Perception
Perspective. How we look at things: life events, time, situations. It took me a long time to realize how everyone has their own perspective or narrative of a situation. For example, when I was in high school, it took what felt like a lifetime for the clock to hit 5:10 p.m. so the bell would ring and the school day would finally be over. Now, when I am with Matzo Ball, the hours fly by so fast, I wonder how it is even possible that all that time has gone by.
Never mind the fact that I even have a Matza Ball, or any of my baked goods, thank God. Where did all that time go? It was just yesterday that Matza Ball’s father started to walk, at the old age of 22 months….
The person who invented Waze has a similar perspective on time. He/she decided that if he/she takes you through parts of New York that you have never seen before — making rights and lefts, driving up hills and down alleyways, cutting through parking lots and apartment complexes, then you will think you are getting home faster because you aren’t sitting still on the Cross Bronx Expressway. You are still moving, but you aren’t really getting anywhere faster; you just perceive that you are because you aren’t sitting still. Does that make any sense?
Where am I going with this? Honestly, I am still not sure. I am writing this on Sunday, and Strudel is supposed to be taking a nap, but she isn’t. But she is “making me” stay in my room with the door open (because she is the boss of me — that’s what Babkas are for, after all) and she needs to see me, so I am sitting on a chair watching her watch me make sure I don’t go anywhere.
My perspective is that she is the most adorable thing in the whole world, her perspective is that I am her personal assistant, and her parents’ perspective is that I let her get away with everything. All these things can be true.
In any event, for those of you who are fans of Lena Dunham, her new show, “Too Much,” just came out on Netflix. I was a big fan of her show “Girls,” that had been on HBO. As a writer, I am in awe of other writers who put it all out there. The good, the bad, the truth as she sees it. Though some people might not have appreciated how open she was, I gave her a lot of credit for being so out there.
And I love any show where the main character isn’t a size 0. Or even a size 10… Just saying.
So her new show comes out and I am all excited to watch it, and then I actually watch it. Did not love it. Even with a bigger girl as the heroine. But then I read a review of the show and the reviewer loved it. “If you were a fan of ‘Girls,’ you will love ‘Too Much.’”
No, I did not.
And then I began to think that maybe I didn’t love the show because I can no longer relate to the whole dating/broken heart/falling in love scenario. That my perception of this show was skewed because I am too old, but the reviewer was younger, and in the throes of relationship drama.
That is what got me thinking about perception. But I still vehemently disagree with the reviewer. I know that dating in 2025 is way different than dating back in the olden days, for the religious world and also the non-religious world.
I am sure that if I were dating now, I would be arrested for internet stalking for sure. Do you know how many times I used to call a boy and hang up when he answered? Totally arrest-worthy — and that is an objective perception of that particular situation.
And because I have to bring everything back to food, the other day I was in the supermarket and I saw a new flavor of Entenmann’s pop ems. Now, I don’t like the old flavors, but this one was advertised as Orange Cream, with pictures of creamsicles on the box. When I got home and tried them (who am I kidding, when I got into my car and tried them) they tasted like baby aspirin.
Is that my perception or is that what they really taste like? If you go out and buy them, please let me know.
Banji Ganchrow of Teaneck was very excited about her art project with Strudel. She took Husband #1’s pants that he has had for 25 years with the holes in them and let Strudel color on them with her markers. Highly recommended.
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