Are We There, Yet...?

For three months I've been commuting 55 miles each way for work. In LA traffic.... But! I'm happy to say that I've found a flat! Soon (ohhhhhh, so soon!) I'm going to cut my commute in to a fraction of its former glory.

So I won't auto-place in the medal round for one-ups contests anymore, but I'm about to reunited with my sanity. A fair trade, methinks.

Other good news?! I'm about to be a Bruin! That's right, kids. UCLA is my future alma-mater. As per usual, seeing the end in the beginning.

But, yeah. I'm back - I hope. I've really missed this space...

K.Sizzle...

My dear friend Kelsey Bulkin has announced her upcoming album. Color a million and two kinds of excited.

...Be Happy!

Just a casual head's up... I also have a Tumblr. You know, for those of you who like pictures as much as I do.

A Year in the Life....

A year ago, dear friends, I left the Holy Land.... seeking parts unknown in places I navigate with my eyes closed. And so began a year of transition. In many ways I feel like I had unrealistic expectations [6 months. Definitely only 6 months and then I'm good to go!] - but I've been learning how to be more gentle and understanding with myself.

 East.

West.

Some funny and some true stories (anecdotes? tales?) from my year of transition:

It may be helpful to know that, while I moved nearly every year as a kid, I did most of my "growing up" in Orange County... and yet people still ask me where I'm from. I know that the Baha'i World Centre has its own accent going on [the result of the in-gathering of hundreds of people from hundreds of countries communicating and making themselves understood in a single language]. It's somewhat a mash-up of the Commonwealth accents, with incredibly heavy American overtones - and all sentences end up sounding like a question, as though you're making doubly sure that everyone understands you. So yeah. We sound (to my ears) Canadian. Many people have confused me for a well-educated mainland European ex-pat who either went to an American school or watched a grip of American TV.

When I slide into my BWC accent (never apurpose, I assure you) lately, however - local folks ask me if I'm French. French. Well, merci beaucoup to you and you and you! [But it's still weird. Trust.]

I really (really) love the service opportunities I have here. You should know that I miss Haifa, like, e.v.e.r.y.d.a.y - but! I had a really interesting dream yesterday (the actual and factual one year anniversary of my last day in Israel). I dreamed that I was back in Haifa, and I really felt like a fish in water - so natural to be there, and 2 weeks into my visit... I was offered a chance to stay. Permanently. And my first thought to the people I serve with here. To the children and youth I mentor (but who really mentor me), to the friends who help me - everyday - to be the best person I can possibly be... and without hesitation, I felt that I should decline the offer. An offer that at alternating points in the last year I'd have jumped at. I'm not saying that missing the Holy Land is easy... but I realize that (particularly as a result of prayer and service) it is closer to me than my life's vein. Confirmations abound.

This has been a year of learning for me. Learning how to be a gentler person, learning how to detach from those things you thought would make you whole... would make me better, learning how to learn. Road rage is an irksome beast... but there's always the hope that my next community will have public transportation and be pedestrian friendly! Until then, if you happen to be in south Orange County, don't cut off the girl in the '90 Ford Bronco. The Bruiser doesn't slow as quickly as some would like!

When I Grow Up...

Word of the Day for Friday, July 27, 2012

intrapreneur \in-truh-pruh-NUR\, noun:

An employee of a large corporation who is given freedom and financial support to create new products, services, systems, etc., and does not have to follow the corporation's usual routines or protocols.

Intrapreneur was coined in the 1970s as a variation of the more common word entrepreneur. The prefix intra- means "within."

Dear Dictionary(dot)Com: thanks! How did you know?!

Courtesy Tralalere!

...Want Me Back

In the face of the gross amount of impotence and frustration I've been feeling lately, this song gets in my bones and cheers me up. Enjoy.

Here Comes the Sun...

So the sun is making a serious 'college try'... and this song is so happy and catchy - and this version is just the most fun thing I've seen all week - so! Enjoy!

In other "trying so hard I can't hardly stand it" news... I'm going to be in a play this month! On the 29th, specifically. And I'm pretty nervous about memorizing my lines. To help, I recorded myself on my phone so I could listen and learn (thanks for that, 2012).

Um... have you ever listened to yourself? Like outside of your own head? Turns out that I sound like an NPR reporter. Lakshmi Singh - call me (maybe...)!

But yeah, if you're in OC circa 29 June 2012, holler at your girl. It won't be profesh, I'll probably blush AND sound like I'm presenting on This American Life - but I'll keep it real!

Lend Me Your Ears...!

Ashley Judd is my new hero.

Seriously. The mind trip that our culture puts us through - that we have been trained to put ourselves through (!!) - is crippling. Crippling in every way, shape and form.

That she would passionately and eloquently challenge cultural norms is, to me, so completely inspirational. You can read more about it here.

...because sharing is caring.

Like a Boss...!

Courtesy A Cup of Jo

So I just finished Tina Fey's classic rendition of her life until now: Bossy Pants. As she predicted, I borrowed it from "a woman at work"... and I loved it!

I particularly love the way that she talks about the women she has worked with: everyone from YMCA ticket takers to Amy Poehler. She's totally respectful of their work and talks of their contributions with a sort of dignity that more people should use. And her bold assertion of how we need to not tear each other down all of the time made me want to vote for her.

Another awesome woman on the topic of "why we don't ask Donald Trump what it feels like to be the boss of all those people" (that's me, paraphrasing Tina Fey) is Nicki Minaj. Whose body of work I honestly don't know that well. But I like what she has to say about the difference in attitudes about what happens when a man tells it how it is... and when a woman does it. You can watch the interview here.

#Baws.

Incognito...

For one of the youngest women I know: Happy Birthday, Nana!

Growing Up Modern...

This little girl is getting it done! There are parts of this (cranberry juice, anyone?!) where I feel like I'm watching a really well executed parody of my life!

I wonder what her mom does.... In my kindergarten book (an avant garde collection of drawings, stories, and an homage to my favorite animal - the Unicorn) exists an illustrated picture of how I saw myself as a grown-up woman, smartly dressed and pounding away on a "typerator". Okay, well I was at least color coordinated.

Thanks to Tralalere! for taking me back!

Bon Jour, Mes Amis...

Courtesy the perennially lovely Garonce Dore.

So I'm looking at studying a new foreign language this year... and it's a toss between French and Italian. I know. My house is an hour from Mexico - why not Spanish? Or why not solidify the tenuous grasp I have of German, Persian or Hebrew? All excellent questions.

I'm in the process of learning Spanish with a friend, so this frees me up for a concentration in either French or Italian.

It sounds a little zany, even to me (my iPhone doesn't hold regular conversations with me, afterall - yet?), but I think my google.reader has a pretty strong opinion on the language I learn. Because I look at so many blogs [definitely not because I'm lazy], I like everything in one place. One of my favorite fashion blogs is Garance Dore - who, despite currently living in NYC, just so happens to be French. Long story short, I accepted google.reader's offer of translation.

Except it now tries to translate everything else I look at into English.

I know, you may be wondering how many French language blogs I read. Just the one. And yes, that means that my reader sees the English on the page as French and translates it to... English. At first I thought that everyone had gone off their rocker - it is, to a line, idiomatically and grammatically incorrect. But now the fun game is to figure out what the writers were meaning to write when they wrote what they wrote.

Quirky brainteasers aside... any plans for 2012?

I Can't Get No...

Courtesy Samimi-Extremie

Wow. This is likely the best thing I could have seen today. I've been thinking a lot about resolutions: who I want to be and how to get there.... And I realize that I need to do what ever it takes to stay hungry for more. Knowledge. Love. Understanding. Movement. Growth.

So this year I resolve to give thanks for the people in my life who help my wounded spirit try again in those instances I pause too long, get too comfortable and backslide.

Nobel Peace Ladies...

Via Bitte Ein Kuss

(L-R)

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia

Leymah Gbowee, Champion of Women's Rights (Liberia)

Tawakkul Karman, Icon of the Arab Spring Protest (Yemen)

[2011 Nobel Peace Prize recipients]

"The woman is indeed of the greater importance to the race. She has the greater burden and the greater work. Look at the vegetable and the animal worlds. The palm which carries the fruit is the tree most prized by the date grower. The Arab knows that for a long journey the mare has the longest wind. For her greater strength and fierceness, the lioness is more feared by the hunter than the lion.

The woman has greater moral courage than the man; she has also special gifts which enable her to govern in moments of danger and crisis…." - 'Abdu'l-Baha, from an address given in London.

I don't mean this to sound like man-bashing... because it is not. But it is nice to see the contributions and achievements of women recognized, particularly in the field of peace building and community development.

On Thicker Blood...

Via the perennially lovely Fleur

I can't believe that it's been almost three years since I was in Paris. ...freezing, wearing multiple (borrowed) unmatched layers and surrounded by stylish and chic Parisienne's - apparently immune to the cold. *And I mean snow. I know that I'm from Israel and SoCal, so you might not trust my value judgments on what constitutes cold: but this was it!

And I have to say that pictures like this take me right back. Because I'm shaking like a leaf here, and it's only in the 50s during the day (30s at night)... and these ladies are so cute it hurts me. So my recourse is to wear layer upon layer of figure morphing sweater, or to thicken my blood and walk out like a boss.

Which brings to me to my central question: how does DO that! Holler.

On Life Lessons From Glee...

Damian McGinty as Irish foreign exchange student Rory Flanagan.

*courtesy Perez Hilton*

So aside from the grand unveiling of Irish foreign exchange student and resident Leprachaun Rory Flanagan (played by the charming Damian McGinty), last night's episode - in which Mr. Hummel throws his hat in the political ring - served up one hell of a false dichotemy.

I love that Sue's vicious bashing of the arts has become a composite characterization of the real life treatment of arts programs in public schools aross America. And last night when she called a cease fire on arts bashing in order to highlight the genuine discrepancies in education programs for developmentally challenged students created a scenario all too familiar in our nation: if we fund arts, we can't fund sports. If we fund sports, we can't fund special education [bt.dubs, "gifted and talented" programs also often fall under the budget of "special education"]. Or worse still - pitting education against health care or an increase in environmental standards against social security.

Now, I'm not an expert (clearly), but I have some strong opinions that I'm going to share with you.... I will leave my feelings on global harmony out of this for the moment and focus on the US of A.

We are a nation of hard workers, we are bright, creative and innovative. If we can avoid the trap of petty in-fighting that (ahem) some people have set, I bet that we will learn some things.

1. If we make a serious effort to think outside of the box - to demand a paradigm shift - we could come up with cost productive solutions for everyone. It will require consultation, collaboration and compromise - but it is doable.

2. It won't take as much money as you think... and my feeling is that we actually have the money available to do these things! And before you get all crazy, what I'm actually talking about is a move towards social and fiscal responsibility: and no... I don't see these as mutually exclusive concepts.

Because seriously? I don't know any old, rich guys. And you probably don't either. So why are we so hung up on their opinion? Most of the people I do know have worried at least once about how to get food on the table, or gas in their car, or getting their bills paid on time... these are the concerns that should matter.

And that's what I learned on Glee: be creative, be brilliant, be a problem solver.

Media, Darlings...

Miss Representation 8 min. Trailer 8/23/11 from Miss Representation on Vimeo.

This topic is so incredibly important. I can't wait for the actual movie to come out!

A Thousand Words...

Unlike Scott Schumann (one of my favorite bloggers), I'm not tight with the editor-in-chief of Vogue Italia, Franca Sozzani... so I can only speculate as to her particular motivation in including these three lovely young women on the cover of the June edition. And I actually and sincerely appreciate that a publication as prestigious as Vogue - and in one of the major global hubs of fashion - would openly declare that women with curves are beautiful and fashion forward.

We're on a slippery slope indeed, however, when the standard of success of modern (post-post modern?) feminism is set by the further objectification of women: congratulations! Women of all shapes and sizes can now be viewed as sex objects! I know, I know: sexy people are desirable, desirable people are envied, the happiness of being envied is glamour, and glamour sells magazines.... We've come a long way, baby?

Last summer I read a really amazing book by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn called Half the Sky. It is truly "a passionate call to arms against the oppression of women around the globe - "the central moral challenge" of our time" (I totally took that from the book's jacket - but it's completely true). As a woman, I felt the lives of those interviewed - theirexperiences - cut into my heart, grab a hold, and rock me with the power of their story and the strength of their character. As a western woman, I couldn't help but feel slightly detached. This isn't to say that I wasn't still moved, very often to tears, by what I read - but I had no mechanism or concept of how to process my thoughts and feelings into something concrete and conducive to the betterment of the whole of society. Which is exactly what these myriad heroes were doing: working through their experiences and changing the discourse and reality of their society in positive, meaningful ways.

And then I had the opportunity to study a small, humble, yet infinitely profound document prepared by the Institute for Studies in Global Prosperity (ISGP) called "Advancing Toward the Equality of Women and Men". I knew while reading Half the Sky that the inequality of women and men is as much a problem in developed nations as it is in developing nations....

Addressing the importance that a fundamental knowledge of our selves and of the purpose behind our creation can have in overcoming oppression, the ISGP states that "even in societies where women have been granted certain political and economic rights and are legally empowered, both men and women are denied knowledge of their true selves. Women are objectified and sexuality is made the core of their identity. Their aims and aspirations are set in terms of pleasing men. Attraction to beauty [...] is deliberately perverted to the point where women and men are seen as no more than means for the gratification of material desires."

It is true, the human body is a wonderful, beautiful thing. It has been uniquely designed as the receptacle of the human soul - and it is capable of tremendous things. Let us celebrate our appreciation of the 'body beautiful' for its achievements and for the service it renders the soul - and not because a small number of them have been used as a marketing tool in the advertising of culture.

...To Grow On

So you may or may not know that I just celebrated my birthday. As Jay-Z would say, I'm "young enough to know the right car to buy, but grown enough not to be rims on it"....

These women - via Advanced Style (a street style blog courtesy of Ari Seth Cohen) - prove that high fashion is appropriate at any age. I love that their conversations about and commitment to art and personal expression are so in the moment. Their fingers are definitely on the pulse!

All head's up credit (and thanks!) goes to the equally art and fashion conscious ladies at Honestly... WTF. Aptly named. Promise.

Gl-Gl-Glorious!

Namibia - via 19 Months

So I've just booked a small vacation in Rome! I'm really looking forward, particularly as I've never been to Italy (I know...). If you have any recommendations about things a person should absolutely do - and things that should be seen only if the time presents itself, holler at your girl!

But I think this little holiday - planned to coincide with my transition from Israel back to the United States - will be just the thing I need to look forward to to lessen the nervousness I feel about living in Orange County again.

Who knew that 4 years could be so long - or go so quickly!

...but seriously, sorry I'm so MIA. One of my besties is coming to visit next week, and I'm kind of (read: actually) freaking out about moving half-way around the world in less than 2 months. And finding a j.o.b.

Excuse me while I go breathe deeply - and stuff.