Today is a day for mourning. Tomorrow is a day for organizing to protect institutions and the vulnerable. A friend shared the following quote: "They want you to feel powerless and surrender and let them trample everything and you are not going to let them. You are not giving up, and neither am I. The fact that we cannot save everything does not mean we cannot save anything and everything we can save is worth saving."
Jewsplaining
A suggestion for (some of) my fellow American Jews: I've now lived in my adoptive country for 25 years. I'm not Israeli, but I have a large family in Israel that makes me a bit closer to the situation than most people here. I also used to spend a lot of time with Israelis living … Continue reading Jewsplaining
The “G” Word
Or let me put this differently: If you want to discuss whether war crimes have been committed in the last month in Gaza, we can have that conversation (although precise determination of whether war crimes have occurred in a specific incident is best left to specialist lawyers who have expertise in this field). However, if … Continue reading The “G” Word
This Blog
I created this blog three years ago when we moved to California to unpack my adjustment to California. I was born in London. I spent most of my adult life in New York City and was fiercely proud of my identity as a New Yorker. I lived through 9/11; I lived through the 2002 blackout, … Continue reading This Blog
What is LA? (Continued)
I've spent over two years now trying to understand what are the geographic boundaries of LA. The borders of the City of Los Angeles, are clearly meaningless to anyone apart from someone who has to pay taxes to the city. Most large cities have three definitions: the political boundary i.e. the city of LA, the … Continue reading What is LA? (Continued)
The Armistice Line of a Frozen Conflict
A PSA for anyone who has never seen a map of the "city" of Los Angeles: This is not the map of a city. This is a map showing the armistice line of a frozen conflict. In the '90s and 2000s, many maps of a hypothetical Palestinian state were drawn that included a "land corridor" … Continue reading The Armistice Line of a Frozen Conflict
A sunny morning, and the week after that . . . in a city far, far away.
On September 11th, 2001, my place of work was 6 World Trade Center. I lived on the 29th floor of a tower on Manhattan's west side that had given me a spectacular view of lower Manhattan with the towers in the center of that view. My home was next door to a Fire House. My … Continue reading A sunny morning, and the week after that . . . in a city far, far away.
Summer?!!
I missed winter, missed spring, it’s a week after Memorial Day and now I’m missing summer . . .
Santa Monica is NOT the Upper West Side
"It’s often been said that Los Angeles is 72 suburbs in search of a city. Using New York as a template, here’s how to think of them: Beverly Hills is Fifth Avenue; West Hollywood is Chelsea; Bel Air is Park Avenue; Santa Monica is the Upper West Side. Pacific Palisades is the Upper East Side; … Continue reading Santa Monica is NOT the Upper West Side
The Mystery Mobile
I created this blog a few weeks after we arrived in California. We have now lived here for almost five months, and it's taken me until now to commit my first real post to the ether. I thought it was worth putting in writing some of my thoughts about my experience as an adoptive New … Continue reading The Mystery Mobile
A Stranger in a Strange Land 