Friday, January 31, 2003

Some cutesy fellow for Friday's delight

Boy, I've found this sweet little guy in my mail box, sent in from few people along the last few days, and he's just too adorable to be left in the dark, isn't he? *s*... If you know who made it, please let me know. Credit is sure due here *s*...

Lorien said it @ 03:30 PM MT

Wednesday, January 29, 2003

The best way to deal with the ordeal

My friend Mary Jane sends me all kinds of nice things on E-mail. The next few sentences just came in from her :

It's funny, yea... but so true! Having Alzheimer's disease in the family, both Mary Jane and myself know that sometimes the best way to deal with this ordeal is to smile about it... to take it easy. God knows Alzheimer's patients do lots of "funny" things. Sometimes my mom tells me about stuff that dad did, and she says she couldn't stop laughing... because it was a funny situation...

...We sure know it's the only way to deal with this ordeal... and stay sane...

Lorien said it @ 03:23 PM MT

Monday, January 27, 2003

Elections

Israel's election process will start in just few hours. For the first time, I feel glad I'm not there to vote. From talking to my mom and bro, I know it's hard for them - and for many other Israelis - to decide which party to vote to. Mom finally decided to vote for the same party she always voted before - the labor party. Bro is not sure if he's going to vote at all. "What for?" he says. "It's not going to change anything in the country. I don't believe any candidate is going to change something for the better in Israel".

It's a very frustrating situation indeed, and I'm glad I'm not part of it at this time.

So tomorrow, on January 28, Israel is going to elect yet another government. But the question if that is going to be the best government for the future of Israel is yet to be seen...

Lorien said it @ 06:09 PM MT

Saturday, January 25, 2003

What is a man

I know now...

More than ever before...

Joe is my rescue disk.

Without him, it was so easy to let myself crash every now and then...

That's it.

Lorien said it @ 02:19 PM MT

Friday, January 24, 2003

I'm not around much

lately, since Joe took the week off... I'm trying to catch up on my daily reads, but am far behind on commenting. Sorry guys... Will try to catch up as soon as Joe goes back to work on Tuesday.

On a happier note... We went to the doctor yesterday to start our yearly checkup. After checking my blood pressure, and finding it standing on 120/80, my doctor praised my battle with the situation, and said I might be able to go without any pills in the future, if I continue being active and keep my weight on a normal level. I was stunned!!!... in a good way *s*. He'd let me understand in the past that I have to take pills till the end of time... And now, after seeing that my efforts are getting me some good results, he thinks my blood pressure might have been caused by mental stress.

He's probably right. I sure am a happy camper at this time. My goal to get rid of the chemicals is close to be achieved now than it ever was!

Jacz... If by any chance you're reading this... YOU WERE SO RIGHT!!! *s*...

Lorien said it @ 09:56 PM MT

Thursday, January 23, 2003

Sometimes, giving it up is the right thing to do

Faith wrote:

You know, Faith... It worked for me... and how! There was a time in my life I was sure I will never find the man I'd like to spend my life with... I've accepted the fact I'll live my life alone. I just couldn't go on through this endless search and heart breaking dates again... And then, I've turned inside, and examined all the "why's" and "how's" and "what's"... and I've come to know the real me much better. It took me 3.5 years and lots of dinero... and it was worth it, because...

There was Joe... and against all odds, I've found the one living 10,600 km away from me to be the one that was meant to be my other half.

So who knows? Maybe the right thing to do is to let the search go for a while... It worked for me... It might work for you too *s*.

Lorien said it @ 13:55 PM MT

If you need me, I am here

I wanna share an E-mail with you. Rob asked me to add him to my Friends of Israel list, and also agreed to put his E-mail here. E-mails like this strengthened me, and I hope it'll do the same to all of those who carry Israel in their hearts:

Thanks so much, Rob. Bless you!

Lorien said it @ 12:41 PM MT

Tuesday, January 21, 2003

BDay

Joe celebrates his birthday today. It was close to midnight when I suggested a late night treat at Tim Horton's... I didn't think he'll agree because we were all warm and cozy after shower... almost ready for bed. He didn't say "No"... So yes, I committed a crime and had a cherry pie, and Joe put his teeth into a black forest cake. We'll work it out tomorrow in the gym... and meanwhile... Happy birthday, sweetie *s*.

Lorien said it @ 01:20 AM MT

Sunday, January 19, 2003

Anti war petitions

Lately I find those anti war petitions in my mailbox. Friends are sending those in... not strangers. Let me take this opportunity to firmly declare: I'm not going to sign any anti war petition, so don't bother sending them in!

I'm not a warmonger, as it might seem from my declaration. It's far from my nature to choose the way of war. If you know me some, you know I was born in Israel in 1959. That means I've lived through 3 wars and many tensed periods, and the memories I'm holding from those times are still vividly hard and painful in my mind.

BUT... with that being said...

When a megalomaniac poisonous totally insane snake raises its head even one cm above the ground - Its head has to be chopped immediately before it gets the opportunity to bite. No use to turn and run, because this time this adaptive crazed snake is going to spit mass destruction poison that can get far... because it can.

And then - it'll be too late for so many... maybe for us all (?!).

Lorien said it @ 12:22 PM MT

Saturday, January 18, 2003

Tu Bi'Shvat is here, holiday of trees

Israelis and Jews celebrate Tu Bi'Shvat today. Tu Bi'Shvat = the 15th day of the Jewish month of Shvat in Hebrew. This holiday is also known as the new year of trees and the birthday of trees.

In Israel, this time of the year is somewhat like early spring. The rain comes and goes, the weather gets warm, and some trees begin to bloom. Trees - among other things - signify growth, renewal, and the continuity of life no matter what, and this holiday celebrates all that.

One of the customs of Tu Bi'Shvat is to plant a tree. Another one (which is very popular among Jews outside Israel as well) is to eat dried fruit, and by this remember the fruit of the land of Israel, and the connection to the land.

So, happy Tu Bi'Shvat to those who celebrate! I'm going to eat some dried apricot... Yummy!!! ;-))

Lorien said it @ 12:46 AM MT

Friday, January 17, 2003

"There's a moon

over Bourbon St. tonight..."... Magical scenery outside the door... All you have to do is just open it, take few steps forward, look up to the sky... and breath the beauty... Amazing!!!

Lorien said it @ 10:16 PM MT

Thursday, January 16, 2003

First Israeli astronaut is going to space

Israel's first astronaut, Colonel Ilan Ramon, is now on his way to space on board space shuttle Columbia. Yeap, I feel very proud this morning!

Lorien said it @ 08:54 AM MT

Wednesday, January 15, 2003

Promises promises...

Going back to the gym also brought back some nostalgic ruminations yesterday. If you read my personal pages, you know Joe and I met on May 1998 for the first time, when I traveled to Canada to visit an old friend. Few days later I've told him I didn't like his mustache. Yeap, he had one back then, a white one, and I thought it made him look much older, and besides... I've never liked men with mustaches. Don't know why... that's how it is *s*...

Joe said he had his mustache for many years, and it won't be easy to part from it. "And, if I promise you to take it off, you should promise me to change something in you as well... anything you choose...", he said.

I took the challenge, and promised him I'd do my best to lose weight, since that was my biggest problem at the time (and it seems, for ever). He didn't ask me to do that... He just said that if I felt I should do that for myself, and myself alone - I should go ahead and do it...

Actually I didn't believe he'll shave his mustache. Sure, we've been good online friends, but that was a drastic change, and I didn't believe for a sec he'll do it just because I asked... That's why the next morning I didn't notice anything for a few minutes , and when I did... "Oh my god. You shaved it!!!"... The surprise was complete!!! He promised = He kept it!

And today this memory came up, and we both laughed about the fact it took me almost 5 years to keep my promise *s*...

And on a similar subject... Liposuction can be very very dangerous!!! Read if you think to do it... read and tell a friend who wanna do it. (Link via Negative Subspace).

Lorien said it @ 12:09 PM MT

Monday, January 13, 2003

Starting all over again

Today is our first day back to the gym. For now, we purchased a one month membership to the leisure center here in our neighborhood, but I'm sure we'll prolong it later.

Our first workout was a piece of cake, actually a real pleasure! *s*. I've asked the instructor for the best exercises to strengthen my back muscles, and she showed me 3 machines that do that. It felt good, and I'm going to do those every day. Other than that we used the bikes and the tread mill for 45 minutes, and that wasn't too hard.

Today is also the first day I'm taking a new pill for my high blood pressure. Since my blood pressure went a bit too low lately, my doctor agreed to change the old chemicals I was taking with a new pill which is milder, more natural. All we have to do now is wait and see if it does the work it supposed to do. I sure hope it'll work... Hate to take in chemicals!!! And since I lost lots of weight and was active - it might work! We'll see *s*...

So that's a kind of a resolution for the new year, I suppose. I'm giving myself 8 months to lose the last 17 kg (38 pounds) I need to lose, but more important - be healthy and strong. Time (and me) will tell how I'm doing *s*...

Lorien said it @ 12:25 PM MT

Saturday, January 11, 2003

Love is in the air...

While walking around at Walmart, one can't be mistaken. Valentine's Day is just around the corner... Oh well, that's a bit of a long corner, since there's a month to go... but hey, those money makers wanna fill their pockets with as much as they can grab from us *s*...

Lorien said it @ 10:43 AM MT

Friday, January 10, 2003

Muslim stops synagogue torching

Melissa Grace from the Daily news tells about Syed Ali (35, a Muslim Pakistani immigrant who works as a gas station attendant), who saved a Brooklyn synagogue yesterday from being torched by Sead Jakup, another Muslim man. (Link via Kesher Talk).

Ok, so it sure sounds like a hate crime, right? "Let's burn those Jews' worship place" kind of crime. Otherwise, why burn a synagogue? But no, Jakup's relatives sure don't think so:

Yea... Right. So inside the mind of this kuku guy, it works like this: "I was fired! I'm very very angry! Let's burn a synagogue to get a relief!".

Charles from LGF says about all of this:

Hmm indeed.

Lorien said it @ 11:15 AM MT

Thursday, January 9, 2003

Santa, anyone?

How I wish I knew more about this before Christmas!

		My online friend Brenda makes these adorable Santa dolls from scratch. As she tells me, she makes the faces, hands and feet out of clay. Each one is hand molded so there are never two that turn out the same. She also makes most of the clothes and sometimes the shoes. Other times she uses little sneakers and boots that she is constantly looking for. If she stays at it she can usually finish one in two days.
		Brenda says lots of steps are involved as she also cuts out and finishes the bases. Brenda doesn't have her own domain yet, so I'd like to help her advertise! If you like her Santa dolls and wanna own one, her. She'll be happy to send you more pics of her dolls so you can choose the one you like best.

Lorien said it @ 03:25 PM MT

Wednesday, January 8, 2003

Digital photography madness

This new toy of ours, the Olympus DC is a very dangerous addictive tool *s*. All of a sudden, sharing experiences with others has become so available and immediate, it's scary...

So here I am sitting here, surfing the net, letting Google take me places. Since some of you have DC and love to click it as we do, here are some links I've just visited:

Digital Creativity UK - Digital Photography Galleries

Digital Photography Review - Reviews Samples Galleries

Foto-Works, creative digital images from Ian Jebbett

Digital Photography by Thomas Farnow

Digital Focus - Galleries from Digital Focus Studios

And of course, I bet most of you know some famous guys from the blogosphere who love to click their DCs a lot. Guys such as Noah Grey, Jon Sullivan and The Internet Brothers... Boy, they're doing such a great job with their cameras... Photos to die for! *s*...

When I grow up, I want to be able to take photos like Noah Grey's!!! For now, this is my first digital photo... please don't laugh... I clicked the DC myself *s*...

Lorien said it @ 07:43 PM MT

Monday, January 6, 2003

A day in life

It was only yesterday... Sunday, January 5th, 08:30 AM my time, 17:30 PM Israel time. As usual, I was talking to mom and bro, sharing some new photos we took the night before with them. All of a sudden, bro goes: "Oh no!". "What? what's wrong?" I ask. "There was a double explosion in Tel-Aviv", he replies with a heavy voice. "Wait, I'm going to watch TV"...

I'm waiting for a few... Meanwhile, I'm reading the Israeli "Ma'ariv" newspaper online. Two explosions, many injuries... They don't know much yet, since it happened only 20 minutes ago...

Bro comes back and gives me few details. Two homicidal maniacs just blew themselves up in the old bus station of Tel-Aviv area. Number of dead is not clear... it goes up by the minute... Same for number of injured...

Bro and mom wanted to watch TV, so we said good-bye and parted. I'm moving to the living room, watching TV... Not too much comes in, but the picture starts to clear. There were two massive explosions... It doesn't look good at all... I feel my brain is starting to dance the "Stress now and be angry/very angry" dance...

("Oh hell!!! Not again!!! I have to get out of here! I have to turn the TV off! What shell I do?...").

"Joe, would you like to go out to the Royal Inn and use the gift certificate Barry gave us for Christmas?" I shout all across the 2 floors.

("He'd better say "yes", because I have to go out! Now! Lose myself to some chewing and swallowing... Damnit!... I have to stop thinking... otherwise I'll go crazy!!!").

A clear "yes" came back, so we got dressed and went out for a Sunday brunch at the Royal Inn. I tell you... It's really fabulous, this brunch!!! By the time we finished chewing, we were so stuffed we could hardly breath!

("The old way in the world to try to calm your nerves... Eating... Chew and swallow... Chew and swallow, girl!... Bahhh... I wish it worked :-(").

Finishing brunch and feeling so heavy required some moving-around activity, so we drove to the Heritage Flea Market. I love this place to death. If I could, I'd live there in one of the rooms, with all the old/look old stuff that crammed full every inch of the place.

Every piece in the flea market carries with it memories of real people from the past. Who were they? What kind of life did they have? Were they happy? Did they have love in their lives? ("How many Israelis?... How many foreigners? Can they identify them all? It was another inferno for sure... Hell, when will it stop... if ever...???").

Moving on to the Glenmore reservoir... We walk along the high banks of the lake. Lots of people out there... Walking, running, taking in some fresh air... Enjoying the beautiful mild winter day. Sunset time is close... We're waiting for it to go under the horizon...

The sun is almost gone, and we drive to a hill watching over downtown. The buildings' windows reflect the sunset lights... The sky is smeared with red, orange and yellow... The city comes up to its night life... ("It's painfully beautiful here... How I wish... Hush, thoughts... please...").

You know, these inner talks between me and myself are very tiring... Sometimes it seems as if I can't allow myself enjoying life, because all of the things that happen over there in Israel are still very much in my mind. It's like... "How can I be content and relaxed with all that happens there?". My mom always tells me: "Hey, silly. Enjoy your life and don't turn on the TV or read the newspapers... I wish I could do

Yea... I wish I could do that too, mom... I'm trying... Sometimes it works... sometimes it doesn't... What bothers me most is that I can choose...

but you...

can't...

Lorien said it @ 05:25 PM MT

Saturday, January 4, 2003

An interesting fact

My online friend Gloria from LA says: "According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, while both male and female reindeer grow antlers in the summer each year, male reindeer drop their antlers at the beginning of winter, usually late November to mid-December. Female reindeer retain their antlers till after they give
birth in the spring.

Therefore, according to EVERY historical rendition depicting Santa's reindeer, EVERY single one of them, from Rudolph to Blitzen, had to be a girl. We should've known. ONLY women would be able to drag a fat-ass man in a red velvet suit all around the world in one night and not get lost".

YEAP!!! ;-))

Lorien said it @ 09:57 AM MT

Thursday, January 2, 2003

New year's bits

... all indoor Christmas decorations are now resting comfortably in their boxes downstairs in the basement... It'll take time to get use to the everyday look of the place again...

... we worked in the basement yesterday. We went through Joe's old tools and other stuff, vacuumed mountains of dust, put stuff nicely on the shelves... It looks great now... The only bad thing is, Joe hurt his back in the process, and had to stay home today, and will need a rest for a few days...

... I had an urge to play today... Don't ask ;-))

Lorien said it @ 10:47 PM MT

Wednesday, January 1, 2003

First sunrise of 2003

Woke up to a gorgeous beautiful fire colors sky. What a perfect way to start the new year, hey? *s*... Have a nice day, everyone. May all your mornings be as beautiful as this one!

Lorien said it @ 09:46 AM MT

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