SilverBlog

The 4-Year Old and God, a Platonic Dialogue

2011-08-04T09:22:00.005-04:00

Liam: Daddy, how did God get up in the sky?

Me: That's an excellent question. God is everywhere, not just up in the sky. Remember what we talked about yesterday? He doesn't have a body.

Liam: So is God pretend?

Me: Who said God was pretend?

Liam: You did, yesterday.

Me: I said that God doesn't have a body, but he is still real.

Liam: God doesn't have a body. Does he just have a head?

Me: No, he doesn't just have a head.

Liam: Then how does he see us?

Me: ...

The boys at the barn

2010-04-06T17:23:00.001-04:00

IMG_0327
Originally uploaded by silverman.

Liam, Oliver, and their friend Henry in our back yard.

Natural Parenting

2009-12-11T09:56:00.000-05:00

Natural Parenting: " " The story of my life over the past three years!

Testing

2009-10-29T09:56:00.001-04:00

Testing testing....

Liam goes to school

2009-08-31T08:36:00.003-04:00

Liam goes to school
Originally uploaded by silverman.

Liam goes to school

2009-08-31T08:36:00.001-04:00

Liam goes to school
Originally uploaded by silverman.

Liam Teaches Oliver to Dance

2009-07-25T17:46:00.001-04:00

Liam Teaches Oliver to Dance
Originally uploaded by silverman.

Oliver in the Stroller

2009-06-19T19:52:00.005-04:00

Oliver in the Stroller
Originally uploaded by silverman.

Oliver in the Stroller

2009-06-19T19:52:00.003-04:00

Oliver in the Stroller
Originally uploaded by silverman.

Oliver in the Stroller

2009-06-19T19:52:00.001-04:00

Oliver in the Stroller
Originally uploaded by silverman.

Man eats celery, continued.

2009-06-14T17:45:00.001-04:00

Man eats celery, continued.
Originally uploaded by silverman.

Feeding the man

2009-06-14T17:29:00.001-04:00

Feeding the man
Originally uploaded by silverman.

Liam wanted to give this playmobile pilot (who he calls "the man")
some celery outside.

Liam in the Snow

2009-03-11T10:39:00.001-04:00

photo
Originally uploaded by silverman.

I was more excited about the snow last week than I had been in ages. I couldn't sleep all night because I wanted to take Liam out to play in the snow. We were out the door by 7:00 and ran all around. We slid down the hill in the backyard on the snow shovel. I tried to show him how to make a snow angel, but Zoe kept running over and licking our faces whenever we would lie down in the snow.

It's pretty great being a dad.

How Far Can You Walk?

2008-12-22T14:02:00.000-05:00

How far can the kid go? Four Generations at age 8. playgraphicDM1406_736x800.jpg (JPEG Image, 736x800 pixels)

We're here!

2008-12-06T16:38:00.002-05:00

We're here! Originally uploaded by silverman.

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The Plum Book: Washington's Hottest Read - washingtonpost.com

2008-11-07T15:39:00.000-05:00

Yes, Dick Cheney still is in office. The Plum Book: Washington's Hottest Read - washingtonpost.com: "It should be noted that no jobs will be listed in the book for the office of the vice president. A spokesman for the Committee on Homeland Security and Government Reform explained that the vice president's office is technically neither part of the executive or legislative branch."

Obama For America

2008-11-04T12:18:00.002-05:00

Obama For America Originally uploaded by silverman.

The line to work on the phone bank is as long as the line to vote was this morning.

Go Ravens (2)

2008-10-31T19:00:00.002-04:00

Go Ravens (2) Originally uploaded by silverman.

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T18:58:00.002-04:00

Happy Halloween! Originally uploaded by silverman.

Go Ravens

2008-10-31T18:57:00.002-04:00

Go Ravens Originally uploaded by silverman.

Happy Halloween!

Charles Barkley To Run For Alabama Governor in 2014

2008-10-28T11:09:00.000-04:00

The Hill's Blog Briefing Room � Charles Barkley To Run For Alabama Governor in 2014: "NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley said he's going to run for governor in Alabama. 'I plan on it in 2014,' Barkley told CNN's Campbell Brown on Monday. When asked if he was serious, the former Philadelphia 76er said, 'I am, I can't screw up Alabama.' He added that his native state could only improve. 'We are number 48 in everything and Arkansas and Mississippi aren't going anywhere,' Barkley said."

All tuckered out

2008-10-12T12:32:00.002-04:00

All tuckered out Originally uploaded by silverman.

After a long day at the pumpkin patch, Liam conks out in the car.

The pumpkin patch

2008-10-12T10:58:00.001-04:00

The pumpkin patch
Originally uploaded by silverman.

Liam Drives The Big Car

2008-09-27T09:53:00.001-04:00

Liam Drives The Big Car
Originally uploaded by silverman.

Liam on a surrey

2008-08-27T10:16:00.001-04:00

Liam on a surrey
Originally uploaded by silverman.

----
917/326-1659
silverman.aaron@gmail.com

Liam rides in the mustang

2008-08-23T12:40:00.002-04:00

Liam rides in the mustang Originally uploaded by silverman.

After we put the carseat in the mustang, he could barely fit his legs in the tiny back seat of the car. Off they went to the store.

Liam drives

2008-08-03T14:06:00.003-04:00

Liam drives Originally uploaded by silverman.

Liam drives the car

2008-08-03T14:03:00.002-04:00

Liam drives the car Originally uploaded by silverman.

He was probably having more fun before we put the money in and it started moving

Liam Plays Golf

2008-07-10T19:56:00.002-04:00

Liam Plays Golf Originally uploaded by silverman.

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Rainbow - Connecticut & calvert streets

2008-06-23T19:30:00.002-04:00

Rainbow - Connecticut & calvert streets Originally uploaded by silverman.

Walking out of the metro station and there it is.

Liam Sits In a Colander

2008-06-14T08:11:00.002-04:00

Liam Sits In a Colander Originally uploaded by silverman.

I did not put him here!

photo.jpg

2008-06-14T08:09:00.002-04:00

photo.jpg Originally uploaded by silverman.

Here's Looking at You, Kid

2008-01-11T21:51:00.001-05:00

Here's Looking at You, Kid
Originally uploaded by silverman.

---
sent from my iPhone, please excuse the rypos er typos.

asilverman.blogspot.com
flickr.com/photos/Silverman

About Saturday

2007-11-26T16:41:00.001-05:00

My project wore on into the night -- the comic xkcd captures it perfectly...

Liam in New York -- Making New Friends

2007-11-21T11:55:00.001-05:00

Liam in New York -- Making New Friends
Originally uploaded by silverman.

---
sent from my iPhone, please excuse the rypos er typos.

asilverman.blogspot.com
flickr.com/photos/Silverman

Autumn in New York

2007-11-21T10:02:00.001-05:00

Autumn in New York
Originally uploaded by silverman.

Thanks to global warming, the leaves are still on the trees. Liam
says, "Hooray!!"

See flickr.com/photos/silverman for more.

Welcome to New York

2007-11-21T09:53:00.001-05:00

Welcome to New York
Originally uploaded by silverman.

Liam goes for his first stroll in Central Park. I think he likes this
town.

Sketches snapshot

2007-11-20T21:03:00.001-05:00

Sketches snapshot
Originally uploaded by silverman.

>
> Sent with Sketches from my iPhone

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-31T21:13:00.001-04:00

Happy Halloween!
Originally uploaded by silverman.

Happy Halloween from our sleepy little penguin and his two sleepy parents.

Amye, Aaron, + Liam

Corey Ivy interception

2007-10-14T14:50:00.001-04:00

Cory Ivey interception Originally uploaded by silverman.

About to go up 20 - 0 Well, 16 - 0 anyway. Final score 22-3. A lovely time was had by all Baltimore Ravens fans, except for the two people in front of us who had a little scuffle and were dragged off by the police. (Neither of whom is pictured below)

Halloween Costume

2007-10-09T10:19:00.000-04:00

Via Daddytypes, a perfect costume for Liam, at least it would have been, if he hadn't started to roll over and crawl. Now, I'm afraid that it would be too confining. Available at buycostumes.com.

Liam & Beverly

2007-10-05T12:33:00.001-04:00

Liam & Beverly
Originally uploaded by Jon Silverman.

Liam & Judy

2007-10-05T12:32:00.005-04:00

Liam & Judy
Originally uploaded by Jon Silverman.

Liam & Judy

2007-10-05T12:32:00.003-04:00

Liam & Judy
Originally uploaded by Jon Silverman.

Actually, i took this one with Dad's camera.

Liam & Squid

2007-10-05T12:32:00.001-04:00

Liam & Squid
Originally uploaded by Jon Silverman.

Dad took some great pictures with his camera...

Liam with Mohawk

2007-09-17T22:21:00.001-04:00

Liam with Mohawk
Originally uploaded by silverman.

--aaron

A closer look

2007-09-16T21:02:00.001-04:00

A closer look
Originally uploaded by silverman.

--aaron

Watching the Ravens

2007-09-16T19:29:00.001-04:00

Watching the Ravens
Originally uploaded by silverman.

--aaron

Amye, Miriam, Liam & Me

2007-09-14T16:38:00.001-04:00

Amye, Miriam, Liam & Me
Originally uploaded by silverman.

--aaron

iPhone blogging

2007-09-10T22:24:00.001-04:00

iPhone blogging
Originally uploaded by silverman.

--aaron

I've got the bears.

2007-08-29T10:04:00.001-04:00

I've got the bears.
Originally uploaded by silverman.

Good Morning!

2007-08-29T10:03:00.001-04:00

Good Morning!
Originally uploaded by silverman.

He has his father's mouth...

Elmo at rest

2007-08-29T10:02:00.001-04:00

Elmo at rest
Originally uploaded by silverman.

Just because Elmo can't close his eyes doesn't mean that Liam doesn't need to.

Mother and child

2007-08-29T10:01:00.001-04:00

Mother and child
Originally uploaded by silverman.

Out for the evening at the beach.

Future Blackmail Potential

2007-08-29T09:59:00.001-04:00

miriam 131
Originally uploaded by silverman.

"Please don't move the pitcher away, I'm a little shy."

Lunch Time!!!

2007-08-29T09:58:00.001-04:00

miriam 180
Originally uploaded by silverman.

He's a little young, but we have started him on solid food. A quarter of a mashed banana is shockingly sweet, but rice cereal is fantastic. Liam says, "I want more!"

Photos by Miriam, the Au Pair

2007-08-29T09:56:00.001-04:00

miriam 191
Originally uploaded by silverman.

Even though my camera has been on the fritz, our new au pair Miriam's hasn't. She's taken lots, and with her permission, I've uploaded some of them. www.flickr.com/photos/silverman for more...

It's True.

2007-07-30T12:50:00.001-04:00

No One Sets Out To Be A Smooth Jazz Musician | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

It's not something you can plan for—it's all circumstance, I swear: You want to play music for a living. You bust your ass paying your dues in tiny clubs with six people in the audience. You think about all the talented jazz musicians out there who can't make ends meet and you start to worry. The next thing you know, your agent has you filling out forms to legally change your name from Mel Jablonsky to Michael Langello, and it's seeming like a good idea. Then suddenly you're 40 years old and you open up your dresser drawer to find nothing but linen pants.

iphone photo

2007-07-10T10:04:00.001-04:00

iphone photo
Originally uploaded by silverman.

I took a photo in the Apple Store...

Sent from my iPhone

Fourth of July Run

2007-07-04T23:06:00.000-04:00

Happy Canada Day!

2007-07-03T13:29:00.001-04:00

Happy Canada Day! Originally uploaded by silverman.

I'm a few days late, but Liam was doing some subtle boosting of Canadian products on Sunday. Thanks, Marilyn! Also, new pictures up at Flickr

Can we Go Already?

2007-07-03T13:27:00.001-04:00

Can we Go Already?
Originally uploaded by silverman.

Getting ready for hiking the Northwest Branch trail, Liam doesn't quite get the meaning of "Going Backpacking."

Multimedia message

2007-06-24T14:45:00.001-04:00

Multimedia message Originally uploaded by silverman.

Liam on the beach

Multimedia message

2007-06-22T23:17:00.001-04:00

Multimedia message
Originally uploaded by silverman.

FW:

2007-06-17T20:22:00.001-04:00

FW:
Originally uploaded by silverman.

Chocolate Tours of New York

2007-06-15T10:37:00.001-04:00

Apparently this was an idea that was just a little bit ahead of it's time. New York Chocolate Tours

You’ve come to the right place. We offer the ultimate chocolate tours of New York City for chocolate lovers, curious non-believers and enthusiastic travelers. We invite you to get closer to the NY’s most cherished chocolate boutiques and thus live its inimitable lifestyle. You will feel more joyful, energetic and connected to the world after you will go through this European-style experience in the heart of the city that never sleeps. Delve into the heart of the city with us and discover its dark secrets. We have tailored the tours according to their location and the chocolate’s personality. We have a Luxury Chocolate Tour that will gain you access into the most exclusive boutiques of posh Upper East Side where you’ll get to taste some of the finest and most exquisite creations of the European masters. Moreover, we offer a more New Cuisine Chocolate Tour that will walk you through the stylish SoHo and where you will get to taste new wave, unusual chocolate. Join us in this transporting experience and you’ll never look at chocolate in the same way ever again.

This little walking tour was, for me, one of the highlights of fall, 2004. And to think that we could have charged folks $70 to follow us around! I don't think that I could lead the tour, though. I think that they don't do enough walking. Cross the Brooklyn Bridge to go to the original Jacques Torres instead of sticking around SOHO. But perhaps I'm not the best critic of the trip. I still don't like chocolate.

You're funny

2007-06-11T23:15:00.001-04:00

You're funny
Originally uploaded by silverman.

He's an adorable little fellow, don't you think? He smiles and laughs (and still cries, of course, but that's what babies do.) If the first month was hell, we've definitely climbed into a little bit of earthly paradise. Okay, maybe a small exaggeration, but he's still pretty fantastic.

FW:

2007-06-01T19:12:00.001-04:00

FW:
Originally uploaded by silverman.

What the Public Wants

2007-06-01T12:22:00.000-04:00

I keep putting up baby pictures, but almost everyone who comes to my blog is looking for Frohawks. I am currently number 15 in a google search for "Frohawk," and number 4 for "Frohawk Hairstyle." Seriously, I am just underneath Urbandictionary.com and Wikipedia for definitions of Frohawk Hairstyle. I feel so credible all of a sudden. Apparently, Fredrick William Frohawk nature painter (1861-1946), so my google results are skewed. Of course, they aren't really looking for me, it's my brother. And his frohawk left town a long time ago.

FW:

2007-05-29T15:04:00.005-04:00

FW:
Originally uploaded by silverman.

I can sit

FW:

2007-05-29T15:04:00.003-04:00

FW:
Originally uploaded by silverman.

A match set

Multimedia message

2007-05-29T15:04:00.001-04:00

Multimedia message
Originally uploaded by silverman.

No! Not Ernie!

From the stage

2007-05-26T08:32:00.001-04:00

From the stage
Originally uploaded by silverman.

Concert Blogging - UN Edition

2007-05-26T08:31:00.001-04:00

Concert Blogging - UN Edition
Originally uploaded by silverman.

Two months ago, in what feels like another lifetime, before Liam, I got a call from a man named Kasuga asking me to sing in a concert at the UN. Mahler 2nd symphony on May 25th. I explained that I no longer lived in new york but could make one rehearsal and the concert. The check from the show would cover the cost of the trip. The experience was amazing. I kept looking around me, expecting to see Han and Luke getting their medals. And, on a slightly less fantastic level, it turns out that the concert was for the new UN Secretary General!

And I just thought I was getting a full night's sleep and a free trip to New York. I may have more soon, at least when I don't have to write from my phone.

Feed Me Seymour

2007-05-21T17:12:00.001-04:00

Feed Me Seymour
Originally uploaded by silverman.

He's a hungry little fella. Some day I will have energy to write more. Call me in two more months, when he starts to sleep through the night.

Multimedia message

2007-04-18T15:35:00.001-04:00

Multimedia message
Originally uploaded by silverman.

FW:Liam

2007-04-18T15:27:00.001-04:00

FW:Liam
Originally uploaded by silverman.

Liam at Three Minutes

2007-04-17T22:55:00.001-04:00

Liam at Three Minutes
Originally uploaded by silverman.

Here he is. My pride an joy. More pictures to come soon.

He got less wrinkly very quickly.

Japanese Jews

2007-04-03T11:46:00.001-04:00

Thanks to Andrew Sullivan

Sir, May I please have some more?

2007-03-22T15:45:00.001-04:00

Once again, from Daddytypes, a video. This time from England.

Baby Stuff I want for Myself

2007-03-20T13:17:00.000-04:00

Do I need to say any more?

Available at Baby Ant

Free to Be You and Me

2007-03-20T11:13:00.000-04:00

Via the blog daddytypes comes a series of clips from a "Free to Be You and Me" Television series. Starring Marlo Thomas (of course), but also Alan Alda, Mel Brooks, Harry Belafonte, Cicely Tyson, Roberta Flack, Rosey Grier, Michael Jackson, Kris Kristofferson and Tommy Smothers, among others. Here are the opening credits: Of course, I was raised on the record, but I didn't know that it was originally a movie. Here are Mel Brooks and Marlo Thomas as the voices of puppets with the original "Boy meets Girl" story. In five weeks (give or take), i'm getting one of my own. Wow.

Cooling and Performance

2007-03-16T13:31:00.000-04:00

Everything else I read about this "glove" focused on athletic training. But the potential benefits for MS patients seem to be there, too.

Meanwhile, researchers continue to investigate therapeutic uses for cooling. One exciting area of research involves multiple sclerosis, a disease where even a 1/2-degree Celsius rise in core body temperature can lead to rapid and dramatic physical and cognitive decline. (MS sufferers say the sudden enervation feels as though a switch was flipped.) The disease destroys portions of the fatty myelin sheath that insulates nerves; heat disrupts the electric impulses traveling along the frayed nerves. Retaining strength—key to staying out of a wheelchair—is a significant challenge for MS patients, for whom fatigue can lead to a spiral of debility.

Jim Seaton, a management consultant who lives in Washington, D.C., has MS. Once a top runner and avid hiker, he has to be cautious about exertion. He pushed himself too far once and had to crawl back to his car in the parking lot; recovery to his baseline level of functioning took two days. Seaton, after hearing a radio report about cooling athletes, arranged to try the RTX to see if it reduced the fatigue that resulted when his body warmed up. Using the RTX, he can cool to his resting state in 10 to 15 minutes—and then continue to hike. The RTX isn’t exactly convenient: the $4,000 unit weighs 12 pounds and has to be reloaded with ice every 2 1/2 hours. But owning one changed his life. “I’m already planning trips to the museum [and] to Europe that I would have thought thrice about before.”

Walk To Work

2007-01-29T11:45:00.000-05:00

Walk To Work
Originally uploaded by silverman.

Return of the Frohawk

2007-01-27T12:32:00.000-05:00

This will only make sense to about three people, but my brother is one of them. The Frohawk is dead, long live the frohawk!

Truly Indie Fans - New York Times

Thousands of black rock fans use Afropunk.com’s message boards to discuss bands, commiserate about their outsider status and share tips on how to maintain their frohawk hairstyles.

Return of the Frohawk

2007-01-27T12:31:00.000-05:00

This will only make sense to about three people, but my brother is one of them. The Frohawk is dead, long live the frohawk!

Truly Indie Fans - New York Times

Thousands of black rock fans use Afropunk.com’s message boards to discuss bands, commiserate about their outsider status and share tips on how to maintain their frohawk hairstyles.

Practical Advice

2007-01-24T20:06:00.000-05:00

Practical Advice
Originally uploaded by silverman.

From a sign on the subway. The baby definitely looks shaken. I will not shake my baby.

Unitard

2007-01-19T14:40:00.000-05:00

Czech Authors

2007-01-04T10:12:00.000-05:00

There is a fantastic New Yorker piece this week by Milan Kundera on the idea of World Literature and the problem of provincialism. I'm too lazy to look it up, since I read it in print.

Also, via Terry Teachout come these two quotes by Tom Stoppard:

"Age is a very high price to pay for maturity."

-- Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

and

"It’s no trick loving somebody at their best. Love is loving them at their worst."

The Real Thing

I now resume my regular posting schedule.

Recent Reading

2007-01-04T10:08:00.000-05:00

Slashdot: News for nerds, stuff that matters

"Mozart's year-long 250th birthday party is ending on a high note with the musical scores of his complete works available for the first time free on the Internet. Although most classical music is obviously too old to be under copyright, the rights to specific editions of pieces are owned by the publishers. Now, the International Mozart Foundation has acquired the right to publish the prestigious New Mozart Edition of every Mozart work on the internet. The response has been so overwhelming that the Foundation has been forced to increase their server capacity."

Tragedies

2006-12-17T19:54:00.000-05:00

Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall

But Powell is truly a tragic figure. The great tragedy of Iraq (in the traditional meaning of the term) is that an entire generation of military men--who were hardened in the crucible of Vietnam as young officers and spent most of their careers building the all-volunteer armed services and warning against repeating the strategic mistakes embodied by that terrible conflict--in the end, at the apex of their careers, made the same mistakes they had spent their professional lives studying and warning against. The fact that their civilian leaders had sat out Vietnam (or in Rumsfeld's case was a half a generation older) only makes the tragedy more compelling.

Thomas Friedman on Meet the Press said today, "I thought that [invading Iraq] was really important and really hard. And what history will damn these people for is that they thought it was really important and really easy."

Brookyn Superhero Company

2006-11-18T16:17:00.000-05:00

Brookyn Superhero Company
Originally uploaded by silverman.

I must admit that I'm going to miss this city. Today I went to a class for pilates and the voice. I ate lunch at The Chip Shop, which is famous for its deep-fried twinkies, mars bars, and oreos. The chicken curry and chips was pretty tasty, if a little on the sweet side, but the speckled hen ale was fantastic. Maybe I should have gotten a fried twinkie, but i have a feeling that kind of thing is best when shared. Too much of a good thing when alone... And then there is this superhero supply shop. It sells paint cans filled with omnipotence, gill-growing formulas, and any number of things to help someone fight a super villain. They also have poetry readings for children six and under, a willy wonka book club, and other marvelous things for young kids in the real world, too.

I Think I LIke This Webb Guy

2006-11-15T17:23:00.000-05:00

From the Wall Street Journal (via Tapped)

This ever-widening divide is too often ignored or downplayed by its beneficiaries. A sense of entitlement has set in among elites, bordering on hubris. When I raised this issue with corporate leaders during the recent political campaign, I was met repeatedly with denials, and, from some, an overt lack of concern for those who are falling behind. A troubling arrogance is in the air among the nation's most fortunate. Some shrug off large-scale economic and social dislocations as the inevitable byproducts of the "rough road of capitalism." Others claim that it's the fault of the worker or the public education system, that the average American is simply not up to the international challenge, that our education system fails us, or that our workers have become spoiled by old notions of corporate paternalism.
Still others have gone so far as to argue that these divisions are the natural results of a competitive society. Furthermore, an unspoken insinuation seems to be inundating our national debate: Certain immigrant groups have the "right genetics" and thus are natural entrants to the "overclass," while others, as well as those who come from stock that has been here for 200 years and have not made it to the top, simply don't possess the necessary attributes.
Most Americans reject such notions. But the true challenge is for everyone to understand that the current economic divisions in society are harmful to our future. It should be the first order of business for the new Congress to begin addressing these divisions, and to work to bring true fairness back to economic life. Workers already understand this, as they see stagnant wages and disappearing jobs.
America's elites need to understand this reality in terms of their own self-interest. A recent survey in the Economist warned that globalization was affecting the U.S. differently than other "First World" nations, and that white-collar jobs were in as much danger as the blue-collar positions which have thus far been ravaged by outsourcing and illegal immigration. That survey then warned that "unless a solution is found to sluggish real wages and rising inequality, there is a serious risk of a protectionist backlash" in America that would take us away from what they view to be the "biggest economic stimulus in world history."
More troubling is this: If it remains unchecked, this bifurcation of opportunities and advantages along class lines has the potential to bring a period of political unrest. Up to now, most American workers have simply been worried about their job prospects. Once they understand that there are (and were) clear alternatives to the policies that have dislocated careers and altered futures, they will demand more accountability from the leaders who have failed to protect their interests. The "Wal-Marting" of cheap consumer products brought in from places like China, and the easy money from low-interest home mortgage refinancing, have softened the blows in recent years. But the balance point is tipping in both cases, away from the consumer and away from our national interest.

Big in Chile

2006-10-11T18:27:00.000-04:00

So at this site in Chile, they are linking to my pictures of the flaming apartment. In the two and a half years that I've had this blog, there have been about 5000 visitors. In the past hour and a half I have had more than 500.

Very strange feeling.

Plane Crash

2006-10-11T16:27:00.000-04:00

PICT0033
Originally uploaded by silverman.

I took this a little over an hour ago, about 15 minutes after the plane crashed into the building. It's kind of hard to concentrate on work right now...

The view from my window

2006-10-11T16:21:00.000-04:00

PICT0027
Originally uploaded by silverman.

No one really knew what happened. The guy whose office this is (right next to mine) saw a fireball and then something fell. I could see smoke pouring out of a window on the opposite side of the building.

This is scary, but random, one hopes.

Michael Silverman

2006-09-26T23:14:00.000-04:00

It's a little bit rough, as I haven't proofread it completely. But I would like to put what I have up for people to see. Anyway, here it is, from February of 1985. --ams I'm going to start with the birth certificate of my wife, Etta Tockman. Name of child, Atta - A-T-T-A T-O-C-K-M-A-N A girl, white, born on June 30, 1905 at 592 Stone Ave, Brooklyn. Father’s name Max, Tockman, at 592 Stone Avenue. Father's birthplace, Russia - R-O-S-S-I-A. Father's age, 35. Father's occupation: Merchant. Mother's name: Fannie Tockman, maiden name was also Fannie Tockman, I might say, I will say, they were cousins. The address was 592 Stone Ave, Birthplace Russia, Age 26, number of previous children 5, how many living 4, The one who made the report is T Siegel, whose residence is 316 Watkins street Brooklyn. And the date of the report is July 10, 1905. Birth Date was June30, 1905. That is your Grandmother's birth certificate, and, of course, my wife. You'll notice, that her name is Atta, and she spells it now Etta, and her maiden name was spelled Tochman, And on the birt certificate it said "Max", for the father's name, was Morris Tochman, with an H. Other than that, according to my wife, Etta, the record seems to be correct. You'll notice that the person making the report was an individual and that it was not the report of a doctor. We must assume that Etta was born at the residence of her parents, 592 Stone Ave, Brooklyn, NY. Now, as for myself, my birth certificate reports my name as Michel Philip Silberman. A male, white, born January 31, 1905 at 50 Riverdale Ave. Father's name, Luis Silberman, residence 50 Riverdale, Brooklyn. Father's birthplace, Austria, age 31. Occupation, Tailor. Mother's name (your grandmother) Flora Silberman, maiden name, Flora Baron, Residence 50 Riverdale Avenue. Born in Austria, age 31, number of children born to the mother including present birth, 4. Number of children born to the mother now living, 4. The certificate is signed by Herman Rosenson, MD of 1729 Pitkin Ave, BK, NY. Report is dated February 9, 1905. In my case, you’ll notice that my last name was Silberman. I recall being listed in the grade school also as Silberman, and it wasn't until I entered High School that my name was changed to Silverman and Michel, Philip with one "L", where I always thought it should have 2 L's. 1905. That's a long time ago to this date of February 8th, 1985. Last week, I had the privilege of celebrating with my three sons and my wife, my 80th birthday. They treated me luxuriously that day. So much for our respective birth certificates. They all came in, from Silver Spring, Johnny, and Robert from West Long Branch, and Martin from Lakewood. And it was a festive day. They all came in on different days of the week, and the gathering was pleasant because they were all together on the 30 of January with me. They all stayed together until the 31st, when Robert left at night and the first of February when Johnny left in the morning, and Martin left on February 3rd at night, and he went to Fort Lauderdale. It was a hectic week, and our memories of the three boys and how we raised them in Brooklyn when Robert, who was the oldest, he was born there, at the Jewish Hospital. Then we moved from BK w/ Robert to the Bronx, and your grandmother and I had been married since August either 28th or 30 (I could never get the date straight) of 1932. I do recall the date, particularly, because I lived w/ my mother and sister and brother-in-law, Ben, and that was the year of the presidential election, and I remember distinctly, one radio voice coming over the air, and it said, "Grass will grow in the streets of America if Roosevelt was elected, were elected," and that was then president Herbert Hoover. And your grandmother said to me, "That's a terrible thing to say, to instill fear in the hearts of people, to urge them to vote on the basis of fear, how the grass will grow in the streets of America and the economy will be in a very bad state." Of course, in 1932, it wasn't a very happy time in this country. I was admitted to the bar in June of that year, and, it was my associate, Louis Fabricant, who was my successor in the law office as a clerk of Ben Salloway in Brooklyn, NY. We shared an office space at 30 E 42nd St. on the 16th floor; we shared one cubbyhole of a room together with four other lawyers. We all shared the same secretary, she was the maid of all work, and the only thing we had separately was our individual cubbyholes and our telephones. We shared one girl, and we paid for that room, 35 hours, one month's rent. And we stayed there together, for about 5 or 6 months, Fabricant and I, and then we moved to 570 7th Ave, in a lot more spacious quarters, where we also shared an office. And we were there, Fabricant & I, for about a year or so, and then we moved together to 16 - 25 W 43rd St. on the 16th floor, and we had a big office, about 20 x 20... Just a moment, I'll stop now... Now, we're recording and playing, and continuing from where we left off the last time. I was interrupted then by a call to dinner by mother, and so there we were. I left you at 25 W 43rd St, and I stayed there until some time in... I think it was in January of '41 or '42, it must have been in about May or June of '42 when Fabricant and I split up and I moved to, my belongings to an office which I had rented in 37 Hane [ph] St., above a general store, in Toms River. And there I stayed for about a year or so, no, I think, yes, and then I joined the civilian core at Camp Evans. Camp Evans I stayed, and also Bradley Beach I stayed a period of 22 months, and I left some time about June of 1944. We were living then on E 7th St. in Lakewood in a house. I remember the E 7th St House, E 5th St, it was, rather, particularly was a full house with a garden in the back, and your mother had a victory garden, this was during the war, and it was about, o, it was about the width of the place, about 40' by about 60 or 70 feet in depth. And we raised our own vegetables and as part of the fertilizer crop. And I had done some work as I recall, for a horse and buggy driver who drove one of the Lakewood buggies, a Jewish fellow with a red beard. And, when I was all through with my work, he said, "What do I owe you?" And I said, "Forget about it, it was a favor." I did something for him. And the next time I came home from Bradley Beach, around 6:00 at night when it was kind of dark, my wife says to me, "Go out to the back porch." And I went out to the back porch, and she says, "Put a light on.” and I put a light on. And there I saw, two huge mounds of fertilizer. It seems that this client of mine, this old Russian driver, had horses, and he brought over good, sound fertilizer, dried manure, and my job was then to spread it over the fields. It smelled like hell for a couple of days, but it brought up beautiful crops, as I recall. And, we stayed in that house, oh yes, we had one incident there, and it was I think before Johnny was born. Johnny was born on August 31st; I believe it was, 1944, about 2 months after I left Camp Evans. And we had left the girl in charge of Martin. Martin was at that time not quite five years old. And it seems that Martin was playing around the grounds there, and he got bit by yellowjackets. We had a hell of a job, fixing that situation up, and two or three days before Mother went to the hospital to deliver Johnny, we had a load of grapes which we had taken off, and Mother had been in the process of putting him in a pillowcase, and we were going to squeeze and make juices out of the grapes. And when she went to the hospital, I had that chore of squeezing the grapes. I had... grape fluid all over the place, and the boys helped me choose, much as they did. And we lived there, on East 5th St. there, and I remember when we had a ?? for one morning, Sunday Morning, and that was before, maybe it was after Johnny was born. That's right, we were all upstairs, in the bedroom, and it was in the wintertime, and we had a kerosene heater at the bottom of the stairs. I had lit it and I went upstairs to join the kids and the wife in bed. When all of a sudden, we smelled smoke, and I ran out, and I looked down, and I saw smoke coming out of this kerosene heater, which was alongside the railing of the staircase. And I ran down these 12 steps like crazy and I tried to open the thing and shut the damn thing off and smothered the damn thing somehow. But we really were lucky that we smelled smoke that fast. That was a fiery incident we had there. Then, we lived there, well at that time, as I said, I had my office in Tom's River. And then we lived, let's see, what happened then. We came back, and I opened an office, yes Tom's River. I couldn't even get one client, who was a girl who worked in the men's shop on the ground floor. In the 14 months I was there, I got one client, but I did some work for Judge Vieder, who was an old-time lawyer in Toms River. And I finally decided that there was no future for me in Tom's River, and I went in to Lakewood, and I opened an office at 301 Main Street. It was a diller of an office, but I... let's see, is that right? No, I've got the cart before the horse.... Well, in any event, I was there for quite some time, and then a fire broke out and I moved my office further down to the Roy Building, past the lumber yard on Main street, and one flight up. And then, from there, I went into a store arrangement with Jack Ballon, Real Estate Man, and we rented a store at 401 Clifton Avenue. We bought the assets of Saffron, who was a real estate man who was going out of business there, so we bought his equipment, we opened up the store together. I had the back rooms there for my office, and the real estate office was up front. That was at 401 Main St. and Robert had been admitted to the bar, but he was up north, and then, in 1959, Martin was admitted to the bar. 1959? no, wait a minute, it was later than that. No, he was admitted in 1959 or 60. Well, in any event, we were there, and Martin worked for some lawyers, one fellow, Goldstein, I think in Asbury Park who tried to marry Martin to his daughter, no, Epstein I believe it was. Martin didn't take to that, and then, Robert moved to Lakewood in 1966 or so, and he started in, joined the partnership with Jerry Gertner, who had bought Mark Allison's practice; Mark Allison became a judge then. I was still at 401 Clifton Avenue and in 1967, I decided to give up the office, and I became the chairman, I guess, of the Ocean County Legal Services Group. And we opened up there, in 1967, in Tom's River, Florida (??). I closed up the office in Lakewood, though my name was still on the window, and Martin's name, and Robert's name was there. Robert's name was removed because he had moved in with a partnership w/ Jerry Gertner. And, I stayed with the Ocean County Legal Services until 1970. In 1969, yes, in the summer of 69, I had an operation on the rectum, I had a colostomy, and the week while I was laid up, that's right. I remember it was in August of 69 that the space men walked on the moon that time. Walked on the moon, I think it was then. 69. And then, in 1969, November, I had a proctoscopy, was the operation, and in fall, your mother and I went to Florida, we took a trip down to Florida, by train to Jacksonville. We rented a car and we went to see our friends, Stern, and Oscar Catlife, who had moved down to Todden Springs. We stayed there a couple of nights, and then we drove on to Miami Beach, and we went to get a motel room on 6th avenue near 149th St section where we stayed for 2 or 3 weeks. No, that was later on in the fall of that year. But in August of 69, as I recall, we went down to find a place, and we took the plane. And, with much persuasion, your mother agreed to go on the airplane with me because we had to come back in 10 days, because of Legal Services work. And we went down to the beach and we stayed at the Victor Hotel in Miami Beach for 10 days. It was really hot that time. And we finally found a place somewhere for the next winter on Bay Drive, near 70th St. in Miami Beach. And then, in the winter months, we went down there, and we even took Boots down there, and we stayed there, and we went back north. We were living there, in the house we had bought then on Lobster Lane, 5 Lobster Lane, which was just off the North Lake Drive of Lake ??? in Lakewood. We lived there in that house, which was 175 x 150 with the dog Boots, and That was the 2nd Boots. The first Boots we had in the house on 5th St., where we moved out in 1946. That Boots came from the Mayers, Dave Mayer had a brother, a musician, and he had a dog in New York, but he was separated from his wife and he couldn't maintain the dog, so we inherited the dog. He was the first Boots. He stayed with us from 1946, when he was about a year old, or a year and a half, to about 1960, 61, when he passed away. He accompanied your mother all over the place, and he was very faithful to us, but he was also attached to anyone who was nice to him. And our neighbors across the street, the Westins, and the schoolteacher at the Georgian Court College became very attached to him, and he would go on walks with them from time to time. And so Boots was seldom home, but he was always going around. I remember when the “Wall in the Pines” had a fire; I think it was the second fire. We lived on 5th street in back of the Wall in the Pines Hotel. And one night there was a bad fire in the Wall in the Pines, and the fire trucks were all over the place, it was nighttime, and I went out to see the fire, and the Fire Trucks were all backed up to give access because they needed water to quench the fire. And one of the fire trucks got stuck in the mud there and had to be yanked out. And Merrill More was my garage mechanic. He'd come with his tow truck, but he couldn't pull it out. And they finally got someone to come along to yank it out. It was two trucks. In any event, that night, Mother told me the story that some one came up the steps there on 5th St House, rang the bell, and she went with Boots, holding his collar, from the dining room to the door. And she opened the door, and the boy said, "Can we use your phone?" And so Mother said to the boys, "Yes, you can use the phone." But Boots was standing on his hind legs there, and he was a really threatening sight to behold. So these boys said nevermind, they weren't coming into the house with that animal around.

A letter to Alterman

2006-09-19T15:28:00.000-04:00

Nothing more to add.

Media Matters - Altercation by Eric Alterman

Name: Scott Pierson Hometown
Olympia, WA

Greetings, Hope you had a good weekend. I like your new digs; have fun settling in--I hate living out of boxes, don't you? Anyway, had to share this: I got a Republican campaign call tonight at dinner. The fellow read his boiler-plate about how George W. Bush and the Republicans have done so much for America, but need my help making sure they win the upcoming elections in order to continue the good work. "So, how about it? Can we count on your support in the upcoming elections?" he asked. "Count on me to vote Republican?" I asked. "Yes, sir," he answered. I laughed a big belly laugh and said, "There's no way I'm voting Republican after the way the Republicans have driven this country right down the toilet for the last 6 years. I will definitely be supporting Democratic candidates." Pause, then he chuckled, "You're my kind of people. Actually, I agree with everything you just said--but you didn't hear that from me." I laughed and said, "Hey, you gotta earn a paycheck where you can. Take care." "You too." End of call. Common ground is sometimes found in the most unlikely places.

Flying Dutchman

2006-09-17T02:02:00.000-04:00

Jose Van Dam singing the opening monologue. Wow.

1914 Silvermans

2006-09-13T10:23:00.000-04:00

1914 Silvermans
Originally uploaded by silverman.

The picture that my grandfather, Michael, refers to below:

"I remember also before my sister Frances was married, we took a family picture. My father with a skull cap, Huntington Avenue it was, the photographer, my mother in her black dress with a gold medallion of some sort across her chest, my sister Rose, in banks, my brother with a cap, and I with a cap, my father was seated, and we took a family picture. We still have that picture. My sister Frances' wedding pictures, my niece Estelle and Ethel have to this day. The family picture, of course, we still have, and those are some of my recollections. "