Football Tutor Wanted

Although it's nearly a year away, my college roommate and I already are talking about getting tickets for the 2014 Lafayette-Lehigh game, which will be the 150th meeting of the two teams, and is the most played college rivalry in the country.  The game is slated for Yankee Stadium, which is, compared to either Lafayette or Lehigh, right in my backyard, and, best of all, easily accessible by public transportation.

Yesterday when I checked the Lafayette Leopards' official athletic site, however, I found this message:

The initial allotment of tickets for the 150th Lafayette-Lehigh football game, hosted by Lafayette at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2014 at 3:30pm, have been exhausted.  Additional tickets have been requested from the Yankees.

Class of 2014 will be considered students for the 150th -You will be able to purchase when the student allotment goes on sale in April.

Aside from the fact that we can't yet get tickets (never mind that there's a grammatical error in the text of the message), I have another problem:  despite possessing a fine liberal arts education from one of the aforementioned schools, I don't understand the first thing about how football is played.

When I attended football games in high school--generally only on Thanksgiving, when Franklin played Piscataway, its arch rival, in a homecoming match-up--friends repeatedly would attempt to explain the basics to me, but as I told them each year after the game, "By the time I figured out which way Franklin was supposed to be running, they were supposed to be running the other way."  Despite my best efforts and exceedingly competent tutoring, I just never seemed to catch on.

Sadly, I'm not overly optimistic that the NFL's Beginner's Guide to Football, Football Rules and Basics for Dummies, or Football 101 - The Basics of Football will be of much help.

My best hope when it comes to learning about football between now and next November is that a few friends and acquaintances who are fans of this crazy, confusing game, and also happen to hold the title "rav," (which, in its purest sense, means "teacher"), might be willing to step up to the plate (I know, I know, that's baseball terminology) to teach me the basics of football as though it was the aleph bet.

What do you say, rabbinic football fans?  Are you up for the challenge?

Letter to Chicago

Dear Chicago,

As I noted in a recent post, "I've visited Barrow, AK, but never Chicago, IL, except to change planes at O'Hare."  I think it's time that we finally meet IRL, and I'd like to check your calendar to see if there are some dates later this winter or in the spring that might be good for a visit.
 
There are lots of things I'd like to build into my itinerary, but it certainly will come as no surprise that at the top of my list will be seeing Phyllis and her family.  Even if there's nothing to say but "Hinneni" (as thousands of us have been doing--from near and far--for the last 18 months), I can hold her hand, hug her close, share her pain. If the weather's OK, maybe she, Michael and the kids will be willing to show me some sights--the zoo, a museum, or the skaters at Millennium Park. Or, maybe we'll spend an afternoon just hanging out in the kitchen that her pictures always portray as so very warm and inviting.

I'm hopeful that the timing also will allow me to visit with Rachel Roth, Stacey Zisook Robinson, Janine Mileaf, Stephanie Fink, Barb Leibson Shimansky, and Kate Heilman--as well as include tourist stops at the Art Institute of Chicago, the John Hancock Observatory, Wrigley Field, and an authentic Chicago deep dish pizza spot, the specifics of which I'll leave to the locals. (When my parents visited Chicago in the mid-1980s for a cousin's wedding, my mom brought home a pretty bangle bracelet for me from Marshall Field's.  Too bad that's not still a tourist spot...)

So what do you say, Chicago?  Please check your calendar and let me know what might work for you.  I'll set up a fare alert for LGA to ORD, pull out a hat, warm boots, and my mittens (even though I'm at that stage of life that makes it totally unnecessary for me even to button my coat in New York City), and hope we can make this visit a reality.

I look forward to an opportunity to follow the "Ground Transportation/Exit" signs at ORD and to seeing you (and my friends who live near you) sometime in the next few months.

~ Jane.

A Teachable Moment

I don't fancy myself a Jewish educator, but earlier today, I had a great opportunity to participate in a teachable moment

It started last night when Richard, a friend from way back in middle school, left me a voice mail message seeking my thoughts on an appropriate gift for a bat mitzvah.  He noted that he most often "defaults" to money, but thought I might have a better handle on the topic.

This coming Saturday, he and his wife will pick me up at the Metuchen train station so I can ride with them to Temple Har Shalom, where the eldest daughter of a third friend will become bat mitzvah.

By the time I listened to his message, it was too late to call back, so I responded with a text, and the conversation took off from there:

My Jewish educator friends need not worry.  I'm not giving up my day job!

Blogging Love

While attending a family bat mitzvah in Sylvania, OH, this past weekend, I received an email message that I'd been mentioned in a tweet:

I nominate for #SunshineAward (jewishspecialneeds.blogspot.com/2013/11/presen…) @mom2mikey @bgiourme @rabbiisa @JanetheWriter @BarbMitzvah @CoffeeShopRabbi @ollibean

Many thanks to Lisa Friedman, who not only mentioned me in her tweet, but also nominated me for a #SunshineAward.  I'm honored that Lisa has provided an opportunity for her readers to learn more about me, and that she believes my writing makes a significant contribution to the blogging community.

As Lisa has already done, I am about to pay it forward by nominating other bloggers for a #Sunshine Award  based on the "rules" detailed in Lisa's post: 

1. Acknowledge the nominating blogger (Thanks again, Lisa).
2. Share 11 random facts about yourself.
3. Answer the 11 questions the nominating blogger has created for you.
4. List 11 bloggers. They should be bloggers you believe deserve some recognition and a little blogging love!
5. Post 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate to answer and let all the bloggers know they have been nominated. (You cannot nominate the blogger who nominated you.)

Ready?  Here we go with 11 random facts about me:

1. I knew from a very young age that I wanted to be a writer.  As part of a second grade book binding project, I insisted that the last page of my book be entitled "About the Author," which was a short (I was, after all, only seven) bio about me.
2. Likewise, in The Homecoming, the movie that launched The Waltons television series, I was insanely envious of John-Boy, who received a stack of yellow writing pads as a Christmas gift from his Daddy near the end of the movie.
3. I have two of the same tattoo, a fact that comes as no surprise to regular readers of this blog.
4. In high school, I took a career assessment test.  The results suggested I'd be a good nun.  Hmmm...
5. I studied Russian and Latin in high school.
6. I'm a big fan of Jewish music and listen to it often.
7. I'm not a big fan of television and have never seen a full episode of either Friends or Seinfeld.
8. I'm incredibly out of touch with pop culture and couldn't identify Brad Pitt, Russell Crowe or Natalie Portman if my life depended on it.
9. I could live on carbs--french fries, mac and cheese, and pasta (any shape or size) are my all-time favorites.
10. I've visited Barrow, AK, but never Chicago, IL, except to change planes at O'Hare.
11. I'm still in regular contact with Mrs. Chromczak, my fourth grade teacher

 Here are my answers to Lisa's 11 questions:

1. If you could cast yourself in any reality TV show, which would it be and why? I have no idea...see #7 above!
2. Crunchy or smooth peanut butter?  Crunchy
3. Favorite place to vacation? Someplace I've never been before...perhaps Chicago.  See #10 above!
4. What animal most describes your personality? A canine mutt...happy to go out to explore and play during the day, but also wants to be snug and cozy at home each night.
5. Favorite ice cream flavor?  Rocky road
6. Cookie or cake?  Cookie, but only when it's a black and white, which, when it's done right, has the consistency of a moist cake.
7. Describe your ideal day.  Sleeping in, breakfast out, writing in a cafe and then back home to read, relax and nap.
8. What is your favorite season? Winter
9. What is your favorite thing about blogging?  Love the writing...and the feedback!
10. How do you relax? If I was better at it, maybe I wouldn't have high blood pressure?
11. What did you have for breakfast? Yoplait Greek yogurt (vanilla flavor) over a cubed Ginger Gold apple.

Here are six blogs that I'm nominating for a #Sunshine Award. Although I wish it was 11, with limited time and energy, these are the blogs I read with the greatest frequency: 

1. Ima on (and off) the Bima
2. Superman Sam
3. This Messy Life
4. Greatest Escapist
5. Stumbling towards meaning  
6. Elevated Risk

The first five, like my own, are slice-of-life blogs while number six focuses on one woman's journey as a BRCA gene mutation carrier.  I hope you'll check out the works of these bloggers and that their words and experiences will move you as they so often move me.  Most of all, I hope you'll give these writers the blogging love that they so richly deserve for regularly and with tremendous grace and generosity putting themselves and their families "out there" in the blogosphere.

Finally, for the bloggers I've just nominated for a #Sunshine Award, here are my 11 random questions for you:

1. What's your favorite book from childhood?
2. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
3. Coffee or tea?
4. Favorite food?
5. What was the make and model of the first car you owned?
6.  Do you have a library card for the town in which you live?  
7. When was the last time you used that library card?
8. What's the most exotic or offbeat place to which you've traveled?
9. Are you hosting Thanksgiving or being hosted?
10. Did you pass your drivers test the first time you took it?
11. What mode of transportation do you use most often to get to work?

May this nomination widen your readership and help your readers learn a bit more about you and what makes you tick.

Happy blogging!

Happy Birthday, The Mums

Dear The Mums,

It's a yucky day -- unseasonably warm and rainy -- in New York City so I hope there's good weather wherever you are and that you're enjoying your birthday.  If you see Larry Kaufman today, don't forget to wish him a happy birthday, too.  In addition to a love of Torah and the URJ, a November 17th birthday was something else the two of you shared.

There's lots to tell to bring you up to speed, so let's go.

Last night I had dinner with Karen and Phil Ott, who were visiting in New York for the weekend.  It was, as always, great to see them and, except for a few more gray hairs, they haven't changed at all!  Over dinner, Karen told me that you'd hung a bunch of different post cards over my crib, including Van Gogh's Starry Night.  She also told me that you often referred to me as Madame Nhu. Hmmm...based on what I read about her on Wikipedia, I can't quite figure that one out, but perhaps Daddy can shed some light on that particular nickname. 

Two weeks ago, I spent the day at Lafayette, where I was the November 6th speaker in the annual Madame de Lafayette series, which "seeks to recognize what it means to be a woman in the 21st century."  As I have done several times in the past, I spoke candidly about my BRCA journey, noting that had I heard a talk like my own when I was a student, the trajectory of our family's history had the potential to be different than it actually played out.  If my remarks help change the course of just one other family's history as it relates to hereditary cancer, you and I together will have added some good to the world.  (I'm not sure why the online publicity refers to me as Rev. Herman, but spending the day in Easton -- reconnecting with Bob and Sandy Weiner, meeting current students, many of whom are active in Hillel and/or members of Alpha Gam, and seeing Terry and Tom's Matthew, a Laf Coll freshman this year -- was, indeed, good for my soul!)

I'll have a chance to do more awareness raising about BRCA mutations at two upcoming events.  The first is  a Biennial learning session, where I'll be a panelist together with Rabbi Marci Zimmerman from Temple Israel in Minneapolis and Dr. Susan Domchek, Executive Director, Basser Research Center for BRCA.  In early February, I'm scheduled to speak at the Sisterhood Shabbat at Congregation Beth Or in Ambler, PA.  Terry's planning to come with me, and she and I are already planning to make a weekend of it!

As tough as the whole BRCA mutation journey has been, it is, at least, a harbinger -- something my friend Phyllis didn't have when leukemia struck her son, Sam.  He just turned eight and, despite a bone marrow transplant from SuperMensch at the end of August, the family's huge community learned this past week that the cancer has returned and, as she wrote on Sam's blog, "There is no cure.  There is no treatment."  The six of them -- Phyllis and Michael, Sammy and his sibs -- will be off to Israel shortly, where they'll be packing a lifetime of memories into the time they've got left.  We are so sad for all of them.  There are no words and, as I noted on Facebook yesterday, "Jacob isn't the only one wrestling with God this week."

I don't want to end on such a sad note so I'll tell you that Daddy and I are going to Detroit next weekend for Carolyn's bat mitzvah.  Amy and Ian, unfortunately, can't go, not only because of Amy's crazy travel schedule, but also because she recently signed a book deal (!) and her writer is going to be in New York at the same time she would be at the bat mitzvah.

One last thing:  It's certainly not a book deal, but I recently took on an interesting freelance project with the Mellon Foundation, thanks to my connection to Scott from New Hampshire, and I need to go do some work on it.  I'll write again soon.

Happy birthday, The Mums...miss you...xoxo,

~ Boo!

Ten Things Y'all Can Learn During a Visit to Jackson, Mississippi

Number 10:  It isn't food unless it's fried.

Number 9:  A sentence is not complete unless there's at least one "y'all" in it.

Number 8:  Southern hospitality is alive and well.

Number 7:  Few things are as important as college football.

Number 6:  The Mississippi Craftsman Center displays work of artisans who create gorgeous quilts, pottery, jewelry, sculpture, paintings, wood carvings, and other hand crafted items.

Number 5:  Jackson is home to Tougaloo College, an historically black college founded in 1869 to educate freed slaves and their children.  According to the National Science Foundation, it has graduated more students who have completed PhD degrees through the UNCF-Mellon Doctoral Fellowship Program than any other institution in the nation.

Number 4:  Historic Canton, Mississippi, a few miles up the road from Jackson, is home to the beautiful Greek Revival Courthouse featured in A Time to Kill, which was filmed entirely in Canton.

Number 3:  Eudora Welty, a native Jacksonian, lived and wrote in the same house for nearly 80 years.

Number 2:  Jewish geography works especially well in the south.

Number 1:  Nothing beats celebrating the marriage of two terrific friends -- destined to find each other in Utica, Mississippi -- in the place where they met...and gaining a few new "cousins" along the way!

Mazel tov, Anna and Nadav!

Vote for a Winner: The Art of Perception

As you know from yesterday's post, there are many things I just don't "get."

At the same time, there's lots I do understand, including the value of my sister's business, The Art of Perception, which uses the paintings and photographs in museums and galleries as data to train medical, law enforcement, security, military, and education professionals, as well as a host of others, including college dorm resident advisors, social workers, and prosecutors, to cite just a few examples.With enhanced observation, perception, and communication skills, these hardworking and dedicated professionals are better able to make diagnoses, solve crimes, and promote justice, as well as protect our borders, our children and our lives.

This one-woman, exceedingly creative enterprise currently is in the running for a $250,000 grant from Chase through the bank's Mission Main Street Grant Program.  Twelve small businesses will receive grants through this initiative, but to remain in the running for the grant, The Art of Perception must receive 250 votes before November 15th.

Therefore, I would be grateful if you could visit this page to cast your vote for The Art of Perception.  (You will have to log into your Facebook account on that page, but Chase will not store or share your information.)

On behalf of Amy and The Art of Perception, thanks so much for your support.