Livin' In Dream City

Ever have one of those days where all the random things you have to do end up on the same day? Hi. That's me right now. Except, at the moment, I'm at work, in the store even, and there are no customers (as always), so I have nothing to do but wait until lunch. After lunch, I will have no rest until something like midnight. Anyway, would you like an update on my life?

I'm taking classes, they are nice. UMass classes are kind of hilariously like high school, in that "this is really easy and I feel like I should be saying all the answers because they are obvious but I can't because the stupid kids who never pay attention need a chance to try to figure this out too" kind of way. Also in that "grades" and "multiple choice tests" kind of way. The prof is amazing, though, and promises to let me write real papers and I'm pretty excited and love the class. Also, I am a TA for Rachel's Yiddish Lit class and that's really fun and pretty exciting, even if Media Services conspires to make getting movies for screenings really really hard. Also I am taking a nice intimate class with Rachel about post-WWII Jewish Culture and it's so much fun to have a 6 person class again. I'd forgotten how much I thrive in those situations. We've been watching amazing movies from the 40s and 50s and I'm a little obsessed with the silliness of the Hays Code and the silly ways people get around it.

In the "animal and social satisfactions" section of my life, I am seeking them as enthusiastically as ever. Sometimes it snows for like one day and it's pretty, but then it rains and everything turns into melty slush and that's not so happy. We shot some really exciting video of me running around in the snow, though, and we plan on combining it with exciting video of Sarah and Rachel (who I miss so much) running around in the snow for a fun premiere by the end of this month. Because sometimes Fphour has crazy bursts of creativity and you should really get to share in them sometimes.

I listen to a lot of music. I watch the occasional movie, and a lot of television, but less than I used to. I read for class, and mean to read for pleasure. Bernard recommends that I read all of his plays every year for the next 10 years. It would probably improve me greatly if I did. I have the most complex Lenten contract I've ever had, but it's working well. I've been wearing ties more frequently. I can't decide what colors to code my Google Calendar. I'm going to go to lunch.

Premier!!

So remember that exciting premier I hinted at in my last post? It has arrived! Now, before you watch the loverly internet video that you will find below, I should probably explain myself. Sometime last semester, our darling Emma noted that Fphour tends to run itself like a family sitcom. And sometime after that, we realized that it would be really brilliant if we actually made it. And, it being JanTerm, we have some time on our hands (it's not like any of us are taking classes, you see). So what you are about to watch is the first fruits of an intense labor. It's only the tip of the iceberg- we've created back story and universe details that you can't begin to imagine, and have another episode written, a third outlined, and are hoping to shoot both of them this weekend. We expect this thing to last a while, because it entertains us. Hopefully it will also entertain you a little bit.

This version is slightly rough because I insist on putting it up now (and no one else in my production team thinks that's a very good idea), and you might see a prettier version tomorrow or Sunday.

Oh My Exclusives From Paisley Man!

Some early costume tests have been leaked and they are fabulous!

Paisley Man!!

Also, Living Strange Days is proceeding on schedule and may be premiering this weekend! Watch this space for news.

In other news, this photo exists and makes me so happy:


And before you go saying "neat how did you make that in photoshop" there was zero photoshop involved in this and instead a really really old camera was used and we all sat still for 25 seconds.

Frantic

So life is incredibly boring these day and I am absolutely obsessed with my music library, so guess what you get! One of those silly shuffle-your-music surveys! Woo! The fun part? I might throw the mix into a zip folder and give it to you. If I don't find better things to do this afternoon.

Commence copy-paste!

1. Put your music player on shuffle.
2. Press forward for each question.
3. Use the song title as the answer to the question.-

No cheating!

What does next year have in store for me?
The Second- Oliver Future. (2007 part two? That'll be fine.)

How would I describe my life right now
Cruella DeVille- 101 Dalmations. (See? Boredom=cruelty!)

What's my love life like?
They're Not Witches- Guided by Voices. (It is true. I am not dating witches. Or little children.)

What are your feelings about your current fling?
Glory Days- Bruce Springsteen. (Alright, said fling, please step forward, cause you sound exciting. Unless my fling is with my glory days, which I guess is cool, too.)

What do I say when life gets hard?
Coz I Love You - Brian Slade. (Velvet Goldmine fixes EVERYTHING.)

What do you think of when waking up?
Tickets to What You Need- Badly Drawn Boy. (I think about the dream I had where I was married to Madonna?)

What song will I dance to at my wedding?
Space and Time (live)- The Verve. (I think this means the Verve are playing at my wedding. Sweet? Alternately, space and time are finally on my side, yaaaaay.)

What song will be played at my funeral?
It's OK tag/speech by Pearl Jam. (A track of Pearl Jam talking? Ok I need to fix the amount of concert stuff that's in my library. Alternately, "it's okay" that I'm dead. Thanks, guys.)

How will I be remembered?
All the Wine by the National. (I am not an alcoholic, I swear.)

What do you want as a career?
This is It by Ryan Adams. (It is totally my career. Blogging is not. Although blogging wouldn't be bad.)

Your favorite saying?
The View by Modest Mouse. (That's my saying? "The View. As in that show with Barbara Walters and Rosie O'Donnell.")

Favorite place?
D.A.N.C.E. by Justice. (Yay dancing!)

What do your parents think of you?
Help Me, Rhonda by the Beach Boys. (I don't know who Rhonda is, but she better help my parents.)

What's your porn star name?
Breakdown by Mae. (That's an awful porn star name. I must be a highly dysfunctional porn star.)

Where would you go on a first date?
Brand New Something Going On by Andy Griggs. (Somewhere new!)

Describe yourself:
Chris Michaels by Fiery Furnaces. (this is a sweet song about international gangsters, I think. Or birds. It's hard to tell, but I feel good about it.)

How would others describe you?
Children of December by the Slip. (Guys my birthday is not in December. I don't even like December.)

How does your ex-girlfriend/boyfriend see you?
Come a-Hellin' by deshead. (I think this means I am a party on wheels. Yay!)

What is the thing I like doing most?
Hallelujah by John Cale. (Um. Watching Scrubs? Episodes of Scrubs where someone dies?)

What is my state of mind like at the moment?
The Sharing Song by Jack Johnson. (I am sharing my mind. Via my music.)

If I were a song, what would I be?
Monday Monday Monday by Tegan and Sara. (Really? Of all possible songs?)

Style Always Wins Out in the End

We have the most fabulous parties on Fphour.

Queer Eye ended for ever, so we saw it out with a bang.

Queer Eye Finale

You may also check out the Fphour album for some new shots from Oscar's birthday tea.


Last night was the best. Glitter party. Watching Ziggy Stardust and Velvet Goldmine. Being Ziggy Stardust, sans cocaine. Amazing.

All that Glitters

Also, um, I cut my hair? Hi?

The Wrecking Ball

Dudes you should totally click on the photo album in the previous post and check out the brand-new pictures of the Clue kids at Hallowe'en, including yours truly. We are amazing.

Ushti Baba

Hampshire Hallowe'en

Dudes it was Hampshire Hallowe'en. I have spent the morning combing the annals of Facebook to find you some pictures. Also I even uploaded some of my own. Pictures containing me are for some reason rare (and my costume was sweet so laaaame) but Scottie has the ones of the whole cast of Clue (and we are gorgeous) and will surely be uploading them soon, but she is at a ballroom competition in Boston today. Anyway, Hallowe'en was sweet and there are pictures for you to look at.

Fear Is Free

Oh my goodness dudes I went to Boston over Fall Break and it was fabulous great fun. Katie took pictures!

Boston-Honk!

We saw 17 (18?) sweet bands, and we danced like there was no tomorrow (when your feet will ache), and we went shopping at the Garment District (I bought the best pants in the world and a sweet dress and so much teal and purple clothing for CHAOS uniforms) and hung out with Debi and Nick (who have the best apartment ever, no lies) and had Heather's birthday dinner and Sarah broke the T and had an adventure of Doom at Brandeis, but at least I didn't have to deal with her adventure of Doom.

So basically, sweetness in Boston. Look at the pictures.

As Promised

Birthday Party

Scottie's and Katie's pictures of the party. They fail to capture the awesome, because it did not translate well to still moments of digital happiness.

Looking Out My Window At the Night

I adore my hall more than any other hall ever. To prove the joy of living here, I present you pictures from last Friday night.

Fphour

Not birthday party pictures because Katie's were all super-blurry and I am waiting for Scottie's. Should Scottie's not be much better, I will share all.

Heute Habe Ich Geburtstag!!

In case you weren't aware, I am 20 now. It's kind of exciting.

I am making a birthday play list, mostly because I can't listen to one song by die Prinzen on repeat forever (even though I do this every time it is my birthday). It is only somewhat about birthdays, but it is cheerful. Once Yom Kippur ends (which is basically right now), festivities will ensue.

Fresh as the Bright Blue Sky

Weekends are awesome, especially holiday weekends. They start on Thursday nights, which, for now, is only Tim Gunn, but will soon be full-blown Cookie Party, then wind into yoga cla,ss (which is so much more intense now but that's good) and through a lazy lunch and a free afternoon (thanks to Rosh Hoshana) and into a rainy Saturday morning spent in bed, dinner at Judie's, and a busy Sunday at the Big E, followed by a cocktail-dress-wearing, cheese-and-grape-juice-consuming party for the Emmys, even if I left them halfway through to finish my homework. And my homework is fascinating reading, so it's not like I can complain that much. Matter of fact, I should go to class now, one of my three classes that are all really about the same thing, which pleases me.

Once I Had This Dream

Yes, I am back in the States, and that means Hampshire. Yes, I am eating and healthy and if I could manage to sleep more than 6 or 7 hours a night life would be perfect. But my schedule is very busy and I have a lot of homework so I'm doing the best I can.

Summary of life, yes? Where to begin? Well, my hall is fabulous and amazing and we have great plans, although so far they have resulted only in awesome lounge decor and a tv schedule, but we're thinking ice cream maker and costume parties and other Lovelies. Also we have made Sims of the Hall and they are pretty hilarious and we are Nerds. Classes are going well- Israel and Palestine is fascinating (plus I <3 Aaron), Secular Jewish Culture is so unexpectedly big but I'm really excited because it's this summer's Culture Class continued, Modern European Immigrant Lit has the best readings ever, but I'm kind of ambivalent about the professor and the Smithies who fill my class. For one thing, having a class without a single boy is kind of unnerving. Old Norse is great and very fun and the entire class is Nerd Nerd Nerd which is lovely. Also I am not the only 5 college student there, so I feel less alone. I've been to the Book Center to work just one day so far, and I'm still shuffling my hours around so that I can actually get enough time in to earn money and also not go crazy from never having free time. And I have sooooo much homework and of course my two reading-intensive classes are on the same day, so that's why I'm not sleeping. I spent 6 hours reading last night, and I still have a response paper to write. I swear I do this because I love it.

My friends are also fabulous and amazing, and we have been having great fun in spite of having absolutely no time. Sarah, Katie and I are one act into The Importance of Being Earnest, and if we ever get free time again, we'll be finishing it because we adore this play (Sarah has never read it, but she will adore it). Rebecca came down from Vermont to visit this weekend, which meant that she and Jason and Klaus and I went to Korean Restaurant and Bart's and the Diner and that was very exciting. Rebecca also spent the night at Hampshire and that meant a trip to Atkins the next morning, which turned into the Longest Atkins Trip ever, when, upon returning, we ran into Debi-Nick-Mindy-Scottie, who were on their way to Atkins, and so we went back with them to hang out. Debi and Nick are very excited about their new apartment in Boston, and visiting will happen soon. Post-Atkins, we went to the oh-so-exciting Dan Kahn concert at the Book Center- yay radical klezmer folk-punk! Dan Kahn plays like 2984698746978 instruments and he brought an amazing band with him and he translates Yiddish songs in exciting ways and he is also a great performer and apparently his CD is just as exciting but I wouldn't know because Noah has the copy that I bought. (In a great husband-wife moment that is so typical, I saw Noah for all of 5 minutes on Sunday, and most of that was him asking me for money for the CD, which I, as a good husband, provided.) Post-concert, Sarah and Debi and I filled out insurance forms, by which I mean Debi returned to our hall and was social with all these people she hadn't seen in a few months, and I filled out the forms while asking Debi occasional questions. And apparently I have to go get a doctor fill out a form about how I was sick 2 and a half weeks ago because that is how awesome our insurance company is. Which means that I have to find time in my schedule to go to Health Services, which does Not please me.

Other than that, my entire life has been taken up by classes and homework. But it is Wednesday, and my classes for tomorrow are faaaaar less reading-intensive, so I'll be fine. Also: Tim Gunn tonight which means so much swooning.

What Is The Light?

Birobidzhan!

Photos from Birobidzhan, in no particular order. You know how to e-mail me or comment to ask what stuff is. Fun game: find me in the photos! It's kinda like Where's Waldo!

Whimper Whimper

In case you haven't heard, and have been wondering why I disappeared so suddenly, I nearly died. Okay, not quite so dramatic, but I did have a very very bad case of salmonella and am now very very slowly on the mend. Today is an Exciting Day because I walked all the way to the post office to do e-mail and internets, except that I only had maybe 3 e-mails of an exciting nature and absolutely nothing on Facebook (except lots of photos, which I don't have the energy for now) and I am disappointed in all of you. When I am dying, I want well-wishes of an electronic form!

So 4 days in a Soviet hospital didn't kill me, but it was very very scary and I want to go home soooooo much. Instead, I am curling up in a hotel room, reading a lot of books, and not eating much. I wouldn't be eating much at home, either, but I think it would be a lot more. No food here is appetizing.

I am quite tired now, so I shall wrap this up and convince Debi and Sarah to take me home (which means another very long walk, which I am not looking forward to) and I will sleep for a very long time.

Git a Kuk!

Sarah and I have titled our movie after our favorite Berl Kutlerman catch-phrase. If I am a good videographer, we will have a fascinating montage by the end of our time here.

I spent my afternoon in some sort of press conference about a new book called L'Chaim Birobidzhan. Said press conference/panel discussion/something or other was entirely in Russian, although I'm sure it was fascinating. It is classic Berl to have us all show up for something without bothering to tell us that we won't understand it.

The level 3 ("advanced") Yiddish class is up to something like 12 people, of 12 utterly unrelated levels. I am the only person in the class who knows German, and everyone else knows at least some Hebrew (including people who know Hebrew much better than Yiddish), and this means that Hebrew is no longer just stealing my lunch money, but now it is also waiting outside in the school yard to beat me up on the way home. The fact that my teacher knows German and only as much Hebrew as Yiddish has taught him is a deliciously ironic reversal I am sure to face for the rest of my American (non-German) Yiddish education, but I'm not quite excited about appreciating said reversal when it totally ruins my opportunity for the perfect Yiddish class. New plan: take myself off to Trier and learn Yiddish for real, with actual linguists who are doing actual research that interests me. Preferably this coming spring, but that's something to negotiate with Hampshire.

In other news, we went to Khabarovsk yesterday, and it was a very interesting but poorly planned trip. Example: Berl forgot to schedule meals. We left at 6 in the morning and returned at 8 in the evening. After much whining, we got him to give us 20 minutes to grab hot dogs (I pity my vegetarian friends- Debi is pretty much living off chips at this point, and sometimes I have to stop her before she accidently eats bacon flavor). We also met some old Jews at a synagogue, and some young Jews at a preschool, and had a lovely "Git a Kuk" tour of Russian architecture.

Today is aBad Day because it started badly, but I promise you should not worry about me. Tomorrow shall be better. It is a funny story, though, so I shall share: last night, we got a call from someone who was like "we will pick you up for class at 9:15 tomorrow." So I set my alarm for 8:45, woke up, knocked on Sarah's door to let her know to get up, and decided to lay back down for 10 minutes because I was very very sleepy. At 8:48, someone banged very very loudly on my door and shouted something in Russian, then went around banging on all the other doors. Upon opening our doors, myself and my neighbors encountered one of the Dorm Mothers saying "mashine mashine" and making driving motions, and we gathered that the car was here for us, and wanted to leave. Half an hour early. Chaya figured this made no sense, and went down to find out what was going on. The driver was Russian, no one spoke any not-Russian, and so Chaya wrote 9:15 on a piece of paper, which the driver crossed out and wrote 9. So we determined that we had to get ready very very quickly, and I went to brush my teeth while the dorm mother lady continued to point at her watch and shout things in Russian at me. We did leave at 9, and got to school far too early (class starts at 9:30 Jewish Time, which is like 9:45. We were there at like 9:15. Not cool.) and I have been really off-center all day because of it. Grrr.

Sholem Aleichem!!!

I am in Birobidzhan, and it is the land where dreams come true. We are being taken care of in the best of ways, the grocery store chain is called Brider, there is a Freylikh Cafe, a statue of Sholem Aleichem to which we have made great pilgramiges, a statue of Tevye... the symbol of the city is a menorah and a rainbow. How could this place be any better? Well, they could speak not-Russian or I could speak Russian, but we are getting by with the help of some new friends. My Yiddish is starting to recover from the 10 days in Germany which utterly, utterly killed it, Debi has recovered from the Frankfurt hot chocolate that made her deathly ill in Moscow, we've all recovered from not sleeping during the looooong journey from Frankfurt to here. It's only rained about half the 4 days we've been here, I have seen maybe 3 mosquitoes and they are not of a larger-than-normal size, they tell us the water is safe to drink and I had a cup of tea made from it this morning and still feel just fine.

I feel that I should be doing a better job of chronicling these things, as Debi certainly is, and Sarah appears to be, but my poor brain is all over the place running around in the happiest of circles. We got in at about 8 in the evening on Saturday, greeted by about 12 (or so it seemed, at least, it was probably more like 5) incredibly friendly, incredibly fast-talking Russians. One man spoke Hebrew, Debi and Sarah used him to make some communication possible, but mostly these very friendly women dragged us around showing us things, took us to the Brider, and put us in our rooms (we each have a whole room to ourselves! Mine's a triple, Sarah's is a double, and Debi has a suite with a bathroom of her own and everything) and we ate some bread and some chips and collapsed from exhaustion. Debi was awoken at 9:30 Sunday morning (although we thought it was 8:30- funny story about us not managing to figure out which time zone we're in) by the amazing Berl (who is a tiny Yiddish powerhouse) who was like "Good morning we, the leaders of the program, are here and we will come back in 5 hours to show you around and explain things" and then he left. Sarah and I awoke, we decided to wander towards the center of town, proceeded to be Amazed by the beauty of this city, got yelled at by a telephone salesman when we tried to use his internet, found a store called Tsimmes and some other exciting Yiddish things, and managed to order borscht and bread and juice at a real Russian cafe all by ourselves. Then we went back to the dorms because it was nearing the time that Berl and Co. claimed they would return. Tired, we all settled down to read, and promptly fell asleep for the next 6 hours. Fortunately or not, Berl and Co. failed to appear while we were asleep, and failed to appear for the rest of the night, during which we got creative enough to boil water and make a sad pot of pasta (this before we knew if we were allowed to drink the water or would suffer fiery stomach-death for it). Monday, the day the program was to begin, we awoke and gathered and had no idea what was to happen to us. And played cards and watched Russian tv (we have 2 channels, so we were alternating between a Soviet War Movie Marathon and some sort of herbal medicine talk show. It was surreal.) and waited. And waited. And hungered. And wondered what was to become of us. Finally, someone knocked on our door, and it was... a woman speaking Russian who apparently left something in Debi's freezer that she wanted to retrieve. So we waited some more, and then there was another knock! This time it was a Japanese woman named Tziziko, who is also in the program and living in the dorms with us. She had apparently talked to Berl earlier in the day, and informed us that we were to meet him and the rest of the program at 4 at the school. More excitingly, we found out that she speaks at least some Russian. With great gusto, we implored her to come to lunch with us, where we managed to get real food (at the Freylikh Cafe) and managed to navigate the Russian bus system, and got to the program at the appointed time. At the school, we found a room full of local students, which was most surprising and exciting. After we arrived, Leybl from Oxford showed up, and a couple from Ohio (one born in Israel, the other in South Africa) joined us later, and so I guess that makes us quite the international group. Yiddish classes began, and I am working with a German Yiddish professor, using a textbook written from Germans learning Yiddish, and this means that all my dreams have come true and that I should be doing my future Yiddish studying in Germany because it just makes So. Much. More. Sense. I have exactly 1 minute and 51 seconds of B-roll footage for the video, because I was a very very bad cinematographer and failed to charge my camera before Berl's amazing amazing walking tour yesterday, but it was also rainy and gross and that does not make for pretty video. Today it is sunny and we are doing a shmues-walk, so perhaps better footage will result.

We have 45 minutes left of our lunch break and have not yet eaten, so perhaps I will persuade Debi to leave now.

Weimar Woot Woot

Yes, I am in the loverly city of Weimar, which is more shtetl than shtot by Yiddish standards, so I guess that makes it a Städtchen in German but that's not a word. And we finally found Debi (who is staying in the same hostel as us) tonight (although we have been in Weimar since 9 pm last night) and have had other adventures, including:
-finding the cutest French cafe EVER
-taking Katie to the hospital because apparently that's what you have to do to get sinus medicine in Germany on a Sunday (things not ever being open on Sunday was on my "I don't like this" list, I now remember)
-eating Bratwurst and Döner yesssssss
-hooking up with some Yidn (mostly German Gentiles, natch) for singing and dancing (we threaded the needle yay!)


Also umm München stories? Frenchy Frenchman our hostel roommate was so amazing and we had so many very short, slightly awkward but oh-so-charming conversations. Munich itself remains among my favorite cities in the world, we checked out some sweet art at the Pinakothek, and we went on a sweet free tour that involved so many stories about beer because Munich is all about beer. And Sarah inadvertently stole a beer glass from which she was drinking apple juice, because she is good at things like that. And ummmmm I love Munich?

Maybe I will be better at travelouging while in Biro-bairo-Biro-bairo-Biro-bairo-Birobidzhan. Tomorrow, it is off to Dresden, then Leipzig (1 day each), then we hit up Frankfurt for laundry and last-minute shopping and maybe a little sightseeing.

München Heart

It is good to be in Bayern again. We had a lovely train ride and a wonderful hostel with roommates from Ireland and France. Delicious Spanish food for dinner, exciting plans for today.


I'll remember how to blog with detail one day, I promise.

Today

Took a tour with the most amazing charismatic tour guide, said "un a" to a German, who quite within-his-rightly interpreted it as "ohne" (I have completely forgotten the word ein and I hate myself for it), and got hissed at by some random lady while having dinner in the basement of Bertl Brecht's house. Overall, a success.