The Big 40!!

How does one face 40?
It’s a big number. I can still remember vividly my fathers 40th Birthday party. I stare into the mirror and there he is the 40 year old with the vaguely familiar face, receding hairline, some grey hairs here and there, a few wrinkles here and there. I sit back humbled and think and contemplate if I can only be 30 again and sigh. 10 precious years. My goodness, My Yeshivah adolescent boy was only 8..if I can only teach him more..be a bigger part of his life in those formative years. If only..I’d learnt more, accomplished more. If I’d only appreciated the greatest decade of a persons life more ..their 30s. Young yet mature..making money..not yet burdened by debilitating expenses of having older children..

Now..I sit back read and re-read this paragraph and a smile forms on my face..
You see..Last week was my 30th Birthday! What kind of decade will I have? I don’t know but my heart pounds when I think of being in the present, in my situation. Such a glorious pressure!


Happy Birthday Me!

Post vs Times

Isn't it amazing how you can read 2 newspapers on the same day, published in the same city and yet when you're done reading them you could swear they were published on 2 different planets!
While the Times is telling me about massacres in Africa that are killing tens of thousands of people the Post is telling me about Linsay Lohan being seen with a new boyfriend.
It takes me about 5 minutes to finish the Post during breakfast while it takes 2 hours to read half of the Times.

Of course the big question is ..Is the Times ant-Israel or not? I'll be honest with you..not enough to make me throw it away in disgust and personally I'd rather get 2 or 3 pages covering a story from every angle (yes, including the Palestinian angle) and then come up with my own conclusions to having one side force fed to me in one paragraph.
But on the issue ..of the Times being Anti-Israel..I've given it much thought. I guess fundamentally it comes down to this
..Are there 2 sides to this conflict?
Is there even a Palestinian side to it?
Is it wrong to empathize with Palestinians suffering? or..is it like empathizing with the citizens of Dresden at the time in 1945?

Feel free to comment..

Damn..That hurts..!

I've been dealing with 3 distinct pain related issues this past year and have had some time to dwell on the sensation we call pain.
So much has been made of Pleasure..well let's not forget her partner sensation ...Pain.

Disclaimer: I've never had a Kidney Stone attack nor have I given birth.

But pain is a funny thing (rhetorically)..because after it leaves..you sort of long for the intense sensation. I guess I can see how people translate pain into pleasure. I tried hard to metally and completely conquer the pain and found it impossible, however you can manage it in a way that it doesn't consume you (I haven't figured out how to do that with pleasure yet..lol).

Ok. The first painful occurance was a scratched cornea..the second was intense back pain and the third a tooth ache.
I'm not sure which was the worst..when it comes to pure intensity of pain I think the tooth ache takes the cake..because there's absolutely nothing you can do about it. I was literally up all night..climbing the walls in pain.
Back pain really makes you imobile though.
As for the scratched cornea...it's just plain miserable...you cant stop tearing up..you cant see..and it hurts...Damn it hurts!

The bottom line is..whatever pain you happen to be going through at that moment..becomes the worst pain to have ever existed...

Zol zein a kapurah!

D

Why the Children??

Ok..Time to get a little serious. I know I'm treading on touchy topics here but I'll speak my mind anyway.

This picture and others like it really upset me. Here is a child in obvious anguish being pulled out of a home getting "kicked out" of his/her home under extremely distressing circumstances. Now..one thing I'm sensitive to is the suffering and anguish of children. Children have no place in a conflict.
But....Who do I blame for this childs anguish?
I don't blame the soldiers..they are following orders and with utomst sensitivity.
I don't blame Sharon either because I, and more than 50% of the population of Israel think this disingagement was inevitable and even if you don't agree with Sharon to think that he means to harm Israel or he's just polishing up his own post mortem image is rediculous. Here's a man who has lived Israels history! Who gave blood and guts to this country.
The blame squarely falls on this childs mother. She has had ample time to prepare for this. Why couldn't she send her children to relatives inside the green line? If you want to fight for your beliefs..fine..But please..leave the children out it. They will be traumatized for life.

D

The Candle

Here's a little poem..I jotted down after the passing of a Holocaust Survivor Grandparent a few weeks ago...


A magnificent room illuminated by hundreds of candles
But nature extinguishes them one by one
You glance back and memorize every detail
As long as there is still some flickering light

For hundreds of years, our Tradition was passed on seamlessly
All of a sudden the seams so violently ripped and severed
Still, we have the comfort of being in the presence of the generation
That saw, smelled, heard, felt the European experience of a millennia

But the candles that allow us to peer into the room that was the old world
Are going out..Turn around..look...ask...grab onto those whom we love
Those that know and remember.
Soon we will be all alone. Can we go on..alone?

David

Maiden Post...

After weeks of scrawlings on the walls of other bathrooms I've decided to take the plunge..(I know.. horrible imagery..lol).

I'm just debating where to start. Something serious or frivolous? Goodness I've got alot to say. Stay tuned.

D