Late Fragment by Raymond Carver

And did you get what
you wanted from this life even so?
I did.
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved, to feel myself
beloved on the earth.

Listen by W.S. Merwin

with the night falling we are saying thank you
we are stopping on the bridge to bow from the railings
we are running out of the glass rooms
with our mouths full of food to look at the sky
and say thank youwe are standing by the water looking out
in different directions

back from a series of hospitals back from a mugging
after funerals we are saying thank you
after the news of the dead
whether or not we knew them we are saying thank you
in a culture up to its chin in shame
living in the stench it has chosen we are saying thank you

over telephones we are saying thank you
in doorways and in the backs of cars and in elevators
remembering wars and the police at the back door
and the beatings on stairs we are saying thank you
in the banks that use us we are saying thank you
with the crooks in office with the rich and fashionable
unchanged we go on saying thank you thank you

with the animals dying around us
our lost feelings we are saying thank you
with the forests falling faster and faster then the minutes
of our lives we are saying thank you
with the words going out like cells of a brain
with the cities growing over us like the earth
we are saying thank you faster and faster
with nobody listening we are saying thank you
we are saying thank you and waving
dark though it is

3 down, 21 to go!

Three semesters successfully behind me, semester No. 4 is now under way! My classes are much like last semester:
Leshon Hazal (Aramaic)
Biblical Text (translating and studying portions of Leviticus and Numbers)
Haftarot (translating and studying selections from the Haftarot, which are all gleaned from the poetic parts of the tanakh, which make up 1/3 of the bible)
Biblical Civilizations (history and theological development through the fall of the Second Temple)
Modern Hebrew

I'm also very excited to be participating in a nonfiction writer's critique group every other week. I haven't lost hope of eventually finding an agent and getting my dating book published. After having it rejected by half-a-dozen agents (which I hear is actually not that many in the big scheme of things), I decided it would be helpful to get some objective critiques from other writers to improve what I already have written before sending it out to more folks.

Another year

Tonight we had a lovely potluck party with friends and family for my birthday. Aaron made his signature green tea ice cream cake. It was so tasty, I won't get to have any leftovers!

For those of you who haven't yet heard the news: We are anxiously awaiting "J6" on or around July 6th. Here is the latest pict. It made dressing for the party pretty easy as this is literally the only dress left in my closet that still fits! :)

New Bush Coins (Change For the Better)

"When you think you have to want more than you need"

Hi friends: Sorry I've been MIA! I returned from Cuba to the crazy panic of finals week. Blessfully, it is all over with now, but for the class I had to take an "incomplete" in, to finish the final paper over break.

Meanwhile, my day of glorious breathing space gave me the time to do something I've been wanting to do ... figure out how to imbed music videos into the blog. As a first offering, I hope you enjoy this beautiful song covered by Eddie Veder in the Into the Wild soundtrack. This recording shows the original singer-songwriter, who sounds eerily similar!

I promise to be back soon with more updates, as well as details on the Cuba trip.