Life

I was in the bookstore buying a phone card when I saw a rack of children's holiday books that we on salle for 4 dollars. (The price is usually 19 dollars. One of them was The Stone Lamp which Peggy (?) bought for me last year for Chanukkah. I think I have a signed copy. The cool thing was that Karen Hesse is in my Jewish community, and she was actually in services the day I first read from the Torah, my Bat Mitzvah. This book is dedicated to my old rabbi....Rabbi Noah Kitty. She was the Rabbi for a long time, and my Hebrew School teacher my last year, and the Rabbi at my Bat Mitzvah. Anyway...besides the fact that there are beautiful illustrations and poems with historical background (8 for the 8 nights of Chanukkah) I have a personal connection to this book. I've been thinking about asking Karen Hesse to come visit Smith Hillel/ The K....I don't knowif she would....though why not...she is really nice, which this really soft, gentle voice, especially when reading her work out loud. But anyway...I bought this book...and it makes me whish I had my copy here with me at school....though it is, after all, the end of February and Chanukkah is a December holiday. (But the idea of light, and hope and love and beauty is a year round idea.) I bought this book for the K...not that I think it is age appropriete to be a children's book for the little people, but I think it will be well loved by the Smithies in residence. (It says age 9 and up.) (Unless the K. has a copy already!)

We have "a special tea and lecture on stalking, or something tommorrow at Cutter-Z. so tea won't be at my house....well, Katie will not want to get dragged to that....that's sad...Laurel got to be here at Parsons for tea twice!!

I couldn't decide on a title for this post, so I decided to encompass everything...because even though a mountain is not alive, beings that are alive see it and enjoy it, so it still is a part of the idea of life. I think I've been thinking about the Talmud for too long. (The Talmud is one Hebew text besides the Torah or the Bible.)

Next topic...My blog is sooo pink!! (And I can't find a good shade of pink in the color choices for that word.) I just had a moment of "Why did I choose that color?" But, no, I do like it...just occationally I become aware of how pink it is.

Of course I checked my e-mail after class, so didn't get the note that we should bring copies of the Bible to class today. I like italics...and I think I may have said that before. Is it Anne of Green Gables who also loves Italics, or one of her children....Rilla? Oh, I love those books. I often forget how many books I brought from home...but it makes me happy to see their familiar, shinning faces smiling out at me from the shelves of my book case.

I just realized as I corrected the spelling of "their" that I switch the "i" and the "e" so often that it barely looks wrong when it is...but it does look better when spelled correctly...and isn't that interesting, how strongly one thing can seem right...when it's just conditioning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are playing spoon tag in my house. Other houses played at the beginning of the year. Briefly: We each have (about 15 of us) a plastic spoon. When it is in a hand or mouth we are safe...or when we are in our own rooms or a bathroom stall, or in a classroom during class hours, or at sports practice. We each have one person trying to get us, and one person we are trying to get. The point is to tag the other person with your spoon when she does not have hers. We started Monday and so far only 4 or 5 people are out. I still de not knoe who is chasing me. I did, however, tag my person yesterday...Kate Yohay....who I hoped to tag at the K. We were sitting at dinner with Maya between us, she got a little bit of food on herself and put her spoon down...I lunged, having to go through Maya, and tagged her...but Maya had just tried to eat from her fork at that moment, so I now have Maya's dinner on my sleave, but it was sooooo worth it. Kate wasn't mad (usually tagging is followed by screaming and shreeks) and she gave me a hug and later whispered to me who she was trying to tag. (When you tag your person you get their person!!!!)

Also...we had another guest speaker...a conservative Rabbi...in my Jewish studies class...what was really cool was his emphasis on keeping things scholarly, not religious...you wouldn't have thought he was conservative...he also happens to be the Rabbi whose service I went to last Saturday, and who I really liked!!!

What also was I going to say? Ah, yes...the other Latin teacher gave us notes on light purple paper, and for a moment I was back in Miss Huntoon's classroom!!!!

Carpe Diem. et... Cavet Canem! et... Tempus fugit....I have to do my work.

Je pense donc je suis. Cogito ergo sum. I think therefore I am.

And there's always: Carthago delenda est.

(Passive Paraphrastic...using fut. pass. participle and a form of sum.)