December 2012
3 posts
“And one way or another, they told me a thing that was difficult to articulate:...”
– Pediatric oncologist Chris Adrian, on conducting research into doctors’ roles in pastoral care, in “The Question,” New England Journal of Medicine.
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“The human soul is the lamp of God (Proverbs 20:27) – for the human being was...”
– S’fat Emet (Rabbi Yehudah Leib Alter of Ger), 1847-1905
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“Even for the same reader the same book changes, for we change; we are the river...”
– Jorge Luis Borges, Seven Nights
November 2012
1 post
This Is Not Jewish: How to Support Israel Without... →
As my friend Rachel said, this is awesome. The need for it existence is the opposite of awesome.
this-is-not-jewish:
Please note up front that I am not Palestinian, or Arab, or Muslim. I am an American Jew. So any list I draw up with this title is doomed to be incomplete, because there are a lot of facets of the Palestinian experience that I just don’t see.
October 2012
2 posts
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“We must keep asking the Torah to speak to us in human language, this crude...”
– Rachel Adler, “‘In your Blood, Live’: Re-Visions of a Theology of Purity”
“An old Jewish tradition likens the tongue to an arrow. What not another weapon...”
– Ethics of Speech
August 2012
1 post
April 2012
7 posts
"Gangbang Interviews" and "Bikini Shots": Silicon... →
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a trademarked beard →
This is hilarious on so many levels.
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90s TV
I’m home sick today, and I’ve just realized that both Saved by the Bell and Melrose Place are now on Netflix streaming. So, yeah, that’s what I’ll be doing today in between naps.
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February 2012
1 post
e=mc²: A Brief List and Analysis of White Savior... →
iamabutchsolo:
A White Savior Film (WSF) is a movie that features a white person coming into the lives of a person or people of color (POCs) who are often low-income, troubled, and/or severely oppressed. The troubled times that the people of color are in can be a product of oppression from…
January 2012
4 posts
“Pinkwashing, as it’s known, is big, big business, and it’s getting bigger every...”
– s.e. smith, It’s All For A Cause, You Know: Breast Cancer, Pinkwashing, and Objectification (via splatterdick)
Finally putting into words the discomfort I’ve felt around the breast cancer awareness behemoth for some time.
“The only thing that anyone can diagnose, with any certainty, by looking at a fat...”
– Marilyn Wann, “Fat Studies: An Invitation to Revolution”
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“Hi everyone,
I am officially retired! (Yes)
FYI: I do not check my e-mails...”
– Enjoyable auto-response from someone who perhaps does not understand how email works.
December 2011
2 posts
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Salon on gentrification →
A great article exploring the upsides and downsides of urban gentrification, using Washington, D.C., as an example.
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September 2011
1 post
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birthday recollection from my aunt
[T]his day is surely yours, but it also belongs to those of us who anxiously awaited your birth 33 years ago and sent up prayers of thanksgiving when you arrived, a beautiful, healthy girl—with sticky-outy ears! You were so adorable. Your coming was indeed a family event.
I remember the cute room your Mom and Dad had lovingly prepared for you—and the happily decorated bassinet that your ...
July 2011
23 posts
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“[John Doe] will be out of the office until Tuesday, August 2. He mayh read his...”
– You “mayh” need to re-read your out of office message. :)
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Anonymous asked: Do you think pornography is damaging to society?
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a peeps profile
This is the second part in a series for Joe’s birthday; earlier today, “a miju memoir.”
In late 1998, a small black-and-white cat was born, and Joe Grossberg adopted her two years later from the Washington Humane Society. Records indicate that Joe paid $65, provided by his mother, since the cat was a Chanukah present and (meant to be) a friend for her big brother.
She was being fostered in the...
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a miju memoir
This is the first part in a series for Joe’s birthday; later today: “a peeps profile”!
In the summer of 1999, a small orange cat was born, and Joe Grossberg adopted him the following July from the Montgomery County SPCA. Records indicate that Joe paid $75, made a $20 donation to the organization, and spent an additional $5 on a “box.”
The kitten still had the rather...
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“To be blind to color is to be blind to the consequences of color.”
– Julian Bond
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the magic button →
I’ve really needed this lately — and especially today.
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maybe baby
N.B. If you are Gay Lee Pearce, please stop reading immediately.
I am currently participating in Randi Buckley’s “Maybe Baby” coaching program, for woman who are ambivalent about having children.
I haven’t told anyone except for my husband — partly because I’m not ready to talk about it, I think, but also because I’m afraid I’m the only one in the world...
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“I shall be away in New England from June 28th till July 19th, 2011. Starting...”
– A sweet out-of-office reply from a monk(?).
A Modern Sexual-Assault Tale
Man: Hello, I'd like to report a mugging.
Officer: A mugging, eh? Where did it take place?
Man: I was walking by 21st and Dundritch Street and a man pulled out a gun and said, "Give me all your money."
Officer: And did you?
Man: Yes, I co-operated.
Officer: So you willingly gave the man your money without fighting back, calling for help or trying to escape?
Man: Well, yes, but I was terrified. I thought he was going to kill me!
Officer: Mmm. But you did co-operate with him. And I've been informed that you're quite a philanthropist, too.
Man: I give to charity, yes.
Officer: So you like to give money away. You make a habit of giving money away.
Man: What does that have to do with this situation?
Officer: You knowingly walked down Dundritch Street in your suit when everyone knows you like to give away money, and then you didn't fight back. It sounds like you gave money to someone, but now you're having after-donation regret. Tell me, do you really want to ruin his life because of your mistake?
Man: This is ridiculous!
Officer: This is a rape analogy. This is what women face every single day when they try to bring their rapists to justice.
Man: Fuck the patriarchy.
Officer: Word.
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WatchTime-lapse video of Washington, D.C.: In which I find myself posting another video. This is just gorgeous. (And only a few locations are not technically in the district!)
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strip club in ivy city
This morning WAMU aired a story about a neighborhood group in Ivy City that is fighting a recently licensed “gentleman’s club” in the area.
I don’t really have an opinion about whether strip clubs are “good corporate neighbors” (as the club’s owner and the ward’s councilmember both claim) or about whether such a business could lead to the creation...
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brallelujah!
I would normally not talk about my undergarments with, well, anyone besides my husband. So it’s odd that I find myself announcing to the internets that I just bought a new bra, by Spanx. But it is awesome.
I read about it in The New Yorker profile of Spanx founder Sara Blakely. (I would normally link to the story, but it’s behind a firewall, and TNY’s archives are designed...
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“Over a decade of experience has taught me that overuse of email is the worst...”
– This might be one of my all-time favorites: “Email is distracting, so don’t email me. Instead, call or fax or … email my colleagues.”
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“Thank You for your e-mail If you do not receive an answer to your e mail Please...”
– In which I begin my series on the … interesting … out-of-office replies my organization receives and I monitor as part of the “customer service” portion of my job.
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five fiction faves
Inspired by this post on the New York Times Magazine’s blog, here are my five favorite works of fiction. The introduction to the lists bills them as contributors’ “best fiction of all time,” but I like the distinction a commenter makes between “favorite” and “best.” I’m going with the former, but in no definite order. I could read all of these...
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i don't understand the internets
On Tuesday, my dear friend mazzie replied – with what I thought was a pretty damn funny response – to a fairly sexist tweet by Roseanne Barr (yes, that Roseanne Barr) about why Casey Anthony was acquitted (to wit, that the defense confused the women on the jury).
Roseanne immediately began a vitriolic, ad hominem attack on her, including a great deal of fat-shaming, which mazzie responded to...
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I am rewatching Firefly — and have arrived...
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The Amazing Pixie →
This is the website for my friend Joe’s dog, Pixie, who is unequivocally the best dog in the whole world.
June 2011
2 posts
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tumblrbot asked: WHERE WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO VISIT ON YOUR PLANET?
“Forgiveness is the release of all hope for a better past.”
– This just showed up in my Twitter feed one day and struck me like a bolt of lightening. It’s so right. 