Woman. Legend. Blog.

Put this video on play in the background as you read the post:

Apparently, someone thought I was competent enough to write on Jewish issues for a major blog.  So, when I’m not over here, wondering about issues such as whether I will ever understand tennis enough to watch it with Mr. B or whether I will ever be ok at SAS, you can find me at

I just finished watching Roman Holiday with Mr. B, who harbors a long-time crush on Audrey Hepburn, cause he’s classy like that.  It’s actually one of the reasons I admire him most.  I like to think that, not being able to marry Audrey, he saw me as the second-best choice. I also like to think that I will lose 5 lbs simply by switching to low-fat ice cream.  I live in delusion-land sometimes.  Come join me, it’s great over here (lots of vanilla and rocky road for all.)

We now take  a moment away from being cynical about politics to look at this picture from the Indian elections: (Getty Images, Via Jezebel)

All of my life, I was taught NEVER to buy retail pricing.  Not so much taught not to buy, as we just never did it.  We just went right back to the sales racks.  Pants for $48?  That’s ridiculous, when last season’s pants were $20.  In fact, up until I was 18, I don’t think I bought a single piece of clothing over $40.

My mom calls me.

What it’s about: Serious Egyptian college students in America ponder their future in a post 9-11 America

Why it’s good: Shows multi-faceted face of Egyptian society and gives a peek into Egyptian culture, particulalry in the face of xenophobic Americans. Also tackles womens’ issues in Egypt.

Why it’s bad: Has several indistinguishable characters and no seeming ending goal, making the reader feel deprived, author dismisses all Zionism as evil, even though Jews are supposedly “ok”

Moral of the book: Don’t judge all Middle Easterners in America; we are all human; people have the government they deserve

I’ve been reading a lot lately about how economists are predicting an uptick in the world economy, just because of a couple key indicators.   First, there were the durable goods upticks in the United States.

I’ve become obsessed with Afghanistan, lately. Actually, it’s been going on probably since sometime in high school, when I wrote a sad little short story about how a Soviet soldier got killed in the mountains, all alone, without his friends there to back him up (I was a pretty intense kid.) It escalated, first when I read The Kite Runner, then The Bookseller of Kabul, and was watching these videos of the Soviet invasion. I think this is exacerbated by the fact that Afghanistan was always “far away” and “out there,” but an issue very close to the heart of my parents’ generation in Russia, especially since 11/10 boys sent there didn’t come back and it was this war that really bought the Soviet Union to its knees.

So, there’s been a lot of media coverage recently about what this crisis means, and how to explain it to the common man.  Terry Gross recently did an interview with Gretchen Morgenson looking at AIG spending and how it’s tied to mortgage-backed securities, and all that fun financial terminology that eventually led to America ending up in the toilet, swirling slowly around the bowl.  And NBC’s Dateline is aSo, there’s been a lot of media coverage recently about what this crisis means, and how to explain it to the common man.  Terry Gross recently [did an interview with Gretchen Morgenson](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101936770) looking at AIG spending and how it’s tied to mortgage-backed securities, and all that fun financial terminology that eventually led to America ending up in the toilet, swirling slowly around the bowl.  And NBC’s Dateline is a together.  If I have to hear that phrase one more time, by the way, I’ll scream.  I’m glad that all of this investigative media is going on after the fact. As they say, hindsight is always 20/20 (but only if you still have a vision coverage plan. )