July 4, 2017
Where to begin? This is a complex world and i have a complex life. Sometimes it is terrible. Sometimes wonderful. Last night was close to wonderful - a great performance by some great performers. It was smooth, intense, and seemed seamless. the way i like it. This morning I woke up just before gym, moved right into a meeting with an hour of signing papers - wrong - have to be redone, then met with Yafit, who came with me to vote in the Labor primaries, then did a radio program about the fourth of July in poetry and my own poems, then had a profound familyish meeting.
July 6, 2017
Sabreen Masarwi was so gracious to record three poems for my evening - she couldn't read herself because she was at a writer conference in Serbia. She translated them (freely)
i'll load the originals tonight.
July 7, 2017
I have the link for the 4th of July radio program that I recorded, but I can't seem to get it to work. It's here.. Maybe it will work for you. The reason I really want to hear it is that I got all choked up when I read "The New Colossus." I kept thinking of the way my parents created a new life from ashes and all that.
Many apologies - the link worked. there are a few songs before I begin my strange diatribe, but I rambled for an hour about love and freedom and all that. So try the link if your Hebrew is at all operative.
July 7, 2017
I got the hint - Rivka Bassman really didn't like the latest poems I brought her. Yddish is straightforward, she said. English is more complex - you can't put your english mind into yiddish. Nevertheless, I try.
July 8, 2017
I think it is cultures and generations that don't speak the same language as well. I looked at the NYTimes last night and the headline about Trump and Putin was that they had discussed the US elections. In Haaretz they said that Trump and Putin were agreeing on a ceasefire in Syria. The Times says the agreement is between Russia, the U S and Jordan. Haaretz says it's Israel too. Priorities.
For Yaniv's birthday we had breakfast in Neve Zedek at Lulu's. Then Ice cream at Anitas. Now we are celebrating the departure of Karen and Ilana by going to The Grand Cafe. We have to learn to celebrate without restaurants.
And a meeting at Arcafe at night. Business goes on all the time at cafes in Tel Aviv. It looks like people are lounging around, but often people wonder how the Tel Aviv residents have so much time to waste, but often we're managing estates, planning careers, hiring and firing, as well as having a beer. Being in a public place is part of the deal. We don't like privacy all that much.
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