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Ask Shifra

Something Different... Answering questions and making curious observations (online) since 2005.


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Thursday, May 31, 2007

It's been a while...

*Tap... Tap* is this thing on?

Hey, I've been "off blog" so long it feels strange to be back.
Things are pretty busy here - I'm planning a Bas-Mitzva, working full time with a couple of side projects in full swing as well, trying to be a good mom and a tolerant wife AND retain some kind of sanity. So far it's working but at this point I'm not taking anything for granted.

It's all good stuff so I can't complain... not at all.

Wanna hear a really bad idea?
Eating a bowl of spaghetti and sauce while highway driving.
You might THINK that wearing a apron would make it OK. Well think again my friend... think again.

OK just wanted you all to know that wasn't hit by a bus or anything. I'll get back to blogging when I can. OH and how can I forget to send out a BIG thank you to everyone who voted for me in the JIBS!? A bronze for comedy? I don't even know how that's POSSIBLE but I appreciate it. If I knew how to put the trophy on my blog I would.

OK that's it, back to the salt mines for me.
Have a great day and a good Shabbos if I don't reappear again until next week.

-Shifra

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Vote for me... if you wanna...

You know I'm not a big fan of politics, or lobbying, or even contests.
In the 8th grade I ran for student council president against a very popular girl because I knew I was the better choice. I lost by one vote (my brother was home sick on election day) but even before that elections never really appealled to me.
Still, I'm very pleased and surprised to see that I have been nominated for best humor blog here, twice for best post here, and twice for best humor post here. So, if you feel like it, go ahead and vote for me.

Thanks,


-Shifra

Monday, May 07, 2007

Interview Meme - yes, it's a list!

This one is courtesy of Elie - wherein bloggers write up interview questions for other bloggers to respond to on their own blogs. If you would like a list of original Shifra-style questions for your blog drop me a line in the comments section.

Is there a career path that you always wished you could have taken, but never did for reasons of circumstance or practicality? If so, what?

I've always been interested in a lot of things and as such I have trouble focusing on any one exclusively. One of the worst moments of my college career was reviewing my score on a career aptitude test to discover that I had scored evenly in every area! There are so many things that interest me from architecture to teaching to writing. I've been lucky to be able to indulge in lot of my interests as hobbies and as I've gotten older I've realised I'm pretty lucky to be a jack of all trades.

Favorite meal: Breakfast, lunch, supper, shalosh-seudos, late-night snack, other?

Although I enjoy all my meals breakfast has GOT to be my favorite. I love all dairy products, eggs any style, toast, danishes, and sweet rolls. I even enjoy the very rare fleshig breakfast such as salami and eggs or kosher sausage or a even soy based alternative. Last, but certainly not least I love hot drinks - my love for coffee is well known here at Ask Shifra but I also enjoy all sorts of teas and chai, as well as hot chocolate.

Name a fictional character who has strongly influenced your personal philosophy, and why.

That's a hard one, but I'm going to say Dr. Who. Despite his tragic circumstances (homeworld destroyed, being the last of his kind, losing of innumerable friends and companions, constantly being hunted by daleks) and his lack on an explainable name ("Just the Doctor.") this fellow manages to maintain a very positive outlook on both life and humanity. He adapts well to new environments, and thinks on his feet faster than McGyver on steroids. He was also my inspiration to learn to knit scarves at the ripe old age of 13.

"When you're down, and troubled, and need some loving care..." besides nears-and-dears, what do you turn to?

Music, ABSOLUTELY. My MP3 player is pretty much wall to wall upbeat music. From punk, to classic rock, to alternative/indie, to accapella I look to music to pull me out of whatever funk I find myself in. Sure music can't solve my problems but sometimes forgetting about them for 3 minutes and ten seconds at a time makes all the difference.

The Sanhedrin is reinstituted, and you are given the opportunity to propose one item of legislation to add, eliminate, or change/evolve a current area of (Rabbinic) Jewish law. What would you submit?

Only one?! Well OK then- I'd like to propose the elimination of the sheva nikkim - it appears that women brought this one on themselves for whatever reason but I'm yet to meet a woman (or man!) who wouldn't like to put an end to it.

Friday, May 04, 2007

100,000 Hits and other Updates

Well thanks to Hot Chanie (and all of you of course) I've managed to reach 100,000 hits just a few weeks shy of my second blogaversary. It's great!

Due to popular demand (that would be my BOSS demanding that some actual WORK get done around here) I will be extending "list week" for at least one more week so cover the rest of the list based topics I promised.

Have a great shabbos.

-Shifra

PS Keep sending your Ask Shifra questions to Shifraq@gmail.com, I hope to return to my regular format sometime soon.

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

JIB Nominations (list #2)

Note: Blogger ate 1/2 this post! Here's a close approximation of how it looked originally.

I'm very flattered to have four posts nominated for JIB awards.
1) In the best post category.
A) My post about Jewish Debt - which is really all about the comments
B) My post about my rejection from seminary called "Nothing Special" maybe I should have called it "A life MORE ordinary" now that would have been a good title!

Speaking of titles thanks to everyone who pointed out the errors in the title of my towel post. Although it's incorrect I'm going to leave it as-is for now because I think it has a nice ring to it. Call it artistic license.

2) In the humor category
A) My post introducing the world to Hot Chanie
B) My guest post at the Muqata about those dangerous 18 minutes before Shabbos

Click on the links and check em out. You can even vote for them if you like... no pressure.
As you'll soon see the trouble is that I'm competing against myself for both of them! So a vote for one of my post is really a vote AGAINST another of my posts. Honestly I don't understand the whole system - how can I be a finalist in the humor category when my brotha Psychotoddler* has more votes than I do even when running against the behemoth that is Dry Bones?!

*No, Psychotodder is not really my brother. That's why I spelled it with an "a" it's all about nuance people.