Kenyan Election Stolen

As I prepare to go to Arizona to meet my friend J's sister, I wonder what I'll hear about the Kenyan election that just took place. A professor of history she went to Kenya to try and assist with the election process and bring about what was to be the first democratic election. A woman who tremendous passion about her work, I'm so interested in meeting her...but I know she'll probably be in a concerned mood about what has transpired. Luckily she made it out of Nairobi among all the riots; her mother sitting on the edge of her seat for the past few days.

It made me think about the movie I saw just last week, A Mighty Heart, about the killing of Daniel Pearl. People like J's sister want so much to bring about change in the world as did Daniel Pearl or at the very least report on what is really happening. We get so little real news back here in our ethnocentric country. I'm sure my world will be opened up as a result of just being with the family. I happened across the Mary Oliver poem, Wage Peace. I'm to bring something like that...a poem, a song, a story...this poem seems quite apropo given what has just ensued. Let's hope that violence there does not escalate, but with a people's hopes shattered...I fear it's unlikely. Pray for peace...it's New Years...that's all we can do for the People of Kenya and for the people of Iraq and our own soldiers....in 2008, let's hope for a saner world.

Chinese Food on Christmas

So my friend Pablo send me this funny video about called Chinese Food on Christmas...I think it was a follow-up to my previous angst about being Jewish on Christmas...enjoy.

The King and I

If you get the opportunity to see this amazing play at the Village Theater in Issaquah I highly recommend it. The costumes and sets were outstanding and several of the actors are worth a thumbs up mention. The woman who play Mrs. Leonowens played the role equally as well as Deborah Kerr and the young woman who played Top Tim, was beautiful, had a gorgeous voice and embodied the agony of a young woman trapped by the King being in love with another man. She also was the narrator of the play within the play based on "Uncle Tom's Cabin"--

That play within the play was a major highlight for me. The costumes and dancing were superb and they had an angel come down from above to come take Eva away after she dies and he/she was an aerialist who hung from a clothe, did the splits, and then hung by one foot; I'd say it was equal to if not better the the movie scene.

The King was OK...I thought Yul Brenner was much more convincing, but then who could ever top Yul Brenner.

I thought about the enormous Buddha in one scene and the costuming and then realized how easy it must have been to obtain the really McCoy given that we have so many Thai people living in Seattle.

The orchestra was fabulous and the songs of course bring you back to the many times you probably saw the movie.

All in all a really great experience. Sit on the main floor if you can; I had a hard time hearing some of the dialogue.

Making Challah and Remembering My Grandmother

As I knead the bread for the Challah I'm making for Shabbat, I can't help thinking about my grandmother who did the same but lived in two rooms and had 7 children to care for. What was her life really like? It must have been hard is all I can imagine. Poor as doormice, bread must have been a staple of every meal being relatively cheap compared to vegetables, fruit and meat. I do know they ate chicken. My mother remembers her mother swinging a live chicken over her head to kill it. Then she had to cut off it's head, kasher it by draining all the blood, and pluck it's feathers. This must have been an all day project. Just keeping a household running must have been an 18 hour a day job. And I know she also worked as a janitor to keep her family fed. An easy life, she did not have.

As I write the story of my grandmother...I stand in awe of her. I wish I had met her but she met a similar fate to many Jews of her time--she was killed by the Nazi's in Auschwitz. I know she went to her death a proud woman--an orthodox Jew who never compromised her principles. A simple loaf of Challah connects us. I'll never really know what her life was like but I feel her in my heart, bones, and soul. My middle name Ilona, was hers. Today Bubbe I remember and honor you and hope that the way I'm living my life is a testiment to the love I feel for you.

Benazir Bhutto: A Profile of Courage

Today a woman who dared stand up against an Islamic State, was assassinated. Although I don't pretend to know much about the life of Benazir Bhutto, I do know that she tried to make changes that were not popular and that would have benefited woman and children in Pakistan. She was the first woman elected Prime Minister in Pakistan and like woman of her type, Golda Meir, Indira Gandhi, and Aung San Suu Kyi (also the daughter of a previous political figure), she wanted to make a difference in the lives of her people. She knew that the possibility of her assassination; but she came out of hiding and back to her country to run in an election in a government that has been in constant turmoil. Her assassination does not bode well for the rest of the world either. What would Hillary Clinton have to say about this turn of events, particularly in the midst of her own bid for power? I'm sure we will hear from her and others in the next few days. In mind it's people like Benazir Bhutto that are the most courageous of all because of the tremendous odds they face in trying to make changes in society, particularly when those odds are so stacked against them. At times like these as the New Year is upon us we can only pray that our own people will elect a strong leader that is willing to step up and go against the status quo. Will it happen? Only God knows.

Volunteering vs. Taking Care of Ourselves

Ok...so today is Christmas...with no family in town I'm relying on my friends to get me through the holiday. I could be serving food in a soup kitchen but I just never seem to get around to making that commitment. If I had kids that would seem like the perfect opportunity to show them how lucky they are. But since I don't (have kids) and I know it's rough out there I'm choosing to spend it on myself. Today is a day to clean, get organized for the New Year, talk to old friends, catch up on sleep, go to a movie, and out for Chinese.

But back to the helping out part. I do think it's important. Being Jewish I believe wholeheartly in doing mitzvahs. But I do think they need to come from your heart and not just out of obligation. And if I think back over the year I can recall the special things I've done for others. I've been volunteering at the Washington State Holocaust Education Resource Center, tutoring a friends children, helping out a friend in need and doing small things here and there when I can. Perhaps I should make one commitment to an organization; that might feel more productive and less scattered. But it's just not where I am right now.

I think we need to look at our lives and determine how we are doing first and then how much of our energy can we realistically contribute to the world. We can overextend ourselves, burn ourselves out, and then no one benefits.

Being mindful of our needs, taking care of those needs and then thinking of one effort that will make a difference would be a good New Years Resolution. Think about it!

Bruce Springsteen

I was lucky enough to receive the latest Springsteen CD for Chanukkah. It's vintage Springsteen all the way. Fantastic rhythms. Soulful, gritty lyrics. This will be a CD to listen to over and over. I don't know how many of you ever had the luck of attending a Springsteen concert. Oh my God...what an experience...verging on a religious experience. I went to his Born in the USA concert many moons ago. He was young (35), hot, and with energy to burn. He easily outlasted his audience by about an hour; he played for over 3 without stopping. I have to admit he entered my fantasies quite a bit in those days. What would it be like to be with Bruce. Of course I thought perfect, wonderful, ideal. Would it have been? Who knows. Then he married a movie star from Oregon. Thank God that didn't last and he married Patty from his band. But it did produce Tunnel of Love, a pretty fab CD. And what are CDs but reflections of our life at that time anyway. As is his current CD. Go out and buy it. You'll be rocking the night away.