I'm moving. Unfortunately I am not having a garage sale before I move, so you will be unable to buy cheap tacky crap that you will one day sell at a garage sale.
Anyway, here's my new url: http://jabberwocky-jessica.tumblr.com/
Please change all blogroll links accordingly and I hope to read your comments on my new blog!
8.26.2008
8.24.2008
I'm On My Way To Me'ah She'arim
While in Israel I had an idea for a t-shirt. After hearing that some chassidish guy in Me'ah She'arim tried to beat up my brother-in-law because he and my sister-in-law were holding hands I was inspired to come up with this t-shirt:
I Got Stoned in Me'ah She'arim...
... and all I got was this blood stained t-shirt.
//Blue Fringes' Flippin Out
I Got Stoned in Me'ah She'arim...
... and all I got was this blood stained t-shirt.
//Blue Fringes' Flippin Out
'Good Omens' by Neil Gaiman
I finally finished my 'G' book. I have technically been reading this book since April. Between final papers, finals, morning sickness and then skipping town I put off finishing this book. I'd have to say that although I can barely remember what the first 3/4 of the book were about, I do remember enjoying them. I also enjoyed the last 1/4 of the book, but as a whole I had a lot of trouble with the book. Whenever there is more that 4 main characters that I have to pay attention to I get confused. Undiagnosed learning disability? Maybe. Attention span of a crack baby? More likely. If you're looking for a good story, this book definitely has it. But if you're like me, I'd say skip this book and find one with less characters to focus on so you don't have to keep saying to yourself, "Wait... who's that?"As usual you can read all of my ABC book reviews at my website under the "ABC" link at the bottom of the page.
8.20.2008
I Might Just Get Up and Dance or Buy Some Acid-Wash Pants
My last semester in college starts this coming Wednesday -- well, technically Thursday for me, since I don't have class on Wednesday. I always get excited for the new semester. Even though I know about two weeks in I'm going to start counting down the days until the semester is over, it's always fun finding out what books I need, what the requirements for each class are, etc. This semester though, I am especially psyched because I know that the sooner this semester starts, the sooner it is over. The sooner the semester is over, the sooner Corey and I are out of New York (and are parents!!!!!!!!). Whether I'm waiting for the semester to end or begin is not really the point of this post though. I always feel like the beginning of a new semester is a good time to make "New Years resolutions". In no particular order, here are some of the things I hope to accomplish over the next few months.
+Start davening again -- I used to daven shacharis every morning. I was even davening mincha and maariv for a while, but that was mostly because Corey was a gabbai and I just happened to be with him during davening times. I didn't lose faith in davening or anything like that. I just got lazy. But Corey bought this beautiful green siddur in Israel so I'm going to put it to good use -- that is not the only reason I want to start davening again. I'm going to start off slowly; just brachos and shmoneh esrei -- I have the attention span of a- I like candy. Um, what?
+ Master at least 5 new (mostly healthy) recipes. Corey and I have decided to get as healthy as we can be for the new baby. I'm not allowed to exercise or go on a diet, but I am allowed to eat more healthily (actually, I am strongly encouraged to eat more healthily) and, unfortunately, most of my go-to recipes aren't exactly the healthy type. If anyone has any good and healthy recipes please send them my way!
+Keep the apartment clean. For two people living in a nicely sized one-bedroom apartment, Corey and I sure do make a mess quickly. For example, right now I am sitting in the living/dining room. All the surfaces are covered with books, plastic cups, papers, etc. Under the dining room table is another plastic cup, Corey's old shabbas shoes and a sock. When did we become such, as my mom would say, schtunks (pronounced: sht-oo-nks)?!
+Continue with Project Alphabet. For those of you who don't remember, or don't know, I decided to read a book from each letter of the alphabet. Each letter corresponding to the first letter of the last name of the author. I am currently in the middle of my G book and have been since about April. Again, that attention span is getting the best of me. I actually switched around some of the books that I'm going to be reading. Check out the new and improved list at my website by clicking on the "ABC" link at the bottom of the page.
+Make the dean's list. I make this resolution every year and have yet to accomplish it. Last semester was a particularly bad one (because of the first trimester of my pregnancy and the baby only wanting me to sleep and puke) and it dropped my GPA below a 3.0 -- good thing I'm not going to grad school! But this semester I'm taking all mid-level courses, so I think the dean's list is definitely possible, though I'll probably just maintain my typical B average.
5 is a good number for a list... and I can't think of anything else anyway. So, here's my schedule for my final semester as an undergrad!
Monday and Thursday
1:10-2:25 Hebrew Prophets in English
2:45-4:00 Philosophical Psychology
Tuesday and Friday
9:45-11:00 Asian-American Literature
11:10-12:25 Revolutions in Modern Philosophy
+Start davening again -- I used to daven shacharis every morning. I was even davening mincha and maariv for a while, but that was mostly because Corey was a gabbai and I just happened to be with him during davening times. I didn't lose faith in davening or anything like that. I just got lazy. But Corey bought this beautiful green siddur in Israel so I'm going to put it to good use -- that is not the only reason I want to start davening again. I'm going to start off slowly; just brachos and shmoneh esrei -- I have the attention span of a- I like candy. Um, what?
+ Master at least 5 new (mostly healthy) recipes. Corey and I have decided to get as healthy as we can be for the new baby. I'm not allowed to exercise or go on a diet, but I am allowed to eat more healthily (actually, I am strongly encouraged to eat more healthily) and, unfortunately, most of my go-to recipes aren't exactly the healthy type. If anyone has any good and healthy recipes please send them my way!
+Keep the apartment clean. For two people living in a nicely sized one-bedroom apartment, Corey and I sure do make a mess quickly. For example, right now I am sitting in the living/dining room. All the surfaces are covered with books, plastic cups, papers, etc. Under the dining room table is another plastic cup, Corey's old shabbas shoes and a sock. When did we become such, as my mom would say, schtunks (pronounced: sht-oo-nks)?!
+Continue with Project Alphabet. For those of you who don't remember, or don't know, I decided to read a book from each letter of the alphabet. Each letter corresponding to the first letter of the last name of the author. I am currently in the middle of my G book and have been since about April. Again, that attention span is getting the best of me. I actually switched around some of the books that I'm going to be reading. Check out the new and improved list at my website by clicking on the "ABC" link at the bottom of the page.
+Make the dean's list. I make this resolution every year and have yet to accomplish it. Last semester was a particularly bad one (because of the first trimester of my pregnancy and the baby only wanting me to sleep and puke) and it dropped my GPA below a 3.0 -- good thing I'm not going to grad school! But this semester I'm taking all mid-level courses, so I think the dean's list is definitely possible, though I'll probably just maintain my typical B average.
5 is a good number for a list... and I can't think of anything else anyway. So, here's my schedule for my final semester as an undergrad!
Monday and Thursday
1:10-2:25 Hebrew Prophets in English
2:45-4:00 Philosophical Psychology
Tuesday and Friday
9:45-11:00 Asian-American Literature
11:10-12:25 Revolutions in Modern Philosophy
8.19.2008
You Can Only Blame Yourself
Put yourself in that person's shoes is what, I assume, most of us have been told to do before we judge someone. I find that putting yourself in another person's shoes is just another way for people to judge other people. People put themselves in the other person's shoes then proceed to explain how they would be able to do things so much better. I include myself in this vast array of people as well. The most recent example of this that comes to mind is when my brother-in-law and sister-in-law told me about their experience in Me'ah Shearim (a very, for lack of a better word, religious area in Israel). They told me that they were holding hands and all of a sudden one of the townsfolk starts hitting my brother-in-law in the arm. My sister-in-law had not idea why this guy was doing this. Turns out that they guy didn't appreciate that they were holding hands in public in his area so he did something about it. My reaction to this story was, "That's ridiculous! What's it any of that guy's business? If that was me, I would have started hitting him back though!" After I said it I thought to myself, What the hell is wrong with you?! You weren't there, why do you assume you could have/would have done anything differently?
I think that if we truly did put ourselves in other people's shoes we would probably realize that we wouldn't be doing anything that much different from what those people are already doing. When you take into account every part of the shoes that you put yourself in, it is really not as easy to do things differently as you would think. Most of the blogs I read are very judgmental toward the yeshivish community. They do this silly, they do that silly. I can't say I disagree, but when you're brought up in that type of community, how do you expect to know any different? If you're told to trust only what your rebbeim say, even if someone came up to you and explained to you that you are wrong, why would you believe them? The only person you can trust is your rabbi, why would you trust this random person?
If we're going to continue putting ourselves in other people's shoes I think we need to take a long walk in them before we can even begin to understand what it's like to be someone else.
//Brand New's The Archer's Bows Are Broken
I think that if we truly did put ourselves in other people's shoes we would probably realize that we wouldn't be doing anything that much different from what those people are already doing. When you take into account every part of the shoes that you put yourself in, it is really not as easy to do things differently as you would think. Most of the blogs I read are very judgmental toward the yeshivish community. They do this silly, they do that silly. I can't say I disagree, but when you're brought up in that type of community, how do you expect to know any different? If you're told to trust only what your rebbeim say, even if someone came up to you and explained to you that you are wrong, why would you believe them? The only person you can trust is your rabbi, why would you trust this random person?
If we're going to continue putting ourselves in other people's shoes I think we need to take a long walk in them before we can even begin to understand what it's like to be someone else.
//Brand New's The Archer's Bows Are Broken
8.18.2008
Celebrate the Irony
Corey and I have been in Israel for the past week and a half (check out the pictures on facebook!). We got back to the states today. Though my mind is not fully functional right now, I did want to share an experience with you all.
Corey and I were dropped off by a cab about a 5 minutes walk from the rova (they weren't letting cars near sha'ar yafo at the time, for reasons I'm still unsure of). When we get out of the cab and begin our short trek, I see a man with a scraggly beard, long, scraggly hair, an odd attire and a walking stick made from a tree branch. I whisper to Corey, "Look! It's Jesus!" As we are about to pass by Jesus, he says, "Excuse me?" Corey and I look at him, "Yes?" "You don't have to look for the Messiah any longer, I am here." I grabbed Corey's hand and we continued walking. About two seconds later I said, "We just met Jesus!" We both regretted not asking for a picture with him, but there was nothing we could do about it now. We continued on our way to the rova (and subsequently the Kotel) when Corey said, "Who said Jews can't find Jesus?"
//Let's Dance to Joy Division by The Wombats
Corey and I were dropped off by a cab about a 5 minutes walk from the rova (they weren't letting cars near sha'ar yafo at the time, for reasons I'm still unsure of). When we get out of the cab and begin our short trek, I see a man with a scraggly beard, long, scraggly hair, an odd attire and a walking stick made from a tree branch. I whisper to Corey, "Look! It's Jesus!" As we are about to pass by Jesus, he says, "Excuse me?" Corey and I look at him, "Yes?" "You don't have to look for the Messiah any longer, I am here." I grabbed Corey's hand and we continued walking. About two seconds later I said, "We just met Jesus!" We both regretted not asking for a picture with him, but there was nothing we could do about it now. We continued on our way to the rova (and subsequently the Kotel) when Corey said, "Who said Jews can't find Jesus?"
//Let's Dance to Joy Division by The Wombats
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