I swear this is the longest I have been sick, ever! I've had this horrible cold since last Sunday and I'm still fighting congestion and low energy. Ugghh.
One result of being sick all this week has been that I've gotten to watch more TV than I have in a very very long time. Another is I've read 2 books. And I've also discovered such internet delights as banagrams on facebook, minesweeper on igoogle, okcupid questions, jewishjobs.com, and that I actually do have a flickr account.
A few things I've learned:
-There's are lots of killers on TV. Lots of bad guys. How many profiles can there be of criminals between all the various cop/crime/law shows? That shows a pretty bad view of humanity.
-The Chosen is a beautiful book. Yeah, I know, crazy that I never read it, huh? It's amazing how vastly popular and widely read it was for being so, well, Jewish.
-You can get better at minesweeper with lots, and lots, of practice.
-Netflix instant queue is awesome.
-Handkerchiefs are way better than tissues! Except when yours is in the wash, then you don't have a choice.
That's all I can think of right now. Goodnight!
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Evening Thoughts
Damn! It's almost the end of the day and I haven't yet written. Well, it was Shabbat, so my computer was off, and I think that's a worthy excuse. I love having 25 hours away from my electronics, coming back makes me look at them in awe, wonder and delight.
I watched Food, Inc. this evening with my family. The information it preached was appalling and disgusting, frustrating and huge. It made me shout over and over, "your choice is your voice!" to my mom and brother (my dad was asleep on the couch). This is what we said to our students at the job I worked at this fall.
But I don't really want to write about the vast depressing issues of Food, Inc. I want to write about something quiet and delicate, a beautiful, delicious, subtle memory. The first thing that comes to mind is the sunset this afternoon, the image doesn't quite have the warmth I'm searching for, but it will have to do.
The sky was mostly gray today. But it wasn't the monotonous, high, dull gray of most days here on the western side of the Cascade Mountains. It was thick and textured, full of shapes and shades. The sun would peak out every so often, lighting up a tree, or a patch of grass, as if on centerstage. In the car the sun could shock you, force you to search for those broken sunglasses to shield from a surprise flash. Riding across the Narrows Bridge late this afternoon, one such break was out in the south above Puget Sound. The delicious thick clouds with twinges of purple, pink, and orange, along with infinite shades of gray, parted, and a huge spotlight streamed down. The water was glowing, beaming, star of the show, with the soft rounded islands of land on either side.
Whenever I cross that bridge I think this is the most beautiful place in the world.
I watched Food, Inc. this evening with my family. The information it preached was appalling and disgusting, frustrating and huge. It made me shout over and over, "your choice is your voice!" to my mom and brother (my dad was asleep on the couch). This is what we said to our students at the job I worked at this fall.
But I don't really want to write about the vast depressing issues of Food, Inc. I want to write about something quiet and delicate, a beautiful, delicious, subtle memory. The first thing that comes to mind is the sunset this afternoon, the image doesn't quite have the warmth I'm searching for, but it will have to do.
The sky was mostly gray today. But it wasn't the monotonous, high, dull gray of most days here on the western side of the Cascade Mountains. It was thick and textured, full of shapes and shades. The sun would peak out every so often, lighting up a tree, or a patch of grass, as if on centerstage. In the car the sun could shock you, force you to search for those broken sunglasses to shield from a surprise flash. Riding across the Narrows Bridge late this afternoon, one such break was out in the south above Puget Sound. The delicious thick clouds with twinges of purple, pink, and orange, along with infinite shades of gray, parted, and a huge spotlight streamed down. The water was glowing, beaming, star of the show, with the soft rounded islands of land on either side.
Whenever I cross that bridge I think this is the most beautiful place in the world.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Sunset Approaches
I was going to write about Shabbat, but now Shabbat is almost upon me and there's no time to write a lengthy thoughtful post. So I just thought I'd share some quotes I collected today. I love quotes and have been amassing them for 10 years (wow, I can't believe it's been that long). I must have 4 or 5 hundred by now.
This first one reminds me of a conversation I had with a French friend of mine some time ago, about how traveling can change one's perspective and how essential yet difficult it is to apply that wonder to the every day world around us.
"The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one's own country as a foreign land." -Gilbert K. Chesterton
This one reminds me of what I'm constantly struggling for in my life. Finding motivation is such a struggle, but it's a reminder that not acting has its consequences.
"We must all suffer from one of two pains:
the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.
The difference is discipline weighs ounces and regret weighs tons."
-Jim Rohn
And this is my favorite of today. It makes me smile, reflecting on the philosophizing I do so often.
"We are a species that needs and wants to understand who we are. Sheep lice do not seem to share this longing, which is one reason they write so very little."
Anne Lamott in "bird by bird"
Shabbat Shalom!
This first one reminds me of a conversation I had with a French friend of mine some time ago, about how traveling can change one's perspective and how essential yet difficult it is to apply that wonder to the every day world around us.
"The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one's own country as a foreign land." -Gilbert K. Chesterton
This one reminds me of what I'm constantly struggling for in my life. Finding motivation is such a struggle, but it's a reminder that not acting has its consequences.
"We must all suffer from one of two pains:
the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.
The difference is discipline weighs ounces and regret weighs tons."
-Jim Rohn
And this is my favorite of today. It makes me smile, reflecting on the philosophizing I do so often.
"We are a species that needs and wants to understand who we are. Sheep lice do not seem to share this longing, which is one reason they write so very little."
Anne Lamott in "bird by bird"
Shabbat Shalom!
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Happy New Year, World!
So a goal for myself in being here (here being my parents’ house in University Place, WA), was/is to write. I know I have a lot to say, but doesn’t everybody? I know I’m a decent writer, a good communicator, but what do I have to show for it? An NYU Masters degree from a program I often think wasn’t too worth it, with not even a thesis to show for 3 semesters of debt? But I suppose that’s just me being pessimistic.
It’s the new year, and I haven’t made any resolutions. (How is this week any different from last week anyway?) I’m notorious for making goals I never keep. But that doesn’t mean I can’t attempt another one, right? So here goes... starting today I’m going to try to blog every day until I find myself no longer living at my parents’ house. There will be no parameters, just a blog post every day. Woo-hoo! So here goes...
Today, aside from continuing to fight a hellish stuffy head cold I’ve had for 5 days, I’ve been thinking about the state of the world. Ha ha! Just a little thing like that, right? I watched a video sent to me by a friend about how both the wealth and life expectancy of people, pretty much across the world, have increased significantly in the last two hundred years. Incredible, huh? I want to embrace that optimism, I really do. I want to shove the statistics into the faces of all those cynics I know. But, thing is, I’m one of the cynics too. My educated mind asks, do those income amounts reflect inflation? Is a longer life expectancy something we even want, in a world where we consume resources like they’re never-ending? Our quality of life may be increasing, but at what cost? Will we even have an earth we can live on?
But somehow, the hopeful idealistic activist in me can’t help but want to work to change the world. Maybe it’s naive, but I think I can make a difference. Or at least I think it’s worth trying, because what else am I going to do? So I’m going to search for the most fulfilling work that helps people, no matter where it takes me. I’m going to let myself be brought to tears by organizations like Falling Whistles, and believe that the money they raise is really helping children. And not imposing some sort of western we-can-solve-the-world’s-problems mentality⎯ damn, can’t keep that educated cynicism down.
Ah well, we all got to work from somewhere, right?
It’s the new year, and I haven’t made any resolutions. (How is this week any different from last week anyway?) I’m notorious for making goals I never keep. But that doesn’t mean I can’t attempt another one, right? So here goes... starting today I’m going to try to blog every day until I find myself no longer living at my parents’ house. There will be no parameters, just a blog post every day. Woo-hoo! So here goes...
Today, aside from continuing to fight a hellish stuffy head cold I’ve had for 5 days, I’ve been thinking about the state of the world. Ha ha! Just a little thing like that, right? I watched a video sent to me by a friend about how both the wealth and life expectancy of people, pretty much across the world, have increased significantly in the last two hundred years. Incredible, huh? I want to embrace that optimism, I really do. I want to shove the statistics into the faces of all those cynics I know. But, thing is, I’m one of the cynics too. My educated mind asks, do those income amounts reflect inflation? Is a longer life expectancy something we even want, in a world where we consume resources like they’re never-ending? Our quality of life may be increasing, but at what cost? Will we even have an earth we can live on?
But somehow, the hopeful idealistic activist in me can’t help but want to work to change the world. Maybe it’s naive, but I think I can make a difference. Or at least I think it’s worth trying, because what else am I going to do? So I’m going to search for the most fulfilling work that helps people, no matter where it takes me. I’m going to let myself be brought to tears by organizations like Falling Whistles, and believe that the money they raise is really helping children. And not imposing some sort of western we-can-solve-the-world’s-problems mentality⎯ damn, can’t keep that educated cynicism down.
Ah well, we all got to work from somewhere, right?
Friday, November 5, 2010
Good Stuff in the World
"We hear every damn day about how fragile our country is -- on the brink of catastrophe -- torn by polarizing hate and how it’s a shame that we can’t work together to get things done, but the truth is we do. We work together to get things done every damn day." - John Stewart
I like this quote. It reminds me to be positive and cultivate amazement about all the ways people are suceeding all the time. Parents raise their children, incredible organizations help people in need, books are written, songs are sung, planes takeoff into the air, friends give each other advice, love is shared, 3-year-olds have birthday parties (like the one I attended this morning), and each of us wakes up each morning.Let's celebrate our successes!
Sunday, August 15, 2010
The Amazing Waffle Iron
My mom bought a waffle iron when she and my dad were living in a greenish duplex in Greenlake in Seattle, before I was born. It was $1.00 at a garage sale. This waffle iron has been cooking waffles for us for 28 years. I'm in a nostalgic mood, being home after adventures across the country and across the world. It's nice to know that as so much changes, there are simple delicious things that stay the same. Here's to blackberry waffles, maple syrup, warm sunday brunches, and beautiful Northwest mornings with people you love.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Longing
I'm in a serious longing state right now... longing for community, for home, for partnership, for true friendship, for peace/wholeness, for connection, for looking into eyes that I say "I know you", for nature's embrace... many things which seem just out of my grasp at the moment.
I feel it's important to find a balance between recognizing the longing- living in it, loving/embracing it, and then working to make it come together. Ebb and flow... perhaps it's all one and the same. Different sides of the same coin. Different views of the same glorious mountain. Without all the views, all the perspectives, we wouldn't have a whole.
But how do I settle in the balance?
Desert Rainbow, all part of the oneness:
I feel it's important to find a balance between recognizing the longing- living in it, loving/embracing it, and then working to make it come together. Ebb and flow... perhaps it's all one and the same. Different sides of the same coin. Different views of the same glorious mountain. Without all the views, all the perspectives, we wouldn't have a whole.
But how do I settle in the balance?
Desert Rainbow, all part of the oneness:
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