this is fucking amazing: watch:
radiohead 'nude' played by printers
cell phones to old motherboards, outdated technology holds great value for collectors like Jason Savitt.
"The older it is, the harder it is to get it to work," Savitt says. In many cases, hobbyists aim only to preserve a look at how the technology once functioned. Savitt, who blogs about his finds on Vintage Technology Collector, says his Altair 8800, from 1975, is his prized possession. One of the first personal computers, it used switches instead of a keyboard. If that seems hopelessly antiquated, consider the keyboardless wonder of the iPod.
Video artist James Houston used hard drives and dot matrix printers to play a song by Radiohead. Houston, of Glasgow, Scotland, found that old personal computers could provide a wonderful range of bleeps. He added the sliding whirs of image scanners to the mix of clicks and tones. The less musical the old technology sounded, the more sympathetic the effect — as though the machines were straining for a beauty beyond their humble states.
Houston says the sounds were there for the harvesting. He just had to keep tinkering with the machinery. "It was a matter of prodding and poking to try to get good music out of it," he says.
The members of Radiohead liked Houston's work so much that they posted the video on the band's official Web site.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
burnin' through the sky
went to ulpan today. it was a really good class. i'm very much enjoying it and i think i am catching on. hopefully i'll be fluent by the time these 5 months are over. i can already have short conversations. woohaw! after ulpan, al and i walked to get some groceries to make lunch because we are running a little tight on money right now. just budgeting. on the walk back home, we found some long scraps of astroturf so we grabbed them for room decorations. very resourceful, i know.
we hung out at home for a little while, and talked to our friend abram (from our birthright trip) who is in tel aviv with his whole family (30 people) doing a 3 week tour of israel. we got all spiffied up and waited for a sheruit for seriously 40 minutes outside our house on herzl street. while we were waiting, i saw this dreamy old man sitting on the bench with some plant in his front shirt pocket. somehow i summoned the strength to ask him to take a photo. it was good practice and i think the picture turned out really well. i asked him what he had in his shirt, and he practically stuck the thing up my nose before handing it to me, but it smelled like a nice herb. he let me have a stalk of whatever it was, so i'm going to save it and keep it with the photo of him. i didn't catch his name, but he tried to speak french with me since i couldn't speak hebrew. it was cute.
we finally caught a sheruit and once in tel aviv, we walked an ass long time (but not as long as we were informed) to abram's hotel. his parents and brother took us to a lovely dinner on the beach at a place called 'gordo', which in spanish means 'fat'. it was a dream, since al and i haven't had a nice dinner at a restaurant in a while. the best part of the dinner though, besides the food, was the story that abram's mom, vera, told us about the time she met woody allen. he had been filming 'manhattan' in the two apartments next door to theirs, so one day a producer asked to use her phone while woody waited and played with vera's 3-year old daughter. he apparently wasn't very socially competent with adults, not even making eye contact with them, but was very communicative with her daughter. he was sitting on the floor playing lego's, and telling the 3 year old that she was adopted, in typical woody allen fashion. he also told the little girl that he liked to put food on his head. i don't really remember the rest, but right before he left, he said that he would keep his promise and put food on his head, but it had to be meat and it had to be cold. so vera rummaged through the fridge and luckily found a nice cold slab of steak. woody, true to his word, slapped the meat on his head. about a minute passed, and he said, "when can i take this off?"
one of the best stories i've ever heard. we finished dinner and walked back to abram's hotel, where he played some beautiful classical guitar pieces; one by a paraguayan composer and one by a more famous guy that i can't remember. but he had better send them to me, because they were gorgeous. if i ever make a movie, i'm scoring it with classical guitar. so amazing.
we said goodbye to abram and his brother and walked all the way back to the bus station to catch the sheruit. after bargaining with the driver to let us go for the regular amount (15 NIS) rather than 30 NIS, he finally agreed and i'm going to bed now. ulpan tomorrow. then nap. and maybe laundry.
lila tov (good night)
love,
sally
we hung out at home for a little while, and talked to our friend abram (from our birthright trip) who is in tel aviv with his whole family (30 people) doing a 3 week tour of israel. we got all spiffied up and waited for a sheruit for seriously 40 minutes outside our house on herzl street. while we were waiting, i saw this dreamy old man sitting on the bench with some plant in his front shirt pocket. somehow i summoned the strength to ask him to take a photo. it was good practice and i think the picture turned out really well. i asked him what he had in his shirt, and he practically stuck the thing up my nose before handing it to me, but it smelled like a nice herb. he let me have a stalk of whatever it was, so i'm going to save it and keep it with the photo of him. i didn't catch his name, but he tried to speak french with me since i couldn't speak hebrew. it was cute.
we finally caught a sheruit and once in tel aviv, we walked an ass long time (but not as long as we were informed) to abram's hotel. his parents and brother took us to a lovely dinner on the beach at a place called 'gordo', which in spanish means 'fat'. it was a dream, since al and i haven't had a nice dinner at a restaurant in a while. the best part of the dinner though, besides the food, was the story that abram's mom, vera, told us about the time she met woody allen. he had been filming 'manhattan' in the two apartments next door to theirs, so one day a producer asked to use her phone while woody waited and played with vera's 3-year old daughter. he apparently wasn't very socially competent with adults, not even making eye contact with them, but was very communicative with her daughter. he was sitting on the floor playing lego's, and telling the 3 year old that she was adopted, in typical woody allen fashion. he also told the little girl that he liked to put food on his head. i don't really remember the rest, but right before he left, he said that he would keep his promise and put food on his head, but it had to be meat and it had to be cold. so vera rummaged through the fridge and luckily found a nice cold slab of steak. woody, true to his word, slapped the meat on his head. about a minute passed, and he said, "when can i take this off?"
one of the best stories i've ever heard. we finished dinner and walked back to abram's hotel, where he played some beautiful classical guitar pieces; one by a paraguayan composer and one by a more famous guy that i can't remember. but he had better send them to me, because they were gorgeous. if i ever make a movie, i'm scoring it with classical guitar. so amazing.
we said goodbye to abram and his brother and walked all the way back to the bus station to catch the sheruit. after bargaining with the driver to let us go for the regular amount (15 NIS) rather than 30 NIS, he finally agreed and i'm going to bed now. ulpan tomorrow. then nap. and maybe laundry.
lila tov (good night)
love,
sally
Sunday, September 7, 2008
these boots were made
for ramla. i'm really tired, so i'll make this brief. but today was a very cool day. we spent the day on a walking tour of ramla, discovering and seeing very cool historical places related to the time during the crusades, when christianity was recognized, and when islam was founded. we went to a church-turned-mosque, a cememtary, ramla tower, and a museum that explains the historical siginificance of ramla for israel and the middle east. very interesting stuff today. after most of our walk was finished, our tour guide and ofir took al and i to the best hummus place in ramla (or israel, according to him) where they give you a bowl of amazing hummus with these beans and falafel balls, then all the pita you can eat. effing amazing. i'm eating there all the time. although, i need some indian food in my life stat.
anyway, our tour guide left us and we walked to the world famous shuk (ramla market) and were sent on a mission to interview four people and ask them about themselves. i thought this was a really cool idea, because in the words of our tour guide today, "there are remarkable things in ramla, the mosque for example. but now we get to notice the man that sits next to the mosque. these people are people. their hearts are beating". so we went to the market to find out more about the diverse population of cardiovascular-ly sound human beings. no, but really this was exactly what i needed to hear, so that i can get to know the people and their lives here. and then, i can take photos of them. al and i interviewed a few people and then bought dresses before we presented our interviewees' answers to the group, then we walked home.
took some photos today that i'm pretty proud of, thanks to the supportive nudges of alli and naama. i've been posting more and more, so i'll be completely caught up tomorrow after ulpan. so i get to power walk, sit ups, lunges, and finish photos. woooooo, big day. bed time. photos here and here. talk soon.
love,
sally
anyway, our tour guide left us and we walked to the world famous shuk (ramla market) and were sent on a mission to interview four people and ask them about themselves. i thought this was a really cool idea, because in the words of our tour guide today, "there are remarkable things in ramla, the mosque for example. but now we get to notice the man that sits next to the mosque. these people are people. their hearts are beating". so we went to the market to find out more about the diverse population of cardiovascular-ly sound human beings. no, but really this was exactly what i needed to hear, so that i can get to know the people and their lives here. and then, i can take photos of them. al and i interviewed a few people and then bought dresses before we presented our interviewees' answers to the group, then we walked home.
took some photos today that i'm pretty proud of, thanks to the supportive nudges of alli and naama. i've been posting more and more, so i'll be completely caught up tomorrow after ulpan. so i get to power walk, sit ups, lunges, and finish photos. woooooo, big day. bed time. photos here and here. talk soon.
love,
sally
Friday, September 5, 2008
psycho-meshuganah
THIS IS GOING TO BE LONG. BUCKLE UP. :)
well, i didn't do my laundry yesterday. i figured al and i would just fill the bathtub and then wash all our clothes in a big laundry party, and have a grand ole time hanging them on our VERY OWN CLOTHESLINE!
not quite, while i was typing blogs and calling people, al was slaving away in the hot bathroom scrubbing the shit out of her clothes since we don't have a washboard (to do list). and i have a lot of laundry so hopefully i can just do it in the bathtub tonight. shit. oh well.
i just want to take a minute and wish my gammy a very happy 90th BIRTHDAY!!!!
(photo by andrew shepherd)
she's such a funny, silly, intelligent, spunky lady and i am proud that she is my gammy. and that i get to hang out with her all the time. and i love and miss her very much. so someone read this to her please. and my mom's birthday i tomorrow!! so many birthdays!
so after i last wrote, al and i decided to make a delicious dinner. we went to the market down the street and became friendly with the owner there, Rami and he gave us fruit and veggies for pretty cheap. so hopefully he'll give us more deals in the future. we came home and made pasta with parmesean and garlic with olive oil, parmesean garlic toast, and fruit salad with peaches, grapes, and mango. it was fucking phenomenal and healthy and just what i needed. i need to cook more. i think i will. our oven is at least fixed now so we can figure something out until the stove is back to normal.
after dinner, al and i walked to the apartment to meet jade and alon before they went over to some of the hebrew Kadima volunteers' apartment to eat some sweet free grub and hang out with them. on the way downstairs, alon slipped and busted his tailbone on the concrete stairs. he wasn't going to turn down free food, so we walked there anyway. it was a lovely little place, and from what i gather, it's sort of a similar situation to what we have here: they get placed at a volunteer location, meet, and all live together. it was really cute though. i have photos that i'll post this week. unfortunately, most of them are leaving Kadima because it is time for them to join the army. i know the kids will miss them as they have been at the center for almost a year. i have photos that i'll post this week. naama ended up retrieving alon from the apartment and taking him to the hospital for an x-ray to be sure he didn't break anything so al and i walked back to the house. luckily, alli made me do crazy sit-ups that i will do every other night. because NO PAIN, NO GAIN. this is my new mantra and i'm already starting to enjoy pushing myself past my point of comfort to get the results i want. i'm gonna do it. then we went to bed.
the next day, we woke up and i went to cheech beach in tel aviv with jade, alon, naama, and al. it is a really sweet beach and i've been there a few times already since it is near mike's place. we ended up playing volleyball near the water with this group of guys for about 3 hours. it was so nice to hit the ball around. i remember how into volleyball i was, and its been so long since i've played. everything seems to come back though, as i practice. jodi and shlomi (naama's friend) met us there because they were in tel aviv getting PAUL FUCKING MCCARTNEY TICKETS, which i didn't get and i don't want to talk about it. fuck. (what? they're 500 sheckles) SO, when it was time to go, alon and jade wanted to go back to shower, etc. before coming back to tel aviv to chill, but shlomi only had 4 seats in his car. al and i decided to stay on the beach until jade and alon came back. we walked along the boardwalk as the sun started to set and started talking about how nice it would be to have a cold beer and a slice of pizza on the beach at sunset. then, we realized that we could absolutely do that. so we did. and that is exactly the moment that we knew and agreed that this is our life. beautiful, and real. and there's nothing better at this moment than beer, pizza, friends, and a beach sunset. and that we can have these things whenever we want. we finished our beer and pizza and settled on mike's place since it is a safe bet for a good time. p.s. they have burritos and fajitas and i've never missed mexican food in my LIFE until i discovered that there is NONE here. shit. so we had a couple beers and a lovely conversation with barry, an english guy that plays rock n roll for a living here. he had some amazing stories. al got into it with him about david beckham, he told us that the events in the movie, 'kingdom of heaven' (about the crusades) took place about a kilometer from where we live, and told us stories about his times recording music in LA. then as barry was leaving, a random russian guy sat down with us, detailing his recent and brief exploits as a card counter trying to con money from moscow casinoes. he turned out to be a bit of a sleaze though, asking al after we'd ditched him for alon and jade whether he thought he could, 'make it with me' since he'd never been with an american girl before. ech. we all hung out at mike's place for a while, watching barry play in his band, finally retiring to the sheruits at around 2AM. after some confusion and a really drunk dude in our cab home, we finally got back. long night, but fun.
THIS morning, our host families picked us up in a van and drove us to this little wooded forest area about 15 minutes away from our house. i think it was a camp ground. IT IS MY MOM'S 61st BIRTHDAY TODAY! so i got to talk to her on the phone for a while. it was really amazing because she got to tell me all the cool shit she's doing right now, like the spectacular senior follies, where she does the betty boop impression that is infamous for making me die inside every time she does it. but since it's her birthday, i'll just get the fuck over it and post this:
my mommy, everyone. damn proud of her.
so al and i met our host mom and dad and sister (brother was at a friend's house). they fed us amazing food and the kids in all the families are just the sweetest, most energetic, playful, friendly kids ever. we spent most of the day shooting a slingshot at a can with rocks (way more fun that i ever knew), playing this hide and seek game that i can't pronounce (but i was only 'IT' once, so i think i did alright), and climbing to the top of this abandoned watchtower to peep this incredible view of the country-city-landscape. really incredible. i got photos of the whole day. i even brought my guitar, and alon played it mostly. the day was really incredible. i felt like a kid again, just playing outside with other kids and didn't give two shits about talking to the adults. they were perfectly nice people, but i was so happy just to run around and play games and shoot rocks at cans. it was amazing. also, on the way home i heard buffy telling the story about how she ended up here and about the timing, etc. and i was so grateful to my parents for being so supportive of me always, al for pushing me to get all my paperwork in and not giving up, and above all to myself for not just settling for what was comfortable. because this experience just keeps getting better and better and i will grow so much. i want to say i might even change, but i KNOW that i will change. i just have to let it happen. and i will. i already am.
we left the campsite and came home. had a talk with al about how i'm familiar in my surroundings at home which is why i feel comfortable just taking pictures of whatever there, but not here yet. maybe that's my dilemma. we'll see. i don't want to be afraid anymore. i finally did half of my laundry. washer and dryer style. (fuck it, it would have taken way too long by hand, let's get real.) OH, i also shaved one of my roomates' heads. what? he asked me to. i even get to give him a mohawk. photos of that too, duh. i was looking on al's computer trying to figure out how to make a video blog, and i ran across this website that runs safari's through africa. after piddling around on their site, i found that the are looking for an amateur photographer to send around africa capturing images for their website. if you know me at all, you would know that i immediately emailed the person in charge with my informatioin and expressed my interest in this position. so we'll see about that. also about the video blogs. because that's fun.
ok, then basically just hung out at the house until about 8, eating leftovers from the picnic, and al and i power walked over to the apartment to shill with alon, jade, and jennifer. i really need to come up with nicknames for them. i'll just call them, "the apartment". much easier. i get carpal tunnel from naming them all the time. really. SOOOOO, we hung out and did sit ups there. more reps this time because, all together now, NO PAIN, NO GAIN! al is my trainer and she's pushing me. thank you al. i'll have abs in no time. then, the girls and i proceeded to watch animal mating videos for the next hour. the giant turtle one makes me die laughing. i almost peed my pants. no joke. the noise. i can't handle it.
al and i walked home past this really sweet wedding reception or block party or something, but we were exhausted. it looked fun though. i'm going next time. i'll stick out like a sore thumb as i dance like an idiot and eat free barbeque. hey, at least it's kosher. i'm classy. once we got home, we video chatted with our dear friend harper from our birthright trip, trying to get her to come back. we'll get her yet :)
going to sleep now. goodness it's late. we're going on a walking tour of ramla tomorrow. whoopie. no, really it's going to be cool. but it's also going to be fucking hot. and i got my volunteer schedule for the forseeable future, although i think it may be temporary. so far, i'll be attending ulpan three days a week, working at the oranim office two days a week, kadima one day a week, and working at the ramla TV station one day a week. and i have a day off!
and that's all she wrote. er, i wrote. whatever, i'm going to bed.
love,
sally
well, i didn't do my laundry yesterday. i figured al and i would just fill the bathtub and then wash all our clothes in a big laundry party, and have a grand ole time hanging them on our VERY OWN CLOTHESLINE!
not quite, while i was typing blogs and calling people, al was slaving away in the hot bathroom scrubbing the shit out of her clothes since we don't have a washboard (to do list). and i have a lot of laundry so hopefully i can just do it in the bathtub tonight. shit. oh well.
i just want to take a minute and wish my gammy a very happy 90th BIRTHDAY!!!!
(photo by andrew shepherd)
she's such a funny, silly, intelligent, spunky lady and i am proud that she is my gammy. and that i get to hang out with her all the time. and i love and miss her very much. so someone read this to her please. and my mom's birthday i tomorrow!! so many birthdays!
so after i last wrote, al and i decided to make a delicious dinner. we went to the market down the street and became friendly with the owner there, Rami and he gave us fruit and veggies for pretty cheap. so hopefully he'll give us more deals in the future. we came home and made pasta with parmesean and garlic with olive oil, parmesean garlic toast, and fruit salad with peaches, grapes, and mango. it was fucking phenomenal and healthy and just what i needed. i need to cook more. i think i will. our oven is at least fixed now so we can figure something out until the stove is back to normal.
after dinner, al and i walked to the apartment to meet jade and alon before they went over to some of the hebrew Kadima volunteers' apartment to eat some sweet free grub and hang out with them. on the way downstairs, alon slipped and busted his tailbone on the concrete stairs. he wasn't going to turn down free food, so we walked there anyway. it was a lovely little place, and from what i gather, it's sort of a similar situation to what we have here: they get placed at a volunteer location, meet, and all live together. it was really cute though. i have photos that i'll post this week. unfortunately, most of them are leaving Kadima because it is time for them to join the army. i know the kids will miss them as they have been at the center for almost a year. i have photos that i'll post this week. naama ended up retrieving alon from the apartment and taking him to the hospital for an x-ray to be sure he didn't break anything so al and i walked back to the house. luckily, alli made me do crazy sit-ups that i will do every other night. because NO PAIN, NO GAIN. this is my new mantra and i'm already starting to enjoy pushing myself past my point of comfort to get the results i want. i'm gonna do it. then we went to bed.
the next day, we woke up and i went to cheech beach in tel aviv with jade, alon, naama, and al. it is a really sweet beach and i've been there a few times already since it is near mike's place. we ended up playing volleyball near the water with this group of guys for about 3 hours. it was so nice to hit the ball around. i remember how into volleyball i was, and its been so long since i've played. everything seems to come back though, as i practice. jodi and shlomi (naama's friend) met us there because they were in tel aviv getting PAUL FUCKING MCCARTNEY TICKETS, which i didn't get and i don't want to talk about it. fuck. (what? they're 500 sheckles) SO, when it was time to go, alon and jade wanted to go back to shower, etc. before coming back to tel aviv to chill, but shlomi only had 4 seats in his car. al and i decided to stay on the beach until jade and alon came back. we walked along the boardwalk as the sun started to set and started talking about how nice it would be to have a cold beer and a slice of pizza on the beach at sunset. then, we realized that we could absolutely do that. so we did. and that is exactly the moment that we knew and agreed that this is our life. beautiful, and real. and there's nothing better at this moment than beer, pizza, friends, and a beach sunset. and that we can have these things whenever we want. we finished our beer and pizza and settled on mike's place since it is a safe bet for a good time. p.s. they have burritos and fajitas and i've never missed mexican food in my LIFE until i discovered that there is NONE here. shit. so we had a couple beers and a lovely conversation with barry, an english guy that plays rock n roll for a living here. he had some amazing stories. al got into it with him about david beckham, he told us that the events in the movie, 'kingdom of heaven' (about the crusades) took place about a kilometer from where we live, and told us stories about his times recording music in LA. then as barry was leaving, a random russian guy sat down with us, detailing his recent and brief exploits as a card counter trying to con money from moscow casinoes. he turned out to be a bit of a sleaze though, asking al after we'd ditched him for alon and jade whether he thought he could, 'make it with me' since he'd never been with an american girl before. ech. we all hung out at mike's place for a while, watching barry play in his band, finally retiring to the sheruits at around 2AM. after some confusion and a really drunk dude in our cab home, we finally got back. long night, but fun.
THIS morning, our host families picked us up in a van and drove us to this little wooded forest area about 15 minutes away from our house. i think it was a camp ground. IT IS MY MOM'S 61st BIRTHDAY TODAY! so i got to talk to her on the phone for a while. it was really amazing because she got to tell me all the cool shit she's doing right now, like the spectacular senior follies, where she does the betty boop impression that is infamous for making me die inside every time she does it. but since it's her birthday, i'll just get the fuck over it and post this:
my mommy, everyone. damn proud of her.
so al and i met our host mom and dad and sister (brother was at a friend's house). they fed us amazing food and the kids in all the families are just the sweetest, most energetic, playful, friendly kids ever. we spent most of the day shooting a slingshot at a can with rocks (way more fun that i ever knew), playing this hide and seek game that i can't pronounce (but i was only 'IT' once, so i think i did alright), and climbing to the top of this abandoned watchtower to peep this incredible view of the country-city-landscape. really incredible. i got photos of the whole day. i even brought my guitar, and alon played it mostly. the day was really incredible. i felt like a kid again, just playing outside with other kids and didn't give two shits about talking to the adults. they were perfectly nice people, but i was so happy just to run around and play games and shoot rocks at cans. it was amazing. also, on the way home i heard buffy telling the story about how she ended up here and about the timing, etc. and i was so grateful to my parents for being so supportive of me always, al for pushing me to get all my paperwork in and not giving up, and above all to myself for not just settling for what was comfortable. because this experience just keeps getting better and better and i will grow so much. i want to say i might even change, but i KNOW that i will change. i just have to let it happen. and i will. i already am.
we left the campsite and came home. had a talk with al about how i'm familiar in my surroundings at home which is why i feel comfortable just taking pictures of whatever there, but not here yet. maybe that's my dilemma. we'll see. i don't want to be afraid anymore. i finally did half of my laundry. washer and dryer style. (fuck it, it would have taken way too long by hand, let's get real.) OH, i also shaved one of my roomates' heads. what? he asked me to. i even get to give him a mohawk. photos of that too, duh. i was looking on al's computer trying to figure out how to make a video blog, and i ran across this website that runs safari's through africa. after piddling around on their site, i found that the are looking for an amateur photographer to send around africa capturing images for their website. if you know me at all, you would know that i immediately emailed the person in charge with my informatioin and expressed my interest in this position. so we'll see about that. also about the video blogs. because that's fun.
ok, then basically just hung out at the house until about 8, eating leftovers from the picnic, and al and i power walked over to the apartment to shill with alon, jade, and jennifer. i really need to come up with nicknames for them. i'll just call them, "the apartment". much easier. i get carpal tunnel from naming them all the time. really. SOOOOO, we hung out and did sit ups there. more reps this time because, all together now, NO PAIN, NO GAIN! al is my trainer and she's pushing me. thank you al. i'll have abs in no time. then, the girls and i proceeded to watch animal mating videos for the next hour. the giant turtle one makes me die laughing. i almost peed my pants. no joke. the noise. i can't handle it.
al and i walked home past this really sweet wedding reception or block party or something, but we were exhausted. it looked fun though. i'm going next time. i'll stick out like a sore thumb as i dance like an idiot and eat free barbeque. hey, at least it's kosher. i'm classy. once we got home, we video chatted with our dear friend harper from our birthright trip, trying to get her to come back. we'll get her yet :)
going to sleep now. goodness it's late. we're going on a walking tour of ramla tomorrow. whoopie. no, really it's going to be cool. but it's also going to be fucking hot. and i got my volunteer schedule for the forseeable future, although i think it may be temporary. so far, i'll be attending ulpan three days a week, working at the oranim office two days a week, kadima one day a week, and working at the ramla TV station one day a week. and i have a day off!
and that's all she wrote. er, i wrote. whatever, i'm going to bed.
love,
sally
Thursday, September 4, 2008
friday night we'll be drinkin' manichewitz...
not too much to report, went to ulpan yesterday and we picked up the pace. i think i'm catching on rather quickly and i can now have peices of conversation in hebrew. i have pretty much replaced "yes", "no", and "what" with "ken", "lo", and "ma". SABABA (SWEET). afterwards, we went to Kadima to work with the kids there. it's really nice because they give us a meal. after we ate, the kids go into their respective rooms to study. it can be a little awkward for me because unless they are working on english homework, it's really difficult to help them. however, alli gave me the idea to have them help me with my ulpan hebrew homework. one of the israeli volunteers agreed that this gives them a feeling of confidence. so i started working with this little boy named michael, helping with his math homework. he's so adorable, but i can totally tell that he has concentration issues. reminds me of myself, except more hyperactive. but we definitely bonded. i promised him i'd come back today, which i found out is his birthday!
(wonderful picture of me, i know. but you get the point. i'm there, jen, alon, buffy, jade, al, and rayna, plus all the kids. the names that i know are yaacov, michael, shlomo, shai, yael)
we went home after Kadima and chilled out for a bit before alli's new friends, assi picked jade, al, and i to go to tel aviv and meet up with jade's israeli friend izzy and his friends. OH! another cool thing about this program is that we get host families to hang out with on weekends or whenever while we're here as a sort of lifeline. al and i have been put with the same family, and the mom, orna, called us yesterday. most of our group has been paired up with families and about four of them live around the same area between jerusalem and tel aviv. they will pick us up on saturday morning and take us to a park where we'll all have a picnic! so cute! i'm really excited about that. whew.
anyway, in tel aviv we went to a club called 'cara calla', which had a pool in the middle where the bartenders swam around serving people drinks surrounding the pool. so crazy. we danced up a storm until it was time to go. unfortunately, al's purse broke off and disappeared. she cancelled everything so it should be fine. otherwise, it was a nice night.
today, we went to Kadima to wish michael and zamir happy birthday. al and i made michael cards and alon origami-ed them both some pretty cool characters. now i'm sitting here watching sarah palin's speech from the republican national convetion. i think she's full of shit personally, but that's just my opinion. i look forward to doing more research about her, mccain, obama, and biden so that i can vote wisely with my absentee ballot in november. however, fullness-of-shit is not a desirable quality in a candidate, just sayin'. however, it is interesting that i think i'm right, but there was a whole fucking stadium in st. paul last week that see the world's ethics and issues in a completely opposite way, yet think they're right too. hmmmm. something to think about. but the ignorant bravado typified by this kind of republican bothers the shit out of me. more later. photos tonight. i'm going to do all my laundry in the bathtub.
love,
sally
(wonderful picture of me, i know. but you get the point. i'm there, jen, alon, buffy, jade, al, and rayna, plus all the kids. the names that i know are yaacov, michael, shlomo, shai, yael)we went home after Kadima and chilled out for a bit before alli's new friends, assi picked jade, al, and i to go to tel aviv and meet up with jade's israeli friend izzy and his friends. OH! another cool thing about this program is that we get host families to hang out with on weekends or whenever while we're here as a sort of lifeline. al and i have been put with the same family, and the mom, orna, called us yesterday. most of our group has been paired up with families and about four of them live around the same area between jerusalem and tel aviv. they will pick us up on saturday morning and take us to a park where we'll all have a picnic! so cute! i'm really excited about that. whew.
anyway, in tel aviv we went to a club called 'cara calla', which had a pool in the middle where the bartenders swam around serving people drinks surrounding the pool. so crazy. we danced up a storm until it was time to go. unfortunately, al's purse broke off and disappeared. she cancelled everything so it should be fine. otherwise, it was a nice night.
today, we went to Kadima to wish michael and zamir happy birthday. al and i made michael cards and alon origami-ed them both some pretty cool characters. now i'm sitting here watching sarah palin's speech from the republican national convetion. i think she's full of shit personally, but that's just my opinion. i look forward to doing more research about her, mccain, obama, and biden so that i can vote wisely with my absentee ballot in november. however, fullness-of-shit is not a desirable quality in a candidate, just sayin'. however, it is interesting that i think i'm right, but there was a whole fucking stadium in st. paul last week that see the world's ethics and issues in a completely opposite way, yet think they're right too. hmmmm. something to think about. but the ignorant bravado typified by this kind of republican bothers the shit out of me. more later. photos tonight. i'm going to do all my laundry in the bathtub.
love,
sally
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
used to be one of the rotten ones
FIRST DAY OF ULPAN TODAY!!!
it's really cool. i had a great time in class today. i feel like i already some things about hebrew from hebrew school (thanks mom and dad for making me go) and that it will get easier as i build on the foundation of words and grammar that i already know. fuck yeah! just another example of how these challenges will get easier as i acknowledge and confront them. which reminds me, i was thinking today how in the past, when i've adopted a productive behaviour (i.e., running, eating well, reading books a lot, blah blah blah) i always know in the back of my mind that it's temporary. i don't know if that's because i know it will be hard and i don't know if i will stick to it if it's hard or that i've never seen anyone actually change (myself included), so i automatically assume that people can't change permanently. i really want to change in certain ways. permanently. this is the perfect place to do it, but even writing these words, i feel doubt. the motivation must come from inside. so the only thing i can do is write a to do list and accomplish each thing that i set out to do, squashing the voices in my head each day that tell me i can't. fuckkkkkkkkkkkkkk why do i do this?
ok... anyway, today was cool. we went to the youth center today. kids make me nervous kind of. i feel like they can smell my uncertainty. that's one reason i admire alli, she just jumps in there. no fear. it's really cool to watch. i think i'm doing better though. they're really sweet kids. i tried to help this one really quiet girl with her english homework. it must be as difficult as my hebrew homework in about 2 years, if i was 11 years old. wow. also, i brought my camera out to take photos of them, and they all swarmed and ravenously tried to take photos with it. i let a few and then it got to be too crazy, they were all grabbing it from each other, so i out it away. but i really want to figure out a way to get them their own cameras (even disposable), so they can start paying attention to their surroundings and being able to own something that they create. naama said she will talk to the director to see if we can make this happen. also, i'm totally bringing good shoes to play ball with the kids tomorrow.
we left the center about 3PM, as the kids bid us excited goodbyes because they know we are coming back. alli's got some serious fans there. this one kid, shai, blew her a kiss as we walked away. some of them gave us hugs too :) we went to meet naama at the house to meet with her about our preferences and options for volunteer placement. once we tell her which places and programs we're interested in, she can put together a schedule that will fit in 3 or 4 days of volunteering, ulpan, working at the oranim office to make extra money, etc. i told naama that i wanted to work 1) at the teen youth center (called El-em) teaching photography or working on their 'greenhouse' agriculture project (teaching kids to grow their own food and how to sell it), 2) at a TV and radio station (where we may be able to make our own documentary about the program, which is something alli and i wanted to collaborate on anyway), and 3) and the youth center we've been going to (called Kadima). since i do photography, naama says a lot of places want me to volunteer there, so i might also go to a high school, vocational school, or the senior center. it all sounds cool. especially because all the directors really care about what they are doing.
OHHHHHH, and since ramla is a lower income area, the government subsidizes classes like bellydancing, pilates, capoeira, and martial arts that we can take for 150 sheckles a month!!! i'm totally excited about it. unfortunately however, i decided not to get paul mccartney tickets tonight because they are 500 sheckels (120 US dollars). and i just think that's not a wise us of my money at all. i'm trying to conserve. plus, i'm keeping in my mind that something incredible might happen so i can go for free. who knows? weirder things have happened. maybe i'll try to get in with my camera. or meet some famous person that really HAS to take me to see paul FUCKING mccartney. shit.
ok nighty night. more pics on the way. then i'll FINALLY be caught up. now i just need to do my fucking laundry. but at least (DAD) my room is clean. and my bed is made. :)
love,
sally
it's really cool. i had a great time in class today. i feel like i already some things about hebrew from hebrew school (thanks mom and dad for making me go) and that it will get easier as i build on the foundation of words and grammar that i already know. fuck yeah! just another example of how these challenges will get easier as i acknowledge and confront them. which reminds me, i was thinking today how in the past, when i've adopted a productive behaviour (i.e., running, eating well, reading books a lot, blah blah blah) i always know in the back of my mind that it's temporary. i don't know if that's because i know it will be hard and i don't know if i will stick to it if it's hard or that i've never seen anyone actually change (myself included), so i automatically assume that people can't change permanently. i really want to change in certain ways. permanently. this is the perfect place to do it, but even writing these words, i feel doubt. the motivation must come from inside. so the only thing i can do is write a to do list and accomplish each thing that i set out to do, squashing the voices in my head each day that tell me i can't. fuckkkkkkkkkkkkkk why do i do this?
ok... anyway, today was cool. we went to the youth center today. kids make me nervous kind of. i feel like they can smell my uncertainty. that's one reason i admire alli, she just jumps in there. no fear. it's really cool to watch. i think i'm doing better though. they're really sweet kids. i tried to help this one really quiet girl with her english homework. it must be as difficult as my hebrew homework in about 2 years, if i was 11 years old. wow. also, i brought my camera out to take photos of them, and they all swarmed and ravenously tried to take photos with it. i let a few and then it got to be too crazy, they were all grabbing it from each other, so i out it away. but i really want to figure out a way to get them their own cameras (even disposable), so they can start paying attention to their surroundings and being able to own something that they create. naama said she will talk to the director to see if we can make this happen. also, i'm totally bringing good shoes to play ball with the kids tomorrow.
we left the center about 3PM, as the kids bid us excited goodbyes because they know we are coming back. alli's got some serious fans there. this one kid, shai, blew her a kiss as we walked away. some of them gave us hugs too :) we went to meet naama at the house to meet with her about our preferences and options for volunteer placement. once we tell her which places and programs we're interested in, she can put together a schedule that will fit in 3 or 4 days of volunteering, ulpan, working at the oranim office to make extra money, etc. i told naama that i wanted to work 1) at the teen youth center (called El-em) teaching photography or working on their 'greenhouse' agriculture project (teaching kids to grow their own food and how to sell it), 2) at a TV and radio station (where we may be able to make our own documentary about the program, which is something alli and i wanted to collaborate on anyway), and 3) and the youth center we've been going to (called Kadima). since i do photography, naama says a lot of places want me to volunteer there, so i might also go to a high school, vocational school, or the senior center. it all sounds cool. especially because all the directors really care about what they are doing.
OHHHHHH, and since ramla is a lower income area, the government subsidizes classes like bellydancing, pilates, capoeira, and martial arts that we can take for 150 sheckles a month!!! i'm totally excited about it. unfortunately however, i decided not to get paul mccartney tickets tonight because they are 500 sheckels (120 US dollars). and i just think that's not a wise us of my money at all. i'm trying to conserve. plus, i'm keeping in my mind that something incredible might happen so i can go for free. who knows? weirder things have happened. maybe i'll try to get in with my camera. or meet some famous person that really HAS to take me to see paul FUCKING mccartney. shit.
ok nighty night. more pics on the way. then i'll FINALLY be caught up. now i just need to do my fucking laundry. but at least (DAD) my room is clean. and my bed is made. :)
love,
sally
Monday, September 1, 2008
oh give me a home
and something about buffalos... WOW. ok, so this morning, alli, butzy, jodi, and i walked to one of the youth centers where we can volunteer. it was the first day of the school year for them, so there was an opening talk by the director (nice lady, can't remember her name) and everyone was getting to know each other. they also have in-house volunteers that are younger and speak hebrew, but the director introduced us to the kids who range in age (i'm guessing) from about 11-16. they are all from low income, single parent, or at-risk situations. but the weird thing is that they are just normal, rambunctious kids. yeah, sure some of them act out. mostly the boys. but we played games with them, tried to talk with them, and i had a really nice time today. each of us circulated throughout the rooms as each age group was playing an icebreaker type of game to get to know each other. the room that i went into was literally playing an icebreaker game, where each person had to hold a block of ice with candy frozen inside as they told about themselves and tried to get the candy out, until your hands got too cold. i didn't really understand and thought it was a riddle or a brainteaser, and immediately started formulating a plan to get the candy out and impress the kids. so as soon as i got the ice block, i started sucking on the side that i could see the candy through since your mouth melts ice. unfortunately, i quickly found out that the point of the game was to talk about myself, in a language that i can't speak out of a mouth that was so numb i couldn't form words. great.
but luckily, the kids thought it was funny, so i told about myself briefly as translated by one of the hebrew volunteers and side-stepped (somewhat) a potentially embarrassing situation. the kids get a hot meal at this center, so the director told us to go eat with them (food was schnitzel and this amazing rice, soooo yummy). we hung out for a little while longer, playing and meeting with more kids, and then left to walk back to the house where we met with MASA representatives.
MASA is the organization that gave me grant money to be here. it gives grant money for people to be here from all over the world in 150 other programs throughout israel. from 1500 participants last year, there's 8000 this year. they are cool. the reason they came was to inform us about what they do and about seminars that they will be conducting while we're here. rally interesting sounding ones actually, political, social, cultural, etc. i'm definitely going to as many as i can. they also offer a seminar that takes place over three weekends, called something Future Leadership, which i interviewed for. they only can take 50 people, so i'll hear back in a couple of weeks if i was accepted. i think it'd be good for me to stretch myself and learn more about the leadership opportunities that i can take so that i can actually do something for the community and the world someday that makes a lasting impact.
the other part of their visit was an exercise that had us explore different journey's taken by people throughout history and how we defined each of their journeys in relation to our own. MASA means journey in hebrew by the way, just so you know. then they asked us what we thought our own journeys meant to us, etc. etc.
i had to think for a minute because what i agreed to be true about journeys are the following:
A) a journey can be accidental
B) the journey maker is somehow changed
C) the journey is usually filled with challenges
now this last one is important for me, because i realized that yesterday i was having a pretty hard time feeling OK. it was kinda shitty actually. and i have felt shitty a couple of times. but what i have felt today, especially after being at the youth center, is that i am going to run into shitty, hard times. and really uncomfortable situations. but if i can learn to embrace them and know that i will emerge from them a better, happier person, then i won't be scared anymore. so i'll work on that. and have my own MASA hopefully able to help other people while growing myself.
ANYWAY, after the meeting, i did my interview with the representatives (cross my fingers) and most of us walked to this supermarket at which naama got us a discount. it's so nice having butz around since he is israeli and can help us figure out what to buy and what labels say. alli and i bought a bunch of shit. soon, maybe i'll even be able to clip coupons (that's for you mom and gammy). TOMORROW we start ulpan!!! 3 hours of hebrew lessons. i'm gonna be fluent. i've been catching on pretty quickly. i really like hebrew. tis a beautiful language mates. so i'm really tired. goodnight!
OH, new photos posted and more on the way (ALMOST CAUGHT UP!!!):
www.flickr.com/photos/blackmarketfunnelcakes
love,
sally
but luckily, the kids thought it was funny, so i told about myself briefly as translated by one of the hebrew volunteers and side-stepped (somewhat) a potentially embarrassing situation. the kids get a hot meal at this center, so the director told us to go eat with them (food was schnitzel and this amazing rice, soooo yummy). we hung out for a little while longer, playing and meeting with more kids, and then left to walk back to the house where we met with MASA representatives.
MASA is the organization that gave me grant money to be here. it gives grant money for people to be here from all over the world in 150 other programs throughout israel. from 1500 participants last year, there's 8000 this year. they are cool. the reason they came was to inform us about what they do and about seminars that they will be conducting while we're here. rally interesting sounding ones actually, political, social, cultural, etc. i'm definitely going to as many as i can. they also offer a seminar that takes place over three weekends, called something Future Leadership, which i interviewed for. they only can take 50 people, so i'll hear back in a couple of weeks if i was accepted. i think it'd be good for me to stretch myself and learn more about the leadership opportunities that i can take so that i can actually do something for the community and the world someday that makes a lasting impact.
the other part of their visit was an exercise that had us explore different journey's taken by people throughout history and how we defined each of their journeys in relation to our own. MASA means journey in hebrew by the way, just so you know. then they asked us what we thought our own journeys meant to us, etc. etc.
i had to think for a minute because what i agreed to be true about journeys are the following:
A) a journey can be accidental
B) the journey maker is somehow changed
C) the journey is usually filled with challenges
now this last one is important for me, because i realized that yesterday i was having a pretty hard time feeling OK. it was kinda shitty actually. and i have felt shitty a couple of times. but what i have felt today, especially after being at the youth center, is that i am going to run into shitty, hard times. and really uncomfortable situations. but if i can learn to embrace them and know that i will emerge from them a better, happier person, then i won't be scared anymore. so i'll work on that. and have my own MASA hopefully able to help other people while growing myself.
ANYWAY, after the meeting, i did my interview with the representatives (cross my fingers) and most of us walked to this supermarket at which naama got us a discount. it's so nice having butz around since he is israeli and can help us figure out what to buy and what labels say. alli and i bought a bunch of shit. soon, maybe i'll even be able to clip coupons (that's for you mom and gammy). TOMORROW we start ulpan!!! 3 hours of hebrew lessons. i'm gonna be fluent. i've been catching on pretty quickly. i really like hebrew. tis a beautiful language mates. so i'm really tired. goodnight!
OH, new photos posted and more on the way (ALMOST CAUGHT UP!!!):
www.flickr.com/photos/blackmarketfunnelcakes
love,
sally
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