Everything Goes

Let's PREVENT 9/11 in Addition to the Memorials

2009-09-10T08:45:00.000-07:00

B"H

With another 9/11 anniversary approaching, I find myself thinking of just how far we’ve come, and not in a good way. I remember how, right after the attacks, people were so upset about what had happened, so resolved to prevent its recurrence. I remember how much people wanted the perpetrators punished, the organizations that backed them up and sent them destroyed, the leaders of those organizations made to pay.

But 9/11 seems to have gone the way of the Holocaust; people get brownie points and have photo-ops by attending and speaking at memorial services but no one is doing anything to prevent either from recurring, far from it. The recent release of the Lockerbie bomber and Qadaffi's visit to the Nations-United-Against-Israel-and-the-US (aka the UN) show just how uninterested people are in standing up to and fighting terrorism.

The only way to fight terrorism and terrorist acts is to fight. We can’t back off. We can’t allow any of the terrorist demands to be met. We can’t even appear wishy-washy. We need to stand up to the haters of freedom.

I’ve been reading Cokie Roberts’ book “Founding Mothers”, about the women who helped this country gain our freedom from British tyranny. I wonder what they would think, after being there for so many sacrifices by boys and men and girls and women to win our independence. I wonder what they would think about the world’s tacit capitulation to terror forces, forces we could easily defeat, forces that have proven they have only the “best interests” of a small group of despotic leaders at “heart”. I wonder if the spirits of these “Founding Mothers” are looking down on us from heaven and crying over the squandering of our liberties and the Western world’s autonomy and free-will.

The picture in Europe is bleak. Just about every country in Europe has regions where the Muslim minorities have taken over, suppressing the rights of women, violently suffocating the free will of Muslims and non-Muslims alike, not only in these districts but in their entire countries. People are losing their rights to a free press and free speech as Islamist extremists, who have taken over by spreading fear and panic, riot and murder at the slightest “insult”.

This picture will become even gloomier if we don’t prevent this from happening here in the US. We need to defend our freedom. We need to defend our way of life. We need to defend the free world, the Western world, the world of George Washington and Patrick Henry, of John Hancock and Benjamin Franklin, of Samuel and John Adams, and Eliza Pinckney, Deborah Franklin and Abigail Adams. We need to, as Abraham Lincoln said in the Gettysburg Address, “resolve that these dead [those of the World Trade Center attacks, Lockerby and other terrorist attacks] shall not have died in vain…. That government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” We need to preserve our legacy to our children; we need to give them a world where their differences are celebrated, not suppressed. And we need to protect our bequest from our founding fathers and mothers. We need to maintain our oasis of freedom, the place where oppressed people can escape their subjugation; the country of liberty, the country of choice, the country of openness and opportunity.

As our forefathers and mothers learned, this freedom doesn’t come cheaply. And it isn’t defended by weakness and appeasement.

If we don’t prevent it, 9/11 could happen again. Memorial services don’t prevent attacks or genocidal holocausts. Memorial services don’t fight our fights or defend our children. We need to make these memorial services more meaningful by doing battle with our enemies, the perpetrators of these atrocities, and preventing the need for further memorial services. We need to be strong and remember that our children are worth fighting for. And we need to press our leaders to strike at the adversaries of freedom and liberty.

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Israel and it's Place in the World
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NEW!! Jewish Wedding Customs
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Strong Biblical Women
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Why Be Vegetarian
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Passover: Holiday of Freedom
John and John Quincy Adams
Television Trivia Quiz
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Pythagorean Theorem
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Who's Buried in Grant's Tomb?
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The Walking Wounded (like our pride)

2009-08-16T10:28:00.000-07:00

B"H

I realize that the Mets' newest addition to the "Walking Wounded" yesterday could be the most devastating of all (though I still point to the stat from last year that the differential between how the Mets did with Jose Reyes vs without Jose Reyes was the biggest differential of any lead-off hitter in the majors). David Wright has been the stalwart of the team, the man who kept on keeping on when others went into huge slumps. And now he's down....

I'm seeing flashbacks from last year. Ryan Church (who was traded to acquire Jeff Francoeur, who I think is a wonderful addition to the team, though I miss Church) was "going gangbusters" until he was hit and got a concussion. Because of the needs of the team, he was rushed back to the line-up and was never the same all season. (I just heard the announcers mention this very thing and that he spoke to Jerry Manuel about this very subject)

In any case, I have to say I'm not a huge "blame the manager" person. I don't automatically jump to say it's the manager's fault when a team isn't doing well. Sometimes it's just that the team doesn't have good players.

But, IMHO, that just isn't the case. Omar Minaya, despite the controversy surrounding him for his unfortunate comment, seems to be getting help when it's needed. Luis Castillo, Angel Pagan, Omar Santos, Francoeur of course, Daniel Murphy, Alex Cora, and Fernando Tatis, just to name a few, have stepped up to the plate, so to speak. The acquisition over the winter of "K-Rod" Francisco (Frankie) Rodriguez has helped to shore up the bullpen (though I still thought it would have been nice to let certain pitchers attempt complete games, though they're the exception these days where they were the norm in the past).

I guess what I'm trying to say is that, yes, I liked Willie Randolph (I even liked him when he was a player on the Yankees, and that's going some). Yes, I was sorry that things weren't working out with him. I reluctantly did think changing the manager last year might help the team. But, and this is a big but, I really don't think Jerry Manuel was the person (or is the person) to take that spot. I was never terribly impressed with him as a manager (I did think he was a good -- ok, descent? -- bench coach) and this season I'm even less impressed with him than I was before.

So perhaps it would be nice to see what a different manager with a different style might do. I'm tired of apologizing for the Mets. I'm tired of seeing a good team lose consistently. I still root for my team. But I'm getting frustrated.

Check out my other blogs:

Israel and it's Place in the World
Jewish Singles
Strong Jewish Women

Check out my squidoo lenses (articles):

NEW!! Jewish Wedding Customs
Going to a Wedding Single

Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Ruth and Naomi
Strong Biblical Women 5: Tamar -- Mother of Kings
Strong Biblical Women 6: Yocheved -- Mother of Moshe (Moses)
Strong Biblical Women 7: Miriam
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
John and John Quincy Adams
Television Trivia Quiz
Jewish Perspective of G-d
Purim, Esther et al
Being an internet small business owner
Why I'm a Red Sox fan
Pythagorean Theorem
My Blogs
Top 10 Presidents
Bottom 10 Presidents
How Can We Appeal to G-d for Forgiveness?
Math Tips 2
Searching for a Fashion Partner
Math Hints 3
One Actor, Two Shows (TV Quiz)
Presidential Tidbits
Why Should anyone hire Me?
Eat a Healthy Breakfast
My experience on Jeopardy
Project:Runway and how it got me excited about designing again
Who's Buried in Grant's Tomb?
My Vocational Experiences
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It's not easy being Mets

2009-07-17T13:20:00.000-07:00

B"H

I'm not saying that I won't watch the Mets play anymore this season, but I've more or less given up on them for this season. Granted, I'm enormously frustrated -- just a few short weeks ago they were mixing it up with the "big boys" in first or second place, less than 2 or 3 games out of first place or in first place. Now, the only thing keeping them from the cellar of the NL East is the pathetic (and thanks for them) Washington Nationals (nee Montreal Expos).

I realize it's hard to totally remake a team after losing three key players (Jose Reyes and the two "Carlos"es -- Beltran and Delgado), but it's also hard to keep on hoping only to see my hopes dashed against the craggy rocks of defeat again and again.

At this point, I'm glad I root for other teams besides the Mets. My LA Angels, Boston Red Sox (Why I'm a Red Sox fan) and St. Louis Cardinals (who I mostly like for two reasons -- My Dad's been a fan since his childhood years and they have a vegetarian manager) are all in first place and have been in the "thick of things" for most, if not all of the season so far (KI"H).

I'm still a Mets fan and I'll still hope for a turnaround, but, from my perspective, I'm hoping one of my other teams will get to the "big game".

Check out my other blogs:

Israel and it's Place in the World
Jewish Singles
Strong Jewish Women

Check out my squidoo lenses (articles):

NEW!! Jewish Wedding Customs
Going to a Wedding Single

Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Ruth and Naomi
Strong Biblical Women 5: Tamar -- Mother of Kings
Strong Biblical Women 6: Yocheved -- Mother of Moshe (Moses)
Strong Biblical Women 7: Miriam
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
John and John Quincy Adams
Television Trivia Quiz
Jewish Perspective of G-d
Purim, Esther et al
Being an internet small business owner
Why I'm a Red Sox fan
Pythagorean Theorem
My Blogs
Top 10 Presidents
Bottom 10 Presidents
How Can We Appeal to G-d for Forgiveness?
Math Tips 2
Searching for a Fashion Partner
Math Hints 3
One Actor, Two Shows (TV Quiz)
Presidential Tidbits
Why Should anyone hire Me?
Eat a Healthy Breakfast
My experience on Jeopardy
Project:Runway and how it got me excited about designing again
Who's Buried in Grant's Tomb?
My Vocational Experiences
Check out my Stress Release Mix list

I Lost on Jeopardy, Part V

2009-06-28T10:15:00.000-07:00

B"H

(One paragraph from the last entry:)

The week before we left, I did some research on vegan restaurants in the area. I found one that was perfect for me – since, besides being a vegan, I can’t eat grains or sugars or soy it was hard even with vegan restaurants – it was a raw food restaurant, called "Leaf Cuisine", that had a number of soy free dishes. I called them and found out that I could get food delivered from them if I contacted a food delivery place they deal with. I ordered a lasagna type dish called "rawsagna", a kale salad, a wrap type sandwich (make with greens on the outside instead of bread) and carrot juice (the carrot juice was a mistake – it got all over the bag, but it was delicious). There were some more arrangements I had to make (since I wanted the food to be there when I got there) but this all worked out rather well and the food was delicious. But my Mom didn’t want anything from a place that said it was raw food (turned out she liked the food too, but neither of us knew what would happen). So the Sunday before we were leaving (we left Monday afternoon), I spent about 8 or so hours on the phone trying to find an appropriate kosher restaurant (that also had food I could eat). I found one called "La Gondola" on Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills and I ordered some stuff for my Mom for Monday night (when we got there). The food was there when we got to the hotel.

But I’m jumping the gun. Monday, my friend Tasha took us to the airport (she had also had taken me to buy three new outfits for the show – all were sleeveless tops with a long sleeve stretch top underneath and leggings "down below" – one was actually appropriate for me to wear to my nephew’s Bar Mitzva – without the leggings). The first leg of our trip was down to North Carolina. It was a very short flight (possibly even shorter than going to Chicago). We didn’t have a long layover, so the long flight came next. That flight took us to Los Angeles (LAX).

After getting our bags (mostly carry-on – there was an extra charge for a checked bag so we managed to work it out with only one check-on bag), we went looking for the shuttle to take us to the hotel. Someone (one of the drivers of the other shuttles) told us we would have to call the hotel, which we did. The shuttle was only a couple minutes away. So we got on the shuttle (the driver helped with the bags without our asking him) and were driven to the hotel.

The woman at the desk was the one I had spoken to about the food, and she remembered me and gave us our food, checked us in, and gave us a room with two beds (we were told we might have to stay in a room with one big bed). The room was ok – the TV didn’t have many channels (and CBS didn’t come in clearly). It also was in a cabinet that made it hard to see. But the bed was big and comfy and I was SO tired (and I had to be up early the next morning) that I just ate and went to sleep.

I had asked for a wake up call at 5:45. I’m a real night owl and usually the only reason I’m up at 5:45 in the morning is if I haven’t gotten to sleep yet (this happens rarely, but it happens on occasion, way more often than how often I’m up at 5:45). But I had so much on my mind that I got up at 5:30. So I got dressed and went downstairs and told them not to call (I think that I got up that early because I didn’t want to wake my Mom). I then got a bowl for my breakfast (I had brought some cereal – sprouted grain cereal – and almond milk and almonds and chopped walnuts and pecans and some pumpkin pie spice and stevia – a natural sweetener ok for diabetics).

After getting dressed (and telling my Mom what to do about getting to the studio, which she never did, BTW), I went down to the lobby to wait for the shuttle to the studio. The shuttle left at about 7:15, I was told, to get us to the studio before 8 am. So I wanted to make sure I got there in time (I was nervous about being in Los Angeles – I had never been to California before and I didn’t know my way around and I was a bit freaked out by being alone in LA). But the van didn’t leave until 7:30. I had introduced myself to a few of the other contestants at that point. I had always wondered how it would be competing against people that you get to know a bit before the taping, but that wasn’t a problem.

We got to the studio and didn’t know where to go, so we waited. Someone eventually came and got us. As I was walking toward the door, Robert was standing there. He called out to me, "you must be Debbie" and I looked down at my leggings and flip-flops and said, "the leggings and flip-flops are a dead giveaway, right?" and he nodded.

We were brought in to a big building and then into a room. The room had a big table, a couch, some food, two bathroom doors, and an area off on our right to have make-up put on. Robert and Maggie (who I had met in NY at the original audition) briefed us (well, briefed may not be the best word – it wasn’t brief). Maggie is full of energy and lots of fun. She’s the kind of person who I wish I could be friends with, but being that this was my only trip to Jeopardy, I doubt I will ever see her again. Robert is more low key, but also very nice and he was just a phone call away every time I had a question (well, a voice mail message away?). For example, when Tasha and I went shopping for Jeopardy clothes, I called Robert several times, "is it ok for me to wear leggings?" or "is this or that color ok?" or the immortal "can I wear nice flip-flops?" This, of course, is why he knew who I was when he saw me in leggings and flip-flops.

During the briefing, we filled out some forms, picked something to have Alex talk to us about (this is one thing I keep second-guessing myself about), heard rules, got advice for doing our best (advice which went totally out of my head the second I got in front of the camera – I just went into "automatic pilot" and played as though I were in my living room), and had make-up put on. We were then taken out to the studio and given the opportunity to stand at the podiums and try out the buzzers. We had mock games at the audition, but that was already over a year earlier and, if I recall correctly, it was a bit easier in the studio than in NY. Oh, BTW, if you are a Jeopardy watcher, you will notice that the players repeatedly hit their buzzers (like we’re punching out a Morse Code signal). This is because we’re told to do that.

The first mock game we did, I had the buzzer nailed. I knew the answers to the questions (or the questions to the answers????) and focused in on the lights (you can’t buzz your buzzer until the lights go on). I felt good and for the first time thought I might actually be able to win. I’ve always said that most (if not all) of the people who are on Jeopardy know at least 1/2 to 2/3 of the material (I kind of "prove" that by counting the number of clues I know and 20 out of 30 is good, under 17 is bad, over 20 is great – I only got 30 out of 30 twice – and once was a teen tournament, though those can be harder because of the pop culture questions). Sometimes even if you know the "answer" it can totally fly out of your head (this is true at home as well as in the studio – strangely enough, I think it happens more when I’m at home!)

After the second rehearsals, we went back into the room and we were told that this was it; the shows would be starting. I went to use the "ladies’ room" and when I came out, I was told I’d be on the first show! (5 Shows are taped per day, so two week’s worth of programs would be taped in the two days I needed to be in Los Angeles).

We were brought out to the studio – Jack, the champion, in the champion’s spot, Pat on the first lectern and shrimpy 5'4" me in the middle. They have to have people’s heads at about the same height, so they have platforms for shorter people to stand on – I got 1-1/2 platforms. Pat, the guy on my left, had to put a sweater over his shirt because the shirt was a problem with strobing (I was a TV/Radio major in my college days and I knew all about strobing colors). Alex Trebek came out and we were on our way.

I was rather surprised at how calm I was. I was frustrated at being buzzed out a lot (as in the guys beat me to the buzzer), but I apparently did myself proud. It was a great experience (Robert and Maggie were wonderful, Alex is a doll, really. I’ve had a major crush on him since my teens and he didn’t disappoint). One thing I have to say about Jeopardy, they are really hyper concerned with everything being fair and accepting alternative answers that are correct but weren’t what they expected. At one point during the game, Pat buzzed in with an answer that was ruled wrong; I buzzed in and blurted out the correct answer, though Alex never called on me (and my time apparently expired before I blurted out the answer). The reason Alex never called on me was that they were signaling him that there was an issue they needed to check out. Pat’s answer, though eventually ruled incorrect, was thought to have been a possible alternative version of the correct answer. So they stopped the "action", turned us around (so we didn’t have a chance to look at the board) and Maggie and Robert came over and started talking to us, first telling us what was going on, then relaxing us with friendly chatter). Eventually, the ruling was made and they then told me I should ring in again, Alex would call on me, and I should re-give the correct answer so they could splice that version. It worked so well that when the program was on you couldn’t tell.

Because we were told about things like what I just described (we were told during the briefing that things like that happened with some regularity and we shouldn’t get thrown by it, which, thanks to Maggie and Robert I didn’t get thrown), when I was called incorrect in one place on something that I was pretty certain was correct, I expected they’d get back to me on it. But they never did. (More on this later…)

After the taping of our show ended (I came in third, so I would get $1,000, not the $6,300 on my lectern at the end of the game, Pat came in second, so he would get $2,000), Pat and I were told we could stick around for the taping of the next show or go back to the hotel. Pat decided he’d like to stay for the next show and I didn’t want to go back to the hotel alone, so I stayed too. After the next show, Jack (who had won our game but lost the next, so he won two days all told) and another man (who’s name I can’t recall – oy! – I feel bad because he was really nice and I introduced him to my Mom in the hotel later on – he was a tall handsome African-American man who I think was in his late 30s to late 40s – I’m a terrible judge of age, though) lost to Samantha, a local who wasn’t staying at the hotel. So the four of us went back to the hotel (we split the cab 4 ways and it came out to, with tip, about $4 a person).

Because I now had a lot of time and nowhere to go, I called my cousin who lives just outside Los Angeles (we had spoken on Monday night about her taking us out Tuesday night) and she told me when she’d be there (and I told her the address of the restaurant we wanted to go to – it was the same kosher restaurant that sent food for my Mom when we got there – it was the only kosher restaurant I had called that had food on the menu that I’d be able to eat with my restricted vegan diet rather than them saying they’d make something for me). My Mom and I hung out for a while until she got there. It was a lot of fun going out with my cousin (who I think I’d only seen once in 20 or so years) – she also took us grocery shopping.

Check out my other blogs:

Israel and it's Place in the World
Jewish Singles
Strong Jewish Women

Check out my squidoo lenses (articles):
Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Ruth and Naomi
Strong Biblical Women 5: Tamar -- Mother of Kings
Strong Biblical Women 6: Yocheved -- Mother of Moshe (Moses)
Strong Biblical Women 7: Miriam
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
John and John Quincy Adams
Television Trivia Quiz
Jewish Perspective of G-d
Purim, Esther et al
Being an internet small business owner
Why I'm a Red Sox fan
Pythagorean Theorem
My Blogs
Top 10 Presidents
Bottom 10 Presidents
How Can We Appeal to G-d for Forgiveness?
Math Tips 2
Searching for a Fashion Partner
Math Hints 3
One Actor, Two Shows (TV Quiz)
Presidential Tidbits
Why Should anyone hire Me?
Eat a Healthy Breakfast
My experience on Jeopardy
Project:Runway and how it got me excited about designing again
Who's Buried in Grant's Tomb?
My Vocational Experiences
Check out my Stress Release Mix list

Let's Go Mets!

2009-05-09T19:53:00.000-07:00

B"H

Well, for now, being a Mets fan is fun again. Six straight wins has gotten me excited about my team again. They seem to have tied up some of the pitching "loose ends" (like the closer spot -- thanks to K-Rod -- Francisco Rodriguez).

It could be that they got off to a slow start because a lot of the Mets players were in the World Baseball Classic playing for various nations (some of whom were playing for most of the series). I hope that's the reason for the shaky start. But for now anyway, they're in first place (Thank G-d!).

As a long time Mets fan (or is it long suffering????) I've gotten used to rejoicing whenever there's a good sign because I never know when the Mets will turn a good thing around. I hope I can continue to rejoice all season long. I hope this is the year they finally prove they don't always choke in the clutch.....

Check out my other blogs:

Israel and it's Place in the World
Jewish Singles
Strong Jewish Women

Check out my squidoo lenses (articles):
Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Ruth and Naomi
Strong Biblical Women 5: Tamar -- Mother of Kings
Strong Biblical Women 6: Yocheved -- Mother of Moshe (Moses)
Strong Biblical Women 7: Miriam
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
John and John Quincy Adams
Television Trivia Quiz
Jewish Perspective of G-d
Purim, Esther et al
Being an internet small business owner
Why I'm a Red Sox fan
Pythagorean Theorem
My Blogs
Top 10 Presidents
Bottom 10 Presidents
How Can We Appeal to G-d for Forgiveness?
Math Tips 2
Searching for a Fashion Partner
Math Hints 3
One Actor, Two Shows (TV Quiz)
Presidential Tidbits
Why Should anyone hire Me?
Eat a Healthy Breakfast
My experience on Jeopardy
Project:Runway and how it got me excited about designing again
Who's Buried in Grant's Tomb?
My Vocational Experiences
Check out my Stress Release Mix list

I Lost on Jeopardy, Part IV

2009-03-29T11:10:00.001-07:00

B"H

(Two paragraphs from the last entry:)

Sometime in March, I think, I got a call from Robert from Jeopardy. He asked me if I wanted to be on Jeopardy and I said, emphatically, "Yes!" But, the date that he asked me if I could be there was in the middle of Passover. The first two and last two days of Passover are holiday days and we are not permitted to drive, use electricity, or use just about any modern electrical (or telephone, cell phone, or the like) or technological product. Now that I have gone to California, I realize that I was right to tell him I couldn’t do it – I wouldn’t have had the time to squeeze this in between the holiday days. Since this was the last taping for the year, Robert told me that they’d keep me in mind for the new season.

I was concerned that, especially with the awful set-up of the Jewish holidays this year (Rosh Hashana was Monday night to Wednesday night, as were Sukkot and Shmini Atzeret / Simhat Tora, and Yom Kippur was on a Thursday) that I would be called sometime during the Jewish holiday season (which pretty much lasts for 4 weeks). But thankfully, that didn’t happen.

On Erev (the day before) Yom Kippur I got a call from Robert. He asked me if I could make it on November 11. I checked the calendar, found out it was a couple of weeks after the Jewish holidays (and a few weeks before my nephew’s Bar Mitzva – I later found out that it was a few days after my cousin’s Bar Mitzva, but that was in town, so I was able to go to the Bar Mitzva and do Jeopardy).

Now came the stressing – not over being on Jeopardy, but the stressing over the plane tickets, the hotel room (they don’t pay for you and you’re only guaranteed $1000, so if you’re heading to Los Angeles from the Northeast, you need to keep costs down), food, etc. The actual Jeopardy experience didn’t stress me out at all. I’d been looking forward to this since I was a little girl. My Mom and great-aunt had been on Jeopardy in earlier years. I’d been practicing in various ways since I was in my teens (from writing down what I got right as a teen, to counting amounts on my fingers, to counting right answers on my fingers, to counting the right answers while using a click pen as a substitute buzzer). So even though, in order to actually do this I had to schlep from coast to coast and sleep in a hotel (I’m not a hotel person), I was as ready as I’d ever be for the actual Jeopardy experience. I knew that a lot had to do with what categories came up (my Mom told me about her experience – I missed the actual show she was on – that she was ahead after the Jeopardy round but when she saw the Double Jeopardy categories she knew she was toast), who else I was competing against and how fast I was on the buzzer.

I managed to get reasonably decently priced plane tickets (my Mom came with me – I’d never been to California before and didn’t like the idea of going someplace I’d never been before all by myself) and the hotel rate, I was told by my cousin who lives just outside LA, was very good. Then came the food…………

The week before we left, I did some research on vegan restaurants in the area. I found one that was perfect for me – since, besides being a vegan, I can’t eat grains or sugars or soy it was hard even with vegan restaurants – it was a raw food restaurant, called "Leaf Cuisine", that had a number of soy free dishes. I called them and found out that I could get food delivered from them if I contacted a food delivery place they deal with. I ordered a lasagna type dish called "rawsagna", a kale salad, a wrap type sandwich (make with greens on the outside instead of bread) and carrot juice (the carrot juice was a mistake – it got all over the bag, but it was delicious). There were some more arrangements I had to make (since I wanted the food to be there when I got there) but this all worked out rather well and the food was delicious. But my Mom didn’t want anything from a place that said it was raw food (turned out she liked the food too, but neither of us knew what would happen). So the Sunday before we were leaving (we left Monday afternoon), I spent about 8 or so hours on the phone trying to find an appropriate kosher restaurant (that also had food I could eat). I found one called "La Gondola" on Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills and I ordered some stuff for my Mom for Monday night (when we got there). The food was there when we got to the hotel.

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Strong Biblical Women Part 3
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About the Jewish Calendar
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Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
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Being an internet small business owner
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Pythagorean Theorem
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Why Should anyone hire Me?
Eat a Healthy Breakfast
My experience on Jeopardy
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Who's Buried in Grant's Tomb?
My Vocational Experiences
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I Lost on Jeopardy Part III

2009-03-08T13:26:00.000-07:00

B"H

(One paragraph from the last entry:)

I hadn’t heard from Jeopardy by the time the next on-line test came along (well, the next one we were told that we could take). So, since we were told that Jeopardy loves people who keep trying (there was one person there that was on his fourth or fifth time there), I decided to take the test again. There was only one problem, though. I was scheduled to be in Israel for my niece’s wedding when the test was being given. So, while the test is given at 8 pm Eastern Standard Time, it’s 3 am in Israel.

Normally, that wouldn’t be a problem. At 3 am, everyone is asleep in my sister’s house, nobody would be competing with me for the computer nor would anyone be around to distract me. But, because so many people came in for my niece’s wedding (and my sister-in-law’s wedding two days later), my sister didn’t have enough room in the house to put everyone up, so I was sleeping at a friend’s down the block (where I didn’t have the availability of the internet). But two very interesting things happened.

The day before “test day”, the lights and electricity went out at the house staying at. I walked down to my sister’s house and woke her up and she said I should bring the stuff I needed down the block and sleep on her couch (which was fine with me). She helped me set up the couch and I slept there that night.

The next night, we went to get some take-out (and pick up my brother’s daughter since my brother and sister-in-law were on vacation for their anniversary and the two teens were by themselves, so we invited them for dinner that night – my nephew would come straight to the house from school) at the same mall my sister brought her kids to the eye doctor and it started to pour. The rain was coming down so heavily that we got totally soaked just running to the car. I have to give my sister credit for driving home in that weather. I had never seen such a rainstorm in Israel before and I don’t recall ever seeing a storm where it poured so much for so long.

It was pouring so hard that my sister told my brother’s children that they should stay over (there was no one to go home to anyway and with this horrible weather, no one knew if the electricity wouldn’t go out). It was so bad that my sister said she wasn’t even going to drive me down the block (I certainly couldn’t walk in that weather – I got soaked just running to the car to get my pjs from the night before). So, thanks to the “blackout” the night before, the couch was already set up for me.

I went to sleep about 1 am and woke up again about 2 am, leaving me plenty of time to sign on and get ready for the Jeopardy test. I did get on in time, and I took the test (though I’m not at all sure how I did – I couldn’t even think of George Eliot’s name until the time had almost run out and I was trying so hard to get it in time that I spelled it “Elite”, so I doubt, even with their very liberal spelling rules, that I got it right).

Sometime in March, I think, I got a call from Robert from Jeopardy. He asked me if I wanted to be on Jeopardy and I said, emphatically, “Yes!” But, the date that he asked me if I could be there was in the middle of Passover. The first two and last two days of Passover are holiday days and we are not permitted to drive, use electricity, or use just about any modern electrical (or telephone, cell phone, or the like) or technological product. Now that I have gone to California, I realize that I was right to tell him I couldn’t do it – I wouldn’t have had the time to squeeze this in between the holiday days. Since this was the last taping for the year, Robert told me that they’d keep me in mind for the new season.

I was concerned that, especially with the awful set-up of the Jewish holidays this year (Rosh Hashana was Monday night to Wednesday night, as were Sukkot and Shmini Atzeret / Simhat Tora, and Yom Kippur was on a Thursday) that I would be called sometime during the Jewish holiday season (which pretty much lasts for 4 weeks). But thankfully, that didn’t happen.

Stay tuned for the next installment.....

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Strong Biblical Women Part 3
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Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
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Dr. Phil, what ARE you thinking?

2009-02-19T07:10:00.000-08:00

B"H

I was watching Dr. Phil's program last night. They had another installment (I hadn't seen the first installment) of yet another weight loss contest. I personally think these weight loss shows are good except......

Ok, it's a good idea to get people who are very heavy and who have really horrible habits (eating badly, not exercising) together and help them learn to make better decisions. That's really laudable. But there are some issues I have with these shows in general.

First off, I have noticed that often they push people a bit too much. They take people who have rarely stood up for long periods of time, much less walked, and push them to do things that athletes do during their off season training. This helps the people see big numbers quickly, but it's not necessarily the best way to go, in my opinion.

I'm a bit of an expert on dieting and losing weight. I've been fighting the battle of the bulge since I was in my teens. I've tried calorie counting, the eating man's diet, the enzyme catalyst diet, the fit for life diet, Atkins, Ornish, Powter, running, walking, pilates and yoga. All worked to some degree, but some helped pile more pounds on (most notably Atkins since it's such an unnatural way for me to eat that I couldn't keep it up for long and when I stopped, I slingshot not only back to where I started, but to a higher weight -- it was after my first run at Atkins that I reached my heaviest point -- about 250 pounds).

The times I lost the bulk of my weight were when I became a vegetarian and, 12 1/2 years later, when I went vegan. I'm still fighting -- I've recently (within the last 10 or so months) started losing weight again (by taking nutrient supplements designed to treat my adrenals) and then even more recently (about 4 weeks ago) started Prevention Magazine's Flat Belly diet. Since Pesah (Passover) last year, I've lost almost 20 pounds, a bit more than 5 of them since I started the diet.

In any case, back to the main point -- the second thing I don't like is that they eliminate people. Granted, they didn't last night (and I hope they never do, but that may be a vain hope), but they were supposed to and made it sound like they will in the future. This is just what these people need, right? Here are a bunch of people who already have low self-esteem (I ought to know, I'm the princess of low self-esteem) and, instead of encouraging them, they will bring on a streak of self-loathing by making them feel like losers in the weight loss game. It's also a bad idea because the people who need it the most will get the least help.

I also get the feeling that often these people will go back to their "real life" and without a trainer or a nutrition coach, end up back on the couch. I hope I'm wrong (will we get to see what they look like a year or two years or five years from now?). But I'm also still worried.

From my perspective, the best thing anyone can do diet wise is to eat lots of vegetables -- sauteed vegetables, boiled vegetables, steamed vegetables, raw vegetables, vegetable soup, etc. Learning how to cook for yourself (and not be dependent on industrial food) is a huge step forward. Check out recipes on line and in cookbooks. But eat veggies!!!

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Strong Biblical Women Part 3
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Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
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Television Trivia Quiz
Tamar -- Mother of Kings
Jewish Perspective of G-d
Why I'm a Red Sox Fan

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I Lost on Jeopardy Part II

2009-02-02T14:59:00.000-08:00

B"H

(I'm giving you two paragraphs from part one to remind you of where I left off -- they're in italics below:)

I got a letter (or was it a card? I was so excited I don’t even remember) saying that I should go to NY for an interview for Jeopardy. It was on a Friday in June at 9 o’clock in the morning. And it was a Friday that my Mom (who I always do these things with) would be in Israel. This meant several things: 1) I would have to go on a Friday (a day that I usually devote to getting ready for Shabbat – the Sabbath) 2) I would have to get up at an unG-dly hour in the morning (to me, anything before 8:30 am is unG-dly) – something like 6 in the morning (usually, if I’m up at 6 in the morning it’s only because I haven’t gone to sleep yet, and this happens more often than you might expect) 3) I would have to go ALONE (something I rarely do).

But, just to show how much Jeopardy means to me, I managed to do this. I even got into bed the night before around 10 pm (the only way I’m in bed by 10 pm is if I’m sick or I just came back from Israel the day after staying up all night to see the Giants in the Super Bowl that starts in Israel at about 1:30 in the morning, but I digress).

I actually got up before the alarm rang (a pattern that will repeat, but I’m jumping ahead). I got myself ready, off to the train (I borrowed my brother-in-law’s parking permit to park at the train station) and into Manhattan early enough to walk to the Waldorf Astoria from Penn Station (forgetting that Grand Central was in the middle if I walked all the way East, so I walked through Grand Central to “get to the other side”) by 8:30, before anyone else. The room wasn’t even open yet.

The other people started coming a few at a time. Since I was in NY, there were a few other Orthodox Jews there. One, another woman, overheard me talking to my brother about what time Shabbat (the Sabbath) started where he was and started talking to me. That was when I started to feel more comfortable (not, mind you, that I was nervous, just that I didn’t quite feel “at home”).

I had previously tried out for “Who wants to be a Millionaire”. For “Millionaire”, one goes to the studio to be in the audience. Anyone who is in the audience can take the test for the show. Most of the people in the audience do take the test. So if you pass the test (they don’t tell you who has passed until late in the second of two shows your are part of the audience), you are one of only about 10-15% of the audience to pass and you feel really smart.

With Jeopardy, though, everyone who is invited to the audition has passed the test on-line. I have likened the experience to new students coming into Harvard – just about all of the students who come into the freshman class of Harvard were valedictorians of their High School classes. So they’re used to be the smartest one in their class. But then they come to Harvard and everyone there was the best and brightest in their school.

It’s the same with Jeopardy. Everyone there is the best in trivia and that sort of knowledge in their milieu. So you don’t feel quite so brilliant. It can be a bit intimidating.

They took us into the room and we sat down. I don’t remember everything that happened in the order that it happened, but I remember several things. I remember them giving us another test (this test was very easy, much more so than the on-line test, it’s possible I got all the answers right and I couldn’t have gotten more than 3 or 4 wrong). I think they just give this test to make sure that the people in the room are actually the people who passed the on-line test, not someone substituting for them. I also remember doing a quick rehearsal of using the buttons. And I remember that nobody (including, or especially??? Myself) stood out as being any faster or smarter than anyone else.

I hadn’t heard from Jeopardy by the time the next on-line test came along (well, the next one we were told that we could take). So, since we were told that Jeopardy loves people who keep trying (there was one person there that was on his fourth or fifth time there), I decided to take the test again. There was only one problem, though. I was scheduled to be in Israel for my niece’s wedding when the test was being given. So, while the test is given at 8 pm Eastern Standard Time, it’s 3 am in Israel.

Stay tuned for more...

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Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
Ruth and Naomi
John and John Quincy Adams
Television Trivia Quiz
Tamar -- Mother of Kings
Jewish Perspective of G-d
Why I'm a Red Sox Fan

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"I Lost on Jeopardy, Baby" Part I

2009-01-25T16:07:00.000-08:00

B"H

I was on Jeopardy a couple of weeks ago, but the taping was back in November. Back then, I started writing about my experiences, while they were fresh in my head, but I wanted to wait until I put it in my blog. So here is my first installment:

It’s currently November 13, 2008. I can’t put this on-line yet, but I want to get my thoughts down about my Jeopardy experience. I can’t put anything on-line about it until after the show I was on airs.

I should probably begin at the beginning. I’ve wanted to be on Jeopardy since I was a little girl. They didn’t have teen and pre-teen and college tournaments when I was in that age group, so I was never able to do one of those tournaments.

The show started off in NY (which I live near), but like just about all TV/Movie and similar things (sports teams????), they moved to California (Los Angeles in this case). So up until recently, the only way you could try out for Jeopardy (at least since I was old enough to be a contestant) was to go to California. Finances being what they are (like non-existent????) I never had been to California. So being on Jeopardy seemed like a faded dream.

They did once have a tryout in Atlantic City, so my Mom and I went down to AC and tried out. But since it was a 10-question test (and you needed 7 correct out of 10 to be considered) it was hard to pass.

But a few years ago, hope was restored! First of all, Jeopardy had changed its policy of scoring so that everyone who was on the program was guaranteed $1000. Secondly, they began to offer an on-line qualifying test. This was the 50-question test that they used to qualify people.

The first time I heard about the on-line test, I tried to take it but because I have dial-up internet service I wasn’t able to get set up fast enough and I missed taking the test. The second time I heard about the test I got on-line earlier, set up fast enough and took the test.

You don’t know how you did on the test. They tell you that only some of the people who pass are called in for an interview. So I figured I would never hear anything. But……

I got a letter (or was it a card? I was so excited I don’t even remember) saying that I should go to NY for an interview for Jeopardy. It was on a Friday in June at 9 o’clock in the morning. And it was a Friday that my Mom (who I usually do these things with) would be in Israel. This meant several things: 1) I would have to go on a Friday (a day that I usually devote to getting ready for Shabbat – the Sabbath) 2) I would have to get up at an unG-dly hour in the morning (to me, anything before 8:30 am is unG-dly) – something like 6 in the morning (usually, if I’m up at 6 in the morning it’s only because I haven’t gone to sleep yet, and this happens more often than you might expect) 3) I would have to go ALONE (something I rarely do).

But, just to show how much Jeopardy means to me, I managed to do this. I even got into bed the night before around 10 pm (the only way I’m in bed by 10 pm is if I’m sick or I just came back from Israel the day after staying up all night to see the Giants in the Super Bowl that starts in Israel at about 1:30 in the morning, but I digress).

Tune in again for the continuing story of a regular person who's taken her first step along the Game Show Road.

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Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
Ruth and Naomi
John and John Quincy Adams
Television Trivia Quiz
Tamar -- Mother of Kings
Jewish Perspective of G-d
Why I'm a Red Sox Fan

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"Why can't Americans learn to speak???"

2009-01-19T12:33:00.001-08:00

B"H

My Mom and I are always annoyed when we see a specific commercial. It's one from one of those scooter companies, the ones that help people who are unable to walk on their own. This one talks about a woman who is, "limited by (sic) her mobility".

Every time we hear this commercial we yell at the screen, "you can be 'limited in your mobility' or you can be 'limited by you lack of mobility' but you can't be limited 'by your mobility'."

This is not the only problem I have with Americans and their grammar, usage and general speech. One of the phrasings that bothers me the most is misuse of the word lay. Lay means put. If you can't say "put" you can't say "lay". For example, since you can't say "I'm going to put down" you can't say "I'm going to lay down". What you probably mean in this case is lie down. Lie means recline.

I suppose the tripping point in this word maze is that the past tense of lay is laid (as is the past participle) but the past tense of lie is lay (and the past participle is lain). In other words, while you ought not to say "I'm going to lay down now" you would be correct to say "yesterday, I lay in my bed" (just as you could say "yesterday, I reclined in my bed").

Lay does have a use (in the present tense). You should, for example, say "I'm going to lay my coat down on that chair" (just as you could say "I'm going to put that coat down on that chair").

Yes, I understand that an awful lot of people misuse lay. And I really don't know why it bothers me so much. It shouldn't annoy me so much, nor should it bother me when people say, "between you and I" instead of "between you and me". Yes, Virginia, there is a use for objective case pronouns (me, him, her, us, them).

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Strong Biblical Women Part 3
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About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
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Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
Ruth and Naomi
John and John Quincy Adams
Television Trivia Quiz
Tamar -- Mother of Kings
Jewish Perspective of G-d
Why I'm a Red Sox Fan

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2008-12-13T18:35:00.001-08:00

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More food....

2008-10-01T19:04:00.000-07:00

B"H

One of my favorite desserts is tapioca pudding. Before I was vegan, I used to make it with milk and eggs, when I went low fat, I made it with skim milk and egg beaters.

But when I went vegan, I needed a way to make it. So I tried a number of things, but they proved unsuccessful. So I tried going "simple" -- using just soy/rice milk, tapioca and stevia (which I had begun using by the time I figured this all out). I now use almond "milk" -- I take one container (32 ounces) unsweetened almond "milk", put it in the top of a double boiler. I add 1/2 cup large pearl tapioca and 1/4 cup small pearl tapioca and stevia that is equivalent to a cup of sugar. I boil the water in the bottom pot of the double boiler, then put the top pot on and turn the flame to low. I let it cook, stirring occasionally (to keep the pearls from sticking together) until it gets to desired consistency (keep in mind that it thickens in the refrigerator). Put it in a container and into the refrigerator.

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Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
Ruth and Naomi
John and John Quincy Adams
Television Trivia Quiz
Why I'm a Red Sox Fan

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Double Bummer

2008-09-28T15:19:00.000-07:00

B"H

For the second year in a row, the Mets have taken until the last day of the season to dash the hopes of their loyal fans. I have been a Mets fan for a long time and I wonder which is worse -- when the Mets are so terrible no one even expects them to crawl out of the cellar, or something like this year and last when they dangle a carrot in front of us all season only to pull it away on the last day of the season.

To make matters worse, they're demolishing the stadium I grew up with -- Shea Stadium. I'll never again walk up those steep ramps of Shea to the "nose bleed" section. I'll never again see those orange seats or the unisphere from Shea. I'll never walk from Main Street in Queens to the Shea.

I have memories of Shea -- one was a banner day that I went to with my brother and father and I wore my banner -- I sewed a skirt and batiked a tee shirt (with the number of my then favorite player, #23, Teddy Martinez -- I remember it was 23 because I was standing in the aisle watching the game (returning to my seat from the lady's room) and I was standing in someone's way and he yelled to me "hey, 23, skidoo!"

I remember my first time at Shea -- it was a night game and I was 9 -- and from our vantage point in "general admission", the slope of the seats was so steep and the night so dark, I thought I was going to fall on the field.

I remember a time when my brother and I (and I think my sister?) were leaving the stadium and we saw Ralph Kiner and Roy McMillan (who was a coach for the Mets in those days -- he had been a shortstop and I grew up wanting to be a shortstop) and I went up to them and pointed to the former shortstop and said, "aren't you Roy McMillan?" I think I made his day -- I have a feeling Ralph Kiner was the one who was usually recognized when the two of them walked together, but Roy McMillan was one of my baseball heroes.....

Sigh. What can we do about our Met? Omar, are you reading this? We need some relief pitching! Really.... seriously.... and some starting pitching would be nice too. I think we also need a healthy Ryan Church. And Jose Reyes to keep his good attitude, and Davie Wright to be there in the clutch and Carlos-squared to keep hitting those home runs ("... knocking those home runs over the wall...") and Damian and Luis and Endy and Duanar and newbies Daniel Murphy and Nicky Evans.....

So, Mets, listen to a long time fan -- I know you all can do it. You just need to believe (just ask the late Tug McGraw, to paraphrase Archie Bunker, "Mr. we could use a man like Tug McGraw again...." -- our first best reliever....) and you need to play like you have to prove to the world that the last two years were flukes (this year might have been very different if the team didn't start out believing they were losers after last years major crash and burn.....)

Any time a team loses not just a game but a trip to the playoffs on the last day of the season it means they should have been there, should have been with the "boys of October", should be the ones looking to the World Series.

So, next April (or March???) I will be there, at the TV, rooting my team on.... Let's go Mets (2009).

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Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
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Quick Vegan Cooking
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Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
Ruth and Naomi
John and John Quincy Adams
Television Trivia Quiz

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2008-09-21T09:12:00.001-07:00

Food!

2008-09-21T01:47:00.000-07:00

B"H

One of my friends (who also is a blogger and has introduced me to certain blogging things) has been bugging me to do some vegan blogging. So now that I have a blog that is a catch-all for any topic I want to write about, I think it's time to at least start with one recipe.

I have lately gotten hooked on one of those sandwich machines. What this machine does is take a sandwich and, like a waffle iron, cooks the sandwich and presses into a cute shape. I love the way the sandwiches come out. I mentioned this to the above friend at the kiddush (ablations???) at our synagogue yesterday and she asked me what kind of sandwiches I could make that were vegan. So I told her.

The first thing I have to tell you how to make is something I call "green stuff". I should probably come up with a better name -- this makes it sound like something Bartholomew Cubbins ran away from in some perverted Dr. Seuss book. But in reality, my "green stuff" is just a mixture of dark green veggies, some walnuts, some mushrooms and some spices.

This "recipe" (such as it is) calls for Kale, Spinach, other greens as available (when I can get it I add watercress), broccoli, garlic, Shiitake (or your favorite kind) mushrooms (I get them frozen, which makes is SO much easier!), walnuts, oil to sauté with, flax oil, your favorite mustard and spices (I use French's spicy brown mustard and curry powder). I take my large frying pan (with a cover), put in about a tablespoon of canola or olive oil. I add the greens (1/2 to one bunch of kale, about 1/2 bag frozen spinach, about 1/2 bag frozen broccoli and/or a few florets of broccoflower) and about 1/2 bag frozen, sliced mushrooms (sometimes I add a bit of bell pepper, depending on what I have in the house) and a few cloves minced garlic. I sauté (in a covered pan -- stirring occasionally) all this until it's soft (leafy greens are wilted, garlic and mushroom cooked through). I cool a bit, then add this to a handful of walnuts (1/4- 1/2 cup) in a food processor, add spices and mustard and 2 Tablespoons flax seed oil (for omega-3 fatty acids) and process in the food processor until very smooth. I then put this in a container and keep it in the refrigerator (it's best when used within a week -- it smells REALLY bad when it spoils).

Another thing I make that I often use in the sandwiches is sautéed vegetables. I do this with the same large frying pan, add a Tablespoon of canola or olive oil, chop up bell peppers (the more colors the better -- green, red, yellow, orange, purple -- purple's my favorite), garlic, sometimes onion or red onion, zucchini, sometimes eggplant, chestnuts (when I have them), mushrooms (see above), whatever interesting veggies I run across in my meanderings during the week (lately I've been adding purple potatoes)..... add a bit of grated fresh ginger (about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon), then add the veggies, mustard (see above), curry powder (or your favorite spices) and sauté (in a covered pan), stirring occasionally, until everything is cooked. I either eat it then or store it in the refrigerator.

So, now, back to the sandwiches.....

First, I warm up the sandwich maker. Then I take either an English muffin (I use sprouted grain bread) or two slices of my favorite bread -- I spread one side with "green stuff". If I have hummus in the house, I spread hummus on the other side. As a filling, I add either the sautéed vegetables or sliced black olives. I close the sandwich, brush canola or olive oil on top, flip the sandwich onto the sandwich maker and brush oil on the other side. Close and lock the machine (each machine is a bit different) and cook until brown.

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Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
Ruth and Naomi
John and John Quincy Adams
Television Trivia Quiz
Tamar -- Mother of Kings
Jewish Perspective of G-d

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Everything Goes
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Project Walkway

2008-09-04T00:20:00.000-07:00

B"H

My teen nieces were visiting me for the summer and they got me hooked on "Project Runway". I've really gotten hooked on it -- I supposed my years of being a closet designer (ok, not too closet -- I've shown my sketches to just about anyone who'll look at them)has contributed to my mania over the show. I know that I could never do what they do (well, at least not now) because sewing just isn't my thing (I'd like to get to know this better, but it's hard for me -- When I went to F.I.T., I tried to take "flat pattern design" (I think I still have the text for it) twice (I was so far behind after a few weeks, that I dropped the class both times) and I tried draping once (again, I fell so far behind that I knew I'd never pass the class). Maybe I should have stuck with it, I don't know.

When I was in High School, I learned how to knit (I already knew how to crochet since elementary school -- was it 5th grade???) and I started creating/designing clothing for my Barbie doll (It's about as much as I had patience for). I used to bring it to a concession store in a nearby town and sell them. I didn't exactly become rich selling the clothing, but I sold a few here and there.

I've spent the vast majority of my life trying to make a living doing things I like doing. I can design (as in draw designs either on paper or on the computer) but I can't make the clothing, shoes or purses. I can make some of the jewelry I design, but I can't afford the expense of doing more than one or two designs a year or so. I've also been doing graphic design for a number of years (20ish???).

A number of years ago, someone I knew introduced me to a woman who prints t-shirts who needed an artist to help with design, so I did some work for her. That led me to create a design, ostensibly for tees, of Strong Jewish Women (scenes from the lives of biblical women) -- I started with Miriam, added Devora (Deborah) and Queen Esther. I have since added Sara, Rivka (Rebecca), Rachael (Rachel), Yocheved (Moshe, Moses's, mother), Tzippora (Moshe's wife) ,Yael, Ruth and Naomi, Hana and Another Esther.

But I'm also working on the jewelry designs (you can see a couple of them and a couple of my doll clothing designs at my etsy shop and at my Shop-it site. Maybe that's my problem? I'm not focusing in on one thing? But I love all these things so much -- I enjoy creating and selling my artistic visions.

But when I see "Project Runway", I see myself in the rolls of the people who are there designing and making their own creations. Even the ones who end up "out" (as in going home) have a vision (even if I don't like their "stuff"). I find myself right now wondering who the last three will be and who will win. I have noticed one thing -- the people who listen to the judges and make changes based on their advice rather than constantly pushing their own agenda (though "trying to please the judges" without any vision also doesn't do it -- I knew the entire episode that Keith was "out" that he was going to end up gone because he was trying too hard to please the judges without being true to his own vision) are the ones who do the best (LeAnn -- I hope I spelled her name right -- learned very well from being in the bottom two in the second week and adjusted her work to showcase her vision without sacrificing style and advice she got from the judges -- she's won the most recent two challenges including this week's Diane Von Furstenberg challenge).

To all the designers who have left or are still on right now -- good luck in the future -- my heart is with you.

Check out my squidoo lenses (articles):

Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
Ruth and Naomi
John and John Quincy Adams
Television Trivia Quiz
Tamar -- Mother of Kings
Jewish Perspective of G-d

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Everything Goes
Bayit and Garden

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Pitch Black

2008-08-11T17:15:00.000-07:00

B"H

I know it seems as though this is turning into a "rant about the Mets" blog. But it's hard to not rant.

Omar Menaya -- if you are reading this --- GET SOME GOOD RELIEF PITCHING!!!! (Of course, I would add, don't do it at the expense of any of the good players on the team, like J. Reyes, Wright, Delgado, Beltran, Chavez, and the two new minor phenoms Evans and Murphy). Lately, the only semi-reliable reliever (and that includes the now injured Billy Wagner) is Sanchez.

Oh, and can we stop scoring runs only in innings that are included in the minimum official game?????

Today's game was a major case in point. Pedro (who's back!!! YAY!!!) pitched well -- he left the game ahead 5-1. It seemed as though the Mets would be coasting to a win. But the dreaded tar pit of baseball, the Mets bullpen, snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Except for Sanchez (and why was he taken out anyway????) all the relievers contributed to the 6 run roughshod executed by the Pittsburgh Pirates today to give them a 7-5 win over the lapsing Mets.

I don't have a specific statistic for how many games the Mets bullpen has blown. But I have a strong feeling that if they Mets had won even 1/3 of those games they would be comfortably in first place.

One bright light in the dismal day -- David Wright added 3 RBIs and Jose Reyes added two stolen bases.

Check out my squidoo lenses (articles):

Strong Biblical Women
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Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
Ruth and Naomi
John and John Quincy Adams
Television Trivia Quiz
Tamar -- Mother of Kings
Jewish Perspective of G-d

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Diet Advice????

2008-06-23T22:44:00.000-07:00

B"H

I happen to like reading health magazines and books. I also happen to eat a healthy diet and actually enjoy exercise. But, because neither my weight nor my blood sugar are as low as I'd like them to be (I would love it if I could lose about 25 or so pounds and I would be ecstatic if my daily fasting blood sugar were about 20 or 30 points lower) I'm always looking for changes I can make to my diet to make it even healthier (I'm already a vegan -- this means no animal products: no meat, poultry, fish (I was never fond of fish anyway, but I digress...), dairy or eggs -- and, in addition, I eat no sugar, no grains (except sprouted whole grains), no soy (that's a tough one for a vegan, let me tell you!!), well, basically, what I do eat is beans (except soy), nuts, things like wild rice (not a grain) and kasha (buckwheat -- also not a grain), vegetables and a little bit of fruit.

But despite this diet, I'm having a tough time losing weight. I've tried adding fiber (by eating foods high in fiber -- I've been doing that for over 30 years now), lowering fat (I once had it so low that I'd say my diets averaged about 5-7% of its calories from fat -- I haven't done that in years), I even once tried the Adkins diet (boy, was THAT a mistake!) before I was a vegetarian (and, actually, even while I was ovo-lacto vegetarian -- somehow or another, I doubt I could find a way to keep to Adkins as a vegan)

So I keep looking for more ideas and more information about dieting. I read books, magazines, newsletters. I've tried eating more of this or less of that. And I still have a belly that won't budge.

So I read the latest "new thing" as far as belly fat goes from Prevention magazine. They were writing about the virtues of MUFA -- Monounsaturated Fatty Acids. These fatty acids are in things like nuts and nut butters, olives and olive oil, peanuts and peanut products, avocados, sunflower and safflower oil. And we're supposed to eat them at least at every meal. Ok, this is not an issue for me. I eat a lot of nuts and nut butters, lots of avocados, olive oil (and, occasionally, canola oil) and other high MUFA oils.

Ah, but here's the kicker. You have to eat these high MUFA foods at least three times a day, but you still have to keep your caloric intake under 1800 calories a day.

So I tried to figure this out. I also read that I need to eat one gram of protein for every kilogram of body weight. Fair enough. That means I need to eat in the neighborhood of 70 or so grams of protein. That would mean the equivalent of two cans of beans a day. Another few hundred calories.

I also noticed that I do best when I have either vegetable soup or sauteed vegetables (or both) during the day. But that's also more calories.

So how do you get by on 1800 calories a day? I guess I don't.....

Let's go Mets!!! (Do we need to "get out and 'push'"?)

2008-06-11T12:51:00.000-07:00

B"H

The Mets have done it again, snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. After 3 straight losses to San Diego (who had, at the time, a winning percentage under .400) 2-1, they were ahead in the 4th game.....

Then, again, yesterday, against Arizona, they were ahead 5-1. But, again.....

So I was watching tonight (of and on -- I switch to the game during commercial breaks on nights there are shows I watch with my Mom) and I tuned in in the top of the 9th and there were 2 out, 2 on and the Mets were ahead 3-0.

Well, I had to turn back. Then I tuned over again and it was the bottom of the 9th and the score was 3-3. I felt very frustrated. (When you're hot you're hot and when you're not you're not)

Well, the end of the story (at least today's story) is that in the bottom of the 13th inning, Carlos Beltran, hit a two-run home run and the Mets are finally out of their losing streak.....

Check out my other blogs:

Israel and it's Place in the World
Jewish Singles
Strong Jewish Women

Check out my squidoo lenses (articles):
Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
Ruth and Naomi
John and John Quincy Adams
Television Trivia Quiz

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What this is all about....

2008-06-06T10:07:00.000-07:00

B"H

I do have several blogs with specific subjects. But every now and then, I want to write about something and it doesn't fall into one of those categories. So I decided to start and "Everything Goes" blog -- that means it could be about anything that's on my mind.

Lately, what's been on my mind it the Mets. I'm a big baseball fan. I don't get to see the games as often as I'd like (I rarely get to see the entire game from beginning to end, but thanks to Sports Channel, I do get to see more games than I used to). I've been following the Mets since I was a little girl (about 6?) and, while I have other teams I root for (the Angels, the Red Sox and the Cardinals mostly), I don't get to see their games with the regularity I get to see the Mets (being that I live in the NY viewing area).

At the beginning of the year, everyone was saying the Mets were the team to beat. Well, I think that was right -- they were the team EVERYBODY was defeating.

I watched the games (and recalled their crash and burn from last year and this is what I came up with:

1) As Jose Reyes goes, so goes the team (this was confirmed for me last night with actual statistics). It's important for people like David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, etc. (and Ryan Church has been a pleasant surprise, though he still seems to need some TLC after the two concussions), but when Jose Reyes is "on" -- hitting, walking, stealing bases, smiling and enjoying himself, it gets infectious and it infects and helps the rest of the team.

2) Starting pitching needs to be tightened up. This is happening, to some degree, and with the return of Pedro Martinez and I hope it will tighten up a bit more.

3) Relief pitching needs to really tighten up. It does no good if your starting pitching is on the money but the relief pitching totally blows it (this happened a lot during the crash and burn from last year but hasn't totally disappeared this season).

4) And this is a biggy -- one of the things the Mets do well when the team is hot is those ubiquitous come from behind victories. They haven't done this at all this year.

5) Get over last year. It happened, it happens, life (and Baseball) goes on. It shouldn't define who the Mets are.

In the past week or so, the fog seems to be lifting (KI"H). I hope it continues.

Check out my other blogs:

Israel and it's Place in the World
Jewish Singles
Strong Jewish Women

Check out my squidoo lenses (articles):
Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
Ruth and Naomi
John and John Quincy Adams
Television Trivia Quiz

Check out my other merchandise:
Other merchandise