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January 5th, 2010
winterswan
 | 08:39 am - Birfday!
So, I had a very nice, if lowkey birthday this year. I did not really manage to motivate to plan anything and the day itself pretty much snuck up on me. Which is really just fine. 31 is not so much an exciting number. :-) I did get many lovely birthday wishes from many wonderful people, had lunch with my sister and her children, and spent the evening lounging around with the husband. Plus, Mark went and got me flowers which is always a wonderful surprise.
My birthday is often the time for me to look ahead and plan my year since it comes so close to New Year's. I don't really believe in making resolutions, but I think that I have goals for this next year:
Continue to enjoy my husband's wonderful company and treasure the moments we have together when I am not traveling for work
Eat more fresh vegetables - join a CSA
Eat more often at home - it's way too easy to eat out!
Do something new
Be good at my job and make it more than just a way to earn a living
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/growf/pengies/happy.gif) happy
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January 4th, 2010
winterswan
 | 10:20 am - CSAs
Has anyone done as CSA in Providence that they would recommend? I wanted to try one last year but decided that the amount of upheaval what with weddings and such that it would not be a good idea, but I really want to do it this year!
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January 3rd, 2010
dj_clawson
 | 05:50 pm - 17 Tevet 5770
Looks like I'm not going to get pictures up until I get back to New York. Things are great here, though I am exhausted from all of this walking, mostly from getting lost. I'm very good at it (as are Israelis at giving misleading directions). My Hebrew is much better than I remembered. I went pretty much the whole day asking questions and understanding the answers with increasing complexity, even though they were mainly direction-based or shopping-based. I went shopping in Mea Shearim, which is the best place in the world to get Judaica at rock-bottom prices, and picked up some random stuff for my apartment.
I spent Shabbos deep in the West Bank, in a town on the Jordanian border. Okay, not on the border per se, but a couple miles away. Nothing exciting (in a bad way) happened and I saw the "wall" again separating Israel and the Palestinian Terroritories, though settlers call it the "fence." That's a pretty concrete fence there. Because it's made of concrete.
I should have used my teeth-whitener before going to Israel. A picture of me and my fifth cousin, the settler, makes that clear. But it takes like 2 weeks to work and very annoying and I always forget to use it.
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January 1st, 2010
benlehman
 | 09:49 am - I don't normally do resolutions
But here.
In the next year I will.
1) Graduate.
2) Get a grown-up job.
3) Practice *redacted*
All else is gravy.
Things that I did last year:
1) Major break-up
2) Finished a game.
3) Went to Taiwan
4) *redacted*.
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dj_clawson
| 12:15 am - 15 Tevet 5770
Flicker doesn't seem to be cooperation with Alter and Naomi's wireless network, so I couldn't get photos up of my first day in Israel, but it was awesome. After the Old City, I went to Bethlehem, thereby crossing the Church of the Nativity off the list of major Christian holy sites in Israel. This leaves only Nazareth, which has next to nothing to see anyway except this house from the Second Temple Period that they just excavated. 2000 years of history and nobody thought to make up a site there where Jesus did something or other, which would by now have the same historical veracity of most of the other Jesus-related sites. Also I went through my first Palestinian checkpoint, which despite what they go on and on about in the news is actually not a big deal if you are not really suspicious looking. It took five minutes to get through. Literally. They checked every passenger on the bus in five minutes.
There were some very angry Wafq guards on the Temple Mount, who were clearly unhappy that (a) it was open to the public and (b) the public was actually showing up en mass. I've been up there when there was all of like 5 non-Muslims there, and I got to aimlessly wander around for an hour and take photographs of the illegal construction they're doing at the al-Aqsa Mosque. This time I was up there for 15 minutes total, and I know because I filmed it and the guards yelling at us to keep moving and not go off the pre-ordained path. Fortunately my parents forced me to go up to the Temple Mount when I was 13, before the Second Intifada, back when non-Muslims could actually go in al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock. Ironically at that time I had a major theological issue with it and complained the whole way, then changed my mind during my year at Nishmat because the reasons the beit din gave for not going up there were flimsy as hell. Also it's good to see it when it's actually open, because next thing you know there'll be more rioting and they'll close it down for a year or two to tourists. You have to take advantage of these opportunities.
Also today: Burger King! At last, kosher Burger King!
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/charitycam/goth_girl/sleepy.gif) exhausted
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December 31st, 2009
redcrosse
| 01:32 pm - New Year: Fun with Virtues
Hi all!
It's New Year. I don't usually do resolutions, because they're usually phrased as "don't do x thing I always do," which is a recipe for failure and disappointment and lame and bad. Habits are rough, and take more time and grace to tackle than that.
Still, I recall hearing, a few years ago in an inspirational speech @ a hospital orientation, about Ben Franklin doing this thing wherein he decided that in order to be a better person, he was going to choose twelve virtues, one for each month, and work on that virtue specifically for each given month, hoping to make each habitual over the course of years through manageable periods of concerted effort on each, without respite from the struggle as a whole. This seems cool to me, and like something that maybe ought to be tried.
One nice thing about it is that because you're working on virtues, that is, broad categories of human goodness, it's more or less impossible to succeed. By definition, a virtue is something that it's always better to have more of, and reaching infinity is not possible unless you happen to be God. While I'm working on it, I don't anticipate that soon, rendering it impossible either to succeed, and feel undue pride, or to utterly fail on a boolean level, and feel undue shame. The plan seems like it should lead one simply to mindfulness and effort, which is handy.
It's also very configurable, which is awesome; one person's set of twelve virtues needn't be another person's. The specific gifts and weaknesses each person has might well lead to a completely different set of things to work on, which is neat, and reinforces the idea that while we are each meant for grace, we are meant for different tasks, struggles, and victories. Keeps it fresh, that.
So that's where this post becomes a question: I've been thinking vaguely about some ideas of what twelve to pick for me, but what do YOU think I should work on? This isn't a traditional "say something nice about me" or "tell me something at which I suck." It's rather "given your limited vision of the immortal soul at work in the life of Ethan, what gifts does that saint embody, what part of goodness does he reflect (think the moon) most fully? What does he have that the world most needs, and what spiritual tools should he have to give it?" It may be something that I'm currently good at, it may be something I need to be; it may be something obvious or subtle,.
I'd be really happy to hear from you, and deeply gratified if you'd think about the question for yourself as well (or ask the question of others, meme-style, if you really care to, with altered phrasing or the same.) It seems like a useful question to ask, and if you're one of the lucky zero to twelve, your suggestion might be a month, if I decide to actually try this. Thanks!
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December 30th, 2009
winterswan
 | 08:54 am - Coralline
Hello LJ world! So, I bought Coralline in bluray for my husband this Christmas. We finally got around to watching it last night and we both really hated it and don't want it in the house anymore. Did anyone actually like this movie and would like to own a bluray copy?
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December 29th, 2009
dj_clawson
 | 08:24 pm - 13 Tevet 5770
I've lost another phone. My mom blames my not having a purse, but as the phones get lost somewhere between them being in my hand and them going into my pocket, I don't see how things would change if they were going from my hand to my purse. This is the third time I've lost a phone at a bus/train station (one was recovered).
Fortunately (or unfortunately) it's my American phone, not my Israeli rental, so it will either be found by NJ Transit while I'm gone or we'll file with insurance and I'll get a new phone when I get back. Kind of a bad way to start a vacation, but I have serious bad luck with phones. This isn't counting the number I've destroyed with exposure to water.
Thank G-d for Skype!
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/charitycam/goth_girl/sad.gif) guilty
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dj_clawson
| 12:08 am - 12 Tevet 5770
Though I generally approve of Law & Order: SVU and CI marathons, Oxygen channel (the first time I've ever watched this network, for sure)'s "Ladykillers" Criminal Intent marathon was a really poor choice. Dude, I totally know who it is now. The chick. It's only a mystery if there's multiple women involved and usually there's not.
I'm leaving for Israel tomorrow. I'm said it's only 11 days (a lot of which gets eaten by Shabbos, really), which seemed about the right amount of time when the trip was being planned and now it's hard to tell. War probably won't break out while I'm there, as it looks like Hamas is gonna go all Intifada on the PA instead of Israel. Both options are bad but interesting.
I will have my computer while I'm there if someone actually needs to reach me in some alternate universe where I'm important.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/charitycam/goth_girl/happy.gif) excited
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December 25th, 2009
dj_clawson
 | 03:45 pm - 8 Tevet 5770
Shabbos is closing in one me and I totally did not get that writing done that I foolishly expected to get done, but nonetheless I will waste time on this post. It is Christmas
Christmas Episodes I Can Actually Stand
For the most part, I hate Christmas episodes and specials. It's not because of any hatred of Christmas, but because there's so many of them and they all have the same message, which is that Christmas is awesome. I used to watch all of them as a kid, and I think I overdosed. Anyway, the episodes I do live are usually from shows that have a skewed interpretation of the world, and therefore, Christmas. In no particular order:
1. Aqua Teen Hunger Force - "Mail Order Bride"
Master Shake gets himself a Christmas present of a bride from Eastern Europe - but splits the bill with Carl. Shake wants her for to make him dinner, Carl wants her for sex, but they get neither, as a horrified bride arrives and seeing her new husbands, promptly locks herself in Carl's room until the ceremony, which she insists be performed through the door. Meatwad, who gives people well-meaning items made out of things he found in the yard, wants hair for Christmas, then changes his mind ("If Santa gets hair, where do you think it comes from? An elf's head." "That's disgusting! Who told you that?" "Regis.") and wants a toy train under the Christmas tree made of azalea bushes he glued to the wall. The wedding ceremony goes off on Christmas morning, the new bride takes off in Carl's car by jumping out the window, and it's implied she then sues them for half their stuff in the divorce settlement. They keep the DJ going anyway (he's pre-paid), and Meatwad gives Carl a present to make him feel better - a stick.
2. Aqua Teen Hunger Force - "The Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past"
A robot shows up at Carl's house to tell him the true meaning of Christmas, at which point Carl points out that it's July. It doesn't matter to the robot, who then proceeds to tell the long, ancient story of the original Santa Claus, a giant red ape who used to live in Carl's house but now lives in space, where he's enslaved the Martian elves to make toys that were originally made from feces and killed their owners. The robot turns out to be crazy, ending the story, "..And that's where babies come from." But he insists that for Carl to keep his house, he must give himself up to the great red ape - sexually. Rather then get humped by Santa, Carl sells his house (which is now dripping with elfin blood) to Danzig, who loves the concept and sprays the blood through the sprinklers. He ends up scaring off the robot because he's always demanding blood and never wears a shirt, and the Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past ends up in the Aqua Teen house, where they're trying to sell their house to Danzig to make money by making it look haunted as well.
3. Squidbillies - "Rebel with a Claus"
Santa is making his rounds when he's captured by the Cuylers, who torture him by putting fish hooks in his genitals and hold him hostage until Early gets what he wants - the still-beating heart of Dale Earnhardt. The sheriff fails to make the connection between the missing Santa Clause announcement on the local news and Early's fresh collection of smoked reindeer meat, one piece of which has a blinking nose. The elves make various attempts to rescue him, from fake toys to ninja attacks ("Operation Silent Night"), and finally bring a living Dale Earnhardt to Early, who then discovers the elves are being exploited as workers and hires them instead, offering two candy canes instead of one per year. They abandon Santa, and Early throws him out on the curb, where the sheriff runs him over.
4. American Dad - "The Most Adequate Christmas Ever"
Disappointed with the perfect-looking Christmas decorations the family as made, Stan sets out to find the perfect tree, only to die in the forest doing so, leaving his family to freeze in the car. He ends up in limbo, where he demands a trial (ala "Defending Your Life"), but is assigned the worst lawyer in heaven, who doesn't even have her wings yet. When his trial doesn't rule in his favor, he grabs a heaven gun ("Those can kill anyone!") from the guard and shoots his way into Jesus's birthday party, while an angel in the jury points out the plot hole, "Why do we have those? I mean, I like it here, I don't want to be that guy, but why do we have heaven guns?" At Jesus's party, Stan runs into the Holy Spirit in the form of a giant bird on the crapper before finding G-d, who of course is voiced by Seth MacFarlane in his normal voice. G-d agrees to send Stan back to earth when Stan admits he doesn't know everything, and Stan returns to the opening scene of the episode, his family in the house, while his lawyer gets her wings and looks on through the window. Parting shot by a drunken Roger before he passes out: "There's a flying hooker watching you hug. Go away, hooker!"
5. American Dad - "Rapture's Delight"
It's also been called the best episode of American Dad, ever, and the critics might be right. The Smiths go to church and everyone is in the Christmas spirit except for Stan, who is annoyed by the lack of parking. Roger is even into the earth holiday. ("I want to see the three Chinese guys give perfume to the star baby!") But while Stan and Francine sneak off to have sex in the janitor's closet, everyone else is Raptured, except Roger and a few other people around town. Francine hooks up with Jesus, newly arrived to lead his army against the forces of the Anti-Christ. Cut to seven years later, where the world is a wasteland and ala Mad Max, General Jesus needs Stan's help to rescue Francine from the Anti-Christ, who turns out to be supremely lame. Stan dies in the attempt - Jesus can't Rapture him in time to save him because as Francine explains, "The spell takes too long!" Stan goes to heaven, where he's escorted through a door to his own personal heaven, and steps out into the beginning of the episode, with the family getting ready to leave for church, thus implying that every episode from now on is actually the heavenly hallucinations of a dead Stan Smith.
6. King of the Hill - "Pretty, Pretty Dresses."
King of the Hill is a show that is both quietly beautiful and quietly sad, a note that's hard to hit. This Christmas episode ramps up the sad bit, as most of them do, but this particular one gets it just right. Christmas is coming, and Bill is particularly depressed, especially about his wife Lenore leaving him, even if she did it before the show started. Peggy sets him up on a date, to which he brings his new Iguana, named Lenore of course. "Lenore" scares off his date and runs away, and Bill finally tries to do himself in, repeatedly. Hank, Dale, and Boomhauer take turns on a suicide watch through Bill's many pathetic attempts (With the oven: "Bill, it's electric." "It still gets pretty hot!). An exhausted Hank finally screams at Bill that Lenore is never coming back, destroying all of the Christmas presents Bill has bought for her, and Bill completely snaps. He becomes Lenore, dressing like her and proclaiming his love for Bill in a high voice. He even shows up to the Strickland Propane Christmas Party in the dress, and Hank does the only thing he can do: put on a dress, pretend to be Lenore, and give Bill the speech she should have given him instead of just sneaking out: "We fight all the time. We fight all day. We fight all night. We fight so loud the neighbors can here. I don't love you, Bill, and I'm never coming back." It works, and Bill comes to terms with Lenore's departure. Parting shot: after they've both removed their dresses, we see Dale in a dress, thinking the party's now about cross-dressing. He looks at them in horror and then sneaks back to his house to change.
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December 24th, 2009
dj_clawson
| 10:05 pm - 8 Tevet 5770
Merry Christmas!
I told myself I was going to take the day off from writing this awful Greek book, but I'm on a bit of a roll, and it's really hard to get on a role with this inane material. We'll see what kind of mood I'm in when I wake up tomorrow, in the few hours before Shabbos. I could probably breeze through the material with a lot more ease if there was really enough plot for 50,000 words, but there isn't, so I have to put in scene after scene just as a time killer and constantly check and update my outline to make sure I'm not barreling through the flimsy plot too quickly.
I can't believe how amazingly lame the NORAD Santa tracker is. Don't watch the bad CGI videos with the terrible narration. That's enough to make any child question the existence of Santa.
And to all, a good night!
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