Wicked Beat Box

With Matisyahu's most recent album, Light, I have become a serious fan. I initially bought the songs individually, then I realized I should have just bought the whole album already.

He does some awesome beat box in this video. 

Rooooooocks.

Keep up the good PR for us Yidden, man!

Opposites Attracting

By a wedding, I was chatting to a newly wedded girl. She was incredibly earnest, humorless, and a tad naive ("I'm going to become a shadchan!") but very sweet. Her husband came by and sat at the table. 

He was the complete opposite to everything she was - a casual attitude (meaning "nothing is sacred"), hysterically funny, and quite jaded. I certainly wouldn't call him sweet. Decent, but not sweet.

The two met at singles event. Despite the fact it was the means to their union, he didn't stop mocking how those events function. I was laughing quite loudly, I'm not proud to say, as he mimicked the other participants and the organizers. 

The two sat with their hands intertwined in what seemed to me the most uncomfortable position (he had to snake his arm through the back of the chair in order to grasp hers), gazing into each other's eyes. 

Not only would I have "not seen them together" before the wedding, I couldn't fathom it after. No wonder why these two met at a shidduch event - who would set them up? 

There was something that bound these two together beyond the obviousness of their natures. I have no idea what it could be, but that's why I'm a mere mortal. 

"I don't see it"? I don't buy it. To the well-meaning matchmakers out there, you aren't God. Your job is to set people up. They'll decide, not you, if it should be "seen" or not.

Check the Link

Every week, the NY Times Magazine has a segment called "What They Were Thinking," a photo of people doing something or other, and their thoughts beneath the photo. 

This week, was this couple. Mazel Tov to them!

Shabbos Face: Eye Shadow to Last

Eye shadow sometimes has problems anchoring on. Often I would go to a wedding all dolled up in shadow to have it quietly disappear over the course of the evening. But, as I hope I have proved, there is a primer for everything, and there are a great many options for shadow primer. 

My current shadow primer is Tarte Lifted Natural Eye Primer with Firmitol. I like Tarte due to the "natural" ingredients, and it does a good job of anchoring shadow on. It also claims to keep skin tight, which is all I need to hear.

One of the most commonly discussed primers is Urban Decay Primer Potion, which they have recently switched from a wand dispenser to a tube. I would recommend, of the four options available, to stick to either the Original or Eden. Greed is gold, which doesn't belong on the face, and Sin is shimmery, and I think I've made my feelings regarding sparkly makeup clear. 

Too Faced Shadow Insurance is highly rated and also made without potentially questionable ingredients. I think I'm going to try that next.

The first one I ever tried was Smashbox Photo Finish Lid Primer, and it also did a very good job.

Shadow primer, while also keeping the shadow on, prevents the shadow from creasing unappealingly. 

When blending in the primer, use standard eye-product applying etiquette; using the ring finger, lightly tap, not shmear or rub, tap the product about.

Laurie and Adams

NY Times featured a story this week about Hugh Laurie. 

Since I adore House, although I can barely tolerate his meanness, I earnestly read the article. I also have a thing for Robert Sean Leonard from a tween fascination with Much Ado About Nothing, but I'll get to that another time.

Is Laurie happy playing House? “I don’t know,” he said. “That’s not a question I ask myself very often. I equate happiness with contentment, and contentment with complacency, and complacency with impending disaster.” Laurie doesn’t make pronouncements like this in the morose tones of Marvin the Paranoid Android; he remains affable, as if he were describing somebody else.

Marvin-mention? Giggle. 

The Kid Reporter and His Trusty Sidekick

From my childhood library there was sometimes available various books of Tintin. Tintin is like catnip to children, since it is an entire book of illustrations. That's all that kids want; more pictures, less talking. Parents are happy because it can't be read out loud, and the subject matter usually goes over little ones' heads. 

When I was finally old enough to understand and read Tintin fluently, it was a happy day. 

When I was still under the age of 10, I scoured the shelves of Barnes & Noble, unable to locate my precious ("Where's the comic section?") Apparently, Tintin is not so low-brow to be called a comic; it belongs to the elevated class of graphic novel (as a kindly B&N employee directed me). 

I introduced to my cousins Tintin, who now revere me along the level of a celebrity. ("It was her," they whisper, "it was her who gave us Tintin.")  Ah, to be loved. 

I saw a documentary about Georges Remi, who wrote under the name of Herge. He was an interesting, multi-faceted individual. 

However, there are undercurrents (if not blatant depictions) of racism (and at times, possible anti-Semitism).  But the books are so gripping and educational to the young of the greater world and other cultures, that they should always remain a staple. I've bought them all, and the older kinfauna (a term stolen from Bad4, with permission) will quietly pore over them over the course of a long Shabbos afternoon. 

I took one of the younger kids for a walk, leaving the Messiah (he's the good nephew) with a Tintin and a banana. When I returned two hours later, he was in the same spot with a pile of banana skins at his elbow. I decided to overlook the fact he touched my book with sticky fingers. 

I always found Cigars of the Pharaoh to be the weirdest. Understandably it was always the one available in the library. 

Spielberg has made Secret of the Unicorn into a motion-capture film. Keep in mind there is a sequel, Red Rackham's Treasure. After seeing the trailer, however, it is obvious other books were worked into the film, specifically Crab with the Golden Claws. Secret of the Unicorn did not involve ending up in the Sahara, as they never even left Belgium. I'm wondering if this mish-mash will be satisfying. 

Not Homey, Haimish

My family got a big kick out of David Brooks' Op-Ed piece regarding the appeals of haimish. 

If dating websites had a sub-category for "heimish," maybe I would go on them. The only way my people categorize themselves is as "heimish." 

Being heimish myself (at least, I think I am) I would just like to request that if one says "haimish," it is properly pronounced as "hi-mish," not "hay-mish." 

Whenever I hear "hay-mish" my teeth are set on edge. Because saying "hay-mish" is obviously not "hi-mish." 

But I digress. As Brooks says:

Often, as we spend more on something, what we gain in privacy and elegance we lose in spontaneous sociability.

I once visited a university that had a large, lavishly financed Hillel House to serve as a Jewish center on campus. But the students told me they preferred the Chabad House nearby, which was run by the orthodox Lubavitchers. At the Chabad house, the sofas were tattered and the rooms cramped, but, the students said, it was more haimish.

He continues that more expensive surroundings remove human contact. Money = privacy. Privacy = no camaraderie.  He recommends to spend less on traveling accommodations to ensure meeting new people. 

Heimishe havara, anyone? 

Aunts and Well-Wishing

As a full-time aunt who takes way too much interest in toy purchases, I find that my kind are rather unappreciated. We know how to Ferberize, we know what the kids will like, and we take them off the parents' heads from time to time. 

This article in the Jewish Week was describing the phenomenon, although along a little more depressing lines as the aunts cited were in their 40s and childless, so these spawn of their siblings were their surrogate children. 

One quote jumped out at me: 

"In the Jewish community, there is a feeling that when a couple has a fertility challenge, there should be sensitivity around them," [Melanie Notkin] says. "For single women, there’s less of that. ‘Poo poo poo, oh just go on JDate, you’re too picky, you better hurry up,’ they say."

That is, in a nutshell, my objection to "iy'H by you." If one wouldn't say it to a childless couple, kindly don't say it to singles. Obviously, one can understand how saying such a "bracha" to a man or woman trying to have children is hurtful; why isn't it the same to a dater who currently has nothing on the horizon? 

I daven for the childless couples on my own time, without their knowledge. So why can't one give a shout out to God during Shacharis for a single as well, rather then iy'Hing her to her face?

And I certainly don't want to hear it at the vort of an 18-year-old, thank you very much. 

Tea Tree Rocks

My niece, Bigmouth (okay, maybe that's a bit harsh . . . how about Eewok? She is cute and cuddly and around the same height) had a breakout of mesculum on her arm. 

My sister-in-law (she's Luke's wife, so I'm not sure what to call her, as Jedi were celibate . . . can't call her Amidala because of the Oedipal connotations . . . how about Organa, Princess Leia's last name?) had a dermatologist laser them off, but when they came back, he recommended tea tree oil. 

"But it's not easy to find," he said hesitantly. 

"No worries," Organa said dryly. "My sister-in-law definitely has it."

And so I do. 

Tea tree oil can be used for practically anything. Cuts, acne, arthritis, asthma, athlete's foot, blisters, chicken pox, bug bites, canker sores, cold sores, dandruff, oily hair, itchy scalp, ear infections, eczema, nail fungus, warts, plaque, ringworm, and chapped lips are but a few examples of conditions that can be treated with this stuff. 

In the buggy seasons, I always have Desert Essence Relief Spray in house. It nixes the itching practically immediately. My father uses it in the summer months for his feet, which tend to get red and inflamed in the heat. He is leery of any of the products I buy, so the fact that he has embraced this spray shows its effectiveness. If a non-liquid is preferred, there is Jason Tea Tree Soothing Gel.

Tea tree oil is great for acne. I like it because in my case, basic salicylic acid washes seems to lose their potency; my skin merely adapts. Desert Essence Thoroughly Clean Face Wash has a lot of kick, so be sure to follow with a good moisturizer. Like Desert Essence Thoroughly Clean Oil Control Lotion. It really moisturizes and leaves no oily residue - and contains tea tree oil.

Dandruff can be tackled with a product like J.R. Ligett's Old-Fashioned Bar Shampoo Tea Tree and Hemp Formula. The J.R. Liggett shampoos are awesome as they come in bar form, making them easy to transport (no need to check luggage), and they don't strip the hair of natural oils, so for some, conditioning isn't necessary. (The Jojoba and Peppermint also worked on my dandruff-y scalp). 

 If one prefers a liquid option, try Giovanni Tea Tree Triple Treat Shampoo, or Beauty Without Cruelty Rosemary Mint and Tea Tree Shampoo. The matching conditioners for these two are also highly rated.

As for tooth care, I've become attached to the Desert Essence Tea Tree Dental Floss, also available in tape. 

And these are just a few tea tree products available.

Are We a Sparkly People?

In a rather raunchy NY Times interview with Helen Mirren (you have been warned):

In your new movie, “The Debt,” you very convincingly play a retired Mossad agent. Before immigrating to England, your grandfather was a czarist colonel from a noble Russian family. What are the chances you’re a secret Jew, as Madeleine Albright discovered late in life?

I wouldn’t be surprised. But if I am, I doubt very much that it’s on my Russian side, which is quite defined. It would more likely be on my English side. My mum came from the working-class East End of London, where the Jewish immigrants began their journey in English society. I’ve always thought I might have either some Jewish or some Gypsy, one or the other.

Have there been any moments when you thought — Oh, I feel very Jewish.

My love of sparkle. I don’t think that’s particularly Jewish or Gypsy, but I do have a certain love of sparkle.

Does that mean bling or anything shiny? Wondering if such interests are characteristic of our race, I noticed that the only sparkly I like is real jewelry. 

Oh, dear.