Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Things to read and think about

A controversial ad campaign on buses in Seattle and new settlements in the West Bank.

Friday, December 17, 2010

New name, new game

Thanks to the lovely Genessa for providing the absolutely inspired new name for my blog.  I think it fits, don't you?

Tonight we went to Chochmat HaLev, a renewal temple right here in Berkeley, for Shabbat services.  It was just what I needed - plenty of singing and clapping and dancing, coupled with a reflective service and even a "blessing booth," which I took full advantage of.  The cosmos are with me apparently, and I'm starting to believe it.  Shabbat shalom!

Okay, so we broke up.

Ilan and I have broken up, which may call into question the existence of this blog.  I'm thinking of changing it to My (Almost) Jewish Life or something similar, to follow my continuing Jewish practice (still as a non-Jew) now that I'm single.  I may even explore how facets of Judaism help me to get through the break up and keep my eyes optimistically on the future.  I hope that this space will continue to be a resource for non-Jews practicing Judaism, whether they're in interfaith relationships or not.  In the meantime, I may not post for a bit and certainly need to change the header image so I don't give myself any nervous breakdowns!

Until next post. . .

Monday, December 13, 2010

Can I interest you in Hanukkah?

From A Colbert Christmas, Jon tries to interest Stephen in Hanukkah which lasts for "seven - for you? - eight nights." I'm sold! (Thanks to Genessa for sharing.)


Sunday, December 12, 2010

The Review: Exit Wounds

I had heard a lot of wonderful things about Exit Wounds by Rutu Modan before I bought it. Actually, I think most of the wonderful things I heard were actually READ on the back cover of the book. But, anyway. . . Finally I found it on mega-sale at a used book store and figured, why not?

First, the pictures are totally wonderful and gorgeous. Comparisons by The New York Times Book Review to the style of Tintin are well founded. But, for me, the story left a lot to be desired. In a nutshell:
(1) girl stalks boy for mysterious reason,
(2) boy finds out from girl that (his) long-estranged father may have been killed in a recent bombing,
(3) boy discovers girl had intimate relationship with boy's father,
(4) boy mostly can't stand girl and is mean to her,
(5) girl keeps coming back for more,
(6) boy and girl inexplicably have sex,
(7) boy does some jerky thing to get girl to finally leave,
(8) boy desperately seeks to rekindle tenuous relationship with girl.

Oh, and we never really know what happened to the boy's father, anyway.

Entertainment Weekly called this, "a triumphant book about not-so-quiet desperation," but I don't think the story was nuanced enough to earn such praise. We just don't know enough about the characters to care what happens to them, and so are left disappointed in the end - wanting more, but also a bit bored.

More positively, I just got a free copy of Guilt & Pleasure magazine from, er, summer 2007 (before Exit Wounds came out) and it features a short strip by Rutu Modan that I really like, actually, called "Energy Blockage." Also, G&P is such an awesome magazine. I'm only 22 pages in, and I'm totally hooked.