Totally random selection of photos today.
Enjoy!
Karen and I wish all our friends and relatives a lovely and inspirational Shabbat.
And do treat yourself to a my lovely and inspirational eBook, How I Married Karen. Now available from:
Here’s what people are saying about “How I Married Karen.”
I’m a little at a loss as to how to review “How I Married Karen,” because I’m afraid that giving it the extremely high praise it deserves will sound fatuous. Surely a book can’t be this good? Well, yes it can. Within 164 light, bubbly, moving, funny pages, Robert J. Avrech packs in so much: the abiding wonder of finding one’s true love; the academic woes of a square peg in school’s relentlessly round holes; life as an Orthodox Jew in New York in the 1960s and 1970s; the way in which movies provide so much of a backdrop to and reference point for our lives; adolescent angst; morality; and patriotism. That Mr. Avrech manages so gracefully to crowd so many ideas into one small book is a testament to both his skill as a writer and to his transcendent love for his wife, Karen Avrech. After I gobbled up the book, I felt lighter and happier for the rest of the day.
Many people go to the movies in search of romance their lives don’t have. Robert looks at classic movies and sees the reflection of the lifelong love story he’s played opposite his wife, Karen. This is a touching, often very funny tale, set against a bygone world in New York and full of the warmth and consolations of Jewish faith and family life. Most of all, it’s the account of how a great screenwriter found a partner who matched him in mind and spirit, for life.
I have never read as wondrous, as hilarious, a tale of obsessive love as the story of how Robert married Karen. Together with Robert, we fall madly in love with the mysterious and elusive Karen — who, surprise surprise, turns out to be neither mysterious nor elusive but an insecure teenager like Robert (well, maybe not quite as insecure as Robert). Along with his love for Karen, he reveals his other great loves — for movies, for Judaism, for America. In that less cynical era of Hollywood to which Robert is so devoted, “How I Married Karen” would have been turned into a great romantic musical comedy. This story keeps us sitting in the dark, on the edge of our plush seats, until the final credits. Two thumbs up!
— Yossi Klein Halevi, best-selling author and journalist
Robert Avrech’s tale of courtship and coming-of-age is not only moving, but inspiring–no less so because the happy ending is already known from the beginning. It’s a window not only onto the intimate world of a unique and life-long love affair, but onto the shifting social mores of late-20th century Modern Orthodoxy, and the importance of mid-20th century Japanese film. Who knew love connected the Talmud to Akira Kurosawa? Like his favorite directors, Robert tells his story from multiple perspectives, using interjections from Karen or switching into and out of screenplay-style daydreams. A sweet love story — a lifetime in the making.
— Joel B. Pollak, Editor-in-Chief, Breitbart.com
Robert J. Avrech has written a love letter to his wife that he is sharing with the world. Funny and insightful, this book traces his journey through the the self-doubt, fear and panic that accompanies first love. Avrech’s recounting of his courtship is filled with anecdotes that are remarkable in their sweetness and honesty, allowing all of us to fall — if just a little bit — for Karen.
What’s more impossible: becoming a successful Hollywood screenwriter, or winning the lifelong love of the smartest, most beautiful girl in your fourth grade class? “How I Married Karen” tells the story of how one shy, underestimated, and under-appreciated boy from Brooklyn attempts to attain BOTH goals over the course of three decades, two high schools, and the most un-romantic venue ever known to Jewish singles: The Upper West Side.
— Jake Novak, Executive Producer, CNBC, The Kudlow Report
Robert and Karen Avrech’s incredible love story is also a heartfelt gift to anyone looking to achieve the impossible dream despite every incredible hurdle from teen angst to professional self-doubt. Oh, and it’s funny too! “How I Married Karen” is the story of how the geeky guy courts and wins the unattainable girl. It sounds like a plot conceived by a Hollywood screenwriter, but if you believe in bashert, the story reflects Divine design. The screenwriter, Robert J. Avrech, lived it, and writes about it delightfully.
—David Gerstman, Soccer Dad, author of the Mideast Media Sampler
Of course Maayan is a natural – still as cute as ever!
I usually don’t “get” abstract art but the Nares painting has a beauty to it.
Barry:
James Nares is a fine painter. He makes his own unique brushes, attaches himself to a harness, lays the canvas on the floor, and then swoops across it making his painterly marks. Love his work.