Blast from the Past

My high school graduation picture that my grandfather just sent me. Gotta love the tie dye. And it is one of the few pictures of my previously long hair that I actually like. It wasn't usually like that. It was usually piled on top of my head in a big mess and quite icky. I must have just washed it.

Break out the 60s music.
This blast from the past brought to you by the letter H for hippie.

"You're Like the West Coast" - an MCS Safe Aspie Meeting

At 5 am on Friday night/Saturday morning, I was just finishing up an IM conversation that I had been having with a friend all night. Just as I was about to sign off, he asks me "So, do you want me to come visit?"

I told him he should have asked me several hours ago when I could think more clearly! :) But, nevertheless, I pondered it, and decided, why not? As long as he followed my rules (that I need to protect myself because of MCS), which he accepted beforehand, and he was game for a 6 hour ride just to visit me for a few hours - why not? I'm not usually into spur of the moment decisions, but I desperately, desperately needed some novelty and excitement in my life after two months of nothingness, so I said why not?

And of course I was flattered that someone wanted to drive six hours to see me for only a few hours. My friend Eric is from the DC Aspie group I used to go to; I knew him only online and only for a few months, but thought it would be fun, and of course I did want to meet him.

So, he drove six hours from DC through Pennsylvania, stopping at a cheap ($36) hotel in a small PA town along the way, and got here around 3:30pm today. He is very into travel and adventure, and has in the last few months taken weekend trips to Boston and even California, so now he can add New York to the list.

He was nice enough to stop and get me some groceries at the grocery store, including Odwalla, which I have been out of for weeks. It was 55 degrees out today, which was one reason that I suggested doing it today and thought it might actually work (the first suggestion was yesterday, which wouldn't have been enough time, or as good of a weather day). It was even sunny by the time he got here; it had seemed like it would rain until then. We went on a walk through town, and he brought his camera so that we could get pictures of the town. When he gets them on the computer, I can post them here and show everyone, finally, especially my family who I am sure are interested to see, what Liberty looks like! Hmm, I just realized we didn't start taking pictures to midway through, though, so missed a few things. Oh well.

We went to the graveyard, but it was blocked by snow! First time that has happened - usually the snow is packed down enough to walk on easily, but the warm weather had melted it and made it slushy. We found a way though, though, and walked a little ways up to where we had a great view of the sunset over Liberty. Pretty colors. He was nervous about the ice and I was nervous about the snow (don't like getting my feet wet, but am used to slippery surfaces), so that was kind of funny.

When we got back, we sat on the porch for two hours listening to 60s music off his Ipod. Can you imagine, two 20 somethings who love 60s music? I don't find many of them. He brought rugelah and challah from Whole Foods - I did a google search the night before to find out where to get Jewish food in DC, and the options were limited, apparently - but I was told Whole Foods would have it. And they did. Surprisingly, the raspberry rugelah was out of this world. When you bite into it, it is flaky, buttery but not too buttery, a burst of sugar and cinamon, and an explosion of raspberry flavor in a pastry that melts in your mouth. That is exactly how rugelah should be. I was hoping for a cinamon kind but raspberry is all they had; and it was fine. Another true mark of good food is when it's a flavor you don't even really like but it's still excellent.

The challah as expected was rather tasteless, but that's okay, as I was more than happy with the rugelah. It seems to be difficult to make a good challah. Most grocery stores have terrible challah. So, anyway, it was a great mood because we were sitting and relaxing on the porch eating Jewish food and listening to the Adam Sandler Hanukkah song on his IPod speakers, and then we even said the Hanukkah prayer. A belated Hanukkah mini celebration. (He's Jewish too.)

Then he broke out the 60s songs and he had lots of good ones. He says he has 60,000 songs on his IPod. We heard everything from Herman's Hermits to the Supremes and I Hear a Symphony; the Beatles, the Stones, Ooh Child, Ride Captain Ride, If You're Going to San Francisco, even Uncle John's Band by the Grateful Dead and a special Jewish version of it - someone singing it while replacing half the verses with a Shabbat prayer. We sang half of American Pie, heard Whoopie We're All Going to Die (the Fixing to Die Rag), and filled up on our Woodstock. It's nice to sit on a porch on a warm winter evening and sing songs at the top of your lungs. Two Jewish Aspie hippies, I suppose.

After two hours, I went for more food and came back with NYC lox my dad had sent me. He really appreciated it, said he loved lox, and that it was some of the best if not best lox he had ever had. Said you can't get lox like that in DC - probably true. I also was glad to give him the rest of my Trader Joe's junk food stash as I had had my fill of it - was good, but ate enough! - chocolate covered pretzels, blueberries and raspberries sticks. Also, some of the chocolate covered truffles from TJ, which he also properly appreciated.

I forgot the first part I was going to mention.

When he got here, he said to me, after I had gone upstairs to bring some of the groceries up and get him the chocolates, "You're like the West Coast - it takes a while to get there but it's more than worth the wait." I do believe that is the most creative compliment anyone has ever given me, and I think it's beautiful. He was referring to the fact that it took me a while to come back, but the chocolates were more than worth it. :) Or perhaps he could have been referring to the drive to Liberty and meeting me in general, who knows. I even gave him a card with a picture of a cockroach on it that said "Cockroach Droppings." This is because he likes cockroaches, thinking that both them and Aspies are misunderstood; likes it as a symbol. In Montana, they have "moose dropping" candies in stores everywhere, so I was copying that and thought it was quite funny.

He left around 7:30, so about four hours after he got here. It was definitely warm enough to sit on the porch comfortably, which is what made it possible. The last half hour or so did get a little chilly, but not too much, and it was warm until then. So, then, I managed to do a meet-up with someone without compromising my health and sanity by allowing a scented person in my apartment, yet still have fun with them and not inconvenience them. Porches can be wonderful things! 55 degree weather in December is a rare treat. I realized I never have spent much time in my life just sitting on porches and talking to people. Usually it is either too cold or too hot. So, a nice experience.

Good to finally accomplish a goal of finally having someone come visit me. Hope it continues.
And hope he has a safe drive home tonight.

And I am majorly obsessed with rugelah now and plan to ask my NYC relatives to bring some when they come.

Will post pictures when I get them!

Kate

Christmas lessons about sensory integration

I am going to kill someone if I hear one more reference to Jesus, angels, stables, come all ye faithful, or anything else remotely related to Christmas.

Which means I can't turn the radio on. Which is somewhat difficult.

Luckily, I have had online radio on all night and it has saved at least part of my sanity. Thank God for online stations. Okay, wait, who's bringing God into this?

I am so braindead I can't believe what I did. My computer froze and I had to reboot it. Hate when that happens. So while I was waiting, I thought I'd surf the radio dial to see how many different Christmas songs I would hear, and maybe do a summary of them or something. Instead of music, however, when I started surfing, I heard voices. A movie. Something decidedly non music. It turned out it was a radio drama. Not a book on tape but like a real movie, only on the radio. I thought that was kind of cool. Since I can't watch movies or TV anymore, I am a sucker for the human voice, I guess. The radio drama drew me in. I had no idea what it was about or what it was, but it sucked all my attention. I couldn't focus or think about anything else but the voices on the radio. Now, in some cases, this is a good feeling, because, you know, it means you're relaxed and all that jazz. But. This wasn't a good feeling.

So I continued to listen. It was like watching a movie, only listening to it on the radio. I am well aware this was the primary form of entertainment in the olden days, radio dramas, before TV came about. So, I felt like I was paying homage to the past or something like that. I figured it must be some kind of Christmas story on the religious station, but it wasn't overtly religious at first.

Well, it got religious pretty fast, but at first it wasn't. Something about a kid who had no name and he's traveling to Bethlehem to find out who his family is. Not a kid, a 30 yr old. He was raised by a merchant who found him on the side of the road. (At first I thought this must mean he was Jesus, but apparently not.) So he goes to Bethlehem to find out the truth. Turns out 30 yrs ago there was a big massacre, and all the infant sons were killed. Still not sure why. I think it's because the sheperds told everyone the son of God had been born and the king was afraid of competition, so he killed all the infant babies. Seriously. That's what they said.

So, everyone hated the shepards because their news made the king kill everyone. When this guy, called Anom because he has no name (I'm assuming short for anonymous), comes and shows this blanket that he was born with everyone gets really mad and tells him to get the hell out. Because the blanket talks about Jesus, whose name was responsible for all the babies getting killed.

So then he goes to see the shepards. They tell him the full story. The sheperd knew his dad so yada yada many stories about that. He finally finds out his name. It's Steven. (Guess he wasn't Jesus after all.) Then he's about to leave town having filled his mission, but he gets word that Jesus is in town performing miracles. So he goes back to the sheperd. Jesus comes, they're all amazed, wanna hear his words of wisdom, yada yada. That's the point at which I stopped listening.

I can't figure out if the story would have made more or less sense if I was better acquainted with the actual Christmas story, Bible, etc. It took place in Israel though. Yay Israel. Seems weird to me that all the Christmas stuff took place in a Jewish state. But whatever. I'm really not religious at all.

In fact, since I hate religion and Christmas so much, I can't figure out why I listened to that for an hour. When I had other things I really wanted to be doing. It destroyed my concentration. It was the first time in two days I felt able to get things done. I was about to do so. But then that came on and out the window went my concentration.

In fact, it put me in a state of sensory overload. Apparently, that's not hard to do these days. I think I am suffering from a combination of sensory overload and sensory deprivation. You might think those are contradictory, and opposites, but when you think about it, not really. If you read about the theory of sensory integration, you know that people need the exact right amount of stimulation to thrive and be able to function. People with sensory problems either are too sensitive to stimuli and need less, or too undersensitive and don't get enough. But the two are not mutually exclusive. Everyone needs the right *kind* of stimuli to be able to function. Some examples of stimuli that are good for most people are: talking to another human being, interacting with another human being, various physical movements or exercise, visual stimuli as in not seeing the same four walls every minute of every day, gustatory stimuli (taste, eating); intellectual stimuli; and all other kinds that can be felt through the five senses.

Everyone is different in how much is enough and optimal. But I think when you live alone, don't talk to people very much, can't go hardly anywhere, have a very limited diet, and do pretty much the same one or two activities every day, you are losing brain cells and connections, unfortunately. Your brain is losing the ability to do a wider amount of activity and handle and process a larger amount of activity or stimuli that it once did. And you are more apt to feel "turned off," or brain dead, or just plain blah. Because you're not getting enough stimuli.

At the same time, you can be very over-responsive to the stimuli you do have: music, smells, the feel of clothing, even the thoughts in your head. If you go out, you can easily be overstimulated by people, conversation, cars wooshing around you, the smell of exhaust, smells in the environment, multitasking, and yes, the thoughts in your head.

So I'm not really sure where I'm going with this. Except to say that it appears that having too little stimuli not only leaves you feeling far less than your best and somewhat non-functional at times, but it also makes you far, far more reactive to stimuli when you do get it. And I think that's a really bad combination. Hmm. I can't say this would be true for everyone. But I think it would be. Because while most autistic people like to be alone a good part of the time, and to control their environment and not have too much sensory stimulation, there is a difference between being "alone" and in a calm environment and being able to relax and be happy because you have the optimal amount of stimulation, and between having a calm environment but still feeling blah because you don't have enough stimulation. And I think anyone who got far less than their ideal amount of stimulation would eventually lose some of their ability to deal with more.
It's like pruning brain cells or something. You have to use them, or you'll lose them. Theoretically, you could probably get them back and retrain the brain cells, but it would probably be hard and distressing.

I can't tell if it's that theory or a chemical reaction or something else that is making me feel so non functional and completely brain fogged and out of it most of the time. But it is an extremely frustrating feeling.

Back to our Christmas story as it is relevant. So, as I was listening to this crazy overly religious radio story, my mind was reacting to the emotion and tone of the narrator's voices, and wanting more. It wanted the emotional connection of listening to nuanced human voices. So I listened.
(I do think that is why movies used to overwhelm me so much. Before the physical problems of movie watching started. The actors were too nuanced; too much sensory and emotional information; between that and the music, it was an emotional roller coaster.)

Then I thought to myself, well Gosh, I haven't watched a movie in so long, maybe if I lie down I can get into this story and be able to relax for once, and it will be like watching a movie, even if it is about Christmas. So I debated it for a few minutes and decided to try. But I was overwhelmed when I lied down and listened to it. Who knew you could get sensory overload from lying in a bed listening to the radio? It is so hard to explain. But I couldn't relax. The voices on the radio overwhelmed me. The music, the nuances of the voices, trying to follow the words and the story, it was too much. Perhaps it is harder to process information when in a less alert state such as being prone. Sometimes I swear I have an overload just sitting in an empty quiet room. Perhaps it is my thoughts and feelings, my worries, and my sensory interpretation of say, the clothes on my skin, the way the air feels and smells, and so on. But all I can say is, damn, sensory integration problems are a real challenge, to put it mildly, when you can feel overwhelmed in an empty room. I am beginning to hate it.

So, I listened for an hour, giving it a try, thinking, hey, at least I'm doing something different than being on the computer. I tried to go back on the computer when I got up. I had two important things I wanted to do. But I couldn't. I had lost all focus and concentration, and the brain fog had taken over again. I was so frustrated. I had some ideas for writing that I have wanted to follow up on, but I couldn't. The hours when I am functional enough to do anything seem way too few and far between, and my worrying about how and when I'm going to be functional enough to do anything sometimes seems out of control. Even though I use every mental strategy in my disposal to control them, sometimes it's not enough when you really don't have anything else to focus on.

I want to get things done so I will feel meaningful and useful and productive. So I will feel some kind of worth. But then I think to myself, you know, how long again until my problems overtake me? How long until I have to give up the ploy that my life is you know worth something?
Why try so hard. It's just so frustrating to have so many problems that affect every single area of your life almost every single minute of the day. You try and try to just overcome it and not think about the things that bother you and not be overwhelmed and be productive anyway. So that you can you know be a not miserable person and try to find some value in your life and keep living life even though you don't really want to. Because one really has no choice; one has to live the life they have; opting out is not an option. But is just so hard, and so frustrating. Especially when things go wrong. I have found I have a very low stress tolerance for anything going wrong. If I prepare for it, of course, I can usually handle it; (hence the success of "social stories" used in autism); I can handle quite a lot, it seems, given adequate time to prepare for it. But it's the things that strike you out of the blue that really put you in a million pieces until you can figure out how to reassemble them again.

So I say in closing then that the lack of any meaningful stimulation is getting to me and perhaps all the negative stimulation of my problems is getting a bit much. I sincerely hope I can find some kind of positive stimulation to distract from problems soon, which could only come in the form of someone visiting me and opening my world a little so I can get beyond the confines of Main Street. There are several MCS people who have said they want to visit me and will try to visit me, but in two months it has not yet happened. I can only hope it will soon. I can't imagine how much I will appreciate being in a car again and seeing scenery that is not downtown Liberty again. Not to mention communication, conversation, and food that hopefully tastes good. If, of course, I am not too overwhelmed by such things to enjoy them, which I hope I will not be.

One person told me she might be able to visit after January 4. One person has told me she would visit for six weeks now. She "might" over break. Another said they would come this weekend but with no details planned or further email to communicate, I doubt it. One is most likely going to come January 20 when she drops her daughter off at school, but that is a long time away.

Oh, and there's another potential opportunity that I met recently, but she keeps saying she will call me and hasn't yet. I mean, I know it's the holidays, people are busy, I don't blame her. But I will be really happy if she does, and if we get along. And I am finding it hard to be patient. And would like something to look forward to. How hard it is to be motivated to do anything and to have a positive attitude and overcome challenges when you don't have anything to look forward to!

Especially since I seem to not be able to eat any of the food I used to enjoy without adverse reactions, when, of course, I can even get said food, finding something I enjoy is becoming quite a bit more difficult.

I do of course take walks every day, and the stimulation and excercise is usually invigorating, and at least temporarily puts me into a much better mental state, cognitively and emotionally. I wouldn't be able to survive this pseudo-imprisonment (yes, I know, it's a chemically safe place, mostly, and I am thankful for that, but it doesn't make not having a life all that much easier) if I didn't take walks every day. Even when it's raining or snowing or sleeting or 10 degrees or whatever. I have gone out for at least 10-15 minutes every day (on the worst of days), and usually more like 30 or 40 if the temperature is closer to 30. And I do go to the natural food store, so I have somewhere to go at least, it's a lot better than nothing, but , there is obviously not a lot to do there, and it would just be nice to have something else. And of course they are closed Thursday through Sunday for Xmas, so, the lack of stimulation will be staggering.

Now excuse me while I try to solve half a dozen problems before I go to sleep. At least I'll probably get up late enough that the Xmas music SHOULD be over by then. By 6 at the latest I am sure. What a relief that will be. And if I'm really lucky hopefully I will be able to get the stuff I was going to do tonight done tomorrow. Ya know, if I've managed to keep my sanity that long.
I did start it at least, before that show came on. And writing this did make me feel slightly better.

I hate Christmas.

Kate

Snow, Snow and More Snow

Skiing to work in the Midwest


Digging out in Portland, Maine

It seems like the whole country is getting pummeled with snow from coast to coast. This is one of the few times I am glad I am not in Maine. They have gotten at least a foot of snow or more in the last storm, along with up to 50 mph winds and single digit temperatures. The town of Eustis, Maine, a small town in western Maine, got THREE AND A HALF FEET. Woah. I tried valiantly to find decent pictures of it, but failed. Portland broke a record with 14 inches. I don't think 14 inches sounds like a record; I could have sworn we got more when I was a kid, but who knows.

All of Seattle has been shut down, as well as Portland, Oregon and most of New England. We only got about maybe 6 inches on Friday and 4 on Sunday; not that much here. Glad for that.

Snow, snow, go away, come back another day! (Or don't.)

Kudos to 102.1, Paper Angels

Two weeks ago or so I sent 102.1 a VERY long email praising their station. Yea, I couldn't restrain myself. :) At the end of this very long email I told them they had the most tasteful Xmas music selection I had ever heard, but the one thing that would make it perfect was for them to play Paper Angels by Jimmy Wayne, a heart-tugging wonderfully sentimental song that came out maybe 3-4 yrs ago and was hardly played at all. I sent them the video for it in my email.

I didn't hear back from them, not that I really expected to but it would have been nice, and didn't hear the song. Until now. I was just looking up people on Facebook when I heard the opening notes and immediately knew what it was. Love that feeling. Wasn't the studio version, though. It had a live, off feel to it. What do you want to bet they played it off the You Tube video I sent them!!

I could google the video to check but I was on my way to doing something useful, lol.

Kudos to them, now I have to email them to thank them. Maybe they'll respond to a shorter email?

Funny thing is they had a live show earlier tonight, classic country, and I called, and since they were playing Xmas music I was going to request this (but they said no requests). Turns out I didn't have to; it must have been a psychic request or something.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lAgP6JsDPE

Watch it, it's the most beautiful song you'll hear this holiday season.

Remember listening to this on WPOC, WFRE, WMZQ....I think WMZQ had it on for like ten days in a row on their Country Challenge or whatever it was, and I kept going to weird places in Hoffeburger to try to get reception to it. I loved this song when it came out. Now my holiday season is complete: "Grandma," So this is XMas, Christmas Shoes, AND Paper Angels.
Plus one Hanukkah song on Top Shelf.

After every day-after-Thanksgiving sale the malls just ain't complete
Without a bunch of decorations and a paper angel tree
There's artificial tree limbs
Saying what she'd love to have and what to buy for him

Well I hope Maggie likes her new winter clothes and her buggy with a baby doll
And maybe Tom'll smile in his new Nike shoes when he shoots that basketball
I can't help but wishing that I could do more
But not just while I'm shopping in the department store

Paper angels you're in my thoughts and prayers
No matter where you are right now remember God's right there
He's asking all of us to help take care
Of his paper angels everywhere

Going through the mail almost every afternoon I see a Mom and Dad's worst dream
There on the back of a money-saving ad to get my carpet cleaned
Height, weight, hair, eyes, date missin, and DOB
A child's name, picture, and the words 'have you seen me?'

Paper angels you're in my thoughts and prayers
No matter where you are right now remember God's right there
He's asking all of us to help take care
Of his paper angels everywhere

His documented bruises fill a folder in a file
She's a second grade self-portrait drawn without a smile
And every town is littered with this kind of debris
We've got to stop this madness and it's up to you and me

Paper angels you're in my thoughts and prayers
No matter where you are right now remember God's right there
He's asking all of us to help take care
Of his paper angels everywhere

Happy Hanukkah, Drink Your Gin and Tonneka

All right, I thought I'd write a post about the snow. Or something.

Right now I am talking to someone about how call letters make better imaging than stupid radio names. And listening to annoying Xmas music on the radio. That is strangely not as annoying as I thought it would be. And tonight I was able to send out Hanukkah greetings on the radio; haha New York accent when they answered, how come everyone else in this town doesn't have what I would call a New York accent, but both radio stations I've called, they have? It doesn't come out when they're on the air, but it hits you over the head when you call them on the phone. It's like they're speaking a different language or something. It's so....New York, lol. Perhaps all radio DJs here come from the city? Who knows.

Anyway, they said they wanted to play me a Hanukkah country song but they didn't know of any. I have to admit I was hard pressed to suggest one. It would have been easier if it was an oldies station. (PSS, VOS!) I should call them. If they would ever answer. See if I could get them to play Peter Paul and Mary's "Light One Candle" on the radio.

Top Shelf Oldies did play me a Hanukkah song last night, actually. Don't know what but it kept repeating something about the eight days of lights so figured it was related.

SUCCESS! I have found a Hanukkah country song. And thank God I got to turn it off. Wow, her voice hurts my ears. Somehow I've never been so fond of yodeling. Just not my thing.
But you have to give her points for creativity. A country singer singing about being a country girl at heart except for "just one thing" she likes that MAZEL TONK. Ya know, like honky tonk except with a Mazel in front of her. I think it's the new greeting for people in hick towns: "Mazel Tonk!"

See for yourself:
http://www.myspace.com/brigidkaelin
Scroll down to second player and click on Blue Dreidel or Mazel Tonk.

Or how about an intepretation of Woody Guthrie Hanukkah songs?
http://www.amazon.com/Woody-Guthries-Happy-Joyous-Hanukkah/dp/B000H30BS6

Okay, I give up! There is no such thing as a good Hanukkah song. I think I have to admit it. Why can't there be? Oh yeah. No (or almost no) Jewish country singers.

Sigh.

****

Okay, we now return you to your originally scheduled programming. Specifically ,snow. Yes. We got about six inches on Friday and maybe three or four inches today. Not sure cus it was plowed when I got up, but wasn't Friday. The front yard had six inches of fresh snow when I went out for my walk on Friday. So, finally seeing the need for boots, I went to try out the pair A had given me when she told me I would "absolutely, without question" need boots and I said I wouldn't because they plow. I only wear boots in fresh unplowed snow. Well, surprisingly, to my amazement, the boots were actually comfortable. They are the first comfortable boots I have worn in my entire life. I usually do not wear boots because it just plain hurts too much to wear them. I always had the stiff plastic kind that your foot can't move around in. These are, I think, leather, and just like a slipper, they're so comfortable. I have never been able to move around in and walk in snow so easily in my life! I have never been able to enjoy walking in snow. Those six inches of snow were nothing with my new SuperBoots.

The sounds of the season are all around us. No, not the Xmas music, although that is too.
The sound of plows in the middle of the night or late evening (never, it seems, in the daytime when people would most want them); the sound of children playing and yelling with excitement; the sound of shoveling. Today when I got up I saw two cute little kids sledding in our front yard. Apparently the snowbanks were high enough for them to do so. Actually , they weren't that high, as I saw when I went for my walk, but high enough to sled on on, I guess.

Snow I can take, cold temperatures even, but I really hate this wind.

Happy Hanukkah to all. Light a virtual menorah for me.

Kate

Seen and Heard in New York

All right, it's been a few days since my last entry, so this means I have to find something to write about. Hmm. That will be interesting to do.

We are supposed to get uber snow tomorrow and I hope we don't.

Here are some funny things seen and heard lately:

1. I got my birth control pills from the pharmacy on Tuesday. When I opened then, I noticed a very bizarre bright orange warning label. It said, in big, bold letters, "DO NOT SMOKE."
I had to laugh. That's a new one. Who in the world would ever try to smoke birth control pills?? Is that even possible? Is it common enough to merit a warning label? Sheesh!

Well, damn. That doesn't sound nearly as funny after I googled it. It turns out you're not supposed to smoke cigarettes if you take birth control. (I don't.) I would have never made that connection in a million years, though. Couldn't they have made the warning label a little more informative? As in "DO NOT SMOKE TOBACCO?" Otherwise I bet a lot of other people won't make the connection either. Unless specifically told by a doctor or something.

2. The morning show DJ said "Oy." Only in New York or other similarly Jewish areas, I am sure, would you ever hear a DJ on the radio say "Oy." Oy, did it bring a smile to my face! Ha . The morning show is usually boring as hell, they never have anything remotely interesting to say and their delivery is horrible. But he was going through some long list of community events and then at the end of one, I forget the context, he said, with feeling and inflection, a long drawn out "Oyy!" Yeah. I like those little things that remind me of where I am. Idiosynchracies.

I wish they would stop talking about the impending storm on the radio, speaking of the radio. It's getting old already.

3. Hanukkah display in the window of the art gallery. Lots of tasteful blues and whites on pottery on other items. I like that they have a Hanukkah display here, that it is a Jewish enough place to do so. Not something you would be likely to see in Portland.

4. Notes on people watching at the health food store: On Monday, when I was there for approximately two hours after my appt, I saw three people come in, each very unique in their own way. The first was an English woman with a British accent. The new woman who has been working in the office part time asked her if she was Australian. The woman replied "You were close, only about 30,000 miles (or however much it was) away." She did have a nice accent.

The second person was the first black person I have yet seen in six weeks at the health food store! Score one for breaking stereotypes, lol. He was a middle aged, well spoken gentleman.

The third person was a woman and cute two little girls and baby son. The girls were animated and running all over the store. She said she had never given them sugar before, so they never
wanted it; they were actually begging her for health food. Not a bad tactic when they're young, I guess, if you can do it.

Then today, I wondered if I might see someone else interesting in there to complete this entry that I was planning to write. And lo and behold, after I had been there for about half an hour and was in the back talking to J, who should come in? A Hassidic Jew! Ha! My first Hassidic Jew! I saw him out of the corner of my eye come in and I was like "Oh my gosh." Like out of a movie or something. He was very large/chubby/lots of stomach mass, and was dressed very formally in all black. He had a huge yamulke (how do you spell that? yamaka is how it's pronounced) on his head, much bigger and slightly differently shaped than the ones I've seen, I think; and a HUGE grey beard that went all the way down to his chest and could have fit several birds in it if it was used for a nest. :) Biggest beard I've ever seen. There is a HJ community in the next town over, and I've heard there are a lot here in the summer.

Okay, so I just googled Hassidic Jews and came up with the following interesting items:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_Heights_Riot
There was a fatal riot in Crown Heights, NYC in 1991; there were a lot of tensions between Hassidic Jews and black people. A Jewish person accidentally ran over a black child, and as he was trying to get out of the car to help the child, angry black people lunged for him and tried to kill him. An ambulance came for him before the child, which only made people madder, and angry violent riots against Jewish people continued for days. Wow! I didn't know something like that still happened in modern time. Sobering. However, it says that relations between the two groups greatly improved after this incident.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/08/nyregion/08principal.html?_r=4&th&emc=th&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
and

http://allsteim.wordpress.com/2008/02/10/when-a-hasidic-jew-becomes-the-principal-of-a-latino-populated-school-with-a-history-of-violence/

All the more relevant for the above two articles I found about a Hassidic Jewish man brought into be the principal of a failing, violent, falling apart, mostly Hispanic and black Bronx public high school, and succeeded beyond anyone's wildest expectations where five previous principals had failed. Very inspiring article.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/09122008/news/regionalnews/hasid_lust_cause_128750.htm

Finally, we have an article about Hassidic Jews complaining that woman who ride bikes through their town/neighborhood are dressed too skimpily and this offends their sensibilities.

I also found some Yahoo Sullivan county recycling (giving away free stuff) and a Liberty Bike Trail website (there's a bike trail?? Could someone have told me this, I don't know, six weeks ago?) while I was searching for information about Loch Sheldrake, which is the Hassidic Jewish community near us.

Behold the power of Google. You never know where it will take you.

And that is the news for today.

Kate