ABSILVER's World

OK.. I am going to weigh in on the winter disaster of Atlanta, and ask your northern weather channel people to stop looking askance at the south in snowstorms just as we in Florida should not laugh at responses to hurricanes up north. I have lived in Atlanta three times although many years ago.  But, I survived a few snow storms and cold weather.  I have also lived in New York, New Jersey and Provincetown and experienced some of the northern variety of ice. It is not ... just that Atlanta and the south is not used to ice storms.  It is not just that people don't know how to drive, or that they lack sensibility for how to drive in snow.  It can't be, because many of those stranded on the roadways and with kids stuck on a bus or in school are not originally from Atlanta and many are from the north.  So, you may feel quite righteous at the moment but many of your kinfolk I bet are part of the problem. Snow in Atlanta, feels colder than what is in the north.  It is more akin

Can you imagine... you are female growing up in Anderson, SC and you dream of going to college.  You are lucky, and you have supportive parents who believe an education is a good thing.  You are the oldest of 8 children...  parents immigrated from Russia and moved to Anderson, SC with your parents looking for a better life and freedom. You reach out to go to Converse College, in Spartanburg and get a college degree.  Imagine, your ambition not satiated, you decide to leave and go further from home and go to New York and Columbia University and get a second degree a Bachelor of Science.  You stay in New York to work, before choosing to get married and return to your hometown. Let's add a few twists to this, you are female, Jewish, parents immigrated from Russia, and oh by the way it is not today you achieve your second degree it is 1929.  This is more amazing because I knew her, she was my grandmother, and I have her diploma from Columbia University. I sit here wi

I sit here on the day that hell appears to be freezing over.  Not really sure how this is happening and nor will most people reading this care that we will complain in the morning cause it will be 48.  Imagine, you haven't tried your heat in about a year and you realize you will have to try it and smell that heated smell once again.  As many of you try and keep warm through ungodly temps here I sit wondering when it is cool enough for me to open windows and then wait for heat tomorrow. But, honestly other than a slight amount of bragging, this is not the point of this blog post.  It is truly more about a concern I have about my patience for entertainment this past year.. and as of yesterday in the new year this concern of mine is that I appear to have little patience for theatre or movies as of late.  ( I am wondering if this is me... or the quality of the shows and so I want someone to comment.) Let's go backwards, as I have written before about a year ago seeing Bill

ABSILVER 2013 Wrap Up I sit here on the edge of a new year thinking about tomorrow.   Not in the sense, of actually tomorrow, when I will ring in the new year with some good friends at a dinner that starts at 9pm (9pm!).  But, more in the sense that if I were a book, I would see that it as the page is turned there is a blank page with a new number on it, a chapter to change the tale and direction of the moment.  Or, is it more like a menu at a restaurant that you turn over to see what they have for dinner or their wine list.  I am 49 and hopefully only at the mid-point of my life but I must say this has me wondering about the future. There is a consistency in many movies or tv shows I have seen lately where people seem to be concerned about their legacy when they leave this planet to move onto whatever is next.  I don't know that I believe in what is next because nobody has ever come back to tell us what it is like. Think about all the personalities in your life, that have

Random thoughts... and photos I am a creature of habit, habitually trying to push myself not to be a creature of habit. I don't mean to be rude, or hurtful, but I am going to revert back to my previous Christmas holiday ritual.  Chinese Food and a movie. If your personal pictures on a dating site show pictures of a restaurant or store that has not been open in years, please don't tell me all your pictures are recent. What is most disheartening about the Credit Card debit card breach at Target? 1) That it took them apparently 19 days or more to discover the breach was occurring... since this was happening over a period of time as compared to a one time snatch of information. 2) That apparently the secret service is investigating, and thus may have been the agency that discovered this and alerted Target.  What if this was because of all of the evil data collecting of the government. 3) When I received the email from Target of the breach and that it may impact me

It appears that "Season" is upon us, so consider this a Service Advisory from your friendly Fort Lauderdale Residence. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed below are solely those of the author.  They should not be associated with any other Fort Lauderdale or South Florida resident.  That said if these pointers seem appropriate, and applicable to you they probably are.  If they seem inappropriate and not applicable (want to bet) then please take them in the humor they were intended. For those of you, who comment on the lack of seasons in South Florida as a reason not to live here that is not true.  We do have seasons here, and they seem to parallel your own.  You in the north call it winter: We call it snowbird season.  You look for an early spring getaway: We call that cruise ship season.  You call it summer: We call it summer.  The scientists aren't sure but our seasons appear to parallel yours and seem to start depending on your own impending weather.  Those seaso

So, today is my birthday and I think it incumbent on me to share some instructions.  Open with care, and please think carefully.. and read all of the instructions below. If it were up to me I would bury my head in the sand of the beach and wake up tomorrow.  I don't take too well to being the center of attention, and honest it is a number to me and my memories of birthdays are sparse. My birthday is one of those holiday birthdays.  It is one of the biggest holidays of them all, Thanksgiving and everyone celebrates Thanksgiving.   Ask me for memories of Thanksgiving and they are many, birthdays not so much. Beyond my Bar Mitzvah, my birthdays have been mostly non-events.  They usually comprise of another holiday, another holiday preparation, and on rare occasion some errant human who thinks surprising me is a good idea.  (IT’S NOT MARK!) My few birthdays I remember: First birthday with Harry, we went dressed up to a fancy restaurant in New York with a Prix Fixe menu that