Woman dressed in very nice work clothes, talking loudly on hands-free cell phone:  I don't care how much she thinks she's underpaid, I hired her to clean the house, not to go through my stuff! 

-Edge of the Woods 

As an active blogger, I am the worst.  My posts come show up in fits and starts, and that's in a good month.  So here I am again, the poster child for the "I Need a Laptop So I Can Post At The Drop Of A Latte" generation.  Because if there's anything that can inspire activity, it's technology.  Just ask anyone who's got a Wii.

Kato hasn't been around for a while and we really miss having him by for Shabbat dinner.  The first time we had the New Haven Angels by for a Friday dinner, we almost choked while singing "Shalom Aleichem"- a traditional song we sing every week before we begin our meal, that welcomes the Shabbat angels- we were laughing so hard.  I found out what he'd been up to when he wasn't driving out the New Haven bad guys- here he is, popping up on someone else's blog.  He called yesterday to check in with us, didn't have much good news to tell him with the recent rash of shootings, the most recent one fatal, over on Winthrop Ave.- just a few blocks from here.  And the summer's just begun.

Speaking of summer, you know it's official when the downtown streets are full of high school kids wearing "EXPLO" lanyards, who want you to know that Yale and New Haven are THEIRS for the next few weeks, so get used to it, bitches.  They also want you to know that you're better off making your own coffee before you leave for work in the morning, because when you walk into Starbucks, there will be twenty young women, all ordering Frappuccinos, ahead of you in line.  In case you forgot that the place was THEIRS, bitches.

One such child walked in front of my car today as I was turning off Chapel Street onto College Street.  Just strolled out in front of an oncoming car...  I called out to her- nicely, even- "please be careful- don't walk in front of moving cars," to which she replied, "fuck off."  Which was really funny, because I'd recently read this article and who knows, maybe she was British?

I've been poring over the day's bad news (there's a lot!)- the death toll from the earthquake in China is currently over 8500, catastrophic weather has caused two dozen deaths in the south and plains regions of the US and the situation in Burma keeps getting worse (why haven't we formed a multi-country alliance to go in there, take out the government and distribute aid to the people?).

This story stood out, too.  Irena Sendler died today at age 98 .  She is responsible for saving 2,500 children from the Warsaw Ghetto, smuggling them out and hiding them.  The children survived- hidden as Christians, although Ms. Sendler wrote their real names on tissue paper which she kept hidden in bottles, intending to return the children to Jews after the war.

Irena Sendler was awarded a Yad Vashem Righteous Gentile medal in 1965 and was nominated for a Nobel Prize in 2007.

Baruch Dayan Emet. 

I'm home again today.  I've been running a fever for several days straight.  The dog likes cuddling because I keep her nice and warm.  I like cuddling the dog because she can't talk and won't tell me I look like Raggedy Ann.   Everyone's happy.  

Welcome back to me.  What with family, work, Passover preparations, etc. it was really hard to get up the gumption to sit down and write.  It was just another thing to do. 

Oddly enough, there were plenty of things I wanted to write about during my self-imposed exile.  I'd tell my husband about a particularly bizarre thing that happened to me and he'd say, "that's a blog entry," but I'd never get around to blogging it.  Or I'd put together a piece in my head, but it would never make it out through my fingertips.  But like the new leaves on the tree outside my window, here I am again.

Paul at the Independent did a great vlog segment about Jerry Gross z"l.  Jerry was a New Haven institution and losing him has been a real blow to our community.   My heart goes out to his wife,Ruth, and their kids.   I hope you'll take a few moments to watch Paul's segment here .  And please remember to drive safely- slow down when you're driving, and pay attention to the road and other drivers.

Coming soon to a Passover aisle near you-

Rachel Ray's Delish Whitefish and Yum-O Matz-O

Fruit Slices     in cool new flavors like Agave-Mango, Hibiscus-Ginger and Wheatgrass

Bamid-Bars    packed with raisins, figs, prunes and dates, the longest plague is finally over and my people can go already

Shmura-style Matzah    in delicious flavors like cinnamon raisin, garlic and chive, sesame and parmesan peppercorn.  Edges are hand-burnished for that straight-from-the-oven taste.  Go ahead and top it with anything you'd like- we're not really watching! 

Frozen Bake-and-Eat  Matzah Squares    there's a matzah bakery in your kitchen! 

Pass-o-Prawns    Jumbo shrimp coated in matzah meal batter, for Jews who don't keep kosher but wouldn't dream of eating bread on Passover

Gefilte Lobster    see Pass-O-Prawns 

Emeril's Cajun Borscht    kicked up a notch with Emeril's Essence

We're drying out a little after the recent rain and flooding (the river at Edgewood Park was up a few feet when we walked by on Saturday).  Oddly, it rained hard last year at about this time.  See my I am the Rain Queen Esther post, March 4, 2007, for wild weather, rats dropping from trees, out-of-date Veggie Patch info (not kosher certified anymore), a Blues Brothers photo & yet another Afro-Semitic Experience video (they don't pay me for the publicity, but they really should).

I had my second grade religious school class over yesterday for an afternoon of hamentashen baking.  Too cute.  My best little baking buddy is 4 years old and already an expert circle-cutter, a hot skill that'll make her the queen of her pre-school. 

I was wondering if you could help me.  Yes, you.  You see, I've been having some bizarre, vivid dreams lately and it's starting to really freak me out.  So I'm turning to you to help me make sense of some of it all.  Here- start with an easy one:

About ten years ago, we were house-hunting in the Guilford/Madison area and we looked at a colonial in the woods just south of Route 80.  It was a pretty house, remarkable because it had been damaged in a fire- and the rebuilding had transformed the home by turning the giant hole in the back into a large addition that tacked on nice dining room off the kitchen and a ginormous master bedroom on the second floor.

In my dream, the house was on the market again and we went to take a look, but the realtor hadn't shown up.  We noticed the door was ajar, so we went in and looked around.  The downstairs was very clean and tastefully (and expensively) decorated. 

But upstairs, the place was a mess, a real hovel.  My family was wandering around, horrified, but I wanted to go because if the owners came home, they'd probably be upset that we were there.  It took too long,  but I finally got them to leave.  As we were walking down the front steps, several cars drove up and parked in the driveway.  I was mortified, but no one paid attention to us because there was a wedding reception about to happen at the house.  So we just left.

Well?

Just a reminder- this month's Whalley Edgewood Beaver Hills (WEB) meeting will be held tomorrow night (third Tuesday of the month) at the police substation on the corner of Whalley & Norton.  Stop by & kvetch.

Thanks to Cynthia, Marc & Aias- I had a great time visiting.  Too bad you live so far away... 

My bff/husband & I headed out to BAR last night and checked out Hadag Nachash's free, all-ages show (thanks, Yale Hillel!).  

How all-ages, you may ask?  Well, on the way in, a well-dressed middle-aged woman, on her way out, remarked, in a dramatic voice, that the place was a madhouse.  To which I replied, fist in the air, "Alright!!!"  Judging by her shocked expression, I'm guessing that wasn't an appropriate response.

Inside, we headed into a crush of people, about 40% of whom I recognized (all my shul's teenyboppers had sweet-talked their way onto the sound guy's balcony and were rocking out in their best clubber wanna-be, please don't tell my mom & dad frocks).  We squeezed our way into the crowd and landed behind a woman who looked like someone's Bubbe- and definitely smelled like a bubbe when she took off her jacket and the aroma of mothballs coming off her sweater filled the air like a poisonous cloud.  That's a Jewish all-ages show, folks!

After the show (loved it...) we hung around for a beer and then realized we hadn't picked up a cd for our kids (who'd had other plans).  So we meandered back through the sea of blondes in tight jeans and wispy blouses and guys who all looked the same after a pint, in their baseball caps and t-shirts- the normal Saturday night crowd, that is..., to the cd & t-shirt table where Ya-ya (bass) and Sha'anan Street (lead vocals) were hanging out in twin comas while the cd chick put away the leftover stuff.  They were happy to talk a while, my husband and Ya-ya trading bass talk and  seeing who they both knew, and Sha'anan and I talking about BAR, New Haven, music and life.  I asked them to choose a cd for us and we went home happy.

About the video- sorry for the poor quality, it's the best version I could find with translation (the song is made up of bumper sticker slogans).  And speaking of translation, Hadag Nachash means "the fish snake", but it's a play on words- "Nachad Chadash" means "new driver"- it's what's on a sticker that Israeli new drivers need to display on their cars.  You're welcome.

20 min | 20 min prep | SERVES 8 

SoWhay neighbors & friends- tonight at 6pm, stop by Delaney's at the corner of Whalley & Central, say hi and make a toast to Sgt. Steve Shea, our fab district manager for the past 4 years.  Hope to see you there!

A few months ago, I attended a Black- Jewish leaders event, run by the New Haven JCRC (Jewish Community Relations Council), that was intended to be a first step in the process of getting these two (okay, it's more complex than that...) communities working together on some common goals.

One of these goals is to mend relations that we found to be a bit strained last summer, when the Edgewood park Defense Patrol (EPDP) announced it's armed patrol here in my neck of the woods.  Roundly criticized as a recipe for disaster by the organized Jewish community (people living comfortably outside this area, I'll note) and several Black leaders (also not from this area), the EPDP went away once Police Chief Francisco Ortiz announced his resignation (the NYC Guardian Angels, originally called in by the EPDP founders, is still active in the neighborhood and the city).

But back to the meeting.  A New Haven housing project, Westville Manor, was identified as a neighborhood in need of a spectrum of services from various public and private sources.  The Nehemiah (Nechemia, for all you old school-ers) Project, a small consortium of Jewish and Black leaders, would attempt to reach out to residents by helping to provide them with basic necessities, and then hooking them up with organizations that would assist with employment, education, parenting skills, etc.

We met last week to discuss an event to be held at the end of the month, the goal being to provide Westville Manor residents with a quick, relatively inexpensive dinner, some engaging home-grown entertainment and opportunities to learn about services.

I'm very excited about this project.  It's really wonderful to be a part of such a dynamic group and I'm looking forward to making inroads into establishing community relations (sorely needed!).

In case you missed it (which you probably did), the Afro-Semitic Experience played a show in Manhattan in honor of MLK's b-day.  Here's a clip of David Chevan, Stacey Phillips, Will Bartlett & Alvin Carter jamming with Y-Love. 

Bus driver: Next stop: 60th Street, transfer to the four, five, six or the N/R. Sixtieth Street and Bloomingdales, next stop... Hi, everyone -- I'd like to take this red light to thank you for joining us on this, the one hundred and fifteenth run of the M103 bus. Now, I know some of you have had bad days at school, work, church, et cetera, but please don't bring that home to your loved ones. Leave all your stress on the bus, and I'll toss it into the East River for you when we pass it. [Applause.]
Middle-aged woman: Well, that was nice of him!

--M103 bus, 3rd Ave