Snoop Dogg

I just confirmed what I thought was true -- I spotted Snoop Dogg on the escalator at O'Hare airport yesterday. I just confirmed that he had a concert in Chicago the next day. Of all the people on the adjacent elevators to notice and recognize Snoop Dogg, I have to say that the white girl from Ohio was quite possibly the least likely person to ID Snoop Dogg. Maybe it was those years living on a military base. Or maybe my college days.

The sighting occurred shortly after my mom commented that it's amazing we had not seen anyone we know at the airport. Well, I don't exactly KNOW Snoop Dogg, but anyway.

[Photo from Snoop Dogg Official website].

Dragonfly

The red dragonfly that spends summers by our pool is back. I stalked him yesterday with my camera and telephoto.

Tips

For all you construction workers who may (or may not) be reading this blog, cat-calling a woman of my age is completely inappropriate.  You would know this if you were to see my knees up close, which leads me to my second tip:

For all you women under the age of 30, you must leave your computer NOW, go out to the nearest store, and buy a large bottle of something called SERUM, and apply it liberally to your knees each night.  Now, usually this is something recommended for women over the age of 30 to put on their FACE, but I am telling you, if you are going to be needing it on your face, it is already too late.  You might as well start saving for Botox.  Save your knees instead.  

I swear, my knees are seriously showing my age, while my face has none of the expected laugh lines around the eyes or furrows around my
mouth.  On the other hand, NOBODY ever warned me to put creams and serums and daily sunscreen on my knees, for goodness sake.  

No photo is being supplied here for obvious reasons.

Trip to a Ship

Here's a photo of my new camera lens!

Ship Trip
This past week, Sweetie and I had the opportunity to participate in a reception onboard a Turkish vessel that is part of a NATO group of ships currently docked in Haifa. I had never been on a warship before.

We arrived early, and representatives from the boats of all nations in the flotilla were there and held up flags for us. Then, there were representatives from the various boats also at the reception on the Turkish ship. Sweetie and I managed to scope out some Americans and I talked to the top enlisted sailor on the US ship, who answered some of my questions about uniforms (it was really hard to tell who was from what country). Then, I ended up talking to a group of officers, while Sweetie sought out the Brits. It was great, until another officer swooped in and would not stop talking. I did not catch on when all the other officers discreetly walked away. This guy was a serious motormouth. I think part of the problem was that he was on this Turkish ship for a few months, without any other native English speakers. He was making up for lost time and I was his victim.

I kept waiting for Sweetie to rescue me, from apparently, to the outside observer, it looked like I was having a nice conversation -- but in fact, I was playing therapist (and not getting paid $110/hour).

Anyway, I FINALLY escaped and got some food.

Slow Blogging Season
I really must apologize for the lack of blogs recently.  I am job-hunting and that has been consuming lots of my time (read: if you want to hire me, let me know!).  I want to write more often, but it just hasn't been possible.  I will try to post at least once a week.  

Unwelcome Guest

I was working late in our home office the other night when I heard a noise on the patio.  The office is in the basement, but there is a lower level patio cut out about 12 feet under ground level -- it's great because it gives the basement lots of natural light.  Anyway, I called up to Sweetie to see if he had thrown something down into the patio or something like that.  He hadn't.  He instructed me to close the shutters and we'd see what was out there.  So, I closed the shutters and turned on the patio lights.  He looked down from the upstairs and said, "It's a cat."  

A cat.  A small, very mangy, nasty-looking cat.  It had apparently jumped, or fallen, into the basement patio and now couldn't get back out.  We watched as it got up on the patio table and did a spread-eagled leap into the air toward the wall of the patio, falling to the ground like a ton of bricks.  Yeah.  He hadn't quite mastered the whole jumping thing.  

It is cases like this where my 7th and 8th-grade gifted students class ("Project Challenge," which my classsmates and I affectionately called "Project Reject") proves its worth.  I start brainstorming 101 ways to get a yucky cat out of a basement patio WITHOUT bringing it into the house and tracking fleas all over the place.

My first idea was to put our tall ladder on one of the patio chairs so that the cat could climb out and make the short leap to ground level.  So, Sweetie did that.  For the longest time, the cat wasn't getting it and kept leaping off the table fruitlessly.  

So, I put Plan B into action.  I put a bunch of canned tuna into an empty tea bag and tied a roll of string around it.  Then, I lowered the string down into the patio from outside, resting it near that chair with the ladder on it.  However, the cat didn't appear.  In fact, I couldn't see the cat anywhere on the patio.  Sweetie came to investigate and noticed that the ladder had moved.  The cat was gone.  Hooray.   And it was waaaay past our bedtime.

A Taste of Israeli Wine; My Favorite Show

Israeli Wine
Ever since I heard about it, I've been wanting to visit the Jerusalem Hills area and check out some of the vineyards there. On Sunday, Sweetie and I visited Tzora Vineyards in Bet Shemesh. I had previously tasted a Tzora bottle, and I have to admit it wasn't my favorite (to be fair - it was a bottle of their "Judean Hills" which is intended simply for everyday consumption - ie: it's nothing special), but Tzora was the only place I called that welcomed us for tasting that day, so off we went.

It was very easy to find and Shula who assisted us was really kind and helpful. She explained where the grapes are grown (at three different locations near Jerusalem) and the history behind the vineyard and its founder (who sadly just passed away a few weeks ago). I tasted a Merlot that I really liked, but Sweetie preferred the Cabernet. In the end, I decided to buy a bottle of their dessert wine called "Or" ("light" in Hebrew), which apparently received a tasting score in the low 90s from a renowned wine expert. They don't provide tastings of the Or due to its limited quantity, but I decided to take a chance. I'll let you know how it is. Sweetie picked up a few bottles of the Cabernet. Neither were cheap -- my dessert wine was 119 NIS (over $30). But hopefully the taste will be worth it!

We ate a picnic lunch on the tables outside of Tzora. There was a "sharav" that day -- a weather phenomenon that entails unseasonably hot, sandy weather. So, the views weren't that great. But, we were the only ones there and it was shaded and pleasant.

My Favorite TV Show
I have to confess that I LOVE watching American Idol. This drives Sweetie absolutely insane. He just barely tolerates it when, on Friday nights at 1930, I sequester myself in the bedroom to watch American Idol (while he goes to the basement to watch anything else). But, I LOVE music and I really love the show. This year, I am soooo impressed with the men on the show, and I have to say that at this point, there is not a single one who I think should be eliminated. They are all excellent. Of course, one of my favorites is David Archuleta -- he's just a perfect singer. But I am afraid he might be one who would not be able to sing hits. And ultimately, that's
what the show is/should be looking for.

I've been much less impressed with the women. That said, I did download Brooke White's version of "Love Is a Battlefield" from iTunes. Totally worth a listen if you have iTunes. It's a ready-made hit.

Giving up the veg

I've been vegetarian for about ten years.  And I've decided that I'm going to try to start eating fish again.  I originally became vegetarian for health reasons, but for the past 4 1/2 years, I've found myself getting sick way too frequently.  I'm not sure if this has anything to do with the lack of fish or meat (or even dairy, as I don't consume much of that either), but I'm going to TRY to start eating fish again (I say "try" because after not eating it for so long, it is completely unappealing to me!) and see what happens.   My other possible explanation for my health issues is that I've been living in warm climates (where during a "cold" winter it gets no lower than 50F) the past 4 1/2 years and perhaps there are different bugs in these climates that my body just can't handle.  Not 
sure, but I need to try something different and since I can't exactly up and move right now to a cold place (nor do I really want to!  I'm not a fan of winter).

That said....
That said, I just got my first delivery today from an organic vegetable farm.  Woohoo.  Very exciting.  I was impressed with the assortment -- cucumbers, red bell peppers, beets, yams, onions, beet greens, lettuce, cilantro, tomatoes, fennel, carrots, kohlrabi....all in excellent condition.  And it's a luxury to have enough time to actually plan out how I am going to use all 
these vegetables.  I might as well take advantage of that time while I can!

 For the Israel-dwellers
On our recent trip to the Galilee, we had dinner at Auberge Shulamit -- a restaurant in Rosh Pina that I have read great things about.  I was excited to finally give it a try.   It was lovely -- nice setting, quiet (we were one of only two tables occupied -- great for us, but doesn't necessarily bode well for the restaurant).  It is on the old road to
 Tsfat (nightmarish twisty turny road up and around mountains) -- but not far along that road at all - just enough to get up the hill and see the twinkling lights of Rosh Pina.  

The food was fine, but I was not overly enthusiastic.  I had chestnut soup, which was lovely, but not exceptional.  My pasta was really good, but not THAT memorable.  And Sweetie's and his sister's chops were rather thin -- they said they would have preferred fewer, thicker chops.  Dessert was just okay.  When I ordered
souffle, I was expecting a REAL souffle, not the typical microwaved one that you can get at any coffee shop in Israel.  So, it was a bit of a disappointment given the amazing reviews I had read.  That said, the service was excellent and I would return.

More Photos

I hereby promise more photos on my blog.  One kind reader suggested this and I know that I've been a terrible photo slacker.  A real shame because I have my fancy DSLR now, so I truly have no excuses.  So, I promise more photos.

That said, yesterday I met with a serious photographer to get some advice on lens purchases.  I need a zoom telephoto for my upcoming trip to Africa.  Easy enough.  He gave me some great suggestions that I am going to investigate and see what I can afford.  But, he also told me that I really need to be taking my photos in the 
RAW format, which means that in order to do anything with them, 
I have to convert them using software that is basically like a digital darkroom. 
UG.  As if uploading and organizing my photos wasn't enough of a trial already:-) 

Hazards; Close Call

Hazard #1

What's that statistic about the vast majority of accidents occuring in the home?  Well, the other day I was diligently peeling some beets for a stew for dinner.  And then the peeler slipped.  And I felt pain.  However, seeing as how I was peeling beets, it was hard to tell much damage I had done.  Lovely.  Anyway, I will spare you the gory details, but it was pretty amazing what a simple vegetable peeler can do!

So, now my typing is slightly hampered.  But that's what painkillers are for, isn't it?

Hazard #2
Yesterday, I was walking home from the pharmacy at about 12:30 in the afternoon.  At one point
I paused and tried to decide which way to walk home.  I elected to take a slightly scruffy street since the other route was blocked by a massive truck that looked to be doing something sewage-related.  We call this particularscruffy  street "drug dealers' row" because the street itself is in pretty poor condition and it just generally looks seedy, but at the same time, some of the most massive, sprawling homes in the 'hood are on it.  

Anyway, I went down that street and then turned onto a very narrow alley-like street that leads toward our house.  For about 50 yards, there are no gates to houses -- just tall walls surrounding the properties on either side of the alley.  I was walking through this part and I heard footsteps approaching...quickly.  I looked back and tried to keep looking back at the figure approaching me so that he knew I saw him, but also not wanting to look directly at him, lest he think that was an invitation to harrass me.  

Anyway, my fears were realized when he sidled up beside me (entirely too closely) and started talking to me.  In Hebrew.  I knew what he was saying, but I just kept saying that I didn't speak Hebrew.  He was asking if I had a boyfriend....said he loved me....other assorted creepy comments.  YUCK.  I was eyeing my options as we emerged from the walled area and approached some houses with gates.  I decided to keep walking quickly toward our street.  Fortunately, there is an official embassy residence close to our house that has guards 24/7, so I figured I would walk there if the freak kept following me.  Fortunately, he got bored by the one-sided professions of devotion and walked the other way.  

Close call.  I am NEVER walking down drug-dealers'-row again.  I am boycotting that street.  And I have been reminded that although street crime is pretty rare in Israel, Israel is not entirely immune and I need to be careful.

Hebrew; Ant Invasion

I just saw a notice that Blogger (the site hosting this blog) is now available in Hebrew.  Just in case I feel inspired, I guess!  Actually, I continue to prod along with my Hebrew studies, even though I feel like it's basically futile, because when am I ever again (after leaving Israel) going to use Hebrew?  I take have a weekly private lesson and also have recently started meeting with a conversation partner (we meet an hour each week: 30 minutes of English and 30 of Hebrew).  And I keep wondering why I am doing this.  I have to admit though, it does come in handy during my daily life here.  Most people do speak English.  But some don't.  Also, there are many occasions where being able to read Hebrew is really helpful (at the grocery store, reading street signs, etc.)   So, it does help alleviate the general sense of alienation one might feel not speaking the language here.

Rain = Ants in the House

You might have heard that Israel has had some pretty extreme weather this week.  Snow in Jerusalem.  Three straight days and nights of thunderstorms here on the coast.  It was pretty strange.  There was one clap of thunder so loud the other night that if Jesus was going to rise again, he would have then.  I started thinking about building an ark.  It just kept going and going.  
And now peace and tranquility have returned (at least weather-wise).  And so have the ants.  I was just going to lie down on the sofa with my book and rest for a bit when I noticed ants swarming that particular area of the living room.  I should have known.  They did this the last time we had really  heavy rains.  They come in via the hole in the wall where all the wires for our sophisticated sound/plasma TV system are (which we don't really use because we don't have any sophisticated stereo systems or plasma tvs).  

Question: When you vacuum up ants, could they potentially crawl back out of the vacuum cleaner?  These are the sorts of things I really need to know.  

Wacky Japanese

Sweetie and I were thinking back to our days in Japan last night.  I was telling him how I was always limited when purchasing kimono fabric because I need "extra large" kimono fabric (it is sold in rolls), which is longer than the usual.  This is the only way to make a kimono that fits me.  Anyway, I'm sure this is a problem all my non-Japanese readers are familiar with (not).  In fact, most of my Japanese readers won't be familiar with this either because they either a) Aren't massively oversized like I apparently am or b) Don't buy or wear kimonos.

Anyway, Sweetie remembered that when he was living in Tokyo, he had to go to some "Tall and Large" store in Aoyama to buy a suit jacket.  And, the suit jacket had buttons that said "Cornell University."  No joke.  I couldn't stop laughing.  This is just soooo typical of wacky Japanese usage of English.  Sweetie actually bought a jacket with Cornell University buttons ALL over it, because that's what was available for an oversized "gaijin" (foreigner).  

Sweetie actually STILL has the jacket and showed it to me.  TOO FUNNY!!!  

Possible future career for me
It is looking more and more like my return to the working world is not too far off.  So, I've been thinking about what I should do, since I am most definitely not going to be returning to my former career.   I thought perhaps I could be a cultural advisor to Japanese who are not familiar with Japanese traditional culture.  I can do such things as: teach them how to whip up a bowl of powdered green tea, how to properly fold a scrolls (this after seeing one so-rare-that-I-would- have- sold-one-of-my-limbs-for-it, seriously mangled because someone didn't roll it up properly), how to build a really good charcoal fire,
how to fill and empty an iron kettle, how to make azuki (sweet bean paste) from scratch, and other assorted tasks that are slowly dying out.

Another possibility is Random Household Crisis Management.  In the past two weeks, I have restored power to our home by fiddling with our sparking switchboard (Sweetie said, "You should do it.  You're good at it."  Ha ha); I eliminated a loud buzzing coming from the switchboard during an extended power outage (turned off our garden light timer); and today I was the brainchild behind the dramatic rescue of my Hebrew teacher's fancy new cell phone from a deep drainage trench covered by a narrow grate (I taped a plastic bag to the end of an umbrella and then she was able to flick it into the bag with the handle of my Swiffer).  All very exciting stuff.  I can see you 
are all riveted.

Car Trouble, Bet Shean

On the final day of our Galilee adventure, we visited Bet Shean -- one of Israel's most impressive sites for Roman ruins. As we were leaving Pilgerhaus, I felt something happen with the car. It stuttered apruptly at the top of a hill. But, it kept moving, so I didn't pay too much attention to it.

Well, after visiting the fantastic ruins at Bet Shean, the car wasn't very happy when I tried to start it. The ominous "check engine" light was lit. Not good. We checked the oil level, consulted the owners manual (which seemed to indicate the problem was something related to emissions), and decided to go on our merry way.

We safely made it home and yesterday I finally took the car into the garage. It took the ENTIRE day. I left at 0730 and didn't get home until 1730. Ug. And though the bill was more than I was hoping it would be, it could have been worse. It turned out to be a "faulty sensor." The car was also in desperate need of an oil change because the previous owner virtually never used the car and so hadn't changed the oil in about 18 months. When I went over the bill with the service assistant, I noticed that the oil itself (not including filter or labor) cost over $100!! Was there gold in that oil or something? When I questioned him on it, he said that's the recommended oil. Indeed. Recommended for their profits, I think. Anyway, the waiting room was pretty luxurious and made my long wait tolerable. I suppose my oil money helps keep those leather sofas in good condition.

Trick or Treat

Yesterday evening, the doorbell rang. We were not expecting anyone so Sweetie and I looked at the security camera and all we could see was the top of a head of a very short person. It was clearly a child. So, I answered the intercom and a little voice said, "Trick or Treat." This was November 1. And I had had a really bad day. I was not in a good mood. I was not feeling charitable. Even to a kid. So, I said, "That was yesterday. It's over. Sorry!"

Gosh. Am I a terrible person? I turned away a tricker treater on 1 November.

Home Movies

Do any of you have parents who were constantly taking home movies (or videos if you're of a younger generation...) when you were growing up? If so, I URGE you to get them transferred to DVD (or some other even more sophisticated media that I'm not even aware of). My brother rescued old reel movies from our home a few years ago and I was just watching one of the DVDs. It's sooooo precious:

My older brother and I flinging ourselves into snowbanks during the blizzard of '77-'78. ------ Me giving my baby brother a kiss as he pushes me out of the way. ------And the one that made me say, "Ohhhh myyyy godddd": Me during one of my tap dancing lessons when I was about 5. Leotard, tights, and all. ------ Seeing our living room carpeting before it got completely flattened by many years of wear and tear. --- Movies of us on playground equipment that would be considered hideously dangerous and downright illegal these days.

It's all great stuff and priceless, so make sure to get all your movies onto digital media before it's too late!

Pick-up lines

Today I was walking to the store and a car pulled up beside me and a man starting speaking Hebrew. I said, "What?" and I figured he was asking for directions (as this still happens to me about 3 times a day). He asked how to get to the beach with the hotels and restaurants. Uhhhh....derrrrr....drive toward the water?? He didn't seem to understand the concept of "GO STRAIGHT." I kept repeating myself. Then he wanted to know if I was going to the beach. "No." So, finally I just started walking again because I sure couldn't help him if he still didn't understand my unmistakable "go straight" motion. Then, he pulled up again, and asked if he could give me a ride if I was going to the beach. "No, I'm NOT going there." He had a huge beer belly and sequins, yes sequins, on his t-shirt. I think next time I will wear sweatpants to the grocery store instead of a skirt...

Underwear Boy Part II

My good friend Krack (not her real name) should have been at the beach last night. Sweetie and I were enjoying an ice cream cone and watching the waves. There were a few children playing under the beach showers. And then they were joined by who I would call, "Underwear Gramps." It was a rather old gentleman, who seemed to have mistaken a very thin, flimsy, loose-fitting white pair of underwear for his swimsuit. His back was to us (thankfully), but even so, that was way more information than we needed. The little girl who had been playing under the shower suddenly stopped and was just staring. She will certainly never be the same again!

Underwear Gramps kept pulling his "swimsuit" off away from his backside and washing the inside, over and over.....

He must have been there a good 5 minutes, but it felt like 30.

Then, when he started walking past us away from the beach, I just really needed to close my eyes!

Krack and I saw a similiar spectacle in Thailand last year. Though mercifully, it was an Underwear BOY there and he was a rather fine specimen, so it wasn't quite as offensive.