breezy sunny afternoon

i really feel like i am on vacation in my parents house. not that i feel like i'm a guest, but i feel like i do when we stay at a house on the beach...long lazy days relaxing, reading, visiting with each other. granted there are late night phish shows in between, but now that i have a full day where i'm in charge...it's just really great. tonight i'll have another bbq with my family, then soon it's time to return to the nyc for shabbat.

sunday i head to long island to hofstra university for the caje conference. i'll be representing the melton research center and jts press at the shuk part time and the rest of the time attending classes, workshops, concerts, israeli dancing...it will be jam-packed with activities.

just got an update from lw that the tor (my sister's pet turtle) is eating well. she is being such a good auntie feeding him this week. i really miss the little guy. here's an old photo for those of you who haven't met him yet:


yesterday spent the afternoon with grandma g. we had thai for lunch (she's had thai food 3 times at the same restaurant and always orders the same thing). we did some errands and went to the ma'ket (since we were in ba'stun that's what they call it). i need to start making a list of all the great things grandma g has to say. here's quote #1:

"In the evening, I like to take a peach or a nectarine."

I love it! Take a peach! It's great! I've got to start using that.

6 hours until phish

so as of yesterday i've been officially blogging for two weeks. i hope to keep it up for at least the month of august. as for the fall semester, which starts after labor day (and therefore the hazon ride, we shall see what things look like when i'm trekking up to freedman three days a week for teva stuff.

i have a few hours to shower and organize some dinner before i head down to the tweeter center, ahem 'greatwoods,' for phish's 4th to last concert ever. i think i i will be making some grilled tofu and veggies for the ride.

wed. will be lunch with grandma g, perhaps after a visit to grandma c. thu i have plans to have dinner with zs and it looks like i'll find myself on the chinatown bus by early fri morning. not many other plans; mostly chiling in the 'hood and at my parents house...relaxing and surely saving $$.

btw, if you are reading this blog, i would love to get a comment or two from you, even if it's just: "hi, i'm reading your blog"
making a comment is easy to do-just click where it says "0 comments" and you can add your own.

peace.

chinatown midnight

my brother is due in on the chinatown bus in about an hour. last summer he once picked me up around 2am (since, you know, the subway stops running at 1am here in boston!), so i really owe him one. would be somewhat easier if i wasn't also waking up at 7am tomorrow (tue) to drive mom to work and borrow her car for the phish concert, but ah well...he's my brother and he needs a ride. it happends. this is why we should all live in new york. so we can be out super late and be independent about it.

yet as i see myself getting older, i think there will be a time where i don't plan on being out after 11pm, let alone 1am. so, nyc is not forever...but surely it is still for right now. nyc: i'll see you at the end of the week!

Imagine Festival 2004: NYC

the jcc in manhattan will be hosting the environmental summit portion of Imagine: Festival of Arts, Issues and Ideas:

New York's first annual Imagine Festival, of Arts, Issues and Ideas coincides with the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City. The Imagine Festival is hosting over 125 events that mix artistic and educational activities through a series of concerts, performances, screenings, forums, town meetings and other extraordinary cultural happenings. From August 28 to September 2, 2004 we will come together to share our intelligence, creativity and passion at numerous venues throughout the city.

the jcc venues include:
Panel - Debate on Environmental Future of U.S.
Down to Earth, Film Screening
Film screening- World Premiere. The Forest For the Tree: Judi Bari V.S. The FBI

view from the 5,000 acre granite pile

during the 'tute, made it to new hampshire's mount monadnock early thu. morning. likely the second most frequently climbed mountain in the world, after Japan's Mt. Fuji

tute comes to an end

so many memories and so many moments to reflect on. i shall share just a few here.

longing to connect with people i hadn't seen in days, months...that first hug
new faces, instant acceptance, sincere eye contact
standing room only rockin ma'ariv
blessings to give and receive, in the form of a song, a wink, a smile
circling around the buildings, skipping over and around canada goose poop
jamming and singing, drumming and dancing
a moonlit hike to a field of milkweed...too bright to look up
wandering with teens after 'scream and run'
sababa! is this a five foot ash?
meal to meal, up ramps and down stairs
gang for a day: 'rhymes with orange'
late night puff in an outdoor amphitheatre opens the circle
up before dawn to hike in the rain to a mountain peak that showed us where we came from
slippery rocks, sweet blueberries, moments of prayer
havurah moss, rock tripe, FBI's and leaf funerals
plenty of time to twist spirals into bracelets and rope
spinning worm torah into something meaningful
dancing for hours straight on less than no sleep
reviving the cowboy song
embraced my second soul on shabbat
tore myself away from singing on high, to catch a bissle of rest
awoke to rooftop style in a chapel
stood witness to my students passing on group games, survival skills, tree identification...
the final wandering as the moon waned; yet a stronger spirit in each step
a moment of precious sleep before i was sharing final hugs and being boston bound

only child for a day

so even though the tute is over, i'm still in new england...slowly making my way south...luckily i'm not going to be plopped back into super charged nyc (don't worry nyc i still love you i'm coming back at the end of the week! well be together in time for shabbat)...right now i'm chilling in lexingtang (sk's name for lexington, ma) with my parents. it's fun being an only child for a day. my brother is in nyc until tomorrow night; my sister is on a backpacking trip until sunday. anyway i got to choose exactly what i wanted for dinner. we grilled vegetables and yellowfin tuna and ate on the porch under the clouds and hemlock trees.

showed dad the badgers. two days until phish@the tweeter center with BZ, EH, RC, CG, HKB, and more...

also must find time to take grandma to lunch.

worm torah

if God is a silk worm, then the whole world is made of silk; God is in everything because everything came from the material of God.

SHAMIR POWER!

routine out of routine

in some ways i'm spending the week doing what i usually do, just in a different venue...
-leading hikes for kids
-pointing out names of trees constantly
-planning services with bz
-engaging in philosophical/political/spiritual discussions
-crocheting kippot
-Jewish text study
-connecting with funky Jews from all over
is there anything else i do? can't think of it at the moment...
(okay, chilling out with LW and AL i can't do here but that's different...)

tue night of institute

here are two snippets from some whack conversations i've had since coming here:

TSH
i have two philosophies
it doesn't take time, it takes love
the morie love, the less time
love is just one form of sleep

(then later on)

JB
what does it mean to struggle for a bracha?
sarah: it means you recognize the other has something you don't have; they are worth it; you've struggled at their level and you want something from them. like a bride on her wedding day that everyone asks for a bracha.
r(then later on)

(me)
so you have mailboxes. the cool thing about mailboxes if you put an object in the right way (with postage and an address), then it goes to exactly where it's supposed to go. now, what about trash cans? usually, every thing you put in a trash can just goes away forever.

JB
no there are some things if you put in a trash can they won't go away forever. like a dead body. the police will surely find it.

(me)
yeah and like cans! if you put soda cans in the trash, a homeless person will come and take them to the right place. so...but you get what i'm saying. for the most part, things that are put in the trash go away forever. so wouldn't it be cool if trash cans worked the same way? if you put it in "in the right way", it would go to the right place - just like dead bodies and soda cans!

EH
i want to put myself "in the right way" and go exactly where i'm supposed to go!

(me)
hey that would be a great ending. maybe it could start with the trash can and the mailbox getting it on...

on my way to the tute

i'll be leading the teen nature experience teva-style for 15 teens ages 12-16. watch out for the knasty knats!

well i'm feeling tired already from a day of helping EH move and driving into boston last night with her and BZ. time to grab a snack before road trip #2.