Not Anonymous

Hello friends and random readers.

I had a feverish moment in which I would connect my twitter and my journals, cross posting my tweets and my posts to each platform, but I think that would be bad.

I figure if there's something I want everyone on my twitter followers to see I could simply link manually. I opted out of connecting my tumblr to twitter for the same reason. Most of the things I've wanted to have read in a vaster way I'd link anyway, so I think I'll just keep doing that.

Last night there were 18 people in the house. We all ate. If you'd like to know what was on the menu, it was as follows and in approximate order of serving:

Apples and honey
Round challah loafs
Chopped liver
Chopped herring
Gefilteh fish
Chicken soup with kreplach (meat dumplings)
Pea soup
Brisket
Chicken wings
Chicken legs
Roasted vegetables
Roast potatoes
Chopped salad
Couscous
Fruit platter
Passion fruit custard (I think?)
Chocolate and honey brownies
Chocolate and honey cake

I collapsed into bed after the clean up (and a cup of coffee) in a heap of food coma, my god, there was a lot of food. And I ate more of it for a late lunch.

The meat cooked and consumed over the holidays are truly throwbacks to the sacrifices slaughtered in the name of god at the Temple. Noms.

I would have eaten earlier if it weren't for the fact that I'm working from home today, which is fine, I like my job, but wow, there was a lot of it this morning! I'm working more a little later on (in an hour) but then I'll be done and I have a weekend to lounge around in.

Four day holiday weekends are the best if you ask me.

Where does the time go?

I've barely updated here other than fannish stuff and even then, I feel like I'm forcing myself, I'm just lacking in energy I suppose.

But today I'm feeling good!

The majority of my huge nuclear family came to visit me in my flat far away from their regular abodes and brought with them stuff!

Stuff like food, a carpet (rug, I guess, but I call it a carpet), a bookshelf (along with a bunch of my books!), a mini stereo system that I can connect my little mp3 player to and a red coat hanger! Finally, I can sit on the chair in my room because my bag, jacket, jim-jams and tomorrow's outfit are now hanging up there.

And then we went out to Wadi Nisnas where there's a festival going on and so many are decorating for Christmas! There was music, roasted chestnuts, kanafeh (which my nephews don't seem to like, te mind boggles), crepes and a mish-mash of people, which I love.

My sister commented on how mixed my neighbourhood is and yeah, I like that, even though it's less neighbourly and more everyone being equally racist towards each other, i.e. ignoring each other's existence - except when there is, you know, mandatory interaction like saying "excuse me" in the stairwell.

You have no idea how much this means me!

Oh, and my signed A Study in Emerald now hangs over my bed. Finally, my bedroom is more than a room with a bed.

It actually feels like things are coming together.

Other than, you know, a leak I discovered in our bathroom - I guess two people using it at different intervals wouldn't notice, as the toilet is situated right next to the shower so the floor there is always kind of wet, but with more than ten people using it before heading out for a few hours on the town...

Yeah, there's a leak. I mean, I thought there was before, but wasn't sure and as such didn't call plumbers or my landlady (I try, to no avail, to avoid speaking with her, but she calls, a lot, on a fairly regular basis).

Well, there's always tomorrow. *sigh*

And in other news, I have a job! I work in a book store! Where my fellow workers assume I'm studying for what I'm currently doing; stacking books.

Oh well.

But life, it carries on and I can only keep calm.

I have fandom friends to hang out with IRL!

And they're the friends I had before!

:D

Last night was an evening of home made pizza and meeting with friends in order to watch the season première of True Blood.
Oh, how much does that show rock?!

( Cut for discussion of content, though I do not get into specifics )

Within three months of being enlisted into the IDF I put on something like 5 kg.
I had cried, tears rolled down my face, as I told my mother I had jock itch because my thighs were rubbing together, along with the very ill-fitting uniform.
I didn't wear clothes in my proper size for the two years that I served.

Food in the IDF is disgusting.

I was not vegetarian at the time, but I pretended to be, because the processed tofu schnitzels looked more appetizing and less likely to give me salmonella than the "regular" food.

Having done kitchen duty like a champ, I can tell you, the cooks are over worked, it's an yucky job, you have to deal with teenaged girls being grossed out by things (being a young aunt cured me of viewing leftover food as gross) that they've seen people eat and, well, dealing with the fact that despite having the most "practical" power (they're the wheelers and dealers of the army) they're in fact the lowest echelon of military jobs.

Yeah, the food was gross. We comforted ourselves by going to buy chocolate, biscuits, chocolate-chip cookies, crackers and cheese...

Yeah, it was good times in the barracks.

Is it any surprise girls (who do not do combat, which most of us do not) put on, on average, 10 kg of weight throughout our two year run.

I got thinking about because I saw this News article.
It made me guffaw. That's another way of saying LOL.

The IDF is going to cut out of its menu in the canteens (i.e. the cafeteria where you get your food for free) the fattening pastry foods - mainly Bourekas and rogalach - which have been traditional foods found in meetings, unit gatherings and, as mentioned, the canteens.

Nothing like promoting more resentment in the ranks!

I mean, I understand the need and want to promote "good health" which is a real oxymoron in the military - I cannot tell you how many yeast infections I had during my service because the trousers I wore five days a week was basically spun plastic.

Also, Doctors generally do not believe soldiers who come to the infirmary, their initial thought is that you are there to get sick-leave, which are days off not docked from your regular holidays.

You basically have to be dying in order to get treatment - or be at the emergency room with an actual bodily trauma.

Yeah, "good health".

Food is a big deal in the army.
It's something we arrange our time around - two hour lunch breaks are not unheard of, hell, unless I had something extremely pressing to do I could spend more time faffing around looking for chocolate and drinking seven cups of coffee a day (which was my average, I was up to ten cups a day at some point... withdrawal was a bitch after I was discharged).

Food was my comfort. Mainly because the food presented to us in the canteens was just so bad. Any other food was great and much of it was eaten.

I've spoken about the uniform before, so I don't need to tell you about the gendered aspect of it, but I remember how one day, I felt cramps, it wasn't that time of the month, so I went to the bathroom, opened my belt and instant relief.
Yeah, my belt had been pressing into me.
You can imagine what I did next.
I cried like the big baby I am/was.

Looking back, I can't say I felt bad about putting on the weight. It was something I didn't consciously think about - I mean, I hated myself for being "fat", but I was never ever willing to give up food that made me feel good.

That period of my life was full of half-assed attempts at weight loss.
"Weight Watchers" is a nightmare, as though we don't get judged enough in our lives.
Eating smaller portions got me eating more instead of less.
I got into shouting matches with my mother over my weight and what I was willing to do, or not do, in order to "control myself".

Yeah, food was a battle ground.

I don't know how much I eat today. I know that over the past few months I've lost weight, which worried me for a while, because weight loss has become something I associate with trauma and I still don't know what has caused me to become even smaller than I was.

Food in the IDF was part of what got me through it. Take outs, cakes, biscuits, the gatherings... *sigh* good times.
But they made my plastic pants split at the seam.

I'm glad it's over, never to return.

At times, it seemed to never end. I was even about to sign up for more - I was insane and full of fear of the outside world at the time - so when that fell through I suddenly had two weeks left of service.
The relief (and the weight loss that commenced simply because I was happy to be outside that framework) was unbelievable.

Related but off tangent; I don't know if Kung Fu is for me. I was in the best shape of my life while I was in those classes, but I didn't know how to protect myself, which pretty much negates the purpose...

As mentioned, I'm now thin, but very out of shape. I'm a slob, I don't exercise, I should, but I don't - I need to maלe the decision to go back to martial arts, but I need to want it and at the moment... I don't.

I will not be fasting this year.

I'll be going to Koll Nidrei, as I do every year. But I won't be fasting.
It took me a long time to figure out why, as a non-believer, as someone who would more often than nor buck tradition than follow it (or at the very least, update it to fit the times and my personal philosophy), I'd felt the need to fast in previous years.

Nostalgia.

Pure and simple, nostalgia.

I go to hear and sing along with everyone Koll Nidrei, because it moves me, I feel the water in my body vibrate along with the congregation that repeats, repeats, repeats the Hazan (Cantor) as he sings and dirges the words of the Book.

I don't think I need to deny myself anything in order to make visible the repentance (that I don't feel).
I have no soul that needs purification.

I've been losing weight and that's been weighing on my mind. I hate that as I get thinner I think more about how fattening things are and I've not even been trying to lose weight.
I was happy where I was.
It's been a tough week, month, year.
It would have caught up with me I suppose.
If I don't see myself fattening up after the Holidays and during Uni I'll go see if there's an actual problem with me.
I am looking pale.
Because I'm tired; I've not caught up on the sleep I've lost over the past couple of days.

I will not be fasting.
With any luck I'll make myself a cup of coffee at a friends house this evening after prayers and catch up on True Blood tomorrow... maybe I'll watch an ep or two of Torchwood.
Or Life on Mars.

Definitely listen to Leonard Cohen... my lovely man.

I feel as though anecdotes from the week are a wee bit boring for others to read.
Then again, I read other people's lives and can only assume you all don't hang around this little Junk Yard o'Words for the scenery.

So this week was/still is iCon and a pretty fun one it was for me. I'll not be going to the last day tomorrow as it is my Daddy's 64 birthday tomorrow later today and we are going to picnic elsewhere, away from the Suburbia and Urbania of the Centre.
Last year I pretty much skipped and this year it was great to reconnect with all the people I don't get to meet that often IRL *waves to those who didn't miss me this week because they actually saw me*.
And of course make new friends, which is always fun.
Buffy talk is, as always, the Fun.
Not enough Doctor Who and Torchwood; it may be a little too fluffy? Though I'm not sure why... could just be a culture clash, as Americana and Israeli-Centric work is far more common than Britannica.
I'm really obsessing Torchwood.
I can't get enough of Ianto Jones.
He's just... *gibberish* Fictional men rule! *fist*
Some coherent thoughts on Torchwood will probably come along with my queer analysis of "Iron Man", my queer analysis of "Harry Potter"'s Lupin and Tonks' Lavender Marriage and a comparative analysis of the DCU and the Buffyverse, specifically how Angel correlates as Batman, Riely correlates as Superman, Buffy correlates as Wonder Woman and Spike correlates as Catwoman (thank you nurint for talking to me about it... will email you soon, hope you have time to read LJ!).
And Oi! No stealing my ideas! Well, you know... you can... I mean, this is the interwebs!

I also ate sea-food.
With tamara_russo.
It was tasty.
That woman is the incarnation of the Snake in the Garden of Eden... giving into culinary temptation never felt so good.
Meat has no appeal and I'm beginning to lose my enjoyment of dairy products... though I don't know if I'll ever be able to give up ice-cream.
There's always soy-milk for coffee.

You want more? Well, I'll just hope you can be happy with this little snippet of life at the 'mo.
Hope to get back into the swing of regular updating over the next few days.
Isn't it strange that a week of not updating seems long?
My LJ is going to be three next week and it's become a constant in my life.
I don't know if that's good or bad.
It's most certainly a fact.

I was talking to a friend of mine about vegetarianism (seeing that both of us are) and I was saying that it was the industry of meat and how environmentally damaging it is. Not to mention that a huge amount of crops are grown just to feed the future steaks, burgers and what-not and that those crops could be grown to feed, ya know, people.

So far it's all well and good, but when I mention that I think humans are more important than animals and that I care more about human rights than animal rights my friend says: "I'm really shocked to hear you say that".
Shocked.
Seriously?!
The fact that I prefer my own species better over another? (except cats of course, but then again, they are Gods upon the Earth).
How is this shocking?
Someone explain to me, how is saying human rights are more important that animal rights, shocking?

Anyone?

Three tests down, four to go.
Though technically two, seeing as I'm retaking two tests in the second semester, but who cares right?! I just want to get it over with.
I now have a chance to catch up on all the reading I didn't do for Uni during the semster, that is the novels and essays which are probably crucial for the second semester, which I, in a bout of uncontrollable procrastination... procrastinated upon.

Not a good idea.

On the other hand, I spent most of yesterday watching various Eddie Izzard sketches and Achmed the Dead Terrorist, who is much, funnier than Walter by the way. He also inspired me to create an icon, which shall be used at times I find things to be very, very silly (or stupid, or just plain infuriating) indeed.
To much Izzard I must say, he's rubbing of on me.

So Pesach, yeah.
End of Hebrew Slavery, freedom, eating constipation inducing food.
Lovely time of year, innit?

We'll be doing the Seder at my sister's in-laws this year, seeing as both parental units will be away. Wine and veggie kneydlach soup.
There will also be the reading of stories, singing, interpretations of said stories and song, hopefully Robbie and I can hijack the singing and get it over with as quickly as possible and that we can skip over all the songs that talk about how GD is great. I'd rather hear about how with shrewd planning and cunning three siblings managed to create such a panic on the Nile that Pharaoh thought to himself - Dude, these Jews are just not worth the effort.
'Course who else are going to be the Plebs in Egypt if not those crazy Hebrew Fuckers (who until Moses came along, were actually Henotheists) who believe in this One True GD nonsense, I mean really.

One of the things found on the Seder table is a plate on which is placed food items symbolic of the Holiday like a chicken leg or neck which symbolises the sacrifice at the Temple (of which remains only the Western Wall and a bunch of silly religious edicts which mark a Cohen as different from the rest of the Jewish people) and bitter herbs for, you know, the bitterness of our existence and all the bitching.

I'm being glib, but all these are fascinating symbols and they can all mean different things to different families, not just the Tribal meaning.
What I like about Pesach is how it's a Holiday that it's meaning is also very modern. I mean I can't think of other Holidays which is basically says "Oppression is Bad, Freedom is Good and it must be Universal".

Pretty neat.

One of the things that have yet to trickle into Israel from the Diaspora (or if it has it's hasn't even registered on the mainstream) is the presence of new Traditions, like Miriam's cup or the adding of an orange and/or olive to the Seder plate.
I'm thinking of suggesting it, maybe update Pesach a bit, make it a bit more actual.
Tradition is meant to symbolise the meanings of Holidays and if Holidays lack meaning, what are they good for then - eating and drinking into a stupor?