In March, Mom wrote me about the movie Shattered Glass, saying:

This is one of the best DVD’s I have received. I had to look at it
twice, I fell asleep last night while watching, so kept it and
watched it during the day. I know it is one you all would like
also. I don’t really know if it is based on a true story or not – do
you?

I wasn’t sure that a movie she fell asleep while watching would really be all that terrific, but I kept the note, and when I took over her Netflix account, I put the movie back on the queue.

I’m glad I did; all of us enjoyed it (Diane and I watched it first, and decided to keep it so that Jeff could watch it, and then we watched it again). None of the characters were particularly appealing (Glass starts out that way, but he seems too good to be true at the beginning, and then by the end, he’s revealed to be a complete liar — and, of course, he grows up to be Darth Vader), but the story (which, apparently, is mostly real, though augmented for the movies) was compelling.

Unfortunately, Glass is not the only “journalist” to have taken liberties with the truth. That never happens on this blog, though, unlike at least one other blog produced in this household:

I just saw a movie called Shattered Glass. It’s the true story about a writer who made up most of the stories he wrote for The New Republic. Anyways, seeing as he was exposed for what he did I think its time I came clean before I get fired.

There are some facts in these blogs that are fictional. As shocking as I know it is to some people, I have been known to make up a few details purely to make things more interesting. I know that the way some of these stories are written there is no way to separate the truths from the lies. I mean, we know there was a shabbaton, but were the skunks really there? We know I have a locker that won’t close but was it ever president? We know Michael Jackson exists, but is he a human? There is just no way to know.

So I must warn you here: some details in these blogs are not nor have they ever been true. I know I have damaged some of my credibility today, and my millions of readers worldwide are shocked. From now on, I will only write true things. Starting with this sentence, every thing here is true.

Except for that last sentence.

Shabbat Shalom!

We just got back from watching Jeff (and the rest of his class) take a final, and it was great. No, I’m not being sadistic (at least not tonight) — the class was Theater 2, and the final was a performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream (shortened to make it fit in 90 minutes).

It was actually his third performance of the day; first, the improv group at school, Mish-Mosh, put on “Gone in 15 Minutes” during lunch (I asked him what it was about, and he said “about 20 minutes”; accurate, but unhelpful. He has a bright future in politics). Then they gave a first performance of Midsummer at 4:30, right after school, and then a second performance (mostly to parents) at 7:30.

All of the kids were good; I’d be showing my bias if I said Jeff was the best, so I won’t.

Somehow, I doubt his other finals will be as much fun — or that he’ll spend as much time preparing for them.