Nursing is a Great Hobby

Check out how nursing is portrayed in Mister Rogers.  No way would such a natural, normal part of life be on tv like that today.  How sad.

Anyway, I am really enjoying nursing my little baby, the Wolfman's Brother's brother.  I haven't come up with a name to call him yet on this blog.  Truth be told, I don't really mind putting up real names here.  Pretty easy to find that out anyway with a quick Google search.

Nursing is one of my favorite things to do in life and I am blessed with a 4th opportunity.  So far I am enjoying it all, despite the spit up, crying, and sleepless nights.

Making the cut into your school's annual report

Wow: the Wolfman is featured prominently in our school's annual report.  He is playing violin and the photo is placed apropos in the extracurricular section.  Of course I would have loved to see a photo also of Concealed Light on flute, and that would have actually been more appropriate because  she actually takes her lessons after school on-site, whereas the Wolfman went last year to an off-site music school.

Still, I am grateful that their school provided a forum through which my children could express their musical skills.  And I am proud that my child enhances their report.  All the shlepping I did last year for violin which he said he disliked is worth it just for the annual directory photo!  The board of directors did a very nice job with the publication, too.  It must be so much work. 

And now that I have a digital image of the photo, into the recycling the whole glossy publication goes.  Actually no.  I will wait for Stango to return from Copenhagen so he can check it out in hard copy.  Like he will have the time?  That doc has his brain buried in brain research and is either reading brainy stuff or Torah stuff.  

Bad Medicine in Mother's Little Helpers

It doesn't surprise me to learn that some of the moms at my friend's children's school in Los Angeles are popping valiums and even, gasp, oxycontins, deal with the day to day stresses of mommying.  And if you ask me, it's no big whoop (yes I know oxy's are highly addictive and the class action a number of years ago associated with it... Ya gotta be careful for sure if you are using off label or not your own prescription).  

Do what ya gotta do to get through the day.  It's socially acceptable to have a "mother's little helper" if you need it.  Maybe it's a shocker that these moms are Orthodox Jews (both sheitel and non sheitel wearers, if that matters to you, which it really shouldn't because people are people so why should it be).

FYI for the iPad / iPhone impaired among us (that includes me), I am including lots of links to various tunes I am referencing in this post and often they don't come up when reading on those devices.  So you are missing out on the best part of this post which is the music.

 

What bothers me, however, is that it's socially acceptable to take pharmies (legal prescription drugs doled out by your doc) but not to find your chill zone via stuff you can get with an Rx in Colorado these days.  For the record, I am not advocating taking any drugs here.  The point of this post is that I have a big problem with hypocracy (sp?  Too lazy to spell check, sorry).

So many folks buy into the idea that if something is illegal it's bad and if something is legal it's ok.  The truth lies in moderation.  (And I'm certainly not talking about an IV drip of propofol a la Michael Jackson or taking out your crack pipe...hey do people still do crack?  And whatever happened to crank?  What with the drug imagery on Breaking Bad, I'm exposed to this whole world of meth which, b'h, isn't part of my ouvre.  And if you clicked that link for crank you'd learn quickly like I just did that crank is actually meth, which is as we all know what BB is all about!  Cool beans.  Not the meth, no that's not cool, but simply the knowledge is cool.  Wow I haven't said cool beans since like 1989.  I have my friend Darren to thank for that phrase).

I don't know much from benzos, but you remember that Stones tune "Mother's Little Helper," right?  For those of you iPad-impaired, you might not see this YouTube video below.  Sorry.

Wouldn't personally be my way to deal, but to each her own.  I say just get out there and do a great workout.  That'll make you feel better and help melt away the stress.

But, that doesn't always do the trick, right?  If you ask me, and you shouldn't cuz I'm not a pharmacist, therapist, or any other health care specialist thereof, percoset and Valium sound like bad medicine when you look at the alternatives. 

You remember that Bon Jovi tune "Bad Medicine," right?  For those of you iPad-impaired, yet again you might not see this YouTube video below.  Sorry.

Maybe my mom friends of friends should put down their pills and vodka tonics (who needs a hangover?) and be open minded to the alternatives.  Then again, what the heck do I know? Then again...

  I'm guessing that more and more people are becoming open to this thought, but people aren't talking about it. At least not in the mainstream Jewish observant world. 

Look, people, there are dangers everywhere, right?  People can blow their minds out if they want, but most Toms, Dicks and Janes aren't going down that route.  I am not advocating for one way or another:  I just find the hypocrisy in the situation.  Nancy Reagan did a number on my generation with her fried brain eggs on drugs.




My question is what about all the kids that are diagnosed with ADHD these days, all the kids that are taking Ritalin for that purpose and then easily reselling it to their high school and college friends?  Isn't ritalin the No Doz of the millenium?  No Doz was such a weak drug if you think of it and personally made me nauesuous from all that caffiene.  Just because Ritalin is legal, that makes it ok?  I don't get it!

After 30 years, my favorite band made a bold statement by performing Peter Tosh's tune "Legalize It" during a 3 - night run at Dick's Amphitheatre in Denver.  I had never heard the tune (it's from 1979 or so?  Who knew! Gotta love that reggae beat), but thought it was interesting they decided to come public with their opinions and in the state of Colorado no less where legalization is happening.  Or maybe it happened already?

It is big industry for our country and on a tachlis (practical) level could do a lot of people a lot of good.  Even Entrepreneur magazine recently had a very discreet ad for a turn key dispensary machine business (think cigarette machine of lore: but remember you need your Rx. Which gets me back to my original point. 

Valium?  Oxycontin?  Xanax?  Not so much. 

This is what happens when you have a two month old and not a lotta sleep and lots to do and the desire to just do it all ... Thoughts get a little stream of concioisness.

Loony's gotta move on:  do other people agree with me about the whole hypocritical thing that suburban moms can openly chat about their pill popping habits but not other stuff?  

I realize maybe this is a controversial topic and you may ask me why would I even want to write about this given that you are members of a community and your children go to school in said community. I think of Ed Rooney, the principal character in Ferris Bueller's day off , when Ferris picks up Sloane from school and pretend he is her dad and gives her a huge romantic kiss and Rooney goes "so that's how it is in their family".  People can think what they want of me and have that (false) Ed Rooney attitude.  The truth is you'll never really no.  And I'll never really know. 

Only the aybishter knows and he is cool with coming to my shabbes table. 

Still, klonopins I don't think are for me. There. I have gone on the record and you can quote me on that. 

Since we are talking about drugs, You can also quote me that percoset is a dirty old drug and I took it anyway after the baby despite knowing how junky it is and messes up my system.  Let's not get too into the details let's just say my GI tract was hurtin' two months ago and I mean bad. 

Now that's bad medicine!

Let's end positive ...

Moral of the story is think for yourself.  Big  government isn't always right.  And go see Phish. They are great musicians; a group unsurpassed. 

Don't Think Twice It's Alright with S'mores

Stango finished our fire pit.  Great weather, chill vibes, s'mores, family, and Bob Dylan tunes.  Can't get better than that..  Oh, I forgot to mention that I had a baby about three weeks ago.  You'll see him in the video. Just call him Marshmallow for now.

Here's my mother's preference for Dylan's tunes, none other than Peter, Paul, and Mary.

While we're at it, here is the prophet, mystic and poet Mr. Zimmerman himself in 1962.

Friendship found, friendship lost...But how would you Know?

Have you ever had a friendship where it seems like there is more effort from one person to keep the friendship up?  I'm sure you have. We all have.  In general, I enjoy the company of most women I meet and can always find something to chat about.  I always try to find something good in everyone.   But the deeper friendship...there aren't too many people in the world that I have been friends with whom I have felt a really deep connection.  One that you can't really put into words.  All it really takes is one or two really good friends.

There is one person that I have known for close to twenty years, but I guess it had to take me to my 40th birthday to really let it sink in that we're not BFFs, to borrow a teeny bopper term.  Naturally, since we haven't lived in the same town for a while, I knew that we weren't best of friends.  Yet I am the person who always went to seek her out, visited her at her place, made the effort to make plans.  Maybe that's a sign of maturing, getting older, that I am trying to deal with this.  The whole Facebook thing doesn't really help.  We see each other every once in a while, maybe once a year, at events of mutual interest.  Usually we just bump into each other.

It's not fun and it's not easy.  I would rather we be closer friends.  I'd rather her visit or call.  I guess that's just not in the cards.  40 is good like that:  my life is otherwise full and vibrant.  Who needs the sadness of a friendship that was never really what I thought it could be?

And yet, after all these years I continue to think about it.

The 1st verse from Dylan's "He Was a Friend of Mine" makes me think of her.  She is alive and well, so the rest doesn't really apply.  But the 1st verse does.

(s)he was a friend of mine
(s)he was a friend of mine
Every time I think about (her) now
Lord I just can't keep from cryin'
'Cause (s) was a friend of mine



"Light," by Phish, a favorite tune of mine especially performed live, also reminds me of this friend.  Especially the less-often heard verse

Obstacles are stepping stones
That guide us to our goals
Fences are filters
That purify our souls

The song has great hope.  It makes me feel like whatever happens in life, this friend and I continue to be connected.  The obstacles that exist in the friendship are there for a reason and perhaps the reason why our friendship hasn't been more than I'd hoped is purposeful and the right thing for me.  Who knows, one day we may cross paths in a meaningful, lasting way.  Doesn't everything happen for a reason?

First There is a Mountain

"Then there is no mountain, then there is."  -Donovan

Pretty sad that I can't make it to Mountain Jam this year, which I really enjoyed last year and wrote about in my first and only piece on Kveller.

This quotation comes from the song "There Is a Mountain" which my friend Adam, ever the joyful Rainbow tribe family member (and holy hassid) introduced me to via his Happy Tapes.  Here is Donovan performing the tune in its original form.




And, further to my late-bloomingness (but who's really counting anyway), little did I know that the Allman Brothers did a pretty famous jam improvisation on their album "Eat a Peach" that they called "Mountain Jam"."  Hence, the name for the music festival that I am missing at Hunter Mountain.

Better late than never.  People write about this album and this jam like they were life-changing musical experiences.  I don't doubt that.

Reason #127 Why My Favorite Band Should Play in Israel

It has taken his entire career to make it to Israel, but former Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart will be playing in Jerusalem this August.  He is performing as part of the Jerusalem Sacred Music Festival.  He is the only Jewish member of the Grateful Dead.

Mickey Hart  photo from Jpost.com

No doubt, Jewish Deadheads worldwide are kvelling.

I have said it before and I will say it again:  changes a' comin'.  This gives me hope that one day, my favorite band will make it to Israel.  (this isn't the time and place to say how the Grateful Dead leads me to Phish.  For just one convo on that topic, go here)

And despite that my sort of silly sort of not silly calculations that led me to predict that Phish would play there last December didn't come true, it still gives me hope.

Phish is celebrating 30 years this year...the time is now.

If not now, when?  -Hillel

It's Not About the Nail

Going viral as we speak.  Totally awesome short movie about male-female communications.

 

The Rebbe Elimelech

It's an old-world Yiddish tune, and we love it.  Here's Concealed Light on flute playing "Der Rebbe Elimelech," which, incidentally, was written in 1927.  And that year is a permutation of a number we hold so dear to our hearts (yeah yeah, we know the  prediction in that link didn't come true last Chanukah.  Still doesn't matter.  127 totally rocks).




Here are the words (in transliterated Yiddish...Stango will be very unhappy to see "nisht oys"...not a single Hebrew letter...so it goes) if you didn't check out the Wiki link I included above

Az der Rebbe Elimeylekh

Iz gevorn zeyer freylekh,

(Iz gevorn zeyer freylekh, Elimeylekh,)

Hot er oysgeton di tfilin

Un hot ongeton di briln

Un geshikt nokh di fidlers di tsvey.

Un di fidldike fidlers

Hobn fidldik gefidlt.

Hobn fidldik gefildt hobn zey!

(x2)

Az der Rebbe Elimeylekh

Iz gevorn mer nokh freylekh,

Iz gevorn mer nokh freylekh, Elimeylekh,

Hot er opgemakht havdole

Mitn shames Reb Naftole

Un geshikt nokh di payklers di tsvey.

Un di paykeldike payklers

Hobn paykeldik gepaykelt.

Hobn paykeldik gepaykelt hobn zey!

(x2)

Az der Rebbe Elimeylekh

Iz gevorn GOR SHTARK freylekh,

Iz gevorn gor shtark freylekh Elimeylekh,

Hot er oysgeton dos kitl

Un hot ongeton dos hitl

Un geshikt nokh di tsimblers di tsvey.

Un di tsimbeldika tsimblers

Hobn tsimbeldik getsimbelt.

Hobn tsimbeldik getsimbelt hobn zey!

(x2)

Happy Cinco de Mayo

Tonight we held our now-annual Cinco de Mayo fiesta supper celebration.  Exactly the type of stuff the kids are going to be embarrassed about in years to come.  (Or maybe they already are?)