Book Meme

From PN:

1. One book that changed your life?
Nine Stories & Lolita

2. One book you have read more than once?
The Little Prince

3. One book you would want on a desert island?
Not to be predictable but the Torah is pretty good choice. Lots of good stories and philosophical ideas to contemplate. Plus I want to be a better Jew, even on a deserted island.

4. One book that made you cry?
The Diary of Anna Frank

5. One book that made you laugh?
I loved PN's pick - David Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day. His other books are great as well.

6. One book you wish had been written?
Childhood stories of my grandparents.

7. One book you wish had never been written?
Good In Bed - I hate chick lit. Nanny's Diaries was also a horrible book.

8. One book you are currently reading?
The Three Muskeeters. I'm re-reading and loving every minute of it. Even after 200 plus years the novel is quite entertaining. I'm also reading Catch-22 which for the moment I misplaced. Really funny and disturbing book, highly recomend it.

9. One book you have been meaning to read?
I want to read Chekhov plays. Anna Karinina by Tolstoy is at the top of the list. Anything by Philip K. Dick.

10. I'm passing it on to the Writersbloc and Gib.

Footwear

Have the flip-flops become the new sneakers? I see them everywhere on my way to work. Women in business attire wearing flip-flops.

Absent Blogger

Well, I went and done it. Every time I tried to blog something else would come up. Last weekend it was my Mother's and Sister's birthday plus a one friend from NYC and one friend from Russia by way of Israel coming to stop by. This weekend was the New Year and somehow blogging got away from me then as well. So, last night after dropping off the bf at the airport i was resolute in blogging only to come home to a non-working internet, which will be out of service till Friday. Great.
However, I'll try to sneak a few posts here and there. Just letting people know I'm still down with this blogging thing. :) Even though blogger seems to not want to work.

Wow

If this is true that would be some good news for the new year (as morbid as it sounds.)

Random: On Names

Yesterday I met a guy named Tom. This reminded me of my recent urge to spell "Tom" with an "h" as in Thom. Now when I meet a Tom I immediately think of him as "Thom." Weird but true. I don't know but from time to time certain spellings strike my fancy like Shawn versus Sean.

Fresh Air

Have you guys noticed how Terry Gross emphatically says "This is Freeesh Air!" The closest resemblance of the way she annunciates her show's name is Jim Carrey's character in the Mask saying "Smokin" or Ace Ventura doing one of his catch phrases. Now everytime I hear Terry Gross I immediately imagine Jim Carrey and spiting. Lot of saliva also comes to mind.

P.S. I always think it's funny when Terry has conservative guests on. She tries so very hard not to show how much she disagrees/hates them. It's almost cute. One of her guests (linked previously) calls himself a Revolutionary and disagrees with the term conservative. I'm going to steal from him and call my self (fixed) a Revolutionary! Wow, I feel hipper already.

Summer Ends

I've been in autumn kind of mood lately. The leaves haven't began to turn their brilliant reds and yellows but the nights are crisper and the wind blowing through me reminds me that summer has passed and its time for coats and sweaters.

On the way from work I was listening to one of my favorite Russian bards, Kookin. Listening to his music reminds how beautiful Russian language is. It's like reading Pushkin you can't help but be amazed at the beautiful flow of my mother tongue.

Kookin's songs are so simple (probably not wise to compare him to Pushkin) and yet so appropriate and beautiful every time I listen to them. This time it was the song about summer's end that struck me as especially poignant. "A vsetaki zjal chto konchelas leto...konchelas leto." [And really it's sad that summer is over....Summer is over. (Or something along those lines.)]

Autumn is one of my favorite season, but there is nothing like the hope of summer.

Anyway, if you don't know anything about Russian Bards you should start with Vladimir Visotsky. (He's like a manly Russian version of Dylan.) He was so well known and loved that even the KGB couldn't touch him. Russian bards were the bohemians of Russia. They put poetry to simple guitar notes and didn't sing the standard Soviet party line. Visotsky said and sang words others couldn't get away with but because he was so popular with the people, the government couldn't punish him.
Here he sings "The Reincarnation Song"*



If you ever saw White Nights with Mokhail Baryshnikov there was a spectacular scene where he dances with his sneakers on as Visotsky plays on. (The sound quality is poor, but here's the scene via Youtube, got to about 2:21 to see the dancing and hear the music. Rent the movie if you can, it has beautiful shots of St. Petersburg and more importantly great dancing by Gregory Hines and Baryshnikov.)



Visotsky's voice is passionate, ironic, weary, and truthful at the same time. You might even like if you don't understand a word he's saying.





* Translation:

THE REINCARNATION SONG

Some may believe in Jesus, some in Mohammed or whatever, Some don'’t believe in anything, just to spite them all. There is a good belief in India, and it is rather clever: That when we kick the bucket we don'’t pass away for all. To rise to heaven you may strive: You'’ll have a dream when born again, But if you'’ve lived a piggy'’s life, A piggy you'’ll remain. If people look askance at you, take all reproaches easy, Don'’t worry, you'’ll be born again a man with a mordant tongue, And if you'’ve seen the death of a foe, there'’s every reason To think that after death you will be born a keen-eyed man. So keep on living, and have fun, Be happy and don'’t bother, Maybe, your soul will settle down In some big boss's body. If you are engaged in sweeping streets, you'’ll be an engineer, And maybe slowly grow into a minister in time. But if you're dull and stupid, you'’ll be born a baobab-tree and’ Will remain one for a thousand years or more, until you die. It'’s bad to live a parrot'’s life, Or be a snake-like demon, Hadn'’t one better live a life Of just a decent human? Well, who is who and who was who, to this there is no answer, Geneticists are off their nuts over chromosomes and genes. Perhaps that shabby looking cat at one time was a rascal, And this good natured person was a friendly dog, it seems. I jump for joy, just like a kid, And I avoid all hindrance, A very good belief indeed Has been thought up by Indians!

Seriously, I Like Christians

The name tag I wore to the Saturday Party:

I KILLED JESUS AND I'M PROUD OF IT.

A Reminder: The Original Esther

Before there was Madonna and her kabbalah- cult- inspired -name- change to Esther. There was Esther Kustanowitz who writes not one but three funny blogs (which sometimes cover the fake Esther news as well.)
Anyway, I just wanted to remind people that there are people like Esther who embody the starving artist persona literally. A very easy thing to do in NYC. So, if you have ever enjoyed Esther's writing, I would suggest you put some mula in her tip jar. I'm doing it as I type (and I'm freaking poor.)

Sounds of 9/11

Recently I watched (via Ace) a video of the Twin Towers coming down set to the music of America's Funniest Home Videos. I couldn't watch the complete clip and turned off pretty early on. I was disgusted that people can take such a huge tragedy for so many and turn it into a sick joke. It was as though they were under the impression that 9/11 was a hoax used by the Republican party to scare people for votes. Which leads me to believe there are some people that just don't get it. The crashing towers, the lives lost, and the historical consequences of this event are completely meaningless and unconnected to their lives.

Last night at the NYC Blogger bash I met a lot of ex-liberals like myself "mugged by reality." That reality, for most, was what happened on 9/11. For me it came in little spurts. But 9/11 was definitely the start of looking at the world in completely different way. Hopeful, a more truthful and direct way. (By the way I'm not saying that all liberals are bad and they don't understand the fight against Islamfascists.)

Gone were the ideals of "every person is wonderful in their own unique way". Gone was the ideals of diversity for the sake of making everyone feel warm and fuzzy inside. People, it turns out, are more mean and selfish than nice and caring. I now lived in a dangerous world and my the life I led could not be taken for granted or returned to what it was.

The weekend following September 11 was my move in date for my first year of college. To say I was confused during this time would be understatement. First I blamed America for the horrible foreign policy (a policy I only knew a fuzzy outline off - but was convinced the US was in the wrong. This phase lasted a short time, thankfully.) Then the feeling of danger followed me everywhere. After that, there was incredible anger at what happened and how people were reacting to it. Often I would find myself in a funk, thinking about what happened. But all around me, all I could see were smiling, shaggy haired, torn t-shirt teenagers gossiping, giggling, and groaning about classroom load. These people were living in a completely different world than me. It's not like I didn't do those things as well, but everything I would bring up the topic of 9/11 and war people would quickly switch topics or blame the US and move on.
It's not that I want(ed) people to wear red, white, and blue and sing the Star Spangled Banner it just that I wanted it to sink in that the world had changed. It wasn't innocent like I hoped it would be in my pre-9/11 days. However, that attitude of "it's happening to someone else not me" seem to permeate the campus and a lot of people I knew.

So now when I see mocking videos of the towers coming down I realize about how many people would rather live in a lie, stick their heads in the sand than face the reality of war. The incredibly hard, unpretty, uncivil act of ridding the earth of people intent on destroying you and everything that is precious to you.

Driving from NYC tonight, I was listening to the re-broadcast of The Sonic Memorial Project

SonicMemorial.org is an open archive and an online audio installation of the history of The World Trade Center. We are continuing to collect stories, ambient sounds, voicemails, and archival recordings to tell the rich history of the twin towers, the neighborhood and the events of 9/11.

To be honest I had to turn down the radio a few times because I was overcome with so much emotion. Do yourself a favor and listen to the true sounds of 9/11 and not the pretty lies that some would like to believe and perpetuate.

Never Forget.

I Got Nothing

I've been meaning to post more often lately but it seems my muse (or whatever it is that makes my writing semi-comprehensible) hasn't gotten away and left me with a sour disposition, especially when it comes to writing. So I wanted to share some neat and fun reading I've been enjoying lately.

* Lola considers becoming Jewish (sort of). Lola's blog is one of my favorites. Even though this posts contains a line about being spiritual more than religious - a personal pet peeve, it, like all of Lola's writing, is full of warmth, humor, and truth. Reading Lola is like sitting down with a intimate friend over a cup of tea, except that the friend is a great story teller and funny as hell. Plus she changed her blog to pale pink, a nice change from the green. And if you visit her make sure to click on some ads, the girls needs money for "college books."

* Patsy Bluth and Harvard - although, you know I didn't get into Harvard I shared some of the same aspiration at the beginning of college career, just to see those aspirations fly right out the window. Patsy is great not only because she loves Mark Steyn but because she (like Lola) tends to be on the flippant funny side, makes great recommendations for book selections, and makes observations about news trends in obesity coverage. Plus she likes Israel and hates terrorists.

*My sister sent me this incredible link. Look at all of them. Here are a few of my favorites. Stuff like this reminds me of how imaginative and exciting human beings can be.







* I love, love, love the new Joey Magazine. My favorite story this week was Carrot by Joey McKeown. He's writing is, to say the least, pretty impressive.

* I like everyone at Jewlicious, but sometimes I like Michael a tinsy bit more sometimes.

* Yaron started a new blog! And check the new business too (especially if you live in NYC and need some new digs.)

* On a political note - I love Ace's serious posts like this one. Yes he's funny, but the serious side is not half bad either. He hasn't been blogging much this week but hopeful when he gets his new computer he will at his pre-move blogging rate.

* There's a blogger party in NYC this weekend and I'm excited to see people I haven't met with in so long.

*Towel Monkey!
I loved getting different towel shapes while on a cruise at age of ten, seems I'm still as enthralled.

Stuff I've been thinking about:

I found out Steve Irwin died in the middle of the Sunday-Monday night, I had bad nightmares. I've been thinking about death lately, especially of people close to me and for some reason the news really hit me hard. I wasn't a fan of his shows but every time I saw him on TV he made me smile. Just thinking of his wife and kids makes me tear up.

Pretty much all people are racists to some extent. It's how you act on these impulses that matters. I'm sick of some people pretending they love everyone. No.You.Don't.Liar.

I'm so damn tired of Israel rolling over and kissing everyone's ass. Disproportionate force my ass. That's how people win wars, ass holes. Did America use too much disproportionate force in WW II? (Don't even mention the Atomic Bombs.) War is ugly, horrible thing but it seems excused if enough Israelis (aka Jews) die.

My mom went on a small vacation. In that period I got to have several very funny ( funny in that they were so sad and bizarre) conversations with my grandmother. Some highlights involve:
- Refusing to tell me over the phone that my cousin's birthday check needs to be sent out, insisting it this deep dark secret needed to be told in person.
- Not believing that my mother went away to Florida, claiming instead that she was in the hospital.
- Telling me within hearing distance who looks ugly, fat, too thin, too old as we pass relatives or people on the street.
- Congratulating me on gaining weight (which I have) as a good thing. The punim was too thin for my WW II surviving grandma.
And now I know where my anxiety/depression comes. Hooray...or not so much... for genes.

My mom also managed to quit her job for a better one. Telling one of her very wealthy clients that she could afford the three dollar hike for waxing with her millions and all. Not very tactful but very true. I really hate stingy rich people.

I haven't spoken to one of my closest friends in two months. We had a heated argument and she wanted me to say things I couldn't. It really saddens me and I don't know what to do about the whole mess. How do one say sorry when one doesn't mean it? (At least not yet.) Very sad.

I have been watching Project Runway lame but true. I want either Michael or Uli to win. I don't like Heidi. I'm glad Vincent finally left.

I've been reading Catch-22 and absolutely loving it. Even though mostly it takes me too very dark places, although I'm mostly chuckling as I'm reading it. I know it's known for it's dark satire. But some passages are written in this vivid language that I have to read over again.