WHEW! Or should I say, "WOW!"

"WOW....WWoWW, what is that word that you say. Wow. That is a new expression, I have not heard that. What does it mean?" O.k. fine, so this person was also in her late 70's.

This is the extent of pop cultural knowledge that the crowd I've been rolling with these days knows. As they say in Hungary, "NULA." The big goose egg: ZERO. O.K. fine, so I am in Hungary too. But still, WOW.....come on.... I am in shock. Someone asked me what wow means.

I don't know if ya'all know this about me, but one of my biggest missions in life is the quest for equal rights for the elderly. From my perspective, old people have it pretty bad. Old folks homes, disease, death, dying, decay. What is that? What kind of way is that to end a life.

So I believe in civil rights for the elderly. And I am a big advocate. I lived in a nursing home in New Jersey, called "Assisted living," for two months when I was 26. I went to the dining hall with a bunch of 75 to 95 year old people, I shot pool in their recreation hall with my then boyfriend and other friends as well. My then-boyfriend actually lived with me for two weeks while we researched the live-in nurse before we rescued my grandma from the hospital. It was very important to me that she did not die in an institution, but rather at home.

Anyway, that's a screenplay for another time, and not a boring old blog. There are more details, that I am not about to write about here and now, in an internet cafe in Budapest. I am coming home on Wednesday, to NYC - flying - and boy are my arms going to be tired.

Accross the Big Blue

Well, being in Budapest is absolutely beautiful. The family here is, let us just say: old. In a nutshell my Hungarian father László, is 80 years old. Yup. He is officially 20 years older than my mother, who is from New Jersey. So, for the time I am visiting, and living with a 80 year old man and his 75 year old sister.

Some of my favorite material in my comedy routine is about growing up with a Hungarian father. László Pongó is the only living Hungarian National Champion and American National Champion in world class fencing. So, his tongue is a quick and sharp as his sword. That is how my sense of humor evolved into the bizzaro mix of passionate jokes about the battle of love and war between the sexes, and sports.

Old people are amazing because they have been through so much that we can only read about these days. My father was smuggled out of the country when Hungary was invaded and he was black listed. But before he left he smuggled cigarettes and comfort items to his friends in the Jewish ghetto. When I asked him about it, he yelled, "VAT!" He can't say W very well. "It is nothing you wouldn't do for your own friends. Qvit making such a big deal abot dese tings!"

He can also be a very humble man, in this strange passionate way. He is an incredible person.