Today my friend Talia and I went out to do some shopping. She decided that it was about time, and I wasn't against it.
So we met up, walked to the bus, and got off near the markets, Allenby, and Sheinkin (the last two are streets). From there we pretty much walked around, going in and out of shops as we pleased, and down to the markets. It was amazing but exhausting, even though I only bought a dress and a tank top and Talia only bought a tank top. We also stopped to eat, of course, but that's not the point.
Sometimes I like shopping outdoors much more than in a mall because it's open and not so shiny-white-stone-y. And a lot of stores here have no physical front window - they have something like a garage door that they pull down when the store closes. So it really is quite enjoyable.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
Happy Birthday!
Okay, this post won't be long, as I've been working on part of the birthday present all afternoon and as such will likely fail my Israeli geography test tomorrow, but I don't care. And I said I'd do this blog post so I shall.
Today, the twenty-third of April, is my friend Amanda's birthday. She has been one of my best friends for over four years now. So this is for her.
Amanda, I hope the unfortunate placement of your birthday this year - the first day back at school after vacation - did not stop you from enjoying it. And I hope you don't care that the numbers are changing, because the difference between today and yesterday is just the same as the difference between yesterday and Saturday. Numbers are numbers and they only matter if you decide they do.
Thanks so much for sticking with me all this time. We do annoy each other sometimes, but so do the best of friends, and I think we've turned out for the better.
I miss you, and happy birthday.
Today, the twenty-third of April, is my friend Amanda's birthday. She has been one of my best friends for over four years now. So this is for her.
Amanda, I hope the unfortunate placement of your birthday this year - the first day back at school after vacation - did not stop you from enjoying it. And I hope you don't care that the numbers are changing, because the difference between today and yesterday is just the same as the difference between yesterday and Saturday. Numbers are numbers and they only matter if you decide they do.
Thanks so much for sticking with me all this time. We do annoy each other sometimes, but so do the best of friends, and I think we've turned out for the better.
I miss you, and happy birthday.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Happy Earth Day!
Even though I have done absolutely nothing towards being more eco-friendly or conserving energy.
Our planet is beautiful and wonderful. Life occurred by chance, but not entirely - our planet had the right conditions and has supported us until today. We really should give it more credit.
So here's me, saying HURRAH for Planet Earth. That's why we're better than the rest of the planets. We get to observe. We get to think. We get to live.
Our planet is beautiful and wonderful. Life occurred by chance, but not entirely - our planet had the right conditions and has supported us until today. We really should give it more credit.
So here's me, saying HURRAH for Planet Earth. That's why we're better than the rest of the planets. We get to observe. We get to think. We get to live.
Random Rant
Does it ever bother you when you do something not exactly good and then your teacher goes, "When I was a kid at school, I would do [blah, blah, blah]. I wouldn't do [blah, blah, blah]." They use themselves as an example. I really dislike teachers who do this, because they definitely weren't angels all the time. Unless they were WEEPING ANGELS and they're OUT TO GET US! Maybe they're just holograms that hide the Angel behind. I'm going to try not blinking for some time and see if they freeze.
Do you ever get the feeling that you really don't feel like doing something even though you should? I don't feel like going to ballet today BUT we don't have it on Wednesday because of Memorial Day. Here it's a proper memorial day, no picnics or sales or days off. Almost everyone knows someone who was killed in the army. Nobody even says "killed in a war" because there's always a war.
I don't want to go to ballet. Sigh.
Did it ever occur to you that English day names don't make much sense? I mean, what's "Wednesday" got anything to do with anything? In Hebrew the names of days are "first day, second day, third day" and so on. Makes more sense if you ask me.
Okay FINE I'll go get ready for ballet. Sigh.
Do you ever get the feeling that you really don't feel like doing something even though you should? I don't feel like going to ballet today BUT we don't have it on Wednesday because of Memorial Day. Here it's a proper memorial day, no picnics or sales or days off. Almost everyone knows someone who was killed in the army. Nobody even says "killed in a war" because there's always a war.
I don't want to go to ballet. Sigh.
Did it ever occur to you that English day names don't make much sense? I mean, what's "Wednesday" got anything to do with anything? In Hebrew the names of days are "first day, second day, third day" and so on. Makes more sense if you ask me.
Okay FINE I'll go get ready for ballet. Sigh.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Saturday
Today is Saturday! Oh yeah!
Saturdays are special because they are my one day off. It's like a treat. I don't mind my one-day weekends so much anymore, since what the heck, at least I have a day! And the school schedule here makes some sense, so that's nice. And I do enjoy going to school, I just despise homework.
This morning my family and I went to Independence Park, which is a park overlooking the sea. From there we went down the path to the marina and had a look at the yachts. We walked across the beaches, which today were absolutely chock-full of people playing volleyball and sunbathing and surfing and sailing. Everyone loves a warm Saturday.
After that, we walked back up the street to my cousins', where we ate lunch. My aunt was watching Sherlock, which I've wanted to watch ever since I heard that Steven Moffatt, the head writer of Doctor Who, is one of the creators. So I watched an episode and a half of season one with her, which I found exceedingly interesting. I would definitely recommend it.
A short time later we went home. I'm currently supposed to be studying for my Israeli heritage test or doing some science homework, but (1) I gave myself a challenge, (2) I am a procrastinator, and (3) I detest homework.
Right, off to procrastinate some more. Maybe I'll write two blog posts today!
Saturdays are special because they are my one day off. It's like a treat. I don't mind my one-day weekends so much anymore, since what the heck, at least I have a day! And the school schedule here makes some sense, so that's nice. And I do enjoy going to school, I just despise homework.
This morning my family and I went to Independence Park, which is a park overlooking the sea. From there we went down the path to the marina and had a look at the yachts. We walked across the beaches, which today were absolutely chock-full of people playing volleyball and sunbathing and surfing and sailing. Everyone loves a warm Saturday.
After that, we walked back up the street to my cousins', where we ate lunch. My aunt was watching Sherlock, which I've wanted to watch ever since I heard that Steven Moffatt, the head writer of Doctor Who, is one of the creators. So I watched an episode and a half of season one with her, which I found exceedingly interesting. I would definitely recommend it.
A short time later we went home. I'm currently supposed to be studying for my Israeli heritage test or doing some science homework, but (1) I gave myself a challenge, (2) I am a procrastinator, and (3) I detest homework.
Right, off to procrastinate some more. Maybe I'll write two blog posts today!
Friday, April 20, 2012
Caesarea
I started writing this post about a week ago and I never finished it. Okay. Here goes on publishing it.
So last Friday, after getting up rather later than we should have and leaving two hours after our plan of leaving at nine o'clock, we bundled into the car and drove to Caesarea.
Caesarea (which in Hebrew is pronounced kay-sar-i-a but in English is pronounced see-zar-i-a or sez-a-ri-a) is a town halfway between Tel Aviv and Haifa and it's a little over 2,000 years old according to Wikipedia. The Romans were there, and they brought to it the famous aqueducts and giant amphitheater in which concerts are still held. A lot of tourists come to see the archeological entities, but it's also a popular vacation place for locals.
My aunt and uncle own a small vacation house there, which is the reason for us going and staying overnight. We arrived at one or two, and shortly after one of my mom's and uncle's old school friends arrived. The charcoal grills were started up and various things on sticks were put to roast, the first of which were hot dogs. Later on, there were chicken wings, pargiot (which is essentially grilled chicken), and roast beef (which was not on a stick). There were salads, rice, olives, hummus, tahini, and potatoes baked in the grill. After dessert, which was watermelon, cookies, strawberries, and chocolate, we went for a walk on the beach.
The beach in Caesarea is beautiful. It's one of the main highlights of the place. The sand is almost unnaturally soft and there are millions of seashells. There are so many that sometimes they cover an entire area in a giant mound. I will say that they are far less pleasant to walk on than sand. I picked out a few that caught my fancy, as well as a rock with holes carved by the sea that looked like a piece of modern art.
A bit later, the guests left, leaving us to relax for about two or three hours until more guests arrived, at which point a fire was made in the grill again and the coals were re-heated. For dinner, there were kebabs, grilled vegetables, sausages in various degrees of spiciness, and shrimp. There were also more salads, pickled vegetables (peppers, carrots, cauliflower, and cherry tomatoes), and sweet carrots cooked with plums.
I do believe that I ate more in that day than I have in a very long time.
After dinner, we were so exhausted that all we did was drag out the mattresses and go to sleep.
The next morning everyone was a bit disoriented. It was a bit like the morning after a sleepover, when you wake up earlier than you should and everyone is just tired and woozy, except not as bad. We decided to don bathing suits and go to the beach again. Mostly we waded and stood around in the water. No one really felt like swimming. I paused to carve in the wet sand "Hello Sweetie," which, if you're a fan of Doctor Who, you will know is the message that River Song leaves in various important places in time for the Doctor.
There wasn't much to do after that, so we basically packed our things and drove back home. It was a brilliant weekend, though.
Of course, the next day we were back at school. That wasn't particularly enjoyable, but there you go. Most good things come to an end. (I will not say "all" because that's just depressing.)
So last Friday, after getting up rather later than we should have and leaving two hours after our plan of leaving at nine o'clock, we bundled into the car and drove to Caesarea.
Caesarea (which in Hebrew is pronounced kay-sar-i-a but in English is pronounced see-zar-i-a or sez-a-ri-a) is a town halfway between Tel Aviv and Haifa and it's a little over 2,000 years old according to Wikipedia. The Romans were there, and they brought to it the famous aqueducts and giant amphitheater in which concerts are still held. A lot of tourists come to see the archeological entities, but it's also a popular vacation place for locals.
My aunt and uncle own a small vacation house there, which is the reason for us going and staying overnight. We arrived at one or two, and shortly after one of my mom's and uncle's old school friends arrived. The charcoal grills were started up and various things on sticks were put to roast, the first of which were hot dogs. Later on, there were chicken wings, pargiot (which is essentially grilled chicken), and roast beef (which was not on a stick). There were salads, rice, olives, hummus, tahini, and potatoes baked in the grill. After dessert, which was watermelon, cookies, strawberries, and chocolate, we went for a walk on the beach.
The beach in Caesarea is beautiful. It's one of the main highlights of the place. The sand is almost unnaturally soft and there are millions of seashells. There are so many that sometimes they cover an entire area in a giant mound. I will say that they are far less pleasant to walk on than sand. I picked out a few that caught my fancy, as well as a rock with holes carved by the sea that looked like a piece of modern art.
A bit later, the guests left, leaving us to relax for about two or three hours until more guests arrived, at which point a fire was made in the grill again and the coals were re-heated. For dinner, there were kebabs, grilled vegetables, sausages in various degrees of spiciness, and shrimp. There were also more salads, pickled vegetables (peppers, carrots, cauliflower, and cherry tomatoes), and sweet carrots cooked with plums.
I do believe that I ate more in that day than I have in a very long time.
After dinner, we were so exhausted that all we did was drag out the mattresses and go to sleep.
The next morning everyone was a bit disoriented. It was a bit like the morning after a sleepover, when you wake up earlier than you should and everyone is just tired and woozy, except not as bad. We decided to don bathing suits and go to the beach again. Mostly we waded and stood around in the water. No one really felt like swimming. I paused to carve in the wet sand "Hello Sweetie," which, if you're a fan of Doctor Who, you will know is the message that River Song leaves in various important places in time for the Doctor.
There wasn't much to do after that, so we basically packed our things and drove back home. It was a brilliant weekend, though.
Of course, the next day we were back at school. That wasn't particularly enjoyable, but there you go. Most good things come to an end. (I will not say "all" because that's just depressing.)
Self-Challenge
Okay, since I have been a totally unreliable blogger, I think I'm going to make myself do a "blog every day" thing.
I was watching Charlie McDonnell (charlieissocoollike) on YouTube a few days ago and he said he would vlog every day this week because he hadn't uploaded much lately. It's also April, which is usually when bloggers and vloggers go on crazy "every day" escapades. So I figure I'll give it a go. For one week. See what comes out of it.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Video Editing!
I am extremely excited because I finally have managed to start putting together a short video. I've loved YouTube for a while, even though I only started seriously watching it less than a year ago, and I've wanted to make my own videos.
So I'm immersed in iMovie right now, trimming clips and lining things up. I'll do voice-overs soon, because otherwise the video won't make sense. And I am thoroughly excited.
So I'm immersed in iMovie right now, trimming clips and lining things up. I'll do voice-overs soon, because otherwise the video won't make sense. And I am thoroughly excited.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
I do not like vacation homework because
- The Doctor lies (that's rule one, isn't it?).
- Vacation is supposed to be work-free. Honestly.
- Golpalott's third law states that the antidote to a blended poison must be equal to more than the sum of antidotes for each of the separate components.
- There are better things I could be doing.
- I could be watching Doctor Who.
- I could be reading.
- I could be drawing.
- I could be watching YouTube.
- I could be outside.
- I could be walking around Tel Aviv.
- I could be lying on my bed and thinking about nothing in particular.
- I could be helping cook the Passover food.
- I could be watching a movie.
- I could be bothering my friends in America.
- I could be writing.
- I could be making lists.
- I could be making and editing videos.
- I could be painting.
- I could be doing an infinite amount of better things.
- No matter how "small" or "easy" the teacher says the assignment is, they aren't the ones doing it so they don't really mind giving it. So it's never what the teacher says.
- I could be enriching my knowledge of French.
- I could be sleeping.
- Homework is overrated.
- Homework is overrated.
- Homework is overrated.
- Homework is overrated.
- I could me doing stupid things for the fun of it. Like when I electrocuted myself on purpose with my lamp before it was fixed.
- I am a procrastinator.
- I could be talking to myself.
- I could be getting a haircut.
- I could be shopping.
- I could be making myself a bag.
- I could be taking photos.
- I could be decorating my wall.
- Homework is overrated.
- The Flaw in the Plan
- I could be daydreaming.
- I could be baking something delicious.
- There are a billion reasons to dislike it.
If you understood the references, you are awesome. Okay, FINE, now I'll do my history project.
Talking to Myself
Okay. So it's vacation and I'm being a recluse in my room again.
I'm supposed to be doing my history project on the US Constitution, but it is one of the most annoying things I've ever laid eyes on. And there's also that geography paper and the English homework and the French material I should be learning - yeah. I've got a lot to do. And a lot of time to be spent on Wikipedia - that's where I'm getting my Constitution info. I don't freaking care if it's "unreliable." I just need to get the damn thing done. Although, I will end up having some more work translating from English to Hebrew. I'm not particularly good at that. Oh, the joys of being bilingual.
Me: Go do your history project.
Me: But I don't wanna!
Me: Just get it done.
Me: *dramatic sigh*
Me: It's due tomorrow.
Me: *withering look*
Me: GET OFF OF YOUTUBE!
Me: But the video is only two minutes more!
Me: But you have a history project due tomorrow!
Me: But I don't wanna!
Me: Get off YouTube. Now.
Me: Music helps me concentrate.
Me: No, it doesn't, you idiot. Music distracts you.
Me: I can multitask.
Me: No, you can't.
Me: Why am I talking to myself?
Me: I'm tired of typing "me."
Moi: Is this better?
Me: Just go do your history project.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Hi?
Okay...I haven't updated. Yeah. But here's a big long one, okay?
This year, 2012, is the Tel Aviv Art Year. I believe they chose now because a new museum building has opened and the Tel Aviv museum now houses the largest collection of Israeli art.
So last Saturday night (the twenty-somethingth) they officially kicked it off at the Tel Aviv museum grounds. The great thing about that area is that it's quite cultural; there is a large theater nearby as well as a library. The event was entirely free, including entrance to the museum. There were all sorts of performances and activities. In one corner there were people singing opera, in another there was an audiovisual stage with mainly loud rock music. Street musicians had been asked to come and play. The sculpture of people feeding pigeons was covered in sunflower seeds as it should be (but they only put out the sunflower seeds when it's a special event). There were lots of cardboard houses arranged into small cities, and most of them were taller than me, so it created small "streets." There was one area with tons of colored cardboard blocks which could be stacked and made into all sorts of amazing structures (this is part of the Dreamfields urban innovation project). Everyone was building, no matter what age or what language they spoke or where they came from. There was also a computer component to this - you could play the Dreamfields game and it would be projected onto the wall of the museum.
On another wall, there was a place for shadow play, with a white light that invited people to create strange shapes and pictures. Our silhouettes appeared enormous on the wall.
I loved it. All the art and culture and connection and bright lights and people, all together. That night, it felt amazing to be alive.
---
Yesterday I went to the Bahai gardens in Haifa, where I was for the weekend. The gardens are famous, with their carefully planned terraces. In the center is a shrine for their founder - the Shrine of the Bab - who is buried there.
It was weird, from up there I could see all of lower Haifa - all of it that isn't on the mountain. It all seemed so temporary, like a bubble - the gardens so carefully created and maintained, the shrine's pristine gold dome, the rusty city, the dirty buildings with laundry hanging from the windows, the old neighborhood's red ceramic roofs, the glassy new buildings rising up from it all, the people bustling and running from place to place like so many ants. I could easily imagine that one day it would be gone and only the trees and the wide sea would remain, moss and ivy making crumbling ruins of the plaster walls. I don't know why I felt that. But its temporariness made me appreciate it a bit, I guess - the gardens planned so that they would seem like the product of much work, the buildings washed of the dust that the smog carried everywhere, the old train tracks still there, unused, flowers peeping between the steel rails.
Later that day we walked in my grandparents' neighborhood. We passed a building that was once beautiful but now was just abandoned. The windows had cardboard on them from the inside and the garden was overgrown. People come and go, they work and they rest, and what they leave is up to nature to take up.
And that's what nature did.
This year, 2012, is the Tel Aviv Art Year. I believe they chose now because a new museum building has opened and the Tel Aviv museum now houses the largest collection of Israeli art.
So last Saturday night (the twenty-somethingth) they officially kicked it off at the Tel Aviv museum grounds. The great thing about that area is that it's quite cultural; there is a large theater nearby as well as a library. The event was entirely free, including entrance to the museum. There were all sorts of performances and activities. In one corner there were people singing opera, in another there was an audiovisual stage with mainly loud rock music. Street musicians had been asked to come and play. The sculpture of people feeding pigeons was covered in sunflower seeds as it should be (but they only put out the sunflower seeds when it's a special event). There were lots of cardboard houses arranged into small cities, and most of them were taller than me, so it created small "streets." There was one area with tons of colored cardboard blocks which could be stacked and made into all sorts of amazing structures (this is part of the Dreamfields urban innovation project). Everyone was building, no matter what age or what language they spoke or where they came from. There was also a computer component to this - you could play the Dreamfields game and it would be projected onto the wall of the museum.
On another wall, there was a place for shadow play, with a white light that invited people to create strange shapes and pictures. Our silhouettes appeared enormous on the wall.
I loved it. All the art and culture and connection and bright lights and people, all together. That night, it felt amazing to be alive.
---
Yesterday I went to the Bahai gardens in Haifa, where I was for the weekend. The gardens are famous, with their carefully planned terraces. In the center is a shrine for their founder - the Shrine of the Bab - who is buried there.
It was weird, from up there I could see all of lower Haifa - all of it that isn't on the mountain. It all seemed so temporary, like a bubble - the gardens so carefully created and maintained, the shrine's pristine gold dome, the rusty city, the dirty buildings with laundry hanging from the windows, the old neighborhood's red ceramic roofs, the glassy new buildings rising up from it all, the people bustling and running from place to place like so many ants. I could easily imagine that one day it would be gone and only the trees and the wide sea would remain, moss and ivy making crumbling ruins of the plaster walls. I don't know why I felt that. But its temporariness made me appreciate it a bit, I guess - the gardens planned so that they would seem like the product of much work, the buildings washed of the dust that the smog carried everywhere, the old train tracks still there, unused, flowers peeping between the steel rails.
Later that day we walked in my grandparents' neighborhood. We passed a building that was once beautiful but now was just abandoned. The windows had cardboard on them from the inside and the garden was overgrown. People come and go, they work and they rest, and what they leave is up to nature to take up.
And that's what nature did.
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