Feist-ish

Plumb sounds like a sanitized version of Feist to me. Yet I find this song oddly pleasing, sort of like Lush's early albums.

Resurrected!

Thanks to SW for her comment. It was timely indeed: this layl Shabbos, I ran into a fan, who lamented the demise of this blog.

Basically, I had made the decision to kill this blog, but didn't really advertise the fact. Since I wanted to keep the blog up as a reminder of a period in my life, not to mention in case I felt the need to review one of my divrei Torahs, I figured I would leave the blog as is, and let me silence do the talking.

However, I have decided that, for the time being at least, life still interesting enough to merit keeping this blog. I'll be posting some entries that I had kicking around so you can catch up on what's being going on in the interim.

Thanks again to all my loyal readers. It's all of you have made my blogging enjoyable. Keep the comments coming. :)

Searching

I have been trying to track down a poppy pin this past week. In Canada, you see, Canadians really put their heart and soul into commemorating those who sacrificed during all wars, and from now until November 11, they wear a poppy pin on their left lapel.

I hadn't seen such a pin since I came to the States, so I just assumed that such pins weren't available. After all, the tradition is pretty a legacy of our having been part of the British Empire, and since almost everything in American history is basically an attempt to break from British tradition, I didn't question it.

But then it hit me- if wearing a poppy pin is mainly a Commonwealth thing, then shouldn't the Canadian Consulate have pins? It was worth a try. And sure enough, once I managed to bypass the automated system and get a live person at the Consulate, I was told that they do indeed have the pins.

The Consulate is open from 9-1 Mon to Fri. I mean, those are their REAL hours, despite their claim that they're open to 5. So I'm hoping to make it that far in Manhattan in the coming weeks so that I can purchase a pin.

It would make my grandpa, olev hashalom (who was Glaswegian) proud!

Jackpot

Every once in a while, Hashem throws you an undeserved treat.

This past Friday afternoon, I did a bit of shopping online. I picked the standard shipping option, and looked forward to receiving my new long-sleeve t-shirts (in very pretty colours) just in time for Rosh Hashana. Well, this morning, at 10 AM, my doorbell rang and the happy UPS man delivered the said t-shirts into my delighted little hands (why can't the USPS guys be so happy?).

Prior to placing the order, I had contacted Customer Service by phone to ask a few questions, and the phone CSR told me I qualified for $5 off the shipping charges. Since the shipping labels didn't have pricing details, I decided to call the company to see what my credit card had been charged. The CSR I spoke to informed me that not only had I not received the reduced shipping, but that I should have received additional savings on each item. (I still don't know how I qualified for reduced pricing, but hey, I'll take it!) The end result is that I got a refund of $8 on my order.

Now when your Monday morning starts like that... :)

Yeesh

So I celebrated my birthday recently. And yes, I did in fact celebrate versus do my typical hermit routine, because my friends surprised me with a mini-party layl Shabbos. Thoughtful of them, eh? Anyhow, when did I feel old? On my birthday? Nope. As people sang "How old are you now"? Nope.

Instead, yours truly clued into how old I am (read: penultimate to a milestone) when I listened to this song and realised it was a hit in 2001. That's eight years ago. Here's the short version, although true to my trance roots, I prefer the Armin Van Buuren remix. Hope it brings back some memories for someone other than myself. ;)

Ah, Memories

Back when I was, ahem, off the derech, my musical tastes ran the gamut. But I have always had a soft spot for techno, specifically trance. To quote my friend H, techno is happy music. And in my mind, techno was to the '90s what the love-in was to the '60s. How can you resist all that peace and love?

Pre-Shabbos, I happened to be in techno mode, and played a few of my fave tracks. It was kind of a rave for one. :) But tonight, when my friend D gave me an opportunity to hit YouTube and spend an hour or so getting back into technoland...well, that was something special. And it left me inspired.

So for D and H (and any other reformed speaker girls out there!), here is a sampling of my "go to" techno songs. Hope you enjoy!

ATB featuring Paul Van Dyke
Two powerhouses collaborate. Could it get any better? I think not...

ATB featuring Miss Jane- One Fine Day
Are you sensing a trend here? :p

Fragma- Toca's Miracle

Ian Van Dahl- Castles in the Sky

Melanie C- I Turn To You

Paul Oakenfold- Send Me An Angel
This one is representative. The man is simply a genius and I love almost everything by him.

Tweeting is Killing My Blog!

I should have know it would be my latest obsession. I am utterly hooked on Twitter. And it's not just the convenience of having exactly the sound bites you want all together in a central location. No, the clincher is that I LOVE streamlining my thoughts into 140 character snippets. Maybe it's the Yekki/Virgo/techie in me, but gosh, it makes me feel so zen.

The upshot though is that I've started neglecting my blogging. Why develop carpal tunnel typing away when you can give the gist instead? Tweeting is efficient, and that's awesome.

But fear not. Sometimes I still have a rant or two in me (okay, maybe more often than sometimes, true) so this blog is going nowhere for the time being. Just make sure to subscribe to me on Twitter. Or at least read the Twitter Updates to stay abreast with Life with LPC.

CFN!

Seven Things I Love Meme

A while back I was tagged by Moshe in the "Seven Things I Love" meme. Moshe, you'll excuse me, but I won't be tagging 7 bloggers BECAUSE YOU STOLE HALF MY LIST. ;)

1. My mom. DUH.
2. Animals/birds. Fascinating.
   
3. My first cup of coffee in the morning on Shabbos.
   
4. My Schottenstein Interlinear Tehillim.
5. Benchlicht.
   
6. My friends (I'm B'H', bli ayin hara, so very blessed.)
7. The internet. So I can keep in touch with #6, and the world at large.

Since I'm not tagging anyone, feel free to post your list in the comments.

Amazing

There are people who proudly label themselves artists. Such people invariably do so in order to have "creative license" to be dramatic- versus actually creating.

This woman however is the real deal. Performance art that speaks to people of all nationalities, if half a million hits on YouTube and comments in multiple languages are any indication.

Outlet

Once upon a time, a verrrrry long time ago, I used to be a singer. And by that I mean my choir toured the world, made recordings, and performed with world-renowned symphonies. We were arguably one of the top choirs in the world, if competing against the Manchester Boy's Choir and Vienna Boy's Choir is any indication.

The choir was all my mother the Music Teacher's idea. Because as much as I loved singing, she's the one who decided to "channel" my enthusiasm in the appropriate direction. At least my singing endeavours proved more fruitful than my piano lessons. (Sorry Mom). And like the piano lessons, when I became older, the singing in public went away. You have to do what's tznius after all.

Years of yelling "Sound Speed" in my film production days, not to mention teaching, have left their mark on my current singing ability. My voice is no longer pure as crystal, and my range has shrunk by a few octaves. No longer would anyone be able to proclaim as they used to that I could sing anything. Heck, one recent Shabbos, I even managed to croak when I initially began a song (it was women-only, of course). Yet I still carry my love of music, and go around my house most days singing to myself (quietly, lest the neighbours hear). And I'll admit, I have at least one album of songs in me, if not more. Granted, I wonder how original they might be; they could wind up just being a hodge podge of all the songs I've listened to throughout the years. From time to time, I contemplate recording. At this point, the recording would be to simply give pleasure to my mother, aka my one and only fan. But it would be fun to do.

Then last night, while researching music resources online to make that recording for my mom, I stumbled upon the online karaoke community. I must admit, the thought of karaoke sends me into fits of laughter. I remember when I was lived in Korea how it was a major pastime, along with drinking soju. Let's be honest, for most people, karaoke is equivalent to a bunch of drunkards singing loudly and tonelessly through song after song, unaware of their complete lack of musicality. The whole point of karaoke is not to sing well but to show that you can follow the song in question.

Yet on these online sites, you find quite a few good singers. And given that some of the women post audio-only, versus video, it raises any interesting question about whether recording yourself and putting it up on such sites would be considered tznius. You even have a comment for each recording you upload, so I would think that if a woman wrote "For women only", that might be deemed "kosher".

Now, I am NOT planning on becoming Queen of the Online Karaoke community. Even if I wanted to, my singing just isn't up to snuff to do so. Still, it raised an interesting question for any frummies out there who love to sing and seek an outlet. Maybe the internet isn't so bad after all? :)

Ban It!

Tonight, while listening to music via YouTube (I've been searching for cover songs), I came across the following video. To say that I'm now scarred for life is an understatement. As someone who believes in the pet-owner bond, I found this video positively shocking. I'm still mopping up the puddle I left on the floor- although the sobbing did seem to alleviate my allergy symptoms...

Consider yourselves forewarned.

Upside

I should sooooo have been in bed about 4 hours ago, especially considering that I have a really important day at work tomorrow. But I've been dealing with a nice case of insomnia the past several days (DUH- look at the time I'm posting). Think it might have a wee something to do with, uhm, my stress level?

But, as always, there's an upside! I was scrounging around on YouTube looking for a few minutes of suitable fodder to induce my much-needed REM cycles. That's where I stumbled upon the final 10 minutes of last night's Gossip Girl. Unlike my other tv addiction, Lost, I find that the tail end of any given GG episode is all I really need to watch. That's just Josh Schwartz's style- things get blazing revved up right at the end. And wouldn't you know it? There, in the final minute or so, I heard a fabulous song with perfect lyrics. The whole experience gave me a tremendous sense of nostalgia for my late '80s/early '90s self. (Have I mentioned I am still squealing that Depeche Mode is touring? Yes, I know I can't go, but still...wouldn't it be cool if I could?)

You can find the song (and lyrics) below. Awesome!




She said she doesn't like it here, left everything back home
She was lost and bitter, broken and alone
She said she drinks too much, to make the nights go by
She was barely conscious, breathing through a straw
She held my hand and kissed my lips
She begged me to help her feel
And I said
I can make you feel it

She said she was a person before they brought her down
She was better than this dark relentless town
She had another lover who kept her in a cage
She had sold her future and buried who she was
And I said
I can make you feel it

"Oh to touch the people, to really feel them"

I can make you feel it

YouTube Mania

My general attitude on YouTube? Make it work for you. I once heard a teenager exclaim, on Shabbos no less, that it's his favourite site, and while I'm not that level of enthusiastic, I admit that YouTube has its uses.

First, where else can you find videos for your every mood? If I'm feeling extra-frummie, I'll listen to MBD or watch Rabbi X visiting Y. If I'm feeling my usual level of frummie-ness, I may catch some fan vids for my two shows-of-late. And if I'm feeling just plain ol' homesick for the Great White North, there's plenty to fill the void.

This past week I stumbled upon one of the funniest videos I've seen. Period. Granted, you really need to be from Canada to even remotely get the humour. But it was hysterical, and definitely not in a feel-good, frummie way. Then, just now, to equal my current cornball mood, I came across this transparently fake, yet aw-shucks-worthy vid.

Cat Plays Risk

I'm telling you, I'm becoming a total softie in my old age!

How Frum are YOU?

Back in the day, when I was dating and on some of the frummie dating sites for a month at a time, I had to categorize my level of frumkeit. So since, love it or leave it, I have always tended to be a bit of a "square peg in a round hole", I decided to consult with an expert. Enter my brother, aka the Rabbi who got smicha down Monsey way.

I mentioned that maybe I would go with Modern Yeshivish. Definitely modern, but the yekkish Virgo tendancies caused me to swing more to the Yeshivish side. His response: I refer to myself as Modern Orthodox, but machmir. :)

Anyway, I just took the Orthodoxy Test, which breaks down by percentages your scoring under the different subcategories. My score was overwhelmingly (79%!) in favour of Left Wing Yeshivish:

The Orthodoxy Test
says that I'm Left Wing Yeshivish

---

What does it mean?

So you're frum, but "with it." You know the lingo and walk the walk, but maybe you catch a movie on Motzei Shabbos. Never on Saturday Night though. Sometimes you wonder why all frum Jews can't be normal like you.

To which I must respond: DUH! But BB will be pleased nonetheless. :) My favourite question? "The Internet is". 'Cause if you're taking this test, LOL...

Lost Returns- Yawn?

I have been a rabid fan of "Lost" since I caught the rerun of the series premiere late in December 04. And I will admit that my devotion to the show has historically been at fanatical levels, as evidenced by my one friend who used to check whether the show was on commercial before ringing me.

Yet my recent loss of my tv set has had a fateful effect. Basically, I have gotten over my need to watch my two shows right away. Instead, I know that I have time to catch them online, and more to the point, enjoy reading all the blogs and viewing preview clips to whet my appetite before watching episodes.

My tv, to put it differently, has become dispensable to me. Not so my internet connection, as evidenced this last Friday when my connection was downed for a fretful hour and an half. Everything I do- working, finding zmanim, checking the weather, catching up with friends- is done 99% online. Tv has now joined the ranks of the rest of my life by becoming a subset of my online existence.

Still, I was slightly shocked to recognize last night, as I was reading posts on the return of the show after its 8-month hiatus, that I wasn't psyched. I mean, I've waited 8 months to see the next episode; I can wait another day until it's available online. What happened to me?, I wondered. And then I clued in- I've officially knocked a few years off my age, and defected from Gen X to Gen Y. Now, like my fellow Net Gens, my social nexus and entertainment is all about being plugged in. I'll watch, on my time, in my way.

My husband was quite funny when I shared with him last night that I wasn't excited about the return of my most blatant obsession. "Ok, sit down and stay calm. Hatzalah will be there shortly." But in the words of my new generation whatever. It's no big deal. Because in the end, with the power of time-shifting, I'll catch the new eppies sometime this week.

Until then, you'll excuse me, but I'm going to check out the boards to see what comments Losties have posted thus far. Catch you later!

One Year

I started this blog a year ago today, and all I can say is that I am so glad that I did. It has been quite the year (but aren't they all?), and I'm grateful that I've had this outlet to record my thoughts and hear your comments. My little piece of the internet has proven to be much more beneficial than I ever imagined, as it has turned out to be a wonderful tool for not only sounding off (natch!) but also making new acquaintances and keeping in touch with old ones.

So here's to the past year, and I'm looking forward to seeing what this next year will bring in my e-universe.

Little Bo Peep

I logged in before to listen to one of the songs I included in a post on December 4, only to find the whole post gone. After a half hour of checking all over my dashboard and Blogger Help, I figured that due to some technical snafu on the blogging platform, the said post has fallen off the face of the planet. So let's pause and bid it a fond farewell.

Isn't technology grand?

On the plus side, here's the theme song I had included, which categorically summarizes the ****iness of my wonderful office and was the general gist of my now RIP post.

Katy Perry: Hot N Cold

Silly Habit

I often find myself up early into the morning, exhausted but unable to sleep. Over the past few years, I've hit upon a strategy that inevitably causes me to get to sleep at a more reasonable hour: I take an online IQ test.

As a caveat, I don't believe that IQ tests mean anything. I knew roofers who scored below average yet had brilliant people skills, and geniuses with incredibly high scores (as in there are only 1 in 1 billion people who score like them) who could barely function socially. In short, who do you think did better in life, including their careers? Enough said.

One aspect of this ridiculous habit that I find so intriguing is that despite my invariably testing at say 2 AM on 3 hours sleep, my score is within 2-3 points of my daytime score. However, I believe that such scoring demonstrates not that one's IQ score remains static over one's lifetime, but rather that how one chooses to applying themselves mentally is based on their given comfort zones. We will tend, it seems, to always approach the same test the same way. That's why, even if you've taken the test a gazillion times, your score won't significantly improve unless you change how you apply yourself to it.

Interestingly, my main fascination with taking the test is due to having perceived over time that depending on the given day, I will excel in two of the given logic testing areas:

• numeric, e.g. how much is___ or what is the missing number in the sequence
  
• spatial-visual, e.g. what is the next item in the sequence or how many 4 dimensional items are there in the graphic
  
• verbal, e.g. unscrambling words or discerning the best match to a given meaning
  
• deductive, e.g. if Xs are all Ys and Ys are all Zs, is it true that all Zs are Xs?
  

What is so hysterically funny is that I will excel in opposing areas, either in numeric and spatial-visual or in verbal and deductive. You would think that I would be strong in two interrelated areas (verbal and spatial-visual, numeric and deductive). But no! Instead my silly brain excels in opposing combinations. Weird, weird, weird.

Anyhow, feel free to comment- and share your IQ scores and/or thoughts on such testing.

Virtual Trip

Back in the day, I had a nice list of trips I wanted to take- Australia/New Zealand, France/Spain, Turkey/Morocco, Arizona/New Mexico, Bike Trip through Central/South America, Perimeter of North America- you get the idea. I was not, like a few of my classmates at university, planning on taking a year off to travel around the world. I was always too practical for that. But, I did have a bunch of places I hoped to hit sometime in my youth. Needless to say, I have not taken any of those trips, but have instead found myself unexpectedly in other places. While there is always something to learn from any place you travel to, the fact that my list of To Do destinations was taking a backseat to places I had to travel to was always in the back of my mind.

As the years have passed, I have come to accept that I will probably never make even one of the trips I once dreamed of making. The ability to just take off to some far-flung dot on the map dissipates as you get older, if for no other reason than you are trying to create a home for yourself; why spend money going to Europe when you need furniture, clothing, etc.? Moreover, as you age, the need to travel dulls. You have already encountered people from different countries, had life experiences that you would have had by travelling simply by living your life.

Then tonight, it occurred to me that advancements in technology further negate in person travel. I went to a clothing website where they had a set of films showing young, hip women in their local city showing you the sites. I consequently visited London, Rome, and Australia. Guess I can cross those places off my list! But, all joking aside, in this day and age you can, with the click of a mouse, take virtual tours of different countries, watch movies set in places across the globe, hear music from different cultures, read articles by cultural theorists and sociologists. You can even visit the 7 wonders of the world in less than 5 minutes- unless your internet connection is faster than mine or you want to spend longer at each, that is.

While certainly a virtual world does not equal going to a country and taking in the culture, the sights and smells, the people, the world has indeed gotten smaller. And, concurrently, my world has gotten bigger as I have gotten older. The more life experience I have garnered, the more I have learned, the more my personal refinement has grown, has directly impact the growth of my world. So now, when I take a virtual visit to Peru, for example, my experience of that visit is different than it would have been when I was 17. Yes, I would have learned some of the same information as I would have back then, but the overall lessons learned now would be palpably different than if I was still 17.

All that said, I do still hope to take at least one of my dream trips someday. Until then, I am most thankful to live in this modern age when I can travel virtually to any part of the globe I choose. There is so much beauty in Hashem's world, and sometimes we get so caught up in our day-to-day lives, we tend to miss it. A trip, even a virtual one, is a way to appreciate that beauty, not only while we are away, but once we come home. While coming home is sometimes anti-climatic, the sweetness of home is appreciated more by absence therefrom. So, until I am up to scratching off one of those trips on my To Do list, I may just take an hour trip to Venice or Bogota in order to revel in the amazing splendour available there- and right under my nose.

Good Voch!

Technology leads the path to California

Sometimes technology is a most wondrous thing. I've been having tremendous problems with my voice lately, and discovered yesterday (after losing my voice completely from overuse) that the problems are probably due to acid stemming from all my digestive woes. That being said, I am now mute (to my husband's delight, no doubt!), and forced to rely on text messaging/chat programs/the internet to communicate. Now just think about that: any other time in history, and I would be forced to injure my mangled vocal chords further by speaking because no other options would be available. As much as I hate all the problems that come with technology (mainly impatience on my part as I wait for my slow-as-molasses laptop to load whatever page I'm attempting to view, but also call waiting, expensive batteries, trojan horses, etc.), right now I'm just loving it. And yes, for all of you Jewish mothers out there, I've made an appointment with an ENT...

I've spent the last several days helping my husband cobble together a resume and cover letter. As someone who has worked primarily for himself his whole life, my DH was quite unfamiliar with the whole concept of resumes and cover letters. B'H', that type of writing is also up my alley, so I've adopted the role of Supreme Editor this past week, helping him whip his entries into shape so that he can properly apply for jobs. Like that one out in California (woo-hoo)!

Truth be told, it was precisely that job in California that made us put the peddle to the metal where his resume was concerned. It may be almost midnight here on the East Coast, but thankfully out in California, it's only mid-evening, since the deadline for my husband to apply for that position is tonight. I just sent my husband the final updated version of the resume, along with his references, so we made the submissions deadline with time to spare according to California time. And that's just fine by me.

So everyone, let's all daven really hard to Hashem that my husband gets this job. I've already expanded my current job search and started applying to jobs in California. Yes, very yekkish, but I can't help it, people. Anyhow, with Hashem's help and a good dose of mazel, it should all be for the best, bli ayin hara!