happy un-valentine's day

i realize that valentine's day is not a jewish holiday, but as a single it still manages to bum me out anyway. i guess its just the sentiment that i like . a day dedicated to romance. and today because im single i have no romance. i bought myself perfume and chocolate just to make myself feel better. ive had valentines day dates and they were fun. or actually what made it more fun was being able to say i had a valentines day date.

of course then there is that dreaded alternative to the valentines day date and thats the valentines day single's event. not that they have been all that awful but they really do take the cake. if you actually meet someone what do you answer to the question about how you met? at a valentines day singles event ? oy vey. i could have gone to one of those tonight but i opted to stay home instead. too much pressure.

the namesake

recently i watched the namesake on video. i had seen it when it first was released in the theaters and it was just as good the second time around. in fact it was even better because in the interim i had read a book called beneath a marble sky by john shors. beneath a marble sky is about the building of the taj mahal . the taj mahal was built by a king in india in honor of his favorite wife who died . the book tells this story as well as a historical fiction account of the romance between the kings daughter and one of the builders of the taj mahal. the whole idea of a man building such an incredible structure to honor his deceased love is amazing. the book was incredibly romantic and well written. anyhow, in the movie the namesake this indian couple talk about love and do they love each other when they visit the taj mahal. in the movie they actually make mention of the reason the taj mahal was built, but since i hadnt yet read beneath a marble sky i didnt understand the significance of a conversation like this taking place at this location .this time around i really appreciated this scene .

at what age did you feel you had reached adulthood?

1. 21 - 30%
2. 30 -38%
3. 33 -7%
4. 40 -0%
5. not yet!!-23%

my poll closes in a few minutes, but i figured id start writing anyway. i was hoping to get 20 respondents, but instead i got lucky 13. its all good. i really did get results along the lines i might have guessed, and im glad that although there were those who responded with not yet, no one felt they had reached adulthood at 40 . of course, im not sure anyone over forty responded and im not sure if any of the respondents who felt they had reached adulthood at 21 were actually over thirty. i appreciate the nod from the reader who responded that they felt they had reached adulthood at 33.

i myself feel i reached adulthood at 30.

color me jewish

i attended a book reading at barnes and noble tonight featuring the author james mcbride who has just come out with a new book. for those of you who are not familiar, james mcbride is the author of the book 'the color of water' which is about a jewish woman from russia or poland who moves to the united states, marries a black man and passes herself off as black. i read the book years ago so i dont remember all of the details. it was a very interesting book because unlike 'turbulant souls' by steven dubner , which is about a man whose jewish parents convert out and eventually he returns to judaism , james mcbride does not,which makes it even more interesting. in 'the color of water' james mcbride does acknowledge his jewishness, but he doesnt identify himself as a jew. he prefers to be a black christian. what is most curious about mr mcbride is that a few years after i read his book there was an exhibit of photos of jewish writers at the center for jewish history and behold, there was a photo of james mcbride with his daughter and a siddur. for years ive wanted to hear him speak because though he isnt a member of the aish hatorah baal teshuvah of the month club, i do consider him a curiosity. he did not disappoint. i found him to exude a very warm personality, and though he doesnt consider himself jewish, he does acknowledge that those are his roots. he mentioned during the book reading that his first supporters of his firstbook were seventy year old white jewish women . he admitted to feeling the love when he was in the room with them because they reminded him of his own jewish mother. interestingly enough, other jewish celebrities who are black seem much more jewish than james mcbride does, seeing as other black jewish celebrities like lisa bonet or rain pryor grew up with jewish identities that shaped them , whereas to be fair, james mcbride did not.

mickey mouse for president

someone left the most idiotic message on my answering machine today. they said that registered democrats shouldnt vote for clinton or obama today out of protest and that they should write in ronald reagan's name instead!! i couldn't make this up if i tried!! i don't think that the choices are great, but i think that people ought to vote for a viable candidate who actually belongs to the democratic party. oh and by the way , the candidate must be alive!! im not sure what organization sold my phone number to the moron who left that message on my machine, but they out to think twice before sharing their lists with this message leaving nut. personally i think that obama rhymes too much with osama . or maybe that's the point. i actually am a registered democrat but only once have i voted for a presidential candidate belonging to the democratic party

the case of the hidden primaries

until i went to work today and read my favorite newspaper metro new york, i didnt realize that tomorrow will be the primaries in ny. i find this most ridiculous because due to the media i knew when new hampshire, iowa and florida had their primaries. the heads up were all mentioned on 1010 wins in advance. now i do admit that i only listen to the radio for a few minutes in the morning mostly to hear the weather forcast, but you would think that they might bother to give us some advance notice. i know that i didnt recieve the voter postcard notice telling me what date the primaries will be. at first i thought that i must have recieved it, but just misplaced it, but apparently no one at work recieved one either. well anyway for anyone who may not know, the primaries in ny are tomorrow . please vote. in my mind , you have alot of nerve complaining about the government if you arent even a voter.

I CHOOSE JIF

i just love how people like to assign a pat reason for why singles are still single. i wish it were that easy!! if this truly were the case, i would of course be married. my most favorite "reason" is that singles are too choosy. and of course we are. wouldnt you be? after all , this is someone who one will be sharing everything with. its not like just picking a roommate. yes, there are singles who are way too choosy, but to use such a blanket statement is ridiculous. there are many reasons to be discerning. many liars are shadchanim, many singles of poor character. i think that people are frustrated with singles and since they dont know how to fix things they like to play the blame game. i say leave the amateur psychiatry to the professionals and just consentrate on trying to set people up or at the very least be a sympathetic friend. there are so many reasons singles are single because people are different . even though there may be validity to some of these "reasons" it doesnt mean that every "reason" applies to every single. furthermore so many in our society are single that the problem is greater than just blaming me for being single. i certainly dont have any answers, only questions, but if you know someone for me....