LUE: Latest Writing & The Power of Friendship

I'm still writing over at Not Quite Israeli, my latest two entries being the ones about why I left Reform Judaism, and where I am, now, religiously (short answer: on my own path, thanks very much). Writing is of course extremely therapeutic for me, but that cuts two ways - while it can be extremely cathartic, it can also bring to the surface a lot of unpleasant crap that - let's face it - remained buried for extremely good reason.

Eyal actually encouraged me to veer off from writing memoir essays for that reasons. Maybe, as light relief, focus on some silly fiction meant for no one's eyes but mine. That isn't such a bad idea, actually. I haven't written any fanfic in years, and my fanfic - for the most part - was pretty happy in tone. Hell, I even had the Fourth Doctor handing out Jelly Babies at a Chanukah party (to my utter surprise, Jelly Babies are indeed kosher).

One of the big overarching themes in my fanfic stories was friendship. Sure, I had romances, but I think there was more emphasis on The Power Of Friendship. I see how that could be an antidote to darkly humorous recountings of the gulag, of fat jokes, of impostor syndrome, of extreme anxiety. I've always been a big believer in friendship. I maintain to this day that friend breakups hurt far more than romantic ones (fuck you, Kitty and Heather). Making friends in Israel saved my life at the end of my marriage; Josh and Hannah, Yehuda and Jamie, Brandon and Steph, and of course the inimitable Zahava, Cat Lady of Cat Ladies, Patroness of Jerusalem Strays.

So expect my writing time to be divided between the necessary memoir unpleasantness (funny as it may be) and light, frothy stories celebrating the best of friendship. Because sometimes therapeutic writing has to remind you of good things, too.

LUE: The Rest Of The Day

Just uploaded a fuckton of new icons. Among them: My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Life On Mars, Twin Peaks, and my favorite women from the Tanakh. (Okay, technically Judith isn't in the Tanakh, but I do like her style. Fuck around and find out indeed.) I had to include Miriam, because I sing and play the tambourine. My namesake Hannah, of course. And Yael. Yael kicks ass. There's a whole entry could be written on my feelings about the women in the Tanakh, but I'll spare you.

Had to go to the pharmacy to pick up something for Eyal. I also had a package waiting at a nearby gaming store, so while he was in the pharmacy I grabbed it. Then I got my daily dose of outrage reading about Natasha Frost, the New York Times reporter who leaked chatlogs, names, and social media accounts from a WhatsApp group of Australian Jews that led to hundreds of Jews in Australia being doxxed. Frost claims it was inadvertent. Bullshit, baby; you knew what you were doing. The Grey Lady claims it's taken appropriate action but hasn't fired her. Apparently their definition of appropriate and mine differ considerably.

I'm off Freakbook, but shit still filters through. I refuse to read about the Democratic National Convention, though. The last time that happened in Chicago...well, just Google it. I don't have the spoons to get into that shitshow.

Meanwhile my fingers are numb from too much typing. I'm out.