IHOP Girl: The Opera..and Crab...

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

The Opera..and Crab...

I'm sure that this blog is testimony to the fact that I am strange, although I do come by it genetically look at the parental units. I was again reminded of this fact tonight. I love opera, I mainly love opera in any language but English surprisingly enough. I don't need to know what they are saying, and the English operas that I have heard are not nearly as beautiful to listen too as ones in a foreign tongue. I wish sometimes that I have gone to see some, but thank goodness for PBS who will broadcast them at 2am when I'm at work looking for something to listen to. Unfortunately, I have gotten some weird stares, and several comments along the lines of "WHAT are you listening to?" or "is that what I think that is?". I personally think that the more culture, beauty, music, and diversity you can introduce into your life the more well rounded and educated you will be. Lets face it I could watch some infomercial or a show about unsolved murders at 2am (can I shudder now?), oooor I could watch the opera...hmmm. Don't get me wrong, I love numerous mindless and meaningless shows; this is my way of sprinkling my life with some culture the same way some people sprinkle fiber supplements on cereal.

Speaking of shows, I hope everyone had time to catch the season premier of The Deadliest Catch on Discovery Channel. I know, I know - some people don't get the whole excitement of catching crab in the Bering Sea. I however, am an avid fan. Its more about the boats and crew than the crab...well okay its all about the crab, but it's the crews that make the show interesting. Just saying! I'm sure you all have much more interesting shows that you watch or listen to; you'll have to fill me in ;-). It's going to be hard to beat cold, wet, sleep deprived sailors though on the scale of all things interesting to watch. I personally think that we should have a running side bet for who will catch the most crab this season...I'm going for the Time Bandit...or the CorneliaMarie (she is kinda a personal favorite)...sigh...so many good ships, only one can win!

1 comment:

shrunken_frontal_lobe said...: Since you are the product of the insidious alien-human hybridization program, (prior to it's successful end thanks to the herculean efforts of FBI Special Agents Fox Moulder and Diana Scully), we actually do not know what genetic material you are made from. Your human caretakers, whom you call parental units, actually share no common genetic material with you. But be that as it may, we will acknowledge your strangeness irrespective of the particular vagaries of your sensory input preferences.

Now about the analogy of culture being a fiber supplement, beware, ingesting too much may result in a surprising unexpected CODE BROWN event! A most embarrassing occurrence indeed. The moral of that story is to eat junk, take a fiber pill once a week, and drink plenty of malted barley&hops liquids. ;-)

My only experience with crabs involves dear old WOT, and something to do with legs. Hmmmm, could this be the start of a new bathrobe chronicles story?...

PS - I think you should change the name of Dr. Horrible to Dr. Adorable, since we all know Dr. Horrible has been termed HOT by various young women, and has a certain charm that females of the opposite sex find appealing.

He!; 6:28 PM

Movie Night In...I love a good movie!

Mega Mind
Taking Chance (Will make you cry like a baby)
Charlotte Grey (A bit of a different take on Nazi Germany)
Series - Merlin (I LOVE BBC)
Robin Hood (Okay, a love Russell Crowe, you'll have to understand that about me...)
Kingdom of Heaven (Chuck full of acting power with an epic tale)
Miss Potter (Such a great film! Story of the creator of Peter Rabbit)
How to Train your Dragon (Possibly my favorite animated movie ever...I'm like a little kid, I watch it over and over)
Buck (Sundance winner, Biography of Horse Trainer, heart touching)
Lost in Austin (Modern day spin on Pride and Prej.)

Life as a nurse...

Great words by Reb Jeff: Vayishlach: Facing Death

"Rachel died. She was buried on the road to Ephrat — now called Bethlehem. Jacob set up a pillar above her grave. It is the pillar at Rachel’s grave to this day."–Genesis 35:19-20

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vidui http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiva_(Judaism), and preparing the notifications to the community, feel like little fragments of the sacred. I have been entrusted with the care and tending of the most powerful, complex and difficult emotions that a person can experience in life. I have been made, in some small part, a guardian of the memory of a departed soul — a life that touches upon many other lives.After dropping off my older daughter at her high school this morning, I made a stop at Treasure Coast Hospice http://www.tchospice.org/, a remarkable organization that sets a very high standard for the loving and respectful care of the dying. There, I visited a lovely man whom I have seen a few times in his hospice room. I sat by his bedside and listened to him (in full possession of his faculties) as he told me about his worries about his family, the support of his wife after he is gone, and the future of his children and grandchildren. I was deeply moved by the way he put any concern for himself — even while facing death — in a distant backseat to his concerns for his family. When my own time comes, I can only hope to have his awareness of the way that one life can touch so many others.Also at hospice, I visited a woman I have known for the past two years — a dear soul who is a former Jewish religious school director. I sat with her, too, singing psalms to her as I listened to her heavy and labored breathing. I have no medical training, but I have come to know the sound of a person who is close to death. The body begins to fight for each breath as it slowly looses it grasp on life. As I held her hand and sang, I realized that being a rabbi is no protection against becoming one of the people caught in the web of connection. I, too, am changed by the loss of a life that has touched mine.Later in the day, I met with a couple from our congregation. She had just learned that her brother died yesterday in a car crash. Coming to terms with the loss is made more difficult for her by the fact that she and her brother had not seen each other or spoken in five years. Sometimes, people think it is easier to mourn the death of someone who has moved out of your life. In my experience, though, it's harder. Grief is magnified by wounded love and regret. I have no magic words to say to ease the pain of mourning. All I can do is listen, become a vessel in which people place their stories, and offer compassion.Actually, there is one more thing I can do. I can have faith that "all I can do" is all that I need to do. It is enough.In this week's Torah portion (Vayishlach) Jacob watched Rachel, the love of his life, die in childbirth. He was overcome by grief. Jacob had worked for his cruel uncle Laban for fourteen years to earn the right to marry Rachel. Now she was gone. Because she died while they were traveling, Jacob had to bury her by the side of the road. He built a pillar of stones on the spot to mark the place as sacred.This is what we all do, in one way or another, when death enters our lives. We grieve and our hearts break. We wish that we could continue to walk along the path of life with our loved ones forever, but the dead cannot fully join us. We have to leave something behind in order to resume our own journey. So, what do we do? We mark the moment as sacred. We erect monuments — both in cemeteries and in our hearts. The stones we place on top of stones remind us that a life may end, but its sanctity is forever.The Torah says that the monument Jacob built for his beloved continues to stand until this day. A life that touches the lives of others never ceases to send living reverberations throughout the web that binds us all.