sex and the city

well, as it turns out i did not have work today , so i did something i never do. i saw a movie on opening day. i know its cheesy, but i saw the sex and the city movie today.
though it was not exactly what i was expecting, i still enjoyed it. it was a little darker than the actual tv series was. i am glad that they made it, though. it tied up alot of loose ends that the series had left over. in fact, it would have made a better series finale than a movie. in a way im glad they made the movie because it gave me closure ( boy am i pathetic). now i realize how insightful the powers that be were for deciding to end the series when they did. now these characters are all grown up. while this is okay for a movie, it wouldnt have translated well in to a continued series.
without giving away the whole movie, i have to say that i enjoyed the second half better than the first half, because it was more in line with what i had loved about the series.
i would recommend going to see the movie. though it might not be what you expect it to be, it does not disappoint.

momzilla attack!!

my biggest pet peeve is when people use their baby carriages as weapons. its as if they have forgotten that their baby carriage actually contains a baby. you know the type. they stand behind you in line at the supermarket with the wheels of their carriages sinking into your heels, or running over your toes in the summer . what's with these people? its bad enough that they have kids, but dont get violent. i didnt have anything to do with them having a child. and if they are in such a hurry , why take the baby at all? leave the baby at home with a sitter. if they still want to be pushy solo, at least they only are using their bodies to push people out of their way, not a hard edged, hard wheeled baby carriage.

it takes a village

there is a new kosher resteraunt in the village called... kosher village. its on the cornor of third avenue and astor place. its a falafel and shwarma place. its under the ou . the food tastes very fresh. oh... and the most important part is that the front of the resteraunt is open, due to the nice weather, and the view is loads of fun. it is now possible to eat in a kosher schwarma resteraunt on astor place and have an amazing view of the village. if you like to people watch in the village (which i do) this is the place to be.
btayavon!!

UPDATE: JULY 18 ,2008
THIS RESTERAUNT HAS CHANGED ITS NAME AND NOW IT ISNT KOSHER

fugitive pieces

there's a great movie out called fugitive pieces. its based on a book with the same name by anne michaels. its about a seven-year-old boy who sees his parents get killed and his sister taken away by the nazis . he had been hidden during this episode. after his family is gone he wanders away by himself and is found by a non-jewish greek man who manages to escape poland with him and hides him in his villa in greece.
after the war the greek man brings the boy to canada to live. they have neighbors who are also survivors who become a part of their lives.
the boy who becomes a man struggles to make sense of his life and learns how to have love in his life because of those in his life who gave him love.
often, because the events of the shoah are so important to remember , the aftermath of the war , and what happened to those who did survive , aren't chronicled as much. this movie tries to delve in to the psyche of one who survived the war.
this is a quiet movie with an important message.
now that i have seen the movie , i would really like to read the book.

warhol's jews

i went to the jewish museum today and saw a fun exhibit called warhol's ten portraits of jews of the twentieth century. this exhibit was fun to see in person, but im not sure that it would be as good if i had seen it in a book about the exhibit.


warhol drew ten portraits of who he considered to be important jewish people of the twentieth century. the catch is that he never met most of them and those who he painted were dead when the original exhibit in 1980 was created. he painted their likeness from photos.


gertude stein, golda meyer, sarah bernhardt, george gershwin, franz kafka , three of the marx brothers, sigmund freud, martin buber, louis brandeis, and albert einstein were immortalized in these paintings. the original photos were included in the exhibit as well. my favorite painting was that of golda meir. he really captured the spirit in her eyes, so much so that even not having actually met her it felt like i had. it was eerie.


the painting of kafka was also quite exceptional.


while i was viewing the exhibit, i was treated to one of the elderly docents giving a tour of the exhibit. it gave the exhibit a true new york jewish flavor. the other nice part of having the docent's tour was that she took everyone up to the third floor to view the jewish painters who had incorporated warholesque techniques in their works.


included in the artists who metamorphosed warhols techniques were those of ben shahn, deborah kass, and alex katz. ben shahn's paintings of photos of the civil rights freedom fighters who were killed were uncanny. deborah kass did a warhol version of elizabeth taylor and barbara streisand. warhol himself refused to do a portrait of barbara streisand.

i would recommend this exhibit. its an enjoyable look at the past. no one is even quite sure why warhol really wanted to do these paintings since he was catholic, which to me adds to the allure.

jules feiffer

two thursdays ago i went to the most amazing book reading at the strand. the author who spoke was jules feiffer . im embarrassed to say that i had never heard of the pulitzer prize winning cartoonist and satirist. however time out magazine had advertised that a gentle cartoonist who also was a satirist as well as political satirist who had written a cartoon for the village voice for 4o something yrs was going to be at the strand for a book reading... well that definitely peaked my interest.

anyway, mr. feiffer was this adorable older man who outlined his career and described how he persisted in creating his own brand of satire. as bold as his vision was, he also maintained his integrity . he was a gracious team player for those he wrote for.

there was even a woman in the audience who thanked him for his contribution to an 80's tween magazine she had edited, and thanked him for how wonderful he was to deal with.

mr. feiffer spoke about his works and exhibited the most wicked and sharp sense of humor i have ever heard.

after the book reading i skimmed through his new book the explainers which is a compilation of all of his strips for the village voice from 1956-1966 and it really tickled my funny bone.

needless to say i purchased the book. i wanted to have this book signed by its author. as they say there is no time like the present.

there is nothing like a book reading to open up a world that one never knew existed.

yada ..yada...yada

everyone has there "thing" . for some people its their hair, others their sense of humor. my thing is looking young. bli eyin harah. and no im not kidding. i could lie about my age if i wanted to and lie big and you would still believe me. but i dont.i go to singles events and meet men 10 yrs younger than me who think that im much younger than they are. its bizarre. its cool , and i know not many people can relate to this, but its truly like being in the twilight zone. i always bring id with me because i always get carded when i buy wine, beer , etc. sometimes when they see my i d they make faces . im waiting for the day that someone thinks it a fake id!! again, i know that no one has sympathy for me.
at first when men 7-10 yrs younger started hitting on me i would tell them my age so they would back off. i dont do that anymore. it didnt stop them and then they knew my age. now if they are too young i just say im not interested.
once in a while i do give in and go out with much younger men, just to be able to say i went out with someone that much younger. its alot of fun, but frustrating. if only i was their age it might really work. alas , reality.
i meet men 10 yrs younger who want to date me and people want to set me up with men 10 yrs older. either way i lose. the men much younger dont want anyone much older for anything real and the men much older act like they have one foot in the grave.
once in a while i meet someone good who is closer to my age and it does work out for awhile. thats what im waiting for. at least then i might have a chance at finding true love, marriage ,the whole shebang....yada... yada... yada....

ross perot anyone?

i personally think that hilary clinton should be on the ballot whether or not she achieves the democratic nomination or not. she should be the ross perot of this election. i dont even know who im going to vote for this election because the only one i had even thought about voting for was clinton, and i dont know if she will be on the ballot. i could write her in , but i actually want my vote to count.
obama and his wife dont impress me at all. if hes so un-muslim why doesnt he still go by the name 'barry'?
mccain on the other hand doesnt impress me either. aside from the fact he looks not unlike a cartoon character , i cant think of any good reason to vote for him except for the fact i dont particularly like obama.
perhaps obama isnt a muslim sympathizer, but i am afraid that he will pull a david dinkins if he is elected. if david dinkins wasnt black the crown heights riots would not be part of history. david dinkins is not an anti-semite, but he had to walk a line during the crown heights riots because he was black. im not sure that obama is an anti-semite , but im not sure that he is so good for the jews either.
hilary clinton is no saint either, but i do think that the devil you know is better than the devil you dont know (obama).
well, i have another 6 months to figure it out.
at least the primaries this time around have been interesting .im not usually concerned with politics. i vote, but im not a walking political encyclopedia.
is ross perot still alive? if he is maybe he should consider running for office. im sure he would get some votes. heck, even if has alzheimers he still might do a better job than our current choices!!

youre in the army now

when i was waiting for my flight back to new york after pesach, i noticed alot of army servicemen in the waiting areas. what i really noticed was how very young these soldiers really are. what i noticed was how many had such sweet faces. the saddest part is knowing what lies ahead for these sweet faces . my point isnt whether or not there should be a war, just that it takes away innocence from those who brave it.
i have a friend who cant stand july fourth because it reminds him too much of his years in the israeli army .
if old men had to actually fight in wars , there would be no wars.
my co-worker's daughter decided to enlist for four years. im so saddened by it. my co-worker's daughter has such a sunny personality. i hope she is able to retain it . i hope the army doesnt take that away from her. to serve one's country is very honorable , but with all of the corruption, i think that for a woman its a tough route to go. i hope that my friends daughter lives to tell the tales of her tour of duty.
my hope is for world peace in our life time.

lions and tigers and nerd rage oh my!!

when i first started attending singles events i was nice and would talk to everyone who approached me. over time i realized that some guys can't take social cues and once they achieve the feat of engaging me in conversation they will never leave my side. this of course becomes a problem . im just being polite by speaking to them, but its a total waste of my time for them to monopolize my time when i know that i will never ever have any interest in them. not to mention the fact that the longer i engage in conversation with these men, the more i am raising their hopes that i might be interested in them. sadly i find that the only thing one can do is say hello to these individuals and keep on moving. i know its rude, but i cant help it . my biological clock is ticking. not theirs.
i actually will concede that i actually dont mind chatting with the mild mannered nerds who im not interested in because they are very nice and i dont want to hurt their feelings . the only thing is , often just talking to someone for a few minutes can give some men false hope, which will also hurt their feelings.
however , there is another species of undesirables who i find completely intolerable and that is nerds gone wild. nerds gone wild are a hard bunch to identify. they seem mild mannered, but they have been burned so many times that they are now very angry and now they want to get even with every woman who turns them down. again, i cant help them. if im nice to them, they get the wrong idea and they will never leave my side so i can meet a more appropriate suitor. if i walk away from him, he will cause a scene. either way no one wins. however, nerds gone wild could potentially be very dangerous. they could get so angry they could become physically violent. chas veshalom.
i dont pretend to know the answers , but i do know that nerds gone wild are a potential danger to society.
im not happy im single. and yes im sure there are men who might find me nerdy. but thats their problem. i dont want anyone who doesnt want me. mutual attraction is important. if i see that a guy isnt really interested when im trying to talk to him i stop trying to chat with him and excuse myself. im a good person and i know that i dont have to force anyone to like me. it has to be organic. if someone doesnt like me, then so what. i dont like everyone either. we are all entitled to our own preferences. id prefer someone who wants me as much as i want him. everyone deserves this. even nerds.

moving right along...

at singles events there is always the core group of guys one chats with because one sees them around alot, so one feels one should chat. of course sometimes this ritual can be annoying because sometimes i might possibly be interested in these types of guys, but for whatever reason they want to keep it at the "acquaintance at singles events" level. though frustrating at times, over time it can run its cycle and become a non-issue. sometimes one can actually go on a date with one of them and find that they are the type who don't ever want to get married . other times , these guys can seem like the mr. cool types, and then one realises that over the years, though mr. cool still thinks he's still mr. cool, mr.cool is just downright ugly and not as cool seeming as he used to be. and actually , this is quite a relief, because though it might have begun as mr. cool being rejecting, it ends up with mr. cool being the one rejected.
how cool is that?

thin for a fat person

well my quest for more sleep has been somewhat successful. ive been getting at least 6 hrs of sleep on work nights, and 7 hrs + on the weekend instead of my usual 4-5 hrs. i cant say that its had an effect on my weight, but i definitely feel more well rested.
i have a subscription to self magazine which also entitles me to join the self-diet club which i joined on wednesday. it seems pretty good so far. they even list cholent and kugel in their food lists so you dont have to estimate their food values.
at the moment im thin for a fat person. in other words, if i was someone who was 60 lbs overweight and then i lost 30 lbs i might even stop trying to lose weight because i would feel "thin enough" . i wouldnt really be thin. i want to be thin for a thin person. which is what i was before i got sloppy and started packing on the pounds.

facebook vs blogging

at the constant urging of my friends, i joined facebook a few months ago. yes i know that im probably dating myself by admitting this. now i admit that i do enjoy playing scrabulous and scramble , but really its kind of silly. the only reason i joined was to have greater access to singles events. also, since the over 50 crowd usually isnt on facebook, they probably wont show up at singles event advertised on facebook.
blogs on the other hand are much more fun. its fun to see what people will post. its fun posting on my own blog. its just as fun to read the comments .
i prefer to spend time in real life with my friends who are on facebook, and to share virtual space with my virtual friends on the blogosphere.

and then she found me

i broke down and saw a movie during sefirah. i know its rationalizing, but i would watch tv at home so i dont see much difference in seeing a movie in an actual movie theater. i went by myself.
and then she found me is a movie about an woman who is 39 years old , recently married , and adopted. she also is jewish . conservadox would best describe her religiousity. she says brachos before eating.
as one might guess, this young woman, april (helen hunt) is her name, is trying to beat the clock and have a baby. somewhere along the line her marriage falls apart , but the desire for motherhood builds.
being a very hollywoodized type of scenario , of course april meets her birth mother who is bette midler. what is very interesting is that after viewing the movie, im still not sure if the bette midler character was supposed to be jewish. i find this curious since bette midler always plays such "jewish" parts.
though a bit hollywood formula, this film still packs a punch. both of april's love interests were buffoons, which explains why husband or no husband april wanted to try and become a mother.
matthew broderick's benjamin was so real to me it was scary. sadly, i think ive met quite a few men like him. colin firth's character was no better.
i think the film needed to be a little bit too hollywood in order to soften some the seriousness that was presented.
overall, i enjoyed this movie .
if you actually see this film remember to bring tissues.

mosquito bait

i must be the only one in the world who gets mosquito bites in this kind of weather. if i would have thought i was going to get bitten i would have put on some mosquito repellent. i found this really great mosquito repellent at an eco-fest last october. there is something called body guard by this company named sound earth that has this natural mosquito repellent. its the only thing ive found that works. its made out of some sort of citronella blend. it has a strong smell, but not bad . when ive worn it people just ask me what perfume im wearing, so it cant smell that bad. either that or they want to know what scent not to wear. either way, it works and its not toxic like other insect repellents , so im going to use it. http://www.soundearth.com/

mother's day

tomorrow is mother's day. of course mother's day is always the day i hope and pray that by next mother's day i will be married and at least be on my way to becoming a mother. since my mom lives outside of new york i dont spend the requisite mother's day with mom, but i do call her. alot of frummies say that "mother's day is everyday", but to me that's a cop out. dah! mother's day is everyday, but that's not the point. mother's day is so people will reminded to respect one's mother, not literally that mother's day is the only day to honor one's parents. for a people that prides ourselves on looking deeper in to something and not taking something at face value i find this sentiment a bit too literal. this is a positive secular holiday!!
when i was growing up my mom used to buy mother's day and father's day gifts even for aunts and uncles who did not have children. at this point in my life i find this quite profound.
i plan on spending this mother's day with my friend who just lost her mom and try to cheer her up.

the art of listening

listening is an art. don't laugh. not many people are good listeners. i try very hard to listen to what people are saying. its really difficult . alot of times we use our own prejudices when listening to someone's thoughts and assume they mean one thing and start to respond before we've really heard what the other person is saying. hearing someone out can actually prevent an argument. often i listen to my supervisor go on her idiotic ramblings and i think i hear a warning sign for her to go psycho, but i hold off on responding until ive heard what she has actually said. its impossible to second guess her, and much better not to get defensive until i really know that there is something to complain about. (although more times than not, there is reason.)
often i find myself speaking to someone and they arent really listening to what im saying and they are just waiting to pounce in with whatever it is that they want to say. often they might interrupt and tell the end of the sentence and ruin a story im trying to tell . often people have assumed too much and they were totally wrong. i have one friend who interrupts me when im speaking to ask me a question that if they hadnt interrupted me it would have been my next sentence.
if you listen to what people say they will tell you all you need to know. too bad so many people just dont listen.
so many times when i get interrupted i completely lose my train of thought and never manage to tell the person what i had intended to tell them in the first place. which i always figure is their loss.
it can be quite uncomfortable to be asked a firing squad of questions, whereas if the person was left to say their piece in peace they may be more candid. they may feel less self conscious.
im not suggesting everyone have one sided conversations, its just that its important to heed social cues in conversation instead of speaking out of turn and not letting the other person get a word in edgewise. its important to try and really listen to what each other is saying. a lot of misunderstandings would be eliminated, a lot of insight gained.

time stops for no one

my friend's mom passed away recently. she had cancer. its very sad. her mom was such a nice lady. although she was my friend's mom, i didnt realize how old she was. she had such a youthful personality. i went to the shiva at my friend's mom's house. it was so weird for her not to be there. i know that death is inevitable for everyone, but when it happens its always such a shock. i guess its better not to think about it too much. it could be very depressing . if i thought about death too much it would be hard to enjoy life.

picture perfect

i've started reading the red leather diary which is proving to be alot of fun. one thing that i am truly enjoying is the old photos of the diarist . the photos are just amazing. the subjects really spring to life. one can hardly believe that florence wolfson, the young diarist is now 92 and many of youthful her friends pictured in this book are now quite elderly or possibly deceased. one can practically touch the youth captured in these photos. its surreal.
several years ago i visited great aunt of mine , who happened to be 92 at the time, and we flipped through her old photo albums. it was such a special evening. the pictures seemed so ancient, yet watching my great aunt recall the lives of those photographed truly brought those people to life.
my great aunt had a newspaper clipping with a picture of her and her friend. it was summertime.my great aunt was about 31 when the photo was taken. my great aunt told me that the reason that the photo was in the newspaper was because the photographer thought that she and her friend were beautiful. and they were (im not biased!) reading the red leather diary, and especially looking at its photos made me remember that evening .

sleep yourself thin

staying in shape is really tough. i try to watch what i eat and exercise three times a week. for me maintaining my weight and losing weight (as needed) is really tough. ive done weight watchers, where i reached my goal weight, but it was really tough. though age can effect ones metabolism, i dont really think thats my problem. i clearly recall at 24 having to watch myself like a hawk to prevent weight gain.
over the past few years sleep deprivation has been a hot topic in books and magazines. sleeping less than 5 or 6 hrs a night has been linked to weight gain as well as contributing to other health maladies. though ive tried to get enough sleep over the past few years, its been a real struggle.
recently i was chatting with a co-worker about sleep deprivation and weight gain. apparently, she had suffered with this very issue and when she got more sleep she lost weight.
i know that when i stay up too late i tend to keep eating, so if id get to sleep earlier id probably lose weight just because i would have less hours id be eating!
over pesach i made sure to get at least 8 hrs of sleep. i usually gain 5 lbs over pesach which i never lose over the year. this year, although i did not lose any weight over the holiday, i did not gain any weight either. to me this is a real victory.
so far this week ive stayed the same, and ive been making a real effort to get at least 7 hrs of sleep. wish me luck . ill keep you posted as to my progress...

the red leather diary

i went to another book reading this week. lily koppel was the author. she wrote the book red leather diary. i bought the book before pesach, but i havent read it yet. i really love book readings. i like hearing the author read from their book with their own inflections. often the book seems different to me than what the author had intended, which i think is so cool. though i havent read the red leather diary i will tell you a little bit about it. the book is about a young woman, lily koppel , who finds a red leather diary in a dumpster on the upper west side in manhattan, and how she goes on to find its author as well as featuring excerpts of the diary. i actually had seen a write up about this book in one of the women's magazine's which peaked my interest . lily koppel eerily looks like the young florence wolfson whose diary she found. at the book reading lily koppel not only recounted how she found the diary and eventually tracked down its author, also conveyed an appreciation for the elderly and the importance of telling the story of an 'average' person. to me this is so profound. i have alot of elderly relatives whose lives i have found enchanting. to me this was so important and so unusual for a young , hip looking woman to convey to an audience. every person is a world. this is so deep. the youth culture is so worshipped that its so nice to hear someone respecting an older person and finding meaning from her life. i really look forward to actually reading this book.