Alternative writings

Honestly, I should be banned from thinking when I read sentences like It will "touch" your Seder and every guest at your table. and giggle. And no, I didn't add the quote marks around 'touch'.

Are you allowed to say that a Passover Hagadah reads like Ikea Sex?

Because I just found a Hagadah that reads like Ikea sex.

It is a hagadah for Christians written by a convert to Christianity. It is the driest and most uninspiring thing I've ever read. It's just a by the numbers stand up, sit down drink now sort of thing. Now, admittedly there are Jewish Hagadahs that have the instructions as well, but they also seem to offer more passion, more discussion involved in it. It invites questions.

It's probably just the writer more than the material though.

I think the funniest thing, however, was the insistence of Kosher for Passover food through out the book.

Book of the Day: Christ was Not a Jew: An epistle to the Gentiles, By Jacob Elon Conner. Published 1936

Inside copy:

This book is addressed to all Gentiles, whether Christians or otherwise.

The words "Catholic" and "Protestant" are not to be found in it.

It is historical and analytical in treatment, not doctrinal.

It is not "preachy" - it is not irreverent. It is factual.

It is not iconoclastic; but it does draw a line of demarcation between Christianity and the primitiveness of Judaism.

Those who say, "It makes no difference from what race Christ came," are wrong, for that is only a personal attitude, ignoring the historical truth, and "Half truth is whole error."

It is the Jewish writers who insist that Christ was of their race.

Reason tells us that Christ was not a Jew, history confirms the dictates of reason, and Christ said, "We do not gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles."

This book shows how and why that error originated, and why it must be rectified. It is vital to Christianity.

So, apparently, we - the library I work at - owns a book that was printed within ten years of Guttenberg's press being made.

Ten years.

:O

Wow

First, I think our new bird thinks he's a bat.

We got home Monday night from a family dinner and before going back off to my place, I stopped in to say good bye to the bird. He was hanging upside down from the roof of his cage giving me a "what?" look. And he hung there for a good minute too. He's getting tamer. We can have him sit on our fingers for a few seconds inside his cage.


Yesterday was nice. The university had employee recognition day at the Brandies Campus. Which is a huge place with two summer camps in it and loads and loads of acres. There was folk dancing and all sorts of activities.

I got to go horseback riding. My horse was an ornery one which I got to ride since I had some experience. At one point he decided that trying to attack the horse behind him was a good idea. A very scary moment! As I've never had to deal with a horse who did that before. He bucked and started to spin, but I managed to keep him under control. The trail leaders said I did a good job and they were impressed. ^_^

The big thing though was I got my Ten Years of Service award. It was a very nice pin. Bossman had to present it to me and say wonderful things about me. This is three weeks after I got called in to HR and told I was a horrible person.

However, it's gotten me thinking. I've been with this university, as a student and an employee for about half my life. Maybe a little more. Which is weird feeling for me.

An interesting bit of conundrumming. I suppose not really. But just a sort of "Huh" thing.

Upon my desk came the movie the Pianist, directed by Roman Polanski.

Excellent movie about the Holocaust directed by a shmuck. I guess it goes into the old Wagner debate of do you separate the creator from their work. I've never been able to put a firm opinion on the matter because Wagner was a Genius and his work did fantastic things for the world of music but... he was a horrid antisemitic.


In the mean time, one of the Rabbinical students has face-planted into his book and is snoring.

I cataloged the movies Attack of the Killer Klowns, the Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzia in the Eight Dimension and Spaceballs today.

Hee.

Today's interesting author's name: Oxenhandler. He wrote a book called A change of gods.

Also, I'd like a couple of people to take a look at my first three chapters redraft to make sure they make sense. I'm having someone else go over the grammar, but I'm not sure the chapters are coherent.

I am having chocolate cake for breakfast today. Why chocolate cake you may ask? Because it's left over from a surprise party yesterday at work. A surprise party for me.

It wasn't a complete surprise. After all I knew there would be food. Last week I suggested a potluck lunch after seeing one of the other departments bringing food in. The boss liked the suggestion and said I should arrange it for next Tuesday which was Rosh Kodesh (the first day of the new month). I was we don't need it to be for a holiday or anything like that, just a random library lunch thing. Bossman insisted and so I managed to do the food shuffle.

Tuesday comes and I bring my tuna casserole to share and other people have their food. It seems nice. The lunch is set for eleven which meant I'd be up at the front before it started. Come elevenish one of the co-workers says bossman wants to see me. I figure he wants to ask me about some sort of random library thingamagjig.

No. It turns out that the whole Rosh Kodesh was a ruse. They were throwing me an employee recognition party. See, the school doesn't recognize part time employees for things like having worked there for five, ten etc years, for some reason or another. I've been working at the library officially for the past eight years and have gotten squat beyond the bossman's and everyone else's constant you're a fantastic worker. Sure, that's nice, but it's hard when you're sitting at the employee recognition lunches and seeing people who've been there less time than you get recognized because they're full time. I can't work full time because a) it would drive me crazy and b) they can't pay me. Thus I am doomed to perpetual limbo of good work and long service but no recognition.

Apparently the library people realized this so they threw me a luncheon. To say I was shocked is an understatement. I got a warm fuzzy feeling of snuggling kittens though as they told me how much I was appreciated and I got a card and a Chamsah.

It's good to know you're appreciated like that, even if it's not official recognition.

Pair of books I'm cataloging are by a "Ka-tzetnik 135633". Curious about such a name, I checked the internets. Apparently it means "Concentration Camper 135633" in Yiddish. He used it as his publishing name because, according to Wikipedia, that is what he'd become.