July 26th: Aunts and Uncles Day

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July 26th is MY Day

May brings us "Mother's Day" and June is the month for "Father's Day". But I'm not married and I have no children of my own. But I adore my nieces and nephews. I even have great-nieces and great-nephews. So I was thrilled to find out that July 26th is Aunts and Uncles Day.

Now, all I have to do is make sure my nieces and nephews know about it.

Being an Aunt

When I was younger, one of the gadget catalogs sold a bumper sticker that said, "If I'd known grandchildren were so much fun, I'd have had them first!" Well, as an aunt, I felt as though I got that deal. While I definitely changed my share (and then some) of diapers, done my share of babysitting, feeding, chin wiping, reading stories, etc., I also get the hugs and fun, the excited nieces and nephews on the phone, my excited great-nephew saying my name over and over again running the to computer when his Mom (my niece) and I are on Skype together.

Most of my nieces and nephews used to live in the same town as we do, but those nieces and nephews who used to live here now live halfway around the world. I miss them all terribly. I do, thanks to generous parents, get the opportunity to visit every two years or so (whenever there's a "Simha" -- happy event -- like weddings, bat mitzva, bar mitzva, etc.) and members of my sister's gang come here occasionally.

I love being an Aunt.

Are you an Aunt or Uncle?

Tell us about your nieces and nephews

Write about them in the comment section

Aunt Themed Products from Compugraph Designs on Zazzle

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I Love My Aunt Tie

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I Love My Aunt Coffee Mug

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I Love My Aunt Cap

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I Love My Aunt Baby Shirt

Should Gay Marriage be Legal

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The Case for Gay Marriage: Where do you stand?

Many states in the US have voted to legalize Gay marriage. It's a tough fight; so many people feel that marriage should be defined as being only between one man and one woman. Back in the 1800s, Utah became a state based on the Mormon population denouncing polygamy.

While tradition in the US seems to lean toward the "one man/one woman" marriage template, many loving gay couples are kept from this public proclamation of their love. Many feel cheated; many feel discrimated against.

How do you feel?

Should Gay Marriage Be Legal?

Because I don't think people should have sex outside of marriage, I believe Gay Marriage should be legal. I feel I have no right to ask gays to "keep themselves for marriage" so to speak if there isn't that option open to them. Absent that, I would accept a commitment ceremony, since so many states don't have legalized Gay Marriage.

I personally think that people who think their religion doesn't support gay marriage need to remember that in the US, there is a separation of church and state. My religion says that I can't drive a car on Saturday. I don't think there should be a law outlawing driving a car on Saturday. It's MY religion. So if your religion says that gay people can't get married, don't marry someone of your gender. But allow those who don't have that religious issue to follow their conscience. Marriage is a commitment between two people who love each other; allowing that commitment for gays is better for society because marriage stabilizes the home.

What do you think?

Should Gay Marriage be Legal in the US?

(Opine, if you wish, in the comments section)

Gay Themed Products on CafePress

Click on these links to see these products:

Gay Jewish Rainbow Flag Golf Shirt
Gay Hanukka Maternity T-Shirt
Gay Jewish American Flag Bib
Purple Star Maternity Dark T-Shirt
Purple Star Toddler T-Shirt
Purple Star BBQ Apron

Gay Themed Designs from Lambdazigns on Zazzle

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Rainbow Arc Tee

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Gay Jewish American Flag Canvas Bag

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Rainbow Jewish Star Tie

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Gay Hanukka Spaghetti Strap Tee

Read a Book Day

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Read a Book Day

September 6th is "Read a Book Day".

When I was young, I hated reading. I think part of the reason I hated reading was that I:
1) had to read what my teachers wanted me to read
2) had to read the book within a certain time frame (when the assignment was given to when the report was due)
3) had to write a book report when I was done

But as I got older, and the classes I was taking were more in the category of subjects I liked, for the most part the books we were asked to read were more likely to be books I enjoyed. Also, as I began to read on my own (after college), I got to choose to read the books I wanted to read.

Let me know as comments:

Do you prefer to read Fiction of Non-Fiction?

The Gold Star

One of my short stories, "The Gold Star" is now available in illustrated form. The story is about a young boy named Shmuel who helps a poor man without the man knowing.

The Princess Who Wanted to be Beautiful

One of my first short stories, "The Princess Who Wanted to be Beautiful" started out as a bedtime story for the children of a close friend. I had been worrying about the "Disney Syndrome" whereby all the heroes are beautiful and all the ugly people are villains. This is a story about a princess who has heard that all princesses are beautiful and doesn't think she is beautiful. She decides to go to a wizard and ask him to make her beautiful but along the way she makes some friends and learns a lesson about herself.

Compugraph Designs' Shop on Spoonflower

Spoonflower features custom designed fabric. My designs include a The Baby Book of Opposites  to sew for your favorite baby.

Designs for Writers from Compugraph Designs on Zazzle


Here are four samples of the products that are available at the Compugraph Designs Zazzle Store:

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Rosh Hashana Book of Life Tie

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Stained Glass Pencil Tie

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Passover Recipe Binder

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Pencil Tie

Witches and Wizards in Fiction

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Witches and Wizards in Fiction

I have always loved reading about magic in books. When I was young, I lovedBewitched. I enjoyed I Dream of Jeannie.

But I didn't really have a lot of "magic" again until I started watching Charmed and reading the Harry Potter and Septimus Heap series.

The Media World Loves Magic

Charmed is about sisters who use their powers to fight evil. It was a drama for the most part, and I enjoyed the plots and the inclusion of Mythological and Legendary characters, ranging from Greek Gods and Angels to Nymphs, Leprechauns and Banshees. The show ended its run by tying up loose ends and showing how things would be in 40 or so years.

Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie were both on TV in the 1960s. They were both sitcoms and showed the funny side of magic. Both shows probably trace their genre back to movies like Bell Book and Candle and Blythe Spirit (which probably inspired both the movies and TV show Topper, about a banker who moves into a house haunted by a bon vivant young couple of ghosts). BothBewitched and I Dream of Jeannie show the 60s ideal of domesticity within the framework of witchcraft or genie magic.

Harry Potter is a young orphan living with his aunt and uncle (who hate him and treat him very badly) when he finds out, after turning 11, that he is a wizard and that he will be starting Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry also finds out that when he was about a year old, the most evil Wizard in the Wizarding world, Lord Voldemort, murdered his parents in his quest to take over the world. But Lord Voldemort lost much of his power when he tried to kill Harry. In the process, Harry received a lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead and also, it was revealed later, gained some powers. The seven book series, which ends with Voldemort's defeat, finished off with a glance into the future also.

Septimus Heap is the 7th son of the 7th son who inherited magical powers and becomes the apprentice to the "ExtraOrdinary" wizard, Marcia Overstrand. The books center around Septimus's home life and work life and the danger he faces.

Stem Og Stel

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OK, I admit it. I am a die-hard Mets fan. Please don't try to figure out why. It doesn't have anything to do with their won-loss record (obviously). I'm not a masochist. And, yes, the Mets have been in the World's Series more times than many other clubs in the years since 1962 (the first season the Mets were in existence). But, in the years they haven't made it to the post-season, the Mets have often tortured their fans.

This feels as though it's going to be one of those years. The past two years have been torturous. Two years ago, the Mets, for the first time, had the National League's leading hitter (by average), Jose Reyes. Last year, the Mets had the National League Cy Young Award winner, R A Dickey. Both players moved to other teams over the off-season (Reyes first to Miami in 2012 and, then, to the Toronto Blue Jays and R A Dickey signed with the Blue Jays over the 2012-2013 off-season).

So we're now in 2013 and they Mets, who started off reasonably well, have now lost 6 games in a row and are now 10 and 15. While I haven't seen them all, I have seen the end of the last two games and in both of them, they were not behind until the last play of the game. In both games they went into the 9th inning ahead by one (last night it was 2-1 and tonight it was 1-0). In neither game did the starting pitcher stink. In both games the hitters didn't hit much on either side.

Is it just me, or is anyone else wondering if the Mets will ever win another game?

(Oh, BTW, the title is "Let's Go Mets" backwards)

Madam, I'm Adam....

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Around these parts, there is a lot of talk on the news programs about a "Madam" who was running a "cat-house" in a building in Manhattan. There are blow by blow reports on how they arrested an upstate NY woman for running a brothel in the city (Manhattan) and how they put her bail at $2 million and how they won't let her out of jail even though a local lawyer put up his mansion as collateral. There are also reports on how they are "talking" to her second in command (her lawyer professes her innocence).

All this prosecution and scandal all begs the questions I have for them:

1) Is there no more important crime within the boundaries of New York City than prostitution?
2) Are our prisons so empty that we need to keep a woman in prison because she made a living from men's weakness?
And, most importantly:
3) In this day and age, why is prostitution still a crime?

Every time a story on this comes up on the news, all I can say is, "Who cares?" I don't care that this woman was a Madam. I don't care that she was running a brothel. I do think it would be better if there was zoning in the city for a "red light" district. I do wish they would legalize brothels and regulate them. I do wish they would be required to pay for medical treatment and blood tests that would make this process safer. And, if it were legal, it could be taxed: Sales tax, income tax, excise tax, you name it. This would lift some of the tax burden from the poor and middle class.

We have a perfect model for legalizing prostitution. We have Nevada. Use Nevada as a model for legalizing prostitution.

This case seems, to me, to be the perfect time to introduce such a law. Why should (mostly women) prostitutes be put in prison? Why aren't the "clients" put in prison? (Hint: Maybe because they're mostly men and often politically powerful?) From my perspective, going to a prostitute shouldn't be a legality issue. I think using a prostitute should be between a husband and wife, a man and his significant other, not a matter for law enforcement. Let's legalize prostitution and regulate and tax it. This is a moral matter, not a legal matter. Let's place it where it belongs and stop demonizing prostitution.

Heroes and Villains

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Back in August 2009, Failed Messiah had a post called America's Worst Rabbi. Read it and them come back here to continue.

While I agree with Rabbi Safran that people are making a much bigger deal of Bernie Madoff (I think the reactions to him, the out of proportion punishment he was given, a punishment that serves only to partially assuage people's need for vengeance, a punishment that murderers, rapists, kidnappers and terrorists often don't even get, shows that our society is overly obsessed with money and cares more about money than it does about people), I also think that there is little to admire in the man. Back then, I wrote a blog entry on this subject on my "Jewish Sandwich" blog called "He Madoff with all the Cash" which talks about my feelings about Bernie Madoff. To be honest, in retrospect, he could be let out of prison today and he will have already received the worst punishment, that being the knowledge that his actions led directly to his son's death by suicide.

All that having been said, I want to revisit the part of Rabbi Safran's article where he doesn't give "Sully" Sullenberger his due. "Sully", who, besides keeping a cool head and safely landing the plane in the Hudson River, besides not leaving the plane until he was certain EVERYONE was off the plane and safe, is also currently a spokesperson for St. Jude's Hospital (which shows where his heart is -- in helping others). And, this past week, we have a perfect contrast to Captain Sullenberger -- we have Captain Francesco Schettino of the Costa Concordia. Yes, I know someone is innocent until proven guilty, and I don't know what I would have done in his shoes. But I do know that people who tell the truth generally will tell a story that may expand as time goes on as the person recalls more details, but it doesn't change with the wind. Captain Schettino's story has changed more times than the death toll number has changed.

But even if he did "fall off the boat", he clearly didn't do all he could to save lives, clearly didn't search to see if there were people who needed help, didn't coordinate rescue efforts with his crew. Granted, his ship is larger than was "Sully's" airplane. But instead of being "proactive", instead of reporting right away that they needed help, he and his crew seem to have taking more time seeing if they could keep it quiet than trying to coordinate rescue. The passengers were left in the dark, not knowing what was happening, not knowing what to do to save themselves.

The Costa Concordia was a tragedy, a tragedy that could have been averted if the Captain had been a man more similar to Captain Sullenberger. I doubt the entire fault lies with the Captain, but, if Captain Sullenberger hadn't, G-d forbid, landed the plane with the skill and forethought he did, the ensuing tragedy would not have been his fault either. With his bravery and insight, his knowledge and his caring, no lives were lost. That, Rabbi Safran, is why, even though part of his actions was self-preservation, Captain Sullenberger is a hero and Captain Schettino isn't.