These are hard times. There's war in the air.

If you're feeling despair, here's an exercise to make you feel better:

1. Open a new file or folder in your computer.

2. Name it "Ehud Olmert".

3. Send it to the trash.

4. Empty the trash.

5. Your computer will ask you, "Do you really want to get rid of "Ehud Olmert?"

6. Firmly click "yes".

7. Repeat with Amir ( Read more... )

Sometimes I'm amazed that I still have new experiences to write about here ( Read more... )

Today is a typical day in Israel. A weekday, a Thursday, a typical day in the State of Israel.

And three articles in today's newspaper brought me to tears in the middle of a bus ride.

The first told stories of Ethiopian Jews who died or were killed on the way to Israel.

The second was the voice of trauma and ongoing grief of Koby Mandell's mother and ( Read more... )

I rag on Jerusalem a lot. Blame it on the love/hate. And the weird rain. But, in honour of Jerusalem Day today, I will make an announcement that is happy; for the city, anyway.

We've decided to stay in Jerusalem for at least another year. This is not out of charity (that the city really needs middle class young Israelis to assist in demographics). ( Read more... )

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Friend and I discussing how crappy the all-around situation is in Israel right now:

Friend: What we need is all my friends in Israel to take over the government.

Me: You couldn't pay me. Government is shit. It's the thing that exists so that someone else out there can rebel against it and make life better.

Friend: You're a good American.

This featured pet peeve isn't limited to being just an Israeli edition; it's an oleh chadash pet peeve as well and it's one of my most hated ones of all time. So get ready.

I, by nature, am not a competitive person. I think when I was younger I did have a strong competitive streak and then when I saw other people being competitive, I got turned off ( Read more... )

About 6 months ago the time to start developing a thesis topic arrived. I'm at my fifth idea after four have been rejected by either my overseeing professor or myself. At this point, I'm even minus an overseeing professor and I have no idea where to turn for assistance.

I will say, though, that my rejection of certain topics has been due to the ( Read more... )

Today's word is brought to you by my new hip hop class. As mentioned, I started taking dance classes. I learned last Monday that I don't mix well with organized dance. On Friday I decided to go with something a little bit looser, so I joined a street hip hop class. It was a lot of fun, and I plan to continue it, but I learned a second lesson on ( Read more... )

Last night, in Jerusalem, we experienced a hot rain. It doesn't usually rain here in May, and certainly not in a tropical hot rain kind of way.

Today, the sky is yellow. See for yourself:


( Read more... )