Nowstalgia

Moved to Atlanta

2009-07-02T18:51:00.000-07:00

So it has been a long time since I was a regular poster on my blog.
I had a kid, got a job and became busy with life and Facebook.

I have now moved to Atlanta, GA where my wife is starting in a week as Congregation Shearith Israel's new assistant rabbi. (Between you, me and the Interweb, she's gonna be great.) The web address for the synagogue is shearithisrael.com.

After I get settled and start a routine, I hope to start up regular blogging again. It feels so weird to even be posting here.

By the way, they have fireflies in Atlanta! That's so cool to this Los Angeles native.

The Tale of the Sun and Moon

2009-01-02T16:14:00.000-08:00

Nesya Losing at Fencing

2008-12-07T17:29:00.000-08:00

No babies were harmed in the making of this film.

If you wish to contribute to her toy/training fund, please use the Amazon.com link on the lower left. A percentage of your purchase will go her learning how to beat her daddy with a whisk.

Nesya and Elana Dancing

2008-07-24T13:17:00.000-07:00

Awwww!! How cute!

Kaddish

2008-07-13T07:44:00.000-07:00

As someone who came to Judaism later in life (i.e. in high school), I have always had a different perspective on some aspects of the liturgy. One in particular is the part of the service called the Kaddish.

The kaddish is sanctification of God's name. There are different kinds of kaddish throughout the prayer service that serve different purposes...most of which I didn't not learn about and understand for many years after I started on my Jewish path. There is Kaddish D'Rabbanan (for after studying some rabbinic text), Mourner's Kaddish (said by people in various levels of mourning), Hatzi Kaddish (used as an internal bookmark to separate parts of the service), Kaddish Shalem (used as bookend at the beginning and end of the service) and few other kind of kaddish that are used on special occasions such as ending the study of a book of Talmud or at the gravesite.

Now, all of these variations on the kaddish have a thing in common: they are in Aramaic and not in Hebrew. This means a novice Jew who is trying to learn Hebrew will still have a hard time understanding what it says.

In my early years and to this day, I always see the mourner's kaddish as different from all the others (even when my untrained ear could not hear the difference).

During the Mourner's Kaddish, those who are mourning stand up and recite the kaddish. This is often an atonal and slower recitation because unlike the person who is leading the service the one saying mourner's kaddish is not likely to feel comfortable reading prayers out loud. If there are multiple mourners in the crowd, the pace of the mourner's kaddish is lowered to the lowest common denominator. Otherwise, the slowest mourner reading would feel self-conscious about reading. I have always liked this equalizing. It shows great consideration within the community.

As a person who went to Catholic school as a kid and who was not familiar with the Jewish liturgy, I remember being totally baffled by the standing and sitting and when to do either. It was never more so than when mourner's kaddish was being said. I was used to stand as a sign of respect for mourners. But the mourner's are standing whenever the mourner's kaddish is said. Was it better to stand and honor them, or sit and let them have the distinction of being mourners? In one sense, by allowing them to stand alone, the community is being informed that those standing are in mourning...which may color in a positive way the conversations one has with those people after the service.

But what if you find yourself standing right as mourner's kaddish starts? As someone who still thinks of standing for respect, sitting down during the mourner's kaddish feels like disrespect. I am always befuddled what to do at this point.

I should note that in almost 18 years of being Jewish (well, I was born Jewish, but 18 years since I started learning about Judaism) mourner's kaddish is the part of the service that people talk the least in. Many people sneak a few words to someone else next to them during the service. (e.g. a greeting, conveying a hello from someone else, asking who they are going to vote for, do they have a place for a shabbat meal...) This does not usually apply to the mourner's kaddish. I guess people feel that God, who gets to hear kaddish multiple times every day from millions of people, will be more understanding. Those saying mourner's kaddish may be the only one saying kaddish for the loved one who passed away.

One of the things that made me fall in love with Judaism was the way in which death and mourning is treated. After all these years, I still think so.

The downside of hybrid vehicles

2008-07-04T15:35:00.000-07:00

We love our Honda Civic Hybrid. We have had it for 6 years. It has 67,000 miles on it. It has averaged between 42-48 miles to the gallon depending in the type of driving we are doing. We can only sing its praises...

...except it is not a baby friendly car. The trunk is small, but it fits our stroller snugly. No, the problem is the auto-idle. This feature is one that causes the engine to go temporarily quit (and stop wasting precious gasoline) whenever the car comes to a stop at full stop. It can be a little eerie at a stop light at night with TOTAL silence. The car ceases all noise.

But the problem for us as parents is that when we are driving around with our screaming infant (who we love dearly), whenever we finally get her to fall asleep with the gentle vibrations of the car, we eventually get to a traffic light. The car stops, the engine idles and Nesya is jolted awake by the eerie quiet. So we have to endure the screaming until we can get going again and the vibrations slowly lull her to sleep again...

It's a vicious cycle. I bet no one thought about parents with screaming babies when they invented the eco-friendly and cost saving feature of the auto-idle. I think about them (the people who engineered the car), though, every time I have a screaming baby in the car...

P.S. For the record, we never drive for the sake of making our daughter sleep. Gas costs too much and it is bad for the environment. We do, however, always hope she will fall asleep as we are driving.

Nesya taking a bath

2008-06-25T22:13:00.000-07:00

I think that no explanation is necessary. Enjoy!

Nesya vs. Bare Naked Ladies and Weird Al Yankovic

2008-06-16T21:51:00.000-07:00

Last week, upon the spur of the moment advice from our friend Paul Lerner, Elana and I took Nesya to her first rock concert. Ok, so it was a kid-friendly concert by the Bare Naked Ladies in promotion of their new children's book/album.

We arrived within 10 minutes of the show--which was at the Grove shopping mall. We were about 15 feet away from the stage and it was really fun. ...and that was even before Weird Al Yankovic jumped out of the crowd to join them on stage! (See center of picture in the back playing accordion.) What a treat!

We loved it! Nesya, not so much.

Where's the Chocolate?

2008-06-03T16:01:00.001-07:00

CIMG0516
Originally uploaded by Adivz

Elana the Dementor is attempting to suck away Nesya's soul. Have no fear, I conjured my Patronus (a turtle) and now Nesya needs some chocolate.

Parking for Pregnants & Dental Kits for Kittens

2008-06-03T13:41:00.000-07:00

It is not often that I stop and see something and think: "Well, how considerate of those shopping mall owners." I mean, they place escalators so that you have to walk all the way around the floor to go up to the next floor (in order to encourage you to see the shops along the way).

Here is something that I saw while Elana was still technically pregnant. (She was at the hospital at the time.)

Then I was walking down the aisle at a pet supply store looking for something to prevent my cat from vomiting hairballs 3 times a day. (Seti the long-haired cat was shedding her winter coat.) I saw this product and I smiled at the cleverness of the business people who came up with this silly product.

Blog Exclusive Photos!

2008-06-03T13:37:00.001-07:00

Here are some photos from my cellphone of Elana and Nesya. Enjoy.

And here are some Mother/Daughter shots of feet and hands.

And here are some bonus flowers and Nesya in a stroller in front of a LA County Museum of Art Exhibit:

Trader Joe's Knows What Nowstalgia Is

2008-06-03T10:31:00.000-07:00

So I was shopping today for some things at Trader Joe's. ( I got chocolate chips, natural peanut butter-salted and some Greek-styled yogurt.)

As I was unpacking the bag and putting the groceries away, I noticed what was on the side of the bag.

So I see that TJ's has people at it that have experienced the feeling that we call Nowstalgia. YEAH!

NOTE: Nowstalgia blog fully supports recycling and the use of canvas shopping bags, but we use paper bags for collecting the recycling. Also, today I forgot to bring the canvas bags.

Driving costs more than minimum wage

2008-05-27T09:13:00.001-07:00

I had a crazy realization last week. It cost more to operate a car than to hire a worker on minimum wage. We paid $4.19 for gas while on a Memorial Day weekend road trip. That's insane. (I have since seen multiple places where gas was over $4.25.) Here's something to think about:

-Federal Minimum Wage is $5.85.

-Our 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid got 40 miles to the gallon during that drive. (We have had poorer mileage in the last 5,000 miles and also since we got new tires...)

-We averaged 65 miles an hour during our drive up the 5 Interstate.

65 miles in an hour means that at 40 miles to the gallon, we were using 1.625 gallons of gas in an hour. At $4.19 a gallon, that was $6.80 an hour. Almost a dollar above minimum wage!

Now, I could admit that the California Minimum Wage is $8.00. ...but then I should also admit that most cars get far less than 40 miles to the gallon.

A car that get 30 miles to the gallon would cost $9.08 to operate at 65 miles/hour for an hour. (Even if gas only costs $4.00, the cost would be $8.67--over the CA min. wage!)

An SUV that gets 12 miles to the gallon would cost $21.67 @ $4.00/gallon and $22.70 to operate for an hour at $4.19/gallon.

I keep thinking about all those people who live in suburbs who have an hour commute and who own SUVs. Poor shlubs.

I'm not even going to think about taxis that have regulated prices...

I hope everyone has a nice summer. Enjoy your roadtrip...or maybe you could just hire a full-time person to entertain your kids in the backyard. That may be cheaper.

Taking liquids on an airplane

2008-05-25T11:59:00.000-07:00

Last week, American Airlines announced that it will start charging $15 for the first bag of checked luggage and $25 for the second bag. I know all the reasons they talk about...fuel savings, fairness to passengers not travelling with carry-ons (i.e. not making them pay for the cost of checked luggage that isn't theirs), etc...

But when airline security started restricting liquids in carry-on luggage a few years ago, the solution was to put shampoo, contact lens solution, bottles of drinks and other liquids in the checked luggage.

Now, when someone wants to go on an overnight trip to someplace they are faced with a dilemma:

-Pay $15 extra for a checked bag
OR
-Buy an $8 bottle of contact solution (or shampoo, or mouthwash, or whatever) to use for the one day they are on their trip. (They'll have to throw it out before they take their return flight...)

For that matter, once they have checked the luggage on the way TO the destination, they will have to pay a second time on the return unless they can make the checked bag a carry-on or unless they ditch the luggage while visiting Reno.

P.S. I still miss meals on transcontinental flights...but that's for another post.

Here's an idea: Give foreclosed homes to disaster victims

2008-05-21T08:57:00.000-07:00

Ok, for years now, we've been hearing about the housing shortage left in the wake of Katrina. There have been other floods and hurricanes that have left thousands more homeless in those tragedies.

We've also been hearing about hundreds of thousands of homes being foreclosed upon and entire neighborhood blocks sitting empty due to the housing bubble. Unfortunately, if houses are left vacant too long, people come in the night and strip the homes of anything of value. I just heard a segment on NPR yesterday that houses are going for as little as $1 or $500 on ebay from wholesalers who buy up homes in distressed areas.

It seems that FEMA has a chance here to redeem itself by working with HUD. Here's my idea (you can probably see this coming): Why doesn't the federal government buy up a limited number of homes from the banks (enough so that there are no completely vacant neighborhoods)? The government could then offer these completed homes to disaster victims. The overall costs for giving a home to a family of 6 may be less than the rebuilding subsidies and FEMA trailers. This obviously would not help everyone and the families would need to be willing to relocate, but if there is a house and property to be had at the new location, I bet there would be quite a few takers.

This idea would:
-help disaster stricken families
-help banks avoid selling homes for $500
-help neighborhoods survive the bursting of the housing bubble
-help prevent the looting of some of the newly constructed homes of the past years
-help redeem FEMA and HUDs reputations as government agencies that actually do good

Of course, if a non-profit organization were formed, the banks could DONATE the homes for the same purpose and get writeoffs...maybe with writeoff values that would be higher than the sale values to wholesalers. But then the government would have nothing to do with it...

1st Blessing

2008-05-19T22:27:00.000-07:00

Tonight, I was at the ordination ceremony for the new rabbis from the Zeigler School of Rabbinic Studies at American Jewish University. I was caring for a crying baby for most of the time.

After the ceremony, there was a reception where the 8 new rabbis could schmooze with the hundreds of friends and family that showed up to cheer them on. I went around to say my "congratulations" and "mazel tovs".

Then I had an idea. I went up to one of the new rabbis and asked for a blessing. He said one for me and then I said the Shehechianu blessing with him because it was his first blessing as a rabbi. (In Judaism, the Shehechianu is said whenever one does something important for the first time.)

Then I found another new rabbi and did the same thing.

Then I found another new rabbi and had him bless my daughter Nesya.

The fourth new rabbi I saw said I was too late...he had already said his first blessing as a rabbi.

The fifth new rabbi said that he was going to vomit. He wasn't playing along. He was a party-pooper.

At this point, my daughter needed to leave the gathering, so I left too. I did, however, elicit the first blessing from 3 different rabbis tonight. I think I'll try this next year...

P.S. One of the rabbis who I got blessed by was Rabbi Gershom Sizomu, the first Conservative Rabbi of Uganda.

Missing - Found

2008-05-19T22:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I was out with my mom and my wife going to dinner. While walking from the car to the restaurant, I noticed one of those MISSING posters that give all the vitals of someone who has disappeared. I hate seeing them, but I always am drawn to look and see who is missing.

My heart was lightened by the notice attached to the bottom: FOUND. The mom of the missing woman explained that on Mother's Day, she found her missing daughter after almost 2 years. I was heartened not just that the daughter was found, but also that the mother cared enough to attach the note so that people like me who worried would know that everything turned out okay.

I'm proud of my wife

2008-05-19T22:20:00.000-07:00

This February, Elana gave birth 7 weeks early. This totally messed up the timing of her semester. (She had it all planned out based on a due date in early April.) This week, she finished the semester successfully despite breastfeeding 95% of the time. This was not always a sure thing. I'm very proud of her.

A Geeky Question

2008-05-14T20:45:00.000-07:00

So. I was thinking about childbirth, Cesarean section and Star Trek today. Do you think that in Star Trek, the traditional Cesarean section procedure is replaced by "beaming" baby out of the womb?

Jelly Belly

2008-05-12T18:21:00.000-07:00

There are certain times of day when Nesya, age three months, can only find comfort in two things--nursing and sucking on her hands. Jelly Bellies come in all sorts of interesting flavors. Do you think they'd go for breastmilk or baby fists?

Where's the ice?

2008-05-12T00:08:00.000-07:00

Sometimes children (and adults) speak before thinking. This is generally not a good idea, and sometimes dangerous. However, at other times, it's just plain hilarious. I've been asked all sorts of questions during my career as Mom and Wife. The best one ever though, has got to be, "Where's the ice?" Why, it's under the bed, dear. Or perhaps I left it on the couch? Maybe in the linen closet? I'm not sure, really. Isn't there only ONE place we keep the ice? It may be confusing because we don't call it an icebox anymore. They say kids don't understand sarcasm until the third grade or so, but I say we just aren't teaching them young enough.

I've Been Recursive Meme'd

2008-05-09T16:01:00.000-07:00

Here are your rules. (You've seen this one before, this is just a 'recursive' version)

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people and post a comment to Adiv's blog (your tagees will post to mine, etc.) once you've posted your three sentences.

The Five Chosen are:

* Meishya
* Michelle
* Nikki
* Scott
* Gafna

And my three sentences:

"As you enter the factory, you're told that widget sales are slow. You notice stacks of widgets everywhere. Orders for widgets are few and far between, and as you watch, the stacks of widgets grow."

From Breastfeeding Made Simple: Seven Natural Laws for Nursing Mothers by Nancy Mohrbacher and Kathleen Kendall-Tackett. (The sentences were part of an analogy...this book is primarily for my wife, though I have read a few pages.)

Why is Bastard a slur?

2008-04-11T14:44:00.001-07:00

I recently have been reading a book where the main character is called "bastard" a lot. It got me thinking. I've always understood "bastard" to be a slur for an illegitimate male child... as if being unluckily born into a non-traditional family is something to be ashamed of.

What I don't understand is why there is no slur for someone who fathers an illegitimate child. He's the one who probably has something to be ashamed of.

The Magic Pen

2008-04-10T10:59:00.001-07:00

I recently discovered an online game that I found very addictive. It was actually not that hard once you get the principles down, but I spent many hours trying to beat this game while holding a baby in one arm.

The basic premise of the game is that you have to move a shape (either a block or a circle) so that it touches a red flag. Your tools for doing this are a magic pen that looks like a crayon that allows you to draw shapes. Once completed, the shapes drop as if drawn by gravity. The bigger the size, the stronger they impact the things they hit. You can also make levers by using a hinge. I imagine that this game could be used quite well in elementary level science classes to teach physics.

Anyways, here is the link. Note: If you are having trouble solving the puzzles, the page has a couple of videos with hints. There is, however, no limit on the infinite ways to solve each round.

I Gotta Crow

2008-04-01T18:35:00.001-07:00

So I've been a proud mother for six weeks, and I just have to share how amazing my daughter is. No, no it's not that she's a good pooper (although she is). I'm proud because she is both a concerned citizen, and an environmentalist.
This past Sunday she marched with us on a solidarity walk sponsored by the LAPD, LAFD and the Neighborhood Watch. About a mile to the southeast of us is a rough neighborhood. We rallied to let the gangs know that we don't want them there. Nessie's stroller sported a sign reading, "No drugs!", and she got through the whole walk without a peep. She didn't even laugh at the realtor who was holding an open house as 60 people marched by shouting, "No guns! No drugs! No graffiti!" (Adiv made up that mantra. Catchy, no?) Do you think he made the sale?
Then, Monday night I decided to try to lull her to sleep by driving her in the car. She sleeps a lot...just not at night. In desperation, I packed us into the car at 11:30 pm. She seemed to drift off but awoke five minutes after we got home and wailed. She let me know that she would not allow gas-guzzling to be the method that soothes her to sleep. She's also a water conservationist because baths don't help her sleep either. We're open to suggestions, just make sure they are ecologically and socially responsible.

The Elephant Song by Eric Herman

2008-04-01T18:16:00.000-07:00

This song should do well with the 3-6 year old crowd.

This is the most amazing thing ever...

2008-04-01T09:24:00.000-07:00

Okay, there is a new internet sensation that is sweeping the, er, internet. I don't know exactly how to describe it, so you have to go there to see it for yourself.

Whoop, there it is!

2008-03-30T19:00:00.000-07:00

Just in case you don't know why everyone is running for the stairs, please be aware that the reason may be associated with the flashing lights and insanely loud whooping.

I love movies

2008-03-28T10:24:00.001-07:00

Instructions for Preterm Labor

2008-03-27T08:17:00.001-07:00

Step 1: When your water breaks pray that you are incontinent. Surely 32 weeks is too early for the baby to come and perhaps you are plagued with yet another inconvenience of pregnancy.

Step 2: Go to the hospital to be checked out, and when the resident on call confirms that yes indeed your water broke, smile at her as you wring out your sweatpants which are dripping with amniotic fluid. After all, it could all have been in your imagination.

Step 3: Feel tremendous relief when you learn that amniotic fluid is mostly baby urine. If you keep drinking the baby will keep peeing thus keeping her inside the womb a little longer.

Step 4: Redefine your definition of bedrest because it does not involve resting.

Step 4a) Remember all the drinking you have to do to keep the baby inside? Go to the bathroom (which you share with three other patients) every hour while accompanied by your I.V. pole. I call this hospital two-step.

Step 4b) Don't forget to have your vital signs read and the fetal monitor adjusted every time you start to drift off to sleep because that is clearly the optimum time to be poked.

Step 4c) Don't panic when they put compression cuffs on your legs just in case the days of lying still in bed are causing you to form a blood clot that will kill you. Think of the vice-like grip as a gentle and constant massage.

Step 4d) And, when they come with your next dose of tri-something-or-other to stave off contractions and your pulse goes up to 130 give up closing your eyes all together.

Step 5) When your contractions can't be held off any longer and you are in labor the staff will want to pay a lot of attention to you and your baby to make sure you are doing all right. When it gets overwhelming, hide out in the bathroom for 20 minutes at a time. Just don't forget your slippers because tile floors are cold.

Step 6) When it comes time to push and the room fills with 15 people who are there to help you and the baby do not get performance anxiety. Focus on something more important. I recommend the pain of pushing a posterior baby out after 8 days of being in labor.

Step 7) AND THIS STEP IS NOT OPTIONAL Thank God for your amazing partner, family and friends who got you through this difficult week. Thank God for the hard working team of healthcare professionals who provided excellent care and gave you and your baby every chance to thrive. Thank God for the most beautiful sound in the world; the wail of a child who without the help of modern medicine would never have drawn her first breath.

Step 8) Wait for medical bills.

Welcome to Elana and Julie

2008-03-20T09:06:00.000-07:00

I have asked my wife and my sister to join this blog as contributors so that they will have a place to write on the web when they get the whim.

Welcome to you both.

Elana thought I would like this sign.

2008-02-28T21:54:00.001-08:00

I guess the history was that the life-saving was none too successful...

Challenger disaster and other memorable events

2008-01-28T14:10:00.000-08:00

Today I looked at my nifty Year In Space desk calendar and I was reminded that 22 years ago today, the Challenger shuttle exploded.

I remember sitting in Miss Bliss's classroom watching it on television. I even remember that my seat was facing the windows. It was one of those events that people who were alive when it happened can say: "I remember where I was when X happened."

Other events that reach this magnitude are:
-Pearl Harbor Attack
-V-E Day
-VJ Day
-JFK Assassination
-Martin Luther King, Jr. Assassination
-RFK Assassination
-John Lennon Assassination
-OJ Simpson Verdict
-9/11

There are obviously others and some of the ones listed are not from my lifetime, but these seminal moments mark moments when most of us can connect with events simply by having a memory of its occurrence. If someone knows a term for describing these events as a group, please tell me what it is.

For the record, here's where I was:
Lennon's death: In nursery school. I remember going thttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifo a candlelight vigil even though I did not know who he was.

OJ Verdict: I was on the street in Jerusalem and a teenage girl spotted me as a likely American and just HAD to share the news that OJ was found not guilty.

9/11: I was home in the first apartment that Elana and I shared in Jerusalem. I remember making dinner, talking to Elana and then taking a bus to work at the Jerusalem Post. (The events of 9/11 were stretched out and I remember hearing that the first tower fell at home and the second one fell while I was on the bus.)

If anyone would like to share where YOU were, please leave a comment. I'd like to know.

UPDATE: Tovah mentioned two more.
-The Oklahoma City Bombing
-Yitzchak Rabin's Assassination

For Oklahoma City, I remember distinctly being sick in bed with mono. I have been tortured by the OJ Simpson trial being on EVERY channel for a month. I was talking with my Mom on the phone and said something like, "Oh great, something is pre-empting OJ." Then I realized what had happened and I felt bad for saying that.

For Rabin, I was sick and on a bus from Herzelia to Jerusalem. My Hebrew was very limited and so I didn't understand why the bus driver had turned up the volume to max. I only learned what it meant as I took a cab from the bus station and got the driver to spell it out in simple words.

This morning...

2008-01-28T14:09:00.000-08:00

I woke up and commented to Elana our cat was sleepy and vulnerable looking.

Elana replied, "Quick, let's get her to buy an imprudent investment."

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

2008-01-25T08:05:00.000-08:00

Last night, Elana and I went on a date night. We got free passes to an advance screening of a new movie called Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

The movie was an adult comedy with a sense of humor along the lines of Knocked Up or Superbad.

Funny, all three of those films have Judd Apatow in common... In Forgetting Sarah Marshall, he's a producer on the film. There are also many familiar faces that appeared in the other two films.

Since they didn't ask us to review the film afterwards, I guess they were hoping to just generate good word of mouth (and impress some of the VIPs sitting in the roped-off section of the theater).

I have to say that I have not laughed so many times or as loud in a movie theater in many years. It is funnier than the other two movies I mentioned. As far as I could tell, everyone in the audience agreed with me. There were maybe 2 minutes of jokes that while funny, may have crossed an invisible line into extreme crudeness, but even if those parts are kept in, this movie will be a big hit.

Then again, I don't work in the industry. What do I know?

A Matter of Faith

2008-01-08T13:24:00.000-08:00

Recently, my wife has been doing some recreational reading during her vacation.
Is she reading a trashy romance novel? Nope.
Is she reading about the various virtues of Jane Austen's Mr. Darcy? Not quite.
Elana has been reading a book written by a 20th century rabbi that examines the nature of faith. Jewish faith.

This topic is one that apparently comes up surprisingly little during the years of rabbinic school. While she has experienced some classroom situations in which faith has been included in the discussion, she went into rabbinical school thinking that the topic would be much more central to the curriculum. I guess they expect you to have faith coming in and going out, but from what I can tell, there are various points in the 5-year journey through rabbinical school that test, stretch or mold one's faith.

Anyways, Elana often discusses her reading with me when it is more of a philosophical nature. She has described how there are two main views of God that some Jewish theologians have:

An Immanent God- This view of God is the traditional one where God has an active role in everyone's lives, answers your prayer (maybe), holds you close and may even bring in a plague to wipe out your enemies.

A Transcendental God- This view is more intangible in that God may be a being, but is so far removed that the world around us is not directly controlled by Him. Prayers of thanks and praise would make sense to this God, but a prayer asking for healing someone, a healthy child or passing a mid-term would be a nearly worthless gestures since the transcendental God is not going to reach out and answer.

My point in bringing all this up is that she and I had a conversation last night about faith. We started talking about her faith and I will not go into detail about that since that is personal to her. Afterwards, I came up with a couple of analogies to try and explain my faith.

I believe in a transcendental God. One that will not answer prayers. This does not mean that I feel that prayer is useless, but that prayers of request have little meaning.

When I was a kid, I never asked the question of myself, "Where will I go when I die?" or "How was the universe started?" I always felt a lot of these existential questions to be meaningless. I understood much of religion to be focused on answering questions of this nature and I simply did not feel the need to answer those questions. Where will I go when I die? I guess I'll find out then.

I tried to explain to Elana that this does not mean I have no faith. I just don't focus on the same kinds of questions. I tried to use the following analogy:

3 people go on a train.
One has to know the way the mechanics work and the map of the tracks and the science behind the train. He has no room for faith; he must see and understand and know.
The second, is amazed at the size and the beauty of the train. She wanted to explore the cars and maybe get a chance to meet the conductor. She has faith and awe, but does not feel the need to see all the gears in order to feel comfortable that the train will take her to her destination.
The third, gets on the train and reads a book or looks out the window or stares at the people or eats his lunch....but doesn't give much thought to the science or the magic of the train that will take him hundreds of miles.
Does the second person have more or less faith than the third? I think that faith and awe are not necessarily the same. One can have faith by NOT asking questions. I don't necessarily think that the third person is better or worse, just that he too has faith even if it seems that he is not paying attention. He is simply trusting that he doesn't need to know things for them to work.

As you can probably tell, I was trying to paint myself as the third passenger. I am not always that way, but I don't live my life in awe every minute and I still think that I have faith.

The second analogy is for explaining how praying to a transcendental God can still give you strength.

You are on a path through a forest. You are lost in that you don't know where you are. There is a windy and twisty path that you have found that you are always struggling to stay on. You believe that the path leads to a sanctuary at the foot of a mountain. You have never been to the mountain or the sanctuary, but if you don't believe that there is one, then you may lose hope and your way in the forest. The trudging through the forest is tiring and you often want to sit down and forget about moving. Every so often, you pick your head up and look out through the trees. You can see the mountain. You have no proof that is not a figment of your imagination. You see it and by seeing it, you gain strength from inside to go a little further. The mountain gives you strength by its very existence because you derive hope from it's promise. I think of prayer to a transcendental God in the same way. Each heartfelt prayer is the same as the action of raising your head up to look at the reminder of your goal. So a prayer of request for inner strength can in fact be answered by a distant mountain that will never reach out to touch you.

I'm not sure exactly why, but I wanted to write out these two analogies once I articulated them. The second one explains why I pray more and get more strength from prayer when I am in a time of crisis, even though I believe that God will not be reaching out to change things in my favor.

Thank you for reading this.

New Year's Resolution

2008-01-02T07:45:00.000-08:00

It's a new year and my resolution is to post more on the blog than in the last 3 months.

My first youtube video made with my new camera

2007-12-12T22:51:00.001-08:00

For Hanukkah, I was given a digital camera by numerous relatives. (Thanks all!) I plan on using it for both still and short youtube videos. Here is the first of (hopefully) many. I used our cat Seti as the subject because she is always around and showing off her fur didn't require much effort. Maybe I'll catch her on film playing with her playmate the squirrel someday...

Igor Zilch

2007-12-12T21:05:00.000-08:00

Today, I googled a memory from back in the days when I was a whippersnapper in summer camp. Every night at the campfire during week-long trips to various YMCA camps in the San Bernardino mountains we would hear the Tale of Igor Zilch. The storytelling session always started with a chant in as deep voice as the story teller and 100 kids could imitate:

Igor Zilch! Igor Zilch!
Brave, courageous and, Boy, he was bold!
Long live his name!
Long live his fame!
Long may his story be told.

The tales were usually made up from day to day or from year to year. The storyteller (often a different counselor from the night before) did a little recap: "When last we left our hero..."

These stories would not pass muster on children's television. The villains were always evil and inevitably gained their names, their powers, and their plots to kill Igor Zilch from bathroom humor. For example, 'Logman' might have trapped Igor in the sewer below a baseball stadium. When the 7th inning stretch occurred, everyone would use the bathroom and... Well, you get the idea.

We, as kids, loved it. It was so gross. It was something that made me look forward to camp and to the campfires. (There were other things that were cleaner and more wholesome that I looked forward to as well.)

So when I googled the name 'Igor Zilch' and found nothing, I thought I should at least post this one entry to let whoever finds this post know that they are not alone in those fond yet disgusting memories.

Now it may truly be said that "Long live his name, long live his fame and long may his story be told."

Forrest Gump, Ping Pong and the lost movie of Tom Hanks

2007-10-23T07:58:00.000-07:00

When I was at USC, I lived in Trojan Hall my freshman year. It was connected to Marks Hall. Marks Hall was used in the movie Forrest Gump. (Many, many movies have used USC as a location for filming.)

Marks Hall was used in the sequences in the movie where Jenny is at college. I was reminded of all this while watching the movie last night.

During the filming of the movie, the crew blocked all the windows in the lobby of the dormitory. What you can't see in the movie is that there were dozens of college freshmen in the lobby watching what was going on and playing ping pong. In between shots, Tom Hanks came into the lobby and played ping pong with us. He was amazingly good. (We had no idea at the time that ping pong had a part in the film and so we had no reason to suspect that he had been practicing for the movie.)

Mr. Hanks said he would not sign autographs (it made his hand tired.) He did, however, agree to be photographed with anyone who brought out a camera. I didn't have one. :(

He played ping pong with a long line of people, but the line went quickly because he whizzed through them. 21-0 each time. Someone called out, "Anyone who has an Oscar award gets a 21 point handicap!" Everyone laughed and Mr. Hanks agreed. (He had won the best actor award for Philadelphia.) He STILL whipped people, even with a 21-point handicap.

Too bad we couldn't introduce him to my Grandpa's ping pong buddy.

I didn't play because I was shy and there were too many other takers. I did see something that should go down in cinema history someplace:
Some cunning first-year USC cinema student had an idea...if Tom Hanks refused to sign autographs, but agreed to take photographs, maybe he would agree to read some lines!

The student ran back to his room and brought a sheet of paper and a very fancy audio recording device. (A year later I saw my roommate use a similar device to record sounds as a foley artist.)

The student asked Mr. Hanks to read the page into the microphone in a monotone voice. It was only about 12 lines of text. That was it. Hanks read the lines and went back to ping pong. The guy thanked him and left.

Can you imagine the surprise of his class and film professor when the kid turned in his student film assignment with Tom Hanks, winner of the Oscar for Best Actor the year before, as the NARRATOR?! I would have loved to see it.

Someday, when someone is trying to make a comprehensive collection of the Tom Hanks' vast works (that has already spanned decades), the collector will probably be missing that film.

Visiting Grandma and Eating Apples

2007-10-23T07:37:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, I went to visit my Grandma in Westborough, MA. She lives near my aunt. I was only there for a couple of days, but I learned a number of things.

I learned my grandmother grew up without a father because when she was three he gambled away the family home and my great-grandmother took the unusual (for the time) step of divorcing him.

I learned that my grandmother's uncle was a famous music conductor named Bernhard Levitow whose music recording is it still possible to find on the internet.

I learned that my grandmother once got stranded at a bus stop in Virginia when she was 17. Before she was picked up by her uncle (NOT the same one), she picked up a sailor and had the young man buy her her first Coca-Cola.

I learned that back in her time, Grandma went to nursing school (which was distinct from college) and also started to go to college at night, but stopped when she met and married my grandfather. We got to talking about the books she read after we saw the Jane Austen Book Club together.

I learned that my Grandma's favorite cousin when she was younger was a fighter pilot in WWII. He survived the war but came back with tuberculosis and died a year later. He pushed everyone away before the end.

I learned more stuff, but most importantly I learned that when my Mom was a kid, Grandma used to take them from Long Island to New Jersey to pick Macoun apples. I had never heard of Macouns before, but Grandma thought it would be a nice idea to go to an apple orchard during my visit. It was crowded and it rained on us. There was a hedgemaze we didn't go in, a petting zoo, a pumpkin patch and store. They had about a dozen varieties of a amazing apples. One of them was the Magical Macouns! I have never driven even an extra mile for special fruit, but I can understand driving from Long Island to New Jersey for these! I had two a day until I left. My Mom told me over the phone that she was jealous, so I brought her one.

Saying you're sorry and meaning it

2007-09-17T15:34:00.000-07:00

Last week I gave the "dvar torah" at the congregation I go to. That's basically a teaching related to the week's Torah portion.
With the High Holidays coming up (actually, I'm writing this entry in between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur) one of the main themes of the weekly reading was repentance.

In my dvar torah, I referenced a case that I studied in law school in a legal ethics class. I should note that legal ethics and "everyday" ethics are not the same thing. Often lawyers are bound by rules of the profession to do things that sound unethical to most of us. (One example, among many, is defending a guilty person.)

In the case, a young lawyer killed someone while drunk driving. He was disbarred and there was a $250k civil judgment against him for the wrongful death. Instead of paying the widow and children of the man he killed, he hide his assets, placed his house in his wife's name and paid the minimum monthly installments. He paid somewhere in the range of .5% of the money he owed. Later, he declared bankruptcy in order to clear the judgment debt. (That apparently was the only reason he had to declare it since all his assets were not in his name.)

After 17 years, he had moved states a couple of times and had repeatedly been denied entry in the state bar on the basis of moral concerns. Finally, a CA court was asked to consider if it was fair to continue to punish him for the act that he committed as a young man.

The court ruled that he should be admitted to the Bar. The court reasoned that a) 17 years was a long time, b) the debt had been cleared by bankruptcy, c) the man said he was very sorry for the tragedy, d) 14 or so lawyers and judges vouched for him and e) his act as a drunk driver has no bearing on his fitness to be a lawyer.

My take on the case (which I have recited from memory since I haven't bothered look it up again for the sake of only my blog entry) is that 1) evading a judgment claim was unethical and directly reflective on his fitness to practice as a lawyer (since he would in theory want his judgment claims to be paid), 2) bankruptcy only wipes out a legal obligation to pay, not the moral obligation, and 3) a statement by him that he was sorry rings false if he does not acknowledge that he destroyed a family and still needed to make amends.

This is where I tied the case into the Torah portion. At this time of year in the Jewish calender is a time when Jews say they are sorry to God for their sins against Him and say they are sorry to their fellow man for their sins against them. There are a lot of Jews that go around saying "I'm sorry" this week because they want to start the new year with a clean slate.

The point I was making is that saying "I'm sorry" because the teacher/parent/deity/judge told you to is meaningless unless there is true sincerity. God knows if you mean it when you tell Him that you are sorry, but the neighbor whose window you smashed by mistake probably won't believe you unless you offer to repair the window.

In most circumstances, the words "I'm sorry" won't cut it. Maybe saying them out loud in front of others will do it. Maybe showing the person you wronged what you are doing to make sure you won't do it again will work. Most of the time, though, you are just going to have to offer to fix whatever it is you broke. (You have to mean it when you offer to fix it too.)

I disagreed with the court because I felt that "moral concerns" should go beyond the superficial platitude of "I'm REALLY REALLY sorry". That didn't work in the playground when I was seven and it shouldn't work in our legal system.

P.S. I should note that sometimes an admission of wrongdoing really is all that is needed. I have read that many medical malpractice cases would be resolved if the hospital lawyers and insurance lawyers would allow doctors to personally confront and apologize for making a mistake.

Yesterday, we found a "treasure" on the beach

2007-08-31T11:12:00.000-07:00

Elana and I went to Point Dume ("Doom") in Malibu yesterday. It is a lesser known beach that has been in movies and is near sacred ground for the Chumash Native American Tribe. We saw tidepools with starfish, sea anemones, mussels, sea snail, crabs and more.

We also walked along the rocky beach at low tide. That is when we found a "treasure". In the middle of the water covered rocks, there was a red ball made of stone. It is the side of a softball and weighs a couple of pounds.

(Re-enactment of the discovery)

We took the ball home for display. It is an unusual enough beach find that I wanted to keep it. I suggested that it may have magic powers...but Elana said it just looks neat.

We also saw a metal object embedded in the sand. It was rusted and solid. It looks like the end of a small wagon bed:

It was about 3 1/2 feet across.

Notice the "wheel" that is fused with the rest of the metal.

That thing in the middle looks like the point where the wagon would attach to something else.

Limited expectations

2007-08-31T08:29:00.000-07:00

Someday I want to live with Elana in a home that we own ourselves. I don't ask much. Just something that has enough room for all our stuff and a nice cozy atmosphere. I don't know exactly what it will look like, but it will be something between this:

And this:

I have no idea what I would do with a water buffalo.

2007-08-26T01:22:00.000-07:00

Read this ad

2007-08-22T17:24:00.000-07:00

A mother of 6 unintentionally bought pokemon cards at the store...and this is her eBay ad for selling the cards off. I was in stitches. You likely will be too!

Today's Our Anniversary.

2007-08-19T08:11:00.000-07:00

On this day six years ago, Elana and I got married in Palo Alto, CA.

It was a lovely day and things went just about without a hitch. (Except for the hole the size of a quarter in my tuxedo pants leg that I discovered as I was getting dressed--luckily, my best man Robert had some knee-high black socks that helped ensure the hole's visibility...black on black.)

Our wedding was great. We also got away with not spending a bazillion dollars like other wedding couples. It required little things like stacking our own chairs and having a brunch instead of dinner as the meal. All that really mattered was that we were happy.

Six years down the line, I think we are even more happy than the beginning. I must say that I consider myself extremely lucky to have found Elana.

Okay, I'm going to sign off on this post and have her read it so that she let's me off the hook for an anniversary gift...

...well, we ARE going for brunch and then to see the hit musical Wicked.

UPDATE:
The day was great. We had brunch (yummy) and saw the show (great). The only bad part was when we almost died. A woman using a cellphone made a 360 turn from a parking spot on a busy street. If I had not been paying close attention, I would have broadsided her...and I think only my laying my hand on the horn prevented the opposing traffic from smashing into her. She was so arrogant that she was completely unphased by my 10 second horn blast!

Received My Diploma Today (Yeah!!)

2007-08-15T20:08:00.000-07:00

It was quite reassuring to finally have documentary proof that I finished law school.
I like to think of it as my receipt for the $150k that we spent on my education.

It was larger than I expected. My other 2 diplomas (high school and bachelor's) were about 8 1/2" by 11". This one looks a couple of inches taller and wider. I guess I need to use it to impress people more.

Yet another Photo Dump from my cellphone

2007-08-09T21:03:00.000-07:00

These two less-than-clear photos are of my nephew Toby's arm and his friend the bug. The GREEN bug. The BIG GREEN bug. We made him leave his friend behind when we got in the car.

Notice the name of the business. Get it? Tattoff...Tatt (as in in tattoo)+ Off!! Ha HA HAA!

...Um, I guess you had to be there. (It's a place in Beverly Hills that does laser tattoo removal.)

I know what you are thinking. No. I have never had a tattoo and I never will have one.

This is NOT the amazing Tower of Babel. Nor is it a Lego Hangman's Post. It is the wonderful creation of my nephew Noah. (Not pictured)

Catblogging. I wish that I could sleep like that. Don't you just want to reach your arm out and rub Seti's fuzzy belly?

Who needs a soccer field when you can draw one with a stick in the sand?
No need to do a lot of running on that field...

Birdwatching at the beach. (That reminds me of my friend Dr. Alex King in Jerusalem who always calls women 'birds'. If he wrote that caption, he would have a different picture...except now he is a married man like me... :)

Look at this board on display at Venice Beach! 'No dogs' I can understand, but 'NO BLOGS'!!! That's a violation of the 1st Amendment!! That's an unlawful prior restraint on protected political speech!!! Why I outta... If only I had a license to practice law!!!! (Maybe I'll wait a few more months...) :)

...Wait. Did I violate the rules by blogging about it later?!?!

UPDATE: My observant wife has pointed out that the sign might be referring to Bar-B-Q's. That makes much more sense, but it is less fun to write about.

These pictures are from a new kosher restaurant on Wilshire Blvd. in Beverly Hills called 'Bistro Baguette Cafe'. Their meat is good, they have vegetarian options and they make a reasonable attempt at serving food that is both healthy and wholesome.

California Bar Exam- July 2007 tidbits

2007-08-09T20:40:00.000-07:00

1)During the morning session of day 3 of the bar, some schmoe started whistling in the Los Angeles room at the Century Plaza Hotel.

He got through 6 or 7 bars (no pun intended) before the grumbling started. Finally the woman behind me cursed loadly under her breath. It was dozens of feet away, but I think her curse was what quieted him.

She was NOT penalized for talking.

2)Two weeks later, I feel let down. The excitement of finishing has worn off. I wish I had the money and time for an exotic vacation. Instead, I am being a house husband, looking for a job and helping out my sister with her four kids.

On the upside, the balloons that Elana brought me are still floating. Seti the cat likes to swat at the ribbons.

3)For some reason, my blog has been getting a lot of hits from google searches about the bar exam. I guess I have said some things that people liked. I don't know what they are...

The Rainbow Connection

2007-08-09T20:36:00.000-07:00

Some songs just make you feel good. ENJOY!

Being flicked off

2007-08-07T20:23:00.000-07:00

I was just driving to the video store. As I was making a left turn at a T-intersection, an old Toyota drove through a red light and almost hit me. That was bad enough.

This is what really chapped my hide:
As the car chugged away, seemingly unaware that it had broken the law and endangered my life, the driver flicked a light cigarette out the window. The butt hit my windshield in sparks and flew off.

I honked my horn angrily, but the driver didn't even turn her head to notice any of what she had done.

I'm going to go eat Mac 'n Cheese now.

The Post-Bar Search Begins

2007-08-07T11:16:00.000-07:00

Okay. Almost 2 weeks have past since the Bar exam was put to rest. I'll find the results of that exam in November, but until then, surfing the internet is not going to cut it as my main activity.

If you have any suggestions of places that would be looking for a hard-working law school graduate, I would sure like to hear about it. Things to consider:
-I was a law review editor.
-I think outside the box.
-I authored a published law article.
-I am available for temporary work until the bar results are out.
-I have never lost a case. (Ok, so I never tried a case either.)
-I have a sense of humor.
-I aim to work in the Los Angeles area.

If you would like me to send you a resume or writing sample, just drop me a line.

My First Blog Tag Ever

2007-08-02T08:14:00.000-07:00

This is my first blog tag ever, thanks Meish!

Four jobs that I've had:
1. Night-shift Sysop at the Jerusalem Post newspaper. I started this job right out of the navy. I learned how to do layout for the op-ed page. It was a good job for that time in my life. I was, however, not the best tech in the world. It was more of a "The One-Eyed Man is King in the Valley of the Blind."-thing.
2. Archery Instructor. I tried to make it fun, but the equipment was not the best. I ended up improving the bows with super glue and dental floss...a very MacGuyver moment!
3. “Bonkers” Bagel Shop Shift Manager. What can I say? I am not a big a fan of bagels after that period of my life.
4. Kibbutz Metal Factory Worker. 8 to 10 hours of dipping metal computer chassis into chemicals and then using an air gun to dry them off. Ah, the memories.
[Note: I've picked the more eclectic ones...not the most recent ones.]

Four films or shows that I can watch repeatedly:
1. Star Wars (the original trilogy). I bought the limited releases DVDs that include the theatrical versions and the remastered ones with the added scenes.
2. Quantum Leap. Good clean fun. I love the 'kisses with history' where Sam meets famous people,
3. Good Will Hunting. It's just a good film.
4. Any Pixar Film. There are some I like more than others, but I would watch any of them over and over.

Four places in which I have lived:
1. Los Angeles. Born here. Lived here until I finished college. Moved all the way around the world to get away. Then I married Elana and she dragged me back. I don't like the city, but there are some pretty okay people mixed in among the millions.
2. Washington, D.C. Lived there for a semester. It was during my senior year of college. I met some bigwigs, but it was not the best semester of my school days.
3. Seattle. Last summer Elana and I both found internships up there. Great city. I would not mind spending more time up there. I like the water, the kayaks, the sunshine (it only rained 3 days while we were there). We did not like the traffic signs-- too small.
4. Jerusalem. City of Gold. Most of my adult life until now was in Jerusalem. I like it most in the winter.

Four places that I've been on vacation:
1. Goucher College (Spent a month visiting a friend there.)
2. Elba, Italy (former home in exile of Napoleon Bonaparte)
3. Egypt (Down the Nile from Cairo to Lake Nasser)
4. Amsterdam (No, I did not have any brownies. Just lots of Stroopwaffel and Drop.)

Four sites that I visit daily (other than blogs):
1. digg.com
2. slate.com
3. youtube.com
4. google.com

Four of my favorite dishes:
1. Lemon thingy. This a dessert that my friend Sharon "Shaz" Wagner used to make for me when I came home from the navy. She passed the recipe to Elana.
2. Huevos Rancheros. One of the things you are not likely to find in Israel...luckily I am in LA, where one can find it all over the place.
3. Thanksgiving dinner. Memories. If you eat it at a different time of year, it isn't the same.
4. PLT (Grilled Pastrami, Lettuce and Tomato).

Four people that I am tagging:
1. Michelle
2. Nikki
3. Gafna
4. Evan

Best Panhandling Joke

2007-07-31T07:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I was at Venice Beach.

I saw a man holding a sign that said:
"Directions to the Ocean, $1"

Missing my Big Bro, Robert D. Myers

2007-07-29T10:01:00.000-07:00

Just as I was about to start taking my first set of midterm exams in my first year of law school, I was called by my big brother Robert. He was in the hospital with a growth. He told me not to worry- that I should focus on my studies.

Over the course of the next 10 or so months, I visited him in various stages of his sickness and sometimes took him places when he had the health to do that. He was very proud of me going to law school. Of everything I did. We first met when I was 14 years old and we had remained close for the next 14 years.

He passed away during the first week of my second year of law school. I missed the first week of classes and I lost my best friend...more than a friend. I considered him family.

Whenever I needed to talk to 'someone', he was the someone I called. Even when I lived in Israel for 5 years, I would check the clock and see if he would be awake. I once spoke to him from 11,000 miles away while both of us were in traffic jams on cellphones.

Last Thursday, after I got home from the celebratory dinner after finishing the Bar Exam. I got the feeling I get a lot. I got the feeling I needed to call someone. I reached for the phone. Then I realized that he was gone.

This happens way too much. I still hope that the feeling does not go away.

Photo Dump

2007-07-29T08:41:00.000-07:00

Once again, my cellphone's meager memory has required my downloading (and subsequent uploading to my blog) of the pics I take. Enjoy!

This is a picture of a Trader Joe's market display. It made me smile. I wonder why? (All the bottles have the smiley on them too.)

Seti the cat for some reason thinks that the alarm clock doubles as a pillow. She sure SEEMS comfortable!

These circles are in the intersection of Pico and Robertson Blvds. in Los Angeles. I couldn't get them completely in the shot, but someone either had a very fun time late at night riding in circles or there was one scary accident... (These seem to be from a single car that turned in very, very tight circles multiple times...)

While taking a break from studying for the Bar, I was at a mall and saw some neato wind mobile thingies. They look much cooler when they are moving- trust me.

This is another display of the great store Trader Joe's. This is depicting 'Attack of the Killer Tomatoes'. This may surprise you, but the display was over tomatoes that they wanted you to buy!

Another one...this one gave instructions on how to pick watermelons...it was helpful so I snapped a shot. (Okay, maybe it's hard to read...)

This is hands down the best bumper sticker I have seen all year.

I don't post pictures of Seti nearly enough. I'll try to work on that.

I love it when you come across littles rainbows in everyday life. It reminds you of the beauty that's around us.

This is Beta. He's the neighbor's cat. He's fat and quiet and docile. He also is allowed outside. I think Seti may be jealous.

That's all for now...some of my other pictures did not come out as well.

Random Observations on the CA Bar Exam

2007-07-27T18:11:00.000-07:00

1) It would have really sucked to do the bar with my right arm in a cast...and I saw someone who did.

2) I met someone who spent 3 hours on the second day of the exam with one of their contact lenses lost behind their eye. They did the exam one-eyed.

3) In the exam, you can leave if you finish early, but not if you finish in the last 5 minutes. If you stay until the end of the 3 hour session, you will have to wait an extra 25 minutes to have all the papers collected. I managed to finish three of the sections early...once I was so close that when the called "five minutes" I was in the process of standing.

4) My last session, I finished with 30 seconds to spare.

5) I may not know if I passed, but I can say that I was satisfied with each of my answers and after hearing others blabber about their tests, I can still say I was satisfied.

6) There were a number of people who did not show up the last day.

7) There were two rooms at the location I was at. The one I was in had beautiful chandeliers and warm lighting. The other room had fluorescent lighting.

8) I knew about 20 people out of the thousand or so people that were there.

9) My mom brought me lunch on the first two days. That really helped.

10) I needed the sleeping pills I took to ensure that I slept enough each night.

11) I'M STILL DONE!!!!

Darnit!!! I wish they told me this sooner.

2007-07-27T05:01:00.000-07:00

The Bar is over.

2007-07-26T18:13:00.001-07:00

I have finished the CA Bar. It was an experience to write about...but not now. I will write sometime on day #2 of my freedom.

Harry Potter madness

2007-07-23T19:42:00.000-07:00

I received my Harry Potter book on Saturday. It was a birthday gift from my mother-in-law. It remains in the box that it came mailed in. I refuse to open it until after the Bar exam. I could not keep from staying up late to finish reading it.

I wonder if my chances of doing better on the Bar will improve because so many applicants will mess up their sleep habits or otherwise let Harry Potter affect their ability to take the exam...

I noticed at the Mall today that everyone is reading "The Deathly Hallows". Clerks...people in the food court...the guy who sold me red vines at the movie theater...the people at Borders Books. It's everywhere. I wonder if I can make it to Friday without hearing any spoilers.

Done studying for the Bar

2007-07-23T19:32:00.000-07:00

The big day (or should I say "the first big day"?) is tomorrow. I closed the books at 11:15 am and I went to the mall to see a movie. I saw "Live Free or Die Hard" because I it missed earlier this summer due to studies.

Since when does a matinee cost NINE DOLLARS!?!??! That's the reason why I have only been to the movie theater maybe 5 times in three years. Too much money. Plus $4 for red vines and $3 for parking. If I were renting the DVD, I would have seen 5 movies for the price of one and I would have access to any food that was in our house...much better deal.

Anyway, I'm trying to keep it mellow tonight. I'm all about the relaxation right now.

My Before the Bar Murphy's Law Story

2007-07-18T16:24:00.000-07:00

So the bar is a week away. Less than that even. I have been stressing a lot.

(If I haven't responded to an e-mail you sent, this may be why....or maybe I don't like you anymore--you'll just have to wonder about that.)

The Bar exam is one of the most stressful, annoying pivotal exams one can take in their life. If you don't pass, it means one of 2 things: 1) You just wasted $150,000 on a law degree OR 2) you brought under pressure and you have to wait 6 months to take it again...while getting paid a non-lawyer's wage).

The California Bar is longer than most states. You have to know more stuff about more areas than a lot of states. You get tested on your ability to 'perform' which had nothing to do with knowledge of law, but with your knowledge of how to follow instructions.http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

So I have been trying to study. Some days, I have failed miserably. Other days I've been a star. Today is somewhere in the middle.

UPDATE:
So I got the car back. They said that they may have a recall or at least a service bulletin based on it.

One of the other things that I was told was make sure that all doctors appointments and errands are done so that nothing interferes with the last week before the bar.

So what happens to me?

I was forced to go to the dentist where I was told I need a crown. That $1000 dollars I didn't need to spend. (Well, I NEED to spend it, but I could have done without spending if you take my meaning.)

My family is going through a rough patch and even if I had no Bar exam, this time in my life would be stressed just by contemplating the ways in which I will need to help out those I love.

Remember that Red Mustang? I had that car for 2 weeks because the problem with our Civic Hybrid was not getting solved. It turns out, the transmission was not the problem. The car's fuel system was messed up. I had taken the car in twice before to get the fuel gauge fixed. The result was that car had RUN OUT OF GAS while I drove it even though the tank read half full. (Notice that I am still on optimist.)

In anticipation for the Bar next week, I went in to switch the Mustang for something that Elana could drive too. She will need to give me a ride to the exam and so I needed to swap out the muscle car because she couldn't see over the hood.
We now have a Hyundai or something like that. Not as cool, but it'll do.

Anyway, the experts at the local Honda were in constant communications with Honda America Engineers or something or other. My car's problem was a real conundrum it seems. They finally found the problem. Our 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid was made in 2002. This apparently means that some of the parts in our 2003 car are from the 2002 Civic. (Yes, I know that the 2003 was the first Civic Hybrid...)

Apparently, some of the cars in 2002 were made with different parts. The parts department kept on trying to get things to work with 2003 parts...but things weren't working. Finally, they opened up another 2003 Civic Hybrid and visually compared the fuel tanks...totally different. You would never know if you just used the VIN # which is how most dealerships identify which parts are needed for a car. Instead, there is a sticker somewhere in the interior of the vehicle that also says what date the car came off the assembly line...

So now I will hopefully go in tomorrow or Friday to pick up the newly fixed Hybrid. That would make the 3rd trip this week to the dealership.

They thanked me for my patience and told me that they would look into covering the insurance for the rental car (the warranty covered the actual rental). After over 2 weeks at $10 a day, it was starting to add up.

I'm keeping my cool...somehow, procrastinating by getting the car fixed seems to be less of a guilt inspirer.

Why doesn't someone invent a solar roofed commercial jet?

2007-07-06T16:29:00.000-07:00

I just read this article about a new Boeing plane.

It claims to be a "green" plane or at least greener than the competitor Airbus plane.

It left me thinking that planes spend much of their life over the clouds. I asked myself, "Do solar panels work when it is cold (e.g. up in the sky)?" Apparently, solar panels work in light and not heat.

I did a quick search on the net and anything related to solar energy and airplanes seems to be trying to make planes fly based solely on solar power. That seems like a big leap. Why not just increase fuel efficiency of real working airplanes by reducing the dependence on fuel for all energy needs. It would be like making a 'hybrid' plane. I wonder how much fuel could be saved if the airplane was using solar energy.

At the very least, maybe those big engines would not have to idle to keep air-conditioning on while waiting on the tarmac for seven hours.

Pictures from my cellphone

2007-07-05T16:44:00.001-07:00

Here's another batch of pictures from my cellphone:

This is one of the squirrels that taunts our cat. I took this from the dining area in our apartment. The squirrels play on the tree area at eye level and they actively try to drive my our cat Seti crazy. She can never get closer than 3 feet away from them. Cheeky fuzzy rodents! I would like a better action shot of them, but they don't stand still when I whip out my cellphone.

Some of you know that a few months ago I took our Civic Hybrid in to get the fuel gauge fixed. The car is still under warranty. I took it in twice for this. Then on Tuesday, the car died on me in the middle of the road. I got towed to the dealership and they said it was likely the transmission.

The car only has 56,000 miles on it and that's way too early for the transmission to go...but then it is a special kind of transmission that had never be used on cars before. (Better mileage design that was incorporated into the hybrids...)

Anyway, the dealership called and said that the problem was that I was out of gas...even though the meter said I had over half a tank. The culprit is apparently a cable that serves as a relay between the engine and the dashboard. That's why my fuel gauge was acting up!

Good news: Not the transmission.
Bad news: The part that needs replacing is going to take a week to get here.
Good news: I am covered and we don't have to pay for a rental.
Better news: The red Mustang in the picture is my free rental.
It's kinda fun to have this kind of car for a change even if the mileage is not as good as our car.

One our neighbors has a cool license plate. I love it when someone customizes the vanity plates and the frame to go together!

While waiting for my tow to the dealership, I saw a real live working payphone! I actually saw people stop and use it! I thought that cellphones had killed the payphone. Alas, I was wrong. Why is the receiver always so gross and dirty?

This is a shot of the Silver Surfer's arm being ripped off by a crane. I didn't see the movie and I don't plan on seeing it either.

My friend Miriam says cheese while talking on her cellphone. (Not a real cellphone.) Isn't she cute?

Very colorful scooter sighted at Point Dume, CA on July 4th.

You have no idea how difficult it is to catch a kite in motion. The thing was flying everywhere. It is very pretty though, don't you think? Chaim says the kite costs $10, but I was sure it costs $6.
By the way, that is the back of Aaron's head.

The Random Quirkiness of Life

2007-06-29T07:27:00.000-07:00

I think blogs are the perfect venue to share when you see, hear or otherwise experience things that are quirky. It is fun to tell your friends when strange coincidences occur, but sharing with total strangers can be just as fun! Here are some of the recent batch of such things:

1) Meeting at an intersection: I was in the car with Elana and she was having a conversation on the cellphone with a friend...I did not know which one. I was in the middle of making a left turn in a busy intersection when Elana started waving and pointing madly. At first I was scared. I thought that I was failing to see a danger coming from a blind spot...But it was her friend Johanna. Johanna was the first car in line at the red light to our left. Elana and she were talking on cellphones separated by 2 lanes of traffic. We all had a chuckle, but I only chuckled after I made the left turn.

2) The TV Tax that won't die: In June 2006, Elana and I left Israel to return to the US. As a citizen, I have to have an address in Israel...the Ministry of the Interior won't let me just tell them I am not there. So I had my address changed from the rental apartment where we had stayed for the year to a friend's home. She forwards important mail when it arrives. (It is really very nice of her to do so. You should buy balloons from her if you are ever in Jerusalem.) For the past number of months, I have been getting forwarded notices from the Israel Broadcasting Authority. They are demanding that I pay the television tax. For a TV I don't own. In a house I don't live in. In a city/country that I have not been in for over a year. I have e-mailed. I have written letters. The fees keep rising. I can't figure it out. I have NEVER owned a TV in Israel. The worst part about it is that I can't seem to arrange to be awake during the couple-hour window that they take phone calls at their office. Any ideas what I should do?

3) Middle-Aged Asian Hello Kitty Trance Music Dance: Elana and I did not go to our recent graduations (mine from law school and hers from Ed School) Instead, we went to brunch with my mom and then on a hike in the hills around Los Angeles. On our trek, we saw and heard a picnic/campground area that was filled with happy people. It was from a distance, but here is what we were able to deduce from the sounds of their voices, their appearance and dress, the smell of the food and the sounds:
a) they were tourists or VERY recent immigrants,
b) they were older (i.e. the youngest was about 45 years old and the oldest went to grade school with Yoda),
c) they were having a non-American Bar-B-Que (whatever it was, it was not hamburgers and hot dogs),
d) they were into music and dance (they had the minivan speakers up full blast and the rear door of the vehicle was open to project the music to the dining area),
e) they liked to get down and boogie in a style of dance that was possibly never seen before in those parts of the mountain,
f) they had an awesome mix sounded like it was made by DJ Hello Kitty (think of heavy trance music that might be composed by a cute animated cat).
Needless to say, I would have liked to take a picture, but my cellphone doesn't zoom enough and I did not want them to stop having a good time.

4) Which Eggs?: Recently, Elana wanted me to start buying cage-free eggs. Then she said we should buy organic eggs. Then locally produced eggs. In essence, all of these are for good reasons. The cage-free eggs are good for promoting ethical treatment of the chickens. The organic eggs are for the protection of our health and the environment. The locally produced eggs are for the promotion of the local agriculture which in turn cuts down on the carbon-miles used to bring the eggs to market. I was at Trader Joe's at the egg display and they had all three...often in combinations. But there was no carton that had ALL three. Elana and I spent 5 minutes debating the relative values of Organic/Cage-Free vs Locally Produced/Organic vs Cage-Free/Locally Produced. This attracted attention of another shopper who was amused and confused by our deliberations. In the end, we went for the local eggs.

Nowstalgia moments

2007-06-20T12:53:00.000-07:00

One of my "Nowstalgia" moments was during my time in the Israeli navy.

We would get as little as 3 hours of sleep a night when we were at sea. It was exhausting and I was literally always seasick. (That's for another blog entry.)

As part of the morning ritual when the ship was at sea, the head of the enlisted crew members on the bridge would select a song. They would play the song on the intercom as a way to mark the new day and ease people from sleep. It was often a soothing song without a lot of bass.

During the late night hours, half the crew sleeps their 40 winks and the other half watches things. They switch places after 3 or so hours.

Imagine that you have been getting close to no sleep...that you have either been sitting at the radar console tracking early morning fishing vessels or in the forward compartment trying to sleep while the ship hits the waves.

Suddenly, the air fills with music.

As the song plays, you are allowed to wake up in a leisurely pace. You stretch. You yawn. You relish the moment, because you know that you will have another grueling day and this is the last respite.

Then the day begins.

This was the special routine only while we were at sea. At shore, the intercom had a harsh announcement to get out of bed. But at sea, when life was tougher, they gave us 3-4 minutes of music to get us going.

I miss those minutes. They were special.

Play either of the videos below, but don't watch them. Close your eyes and imagine the swaying of the ship, the yawning crewmates, the wakeup stretches, the motion of the moving ship. Savor the sounds and wake up to a new day.

P.S. As a final note, I should mention that this might have been even better if I could have seen the sunrise at sea while the music played...but I was always busy down in the belly of the ship. Oh well.

Still Sorta Studying

2007-06-20T07:28:00.000-07:00

Ten More Words I Learned in Law School

2007-06-12T08:37:00.000-07:00

Here are some more terms and phrases that made law school fun. The definitions may vary from the legal definitions.

Per Autre Vie: Sounds like cheese. Means that you are waiting for someone else to die to get your stuff.

Curtilege: Sounds like spoiled cheese. Means that no one can rummage through your garden hose and potted plants on your porch.

Not a "Search": Sounds simple. Means that while your are coming back from placing your garbage on the curb, Cop #1 can stop you on the sidewalk and ask who won last night's game while Cop #2 goes diving into your trash can, Cop #3 uses binoculars while sitting in the tree house across the street to peek into the undraped window of your upstairs bedroom, Cop #4 can use a thermal scanner to look through the walls of your home, Cop #5 can take Lassie to sniff around you and your home, Cop #6 can take pictures and paint chips from your car, Cop #7 can look through your skylight while hovering in a helicopter over your house, Cop #8 can hop over the back fence of your field and look through the tool shed in the middle of it, Cop #9 can follow your wife home by tailing her car up to the driveway and you can't complain about any of it because it's not a search.

Reasonable person: Sounds reasonable. Means that everyone must act like Ned Flanders.

Imputed Intent: Sounds like something HAL would do. Means that if I miss my target, I'm still in trouble.

Facial Challenge: Sounds like a beauty college fundraiser. Means that I say that a law should be thrown out because it sucks and everyone knows it.

Ouster: Sounds like seafood. Means that I changed the locks and, no, you can't have a copy of the key even though you live here.

Eggshell Plaintiff: Sounds like angry customer at a grocery store. Means that you are pretty much going to have to sell the house to pay for the settlement.

Equitable Servitude: Sounds kinky. Means that you will be forced by the court to tear down that giant totem pole of muppet characters that you built in the front yard.

Fertile Octogenarian: Sounds like a guest on Jerry Springer. Means that the judges from hundreds of years ago believed in Science Fiction.

Ten Words I Learned in Law School

2007-06-12T06:42:00.000-07:00

These are some of my favorite words/terms that I learned in law school based on how they sound, or just what they mean. I will follow them with MY definition which may vary from the true legal meaning:

Estoppel: Sounds French. Means that you have to do what you promise if someone is relying on you.

Adverse Possession: Sounds neat. If you squat on someone's land long enough, it becomes YOUR land. (Don't worry landowners...this is not hard to avoid.)

Alienage: Sounds scary. The characteristic of not being a citizen.

Tortious: Sounds painful. Means something that hurt you that a jury will give you money for.

Malfeasance: Sounds bad. Means somebody screwed up.

Fee Tail: Sounds cute. If you have one, it means that you are from England (we don't have hereditary estates in 'Merika)

Easement: Sounds laid back. Means that you can walk from the parking lot, past the beach house to the beach.

Retainer: Sounds like a painful little-sister of Braces. Means I will get paid before I do any work.

Abrogation: Sounds like indigenous people watering plants. Means that the Civil War did a lot more than free slaves.

Strawman: Sounds like Wizard of Oz. Means a legal fiction which helps you get around the rules.

Still studying for the Bar

2007-06-08T07:51:00.000-07:00

This could go on for weeks...the bar is in late July.

In the meantime, here is a fun summer webcite. If you want to learn law concepts by using virtual flashcards, someone has gone through the trouble of making them.

Oh, and here's a picture of an Israeli missile launch.

Ah, what memories...actually, I was never on a ship that fired a missile. Even if I had been, I wouldn't have seen it...I was always busy at a terminal of some sort.

Studying for the Bar

2007-06-01T08:36:00.001-07:00

My life is devoted to studying for the Bar exam right now. I am not as focused as I should be, but I'm improving.

I have some blog ideas that I am saving up, but just to add something to the blog for now...I'll post this picture:

It is the I.N.S. Kidon being sunk. INS=Israel Navy Ship. The Kidon was sunk as a memorial for 13 soldiers killed 10 years ago. The tragedy happened a few months after I moved to Israel. Back when Israel was still entrenched in Lebanon, an elite unit of naval commandos were sent to do a mission near the Lebanese coast. An ambush had been set up and they were trapped, with many being killed. Another elite combat rescue team from the Israeli air force was sent in to get them out of the ambush. More soldiers were killed. The entire event took many hours and the media in Israel was giving real time reports of things. I remember hearing about it all day. In the end 13 were killed- most of them naval commandos. As a memorial, an old ship was sunk with 13 chairs bolted to the deck. (Note the semi-circle above.) Now, the ship sits on the sea floor as a memorial that divers can visit. Very fitting for a navy memorial.

Breaking Lock on the Radar

2007-05-27T06:17:00.000-07:00

When I was new in the Israeli Navy and new to my ship, I was initially assigned to be a radar operator. No big deal. There were several people that shared that role. I was very nervous though because I was the only crew member that was not a native Hebrew speaker. (Well, there were actually a couple of Russian speakers who had come to Israel when they were 8 or years old...but I had arrived 8 or 9 MONTHS before I was drafted. My Hebrew still had the price-tags on it.)

One day, while I was doing some minor task that did not involve the radar, there was a blaring message over the intercom. It was something line: "Adiv, report to the CIC immediately!!" (CIC is short for Combat Information Center...which is the English translation for the dark room in the belly of the ship with all the flashing lights and computers that you see in the movies.)

I ran to the CIC. The Captain was not there in the CIC. One of the other officers was there and reported my presence to the Captain. The Capatin then roared over the intercom that there was a "Lock on the Radar" and that they needed a hammer to break the lock.

I was totally befuddled. "Lock on the Radar?" That sounded serious...or maybe normal depending on what 'lock' meant. My Hebrew skills were not helping me decipher what was happening. The urgency of the situation was apparent though... I started to ask the officer what "lock on the radar" meant. Before I could get an answer, the demand by the Captain repeated itself over the intercom. The officer in harried gestures more or less pushed me to the rear door of the compartment and told me which room the hammer was in. I made my way to the compartment and reasoned with myself: "If this is a joke, I should play along. If this is not a joke, I should do exactly what the Captain is screaming for." So I made my way to the rearmost compartment on the ship, passing many members of the engineering department who motioned me on (they were hearing the calls for the hammer too.)

Finally, I found the locker that listed "Hammer" was one of the supplies. It was a huge sledgehammer. It weighed at least 15 lbs. Probably lots more.

I staggered with the hammer back through the ship (this is all at sea so all my movement in this story was basically staggering.)

I finally got to the CIC. The Captains voice was changing tones and I felt the a heightened need to bring the hammer before it was too late. The CIC officer told me to bring the hammer up to the Bridge because the radar with the lock was upstairs. I made my way up to the Bridge...

The end of the story:
It was a joke. They were making me fetch a sledgehammer as a gag. I was all smiles, but I was hurt and furious at having my Hebrew made fun of. Then, a few weeks later, I learned that every newbie on the ship gets a joke played on them. They rotated through a closed set of jokes...but the "Lock on the Radar" joke wasn't used for awhile. Apparently, almost everyone falls for the same joke...new immigrant or not.

I never got over my self-consciousness over my Hebrew, but I forgave them for having fun.

Ice Cream Graveyard

2007-05-18T18:17:00.000-07:00

Okay, I am still waiting for the rest of you to answer the quiz...I meant it to be a fun thing. In the meantime, here is an interesting thing I found on Ben and Jerry's website: an ice cream graveyard. Enjoy.

Oh yeah, and my graduation from law school will take place on Sunday. I won't be there because of a schedule conflict. Elana's graduation from her MA Ed program is the same time. The graduations are canceling each other out. We are going to celebrate without caps and gowns. Probably a nice brunch, a nature hike, and maybe a trip to a kosher winery.

Things you won't find on my resume quiz- Part #1

2007-05-03T08:28:00.000-07:00

Here's a quiz of personal trivia:

1) Which of the following was NOT a reason I got a day off in the Israeli navy?

a) I exhibited unusually good marksmanship by tearing up a floating life preserver with an M-16.
b) I handed my ship's captain the victory in two war games on the same day.
c) I caught a wanted criminal while being on loan to the border patrol for beefed-up Independence Day celebrations in Jerusalem.
d) I killed seven rats on the ship.

2) What is the number I times my writing has ever been published?

a) One
b) Three
c) Five
d) More than Six

3) When writing a paper comparing the Carter and Reagan administrations for my B.A., I interviewed all of the following EXCEPT:

a) a Former Whitehouse Spokesperson
b) a Former State Department Spokesperson
c) a Former US Ambassador to Israel
d) a Former US Special Envoy (to the Middle East)
e) a Former Director of the CIA

4) The strangest airplane landing I have ever been on was:

a) Making an emergency pit-stop landing because the bathroom septic tanks were full.
b) Unscheduled landing in New Foundland, Canada because the plane ran out of fuel over the Atlantic Ocean.
c) Being thrown up on simultaneously by 2 unaccompanied minors who were airsick from the turbulence.
d) Landing at LAX, being taxied what seemed like miles (including over a freeway overpass) to an isolated and remote terminal...then being escorted back to customs in a bus while armed guards and sheriffs with shot guns created a perimeter.
(Hint: All of these are true events.)

5) Which TWO television shows have I NOT been on:

a) The People's Court
b) A Special Edition of Nightline with Ted Koppel filmed in Jerusalem (in the audience)
c) A contestant on the Price is Right (not a winner)
d) Various background shots for various local nightly news programs in LA
e) NBC news, being asked my opinion of the fall of the Soviet Union when I was a freshman at USC
f) Some Italian program in which they asked my opinion about Rabin's Assassination
g) An Israeli documentary on Co-Ed basic training in the IDF
h) An interview about the release of the re-mastered Star Wars films while at the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.
i) Interviewed on a local cable access channel about being Jewish and going to Catholic school

ALL ENTRIES TO BE SUBMITTED IN THE COMMENTS. THE WINNER AND THE CORRECT ANSWERS WILL BE REVEALED ONLY AFTER AT LEAST FIVE SUBMISSIONS HAVE BEEN POSTED. GOOD LUCK!

Religious Intolerance

2007-04-28T22:39:00.000-07:00

Recently, I have been seeing a lot of people in the media such as Christopher Hitchens or Bill Maher give very impassioned and rational arguments why religion is bad. I don't buy it. Maybe fundamentalism is bad. Maybe people using religion as a means for hatred and vilifying the "other" is bad. But I think of all the good things that religion can give.

Religion gives people hope and comfort. Most of us, at some point in our lives, need help believing that life has a point and that we aren't alone. Face it. If humans are the height intelligence, we are in a pretty sorry universe. Religion gives an explanation and a belief system through which people can feel that we are no completely on our own. Rationalism may be able to satisfy the person who can accept that we are alone, but think about when most of us are confronted by human tragedy, by death, or by cruel twists of fate. We want someone to be angry at. We want to hate God. Or we want to ask for help. Or in some other way seek comfort that THIS is not all there is. Religion may not be the ONLY way to meet this need, but it is one of the ways.

Religion give us ritual. When someone Jewish dies, the prayers, the mourning traditions, the entire process is scripted to help the grieving. For marriage, birth, divorce, reaching adulthood, recovering from illness...rituals give us structure when we humans need it. Sure, you can make up rituals that are non-religious, but you cannot claim that the rituals of all religions lack value in meeting basic human needs.

Religion gives us community. All the religions I am familiar with bring people together. They may not bring everyone together, but they all create communities that inevitably celebrate life together, help each other in times of need, and give social support to each other.

Religion gives us ethics. Many argue that you don't need religion in order to be an ethical person, but I think there are two counter arguments. 1) I think that a secular humanist's belief that religion loses value because you can arrive at the same ethical position rationally rather than religion is false. Religious ethics do not preclude secular ethics, but secular ethics also do not preclude religious ethics. 2) Some people need the voice of God behind their ethics to give then strength to fight off immoral urges. (In the area of ethics, I am purposely avoiding the argument that the ethical structures of some religions have immoral tenets. Yes. Some religions have horrible ethical principles. I am merely addressing the argument that some hold up that religion is useless because you don't need it to be an ethical person.)

I am not a very religious person. I also respect atheists in their belief in the non-existence of God. But when atheists talk in such a way as to deny that religion as a whole has any value at all, I respectfully and wholeheartedly disagree.

Good News!

2007-04-27T12:38:00.000-07:00

According to the California Bar Examiners, I have "been found to possess good moral character." Whew! I was so worried.
This determination will only last until 2009, when my good moral character expires. Then I'll have to reapply for it.

Haircut Observations

2007-04-27T10:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I got a haircut at Supercuts. It was an okay haircut. I have a few thoughts on haircuts though.

Observation #1: The guy in the chair next to me was chatting up a storm. I never do that. I don't know why, but talking to a person with sharp scissors near my ears does not interest me. Why distract them? The result is a bad haircut or hurt ears.

Observation #2: The haircutter was a male. In fact, he was the only outwardly masculine male that I have ever had cut my hair in the US. In Israel, I have a favorite barber shop that I go to. Also, in the navy, the haircuts were given by guys. I take the "ever" back. Once I had a barber cut my hair. It was my father-in-law's barber. It was very old-school. My point is that it was unusual for me not to see either a woman or a very effeminate man working as a hair-stylist.

Observation #3: The two parts I like about haircuts are the incidental scalp massage and feel of the buzzer when someone good is fixing my hairline. Sometimes it can hurt, but then the person isn't good.

Observation #4: I hate gel. I don't get the point. It seems a waste. It smells funny. It makes hair feel weird. It can't be good for the environment. The guy yesterday put it on without asking.

Observation #5: It sucks when I have to take my glasses off. They always assume that you can see even when I tell them that I am near-blind without them.

Observation #6: $15.50 is a lot for a simple 10 minute haircut. I liked it better in college when someone in the dorms would trim my hair for $10.

Observation #7: Boy, I have a lot to say about haircuts!

Observation #8: I never know what is a good tip for haircuts. I usually tip about $2.

Observation #9: My white hair seems so much more visible when the clippings are sitting in my lap.

Observation #10: I never let them leave the sideburns. I don't like those either. My sideburns grow so quickly that it almost doesn't matter. Yesterday was the first time I ever got a haircut in which the beard I have was long enough to ask for the hair to simply be blended to the beard's length.

Observation #11: Every finals season that I have ever had the misfortune of having to suffer through has always involved much procrastination. It never has had an effect on my grades. I usually either know the stuff by finals or not. Somehow, I always feel as prepared as I need to be for the exam...still I always goof off and then feel guilty about the wasted time. I won't have the luxury of doing that for the bar, so I need to get this out of my system now.

Final Observation: My hair always looks best 3-5 days after the haircut.

Today is Israel's Independence Day (as measured by the Hebrew Calendar)

2007-04-24T17:27:00.000-07:00

Declaration of Israel's Independence 1948

Issued at Tel Aviv on May 14, 1948 (5th of Iyar, 5708)

ERETZ-ISRAEL [(Hebrew) - The Land of Israel] was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious and political identity was shaped. Here they first attained to statehood, created cultural values of national and universal significance and gave to the world the eternal Book of Books.

After being forcibly exiled from their land, the people remained faithful to it throughout their Dispersion and never ceased to pray and hope for their return to it and for the restoration in it of their political freedom.

Impelled by this historic and traditional attachment, Jews strove in every successive generation to re-establish themselves in their ancient homeland. In recent decades they returned in their masses. Pioneers, ma'pilim [(Hebrew) - immigrants coming to Eretz-Israel in defiance of restrictive legislation] and defenders, they made deserts bloom, revived the Hebrew language, built villages and towns, and created a thriving community controlling its own economy and culture, loving peace but knowing how to defend itself, bringing the blessings of progress to all the country's inhabitants, and aspiring towards independent nationhood.

In the year 5657 (1897), at the summons of the spiritual father of the Jewish State, Theodore Herzl, the First Zionist Congress convened and proclaimed the right of the Jewish people to national rebirth in its own country.

This right was recognized in the Balfour Declaration of the 2nd November, 1917, and re-affirmed in the Mandate of the League of Nations which, in particular, gave international sanction to the historic connection between the Jewish people and Eretz-Israel and to the right of the Jewish people to rebuild its National Home.

The catastrophe which recently befell the Jewish people - the massacre of millions of Jews in Europe - was another clear demonstration of the urgency of solving the problem of its homelessness by re-establishing in Eretz-Israel the Jewish State, which would open the gates of the homeland wide to every Jew and confer upon the Jewish people the status of a fully privileged member of the comity of nations.

Survivors of the Nazi holocaust in Europe, as well as Jews from other parts of the world, continued to migrate to Eretz-Israel, undaunted by difficulties, restrictions and dangers, and never ceased to assert their right to a life of dignity, freedom and honest toil in their national homeland.

In the Second World War, the Jewish community of this country contributed its full share to the struggle of the freedom- and peace-loving nations against the forces of Nazi wickedness and, by the blood of its soldiers and its war effort, gained the right to be reckoned among the peoples who founded the United Nations.

On the 29th November, 1947, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution calling for the establishment of a Jewish State in Eretz-Israel; the General Assembly required the inhabitants of Eretz-Israel to take such steps as were necessary on their part for the implementation of that resolution. This recognition by the United Nations of the right of the Jewish people to establish their State is irrevocable.

This right is the natural right of the Jewish people to be masters of their own fate, like all other nations, in their own sovereign State.

ACCORDINGLY WE, MEMBERS OF THE PEOPLE'S COUNCIL, REPRESENTATIVES OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF ERETZ-ISRAEL AND OF THE ZIONIST MOVEMENT, ARE HERE ASSEMBLED ON THE DAY OF THE TERMINATION OF THE BRITISH MANDATE OVER ERETZ-ISRAEL AND, BY VIRTUE OF OUR NATURAL AND HISTORIC RIGHT AND ON THE STRENGTH OF THE RESOLUTION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY, HEREBY DECLARE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A JEWISH STATE IN ERETZ-ISRAEL, TO BE KNOWN AS THE STATE OF ISRAEL.

WE DECLARE that, with effect from the moment of the termination of the Mandate being tonight, the eve of Sabbath, the 6th Iyar, 5708 (15th May, 1948), until the establishment of the elected, regular authorities of the State in accordance with the Constitution which shall be adopted by the Elected Constituent Assembly not later than the 1st October 1948, the People's Council shall act as a Provisional Council of State, and its executive organ, the People's Administration, shall be the Provisional Government of the Jewish State, to be called "Israel".

THE STATE OF ISRAEL will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

THE STATE OF ISRAEL is prepared to cooperate with the agencies and representatives of the United Nations in implementing the resolution of the General Assembly of the 29th November, 1947, and will take steps to bring about the economic union of the whole of Eretz-Israel.

WE APPEAL to the United Nations to assist the Jewish people in the building-up of its State and to receive the State of Israel into the comity of nations.

WE APPEAL - in the very midst of the onslaught launched against us now for months - to the Arab inhabitants of the State of Israel to preserve peace and participate in the upbuilding of the State on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due representation in all its provisional and permanent institutions.

WE EXTEND our hand to all neighboring states and their peoples in an offer of peace and good neighborliness, and appeal to them to establish bonds of cooperation and mutual help with the sovereign Jewish people settled in its own land. The State of Israel is prepared to do its share in a common effort for the advancement of the entire Middle East.

WE APPEAL to the Jewish people throughout the Diaspora to rally round the Jews of Eretz-Israel in the tasks of immigration and upbuilding and to stand by them in the great struggle for the realization of the age-old dream - the redemption of Israel.

PLACING OUR TRUST IN THE ALMIGHTY, WE AFFIX OUR SIGNATURES TO THIS PROCLAMATION AT THIS SESSION OF THE PROVISIONAL COUNCIL OF STATE, ON THE SOIL OF THE HOMELAND, IN THE CITY OF TEL-AVIV, ON THIS SABBATH EVE, THE 5TH DAY OF IYAR, 5708 (14TH MAY, 1948).

[signed]
David Ben-Gurion
Daniel Auster
Mordekhai Bentov
Yitzchak Ben Zvi
Eliyahu Berligne
Fritz Bernstein
Rabbi Wolf Gold
Meir Grabovsky
Yitzchak Gruenbaum
Dr. Abraham Granovsky
Eliyahu Dobkin
Meir Wilner-Kovner
Zerach Wahrhaftig
Herzl Vardi Rachel Cohen
Rabbi Kalman Kahana
Saadia Kobashi
Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Levin
Meir David Loewenstein
Zvi Luria
Golda Myerson
Nachum Nir
Zvi Segal
Rabbi Yehuda Leib Hacohen Fishman
David Zvi Pinkas
Aharon Zisling
Moshe Kolodny
Eliezer Kaplan
Abraham Katznelson
Felix Rosenblueth
David Remez
Berl Repetur
Mordekhai Shattner
Ben Zion Sternberg
Bekhor Shitreet
Moshe Shapira
Moshe Shertok

Photo Dump

2007-04-24T17:06:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I have a backlog on my photos. I am feeling a bit of senioritis today so I am using the time to post my pictures.

This little man was very intent on finding a video.

More cars should look like this.

I love when a statue make me feel happy and free.

Bad planning or brilliance? The world may never know. This house had two trees growing out of it.

I wonder if cars like this cause more car accidents. I also wonder why I don't put stickers on our car...

Someone with good aim was using Target for target practice. I can't figure out why I never saw this before in the decades that I have been going to various Targets.

Speaking of Target. This is a shot of artwork that was on sale. I liked it. We are on a budget so I just took a photo instead.

If you look closely, in the upper left quadrant you will see a hummingbird at its nest. You can't see the 2 chicks that were inside...butthey were there. This was the 2nd nest in 4 years in this tree right outside the door to our apartment. Our stupid cat, Seti, never noticed them. (All the other cats in the neighborhood did though!) Seti is always looking out the window and wants to attack the squirrels. See below for more on Seti.

Don't even ask what this is.

I wish all bumper stickers were as witty and thought provoking as this one. Some days this feels so true!

This is the cat mentioned above. She's stupid, but she's OUR stupid cat. She was rescued off the streets of Jerusalem and has crossed the Atlantic 3 times. She can't catch mice. She likes attacking pens and rolling her back on the sandals of people with smelly feet. She usually knows when someone needs a snuggle. She is composed of 80% fur and 20% flesh/bones. That's a rough estimate.
She is named for the SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) Program. Don't worry. She is neither extra-terrestrial nor intelligent. We are still searching for some recognition that she understands that she is not allowed to climb on the kitchen counters.

The Imagination of Crazy Cars Kids

2007-04-24T17:05:00.001-07:00

These photos deserved their own post. The Peterson Car Museum has an exhibit where kids drew cars and then artists created real life sculptures of the cars. Pretty amazing to see. I would buy one...if they were for sale...and I had the money...and Elana let me...and we had the room for one. If you look closely, the drawings are on display alongside the cars.

Someone needs to be tested for color blindness!

Periscopes! I LOVE IT!

Detroit should be taking notes!

This car looks more like a missile...

I LOVE the spikes. Now your car can be your best friend too! No one will cut off this car on the 405 Freeway!

This is NOT a mobile home. It is a housecar.

The Peterson Car Museum

2007-04-24T17:05:00.000-07:00

Recently, I went with some family to the Peterson Car Museum. Since my computer is back up and running, I am now able to share my photographic exploits with you.

Way cool car.

Cool car.

Another cool car.

I don't think I need to type "cool car" again.

This is not a child torture device from long ago. Apparently, they called this a "car seat". Looks more like a dentist's chair.

???????

Now this is what a kid's wagon should look like...in his/her dreams!

They practice segregation in this museum. I don't know what they do after they split you up. j/k.

This is me driving to the museum. Well, I'm actually IN the museum.

In a stroke of irony, this was the car that we were stopped next to at a traffic light BEFORE we ever got to the museum. (The car was just passing by and had no relation to the museum!)

3 Quick Notes

2007-04-24T17:04:00.000-07:00

Note #1:

CA in the past year started giving out a sticker for hybrid drivers to allow them to use the HOV (aka Diamond aka Carpool) lanes on freeways. The supply of stickers was limited. I heard on an NPR report (and from my sister) that recently, the last of the stickers was given out a couple of months ago. Only after they are gone do we know that the value of used hybrids WITH the sticker is $4000 more than without the sticker. Sheesh! We missed out big time with our hybrid. We don't commute along roads that requires the use of the carpool lane. Also, since the car was purchased up in the Bay Area and registered at an address in Santa Clara county, we would have had to pay for a SmartPass or whatever they are called to use the bridges up there. Someone thought that requiring SmartPasses was a good idea. The sticker cost a one-time fee of $8 (I think), but the pass was over $100 a month. If we had moved the address from Elana's parents' house to our apartment, then we could have just paid $8 for the pass. At the time, we didn't think it was worth the trouble since we only ever need the carpool lane when we are actually carpooling. It seems unfair, but apparently no one could predict the added value of the stickers.

Note #2:

Yesterday, I saw a jeep in Beverly Hills with a stick hanging out the side slowly driving down a residential street. I realized that it was a special parking authority vehicle. The driver was marking tires with a piece of chalk at the end of the stick. I've always heard that they use chalk to see if cars actually adhere to the "1 hour" parking limits. I had never seen it done before.

Note #3:

Yesterday, April 17, was my birthday. I looked it up and I share a birthday with Jennifer Garner and Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev. It was an ok b-day. I'm not big on birthdays. Not mine. Not yours. I did thank my mom for giving birth t me though. She took me and Elana out for a nice dinner. I thanked her for that too. Oh yeah, I turned 31.

The Epitome of Temptation

2007-04-23T14:18:00.001-07:00

I found wet cement when no one was looking. By shear willpower, I refrained from leaving my mark.

Limited Brain Power and an anecdote about my Big Bro

2007-04-16T19:10:00.000-07:00

Recently, my brain has been occupied with many things that distract me from my obligations to keep you, the reader, entertained by my speeling mistakes. Without going into the gory details, I can at least predict that there will be many times between now and August that I will not be posting as much. I have finals in a few weeks and they will be followed by an intense couple of months studying for the California Bar Exam.

On the flipside, I finally have my computer fixed so I will once again be able to post some pictures from my cellphone.

So as to leave you with something substantive in this post, I will tell you an anecdote of fond memory. I told this at Robert D. Meyers' funeral. He was my Jewish Big Brother starting from when I was 14 years old. He was diagnosed with cancer sometime around my first midterms in law school. He was sick for less than a year and he died the first week of my second year of law school. Now I am about to graduate from law school and I am thinking about him. He would have been proud.

So here's the anecdote:

Robert and I used to go on walks in parks including at Will Rogers State Park off Sunset Blvd. in Pacific Palisades, CA. We would often take Swiss army knives and whittle the small parts off of fallen branches of trees and make walking sticks out of them. Later we would sand them down and put resin on them. It was fun and they were beautiful. (In fact, one of the only things I asked for when he passed away was one of his walking sticks.)

So one day, we were at the park and we had found good sticks. We were walking with them up the path which curves clockwise around the hill.

Suddenly, we heard a "THUP, THUP, THUP!!!" from around the bend. It was getting louder and it was scary. In a blink, a full-size deer with a set of many-pointed antlers hurtled down upon us at full speed. It almost knocked both of us over the outer edge of the path and down a steep incline. In its wake, we saw huge holes gouged out of the mud and rock path. The creature must have weighed more than both of us combined. ...and Robert was not an insubstantial guy.

We were stunned for a minute and commented on the close call we both had. It was pretty cool to escape that experience unscathed. We were a little giddy. As a precaution against further deer that might appear, we decided to keep to the inner part of the curved path and to be ready to use our walking sticks as defensive weapons. We would use them to deflect the deer away from us to the left as we ascended the path.

I should note here that seeing a deer was a pretty unusual thing for either of us. It was particularly surprising considering that the part we were in is surrounded by the homes of the rich and famous. We were (are) urbanites in a small sliver of nature surrounded for dozens of miles by sprawling city and suburbia. We have no idea where the deer came from or what caused its charge at ramming speed down the trail.

A few minutes later, there was another "THUP, THUP, THUP!!!" coming down the trail. Rob and I looked at each other and readied ourselves for what was coming. We staggered ourselves. He was slightly ahead of me and I was slightly more to the left of him. We both raised our sticks to head level as if we were going to bat baseballs with our thin 5 or 6 foot dried twigs. We both braced ourselves. We were ready.

THUP, THUP, THUP!!!

Around the corner it came...

...THUP, THUP, THu...?!?!

...it was Anthony Hopkins!

The Actor.

He was long haired and had a few days growth of a beard. He looked like he was taking a few months out between movies. He was jogging on the trail in white sweatpants and (I think) a ratty white and grey t-shirt.

Needless to say, he was surprised to find two men with raised sticks blocking his path. He must have thought we were going to rob him like highwaymen.

Robert said, "Oh. It's you. We loved your last film. We're looking forward to your next one." FYI, this occurred after Silence of the Lambs and before Freejack.

Mr. Hopkins was not too talkative. He mumbled some sort of thanks and did not seem too enthusiastic about Freejack. Maybe it was the fact that Robert and I had forgotten to lower our sticks...

My memory of the event more or less ends there. We must have explained about the deer and wished him well. I don't even think we shook hands. I bet he ran faster after he left us. Robert and I finished the walk up the hill and did not see any more deer or celebrities. It was a good day.

I told that story at the funeral. It literally came to mind as I was walking up to say a few words about him. It was the first time that any of his friends and family had heard of the encounter. He must have kept that day for us. I was happy to share it. It was also the first time my mom or my wife heard me doing public speaking. They were impressed.

I feel good sharing that story with you too. It honors his memory.

Dead People's Porn

2007-04-16T18:08:00.000-07:00

Last week, I was in the room when others were having a conversation about porn. There were no juicy details described, but one of the people mentioned that they had often been offered the porn that families find when going through dead relatives' belongings. "I DON'T WANT DEAD PEOPLE'S PORN!!!" was exclaimed. I thought that was a hilarious thing to say.

Ironically, there is a concept that I learned from the British sitcom "Coupling" called, "Porn Buddies." A porn buddy is apparently the one friend that you are so close to that if you die, the friend has the responsibility to sneak into your home to remove the porn before the parents go through all the stuff and discover it. I mentioned this tidbit to the people having the conversation.

I guess not everyone has a porn buddy since the person has been offered lots of dead people's porn.

For the record, I have no porn buddy.

Teapacks

2007-03-30T11:49:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite Israeli music groups is currently in the middle of a controversy that almost flew completely below my radar because I am here in the US.

It seems that Teapacks, a group that has been around for more than 15 years, has entered a song representing Israel into the Eurovision song contest. Americans are usually clueless about Eurovision, but trust me, it is a big deal to those people across the sea. (You 'Merkins may have heard of the group ABBA-- a Swedish band that won the Eurovision contest in 1974 with the song 'Waterloo'.)

It seems that the Israeli entry song is too controversial. The song "Push the Button" is talking about a crazy terrorist leader who has his finger on "the button". The contest officials object to the oblique political reference to the threats of nuclear annihilation of Israel by Iran's President Ahmadinejad. The band apparently likes the Brouhaha.

Here is one of Teapacks' videos with the roughly translated title of "The Old Central Bus Station". I would have linked to the Youtube videos of the "Push the Button" song, but I frankly don't find the song pleasing to listen to, even if I like the controversy.

(Until an unfortunate trademark dispute Teapacks was spelled "Tippex" just like the correction fluid that Americans know as Whiteout.)

Inspector Gadget

2007-03-28T15:35:00.000-07:00

This morning, Elana was inspired by something to start humming the theme song to Inspector Gadget. This led me to seek out a video on YouTube to find a recording of the music. Instead, I found a video of a guy who plays Inspector Gadget's theme on a flute...while beatboxing! That's like getting an extra cherry when you order an ice cream sundae: You thought it was perfect until someone just proves that it can get better.

[FYI, I'm only using the sundae as an analogy. I don't ACTUALLY like those neon red cherries. Elana does though.]

Here's the video.

The guy also does "Peter and the Wolf", "Super Mario Bros.", and "Sesame Street".

Feeling Very Manly

2007-03-26T18:22:00.001-07:00

Today, I changed a lady's flat tire...

...and replaced the 5-gallon water bottle at the office...

...and burped.

I am Man. Hear me belch.

Almost a Hero

2007-03-23T18:52:00.000-07:00

If you've seen the movie Finding Nemo, you probably remember the scene when Marlin is chasing after the boat that fishnapped Nemo. The trail of bubbles (aka 'the wake') is gradually dissipating into vague fizz. Then it was gone.

That was me today.

I was taking my long Thursday walk when it happened.
[Note: loyal readers of this blog may remember that I had a usual swim session on Thursdays, but walks are cheaper and there was a group of geriatric pool hogs who were giving subtle hints that the pool was their turf. Are YOU going to challenge 6 grandmas when they start floating into your swim lane?]

As I was finishing my hour long walk, I was editing a law review article on residency rights in the European Community and listening to NPR on my radio/cellphone. I had almost finished the article when a little wiener dog shot past me. He was followed closely by a boy. The boy was about 12-years-old and was calling after the dog. (I should mention that this is along a major thoroughfare street in the San Fernando Valley... lots of cars.) The dog had no collar and was running like he'd just learned the joy of it for the first time.

"Kid, is that your dog?", I said as I took a radio earbud out of my ear.
"Yeah!" he replied.

I contemplated about 8 or 9 seconds as the kid raced on. Then I started running too.

By the end of the block, the kid was not running anymore. The little hot dog was, though, and so was I.
Luckily, the crosswalk light was green and I ran across the street.

The dog entered traffic and ran diagonally across the intersection. The entire intersection noted the dog and cars swerved and stopped. I didn't try to waste energy crossing the street; I was focused on just trying to catch up and keep pace with the little guy.

Soon it became a marathon. That dog with its 4-inch legs was always at least 30-40 meters ahead of me. I could not catch up. I must be really out of shape. I expected him to poop out or taking interest in a tree or something and that would be when I caught up.

"Is that your dog?" people called.

Some cars had stopped and other people got out trying to stop him.

"The dog went that way." It was obvious what I was running for. People were very concerned and helpful.
These were the bubbles on the trail.

The dog was getting further away. I was getting more out of breath. I was clenching the article in my hand as I was getting all sweaty and tired. Some ladies thought that they had cornered him in some bushes...but then a car pulled over and said that he was racing down the street again.

On I went.

I saw an SUV do a U-turn. He was also trying to stop the dog. (No, not THAT way.) The driver said that the dog either went straight or down a side street. I thanked him, described the boy who lost the dog and went straight. The SUV took the side street.

About a block later, I asked a couple of people if they saw that dog pass by. They said they had not seen the dog run that far. One of them, a man with a kid in a mini-van, said that he had seen the dog all the way back near the mall...and then he said that he had seen me too. The bubbles had fizzed into nothing.

"You ran all that way?!" I guess I had. I think it ended up being somewhere between 1.3 and 1.5 miles.

There must have been at least 10 cars and 20 people who tried to help along the way. That's a lot of caring people from many different walks of life. It was nice to see and hear that, even if we all failed in getting that boy's dog back.

The man with the minivan saw me turn around and start walking back. He pulled over and offered me a ride. I was pooped and the guy had just picked his 4-year-old up from daycare-he seemed safe. He dropped me back when I had started running. "You've done your good deed for the day. Even though you didn't get him, you tried." I thanked him and he wished me a good day.

I couldn't find the boy to report my failure. He was gone too.

Then I went back to my usual plan: finish the walk and go to Trader Joe's market.

As I walked around the market, I was parched from my run and I had the coughing and phlegm that you get when your not a runner and you suddenly exert yourself like that. I found the water dispenser and started drinking like a camel. The lady giving out free samples asked me how I was. I told her the story. She told me that today I was her hero, even though I didn't catch the hotdog. Then she gave me a sample of carrot cake "because you need to get back some of the sugar you burned."

That's why this post is titled "Almost a Hero."

Chatting with a guy in Bangalore

2007-03-22T22:37:00.000-07:00

Today, I was on the phone with a Microsoft Tech in Bangalore, India.
My computer is sick, my temper was mellow and the connection was good.

As the Windows Recovery Console was repairing my error-filled sectors, I whipped out an atlas and started a "what's the weather like where you are" conversation. It passed the time and I learned some about the 3rd or 5th largest city in India (depending on how you look at it.)

It costs a little over $100 to rent a 1-room flat for a month there. It is one of the high-tech hubs of India. The weather is apparently rather mild there, unlike the coastal cities. Bangalore does not have a metro.

My problem was not fixed completely, but I felt like we made progress and it was merely my inability to make my mom wait any longer that kept the problem from being fixed today.

I think I'll be calling Bangalore via Seattle, WA (Microsoft) tomorrow too. Maybe I'll learn more about the great city of Bangalore.

UPDATE:
There was a mixup. I will have to call back on Sunday. This means my computer has been sick for over a month. Oh well.

VisualDNA, a neat concept.

2007-03-15T08:52:00.001-07:00

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Big Project finito.

2007-03-15T08:41:00.001-07:00

Have you ever had a project or assignment that dragged on far beyond what you expect becoming something like the bane of your existence?

I had a project that started last semester...that should have been done in November...that lasted until yesterday. Well, it didn't ACTUALLY end yesterday, but the final touches are so trivial that I don't have the stress hanging over me.

Everyone has been real understanding about the delays, most of which were beyond my control. I still was blaming myself.

It feels good to be free of that stress.

Now I can focus on stressing out before the Bar Exam in July. :)

So I asked my wife...

2007-03-12T07:12:00.000-07:00

...what should I blog about today?

She said, "Mr. Peterson!"

I looked back at her with a look of confusion.

She said something in a gruff voice that included the name "Sloane Peterson."

That's when I realized that she was referencing Ferris Beuller's Day Off.

It was a total non sequitur.

She has this special quirky sense of humor that she doesn't often exhibit when we are around others. It is one of the reasons I love her and why I never tire of being around her.

Yesterday, I pretended to be deathly afraid of our cat. I squeezed Elana in a death grip and pretended to shake with fear as Seti the vicious (and fuzzy) former street cat crept closer and sniffed at us curiously. My acting made us both laugh.

I guess we both have that secret sense of humor.

Someday, when we have kids, I hope that both of us continue to be quirky and that our kids are in on the joke. It'd be a shame to never get to share those moments.

Firefighters and Ambulances

2007-03-04T21:31:00.001-08:00

Last week, I saw a line of fire trucks driving by while I was walking. I waved at them and one of them waved back.
An hour later, while I was still walking, I saw the same trucks again. I waved a second time and the same one waved back.

Do you wave at firefighters?

I have this impulse to wave at them, but I never have an impulse to wave at ambulance drivers, mail carriers or garbage truck crews. Why is that? I don't think I am alone in this distinction I make.

Of course, when I was a kid at day camp, we would always try to get the drivers of semi-trucks to honk their horns. That's different. When I wave at firefighters, I am telling them to keep up the good work. To continue being heroes. No one hates a firefighter.

That being said, I can't understand when people don't get out of the way for ambulances and fire trucks. I live near a fire station and so I see trucks rushing to an emergency all the time. About half the time, I see people so intent on their business that they forget that the truck with the blaring sirens is going to save lives or save someone's home or even to rescue a kid who's gotten caught in a chimney.

If you think about it, rather than being annoyed at the noise of the sirens and the slight delay to your commute, you should say a little prayer that whoever needs that firetruck or ambulance gets the help he or she needs in time.

Side Note: Maybe I should mention, ironically, that one of my favorite songs is "While the City Sleeps" which is a funky song about an arsonist by MC 900 Ft Jesus which can be found on the album Rare on Air 3.

My Grandpa's Ping-Pong Story

2007-02-26T07:08:00.000-08:00

My Grandpa (father to my mom) passed away in 2000. I missed saying goodbye to him because it took so many hours to get from Israel to Florida. Ironically, my wife knows someone else who had a very similar story about missing his grandpa. I was thinking of him today so I will retell one of the stories that my grandpa always forgot that he had told me already.

My grandfather was from New York, but he went to medical school in Canada in the 1930's. Upon arriving at medical school, my grandfather decided to be social by participating in some of the activities on campus. He was not very athletic so he avoided the more physical sports such as basketball, etc... Then he came across an advertisement for a tournament that sounded up his alley. He signed up for the intramural ping pong tournament on campus.

You might ask yourself, "So?"

He had no clue how to play Ping-Pong.

You might ask yourself again, "So?" Just read on and you'll see.

Grandpa was randomly matched up with his opponent through the tournament and he showed up to the Ping-pong room ready to play, but with little clue other than it was like miniature tennis. It was supposed to be a social vehicle, right?

The fellow he met there was very nice and introduced himself to my grandpa. They shook hands and chatted. Then they played the first game scheduled for the round. The winner would be the best out of five games.

Grandpa lost 21-0. (Yikes!)

The fellow smiled and said something like, "Friend, we can't have the score look like that. Let's report it as 21-19. That'll look better." My grandfather agreed and allowed the fellow to record the false score to save his face. I should note that no one else was there to witness this or subsequent events.

The next game, my grandpa lost 21-0 again. (Double Yikes!)

This time the fellow again suggested a doctored score. They recorded 22-20. My grandpa was two games down. He'd have to learn how to play quickly to stay in the game! (Go Grandpa!)

He did not learn how to play. The next game, the score was again 21-0 and my grandpa was knocked out of the tournament. (Aw, shucks!)

The fellow was very sportsman-like and offered once again to fudge the scores. This time the score was 21-18.

They shook hands, chatted a bit and went on their way after submitting the scorecard to the tournament officials.

My grandpa did not think much about the games after that and probably tried to put the whole humiliating event out his mind as he focused on gross anatomy and the function of the pancreas.

Soon afterwards, he saw the headline on the front page of the sports section of a national Canadian newspaper:
"NEWCOMER GIVES CANADIAN NATIONAL PING-PONG CHAMP RUN FOR HIS MONEY" (!!!!)

(Any inaccuracies in the story should be attributed to me, the grandson, who never wrote down the story until now. All scores are approximated...but you get the idea. I'm sure my mom, aunt and grandma may have some adjustments which I may add later...)

Recut Previews on YouTube

2007-02-25T10:33:00.001-08:00

Recently, I've been enjoying recut previews on YouTube. This is where someone takes a movie that everyone knows, reedits for a mock-preview that casts the film in a different light...and sometimes as a different move. They carefully select music to make a comedy serious, or to make a horror film goofy.

Here's The Ten Commandments as a teen love story:

Here's The Shining as a heartwarming family movie:

After you see these, you have an idea of what I'm talking about. If you go to YouTube and search for recut previews or for your favorite movies, you may find a jewel or two.

Feeling the Vibes

2007-02-24T18:35:00.001-08:00

I go to religious services on a weekly basis. I am not often inspired by them. This is not because they are not spirited or meaningful; I just don't get inspired very often. When I DO get inspired it always seems to coincide with the times that everyone is sing-praying in synch. I know that something good is going on when I feel the prayer book in my hand vibrate for the resonance of the voices. When I feel that vibe, I remember why praying in a group is sometimes better than being alone.

Snapshots of the past month

2007-02-24T18:31:00.000-08:00

Last month, I saw a first for me...a Segway rack on an SUV.

I also observed the ongoing renovation of a property that once had a gas station at it. I can't be sure, but I think I remember the canvass wall blocking the project being white in the beginning. After each stage is done, the grass blades are higher so you see something green 'growing' where the polluting gas station used to be. Rather poetic for a construction site, eh? Notice the grass even reaches the billboard.

Still-life in the produce aisle.

I am mighty curious as to what lurks behind this door.

This kitty was sniffing around the ferns outside our apartment. I snapped these and the next week, our neighbor told us she can't find her cat. These two shots may be the last time she was seen alive...or maybe she's just on a walkabout like cats do.

Bored at Starbucks.

P.S. A prize for whoever can identify the books in the pictures!

These pictures are not a good quality as some of my other shots with my camera phone. I will have to work on my technique.

Time to hire new help.

2007-02-22T11:55:00.000-08:00

I give them an A+ for effort, but when there is only one sheet left, nothing you do to pretty up the TP will make the hotel guest happy. Especially if said guest only discovers the bathroom origami at an inconvenient moment.

This was from my roadtrip down from Seattle to LA.