Smorgasbord News Archive 2014 - 2015
December
25, 2015 -- On Christmas day, Felicia and Nedžad came with Denis to see me in Bayside. We started with a
photo session, followed by opening the Christmas gifts and, of course, lunch. Merry Christmas!
December
22, 2015 -- Last week I started a
new project in Guatemala. As it often happened during my previous visits to Guate, my friends Mario and Glenda and their daughter, Rocío, presented
me with an unforgettable trip to Antigua, which was, before the 1773 Santa Marta earthquake, the capital of Central America and was lovingly called
Muy Noble y Muy Leal Ciudad de Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala. Here's the link to the page where I posted the videos made during this trip. Enjoy!
November
26, 2015 -- Felicia and Nedžad celebrated Denis' first Thanksgiving with a full-house gathering: Vaska and Čerim (Nedžad's parents); Ferida and
Ismet (Nedžad's sister and brother-in-law) and their children (Edin and Albin); and Crivat and his daughter, Samara. Make sure you follow the links
to watch the
videos and
pictures recorded during the event
November
24, 2015 -- Last Saturday, Felicia and Nedžad honored me with a great lunch, a
gorgeous cake, and a visit from Nedžad's cousin and his family. Denis, of course, was the main point of attraction, but when it came to take pictures
he was already asleep. I'm taking a raincheck till the next Thursday when we'll be together again for Thanksgiving
October
31, 2015 -- On his first Halloween, Denis was a State Trooper, as you can see from the award-winning photos posted
under the headline Halloween 2015
October
28, 2015 -- During a stopover in Sarajevo, my good friend Duško Vicković drove me to Fojnica, the site of the
Holy Spirit Franciscan monastery, the hyper-realistic creation in natural dimensions of
Christ and the 12 apostles by Zvonimir Mihanovic and a
very interesting museum
September
24, 2015 -- Victory! Denis has got his first tooth ... the right way to end a month of September that was full fun, as
you can see from these pictures
August
27, 2015 -- Here's an adorable photo that illustrates the old adage The Eyes are the window to your soul.
And here are the last photos taken in
August before the Labor Day
August
23, 2015 -- Time flies. Two weeks ago Denis celebrated his fifth month anniversary with ... milk and in a high chair.
Labor Day is already around the corner, and what's left from the summer are just the
July 25 short video and some July and August
photos
July
3, moving again after knee surgery -- My left knee is improving slowly but surely. Today, most of the
medicated bands that covered the incision after the removal of the staples were gone. I celebrated the good news with a short walk around the building. It felt soo
good to be able to move freely again!
June
21, Fathers' Day 2015 -- This year I celebrated the Fathers' Day with Felicia in the Stern Rehabilitation Center of the North Shore Long Island
Jewish hospital, where I was recovering from the left knee surgery
June
7, Waiting for summer -- The Memorial Day is supposed to mark the opening of the beach season but this year it was cold and
unfriendly and the temperatures are still low, as witnessed by
Denis the day before yesterday. Nevertheless, a few
sailing boats are already anchored in the bay waiting for the real summer to come
May 21, From Russia with love
-- Yesterday I saw a funny poster in the Russian store on 108th Street where I buy groceries ... perfect for
spring cleaning
before Memorial Day
May
10, Mother's Day 2015 -- Now that my daughter became a mom, the focus of my celebration honoring motherhood has changed, too. May God bless
Felicia and Denis and give them health and happiness for many years to come!
April
27, 2015, Little Prince at Grandpa's in Bayside -- Today I received the visit of two special guests:
my daughter and her Little Prince. The summer is around the corner and I hope to see them quite often in my Bayside apartment
April
16, 2015, Tribute to the memory of my Father -- April 16 is the birthday of my Father. He was born in 1910 in Bucharest, and passed in 1994,
in Bucharest as well. Requiescat in Pace!
April
12, 2015, Denis' dinner on Orthodox Easter Day -- Felicia celebrated the Catholic Easter last week with
her siblings. Today it was my turn to see her. We
"knocked" red eggs but, quite predictably, the focus of our attention was Denis. The little boy is growing fast.
He has great appetite and very good lungs, as you can see and hear from the April 12 videos posted on
Denis Videos
April
5, 2015, Easter! -- Christ is risen! Cristo ressuscitou! Hristos a înviat! Христос воскрес! Khristós Anésti!
This morning I attended the Easter Mass at the
Catholic Church Mary's Nativity in Flushing. Felicia and I came often to this Nativity Church when she was little -- and now
she has an already one month old baby! Life comes full circle on paths that are unknown to us...
April 1st, 2015, April Fool's day or real spring?
-- Today I stopped for a few moments at the Bayside Marina. The snow and ice were long gone and I couldn't help remembering Romanian poet George
Toparceanu's verses: După-atâta frig și ceață, Iar se-arată soarele, De-acum nu ne mai îngheață, Nasul și picioarele ...
Click here to listen the beginning of this nice poem in the 1960s rendition of Romanian pop group Mondial
March
31, 2015, third week anniversary -- Today's Denis' third week anniversary. Time flies! The
picture taken by Felicia two days ago reminded me a photo that I made when she
was approximately same age as Denis. Here are the
two photos side by side -- like mother, like son!
March
10, 2015, welcome to little Denis! -- Today Felicia and Nedžad are happy to announce the birth of their first child, Denis, a healthy baby boy who
arrived early this morning! Congratulations to the parents and
many happy returns of the day! Here are the first
photos of the new center stage of our family. More pictures and videos will be posted when they become available. Stay
tuned!
March
2, 2015 tombe la neige... -- In Romania, the first days of March are called babe (a derogative term for "old
women" in Romanian language) because they are unpredictable and nice days of spring weather alternate with snow and crazy weather. This may be true over
here, too, as demonstrated by yesterday's snowstorm. I sent some pictures of the frozen Little Neck Bay to a friend of mine who moved from New York to Florida. His reply was short and concise: Oh my!
March
1, 2015, Tribute to the memory of my Mother -- March 1 is the birthday of my Mother. She was born in 1915 and passed in 1999.
Requiescat in Pace!
February 21, 2015 Baby Shower -- The "D" day is quickly approaching! Last Saturday, Felicia's friends and colleagues
hosted a Baby Shower
for her at the Queens restaurant Harmony. She said they had a lot of fun and
the menu was unmistakably Romanian
February 20, 2015,
The deep freeze is on -- Yesterday I stopped at the Bayside Marina to make a short video of the Little Neck Bay
under ice. The bitter and blustery chill ruined my plans and all I managed to do was to get a panoramic view of the
frozen bay, and then quickly take refuge back in my car
February
18, 2015, Happy Lunar New Year! -- I just came back from Ho Chi Minh City where the Lunar New Year celebrations are in
full swing, with daily temperatures in the mid-90s. By contrast, the Little Neck Bay in New York is welcoming the
Year of the Goat with one of the worst winters on record. Brrrr!
January
1, 2015, Happy New Year! -- Today Felicia and I celebrated the New Year’s Day with a great lunch in my Bayside apartment. The chef
selection on the menu was
oven roasted goose, cooked to perfection and deliciously crisp, with my own recipe of choucroute on the side. Add a bottle of
Mumm Brut Cordon Rouge and you won't find a better way to start a new year! Cheers!
December
5, 2014, St. Savu's feast day -- St. Savu is the saint-patron of our family. Listed in the historiography of saints under the name Sabas, or
Sabbas, he lived in the fifth century (439 - 532) in Palestine, was a monk, and established a large monastery known today as Mar Saba. St.
Savu's icon, custom-painted by a hagiographer from Athens based on the official catalogue of byzantine pictures,
is a cherished item in our family memorabilia.
November
27, 2014, Thanksgiving dinner at Felicia's -- This evening, Felicia reiterated her love for family and tradition by hosting a
gorgeous Thanksgiving dinner. Once again, her great culinary talents were on display
and the turkey was phenomenal! I'm a happy father and I felt like a king, as I always do when I am with Felicia. Many thanks, Puica Tatii,
and keep up the good work!
November 1,
2014, Bayside, NY -- As I was saying one month ago, the fall has come and is here to stay. A lone sailing boat is still anchored in the Marina
but it will soon be gone. The
thick green foliage of the summer has been replaced with
picturesque shades of yellow and copper. It's time to start thinking about the delights of Thanksgiving...
October
1, 2014, Bayside, NY -- The summer is gone ... Labor Day is gone ... September is gone ... and the fall has been quickly settling in. Summer or
not, though, the sunrise over the Little Neck Bay as seen from the balcony of my apartment is still strikingly beautiful
July
29, 2014, National Harbor, DC -- I interrupted my dolce far niente in Bayside to travel
to Washington DC where
I chaired a panel session at the IEEE PES General Meeting 2014. I don't enjoy IEEE conferences as I used to when I was younger, but the trip was nice. I
drove, which reminded me the years 1995-1997 when I was working in Fairfax and I was often driving on I95 between New York and Virginia
July
4, 2014, Bayside, NY -- Where is the "global worming" that the politically correct nuts are talking about? We're having the coldest summer
in ten years. This is the bad news. The good news is that the temperatures are still OK for the swimming pool, which is right downstairs. At least I
don't have to drive 30 miles just to get a cold on Jones Beach and shiver in the icy waters of the Atlantic Ocean. On the
Fourth of July my son was busy with his daughter, but Felicia did come to see me and we had a gorgeous barbecue dinner. After she left, I sat on the terrace late in the evening while the
bay was illuminated a giorno by an incredibly beautiful show of fireworks
June 20, 2014, Bayside, NY -- Yesterday I brought my vintage Blaupunkt radio and
Bang&Olufson (B&O) turntable from the repair shop in Binghamton, upstate New York. I already installed them in my bedroom and they work perfectly. Unfortunately, due to the restrictions of living in a high-rise, I can't deploy an antenna and I don't
have a ground wire, either. As a result, the radio captures signal only from a local AM station that broadcasts traffic info and weather forecasts. The good news is that when it comes to reproducing old vinyl LPs, the radio and the turntable work like buddies and deliver impeccable sound. Here's the
video clip My Blaupunkt -- the radio of my childhood playing live the
Figaro's Aria from
Il Barbiere di Siviglia.
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