Category: Manny Kagan

 Whom Do You Know That Might Benefit From Our Tailored Mortgage Solutions?

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On a recent visit to downtown, San Francisco, we visited the new Apple flagship store, which was relocated to the corner of Post and Sutter streets. We entered the store from Sutter Street, ascending the stairs, passing the famous fountain by the sculptor Ruth Asawa, and faced a narrow waterfall running from the top of the green covered opposite wall. After getting inside the store crowded with people, my initial reaction was awe. On the other side of the store, facing Union Square was a 42 foot sliding glass door. Since the door was opened, it felt as though we were just part of the outside world. Looking around at the people, I noticed that others were awestruck as well. In the store itself, there were simple large wooden tables that displayed Apple’s merchandise like their iPhones and Apple Watches, similar to other Apple stores. One large room had some wooden cubes for people to sit on. Opposite the cubes, there was show of panoramic video, on the opposite wall, which was probably shot with an iPhone. There were as many employees in their blue t-shirt uniforms, as visitors, and the store was packed with onlookers like us. From the outside, the store looked like a huge glass box. It seemed to be completely out of place on Union Square, surrounded by mostly older more architecturally appealing buildings (at least for me). Nevertheless, the feeling of awe was there. Not even about the store and its location, but about how we live in a time, witnessing what the genius of the human mind can create in a relatively short period of time in history. But can this feeling of awe last? Will a new gadget or a car, which our mind cannot even fathom, in a few years convert the Apple store’s ground floor into a driverless cars show room? Or in ten years, will the building be demolished to be replaced with another one? Time will tell.

People are always looking for something new, exciting or stimulating, regardless if it is our relationship, in our family, work, or any of our other endeavors. We constantly need to be awed, even if the subject of our attention is God.

I recently read a weekly commentary on the Torah (Parasha in Hebrew) in the book “Talks on the Parasha” by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz, whom Time Magazine hailed as a “once-in-a-millennium scholar”. There he comments on being in awe of God. “To what degree can one stand very close and yet remain in a state of awe and reverence, dread and trembling? To straddle both sides simultaneously is nearly impossible, it is certainly one of the most difficult things that a person can do. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov (1772-1810) comments that in order to achieve this, one must be simultaneously extremely old and yet, in a sense, completely infantile. These requirements are against human nature, but nevertheless we are called upon to do just this.” Enjoy and Share.

P.S. I know that I am not extremely old, nor infantile any more, but I am in awe of many things in my life: my wife, my children, my colleagues, the work I do, helping people, and even the fact that you are reading my stories and like my photos. This time, I was fortunate to encounter and capture images of some people in with the expression of awe in the Apple store.

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 Whom Do You Know That Might Benefit From Our Tailored Mortgage Solutions?

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The book written by Jane Austen in 1813 has nothing to do with the subject of my story; I just borrowed the title.

When we recently went food shopping at Rainbow Grocery, which is usually open every day, I noticed a sign read that the store will be closed on June 26^th. I inquired about the reason, and was told that they would be closed due to the Gay Pride Parade.

In Webster’s New World Dictionary the definition of the word “pride” is, “an over high opinion of oneself, exaggerated self-esteem, haughty behavior, arrogance”.  Meanwhile, the events on June 28^th, 1969 created a new definition for this word.  On that day lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons (LGBT) rioted in New York, following a police raid at the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar at 43 Christopher Street. Since then, Gay Pride or LGBT Pride is celebrated in many cities and countries all over the world.  Some estimates indicate that 10% of the world population or about 700 million people are gay.  In San Francisco, the Gallup poll released on March 21, 2015, showed that San Francisco leads our nation with 6.2% of adults who identify as LGBT. San Francisco’s population is about 805,000 people, so that would be about 50,000 LGBT.  That is close to the population of Black or African American people in the city.  There are about 390,000 Caucasian people.

On Sunday morning, June 26^th, it seemed that all San Francisco plus thousands of out-of-towners showed up downtown, on Market Street.  In 2015, the number of people attending the parade in San Francisco was estimated to one million plus people.  Meanwhile, on Saturday, June 25, 2016, “The Guardian” reported with the headline “Too straight, white and corporate: why some queer people are skipping SF Pride”: Disaffected by the annual parade, members of San Francisco’s LGBT community are choosing alternative events to celebrate identity and solidarity with Orlando.

I do not like to go to big gatherings, but the temptation to snap a few interesting shots took me there.  The article was right.  It was very difficult to distinguish who was who. All different kinds of people showed up to have a good time. Vendors were selling colorful decorations and hot dogs.  Corporate floats paraded with very loud music.  Police were friendly, and even dogs enjoyed the parade.  After spending a few hours there and taking over 600 photos, I took the Muni train to Castro Street.  After getting there, I realized that the big celebration there was the night before.  On the corner of 18^th Street and Castro, on the side of the Bank of America, there is a memorial for the tragedy in Orlando.  Otherwise the area looked as though nothing was happening.  Enjoy and Share with a Friend.

P.S.  After I viewed all my images on my computer screen and deleted many of them, I discovered a problem.  I had much more than 4 interesting images to share with you.  My solution is to add the rest to my website, where you can view, enjoy and share.

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 Whom Do You Know That Might Benefit From Our Tailored Mortgage Solutions?

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If you have been reading “My Encounters” for the last two weeks, you know about my vacation in Maine.  One of the things Maine is famous for is lobster.  Fishermen caught a total of 125,953,876 pounds of lobster in 2013.  I felt prompted to write about it on an early morning walk to the Port of Portland.  I was hoping to catch and photograph some action.  Instead of finding boats unloading lobsters, I found barrels filled with dead fish covered with salt (apparently lobster season normally starts in June).  Talking to locals, I learned that lobsters prefer dead salted red fish, herring or mackerel, which are used as bait.  Those fish come from different states like New Jersey, packed into barrels and delivered to about 6,000 licensed lobstermen all over Maine. I found some intriguing information online on this site, “100 Fun Facts About Lobsters”.  I learned that if a lobster is not caught (or released because it is already too big), it could grow up to four feet and weigh as much as 40 pounds.  And, if it is very lucky, and has enough food at the bottom of the ocean, where they usually reside, lobster can live for over 100 years.  Here are some additional fun facts I discovered: Lobsters were once considered the poor man’s chicken.  They are a great source of protein and omega 3 fatty acids, and if you hold the butter, lobsters are not fattening.  In Colonial times, lobster was fed to pigs and goats.  Lobsters were once so plentiful that after storm, they would wash ashore in deep piles.  Lobsters will, quite literally drown in fresh water.  They are not very friendly, but some people do keep lobsters as pets.  While reading this, I thought of a story.

A man bought a fish tank, filled it with sea water and placed a lobster inside it.  His friend asked what his purpose was with the lobster.  “Well, I heard that they live one hundred years. I would like to find out if this is true.” (In the original story the lobster was a turtle.)

P.S. Like other shellfish, lobsters are bottom feeders, and are not kosher according to the culinary requirements of Jewish Law.  I do not eat lobsters, but while eating at the restaurant which serves them, I had a great opportunity to photograph them.  The salmon I ordered, by the way, was quite delicious.

P.P.S. On Memorial Day, my wife suggested going to the movies.  She gave me three choices.  One of them was “The Lobster”.  I chose this one because I thought I would have some insights for my story.  This was the weirdest movie I’ve ever seen.  It is labeled a “black comedy”, and it was too black for me.

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 Whom Do You Know That Might Benefit From Our Tailored Mortgage Solutions?

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Last week I wrote about a short vacation trip we took to Ogunquit, Maine.  To get there we flew from New York to Portland, Maine. On our way back, we decided to stay in Portland for a few extra days to explore Maine’s largest city with a population of over 500,000.  On our visit, we met very friendly people, and the food was very good as well.  We stayed at the Hyatt Hotel in the Old Port district, which is made up of many old brick buildings, with restaurants and boutiques.  We visited the Portland Museum of Art, which had an interesting art collection, and Elfa did her share of bargain hunting to help the local economy.

On the first night, we had dinner at the Fore Street Restaurant, which was recommended by the Fodor’s Travel Guide, and we were not disappointed.  We sat next to a couple, and I used the opportunity to clandestinely photograph the guy with a long beard.  After I got satisfactory results and showed it to them, it was very easy to start a conversation, and to acquire new friends.  Scott’s ancestors came to Maine on the third ship after The Mayflower, which arrived in New England in 1620.  He and Rhonda were celebrating their fourth wedding anniversary.  Suddenly, he told me “Look on her face now”.  At this moment he started to unbutton his shirt to reveal the tee-shirt underneath with the magic words “Yes, Dear”.  The man was mature enough to know that to make a good marriage, the husband always has the last words, and it is “Yes, Dear.”

For me this trip was an opportunity to relax, to observe and meet new people, to take photographs and to write.  I started working on my next book titled “Retirement Solutions for Smart People.  5 Easy Ways to Enjoy Your Golden Age”.  It was not a coincidence, but in the morning I was writing about how in planning for retirement, husbands need to listen to their wives.  And after all the agreements and disagreements, his last words are “Yes, Dear”.

Enjoy and Share.

P.S. Because people are so friendly here, it is very easy to photograph those whom I encountered.  But you have to come here to check it out.  Meanwhile enjoy these images.

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 Whom Do You Know That Might Benefit From Our Tailored Mortgage Solutions?

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Have you heard about a place called Ogunquit, located in Maine?  Neither did I, until a few months ago my wife Elfa informed me that if we do not take a three days’ vacation, the points of our time-share will expire, and it would be a shame to lose them.  She also told me that she had found an exchange at a resort in Maine, one of the States on our list of places to visit.  When I looked at the map, I realized that Maine could be a part of Canada, since most of the land borders with Quebec.  Its population is only 1,328,361, and is the 42 most populous state in the United States., while California is Number 1 with 37,253,956 inhabitants.  In terms of bodies of water, Maine is ranked 12^th in the nation, while California is #6.  There is water everywhere.  The resort area where we stayed was a few residential blocks away from access to the sea.  When I walked there early in the morning, I found a huge beach with calm waters.

Although the weather was very nice, there were just a few people there.  The tourist season was due to start at the end of May and lasts until the end of September.  During this time, all the area will be filled with visitors, who flock there to experience the beauty of nature. The name Ogunquit in the Abenaki language, which was spoken long ago in Quebec and Maine, means “beautiful place by the sea”.  We drove on the road that winds along the water, visited picturesque little towns, and ended up in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, which is about a thirty minute drive from there.  But many food establishments had a CLOSED sign on the door, since it was before the tourist season started.  To taste the local ROCOCO ice cream (which was very good), we drove 15 miles to Kennebunkport.  This port town was incorporated in 1651, and today this area is the location of summer homes of the 41^st President Mr. and Mrs. Bush, as well as their son Jeb Bush and many others who is whos, judging by the huge mansions along the road.

On a morning walk through the marsh land bordering the sea with my camera in hand, listening to the chirping birds, looking at the young green leaves just appearing on the tree branches, and the brown, old ones on the ground, noticing new flowers pushing themselves through soft ground, I realized that it looked like any other place or state we have visited in the spring.  I had a similar experience back at home on The Sea Ranch as well.  Then I thought, “Why do we always want to go far away and visit other countries, if everywhere we go looks so familiar?”  I think the answer was given by the Russian poet Vladimir Soloukhin.  In one of his poems he writes, “To live on the earth with the soul striving to the sky,” and in another he describes the different experiences we have in our lives, and then asks, “O.K., what is left for us in life?” and answers, “The joy of anticipation”.  I just carry along my photo camera on my journeys to capture a small sliver of my experiences with one purpose, to share with you the joy I feel in my heart.

Enjoy and Share.

P.S.  Unfortunately, because of my lack of skills and even the possibility to capture the beauty, I think you would still have to come and to experience it here yourself.  Meanwhile, these four images reflect the natural beauty created by nature itself.

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