Our wedding, Santa Barbara, California, August 8, 1987 This coming Saturday, Sandra and I will be celebrating our 33rd wedding anniversary. It’s hard to fathom that by December, just four months from now, we’ll have completed a full 33 and a third passages around the sun together — married for a third of a century, […]
https://pen4rent.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/HD-SKD-kids-wedding-8-8-87.jpg12781800Howard Danielhttps://pen4rent.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/logo.pngHoward Daniel2020-08-02 18:16:282020-08-02 18:22:52It’s a Miracle She’s Stuck With Me
Dad with me, probably 1945, Long Branch, N.J. On Father’s Day I’m recalling a few more stories about my dad, Nathan Daniel. They’re mostly “short takes,” so I’m presenting them in bullet form. One day, when I was about eight, Dad brought home a chunk of dry ice, something I’d never seen or heard of […]
Bladderball In this time of rioting and broad-brush condemnation of America’s police, both of which I find deeply troubling, I’d like to lighten the mood with a recollection of rioting as I witnessed it in “olden times.” When I was a student at Yale (1962–66), riots were a joyful tradition. Entirely apolitical, they were simply […]
https://pen4rent.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Bladderball.jpeg400400Howard Danielhttps://pen4rent.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/logo.pngHoward Daniel2020-06-14 16:57:522020-06-14 17:14:35Rioting: The Light Side
I’m 75 years old. As readers of this blog know, I’ve been around the block a time or two, and I’ve seen, read and learned a lot. What I’m seeing right now — America’s racial “conversation” (for some, our national yelling match) becoming ever more shrill and violent — deeply troubles me. I’m also deeply […]
https://pen4rent.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Racism.jpg10521600Howard Danielhttps://pen4rent.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/logo.pngHoward Daniel2020-06-07 19:24:522020-06-07 19:58:00Racism — A Few Things to Think About
Our country is in crisis. We must keep ourselves from tumbling into the abyss. The crisis is like a boiling cauldron whose four toxic ingredients — racism, a killer plague, a crippled economy and deep-seated political antagonism — are threatening to bubble over and spill us into the flames below. Racism: Nine minutes (!!) of […]
… carve a turkey … or slice a banana. Yes. And I’ve witnessed it. As regular readers of this blog will recall, last week I wrote about my grandson’s bar mitzvah. That got me thinking about my own bar mitzvah, back in 1957. That was a significant year. It was when the USSR put the […]
https://pen4rent.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/bar-mitzvah-turkey-1.jpg5681251Howard Danielhttps://pen4rent.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/logo.pngHoward Daniel2020-05-24 16:42:162020-05-24 17:44:07More Than One Way to Skin a Cat or …
Adam and Jodi blessing Jonah Yesterday we had a wonderful family celebration. Our oldest grandchild, Jonah, celebrated his bar mitzvah, the initiation as a Jewish adult (with all religious rights and responsibilities), which traditionally takes place at age 13. In ordinary times, a bar mitzvah is celebrated in a synagogue or temple in the presence […]
Brown E’s for dessert! April Fools’ Day — yes, that’s the correct way to write it — is now a little over a month in the rear-view mirror, and as followers of this blog will be aware, I’ve had other things on my mind since then. Nevertheless, my daughter Naomi found a great way to […]
Last week I wrote about the adventure of teaching Henry Harutunian, my ex-Soviet Olympic fencing coach friend, to drive. As promised, there’s more to his story. In those first couple of years after Yale, with a recent graduate’s typical enthusiasm for the success of his alma mater’s teams, I followed the ups and downs of […]
https://pen4rent.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Henry-in-Office.jpg12001800Howard Danielhttps://pen4rent.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/logo.pngHoward Daniel2020-04-26 15:13:102020-04-26 15:19:51Bittersweet Postscript to My Friend Henry’s Story
With my friend Henry Harutunian at Harvard, spring 1968 The story I’m about to recount took place over half a century ago, in 1966–68, when I was working on my master’s degree in Soviet area studies at Harvard. During the first year of this two-year, multi-disciplinary program, I continued my study of the Russian language, […]
https://pen4rent.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Henry-me-1968-Harvard.jpg12281818Howard Danielhttps://pen4rent.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/logo.pngHoward Daniel2020-04-19 17:26:512020-04-26 15:25:51Bringing Thrust and Parry to New England’s Highways
It’s a Miracle She’s Stuck With Me
/2 Comments/in Family, Hawaii, Humor, Recollections /by Howard DanielOur wedding, Santa Barbara, California, August 8, 1987 This coming Saturday, Sandra and I will be celebrating our 33rd wedding anniversary. It’s hard to fathom that by December, just four months from now, we’ll have completed a full 33 and a third passages around the sun together — married for a third of a century, […]
Dad Stories
/4 Comments/in Brazil, Family, Holidays, Humor, Places I've lived, Recollections /by Howard DanielDad with me, probably 1945, Long Branch, N.J. On Father’s Day I’m recalling a few more stories about my dad, Nathan Daniel. They’re mostly “short takes,” so I’m presenting them in bullet form. One day, when I was about eight, Dad brought home a chunk of dry ice, something I’d never seen or heard of […]
Rioting: The Light Side
/0 Comments/in Humor, Places I've lived, Recollections /by Howard DanielBladderball In this time of rioting and broad-brush condemnation of America’s police, both of which I find deeply troubling, I’d like to lighten the mood with a recollection of rioting as I witnessed it in “olden times.” When I was a student at Yale (1962–66), riots were a joyful tradition. Entirely apolitical, they were simply […]
Racism — A Few Things to Think About
/0 Comments/in Hawaii, India, Places I've lived, Recollections, Thoughts /by Howard DanielI’m 75 years old. As readers of this blog know, I’ve been around the block a time or two, and I’ve seen, read and learned a lot. What I’m seeing right now — America’s racial “conversation” (for some, our national yelling match) becoming ever more shrill and violent — deeply troubles me. I’m also deeply […]
Our Deepening Crisis
/0 Comments/in Coronavirus, Thoughts /by Howard DanielOur country is in crisis. We must keep ourselves from tumbling into the abyss. The crisis is like a boiling cauldron whose four toxic ingredients — racism, a killer plague, a crippled economy and deep-seated political antagonism — are threatening to bubble over and spill us into the flames below. Racism: Nine minutes (!!) of […]
More Than One Way to Skin a Cat or …
/0 Comments/in Family, Humor, Places I've lived, Recollections /by Howard Daniel… carve a turkey … or slice a banana. Yes. And I’ve witnessed it. As regular readers of this blog will recall, last week I wrote about my grandson’s bar mitzvah. That got me thinking about my own bar mitzvah, back in 1957. That was a significant year. It was when the USSR put the […]
Our Grandson’s ZOOM Bar Mitzvah
/0 Comments/in Coronavirus, Family, Recollections, Thoughts /by Howard DanielAdam and Jodi blessing Jonah Yesterday we had a wonderful family celebration. Our oldest grandchild, Jonah, celebrated his bar mitzvah, the initiation as a Jewish adult (with all religious rights and responsibilities), which traditionally takes place at age 13. In ordinary times, a bar mitzvah is celebrated in a synagogue or temple in the presence […]
Brownies
/0 Comments/in Family, Holidays, Humor /by Howard DanielBrown E’s for dessert! April Fools’ Day — yes, that’s the correct way to write it — is now a little over a month in the rear-view mirror, and as followers of this blog will be aware, I’ve had other things on my mind since then. Nevertheless, my daughter Naomi found a great way to […]
Bittersweet Postscript to My Friend Henry’s Story
/0 Comments/in Places I've lived, Recollections, Russia-USSR /by Howard DanielLast week I wrote about the adventure of teaching Henry Harutunian, my ex-Soviet Olympic fencing coach friend, to drive. As promised, there’s more to his story. In those first couple of years after Yale, with a recent graduate’s typical enthusiasm for the success of his alma mater’s teams, I followed the ups and downs of […]
Bringing Thrust and Parry to New England’s Highways
/0 Comments/in Places I've lived, Recollections, Russia-USSR /by Howard DanielWith my friend Henry Harutunian at Harvard, spring 1968 The story I’m about to recount took place over half a century ago, in 1966–68, when I was working on my master’s degree in Soviet area studies at Harvard. During the first year of this two-year, multi-disciplinary program, I continued my study of the Russian language, […]