Many of my days I have no recourse but to take on the forces of darkness: self-absorbed people who care only about privileging themselves and their circle of sycophants at the expense of the vulnerable: students.

I fight the good fight—but it’s tiring.

And today, driving to work I felt weepy—that feeling where, if anyone looks at me cockeyed —the tears would start leaking out the corners, edges, of my eyes, like baking a blintze too long and cheese oozing … Read the rest

It used to be that a blizzard was something I actually enjoyed.

I would hunker down with a good book and cook up a big batch of chicken soup, or bake a cake and enjoy the sound of the howling winds outside while I sat, warm and cozy, seemingly invincible to the vagaries of Mother Nature.

Then came the big storm in October 2011, sometimes known as the Halloween Nor’easter and even, I later learned, Storm Alfred! And we were … Read the rest

Three days ago, the Financial Times announced that the number one “toy” for kids this Christmas will be a tablet. http://www.cnbc.com/id/100337273

In November, 60 Minutes http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57556456/horrors-revealed-at-north-korean-prison-camp/ ran a story about 30 year-old Shin Dong-hyuk, believed to be the only person born in a North Korean prison camp that has escaped to tell about it. When he was asked, “Did anybody ever explain to you why you were in a camp?” Shin replied, “No, because I was born there, I just … Read the rest

I think perhaps this thing I have about gratefulness is a result of fear.

I am afraid that one day, I’ll wake up and everything will have changed – or for that matter—nothing EXCEPT one key, monumentally important thing has changed – and not for the good. And then I’ll be looking back on the day before and wonder how was it that I didn’t know. How was it that I didn’t realize all that I had?

My thinking about … Read the rest

And then there are the days that the well seems to run dry.

Bad people at work—I mean really bad, lying, ethically challenged, morally corrupt, the list of adjectives go on.  Simply put, imagine Republicans.

My shoulder like always is killing me.  Can barely turn my head to back out of my garage.

One of my stock accounts tells me that I shouldn’t pay attention to the daily summary as their computers aren’t really good!?!?

My little Noble doesn’t seem … Read the rest

I may be the only one I know who actually likes to iron.

Weird, huh?!

And I actually have a bit of history with it.

Many years ago, when I went to Israel and lived on a kibbutz, I was given a choice of work placement: laundry, kitchen or children. (Much later, I fought the sexism of these positions and demanded and received a neutral job — in the chick incubator. Much later, I taught dance at kibbutzim throughout the … Read the rest

When I was in college, I didn’t want to be there. Rather than drop out, I decided to work like a maniac and graduate in three years rather than four. But that meant going to summer school and taking classes morning, noon and night.

During an intensive 3 week Intersession period, I took Elementary Spanish in the morning. 9:00 AM-12:30 PM five days a week. The professor was absolutely horrible and constantly said disparaging things—particularly about American women. All the … Read the rest

I’ve been thinking that one of the reasons it’s so hard to be grateful, is that most of us are lucky enough NOT to have been without something or someone. So we know we should be grateful for the fact that water is as abundant in our homes as air, because we’ve never had to walk for two hours to get water, wait on a line to pump it, then walk back for two hours with it balanced on our … Read the rest

What now seems like a lifetime ago, David and I were working on our first documentary together. It was called Embracing Judaism: Reaching In, Reaching Out, Reaching Up. (Don’t look at me, I had nothing to do with the title—that’s all I was given and asked to create a documentary about it!)  Anyway, creating the documentary was a great experience for us—we met and interviewed absolutely super people including Rabbi Paula Mack Drill (she wasn’t a rabbi back … Read the rest

So I am going to go running, and I’m a little jazzed. After all, I have been running for over thirty years so that’s far more of my life as a runner than a non-runner. And quite honestly, it can get a little boring. Years ago, when I started, I would pass the time talking. I would pick up my friend Arlene, from her home on 5th Avenue and we would enter Central Park and run miles and miles. One … Read the rest