Thursday, December 29, 2005

away from high speed internet message

Dial-up is not conducive to browsing the web, and I have no hard copy reading material...

Sunday, December 25, 2005

in the spirit of the holiday

A line delivered by a Jewish comedian at the Gotham Comedy Club a couple years ago:
I love New York City on Christmas Day. It feels like I'm in Israel: the only people out on the streets are Jews and terrorists.

Thursday, December 22, 2005

a taste of destruction



Despite everything I've seen on the news regarding the condition of New Orleans, seeing it for myself was still somewhat of a shock. More than three months after Katrina, parts of the city still seem like a deserted wasteland...Piles of debris, houses marked by waterlines, refrigerators filled with decomposing meat, the maggots, the horrible stench, the mold...To think that after thirty or forty of us spent a full day cleaning a shul that had already been worked on quite a bit, and it still remained disastrous, the task of "fixing" the rest of the city seems inconceivable...

More pictures and etc.

"an epiphany"

Isn't it odd that almost all religious Jews have separate tableclothes for meat and dairy, and yet even the most stringent use the same toothbrush to clean their teeth no matter what remnants of food remain in their mouths?

Thursday, December 15, 2005

The Miracle of Hanukkah Updated

Twas The Night Before Finals

Twas the night before finals, and all through the college,
The students were praying for last minute knowledge.
Most were quite sleepy, but none touched their beds,
While visions of essays danced in their heads.

Out in the taverns, a few were still drinking,
And hoping that liquor would loosen their thinking.
In my own room I had been pacing,
And dreading exams I soon would be facing.

My roommate was speechless, his nose in his books,
And my comments to him drew unfriendly looks.
I drained all the coffee, and brewed a new pot,
No longer caring that my nerves were all shot.

I stared at the notes, but my thoughts were muddy,
My eyes went ablur, I just couldn't study.
"Some pizza might help," I said with a shiver,
But each place I called refused to deliver.

I'd nearly concluded that life was too cruel,
With futures depending on grades made in school.
When all of a sudden, our door opened wide,
And Patron Saint Put-It-Off ambled inside.

His spirit was careless, his manner was mellow,
All of a sudden, he started to bellow.
"On Cliff's notes, on Crib notes, On Last Year Exams.
On Wing-It and Sling-It and Last Minute Crams."

His message delivered, he vanished from sight,
But we heard him laughing outside in the night.
"Your teachers have pegged you, so just do your best,
Happy Finals to All, and to all a Good Test."

by Andrew Hund, 1993


Tuesday, December 13, 2005

quality reading material

While not as tragic as Angela’s Ashes, nor as adventurous as ‘Tis, Teacher Man is equally as witty and engaging as McCourt’s earlier books. In Teacher Man, McCourt recounts tales of his days as a teacher in New York City along with a scattering of memories of his childhood. He somehow manages to come off as humble, yet commendable at the same time. I would strongly recommend it for teacher types, especially for English teacher types, and, well, for anyone else looking for a uniquely written and clever personal account.
Mr. McCourt, you’re lucky. You had a miserable childhood so you have something to write about. What are we going to write about? All we do is get born, go to school, go on vacation, go to college, fall in love or something, graduate and go into some kind of profession, get married, have the two point three kids you’re always talking about, send the kids to school, get divorced like fifty percent of the population, get fat, get the first heart attack, retire, die.

Jonathan, that is most miserable scenario of American life I’ve heard in a high school classroom. But you’ve supplied the ingredients for the great American novel. You’ve encapsulated the novels of Theodore Dreiser, Sinclair Lewis, F. Scott Fitzgerald.

nominated for best line in an email

A friend from "my college days" writes,
Ceci found Jesus somewhere in the middle of junior year and her whole personality as I knew it changed, which is one of the reasons that I think it's better that Jesus stay hidden for as many people as possible.

Sunday, December 11, 2005

one female academic is not holding his words against him

Lawrence Summers marries Elisa New, a Harvard professor.

reminds me of at least a few people

Saturday, December 10, 2005

Appreciation

Stan Berenstain, co-author of the Berenstain Bears died a few weeks ago. I think it’s safe to say that he was my first favorite author. I remember spending Shabbos at my cousins when I was around five, discovering a whole shelf of Berenstain Bears books, and staying up until I read every last one...

From Time:
The bears generated some criticism for stereotypical roles—Mama Bear tends to the cubs, for example, and Papa is a bit of a buffoon—to which the creators routinely replied, “But that’s the way it is in Bear Country!”

really?

Minimalism was one of the defining features of the 90’s?

Monday, December 05, 2005

i bet yli was procrastinating during finals period too

Images to the lyrics of Billy Joel's We didn't start the fire.

Sunday, December 04, 2005

perspective

“You know the world is going crazy when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, the tallest guy in the NBA is Chinese, the Swiss hold the America’s Cup, France is accusing the U.S. of arrogance,Germany doesn’t want to go to war, and the three most powerful men in America are named Bush, Dick, and Colon. Need I say more?”

-Chris Rock

Saturday, December 03, 2005

Two Wolves

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle between two "wolves" is inside us all.

One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

~Author unknown

Thursday, December 01, 2005

The PC: man's new best friend - or maybe not

The NYtimes covers Internet addiction disorder:
These specialists estimate that 6 percent to 10 percent of the approximately 189 million Internet users in this country have a dependency that can be as destructive as alcoholism and drug addiction, and they are rushing to treat it.
Note: and they are rushing to treat it, code for: mental health professionals latest scheme to scam Americans into being treated for what might become yet another over-diagnosed mental illness.