Category: pieces

  • It’s too sad.

    It’s too sad.

    It’s been unexpectedly bizarre dealing with my feelings about the horrific slaughter of 11 worshipping Jews at the Tree of Life synagogue this past Shabbat. So many aspects to this are too soul crushing – …it was a brit mila ceremony… …it was a house of worship… …it was way closer to home… …it was…

  • Fifty-Two Paragraphs

    Sometimes, pretending to be an amateur photographer helps me be creative. In choosing a photo to submit for this week’s Fifty-Two Frames, I asked my husband about a cheeky idea I had. “I think you’re a writer, not a photographer.” In other words, I seem to enjoy playing with the captions more than handling the…

  • Something I learned in class last night.

    Rapid writing exercise. We couldn’t take the pen off the paper until she told us too.  The first time I put on shoes opened the fridge hit a ball went to the park by myself wore a watch hung a shirt did my laundry spoke used a computer played a video game used a pen…

  • For one day only.

    My fourth time at the Writing Gym and we did a collective character exercise again, this time with two characters. I didn’t include every detail (ran out of time) and it’s pretty rough but below is what I came up with from the following:  Andrew, 55-year-old male currently in Sfat, confused about religious affiliation, single,…

  • Wherein I flip the details.

    Enjoyed today’s ‘Writing Gym,’ especially the last exercise we did. As a group, we collaborated on a few details for a character, and then each wrote a scene involving her. The details were:  A woman in her 50s, named Dorothy, single From Omaha, Nebraska, currently in London, UK Some connection to being a born again…

  • Relationship Status: It’s Complicated with Jerusalem.

    Today’s Writing Gym was Jerusalem-themed for Yom Yerushalyim… Here’s my take on meeting up with an Old Flame… Oh, hi… long time no see! Yeah, I’m, uh, I’m doing ok. Actually, not living too far from here, just over the hills, 15 kilometers out… Oh, it’s lovely, yes. The weather is comparable, totally. I couldn’t…

  • Oh, we’re nowhere near the end.

    In honor of this ‘writing exercise’ turning 8-years-old this week, I’m posting a quickie writing workout (rapid-write) I did today at my newest adventure, a 6-session Writing Gym. So I’ve been writing since I could write. Since writing was drawing. Since the drawings began accompanying the words. Since the words dropped the drawings and filled their own…

  • The Hunger Games: Feeding my fears, my pain, my need for read.

    Over the week of Passover, I managed to read consume devour The Hunger Games trilogy. It was a gift to myself since it’s been 5285467245 years since I had time to read and I figured it would take a month or two of here-and-there breastfeeding time to finish the series. Holy crap, I was wrong. I literally consumed…

  • Family outing, Memorial Day, contributing, Israel.

    Proud that we managed to dress, pack up, and transport the kids to the Yom HaZicaron tekes in Tzur Hadassah tonight. And that my two-year-old stayed silent and un-startled throughout the siren. And that we managed to stay for the first 15 minutes. Watching all those kids socialize up until they suddenly stopped for the…

  • Twilight: The highlights. But mostly the lowlights.

    If I don’t get this off my chest soon, it’s going to haunt me forever and then I may need therapy and that will just make it all worse. Disclaimer: I’m an avid reader. And I read anything. And when I say anything, I mean, I spent an entire Shabbat a month ago deeply engrossed…

  • Pediatric memory.

    This is what I completed from the Memoir Writing class I not-so-recently finished. I’m not sure if it’s complete yet. The pleather cushioning of the examination counter-tops in the patient rooms still call to me as an inviting yet risky place for a sick kid to sit. Carrying my infant son from the reception area…

  • Must be dreamin'.

    There was ridiculous traffic on the dirt road leading up the hill towards Arafat’s compound. We each supposedly had meeting times but were all very late for them in any case. To the right was the beginning of the dusty compound and to the left was the beginning of the dusty hills. To get into…