Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Food for thought
This was posted in September but I just read it. And I thought it was interesting. Made me feel a bit hot under the collar.
When in Rome...
That there on the left is my Uncle Meyer. And, yes. The other one is the pope. Leave it to Uncle Meyer!
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Saturday, November 12, 2005
Got a minute?
Friday, November 11, 2005
Mom, can I borrow the keys?
Mordechai came home and announced that Binyomin wanted him to come over to his house after school the next day. He dug in his pocket and fished out a paper. Unfolding the paper, he continued to explain that he had taken down Binyomin's phone number and address (with the exception of a backwards seven, the info was accurate). So, could I please call his mother to finalize the plans? Sure, whatever you say, cap'n.
The templates, they are a-changin'
Over at CodeScripter, Mirty has me and a handful of like-minded (i.e. geek wannabe) bloggers tinkering with our templates. Well, actually I haven't done any tinkering yet, but I've been preparing to tinker, which brought me face to face with my blogroll in its HTML nakedness.
Funny thing about blogrolls - every so often you look at yours and wonder "Who the heck wrote this list?" because it's very different from the list of blogs you actually read. Why is that so? For some blogs, the reason is simply because the blogger stopped posting and so you stopped visiting. In some cases, a blogger kind of switched gears and no longer blogs about things that capture your interest. In some cases, it's you who has switched gears and so you've grown apart from a blog. Of course, there's always new blogs you bump into and fall in love with.
So, do I scrap the whole list and rewrite my blogroll as it stands in reality today? I'm reluctant to do that. At some point, this blog that I no longer frequent, was one of my regular reads. Maybe one day I'll revisit it and take it up again like rediscovering an old friend after spending years going your separate ways. If I delete it now, like erasing my old friend's name from my phonebook, I may never think of it again and an opportunity may be missed. No, I think I'll keep all the old stuff and add the blogs I'm currently reading to the list. How to organize it? Regular reads vs. occasional visits vs. candidates for possible future exploration? Too difficult. Too many gray blogs that fall in between or nowhere near these black-and-white categories. In short, a logistical nightmare. I think I'll have to stick with an assorted mix of blogs that you might or might not enjoy browsing through on one rainy day. Who knows? Maybe we'll meet each other through a mutual "friend".
Funny thing about blogrolls - every so often you look at yours and wonder "Who the heck wrote this list?" because it's very different from the list of blogs you actually read. Why is that so? For some blogs, the reason is simply because the blogger stopped posting and so you stopped visiting. In some cases, a blogger kind of switched gears and no longer blogs about things that capture your interest. In some cases, it's you who has switched gears and so you've grown apart from a blog. Of course, there's always new blogs you bump into and fall in love with.
So, do I scrap the whole list and rewrite my blogroll as it stands in reality today? I'm reluctant to do that. At some point, this blog that I no longer frequent, was one of my regular reads. Maybe one day I'll revisit it and take it up again like rediscovering an old friend after spending years going your separate ways. If I delete it now, like erasing my old friend's name from my phonebook, I may never think of it again and an opportunity may be missed. No, I think I'll keep all the old stuff and add the blogs I'm currently reading to the list. How to organize it? Regular reads vs. occasional visits vs. candidates for possible future exploration? Too difficult. Too many gray blogs that fall in between or nowhere near these black-and-white categories. In short, a logistical nightmare. I think I'll have to stick with an assorted mix of blogs that you might or might not enjoy browsing through on one rainy day. Who knows? Maybe we'll meet each other through a mutual "friend".
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Guests
So, I saw Ushpizin. My impressions of the film:
• Entertainment value: 3 stars (4 if, like me, you get a real kick out of watching Israelis on the big screen being Israeli with all their mannerisms and expressions)
• Storyline: decidedly unexciting
• Light in which it depicts both charedi and secular Jews: unfavorable. Charedim (ultra-orthodox Jews) come out looking like primitive people who are too helpless to do anything but pray. Perhaps I'm missing something, but if my husband wasn't getting his kollel check and there was no food on the table on Erev Succot, I'd send him to get himself a job building some rich guy's sukka - not to go sit on a bench and pray. (He can pray while he hammers.) A little more hishtadlut, people! Then again, I have no idea what Breslovers feel about such matters and maybe hishtadlut is not in their book. The only seculars we meet in the movie are two irreverent, arrogant criminals who, until they have created a serious rift in their hosts' marriage, devote their time to making the said hosts miserable. Hmmm.
Anyone else saw it? Whadidya think?
• Entertainment value: 3 stars (4 if, like me, you get a real kick out of watching Israelis on the big screen being Israeli with all their mannerisms and expressions)
• Storyline: decidedly unexciting
• Light in which it depicts both charedi and secular Jews: unfavorable. Charedim (ultra-orthodox Jews) come out looking like primitive people who are too helpless to do anything but pray. Perhaps I'm missing something, but if my husband wasn't getting his kollel check and there was no food on the table on Erev Succot, I'd send him to get himself a job building some rich guy's sukka - not to go sit on a bench and pray. (He can pray while he hammers.) A little more hishtadlut, people! Then again, I have no idea what Breslovers feel about such matters and maybe hishtadlut is not in their book. The only seculars we meet in the movie are two irreverent, arrogant criminals who, until they have created a serious rift in their hosts' marriage, devote their time to making the said hosts miserable. Hmmm.
Anyone else saw it? Whadidya think?
Shower entertainment
I was in the shower this morning when Sari walked in and announced that she needed to use the bathroom. "Go ahead," I told her. Before she got started, she assured me, "It's okay. I don't need my privacy."
Pleasure to meet you, again
In was "re-introduced" to Ima (my mom-in-law) the other night. I see her in a way I never did before. Well, that's not entirely true. I've always thought of her as extremely kind. She goes out of her way to make a phone call or send a card to make someone's day. Her house is open to guests, and distant "cousins" seem to materialize all the time and benefit from her generous hospitality. She truly is a kind soul.
Many people know Ima as the driver's ed lady. She was telling me how she ends each semester urging - no, begging - her students not to drive after having drunk. She tells them that if ever they're in a situation where the driver has been drinking and they're stuck, call her and she'll get them home - anytime, anywhere. And these are not just empty words. A former student called her at 1:00 AM one summer night. He was out in the Catskills with some staff friends who had been drinking. He was the designated driver. Problem was, he had had a couple of beers too. Ima (being in the city) could not drive him home but she instructed him to call a cab. Since he had no money on him, she spoke with the cab service and gave her VISA number over the phone to cover the trip back to camp for the boys. After retelling the story, Ima shrugged and said, "My little bit of tzedaka." Hey, don't underestimate yourself. And it's a pleasure to get to know you, again.
Many people know Ima as the driver's ed lady. She was telling me how she ends each semester urging - no, begging - her students not to drive after having drunk. She tells them that if ever they're in a situation where the driver has been drinking and they're stuck, call her and she'll get them home - anytime, anywhere. And these are not just empty words. A former student called her at 1:00 AM one summer night. He was out in the Catskills with some staff friends who had been drinking. He was the designated driver. Problem was, he had had a couple of beers too. Ima (being in the city) could not drive him home but she instructed him to call a cab. Since he had no money on him, she spoke with the cab service and gave her VISA number over the phone to cover the trip back to camp for the boys. After retelling the story, Ima shrugged and said, "My little bit of tzedaka." Hey, don't underestimate yourself. And it's a pleasure to get to know you, again.
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