Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Musically Tagged

Blogroll Me!

I've been tagged for this, but don't worry, I won't tag anyone else...not everyone, I understand, appreciates these things.

Here's my mission:

The Rules: List five songs that you are currently digging - it doesn't matter what genre they are from, whether they have words, or even if they're not any good, but they must be songs you're really enjoying right now. Post these instructions and the five songs (with artist) in your blog. Then tag five people to see what they're listening to.

1. This song has been running through my head constantly for about 3 weeks...the chorus is just that catchy.

Breathe (2 a.m.) by Anna Nalick.

2. I heard this last week while driving, turned the car radio up full blast, and reminisced about the eighties.

Bad Girls by Donna Summer.

3. Any Ella Fitzgerald/Louis Armstrong duet

4. Hotel California by the Eagles

5. Since seeing Madagascar with the family in June, I can't get this soundtrack song out of my head: "I like to move it, move it, you like to move it, move it..."

Okay... and there are my 5 songs.

Stop Interfering in My Life!

Blogroll Me!

I just wanted a catchy title to pull you in. This post has absolutely nothing to do with that title, but now that you're here, why not stay for the rest of the show. Turn up the volume on your computer speaker and listen to "Sounds of Silence" by Simon & Garfunkel.

This brief post is just about one of my observations about blogging (again?) and commenting (again?). I have noticed that one never knows which posts will incite a mad rush of comments and which won't. As I peruse my favorite blogs, I see great posts that receive nada, zip, "efes" (zero) comments, and I wonder why. Then I read other posts that, like much of Seinfeld's routine, are about "nothing" -- and 30 comments follow.

Apparently there is sometimes absolutely no rhyme nor reason as to why certain posts get comments while others don't.

Someone I know has nearly 45 (at last count) comments on a very powerful post. That is the number of online comments; he told me he has over 100 post-related comments to read and respond to. Apparently that particular post struck a match in peoples' psyche, and very clearly that subject matter deserves not just a post, but a BLOG, of its own.

I've looked to my own blog to see if there's any kind of trend when I might get more comments than others.

Here's what I've figured out: 1.) when I do a lot of name dropping of fellow bloggers with links to their blogs, and 2) when I question out loud whether or not I should continue blogging. That's when the comments come.

Guess what: I QUIT THE BLOGGING LIFE!
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(I'M WAITING..... tap, tap, tapping my foot!)

A Colorful World

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This was sent to me this morning. It is a beautiful piece that I wanted to share with all of you.

Keep smiling, and stay colorful.

http://www.spiritisup.com/colors1.swf'

Yiddish, Yuddish and Yoodish

Blogroll Me!

When I was a kid, and I'd ask my father, "Are you speaking German or Yiddish?" he'd always answer, "I'm speaking Yiddish, Yuddish and Yoodish."

I never learned Yiddish formally but often heard my dad speak it with family and friends; I heard my mother and father speak German, too, between themselves and sometimes I was able to differentiate between the two languages...usually based on the accompanying body language.

My ear tuned itself to the language and if given the opportunity, I'd sometimes throw around a sentence or two.

Although some might think Yiddish to be guttural and archaic, I've always loved hearing the "mamaloshen", whether it was a Litvischer Yiddish or a Polnyisher Yiddish. The language embodies so much of Ashkenazic Jewish cultural history and has a richness all its own that transcends time.

I was recently asked about my knowledge of Yiddish because a business contact of mine knows of a freelance copy editing job -- work on a humorous book featuring Yiddish curses and expressions. Oh, that would be a great and fun challenge for me. And think of all the new curses I might come away with and be able to embody in a post or two...

So if I get this gig, great! If I don't, it's "nisht geferlech." (not the worst)

In the meantime, everyone, "zei gesundt!" (be well/healthy!)