I had intended to stay in hiding until I could behave like a rational and intelligent human being again, but realized over the weekend that if I were to wait for that I might as well take the whole thing down now and call it a day. No, instead I am going to continue with my uninformed and overly emotional ranting.
Recently, the Presbyterian Church issued an overture encouraging the peaceful resolution of the problems in the Middle East. We were informed of this overture on Yom Kippur, and after 20+ hours of fasting, it’s easy to misinterpret this document, and if one is already prone to over-reacting (me, reactionary?), it’s even easier to jump into the fray with both guns blazing. But I did something unprecedented today. I actually went looking for more information before forming an opinion. Read the Overture here, and the addendum here. Upon second reading, it doesn’t state Israel is solely to blame, although it’s not kind to Israel, either.
Part of the reason Jews, at least Jews in academia who pay attention to these things, are concerned about this is because of the rising tide of anti-Semitism in western Europe and the fear it will find a home here in the states. So, I went to the religion instructor and asked if he felt there was a legitimate threat. Having studied in Germany for his degree in theology, he has some foundation upon which to speak. He said it is hard to put into words that amount of anti-Semitism that still exists in Germany and France, but I have no problem believing it. Anti-Semitism is a part of the cultural make-up in Western Europe and even the atrocities of WWII cannot change a worldview that is so pervasive and ingrained as anti-Semitism in Europe. That’s like saying the Civil Rights movement in the 60’s eliminated racism. But, what about here? He believes it could be a step towards a display of anti-Semitism in the states, but not necessarily the cause. I then went to my Presbyterian friend, who tried to defend her church by saying that they do a lot of mission work in Palestine and feel that something needs to be done, especially for Palestinian Christians who see the hate from both sides. Okay, I get this.
I get impatient with Jews who believe I have to whole-heartedly support Israel, just because it is Israel. It’s a democratic state, and her citizens have the right to agree or disagree with their government just as we do. I don’t agree with Sharon’s policies. I don’t agree with building a security fence or military attacks in response to a single suicide bomber. And I most certainly don’t agree with the terrorist activities of the Palestinians. But it’s easy for me to say in my relative safety that I disagree with their tactics. How would I feel if I woke up everyday wondering if the suicide bomber will visit me today, or if they will blow up my child’s school bus, or if the tanks are going to roll into the settlement because my idiot neighbor decided to kill himself while trying to annihilate a couple Israelis? I appreciate the fact that the Presbyterian Church has some knowledge base for this overture, but is it really their place to enter into this political struggle? Is it even fair to call it political? It’s surpassed politics and even religion.
I think I’m going to spend some time over the next few months educating myself more on this subject, and I would really appreciate some feedback from those of you more knowledgeable than I.

Thought I'd peak my head above ground long enough to tell you about the midpoint music festival, which will only do you any good if you're in the Cincinnati area this weekend. While you're there, be sure to check out Shrug.

Also, tomorrow starts banned books week. Check out the list and find yourself a good book to read.

That's it. Back to my hiding place.

More Stupidity...

I toppled over an entire filing cabinet full of artist files while volunteering at the art institute this morning.

Excuse me while I crawl under a rock. I may resurface one day.

I've added a new link: late reviews and latest obsessions. It's a blog of very outdated reviews of audiobooks, but it's not as dry as it sounds. Trust me. It's written by the husband of my best friend, who is also a friend in his own right. With his scathing wit and a command of the english language I can never hope to achieve, his blog is as entertaining as it is educational.

L'shanah tovah!

I spent the entire weekend at the Ohio Renaissance Festival. Not that I wanted to spend the entire weekend at RenFest, but I didn't have a choice.

Saturday I went to a wedding. I have always made fun of people who got married at RenFest, and will probably continue to do so, but it was actually a beautiful wedding. A bit too theatrical for my tastes, but beautiful nonetheless. The groom was escorted by a celtic drummer. The bride was escorted by bagpipes and she entered the church under a sword salute. The minister, who is the husband of a friend, quoted Princess Bride throughout the ceremony, but it was lost on most people. It was fun to see all the people from work who are normally too uptight for these kinds of activities at the festival. Some even dressed in costume! The reception was interesting. How many people can say they ate a turkey leg at a wedding reception? Afterwards, me and the girls walked around, looked in the shops and got henna tattoos. All in all, a decent day.

Sunday, my former roommate decided she wanted to go to RenFest for her birthday. Yippee. So, I went back. We saw some shows, which is always fun. I love the Swordsmen. I never get tired of it, although I could quote it verbatim by now (same is true of Princess Bride, but I watch it anyway!). By the second day, the festival lost some of it's allure. I just wanted to be where the air conditioning was. Bright, sunny, hot days and red hair aren't usually a good combination. I have the sunburn to prove it!

That was my weekend, as if you wanted to know.

Random post.

While walking through the dorms last night to get to my apartment, I happened to notice one of the girls had written on her message board "I love being belligerent".

Let the roommate wars begin!

I'm sure some of you have seen these forwarded before with the heading "in case you're not feeling old already" or some such nonesense, but here is the original, the Beloit College annual mind set list.

I'm going to experiment a little. I added the "all text copyrighted 2004" line in my header to leave me free to post my attempts at poetry or prose. I don't know if I'll actually subject you to that, but I wanted to know the opportunity was there in case I really felt the need. But since I mentioned it, maybe I should post one poem tonite. So, here goes:

Winter

Oh glorious night

cool wind whipping through my hair

the chill takes my breath away

it's almost enough to make me forget

images of love

unrequited emotion

boddhisatva hidden behind the snow

It's one of my favorites, but no one gets it. The boddhisatva thing throws them off.

I promise I won't do this to you often!