Elms in the Yard

noreply@blogger.com (Rahel) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:26:00 PDT

One Year

One year ago today, I had to say goodbye to my cat-friend of more than a decade, the Lady in Red.

Here is my first post about her.

On my lap, when she still lived in the park:

On the couch, getting a bellyrub (Lady loved bellyrubs):

A portrait:

Lady was special. I’m glad that we had the time together that we did, and I miss her.

noreply@blogger.com (Rahel) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 04:38:57 PDT

Peace At Last?

No, not among the humans in the region. Among Her Ladyship and Catschka.

They begin their dinners under the watchful eye of their human mom, my friend:

They pause to look at each other...

... and go back to eating, without incident.

All hail to the great peacemaker: food!

The Friday Ark. The Carnival of the Cats.

noreply@blogger.com (Rahel) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 04:08:53 PDT

The Three Weeks

It’s the seventeenth of Tammuz. The Three Weeks have begun.

noreply@blogger.com (Rahel) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 07:20:57 PDT

I’m Gonna Be on the Radio!

At 5:00 p.m. on Friday (Israel time), an interview with two members of Women of the Wall will be broadcast on an Israeli Net-based radio station, Essence of Life. Music from my CD, “Day of Rest,” will be played during the interview.

In order to hear the live broadcast, click on the large, rectangular magenta-colored button on the left side of the screen.

(Since I wasn’t at the interview, its contents will be as new to me as they will be to anyone else.)

noreply@blogger.com (Rahel) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 07:06:14 PDT

A First

I just sold my first photo!

Here it is:

Taken during Hanukkah several years ago, this photo shows the hanukkiyyah (menorah) at the Western Wall behind two dividers: the new one at the back, and the older one, perpendicular to the Kotel, that divides the prayer area into separate (and unequal) sides for men and women.

noreply@blogger.com (Rahel) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 06:57:25 PDT

A Cool Place to Rest

This photo reminds me of some lyrics from the musical The Fantasticks: “Plant a radish, get a radish.”

Gotta be careful brushing those cat hairs off my clothing. There’s no telling where they might end up, or what they might turn into....

noreply@blogger.com (Rahel) — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:27:50 PDT

The End of the Rainbow

(originally written last week)

I should be in bed. I had a performance today and I have another one tomorrow. But one of the songs I sing on stage in this current production is “Look to the Rainbow” from the musical Finian’s Rainbow. And whenever I sing it, I can’t help thinking about Dr. B.

Dr. B. was a physician in the town where I grew up. While he wasn't our family doctor, from what I heard later, he was good and caring. He was also an actor in his spare time, and a very talented one at that. When my sister and I were in grade school, my sister acted the part of a leprechaun in a production of Finian’s Rainbow in which Dr. B. appeared in a leading role. Later on, when I was in high school, I played the part of the timid Catholic nurse, Miss Flinn, in a production of One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest in which Dr. B. played McMurphy. There are hardly two more different roles in theater than Og the leprechaun and Randle Patrick McMurphy, but Dr. B. played them both superbly.

Something seems to have happened as Dr. B. got older. His obituary stated that he had been murdered.

I can’t know what Dr. B.’s life was like, what struggles he had, or what pushed him so close to the edge that last day. When I read the story of how he was murdered, I found myself wondering whether, having gotten into as much trouble as he had and lost so much, he had perhaps courted death, even unconsciously.

Today, when I sing “Look to the Rainbow,” I can’t help remembering Dr. B. as he was years ago, when I was a little girl: onstage as Og (one obituary even mentioned that performance, even so many years later), with his Irish accent and the little staging trick that he used so that he would be able to sing the reprise of “Something Sort of Grandish” from a written text, since he had trouble memorizing the lyrics.

I remember Dr. B. as he was then, and I hope that he is at peace at last.

noreply@blogger.com (Rahel) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:16:34 PDT

Busy, Busy, Busy

I feel like I’m meeting myself coming and going (with red-shift and blue-shift as appropriate). We’ve had two performances of Broadway Showstoppers so far, in Zikhron Ya’akov and in Ra’anana. Tomorrow we play on my home turf: Jerusalem! I can’t wait.

Yet, as busy as I am, I still would like to make time for some cat pictures:

Catschka does rest sometimes, as this rare photo attests. That is, she rests when she’s not busy tearing around the place, chasing Her Ladyship, being played with or cuddled, and so on....

The wise Catschka knows the importance of good hygiene and exercise. Here, she combines a bath with some kitten yoga:

Once more at her bath:

Nevertheless, she also knows how to have a good time. Here, she handily turns a paper bag into a chew-toy:

On my lap, receiving her due of kittyworship:

Even though I’ve posted all these pictures of Catschka the kitten, please don’t think that Her Ladyship is being neglected. She gets plenty of love and attention, and is slowly acclimating to the kitten’s presence in her home. (I should note that she came to her home years ago as a new kitten herself.)

The Friday Ark. The Carnival of the Cats.

noreply@blogger.com (Rahel) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 03:47:16 PDT

JPIX Is Up

The JPIX Carnival is up at Here in HP. Leora, thank you for a wonderful Carnival!

noreply@blogger.com (Rahel) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:54:54 PDT

Who’s Afraid of a Learning Curve?

When I told some friends of mine that I was now using Ubuntu instead of Windows, they warned me that it might not be easy. “There’s a learning curve,” they said.

“Learning curves used to scare me, but they don’t anymore,” I answered. “I got all my computer literacy over the past twenty years by just jumping in and doing it. I can handle learning curves just fine. They’re part of the job.”

I’ve already managed to solve quite a few problems in customizing my new computer. It hasn’t always been easy—or, to be more honest, it hasn’t always felt easy. For example, when I downloaded jUploadr (an open-source tool that uploads photographs to Flickr), I found that it doesn’t create its own launcher. I had to do it myself— and I had a problem. I couldn’t get the command line to work. And let me tell you, I felt so dumb! This is supposed to be a simple thing, right? So why couldn’t I do it? Finally, I right-clicked on the launcher for another program in the task bar, a launcher that the program itself had made, and took a good look at its command line. Oh, that was what I needed to do! OK, slight modification, copy and paste. Problem solved.

Then there was the fact that Picasa (2.7, for Linux) wasn’t sending photos through Thunderbird, my email client. A search for “Picasa not sending emails through Thunderbird on Linux” yielded quite a few results. Apparently, this was a known problem. A post on the Ubuntu forums provided a solution. Again, copy and paste, with slight changes to the command line. Another problem solved. Thank you, Ubuntu forum members!

All this is not to brag about what a great problem-solver I am. I know next to nothing about programming and could not have written these solutions to save my life. For me, it’s about being willing to try something new and learn as I go, and knowing that I’m not alone. There’s plenty of help out there, and lots of wonderful people who are willing to lend a hand.

So if you’re thinking of trying Ubuntu, I’m here to tell you that there’s nothing to worry about. Sure, there’s a learning curve. So what? Don’t most things in life come with learning curves? Come on, jump in. The water’s fine.

noreply@blogger.com (Rahel) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:11:21 PDT

This ’n’ That

First of all: rehearsals! Lots of ’em. For what, you may ask?

For this! We open in Zikhron Yaakov on Monday. (Warning: link contains sound clip)

The kitten is doing fine, though I haven’t seen her in a few days. But Her Ladyship is still upset. I guess that things will improve with time.

Finally, check out this article by Drs. Mark Clarfield and Ora Paltiel on the folly of taxing fruits and vegetables in Israel. Right on!

noreply@blogger.com (Rahel) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 06:31:50 PDT

Where to Find Them

The Friday Ark is up at The Modulator.

The next Carnival of the Cats will be at CatSynth on Sunday.

noreply@blogger.com (Rahel) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 08:10:17 PDT

A New Arrival

My friend, the human mom of Her Ladyship and the late Missy, who passed away suddenly last March, brought a new kitten home this morning. Until she gets her official name, I am calling her Little Babe.

Her Ladyship sniffs out the new arrival:

She gets a good look...

And now we can see her, too. Hello, Little Babe. Welcome to your new home.

UPDATE: The kitten has been named! Her name in Israel shall be Catschka, and may she live a life of blessing, companionship and good deeds.

noreply@blogger.com (Rahel) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 15:23:50 PDT

One of the Best How-Tos I’ve Ever Seen

is here. (Click on the image for a full-size version, and enjoy.)

In my opinion, you don’t even have to like cats to appreciate it. It’s just delightfully well done.

noreply@blogger.com (Rahel) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 15:25:37 PDT

New Computer, New Operating System

Last week, after seven years of steady, reliable service, my computer finally went the way of all silicon. After a few hiccups that demonstrated its situation, it simply stopped working. It was time to get a new one whether I wanted to or not.

After consulting with D., my fantastic computer technician (who works here; I recommend the company highly), we decided that instead of putting the Windows 7 pre-release version on my new machine, we’d go with Ubuntu. Since I’d been wanting to try Ubuntu for a long time, I was quite pleased.

I still am. Indeed, D. said that out of the sixty-odd people for whom he’s installed Ubuntu over the years, none of them has asked to have it removed. So I guess I have joined the ranks of satisfied Ubuntu users.

I’ve been learning a lot through trial and error—mostly error. But that’s how I’ve acquired almost every computer-related skill I’ve learned since I graduated college, just when personal computers were starting to become popular. I remember the first Macs that required startup discs, and back when 100K was a large amount of storage space. And I remember how, when I worked in secretarial jobs for a temp firm, I picked up programs like Einstein, WordPerfect, WordMill, QText and other similar ones on the job, because I had to.

And here’s the funny thing. Back then, I was a complete technophobe, a Luddite if there ever was one. I still have traces of that—I make my own soap and laundry soap, for example, and go with handmade, reusable items wherever possible.

Still, I cherish the computer skills that I have, and hope to increase them. (GIMP, here I come!)

Thank you, D. the Fantastic Computer Guy. Long live Ubuntu!

noreply@blogger.com (Rahel) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 08:40:38 PDT

Look Backward, Tuxxie

A tuxedo cat looks backward:

The Friday Ark. The Carnival of the Cats.

noreply@blogger.com (Rahel) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 14:26:30 PDT

Sometimes It Pays to Get Lost

... because you can get a good picture out of it.

(Then you can go back to being upset that you’re lost.)

noreply@blogger.com (Rahel) — Sun, 24 May 2009 14:21:00 PDT

Good News

First, Haveil Havalim is up at What War Zone???

Second, after nearly two weeks, my camera is back from the shop. Can someone please explain to me why it takes that much time to clean a bit of dust out of the sensor, especially when it only took a few days the last time? Also, can someone please explain why, only a day or two after I’d given in my camera for repairs, the lab called me with an offer to “upgrade” it (which I rejected; the so-called “upgrade” that they were offering is as old as mine, with pretty much the same features, plus I’d have had to pay an additional NIS 300 for it), but it still took almost two weeks to get my camera back?

noreply@blogger.com (Rahel) — Fri, 22 May 2009 07:29:09 PDT

Irresistible

When I visited my friend a while back, Her Ladyship was in the bedroom, dozing and looking irresistible. She woke up when I came in, and then gave me a look that seemed to say: All right, you woke me up. Now you must worship me.

So I did, petting her till she purred and then some.

Then I took her picture.

“Hey, you’re not done yet. Come back and pet me some more.”

The Friday Ark. The Carnival of the Cats.

noreply@blogger.com (Rahel) — Tue, 19 May 2009 15:03:32 PDT

A Very Special Harp: Yet Another “Only in Israel” Story

In this country, even an ordinary music rehearsal can turn out not to be ordinary at all.

Last week, I was rehearsing for a gig in a practice room at the music academy on Hebrew University’s Givat Ram campus. One of the two accompanists played the harp. (The other played the flute.) I noticed that of the three harps in the practice room, the harpist was playing the one that was the most visually interesting. Its sound post was beautifully carved, and it had intricate designs in gold paint. Its tone was rich and sweet.

After we had rehearsed for about an hour, the harpist gestured toward the harp she had been playing and asked me, “Do you know whose harp this was?”

“No,” I said.

“It belonged to Harpo Marx,” she said. “He donated it to the academy long ago.”

And indeed, here it is in his Wikipedia entry:

In his will, he donated his trademark harp to the nation of Israel.

I had seen Harpo Marx’s harp solos in Marx Brothers films when I was a child, and I remembered what a fantastic musician he was. And here I’d been singing to the accompaniment of his harp for a whole hour!

Two thoughts raced through my mind then. One was: I need to pick my jaw up off the floor. The other was: Of all the days for my camera to be in the shop!

Wow. Only in Israel.

noreply@blogger.com (Rahel) — Sun, 17 May 2009 12:44:38 PDT

Haveil Havalim #217

Haveil Havalim #217 is up. You can find it at Shiloh Musings.

noreply@blogger.com (Rahel) — Fri, 15 May 2009 06:54:33 PDT

Seen around Town

A fountain on a local campus:

The Gettysburg Address on a t-shirt:

A man works at one of the phone company’s new outdoor workstations. Note the shelf with the phone on the left and the shelf with the laptop on the right.

Three Israeli flags overlooking a building with blue shutters in downtown Jerusalem:

(The sign below the center flag reads “No parking. Vehicles will be towed.”)

noreply@blogger.com (Rahel) — Fri, 15 May 2009 06:43:32 PDT

All Curled Up and Ready to Snooze

I give you Sleeping Beauty, otherwise known as Her Ladyship:

The Friday Ark. The Carnival of the Cats.

noreply@blogger.com (Rahel) — Tue, 12 May 2009 03:05:23 PDT

The Ancient Boat: A Hundred-Word Story

“Poseidon, what a downpour!” Antigonos closed the door and hung his dripping cloak near the hearth. “The water level’s rising like you wouldn’t believe.”

“Don’t swear, dear,” Daphne said. “Thank the gods the drought is over.”

“You’re right,” he said, giving her a hug. “We lost the old boat, though.”

“The one that’s been in your family for generations? The one we courted in?”

“Yes. First it sank in the mud, and then the water rose. It’s gone, love.”

“I’m sorry our grandchildren will never see it,” Daphne sighed, “but let’s hope that the sea never sinks that low again.”

Read about the discovery of the “Jesus Boat” and its decade-long preservation effort here.

noreply@blogger.com (Rahel) — Mon, 11 May 2009 01:06:25 PDT

Grateful

When I saw the big red smear on my terrace window this morning, I thought that a bird had crashed into my window and died a grisly death on the terrace below. I gathered up some plastic bags to remove it, took a deep breath, opened the door, stepped out, and found... nothing.

I looked all around. Still nothing. Then I looked again at the red smear on the window and realized that up close, it didn’t look like blood at all—more like digested fruit. Smelled like it, too. Other smears nearby indicated that what I had to clean up was evidence of life, in the guise of normal, healthy bodily functions, not death.

Whew. What a relief.

I never thought I’d be grateful to clean up bird poop. But I am.