Robbie

I'm a hobbyist: I collect antique phonographs, antique photographs (any daguerreotypes and tintypes of people posed with musical instruments or with the tools of their occupation, such as a cook with a kettle. Sometimes, when I'm in an antique shop, I ask if there are any antique phonographs for sale and the proprietor mistakenly thinks I said antique photographs, which is fine because I collect them both. I also collect rare coins, Israeli postage stamps, and U.S. Civil War artifacts. I love art (with the exception of most modern art), classical and folk music, and I especially love women...kind ones, beautiful ones, or kind and beautiful ones. Punchball and roller hockey were my sports of choice while growing up...but I was a not-so-good hitter in Brooklyn stickball games. I prefer nonfiction to novels, but love to read short stories: O. Henry, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Shalom Aleichem, Bernard Malamud, Edgar Allen Poe, George Ade, and Damon Runyan are among my favorite writers. I've had eleven of my short stories published and sometimes write magazine articles on the history of recorded sound and on Civil War history. I love museums and libraries and spend a lot of my free time in art workshops. I've never done drugs, don't smoke, but like an occasional beer or a whiskey sour. I dislike being confused with the opinionated, atheist Brooklynite who, unfortunately, has the same name as me. We've never met or spoken to each other, but sometimes have mistakenly gotten each others phone calls. On the otherhand, I don't at all mind the phone calls I get that are meant for a world famous New York-based rabbi, that shares my name. However, I'm not especially religious, although I do sometimes worship in synagogues. I'm totally against capital punishment...even for the likes of Saddam & am trying to delete Annette's bulletin about her posting the video of his execution, without deleting Annette!