Ohh, a warm bath would be nice this cold morning. What? You want me to lie down? I suppose.....

Goodnight, Irene

This is the final song of our monthly Song Circle, or Hippie Hootenanny as our kids call it. Pete Seeger gave us so much, not just his music and his activism but also his grace in standing up to the House Un-American Activities Committee.

December 2013 or What We're Doing Now

So what's happened since April 2012? A lot.

Yakov will graduate from UNC Chapel Hill in the spring. He will graduate with a degree in Peace, War and Defense. He interned the summer of 2012 for his congressman, David Price, and spent this past summer as an intern for J Street. He is the current national president of J Street U Student Board. At their conference in October, he had the honor of introducing Congressman John Lewis who was one of the keynote speakers. Yakov did a beautiful job and received a vigorous hug from Congressman Lewis. He recently had a article published on The Daily Beast.

Shoshie will graduate form UNC Asheville next December. She has studied International Studies, focusing on the Middle East and Northern Africa. She spent a month this past summer in Ghana. She is involved with lots of activities in Asheville, such as belly dancing and tutoring middle school kids. And so much more. It is much harder to describe the many things she is involved in than it is for Yakov. She has several jobs. She is doing independent research as well as helping a professor with his research. She's just always on the go. And soon she will visit Japan with a friend for 10 days.

Noach has made some major changes as well. Last December, JP and I decided he needed to go to school. The reasons are many. He was resistant to any change and had never been to school so we had to made a careful decision. In January he began mid10th grade at the local Quaker school. He loved it, made good grades and was very well liked. He has made good friends and was recently asked to be one of the school's ambassadors, the students who show prospective students and families around the school. He has really transformed the way many at the school look at homeschooled students. Like his brother Yakov, Noach has taken on some leadership roles with Young Judaea and perhaps will work at camp this summer.

Big E, my oldest, was with us in Tennessee for Thanksgiving. His wife and 2 girls were with him. They are all wonderful. And busy.

And I have retired again. From homeschooling this time. My post retirement activities include pottery, birdwatching and politics. I started pottery classes last year and I love it. My work is not that good but I'm working on it and each pot is better than the last. Often I go birdwatching on the weekend with a local group and I have introduced a friend to birdwatching as well. Until recently the two of us went one morning each week.

But recently I have been absorbed with helping people get information on the Affordable Care Act. Over the summer I joined the League of Women Voters and through that group I became involved with Enroll America. Now I am the captain of the team for my city. I have a group of 12 or so people who attend or host events where we discuss basic ACA info. Soon we will be helping them to make navigator appointments also. I am relieved that the website is working much better now.

JP continues to practice medicine at the VA. I know he would like to retire soon but it's hard to retire when we have two in college and one yet to go. Next summer we will celebrate 25 years of marriage. We're looking for a fun trip to go on to celebrate rather than a party.

So that's it. We keep muddling through, doing our best.

March reading

1. In the Garden of the Beasts: Love, Terror and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson. I could not put this book down and read it over a weekend. A great story well written.

2. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I chose this one to discuss with one of my book clubs. It was better the second reading.

 3. Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides. The choice of my other book club. Wonderful writing. Themes include immigrants, gender, assimilation, so much more.

4. Sweet Judy Blue Eyes: My Life in Music by Judy Collins. Lots of sex, alcohol and more sex.

5. America and Vietnam: The Elephant and the Tiger by Albert Marrin. I retrieved this one from the bookshelf for Noach to read but I read it first. Good review. I was not so familiar with the early history of Vietnam, especially its colonial history. The French were brutal colonial masters. PRM

Yakov on Daily Forward front page

From last weekend at the JStreet conference. Here is a screenshot with Yakov and here a bigger picture. Handsome boy if I do say so myself. PRM

Shoshie on HuffPost

She has been active in Hillel at UNCA. Last weekend they had a dinner with the Muslim Student Association and this picture was taken, seen at the Huffington Post. That's my baby on the end.

 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/22/faith-inspires-muslim-student-association-unc-asheville_n_1373768.html?ref=religion&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000008

PRM

February reading

1. Billy Bathgate by E.L. Doctorow. JP and I stumbled onto the movie a few months ago and I began looking for a copy of the book to read. Much better than the movie. Beautiful writing.

2. Packing for Mars by Mary Roach. This was the choice for my old book club. The first 80 pages were quite fascinating, a history of space travel, picking astronauts for their program in Japan (origami)and other topics. Have you ever heard of Roger Babson, who held a grudge against gravity after his sister drowned as a child? He established the Gravity Research Foundation to study ways to implement gravitational shielding. The last 3/4 of the book detailed body functions in space. This could have been interesting for about 50 pages maybe but not for the 250 pages alloted.

3. Swamplandia by Karen Russell

4. Tinkers by Paul Harding

5. Under the Greenwood Tree by Thomas Hardy. This was my first Ebook. I am withholding judgement for now.   PRM

I saw him on Broadway

in the summer of 1964. RIP Davy Jones. PRM (Yeah, I'm that old.)

January reading

1. Middlemarch by George Eliot. Loved it and can't wait to read more Eliot.
2. The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obrecht. TWB Challenge, Balkans. This was the choice of one of my book clubs. Very rich, perhaps too rich.
3. The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey by Walter Mosley. This was my choice for my old book club.
4. A Bitter Truth: A Bess Crawford Mystery by Charles Todd. WTG Challenge, WWI.
5. The Berlin Boxing Club by Robert Sharenow. This was a pre-read for Noach. I hope he enjoys it as much as I did.
6. No Promises in the Wind by Irene Hunt. Another pre-read for Noach.
PRM
Traveling the World with Books

visited 4 states (1.77%)
Create your own visited map of The World or Like this? try: Archean

Reading Challenges

In 2008, I participated in a reading challenge, Triple 8, reading 8 books in each of 8 categories in the year 2008. I didn't quite meet the challenge. Having skipped 3 years, I am ready to take on a new challenge, perhaps several challenges, but I expect some overlap. Some of the books can be used for book club readings, also.

First, Historical Fiction Challenge 2012 at the Struggling the Addiction level, 10 books. This is a category I often delve into and it will overlap with the second challenge.

War Through the Generations, WWI is my next choice. I plan to do this one at the Wade level, 4 to 10 books. And I personally want to focus on YA literature and books for younger readers that I missed in my previous reading. There are many classics on the suggestion page that I have never read. Now is the time.

And finally, a challenge of my own creation, Traveling the World in Books 2012. I haven't created an image or button for myself yet. The goal is one book per month and each from a different part of the world.

Obviously there is a lot of overlap in these but I still think I can use them to make a fascinating year of reading. PRM

Four month follow-up

Four months since the last post and so much has happened but nothing really dramatic, just living our lives kind of stuff.

Shoshie has finished her first semester in college. She loves her school and Asheville. She is home for much of the winter break and I love having her here. We play a lot of Rummikub and watch movies.

Yakov has completed another semester at Chapel Hill and has become very active with J Street and Hillel. He was home for the weekend and has now gone to NYC to visit his Year Course friends.

Noach is doing high school work at home. He thought he might try public school next year but he has changed his mind again. However in preparation for a possible change and because he needed instruction from someone other than me, he started taking several online classes this fall. Derek Owens has provided Physical Science and Algebra 1 with online teaching and then Noach emails his homework for Mr. Owens to check. This has gone really well. We have not required a lot of personal attention but I feel it would be there if we did need it. I highly recommend these courses to anyone seeking this kind of instruction. Noach is also taking a yearlong class with Write at Home and I can see improvement in his work. The best effect has been in the improvement in our relationship; I am no longer the taskmaster for the subjects he likes least.

On Wednesday afternoons, he volunteers at the local hospital where he spends time with adults other homeschooled teens. We have continued studying Modern World History with a weekly movie, joined by a friend and her mother. And he forges ahead in Boy Scouts, enjoying monthly camping. Maybe he will be planning his Eagle project next year.

I am still trying to find my way with the changes the last few years have brought. Most Thursdays I meet a friend for a movie. I joined another book club so now I have at least 2 books to complete each month. I started Middlemarch 2 weeks ago, just reading it on my own and loving it.

That's a quick update. Have a Happy Chanukah or Merry Christmas if that's your tradition or Happy, Healthy winter if you prefer. Ruth in NC

Just saying

PRM

What we are/were doing

Here is Yakov this week in Colorado.

At the 1 minute mark, Noach assumes the role of Finn. He needs some singing lessons but he looks so comfortable in front of an audience of a hundred or more campers. PRM

Sending a little note

June 21, 2011

Chief Justice John G. Roberts

The Supreme Court of the United States

1 First Street, NE

Washington, DC 20543

Dear Mr. Chief Justice,

The integrity of the Supreme Court must be maintained. We, the American people, deserve to feel that opinions rendered by the Court are reached without prejudice.

Justice Clarence Thomas has repeatedly caused concern for those of us who care about the Court. Why did he not report his wife’s income? Why did he accept gifts from organizations that have business before the Court?

Please, Mr. Chief Justice, address this issue in order to reassure us that the Court is fair to all Americans. When I teach my children about the US Supreme Court, I want to do so with pride.

Sincerely,

A homeschooling Mom

***

My family knows me as a frequent emailer to my Senators and Representative. This is a genetic trait, I think. My father did it as well. He once received a reply from Walter Cronkite.

However, you can't email the Supreme Court so I am using snail mail. PRM

Her girl is back.

Mine, too. PRM

Reunion

Between my second and third years of medical school, I had a long break in which to prepare for and take my first national medical licensing exam. In the time between the exam and beginning clinical rotations, I went to England for 2 weeks with a friend. We spent a week in London and then traveled through southern England for another week. We rented a camper van much like this one,and I drove. That was a nail biting adventure, driving a van on the left side of the road. I brushed against a parked car only once, smacking the mirror. And it was my first experience with roundabouts instead of traffic lights.
We saw Derek Jacobi in Much Ado at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. Twice. My friend had a bit of a crush on Derek Jacobi and we sent him a gift backstage. In response he wrote a nice thank you note.

Shortly after we got home, my friend moved to Chicago and I went back to school. We were not good long distance friends, last seeing each other when I visited her right before my graduation in 1984. And we rarely spoke by phone, the last time over 20 years ago.

In February, I heard Derek Jacobi interviewed on the radio about his coming to New York to do King Lear. I googled my friend's name, found her email address and sent her a message. Did she want to see Derek Jacobi again?

And that is just what we did last week. We met in NY, went to the play and spent two days walking around Manhattan catching up on nearly 27 years of history, children, divorce, marriage, work, travel. It was so much fun. PRM

Finally the CDC addresses a REAL problem

Check out the new CDC bulletin, Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse.

Noach says the material lacks a critical step, identifying the type of zombie you are facing. So I'll give you his recommendations.

Fast zombies, now the most common, require that you are in a group, have munitions and food and a hand-to-hand weapon.

Slow zombies are less of a problems. The main suggestion, don't get cornered. They can be killed in the normal zombie-way.

The best place to face zombies is a prison. There are guns, food and you can get in a cell and they can't get to you.

Finally, if faced with 28 Day Later zombies, or "infected" zombies, you need to plan carefully. You must avoid the projectile vomit; it is immediately infectious. But they are vulnerable to being shot anywhere on their bodies. A head shot is not essential.

Be careful out there. PRM

Questions about the end of the world tomorrow

If you're easily offended, keep moving.

1. Is it a "rolling rapture"? And if so, where does it start? The international date line? Jerusalem? We, the no doubt damned, are wondering if it rolls east to west, could our daughter in Israel call us if she starts seeing people disappear and we could suddenly be saved? As my husband said last night, if you start seeing people disappear like that, your sudden embrace of Jesus would probably be quite sincere. But too late, perhaps. And certainly so for Shoshie.

2. Or is it a sudden event that happens at the same instant across the world? If so, we are SOL. I'll take the chance.

3. Do we know anyone likely to be raptured? Perhaps not locally. I guess that means we won't be very successful at the Post Rapture Looting event.

Just wondering. PRM

Bus bombing in Jerusalem

Shoshie's last few months in Israel may have just taken a dramatic turn. Safety is a big issue for groups like hers and this may lead to restrictions on her freedom to travel.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12836224

She has already called to reassure me and I have contacted relatives to spread the reassurance. Pray for victims if you are of a mind. And pray that all can find a way to peace. PRM

Periodic Table of Videos visits Japan

From our favorite chemists in Nottingham comes an explanation of the nuclear reactor and the difficulties in Japan. PRM