At First Blush

1. Can't say how many times I read Ulysses before figuring out that Leopold Bloom was in his early thirties. Even though that age seemed remarkably old to me the first few times I had at Mr.Joyce's work, LB seemed older, like, say, forties. (Ah, callow youth!)

2. Speaking of Ulysses, I didn't realize what it meant when I broached the reference desk at the Providence, R.I. Public Library, asked for it, and had to wait while the librarian secured it from a locked cabinet. (Ah, callow youth!)

3. The first time I heard the song, Joe Hill, as in, "I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night/Alive as you or me..." I didn't know who Joe Hill was.

4. The first time I saw a thick black stripe circumnavigating the interior of busses in Miami Beach, FL, I thought it was a decoration.

5. Because of my unfamiliarity with New Jersey accents, I thought God's name was Harold, as in Harold be Thy Name...This made perfect sense in relationship to the discovery of Harold angels singing.

6. The first time I heard Red Barber "call" a Dodger's game, I decided there were some advantages to being in the East. This sense of advantage did not last long, but at least Red Barber mitigated the condition.

7. The first time I saw a baseball game played in Fenway Park, I knew that baseball would never again be so wonderful, what with my being able to take sight of Ted Williams, Johnny Pesky, Bobby Doerr, and Vince Dimaggio in one continuous sweep.

8. The first time my maternal grandmother prepared hot dogs for me, I was imprinted with a vision of her smile that has never faded.

9. The first time I ate a hot dog at Katz Brothers on Hester Street, I understood how the hot dog worked.

10. The first time I ate a hot dog at The Surf Dog, adjacent to the Bailard Avenue turn-off in Carpinteria, I remembered 8 and 9 supra.