~ Thursday, April 28, 2005 ~

Catablogging

The rabbinate is kind of an unusual pursuit, and sometimes, after spending a lot of time around rabbis-to-be, I can forget how the rest of the world sees, or doesn't see, us. That's one of the reasons why I make sure to go out and do things I like that are unrelated to rabbinical school whenever I can. It's good to get out of my little niche-ish RRC community. Of course, leaving that one to shove myself into the equally niche-ish Philly dance scene is arguably not much of an improvement, but whatever, I like dancing, and at least there, I'm surrounded by people who come from all different religious backgrounds. Of course, when strangers meet and they want to be social, they usually start by expressing polite curiosity about the other person, and sooner or later the question of what I do is going to surface. And then I have to share. As gentle as I try to be, it's always a little awkward, because most people have no idea what to do with the words "I'm a rabbinical student." They almost always react in one of the following ways.

1. Women can do that?

2. Oh, I met this woman rabbi once, do you know her?

3. I have this Jewish friend...

4. Oh, so you're Jewish?

5. [pause] Wow. [backing away] That's a...big commitment. [Meaning: "Oh, so you're celibate?"]

6. I think God is.../I think organized religion is.../In my church, we.../I'm an atheist because...

7. Where's your beard, hahahaha.

8. Hey, a dancing rabbi, hahahaha.

9. Is that why you have those little side curls?

10. Medical school?

~ prattled by Miriam at 2:32 p.m. [+] ~ 2 comment

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I seeeeeeee you. :)

*waves to the nice morris dancers*

Hi, new people. Thanks for visiting. Have fun at Neffa? Feel free to leave a comment telling me who you are, what you dance, whether we've met in real life, etc. I'm a curious girl.

Maybe I should do a morris post in honor of the new link...but considering I missed rapper practice this week and the last show I danced in was the end of March, I might have to dredge up an old story instead of offering a recent one.

Also, Outside Caperers, I was tickled to see my remark on your testimonial page. If I had known I was going to be quoted, I would have been more effusive. But as long as I'm here (there?) I would like to mention that that was the first time I used the kicks-my-vestigial-coccyx phrase in writing. (If I remember correctly, I made it up just for you guys. You're that cool.)

According to Google, it's the only time anyone has used the phrase on a website, ever. But what does Google know.

~ prattled by Miriam at 3:32 p.m. [+] ~ 1 comment

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Milk!

The true sign that it's finally Spring is not that I can bike to school in the morning without gloves, nor that I can bike home at 4:30 without squinting into the sun, nor even that I have to start putting on sunscreen again. No, the true sign of spring is that I can bike to the drug store wearing only my thinnest t-shirt and light cotton trousers, at 9:30 pm, and not freeze. Yay for not freezing!! After this long awful disgusting winter, it is a fantastic feeling to realize that even though it's already completely dark, it's still 69 degrees F. Wow, what a beautiful day.

I just bought the audio version of A Short History of Nearly Everything, on The Wizard's strong recommendation, and he was absolutely right. Bill Bryson totally deadpans some of the funniest lines, which, I think, is part of why I like it so much. The Wizard had mentioned to me that the description of the universe's size is particularly funny, but even with that warning, it snuck up on me and caught me offguard, and I still laughed. It's curious adjusting to reading with my ears. I have to focus more than I usually do when I read with my eyes, because the words come at me linearly, and it takes a little more effort to reread a missed word.

The reason I was going out to the drug store at 9:30 pm is that I am burning a copy of it for the King of Prussia, who often drives me home from swing dances, and who likes listening to audio books, and who just had a birthday a few days ago. For some reason I couldn't convince iTunes to burn an mp3 cd, which was kinda surprising (Are my settings wrong? Is it an embedded anti-copyright-violation precaution? I am mystified) so instead, I had to burn 5 audio cds, which are much more cumbersome to handle when you're trying to drive and dj at the same time, but I don't know how else to do it. Anyway, I ran out of blank cds partway through and had to buy more.

So, I bike to the Walgreens in downtown Germantown, and I lock my bike up to a bus stop sign growing slanted out of the sidewalk (heliotropic?) and this portly middle-aged guy dressed in a 70s paisley polyester button-down shirt and some heavy gold jewelry (tacky, but not threatening) who seems to be trying to hawk something whose name I can't quite distinguish (Acky?), glances over at my bike and offers to put it in his van and drive me somewhere. Nice of him to offer, but I tell him I'm just going in for a few minutes and then I'm biking home. So I go in and get my CDRs and come back out. He's still there, seated in his metal folding chair just outside the automatic doors, and when I reemerge, he looks up and asks if I'm ready to put my bike in his van yet.

Me: No thanks, I'm just biking home.
Him: Where do you live?
Me (intentionally ambiguous): Just about a mile away. Near the train station. [There are lots of train stations around here.]
Him: A *mile*!
Me: It's not that far.
Him: Well, you should come talk to me sometime.
Me: ...what was it you were selling earlier?
Him: Selling? Oh, I'm a taxi driver. [Me, to myself: Taxi!! Not Acky!] That's my taxicab 'round the corner. I'm selling rides, is what I'm selling.
Me: Oh.
Him: You should come talk to me sometime, baby! We could go have a couple drinks or something.
Me (grinning): Thanks. I don't drink.
Him (not missing a beat): Milk!

It's amazing how uncreepy someone becomes, just by being witty. I did not go have a couple of milks with him, but I did have something to laugh about while I rode home wearing a t-shirt at 9:35 pm.

Aha, and one more unrelated thing: Nesheekah just called, and I am going to see They Might Be Giants with her and her sweetie at the Stone Pony on May 13th. Yay!

Current Music: Tommy the Canexican, Eddie From Ohio

~ prattled by Miriam at 11:25 p.m. [+] ~ 4 comment

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Poisson d'Avril and the Ultimate Self-Parody

For anyone who hasn't done it yet, go check out Google's homepage, and click on the new link that doesn't look familiar. I was looking forward to finding out what they were going to do this year, and I am not disappointed. The FAQs are the best part.

Current Music: The Cause, Raceway4

~ prattled by Miriam at 2:30 p.m. [+] ~ 0 comment

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