Just Thoughts

835. Where's my doughnut?

2011-06-03T18:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to Safeway to buy some cookies from their bakery for a potluck picnic. I found some yummy looking oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies, and just as I was putting them in my basket I heard somebody or something calling my name. I scanned the bakery area but didn't see anybody I knew. Again I heard my name, but the voice sounded different and was much louder. I headed towards the far

833. I'm p.o.'d!

2011-04-28T01:10:00.000-07:00

Never thought I would say this, but I'm passioned-out. It's not quite what you think. Allow me to explain:I'm taking a class called "Bible in Film", and we are currently focusing on Jesus' Passion (his suffering and death). A recent assignment required us to document the chronological account of the Passion as it appears in each of the four Gospels of the Bible (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). It

832. Happy Easter!

2011-04-23T23:33:00.000-07:00

Easter is a celebration of an important resurrection, so I think it's a fitting time to bring this blog back to life. I think I'm ready. I'll take one step at a time and we'll see where it leads. Want to join me? Great! I was hoping you would say yes.First, let me bring you up to speed: I'm back in the Bay Area. I'm also back in school; this time around, I'm majoring in Philosophy (a subject I

831. The more things change...

2010-07-25T23:17:00.006-07:00

Italy and Israel are now pieces of my personal history; as is the man who brought me to Israel.It's been 4 months since I've been back in California. They were four dark, sad, painful and lonely months that I would not like to relive again, but I also wouldn't trade them for the world. "Something's lost, but something's gained," lyrics from Joni Mitchell's Both Sides Now, sums it up nicely.Last

830. Doing fine without Hebrew.

2010-02-24T03:40:00.010-08:00

Sometimes, when I am grocery shopping in Israel I am reminded of a moment when I was in the 1st grade.My teacher was standing in front of the class reading from the same book each of us students had. I couldn't follow what she was saying because I was overwhelmed with anxiety or fear that I didn't know how to read and a serious doubt that I ever would. (Neuroticism starts early.) If it

828. Tel Aviv cats and more...

2009-11-18T22:36:00.007-08:00

One of the first impressive things about Tel Aviv I noticed was the number of stray cats. They are especially prominent in the neighborhood in which I live, Ramat Aviv, where Tel Aviv University is also located. I see upwards of 20 stray cats a day. At the university, as demonstrated in the photo below, cats and crows live in harmony--right up to the moment an uppish crow attacks an unaware

827. News Flash! I'm living in Tel Aviv.

2009-11-03T01:00:00.005-08:00

I'm now living in a strange new land, a place that I never would have imagined I would visit, much less live.Tel Aviv is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and I'm looking forward to understanding why shortly. Although the unifying Bauhaus architecture is signature and unquestionably stylish, some of Tel Aviv's buildings are in disrepair and half of those look as if they are three violent storms away

826. great to be home

2009-09-02T08:26:00.001-07:00

824. Enough already!

2009-08-18T14:30:00.001-07:00

Is it just me, or does Firefox and iTunes send software updates at least every 3 weeks?I find the whole update business terribly annoying. Are all of these updates really necessary? Methinks not, although I'm no expert.In spite of my complaining, I must say that I like Firefox's new "+" tab you can click for a new, well, tab. Now why didn't they think of this before?If you think my mood's sour

823. Italy in August in four pictures and two words: Sales and Closed.

2009-08-15T06:23:00.006-07:00

Saldi = Sales; Chiuso per ferie = Closed for holiday/vacationSconti = discounts (Sale! and it's closed!)Si riapre martedi 25 agosto = (re)open (on) Tuesday, 25 AugustChiudera' per ferie = We will be closed for holidaySaldi, saldi, saldi. Practically every store is having a sale. It's this way every August in Italy, a country that doesn't have Walmart, Ross or Marshall's. In this country, a 20%

822. Bad Design of the Week: It's two gags in one, it's Pomodoro Gelato!

2009-08-09T14:00:00.005-07:00

Prepare yourself. The above photo was taken in a gelateria, or ice cream shop, and pomodoro is the Italian word for tomato.Yes, you understood that correctly: This is a picture of tomato ice cream.Like most gelaterias in Italy, all of its ice cream is handmade in their on-site backroom kitchen, and I have an American friend who works in this particular gelateria. She told me about this new

821. I don't know what that is, but I'll have some.

2009-08-07T15:30:00.006-07:00

I knew that sooner or later something would inspire me to start posting again, and today that thing happened.Let's see if you can guess which of the true items below was the thing responsible for pulling me back into the wonderful world of blogging after 107 days:1) today was my last day at work2) the anticipation of being back home in California for a 3 week vacation in September3) the

820. Nothing for nothing.

2009-04-23T13:48:00.003-07:00

In the NYTimes' dotcom edition, off to the right side of the browser window, is a list of the site's most emailed articles. "Japan Pays Foreign Workers to Go Home" ranks number 10 and caught my attention. I wondered, If I choose to stay in Italy to work, would Japan pay me to stay here?

819. Let them eat shells, not tails!

2009-04-13T08:57:00.004-07:00

Large chocolate hollow eggs are the traditional item given to children here in Italy for Easter, or Pasqua.I do believe that I have discovered the source of America's appetite for violence. American kids grow up with the evil satisfaction of biting off chocolate Easter bunny's ears. European kids, at least those here in Italy, break open chocolate eggs. Boring, yes, but definitely less

818. Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, and Lifetime Guarantees.

2009-04-11T09:14:00.008-07:00

I just came across a quote from G.K. Chesterton: "If there were no God, there would be no Atheists."It's easy to respond to such isolated pithy sentences, which are most likely taken out of a larger original context, with a return pith. That said, I'm going to say my piece. Truly, this is one of the most weakest arguments I've ever heard for the existence of God. Not being an Atheist myself,

816. and I am still here!

2009-03-23T16:24:00.003-07:00

...in my blog as a bookmark. This is food for (my) thought(s).

814. Still in Italy.

2009-03-18T13:11:00.014-07:00

Everybody and their mother is on Facebook nowadays, including mine. In fact, she poked me tonight.It was a strange moment. I didn't know what to do. I mean, I couldn't tell on her, to her. It just doesn't work that way. If only my dad were on Facebook... but then again, I know what he would say. Janelle, listen to your mother. "But, Dad, she poked me!" What did I say? Don't make me

813. Last night's train home smelled like an old shoe.

2009-02-14T01:11:00.011-08:00

I opened my email this morning to discover that I had received my first meme tag through Facebook. At first I was shocked that included within the rules of this particular meme was the stipulation to tag 25 people.For blog tags, the number of people you are requested to tag usually hoovers* around 5.Do these numbers reveal a statistic? For every 25 members of Facebook, there are 5 people who

812. It was more like a rotten apple store.

2009-02-09T13:30:00.018-08:00

My laptop has been making a disconcerting noise for a good while. I worried that it was the hard drive, because my last iPod made a similar sound and the good people at the Apple Store in Emeryville, CA replaced it with a smile.I backed up my photos when I first heard the noise, but procrastinated having it properly diagnosed for several reasons. I didn't know where to go and could get no solid

811. A lonely thought stamattina*.

2009-02-02T10:48:00.009-08:00

I had a strange thought as I was emptying a sugar packet into my caffè (espresso) this morning: How does it feel to be the unused sugar grains, the ones that inadvertently remain in the packet and don't make it into the cup? I thought of the incredible journey those little grains took just to arrive in a cup of coffee or tea; how sad to not make it to your destination, to not be able to dissolve

810. Change is in the air, and it is silent.

2009-01-30T14:58:00.002-08:00

The train stations in Italy are modernizing, unfortunately. Below is an old-style sign* that will soon be replaced with new digital signs:The new sign:The old (foreground) and new (behind the old) together:*Does anybody know the technical name of this kind of sign? Is it a flip-style sign? What is the technology called?When I was 10 years old, I inherited my father's radio alarm clock that

809. Following a great man.

2009-01-20T15:05:00.004-08:00

I missed an inauguration event in Milan that was hosted by the Democrats Abroad tonight, because I spent the past 4 days in bed with a temperature that hovered between 100 and 102.5. It was the first outing that I've been excited about for a long time, so my disappointment for not being able to go would be better classified as a minor heartbreak. The heartbreak was short-lived because a friend

808. Give me your shoe. I'd like to throw it.

2008-12-16T12:31:00.010-08:00

Bush is getting off easy, only two shoes were thrown at him. Throw him the book and let justice be served. It's the least he deserves.----------I'm nearly finished reading this (warning: the link is pdf file I found at this site at the highlighted link, "Letters against the war, english version"). It's a compilation of "letters" by Tiziano Terzani. If this e-book were a dinner party, I'd be

807. I love snow.

2008-11-30T15:57:00.006-08:00

This is a piadina truck outside of the university (where I work). Everyday, when I see this truck, I am simultaneously reminded of Fog City Diner (must be the neon and the diner-esque feel of the thing) and the burrito trucks back home.Friday was my first full day of real snow in my life (in which it fell from the sky for any extended amount of time--I was in Yosemite once when it snowed with my

806. Thank God.

2008-11-04T22:16:00.004-08:00

I was awoken very early this morning by a strange sound. As I gained more consciousness, I realized what it was:The whole world had just released a collective sigh of relief.Here's to the next four years!