Sunday August 30, 1987

I rented Murder By Death. The Zarvinsky's came over to swim. We had a huge cherry tree in the backyard. Sharon and I picked cherries.

Saturday August 29, 1987

Took the Steeles 53 and then 60 to get home from Hart's. Watched US Open tennis on TV. Went for a swim at Marc's place.

Friday August 28, 1987

Hung around Green Lane area w/Zahler, Jon, Shane & Jonas Cohen, Hart, Shelly P&V. I slept over at Hart's place, but that night we rode our bikes back to Green Lane. All of us had agreed to meet by the Hasty Market at midnight. Everyone snuck out but eventually we all got caught by Jon's dad. Pretty funny night.

Thursday August 27, 1987

Hart, Jon Cohen & I went to Yorkdale. I bought a pait of jeans from POP 84 - the place that became famous for jean jackets with fake sheep skin lining/collar. Then we went to see Can't Buy Me Love --- GREAT flick!

Wednesday August 26, 1987

Steven came over to play ping-pong. Watched TV. I went over to The Promenade and got a Root's sweatshirt. It was my navy blue with red letters. I loved that hoodie!

Tuesday August 25, 1987

Stayed home and just hung around the house. That evening there was a big dinner at our place in honor of my Bar-Mitzvah: Zarvinsky's, Polischuck's, Luba, Vitsa, Dora Abramnaya, and my grandparents. Vitsa cooked the majority of stuff and it was absolutely incredible food.

Monday August 24, 1987

I went to Canada's Wonderland w/Hart, Singer and Bram Goldstein. The best roller coaster was definitely The Mighty Canadian Minebuster because it was/is wooden and feels all rickety and unstable. I always got a good case of whiplash and nausea. That night I had dinner at Singer's.

Sunday August 23, 1987

Singer came over to my house in the afternoon. Played some ping-pong. I schooled him. That night we went to Elana Gruenstein's party. I slept over at Dave's place.

Saturday August 22, 1987

Played tennis with Gabe in the morning. Went over to the Epstein's pool with parents for a swim. Went to see The Living Daylights w/Singers. Timothy Dalton is clearly the worst Bond that ever was ... way too weepy and feminine. This was definitely the low point of Bonds. Gabe and I played some late night ping-pong.

Friday August 21, 1987

I spent the entire day and night at the Player's International Tennis Tournament at York with Hart and Yves. We saw a bunch of matches, and more importantly spent a good hour at the side of a practice court watching Gabriela Sabatini. Today it's Sharapova and people still talk about Kournikova, but in 1987 the undisputed hottie on the tennis tour was Gabriela. Check out those stems! The smaller pic is Hana Mandlikova ... not hot, but I liked her game.

Thursday August 20, 1987

Laura and Dodik came over. I swam, played pool and chess with Steven. Had lunch at McDonald's. Rented Wise Guys.

Wednesday August 19, 1987

I went to Singer's to watch Alien. Then we went to Harvey's plaza and Bishop's Cross. Watched TV that night.

Tuesday August 18, 1987

Gabe & I went to buy a ping-pong table at Canadian Tire. Gabe and I swam at Epstein's house. The Zarvinsky's came over.

Monday August 17, 1987

Mom and I flew back to Toronto.

Sunday August 16, 1987

My 13th birthday. What would have been my bar-mitzvah was spent at the beach. That night we celebrated at a Russian restaurant: mom, Mila, Davick, Emily, Marina, Garik, Rosa, etc.

Saturday August 15, 1987

Mom and I went to the Russian restaurant where my birthday party was being held to confirm the final details. Grabbed some food and mom bought me the old school big glass bottles of milk. That night had dinner at Nadia's place with everyone.

Friday August 14, 1987

Back to the beach with mom and granddad. Ate lunch on the boardwalk. Watched a little league baseball game on the diamond beside Nadia's building. This was a professional diamond with dugouts, scoreboards, home run fence, etc. ... better than anything I ever played on as a kid. That night we had dinner with Davik, Marina and their daughter Emily.

Thursday August 13, 1987

Walked around Brighton. Back to the beach. Had lunch at Nadia's place with my grandparents.

Wednesday August 12, 1987

Just spent the day back on the beach and hanging around the boardwalk. That evening Inna came back down with Sasha. We played arcade games and just hung out. My grandparents and a gazillion other Russians would just sit on the boardwalk and chat, or stroll, or play chess.

Tuesday August 11, 1987

Mom and I took the subway into Manhattan and met up with Rosa. All I remember well is that I saw some anti-animal testing activist's booth on 5th Avenue that showed pictures of monkeys and dogs all wired up and cut open. It absolutely shocked me and I could not stop crying. We went to lunch at the Trump Tower but I pretty much killed the vibe.

Monday August 10, 1987

Mom and I walked around Brighton Beach Ave. and Coney Island Ave. Bought groceries. Mom got Russian books, etc. Later Garik picked us up and took us to their place in Queens. We had dinner at their place. After dinner my cousin Oleg took me out for a tour in his brand new silver Alpha Romeo Spider. He took me to Flushing Meadows where the U.S. Open happens and Shea Stadium where the Mets play. That was also the first time I ever saw marijuana. I remember him asking me to look for some "tea" in the glove compartment and actually searching around for tea bags. In the end he was shocked that this 12 year old Canadian was lame; and I was convined my cousin was a drug addict.

Sunday August 9, 1987

Spent the day at the beach. Mom's friend Inna Shuster came down from New Jersey with her son Sasha. Sasha and I hung out and played a baseball video game at a store on the boardwalk. Had dinner with Nadia and Felix (her husband) and my grandparents (who also came down).

Saturday August 8, 1987

Went over to Nadia's for a visit. Nadia is my grandmother's older sister, or I guess my great-aunt? Anyway, in Russian I still referred to her as a grandmother, which she appreciated because she never had kids of her own. Then we spend the day at the beach. I recall eating piroshky with sauerkraut for the first time. we bought them off vendors just walking along the beach. That night we had dinner with Rosa in Queens.

Friday August 7, 1987

Instead of having a Bar-Mitzvah, my parents had offered me a trip to New York instead. I took the trip. Mom and I flew to New York and stayed in Brighton Beach. We lived in the apartment of Marina's (Davik's wife at the time). Garik picked us up from the airport and Rosa came to see us that evening.

Thursday August 6, 1987

Went for a swim at the Epstein's house. Packed for New York City.

Wednesday August 5, 1987

Had no entry.

Tuesday August 4, 1987

Ran errands with mom. Went to Dr. Livshitz with dad for a check-up. Grandparents came over with Vitza. She is an amazing cook and prepared an incredible meal for us. Marc and I went over to Ilan's to watch Private School.

Monday August 3, 1987

Dad and I went to play tennis at Rockford in the morning. Went with parents to Red Lobster around Yonge & Clark for lunch. That was our first and last visit to Red Lobster. Had dessert and coffee at Nina Daversa after. That night we went over to grandparent's apartment (4455 Bathurst St.) to welcome their friend - Vitsa - from San Francisco.

Sunday August 2, 1987

Finished the wallpapering. We didn't go to the Jay game because of shitty weather. Jordi came over to watch My Tutor. Hung out at Epstein's that night.

Saturday August 1, 1987

I went to Jordi's to swim w/Guy. The three of us went for lunch at Pizza Chef. The Epstein's gave us Blue Jay tickets.

Friday July 31, 1987

Cleaned the garage. Played tennis with Gabe. Swam at Marc's place and then went to Ilan's house to play video games. Marc & I took the 2 rabbits to the park.