December daze

-

Central Park, November 2008


Its been a while since I posted on here .... ah, I dunno. Stuff going on, work stuff, a conference gig and visit to NY, a bereavement ... stuff. Its been busy you know?! annnnnnnyways, its all good and I'm spending a few daze having some legitimate me time - you know, dollying around the house, looking in and reorganizing the contents of drawers and wardrobes, shoes, throwing out (or recycling in fact) last weeks papers. Thinking about new year, always a bummer for me, never fantastic, although this one should be interesting ... since we will have a joyce or two, and hopefully Sel and Mark too ...

But you know, its just a bummer of a time, all that enforced joviality and alcohol, ... tends to leave me cold. Id rather go to bed and wake up to a new year honestly ... so, Im now watching Mastermind, and the geezer is being asked questions about "The Human Body' ... so cool. (well now a different guy is doing football questions. How fascinating. Not)

So 2008 is about to end, the year I became 40, started to notice grey hairs and wrinkles and started feeling really tired lots. I am in a different place at the start of 2009, and hope to make some positive changes ... these are my goals for the year, the year that I am a hottie of harm rediction (the 2009 calendar!) ...

gelukkig nieuwjaar

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Keeping going and seeing the red in the leaves outside

-
Image
It's a struggle to keep up at the moment, and I feel such a burden to everyone - a let down, a failure - maybe I am more like my old man than I like to admit. Maybe my Mother was right about that. Murat is at the end of his tether with it all - as am I. I was meant to be teaching my new medical/nursing student interprofessional group, guest editing an international edition of a journal this month, organizing a book contract with two dear colleagues and - the big one - doing an NIHR grant bid with two important colleagues, and that's just the work bit.. I've missed so much being in my Shul, I've messed up a service that I was meant to be leading in the coming week. Just one thing I did on Friday - walked to my GP practice - to collect a sick note - nothing in comparison to what I normally do in a day- and then spent the whole of shabbat evening in severe pain. It's just so bloody wearing. I'm sick of talking about it, and that's why I'm writing it all do...
Read more
-
Image
So, here I am days, even weeks into my latest episode of being ill - poked, prodded and pricked - scanned, reported and having heard inane phone music many many times whilst waiting to speak to medical secretaries, etc etc, but you know, that's life and it ain't all bad. When I think of the kind of treatment my Uncle Paul in Manchester has had I feel blessed to have a most outstanding GP, Amr Zeineldine - a man who actually listens, and gives options and always treats one as I imagine he would like to be treated himself. The cold weather is setting in now in London, and I see the trees rustling in the cold breze outside the window as I type this, and the colours change on the trees from the vivid greens to the crisp orange and browns of the fall. The sky has lost that hopeful bright tall blue foreverness, and is heavy and oppressive. Ruskin park starts closing earlier and earlier now, until we reach the 3.30pm closure of deep December. Anyways, that's all for now folks. I l...
Read more

Mishnah: Brachot uKlalot

-
Image
Im almost at the end of the first week of my Yeshiva Summer Program and have to say its been just great. Ive met some lovely people from the USA, Hungary, Argentina, and London (from the Masorti shuls). There is a such a good buzz amongst people- all eager to learn and taking this great opportunity very seriously. The main class I have really enjoyed the most is the Mishnah and Talmud class in which so far we have been looking at Masechet Sotah Ch 7. Surprisngly (to me) I have understood much more Hebrew than I thought I would have, although prefixes to roots often have me reaching for the Jastrow and BDB dictionaries with sore eyes. Ive started to understand more though about the nature of the Mishnah: the rather opaque nature of the text, the context of the time it was written (about 130 years after the destruction of the temple) and the whole makhloketim (disputes!) in the texts. Its been really surpising to look at how the Rabbis construct the arguments (in this case as to what can...
Read more