I'm sorry to say that my son is in for a long life of hardship, sorrow,and frustration. And I can't do a thing about it. You see, my son is more than likely going to be a Cubs fan. His grandfather, his uncle, his great uncle, his cousins, and even sometimes his mom are all Cubs fans. And not just regular crazy Cubs fans. I'm talking dyed in the wool, wears Cubs underwear, watches every pitch, bought a house near the field so you can walk to the games kind of Cubs fans. And you know what that means. Sorrow. Hardship. Frustration. (you can almost see it on his face now. Or is that spinach?) His grampus gave him a cubs hat, and while we didn't go to a game, or watch one on TV (I'm trying to limit the amount of tragedy that enters my household) I thought he could practice watching a cubs game. I've attached the slide show below, but if that doesn't work, try this url (you'll also get my super observant titles of photographs if you visit the link) http://bit.ly/aaron_the_cubbie

I've been following a new site http://www.oldjewstellingjokes.com; which is EXACTLY what it sounds like-- video of older Jews telling jokes-- the setup is great, the idea is great, and as one of my facebook friends remarked recently "The link is gold!" They recently asked people to contribute jokes that they've heard older Jews tell-- so I contributed a couple of stories about my Granny... You can read that contribution on their website here: or if you read it below, you also get to see a picture of my Granny! Enjoy-- and if you have any stories or old jokes, either send them to the website listed above, or post them in the comments! ===================================== Granny's Cats My Granny was born December 31, 1900 and passed away December 24, 2004. She had an eighth grade education, and in 1938 her husband left her and her three children, disappearing for parts unknown. My dad was a year old at the time. Granny started a jewelry stringing business (called Woodman’s, which was her sister’s husbands name — she felt that Gertsacov was far too ethnic) and did jewelry work well into her 90’s. Her brand of expertise in pearl stringing was legendary, and some of the finest jewelry shops still sent their most precious stuff to her. Jewelry stringing is a lost art. She strung the pearls of many society ladies, politicians’ wives, and gangsters’ molls — she did them all. Granny always came off as kind of a hard person. She lived a hard life through the Depression, but she loved several jokes that she told and re-told through the years. She liked these because they were clever, had word-play, and you had to understand in order to get it. She didn’t like slapstick and physical comedy that much, which is kind of surprising, since I ended up as a professional clown and performer. She saw me perform several times, and always said “Marvelous, Marvelous.” But I don’t think she ever really loved it. Ah well. Here are a couple of her favorites: (some of them are more along the lines of a little routine she would do. She was a woman of routines.) About a person who was a chatterbox: “She is a woman of VERY FEW WORDS.” On getting into a car to go home: “Home, James, and don’t spare the Hosses.” If you were feeling ill: “You’ve got to go home and get into bed with a nurse.” And this was probably her favorite joke: I know a woman who sleeps with cats. Now ask me who it is. (the person asks, who is it?) Mrs. Katz! (pause) and sometimes Mrs. Nussbaum.

Well, it looks like Aaron may have outgrown the bumbo seat-- here's his successful escape attempt using pluck, derring do, and a little bit of luck. It's about 1.5 minutes long

We went to a friend's house on Saturday for a barbecue in NJ. It was very nice, it was very suburban, and the people were incredibly nice. Aaron had a great time hanging around with the people who smiled at him, eating lots of goodies and treats, and playing with the two dogs of the house. The one thing he didn't like was sitting on the grass. We realized that it was his first exposure to grass (HEY, before you call Protective services on us, we live in an urban, non nice grass environment-- and he's a September baby, meaning it's been pretty cold for most of the time he's been alive) Anyway, sitting on the grass made him pretty uncomfortable and more than a little crybaby-ish) Not sure if he was frightened of bugs, didn't like the tickly feeling, or just prefers the concrete. He'll have plenty of grass time over the next few months to figure it out and grow to love the green.

This is a really interesting and exciting project, if it gets off the ground. from lohud.com Historians preparing architectural survey of Yonkers buildings By Ernie Garcia • elgarcia@lohud.com • May 26, 2009 YONKERS - Two historians are preparing an inventory of the city's homes and buildings to identify historic or architectural landmarks. The representatives from TKS Historic Resources of Babylon, N.Y., are poring over maps in the city's Planning Department and developing paperwork they will use to categorize and describe homes, buildings and neighborhoods. The city hired the company to produce the survey for the Landmarks Preservation Board, which would use the information to consider landmark applications. The landmarks board also needs an updated survey of old structures so it can make informed decisions on demolition permits it must review. In July, Mayor Phil Amicone issued an executive order requiring that all buildings over 75 years old be reviewed for landmark protection before they can be razed. Yonkers has a partial inventory of vintage buildings. A survey in 1980-81 was incomplete because the project ran out of funding. Other surveys have been done of neighborhoods where residents have proposed historic districts, but some older areas of the city have remained unexamined. The current survey's budget is limited to $50,000, so the landmarks board will have to decide which parts of the city most urgently need review. Sarah Bean Apmann and Karen A. Kennedy of TKS told the landmarks board at a meeting May 18 that they will focus their survey on structures built before 1935. The process will take about a year. The TKS team plans to return to the landmarks board in July or August to give a final presentation on how the survey will proceed. At that time, the landmarks board is expected to tell Apmann and Kennedy where in the city they should begin their survey.

Amazon is having an amazing deal-- if you go to Amazon and create a baby registry, you'll be entered to win a sweepstakes every month for $3000 worth of baby stuff, including a year of diapers. There's no purchase necessary, and you probably want a lot of stuff that Amazon is going to have anyway. Create an Amazon Baby Registry

His nose is as long as the second joint on my index finger. His thumb is as long as the first joint on my thumb. It looks like he's going to have fairly stocky fingers, particularly his thumbs. Probably not a virtuoso piano player. His toes look like mine, not Adam's. At least that's one thing he got from me. Oh, that and the long eyelashes. His whiny-cry and his laugh can sometimes sound similar. His aunts and his nanny can't always tell the difference. But his mommy always can. When he first started eating solids he really favored holding food with his left hand, much to his daddy's delight. Now he's an equal opportunity grabber/stuffer. We'll see what happens. He has enough hair now that when I kiss the back of his neck now I'm kissing hair, instead of skin. And I can run my fingers through the hair on top of his head. Sometimes I look at him and can imagine him at 3. Or 6. But more often I hold him and wish I could hold him, just like he is, forever.