( Current events: The ADL as a reactionary organization... at best. )
Irony is truly dead, and we have killed it.
Irony is truly dead, and we have killed it.
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May those of you who observe it have a meaningful fast.
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I hope those of you who celebrate it had a great Shavuot, and that Americans in general had a good Memorial Day.
I've been settling into my summer internship well, and it's keeping me busy with worthwhile tasks. (Unlike classes, which often seem to keep one busy with non-worthwhile tasks.) I went ocean kayaking last Thursday, and must say that it's beautiful out there. Hoping/planning to make that a weekly outing. Pictures may follow.
Back when it was an unfinished batch of songs, I linked to a few items from![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
solarbird's Cracksman Betty. And then it grew up and became an album. :D You should go listen, particularly if you like rock, folk, or alternate history tales. (My favorite tracks are "Song for a Blockade Runner" and "Columbia", but YMMV.)
I've been settling into my summer internship well, and it's keeping me busy with worthwhile tasks. (Unlike classes, which often seem to keep one busy with non-worthwhile tasks.) I went ocean kayaking last Thursday, and must say that it's beautiful out there. Hoping/planning to make that a weekly outing. Pictures may follow.
Back when it was an unfinished batch of songs, I linked to a few items from
solarbird's Cracksman Betty. And then it grew up and became an album. :D You should go listen, particularly if you like rock, folk, or alternate history tales. (My favorite tracks are "Song for a Blockade Runner" and "Columbia", but YMMV.)The Festival of Matzos was good, if tiring. The annual reminder of how grains make my life work better is viscerally real and solid once more. I'm currently washing & packing away the Passover kitchenware so that I can go back to my normal cooking habits. (In other words, There Will Be Bread.) Pesach is clearly a skill that I haven't mastered yet.
Notes to Self, for next year:
* Find someplace to stash matzah & peanut butter on campus. You can really do without the extra two pounds of weight.
* Your body doesn't seem to recognize cracker-style matzah as a starch. Stop expecting it to behave as though it did. Maybe stash honey with your peanut butter.
* Can you get KP nutella or equivalent, anywhere?
* Freeze some pizza dough in advance, so that you don't have to wait as long for chametz, at the end.
Notes to Self, for next year:
* Find someplace to stash matzah & peanut butter on campus. You can really do without the extra two pounds of weight.
* Your body doesn't seem to recognize cracker-style matzah as a starch. Stop expecting it to behave as though it did. Maybe stash honey with your peanut butter.
* Can you get KP nutella or equivalent, anywhere?
* Freeze some pizza dough in advance, so that you don't have to wait as long for chametz, at the end.
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Tomorrow is the Ninth of Av, a traditional fast day that commemorates (if that's the right word) some of the set of awful things that happened to the Jewish people over the past few thousand years. If you're observing it, may you have a meaningful fast. (I'm not able to fast for medical reasons, and so will be eating plain, bland foods instead.)
Meanwhile, the secular world moves on. We've got three apartment showings scheduled for tomorrow, of which I hope at least one is acceptable, and willing to take our deposit money. This process is made of Fail, and I want to be done with it.
ETA: Oh, yeah. I'm reminded of how awkward it is to not be fasting when other people are.
Meanwhile, the secular world moves on. We've got three apartment showings scheduled for tomorrow, of which I hope at least one is acceptable, and willing to take our deposit money. This process is made of Fail, and I want to be done with it.
ETA: Oh, yeah. I'm reminded of how awkward it is to not be fasting when other people are.
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I couldn't keep breakfast down. Am now very slowly eating plain rice, and drinking gatorade. Shavuot begins this evening - a holiday of rich and delicious dairy foods, accompanied by late-night study. Right up my alley.. except if I'm not feeling better in six hours or so, I'm likely to be stuck at home.
Some time ago, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
taldragon asked me "Why Judaism?". I've needed more than a year (IIRC) to chew on the question. Short of an autobiography that I have no plans to write, the best answer I've got is that I'd been standing in the doorway for most of my life, and it was about time to come in.
taldragon asked me "Why Judaism?". I've needed more than a year (IIRC) to chew on the question. Short of an autobiography that I have no plans to write, the best answer I've got is that I'd been standing in the doorway for most of my life, and it was about time to come in.Tags:
Dear Self,
Please remember that towards the end of the holiday, the menorah belongs in a room with greater air volume and better air circulation than the bedroom. Otherwise, the cheap*, smoky candles are pretty much guaranteed to trigger your asthma.
- Yourself
* They're always cheap, because you need 44 of them for all eight nights, and one candle's smoke is fine, but that of three and up is a problem.
Please remember that towards the end of the holiday, the menorah belongs in a room with greater air volume and better air circulation than the bedroom. Otherwise, the cheap*, smoky candles are pretty much guaranteed to trigger your asthma.
- Yourself
* They're always cheap, because you need 44 of them for all eight nights, and one candle's smoke is fine, but that of three and up is a problem.
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Including near-death-by-traffic experience, this past Friday afternoon.
Up late because I can't turn off my brain. Going to try again soon.
Up late because I can't turn off my brain. Going to try again soon.
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...Before Sukkot is upon us.
This year, I have back yard space. Enough to build a sukkah of my own. Lesson #1 from the construction is, do not assume that the 1/2" diameter PVC pipe will work as well as the 3/4". It won't. Not when you're puttingsails tarps on three sides.
Also, Home Despot doesn't sell mosquito netting. Out here. WTF?
This year, I have back yard space. Enough to build a sukkah of my own. Lesson #1 from the construction is, do not assume that the 1/2" diameter PVC pipe will work as well as the 3/4". It won't. Not when you're putting
Also, Home Despot doesn't sell mosquito netting. Out here. WTF?
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..And everyone is posting introspective things that I'd love to have the time to read rather than barely skim. But this is also the second week of classes, and I find myself running around with not quite enough energy and focus to fill all of my near-term obligations, let alone read, write, or think beyond the next hour or two at any given time.
Rosh HaShannah begins in less than an hour. Services at the nearest synagogue started a few minutes ago (annoyingly enough, they don't actually wait for sunset). After rushing the bike ride home from class, and arriving just now, I don't know if I have the energy to drag myself back out the door again.
It's hard to have the communal-holiday feeling when what I really want is an aspirin and 8h of sleep.
It's hard to have the communal-holiday feeling when what I really want is an aspirin and 8h of sleep.
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...And it had to be Friday afternoon when I found it. (I must ask myself - is this productivity? The answer is, "I don't know.")
Pirutinski, S. "The terror management function of Orthodox Jewish religosity: a religious culture approach." Mental Health, Religion & Culture 2009, vol. 12, issue 3, p.247-256.
(I can e-mail a PDF to anyone interested.)
Pirutinski, S. "The terror management function of Orthodox Jewish religosity: a religious culture approach." Mental Health, Religion & Culture 2009, vol. 12, issue 3, p.247-256.
(I can e-mail a PDF to anyone interested.)
Am Jewish now.
ETA: Because there's an image-macro for everything:
ETA: Because there's an image-macro for everything:
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On 4/20/10, I'm scheduled to become a Jew. I'm excited and nervous and all wound up about it.
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Last year's menorah was made at the last minute, out of plaster of paris. (Some of the pieces didn't survive the move.) This year's is made from wax. Specifically, the cool-looking remains of a much larger candle. It already had about the right shape, and needed very minimal modifications.
ETA: I declare this a Living Candle Sculpture. It keeps getting cooler as wax is added on subsequent nights.
ETA: I declare this a Living Candle Sculpture. It keeps getting cooler as wax is added on subsequent nights.
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