Commitments...

I just finished my daily blogstalking and I am wishing that I had the fortitude (or the time or enough interesting things to say) to blog everyday. Even as a kid I never journalled every day. As a matter of fact, when I was in college, I got a journal as a secret santa gift. My first entry was 12/96. the last entry was last month. yes, it actually took me 10 years to fill a journal. and to tell you the truth, it wasnt' full. I still had a few pages left, but I decided I was getting married and it was time to close that chapter of my life. Besides, I'm pretty sure I couldn't be a married lady and still be writing in my same angst ridden college journal. how embarrasing...

But this lead me to realize that I am not very good at following through on things. I can't stay on a diet for any length of time and I certainly can't commit to an exercise program. hell, I can barely spell exercise (don't laugh, had to look it up). I started on my house-cleaning June-Cleaver streak, but that ended in Petey hairballs taking over under my dresser and quite frankly they are bigger than me, so there they shall stay. unmolested. I can't do my hair everyday or even manage to put on makeup. I am, in short, a pathetic excuse for an adult and a professional one at that.

That's all pretty disheartening. But then I realize that I've been with the same man for over 6 years and I haven't cut and run on that.

so maybe there's hope for me yet...

Entitlement

The duck and I had a very long debate this morning in the car. well, we have a long car ride, so the debates are always long.... anyway, back to the topic. the whole conversation started over an article in the local paper about an art exhibit going up at the local jewish community center. It's a series of photograps taken by an area college student portraying jewish life in upstate new york. The photos that they selected to go along with the article were a ribbon cutting at an Anne Frank exhibit, a rabbi typing on her lap top, a refrigerator lined with aluminum foil for passover, a glatt kosher chinese take-out and another rabbi at a shofar making workshop with a ram's head on a picnic table. The photos themselves are not what got to me. it was the article.

The article quotes the artist (remember, upstate NY college student) citing a similar photo essay taken during the 30's in Pre-Nazi Germany as her inspiration.

Here are my issues, which I tried (unsuccessfully) to lay out for the duck (who happens to be jewish) this morning.

1. Jews are regular people. These are photos of regular people doing mostly regular things. Maybe the ram's head and tinfoiled refrigerator are not so normal, but that's part of the issue. Every culture and religion has it's peculiarities. By taking a photo-journalistic approach, this appears to come off as this girl is Jane Goodall amongst the apes. These people are different, they should be studied, in pictures even.

2. If the jewish community is hip to this, they are highlighting their differences and in not such a positive way. I mean, this is basically a one-page ad for "why jews are different from you" complete with decapitated ram.

3. I can barely deal with the pre-nazi Germany reference. Germany in the 1930's was fully Nazi-ed. This other artist's photos are meaningful because it captured a rare moment in history. The jewish community in new york is in no way in danger of being herded off into camps and exterminated.

4. However, they clearly need a PR person as this is not the way to convince your friends and neighbors that you are just like them and we should all just get along.


So of course, the duck tells me that all of my anger over this is misplaced and really stems from the fact that I hate his mother, and that she thinks she is special because she is jewish and I am not.

But I think it's more than that. I think I actually have a problem with the whole issue of being special, or entitled, whatever that entitlement is.

I will use a different example since everyone gets so snippy about the holocaust. Let's look at american culture in general. We live in a society where everyone thinks they are owed something. We have students in public schools who believe they are entitled to high grades and excellent test scores. They hire private tutors to write their college entrance essays and then expect to get into top universities.

A disproportionate number of our population is obese and yet the weight loss systems that are the most popular are the ones that allow you to eat all your old favorites for a reduced calorie count. Instead of focusing on working hard to change your behavior and dietary preferances to include more whole grains, produce, and protein, we expect to eat a chocolate bar that will make us thin. Why? Because we deserve it.

Only a very small fraction of the populous cares about the amount of fossil fuels they consume or the affects that they might have on the environment. We won't be around, why should we care? and besides, we deserve ginormous SUV's and a fully climate-controlled universe.

Here's the news flash: You are not special. You are just like everyone else. You don't deserve anything different. You are not different. If you really want to be different, just give a thought to how easy it is to turn different into scary and then into threatening. Just like my jewish in-laws who peer through their front blinds at the agfani neighbors and speculate about all the things they do, eat and think...

Someone should do a photo essay on them.

AP

Home Home on the Range

so the duck and i tied the knot. and then we went to Greece and left the spider cat all alone. wow is he mad. and he wasn't even alone. my mom came at least once a day to feed him and play games...

anyway, I could go off on one million tangents about the wedding or the honeymoon or the fact that I had to go to a conference for work right after getting back or having to go back to work or....

ack!

so instead i stole this one word meme from spacesuitcase

Yourself: Smart
Your partner: Sweet
Your hair: Straight
Your mother: Loved
Your father: Missing
Your favorite item: PDA
Your dream last night: Petey
Your favorite drink: Margarita
Your dream car: Audi
Your dream home: Cozy
The room you are in: Office
Your ex: Round
Your fear: Fire
Where you want to be in ten years: Accomplished
Who you hung out with last night: Petey
What you’re not: Mathematical
Muffins: Tops
One of your wish list items: Crystal
Time: Dusk
The last thing you did: Read
What you are wearing: T-Shirt
Your favorite weather: Falling
Your favorite book: Heights (of the wuthering variety ;)
Last thing you ate: Pasta
Your life: Fast
Your best friend: Litigious
Your mood: Crafty
What are you thinking about right now: Knitting
Your car: Dirty
What are you doing at the moment: Listing
Your summer: Speedy
Relationship status: Married
What is on your tv: TiVo
What is the weather like: Controlled
When is the last time you laughed: Today

maybe tomorrow morning before the men folk get up i'll have solidified an idea to write about. instead of insane ramblings. I'm almost human again...

AP