Yiddish Shmaltz, Shmoose and everything Jewish!

SHE HAD THE BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOS I GREW UP WITH IN HER FAMILY ALBUM!

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I was never interested in my larger family.  I grew up in a small, insular community, and heard stories, and saw photos but no one put the stories and photos together.  No one gave these people life.  My mother was a very negative person.  So, I turned my back, went to therapy, and spent years trying to untangle the web my mother had created.  And now, I am lonely and aging, and my daughter had gotten my grandson interested in DNA and so, long story short, I managed TO FIND a real second cousin I never knew existed!  And here we are.    It is true you cannot pick your family members.  BUT imagine how great it is to find a relative you connect with and actually like!  It fills that emptiness and together you bond and fill in gaps and connect dots and share stories with.  And MARLA is a pro at this- for real.  I am just the lucky recipient!  And if Marla and I lived closer we would probably light the Chanukah menorah together!  And we will in our hearts!

IT ALL STARTED HERE ON WORDPRESS WITH ONE LITTLE BLOG!

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THANK YOU TO MY BLOG MASTER FOR PUTTING ME ON WORDPRESS.   I blogged a little blog.  A few people read it.  I blogged again – another little blog. People visited and viewed it.  I found I had an outlet to my voice.  I blogged again and again.  All little blogs. Now I have a book.  It is available for circulation in my local library.  One of my clients ordered a book and donated it to her local library.

“My father would be so proud,” my mother would tell me.   He revered books. My mother revered crafts.  As you can see, I had no shot at being a big business person from the very beginning!  But, I have already been on one podcast, one radio talk show, am scheduled to do a book talk, am scheduled to be on a local public access t v interview show, and will be on a podcast radio show -that operates out of Durham, NC.  And my book just debuted Oct. 6th!   “Not too shabby,” my friend would say.

If YOU WANT TO BUY A COPY FOR YOUR LIBRARY, THAT WOULD BE A FABULOUS CHANUKAH GIFT TO ME AND TO OTHERS WHO ARE AGING.  AND 18% of the proceeds goes to Memorial Sloan Kettering – if not for our sakes, then for the sake of our children.

p.s.  I AM FIVE FULL CHAPTERS INTO MY NEXT BOOK!

 

 

 

 

THE INTERNET IS AMAZING AND EVERYONE, IN MY OPINION, SHOULD OWN FACEBOOK STOCK! Get ready to join me for a book talk. Time and place TBA!

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Here is how it works:  I posted here on wordpress and on Facebook and LinkedIn about my podcast.  (The rabbi who interviewed me, found me from my Facebook postings).    Another rabbi heard the podcast and found my email address from the organization’s flyer.  She emailed me and asked me to present some time in December. I will post details so that all my former colleagues can come since it will be near the district.  The internet is amazing.   I am really not tech savvy.   I am, however, an incredible networker and the network is called a network for a reason!!!!!

Since Friday, 26 people have purchased my book…I hope whoever you are, you enjoy the read…IF you have laughed and

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cried with me, screamed and kicked with me, stretched and kvetched with me, please leave a review on Amazon.  Kindle version will be available some time next week.  They are just formatting it now.  IF you enjoyed my book, please consider purchasing it as a holiday gift.  What is a better gift than laughter?

 

 

SENIOR MOMENTS

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THANK YOU, Stu and Nina Held for the believing that my book warrants this hour long interview.  THANK YOU Maria Stieglitz for recognizing that you wanted this book on the air.

 

 

I AM ON THE PODCAST -guest of Rabbi Address. INTERVIEW about my book

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If you go to http://www.jewishsacredaging.org you will see that I am the featured guest of Rabbi Address.  He interviews me for 26 minutes about my new book:  RAGING AGAINST AGING kicking & screaming, laughing & crying, stretching & kvetching.  Available NOW on http://www.Amazon.com and Kindle.

MY (unproofed) BOOK ARRIVED!

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I came home to find my (unproofed) book in my mailbox.  It is weird to hold a book I have written.  My mother would tell me that my father would be so proud.  He revered books.  AND THIS WHOLE JOURNEY STARTED RIGHT HERE – on wordpress – in the form of a blog; a blog I started to keep my sanity, or at least the part of it that was left.  So thank you wordpress.com.  Thank you to the people who invented and perfected the computer.  Thank you to Microsoft Words for Word.  Thank you to Apple for the MacBook Pro.  Thank you to Amazon for filling a void.  Thank you to my Oceanside Union School District for providing me with the stories the children told.  Thank you to my friends and colleagues for listening and laughing all these years to my stories.  You encouraged me without knowing it.  Thank you to the School of Hard Knocks for providing me with more than a lifetime of experiences.  Thank you to the Facebook group Belarus Genealogy and Ancestral Travel for your outpouring of comments on a small post I wrote on the website.  After 76 people responded, my husband told me that post should be a chapter.  So, I dedicate chapter 7, JEWISH GENEALOGY to you.   Thank you to the Facebook group Yiddish Shmaltz, Shmooze, and everything Jewish.  When I posted questions about Yiddish words I remembered but was unsure of, you answered my questions, thus, contributing to my book.  They are sprinkled throughout the book as I could not find any good alternatives.  Thank you to Pratt Institute for the training I received as a designer.  I learned that form must follow function and how to organize space.  A book is blank space that needs to be filled and organized.  It must serve a purpose.  Thank you to Yeshiva of Flatbush for the deep, if rather orthodox and rigid, education.  You gave me a fabulous foundation in critical thinking.  Thank you to everyone who has touched my life.  Whether you knew it or not – I WAS listening!