My opinions, updates on my life, all sorts of "randomness"...

In Israel, at Samara's... Totally exhausted, and need to go pass out, but I'm in Israel!!! :)

Getting ready to leave for the airport. Had an amazing time here. Last night I went to this open mike night in the East Village with Mark & Craig. So much fun. Both of them played--I was extremely impressed. So did this fourteen year old kid from Boston who played the fiddle. He was great, but so random... The only bad part about last night, was I lost my camera. So upset about that one. Besides the obvious not wanting to lose my camera, there's the whole losing the pictures on the camera and the wanting to have a camera for Israel part that sucks... Man... Okay, time to go get my stuff together. This time I'm going to bring stuff with me on the plane, and pray my bags don't get lost again. Lots of craziness... Well, time for the traveling to continue!

So far this trip has been... eventful. Nell (Elkie)'s wedding was wonderful. She looked beautiful, of course, and everyone had a fabulous time. I left for New York the next morning (really only hours later) and my crazy traveling began. The airport was a mess, the joy of traveling the day before Christmas. My flight to Detroit (yes, I flew from Pittsburgh to Detroit, to New York. Don't ask...) ended up being delayed while we were on the plane, before we even pulled out. The "short" delay turned into two hours of sitting there, me next to this adorable 7 year-old boy who was devastated since him and his father were missing their connecting flight to Tampa to go see his grandmother for Christmas. We landed in Detroit at 10, my flight to New York was at 10:15 and the boy and his father had been moved to a 10:15 flight to Tampa. We both looked at the flight monitor, then took off in opposite directions, trying to make our respective flights. I still don't know if they made it to grandma's house in time for Christmas. I hope they did...

So I ran across the airport, and got to my NY flight just in time...for it to be delayed for an hour while we sat on the plane. Beautiful... When I finally landed in NY (well, Newark top be exact) I was so excited to go get my bags and finally be done traveling...until I went to baggage claim and my bags weren't there. After talking with everyone I could at Northwest and Newark, and lots of waiting, I finally got my bags back on Sunday morning. By then I was so sick of my sweats and my glasses that just putting in contacts and changing was amazing!

But besides that, New York has been great. Stayed with my friends from Michigan Alison & Tali my first few nights here, and now I'm at my friend Mark's apartment. Went to Jenny & Brian's engagement party yesterday and Brian's parents' house. So exciting--can't believe they're getting married.

I have today and tomorrow left in NY, then tomorrow night I go to Israel. Not too crazy excited about that flight, or the prospect of losing my bags again, but sooo excited to be back in Israel. All for now!

I leave in a couple minutes for Pittsburgh... So excited about this whole trip. Still don't entirely know what the plan is, or where I'm staying, but I know that will all work itself out. Besides, I have an awesome brand new Sierra Designs sleeping bag (love it) that Debra tells me makes me look like a Gloworm, so what more do I need??

I'll try and keep updating, tell you what I'm up to... Until then, in the words of Jenny Farber, peace out. :)

"I can't stand to see the world close its eyes to the truth.
And I can't stand to see myself standing still.
Some days I just wanna put it all behind
and come to you and comfort you."
~~ "City of Gold", Blue Fringe

I leave for Israel in 9 days!!!

Well, my cell phone for my trip to Israel came in the mail today. So I guess I'm actually going, huh? Soooo excited. It has been way too long since I was last there. And yes I'm only going for a few weeks, but it's better than nothing, right? i was talking with Dad today, and he seems to be convinced that I'm going to end up staying. I wish I could, but that won't really happen... But back to the topic of my cell phone, I have my number now: 057-730-8549 (calling from the States would be 011-972-57-730-8549). And if anyone else whose going to be in Israel has an Amigo phone too, my PTT# is 1650.

Mazel tov to my cousin Shana Shlomo on her engagement!

Well, I'm going to finish getting ready for Shabbas... Shabbat Shalom!

The Hebrew Hammer

Went to see Ocean's Twelve last night. Totally loved it. I watch so much crap on television, that watching a movie that actually requires some thought was a welcome change. My favorite part? The whole Julia Roberts playing Tess playing Julia Roberts scene (if you've seen it, you'll know what I'm talking about). Amazing. Anyone else see it? Thoughts? (Feel free to use the "comments" section--that's what it's there for...)

There's snow on the ground, and I'm excited to no end. Beautiful, white, fluffy snow, that will make the driving horrible, but right now I don't really care. Love it!

Chloe

Well, my Shabbaton is finally over. Went really well. Definitely exciting, seeing as it's the first Shabbaton that I've been completely in charge of. I am so impressed with Young Judaea kids. They really are incredible. I've worked with so many different kids, in different capacities, so I feel qualified to say that Judaeans are in a breed of their own. Watching different aged kids playing so easily together, it just supports everything I've ever learned (and believed) about age-mixed play. Watching them you could see how positively they were impacting one another. Such a wonderful thing...

One of my favorite parts of living in Ann Arbor, is how everything becomes a "cause," something to protest or argue about. The latest e-mail I got was about the "Couch Ban" the Ann Arbor City Council is voting on. People are enraged about this. There's even a poll/blog and an open forum for students to voice their concerns. Because obviously not being able to have an upholstered couch on your porch would be an unthinkable tragedy. {can you feel the sarcasm dripping?}

So the wonder that is On Demand managed to suck away most of my day. Specifically, Sex & The City. The first season just went up on On Demand, so I watched it. All of it. Ridiculous, right? So I'll leave you with my new favorite Sex quote:

Samantha: "Oh just be cool. Don't care. Then he'll wonder why you don't, which will make him realize that he does, and then it's a whole new ball game."
Miranda: "So in your world it's always sixth grade?"

An article in The New York Times today says, "Like many addictions, it begins innocently enough. A tentative experiment here, a repeat visit there. Before too long, only the strong survive." An entire article about Facebook ("On Campus, Hanging Out by Logging On," by Peter Applebome).

"It's like the Swiss Army knife of procrastination."

Love it.

I am so impressed with my little brother. His website, Ugrub.com just keeps growing. It's now at Michigan, Michigan State, & Purdue, & is opening soon at Eastern Michigan, & Indiana. There was even an article about them in The State News" explaining that "With the help of Ugrub.com, hungry students in the East Lansing area can pull up a restaurant's menu and decide what to have delivered from the comfort of their couch."

So check out Ugrub.com & 1-800-59-UGRUB

Way to go Jake!