the semester IS over

so the semester is actually over. and i've gone back to the Forward. it's nice to go back to a familiar place, where people know you and you can just sort of pick up where you left off. . . though they put me back with my mac comp and that was very unsettling as i'm still not very good with macs and am constantly getting into trouble with it. it was really empty in the office, i guess due to the holidays and the fact that one of the editors got married in california this week. i love that the building belongs to the "Yiddish Workmen's Circle." and sometimes when I walk through the Forverts (Yiddish Forward) offices i feel like ive gone back to the 1930s . . . old men swearing in yiddish and russian. . . sometimes, on my way in or out of the building, i peek into the classrooms on the building's ground level where i'll often find seniors involved in one or another yiddish-related activity (whether dancing to yiddish tunes or listening to a guest lecturer). i didn't appreciate my linguistics professor very much, but one thing he said is true: yiddish is indeed a very charming language.but i write in english.i wonder if english is the least inspired language that exists. that would be sad.speaking of sad, woody allen's new movie, Match Point, is sad. it made me think of Dreiser's An American Tragedy--which, though i'm loathe to admit it, remains etched in my mind, in my heart. i am loathe to admit this because Dreiser is certainly not among the best American writers. but nonetheless, i suppose the most important element in fiction is 'felt emotion.' which might explain why Dreiser is more compelling than, say, Jonathan Safran Foer. the latter is indeed a creative genius, but what Dreiser speaks of is just real--the real trials and travails of the human spirit. he speaks of the things we all know--of poverty and pain, of love and loss, of temptation and discipline.
it's called life.

Synagogue on eBay

My latest Forward piece (Dec 30, 2005.)

1930s Synagogue Going Once, Going Twice...

Synagogue, anyone? On eBay, an old, neglected Jewish house of worship in upstate New York is up for bids.
The White Sulphur Springs Jewish Community Center Synagogue dates back to the 1930s. Back then it served a thriving community of Jewish families escaping the city for summer vacations. But the synagogue has been out of commission for several years now. And when auctioneers Peter and Don Nocerino bought it on a tax sale, the place was a mess.
The brothers Nocerino donated the sacred books and scrolls to a nearby synagogue and hoped to restore the structure.
Eventually, though, they decided to sell.
"It's a great piece," Nocerino told the Forward, saying that he feels bad about selling it, but hopes it falls into the right hands. So far, Nocerino has not heard from any potential Jewish buyers. But on a site like eBay, he said, there is a greater likelihood that Jewish buyers will surface.
"I would like to see this property get a nice owner who would preserve its character," Nocerino said, pointing to the synagogue's stained-glass windows and original brass fixtures as examples of what makes the structure unique in this small town. White Sulphur Springs' Jewish community is too small to sustain a synagogue.
But Karen Franklin, director of the Judaica Museum of the Hebrew Home for the Aged at Riverdale, sees this as part of a general trend — one she explored in an exhibition, "Culture as Commodity," which she organized several years ago. The exhibition featured a full range of Judaica items, or items listed as such — from Israeli Coca-Cola T-shirts to vintage seltzer bottles — purchased from sites like eBay, exploring the effect of Internet auctions on Judaica collecting.
Of the synagogue auction, Franklin said, "It's really the ultimate statement of culture as commodity."
Sites like eBay have been "changing the marketplace for Judaica" for a while now, Franklin said. But, she quickly added, auctioning off a synagogue "takes this to another level."

insomnia

cannot fall asleep. so im posting links to the articles i mentioned in a previous post. they're kinda old . . oh well
you'll need to sign up to read both the Forward and Commentator articles--but it's free so do it:)

Dancing Around a Delicate Issue
http://forward.com/main/article.php?ref=olidort20051019901

Modest Fashions With Flair
http://forward.com/main/article.php?ref=olidort20050914928

Mixed Heritage Family Deals With Genetic Tragedy
http://forward.com/main/article.php?ref=olidort20050803742

make that two quotes

"It is difficult for a woman to define her feelings in language which is chiefly made by men to express theirs."--Thomas Hardy

quote of the day

It is a good rule in life never to apologize. The right sort of people do not want apologies, and the wrong sort take a mean advantage of them.--p.g. wodehouse.

semester nearly over!

so the semester is nearly over. which is good. because this has been my least favorite semester so far. and i really liked school until now. ok, i didn't love every class. but i liked a few. last semester i loved 3 classes-literature, philosopy, and music. this semester i don't love at all 3 classes: literature, anthropology, and linguistics. but next semester i should love more classes. cuz im taking an american novel 1850-1950 and the professor got rave reviews and i love 20th cent american fiction, so i think it will be awesome. i'm also deciding between a dostoevsky/tolstoy class and a 20th century russian lit class. i think the 20th cent will win out, a) because i love nabokov and am curious to read things like the master and margarita and dr. zhivago & b) because tolstoy/dostoevsky is at 9 a.m. and i really messed up on my 9 a.m. class this semester it's just tooo early especially because of the commute. so those are my two lit classes for next semester. and im going to take art humanities, and another req science, ugh:(. and one or two creative writing classes. speaking of which i really liked my creative writing class this semester. there were a bunch of bright kids in the class and a couple of strong writers. and my instructor was pretty cool. check him out: adam berlin. he has two novels out.
anyways, so it seems i've come back into focus after a long bout of out-of-focusness. and i read a novel, finally. i read ethan fromme. i thought it was really good. not awesome. but a good book. and it was short. very short. big plus. extra big plus, in fact.
and now im writing my milton paper. which i am late on. and its annoying because we have 50 odd questions about the man. and frankly, while i am quite ready to give him all the honor he deserves, i don't think any piece of literature should ever be so long. and neither should any report on a man. it's just wrong.
i think that's all i have to say, for now.
i cant wait for the week to be over .and then i go back to the Forward! hooray! it's lots of fun working there. and if i get my byline in the paper again and some $ that will be awesome.
i think some things are overrated. like thinking. intelligence. smarts.
also seriousness.
probably humor is not overrated. but i need a humor boost.
apparently my humor, or what i have of it, comes through in my writing. or so say my wonderful workshop-mates. they find my plays really funny. that could just be the subject.
oh a piece i wrote for YU's Commentator got blogged twice. that makes me feel uber-cool. also, my fashion piece for the Forward got onto nextbook. which makes me feel good because my name was on the same page as Christopher Hitchens and Amos Oz. that feels cool. my simchat torah article also got blogged and created a whole storm. funny.
ok, so much for an update.