I was walking across a college campus and someone thrust a "quiz" into my hands. Astonished I saw it was given to me by a libertarian. On a public college campus?! Could this be? Anyhow, I wonder how many of my friends would actually take a test like this one. They might be surprised by the results. Or not. Click here!
Here is another one that I just took. click here. It is skewed a bit also but interesting.
This one was probably the most interesting. Click here.
Were any of you surprised by your results? Please hit the post button and respond, si vous plait?
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Gossip Girl. Mandolins and the Dalai Lama
So what do the topics above have to do with each other? Well it truly is a world of "six degrees of separation". Plus you have to love a day that includes each of the above. My friends and work colleagues know that I love the way people connect, especially when serendipity is involved.
I admit it. I watch Gossip Girl! The young women in my office watch it, my friend watches with her daughter and even a guy I know has to see it and it is my guilty pleasure. It is SO silly. We were talking about it in the office and realized that the real life Lydia Hearst will be on the show and we know her brother-in-law from business. Six degrees from Gossip Girl!
Then we are on the train this morning and Mr. B is already on. He is a professor at a top college and very well-read. One morning a year ago he brought an exquisite guitar on the train which he proudly showed us. It really was a treat because it was a reproduction of an 18th century guitar. The train was full of rustling newspapers on a rainy cold morning and the quiet of the rest of the regular passengers who, by now are used to our morning chatter. We asked him to play. It was just one of those moments of beauty. A 50-something year old man in a suit, an ordinary man, until he picked up the guitar! Then he morphed into someone quite extraordinary. His fingers flew across the strings which were pouring out the most voluptuous classical guitar I have heard. Everyone looked up and clapped.
Anyhow, this morning S sat with us and I introduced them and told her a few interesting points about him. She is a "connector" and has a way of making everyone she speaks to feel they are the most important person in the room(or the train as the case may be) . She is terrific. She almost immediately finds out that both the gentleman and her husband both play the mandolin. I don't personally know many who do so I figure this must be a rare occurrence. I mean who takes this up? I imagine it has to be an intelligent person interested in a rare and difficult instruments to play. Now they may play together. Two degrees from dueling mandolins.
Last is the Dalai Lama. Turns out he knows someone from my alma mater who got him to visit our small college.He has been there for three days. My friend who is now on the Board got to meet with him. If she had known back in our days at school that someday she would meet and greet the Dalai lama..well she wouldn't have believed it! 3 degrees from th Dalai Lama!
I admit it. I watch Gossip Girl! The young women in my office watch it, my friend watches with her daughter and even a guy I know has to see it and it is my guilty pleasure. It is SO silly. We were talking about it in the office and realized that the real life Lydia Hearst will be on the show and we know her brother-in-law from business. Six degrees from Gossip Girl!
Then we are on the train this morning and Mr. B is already on. He is a professor at a top college and very well-read. One morning a year ago he brought an exquisite guitar on the train which he proudly showed us. It really was a treat because it was a reproduction of an 18th century guitar. The train was full of rustling newspapers on a rainy cold morning and the quiet of the rest of the regular passengers who, by now are used to our morning chatter. We asked him to play. It was just one of those moments of beauty. A 50-something year old man in a suit, an ordinary man, until he picked up the guitar! Then he morphed into someone quite extraordinary. His fingers flew across the strings which were pouring out the most voluptuous classical guitar I have heard. Everyone looked up and clapped.
Anyhow, this morning S sat with us and I introduced them and told her a few interesting points about him. She is a "connector" and has a way of making everyone she speaks to feel they are the most important person in the room(or the train as the case may be) . She is terrific. She almost immediately finds out that both the gentleman and her husband both play the mandolin. I don't personally know many who do so I figure this must be a rare occurrence. I mean who takes this up? I imagine it has to be an intelligent person interested in a rare and difficult instruments to play. Now they may play together. Two degrees from dueling mandolins.
Last is the Dalai Lama. Turns out he knows someone from my alma mater who got him to visit our small college.He has been there for three days. My friend who is now on the Board got to meet with him. If she had known back in our days at school that someday she would meet and greet the Dalai lama..well she wouldn't have believed it! 3 degrees from th Dalai Lama!
Friday, April 18, 2008
Eggstravaganza
This time of year always brings with it the ultimate rite of spring--the quest for the perfect egg. It is true!
Christian or Jew, you have to know how to boil a perfect hard boiled egg. Somehow for Easter and Passover we need to show off our egg genius. Mine usually turn out slightly green. I am so distracted that I forget them and they cook too long. Or I buy them that day and they wind up too fresh and difficult to peel. And why oh why do they wind up with those strange shapes sometimes like too much air got into the shell?
Thanks to the internet, I have hope (see here) of cooking the perfect hard boiled egg. No more will I have a misshapen bunch of ugliness to set out on my table.
Christian or Jew, you have to know how to boil a perfect hard boiled egg. Somehow for Easter and Passover we need to show off our egg genius. Mine usually turn out slightly green. I am so distracted that I forget them and they cook too long. Or I buy them that day and they wind up too fresh and difficult to peel. And why oh why do they wind up with those strange shapes sometimes like too much air got into the shell?
Thanks to the internet, I have hope (see here) of cooking the perfect hard boiled egg. No more will I have a misshapen bunch of ugliness to set out on my table.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Next Year in Jerusalem
So another year has gone by and we have still not made it to Jerusalem. I know that I want to get there with my sons and husband this year. All of these years we say it without much thought at the Seder but it is my hope and prayer that we go next year.
Actually, if we could go before 09 we will see it during her 60th year!
One small piece of land which is so full of history and religion.
So tomorrow I cook. We are having over 24 people and there is a lot to cook and much to get ready. Usually we do something funny for the plagues. Sun glasses for darkness, ketchup packets for the blood etc. I just don't have the time or energy this year. Oh well. It is a lot of work but everyone seems to appreciate it and we will get to see our grand nieces and nephews. Also, I find that a round of cosmos definitely puts the family in a good mood.
Actually, if we could go before 09 we will see it during her 60th year!
One small piece of land which is so full of history and religion.
So tomorrow I cook. We are having over 24 people and there is a lot to cook and much to get ready. Usually we do something funny for the plagues. Sun glasses for darkness, ketchup packets for the blood etc. I just don't have the time or energy this year. Oh well. It is a lot of work but everyone seems to appreciate it and we will get to see our grand nieces and nephews. Also, I find that a round of cosmos definitely puts the family in a good mood.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Train Gang
When I first thought about beginning to write, I was talking to a friend on the train. We agreed you could probably write a wonderful book about all of the people we meet commuting through the years and all of the lives and stories that intersect. And I sure love a great story, which is why I suppose, I never sit alone, or with my husband (who would much rather read (snore) ). I sit in the "facing seats". And that has made all the difference.
When you sit in the "facing seats" on our train it means that you won't necessarily have peace and quiet. Occasionally the grumpy person who sits in our proximity learns that the hard way, but generally it is the unwritten rule of commuting life, that if you sit directly facing another human being, you will be social. Many of us have our own little clusters that have ridden together for years.
I first learning the phenomenon when I was a very young law student working at a firm and commuting alone for the summer from Long Island to my parent's home. I was befriended by a bunch of folks much older than I. They all lived where I did, the end of the line. We were the first ones on the train, and the last to leave. That line had some hard-bitten gamblers too. The same moving poker game had been going on for years. The guys would get on the train in NYC and take down the big poster advertising whatever, turn it over in their laps and begin the game. The money would be tucked into the corners. There was lots of swearing and smoke. (Cigarettes were allowed back then). Commuting was the great equalizer. There were union men and CEOs and many millionaires. You could just get home so much faster on the train than the Long Island Expressway.
There was even a guy whose wife went on Oprah with her Mom to talk about their relationship and how that left him, the husband, as a third wheel. Oprah was a lot like Maury back then. And there were a bunch of sweet people who all had stories. At that point, mostly men, who worked hard and played hard and trekked into "the City" (because anyone from NY knows there is only one) to support their families. Soon the summer was over. They had a party for me. Someone brought 3 thermoses of coffee and the conductor ( a woman) made a coffee cake, and they all wished me well and I returned to law school.
Later I began to commute to NYC myself as a grown woman. The ghosts of the old card games and cigarettes were long gone but the stories were still there. It was a different train line but a popular route. I got to know a couple of women on the line. One of them, I will call her Suzie, met me right after my youngest son was born. Through the years she has always offered me wise counsel. I have followed behind her through the years of childrearing, childcare, working and finding out how to put things that are important first. We rarely socialize outside of the train, but we do know much of each other's lives. I hope I have brightened her day sometimes, and knowing her has definitely enriched mine.
There is also E, who is a great wife and mother. She is a career woman all the way, and yet is so sweet and caring and frets about her children in college. She and her husband have a love and partnership that is one that I admire and she is a very genuine person, who truly means well for those who deserve it. She believes in our community, global and local.
Yet another is a top banker and has a wry smile and sly joke for all occasions. She wears the shoes of a nun but is anything but. We tease her about the shoes, knowing they are only on so she can make a mad dash to her office. She taught me about acceptance of the nature and character of friends and family. She is beautiful, but has no idea, and truly could not care less about the outside of the package. She works incredibly hard and used to travel all the time. I love that I see her at night on the train with a beer.
We also have an artist and teacher. She regales us with stories of the college and her many jobs after hours. She moved to town when I did and we looked at the same houses. Our weight has fluctuated at the same time up and down and we even bought our dogs at the same time. She and I will disconnect for months and then reconnect like we saw each other the day before. Every time our lives intersect we find out that we have each been crossing paths some other way in what we have been doing.
There are also people from other stops who have retired, or even passed away. We were remembering our friend Marianne. I met her the night the train hit a car and we were all stranded for hours. We had cell phones (it was not the norm then) and passed them around so everyone could call their families. And we told our stories. I had overheard hers for a year before we met. She had been married twice before and she was about to marry for true love the third time around. He rode the train with us too. They were so in love. She was one of those beauties, around 50 but you would swear she was 35. Long blonde hair and a passion for cashmere and other fine things. She worked selling luxury consumer goods. We had met as couples off the train for dinner. A year or so later she was coughing a lot on the train and we urged her to check it out. Turned out to be lung cancer. A few short months later she was gone. She wouldn't let us visit. She didn't want any of us to see her without her beauty. We went to her funeral and her wake, a group of us. Her husband saw us too. He will never be the same. He really never rode the train again.
We had our own train wake. We took up two sides of the "facing seats" on the 6:29. And two more rows besides. It was me and my banker friend and a bunch of others. We got beer and blood orange margaritas and chips and had a party in her honor. She would have approved.
We know each others stories and lives, we wait for the sequel the next day or week. Sometimes these "strangers" know more about us than our own family members. These are the people who give us counsel, humor and offer up their wonderful ideas. Sometimes we really just read a book or a newspaper and don't really listen in to the conversations. Now I am one of the "older women" and I have met some of the younger moms trying to balance the two to four year old set and their jobs, families, homes, parents etc. It brings me back to those days.
The train really never stops. We all commute from one place to another, from one life to another. The destination may be work or it may be home. I get off on a spring day like the other day, and we all call out to each other to have a great evening, or weekend or whatever. We join the larger group of folks up the stairs and call out to a few more friendly faces.
When you sit in the "facing seats" on our train it means that you won't necessarily have peace and quiet. Occasionally the grumpy person who sits in our proximity learns that the hard way, but generally it is the unwritten rule of commuting life, that if you sit directly facing another human being, you will be social. Many of us have our own little clusters that have ridden together for years.
I first learning the phenomenon when I was a very young law student working at a firm and commuting alone for the summer from Long Island to my parent's home. I was befriended by a bunch of folks much older than I. They all lived where I did, the end of the line. We were the first ones on the train, and the last to leave. That line had some hard-bitten gamblers too. The same moving poker game had been going on for years. The guys would get on the train in NYC and take down the big poster advertising whatever, turn it over in their laps and begin the game. The money would be tucked into the corners. There was lots of swearing and smoke. (Cigarettes were allowed back then). Commuting was the great equalizer. There were union men and CEOs and many millionaires. You could just get home so much faster on the train than the Long Island Expressway.
There was even a guy whose wife went on Oprah with her Mom to talk about their relationship and how that left him, the husband, as a third wheel. Oprah was a lot like Maury back then. And there were a bunch of sweet people who all had stories. At that point, mostly men, who worked hard and played hard and trekked into "the City" (because anyone from NY knows there is only one) to support their families. Soon the summer was over. They had a party for me. Someone brought 3 thermoses of coffee and the conductor ( a woman) made a coffee cake, and they all wished me well and I returned to law school.
Later I began to commute to NYC myself as a grown woman. The ghosts of the old card games and cigarettes were long gone but the stories were still there. It was a different train line but a popular route. I got to know a couple of women on the line. One of them, I will call her Suzie, met me right after my youngest son was born. Through the years she has always offered me wise counsel. I have followed behind her through the years of childrearing, childcare, working and finding out how to put things that are important first. We rarely socialize outside of the train, but we do know much of each other's lives. I hope I have brightened her day sometimes, and knowing her has definitely enriched mine.
There is also E, who is a great wife and mother. She is a career woman all the way, and yet is so sweet and caring and frets about her children in college. She and her husband have a love and partnership that is one that I admire and she is a very genuine person, who truly means well for those who deserve it. She believes in our community, global and local.
Yet another is a top banker and has a wry smile and sly joke for all occasions. She wears the shoes of a nun but is anything but. We tease her about the shoes, knowing they are only on so she can make a mad dash to her office. She taught me about acceptance of the nature and character of friends and family. She is beautiful, but has no idea, and truly could not care less about the outside of the package. She works incredibly hard and used to travel all the time. I love that I see her at night on the train with a beer.
We also have an artist and teacher. She regales us with stories of the college and her many jobs after hours. She moved to town when I did and we looked at the same houses. Our weight has fluctuated at the same time up and down and we even bought our dogs at the same time. She and I will disconnect for months and then reconnect like we saw each other the day before. Every time our lives intersect we find out that we have each been crossing paths some other way in what we have been doing.
There are also people from other stops who have retired, or even passed away. We were remembering our friend Marianne. I met her the night the train hit a car and we were all stranded for hours. We had cell phones (it was not the norm then) and passed them around so everyone could call their families. And we told our stories. I had overheard hers for a year before we met. She had been married twice before and she was about to marry for true love the third time around. He rode the train with us too. They were so in love. She was one of those beauties, around 50 but you would swear she was 35. Long blonde hair and a passion for cashmere and other fine things. She worked selling luxury consumer goods. We had met as couples off the train for dinner. A year or so later she was coughing a lot on the train and we urged her to check it out. Turned out to be lung cancer. A few short months later she was gone. She wouldn't let us visit. She didn't want any of us to see her without her beauty. We went to her funeral and her wake, a group of us. Her husband saw us too. He will never be the same. He really never rode the train again.
We had our own train wake. We took up two sides of the "facing seats" on the 6:29. And two more rows besides. It was me and my banker friend and a bunch of others. We got beer and blood orange margaritas and chips and had a party in her honor. She would have approved.
We know each others stories and lives, we wait for the sequel the next day or week. Sometimes these "strangers" know more about us than our own family members. These are the people who give us counsel, humor and offer up their wonderful ideas. Sometimes we really just read a book or a newspaper and don't really listen in to the conversations. Now I am one of the "older women" and I have met some of the younger moms trying to balance the two to four year old set and their jobs, families, homes, parents etc. It brings me back to those days.
The train really never stops. We all commute from one place to another, from one life to another. The destination may be work or it may be home. I get off on a spring day like the other day, and we all call out to each other to have a great evening, or weekend or whatever. We join the larger group of folks up the stairs and call out to a few more friendly faces.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Taboo: Politics and Religion
I have been sparring with my Rabbi. Oh, I know you are picturing me with the gloves on, taunting him to take the first swing. Actually, this has been much more genteel, at least on the surface. It certainly seems like very few others ever question our religious leaders. I think in light of the events in the world we ought to do so. We need to know where they stand and not to pretend we don't when they are preaching their views from the pulpit.
I am considering whether or not I can continue as a Reform Jew. It was something I was raised with. While I know my Rabbi is a learned man in several ways, I am very disappointed to learn that he can not see the obvious, which is that by adopting a liberal political stance for all of the members of a religious sect, the Reform movement is exactly the same, or I would posit even worse than, their avowed enemy, "the Religious Right". Who on earth (or in Heaven for that matter) decided that the Rabbis and leaders of our sect of Judaism must press for a particular political platform? While I agree that individual Rabbis are entitled to their own opinions, why is it that they should determine for us what our political beliefs must be? Aren't these complex issues that may not have easy answers?
Instead of truly teaching and learning Torah, our entire being seems to have shifted into "Repairing the Earth" or Tikun Olam. Now this is certainly a noble cause, and practically unassailable. But I am afraid that it is truly the code for beginning to become involved in more political action. While they call it social action (what the heck is that?) in truth much of what each Temple is now involved in involves politics. And it is not just exhorting individuals to do this, but utilizing the funds and time of each Temple to do it. For example, the URJ now has adopted a platform that each temple should offer a course in Islam. The problem is that they are not doing an adequate job of teaching Judaism.
There is also the "RAC" which really is a political action committee which is a lobbying organization. And lest you think it is solely in place to push the issues important to us as Jews, it is everything but. See here. For example, they are seeking to make sure certain judges are not confirmed by the Senate (click here) because they feel that those judges might not be pro "separation of church from state". AM I THE ONLY ONE TO NOTE THE IRONY IN THIS????
My Rabbi says that we are a tent or a sukkah, and that under it all types of Jews can be sheltered. The mission statement says:
“The synagogue is a kehilah kedoshah– a sacred community. Like a sukkah, it is constructed of many different branches woven together: the young, the old, the rich and the poor, the married and the unmarried, single parents, grandparents, gays and heterosexuals, non-Jewish spouses. The broader the Sukkah’s reach, the more tightly its branches are woven, the stronger it stands.”
Everyone is welcome under the sukkah, unless of course, you have a more "conservative" point of view. Then you are "against social action" and can't possibly be a good reform Jew. Sometimes it is mighty lonely standing up for your principles.
I am considering whether or not I can continue as a Reform Jew. It was something I was raised with. While I know my Rabbi is a learned man in several ways, I am very disappointed to learn that he can not see the obvious, which is that by adopting a liberal political stance for all of the members of a religious sect, the Reform movement is exactly the same, or I would posit even worse than, their avowed enemy, "the Religious Right". Who on earth (or in Heaven for that matter) decided that the Rabbis and leaders of our sect of Judaism must press for a particular political platform? While I agree that individual Rabbis are entitled to their own opinions, why is it that they should determine for us what our political beliefs must be? Aren't these complex issues that may not have easy answers?
Instead of truly teaching and learning Torah, our entire being seems to have shifted into "Repairing the Earth" or Tikun Olam. Now this is certainly a noble cause, and practically unassailable. But I am afraid that it is truly the code for beginning to become involved in more political action. While they call it social action (what the heck is that?) in truth much of what each Temple is now involved in involves politics. And it is not just exhorting individuals to do this, but utilizing the funds and time of each Temple to do it. For example, the URJ now has adopted a platform that each temple should offer a course in Islam. The problem is that they are not doing an adequate job of teaching Judaism.
There is also the "RAC" which really is a political action committee which is a lobbying organization. And lest you think it is solely in place to push the issues important to us as Jews, it is everything but. See here. For example, they are seeking to make sure certain judges are not confirmed by the Senate (click here) because they feel that those judges might not be pro "separation of church from state". AM I THE ONLY ONE TO NOTE THE IRONY IN THIS????
My Rabbi says that we are a tent or a sukkah, and that under it all types of Jews can be sheltered. The mission statement says:
“The synagogue is a kehilah kedoshah– a sacred community. Like a sukkah, it is constructed of many different branches woven together: the young, the old, the rich and the poor, the married and the unmarried, single parents, grandparents, gays and heterosexuals, non-Jewish spouses. The broader the Sukkah’s reach, the more tightly its branches are woven, the stronger it stands.”
Everyone is welcome under the sukkah, unless of course, you have a more "conservative" point of view. Then you are "against social action" and can't possibly be a good reform Jew. Sometimes it is mighty lonely standing up for your principles.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Sex Sells
Can you tell if they are real?It never ceases to amaze me when men think that breast implants are real. Do they honestly believe that the really thin women they see just happen to have large breasts? Sometimes I am sitting with S or P and other folks we know and are discussing different people we know. My husband is pretty clueless about this and, with the exception of the picture above, will always assume they are real.
Them: "They must be real....she is young"
Me: "Nope"
Them: "But they look so lifelike"
Me: "Nope"
Them: "But then why aren't they bigger?
Me: "ARGHHH"
That last comment is said with the intent of making say "arghhh"
Breasts have become the object of speculation and of the scoring mentality that seems to go along with all of the statistical analysis of sports. And of course plastic surgery has become so attainable that many many women are doing more and more. And who cares really. If it make them happy and within the bounds of reason (maybe not the lovely lady above).
Could the uber thin Victoria Beckham really be this thin and have the breasts she does? Nope (hint this is a link).
Men are so easily conned. Really. Women usually know. Do you think it is just because they really want to believe?
Now for those of you who are thinking what the heck???!!! This is not her blog topic! You are correct. The thing that got me thinking about this is a Wall Street Journal article from today's paper about this woman named Armstrong who started a blog(click here). She is apparently making a fortune. Her husband actually quit his job to manage the post. (Are they living in a box? No, apparently). Her site is supposed to be racy and her sense of humor really hilarious. Personally, I am not certain that her writing or blogging is any better than the great ones I have read--especially Magpiemusing and kathylikespink and all the other blogs I aim to add to my list of favs. Magpie is the one who inspired me!
Personally if I knew THE Wall Street Journal, the best newspaper in the land, was profiling my blog, I would have had one of my best posts. She must have had one million hits today.
Anyhow, I have done religion, politics and the one other thing I haven't yet discussed was sex...so why not. Although, are these breasts related to sex? I guess not really....That will have to wait for another post. Maybe the one about what happens to those pendulous items as we age. One of our friends mentioned his ex just had a "blow out". Yep, it ruptured. Now, this is someone who is so scared of cancer and other illnesses she is probably on drugs for her hypochondria, and yes, she still took the risk and got them. The others just fall down to your knees as you age. (The breasts not the exes). Either way--not a great look.
As for plastic surgery--I am all for it. If you have the dough and won't regret it and are willing to take the risk, why not. I work in NYC so just traveling to the office is a risk. So if my friend and I do finally take that (ahem) vacation and return looking "refreshed", you will guess why....or maybe not if you are a guy.
Speaking of posts, I want some action....let's see a few of you guys hit the post button and write to me. Is anyone out there?
Personally if I knew THE Wall Street Journal, the best newspaper in the land, was profiling my blog, I would have had one of my best posts. She must have had one million hits today.
Anyhow, I have done religion, politics and the one other thing I haven't yet discussed was sex...so why not. Although, are these breasts related to sex? I guess not really....That will have to wait for another post. Maybe the one about what happens to those pendulous items as we age. One of our friends mentioned his ex just had a "blow out". Yep, it ruptured. Now, this is someone who is so scared of cancer and other illnesses she is probably on drugs for her hypochondria, and yes, she still took the risk and got them. The others just fall down to your knees as you age. (The breasts not the exes). Either way--not a great look.
As for plastic surgery--I am all for it. If you have the dough and won't regret it and are willing to take the risk, why not. I work in NYC so just traveling to the office is a risk. So if my friend and I do finally take that (ahem) vacation and return looking "refreshed", you will guess why....or maybe not if you are a guy.
Speaking of posts, I want some action....let's see a few of you guys hit the post button and write to me. Is anyone out there?
Monday, April 7, 2008
The Blog as Diet
If I could stop eating in front of the TV at night I would be MUCH thinner. It is a weird addictive thing. I have tried knitting, crosswords etc. Anything to keep my hands busy and now I realize what I must do.....BLOG.Think of all the creativity that would be expended in the name of distraction. But then again, this is the problem in a nutshell. We are all too distracted. Too distracted to be mindful about what we are doing. When we are doing ten things at once. Right now I am thinking about work, typing this, listening to the TV in the next room and waiting for the phone to ring.
I tried Yoga. It was actually great but VERY hard. Bending into a human pretzel is one thing but attempting to try and clear your mind is nearly impossible for me. The one time I think I do approach it during the week is the 8:15 am spin class I go to on Sunday mornings. I go no matter what. I can be tipsy from the night before, but I never miss it. (My husband said last week that if someone licked him at the end, they would have been drunk because we had so much wine the night before!) It is like religion. The music is great and the lights are low and I sweat buckets. I can let my mind roam free and drift to happy times and places and dare to dream.
So I am one of those fit fat folks, who blogs.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Moderate Muslims
By accident I forwarded an email posted to me by my Mom. I should have thought to check Snopes. We keep asking her to do it before she forwards but she doesn't. It involved a claim that U of Kentucky canceled a Holocaust course due to some kind of nod to Muslim students. I definitely should have checked because it was false. (You can click on the colored links for more.) I got a reply from one of my friends that most Muslims are "moderate" and that to forward something like this is to go against the very peace loving nature of the Muslim community. I feel bad but I also am a skeptic. I would like to hear the Muslim leadership do more publicly.
It got me thinking about this assertion. First I looked at a bunch of websites related to college campuses and holocaust deniers (very depressing!) and then I looked at more about the Muslim movement towards moderation. (very sparse!) The Muslim group that the United Reform Jewish movement in its infinite wisdom chose to partners with is suspect. There was an interesting response to this choice by some Muslim groups who claim moderation and I will be looking to see if they merit support.
While there is so much garbage on the web that it is difficult to know what is true, I did happen across some very surprising info. And very scary. If anyone knows of legitimate moderate Muslim groups which publicly denouncing an interpretation of their Sharia laws which seems to encourage murder, mistreatment of women, etc. --I would like to support them. I am far from a scholar on Qu'ran and want to learn more. Please forward.
All of this makes me very sad. I do have some Muslim friends but we are all very careful never to discuss the elephant in the room. Maybe it is time for an honest dialog.
It got me thinking about this assertion. First I looked at a bunch of websites related to college campuses and holocaust deniers (very depressing!) and then I looked at more about the Muslim movement towards moderation. (very sparse!) The Muslim group that the United Reform Jewish movement in its infinite wisdom chose to partners with is suspect. There was an interesting response to this choice by some Muslim groups who claim moderation and I will be looking to see if they merit support.
While there is so much garbage on the web that it is difficult to know what is true, I did happen across some very surprising info. And very scary. If anyone knows of legitimate moderate Muslim groups which publicly denouncing an interpretation of their Sharia laws which seems to encourage murder, mistreatment of women, etc. --I would like to support them. I am far from a scholar on Qu'ran and want to learn more. Please forward.
All of this makes me very sad. I do have some Muslim friends but we are all very careful never to discuss the elephant in the room. Maybe it is time for an honest dialog.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Turkeys at the Gym
My friend snapped this picture in the parking lot at the gym. There have been a whole flock of wild turkeys hanging out in the parking lot there for weeks. I wasn't there this morning and as you know from yesterday's post, I need to now work out this evening. She tried to coax it into the gym to join her for cardio. I think the bird is wondering about all of the humans going inside to push and pull at the machines, run miles and miles without going anywhere, cycle and go nowhere, and swimming back and forth ending up where we started. Who, exactly, are the turkeys?
Turkeys are actually an interesting American subject. Did you know Ben Franklin recommended they be the national bird. They are indigenous to the US and I remember it was impossible to get one when I lived in London in--gasp--1980. They don't look too bad, actually. And they are certain not birds of prey like the eagle. So what would that say about us? To have a humble bird vs. an eagle. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Many of you--if anyone is reading this--will wonder if it is an April Fool's joke. It is not!! But everyone deserves a smile, especially on there way to the gym. (I couldn't quite eat my turkey sandwich).
Everything should be kept in perspective of course. Next time you are really pissed off that a bird took a ---- on your car, think of this poor guy!
Happy April Fool's!
p.s. I think I am beginning to get the hang of this blogging thing. You can forward if you like. I was worried that people would know it is me--but honestly, I don't think I would write anything I wouldn't stand behind. That is not really in my nature anyhow.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)