zmmiller

Little-Big-Man Zonked After Special Time With Daddy

2012-02-13T03:38:00.000-05:00

What HE Said!

2012-02-05T01:44:00.000-05:00

The National Jazz Museum in East Harlem

2012-02-05T01:41:00.000-05:00

"There is moonlight and moss in the treetops..."

2012-01-27T15:45:00.001-05:00

(somewhere in gulf-coast Florida)

Big Room:

2012-01-22T22:41:00.002-05:00

Another Shot:

2012-01-22T22:41:00.001-05:00

Commuting!

2012-01-22T22:40:00.001-05:00

Miranda Crashed-out On Subway

2012-01-22T22:38:00.001-05:00

The Unknown Daughter

2012-01-19T20:37:00.001-05:00

A Barrel of BumbleBee

2012-01-19T20:35:00.000-05:00

The Tree at Rockefeller Center

2011-12-17T18:36:00.001-05:00

Zach Awaits The Holliday Feast

2011-11-30T00:53:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving Chickens!!!

2011-11-29T18:41:00.001-05:00

The End of Santa

2011-11-21T20:47:00.003-05:00

Last night, while working (well, hardly working) at the Puzzle Factory, I got a "very serious call" frm Miranda, with "a very serious question." After a few quick words from her mother, to brief me in, I sat down and braced myself for one of those unique parenting moments, albeit a bittersweet moment.

There was a proverb in early English (circa 1440) that was written like this: "Ye wote wele of all thing moste be an ende." To all goodnthings, there must be an end - sadly, not even obese, Artic-dwelling elves are exempt... let me explain...

Apparently, what had transpired was that a highly regarded, expert source (one of Miranda's 7 year-old girlfriends from school) had told her that Santa was... a fraud, a sham, a phony, a bluff, charlatan, a cheat, counterfeit, deception, fake, a hoax... you get the idea.

Yes, even Mommy had fessed up to wrapping presents and hiding them around the house, petending to be Santa. Still, the matter was not settled until she spoke to Daddy - after all, I am the chief perpetrator of the myth, and therefore the chief authority on the subject. Indeed, she even remembered me saying last year that I have Santa's cell phone number.

What is the speed of thought? Fast? Really fast? Extra super-duper stupendously fast? Whatever. In that split second, I sat there
wondering why I had lied to my beautiful child, filling her adorable
head with this absurd fiction. Why do we do this to our children and
how did it start?

There are numerous parallels between Santa Claus and the figure of Odin, a major god amongst the pagan Germanic peoples prior to Christianity. The Germanic peoples were Christianized and retained elements of their indigenous traditions, surviving in various forms into modern depictions of Santa Claus.

Odin was sometimes recorded, at the native Germanic holiday of Yule, as leading a great hunting party through the sky. Two books from Iceland, the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier sources, and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson, describe Odin as riding an eight-legged horse named
Sleipnir that could leap great distances, giving rise to comparisons
to Santa Claus's reindeer. Further, Odin was referred to by many names
in Skaldic poetry, some of which describe his appearance or functions
- all meaning "long beard" or "Yule figure".

According to some traditions, children would place their boots, filled
with carrots, straw, or sugar, near the chimney for Odin's flying horse, Sleipnir, to eat. Odin would then reward those children for their kindness by replacing Sleipnir's food with gifts or candy. This practice still survives in Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands and became associated with Saint Nicholas since Christianization. In other countries it has been replaced by the hanging of stockings at the chimney in homes.

These pre-modern representations of the gift-giver from church history
and folklore, notably St. Nicholas and Sinterklaas, merged with the British character Father Christmas to create the character known to Britons and Americans as Santa Claus.

In the British colonies of North America and later the United States, British and Dutch versions of the gift-giver merged further. For example, in Washington Irving's History of New York, (1809), Sinterklaas was Americanized into "Santa Claus" (a name first used in the American press in 1773) but lost his bishop's apparel, and was at first pictured as a thick-bellied Dutch sailor with a pipe in a green winter coat. Irving's book was a lampoon of the Dutch culture of New York, and much of this portrait is his joking invention.

As years passed, Santa Claus evolved in popular culture into a large, heavyset person. One of the first artists to define Santa Claus's modern image was Thomas Nast, an American cartoonist of the 19th century. In 1863, a picture of Santa illustrated by Nast appeared in Harper's Weekly.

The story that Santa Claus lives at the North Pole, may also have been a Nast creation. His Christmas image in the Harper's issue dated December 29, 1866 was a collage of engravings titled Santa Claus and His Works, which included the caption, "Santa Claussville, N.P." A color collection of Nast's pictures, published in 1869, had a poem also titled "Santa Claus and His ; by George P. Webster, who
wrote that Santa Claus's home was "near the North Pole, in the ice and
snow". The tale had become well known by the 1870s. A boy from
Colorado writing to the children's magazine The Nursery in late 1874
said, "If we didn't live so very far from the North Pole, I should ask
Santa Claus to bring me a donkey."

OK, that's all fine and nice, but why do we perpetuate this lie? And
then the answer came - it came as if drawn by eight tiny reindeer -
magic. That's the reason: magic. Every child should know the joy, for
however brief a time, before innocence is forever lost, before
cynicism takes hold, clamping its joyless death grip on their
imaginations - every child should have the experience of magic.

Last night that magic ended for my little PumpkinPie. As I explained
to her that Santa was a real idea, not a real person, she was inducted
into the society of "big people who know the truth," I reminded her
how much fun the Story of Santa is and she promised not to ruin it for
all of the "little kids" in kindergarten and first grade.

But still, as proud as I am of her sharp little mind some part of me
will always miss and mourn the awe inspired in my child on Christmas
morning by a plate of half-eaten cookies and a mostly empty glass of
milk, left out for Santa the eve before - evidence of magic.

Pizza Man

2011-11-04T16:31:00.000-04:00

Cool Lighting

2011-10-22T09:03:00.000-04:00

Gymnastics For Monkeys

2011-10-19T11:22:00.000-04:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!

2011-10-16T12:20:00.000-04:00

Birthday Tacos!

2011-10-15T23:51:00.001-04:00

Another Brooklyn Sunset

2011-09-26T20:01:00.001-04:00

The Fabulous Toy Miranda Has Been Saving For:

2011-09-26T19:59:00.000-04:00

NoHo

2011-09-05T19:10:00.000-04:00

Gold Medal for Rugby

2011-08-11T16:07:00.001-04:00

Miranda's New Dress (from China)

2011-08-11T13:18:00.001-04:00

Monkeys Lounging on the Big Bed:

2011-08-11T13:17:00.001-04:00

Miranda's Mani-Pedi

2011-08-11T13:15:00.001-04:00

Manhattan Find: Tranquil Spot

2011-07-30T17:00:00.001-04:00

Evening At The Apollo

2011-07-27T22:04:00.000-04:00

BumblePose

2011-07-25T06:22:00.001-04:00

Zachy Prepares To Launch

2011-07-25T06:21:00.000-04:00

2011-07-21T18:54:00.001-04:00

Playin' In The Yard

2011-07-21T18:53:00.001-04:00

Sunny Midtown

2011-07-01T13:34:00.000-04:00

Tooth Fairy X-ing

2011-07-01T11:41:00.000-04:00

Panda At Snacktime

2011-06-16T23:38:00.000-04:00

The Big Apple BBQ Block Party

2011-06-16T23:37:00.001-04:00

Makin' The Mud

2011-06-16T23:36:00.001-04:00

Playin' In The Mud

2011-06-16T23:35:00.000-04:00

Chrysler...

2011-06-16T23:34:00.000-04:00

SubwayArt

2011-06-14T17:39:00.001-04:00

Another Angle

2011-05-19T20:20:00.001-04:00

The Easter Booty

2011-04-26T23:20:00.000-04:00

Ready For The Bolshoi

2011-04-21T02:16:00.000-04:00

Zach's School Play (excerpt)

2011-04-08T18:31:00.003-04:00

Another Busy Saturday

2011-04-04T14:10:00.000-04:00

If A Tree Falls In The Woods...

2011-03-30T16:57:00.000-04:00

Metro-North Kids

2011-03-30T16:55:00.000-04:00

Recent Monkey Photos

2011-03-30T09:52:00.000-04:00

Miranda Making Faces

2011-01-05T21:22:00.000-05:00

Christmas Blizzard of 2010

2010-12-27T13:08:00.000-05:00

Images I took this morning when I (foolishly) went out for coffee:

Christmas 2010

2010-12-25T23:33:00.000-05:00

Rockefeller Center 12/24/10

2010-12-24T18:30:00.001-05:00

Definitely Dressed For The Weather

2010-12-20T00:44:00.000-05:00

Gotham After Dark

2010-12-20T00:40:00.001-05:00

(Taken at the Bryant Park holiday artisan's fair)

Old Train

2010-12-18T01:42:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday, as we were traipsing around Manhattan, we came across this 1930's NYC subway at Herald Square that the MTA was running for the holidays. They don't build them like this anymore, but having air conditioning is definitely a plus!

Kids Eating Pizza

2010-12-18T01:37:00.000-05:00

The Pleasantville Christmas Tree

2010-12-02T18:49:00.000-05:00

Taken at the tree-lighting ceremony on Wednesday, December 1st.:

Daddy's Little Elf

2010-12-02T18:45:00.000-05:00

The Monkeys Get Their Ears Lowered

2010-11-21T12:57:00.000-05:00

This past Wednesday I took the kids to get their hair(s) cut. Here are the photos - check out Zachy's expression: f_cking hilarious!

The Museum of Modern Art

2010-11-14T18:09:00.003-05:00

Is there anything better than enjoying beautiful works of art with a beautiful and charming companion? I think not.

Notice!

2010-11-14T18:01:00.002-05:00

2010-11-13T20:52:00.000-05:00

Zachy Doing Homework With Daddy

2010-11-07T23:26:00.000-05:00

The Clampet's Limo?

2010-11-07T18:28:00.000-05:00

Gee.., Now It's A Game!

2010-11-07T18:27:00.000-05:00

Little Miss Blue-Lips

2010-10-29T20:55:00.000-04:00

Miranda Ready To Vault

2010-10-24T22:20:00.000-04:00

Birthday Kids

2010-10-24T20:43:00.001-04:00

Zach & Panda At Their Party

2010-10-24T20:43:00.000-04:00

The Birthday Girl

2010-10-24T20:42:00.000-04:00

A Cake For Two

2010-10-24T18:22:00.000-04:00

The Halls of Justice

2010-10-20T09:01:00.000-04:00

Random Building

2010-10-19T13:09:00.000-04:00

Zach's 8th Birthday

2010-10-16T23:54:00.001-04:00

Zach Does Math

2010-10-13T16:54:00.002-04:00

Flying A Kite

2010-10-13T16:50:00.002-04:00

Zach's Reading Homework

2010-10-02T00:36:00.004-04:00

The other night I sat down to help Zach with his reading homework (pictured) and was amazed to find that not only was he reading, but comprehending what he read. Granted, it wasn't War and Peace, but he was really doing it. I was SO proud of him!

Miranda's Sparkly Dress (class picture day)

2010-10-01T19:26:00.001-04:00

Zach's Fist Soccer Practice

2010-09-27T16:10:00.002-04:00

San Gennaro

2010-09-27T15:44:00.006-04:00

The Feast of San Gennaro, originally a one-day religious commemoration, began in September, 1926 when newly arrived immigrants from Naples congregated along Mulberry Street in the Little Italy section of New York City, to continue the tradition they had followed in Italy to celebrate San Gennaro as the Patron Saint of Naples. His feast day is September 19 in the liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church. The immigrant families on Mulberry Street who started it all were Nappi, Vetali, Montanini and Tisi. Each one of them had a coffee house (café) on Mulberry Street, between Grand and Hester Streets. They strung lengths of colored light bulbs across the street from building fire escapes and brought their business out onto the sidewalk. They erected a small chapel in the street to house the image of their patron Saint. They invited all to partake of their wares, asking only that the devoted pin a small offering to the ribbon streamers that are hung from the statue's apron. This money was then distributed to the needy poor of the neighborhood. In that way they felt they could do charitable works and also pay homage to their patron Saint. The festival expanded and is now an 11-day street fair beginning on the second Thursday in September in the Little Italy area of Manhattan as an annual celebration of Italian culture and the Italian-American community.

Of course, the best way to take in this amazing event is as I did: with someone you love!

The Buddhist Temple Down The Street:

2010-09-24T23:14:00.002-04:00

Perfect for those last minute reincarnations - no neighborhood should be without one.

Boiling The Boy Until He's Clean

2010-09-16T18:37:00.001-04:00

Playing In The Dirt:

2010-09-16T18:36:00.000-04:00

2010-09-12T18:53:00.001-04:00

September Sky

Last Light

2010-09-11T12:26:00.001-04:00

The Trees

2010-09-11T12:24:00.001-04:00

Panda's Many Facets

2010-09-09T15:55:00.000-04:00

Miranda The Fiercest Tiger

2010-09-08T22:18:00.001-04:00

The Aftermath of Hurricane Zach:

2010-09-04T17:03:00.001-04:00

The Monkeys Return To Brooklyn

2010-08-30T13:35:00.000-04:00

August Sunset (Brooklyn)

2010-08-17T19:52:00.000-04:00

Another Wednesday

2010-08-16T02:05:00.002-04:00

The Emerald City

2010-08-11T22:12:00.002-04:00

Hammock View

2010-08-07T21:37:00.002-04:00

Miranda Rides The Green Line (Park St. Station)

2010-07-29T22:40:00.000-04:00

The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze

2010-07-29T22:37:00.000-04:00

Panda & Luna

2010-07-29T17:53:00.001-04:00

Girl & Dog

2010-07-29T17:53:00.000-04:00

Tall Ship - South St. Seaport

2010-07-17T23:58:00.001-04:00

Midsummer Wednesdays

2010-07-10T13:40:00.005-04:00