I became a Bat Mitzvah a year ago today. Here is my drash.

Dinah Lang – D’var Torah – for April 30, 2011 – 26 Nisan, 5771

Boker tov!
I will be chanting from parshat Kedoshim, Leviticus chapter 19, verses 32 through 37.
At first glance, my lines of Torah have nothing in common with one another, dealing with three different subjects: elders, strangers, and measures. But allow me to connect the dots…
Kedoshim is located right in the middle of the Torah so that when the Torah is lifted, there are an equal number of portions on either side. Like its location within the Torah, Kedoshim teaches us about equality.
I first chant about how one should rise in the presence of a sage, teacher, or elder. I’ve since tried to make a conscious effort to rise when a person who I admire and respect, such as a great teacher or mentor approaches. Were I to take this commandment in a completely literal sense, I, at 27, would be rising constantly, as a great majority of my friends and fellow congregants are 28, give or take a few years.
In a broader sense, I interpret this commandment as being one of respect for wisdom, no matter whose words or actions it may manifest itself in. I have heard wisdom from children and wisdom from the youngest of Jewish adults as they become b’nai mitzvah, so perhaps, it is not the age of the body that is to be given such respect, but the age of the soul who resides within it. The act of physically rising, is a form of gratitude for human connection. By showing respect to those who lift us spiritually and intellectually, in return, we lift them with us.
Verses 33 and 34 explain that a ger is to be loved and not taunted. This concept is repeated 36 times within the Torah (Babylonian Talmud, Bava Metzia 59b, Rabbi Eliezer ha’Gadol). Rabbi Michael taught me that this number has signifigance as it is double-chai, or two times eighteen, which is the numerical equivelent for chai, or life in Hebrew. These mitzvot are double life giving, benefiting both the ger and yourself. A prerequisite of loving the other is to love yourself.
The word ger could be translated as stranger, sojourner, or convert. All three of these can be viewed as stages in my Jewish journey. As a child, I came to the realization that I did not believe in Christianity, shortly after the myth of the jolly, gift-laden fat man was debunked by a fellow child and confirmed by my parents, the original propagators of the myth in my psyche. I was flooded with questions, coming to question the existence of a messiah, of a creator, and of all that I had been taught. At that age, surrounded by the dominant culture, I saw no alternatives. In my teens, I had became a truth seeker, trying to find a name for my beliefs, slowly moving closer to my Jewishness.
For years, I could be classified as a sojourner among the Jewish people, having adopted Judaism as my faith at 19, obtained a minor in Judaic Studies, and even made a film in Hebrew. However, according to the calendar, it hasn’t even been a year since I formally converted! Today is the 26 of Nisan, and I had my formal conversion on 22 Iyyar, or for the calendrically lost, next month on the Jewish calendar, but six days from now on the secular calendar.
Since then, I have evolved into a new form of ger, the convert, having found my spiritual home at Rodef Sholom as a student of Torah, a member of the Chevra Kadisha, and the Sisterhood.
Verses 35 and 36 in a literal sense deal with accurate weights, measures, and scales. When I chant it in Hebrew what resonates above all other words is tzedek, as it is every other word for the first half of verse 36. Tzedek in Hebrew can be translated as justice or righteousness. Perhaps, our actions in life could be measured by this same principle, fostering equality in our relationships with one another and balance in our expenditures of time and energy.
In one of the first classes with Cantor David, he explained that within gematria or Hebrew numerology, G-d’s name (yud-heh-vav-heh) adds up to 26. Perhaps, it was planned, or just coincidence that I was born the 26th of June, formally converted at age 26, and now stand before you as a Bat Mitzvah here on the 26th of Nisan.
G-d’s name, is written 27 times within parshat Kedoshim, four times among my verses. Each instance provides an important reminder.
In verse 32, in addition to rising for our elders, we must be in awe of G-d. Gratitude is a way of expressing this awe. So what to be grateful for?
Freedom.
The following verses, 33 through 36, remind us of being enslaved in Egypt, and emphasize that it was G-d who brought us out. As Rabbi Michael has taught me, Mitsrayim, the word for Egypt, also means a narrow place. Throughout my life, I have sought freedom from Mitsrayim. While there, it is very difficult to remember previous instances of freedom.
For example, throughout most of my adolesence, I faced considerable torment from my peers whose taunts forced me inward. I’ve spent most of my life trying to work my way back out again.
So, how do we find our way out? Verse 37 holds the key. We are responsible to guard and perform mitzvot, which allow us to pay the gift forward. Mitzvot are a path that let us remember how to acheive freedom for ourselves and others.
By respecting our elders, loving the gerim among us, and finding balance and justice, we perform acts which remind us to be grateful to G-d, and to those angels he has placed among us, who continually lift us towards freedom.
Shabbat Shalom!

There is something about hometowns. No matter how far you move, you never really leave them. Their imprint on you is unshakable. Sure, you may grow older, and even have a new town you call home, but that town you grew up in, you’re stuck with. You’re from… I am from Enid. I lived there for 12 years. The farther I got from Enid, the more fascinated I became with its history.

As I looked at the larger scope of Enid history, I began unlocking nuggets of its Jewish history as well. On my last trip back to Enid, I wandered the Enid Cemetery to the Jewish section, paying my respects and saying Kaddish. There you will find the Newmans, the Kaufmans, the Herzbergs, and the Godschalks. May all of their memories be for a blessing. Below is a collection of facts and tidbits of some early Enid settlers for whom I have found great admiration.

“Enid Jewish history began with the Cherokee Strip opening in 1885, when Marius Gottschalk made the “run.”" — Encyclopaedia Judaica

“Of the pioneer merchants the story must include Joe Meibergen and Marinus Godschalk, who set up in business immediately after the “run.”" — Frisco Employes Magazine, September 1924

Joseph Meibergen and Marinus Godschalk – Joseph Meibergen was Enid’s mayor from 1897 to 1901. In 1899, he illuminated Enid’s first electric lights. Marinus Godschalk was the Worshipful Master of Enid Masonic Lodge No. 19 in 1897 and 1898.

During the land run, Meibergen jumped from the train leading into Enid and broke his leg. Marinus Godschalk, his cousin, walked three miles to find Meibergen on the day of the run. Henry Sturgis said “he saw a man preparing to leap and watched him leave the train at the place where the railroad now crosses Maine street by way of an overhead bridge. He said that the man, he found later, was Meibergen. One of Meibergen’s legs was fractured as he rolled down the grade.” — “Pioneers Recall Railroad Fight”, The Morning Tulsa daily world., November 10, 1922, Page 10.

Meibergen’s former home is located in the Waverly Historic District at 1517 W. Oklahoma Ave.

“The commercial interests of Enid find a worthy representative in Joseph Meibergen, who is now conducting a clothing business in the town with which he has been continuously identified since the opening of the strip. He was born in St. Joseph, Missouri, July 30, 1869. Mr. Meibergen belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and is a gentleman of genial manner, popular with his fellow citizens. That he has their confidence and regard is indicated by the fact that he was elected mayor of the city and by reelection was continued in the office for four years. He made a popular and efficient chief executive and brought to bear in the discharge of his duties the same spirit of enterprise and progress which have characterized him in his business life. He has been identified with the development of this community from its pioneer days and in the intervening years his worth as a citizen and as a business man have been widely acknowledged.” — A history of the state of Oklahoma, 1908, p.453 and 454

Herbert Lyons Kaufman – Herbert Lyons Kaufman ran the Kaufman Style Shop in Enid. He also had a house located at 1708 W. Maine which was the best example of Spanish Mission architecture in town. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places for this reason. In May 2005, the Enid Public School system tore down Mr. Kaufman’s house and replaced it with a playground.

“Herbert Kaufman arrived in Enid in 1904 with his brother and sufficient capital to open a store on the west side of the square. This first dry goods store lasted two years, with Kaufman later locating at 110 W. Randolph. He was in business here until his retirement in Nov. 1940 due to ill health. ….An active civic leader, Kaufman was a veteran Lions member and a member of the Masonic Lodge. He was active in the Chamber of Commerce, always ready to lend a hand with civic projects. Kaufman and his wife resided at 1708 West Maine, and the couple were well known for their attractive yard and blooms.” –Enid News

Mr. Kaufman’s house was designed by George Ernest Blumenauer, who owned the firm Blumenauer & Associates, which also helped to design the Broadway Tower.

Milton J. Newman – “M.J. Newman came to Enid to handle the local operation [of Newman's Mercantile] and remained to spend the rest of his life and become one of the most beloved citizens with whom our town has ever been blessed.” – Henry B. Bass (The First 75 Years: D. C. Bass & Sons Construction Company, 1893-1968, pg 70) Milton was president of the Lions Club and Chamber of Commerce at the time of his death.

Abraham Herzberg – Abraham Herzberg was another local Jewish merchant. The panoramic photo of Enid shows a storefront with A. Herzberg written on it. Herzberg’s Department Store was once located at 105 North Grand. Abe Herzberg once wrecked his car into Evan’s drug store. Herzberg’s former home is located in the Waverly Historic District at 1105 W. Maine.

Albert Loewen – Al Loewen built the Loewen Hotel and Loewen Theatre in Enid. He was also on the committee for the formation of Phillips University, as its sole Jewish member.

“Charters were issued Monday by Secretary of State Ben F. Harrison to these corporations: Temple Emanuel Congregation of Enid, trustees Albert Hirsch, Harry B. Wolf, Robert Aronberg, Charles Lowenstein, Marinus Godschalk, and Herbert L. Kaufman, all of Enid.” – The Daily Oklahoman, May 30, 1911

The congregation met at the Loewen Hotel, once located at the corner of North Independence and East Maple. It was affiliated with the Union of American Hebrew Congregations from 1910-1919. It held services in English during festivals, and had Sabbath school. Local mens furnishings salesman, Harry B. Wolf, served as president, and Rabbi Joseph Blatt of Oklahoma City served as rabbi when needed. The Loewen Hotel was purchased by M.C. Garber in 1917, and ultimately burned down. Enid also had a 20 member B’nai Brith lodge, with Sol Newman as president, and a Jewish Chautauqua Circle which formed the beginnings of Enid’s modern Chautauqua program.

I have done my best to add some of these tidbits to Wikipedia and findagrave, but am always open to more knowledge. If anyone knows anything else about Jewish Enid, Oklahoma, I’d love to learn…

Below are some images garnered from the web. They are all copyright their respective owners.

As a result, I have a pretty decent collection of Enid related books:

• James, Marquis. Cherokee Strip: A Tale of an Oklahoma Boyhood Viking Press, 1945.
• Burke, Bob, In Reverence We Stand: Memories of Phillips University, Oklahoma Heritage Association, 2003
• Marshall, Frank Hamilton, Phillips University’s First Fifty Years Volume One: The Early Days of Phillips University, 1957
• Marshall, Frank Hamilton, Phillips University’s First Fifty Years Volume Two: the Turbulent Middle Decades, 1960
• Rockwell, Stella, ed., Garfield County, Oklahoma, 1907–1982, Vol. I & II, Garfield Historical Society, Josten’s Publishing Company, Topeka, Kansas. 1982.
• Bass, Henry Benjamin, The First 75 Years: D. C. Bass & Sons Construction Company, 1893-1968 (1969)
• Evans, C. Wyatt, The Legend of John Wilkes Booth: Myth, Memory, and a Mummy, 2004, University Press of Kansas
• Tobias, Henry J., The Jews in Oklahoma (Newcomers to a New Land), University of Oklahoma Press, 1980.

As of yet, I do not have:

• Klemme, Michael. Celebrating Enid!, 2010.
• Marshall, Frank Hamilton and Martin, Robert G., Phillips University’s First Fifty Years Volume Three: the Period of Greatest Advance, 1967

I am in a state of mourning for Davy Jones of The Monkees who died on February 29th. Even reading that sentence is difficult right now. You see, if it were not for the Monkees, this website would not exist.

When I was 10 years old, I had returned from swimming with my parents during the summer, and turned on the radio. “Hang On, Sloopy” was playing. Of course, my 10 year old brain heard “Snoopy.” I continued to listen to this local station, KOMA which played music from the 1950s and 1960s. I first found myself really enamored with the Beach Boys and the Four Seasons, but my real heroes at the time were the Three Stooges, of whom I devoured every last bit of information from Moe Howard’s autobiography to a similar sized book about Curly. So at the time, I was very much into old black and white comedies and films. I had loved watching Nick at Nite, especially Get Smart since I was 8 years old. Music had not progressed much out of the realm of the Country & Western that my parents played, or the children’s songs put on by shows like The Elephant Show or Fred Penner’s Place. This changed when I discovered KOMA.

I became an overnight Beatles fan in November 1995 when the Anthology aired. I watched a taped recording of the ABC special over and over again, paying particular attention to the massive creativity in the Rubber Soul through Magical Mystery Tour period. A lot of my editing style is really influenced by the Anthology and the Beatles early music videos.

I used to ride my bike on weekends and buy records for about fifty cents a piece at garage sales. This was how I was first introduced to the Monkees. I bought their first two albums and a greatest hits this way. I really knew nothing about the TV show, until my friend Jen introduced me to it. After that, I saw the genius of HEAD which became even more incredibly layered years later when I looked at it through the discerning eyes of a film school graduate, and the wackiness of 33 1/3.

I used to sit in my couch, a relic from the 70s which folded out into a mattress, and listen to old records, write poetry, and draw. Then in 1997, the Internet entered my life. What was the first thing I looked up? The Monkees. Jen and I immediately signed the monkees.net guestbook:

Jennifer Carrube, Enid OK USA
I am your biggest fan, Davy Jones. I really love your Music.
Signed on: Tue Jul 15 12:38:42 MST 1997

Diana Kettle, Enid OK USA
I really love the Monkees. They’re GREAT! I like Micky the best. See ya! DK.
Signed on: Tue Jul 15 12:33:53 MST 1997

10 days later, my parents had the Internet installed at our house. This was life changing. I became a regular in #monkeeschat, #torkfriends, and #admiralmike, under the handle Washburn, after the Monkees song D.W. Washburn. I even got the opportunity to chat with Micky Dolenz, got a headshot of Davy in the mail, and a signed copy of Micky’s autobiography. But my admiration of the many Monkees fan sites out there lead me to wanting to create my own. I called it Washburn’s Groovy Lil Pad. It became a creative outlet for me where I posted Monkees themed fanfic that I had written, as well as accepting submissions from others. I posted all of my poems on this site, including many of which would eventually become the content of Tea & Sprockets. No doubt, this site was the most successful website that I had ever built, even back in the day of 1 MB Geocities sites. It evolved into a network of 15 different websites covering the gamut of my pop culture interests at the time, and sharpening my skills to the point of taking on more professional sites. I even won first place in the 1998 Waller Jr. High “Best of the Web” contest, a big deal to a 14 year old tech nerd.

My pad was located on the Sunset Strip in Lounge 1945. Thanks to Yahoo having shut down Geocities, only the Internet Archive can bring you back into that world now, unless someone has an Iomega Zip drive that I can borrow. The website Psycho Jello has a very nice post on the web culture of that time. I am particularly flattered by this description: “I just remember Washy had the largest collection of links and everyone thought she was really nice.”

A big part of my site was dedicated to bringing a little justice to the perception of the band in the eyes of rock critics, especially the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which 14 years after I built my site, still has not given them respect. I still say that the Monkees are a “real band” and deserve to be there alongside the Beatles and the Beach Boys and their contemporaries. Even if judged on Headquarters and beyond, their music holds up until today.

It is sad, very sad, that along with Davy, dies the idea of having the four of them reunite one final time for an induction ceremony. So in a lot of ways, I am mourning the band. Davy and Micky stuck it out as Monkees, even releasing an album as a duo, when Peter Tork and Mike Nesmith had left to pursue solo careers. So there is no Monkees without Davy. It just will never be the same. The Monkees have been with me for 50% of my life now, a soundtrack that has helped me through some troubled times and inspired some great creativity, and a TV show which no doubt had a huge influence on my editing style as well. While the most natural thing in the world has been a non-stop Monkees listen-a-thon, the music is now bittersweet.

Despite being a huge fan, I never had the privilege of seeing them live. I lived in Oklahoma as a kid, and it wasn’t on the tour schedule for most bands back then, which is why I find that Davy’s final show having been in Thackerville, Oklahoma to be particularly ironic.

So as the world keeps spinning and people keep going about their day, I am sitting here pondering the loss of a childhood hero, and wondering why the world has not stopped to notice. Why there is no marathon on the channels that brought the Monkees to me in my youth, no non-stop Monkees blocks on local oldies stations, no final bit of respect for the band that I loved so much…. In a lot of ways, it is very much like when I was 14, a group of online fans, unconditionally loving a band, and now mourning a hero, together, while the world continues to doubt their influence in the first place.

Goodbye, Davy. You were lost too soon.

Poetry to me is part coping mechanism + spiritual journey + humorous observation + linguistic exploration = My soul on a page

It was always a dream of mine to publish a poetry book. I’ve been writing poetry since I was 11 years old. The two oldest poems in Tea & Sprockets are “Surf Clown” and “The Outsider.” It’s so awesome to be able to share my work with you, and I hope you will enjoy it. The mystery of poetry is that the reader never truly knows what the writer was thinking, so it takes on a meaning of its own to each person who reads it and relates, or not, to it.

Tea and Sprockets is a work 15 years in the making, encompassing poems written between 1995 and 2010. The book is available as a Kindle ebook or paperback from Amazon.com.

When I taught myself to code, I posted my poetry on the web in the late 1990s, and eventually had enough for an anthology of poems. The technology today makes it easy for poets like me to self-publish. All I needed was Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat. I first published Tea & Sprockets through Cafepress back in 2004 while sitting in the library at the University of Oklahoma, primarily out of a desire to preserve my own poetry in an elegant hard copy form. For years, I would add additional poems and tweak the formatting. Years of making a living in document formatting has perfected my skills to where I could edit and proof the book to my standards for publication.

The book has had three different covers over the years. The first cover came from a sky shot that I took while creating the “Misunderstood Wordsmith” poem in 2003.

I have retained the second cover for the ebook version which features two photographs of me, and the new spirally cover made using Createspace’s cover creator graces the paperback edition.

If you want to find out more about the book, or read sample poems, go to http://www.poetryebook.com

I’ve used the following websites in order to distribute my book on a fairly small budget. I’d encourage other authors to do the same. There’s really no reason not to put your work out there.

• Cafepress
• Kindle Direct Publishing
• Google Books Partner Program
• Smashwords
• CreateSpace
• Scribd

1. Road to Eden -  A RV rock tour across the South, hitting all the best clubs and auditoriums  sukkahs! Sukkot is my favorite holiday. Dan Nichols is a truly amazing musician. What’s not to love? This film needs funding. Road to Eden Tour Official Site





2. To God’s Ears - 20 cantors travel across the globe to perform Jewish music together in an incredible sanctuary—a church, at the Vatican! My cantor, Cantor David Margules is among the talent. Let your soul be moved by some powerful performances. This film needs funding.  To God’s Ears Trailer on Vimeo





3. Your Good Friend - So a rabbi and a pornographer walk into a … I have yet to see this, but the premise is certainly intriguing and judging from the clips and film trailer, will be both hilarious and heartwarming. Number one reason: this marks Rabbi Lawrence Kushner‘s acting debut.  Your Good Friend Official Site





4. This is What Love in Action Looks Like - A 16 year old boy has a bad coming out experience, and is to be sent to “straight camp.” He posts a cry for help on myspace, sparking for a massive swell of activism and some surprising consequences. I had the pleasure of attending the premiere in San Francisco and meeting Morgan Jon Fox, and this film has been racking up awards ever since. Go see it! Love in Action Movie Official Site





5. Connected - This film was so awesome that I went and saw it twice within the same week, including a pre-screening that included a discussion between Rabbi Kushner and filmmaker Tiffany Shlain. It takes a lot for a film to be on my top movies of all time list–hey, I studied Film Snobbery Film Studies, I’m more than just a bit qualified to be picky! If you love technology, autobiographies, and transformative films, this is a must-see. Plus, after this you’ll think any hug that lasts less than 6 seconds just isn’t good enough! Connected the Film Official Site

About a month ago I returned to Oklahoma for my high school reunion. There’s really a crazy amount of artistic talent coming from our Enid High class. To name a few: rapper Travis Young of Infamous, Todd Jackson of the Evangelicals/Brother Gruesome/The Hex, piano virtuoso Steven Harwood, artist Josh Stebbins, etc.

In five short days, I met up with people from all across my life: Dr. Ori Kritz, my awesome Hebrew professor, who encouraged me to create The Hebrew Project; Charlie Maupin, producer of Liquid Wind and Maggie Abel of the IFMOK; Grey and Jon Carrube, two of my talented musician friends, for whom I have created music videos.

For the first time in my life, I was actually behind the mic in the recording studio, Grey Havens Studio, to be exact. Back in 2004, I wrote a little song called “Last Chance Disaster”, the lyrics of which are published in Tea & Sprockets Jon Carrube composed a guitar piece and a melody for the song, and we had created a little shoegazer demo. Being back in Enid gave us the opportunity to get together for a professional recording.

Jon taught Grey how to play his guitar part, and then Jon and I sang the tune. I also recorded some speaking bits for a track on Grey’s upcoming album, but you and I both have to wait awhile to hear that. After I’d flown back to San Francisco, Grey added a bass part and synth part to the song, and had Mikey Harbour of Bermuda County come in and play drums and a second synth part.

So, I present to you, with full gratitude going to Jon, Grey, and Mikey: Tranquoizier – “Last Chance Disaster.”

If you really love it, spend the 99 cents it takes to download the mp3, copy the widget to your own page, and/or rate it.
http://www.reverbnation.com/tranquoizier

Buy the song at: iTunes | eMusic | Amazon MP3 | CDBaby

So about three years ago, Willo and I met thanks to a random temp assignment. After talking a bit, we discovered our filmmaking connection, and here is the first fruits of collaboration between us.

After many long, productive and fun nights of editing huddled around Final Cut Pro and iMovie, Willo Hausman and I have created together her new director’s reel, which features clips from her feature length project Fairie (2001, Gryphon Pictures) and CLARE: The Vignettes, which aim to give a taste of what the film CLARE will be like once it can get funded for production.

I invite you to take a look at this somewhat strange, occasionally creepy clip reel, unlike anything that I have ever done, but worth a look to get an idea of Willo’s talent and imagination.

Willo Hausman’s 2011 Director’s reel features:
A wee taste of FAIRIE; a featurette. Directed by Willo Hausman.
Starring: Nikki Embry, Richard Parent, Angelica Torn, James Sakata, Jack Wallace, Ed Gale, Tamir Yardenne, Janet Paik.

CLARE teasers, created from the vignettes; simply shot to showcase the film’s innate style. A moving storyboard.
Directed by Willo Hausman Starring: Jessica Tisdale, Christopher Showerman, Mary Kahl, Jane Lemon, Colin Frederick, Sanna Vraa, James Sakata, Jerry Hettleman.

This 15-minute compilation was edited by D. L. Lang.

Willo was recently interviewed for the Mill Valley Life blog, check that out here.

Previously, Willo had helped her friend Stephan Krause, a tech guru, by shooting a small video for his application for a Capstone course in France! I edited the piece, which you can watch here.

Find Willo on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/gryphonpictures

10 years ago on June 28th, 2001, I entered PEGASYS to meet up with a community producer named Tim. He had gotten interested in the music that I was promoting online and wanted to do a 29 minute television show with a performance and interviews. Jason Harbour, Mikey Harbour, Zane Davis, Grey, and I all went into the TV studio to do interviews. A week later, on July 5th, we returned, and the guys performed “Joyous Occasion,” “It’s You And I,” and “In The Spring of Youth I Died” from the Colours album, along with three songs from the then upcoming album Rock & Pop, entitled “Dying in Denial,” “Addiction,” and “Stop the Car” live to tape. At the time, despite having been Grey’s webmaster for a little over a year and over-listened to Grey’s first album, Colours, I had never seen Grey play, but got to spend that day watching the guys rehearse in Grey’s living room and then sat in the studio watching the guys jamming and Tim crawling around on the ground to get really artsy shots.

Grey, Tim, and I got together on September 12th to edit the segments together. I knew nothing about video editing, but my intuitive computer skills caused me to learn Adobe Premiere rather quickly and adding to the realm of possibility. I contributed a number of photographs and band art that I had created for what became the ending slideshow. We’d recorded the audio of the performance and I made a CD-R  just for kicks, designing an “album cover”. Grey liked it so much that he released the album as Live at Pegasys on mp3.com, and I got my start as album cover art designer.

I continued to spend time with Tim helping him shoot a local southern gospel program. I can’t say either of us cared too much for the music, but we both enjoyed the experience of shooting live music, so its genre was irrelevant. I went through PEGASYS training, and worked on several other shows out in the field and in studio.

But it was within my own shows found my passion for video editing… Sparked by the success of the original program, Grey asked me to join him at Champagne Studios. I spent 50 hours shooting footage of Grey, Jason Harbour, Mikey Harbour, Steve Harwood, and Jerry Patterson z”l in order to create Grey: The Rock & Pop Sessions and Grey: The Interviews.

My PEGASYS comrades awarded me Best Editor of 2002 and 2nd place in Entertainment. I recall Tim knocking on my bedroom window, shouting, “You won! You won!” Neither of us had attended the ceremony that year as it took place on Shabbat, and by then, I had decided to pursue a Jewish path. So it came as a sweet surprise. My relationship with Tim evolved and we have been married since 2006. What a difference a day can make. Just one day, and I found a soulmate and a career path.

Watch the show that started it all:

Today I attended a film premiere at the Frameline film festival. The film, This is What Love in Action Looks Like, has been in the works for 6 years now and finally had its world premiere today.

Back in 2005, I was surfing the internet while on summer break from OU, and came across the story of Zach Stark, who had been put into an ex-gay program called Refuge. This story touched my heart. I don’t believe anyone should undergo any type of conversion against their will, religious or otherwise, and doing so to children is particularly egregious. I was on myspace, and at the time, a myspacer named Benton Garrett had set up a group called Free Zach, so I joined and became involved in the activism that happened online. We felt this was a human rights violation and a form of child abuse.

I created some graphics and helped organize information for the group. As a result of my experience in this group, one of my graphics was on Good Morning America, and two others appear in Sawed-Off Productions original trailer for the film (at 6:10 and 7:50). I also wrote for a blog called Real Love in Action founded by a fellow myspacer named Dave, providing a Jewish perspective in my articles as to how I thought the restrictions and rules of the program violated the Torah. At the time, I was particularly fond of Rabbi Gershon Caudill’s perspective and now I’m more apt to also agree with Rabbi Brad Artson’s perspective.    Needless to say, I’ve been waiting for this moment for six years.

The premiere was packed out at the Victoria Theatre on 16th in San Francisco. I truly enjoyed the film, and I encourage everyone to see it. I also recommend the ingenious short film which preceded it entitled Love is All You Need? which focuses on the experience of a teenager who is bullied, another issue near and dear to my own heart. Director Morgan Jon Fox and Reverend John Smid (who has since turned to a different perspective) were both in attendence. I ran up and said hi to Morgan after the show. It’s cool to see this project come to fruition, and that it had its world premiere in my “back yard” is even sweeter. So kudos to you Morgan! This film will go far.

Like the film on Facebook.

Yahrzeit
Staring into the brightness of your soul,
I sit, silently chanting my prayers of gratitude.
As you flicker before me, my heart fills with peace, a contentment joined by tears of joy that slide slowly down my cheek.
There is none here but you and I.
Your warmth envelopes me on this cold winter day.
My being is free from longing.
I accept that you now live within my sight, though I will not see you again.

L’Adonai
I am starry eyed, searching for wisdom,
gazing into the infinite represented by Your words,
Your deeds, I do.
I balance on the precipice between vulnerability and centeredness,
feeling the solidity of nature’s energy enveloping my soul,
sparks of gratitude flying, aimed at hearts, heroes, and humility.
I’m told I glow.
I glow for You.
You light the flame, my soul renewed.
I sit humbly, sing Hallelu.

Poetry
What is poetry
but the flowing
of the soul’s
inner beauty
terror and pain
inquiry
method and madness
combinations
concrete abstract
versions of the existence
of pure nothingness

Copyright Diana Lang, Excerpted from Tea & Sprockets. All Rights Reserved. May be reprinted on non-commerical sites only if full credit given. If you like the poem, consider buying the book.