It's been a bit of a crazy month, and it's about to get a lot crazier. Life has included rushing to get out my company's annual financial statements* - for not just one but two years, one and a half of which I wasn't there for; the Intuit Town Hall meeting on personal finance where I was asked to join as a panelist (full replay here); Chana and her chassid got engaged, DGEsq's wife had twin girls, FrumDoc & FFW had a baby boy; GS got engaged; Moshe helped our Lander Alumni pull off an amazing dinner, and as of last Thursday, we decided that I will in fact head to Israel for my best friend Shragi's wedding, scrambled to get tickets and passports that day... and I'm leaving tomorrow... and I'm bringing 23-month old Kayla with me for the week-long trip. Oh - and I have to put out the next quarter's financial statements by May 17th.
Anyway, who wants to meet up in Israel (Jerusalem area, most probably) for lunch or dinner this week? {Bonus! It might be with Jameel, too!} :) While I still don't know my full itinerary, I'll have a bit of flexibility in between visiting all my cousins and aunt and family friends and of course, the aufruf and wedding of my dear friend Shragi [the author of the "Well Waddaya Know..." trivia series on SerandEz based primarily on his forensic psychology studies].
So - who's in? E-mail me at serandez at gmail.com!
* - more on that later.
Showing posts with label DGEsq. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DGEsq. Show all posts
Monday, May 03, 2010
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Movin' Groovin'
On Sunday, I received a call from one of my best friends in the world, Groovin'. We talked for about three minutes. Last night, I tried reaching him quickly after a Lander Alumni Council meeting to see if I could catch him, but it was too late. The next time I speak to him, he'll have fulfilled one of his lifelong dreams: Become an olah. {Shortly thereafter, he'll fulfill another one which the rest of us have joked about for a decade: Live in a caravan.}
I'm hoping to catch the Nefesh B'Nefesh video of his charter flight tonight, but I know already that I'm going to find it more than a little surreal. For some reason, it just doesn't click that he, his amazing wife, and their two beautiful little girls have somehow pulled this off and are really going through with this - even though we've all known for years that if there was going to be someone to do it first it would be him. I'll never forget a conversation we had during our first year in Israel, when I asked him if perhaps he was moving a little too fast; his response to me was simply, "I don't know, it's possible. But perhaps you're moving a little too slow?" Once again, Groovin' is calmly moving ahead in life, taking the next step confidently but carefully, knowing exactly what he's doing and what to do if he hits a point where he doesn't.
~~~
Growing up in Cleveland, I didn't actually know Groovin' all that well during our early years. He was in a different (more charedi) school until 7th grade, and when he came to the Hebrew Academy of Cleveland, he immediately took geek status with his long lanky frame and propensity to talk to himself in class. But by 8th grade, I was sitting behind him every morning on the window side of the classroom, with Deep Throat in front of him and L'il Jason to his left. By the middle of the year, we'd all settled on attending WITS for high school, and over the years, we all - along with DGEsq - became incredibly close. Groovin' and I roomed together in both our junior and senior years in WITS before moving on to OJ for our first year in Israel. Ironically, OJ was never originally in my plans; there had been another Clevelander two years ahead of us in WITS who had attended OJ a couple of years before, and one of my rabbeim surprisingly (to me) suggested that based on his success there, I would get a lot out of it as well. That strong and strong-willed young man who had grown up right near him was also extremely close to Groovin', and I'm sure that played a role in his coming to OJ as well.
After OJ, we both moved on to Lander. A couple of years later, I was married, and Groovin' was enjoying his times in Lander, in no rush to date. DeepThroat had come back to Lander to study, Li'l Jason was finishing up YU and had moved to Kew Gardens Hills, and DGEsq had gotten married and lived down the block. For the first time, all five of us lived within 3 minutes of one another, and it was awesome. A short while later, though, Groovin' "ruined" it, going out with our OJ predecessor's sister and of course, marrying her {on Super Bowl Sunday, no less!} and moving back to Cleveland. Groovin' then developed an incredible series of spreadsheets to help track all their expenses so they could start saving money and I believe he utilized that to start putting away for them to make aliyah. [As an aside, it was seeing the detail on those spreadsheets which helped spurn the Jewish Economics Survey, and Groovin's actuarial background has helped in its development. Of course, his spreadsheets were quickly made obsolete by Mint.com.]
Even with them moving, it's nice to be living in the 21st Century. Between Skype and Gmail and all the other technology we have today, odds are good that we'll be in better touch than we were even when they were living in Cleveland. It doesn't feel like they're moving to a place where we'll never see them; it's more of a feeling of "it's going to be a little harder to drop in on them than it used to be..."
I'm not sure why I'm writing this; perhaps I think that somehow this will make it click that he's really making aliyah as I'm doing this. It's odd - while it's impossible to imagine them making aliyah, it's also impossible to imagine them not making aliyah. This is such a core essence of who they are and what they're intended to do in this world. Groovin' and Classy and their girls are to a large extent the epitome of what NbN wants and what Israel needs: Bright, dedicated, reliable, amazing people who are starting out and who will help build the country in whatever way they can. That's just who they are.
If you're awake, take a few minutes and watch the NbN charter flight land. It's incredibly emotional even if you don't know a soul making the trip. In addition to Groovin's family, I believe we know at least one other family on this flight. Watch the people step off that plane and step onto the ground with that welcoming crowd... it's incredible to see. Who knows? Maybe you'll see Groovin'.
He's kind of hard to miss.
I'm hoping to catch the Nefesh B'Nefesh video of his charter flight tonight, but I know already that I'm going to find it more than a little surreal. For some reason, it just doesn't click that he, his amazing wife, and their two beautiful little girls have somehow pulled this off and are really going through with this - even though we've all known for years that if there was going to be someone to do it first it would be him. I'll never forget a conversation we had during our first year in Israel, when I asked him if perhaps he was moving a little too fast; his response to me was simply, "I don't know, it's possible. But perhaps you're moving a little too slow?" Once again, Groovin' is calmly moving ahead in life, taking the next step confidently but carefully, knowing exactly what he's doing and what to do if he hits a point where he doesn't.
~~~
Growing up in Cleveland, I didn't actually know Groovin' all that well during our early years. He was in a different (more charedi) school until 7th grade, and when he came to the Hebrew Academy of Cleveland, he immediately took geek status with his long lanky frame and propensity to talk to himself in class. But by 8th grade, I was sitting behind him every morning on the window side of the classroom, with Deep Throat in front of him and L'il Jason to his left. By the middle of the year, we'd all settled on attending WITS for high school, and over the years, we all - along with DGEsq - became incredibly close. Groovin' and I roomed together in both our junior and senior years in WITS before moving on to OJ for our first year in Israel. Ironically, OJ was never originally in my plans; there had been another Clevelander two years ahead of us in WITS who had attended OJ a couple of years before, and one of my rabbeim surprisingly (to me) suggested that based on his success there, I would get a lot out of it as well. That strong and strong-willed young man who had grown up right near him was also extremely close to Groovin', and I'm sure that played a role in his coming to OJ as well.
After OJ, we both moved on to Lander. A couple of years later, I was married, and Groovin' was enjoying his times in Lander, in no rush to date. DeepThroat had come back to Lander to study, Li'l Jason was finishing up YU and had moved to Kew Gardens Hills, and DGEsq had gotten married and lived down the block. For the first time, all five of us lived within 3 minutes of one another, and it was awesome. A short while later, though, Groovin' "ruined" it, going out with our OJ predecessor's sister and of course, marrying her {on Super Bowl Sunday, no less!} and moving back to Cleveland. Groovin' then developed an incredible series of spreadsheets to help track all their expenses so they could start saving money and I believe he utilized that to start putting away for them to make aliyah. [As an aside, it was seeing the detail on those spreadsheets which helped spurn the Jewish Economics Survey, and Groovin's actuarial background has helped in its development. Of course, his spreadsheets were quickly made obsolete by Mint.com.]
Even with them moving, it's nice to be living in the 21st Century. Between Skype and Gmail and all the other technology we have today, odds are good that we'll be in better touch than we were even when they were living in Cleveland. It doesn't feel like they're moving to a place where we'll never see them; it's more of a feeling of "it's going to be a little harder to drop in on them than it used to be..."
I'm not sure why I'm writing this; perhaps I think that somehow this will make it click that he's really making aliyah as I'm doing this. It's odd - while it's impossible to imagine them making aliyah, it's also impossible to imagine them not making aliyah. This is such a core essence of who they are and what they're intended to do in this world. Groovin' and Classy and their girls are to a large extent the epitome of what NbN wants and what Israel needs: Bright, dedicated, reliable, amazing people who are starting out and who will help build the country in whatever way they can. That's just who they are.
If you're awake, take a few minutes and watch the NbN charter flight land. It's incredibly emotional even if you don't know a soul making the trip. In addition to Groovin's family, I believe we know at least one other family on this flight. Watch the people step off that plane and step onto the ground with that welcoming crowd... it's incredible to see. Who knows? Maybe you'll see Groovin'.
He's kind of hard to miss.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Mourning by SMS
Ezzie: Being from Cleveland sucks.DGEsq left early, not wanting to see the end. A true Clevelander, I felt compelled to watch until 0:00. Of course, that meant I got to see the latest montage of horrible moments, which was probably recycled, because they left out the 1989 AFC Championship but more surprisingly the Red Sox comeback from 3-1 to beat the Indians in the 2007 ALCS.
G: Amen.
I think this needs to get updated.
Thursday, April 02, 2009
Ouch: Learning from the Amish
Another series of layoffs, this time close to home... my old firm, which has been cutting people since last summer {raises hand}, laid off 45 more people yesterday, despite it being the crunch time of busy season, including a really close friend, another friend and neighbor, and a lot of other Jews, especially Orthodox Jews (15 in total, which is really amazing when you think about it - and right before Pesach, which is smart on the company's part). They haven't even let anyone in tax go yet - this is just from their audit section. Two weeks from now will probably see a lot more cuts. When I told DGEsq the news, including who was let go, he screamed "NO!" - one of his friends and neighbors, with 3 kids, who'd just bought a house, was one of the casualties.
Certainly, the disappearance of large numbers of hedge funds played a role, but mostly, this was simply a measure of how poorly the firm itself was doing. Last busy season, I was arguing to my bosses why the way they were doing things (incredibly inefficient use of resources and people, poor attention to spreading good ideas to the firm as a whole, etc.) was bringing down the firm when it had an opportunity to challenge even the Big Four in some regards.
But in terms of the Jewish community, this is going to be very messy. Perhaps more than any other segment of American society, the Jewish community is very tightly connected with the financial services industry. A somewhat connected figure in the Jewish community related to me at a sheva brachos tonight that as much as 25% of the Jewish community in Passaic is unemployed right now. Even if he means 1 in 4 households, and even if the number is inflated... that's an incredibly large number. Queens is not faring much better at the moment. Those who still have jobs are watching people around them get sent home every couple of months. The rest are looking in vain.
As a community, we need to take a lot of steps back so we can start looking at the big picture. Even in the boom years, we were a community skating on the edge, relying on the boom to keep us ahead. Now that that bubble has burst, we need to reshape how we function as individuals, as families, and as a community when it comes to our finances.
I was CCed on an e-mail exchange earlier today, and one of the people commented only somewhat jokingly that it is difficult to change attitudes, as
Perhaps instead of hosting the Amish and teaching them about Jewish life in the city, we should visit them and learn about Amish life in the country.
Certainly, the disappearance of large numbers of hedge funds played a role, but mostly, this was simply a measure of how poorly the firm itself was doing. Last busy season, I was arguing to my bosses why the way they were doing things (incredibly inefficient use of resources and people, poor attention to spreading good ideas to the firm as a whole, etc.) was bringing down the firm when it had an opportunity to challenge even the Big Four in some regards.
But in terms of the Jewish community, this is going to be very messy. Perhaps more than any other segment of American society, the Jewish community is very tightly connected with the financial services industry. A somewhat connected figure in the Jewish community related to me at a sheva brachos tonight that as much as 25% of the Jewish community in Passaic is unemployed right now. Even if he means 1 in 4 households, and even if the number is inflated... that's an incredibly large number. Queens is not faring much better at the moment. Those who still have jobs are watching people around them get sent home every couple of months. The rest are looking in vain.
As a community, we need to take a lot of steps back so we can start looking at the big picture. Even in the boom years, we were a community skating on the edge, relying on the boom to keep us ahead. Now that that bubble has burst, we need to reshape how we function as individuals, as families, and as a community when it comes to our finances.
I was CCed on an e-mail exchange earlier today, and one of the people commented only somewhat jokingly that it is difficult to change attitudes, as
They'll say that we survived for centuries in Europe under dire poverty, why can't we cut back on our luxuries today and live without a car, constant electricity, new clothes, etc.I noted in response that housing in Europe was a lot cheaper than housing in Cleveland, let alone Brooklyn. They also caught their own fish, raised their own livestock, and skinned their own furs. I then noted that I saw a piece about Chassidim leading Amish around Crown Heights this week. While people like to criticize the Amish as living somewhat of a backwards life, they seem to be eons ahead of the Jewish community when it comes to communal economics. As a community, they keep costs low, they provide and create almost everything they consume, and they export at large profit (hand-crafted furniture) while importing almost nothing into the community. Meanwhile, the frum community imports far more than it exports, spends more than it produces, and as a community, drives prices up for one another, whether it be housing, tuition, food, or anything else.
Perhaps instead of hosting the Amish and teaching them about Jewish life in the city, we should visit them and learn about Amish life in the country.
Monday, March 30, 2009
LeBron Picks... Schottenstein?
I thought this was really cool when DGEsqII showed it to DGEsq and me on Shabbos. TIME magazine picks its 100 most influential people each year, and often asks celebrities or others to name people they think should be on the list. LeBron James was asked for his choice, and he chose... Jay Schottenstein:
LeBron JamesThere were actually had two guys from The Ohio State University at the meal, and Schottenstein lives in Columbus; they found it really interesting as well. With James' Ohio business dealings it isn't surprising he knows him; it is impressive, however, that he chose to name him in response to this question. Cool kiddush Hashem, though.
The NBA All-Star and Olympic gold medalist is a past TIME 100 honoree
Jay Schottenstein, an Ohio business leader and philanthropist, has supported the translation and elucidation of the Talmud Bavli into English, Hebrew and French. The Schottenstein Edition of the Talmud is now utilized by more than 2 million people worldwide.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
D.G., Esquire
SerandEz would like to wish a huge mazel tov to our longtime close friend and confidante DGEsq on his passing the Bar!! May your title serve you well in the future in whatever you do.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Not Exactly Change
I've been debating what and how to say what I think of the choice by Barack Obama to name Joe Biden his Vice Presidential candidate. I think it's got to be the worst choice if you're voting Obama, and the best if you're voting McCain. That the GOP is more excited than the Democrats about the pick is very telling. Chaim sums up the reasons nicely - check out the whole post:
Also, courtesy of DGEsq, check out Obama's face as Biden calls him not ready to be President in a debate.
In 2007 he said he DOES NOT want to be Vice President. He said he has NO DESIRE TO BE Vice President. ... The same year he also said that Obama was not fit for President and during these times we are not able to have to settle with someone who is gonna get on the job training. He said this repeatedly and was even asked to confirm at a debate in front of Obama’s face and he said he still agrees with it.I'll make one note on that last part: It's fine to have a VP who complements where the President lacks, so long as those deficiencies are in areas that are less important or don't need instant decisions. In that vein, it is more important that a President have a good grasp on foreign policy, war, and the like than long-term economic decisions, even as that is possibly more important in general most of the time.
This pick burns his bridges with Clinton supporters. ...When you chose a Vice President you are choosing someone who can possibly be [sic] President if something happens to you. This means that to Hillary supporters Obama is saying that he thinks Biden would be a better President then Hillary. Joe Biden barely got 8,000 votes throughout his entire primary run! ...
Republicans are dancing in the street. The love that Biden has shown McCain for years is gonna hurt Obama. Biden has said tons of nice things about McCain including a few years ago that he loves McCain, he supports him, he’d even RUN with him! ...
Another great thing is this message of “Change”, apparently Obama thinks Change is a guy who has been sitting in Washington in the Senate for 35 years! Biden is the very definition of old dog, old washington politics. This guy is the poster child for business as usual back room politics.
I’ve got more, this pick is terrible because he picked someone who supposedly does well in places where Obama doesn’t. He has longtime experience and a good record on Foreign Policy. Why is that bad? Easy, because he picked someone who very clearly highlights his own faults and just like the Democrats will all remind us, Vice Presidents don’t matter. So what good does it do his voters to learn that in the places where he lacks, his Vice President makes up. Who cares? Biden isn’t running for PRESIDENT!
Also, courtesy of DGEsq, check out Obama's face as Biden calls him not ready to be President in a debate.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Guest Bios II
Since a few of the guests complained - and you know who you are! - here are the new, updated Guest Bios for all of the wonderful guest contributors we have here at SerandEz. The first edition is here.
You can click on any name to skip down to their bio. Click on any bio's title name to come back to the top:We've got to start it off with the family, so...
Family: Serach, SIL, & iPayTooMuchForMyHair.
Long-time friends: DGEsq, Pobody's Nerfect, MordyS, & the holy Reb Abe.
Post-Israel, pre-blog: DaKirsch, FFD, Eliezer StrongBad, & the balding Prof. Justice.
And from around the J-Blogosphere: SoccerDad, ~ Sarah ~, crazy Jameel, Stam, glittery Shoshana, Chana, and of course, the Holy Hyrax.
- Serach - SerandEz, a small welcoming independent republic that is not part of New York, though it is surrounded on all four sides by Kew Gardens Hills, NY (via Monsey, NY)
Serach is my wife, and hence the first half of the name, SerandEz. [Woah!] She blogs and comments under my name, which is of course incredibly confusing, even though I did once make her her own login. Ah well. After two years, she finally broke down and posted - inspired, of course, not by me, but by Holy Hyrax. Hmph. But hey, I can't complain too much, or I'll get in big trouble. She graduated Magna Cum Laude in receiving her Master's in Education & Special Education, and works one-on-one with high-functioning children in their schools. - SIL - Kew Gardens, NY via Small Town, OOT
SIL is (of course) my sister-in-law. She still loves chocolate, is a working mother of three of the cutest kids alive [the -ens], and she somehow supports my Older Dumber brother while he continues on his grueling journey toward smicha. Or something like that. Perhaps someday, she'll write that long-awaited post about men, women, and sports. In the meantime, enjoy her old inspiring, thoughtful, and happy posts. - iPayTooMuchForMyHair - Kew Gardens Hills, NY via Chicago, IL
iPayTooMuchForMyHair isn't really related, but we now share some relatives, and she has the distinct misfortune of being an auditor - with me! - as well. She is an avid spender, and dreams one day of being a makeup artist. She takes pride in being a JAP with a brain, and her profile says it well: "I'm not as shallow as my interests make me seem!" Though you wouldn't know it when you see her reactions to commercial advertising and shiny objects, this is actually true. She is a successful, smart, funny, and thinking girl with personality who wonders why a lot of that often doesn't seem too matter much.
- DGEsq - Kew Gardens Hills, NY via Cleveland, OH
DGEsq. Oh, where to begin... DGEsq is an ultra-confident law student who will be successful at whatever he does, and he's now working full-time in the field he likes at the same time as he's in school, along with taking care of his wife and really cute baby. He can - and often does - talk anybody into doing anything, and his pet peeves are generally related to (Jewish) economics and how they should be fixed. "No" is not an answer he likes to accept, which is part of what helps him succeed... along with the guts to say what he thinks and sticking things out. Hopefully we'll get some more straight-up posts from him in the future. - Pobody's Nerfect - Flatbush, NY via Cleveland, OH
Pobody's Nerfect is probably still the guest poster whose posts I look forward to reading the most. She's the epitome of clawing one's way to success, fighting through and against everything that life has thrown at her. She's an inspiration and demonstration of strength of will to anyone who knows her, though she'll never realize it or admit it. Everything I wrote the last time is just as true as ever: She [still] has the distinction of having been of the few people to truly inspire me, when I was otherwise turned off by a lot of things I was around at one point in my life. This, despite being a few years my junior, at a time when I felt that most people my age or many years my senior I was surrounded by were complete morons, and at a time when she was probably troubled by more issues than I was. She is one of the too-rare truly thinking frum young women out there, and possibly the only thing holding her back from greatness is her shyness. And oh yeah, she's hilarious when she wants to be, too. To top it off, Serach plots with her [hmph], and Elianna loves her. :) - MordyS - Monsey, NY
MordyS is that guy that everyone loves to love. He makes everyone laugh, he's personable, and he has no qualms about speaking his mind. He's honest, self-aware, and a master ranter. He's sickened by hypocrisy, loves people who are honest with themselves, and is constantly trying to work his way up the rock-face on the way to becoming a better person. - Reb Abe - Passaic, NJ via Monsey, NY
Reb Abe is our resident tzaddik and patriot. He's the one who will go through the cash lanes of tolls to wish the operator a good evening even though he has an EZ-pass, or spend over 2 hours driving back and forth just to save you a little time and money (and at his own expense, too). And nobody knows how to show respect like Reb Abe. One day, maybe he'll come off that marriage high and actually post something new for us to work our brains around. In the meantime, we'll let him stew over his inability to fly his flag on the Fourth due to the constraints of his living space.
- DaKirsch - Manhattan, NY
DaKirsch is... well, DaKirsch. He's a video-game playing, sports-obsessed, music and movie aficionado who will spend hours tracking down cartoons from fifteen years ago. He's the best snapping center you could ask for despite his height (or lack thereof), and you can count on him whenever you want an expert opinion on what games to buy or where to find a song online. He's also picked two drafts exceedingly well for SerandEz, and perhaps we'll convince him to write some more technology or sports posts in the future... just not about his fantasy baseball skills, seeing as how he's in 9th place. - FFD - Hillcrest, NY but soon to be The Bronx, NY
FFD, or FrumDoc, has never yet written here on SerandEz, being too busy with his new wife, his job, and getting ready to move and start medical school. He used to post over at FrumDoc, and we miss him over there, but we'll miss him and FFW more when they move to Einstein. Not that they ever come to visit now either... but I digress. FFD is our perfectionist and worry-body, but that usually works out okay, and he's sensible about when to worry and when not to. For instance, he's also a wonderful procrastinator and can be extremely lazy, in addition to spending excessive amounts of time on the computer. As FFW said, "He's acting just like you!" ...and as I responded, "Great!" - Eliezer StrongBad - Secret Location, Israel via Smelly Dump, NJ
Eliezer StrongBad is currently in Israel, checking out lots of Israel Baseball League games while he does yet another internship with a top international firm. He always has an interesting perspective on things, noticing the details that a lot of others might miss... and he's consistently a great source of information. He's starting as the SerandEz IBL correspondent, but perhaps he'll parlay that into something a little larger. And boy, he sure does know how to count. Meanwhile, we hope he'll continue to update us on the new league and other Israel happenings until his return to NY this fall. - Prof. Justice - Undisclosed, NY
Professor Justice has been AWOL for a while, ever since he switched positions from practicing criminal law in some very sticky situations and stings which I can't write about to a job he loves much more, which allows him to utilize his brain - and writing skills - a whole lot more. He's doing all this while still teaching a few courses at different universities in the area. Hopefully he'll come back soon with his (toned down :) ) caustic wit, sharp insights, and of course the sarcasm, discussing politics, terrorism, law, and of course, liberalism.
- SoccerDad - Baltimore, MD
SoccerDad, who blogs at the aptly named SoccerDad, is the first J-blog I ever read... and also, the first J-blogger I ever met as such in real life. He's the creator of the blog carnival Haveil Havalim, which has had one of the biggest positive impacts on the J-blogosphere as a whole, exposing Jewish bloggers to other voices that are out there. And while I know he hates that I focus on this as opposed to all the rest of his writing, I love his fake editorials on behalf of large national papers which he then uses to shred their actual editorials with - gotta love it. He's one of the best pro-Israel bloggers out there, and we hope to get more of his aged (for a blogger!) wisdom here at SerandEz in the future, even if he is a part of more blogs than anyone else. - ~ Sarah ~ - Melbourne, Australia
~ Sarah ~, who blogs at Sarah's View, is the official photoblogger of SerandEz, even if she doesn't know it. She's the always funky one with the ever-changing header (really - go check it out, hit refresh), the profile photo that actually changes outfits (and fast, too!), and always has something to make you smile - even when you (or she) are down. We haven't had a chance to meet her - yet - but she's also got the coolest accent on this side of the hemi- err... equat- err... J-blogosphere. She's the one to show you something that will brighten your day when you need a life, and hopefully she'll shine her light, photo, and graphic skills this way again! - Jameel - The Muqata, Israel
Ahh... Jameel of the Muqata... where to begin?! Should we start with the random phone calls while on counter-terrorist runs? The crazy ideas that actually pan out? The absurd visit at 1am when we lose an hour and Jameel needs to drive to and from Baltimore the next day? Jameel is our Aliyah correspondent, our Holy Hyrax or Ezzie rumor-mongerer, and our riot inciter here at SerandEz. He's always got something entertaining to say, and definitely knows how to get everyone going. We'll surely see more on Israel and Holy Hyrax's proclivities in the future. - Stam - Baltimore, MD via Hicksville, OOT
Stam is new here, and constantly restarting at JustStam, but I'm confident that she will quickly become the official SerandEz hocker. She's got a car, a Treo, an apartment, and a constantly changing status on GMail, all while hosting her neighbor's guests whose fathers bang on the door when she's trying to sleep in just a bit because she's sick [and was on her computer until 5am]. Nebach, poor thing. But through it all, she keeps everybody happy and entertained, and perhaps she'll even make it up here to SerandEz in the near future. She claims she's "shy". Ha! I'm sure she will be entertaining us all on the blog sometime soon... - Shoshana - Passaic, NJ via Birmingham, AL (and Texas, and Oklahoma, and Canada, and...)
Shoshana's name is summed up by her blog's name: SweetRose. Her blog is the third blog I read, and the first that really talked about life and life's experiences in a deep, thoughtful way. And that's what Shoshana herself is like - deep and thoughtful, with a healthy dose of fun, purple, and of course, glitter thrown on top. A truly sweet rose in a world full of thorns. She has wisdom well beyond her years, even if she looks 16, and we'll surely see her again at SerandEz sometime soon... or she's in big trouble. She's one of the J-bloggers who is most loved and whose words people actually listen to, possibly because they're so well-measured in a medium that often lacks that, and we always look forward to her insights. - Chana - Stern College, Manhattan, NY via Chicago, IL
Chana is a very, very Curious Jew. She's a mold-breaking, brilliant young lady who left a terrible experience in a Bais Yaakov-style HS to attend a non-sectarian prep school; a breathtaking storyteller who inspires adults twice, even triple her age; and yet still manages to be a fun-loving, rain-dancing, super-sweet college student who is just high on life. She's not shy about anything, yet had to be dragged here by a wonderful mutual friend the first time, and her funky clothes and bursting personality made her a quick favorite of Serach and Elianna. Now she's becoming a frequent guest and we're sure to see more of her when she returns next semester. If only we could get her to write [with brevity?] over here a little more, too...
- Holy Hyrax - Los Angeles, CA
Holy Hyrax. Woo. He told me that he "trusts me" and I should "write from the heart". He also threatened to call me up and cry over the phone if I'm not nice to him. Gimme a second... Okay. I got it. Holy Hyrax is living proof that one does not need to be a great speller to accomplish in life. Heck, you can be an atrocious speller, like he is. He is easily the funniest poster on this blog [sorry G], utilizing his natural humor and his incredible skills at graphic manipulation to create hilarious posters, pictures, and storylines for everyone to enjoy. He also will occasionally let out that heart-pulling post that surprises and inspires all who read it, before returning to his normal safe, super-skeptic, joking manner. When I finally had a chance to shmooze with him over Coffee Bean in LA, I recall noting to Jameel afterward that I couldn't help but laugh at every other thing he said. He adds a levity to this blog that not many can, and we all enjoy having him around.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Frum economic crisis
Before you read this blog, please accept my apologies for it being written in a disjointed way (I am sitting in remedies class now). I would like to thank Ezzie for letting me post this. Just so you know a little about me-- I too grew up in Cleveland with Ezzie, and attended the same grade school that he did. Ezzie and I have been friends for about 18 years and we still continue our friendship (it was thru him that I met my wife). I've been married for about 18 months and I am the father of a beautiful son (he is four months old). Thank G-d life is good.
I read the post about the frum economic crisis and I've had some of my own theories of why this is so. I have been pondering these ideas for about two years and I've spoken these theories with Ezzie numerous times--he agrees with me. So I decided I must post my theories. Here it goes...
Back fifty to sixty years ago, when all the holocaust survivors moved to America, they knew nothing of college, and especially nothing about graduate schools. The ones who survived the horrible massacre moved to America, worked hard, I mean real hard, and started businesses (they where known to be business smart). A large amount of them became extremely successful in things like nursing homes, hotels, real estate, construction companies etc. So they had children, and those children took over those businesses. If you looked 15-20 years ago nursing home owners owned one or two nursing homes, or one or two buildings. Now, nursing home owners own ten nursing homes and real estate owners own ten buildings. Business has become monopolized.
People speak of "street smarts" or "business savvy" as if it means something in this day and age. That's not true. We now live in a world in which a frum person needs to got law school, medical school, dental school, or become an accountant to be comfortable. I am in law school, and let me the first to tell it' not for everyone. I feel I could be much more successful as business man, but that doesn't mean anything, what business am I going to do. People cannot create new businesses anymore, there is no such thing. I mean the two wealthiest people that I know (really know, not just heard of them) never stepped foot in college, probably never even went to high school. Those people run huge businesses, but I bet if they started today they wouldn't make it. People can’t be creative anymore, they can only be innovative. I know what everyone is going to say “look at the owners of google and yahoo, they started businesses!” The creators of google and yahoo, took technology and made it better, they innovated. They didn’t actually create anything.
So what is the point of the aforesaid information? Let me explain.
Due to the fact that that people cannot rely on "business smarts" in the present time, they feel a justifiable need to go to some sort of graduate school, be it law school, medical school, dental, school, business school etc. That causes an influx of people in professional school which makes the job prospects once they're done minimal. People fall into debt, as a result of graduate school loans they spend the next thirty years paying them back.
The above is the reason for the frum economic crisis.
Ezzie will expand on this idea.
I read the post about the frum economic crisis and I've had some of my own theories of why this is so. I have been pondering these ideas for about two years and I've spoken these theories with Ezzie numerous times--he agrees with me. So I decided I must post my theories. Here it goes...
Back fifty to sixty years ago, when all the holocaust survivors moved to America, they knew nothing of college, and especially nothing about graduate schools. The ones who survived the horrible massacre moved to America, worked hard, I mean real hard, and started businesses (they where known to be business smart). A large amount of them became extremely successful in things like nursing homes, hotels, real estate, construction companies etc. So they had children, and those children took over those businesses. If you looked 15-20 years ago nursing home owners owned one or two nursing homes, or one or two buildings. Now, nursing home owners own ten nursing homes and real estate owners own ten buildings. Business has become monopolized.
People speak of "street smarts" or "business savvy" as if it means something in this day and age. That's not true. We now live in a world in which a frum person needs to got law school, medical school, dental school, or become an accountant to be comfortable. I am in law school, and let me the first to tell it' not for everyone. I feel I could be much more successful as business man, but that doesn't mean anything, what business am I going to do. People cannot create new businesses anymore, there is no such thing. I mean the two wealthiest people that I know (really know, not just heard of them) never stepped foot in college, probably never even went to high school. Those people run huge businesses, but I bet if they started today they wouldn't make it. People can’t be creative anymore, they can only be innovative. I know what everyone is going to say “look at the owners of google and yahoo, they started businesses!” The creators of google and yahoo, took technology and made it better, they innovated. They didn’t actually create anything.
So what is the point of the aforesaid information? Let me explain.
Due to the fact that that people cannot rely on "business smarts" in the present time, they feel a justifiable need to go to some sort of graduate school, be it law school, medical school, dental, school, business school etc. That causes an influx of people in professional school which makes the job prospects once they're done minimal. People fall into debt, as a result of graduate school loans they spend the next thirty years paying them back.
The above is the reason for the frum economic crisis.
Ezzie will expand on this idea.
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