Unwritten

NOLA

2008-02-11T21:37:00.000-05:00

Alright now that Hell Week has passed I can get back to the other important things in this world.

My trip to New Orleans. And what a trip!

Such a beautiful city, such a tragedy. Don't get me wrong the French Quarter looks great, you wouldn't know that there had been flooding there just 2 years ago. But then you venture into what was the "poorer" , less touristy areas, like the Lower 9th Ward and you can see the lasting damage caused by Katrina. On our first day we went on a bus tour of the effected areas- we were about a 500 metres from where the levee broke and flooded New Orleans, the total devestation and lack of rebuilding was astonshing. Our bus driver- Leroy was very open with his story. We looked around at one spot in the Lower 9th Ward neigbourhood that he lived in and he said before Katrina the neighbourhood actually looked like a neighbourhood. Now it looks like this:

Lower 9th Ward Destroyed Home in Lower 9th Ward

This is a street that used to be lined with houses. It is hard not to get so angry at the American government for not doing a thing to help the people who lost everything. Literally. Thankfully Leroy had another house he could move into, so he sold his land in the Lower 9th Ward and is living near the airport. Which is good that he has a place to live, but he told us he needs to buy everything from new now. The second picture I put up of the bathroom just got to me- I saw my image in the cracked mirror and thought, someone used to stand there and shave or brush their teeth, something so regular and so private and now it looks like this.

The people in New Orleans were so wonderful and welcoming and thankful. I wish we could have stayed longer to make a real impact, but hopefully painting the inside of a house, cleaning up the squatter remains and burned out porch of another helped a little.

If anyone reading this wants to know what you can do to help this is what every single person told us when we asked what we could do: Visit New Orleans. It is a city each of us should embrace and realize, especially living in North America, that it could happen anywhere. Natural disasters do not discriminate, governments do though (that's an entirely different rant- watch Spike Lee's Documentary When the Levees Broke). Visit the beautiful city with family or friends or a loved one. It will not be a trip you will soon forget. Mardi Gras was amazing, the architecture was beautiful, the food was exquisite and the people are so wonderful. We cannot forget them even when most of North America seems to have.

BLAH

2008-02-01T14:31:00.001-05:00

EVERYTHING BLOWS RIGHT NOW
I HATE ANTI-ISRAEL PEOPLE
THEY ARE F*CKING UP MY LIFE AND ARE ALL SO STUPID AND GRAVELY MISTAKEN IN THEIR STUPIDNESS.

I will talk more about my Rebuilding trip to New Orleans once the stupidness of next week is over. I HATE THEM

It's a bird... it's a plane... it's a .... piece of ice???

2007-12-23T10:42:00.000-05:00

So I've been thinking a lot lately as I've seen snow falling from roof tops (after the biggest storm in 50 years hit Toronto) what would happen if the snow were to fall on my head as I was walking down the street, how would I react?

Be careful what you wish for kiddies?

Of course I didn't actually wish for this but well. So I'm walking down the street in Montreal on my way to one of my favourite stores on St Catherine, Simons (Psy-mons) - or if you are pretentious crazy person who's names starts with an A and ends in mber- seeee-mons. All of a sudden I hear this noise and I look up just in time to have a huge chunk of ice fall on my face, instead of quickly moving out of the way, I just cover my head in a self defensive position and wait till the ice blocks have stopped falling on me. Not exactly how I imagine I would react; with tortoise like reflexes. Anyway, it's not so bad, I have a tiny little scratch on my noise, though it did hurt like hell and it got a little swollen. More then anything I was just so out of it, the pain mixed with the fact that I just got hit in the face with ice that fell off the building. It was a weird feeling I tell you.

G-d and Bears

2007-12-03T12:17:00.000-05:00

Ok I concede I was wrong

2007-12-03T12:04:00.000-05:00

My birthday freaking rocked the casbah. But actually.

Dance class Saturday morning was great- woo new leg warmers from the friend... so warm!

Cake with the family- my brother and his girlfriend bought be a Coach purse- so nice, so sweet!

Dinner with the BF on Saturday night was amazing- great new fusion Indian-Italian restuarant- weird right? Not at all it was amazing! So sweet of him- G-d I love him.

Went out Saturday night, a majority of my Hillel friends came and it was just really awesome. I mean I really expected no one to come for various reasons- mainly b/c that is how my bday works and b/c of the crazy snow storm but people came and celebrated and I just felt so special! That's how you are supposed to feel right? I just kept thanking them and they were like duh of course we would come- I realize I probably appeared to be a nutcase, but really I was touched. Oh yeah and I sang Barbie Girl at the Karaoke night. HAHAHA... OY it was fun.

Sunday was great with brunch with the family and my BF, went to a great restaurant in the distillery district, again was just really touched.

The friend and I were going to go to the bellydance night that our bellydance academy has on the Danforth every Sunday night. We were super excited. I was so pumped. So I leave the JNF dinner early, I rush over and change, the BF (who stayed an extra night b/c of the weather) drove all the way down from Thornhill and we trek there. Not to mention the streets were a little flooded and to get from the car to the sidewalk we ended up in ankle (at least ankle) deep puddles, only to get there and hear that it was cancelled b/c of the weather ARGH!!! Seriously!!!!

Anyway, it was fun in the end we grabbed dessert and chatted and we will try to make it next week- I had an awesome time in the end and I take back my words about bdays sucking.

Thanks friends!!!! You all rule for making it truly special!!!

December 1 2007

2007-11-30T22:14:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow morning is my birthday. The BF is in town- took him 8 hours to get here from Ottawa- got love the traffic that is the 401.
I thought I would write a post that would explain how I feel about getting another year older, about where I'm at in my life etc but I just draw a blank. A complete blank. These last two weeks have been so rough with anti-Israel crap on campus- I mean really tough, worse then last year in many ways and when listening to Norman Finkelshit speak last night I found myself absolutely drained. Absolutely. It scares me that there were about 250 people in that audience that applauded wholeheartedly when Finkelshit said he was jubilant when the "disciplined" Hizbollah defeated the Israelis. Do we actually behave like that in this society? Never, EVER, would I applaud and cheer for the IDF for killing people, for starting a war. Yes I would support them given the circumstances, but to cheer as if you are at a sporting event. It made my stomach turn. I will not even get into the bullying tactics the anti-Israel camp used at the farcical Ryerson Academic Freedom Academic Boycott Forum this past week. Truly it makes me lose my appetite- I guess I don't need to continue paying for dance class though if I decide I need to shed a few pounds. Sigh.
It's hard. Really hard right now.

But tomorrow is my birthday and to focus on something a little more fun let's see who I share a birthday with:

Bette Midler
Richard Pryor
Woody Allen
Candace Bushnell
Jinpachi Nizu (yeah I don't know who this is either, some Japanese actor who seems to be a big nobody but shows up on every birthday list, so perhaps he... or she... is a big somebody somewhere)

It's so strange

2007-11-17T00:14:00.001-05:00

It's so strange my life now. I went from the person who was out all the time to being too lazy to go out. I mean I realize that during the week I'm so tired from work that I just want to sit in front of the tv and be a complete couch potato, but I don't think that's good and it's strange feeling going on inside. Literally half of me wants to go out and half fun and be social and the other half just can't motivate. Unfortunately the unmotivating part wins most of the time. It sucks. I'm not married, I don't have kids. Mind you the invitations are not exactly flooding in, but I suppose that's b/c I constantly turned them down. I don't know. I suppose this is a mini crisis. Most people, actually I'm sure nobody understands me. I imagine most people would say, yeah you're growing up and you don't need to go clubbing every night you can. True. But that's not even what I'm talking about. I sit at home and watch TV. It's Friday night and I stayed home. I had two invitations to do something and I stayed in. Sigh. What happened to me?

Drag Queens, Bollywood and Israelis

2007-11-17T00:05:00.001-05:00

Thank you to Omer for letting me know that this song exists.
Dana International was born Yaron Cohen, for more information http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dana_International
I love this it feeds into all my obsessions and insanities. Well maybe not the sex changing aspect.

Canada: Multiculturalism or Assimilation

2007-10-20T19:18:00.000-04:00

Just read this article on Yahoo discussing the lack of tolerance in Quebec and in Canada in general. Especially towards new immigrants. It's strange b/c even I've said it "If you don't like it here, go back to where you came from." We have a certain way of living here and we're happy with it. But is this just scratching the surface? What happens when the way I practice Judaism is no longer acceptable. I mean sure I don't understand the Hassidic Jews way of living, but what happens when this country wants people to assimilate more to the point where it's unacceptable to keep kosher.

As much as we pride ourselves on multi-culturalism I think we are more interested in assimilation like our friends to the South. Culture is a fun aside, it's ok if you are a different culture as long as you fit into Canada's secularism, like culture is ok as a side job.

It's strange b/c someone said to me during my summer in Israel that we Canadians don't really practice multi-culturalism. That Israel is more of a true mosaic. I don't know for sure about Israel, it's got it's only integration problems, but I see more and more that this multiculturalism that we pride ourselves on in Canada is more and more a joke. Especially considering what's been going on in Quebec.

(And yes it's easy to shrug it off as a Quebec issue, a French issue, but the fact is it's less and less of one- ie. Faith Based funding in Ontario and the backlash to it)

Stephen Colbert For President!

2007-10-18T23:17:00.001-04:00

So you've all heard/seen Colbert announcing his presidency, but what lead up to that decision. Watch this to find out.
LORD OF THE RINGS RULES!

What I hate about Toronto

2007-09-22T17:12:00.000-04:00

Just recently watched a documentary called "Let's all hate Toronto" which was a little depressing and funny. Found out (according to this documentary) that most of Canada hates Toronto. I suppose it's not really much of a surprise. What did I learn ultimately? Well basically the whole country is jealous of Toronto (the same way most of Canada is jealous of the States). Typical Torontonian answer you say. I suppose. But at the end of the movie I learned that the whole of Canada hates Toronto and they are not exactly sure why. In fact not one person could answer the "why do you hate Toronto question?" But whatever, that's not what I'm talking about right now. The other weekend I was out downtown with the BF and it was late and we wanted to go home by cab. As in I wanted to pay someone (and probably tip them) to drive me home, at an inflated right I'm sure. Was with Os and they were willing to take him home, but about 10 cabs turned me and the BF down. WHAT THE F*CK????? It's not like they're refusing to take us b/c we were ridiculously drunk and throwing up everywhere and covered in poo and possessed by the devil. They just didn't want to travel so far north. I understand it's late, I understand it's far. But really what the hell are they working for. I can understand perhaps one cab not taking us, maybe two but about 10 said no it's too far. It's so stupid, I was so annoyed. Is this a new trend in Toronto?
Next let's talk about the TCC.... actually let's not b/c then I will throw my computer on the ground and it's not the computer's fault now is it. Damn TTC.
I love Toronto. I do. What I hate about Toronto is that this city has so much potential to be a leading city of this country and of this world but we squander away any potential with stupid ideas and archaic infrastructure. Streetcars? Traffic? Stupid cabs? This is why I hate Toronto. Things that can change.

Because it's true

2007-08-29T16:45:00.000-04:00

Awkward with a capital A

2007-08-28T16:40:00.000-04:00

So guess who I bumped into, yup that would be the very same person I just bitched about in my last entry. And it was awkward. Very awkward. It kind of went like this:
Rebecca walking very fast to work along St. George, passing St. George Station:

D: Rebecca
R: (sinking feeling in stomach b/c I recognize the voice, I turn around) Oh hey, D***
D: How are you?
R: (thinking of everything I want to say, like why the hell do you care, have you bothered calling me in the last 4 months, would you even know I was alive if I hadn't dropped off my friend at home b/c she has a broken leg and can't walk, why should I tell you how I am, you clearly don't actually care, and why oh why did you call my name and force us to have a conversation now) Ok. Just um, dropping my friend off and going to work......
[VERY AWKWARD SILENCE, positioning my body for quick get away)
D: So how was Israel?
R: (oh NOW you care how Israel was???? So you did know I was gone for TWO months and you couldn't be bothered to get in touch with me at all during that time... hello SMS??? EMAIL???) Fantastic, really really great.
D: So
R: So
D: Yeah I just picked up crepes for Meghan so...
R: (really crepes for Meghan, oh yeah so you're still together which is why you are a complete bastard and don't bother calling any of your old friends, but maybe you don't actually consider me a friend, actually clearly you don't) oh...
Woman leaving St. George Station: Um excuse me can you tell me how to get to the ROM?
R: (Oh thank G-d for you, bless you bless you bless) Of course yes, it's just down the street to Bloor than you go left and it's at Avenue.
D: Ok so bye
R: Yup bye
W: So it's just down there?
R: Yes, just down there really close to here about a 10 minute walk from here (have I mentioned how much I love you for rescuing me from one of the more awkward conversations I've had in a while)

Keep walking down St. George, cross Bloor to make sure I'm definitely out of sight:
R: OMG friend you would never imagine who I just saw. Call me back.

Bitch Fest

2007-08-20T11:40:00.000-04:00

I always do this to myself. The need for closure. Once on TV I heard someone say there is really no such thing as closure. I sort of believe it, b/c no matter what I do I always seem to want to make things worse. It's never enough for me. It's not enough for me to be treated like crap by friends. I mean in all honesty, as of late it's not that friends treat me like crap, no I seem to have rid my life of those friends of those friends who were more damaging then anything else (K, A, H, S, R- yeah it spells KRASH I know, significance not lost on me.) But even with them, I had this sick need to get as hurt as possible, like that was the only way it would get through my mind that these people really, well, hated me. And now it's a friend I've known since high school (by process of elimination you'll probably figure out quickly who it is but I'm not going to write his name).

We've been through a lot. A lot. Good and bad. I know I hurt him really bad, unitentionally b/c I could not give him what he needed from me. But after all that HE wanted to remain friends. I gave him the out on more then one occasion if he couldn't handle friendship. But he wanted to remain friends. And so things changed b/w us, but it was ok they had to change, and we could still be friends. But with each gf he has I get thrown to the gutter. And you have to understand, I get that when a couple first starts they forget they have friends, been there done it, but I've always tried to maintain some sort of contact with my friends, even if I'm pretty crappy at it. But there comes a point when you've settled that you remember, oh yeah I have these friends who have stuck by me through thick and thin maybe I'll give them a call. Especially if they are going away to another country, on the other side of the world for TWO months. Maybe he didn't want to spend the money calling me. Though a phone card at 7-11 costs 5$ (he spends more then that on facial creams). But ok maybe he doesn't want to call. It's not like we are living in the times of pigeon carriers, sms, facebook, email, msn, there's more then one way to reach me. Everytime he has a gf he forgets his friends (read: his old friends, b/c he's certainly hanging out with ppl), and when they break up he's there crying to me. I won't call him up and tell him I'm pissed, I've done that so many times. We've been through this so many damn times now. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me, fool me 5 times and I'm a complete idiot if I don't bail already. And so here on my lovely blog I give up. I'm throwing the towel in and I'm hoping that this will be enough. That I won't need to hear how he thinks I'm actually not so bright or the many other lovely things he has said about me that have gotten back to me. And the strange thing is I thought I would have more feelings about this but I don't. Perhaps this is the closure I need.

מר קו

2007-08-16T16:46:00.001-04:00

I miss you Dafna, Omer and Liron!

Visit Israel

2007-08-15T15:37:00.001-04:00

My Last Israel Entry.... for now

2007-08-15T14:59:00.000-04:00

"If there's a place in the world that can make you cry, isn't that where you ought to be?" Rabbi Daniel Gordis on Israel.

I've spent two months in Israel. I'm back and so happy to see friends and family. But I feel like I left something there. I always feel like that. And I don't quite know how to describe it so I will borrow from a book by Gil Troy, there is a feeling "of belonging, of connectedness, of community, of self respect that comes from a sense of ownership. I feel like Israel is mine, that I belong to Israel and Israel belongs to me." It is not something I feel in Canada (and trust me I am not lacking in my CDN patriotism). For the first time I understand why Jews should mourn being exiled into the Galut (diaspora), as much as I become Canadian, I will never truly belong in the same way I feel I belong in Israel. When I was sitting at the ruins of the Second Temple during Tisha B'av (the day we mourn the destruction of the Second Temple) this was never more apparent to me.

One among many things I've learned....
Again I am going to borrow from Gil Troy to explain the dangers of anti-Zionism. First one must understand that to attack Zionism, rather then Israeli policies or the Israeli government is to repudiate the State of Israel and the idea of a Jewish state. Zionism at its simplest is Jewish nationalism, the understanding that Jews are a people, that Judaism is not just a religion and that Israel is the Jewish homeland. To feel a kinship with a certain community is natural, not racist. Certainly Jews are not the first community in Canada to balance an connection to their respective ethnic heritages with an ardent love for their land. There are a plethora of European nations, who are ironically quick to condemn Israel, which make their own very strict distinctions as to who can become a citizen (try to become a citizen of France, not as easy as you'd think). Every nation state reserves the right to make its own rules regarding citizenship. Anti-Zionism at its core attacks the very right of the Jews to their homeland.

I opened this entry with a quote by Rabbi Gordis. You may ask if a place makes me cry why the hell would i want to live there? I cry when I think of the settlers who were forced out of their homes for Disengagement, I cried when I saw images of soldiers crying and hugging settlers as they escorted them out of Gush Katif when the world expected all out civil war with Jew killing Jew Israeli reacted with no violent protest, I cried on Tisha B'av when I sat by the destructions of the Temple and I cry when innocent Israeli citizens are killed by terrorists, I cry tears of frustration when I see the lies and unwillingness to accept Israel by anti-Zionists and I cry when I saw the Israeli flag flying at our Solidarity with Israel concert last November, I get choked up every time I sing Hatikvah (The Hope), Israel's national anthem, thinking of the meaning of the words, I swell with pride when I read about Israel's many achievements and I cry everytime I leave the country. With so many emotions in me for one country, for one people- how could I think of living anywhere else.

שוטי הנבואה - ידיעה

2007-08-05T05:45:00.001-04:00

About the missing Donkey!
PS it's funny b/c I lived near a donkey in Rehovot. Well funny to me.

Shotei Hanevua - קול גלגל

2007-08-05T05:36:00.001-04:00

Shotei Hanevua

2007-08-05T05:23:00.000-04:00

Went to a concert last night with Dafna and Omer. On a Kibbutz (Lehovot Haviva) literally in the middle of nowhere Israel. Beautiful kibbutz though. I went to see a band called Shotei Hanevua. My G-d it was AMAZING!!!!! We've been talking about bringing them to Toronto for so long and now I'm convinced we should. Dafna said I had a moment with the pianist. LOL! He did look at me more then once, but then I was standing at the front of the stage right in front of him (not to worry BF not becoming a groupie anytime soon and you are so much cuter). I danced like crazy, I sang till my throat hurt and it was just a great way to end my last weekend in Israel. I'm going to miss this place like crazy. Aside from some of the bumps in the road I've had an amazing time here. Discovered a lot about myself, about my friends and about my family (and no I will not share that on here, some thoughts are private even from blogging).

Video Post
Hopefully the video post has worked (if not ignore this). I posted the Shotei Hanevua Kol Galgal which is an amazingly beautiful song. The "video" is not the true video but it is pictures of Tel Aviv and to give you insight to what Tel Aviv looks like for real plus I've been to most of the places that are pictured here. I will also try to post Yedea, which is a real video by the band and is hilarious- it's about their Donkey Dorot that went missing one night and they are looking all over Israel for it (true story apparently - ie they had a donkey and someone stole it- who does that???)

My brain is melting

2007-07-29T12:09:00.000-04:00

First things first- my boss called. I wouldn't say things are settled but I'm certainly not as mad as before. Still employed by Hillel and happy again.
Secondly it's bloody hot in this country. I've taken to staying in most of the day and going out after 6PM b/c it's so damn hot.
Seeing as this is my last week and a half I'm hoping to fit in as much as possible before I have to come home. And yes I'm actually a little homesick, but find that I don't actually want to leave Israel that much. So strange.
One thing I've come to realize is that I'm not making Aliyah anytime in the near future. I love this country so much, but life in Canada is way too easy for me. Sure the blistering cold winter nights will have me singing a different tune I'm sure, but things just work better in Canada. And I know that this is in large part to the fact that I'm Canadian and I get it there. Here the language is a barrier, not that people don't speak English b/c most people do. At least a bit and I can get by on my Hebrew. And being put in the position where I'd have no other choice I know I could speak this language fluently. But how long would that take? And what would I be willing to give up for that? I mean I have a Masters. If I were to come to Israel, 10:1 I wouldn't be employed at a standard that would meet my education. That is hard to come to terms with.
That being said Aliyah is not out of the question. Until I do decide I'm ready for that leap, I will continue with the job I love (read: I love what I actually do, the environment can get a little frustrating), continue to support and fight for Israel in the Galut and by this I will make peace with being Jewish but not living in the Jewish homeland.

But I respect beyond belief Olim like Nikki and Goggi! You guys rock!
MATT DAMON!!!!
(don't really respect him, it's just funny... and my brain is melting... but actually!)

Fireflies

2007-07-22T07:59:00.000-04:00

Yes this is a post entirely about Eran. I met Eran through Dafna and while he has made aliyah to Canada he happened to be in Israel when I was here. He left on Friday but I feel that I should express my gratitude to him all the same. And well I'm not particularly good at that in person (and the jury is still out if I'm any good at it on my blog) I'm going to try to on the internet. Eran showed me Israel. He made me a pet project of sorts and really took me all over. From the Barry Sacharof and Moshe Ben Ari (ok and Ninette, but I don't like her) concert when I first got here- yes now I'm a Barry Sacharof fan, Moshe Ben Ari is still an ape... a scary ape (but actually his music is pretty good... but scary looking man) to the last day he spent here where he took me hiking in Nachal Amod, hiking at Mt Arbel, to the Kineret, to visit his great Aunt Rosie (she's so sweet if not somewhat freaked out by my presence...oops) to Zichron Yacov, I had an absolutely wonderful time and I can't thank Eran enough for taking me under his wing and showing me so much more of Israel. Thank you Eran I had a great time! I have some great memories that will definately stand out in the years to come and I only hope I can do the same for him in Toronto.

I don't want to complain but...

2007-07-22T07:53:00.000-04:00

I'm on vacation and I'm really trying to enjoy it. In fact I've enjoyed it immensely so far, I've enjoyed the times I've spent working for Hillel, Professionally developing for Hillel and I've enjoyed my beach bum status I've gained when not working for Hillel. But now the worries and annoyances have seeped in. I still am not actually employed by Hillel (still waiting for my letter of offer) and I was never told that staff training is not happening by my boss. Now please don't think we completely insensitive b/c my boss's mother passed away about two weeks ago and I know that he's had bigger things on his mind then me. But damn it he had like a month before all this, before his mom got really sick to deal with it and if not him then SOMEONE ANYONE could have bloody well called me to tell me staff training was not happening. I'm here in Israel and my work has no idea how I've been, if I'm alive or dead and they were the ones that sent me here. I'm tired of complaining about the same shit over and over but now there is talk about me switching my flights..... are you bloody well serious???!!! Pardon my French, but fuck it all.

Interesting thought

2007-07-17T14:10:00.000-04:00

I was walking down the Diezengoff today and I saw this girl dressed very nicely with a ginourmous magen david around her neck. Magen Davids in Israel are fashionable. You go into the equivalent of Claires or Diva and instead of crosses like in Canada, you see Magen Davids. It made me think, do I wear my Magen David so people know I'm Jewish ("you don't look Jewish") almost as an ID badge or do I wear it b/c it's pretty. Certainly I'm proud to wear it, to be Jewish, but is it so I can be different from others in Canada, really stand out. Here it's clearly different. It made me think.

Apartheid State

2007-07-17T04:30:00.000-04:00

Well I'm done my seminar with the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Some may call it propaganda, but I would say that our "cousins" would do the same.... wait in fact they do it worse.... see Paliwood (it's rather disturbing). What do I have to say at the end of the day after visiting the "Apartheid Wall"[which is actually more of a fence, in fact about 5% of it is a wall and that is where terrorists were taking sniper shots at those using the highway below] after being given the tour by the man who built the wall, literally, after hearing him say he hopes to be the first one to be able to knock it down, after hearing a settler from Gush Etzion speak, after hearing a Palestinian from the Panorama Centre which strives to bring order and a sort of democracy to the territories and a lasting peace between the territories and Israel, after visiting the Beit Gefen Arab Centre and understanding that co-existence is actually possible and seeing that our cousins have no idea what Apartheid actually is I have come to this conclusion: Israel is in the wrong with it's treatment of Palestinians, it's in the wrong with its treatment of Arab Israelis and Ethiopians. What I've also learned is that it is striving to become a better state, to make life better for Arab Israelis and Ethiopians, to create a separate state for the Palestinians so that they can govern themselves, instead of "occupying" (which they are only "occupying" one of the territories, remember disengagement of Gaza- Sderot certainly does b/c they have been having Qasams raining down on them EVERY week from there- but why would that make International news, not sensational enough, not enough people dying) the West Bank Israel would gladly create a Two State Solution, One Israeli One Palestinian, the unfortunate thing is that the West Bank proves too strategic for defense, especially given the fact that Hamas has proven itself untrustworthy in Gaza. I've also learned that despite all the hardships Arab Israelis have a hell of a lot more rights then most Arabs in the countries surrounding Israel- bull shit you a might say? How about Freedom of Press? (yes there is, in fact Israeli newspapers are the harshest critics of the Israeli gov't) Certainly there is freedom of religion? - same is true elsewhere? hmmm... let's talk about the slaughtered Bahai, or the ever looming shiite sunni conflict, never mind the millions of Jewish refugees who were kicked out of Iran, Iraq, Jordan...the list goes on.... the right to vote, the right to approach the court if they want to protest the location of the security fence. It's not that Israel is always right, no that's not the issue here, it tries, it makes mistakes, it tries to make up for such mistakes. The issue is that you would think that Israel is the only country in the whole world who has these problems. Look at Darfur, look at Pakistan, right of return only exists in Israel? ha, look at France (it's harder then Israel) or Germany.... the list goes on.
At the end of the day, I've realized that Israel has a lot it needs to do, but to call it an Apartheid State and to equate Zionism with Nazism and all the wonderful bull shit the Anti-Israel lobby spews forward is the new Anti-Semitism. Questioning policies of the state of Israel not wrong, questioning it's very right to exist as Jewish State, putting a spot light on Israel the way the Anti-Zionist lobby does is Anti-Semitism. It's a new form. And it's scary b/c it's becoming more and more acceptable.

Yerushalayim Ani Magea

2007-07-01T06:25:00.000-04:00

Ok this is the end of my week in Tel Aviv.... Wow.... it has been amazing. This will be a two parter entry:
Part 1:
First day I get here I need to take care of some womanly things. Ie. Waxing so I can go to the beach. Fine so I go to this place literally right below Omer's place. The woman is excellent I want to take her home with me. I love her. But actually. So she's done my legs and she's going to do my bikini line. So I get ready, hold the underwear so she can get to the hair and she says, take them off. WHAT????? ummm...... then she tells me how she wanted to be a nurse in the delivery room but life got in the way and that for that reason I shouldn't be embarassed... right... it's my cupcake being exposed...... then she goes on to tell me that if she had more time she could wax me so my initial was there... or my boyfriends... or a heart, after which she takes out a cut out heart and shows me and tell me she could dye it pink..... oh Lord..... it was..... an experience but she was fantastic b/c it barely hurt. So yeah I guess that's the point.

Part 2:
So was staying with "the Ex" who I will no longer call the Ex b/c to be honest it's not nice. We had some discussions about it, about my blog and about us. He's been an amazing friend here, even gave up his bed for me and has been sleeping on the couch (not an easy feat with two roomates). Who knows what will happen when I go back to Canada I do hope we stay in touch b/c he's been so great to me now and I would really like to be able to call him a friend. I plan on making Israel a part of my life one way or another and it would be amazing to be able to see him when I come in. The BF in no way should have any fears. I love him very much. But this needed to be said b/c I think some of the things I wrote on my blog hurt his feelings and were not taken in the way I meant them. Omer is a great person and I hope to be able to be friends with him for a long time. I know he will find someone who will make him so happy soon b/c he's such a great guy.
Thanks Omer! Tel Aviv has been amazing!

Space Cookies and Moscata

2007-06-25T04:57:00.000-04:00

What's the best way to spend Shabbat when you are surrounding by those who are shomer shabbos? Cookies and Moscata under a tree. Yes indeed. Thinking of calling up Nikki next shabbat... and the shabbat after that... and after that... I think I see a pattern developing here.

So today is the last day of the Leadership Trip. I have 2 more tees and a sweatshirt to prove that I was here and maybe I even made a little bit of a difference. Who knows we'll find out during the school year. Living with 3 people how are very religious has been trying at times. It's a strange thing to be shown that you are completely a "bad" Jew (I use the term very loosely) and having to deal with some of the mishugas of keeping kosher or keeping Shabbat actually drove me a little crazy. Like why do I have to be the open minded one all the time? And discussions surrounding the Jerusalem Pride Parade ( and Gay Pride in general) have bordered on offensive with the Torah being used as justification. I just cannot agree with any interpretation of a religion that believes it must live the way we did over 2000 years ago. Things of changed, there is added knowledge and living as though we did back then will not bring me greater spirituality or peace of mind. But that's just my opinion. And here I thought that my time spent here might make me more observant whereas it's flung me in the complete opposite direction. Though not eating bacon or seafood any time soon.

With that little kvetching I must say I find myself thinking that I will actually miss these kids. Hopefully there time spent here will encourage them to get further involved in Hillel.

Off to Tel Aviv today. Finally some time to party it up and live in "Secular Israel"

Bring back my bonnie to me....

2007-06-20T05:51:00.001-04:00

BF is out West. Time difference is now 10 hours apart. Miss talking to him. Now I wait by the phone and pine a little. I miss him. I know he misses me. But the nice thing, this time apart making me realize that perhaps he is the one. The one what I'm not 100% sure yet. But I do know that I would like him to stick around for a while. A long while.

At least I'm a foreign National

2007-06-20T05:29:00.000-04:00

So most people who read this blog got my mass email about what I've been doing in Israel since my last entry, so this is the stuff that didn't go into that email so that my parents wouldn't freak.
So this weekend I was in Jerusalem for Shabbat. It started nice, I met up with Dafna and a student for lunch and then we went walking around and Dafna showed me Jerusalem (not the old City). The plan was to walk to the Old City (about 15-20 minute walk) to the place I was staying, The Sephardi Educational Centre. As we were touring Dafna's flip flop broke. Completely unfixable. So she decided that we would take a cab to the Old City b/c she had already walked a bit barefoot and let me tell you J-Lem is a dirty dirty dirty city. Now the directions I've been given to get to the Centre are "it's by the main parking lot in the Old City, everyone knows where it is, there's only one main parking lot." So we get into the cab and tell him where we need to go. He does not want to go into the Old City b/c it will be really busy at 4PM on the eve of Shabbat- fair enough just as long as he can get us close and someone can direct me there. Now I've been to this centre before. THREE years ago on Birthright so really I know what it looks like but have no idea where it is. Apparently the cab driver has no idea either. So we call Nikki who is there and she gives the directions that it is right next to the Cardo
which is in the Jewish Quarter in the Old City. Dafna does not understand what it is and the cab driver had no idea. We spend about 15 minutes saying the Cardo. Now I don't know where it is, but I've heard of it before. Distant memory so I know it exists. Both Dafna and the cab driver both have no idea what we are talking about. Yelling ensues in Hebrew and we are kicked out of the cab in East Jerusalem. To be honest, it's not so scary, but with tensions in Gaza it is not so wise for three Jews to be lost in East Jerusalem (though might I interject that Dafna was amazing, and we didn't pay the cab driver... other drivers would make us pay). So now we are completely lost no idea where we are going. Dafna calls her brother for directions and he freaks out b/c we are 3 Jews amongst many possibly disgrunteled Arabs. We figure we need to get to the Jaffa Gate and start making out way there.
All of a sudden I sense someone right next to me and Dafna yells "eh lech me po!" (translation get the hell out of here) but really yells and then this guy yells back he thinks it's a bloody joke. If Dafna had not yelled he probably would have ended up kissing my neck or something; not a big deal you might think but the fact is it is harrassment. So being lost, almost being molested and the heat with my heavy back pack did not make me a happy girl.
Fast forward to Sunday, we are heading out of J-Lem in a cab and there is crazy traffic and there is a street closed so our cab driver tells Nikki he knows a short cut. We quickly realize that the short cut is through the Arab Village of Silwan. Once again, no problems now but well tensions plus being Jewish.... with an Arab cab driver- these are situations most people try to avoid. Of course I'm blissfully ignorant of where we are, even though Nikki begins acting strange and I'm wondering why, then I see it. The Hamas flags. Ah. Not friendly territory.
We made it through and the cab driver decides he doesn't want to drive us the whole way. So we walk the 3 blocks to Nikki's place. OY. Once we get out the cab Nikki turns to me and says "I figured Rebecca will be alright, at least she's a foreign national, me I'm screwed." (Nikki holds and Israeli passport and ID card). To which I respond "Well I would have sent a search party."
It has been an interesting time here in J-Lem.
Volunteering has been great. We volunteered for Save a Child's Heart. Most rewarding experience I've had in a long time. We met children from Iraq, Zanzibar and Ethiopia. They were all amazing and so friendly. Good things that SACH does. Great things. Kol Hakavod.

Married Woman... me?

2007-06-14T06:02:00.000-04:00

Things are going well over here b'Eretz Yisrael.
It's hot, but not unbearably so. The nights are cool enough so that I can sleep. I imagine it will get hotter.
Yesterday we travelled to Jerusalem to visit the Museum on the Seam. We attended an exhibit called Equal and Less Equal. I found it interesting in the exhibit is about "The disparity between the vision of equal opportunity, and its application, is greater than many of us know or are willing to admit." I'm not sure all the students found it very interesting though unfortunately. Perhaps too leftist, too ambiguous, too abstract. Either way it was kind of neat to be on the Seam (where Jordan used to Border Israel). I got into this cab with 3 of my students and it became very clear that our cab driver had no idea where we were going. Oh trying to explain in broken Hebrew/English so much fun. He was very friendly though. So I suppose that's something. Anyway, he left us off at the Damascus Gate. In East J-Lem- for those who do not know, East J-Lem is the Arab part of J-Lem. So it was me, and two religious boys and one girl. It was intimidating at first. But people were really friendly and helped us. So I don't know. It was an interesting experience in the end. And it was rather amusing to learn that we were literally around the corner from where we needed to be. Ah the streets in J-Lem, even more confusing then Montreal.
After that I went to Nikki's friend for a massage. Yup I ditched for an hour- anyway the student were in lecture so I didn't really need to be there. One glorious hour of massage and reflexology which I've never had done. Freaky thing she started with the reflexology and when she was done she goes, do you have problems with your ears... WHOA!!! Freaky. So relaxing.
She used oils and also massaged my back, decollte, face and scalp. Which meant I left her place a very oily grease monkey. My hair was so gross and I knew that I still had a couple of hours for dinner and walking around J-Lem. So I decided I would buy a scarf to cover my head. I asked if anyone knew how to wrap it so I looked bohemian and not fruhm. No one did, but my hair was nasty and clearly I'm superficial so I wrapped it anyway. Better to look fruhm then homeless. In any case I can imagine there was quite a disconnect for most people who passed me, this girl with the covered head in a tight "brainy tee shirt", tight jeans and flip flops. One of my students said I looked married. And proceeded to call me "married woman." Oy.

Tommorrow we got to J-Lem again for Shabbat at the Sephardi Heritage Centre. I haven't seen any of my friends here yet but I've been busy and in the middle of nowhere so it's hard I imagine. Hopefully soon!

Miss you all out there.

Especially bf who I've managed to speak to every day, but it's so hard. I mean I'm having a great time. How could I not? But there is something that's just missing.

Canadian Dollars.... What???

2007-06-12T06:37:00.000-04:00

So I've touched down in Israel and made it to Kfar Gvirol; a suburb of Rechovot which is a suburb of Tel Aviv. I'm in the middle of nowhere. But clearly they have Internet so it's not all bad.
The plane ride here was long and arduous, no I'm not being dramatic. I went from Toronto to London and almost threw up when we were landing... ah new symptoms I have to deal with when I'm descending. On the flip side feeling so incredibly nauseous and reaching for the "motion sickness bag" while being trapped next to the window with two people I would have to jump over, one being a very old Indian man made me forget the excruciating pain of descending that I generally experience in my ears and my across my face. Ah the small things in life.
When I arrived in London I was trying to determine how I would get to Heathrow from Gatwick airport; which is what the Travel Cuts travel agent told me I would have to do. I spent hours trying to determine the best way to get from Gatwick to Heathrow, I ruined my back from stress and sitting in front of the computer as I tried to figure out a way that I could figure out a way to go from Gatwick, to London Victoria to Heathrow as my boss suggested as I did have a 6 hour layover. But when we were landing (as it seemed to say on my ticket, but who am I to question) the pilot said welcome to heathrow, the signs said welcome to Heathrow... everything was very Heatrowy... I rationalized, that maybe Gatwick is sort of part of Heathrow, perhaps they call it Heathrow Gatwick and there is a main Gatwick, what do I know I'm sick, tired and haggard from flying. I get to the customs agent and I ask him if this is Gatwick. He looks at me like I'm bloody insane. Like shouldn't I sort of know where I've landed. And rightly so. He says that this is Heathrow- I show him my ticket on Lufthansa (my connecting flight) he says "right, so you are in the right airport and even in the right terminal." Silly Canadian.
I arrive in Tel Aviv. I get pulled aside for questioning. Why? Yes ladies and gents, my Pakistani passport. To be honest I knew it would happen and they were... respectful about it... almost nice. But understand it's 3AM here, and I've barely slept for a day. I do not function well without sleep so being questioned THREE times about the same exact thing, having to explain three times that HILLEL is not EL AL was just exhausting. On top of the Dafna was waiting for me and I was freaking a little about my luggage.
Clearly I made it into the country and now I'm with the Hillel students and enjoying myself. It's slow here, but that's good considering the jet lag. Yes 330AM call to the bf because I can't sleep. Well that was actually nice. Very nice. Oh I miss you.
Finally, I got to change my money yesterday in the Rechovot Mall (there is one mall only) I go up to the counter and say I want to buy shekels with Canadian Dollars. He says dollars? I say Canadian dollars? Dollars? Canadian. US dollars? C-A-N-A-D-I-A-N. Canadian. US? ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nikki interject, Canadi (no seriously that's how you say Canadian in Hebrew- Ka-Na-Dee) AHHHH... they get it. WHAT???? Argh.
I did however order for myself in Hebrew at Cafe Aroma. AND I got what I wanted too.
BF- kisses for you xoxo

Leaving on a Jet Plane... Hahah... I accidentally wrote Jew Plane

2007-05-25T10:41:00.000-04:00

My bags are not packed and I'm nowhere near ready to go. In fact I'm still waiting for my itinerary from the travel agent. But at least I have a date for when I will be going to Israel- YAY!!!
It is bittersweet though. On the one hand I'm thrilled to go to Israel- I mean who wouldn't be? (ok so I know there are a lot of people who wouldn't be thrilled as I have to deal with daily in my advocacy position but right now I don't really care about them b/c I AM GOING TO ISRAEL!!!). So I'm going to be there for 2 months- YIPEE!!!- alright I might die of heat stroke, there might be war (though I'm praying there won't be, and not just b/c I'll be there) but I'm going to see my friends and family and spend 2 months in a country I love being in. Wow I'm excited. On the other hand, it means not seeing the BF for 2 whole months; which I wouldn't see him if I stayed in Toronto b/c he's going to camp in BC, but at least it's only 3 hours, as opposed to 10 hrs difference, and well, I could possible visit if I felt the urge. Not a possibility while in Israel. Because I'm the Queen of Repression and Denial the distance, separation and those other lovely fears have not truly seeped into my consciousness, well my aware consciousness that is. Though the other day I was thinking about him and got really sad and realized that perhaps I'm not doing such a great job anymore. I'll miss you so much!

Freaky Hand Art

2007-05-14T12:04:00.000-04:00

So I have a new secret boyfriend. Well secret to some and not to others. But for the purpose of this blog, he will remain secret for now.

I met him through my work and he's just a real sweetheart. My family really loves him. In fact I think it's the first time I've dated someone who enjoys hanging out with my family. Other guys have been good with my parents, but they've been shy or not interested and maybe this is a good thing.

It's a little hard to move on completely from the last boyfriend, and I feel awful b/c it's not like we broke up b/c he was an awful person. It was the distance. And in many respects I'm sure we still love each other. On the other hand, he told me to move on and with much difficulty, in fact, a years worth of difficulty I have finally done so. I mean I actually shaved my head b/c he broke up with me- talk about drastic (that wasn't the only reason, of course, I'm not that spontaneous, but it was the last straw). But he made the choice and in the end he was the mature one about it and I do hope we can remain friends. Good friends. He is an awesome person and he will make some girl very happy one day soon. I know it.

More about the new not-so-secret boyfriend at a later date.

From my favourite EngRish website

2007-04-17T11:53:00.000-04:00

John Mayer and Idiots

2007-04-17T11:42:00.000-04:00

Ok so after a while on hiatus i'm back. I seemed to be having issues with signing into my blog which was quite frustrating. A LOT has happened and I'm not sure where to begin. So I defended my thesis in February and passed! YAY!!!! Or so one would think. I get home last night after a very long day of work and having to deal with party planning that has been driving me nuts to get a letter from the University. I'm thinking, wow it would be funny if this was a letter to tell me that I would not be convocating in May. See the funny thing is that there is absolutely NO REASON for me not to graduate. I did my course work, I defended and passed even signed that paper that says all is good, and sent my cheque in on time in order to bind the thesis so I too can have a nice blue covered copy of my thesis that will sit on my shelf forever and ever- though certain very important ppl in my life want to read it which is very sweet. So what you ask was in that envelope, what could Laurentian possibly be trying to tell me? Very simply that I had not fulfilled the program requirements and I would not be graduating in May 2007.
So I began laughing hysterically bc at this point, with everything that has happened with this school, I did not know what else I could do. Of course I only got home at 7PM so there was no way I could deal with it at that point. YAY another sleepless night!
So there is a happy ending to all this retardedness- it seems that they made a mistake and they do indeed have the proper information for me to graduate. So for now I will be graduating. Stay tuned for more idiocy in the weeks to come. I'm sure it will be full of it.

On the bright side, I am going to the John Mayer Concert tonight!

This week in the Jerusalem Post

2007-03-21T11:14:00.000-04:00

Mar. 20, 2007
Hooters gambles on Tel Aviv perch. Hooters waitresses will be seen in Israel this summer when the restaurant chain opens for the first time in Tel Aviv.

Fantastic- just what Israel needs. Argh

300

2007-03-19T17:08:00.000-04:00

Alright I saw this movie last Friday and I am putting in my two cents.

In three simple words I loved 300!

It was fantastic. The imagery was amazing, the story was inspiring and yes the men were bloody hot- though to be honest that is not the main reason I like it, as most of my friends might attest to, I'm not into such buff bodies- at the same time, it's nice to look at, not going to lie.

After hearing all the fuss around the movie in terms of the politics of it I have to say people- just relax already. Ok so it's not completely historically factual, the directors never claimed it to be- "The film's director Zack Snyder states that 'The events are 90 percent accurate. It's just in the visualization that it's crazy.... I've shown this movie to world-class historians who have said it's amazing. They can't believe it's as accurate as it is.' He continues that the film is 'an opera, not a documentary.'" Basically I'm just so tired of this society being so overly politically correct. It's based on a true story, it happened, the Spartans lead the fight against the Persians and really whooped their ass (for 3 days at least) then whooped their ass with other Greek armies 1 yr later. I'm sure it was not meant to be a comment on the present situation in Iran. I will admit that perhaps the timing of its release is not the best, but then why should we fear that we are going to hurt some people's feelings. I did not coming out of the theatre even thinking that the Persia portrayed in 300 was similar to the Iran of today. Perhaps if people are able to draw parallels to the present day situation then they need to start considering the reality that history is repeating itself with far scarier ramifcations and consequences (ie Nuclear war).

It's an interesting movie, visually appealing, and very well done. To be honest, I had wanted to see it before all this hype, but after all this stupidity I just had an increased desire to go see it. Again and again and again.

Chag Purim Sameach!!!!!

2007-03-05T12:39:00.000-05:00

A special thanks goes out to The Friend for coming by to say hi and getting roped into being bar tender to ungrateful peons- well not all of them were bad- but come on we are not REAL bartenders and it's not like we were getting tipped or in the Friend's case, paid for this.I'm only sorry I didn't get a picture of us losing our heads serving beer. THANK YOU FRIEND!

Resolution

2007-03-05T12:30:00.000-05:00

Alright so talked with the ex- I'm not sure we fully agree on what happened. But I think more importantly we know that we care about each other. So friends we will remain. Dave was right, I clearly had unresolved issues from when we broke up. Still holding on to something- I guess it was easier to repress then to actually deal with the emotions. But I've had some time- as Omer and I didn't talk for about 2 weeks- and while 2 weeks is not necessarily a hell of a lot of time it is enough to start thinking differently. To start dealing with it all and to really move on and be friends with him.

The worst part about my job

2007-02-24T16:34:00.000-05:00

No it's not the stupid hours, the fact that it's almost like I'm on-call, or the fact that it's clearly not just a job but rather a lifestyle.
No, it's having to monitor the anti-Israel events, having to scour the interent for anti-Israel images etc. At the beginning of the year I had to go to these events and it was hard. It was hard to hear such harsh criticism of Israel by people who are clearly not friendly at all to the State. But all this time I thought it was just a matter of tactics. Not that they are right. But perhaps there are things that they are not wrong about. Look, I don't claim that Israel is above reproach, it certainly has done some things wrong BUT to claim that it is the only state in the world that deserves such harsh criticism is almost laughable. Canada, the US, the UK- certainly not perfect countries. And if someone wants to know if apartheid actually exists in this world still, you only have to go so far as some of Israel's neighbouring states to see the harsh gender apartheid that occurs there. Look at gay rights, rights for rape victims and in some of these countries rights of non-Muslim citizens- it's almost appalling. This of course does not excuse Israel, but to hold it at such a high standard while blantantly ignoring the violiations of basic human rights by some of it's neighbours is irresponsible and suspect.
At one time, I began to actually think that perhaps it was me taking the crazy pills (a la Mugatu) maybe I was so blinded by my loyalty to Israel that I could not accept the criticisms. But I sit at these events, I troll the internet and I pay attention and listen to their arguments and I now start to think that perhaps everyone else is taking the crazy pills- the university campuses allowing this on their campuses as an exercise in free speech amazes me. These anti-Israel events are NOT just about criticizing or trying to "free" a people- they now proudly admit to being anti-Zionists. They say"Israel does not have a right to exist" or my favourite yet, "all Jews are Zionists and all Zionists are Racists...." it sure doesn't leave too much for the imagination now does it? This is what I have to sit through, this is what I have to hear, this is what makes me stronger. I wish there could be dialogue, because with dialogue there could be space for change, there could be people working together to create a better Israel. But trust me, they tried before I was there, we've tried while I'm in this position and I'm sure Hillel will keep trying long after I'm gone to partner with the likes of SPHR, PSC, GRAIN, ASC... the list goes on.... and they are not interested as they've said themselves (and now I'm paraphrasing) we don't want a peaceful resolution. It's not about a two state solution for them. For them it's about "eliminating Zionism"- and one can only wonder if 'all Zionist are racists and all Jews are Zionists' is it really just about Israel or is it more then that? [and once again, I've been there, I've seen it, I've heard it, I've tried to deny it- this is a first hand account- they walk that fine antisemitism line time and again].

The Meaning of Hair Covering

2007-02-20T20:50:00.000-05:00

The Friend and I have discussed this question at length. I found it in a free magazine I get. it was rather interesting to me, thus I am posting.

Question: I heard an anthropologist talking about shaitels (wigs). He said how ironic it is that observant Jewish women wear wigs. In biblical Judaism, the rule was that married women should cover their hair in order to be modest and unattractive. In more recent times women wear wigs, which are sometimes more attractive than natural hair. So wearing a wig actually defeats the whole purpose of covering the hair! He was giving this as an example of how cultures forget the reasons behind their ancient traditions and customs can evolve in a way that contradicts their original intent. Do you have any comments?

Answer: That anthropologist has not only mistaken a wig for real hair, but has also confused true modesty for his own version. He equates modesty with unattractiveness, but that is his definition, not Judaism's. From the Jewish perspective, modesty has nothing to do with being unattractive. Rather modesty is a means to create privacy. And that is what a wig achieves.
Modesty has nothing to do with being unattractive. The hair covering was never intended to make a married woman look ugly. Beauty is a divine gift, and Jewish tradition encourages both men and women to care for their appearance and always look presentable. Jewish tradition also encourages modesty; not in order to detract from our beauty, but rather to channel our beauty and attractiveness so it be saved for where it belongs-- within marriage.
By covering her hair, the married woman makes a statement: "I am not available. You can see me but I am not open to the public. even my hair, the most obvious and visible part of me, is not for your eye."
The hair covering has a profound effect on the wearer. It creates a psychological barrier, a cognitive distance between her and strangers. Her beauty becomes visible but inconspicuous; she is attractive but unavailable.
The wig achieves the desired effect exactly, because a wig allows a woman to cover all her hair, while maintaining her attractive appearance She can be proud of the way she looks without compromising her privacy. And even if her wig looks so real as to be mistaken for natural hair, she knows that no one is looking at her real hair. She has created a private space, and only she decides who to let into that space.
Perhaps in other religions modesty and beauty don't mix. This is not the Jewish view. True beauty, inner beauty, needs modesty to protect it and allow it to thrive. Aron Moss

Capital Diary: Ottawa Outtakes

2007-02-20T20:49:00.000-05:00

My students made a MacLeans blog- I'm so proud of them, they're growing up.... (sniffle)

http://forums.macleans.ca/advansis/?mod=for&act=dip&tt=&pid=32982&tid=32982&eid=30&so=&ps=&sb=&tso=&tps=&tsb=

More Pakistan Pics

2007-02-20T13:40:00.000-05:00

Children playing at Nur Jahan Tomb

Lahore, Pakistan

Hmmm...

2007-02-20T13:34:00.000-05:00

Well I pissed off the ex b/c he thought I was angry at him and felt that I was saying that he cheated on me. Not true. Angry with myself for not dealing with these emotions and feelings almost a year ago. Not sure what I was expecting. In any case, haven't spoken to him in about a week now.

My blog wasn't working for a while, seems to be ok again, so I'm sure there are a number of things I would love to write about, unfortunately I'm really sick and should be at home, but have forced myself to be at work. I am nuts.

Friend- Vegas???? Spa in vegas???? Please!

20

2007-02-11T16:47:00.000-05:00

I got a rude awakening yesterday.
I've been talking to the ex since we broke up. At times we talk more then others; generally depending on what's going on in our lives. He recently just finished a month of reserves so we actually talked quite a bit.
So I was at a Sudbury Wolves game yesterday night, drinking a little bit and figured what the heck I'll call him now, it's not so late [I must stress, that I was nowhere near drunk or tipsy, just a little happy from a beer and a half, so this isn't drunk calling at it's best]. Anyway, we were chatting and then he told me that he had been on a blind date that same night, with a girl he had been chatting with on the base while he was doing his reserve duty. Even now my stomach sinks. I mean really, what the hell did I expect, that he was waiting around for me? That magically we would get back together even though we live so far apart and neither of us is moving any time soon? I didn't think so, but clearly something did not sit right with me last night, or today as I think about it. Obviously it's time for me to let go of anything hopes, dreams or aspirations I might have held and move on with my life.
I've often wondered if the reason I'm still painfully single is b/c of feelings for the ex- - maybe- he seems to think so. It just seems to easy- like something to hide behind. And now when I move on and deal with these feelings, and continously tell myself you stupid girl, move on b/c clearly he has will it be easier to meet other guys, will they be interested in me, will I be interested in them? Or is it something different, and now that I will not be able to hide behind that lame excuse of still having feelings for him will I realize that there is something wrong with me?
Oh Lord- who would have known that something like this would affect me so deeply. Shit.
The worse thing of it all, in my brilliance I decided that the salve I would use to mend my wounds would be beer. Alcohol mixed with inadequacies makes you do stupid things.
On the upside, I met MP Ken Boshcoff (Thunderbay-Rainey River) and Rick Mercer at the CJPAC-CIC conference in Ottawa. That was pretty damn cool!

Get to know me... and other useless facts

2007-02-06T00:00:00.000-05:00

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Yes, three separate people (one for my first name, one for each of my two middle names)

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Really cried? I can't remember. That's good right?

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Sometime

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Ummm..... turkey

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? Not that I know of.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? I don't know.

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Never.....

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?Nope

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Yup

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Cream of Wheat

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? If they have laces.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Usually... yes.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Heavenly Hash (don't say it)

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Their smell.....

15. RED OR PINK? Pink

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? The pounch I'm developing and my very small chest

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? ?? Those who I love who I rarely see, you know who you are

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? No, I stole this off an email I got.

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Black and Black

20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? Hamburger and fries- very late dinner in my hotel room in Ottawa

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? The fridge humming in my hotel room in Ottawa- Minto Suites rock!

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Baby Blue

23. FAVORITE SMELLS? Baby powder, Niko

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Jared Isaacson

25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Absolutely! (Tammy)

26. FAVORITE DRINK? Keith's

27. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? Hockey and soccer (sorry Football for you Euro Trash)

28. HAIR COLOR? Brown

29. EYE COLOR? Brown

30. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Nope, and I realize how lucky I am for it

31. FAVORITE FOOD? Tomatos

32. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Bollywood

33. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Night at the Museum (I love Ben Stiller)

34. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? White

35. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer and spring

36. HUGS OR KISSES? Both

37. FAVORITE DESSERT? ??? Oh so many.... I'm craving a chocolate lava cake right now though

40. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING? Anybody out there (lent to me by Trixie)

41. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? I have a lap top, no mouse or mouse pad

42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT? What Not to Wear- I love you Clinton!

43. FAVORITE SOUND? Waves from the beach

44. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles

45. WHAT IS THE FURTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Around the corner... ok not really Pakistan

46. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Nope

47. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Toronto, Ontario

Karachi January 2007

2007-01-30T12:20:00.000-05:00

1) Bus in Karachi
2) Pashmina store in Sadar Market

Poor Avry

2007-01-30T11:53:00.000-05:00

Two Thursdays ago I'm coming out of a drive way with a light, making a left, b/c you can only make a left or right. I go on the green, b/c generally that's what you do on a green. Then my passenger, Dafna, said Oh My G-d, I look to my left and there is a car coming straight at me. I freak, speed up to get out of her way but unfortunately it seems that she sped up to right into the back seat of the driver's side of my car. Thankfully everyone was ok.
Avry not so much. After many phone calls and much aggravation I found out on the Friday afternoon that the woman was claiming I ran the red. ARGH!!!!
I had a passenger in the car, who was my witness and I suppose based on her testimony and the logistics of the accident the insurance company finally, after a very long and stressful and depressing weekend, found me not at fault.

Poor Avry

Nothing witty to say

2007-01-16T21:28:00.000-05:00

Well I've been described as a prissy girly girl by a blogreader who happened to read my blog (ok I sort of know this person). Apparently I do not divulge my pain and suffering, nor my wicked side. I wonder do I have a wicked side? Most people who meet me, they think oh what a nice girl (that is, if they are lucky and I'm not super shy in which case they think I'm a cold prissy bitch). My close friends might say otherwise. Heidi (not a close friend, in fact a pretty awful ex-friend) used to go mad when people told her that I was just such a good girl. She would say, but you're not the girl next door, you're not that nice. Of course she said many other things about me behind my back- of course I always found out. So perhaps she's not the best judge. But then again there might be something to it.

Truth be told. I'm not sure if I'm wicked or good. If I'm interesting or boring. What I do know is that I'm private. So what I put on my blog is not going to be my deepest darkest secrets. Sorry all. Did I just lose any readership? Oh well, perhaps over time that will change. Then again maybe not. For now, this is my outlet, it's fun and it lets ppl know another side of me that perhaps they did not know. Plus I really like putting up pictures.

Do I have pain and suffering in my life? Sure in certain areas. But generally, brace yourself for this one, I'm happy person. Certain things suck big time- those who know me well enough know what they are- but I love my job, I love my friends and family and my cat rules. Oh yeah, and I just came back from Pakistan in case any of you had forgotten and that was pretty fucking awesome.

Karachi. Right around the corner from Os's house.

A funny thing happened on my way to the Mosque

2007-01-14T21:05:00.000-05:00

In Lahore Os and I decided to go to the Lahore Museum. It was fantastic. The building itself is stunning and the displays and artifacts that they have are amazing. It's amazing how close you can get to many of these artifacts.There was just so much to see and one day I will show you all the pictures I took in the museum (I actually had to pay a fee to take those pictures, 15 rupees.... which is like 10 cents).
So Os and I are walking around the museum and this group of young guys comes up to us and says can we take your picture. At first we were like no. Becuase that's wierd. I mean nobody's come up to me to take my picture just because I look different. Just because I'm white. They followed us around and eventually we were just like fine take your pictures. So they did, one guys even took video. Wanted to record the fact that there was this gauri that he saw with his own eyes. Living and breathing.
So fine, we move on to the next exhibit. More guys come up to us, this time they want to take a picture with us. So we pose for another 5 photos. At this point I'm just feeling like a freak. Yup a circus freak. "Step up boys and girls, not only is she tall but she's fair skinned!" Os said he began to know what it was like to be like Britney or Lindsay, being hounded for pics. And we aren't even famous people!!!!
I know they meant no harm by it, it was purely curiousity. But what I've always loved about Toronto, is my annonymity, being able to pretty much blend into the crowd. In Lahore, far more then Karachi, I was a complete outsider and I felt like it all the time. When walking down the street people would stare, when I was driving in the car people in other cars, on motor bikes, walking in the street would stare.
At the Lahore Fort (pictures to come at another time) a young man came up to me and asked if I would be so kind as to take a picture with his wife. Annoyed as I was at this point, they were just so sweet and .... timid..... and clearly the wife was either very shy or as Os thinks extremely annoyed with her husband who wanted her to take a picture with some other woman. Anyway, I took the picture with her then he wanted one with me and her, so I figured what the heck. I should have charged all these people for it. HAHAHA. Though I do wonder what they will tell their friends when they go home (as many of them were tourists from around Pakistan) and describe their vacation.
In any case, the same day we went to the Lahore Fort we went to the Badshahi Mosque. These little girls were staring openly at me and when I waved they just began to giggle, so I figured what the heck, let's turn the tables, I asked them to be in a picture with me....

The reason I actually went to Pakistan

2007-01-08T11:36:00.000-05:00

So I should probably mention a thing or two about the whole reason I went to Pakistan to begin

with.

Javeed and Sarah

The above picture is from the Walima; which was the final event of the shaadi and they both looked so happy. Such a cute couple, I wish them the very best in their future together.

So the mehndi was everything I had dreamed of and more. Lots of colour and great bollywood music. It was set up in a tent outside of Sarah's home in Lahore. Javeed's cousins even put me in one of the coreographed dances that they put together for the Mehndi. I danced to Mahe Ve and I loved every minute of it. Unfortunately the mehndi was on Saturday night, I arrived Friday morning and was taught the dance Friday night so I made a bunch of mistakes- hey I can't learn that fast!

But then after that was the "free-style" dancing, aka the rest of the guests got up and danced. They played all my favourite music, I even requested songs and went nuts when they played them. Apparently it was cute. Especially when the "gauri" (that would be me) danced with Javeed's aunt. All in all I had an amazing time! I even got Os up and dancing banghra- the Absolute probably helped a little.

Bravado at the Border

2007-01-07T20:22:00.000-05:00

A flag lowering, gate closing ceremony that began in 1948 just after Partition. Soldiers from India and Pakistan put on a performance of goosestepping, snorting and glaring.

After abundant displays of machismo from the brawny Pakistani soldiers- who are attired in jet black uniforms that include turbans topped with fantails- the military theatre rolls on, as stony faced commanding officers of both India and Pakistan shakes hands and salute. The flags are simulataneously lowered and folded and the gates slammed shut. Meanwhile, the crowd exuberantly cheers on ~ The Lonely Planet Guide to Pakistan

This was an amazing experience. It was hard not to get swept up into the cheering and outpouring of patriotism. Even I was swelling with pride as the Pakistani soldiers marched on.
Men and women are not allowed to sit together; which was a bit of a problem b/c Os did not want to just abandon me. We talked our way in and got to sit in the front row (thanks to advice from the Lonely Planet guide book) and while we didn't sit together, we weren't in the grandstands and so far from each other.

It was the closest I got to India- so close, yet so far..... funny thought while all of this was going on was of me running through the gates to India like a mad-woman "I just want to meet Shah Rukh and Aishwariya, Hritik and Abishek!!!!"

The absolute best were the Pakistani "cheerleaders" or better yet crowd-rilers (see pic above)

10 Things I hate about Pakistan

2007-01-07T13:39:00.000-05:00

Ten Things I hated about Pakistan:
10. The millions of loud abnoxious crows
9. The poverty on every street corner and the very sad looking animals
8. Eid (when they kill sheep and cows in the middle of the street)
7. Being stared at everywhere I went b/c I'm white
6. The lack of upkeep of beautiful architecture and murals
5. Bollywood movies (such a tease, there are so many of them on TV but no English subtitles argh)
4. Maniacal driving in Lahore (white knuckled the whole time!)
3. All the food is damn spicy, even western style food
2. Haggling in the bazaars- it's bloody tiring
1. The open sewer in Lahore

Ten things I loved about Pakistan:
10. The people (amazingly warm and welcoming)
9. The architecture and landscape
8. Driving in Lahore (let's be honest, it was scary but fun, we had a good driver)
7. The food (might be damn spicy, but I didn't salt anything once b/c at least it was flavourful)
8. Shopping (yes even the haggling, b/c Noor actually handled that in the end)
6. The colours in the bazaars at the weddings, everywhere
5. Eid (while traumatizing, those who can afford the animals that are slaughtered give 2/3 of it to the poor)
4. Javeed and Os's family
3. The Wagha Border Bravado
2. The parties (open bar... who would have thought)
1. Chaat (I will never be able to eat chaat in Toronto again!)

Staff Conference and I'M GOING TO PAKISTAN

2006-12-20T18:14:00.000-05:00

Alright first off, I've just come back from my first Hillel Professional Staff Conference in Baltimore. I had a great time and met some really awesome people. And got to hang out with all my cool Hillel co-workers- who I love!

I've added a few select pics of our airplane; which was freaky small and made us all very sick on the way to Baltimore- what a sight we must have looked, I'm already pale as it is, and for someone to stay, you look white.. well that's just never a good sign. Lots of turbulence. Uch. Another one of all the Israel fellows, me, Orly and Tal from Oregan- they so ruled and we had a great last night together. Then there is the one of Dafna from the aquirium that I love! Rachel and me- awww we're so cute. And Dafna, me and Orly out on the town!

Very Small Plane

Secondly- I AM GOING TO PAKISTAN! Today!!! I can't believe it. I'm a little worried about all the flying especially considering the crappy flights I've taken the last two days and I'm just not the best flyer to begin with. BUT OMG!!!!

Stay tuned for more messages from across the world.

Exes Smorgasbord

2006-12-15T12:41:00.000-05:00

So the ex is in town. My first boyfriend that is. We were together 6 years. Some people might find it strange that I still talk to him, others might find it even stranger that I hung out with him and his girlfriend last night. Then again others might just think your being an idiot. Especially since we broke up like 6 years ago. Crazy I've known the guy 12 years. Anyway it was nice to see him. And actually his girlfriend is really sweet and they make a very cute couple. Lord knows that I have the utmost respect for that girl, dating him ain't easy. Hahaha. Jokes aside he's rought around the edges but has a very good heart and it's nice to see him happy with someone who clearly loves him back.

So literally less then a week and I'm in Pakistan. Balderson is flying with me. Of course he's sitting first class and I'm sitting in what it called Q-class...hmmm.... might be sitting with the cargo from the sounds of it. No matter I sleep through flights anyway. I will be sure to bring lots of sleeping pills and alcohol to ensure that I'm out. The nice thing about him flying with me is 1) I have someone to spend time with at the stop over in Abu Dhabi 2) I will have someone I know with me when I go through the border/customs.

Babar Ali

If you do a google search you will also see that a Babar Ali is the staff scientist for Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC ) California Institute of Technology and his research activities include * Star Formation * Brown Dwarfs * Miscellaneous

I'm thinking it's not the same person. Just a guess.

5 Days to Pakistan

8 Days

2006-12-12T18:15:00.000-05:00

Talking to Balderson today. He was excited to go to Pakistan. Which just increased my excitement that much more. I just can't believe it. Sorry to all who will have to just experience my growing excitement these next EIGHT days. YAY!!!

I've dropped the actors/actresses/movies- I'm doing all things Pakistan now.

Fashion designer MariaB

Only twenty four years and she is ready to take over the catwalks in Paris, Milan and New York, Maria Belal is an ambitious young Pakistani designer with vision. A graduate of the Pakistan School of Fashion Design, Maria launched her label ‘Maria B’ in Lahore back in March 99. Right after the fashion show, she opened the doors to her new boutique located in the Defence residential area. Her cotton shalwar kameez and embroidered evening wear, all meticulously cut and stitched, were quickly snapped up by trendy Lahoris.

SUDHIR

2006-12-11T11:35:00.000-05:00

Nine days and I go to Pakistan. Just trying to meet with all of my friends before I go away. As each day passes I get more and more excited. I just hope it doesn't pass too quickly by.
Work is very slow now. Really trying to get the Missing Soldier Campaign off the ground and running. We've had great buy-in from the community, I cannot explain how wonderful it's been.
In the meantime, I'm just reading through the Lonely Planet's guide to Pakistan the Friend got me (amongst many other goodies) for my bday.
Anyway, this post is more about SUDHIR who was Pakistan's first super star action film hero. He had a long film career of 38 years and appeared mainly in main roles in films. His first film was before partition, New Hindustan Film's released Farz was directed by Narijan and the heroine was Ragni. He appeared in a total number of 173 films, 70 Urdu, 101 Punjabi, one Pashto and one Indian (or before partition) film. Sudhir faught a real battle with a tiger in his own produced film Sahil in 1960.

Work Woes

2006-12-08T12:33:00.000-05:00

I have been put in the right camp by some of the people I come in contact with and I cannot tell you how much this drives me crazy. I would just like to say I AM NOT RIGHT!!! To add to that I AM NOT LEFT!!! I am figuring it out. What I want is Peace, but not at any cost.

Anyway, 12 more days to Pakistan!

I have been finding it very hard to find Lollywood movies. So instead I'm going to put images of Lollywood actors/actresses and movies. I really wanted to put up ridiculous looking, over-the-top actors, but then I found this guy and he's not so bad.

Shaan

Oh My

2006-12-06T14:27:00.000-05:00

14 days to go to Pakistan.

Had dinner at Sushi Train (so cool) last night with Javeed. As we were leaving to go our separate ways home it dawned on me the next time I see him will be actually Pakistan- IN PAKISTAN!!!- that's freaking crazy!!!!

I'm a little sad, b/c certainly this is the end of one chapter of our friendship. But I'm also very happy b/c it's the beginning of a new life for him and now I gain another friend (if Sarah doesn't completely hate me when she meets me that is- ok so, clearly insecure). And our little Javeed is getting married!!! His will be the first wedding that I attend of my friends and I'm so excited that I will be able to attend his wedding in Pakistan. Crazy. Javeed I wish you the very best. I know that you and Sarah will be so happy together (see what I have to say about the whole affair here)
Majhoo (1992)
[Completed continously one year in Lahore]
It was impossible to find a synopsis of this movie online.
Clearly Lollywood is just not as big as Bollywood. I love Bollywood.

Lollywood

2006-12-05T16:59:00.000-05:00

Alright so by now you all know my fixation with Indian Cinema. I love it.

In 15 days I go to Pakistan [I can't believe it]. So my original thought was 'Hey! I can start putting pictures from more of my favourite Bollywood movies up again!!! YAY!!!' [I can hear the Friend and Trixie's sighing as I write this, sorry girls it's my drug]. Then it dawned on me that I had a conversation once with Javeed and Os about Lollywood- that's right people cinema from Pakistan fondly called so because of Lahore [for those who might not know yet, Bollywood = Bombay + Hollywood see where I'm going with this]. Therefore why not post pictures from Lollywood????

I'm going to begin the countdown to Pakistan. Today is day 15. So I will begin with a movie that was released 15 years ago. Enjoy my craziness!

Piar karn toon naeen darna (1991)

A Love-story of a servant boy and the daughter of his boss, class differences, relationships and various economical interests in our society is the main theme of this magnificent film.

[yeah yeah I know]

Ou est tu?

2006-12-04T12:00:00.000-05:00

So I had to create a video for my Missing Soldier Campaign and I wanted to include pictures of soldiers along with the ones of Gilad Shalit, Udi Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, to try to de-politcize the soldiers [I realize that some people will believe that any topic related to soldiers is inherently political, but that's sort of the point of the campaign to make people understand that any soldier may be someone's father, mother, friend, brother, husband wife, etc. whether you like it or not]. Anyway I came across this picture which is included in my video and now I am on a mission [though it's pretty inactive right now] to find out who this soldier is. Why? That's right b/c he's hot. He's really really hot. And so cute with the pink popsicle.

So if anyone comes across this blog and happens to know this soldier's name- I'm trying to track him down. But not in the crazy stalking sense. He's so cute.

What's his name? How old is he? Is he single? Does he like girls? Does he like me? Does he like cats? ..... Yup

[For those wondering, it's the end of the semester, students are in exams, programming is slow, so I have time for these crazy posts again]

Jamhuryat Islami Pakistan

2006-11-29T00:52:00.000-05:00

WOO HOO I'M GOING TO PAKISTAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

From the CIA World Factbook:

Population: 165,803,560 (July 2006 est.)

Sex ratio: 15-64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.92 male(s)/female

total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Major infectious diseases: degree of risk: high

food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid

fever vectorborne diseases: dengue fever, malaria, and cutaneous leishmaniasis are high risks depending on location

animal contact disease: rabies (2005)

Ethnic groups: Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashtun (Pathan), Baloch, Muhajir (immigrants from India at the time of partition and their descendants)

Religious groups: Muslim 97% (Sunni 77%, Shi'a 20%), Christian, Hindu, and other 3%

Flag description: green with a vertical white band (symbolizing the role of religious minorities) on the hoist side; a large white crescent and star are centered in the green field; the crescent, star, and color green are traditional symbols of Islam

Exports commodities: textiles (garments, bed linen, cotton cloth, yarn), rice, leather goods, sports goods, chemicals, manufactures, carpets and rugs

Illicit drugs: opium poppy cultivation declined 58% to 3,147 hectares in 2005; federal and provincial authorities continue to conduct anti-poppy campaigns that force eradication - fines and arrests will take place if the ban on poppy cultivation is not observed; key transit point for Afghan drugs, including heroin, opium, morphine, and hashish, bound for Western markets, the Gulf States, and Africa; financial crimes related to drug trafficking, terrorism, corruption, and smuggling remain problems

And so...

2006-11-21T23:33:00.000-05:00

Well it's been a very long time since I last wrote and I figure an update is appropriate now.
Work- Still love being a Hillel Butcher. Though I've started to lose a little steam. It's tiring seeing how much a certain group of people really just hate you. How unwilling they are to engage in dialogue and sometimes I wonder how open I am to dialogue. I mean if someone denies your very existence what sort of conversation can you possibly have with them? But the staff I work with are still kick ass, as much as I might moan and groan and complain every once in a while and the students are just amazing! Really and truly amazing. I now wish I had gotten involved in Hillel when I was in university.
Love life- yeah well that's still shit. Yup that's right shit. Not going anywhere. I mean I suppose it's not necessarily getting worse. But then I'm scared to think about what worse would be. The guys I'm interested in have girlfriends, don't want relationships or are just non-existent. Friends tell me to stay positive, which is strange b/c I feel like I've always been pretty positive, but lately there is this nagging feeling that maybe things won't quite work out the way I want them to. Maybe I won't actually find that person who is supposed to enrich my life and bring out the very best in me. It's a strange feeling b/c for all intents and purposes, life's good right now. I love my job, I love my friends (who I actually don't see as much as I'd like to- so that's not that best) and I'm going to Pakistan for the first time (after I go to Baltimore; which just doesn't sound quite as interesting), but I guess I'm starting to get the very first, preliminary feelings of the fear of being alone in that that no matter how wondeful my friends may be they won't be able to fill that gap.
How much do you think I'm worth in Pakistan? I'm thinking two camels and an oil rig.
When I get my visa to Pakistan I will write again- until then I will worry about that falling apart.
Love to all of you still reading this!

2006-11-21T17:33:00.000-05:00

Idan Raichel's Project - Mima'amakim (Video)

This past weekend was Yachad. A Israeli solidarity rally put on by Hillel of Greater Toronto with special guest Idan Raichal. It was amazing. More than amazing. The band is fantastic.
It is a mixture of Arabic, Ethiopian and Israeli music.
The first time I saw this video was in a cafe in Israel with Omer and it was a pretty crappy day as I was waiting for the passport photo place to open b/c my passport (along with my all my ID and money) had been stolen. I was stressed, but what I remember clearly is Omer buying me tea and trying to be supportive and then this song came on and I fell in love with it.
Which incidentally is why I called Omer at 6AM (Israeli time) when Idan Raichal began playing this song live in Toronto.
Amazing concert!

November 5, 2006

2006-11-05T22:10:00.000-05:00

An Estimated 100,000 people gather in Tel Aviv's Kikar Rabin Saturday night to commemorate the 11th anniversary of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin's assassination.
[http://info.jpost.com/C003/Supplements/potw/current/06.html]

2006-10-27T23:21:00.000-04:00

Umrao Jaan Trailer

So excited for this movie!
It's going to be a tear jerker

Oh Balderson

2006-10-27T22:58:00.000-04:00

So I got an email earlier this week from a very good friend complaining that I did not actually have anything about him in my blog; which was not entirely true. Of course now he may wish he never said that. Hahaha..... So who is this mysterious friend? Many of you have alredy figured it out.... b/c his picture is up [of course I haven't actually uploaded it while I type this so theoretically I can claim that you cannot see him at this very moment, but you also cannot see this entry.... so that would just be stupid and not true]. Right so, Os.
I met Os about 6 years ago, I met him through The Friend who knew him through U of T. He is convinced that the first time he met me I looked like a religio with a long skirt [like to my ankles]. Hmmm.... So what can I say about Os? We've had our ups and downs. He's told me that he insults me so that I won't get a big head. He tells me I've got way better fashion sense now than when he first met me (which often comes across as a back handed compliment). And that he can't see me as a Forest Hill wife. And I think he thinks I'm a drunk.
He's one of my best friends and I trust him implicitly. He has a huge heart [though I'm sure he will kill me for saying that]. He is intensly loyal and generous to those he calls his friends. I can't remember a night when I went out with him and had a bad time. Random yes. But never bad. Both of our lives are busy now so we don't get to have our weekly dinners like we used to; which I always enjoyed imensely. He's random, crazy and wonderful and I'm very lucky to have him as a friend. And now that I've gushed about him, I'm going to emabarass this wonderful friend of mine by putting photos from a few weeks ago up on my blog- hey it was an awesome night at The Fifth [and they are already on the web anyway, I got them from Ryan's website].

Little Miss Sunshine

2006-10-21T00:37:00.000-04:00

Just saw this movie with Javeed and Dafna- Go out and see it now! This may very well be the best movie I've seen this year. I laughed damn hard.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAVEED

2006-10-17T00:36:00.000-04:00

Ok it is now been a week since Javeed's bday- but I've clearly gotten lazy with my blogging.
Anyway, we went to Blowfish for his birthday- very trendy restaurant apparently. To be honest, it was really, really, really nice. The food is like this experimental Japanese sushi and it was really tasty. Unfortunately we were burping it the whole night- yeah I know gross- but hey at least there were like 7 of us altogether who were gross together. It's always so much better when you are in a crowd. Though I feel bad for Javeed's friend, Salina, who came after dinner to the club. Well enough with that.
Anyway, so we all had a brush with stardom of sorts. Of course the Friend could barely keep herself from throwing up the expensive dinner everywhere- and I can't say I blame her; sitting at the next table to ours was Tie Domi and Belinda Stronach- ew. I mean really buddy, you cheat on your wife, treat her like crap then have the nerve to show your face in public. As Nikki from work would say "too soon.... too soon."
Apparently Christopher Walken was sitting two tables over from ours, pretty much everyone at our table was aware of this and only made me aware of this after he had got up to leave the restuarant. ARGH. I've been told he looks the same as he does on screen. ARGH again!
In other news, TIC TAC is in town- G-d I missed that boy. It's been great hanging with him and now he has to go back to Israel. I'm very sad. Not enough time. Just not enough.

Has blogging gone out of style

2006-10-11T23:08:00.000-04:00

Has blogging gone out of style, or is it just me?
Granted I haven't been nearly as diligent about posting on my own blog over the last couple of weeks, but it seems like other people aren't posting either... and I'm not even sure that this one is being read. I don't have a fancy indicator that tells me who's been on my blog- I'm just too technologically uninclined.
But if there are any loyal readers out there I will forge ahead, plus it's a little cathartic for me to bitch, moan and whine on a public forum.
So funny story to follow the story in my last post. I sort of figured that after that night the guy was not exactly right for me, and this would not be a relationship I would forge ahead with. But he called me yesterday to say that he was too homesick and that he was moving back to Israel, with all the empathy I could muster (which was really hard and not a whole hell of a lot) I told him that I was very sorry to hear that. He said that perhaps we should just be friends.... ok I'm going to give you all a minute to stop laughing.... for those of you who aren't you should be because I nearly did. I mean I sort of assumed after last Wednesday's shortest date ever that we would probably be just friends. Actually, I'm usually a little more radical in that sense in that I just assumed it was done, over and we probably wouldn't really talk again. But hey it's good to know we were on the same page. Kind of. It's like I'm in real time and he's PVR.

So it continues

2006-10-04T22:33:00.000-04:00

So what has my lovely guyatus taught me? Certainly to speak up for myself. To become more bitter and a little less trusting. Which might not actually be the worse case scenario.

So I had a date. Third one with the same guy. We went for dinner. It was very nice. He said many nice things. Then I told him that I'm waiting till I'm in love before I'm "with" someone again. We met just after 8pm. I dropped him off in front of where he lives at 925pm. I was not invited to spend more time. 1 hour, 25 minutes. It's impressive. [that would be drippng with sarcasm if you missed it] I'm happy with myself. It's good that I said how I feel I know[and this is dripping with irony]. But why, oh why, did he have to prove that he is not at all different from any other man out there. And some of you will say I'm over-reacting. I say, I'm not. There are many things that I still need to learn; however my instincts are usually right. Clearly I need to learn to listen to them.

With that being said, I saw an awesome movie this Yom Kippur while I was sick as a dog in bed and I feel like putting the pictures on my blog. Why? Because I bloody well can. Plus Arjun Rampul is pretty hot.

Humko Tumse Pyaar Hai (2006)

End of Guyatus

2006-10-01T11:09:00.000-04:00

Well guyatus is officially over. And as the friend pointed out it was thrown out the window; which doesn't make it seem that I could actually commit to this, but it was a decision I made and I'm happy that I made it. I have come out of this with a better understanding and a willingness to speak up for myself and not be flexible to the point that I lose myself. So thank you the Friend and Trixie.

In other news, this week seemed to have turned into Israel "Apartheid" week at work for me. Went to two events that made me feel sick, made me feel like I'm taking crazy pills. I'm not saying that Israel is above reproach, hell it does things that are wrong. I know that there are people who do think that Israel can do no wrong and I know for them it's a defense mechanism because it's such a touchy subject. What many people seem to forget is that just like in Canada, Israelis criticize their government openly- it's ok!- it's encouraged. It's part of the democratic process. There are issues in Israel, and the government, specific agencies, and the people are trying to work on them in the same way that we in Canada deal with issues. Thankfully there is no group in the U.S. firing rockets into Toronto or Montreal so that we would have to take more militaristic actions. That being said, I'm not going to go into a debate about what's wrong and right in Israel. What disgusts me and what I think is a huge insult to the people who fought against apartheid in South Africa is this comparison of Israel to the South African Apartheid state. It's just not true. It's just a complete hijacking and misuse of this concept. And having to deal with events put on by the other side all week has been draining. BUT it's also made me stronger and made me understand why my job is as important as it is.

With that I'm sorry to say that this will be the last bollywood posting. Though I'm sure I will be putting other pictures up, this is the last of the guyatus bollywood photos. I think that was actually my favourite part of guyatus.

Shana Tova to all of you and Gmar Chatimah Tova to those who will be fasting.

Hum dil de chuke sanam (1999)

I love Ivri Lider

2006-09-26T23:23:00.000-04:00

My goodness he is a cutie!!!!! And the crush continues.

Guyatus-Day 26 Prostitutes and Ghazals

2006-09-26T18:38:00.000-04:00

In 1904, Umrao Jaan Ada was the first Urdu book that was ever printed, it was one of the earliest stories ever told, and it fired the imagination of people during that period.
In 1981 Muzaffer Ali directed the movie with Rekha which was a great film. J.P. Dutta has directed a film in 2006 with Aishwarya Rai. I think you all know where I'm going with this. I'm on a Facebook group called Aishwarya Rai is a Goddess where I got some information about the movie and some pictures as well.
UMRAO JAAN
Estimated Release : Nov. 3rd, 2006 (In post-production)
Co-Starring : Shabana Azmi, Abhishek Bachchan, Suniel Shetty & Puru Raj Kumar
Director : J.P. Dutta

Guyatus 24- Shana Tova ve Metuca! 5767

2006-09-24T18:03:00.000-04:00

Happy New Year to all!
So with this new Jewish Year I think that I have gotten one step closer to what I want.
I had a discussion with Trixie two nights ago and she asked me "so do you know what you want yet?" She voiced concern that perhaps the only reason I did this whole guyatus was because The Friend and Trixie told me to. In part that is true because I would not have thought of it on my own and I know that they said I should do this because they are looking out for me. So in addition to what I had listed in my previous post here is what I am looking for:
1) I would prefer that he be Jewish, as it's an important part of my heritage that I would like passed on. But this cannot be the the sole criterion (of course!) I have to be far more discriminating in this category. He needs to be able to question the religion and its traditions but at all times respect it- with questions comes understanding and for me a greater respect and belief. He needs to believe in G-d. He needs to at least observe the high holidays and be open to observing other holidays. He need not be kosher, but I expect a kosher home.
2) I am not looking for the person to put a ring on my finger tomorrow, 6 months, or a year from now but I would like to find someone who is looking for some kind of committment. No power struggles anymore.
3) I like a man of action, but one who thinks things through and is aware of how his actions might affect him, me or us. Taking charge is sexy, but understand when I say no, I very much mean it.
4) I would like to find someone who can speak Hebrew and is open to living in Israel at one point in their life. It may never happen because I love my family and friends very much and it would be very hard to leave any of them, but at the same time I want there to be the possiblity of making alliyah if the time is right.
5) I do not need a doctor or lawyer (though it make my parents happy) but he needs to have ambition and direction. First of it's sexy, secondly I want some kind of security. I can be independent, and I am but I will not be the one fully supporting someone else. Support is important of course, but it should be coming from both sides.
6) I want to be happy, I want to be myself, I want to be selfish in this domain at times because I have a hell of a lot to return.
As my Bollywood heart throb, Shah Rukh Khan replied in a movie, when asked how he will recognize the one he loves "kuch kuch hota hai" [something happens in the heart]

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998)

Beer Festival!

2006-09-22T14:18:00.000-04:00

Well it took me a month, but the Beer Festival pics have finally been posted. Well some of them. The ones I could post.

America's Next Top Model

2006-09-20T23:43:00.000-04:00

Alright, so I admit it. I'm addicted to this show. Here are my top 5 pics. I am not predicting who will be in the top 5, just who I favour.

Guyatus- Day 20

2006-09-20T23:22:00.000-04:00

Spoke to The Friend today. She's across the Atlantic hanging out with Fergie. I realize, damn I miss that girl! It's like about 10 times a day I'm like yeah I'll call The Friend to see what she's doing tonight and then I have to remind myself that she's not here. Boo. But she's taking a much needed vacation. And if you are reading this Friend- DO NOTHING!!!! [and by nothing I mean work and worry] ENJOY EVERY MOMENT!!!!
I miss you hon!!!!!!
Ok part of the reason I have decided to put pics for this movie up is because Aishwarya Rai is in it and I figured I could just plaster this post with pictures of her because I'm still fixated on her beauty. It's just unfair.
Amitabh is for Trixie- didn't think I forgot about you, did you???!!!!
Kyun! Ho Gaya Na (2004)

Guyatus- Day 18- Dream or Nightmare

2006-09-18T22:57:00.000-04:00

Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004)

Nope. I don't think so. Clearly not ready. Why?

So I had a dream last night and why not share it with the world, or the select few who seem to read this blog.

In my dream I was getting married, the details are fuzzy [which is a little annoying, but I can tell you it did not seem to be the bollywood wedding of my dreams]. In any case I was at the alter, all my friends were there, my family and the groom. For some reason I seem to think that he had a face in my dream, but I cannot for the life of me remember who it was or what he looked like.

I remember feeling very happy, I mean I was getting married, this was my wedding. Then he put the ring on my finger, and strangely it didn't fit. I didn't freak out or anything, but it was odd that the ring had not been properly sized considering everything else had been so meticulously planned. Now here's where it gets wierd: at the point where I should be ecstatic about being married, I thought, oh I have to go to work tomorrow, and I will be married and people there will know that I'm married. But I don't want them to know that I'm married. Then I realized that I didn't really want anyone to know that I was married because I didn't really want to be married.

Then I woke up.

I'm not sure what to do with it all at this point; which is probably why I decided to blog this and let others who might be able to interpret dreams let me know what the hell is going on in my head.

I would like to be married at one point in my life, but I think that I shouldn't feel pressured to find that groom. Maybe it's just not really a priority in my life right now, and maybe that's ok. It's not that I was looking for the hubby out there- I was looking for someone who had that potential- but maybe, just maybe I shouldn't even be looking for that right now, in this moment.

My dream was both unsettling and comforting. It is a eureka moments of sorts.

Guyatus- Day 17

2006-09-17T11:49:00.000-04:00

I might have sold my soul to the devil last night. I'll let you know how that turns out.

Chori Chori Chupke Chupke (2001)

2006-09-15T14:07:00.000-04:00

The Easter Bunny hates you

2006-09-15T11:16:00.000-04:00

2006-09-13T17:18:00.000-04:00

Bo

This is the music video by Ivri Lider from Yossi and Jagger. It is my favourite song by Ivri Lider- my boyfriend.

Guyatus- Day 12: Celebrity Stalker

2006-09-13T17:03:00.000-04:00

So clearly my 30 days of bollywood movies has now become null and void- it doesn't have to I realize but I'm putting it on hold for this entry. My obsession for the week is the above gentleman, an Israeli singer by the name of Ivri Lider, who I love. I saw him in concert last year and fell in love with his voice and him. But let me backtrack for one moment.
On Sunday I went to see another Israeli band called Hadag Nachash [I've blogged about them and posted one of their videos already]. They are one of my favourite all time bands. The concert was phenomenal, we got to see the soundcheck which was cool, but truth be told a little boring. The best part was that after the concert I was cleaning up with my Hillel crew and the band just came off the stage and mingled with the few fans that were left. I managed to get an autograph from all 7 of them and some pictures [which I will post as soon as I get them from Nikki]. My co-worker even said that I might have been able to go home with one of them.... I'm not so sure, but what I can say is he is damn cute.
Because Ivri Lider was peforming the next night at a film festival party for the Israeli movie The Bubble, he came to the Hadag Nachash concert. So Nikki dragged me up [because I was too bloody nervous to go myself] and introduced herself. I was like ummm..... "I'm so nervous right now I can't even remember my name, Hi I'm Rebecca..." OMG- it was nuts!!!! But he was really sweet and he signed a t-shirt for me later- personalized in hebrew! And so I've fallen hard. The next night at the festival film party he was again mingling with the crowd and I went up to him again and someone was going to introduce me, but he was like yeah I remember you from last night. So I was like, really I'm not a stalker, and he said "Yeah I know, you seem like a nice girl" gush gush gush..... He is so cute!!!! He was amazing- the picture above is from the concert.
More pictures will be posted when I get them developed.
I love Ivri!
PS I should mention that he is totally gay.

That's right bitches!

2006-09-09T23:10:00.000-04:00

Your 80s Heartthrob Is

Scott Baio

Who's Your 80's Heartthrob?

Guyatus- Day 9 and Dirty Bath water

2006-09-09T22:52:00.000-04:00

We are having work done on our house because apparently we had mold. Now my month long colds seems to make sense, considering I'm not 80 and a non-smoker. This is good. But I have not been able to shower in two weeks now. Of course I've kept clean- what do you take me for??- but it's been in sinks and in the bath. And for some reason, while I'm not walking around stinking, I still feel dirty. TWO weeks and I'm going a little nutty. Dil To Pagal Hai (1997)

2006-09-08T20:49:00.000-04:00

Rick and Paul go to Canadian Tire

I love Rick and I kind of miss Martin. Very funny!

2006-09-08T20:40:00.000-04:00

The Israeli Green Party

Great commercial from the Green Party in Israel.

30 Day Guyatus- Day 7

2006-09-08T17:13:00.000-04:00

I was supposed to be able to go home after my staff meeting today. Especially since I was pretty much working till 12AM last night. But this was not the case. Well, I went home, but I've been working since I got home. It is 5pm and I am finally done. I'm tired as hell. Nothing of note related to guyatus, except that I clearly have no time for a man now anyway.
So instead I will post Bollywood pictures from Muhjse Dosti Karogie (2002) - this is actually in my top 5 movies.

30 Day Guyatus- Day 6 & Beware of Bears

2006-09-07T17:14:00.000-04:00

Well. I did it. I finally found the courage to tell a guy what I want and what I don't want. And while it sucks a little for reasons I will not go into here, I feel good about it. And that's all I'm going to say about that. Guyatus is still on.
In other news, I got this email from Laurentian University [where I spent the last two years doing my Masters]:

In recent weeks, Laurentian University has had many bear sightings on campus. In order to become more informed about black bears, we encourage everyone to visit the Ministry of Natural Resources website for further information about black bears http://bears.mnr.gov.on.ca In the event that you do spot a bear on campus, you are asked to call Security at 673-2661 to report the sighting. If the situation is an emergency call 911, then call Security at the above listed phone number. In an effort to prevent black bears from coming close to our buildings on campus, discard garbage in a garbage receptacle indoors rather than outdoors. Report any area on campus that has garbage to Security or Physical Plant & Planning.

kabhi khushi kabhi gham (2001)

30 Day Guyatus- Day 4

2006-09-04T22:10:00.000-04:00

It has been suggested that I re-adjust my count for my guyatus since I went on a date. And while that is a worthwhile argument I'm not going to. My 30 day guyatus is just a manageable number- it helps that there are actually 30 days in September [much to my surprise]- if I happen to believe that after the 30 days are up I'm still in a bitter, frustrated, "all-men-suck" mood, then it will go beyond 30 days.
To be honest though, it's not like things have changed so drastically for me. It's not like I usually have guys trying to break down my door to get to me. But then it's only day 4, so we will see what happens next.
Just got back from the Ex with the Friend- in sugar and cheap food coma. It was great!
Crap- I'm completly addicted to Facebook. For those who are on- add me so I can be cool on Facebook.

Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995)

30 Day Guyatus- Day 3

2006-09-03T11:53:00.000-04:00

So no dates last night which was a good start. I did however hang out with two hot guys as you can see from the "Buddy's in Bad Times" post. We went to Byzantium, Woody's [sorry Javeed] and Buddy's in Bad Times. Thanks for letting us force you to come out Os. I had an awesome time! The music was sick!

So how am I handling my 30 day guyatus? I still think all men suck- except for those I call friends and I can't date them because, well they are my friends and some of them are married or will be very shortly [PAKISTAN 2006- YES!]. It's a little scary because I'm beginning to feel I just cannot trust most guys. And why should I? Look at my track record. But then maybe it's not them, it's me- in the sense that I am clearly going for the wrong kind of guy. I think that's what I need to figure out- how to distinguish the wrong guy from the right guy. And it's not as easy as it looks, I mean it's not like I'm going for crack dealing pimps [ well there was that one time]. Unfortunately it's far more subtle than that. Hence my extreme frustration. Ok, let's see what do I want in a man.

1. He has to know that sometimes when I say I'm ok I'm lying through my teeth, not because I'm trying to be annoying, but because I don't know how to express myself. He has to be able to get me to talk at these times and cut through my bull shit.
2. I wanted to be treated like a princess- but it really doesn't need to be (and shouldn't be) all the time. I want to know he's thinking about me when I'm not with him because I am.
3. He has to understand my humour. I have little shame, and my humour borders on offensive at times [thanks to Spanky, the Fireman and the Friend- I love you all!] but it's all in good fun in the end.
4. He has to be ok with giving me massages. I'm a massage slut.
5. I am not a jealous person, that does not mean I don't get jealous and so I understand a little bit of jealousy. He needs to understand that my guy friends are just that, if we begin to fight over that, or if he believes I'm checking out guys whenever we are walking together and accuses me of it every single time then forget him.
6. He has to get along with my friends and my friends have to like him [b/c clearly I have no idea what is good for me]
We'll start with that.
Munna Bhai MBBS

Do you like the moon?

2006-09-02T14:14:00.000-04:00

Spanky, thank you for the Marmots

30 Day Guyatus- Day 2

2006-09-02T13:56:00.000-04:00

Well this is day 2 of my 30 day guyatus- so far I've done great. Unfortunately the sarcasm with which I say that last statement is completely lost on a reader. I went on a date last night. The problem was that I had made plans like a week ago, before this decision to swear off men was made, and to be honest I felt it rude to just cancel. The date was nice, the guy was nice but that's that.
Rather appropriately after my date I went out with Spanky and the little red headed girl [who is awesome!]. We went to Tangoes- a lesbian bar- where there were far too many gay men for my taste. I wanted to see thespians only. Then we went to the Brass Rail [which is what the last blog, written by Spanky was all about]. Spank and the little red headed girl got lap dances by the rippers and felt like they smelled like rippers for the rest of the evening. Haha. Then there was Jordan in the internet cafe who we felt that need to tease mercilessly becase we saw him on webcam when we left for our night out and then when we came back. And he did not seem to be impressed by Spanky's window dance [inspired by the rippers]. It was hilarious. Though I do feel a little bad now.
Well hopefully day 2 of guyatus will see me stick to this. I'm trying.
Devdas (2002)

David Writes

2006-09-02T02:54:00.000-04:00

We got some cheap, smelly, old, and wrinkled asain stripers that smelled of vomit and febreeze. We spent hundreds. We spent thousands. We yelled at some poor unibrowed man named Jordan. We may have offended him. We smell like THEM. We danced, but not well. We wrote, but not well. We are not as clever as we hope.

30 Day Guyatus- Day 1

2006-09-01T12:20:00.000-04:00

So you might be wondering what the hell a guyatus is. Basically no men for me for 30 days- of course this does not include male friends. So this is day 1 of my 30 day Guyatus. I decided after my "what men want" entry that Trixie and the Friend were right- do I actually know what I want in a relationship? When people ask me what kind of guy I usually go for, I can never actually answer that question. I usually simply say I know what I don't like. I've seen it as me just being laid back and flexible, but perhaps that is what has gotten me where I am today. I'm not sure that I will all of sudden have some sort of "eureka" moment, but certainly with my new job and my thesis madness [it has gone for external review- Yikes!] having one less thing on my mind that makes me pagal is not a bad idea. So I will keep you updated on my guyatus and I've decided I will also post pictures of 30 of my favourite Bollywood movies [in no particular order] Bunty aur Babli (2005)

Little Green Footballs

2006-08-29T13:41:00.000-04:00

http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/

This is an interesting site. With interesting views and takes on the world today.

2006-08-28T22:25:00.000-04:00

Journalists have no sense of humour

Stephen, will you marry me?

2006-08-28T22:17:00.000-04:00

A brief documentary on the minutemen

I love Stephen Colbert

Shah Rukh Khan Vs Abhisheck Bachchan

2006-08-27T16:35:00.000-04:00

Well I can't decide, so I will leave it up to my blog readers.
I think both are hot, but you tell me what you think.