Tisha B'Av

If Not Now, When?

Thunder calling on this day
Horns are blowing, come this way
From tears to laughter
Why must we wait
Give us now what we are after
An end of suffering and hate
Now is good for all and one
Please we beg, Your will be done.

Some Art

Ant

Sitting outside earlier, there was an ant wondering around with one antenna. Poor thing couldn't quite find it's way, though it knew where it wanted to be. It ended up going around in circles, though slowly making it closer to it's destination. Eventually it did get there, but it took time, and considerable effort.

As I watched this, I could not help but think how like this ant we are, trying always to reach the goal, striving to be close to Hashem and do what is right. Yet, we have but one antenna, limited senses and we get side tracked. Eventually though, we do make it, we keep trying and we do.

Nom

Mitzvot are like potato chips. You can't have just one.

A Complicated Game We Play

Everything is made up of rules, and can be broken down to those rules. Most things have concrete rules and it is clear when they are broken. Other things do not. One such thing is the rules which govern social interaction. They are, by far the most complex and convoluted rules in existence. So much so that it is nearly impossible, at times, to know if one has been bent, broken, or in fact followed as it should be. More often than not major consequences, either positive or negative, will result.

The power of Shema

Have you ever woken from a dream so real, so terrifying that you could not believe such a thing could exist in your psyche? It's rare. And yet, such a thing has happened to me. Such is the power of saying kriyas shema. To forget is deadly.

What's Tater, Precious?

How many people ever think about what the potato? Very few, I should think. It is though, a most amazing plant.

Not only are there a plethora of potato types, but the growth process is astoundingly simple. A poato can be grow from a piece of another potato. Alternatively they, like all plats, have seeds. The amazing thing about their seeds though is the pouch in which they are formed/stored is toxic. They are in a vertual safe haven, neer to be desturbed until the time comes when they are ready to fall and rot in the ground, soon to grow to new plants. Environmentally, they don't need much, just some dirt and water, and even that is subjective to the type.

Though everyone always talks about the carb content of the tuber, they in fact contain nearly a daily dose of all essential vitamins and minerals. It's said that one could like on milk and potatoes and be rather healthy, thank you very much.

What's more, there are so many ways to eat a potato, mash em', fry 'em, stick 'em in a stew, eat them with fish and chips, to quote a few. There are endless ways to eat a potato on it's own, and when you start adding in other things, the sky really is the limit.

As for the Great Potato Famine, well, the cause? A lack of potatos. One of the main causes of potato death, aside from insufficient nutrition, is improper genetics. And if you only have one potato type that your mixing up there in Ireland, well, think hemophilia and other such type things in the Royals. It's not always so pretty.

Death aside, if there is any plant more amazingly G-d given, I can't think of it. Not now at any rate.

Insta-Cookie

Sometimes, you just want a cookie. It's a problem, because those are always the times that you don't have cookies. Especially if you are like me and don't often eat such things and so don't have them hanging around. Well, eitherway, cookies are wanted.
And when cookies are wanted, oft one doesn't want to mess around with measuring things out and messing up the kitchen to make them. Which, I didn't. Also, who wants to deal with maths of reducing a recipy if all you want is a few cookies?

So, easy way. Dump a bunch of cookie stuf in a bowl, mix it up a bit,

And before you can sing C is for Cookie, eight tasty cookies ready for consumption. No chocolate chips though, the only ones at hand were the not-so-semi-sweet that are great for eating with raisons, but not so good in cookies. Also, they don't melt well.

Hungry Caterpiller

String Knots

String Knots: So easy, all you need is string.

This game needs a minimum of one player and can be played with a maximum of 500, based on the amount of strings you have.

Setup: Spread a hand out in such that there is a large space between each finger. Wind the string around each finger in an alternating manner, in front of the thumb, behind the index and so on. Do this until the fingers are half covered.

Play: The goal is to make as many knots as possible while at the same time being able to unwind them.

To do this you must take the bottom loop of a finger and move it to the top of another finger while simultaneously moving the middle loop from that finger to the first finger.

The faster this is done the more points are earned.

If a loop falls, a penalty must be played. Penalties can consist of anything from a dance to dishes, but must begin with the letter D.

Once all loops have been moved, remove the mass from the fingers and begin to untangle it. You have three hours.

Expounding a Bit

If you sort through the nonsense, you can see an apparently unintended point in TRS's most recant post.

We spend so much time fretting about The Future, trying to insure that it will be all that it can be, and more. Yet as The Future comes closer and closer it turns out that it is exactly the same as The Present, and in fact The Past, albeit with a bit more people. So, of course this must not be The Future, so life goes on as The Present with more hopes for The Future, and yet ever worsening music.

The thing is though, we have been doing this nearly forever. The real question about The Future is not so much what will it be like, rather, will we ever get there, and will we recognize it when we do.

Ohm

There is a profound beauty in walking amongst nature, rivers, prairies and such like. They have about them an air of timelessness. Every rock, each grain of sand has been in that place, or one close to it since the world was created. There is a feeling of Oneness. Such feelings do not exist in 'man made' parks. They were not there for all time. True, they have a peace about them, but it is a different peace. Walking along a river, it is beyond peaceful, it is G-dly.

Working not-so-Stiff

My job is what most think as unimportant. More than that, many would find it boring and menial. I though, adore it. I could not wait to return to it after seven months leave. It is exciting, fast paced and central to the continual function of our society.

What is this job that seems so contrary? What is it that I do? I am a cashier at a grocer. It is a job of which I am extremely proud.

Running Thoughts

There are times that I sit, feeling thoughts half formulated running about my head. They are peaceful things, and I wonder if I will ever truly know what they are.