The nice things

Today I cycled to work with my boyfriend and it was lovely. It was a crisp fall morning and the bike trail was not too crowded, and we just relaxed and rode and enjoyed each other's company.

I also had a great day yesterday, not in the fact that I realized that a dream was over, but that I actually came to a strong and forceful conclusion that a dream is, indeed, over. I am looking for a new one.

My son is potty training and he's doing a really good job. Every time he pees in the potty, he pulls up his pants and immediately hugs me because accomplishments deserve hugs and praise. He also wakes up in the morning and yells, "Good morning, Mommy," and then promptly lies back down and cuddles his stuffed dog until he summons the strength to carry around his enormous head all day.

I wrote my first real e-mail in Hebrew today. "I forgot that I am going to Las Vegas on Sunday until Thursday morning. Can we get together on Thursday morning at 11?"

But really the best of this week so far is that I have no desire to figure out what happens next. I'm taking a week off from, "I've finished this, now what? Okay, now that I've finished that, what do I need to do next? Where's my list? Why is my list 2000 items long? Must cross things off!"

It's an amazing feeling.

Sure, I'll get tired of it by the time the end of the week rolls around because it's not in my nature to do nothing for long. But for now...

Ahnee margeeshah shmehnah

Okay, so phonetics aren't my forte. But I learned a useful phrase today that I often employ in English, but apparently is not so useful in Israel.

Ahnee margeeshah shmehnah. I feel fat. But according to the man who taught this to me, people don't say this in Israel. They keep it to themselves if that's the case.

On the other hand, if they think that YOU are fat, heaven help us all. At shmehnah, baby. Additionally, oolai at tipshah ve mechoeret. But ahnee? I don't think so.

So apparently, the self-deprecating bent that is rampant here in the good ole USA isn't universal, to the point that it took this guy many seconds to even conjure up the female version of the words for fat, stupid and ugly.

Very well. Perhaps I'll put an American twist on an Israeli fashion and tell someone, "At margeeshah sh'ahnee shmehnah."

Lit Crit

I read several books over the past couple of weeks, mostly in a sad attempt to be intellectually superior to my fellow airplane travellers who sat in rapt blue day-glo silence in front of their personal television screens, mesmerized by the witty dialog of [fill in name of Hindi Bollywood Star here] or the action-packed adventures produced by Hollywood mega celebs.

And so, although secretly jealous of the easy entertainment that they had, and stewing in a self-induced rage over my academic pursuits, I managed to read a bevy of what I can only call "Ha Smorgasbord Sefer."

That's right, a gastronomic-like, linguistically and grammatically bizarre (read: incorrect) selection of books. And I will critique them below.

The Three of Us: A Family Story
Do not read this book unless you don't have children, are not planning to have children or will forget this book's contents before you have children, and both of your parents are dead (or far far away). However, if you fit those three qualifications then by all means - read away. It is an interesting and well-written true story that will keep you up at night, not because you will stay up late to finish it but because you will be kept awake by the disturbing images floating around in your cerebral cortex.

This Isn't What I Expected
A book about post-partum depression. I'm going to go ahead and recommend against this book unless you want a manual on how to diagnose yourself with PPD. Captain, this might be a good one for you.

Shalimar the Clown
Ohhhhhh, can we say sexy beast? Salman Rushdie is like poetic gold. About 200 pages into the book, I read the end (don't try to stop me; it's a lifelong habit). And even knowing the end, I still wanted to finish the 600 page book. I could live in the dreamy places in this book. Except without the mass murder and rape. And without the disease. But otherwise, yeah.

The Double Bind
What is UP with people writing sexually disturbing books? This book is like taking a cheese grater to the parts of your brain that produce happiness and trust in humanity. I guess in that sense you could call it a great book because it weaves itself so deeply into your psyche but FOR CHRIST'S SAKE! I had to watch a Disney movie immediately after just to get the horrible depression to lift. Maybe that would have been a good time to diagnose myself with PPD...

Noises Off
I had read this play a few weeks ago but had to re-read it, since I'm the costume designer for the community theatre production of this lovely number. Funny, in a British sort of way, which means that it's not. Funny, that is.

It's amazing what 40 hours of flight time can accomplish. However, that also means that I probably won't read an entire single book for several more months. And even then...I think next time I might cave and go for the 16 straight hours of personal programming at my fingertips. From cartoons to carrying on...would that mean they could make a movie called Mulan (Rouge)?