Drooling Over Derek
As far back as I can remember, there was always some girl in my class who was all into Derek Jeter. Apparently, if you're into him, it means you know about baseball, which makes you "cool."
I grew up in a house of only brothers, and I still don't like baseball. These girls who have all sisters and are ironing their hair every day claim to be obsessed with baseball. They think they're all that because they're into Derek Jeter. Personally, I think it's dumb. Obsessed with an actor or singer, that's one thing, but how many frum Bais Yaakov girls do you know that are actually interested in baseball--not just to seem cool. Thought so.
Notice how they're mostly Yankee fans. Because in NY it's cool to root for the Yankees even if you know nothing about baseball or anything else. It seems it's part of being a true New Yorker. Anywhere you go, you can get Yankee merchandise as easily as you can get a bag of chips. My brothers are Mets fans. Sometimes I see a whole bunch of baseball stuff so I figure I'll get them something. Can't. They're all Yankee stuff. The ratio of Yankee memorobilia to Mets must be like 85:1. Seriously.
So these girls think they're cool because they talk about baseball and Derek Jeter. ASk them to explain how baseball is played. Blank stare. Then ask them to show you all their Yankee pins and stickers and iron-on patches.
Besides, Derek Jeter is so out. (And I don't find him too hot either-gasp-I'm not cool) Don't they know Jesse Metcalfe of Desperate Housewives is the new hottie? Get with the program, children.
The Internet Thing Again
No disrespect to this Rabbi, because he is Chashuv and Da'as Torah and all that.
In Seminary today, one of our Rebbeim came in with a laptop to show us some NCSY parody (Which I found to be more a chillul Hashem than anything that comes close to funny---but I guess when you don't watch TV anything's funny.)
So, this one kid who doesn't know how to keep her mouth shut asked, "How did you get this?" (It's okay to ask if you're 5, but 19? Sit down, shut up, and watch the damn video.)
So he answered, "Some guys sent it to me."
"E-mail?" She asked.
He blushed, looked down, and responded, "Yeah."
So I quipped, "Don't worry it's not connected to the internet."
My point here, people, is that this whole assuring of the internet is such a load of garbage.
This Rabbi is not looking at porn. That's not the point--the Rabbanim who assured the internet are obviously not going to look at porn either. But if this Rabbi can use the internet, nobody can assur it. Because if you can trust him, then everyone will get on your back and ask, "Why can you trust him and not me?" and it starts in the beginning again about the whole thing.
Those who want to look at porn will look at it, internet or no internet. Those who do not want to will avoid it at all costs. I may not be the perfect example because I am a girl, but 8 years using the internet, never looked at porn. Voluntarily. (I once tried to type in a website--you don't know what
one letter can do-- but I exited it before I saw anything) I just have no interest in porn. I know I can access it if I want to, but I don't want to, so i won't regardless of the internet.
Then all these magazines have all these articles about the internet, and then a page later, an ad with the website. It is time to realize that the internet is increasingly unavoidable, and deal with it that way, becuase obviously, the only people listening to the assur are the people who don't have computers at home. Same 3 people in the world who actually listened to wedding Takanos.
I Was Right All Along...
I don't know how many of you read the Jewish Press, but for those of who you do not, I would like to make you aware of last week's letter to Reb Jungreis.
In short, it was about a woman who never went away for Pesach, but under circumstances, she had to, and she was appalled by what she saw. The chillul Hashem started on the plane when the parents did not take care of their children.
She observed a 9-year-old girl watching her little brother who was crying for his mother. When she told her mother, "Ma, he wants you," She simply replied, "Well, I don't want him."
Then there was the couple with the little baby who needed a diaper change and argued about it until the other passengers caught wind of it (hehe..a little pun) and the husband was guilted into changing his kid. What has the world come to??
I have been saying this for years. This lady, unfortunately, does not stand alone. There are many out there like her. They have kids because they have to, but don't want anything to do with them. Except when it comes to dressing them and showing them off. Yuck.
Furthermore, this woman reported that the conditions at the hotel were even worse. Parents left their children with the counselors all day and wanted nothing to do with them. There are day camps in the summer that are like this too. The parents will do anything to get rid of their kids. I know raising children is difficult, and everyone deserves a break, but it must be done properly.
Basically, what I am trying to say is that for those poeple who are upset about what I said about parents not wanting their children-here it is in black and white from the Jewish Press.
I mean, people wonder why the goyim think the way they do of us...here it is. I know this thing happens in the goyish world, but they hold us to a higher standard. Like we hold the yeshivish to a higher standard and expect better from them, and blah blah.
A Capella...Load of...
I'm a little addicted to music. Ok, a LOT addicted to music. My stereo is pumpin right till the last minute before shabbos, and the first minute after havdalah. In the morning, when I get dressed, the music's going. Just ask my parents.
Music is my friend who doesn't care if I wear denim or not. Anytime I'm hurting, my music is there for me. When I cook, when I eat, whenI blog, when I research, when I write papers, when I read...my music is on.
Sefira. It's been, what? 4 days???? And I'm going out of my mind. All my emotions are building up like a freakin fortress. I have been singing every song that comes to mind. (Wow, all these personal blogs I've been reading have had an influence...)
Anyway, in Seminary, we were discussing music and sefira. My Rebbe said that the only way it's permitted is if you need it to stay awake in the car, or you need to exercise. "Get the clothing off the treadmill, people, I'm going in." Nope. I think that's a lame-o excuse, no offense. He said that I can't exercise
for the music, it has to be the other way around. But I feel that if someone's sole motivation for exercise is the music, he can afford to skip a few weeks.
When I lamented to someone about my lack of music, he immediatley responded, "So listen to A Capella" First of all, you couldn't pay me enough to hear a bunch of frum guys spit for a beat. Second of all, this whole A Capella business is a load of garbage!! What is WITH people and trying to get around everything? I call that
half-@$$ Judaism. I'm getting my stuff together for that one, b/c it's gonnna be LONG and ANGRY. No music is no music. The Rabbi in seminary quoted some Seforim that said no instruments, and no singing. Come to think of it, I shouldn't be singing myself. Well, there goes that. :-( .
So this Rabbi asked, "I can't imagine who gave these people a Heter to release these albums, when there is little/nothing to rely on?" My Response: "The Record companies who are looking to make a quick buck on everyone else's account." There's your Jewish businessman for ya.
TV Vues...uh...I Mean...THE Vues...whew!!
In my area of Brooklyn, there are many free "rags"/magazines stacked up in stores for people to take home. When I was younger, there were only a few. Now there are so many I can barely keep track. And there are always some coming and going.
One that we always picked up was called the TV Vues. Which is basically TV listings among local (Jewish) advertisements. Like what's on sale in the supermarket, clothing stores, etc. That thing was about 100 pages every week. At one point, in the late 1990s, I was in the pizza shop and picked one up. "The Vues" it was called. I knew exactly what had happened. People got so hung up on the word TV being an expletive, the publishers were afraid that circulation would eventually stop. Although it still had the TV listings, they hoped their new name would save the day for them.
Recently, while cleaning for Pesach, I came across a beginning issue of The Vues competitor, which was around the year 2000 (guesstimate). They called themselves, "Torah Times." It boasted 30 pages. It had some Divrei Torah and a list of local shiurim.
Fast forward 5 years. "The Vues" struggles along with about 30 pages each week , and "Torah Times" busts at its seams with 250. Two practically identical publications. Same advertisers, same target market. Different name. Different implication. Different IMAGE. So TV Vues has been beaten to a pulp by the people who hate the word TV.
More on Reputation-obssessed Morons (hehe)
I was actually surprised by the reaction I received from my previous post. I must tell you though, everyone I related the story to in person
did tell me the same thing, "Who needs her?" Well, that's a complicated situation that I can't share for obvious reasons. I do have more to say on reputations and shidduchim and everything.
When I first got dumped onto the market along with the heap of my graduating class, some people advised that I "clean up my image." Don't get me wrong, I'm not a bad kid by any means. All I did in high school to gain my "reputation" was wear denim (gasp), slits, words on my shirt, etc. Some people judged me based on that appearance and assumed I had boyfriends and I hung out in Pizza shops Saturday nights, and that whole sick scene, but as they got to know me better, they realized that I hate that scene so much that I avoid it like the plague.
Anyway, people told me that my slit-wearing days should end, I should throw away my sandals, ditch the denim, and invest in knee socks. Oh, sorry, for all you non-Brooklyners---those things are considered BAD here. They believed that would increase my shidduch prospects by a considerable margin. My opinion is that if I still feel comfortable wearing slits, why should I be a faker and fall prey to Brooklyn's "Image-Itis"? So I can set up with guys I can't relate to? So I should feel the resentment I did in high school of having to hide behind a facade that is not me? No. If a guy doesn't want to go out with a girl who wears denim, he is simply not for me.
I have a friend who once related to me that she "doesn't go to movies." Then she began to recount the movies she had seen in the past 6 months. I believe it was 8, but I'm not 100% sure, to be quite honest. "Well, except this one, I HAD to see it because my professor was talking about it all the time," ..."and this because...." But she tells everyone, "I don't go to movies." Ironically, I tell people I "go to the movies," and I saw 101 Dalmations in 1996, and the next movie I saw in the theater was Mean Girls. My parents said that a school rule is a house rule, and I wasn't allowed to go to movies until I graduated high school. I tell people I do go to movies. In the past 12 months, I have seen 3 movies in the theater(Mean Girls, Spider-Man 2, and I, Robot), and the only one I really wanted to see was Mean Girls.
The sad part is, this girl will find a guy just like her who plays the game as well as she does. Unfortunately, she is not an exception to the rule. There are so many guys who tell everyone they learn, but they sit and smoke outside. They tell people they don't watch movies, but they're Blockbuster Gold members and the associates there know them by name...you get the unfortunate picture.
This reputation business has become insane. All this judgementalness (is that a word?) which I admit, I do myself, is harming everyone. Just because I wear sandals, people think I hang out with boys etc. But in a way, I can't blame them. I have a friend who does all that, hangs with tons of guys and whatever, and we wear the SAME denim skirts with slits and sandals, and we are the only ones of our friends that dress this way...maybe I should go to dinner with
her.
