tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-97145432024-03-23T13:44:42.398-04:00Not Quite SureThere are a few things I'm sure about and a lot I'm not.Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12002802440403969922noreply@blogger.comBlogger1607125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9714543.post-30138260373985108642014-03-08T18:40:00.001-05:002014-03-08T18:42:43.091-05:00Why Thurston Moore Is a DickLately, I haven't had much to say. OK, I can hear the guffaws of my family and friends over my shoulder, so let me amend: I have quite a bit to say about my work, my children, the doings around me, and even some things to say about the world, but I haven't had much of a desire to say them. There's just too much noise these days. Too many people blogging and tweeting and Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12002802440403969922noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9714543.post-88320036562803443102009-06-13T21:20:00.005-04:002009-06-14T08:32:50.328-04:00Four YearsI'm wondering who's been reading since the beginning of this blog. Libby and Dawn, I'm sure (Dawn, you haven't blogged since Tuesday--I'm the one who's supposed to be giving up on this, not you!). Maybe Jackie? Andi? Anyone else?Who has been reading since we moved? Does anyone remember the four years?Oh my goodness, it looks as if I did not blog the four years!! Well, does anyone who knows Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12002802440403969922noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9714543.post-39439708916890990602009-06-11T21:59:00.003-04:002009-06-11T22:13:13.987-04:00I Had a Very Nice Day TodayLife has been quite crazed around here. There is the usually childrenly crazedness of the end of the school year, augmented by the overlapping of the end of E's soccer season and the start of her summer play rehearsals, not to mention the bat mitzvahs and birthday parties. Then S and I have been beset by events and meetings, which everyone seems to think are good to schedule in June. Finally, Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12002802440403969922noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9714543.post-55855342432353183092009-06-11T12:04:00.001-04:002009-06-11T12:09:10.257-04:00Old School Becca BloggingJulia Roberts is adorable. Kate Gosselin is horrifying. And Letterman discussing Palin is quite funny.Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12002802440403969922noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9714543.post-2791329631092597302009-06-08T00:14:00.001-04:002009-06-08T00:15:21.193-04:00TodayI think all there is to say about today's Times is this.Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12002802440403969922noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9714543.post-64366957126224114762009-06-07T23:33:00.004-04:002009-06-08T00:12:17.856-04:00Speaking of ShakespeareMy first Shakespeare, or at least the first Shakespeare I remember, was a televised production of Much Ado About Nothing set just after World War I which I absolutely adored (could it be this? the hair looks right), though I did wonder for an embarassingly long time how a turn-of-the-17th-century writer could have set a play in the early 20th century (I really did). I was perhaps 9 or 12 or someBeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12002802440403969922noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9714543.post-45876378909834907492009-06-03T13:47:00.004-04:002009-06-03T14:03:57.570-04:00Television 2 (Sorry, No Tom Verlaine Here Either)On the other hand...M has been sick since Sunday (she seems finally to be getting better, thanks), which means pretty much constant television, much of it in my presence, since sick in our house seems to entail Advil, blankets, pillows, a glass of water, and Mommy, not to mention any and all food and drink you desire, especially when you are starting to get better, and lack of nutrients seems to Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12002802440403969922noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9714543.post-52962073434992690652009-06-03T10:52:00.003-04:002009-06-03T11:21:30.611-04:00Television (Not a Post About Tom Verlaine)The two things people are most surprised to learn about me are that I don't eat meat and I don't watch TV. They are surprised because we are such a food family and I am such a pop culture maven, but they are also surprised because I keep these facts pretty quiet. See, people who don't eat meat or watch TV can tend toward the sanctimonious, and you should know by now how I feel about the Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12002802440403969922noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9714543.post-44571351981173628052009-06-02T17:19:00.002-04:002009-06-02T17:35:13.365-04:00To Gardasil or Not To GardasilI have been in a bit of a tizzy about Gardasil, the HPV vaccine. As anyone who knows me knows, I am generally pro-modern medicine from a personal standpoint (hooray for successful emergency appendectomies!), and pro-vaccines from an ideological standpoint (the only reason you can get away with not vaccinating your precious little Artemis is because all the rest of us are vaccinating, so Artemis Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12002802440403969922noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9714543.post-14940130661092421262009-06-01T16:05:00.002-04:002009-06-01T16:23:08.081-04:00June 1, 2009: CarsHere's a political litmus test: What are you most upset about today, Dr. Tiller or GM? Here's an...intellectual? ideological? oh, let's just call it another litmus test: What are you blogging about today?My automotive history:Toyota StarletHonda CivicFord Escort wagon(Honda M5)(Jeep)(Mazda 3)Subaru Outback wagonS's cars are in parentheses, everything was bought used except the Escort, and this Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12002802440403969922noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9714543.post-48479718543608879642009-05-28T22:59:00.003-04:002009-05-29T00:24:15.553-04:00Hug? Hug!I do not intend this blog to become all NY Times all the time, but the hugging teens article is irresistible! And I'm not going to go where you probably think I'm going. No sirree, Bob, this one is right on the mark! Seriously.We first noticed the hugging teens at M's summer camp, where a two-minute walk across the lawn invariably takes 15 minutes, as M throws her arms around every young Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12002802440403969922noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9714543.post-58872309602825104082009-05-25T07:28:00.004-04:002009-05-25T08:19:52.362-04:00NY Times Post-MortemHow much pause do you think the Bernie Madoff scandal gave the production team for the Lower East Side American Girl doll? Because you know the reason we're getting a second Jewish American Girl, rather than a first Muslim American Girl, is the deep pockets of those Jewish American grandmas. (For a romantic feminist, I'm certainly heavy on the materialist analysis these days.)The "look, we're Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12002802440403969922noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9714543.post-87029915562074458692009-05-15T22:04:00.003-04:002009-05-15T22:13:53.447-04:00What Recession?One of E's great dreams is to have a lemonade stand. She and M did it once--with a babysitter, of course--right after Katrina, and, as I recall, they raised $9 for Katrina victims. She's been asking to do it ever since (yes, that long), and it's not that I've been resisting (really), but there's always been some obstacle (like, we've had no lemons, or some such).Today E's friend C came over Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12002802440403969922noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9714543.post-60444398925882773132009-05-13T22:43:00.005-04:002009-05-13T23:14:58.890-04:00A Work Insecurity Post (But Not the One You Think)I try to avoid Penelope Trunk, because she is mad annoying, but she seems to always show up. Most recently, she showed up here, not that I read Guy Kawasaki's blog--I don't even know who Guy Kawasaki is, except that he always seems to show up too, especially around Penelope Trunk--but something linked, and I clicked, and there she was, doing her usual "let me tell you how it is based on nothing Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12002802440403969922noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9714543.post-72643706872067814092009-05-12T13:32:00.003-04:002009-05-12T13:39:24.154-04:00Elizabeth EdwardsI started an Elizabeth Edwards post several days ago, complete with copious links, and then I deleted it, because it all seemed so boring and obvious. But now I am wondering, once again, whether I'm on a different planet from the rest of the world. You can find the links yourself, and if you're one of my blog readers, you've probably read them all already, but basically the going wisdom (a la Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12002802440403969922noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9714543.post-16382818820388405792009-05-11T07:27:00.003-04:002009-05-11T07:42:07.728-04:00Nice Job, NY TImesI truly loved this week's Modern Love. I know that mom, and I know those girls--I mean, I don't know the author and her daughters, but I know people who have been in those positions, including on top of that train, and she just grabbed my heart, though I was glad to be feeling sympathy, rather than empathy.Spot-on review of Ayelet Waldman's new book, about which I have been staying quiet over Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12002802440403969922noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9714543.post-32051576436831515172009-05-10T13:16:00.005-04:002009-05-10T13:36:04.337-04:00Jew FishingI had never heard of Jew fishing until Friday, when my sister told me it was the latest manifestation of a recent bout of anti-semitism that has struck my nephew's sixth grade class.That night, we went to the seventh grade service at Temple. The seventh grade studies the Holocaust in Hebrew School, and at the end of the year they run the Yom HaShoah service, during which they make presentations.Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12002802440403969922noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9714543.post-81772780484846375872009-05-07T21:21:00.003-04:002009-05-07T21:53:56.128-04:00Who Does She Think She Is?Oh, I would so like not to be cranky and cynical. I wish I could turn off my critical eye. But it's hard.I went to see Who Does She Think She Is? at the local arts center. It's a lovely arts center. I went with my friends. I love my friends. Lots of nice women I know were there. I'm sure the women I didn't know were nice too.Who Does She Think She Is? is a documentary about women who are Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12002802440403969922noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9714543.post-37276668979673512032009-04-25T10:22:00.008-04:002009-04-26T12:57:08.682-04:00Of Sentimentality and Smugitude, or Why I Haven't Written About the Bat MitzvahOn the day after the bat mitzvah, at some point in our daylong houseful of brunchers, who became lunchers, and then late afternoon snackers, my step-nephew picked up a copy of Anna Karenina, which was being used to prop up a sign for the arts-and-crafts store next to the dining room table, and remarked upon what a great first line it has.I thought, for most of the week, that this was why I felt Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12002802440403969922noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9714543.post-61210748337482449682009-04-21T16:51:00.002-04:002009-04-21T17:10:16.692-04:00A Few Cultural NotesLast night we were at the restaurant, and T was bartending, which means T was DJing, which means happiness all around. "Shut Up and Drive" came on, and we were all shaking our heads and bopping our shoulders, because what else can you do when you hear "Shut Up and Drive"? I mean, that is one irresistible song (and, frankly, I have no interest in resisting Rihanna).Then suddenly Tracy Chapman's Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12002802440403969922noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9714543.post-45837757610692457402009-04-19T20:28:00.000-04:002009-04-19T21:06:01.102-04:00My SpeechM, I could go on and on about the myriad ways in which you are wonderful, and I know you would like that. But I want, instead, to focus my remarks on one aspect of your wonderfulness, an aspect that is particularly relevant today, and that is your relation to Judaism.Despite appearances to the contrary, M has not spent her entire life cosseted in the warm embrace of Temple and the East Town Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12002802440403969922noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9714543.post-28394048021364008242009-04-16T12:52:00.004-04:002009-04-16T14:30:45.736-04:00The God ThingIn the last week, two friends have told me that their daughters are not having bat mitzvahs.One is a friend from long ago with whom I just reconnected (thanks, Internet!). When M was born, I had the kind of mother's group you read about and wish you had, except for once I actually had it. We met in prenatal yoga, so we were a copacetic bunch of athleticish, organicish, liberalish moms. Our Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12002802440403969922noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9714543.post-10007379894275263772009-04-12T15:31:00.006-04:002009-04-12T16:01:00.505-04:00An Insanely Compulsive Book PostI have been compulsively organizing books all day, and I'm feeling highly unappreciated. S has assured me that he appreciates me, because I was all grownup, and told him that I was feeling unappreciated, and I do believe him, but, as I also told him, he can't truly appreciate, because he does not truly get what I have done. He acknowledged that this was the case, and reiterated his appreciationBeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12002802440403969922noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9714543.post-49875854099186932722009-04-10T22:07:00.007-04:002009-04-11T08:52:34.609-04:00Facebook, Passover, Arab, JewIs Facebook killing my blog? Or perhaps I should ask: is Facebook the final blow to my slowly-dying blog? Given the likelihood that I will now start posting three times a day, as I generally do, whenever I predict the death of my blog, perhaps not, but it kind of feels that way. 160 words seem sufficient these days (or, in the New Facebook, 420 words, as Phantom has recently proven, in her Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12002802440403969922noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9714543.post-32555633209328170452009-03-31T14:48:00.005-04:002009-03-31T22:10:09.639-04:00Self Esteem and the Reality-Based CommunityI once gave what I still consider to be good advice to a friend who shall not be named. The advice was to pretend that she lived in the reality-based community.This friend did not think very highly of herself, but pretty much the rest of the world thought she was the cat's meow. Generally, if most people think a thing is true, it is (OK, that statement is so wrong, I don't even know where to Beccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12002802440403969922noreply@blogger.com6