Things Are Still Looking Up

Just what the world (wide web needs).... another blog! Well, fans, I'm planning to re-start the moribund THINGS ARE LOOKING UP which has been languishing, in hard copy only, in a supersized three-ring binder on our bookshelf next to at least thirty photo albums which have not seen daylight for quite some time. Since binders, photo albums, and hard copy too are so 20th century, I've decided to go cyber with my memoirs and memorabilia in the hopes that even if I have nothing new or creative to say, at least it won't be taking up any space in our pared-down condo.
America, perhaps you are wondering why I didn't choose the title THINGS ARE LOOKING UP for my blog. Amazingly, this title was already taken! So was the name "Schvig" for one of my many yahoo mailboxes and when I emailed the person who had purloined my special appellation by way of my grandmother, this cyberthief didn't even bother to respond. "Schvig" is Yiddish for "mother-in-law" and my grandmother Anna Miller was known by this nickname for most of her adult life. I guess that's what she got for moving in with her son-in-law and daughter from even before they were married and staying until her death one month before the birth of Anna Nettie 27 years ago. All of this reveals, I suppose, that I hold a rather parochial view of the Internet..somewhat narcissistic, no doubt. I figure that if I have a name or a title that holds special meaning for me then it should ipso facto be available and I am constantly surprised when this turns out not to be the case. I am also surprised and not just a little delighted that I was able just now to figure out how to turn ipso facto into italics. I am also surprised and delighted whenever I can retrieve messages off of my cellphone, but I digress..
Speaking of schvigs, I am one myself now- twice over! This would be the perfect place to insert the wedding photos of Abe and Anna and their gorgeous and delightful spouses only of course I have no idea how to do such a cyber thing. During the brief period when Abe and I co-blogged, he was responsible for everything to do with that sort of photo adding , presumably because he knows Html. Since I don't even know what Html means, it seems unlikely that I will be able to pull off such a stunt, but I might just try. Or I could ask my newly-minted son-in-law Zack to teach me how to perform such a feat of cyber legerdemain; however, that might turn him sour on his new Schvig and we wouldn't want that to happen.
So for now there will be no decorative additions...
The current piece I'm working on involves my mother, alternately known as Bubs, Bubby,The Bubster, Dorrie-Doodle (an unsanctioned appellation which she detests) or the Momster, by me. The aged relative is now 92 and one half years old and is just a laugh a minute. I've been interviewing her since she's requested that her biography be done. Thus far I have only one very small page of notes retrieved after a somewhat circuitous discussion starting with the leading question "What is your earliest memory?" I got some interesting data about my great-grandmother, Esther Rasha Cohen, and my mother's relationship with her. (sneak preview...it was very close. Not so close with Max, my great-grandfather) Stay tuned.....
Oh, and please let me know if you want to unsubscribe. It seems like every Chaim Yonkel these days is writing a blog and you don't need any more spam in your emailboxes. But if you are interested, then I am hoping that you will post feedback. That will motivate me to actually write these pieces that are floating around half-finished in my file cabinet or in my feverish brain. Thanks in advance for being my muses....and remember: THINGS ARE LOOKING UP!