overactive imagination strikes... again

we watch law and order and csi all the time, along with movies such as kill bill, etc.  so i'm mostly immune to the blood and gore stuff.  but give me a creepy plot-line, and i'll be jolted out my sleep at 4:26 am, positive that Charlie from Hide and Seek is waiting somewhere in the apt to get us.  of course, i've woken up from a dream where i saw a serial killer stab two people to death outside my door.  and yes, the dry heat in the room realy helps - you wake up drenched in sweat, unable to breathe, lungs aching.

which fully explains why avraham needed to be woken up before i could go to the bathroom.  see, i coulnd't find a nightlight, and so i had to turn on the regular light, and now that i've seen light i can't go back into the dark room because i'll freak.

creativity is a curse.

teach your children well

long talk this week with Rabbi Blau and Avs about the issues that crop up whil in israel, primarily the abuse and crossing of lines.  the extent to which women are taught to accept what Rabbis and authoritative figures do and say boggles my mind.

there are also harmful behaviors and attitudes that are taught as a "frum" norm.  things like "girls are stupid and boys are scum".  shocking, really, when you consider taht this is the message being fed to people who then need to walk out and date, and trust a member of the opposite sex.

how do teachers and parents expect young couples to be able to relate if they're being taught for years not to trust each other or themselves?  how do you expect a young wife to keep from cringing in disgust when her husband kisses her?

and the people who propogate this message are revered and respected, invited to speak all over the world to impressionable young people who are trying to learn the right way to behave.

which is only the beggining of the tirade i would like to release, but i will stop before i truly cross the line into out and out lashon hara.  yes, i know some of you will make the case that because this is waring people away from something harmful it is not lashon hara, however this is not the forum to do that.

looks eerily fantastic

When Mean Girls Are Not Stopped

Long Overdue

Leaders Gather to Mark Liberation of Auschwitz
and just think - it only took the UN 60 years to acknowledge that the holocaust happened
 

Survivors, several wearing the coarse blue and white caps from their prison uniforms, dotted the crowd in Krakow, Poland, today.
 

and you thought you had it bad

"Oh, Bob, can you clear out the stadium?"

why europe creeps me out

In 2002 the most common first name given to newborn babies was Mohamed. The name Osama finished at a handsome 12^th position.

fascinating article about populations in Europe, specifically the decrease that is coming up

as i eat my yogurt

there should be a law re: car alarms.  i.e. if it goes off for a long time, the people living around it who are trying to slep can throw rocks at it until it stops.

additionally, if your car is stuck in the snow and you must get it out, which of course entails that awful revving on snow/ice sound, please don't do it at 2 in the morning.  beyond that fact that it really pisses off the neighbors, it's easier to do during daylight hours when the snow's softer.

i look like i've been punched in the face - eyes are swollen almost shut.  apparently watching movies where a spouse is dying and the other spouse is miserable makes me cry.  and in a nod to jet-lag, as i was sobbing on avraham, he began to cry.  not because of the movie, mind you.  because i was sobbing.  hence going to sleep at 9:30 - sleep patterns have now hit a trifecta.

dreading getting on the subway.  my commute's risen to an hour and a half thanks to the overflow from the A/C line.  and it's not faster on the express in the morning.  i suggest that the MTA run the 1 train express from 168th to 96th and leave the 9 train to run local.  if they need more trains, they can throw the A and C trains that aren't being used into service on the 1/9 line.

side point to the fire - officials believe the fire was started by a homeless person.  as you may know, the city has been cutting funding to homeless shelters and closing many of them.  the homeless population has taken up residence in the subway system, the only place they have a chance of not freezing to death.  this very same city that closed the shelters to cut costs now must find a few billion to re-build the MTA.  wouldn't it have been cheaper (forget more humane, they obviously don't care) to simpy provide shelter for the homeless?

justice?

a friend who was in the bombing at sbarro's in jerusalem is part of a suit against the araba bank of jordan for financing hamas, considered by the american gov't to be a terrorist group.

The Economist
Court Info
Side story about the trial

while i hope he wins (for a number of reasons), i can't say that this begins to make up for the events of that day.

it doesn't get better

the onion interviews seth macfarlane

also look out for "American Dad" - if it's anything like FG, it's on my list.

from Shevs

January 25, 2005
An Open Letter to U2

Dear U2,

I'd like to explain to you what kind of fan I am. I first saw you play in 1982 when I was a freshman in college. That was 22 shows ago - I've travelled across an ocean to see you play. I've bought multiple copies of all the albums, run my own website, worked for others - I've spent a lot of time on U2 because I loved the music. And I always felt that you were different - you didn't buy into all the corporate music crap and I felt that you had a unique love for your fans.

I've told people this over the years, that you were different. You made fun of people who cared about money over love. You dared to speak up when you saw injustice. You were earnest, but didn't take yourselves too seriously. You could poke fun at yourselves and the ridiculous industry you found yourselves in - all while making fantastic music. You cared about the fans - took the time to do things for them, speak to them. Run up into the crowd.

People gave me crap for that, y'know - but I sincerely believed it to be true. I've never asked anything from you, never hung outside the venue to meet you, never asked for an autograph. Just bought the music and went to the shows along the way.

In the last few years, I feel you've changed, and this was hammered home completely today.

The crack first started during the Elevation Tour, during the Boston Show. Die-hard fans lined up all night long to get the best General Admission in the house, right up on the stage. No one thought it was their due to have that ticket because they were the biggest fan - they bought the ticket and stood in line all day and all night to have the #1 spot. This show was a little different - it was being taped for the DVD - and right before the gates came open something happened. People came out and began picking people - pretty people, young people, to go to the front of the line. Can you imagine how that felt to the people who have been your fans for years? Who stood in line all day to get that spot? You're not good enough, not pretty enough for the video. That was the first time, to me, it was not for Love, it was for Money. You see the result of it in that DVD, when half the heart sits down for part of the show. Sour grapes? Maybe. But a betrayal from a band we trusted.

The crack that started then has blown wide in the last few months.

1. Where Are the Lyrics?

Several months ago, most of the major fan sites received a cease and desist letter from lawyers at your label instructing them to remove the lyrics from their websites. Now these lyrics have been there for years - and you have known about them. What's different now? You're charging for U2.Com. Never mind that U2.Com doesn't really work well, doesn't have all the lyrics up - never mind that those fansites have for years been doing work that benefited you, out of the webmasters' pockets - work done for Love! You decided you were ready to pick up your toys and keep them for yourselves. Fair play - they are your lyrics - but a letter from a lawyer? Come on! Couldn't you have handled it better, the people who have done your online marketing for you for over ten years, with no thanks from you? A letter. From a lawyer. Thanks a lot. (Oh by the way, the lyrics at U2.Com aren't complete, nor are they accurate).

2. U2.Com

Then comes the absolute disaster that is U2.Com. First of all, weren't you aware of when your album would be released well in advance of the date? Wouldn't it have been possible - I'd say, even desirable to have the working website on a test server and have all the bugs worked out so you are merely flipping a switch? This is standard web development protocol. Instead, you had a web site that came up well after the album was released, with so many bugs that navigation was nearly impossible. But, it took orders for membership. Orders that never made it into the system. But got charged, once or twice - without the promised Propaganda discount.

Your boards at Zootopia are flooded with people who two months later are still unable to access webmail, unable to log in properly, unable to see the subscriber forums. I was in this boat - and I've sent 15 emails to both fanfire and u2.com - none of which have been answered with anything but an automated FAQ that answers none of my questions. (I got that twice). I called Fanfire 8 times, with long holds each time and the most productive advice I've received from them was "keep hitting refresh." Brilliant. (You still owe me $40 for the double charge by the way - I haven't gotten that refund yet).

A member of your organization representing U2.Com was recorded on the Dave Fanning show last week, making a couple of pretty interesting statements. "We're still providing a really good service for free for fans, they're getting all the news, they're getting all the latest videos, audio, that kind of stuff. But if they (fans) want extra stuff, they can pay for it. We're not trying to rip them off. We're providing extra content and extra stuff. There is a cost to us, and we're passing it along."... "There have been a few technical problems purely because it's been so popular. But we do have a support team online 24 hours a day, and we have been getting through all this backlog of problems people have been having." Where is this support team? I haven't seen them, and they sure haven't answered me. It seemed cavalier to me, as if the concerns of the fans are being disregarded completely.

What About Propaganda?

What about Propaganda members? Those members who were your biggest fans from years back? A lot of those subscribers came on during the Elevation tour and got only one magazine. You decided to kill the fan club, but you neglected to tell the fans! We were all left hanging, for four years before you said anything about it. During this time you were able to get together to create that fantastic Propaganda cocktail table book (yours at Amazon.com for only $27.50) but you didn't tell the fans! Then we finally got a letter. Well not all of us, actually - quite a few of us didn't because you used a years old database, but I digress. We got a letter promising us that as a thank you to make up for the unfulfilled Propaganda subscription we would get a discount on U2.Com - plus "Priority ticketing for 2005 tour available for purchase through U2.Com." Also promised (this in an email) "former Propaganda members go to the front of the line for tickets." Neither of these happened so well.

Guaranteed! Priority! Booking!

I don't care about webmail or forums, not one bit. All I cared about was the tickets. Your very own emails promised me this - in fact, here's the email you sent me on December 15th:

Dear U2 fan:

Big News!

In just a few weeks U2 will be announcing dates for a ten-month world tour in 2005.

And Members of the all-new U2.Com will be first in line for tickets with a guarantee of priority booking.

U2.Com has just relaunched with an all-singing, all-dancing new site, which includes, for the first time, a brand new Membership site.

Membership of U2.Com costs $40 per year and as well as a host of special features like your own '@U2.Com' email address, exclusive full-length performance videos and a big discount at the U2.Com Store, Members are offered the chance to book two indoor tickets or four outdoor tickets - BEFORE the general public sale of tickets.

With the 2005 Tour dates set to be announced next month, we wanted to let you know now about the U2.Com Membership package.

Here's the deal.

As well as the new site which is free to all fans, paid-for 'Members' site offers exclusive online access to what the band are up to with rare video, downloads and exclusive interviews. Members get a special free gift on joining, plus their own '@U2.Com' email address, access to a host
of new discussion boards in our interactive area, Zootopia - and a 25% discount on first purchase from the U2.Com Store.

Already building up a treasure trove of U2 specials, the new Members site already offers :

- live band performances of 'Miracle Drug' and 'Vertigo'
- a mini-documentary on how the Vertigo video was shot in Spain
- behind the scenes in the Dublin studios with five live tracks for BBC Radio 1.

Find out all the details on becoming a Member at U2.Com here

If you are planning on seeing the band live in 2005, being a U2.Com Member offers you guaranteed priority booking come the New Year !

See you on the road.

U2.Com Team


Well, let me tell you what didn't happen. I didn't get any guaranteed priority booking. Oh no, what I got was nothing at all. I logged onto the site at 9:59 for a 10:00 onsale (New York City), and I hit refresh until I saw it and then I immediately put in my details and clicked Go! (FYI - I am on broadband cable which was fast as lightening). The system said it was looking, don't hit refresh! You'll lose your spot! And then BAM! No Tickets Available. What? (The time? 10:01 eastern). How many tickets did you put in the presale? 20? I repeated the process again at 10:00 Central (Chicago) and got again - nothing. Almost everyone I am aware of (and this is well over 50 people who each paid you $40) either got NOTHING or got crap nosebleed seats behind the stage. Subsequent emails promised reduced Ticketmaster fees, which either didn't materialize or the reductions were so small that no one noticed.

Guaranteed priority? Bull.
Reduced Fees? No.
Who got those tickets?
A quick search of ebay will tell you the brokers did. How? Am I to pay $1500 for floor general admission in New York?
I don't think so.

Why were the presale tickets so severely limited? Why not sell to your fan club until they have what they want and then go to the public onsale? Don't you want your fans in the venue? Why is your site so expensive, when it fails to deliver on the only real benefit anyone is interested in? (you can have your metal credit card back, if you like)

Other bands handle this so much better, and for so much less money. REM. Dave Matthews. Pearl Jam. Bands that care about their fans.

For Love or Money, indeed. I've got my answer.

Copied from http://www.u2page.com/

yay!!!!!!!!

mazal tov bluma!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and the emails keep on spinning

She is at the Phuket hospital. She does not remember anything.  She lost her parents. Please e-mail her picture out, someone might realize who she is.

phone calls

as a kid i used to take the twersky psych books and flip through them for the cartoons

other funny

the guy sitting with us on the flight from TA to Zurich had gone to yeshiva in scranton

when he heard that i'm a weiss, he yelped "you're zvi weiss' daughter?"

for the non-scranton types, zvi weiss was 10th grade rebbe at the yeshiva and is now rosh kollel.  he's also muncasz...

i said "no, i'm his niece"

suddenly the pajama pants and YU boy didn't worry him anymore...  : )

email of the

My daughter who lives in Israel asked me if Tone's minced onions contains only onions. I called the company & they said that, yes, it is 100% onions.

My daughter said that according to Jewish law, you cannot eat an onion that is peeled and left overnight. Please help me and let me know if dried onions are different. Can she be assured that Tone's minced onions are kosher?

i don't even know where to begin...

must mention

when i got in i had a voice mail waiting for me from cheryl (from HR) saying that she had thought about it and wasn't going to take yesterday as a vacation day after all.

so yay and thank you.

why the hell not

1. what time is it? 11:28 AM

2.What name appears on your birth certificate? Daniela L

3.Nick name? Dani

4. piercing? 2 in each ear at the lobe, one on the top of my left ear, would have been one in my nose if avraham hadn't stopped me last week 

5.what is the most recent movie you have seen in the theater? Finding Neverland

6.eye color? Blue

7. Place of birth? PA 

8. favorite food? Pizza

9. Ever been to Africa ? Does Israel count?

10. Ever been toilet papering? yes

11. Love someone so much it made you cry? no - it makes me laugh 

12. Been in a car accident ? suck - yes 

13. Croutons or bacon bits? depends on the kind of croutons i'm being offered

14. favorite day of the week? sunday

15. Favorite Restaurants?  Burger Bar

16. Favorite Tree? Myrtle

17.  Favorite sport to watch? figure skating

18. Favorite alcoholic drink? kamikaze if well mixed, otherwise light white wine

19. Favorite ice cream? Strawberry

20. Disney or Warner Bros.? neither - DC

21. Favorite fast food? again depends on the quality of the place

22. color is your bedroom carpet? white with green squares

23. before this one...who did you get your last email from ? Rabbi i work with

24. what do you do most often when you are bored? bite my nails

25. Bedtime? when i pass out on the couch

26. Favorite TV show? Las Vegas/Nanny 911/Veronica Mars/24

27. Last person you went out to Dinner with? Avs, in zurich

28. Ford or Chevy? Ford f-150

29. what are you listening to now?  the sound of myself masticating lettuce 

30. what is your favorite color? blue

31. Lake, Ocean, or river ? lake

32. How many tattoos do you have ? none due to halachic issues 

there is so much more to say

but for now i'm going to start with:

we flew from tel aviv to zurich on sunday to connect to JFK which conveniently closed while we were in mid-air.  el-al didn't give us a head's up, so we found out as we left the plane.  took 3 hours to get to a nagent, an hour to deal (in themeantime the Kosher food list got closed out)...

so we stayed in Zurich, flew to geneva then home yesterday.  am way way tired.

pissed that work has determined yesterday to be a vacation day.  must remember to talk to them about it.

full travel log will eventually be posted between here and Avs

i'm not ready!

ma la'asot - nachzor bkarov.

b'hamon ahava, anu omrim shalom ulhitra'ot.

shoes, glorious shoes

this morning, on the way to the shuk, our bus took a wrong turn (read: it didn't turn the way we were going), so we got off at yafo next to ben yehuda.

the first thing we saw was a shoe store with all these adorable shoes begging, nearly crying in their misery, simply asking to come home and live with me. it was quite sad and effective, as i immediately walked through the door and demanded to see some of them up close.

no need to list all the different colors and styles i tried. suffice it to say that at the end i had two pairs i liked, one very much, one enough to think about.

if you've ever shopped in the area, you know what came next - the shop-keeper grabbed up both pairs and rang them up, promising us a great deal.

one pair was 298 and the second pair was 278. he decided that that added up to 580 shekel. the great deal he gave us was for 540. i glanced at avraham's whitening face and apologetically explained to the man that we would not be able to buy both pairs.

the price dropped to 520. avraham gave me a look, and i explained to the dear salesman that i was going to have to leave before my husband had a stroke in his direction.

we walked to the door, guilt for having wasted his time dragging our feet. as we hit the doorway, i hear the first of three magical phrases: "450!" "400!" "350!"

avraham stops, looking pained, and says to me "it's literally a sin to walk away from two pairs of shoes at 350 shekalim (hadashim, thanks)."

we walked inside, bought the shoes, and are now very proud of ourselves for my Israeli accent and Avraham's imperviousness to sales.

then we bought 100 shek worth of candy and gum at the shuk...

Stan's still the man

A federal judge has ordered Marvel Enterprises Inc. to pay the creator of the comic book character Spider-Man 10 percent of Marvel's profits from the "Spider-Man" movies, Marvel said on Wednesday.

although to tell the truth, if he hadn't signed those rights away a long long time before, he would have been getting a much bigger cut.  but this is a huge step in the right direction for acknowledging artists' and creators' rights.

and this is why no one signs away rights anymore.  yay for marvel getting bitch-slapped for cheating artists!!!!!

Chikkimunkee meets She

as the blogs collide

party at our house!

no FREAKIN' way!

hi

from israel!

today's lucky number is...

i don't think that when people look at me they see someone who has been through a lot, made her decisions, and has convictions stronger than most people.  i wonder how many people i've misread the way so many people misread me.

it's funny how people think i'm just a happy go lucky type who can always find the better side to things.  or they think i'm bitter and caustic.  so few people see the fusion or the strength hiding underneath it all.

there are people i work with who try to make me frummer, try to "bring me to God".  i smile and talk to them, but underneath i'm mildly annoyed at the assumption that anyone who is MO hasn't yet soul searched.  they're trying to bring me somewhere, but i've already arrived.

mind's wandering, am tired beyond belief.

tired

i feel like i may keel over from exhaustion.  and excitement.  and stress.  all good things, i think.  ?  have to finish up the packing tonight, then settle in for the godfather trilogy and goodfellas, then off to the airport.  when i'm functional again, i will be too excited to speak.

from the moms

Apparently, one in five people in the world are Chinese.  And there are five people in my family, so it must be one of them.  It's either my mom or my dad or maybe my older brother Calvin or my younger brother Ho-Chin. But I'm pretty sure it's Calvin.

packing

everything has been rush rush rush

packing

getting passports

cleaning up

making arrangements

filing noise complaints against down stairs neighbors - they play their music through an amp with the bass turned up so loud that our glasses were singing from the vibrations.  i had images of my china cabinet imploding from it.

fun conversatoin with the cops when they came, though.  the door has duct tape on it and our doorknob is broken, so you can only get in with a key.  they also thought originally that the complaint was against us, so there were a few fun moments of my trying to explain that we don't sel crack, we just never fixed the door.

#1 quote of the year

I spent several years in a North Vietnamese prison camp, in the dark, fed with scraps. Do you think I want to do that all over again as vice president of the United States?

Sen. John McCain

 

the names of the kids still in the hospital

Sarah Sadya Bas Leah Ayala

David Yosef Ben Leah Ayala

Moshe Ben Leah Ayala

consumers union

I just took action to urge the Federal Communications Commission to investigate how cell phone companies lock handsets to stop cell phone users from keeping their phones if they switch to a new company.  We should be able to take our phones with us when we switch carriers, but most companies use software locks that artificially prevent customers from taking a phone to another company operating a technically compatible network.  

It's simply a way cell phone companies prevent customers from taking their business elsewhere.  Forcing consumers to purchase a new phone whenever they switch companies is unfair, costly and bad for our environment.  Reusing more cell phones instead of throwing them in the trash reduces toxic waste piling up in our landfills.

Groups such as Media Alliance and Consumers Union believe it’s important for people to have their voices heard on this issue.  To send an email just like I did, please go to http://cu.convio.net/reuse 

In the United States alone, over 100 million cell phones are trashed or collect dust each year.  Most of these phones end up in landfills, leaking toxic metals and chemicals into the ground. 

We think forcing consumers to purchase a new phone whenever they switch companies is unfair, wasteful and bad for our environment. 

Take action to reduce cell phone toxic waste. http://cu.convio.net/reuse

from grumpy bree:

Friday morning, 4:30 am, a man who lived on my block and five of his children were driving to Montreal for Shabbos. One of the sons was driving and slipped on black ice, causing the car to veer off the highway and smash into a tree. I don't know exactly what happened and who was sitting where but this is the end result:

Zachariah, 26, was the driver. His shoulder is broken and he's wearing a cast all the say down his arm. Sara, 19, the daughter, was hemhorraging in her brain and abdomen. They operated and she was in critical condition (coma) for awhile. She woke up yesterday, and as far as can be told there is no permanent brain damage. Moshe and Dovid - I'm not what happened to who - one boy broke both his legs with one of them ripped off. They sewed it back on and had to put metal plates in. The other boy needs to be operated on but he is so swollen, the doctors aren't sure what to do. They have no idea what's wrong with him. One of these two boys is supposed to have a bar mitzvah this year. Yisroel was the only one who walked away with the least amount of injuries.

The father died on the way to the hospital.

They were on their way to a rav in Montreal for Shabbos. They've done this drive many times before.
I've only been to three funerals in my life but this was by far the hardest. It was an accident; a man was taken seemingly before his time. Obviously, there is a plan and we cannot see the big picture of life and therefore, right now there is not a lot to comfort the family with.

It just hits close to home, you know?

As Devora informed me today, this family has 14 children (12 ranging in age from 3-19) and the mother is currenly unemployed and now has a LOT of bills.  If you would like to donate money to help them out, please send checks (for now, made out to cash, or if you're more comfortable writing in a name, you can make them out to me and I'll transfer the money to her) to:

11 Broadway
12th Floor
New York, NY 10004
Attn: Devora Bree

it took all morning

but i have my passport

ACLU

it's just too funny

V-limadtem

Schoolgirl saved hundreds with tsunami knowledge

A 10-year-old British schoolgirl saved the lives of hundreds of people in southern Asia by warning them a wall of water was about to strike, after learning about tsunamis in geography class, British media reported on Saturday.

feels like monday

i have found an intermediate level of stress where my heart rate is only occassionally elevated (so i just feel like i'm randomly excited and don't know why), i can't sleep cause no matter how tired i am, i may start talking about all the work i have to finish before i go to israel which will keep me wide awake for hours, and i have no time to do parts of my work because the site has to get finished before i leave next week.  i find myself half asleep on the subway with floyd blasting out my ears in a semi dream state running thrugh the work that still needs to be done.

there's just so much to do and no one's letting me write up my list and calendars taht keep me sohapy.  i have nothing outlined for the next week, just general vogue notions of thatngs that must take place and a sort of deadline.

this is the jumble in my head: pesach, emails, yahoo account (can't sign in for the 2nd time in two weeks, anoyance), passport, packing, Shabbat, weight loss, exercise, re-schedule doctor's appointment, contact every one in israel, get cellphone for israel, contact Raffi, plan itinerary for israel, help avs write up stuff for Rabbi jobs next year, figure out if i plan on staying at the OU or not, class schedule next semester.

i know, none of this is really important in the long run.  I have my family, everyone is healthy and accounted for.  which only goes to show how completely i've lost my mind/hold on reality that i'm getting frazzled from this kind of stuff.

dum dum dum dum

well it's a brand new year on a calendar system that some say has no application in my life.

life and work are reasonably the same - a raise and a promotion add some sinshine, but the work-load is the same as always (heavy).

we leave to israel in 10 days for 10 days... thrilling!!!!!!!!!

avraham's studying all day. bechina on bishul and such. i offered to take it for him cause i know all the stuff, but he reminded me that i never remember the Rabbis names (i.e. who said what).

fun lunch with avs and skydell, yummy food at golan (yay yummy food!).

one more week to finish up the content for the Pesach section and train BF. i'm figuring that monday and tuesday next week will be devored to rush emergency stuff and not regular work. it's a little stressful to think about, truthfully. i'll still have a week or so to finalize when i get back, but i think i may be working from israel a bit. something to do when i can't sleep. : )