Happy holidays, y’all!  As much as I love Thanksgiving, I’m REALLY glad that it’s over – Boyfriend is a stickler for Christmas-before-Thanksgiving and I have been dying to listen to my Christmas music and bust out the red & green decorations.  I even had TWO pine-scented candles waiting for today!  My goodness they smell good.  :)  I just LOVE holiday-time and the end of the year – especially this one.. 2009 has been pretty rough!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and took a moment (or two!) to be grateful for the people and things that they love.  I find it too easy to be selfish when Christmas draws near – I’m not sure if I’ve ever gone Christmas shopping without leaving with something for myself (I deserve it, right!!?) – and sometimes I forget everything that I already have.  Most Perfect & Best Boyfriend, a close, loving family, friends that I can trust…  <3

While I was online shopping today (since it was Black Friday, we only ventured to Target and Best Buy), I came across thisand realized that I have no chance of ever being the pearls-and-a-cardigan kind of lady that my little heart wants me to be.  I will be 25 years old, carrying around a dinosaur change purse and ordering Shirley Temples at fancy restaurants.  I will be the crazy aunt who wears slippers as shoes and giant necklaces she made herself.  I will have wild, unkempt curls and Very Strong political opinions.  I will be the old lady who wears garden clogs and overalls with mud on the knees and paint on the bib.  And I am feeling 100% okay with this future.

Y’all haven’t been too good with my interactive posts, but I’ll give you another chance.  What is YOUR favorite part about the holiday season?  The food?  Hanging out with your family?  Time off from work?  The cheer!?  :)

HEY GUYS! :0)
finally my exams are over! just thought you shoud know that hehehe right now i’m on the verge of insanity because i’ve done so much after exams i am about to die of exhaustion

ok 1st, i had to RUN to the camberwell cinema which is far from my schoool (for me at least) in my crazy t-bars. it was a crazy journey in itself. and then we did something crazier and watched new moon. worst movie of my year. i hate hate hate new moon and stephanie meyer and anything to do with twilight. can’t believe i used to like it. ok i was only what… 13 years old? now i’m old and unblinded. thank goodness. though i must say i had some fetish for taylor lautner. oh my he’s so hot it’s crazy. and the part when he took his shirt off to wipe off bella’s bloody head (oh literally and figuratively), the cinema went “oooh” in a totally perverted way. hmm wonder if i were one of them. hehehe if not for him though, i would have walked out of the cinema. i actually would ditch my $14 over torturing my eyes.

after the movie we went to sofia’s for lunch and had pizza pasta garlic bread and chips. woooooohoo i was so full i only ate a little. we had so much left over mwahaha we chucked it (would have mailed it to africa but it really wasn’t… sensible). and we shopped around camberwell, bought gen’s fake lashes. aaaaah and we went to my house to shower and went to steph’s house to watch john tucker must die woooo jesse metcalfe but he’s a little too buff oh brittany snow is very very pretty though and she looked cute with penn badgley!!! (surprise)

kk went down to church with the girls for trivia night!!!!!!! we came second last… let’s pretend there were only 2 teams then we’d still be champions! yipeee haha ok we were 2nd last out of like what 12 teams?!! anyway i hope the girls liked it and little people were very brave to venture into the church and answer bible trivia questions HAHAHA we were such suckers even though we started out alright. i hope everyone enjoyed it!!! can’t wait for garage sale i need to stick stickers i love sticking stickers!!!

gtg nao xox

In a role that looks likely to eclipse fellow rocker Steven Adler’s appearance in slasher comedy ‘Dahmer vs. Gacy’ erstwhile Black Label Society/Ozzy axeman Zakk Wylde plays Uncle Jed to title charcter Bones White in late-80s set coming-of-age flick ‘`Bones.’

The movie,  the writing and directorial debut of Frank Pestarino, is described as a “heart-breaking…story [about] four teens growing up in 1989 blue-collar New York” and a bond that ties them together for life. Hmmm. Like…finding a dead body?!

swimming pools, movie stars....

And then there’s the cast. Wylde notwithstanding it consists of a bunch of still unknown but rapidly climbing actors such as 13-year old Jimmy Bennett (‘Bones White’), most recently — and geekily — seen as ‘Young James T. Kirk’ in ‘Star Trek’ and Toe Thompson in Robert Rodriguez’ ‘Shorts.’

Melissa Ordway (‘17 Again’) plays ‘Samantha Reeves.’ Jonna Walsh (‘Couple’s Retreat’) is Samantha’s little sis, ‘Kelly Reeves.’ Jesse James plays ‘Derrick Scott’ in this movie. At 20-years old  his resume already stretches back as far as ‘Walker, Texas Ranger,’ ‘As Good As It Gets,’ and ’Gods and Monsters,’ making stops in ”Blow’ and ‘The Butterfly Effect’ along the way. 

Perhaps most Geektastic of all, however, is the casting of Donnie Most, sorry Don Most, as ‘Mr. Reeves,’ the girls’ father. Most remains most famous for  his role as ‘Ralph Malph’ in ’Happy Days,’ but was also in early 80s series ‘Dungeons & Dragons,’ the late 80s’ ‘Teen Wolf’ animated series, and had one- or two-off appearances in ‘Baywatch,’ ‘Star Trek: Voyager,’ and as the voice of ‘The White Rabbit’ in ‘Sabrina the Teenage Witch.’

I’m not privvy to the plot at all, but the general premise and a cast consisting of a very unlikely musician crossover, a bunch of legit up-and-comers, and a Tarantino-style resurrection move, smell to me like either a classic-in-the-making or an unmitigated disaster.

Mr. Pestarino, it is now largely down to you.

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving day! We sure did here in NYC!

The day started off with me staring at the television until the Gabba Gang crossed the Macy’s Star. They were great and I was super excited about their performance!

After that I started to cook my first turkey ever. I was very concerned. And let me tell you, after I pulled the giblets out I was pretty sure that I needed to become a vegetarian! That is nasty! Why can’t they just put those things on the side. You can’t cook them in the turkey anyhow! Gross.

Totally rethinking this cooking thing!

Once, I finally got the turkey in the oven I had some time to kill so I decided to do laundry! (I like to do my laundry the day I pack so that everything I need is there.) Then I packed for my trip tomorrow and by that time I was behind in getting everything else together for our first Thanksgiving feast.

I started to make the sweet mashed potatoes and giblet gravy. While making the sweet mashed potatoes, we encountered a little problem. We couldn’t beat them without splashing the entire kitchen!

Sweet Mashed Mess!

Eventually, I got everything timed out. Brian still had to carve the turkey, so I caught up! Then, came problem #2… “Where in the world are we going to put everything?” One would think two people that have lived in a studio apartment for 3 years would think of this before cooking. But no! So, we put most everything on the stove top but the rolls didn’t have room. So the rolls… well… they were served from the nightstand. Which isn’t as weird as it sounds when you consider that the nightstand is next to the stove. Oh, NYC!!

We finally got all the food out and ready and sat down in front of the Cowboys game for Thanksgiving dinner! Now, when your apartment is only 450 square feet, you tend to give up some luxuries. Like, tables for example. TV trays do just fine though and sense I was in my own house… I got Thanksgiving my way… no food touching!

Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving!

Apartment Style Thanksgiving.

tuturor! 

All this talk about Thanksgiving, turkeys, and feasts in school this week got me thinking about my own thankful list. I read through my student’s journals and was amazed by the simplistic messages they wrote to their loved ones about why they are special.

I am thankful for the earth. The earth is beautiful (butiful

I am thankful for my mom. She makes good macaronis!

I am thankful for my brain. My brain is smart.

I am thankful for my sister. We play peek-a-boo. She has a silly laugh.

I am thankful for Sara. She has pretty hair.

I am thankful for Ms. S. She helps my brain grow.

It would be a shame to not practice what I preach, so here goes my attempt at my thankful list. When I sit down and actually think about it, I am amazed at how many people and things I actually have to thank.

I am thankful for my family. They are the rock I climb on to see the world from up high while still staying grounded. They are my memory keepers and smile creators. They are the first people I call in times of need and the reason I know no obstacle is too big. They are my teammates, my friends, and my heroes.

I am thankful for my Vegas family. (I had to put multiple pictures to include them all.) When you live far from your family, it’s easy to feel lost. Little do people realize it’s not easy to find a group of people who so easily takes that feeling away. I am blessed to say I have. These strangers have quickly seeped into my life and I couldn’t see my journey continuing without them.

I am thankful for my sisters. (Miss Jenny included but not pictured) I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to know that I have these beautiful, caring, talented, compassionate women to spend the rest of my life with. I know we will get each other through the ups, downs, and in-betweens and will laugh and have fun through every second of it!

I am thankful for my students. Although this picture clearly isn’t us, a lot of days feel like this. Covered in paint, grime, and glue, feeling like you’ve aged forty years from stress, but loving every minute of it. Plop me in a room with any student I’ve taught or am teaching and you can guarantee my happiness levels will shoot through the sky. Their smiles are addicting, their constant laughing is medicine. People always want to share sympathy with me about my job, when really they are the ones being fooled. Working with kids is the fountain of youth, and I intend to stay “six” forever.

I am thankful for my brothers. Much like this picture shows, they hold me up when times are rough. I can’t count how many times they have listened to me through my tears and stood by my side when I needed support. A sibling bond is unexplainable and magnificent. I can’t quite put it in words but thinking about it makes me so happy my liver smiles

I am thankful for friendships that never die. They are the friends that you can not talk to for a year and still have millions of things to say. The friends that never forget the inside jokes. The friends that call you on a whim when they see something that screams your name. The friends you always brag about to others, and the friends that leave a forever imprint on your heart. They don’t come around forever, but once you find a good one you are set for life.

I am thankful for my travels. I have seen The Acropolis, the Aegean Sea, the Pyramids, Ancient Rome, and way too many American wonders to list. My memories will forever crowd my brain as I continue to squeeze them in.

I am thankful for the next generation of Simpsons. She is the beginning of a crew of storytellers, shenanagin-starters, sweet eaters, love givers, and true believers. She already looks like a leader and I can’t wait to see the rest of her clan.

Other honorable mentions for thank yous go out to: Arnold Palmers, Blue Martini, my favorite running trails, the cabin, homemade chocolate chip cookies…pumpkin cookies….poorman cookies…and on and on, scarves, laughing silently, Halloween, frozen yogurt, sushi, Bingo, pumpkin anything, good music – rap, rock, country, or classical, yoga, my new car….and the list goes on….

OH HAPPY DAYS! Any other uk team i am slightly upset but Liverpool

Would you believe I have found time for this today!!

For those of you that know me, it is no surprise that I am already listening to my Christmas playlist. For those of you that don’t… I am a HUGE fan of Christmas. I get giddy when I go to Starbucks and they have changed to holiday cups. I have lived in NYC for almost 10 years and I still go walking around Rockefeller to see the tree and 5th Ave to look at windows. That doesn’t even include what the Christmas ads on television do to me!

So, in the spirit of the holiday season… These are my very favorite Christmas tunes.

1. All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey:  This is by far my very favorite Christmas song EVER!! Everyone loves it and if you don’t… Bah Humbug!
2. O Holy Night: I don’t really care who is singing it, I just love it! Not sure if anyone else remembers it but way back in the day on the Cosby Show lil Raven Simone sang this and I believe that is when I fell in love with it!
3. Blue Christmas by Elvis Presley:  This song reminds me of my Dad. He has a very extensive Christmas collection but this will always play and maybe it is because Dad likes to sing along and pretend to be the King!
4. Breath of Heaven by Amy Grant:  This song makes me think of Christmas in our house on 3rd street. We had the sound system in the living room and Mom (shocking) was a HUGE Amy Grant fan.
5. Rudolph Rap by the California Raisins:  Ha! I know you are laughing at me now! I freakin love this song! If you remember the California Raisins then you are just as big a geek as me! We did an entire competition dance routine called Happy Holidays one year and this was one of the songs in the mix. Little Sarah Cooper as Rudolph. It was fan-freakin-tastic! “Do the Rudolph Rap, Rap, Rap!”
6. White Christmas by Bing Crosby:  The only way to listen to White Christmas is with Bing singing. If you like any other version, well, I think you should be arrested!
7. Everyday Were A Holiday by Miss Molly: Way back in 2007, I was on a show called Ditty Doodle Works. Miss Molly sang this song and I love it! I happen to love the actress and enjoy bouncing around the house listening to her. I don’t think you can buy the song… but if you want it… I got it!
8. I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas:  I love love love this song! Not sure what version I like best, but I love it!
9. I Saw Daddy Kissing Santa Claus:  Remember when I said my Dad has a very extensive Christmas music collection? Well… We have some interesting music at our house. This one may be my favorite from the “funny” Christmas tunes but I also enjoy Walking Round In Womens Underwear to the tune of Winter Wonderland. Oh, my family, we are fun people!
10. Mele Kalikimaka: I like the Bing version and the Bette version of this one. Bette is from Hawaii so it has a sentimental sound when she sings it. I have always loved this one because I am a beachy kind of girl but now that my brother lives in Hawaii, I really love it!

This was on TV last night, so I watched it again….. and cried. Great film indeed. I think the reason it gets you is because it’s a comedy and then by the end of the film, you’re wiping tears away. If you haven’t seen it, the trailer says it all – a workaholic gets a remote that can control his life.  Great film with excellent scenes with the grandad/father and son. hmmmmm

Memorable film quote :

Will you still love me in the morning?
Forever and ever, babe.

ManCry star rating ******** 8/10

*Spoilers*  The last time he saw his father and the ending rain scene below – enjoy them while they last.

Bonus – Henry Winkler back in the day as “The Fonz” on Happy Days – CLASSIC stuff

Perhaps I have been a little harsh on Kampala, always dwelling on the bizarre, the strange, the smelly or the inconvenient. Maybe I have written too much about what I miss or lack or crave, So I have decided to write aTop 10 list of the Best Things About Living in Africa. It is time to readdress the balance. So here, dear readers is the official positive spin. (Trooper, Princess and Handsome Husband were all consulted in the making of this list.)

10. Excellent fruit and vegetables. They grow everything here and the pineapples are particularly exceptional, and fresh all year round.

9.We are always surprised. Going for a simple drive to the supermarket can turn into quite the adventure. You have no idea what will appear around the next corner, but I assure you, it will be surprising.

8. Full time inexpensive help, We have a fine woman who comes to our home each day to hand wash our clothes. iron our sheets and mop our floors. This is a cheap but lovely luxury. For a bit more money we could also have another fine lady come over and cook our meals. This might happen in the near future, if I have my way.

7. There is no need to ever do any sort of manual labour. Ever. Need a shelf drilled to the wall? No problem. Need a pair of bedside tables to be custom built? No problem. Need your house painted? No problem. Need a tailor? Done. Anything can be done and the price is always low.

6. Excellent free education for both Princess and Trooper. Courtesy of yours truly who walks into that fine institution and teaches every single day. Perks of the job baby!

5. Wonderful weather. It is really the best climate a person could wish for . It is never too hot, never too cold, yet cool in the evenings and warm enough to lie by the pool on a Sunday afternoon.

4. The proximity of extraordinary places to visit whether for a long weekend or an extended trip. There is the best wildlife in the world virtually on our doorstep.

3. Decent restaurants, a movie cinema and high speed internet . Inexpensive fresh roses sit on my dining room table every day, my furniture is handmade and there is a decent bookshop. The supermarkets are full of wine and nutella, what more do we really need?

2. A good social life and plenty to do. If we wanted to we could be out all the time. There is a robust group of expats from all over the world ready at a drop of a hat to drink Beaujolais Nouveau, toast Haggis, dance at a ball, raise money for a worthwhile cause or simply meet for a good Thai meal. There are always people to meet and they are people that you would never, in the course of a regular life back home, run into contact with. Often when I watch my girls around the pool I think to myself that with their friends they resemble a mini United Nations.

1. And the number one reason why it is cool to live in Africa? Everyday we are forced to question the way we see the world. Our preconceived notions are constantly thrown into the air and we never stop learning.

Yo, que nunca he ganado nada, ni siquiera la chapita premiada, tuve hoy una tarde de suerte.

Primero encontré en la calle una moneda de 2 euros, y no era falsa Luego fui a una clase especial, como un juego de mercado. Esta tenía dos partes. En la primera entendí bien las instrucciones y terminé ganando 12 €. En la segunda no sabía cómo iba, pero igual me lancé. Elegí A, luego corregí y elegí B, y al final el B era el ganador Así que terminé ganando 10€. En total 27€ en los juegos, porque 5€ te daban por tu sola presencia.

Y para rematar con broche de oro, llego a casa, prendo el msn y el chico que me gusta me había dejado un mensaje d’amour

Ahhh… qué chévere se siente

In my opinion, the hardest thing about being a stay-at-home mom is dreaming up new activities to sustain and entertain your child.  My 16-month-old son has an attention span that is at most 22 minutes.  How do I know?  He once sat through an entire episode of Blues Clues.  Typically, MJ plays with a toy for about 5 minutes, gets bored, and roams around the apartment in what I refer to affectionately as “Path of Destruction” mode.

My coping mechanism is to get outside.  Since he was a newborn my solution to any problem from colic to sleeplessness has been to throw on my sneakers and the Ergo baby carrier and get outside.  In NYC there is no shortage of destinations, but since I am no longer working, I can ill afford $20 trips to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, $25 lunches at Le Pain Quotidian, or $10 tickets to the Children’s Museum of Manhattan.  Luckily, there are several excellent websites devoted to helping NYC parents locate activities for their children.  My favorites are Mommy Poppins, Go City Kids, and Frugal Family Examiner.

Sometimes despite your hard work and best intentions a day just doesn’t “work”.  You child is cranky and the activities you lovingly planned out or creatively improvised are met with grumpy refusals or, worse, howls of displeasure.

Yesterday was a “happy day.”  We took the subway to the Brooklyn Central Library to see Sesame Street: A Celebration of 40 Years of Life on the Street.  Since I love Sesame Street, I probably enjoyed the exhibit more than MJ.  What he loved was the subway trip, which was 50 minutes each way.  It was a good reminder for me that happiness is a journey, not a destination.

it only takes 2 to come up with something.

never make a mistake. cos when you do, it’s more hard work trying to get it back.

requires tons of patience & lots of tender loving care.

helps when you constantly think of the person.

it motivates you to keep going.

(:

Happy Days is being remaking in Tamil.The movie name is Inidhu Inidhu. The film is directed by Guhan and produced by Prakash Raj’s Duet Movies.

Inidhu Inidhu has eight newbies on whom the entire story revolves. The debutant actors that play the college students are Adith, Narayan, Vimal, Saran, Reshmi, Bennas, Sonia, Gia Umar.

Audio will be launched by the end of December and the film would hit the screens for Pongal. The shooting has been completed and the post production work is currently on. Guhan adds that since the film has eight newbies, there are plans to promote the films as much as possible to get them the right exposure.

 By Donald H. Harrison

SAN DIEGO—Some actors shy from the roles that made them famous.  I remember, for example, how  Henry Winkler practically growled at reporters at a United Jewish Federation event who wanted to talk about his role as  Arthur “The Fonz” Fonzarelli  on television’s Happy Days.

Not so with actor Armin Shimerman.  He said he knows that “Quark,” the role of the Ferengi which he made famous in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, will probably be written on his tombstone.  While at times, that permanent meshing in the public’s mind of an actor and a character can be a psychological burden, Shimerman says it also has its advantages. 

For example, he said, his seven seasons as the devious bartender Quark may prompt died-in-the-wool Star Trek fans to come watch him perform as blind, hard-drinking Richard Harkin in the San Diego Rep production of Conor McPherson’s The Seafarer.  Should the fans show up between now and the closing of the play December 13, he says, they may find a certain similarity between The Seafarer and the various Star Trek series in that both offer “a sense of hope.”

“Star Trek has the hope that in the future people will live together, solve their problems and reach out and understand the cosmic questions that face us today; that those questions will be finally answered,” he said.  “Many people I have met who have been afflicted see in Star Trek that in time the illness that they suffer from will be cured.  And there is also the hope amongst people that everyone can come together and live together.

“Teamwork is what Star Trek is about… the Star Fleet people (who are members of the United Federation of Planets) are all about teamwork and solving problems.  And the hope that things will be better, that we will be able to go beyond ourselves is the lasting attraction of Star Trek.”

Of course, there is no drama without conflict, and in contrast to the noble Star Fleet officers are a variety of other worldly miscreants, not the least of whom is Quark, whose ethical code usually—but not always–puts profit ahead of personal relationships, even with his younger brother Rahm.

A member of the Jewish community who majored in Shakespeare back in his student days at UCLA, Shimerman, 60, caught his first break when he was chosen for an apprenticeship in San Diego at the Old Globe’s Shakespeare Festival.  Craig Noell was the artistic director back then and Jack O’Brien, who became a mentor, was a visiting director on one of that season’s three Shakespeare productions.

Shimerman explained that in preparing for a part, he draws upon his life experiences, relationships, previous roles, and upon serious textual study—the latter process, he said, probably a result of the time as a young teenager growing up in Lakewood, New Jersey, that he thought he might like to become a rabbi.  But he tasted acting at age 14, and by 17—by which time he had moved with his family to Los Angeles—acting had replaced Judaism as his  personal religion.

In preparing to take the role of Quark, he said, he drew heavily on his study of Shakespeare.  He saw a parallel between Quark, the Ferengi bartender on the “Deep Space Nine” space station and Shylock, the Jewish merchant, in the Christian society of Italy.


“The Merchant of Venice was actually a touchstone for the Ferengi because Shylock is an alien in the true sense of the word, living in a Christian society—something that is alien to him.  He must learn to hold onto his own identity and at the same time compromise in a way in order to live in the alien world,” Shimerman said. 

“And, that is exactly Quark’s existence; he must hold onto his values and at the same time learn to live with the Bajorans (near whose planet the Space Station is situated) and the Star Fleet people.  So very much, Shylock was at the forefront of my head when I was playing Quark.”

Shylock, the moneylender, long has been considered an anti-Semitic character, and some critics of the Ferengi have suggested that this avaricious group of people—for whom profit was the prime motivation of their existence—were little more than an anti-Semitic stereotype.

While agreeing Shylock was indeed such a stereotype, Shimerman said Quark was intended not to be a caricature of a Jew but rather a portrayal of “the ultimate other.”

“I know that the producer is Jewish, the writers are Jewish, I am Jewish, and most of the other (actors who played) Ferengi are Jewish, so keep that in mind,” Shimerman said.  “When I traveled to Australia, they said to me, ‘C’mon the Ferengi are the Chinese, right?’ When I travel to England, ‘C’mon, the Ferengi are the Irish, right?  When I travel to different parts of the world, it is the outsider in their community that is the Ferengi.  It happens that here in America, perhaps we think it is the Jews.  But in other parts of the world, they don’t think of that at all—they just think of another stereotype.”

In The Seafarer, Shimerman’s character, Richard Harkin, has a multilayered relationship with his brother Sharky (Ron Choularton).  “The story has many branches to it,” he said.  “The main branch that I sit on is a story about two brothers who had problems in the past, lots of problems. Drinking has exacerbated the problem.  Living in Ireland has exacerbated the problems, a strong father figure has exacerbated the problems.

“They are forced together out of the guilt that the other brother has that my character has gone blind,” Shimerman added. “Sharky has reached the nadir of his existence and realizes that he has to change, and is making an early attempt to get his life together.  Part of that healing process is to come back to his home.  The character I play is a thorn in his side because we have always clashed heads together. 

“The play is about rejuvenation, the rediscovery of two brothers, so at the end of the play there is the hope—but no confirmation – that these two brothers can find the love that they secretly have for each other and learn to let it grow and flourish.”

In preparing for the part of Richard Harkin, he said, he drew upon several sources.

“I have a wonderful brother; we sometimes clash, we don’t always communicate. So that is one thing to draw on.  I have a faux brother—Max Grodenchik—who played Rahm, and I have that relationship to draw on.  I also have what was both a loving and a twitching relationship with my mother who has passed away… My mother was very strong willed.  I was strong willed and those two strong wills came into conflict often.  It is primarily that relationship that is my source of information for this play.”

Shimerman said while he has most of the lines in The Seafarer, “the play is Sharky’s,” who not only has a conflict with brother Richard on one branch of the play, but, on the other branch, with the devil who comes to visit on a Christmas eve.  Sharky, “is far away, in my opinion, the important character in this play.”

Gracious as Shimerman was being to a fellow actor, he also was kindly toward my 8-year-old grandson, Shor Masori, a confirmed Star Trek fan, who accompanied me to the interview.

Shor got over his shyness, and occasional boredom listening to the conversation between two sextagenarians, and, with Shimerman’s permission, asked a rapid-fire series of questions. I admit it, I beamed with pride.

“Of all the movies, plays and TV shows that you have done, which one was your favorite?” asked Shor.

“This one—The Seafarer—because I am doing it now,” the actor answered.

“Did you like being Quark?”

“I liked being Quark a lot, but I had a problem with the makeup sometimes because it was a lot to bear for seven years, but I liked the people I worked with.”  (The Ferengis had huge heads, with large lobes, and ears that were quite large and very sensitive.)  “I loved the stories, and sometimes it was very painful, but my wife who is very smart said, ‘Armin, if you want to be a knight, you have to wear the armor.’”

“How many shows and movies have you done?”

“Let’s see, 80 different TV shows, close to 400 episodes, not that many films because my career has been basically TV—I have done perhaps 12 films – and as far as theatre, I think I have done every kind of theatre except perhaps Children’s Theatre.”

“How did you like the cast of Star Trek and did you like Star Trek?”

“I have always liked Star Trek.  I was a big fan of Star Trek since I watched it when it first came out, which made me about your age, maybe a little bit older, during the first series.  And Next Generation, I was a big fan of that and when I heard they were casting Ferengi for Deep Space Nine, I was very eager to try and get that part. … The people on the show I worked with were phenomenally good actors, good people.  I enjoyed their company a great deal.  

“It has been said many times that our cast wasn’t as friendly as other casts were.  I attribute that to two things. Our cast was a little bit older and had families of our own, and therefore when the day was over, we would go home to our families, instead of going for a drink afterwards or going to each other’s houses…”

“And my last question,” grinned Shor.  “Can I have your autograph?”

Shimerman gave the youngster a big smile.  And into his autograph book, he wrote: “To Shor, ‘Ears to You.   You are a wonderful interviewer.”  Below his signature, he wrote “Quark,” drawing the capital “Q” with big ears sticking out from it.

*
Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World

Only when someone is so precious to u are you willing to plan a birthday surprise for the person every single year.
i love surprises, especially when it’s planning for someone else.
And it’s always a mad rush for the preparation, cos u never know when the person is reaching,
who knows maybe today end work earlier.
Hurriedly we prepare the birthday table.
And as usual i am the look out person.
LOOVE IT.
In anticipation i wait.
As she approaches, she caughts sight of a balloon and gives me a wide and loving smile
But not before rolling her eyes.
And then as quickly as it all started, she sits down and starts to whine about her day.
happy birthday mummy.