themselves ON ones chest and knead the neck with claws! Ouch.

People always ask me what death is like. I tell them it is glorious. It is the easiest thing they will ever do. Life is hard. Life is a struggle. Life is like going to school. You are given many lessons. The more you learn, the harder the lessons become. [Psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross]

When I get home from Writer’s Group, I’ll add some quips to this and sign off for this week. (Done & done!) Do have a happy and joyous celebration of the holiday of your choice or faith tradition, be with friends and family and keep LOVE at the top of your lists for why any of this is important.

Enough, already…latkes, anyone?

Just Jim