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Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Me and Rasputin

About a year ago I fell right on my nose in the lobby of the Kimmel Center.  It hurt like hell, but. aside from two black eyes, I was essentially unharmed.  I looked grotesque, though.

Last Thursday, a dog knocked me down a (short) flight of stairs.  The sound of my head hitting the step was horrific.  Again, no damage, unless there are bruises  under my hair.

My father lived to be 99, and it took a dedicated team of doctors, at a renowned medical center, to kill him.

I am starting to feel like Rasputin; who I understand survived several attempts to kill him.  And that's all I know about Russian history, and probably all I ever will know.  


7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Knock on wood and, for good measure, spit 3 times over your left shoulder! (that last one is of Russian origin. All you have to know about Russian superstition.)

miriam sawyer said...

My grandmother believed in lots of superstitions--the one that sticks with me is having your bedroom slippers facing away from the bed, oh yes, and the one that you must not sew something on a living person unless she has a piece of thread between her teeth.

I don't believe any of this stuff, but my slippers are facing away from the bed. Always.

Anonymous said...

You gave me idea for a post!

miriam sawyer said...

Please send a link!

Dick Stanley said...

And of course everyone says "God bless you" when you sneeze even if they're atheists. They probably don't know that it refers to your soul escaping your body.

Anonymous said...

In what sense? How is it god blesses soul escaping someone's body - when it is only a sneeze? God must be a pretty stupid fellow to mistake one for another...

Anyway, saying automatically "GodBlessYou" is the same as handshake - who remembers now the history of it (that offering right hand for a shake meant demonstration of being unarmed, => friendliness)? It's just a polite gesture, a formula of social interaction, nothing more.

miriam sawyer said...

My relatives say L'chaim! It means life. God is not involved, except tangentially.