Month: May 2013

  • I’ve officially lived in Israel too long

    Listening to a friend’s story about a guy’s bachelor party in North America. It ends with one of their other friends telling off some strippers. My first thought is, “Wow, he told strippers off in Hebrew?!”

  • Fifty-Two Frames: On the Job

    Week 21: On the Job Re-tired.

  • Favorite moment of the day:

    Parking is a bitch, but once I open that gate, I start to get revved for the next couple minutes. Walk through, towards the door, up the stairs. the stairs curve; at the curve is when it hits me – the enormity of what is about to happen. I hear her voice mingled with other…

  • Fifty-Two Frames: Light Experimentation

    Maybe this is a metaphor for where I am with my writing. I feel a bit battered. Maybe I just need to reach deeper and get burned in order to see the light. Maybe I need to ease up on the metaphors. Week 20: Light Experimentation Go for it.

  • Life in Israel: boys will be boys in flower crowns

    Israeli kindergartens love crowns. This is the first year I’ve been personally exposed to the Israeli flower garland thing. In Hebrew, זר. Kids in gan and early elementary school wear these pixie crowns for birthdays, celebrations, ceremonies. Naturally, the Shavuot chagiga in gan is one of them, and between his gan birthday and this, Koala’s now…

  • Fifty-Two Frames: Imperfect

    Week 19: Imperfect Screw this.

  • When the kids had a sleepover

    Before kids’ bedtime last night, just for the hell of it, I offered Bebe to sleep on the pull-out bed from under Koala’s bottom bunk. Usually she sleeps in her crib, adjacent to the massive bunk bed, which has served mainly as a hulking piece of furniture potential. She took us up on the offer. As young…

  • On Jews, Jerusalem, Women and Walls

    Note: Reflections based on my rare February and March 2013 trips to the Kotel. Based on today’s news, I figured today’s as good as any to post.  I’ve been to the Kotel, the Western Wall, way too many times in the past year. Previously, I had a comfortable average of maybe once every two or…

  • Israeli “Who’s on First”

    “יש לי חנות.” “מה יש בחנות?” “פיצה וקוסקוס. מה את רוצה?” “פיצה.” “אין לי.” “אבל אמרת שיש פיצה?? אוקי אז קוסקוס.” “אין לי.” “אז מה יש??” “כלום.” “אז אני רוצה כלום.” “אין לי!” “אבל אמרת שיש כלום!” Little does he realize this is EXACTLY how it happens here. #sabrakids Loose translation: “I have a store.”…

  • The one where we lose our pet snail

    It was a dark and rainy day… oddly, since it was May 3rd in the Middle East. We had piled into the car, giddy about the surprise rain, and drove to the nearby nursery to pick up new flowers and herbs for our modest mirpeset garden. The kids were delighted by the plants, the rain,…

  • Fifty-Two Frames: Perfect

    Last Thursday, on a morning walk, I noticed this lil guy on the pavement, off the highway. He (or she?) was just sitting there, taking it easy. Even when I bent down to take a few photographs it didn’t fly away. I decided that chillness served as an excellent lesson with which to end my…

  • Ka-pow: the Super-simple outdoor Superhero birthday party

    Last week we celebrated Koala’s 4th birthday with an outdoor ‘everything Koala loves’ party. Ok, not everything Koala loves; I couldn’t get a real policeman to breakdance on a firetruck, for instance. It came out looking more like a superhero birthday party. Superhero outdoorsy explorer theme with chocolate cake. First, the binoculars. Because I’m crafty and…