sorry...

we're closed!

babble

I saw Neil Gaiman at the Cleveland Public Library yesterday with The Critic, The Wife and TLC. I'm mildly in love now! I described the day to my friends at work, which prompted one of them to say, "you should have slipped him your number". I replied, "are you kidding? I don't want to be killed by his girlfriend!" Since none of them knew who I was referring to, I pulled up a photo of her. My coworker, who has a low tolerance for "alternative culture" said, "he's dating her and no one's dating you?!" It is a mystery... And I feel loved!

getting ahead of myself

I had a truly frightening thought while I was delirious on codeine cough syrup - I'm going to be 40 in 19 months. 40! 30 didn't bother me. I was almost relieved to reach my 30s, but 40 is a different story. At least I still look 25 :)

Anyway...part of my midlife crisis was the decision to go to grad school regardless of location or funding (the regardless of funding part is pure delusion - funding is a huge issue!). Right now the contenders are: University of Wisconsin, University of Manchester, UK and University of Sydney, Australia. U of Wisc has one of the leaders in the field, if not THE leader in the US, for what I want to study - Enlightenment v. Nazi views of Jews as citizens - so that's my #1 pick for now, but studying European history in Europe would be cool. I was surprised that Australia would even have a Jewish Studies program since there aren't many Jews there, but who am I to complain? I think I need to visit the school!

Also an issue in my freakout was the looming loneliness of being single, but I have accepted my life as a spinster (or whatever the proper term would be for the modern era). I plan to enjoy the single life by seeing the world and having experiences I wouldn't be able to have if I was tied down to a family. Hopefully this will quiet the biological clock and repress the envy I have of my friends with families. And maybe I can even make them envious of me :)

Ok, midlife crisis post over.

filler

I had planned to blog tonight, but I feel like crap.  I spent the weekend at my mom's with her cats. Have I mentioned I'm allergic to cats?  Very allergic!  It's not enough she went to Jackson without me, she had to try to kill me with cat dander!  Anyway...look forward to a post later this week. I'm hoping that if I publicly declare that I'm going to post something this week, I'll actually do it. Who wants to take bets?

hello

Is anyone still out there?

The summer is over, and I accomplished very little on my to do list. Now I'm accomplishing very little class work, but at least I'm consistent! This semester marks my 20th year as an undergrad. I'm so ready to be finished with this damn degree! Only 2 more semesters after this!

Okay, that's all for now. Time to order CDs for the library.

2 weeks in a row

Thanks for putting up with my ranting last week. I was just so frustrated with ignorant people, who have no opinions of their own, parroting the party line. I'll let it go. For now.

This week's news: My brother plans to propose to his girlfriend this weekend! I'm very happy for him. But of course the "oh woe is me, I'm doomed to be a spinster" mentality will probably creep in soon, especially since he is younger than me. Whatever. I'm good at being a spinster, and anyway, all the decent men are gay! So, I'll remain happy that at least one of us will be married. And, the wedding will be held in Jackson, so I get to go back to paradise for the festivities. (Yes, Jackson, WY is my idea of paradise. I prefer the mountains to the beach.)

I wrote this last Friday, but wanted to wait until the families were informed before I posted anything. Since then my brother has proposed and is now engaged. The wedding should be sometime next summer. Congrats baby brother!

pundit for a day

I'm getting very tired of the Obama bashing! Especially when it's coming from former Obama supporters! The man told us during his entire campaign that he was a different kind of politician. That's why we voted for him. We were all screaming for change, but we know how well some people handle change. I'm not surprised the right is acting the way it is, although the outcry is far more violent than I expected. I'd like to use this post to address some of the attacks launched at President Obama in the past weeks. I don't normally talk politics, mostly because I don't know what I'm talking about, but since people far more ignorant than me are out their spreading their idiocy, I thought I'd chime in with my 2 cents.

1. If affordable health care coverage for all Americans means socialism, then call me a socialist! We are one of the most advanced countries in the world, if no longer one of the richest. Why do we feel we don't need to take care of each other. I hate to point this out, but we can't all have great jobs with great benefits. We live in a consumer society, so we need people to work in the customer service industry. An industry that can't, or won't, pay it's employees a livable wage and does not offer health benefits. I'm sorry, but if you want to keep eating at your fancy restaurants, then let the servers and the cooks have decent health care so you don't get sick from the food they are serving you! For a supposedly "Christian" nation, we are populated with some of the most self-absorbed people on the planet!

2. Somehow, Obama's presidency has turned into a Jewish problem. The nutjob white supremacists who cheered for von Brunn claim that Obama is just a puppet for the Jews. This is amusing if you heard the Jewish outcry over Obama's speech in Cairo. I don't know or understand how we Jews became an issue, but I have to admit it scares me more than just a little bit.

3. Israel/Palestine Obama's speech in Cairo raised hackles in the Jewish community. I don't disagree with much the President said, but I do take issue that Israel and the Palestinians are the only parties at play in this problem. I think the other countries in the Middle East need to step in and take some responsibility. You know, all those countries who refused to take in the Palestinians when the UN made Israel a Jewish state.

This is just a start. However, my break is over and I need to get back to work. Feel free to discuss, debate and disagree with me. Until next time...