Speech

Last night I gave a speech at my local Toastmasters club, and took home for the first time in what seems like forever, the Best Speaker ribbon.

The title of my speech was "What To Do When It's All Too Much".  I just gave a brief overview of some of the techniques I practice when it all gets to be too much and the walls are caving in on me.

The first technique I discussed was the Stop 3 Breath Technique.  At the moment when you feel you're really about to lose it, just stop.  Stop immediately what you're doing.  Close your eyes.  And take 3 deep breaths.  Then continue on with whatever it is that you were doing.

The 2nd thing I described was the 3 step process for when you realize you're facing adversity:

1. Do Something Therapeutic

It can be anything, a guided imagery, going to the beach, praying...

2. Read Something Inspirational or Spiritually Uplifting

3. EXERCISE

That's all there really was to it.  It's not a speech I practiced.  But that is because I didn't feel the need to do so.  And I got some very good feedback on it.  Look forward to posting it on my social media pages.

Theory

A rabbi of mine once had an interesting theory, of which I've elaborated upon over the past few years, as to why Jews, especially those from the East coast/New York area move away from Judaism.

I was having a conversation with my friend Shmuel, and I told him about how I had read The Vanishing American Jew written by Alan Dershowitz.  In it, Mr. Dershowitz talked about a woman he had encountered.  This woman was Jewish by birth, and had grown up in a very typical, conservative Jewish American home.  When she began dating as a teenager, she had no interest in dating any Jewish guys, and eventually married a Catholic man.  Neither her nor her children have any connection whatsoever to Judaism.  When asked why, she answered "To me, growing up, Judaism was nothing more than an old man saying no."

My rabbi, Shmuel recounted to me, said that the essence of Judaism is very soft and tender.  After the Holocaust, the survivors who came here set the tone for a hardened and embittered Judaism.  I believe it started happening even before the Holocaust, with the advent of all the pogroms in Russia and Eastern Europe starting at the turn of the last century.

Anyway, the theory is that many of today's Jews who came from this hardened and embittered Jewish environment are still looking for that soft, sweet core that they know in their hearts is there.  And they go looking for it in ashrams, Eastern religions, New Ageism, and (I believe) even in things like Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism --  which all on the surface, appear to have that soft, sweet, tender inner base.

Shabbat Shalom

Apple

Amazing how an apple can fill you up.  Well, that's what it's supposed to do.  It's got plenty of fiber in it, so it fills up your intestines with food, and makes you feel full.

Game 4 of the ALCS tonight in Detroit.  Red Sox bats have got to wake up against the number 4 starter for the Tigers.  I just don't think Sanchez, Schwertzer, and Verlander are going to get any easier to face as this series progresses.

Yesterday at the bar I was at, I drank Sam Adams' Oktoberfest beer.  That bar doesn't have light beers on tap.  So, I indulged.  And, I'll do so again this afternoon/evening.

Shabbat meals are all set.

Most Memorable Kosher Establishments I've Dined At So Far In My Life

Distrikt Bistro (Washington, D.C.)
La Gondola (Los Angeles)
Hoffy's (Antwerp)
Pat's (Los Angeles)
Boddha Thai (Los Angeles)
Melech Ha Falafel ve Shawarma (Jerusalem)
Nut House Pizza (Wheaton, MD)
Randall's (Houston)
Madras (Houston)
Mexikosher (Los Angeles)
Shanghai Diamond Garden (Los Angeles)

What It Means To Be a Fighter

I have been a fighter all my life.  And, I make absolutely no apologies for being one.

So, what exactly does it mean to be a fighter?  A very good question; one which I definitely do not have any pocket answer for.

For me, a lot of times it just means getting right back up after being knocked down.  I love that Chumbawamba song from the 90's - the one that goes "I get knocked down, but I get up again..."  A friend of mine used to joke about it, in fact because she knew how much I loved it, and how closely it reflected my personality as well as my overall way of being.

I'm not sure what else being a fighter entails, exactly.  It is, though, a quality of mine that I am (not so much anymore) privately very proud to have. 

Here's hoping that someone else who happens to be reading it might draw at least a bit of inspiration out of this post.

Come on Sox, let's deliver the knockout punch Monday night in Tampa Bay...

Delmon Young 2

So, it is going to be Delmon Young and the Rays facing us in the first round.  Suffice it to say, I will not be watching or listening to any of the games.

Still have got a lot to do.  No shiur tonight it looks like unfortunately...

The Bruins have dropped the puck and have officially opened the 2013-14 against Tampa Bay.  Hockey and basketball, from October - April are essentially six-month long extended exhibition seasons, so I really have no interest in any of the games until then.

I am hunkering for some sashimi tonight to go with my rice and noodle leftovers...

Time to move the car...technically, I could be getting a ticket for it right at this moment.

Delmon Young

The Cleveland Indians and the Tampa Bay Rays are about set to face off in their AL Wild Card game to determine who will go on to play the Red Sox in the opening divisional round of the playoffs.  I refuse to listen to the game.  And if the Rays win this game and face the Red Sox, I refuse to watch or listen to any of the games.  All because of one (and I use this next word very loosely) man, Delmon Young.

Mr. Young, I have hardly forgotten about what you did in your drunken stupor in New York early last season.  It was for that reason I refused to watch or listen to any of the ALCS or World Series last year.  And it's the same reason why whether it was with the Tigers, Phillies, or now the Rays - I immediately turned the dial if I found out that you were playing in that game.  I sincerely hope that you are out of baseball soon.  I'm sure many others like you have done or said worse things.  But you got caught.

Go Cleveland.