Fugly

A great blog that a friend sent me to cheer me up on this, my last day of work.
When ever I see a celeb on TV or in a magazine I can't help but critique a bad outfit. And what really scares me is that sometimes they pay stylists who tell them how to dress that badly (to give stylists the benefit of the doubt, perhaps your clients aren't listening to you).

Design

I've been checking out the winners of this year's Industrial Design Excellence Awards (IDEA).
I am a sucker for a cool design. Whether it is a new ergonomic redesign of a waterbottle or new bike, I love it. To me there is nothing like a product that is both beautiful and functional. This is why I love to shop at Target. And what design enthusiast doesn't love Kohler? If I had the career route to redo I would've become an industrial designer.

Great design might even make a visit to the Clinton Presidential Center in Arkansas worthwhile. Or Kansas City.

When I worked at a popular northeastern pharmacy chain I saw firsthand how packaging and design can matter to the customer. For example, when a very popular facial moisturizer got a packaging redesign it was suddenly very difficult for many of the more senior customers to extract from the package. Many of them either ended up returning it or bringing it in and having me take it out of the package for them. Either way resulted in an inconvenience for the consumer.

Karma and the Court

What goes around comes around, especially if you're a Superme Court Justice.

Yeshivaish Sex Ed

This post at Jewish Conections got me thinking....



I was one of the only graduating seniors in my yeshiva HS who would actually owe up to having lost my virginity while in HS (my choice and what I did in the context of a long term relationship is not up for anyone's judgment). Not that I was going around volunteering that information, but if someone asked, I was honest.

There certainly were others who did go out of their way to hide the fact they they enganged in ANY Remotely Sensual activities, including good friends of mine. I felt it sad that they could not turn to their parents for advice about that kind of thing. I watched many friends struggle with the decisions surrounding being shomer negiah and with their sexuality in general. Instead of seeing sex as natural and beautiful (which Judaism does) my peers saw it as shameful.

I am thankful that my yeshiva HS had a Taharat Ha Mishpacha class, or as I called it Sex Ed Yeshiva Style. We seniors were split up by gender and the rebbetzin who lead the majority of the girls class was pretty well informed. One day we had a GYN come in and teach us about birth control and the like. At least they did that for us and aknowlegded that it was in everyone's best interests to at least be educated about sex and STDs and etc...{This is what makes abstinence-only programs so scary-- that they don't teach about protection so when those kids end up having sex they don't use condoms (I know there are stats onthis somewhere, just can't track them down right now.....). Let's face it, teens are gonna experiment. That's life. Not all teens, but a good chunk. I mean teaching teens about codoms isn't going to make them say "wow! Wearing a condom looks fun! I need to go out and find a girl to hae sex with". }

I digress. My parents had always been open minded and taught me that sex was something special to be shared between two people. And that sex was powerful and if used to the wrong way or not respected could lead to hurt feelings...or worse.... And that is a boy didn't respect my boundaries then I should kick him to the curb.

Help

I'm thinking of creating a blog to chronicle my upcoming unemployment (thereby forcing me to keep polishing my writing skills).

Any suggestions for names?

Thanks blog-o-sphere!

Torah Wisdom

A new series titled Torah Wisdom focusing on Jewish laws and customs will debut on Shalom TV's programming. The network's discovery series is geared both toward those with observation questions and those interested in Judaism with introductory episodes on beliefs and rituals. David Jasse served as the series' exec producer with help from the Global Jewish Assistance and Relief Network, Jewish Children's Museum, Kings County Hospital, REDKEN/L'Oreal, Smith Barney and Time Warner Cable.

(via Cynopsis)

Stereotype of the greedy Jew?

I had a bad day today. Lots of shit happened- car trouble, pending unemployment. But the best had to be the message that was left on my machine this afternoon.

Let me rewind.

I am on the board of a small Jewish organization. Very small, but it has heart. I can't donate a chunk of $$$ to the local Jewish community so I give them my time. I'm even helping to hook them up with some publicity for an event they're planning later this summer. I am young. I am a member of the Jewish community. And an active one. Sometimes it feels like their aren't many of us.
So, what does the message say? That my chairperson has been conrnered by a Federation exec at a meeting reminding him/her to check to make sure that the board s/he runs is up to date in their donations. What a terrible position for my chairperson to be put in.
I am angry. Apparently donating my free time is not good enough for some in my local community. I've run volunteer events. I know just as well as anyone that free labor is sometimes almost as important as money to a non-profit.
The best part of this is that I have given the Fed money. Not a lot. But some. I even have the receipt form United Way (donated through them...then my employer matches dollars) and the Thank You note from the Fed to prove it.
It's all right. I can now clearly see what is important to some people.
I think that this kind of insult- that I am not a valuable member of the community unless I give enough $$$$- is what makes some young Jews shy away.

My Search is Over. For Now.

I am sick of job searching. Sick. Of. It. I am beginning to see the same jobs over and over and over.
And to make matters more annoying my roommate, who has a perfectly good job, has two pending offers! Two! This frustrates me so much. I mean, I’m happy for him, as he does not love his suitable job, but I’m jealous too. I feel bad, b/c I try to act happy for him, but that sort of has a time limit. He sometimes goes on longer than he needs to about them and there comes a point where I just want to yell “Why must you gloat about your wonderful world of opportunities when I have nothing to look fwd to?”
I try to keep it in a positive perspective. And what do I have to look fwd to? No alarm clock, endless beach time, possibly some travel…But I just feel as though I am so aimless.
I am torn. Part of me wants to have a Real Job. You know, the kind where you wear a suit to work everyday and have underlings. But I’m not always sure how to get there or even if I truly want to. Part of me has no desire to have a Real Job. Like my friends in grad school. But I do not desire to have their levels of debt or their pressure to actually find something, to justify their research.

Friends and family keep reassuring me that I am a smart, creative, and valuable person. I just wish that my talents were marketable in a way that would give me health insurance.

The Perfect Man

I saw The Perfect Man tonight. For free. This is a good thing b/c I would not pay to see this movie. By all means, try to catch it on TV. It was cute. But not worth $10.
The film is a string of cliches and scenes that improbably come together to create something movie-like. Aria Wallace stole every scene she was in (and made me wonder what happened to that cute kid from Jerry Maguire). Odd to see Chris Noth as some sort of romantic lead (Det. Logan was hardly Mr. Sensitive and well, neither was Mr. Big).

Almost from the begining (which is an almost complete rip off of Mermaids) I began to count the movie cliches.

• Mom throws cake at cheating boyfriend
• Movie montage, with dancing, set to cheery song.
• Movie montage, sans dancing, set to depressing music.
• Gay friend (Carson Kressley, who was pretty funny...much funnier than he is on Queer Eye)
• Funny best friends (Caroline Rhea & a very funny African American woman whose name is oddy missing from the credits on IMDB)
• Artsy, sarcastic guy
• Ditzy teen best friend
• Rip off of the standing outside a window with a boombox from Say Anything (only this version used "Lady" by STYX.....)
• A STYX cover band*
• The distraction scene, used to prevent two characters from seeing each other
  

*OK, not a cliche, but too weird not to mention

My Prom Was Kosher

Interesting article in The Jewish Week- Is My Prom Date Kosher? about taking non-Jewish dates to proms at day schools.
I went to yeshiva and brought a non-Jewish date to our (unofficial *) prom.

How far can this be taken? No non-Jews at school events? Does this mean that if a student's father is not Jewish or is just undergoing a conversion that he is not welcome at school plays?





*In reality the administration knew about the prom. It was one of those secrets that's not really a secret.

Cash, Check, or Fryer?

Alleged Chicken-For-Sex Offer Lands Meat Man In Jail

If I were her I'd be insulted that he didn't offer to trade some prime Angus steak....

Mississippi Burning-Clearly this is more important than Jacko

Jury selection begins in trial of Edgar Ray Killen, accused of killing three civil rights workers in 1964. The heinous murders were depicted in the 1988 film Mississippi Burning.

Yes, but where do you hide the gun?

Nearly naked man attempts carjacking. Seriously, where do you hide the weapon?

Jacko is Wacko

Silly thing overheard on MSNBC:
"...gather in the courtroom to hear the verdict. The jury already knows what the verdict is..."

DUH! They were the ones to decide it.

Jews + Missionaries

(As seen on Jewish Connection)

Jewish Education + Missionaries

I value my Jewish education (Schechter school from K-8 and yeshiva HS) for the questioning nature, concept of tikkun olam, biblical factoids that help me do well when playing Trivial Pursuit, and sense of depth it has imbued in me. I also value it because it has helped me easily shoo away some missionaries I’ve encountered.

The Hare Krishna Guy
Picture it- New Years Eve of the new millennium, Big Cypress Reservation in Florida’s Everglades. I was there to attend a Phish concert and enjoy the sunshine. Besides a few college friends I was accompanied by an old friend form my Schechter school.
One day as we wandered around the campgrounds a guy wearing a saffron colored robe stopped us. Having recently taken a intro course to Eastern Religions I immediately recognized him as a member of the Hare Krishna sect. He began his spiel when one of us (not sure if it was me or my friend, D) piped up with “Umm…we’re Jewish”. The man began speaking about how all religions are related, or some nonsense like that. I countered with “I just read this great book called The Jew in the Lotus about how Buddhism and Judaism have some fundamental things in common”. Saffron man asked me more about the book. I told him a bit about it. He wrote down the title, thanked us, and walked away. D and I looked at each other and one of us said “Wow, all that $$$ my parents spent on Jewish education was worth it for the fact that we made a Hare Krishna walk away wanting to learn more about Judaism”.

The Mormons Go To Shul
Picture it- about 10 am on a Saturday, the summer of 2000, a hippie college town in upstate NY. I have just gotten up and am wearing pajamas consisting of a tank top, no bra, and boxer shorts. The doorbell rings. Who could it be so early on a Saturday? The main door was open, meaning that they could see me through the screen door. Busted! I had to interact with them.
They begin their spiel. I tell them that I had just learned about Mormonism in a class called Sociology of Religion. I then inform them that I’m probably not a good prospect, being that I am Jewish. They seem happy to hear this and then babble on about how our two religions are related. We are kinfolk.

From the LDS website:
The Book of Mormon is another witness that Jesus Christ really lived, that He was and is God’s Son. It contains the writings of ancient prophets. One of these, Lehi, lived in Jerusalem around 600 B.C. God commanded Lehi to lead a small group of people to the American continent. There they became a great civilization.

I kind of nod. Then they tell me that they’d gone to temple the night before to celebrate the Sabbath. They really enjoyed it, even though they could not understand that language that people prayed in. “Hebrew” I inform them. Perhaps because of my tired state I then go on to explain the difference between biblical Hebrew and modern day Hebrew. They are very excited at this point and tell me that they are off to the library or something to learn more about Judaism…since we’re kin and all… A housemate comes out of hibernation and asks whom I was talking to. I tell him the story and he says “see you didn’t go to Hebrew school for nothing”. “Exactly” I reply “and worth every penny”.

[Side note- morning of college graduation another housemate answers the door to two Jehovah’s Witnesses. They begin to talk. B cuts them off with “Three Unitarians and a Jew live here. I really think you’ve got the wrong house.” Closes door.]

Epilogue
I told my parents those two stories and they said that it made them feel that spending all that money on my Jewish education was indeed worth it to ward off proselytizers, know who I am, where I come from, and to stay Jewish.

Plastic Surgery- The New Frontier

Barring victims of female circumcision I have no idea why anyone would be so insecure as to want to do this.

Sex Change in the West Bank.

Yes. I'm serious. (Who says that they don't have good medical facilities in the West Bank?)
(via Fleshbot).

Duuuude! I'm calling from Margaritaville!

(via Fark)
Stoner + Jimmy Buffett's stolen cellphone = chaos

Who'd have thunk that the mayor of Margaritaville knew rapper Cam'ron?

Are Jews Really Smarter?

Some researchers at University of Utah seem ot think so.


From the NY Times:

In describing what they see as the result of the Ashkenazic mutations, the researchers cite the fact that Ashkenazi Jews make up 3 percent of the American population but won 27 percent of its Nobel prizes, and account for more than half of world chess champions.

Casting call- Kids and Ken

Casting for 2 news shows (via Cynopsis)

TLC show is looking for parents to share their secrets and learn a few new ones from the country's leading parenting experts. Are you clever parents who have come up against a new problem you don't know how to clever your way out of? The kids have been great, but recently they've changed and you're not sure how to deal with them? All good fodder for TLC's new show based on a popular UK series, where experts will come to your home and work with you and your family with a variety of exercises and trainings to improve the family relationship. Want to know more? Email Brenda Della Casa at bdcasa@diverseusa.tv as soon as possible. Include names and ages of family members and a brief description of your current situation. Oh, and make sure you speak with your spouse first.



Remember Ken Jennings? Remember he's getting his own show on Comedy Central? Now the network is looking for intelligent, competitive contestants for run-thrus. Trivia contestants of all ages & abilities have the chance to participate in game show run-thrus, and perhaps the chance to come back and compete against Jeopardy champion Ken Jennings in a non-airing presentation. All takes place in NYC from now until the end of July - you may be aksed to hang around for one afternoon or a few. Send your name, phone number, recent photo and why you'd be the perfect contestant to casting@embassyrow.com.

Holy cliches Batman!

A 57 year old man contacted me through a personals site that I'd forgotten about. I thanked him for his compliments and declined politely, citing age as a reason. (My dad would be about 57 now...if he were still alive).
He just had to respond with something like 'if you got to know me you might see that I'm young at heart'. Could left things all nice and neat. But nope. Felt like he had to cross that line to Cliche World.

For the record I have friends who span in age from undergrads to their 40's. I have friends who are married with kids and mortgages and could potentially be my parents (if they were teenage parents....). [Not sure why I feel defensive about this.....].

Urban Jungle

An article in Preservation Magazine about the photographers of abandoned (mostly) urban buildings. It opened up a really cool new world to me. I've always been fascinated by old, and sometimes abandoned, buildings. Preservation is what was supposed to be my career at one point (then, life got in the way.....I hope to find my way back eventually). These photographers explore a different notion of preservation than the traditional This Old House point of view....that the use of art and media can also preserve and that there is more than one way of doing things.

A good place to start- Infiltration


Explore......

• Art In Ruins- a fab local New England site
• Opacity- haunting photography of old hospitals around NY and New England
• Insane Bunkers- another local fave
• New England Ruins- haunting
• Dijital Photography- mainly New England, check out the creepy old slaughterhouse
• Abandoned NJ- answered questions about some places I'd encountered in my childhood in the tri-state area
• Weird NJ- just cool. and weird. and very Jersey.
• Modern Ruins- mainly Hudson Valley
• Abandoned Buildings of the Northeast- check out the section on Rockland Psychiatric Center
• Hudson Valley Ruins- great site with great pictures that shows off the plethora of creepy old and beautiful buildings in the Hudson Valley

Not nearly exhaustive enough. I'll add more as I explore the interweb. (Let me know if I've overlooked any).

Gay Ford

American Family Association boycotting Ford Motor Co. over gay issues (via Fark)

DETROIT (AP) -- A conservative Christian group launched a boycott against Ford Motor Co. Tuesday, saying the second-largest U.S. automaker has given thousands of dollars to gay rights groups, offers benefits to same-sex couples and actively recruits gay employees. "

From redefining family to include homosexual marriage, to giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to support homosexual groups and their agenda, to forcing managers to attend diversity training on how to promote the acceptance of homosexuality... Ford leads the way," American Family Association chairman Donald Wildmon said in a statement.

Maybe next the Klan will boycott Ford for forcing managers to attend diversity-training sessions promoting the acceptance of black, Asian, and Jewish employees in the workplace? And let's not forget those pesky female employees. How dare they be outside the kitchen making a living to support their families?!

"Ford values all people, regardless of their race, religion, gender, sexual orientation and cultural or physical differences," Ford vice president of human resources Joe Laymon said. Laymon added that other automakers -- including General Motors Corp. and Chrysler Corp. -- provide benefits for same-sex partners and market their vehicles to the gay community.

Because Ford is not stupid. Gay people buy cars too.

GE also gives domestic partner benefits to same sex employees. I guess the members of the American Family Association feel that they can live without lightbulbs too. And so does Microsoft. No more Windows for the AFA. Maybe they should just give up and go live in a cave somewhere......