As always, very belated, but most sincere
Back in the summer, Moshe tugged me for a “7 things I love” meme. Since that was the “dry period” for my blog due to the necessity of actually working during work hours, I never got to do it (even though meme’s are harmless fun in general, and that looked like enjoyable task in particular). Then, on Thanksgiving, I just wanted to post a list of things I am grateful for. Since I am very late for both entries, I am going to combine them and post things I love (which incidentally I am grateful for).
Fun list:
1. Books.
2. Great works of art by dead white males and females and great books by (hopefully) very much alive white females.
3. Delicious food and drink – especially fruits, anything with real whipped cream, and coffee.
4. Beautiful nature – especially when it is highlighted by warm sun and gentle breezes.
5. Vacations, vacations, vacations – that includes Disney (my first and enduring love), doing all idiotic tourist-y things, exploring strange places, and soaking in the turquoise waters of the magnificent ocean.
6. Comfortable clothes (especially night shirts) and the ability to stay in them as long as possible.
7. Gorgeous smells, especially flowers and perfume (hey, the sense of smell is the only one not affected by “original sin”).
Serious list:
1. My parents, my siblings (even when they are being a pain in the gluteus maximums - hopefully, I can always return the favor), and my nieces and nephew
2. My friends
3. My health (you can guess my age by that one)
4. Being a Jewess
5. Being a woman
6. My freedom
7. USA
Needless to say, all of those are the gifts from The Heavenly Father, and I know that He loves me even when I grouch and grumble (I am human, after all).
Showing posts with label Thanksgiving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thanksgiving. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Thursday, December 11, 2008
HAPPY BIRTHDAY AND HAPPY THANKSGIVING
When I was a kid in a late, unlamented step-mother country, I always resented the fact that my Birthday was in the end of November, meaning in the middle of nowhere: after the break for the Celebration of the Glorious Revolution, and before the New Years and Mid-Winter break. Basically, I did not like to go to school on my Birthday.
I still do not like to go to school, or worse, to work, on my Birthday, but the appreciation of the timing of my arrival into this world changed dramatically: now it is close to Thanksgiving, so it always puts me at least in a good mood, if not exactly festive. So, here is to another year of my life! As always, this year was filled with things both wonderful, the most notable of which was my first trip to the Caribbean, and the opposite of wonderful, one of which was my friend of nineteen years proposing the break up via e-mail.
As a whole, I was really not in a mood to celebrate this year; but, as always, I did attempt. My attempts consisted of taking the day off, having a relaxed and very enjoyable breakfast out with my sis, and then going on the town and blowing my non-existent money on my favorite things: books and chocolates. My wonderful mom also hosted a family get-together with magnificent and plentiful food, and my siblings threatened me with presents coming in the immediate future. Again, my plan to get drunk was nixed this year, and again due to my being on meds: this time it was not just antibiotics, but a combo of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory. But, thank G-d, the meds worked, and in the process my MD discovered my B12 deficiency, so, hopefully, more energy coming up pretty soon:)
But, honestly, celebratory spirit was really quiet low this year, and mostly it was due to (yes you guessed it) the election results. I know I have already offered my opinion on it, and I know it may sound illogical; I really do not care. To me these results signified only one thing: people who do not appreciate the beauty of this country, or do not realize or appreciate the multitude of blessings that come to us simply by living here, have summarily surrendered USA to people who openly hate it and are proud of it. So, while waiting for Thanksgiving, I could not stop thinking about very familiar, but not the less lamentable for it, human trait of not appreciating the multitude of good things we do have. And then came the Thanksgiving itself, and the horrible murders in Mumbai, the thoughts of which still bring tears to my eyes.
As I mentioned before, I am slowly approaching middle age. So, naturally, a person is expected to gain certain wisdom at this point. So, what did I gain in all those years so far, aside from becoming increasingly sarcastic, jaded, and pessimistic? The cornerstone of wisdom actually came to me when I was twenty two, in that memorable summer of taking statistics and secretarial courses (at the same time, but in different schools), meanwhile battling a strep of a six months duration. Anyway, while studying the bell curve, and especially its application to the matters of human IQ, there is a simple and clear pattern, and remembering it usually saves you from numerous occasions of pre-hypertension blood pressure: 64% of human population (the ones between first standart deviations on each side) has very average intelligence. That's it!
And that is the wisdom for the ages! Majority of population consists of people whose outlook on life is, well, just average. They never ponder the deep meaning of anything, and will swallow any and all lies, providing that the lie will guarantee them quite existence and fatter wallets, to which end they aspire their whole lives anyway. Then add to this the fact that even if people were born with good brains, they were not necessarily taught to expand and exercise those brains; moreover, around half the people with decent brains and educations use those to commit sins against the rest of humanity. This picture, of course, is very rosy, but, once you absorb it, the life becomes that much easier.
What else did I learn? It's wonderful not to conform and live according to logic, and not the opinions of Mr. and Mrs. Jones next door. Unfortunately, the people who will most suffer for your uniqueness, aside, of course, from you, are the ones who are closest to you and love you the most. It is fantastic to be a woman, but it is a man's world, and you will not have an easy lot, no matter which road you will choose. Nobody, and I mean, nobody cares about your level of eruditeness or your college GPA, but everyone will comment on your style of dressing yourself (or the supposed lack of thereof). Your good manners will not impress the scofflaw; moreover, those manners will get you pushed away, pushed around, and stepped on your toes. Very few good deeds are appreciated, and even fewer go unpunished. And commitment to work earns you the opportunity to pick up the slack for all the not so committed co-workers, plus ulcers and the above-mentioned hypertension. Basically, to quote one of my favorite movies: "The world is being FedExed to hell in a hand basket" (and has been for a while, by the way).
And then you remember Stendhal’s quote about the fact that there are many more great people than you think (at least I think it was Stendhal’s). And every morning, on the way to work, you see your old neighbour patiently waiting for Asses-A-Ride, so he can go to his wife in a nursing home. And on the way from work, you see a girl with a crutch giving her seat on the subway to a pregnant woman. And another guy on the subway rides extra four stops, so he can try and pick you up because he was fascinated by you repeatedly laughing out loud while reading a romance. And every 9/11 anniversary, you remember ordinary people like Todd Beamer and Amy Sweeney, who acted with courage and patriotism in the face of horrible odds.
Oh, and the character from the movie? He found out that he is about to be a father right after uttering that wonderful sentence.
So, here is to another year, better things to come, and all the G-d's Blessings! L'Chaim!
I still do not like to go to school, or worse, to work, on my Birthday, but the appreciation of the timing of my arrival into this world changed dramatically: now it is close to Thanksgiving, so it always puts me at least in a good mood, if not exactly festive. So, here is to another year of my life! As always, this year was filled with things both wonderful, the most notable of which was my first trip to the Caribbean, and the opposite of wonderful, one of which was my friend of nineteen years proposing the break up via e-mail.
As a whole, I was really not in a mood to celebrate this year; but, as always, I did attempt. My attempts consisted of taking the day off, having a relaxed and very enjoyable breakfast out with my sis, and then going on the town and blowing my non-existent money on my favorite things: books and chocolates. My wonderful mom also hosted a family get-together with magnificent and plentiful food, and my siblings threatened me with presents coming in the immediate future. Again, my plan to get drunk was nixed this year, and again due to my being on meds: this time it was not just antibiotics, but a combo of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory. But, thank G-d, the meds worked, and in the process my MD discovered my B12 deficiency, so, hopefully, more energy coming up pretty soon:)
But, honestly, celebratory spirit was really quiet low this year, and mostly it was due to (yes you guessed it) the election results. I know I have already offered my opinion on it, and I know it may sound illogical; I really do not care. To me these results signified only one thing: people who do not appreciate the beauty of this country, or do not realize or appreciate the multitude of blessings that come to us simply by living here, have summarily surrendered USA to people who openly hate it and are proud of it. So, while waiting for Thanksgiving, I could not stop thinking about very familiar, but not the less lamentable for it, human trait of not appreciating the multitude of good things we do have. And then came the Thanksgiving itself, and the horrible murders in Mumbai, the thoughts of which still bring tears to my eyes.
As I mentioned before, I am slowly approaching middle age. So, naturally, a person is expected to gain certain wisdom at this point. So, what did I gain in all those years so far, aside from becoming increasingly sarcastic, jaded, and pessimistic? The cornerstone of wisdom actually came to me when I was twenty two, in that memorable summer of taking statistics and secretarial courses (at the same time, but in different schools), meanwhile battling a strep of a six months duration. Anyway, while studying the bell curve, and especially its application to the matters of human IQ, there is a simple and clear pattern, and remembering it usually saves you from numerous occasions of pre-hypertension blood pressure: 64% of human population (the ones between first standart deviations on each side) has very average intelligence. That's it!
And that is the wisdom for the ages! Majority of population consists of people whose outlook on life is, well, just average. They never ponder the deep meaning of anything, and will swallow any and all lies, providing that the lie will guarantee them quite existence and fatter wallets, to which end they aspire their whole lives anyway. Then add to this the fact that even if people were born with good brains, they were not necessarily taught to expand and exercise those brains; moreover, around half the people with decent brains and educations use those to commit sins against the rest of humanity. This picture, of course, is very rosy, but, once you absorb it, the life becomes that much easier.
What else did I learn? It's wonderful not to conform and live according to logic, and not the opinions of Mr. and Mrs. Jones next door. Unfortunately, the people who will most suffer for your uniqueness, aside, of course, from you, are the ones who are closest to you and love you the most. It is fantastic to be a woman, but it is a man's world, and you will not have an easy lot, no matter which road you will choose. Nobody, and I mean, nobody cares about your level of eruditeness or your college GPA, but everyone will comment on your style of dressing yourself (or the supposed lack of thereof). Your good manners will not impress the scofflaw; moreover, those manners will get you pushed away, pushed around, and stepped on your toes. Very few good deeds are appreciated, and even fewer go unpunished. And commitment to work earns you the opportunity to pick up the slack for all the not so committed co-workers, plus ulcers and the above-mentioned hypertension. Basically, to quote one of my favorite movies: "The world is being FedExed to hell in a hand basket" (and has been for a while, by the way).
And then you remember Stendhal’s quote about the fact that there are many more great people than you think (at least I think it was Stendhal’s). And every morning, on the way to work, you see your old neighbour patiently waiting for Asses-A-Ride, so he can go to his wife in a nursing home. And on the way from work, you see a girl with a crutch giving her seat on the subway to a pregnant woman. And another guy on the subway rides extra four stops, so he can try and pick you up because he was fascinated by you repeatedly laughing out loud while reading a romance. And every 9/11 anniversary, you remember ordinary people like Todd Beamer and Amy Sweeney, who acted with courage and patriotism in the face of horrible odds.
Oh, and the character from the movie? He found out that he is about to be a father right after uttering that wonderful sentence.
So, here is to another year, better things to come, and all the G-d's Blessings! L'Chaim!
Monday, May 07, 2007
AN EARLY THANKSGIVING MESSAGE
When I was a young, naive and idealistic seminary student, I have accepted (without any questions) that we, Orthodox Jews, do not celebrate Thanksgiving because we do not dedicate only one day a year to give thanks for all the blessings bestowed upon us, and the same goes for Mother's day and Father's day.
As I grew older, the usual questions and re-evaluations followed. Yes, we can not dedicate only one day to give thanks to our Creator and his partners, our parents, but taking one day to make it extra special: what harm in that? The older I get, the more I realize how blessed my life is, and one of the biggest blessings are my parents. I can never thank them enough or come even close to giving them back all they have given me; never the less I try to do something sweet and special for them on Mother's and Father's Day respectively. As for Thanksgiving, it became my special day to give extra thanks for this wonderful country (without traditional dinner, since I hate turkey and sweet potatoes).
A few days ago I was browsing the net for something totally unrelated, but somehow stumbled on an interesting website. The site is called Thegratitudefund.org, and it is created by one of the former Soviet dissidents with a specific purpose to collect funds in order to assist other dissidents who are languishing in poverty in Russia. The site also has sort of a Memorial Wall, listing all the names of deceased dissidents; it also tells when and how they died. As I was reading this list, I got tears in my eyes and shivers down my spine. All those names leaping up at me! The days of my childhood when I used to hear those names on the garbled transmissions from Radio Svoboda! Then my eyes turned to the "death" column. My goodness! How many of them have died in jail or forced labor camps!
As I kept reading and re-reading this Memorial, my thoughts kept turning to two things: my love and unending gratitude for this country and the definition of a hero. These people were definitely not normal when you look at it logically. They lacked something which is inherent to all humans: the instinct for self-preservation. They may have been idealists, but they were definitely not blind or mis-informed. They knew the risks involved; that did not stop them from going against the biggest and the most horrendous suppression machine in the history of mankind, slowly, but successfully eroding this machine in the process. I also kept thinking how wonderful my life is, and how grateful I am that my family escaped when we did without experiencing the most tender mercies of the Soviet regime.
So, in my mind, I raise the biggest glass of the best wine and say this: Thank you, G-d, for this great and wonderful country, for your protection in our darkest hours, and for allowing us to escape with our lives and health intact. Please protect this country from her external enemies and all the traitors and useful idiots who are trying to destroy it from within! Thank You for all the "lunatics" who do not cower in darkness but have the courage to protest the tyranny and fight for every human's right to be free! Please continue to protect them and to protect USA!
As I grew older, the usual questions and re-evaluations followed. Yes, we can not dedicate only one day to give thanks to our Creator and his partners, our parents, but taking one day to make it extra special: what harm in that? The older I get, the more I realize how blessed my life is, and one of the biggest blessings are my parents. I can never thank them enough or come even close to giving them back all they have given me; never the less I try to do something sweet and special for them on Mother's and Father's Day respectively. As for Thanksgiving, it became my special day to give extra thanks for this wonderful country (without traditional dinner, since I hate turkey and sweet potatoes).
A few days ago I was browsing the net for something totally unrelated, but somehow stumbled on an interesting website. The site is called Thegratitudefund.org, and it is created by one of the former Soviet dissidents with a specific purpose to collect funds in order to assist other dissidents who are languishing in poverty in Russia. The site also has sort of a Memorial Wall, listing all the names of deceased dissidents; it also tells when and how they died. As I was reading this list, I got tears in my eyes and shivers down my spine. All those names leaping up at me! The days of my childhood when I used to hear those names on the garbled transmissions from Radio Svoboda! Then my eyes turned to the "death" column. My goodness! How many of them have died in jail or forced labor camps!
As I kept reading and re-reading this Memorial, my thoughts kept turning to two things: my love and unending gratitude for this country and the definition of a hero. These people were definitely not normal when you look at it logically. They lacked something which is inherent to all humans: the instinct for self-preservation. They may have been idealists, but they were definitely not blind or mis-informed. They knew the risks involved; that did not stop them from going against the biggest and the most horrendous suppression machine in the history of mankind, slowly, but successfully eroding this machine in the process. I also kept thinking how wonderful my life is, and how grateful I am that my family escaped when we did without experiencing the most tender mercies of the Soviet regime.
So, in my mind, I raise the biggest glass of the best wine and say this: Thank you, G-d, for this great and wonderful country, for your protection in our darkest hours, and for allowing us to escape with our lives and health intact. Please protect this country from her external enemies and all the traitors and useful idiots who are trying to destroy it from within! Thank You for all the "lunatics" who do not cower in darkness but have the courage to protest the tyranny and fight for every human's right to be free! Please continue to protect them and to protect USA!
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