As a seriously angst-ridden teenager, I spent a great deal of time dwelling on my feelings and thinking about my relationships with others. This manifested itself in a variety of ways – I can remember spending hours in the greeting card aisle at the local pharmacy, browsing through all the Susan Polis Schutz cards, looking for sentiments that matched my own, or, if I had time...
For as long as I can remember, I have always loved to read. Growing up, it was not uncommon for me to be working on two books at once, and even today I often keep one book in my bag and another in the bathroom (yes, I admit it – I keep reading material in the bathroom. What can I say – I bore easily…). Even now, as I sit here on the train writing this, my mind keeps...
Approximately eleven years ago, my father was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Unnerving to be sure, but given that Dad is a “cup is half full” kind of guy, he approached the situation with his usual happy go lucky optimism. My mother, on the other hand, while not exactly a “cup is half empty” sort (more of a “cup is half full, but lets keep an eye...
While in Israel during the winter of 1991, two friends and I decided to go to Cairo. Once we’d gotten all of the required bureaucracy out of the way, the trip involved a very long, tedious bus ride from Tel Aviv, through the Rafah crossing (more about that later, but keep in mind that the crossing was administered at the time by Israel and Egypt, prior to the...
I guess you’ve all realized by now that I’m on something of a break. I hadn’t planned it, but my mind has been feeling rather dry and empty lately, and I can’t seem to summon up the energy to blog the way I’d like to. Hopefully, things will return to normal shortly. In the meantime, you can find me over at Israelity today and Thursday, so please...
In the grand scheme of things, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m a bit weird when it comes to remembering inane bits of trivia and assorted episodes from my past. I remember people much better than they remember me, and it can be rather alarming when I can spew the most minute, trivial details about past encounters when the person in question doesn’t even...
Greetings and salutations, my trusted readers. As many of you know, I’ve begun writing for the Diplomatic Post which, unfortunately, is not online at this stage. Since a few of you have been clamoring to see my columns, I received the approval of my editor to post them here. The column below appeared in the second issue of the magazine, which was distributed on August...
One day last week I had the distinct pleasure of having lunch with Benji at a small resto near my office. Over humus and salad, we discussed a variety of subjects – work, living in Israel, bloggers and blogging, writing, and so on. One of the main topics of conversation, however, was summer camp. Benji recently returned to Israel after spending his summer working at our old...
A constant source of interest among bloggers is visitor statistics. We like to know who are readers are, where they’re from, and how they found us. In my case, many of my visitors find me while performing a Google search for one term or another. Sometimes the search terms are unusual (I had a hit for “underwear parade” earlier today), and many border on lewd...
Ever gone on a date with someone while your leg was in a cast? I have. As I’ve mentioned before, I managed to break my leg only several weeks after arriving in Israel at age 18. During the weeks prior to my little mishap, a few friends and I met a group of young men at a (long-defunct) pub in Jerusalem. One of my friends immediately hooked up with one of the young men...