Birthday celebrations galore!

This past weekend was PACKED!

Birthday dinner Friday night @ Jadis followed by hang out time and then a girls-only sleepover.
Birthday dinner Saturday night @ Wildood BBQ, followed by party @ PS450 bar.

Restaurant reviews to come (via yelp), which I'll also re-post here.

Overall, a busy and pretty fabulous weekend! 

Also, a belated blogging happy birthday to A. & A.S.!

Hello more freelance work..

Not sure how this happened, but I now have another freelance position.

Actually, I know exactly how this happened (thanks Sam N.!)...but I am a little perplexed about my mixed job-hunting results.

So far it seems like I can pick up part-time work and freelance gigs.
The full-time job with benefits, however, remains elusive.

So how much of this has to do with the economy? And how much has to do with my resume/qualifications/job hunting strategy?

Do I need to do something differently?
Or is this simply the reality of the current climate?

What I'm reading now..

Despite the brand-new and very beautiful Kindle (still excited--!!!)...I just finished the paper version of Blindness and am in the midst of reading The New Jewish Wedding (NJW).


I picked up Blindness @ a stoop sale a few weekends ago for $.50 and received the NJW as a present from a friend.


Although I usually read really quickly, I found myself moving through Blindness pretty slowly. Sarramago doesn't use any quotation marks to differentiate between dialogue and description, and I found myself re-reading big chunks of the book to make sure I didn't miss anything.

Despite the slow going, I thought it was incredibly fascinating.
And upsetting.
But I guess fascinating + upsetting = well deserved nobel prize for literature.

I also watched the movie on Netflix over the weekend and found it underwhelming.

It just does not compare to the book in any way shape or form! I did find it interesting, however, that many blind and visually impaired advocacy groups tried to organize boycotts of the film. Apparently there was a lot of controversy because the people in the novel really regress in terms of behavior, compassion, decency etc. after they become blind. While I appreciate that people who are blind are often discriminated against at work etc., I do not think that the novel actually promotes the idea that visually impaired/blind people are either less capable or somehow more prone to immorality/violence etc. Rather, I thought that the book was trying to convey that all people are ill-equipped to respond to catastrophe and that there is something (possibly intrinsic?) to human nature that allows for domination and violence when the opportunity arises. I think the blindness in the book/film have very little to do with actually being blind--especially in the context of real life.

As for the NJW, I'm finding out all sorts of interesting things about the way Jews get married, and what bits of the ceremony and celebration are traditional vs. borrowed from non-Jewish culture vs. tradition only and not necessary.

Still a long way off from integrating any of this new knowledge into planning, but glad to be learning more about marriage from a Jewish perspective.

Re-post from the Alliance blog: Support the PA Coalition Against Rape

I just posted this announcement/press release on the Alliance's official blog. I think it's a really important campaign, and a former PA resident I like the idea of supporting a great local organization.

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The Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape is urging Pennsylvanians to contact WBEB 101.1FM in Philadelphia and express their displeasure with the station’s decision to deny PCAR radio advertising space for its HERO Project campaign.
The station denied PCAR space because the 30-second public service announcement, urging adults to report child sexual abuse, contained the words ‘rape’ and ‘sexual.’
WBEB’s General Manager Blaise Howard offered PCAR space only if it altered the wording to remove the word “rape” from the organization’s name and say “child abuse” instead of “child sexual abuse”, citing that the station’s listeners would be upset by the words that are currently used.
Howard stated to PCAR’s executive director that WBEB doesn’t take “explicit ads” because they are a “straight laced” company. However, the station does play sexually suggestive music by artists such as Prince, Madonna, Lady GaGa and George Michael.
“Child sexual abuse is not about sexuality.” PCAR Executive Director Delilah Rumburg said “It’s about violence to our children. If the station doesn’t believe its listeners could handle hearing words about abuse, imagine what child victims of sexual abuse are experiencing,”.
“We believe that our message is important to Pennsylvanians. All we are trying to do is get information out to the public that there is help and healing for survivors and their families. We don’t feel that modifying the language is an acceptable compromise. The station is asking us to censor information that could actually help their listeners. Their decision is appalling and perpetuates the veil of silence that continues to hurt victims in need of help.”
PCAR is urging residents to call the station at 610-667-8400 and voice their displeasure with the soft rock radio station and to ask the station to make a substantial donation to their local rape crisis centers.
To listen to the HERO Project public service announcements visit www.heroproject.org.