Erev shabbos rant- dedicated to the weak stomached

Could I call myself a female Jewish blogger if I didn't let off a good rant every once in a while? So here I go:

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First let's deal with why I'm blogging at 5 a.m.! Actually, I'll answer that later... a little suspense thrown in :)

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Next up: I saw this comment on Musing's discussion about the yeshiva tuition crisis:

"I know people who aren't established in their professions or are still in school taking their chasunah money and going to Israel spending at least $1,500 in the process. In my opinion that is fiscally irresponsible."

Sure, I agree, it's fiscally irresponsible. Wait, who am I kidding?--it's the best thing a young couple could do! I haven't been to Israel since before I got married. It's been too long and I MUST go back... but now there are a million other considerations, i.e. kids, work, etc... All I could think of is, "I should have been irresponsible and done it while my time and money were still my own!" Now, at 5 a.m. I notice the Israeli bloggers are up and doing their thing and I can only think, *sigh* I wish I were there! Ahh, if only moshiach would come and take us all back. The other option is I could renew my vows and use that gift money to run off on a fiscally irresponsible trip to Israel.

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Another (rather unrelated) epiphany I had this very early Friday morning is an exception to the rule of emotional contagiousness through written language that I went on and on about earlier this week. Whether or not you've read the other post, you'll agree that writing carries a lot of hidden meaning that isn't written out point blank in letters. Emotion especially gets communicated through subtext (or tone) rather than words. Well, I've discovered the tricky exception: sarcasm. When someone reads a statement without seeing (or hearing) the writer or experiencing the emotional context where it was written, it can be very difficult to decipher whether the words were intended as satire or as humor, in light mockery or bitter irony... these subtle distinctions often require more cues. A good writer will choose their words to precisely reflect the message; for the rest of us there are emoticons or repeated LOL's.

You must be wondering, why in heaven's name am I having such esoteric internal dialogue at dawn? Well, there's an answer coming. This week BloginDm- a great j-music expertise blog, in the minute chance you haven't seen it-posted a question from a reader, RL. This guy asked, in too many words, if the in-house expert could name the Carlebach tune that goes, 'na na na na na uh uh na na...' I thought it was hilarious because if you wrote out any Carlebach it would actually look like that, and also because I'm corny sometimes. So I sent Blogindm this email (he doesn't take comments...) with a link to a cool 'query by humming' website called Musipedia that can name any tune. Sof sof, he thought it was funny and posted my email, but in retrospect I'm afraid it looks like I was giving a serious response to what was obviously meant as a joke. In short, I look like a moron. Yay. That's what I get for claiming that language can delivery the most nuanced emotion.

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And finally, as promised, we return to the segment called: "why mommies never get a good night's sleep." This edition involves a surprise wake-up at 4:30 a.m. by a toddler screaming "I fwoo up, I fwoo up" as though it were the most exciting thing to hurl three meals (plus snacks) all over the room. So the saga begins. I had to bathe my daughter, change her linens, wash the mattress, air out the room, get her to drink so she doesn't dehydrate, wait till she uses the potty again, calm her down to get her sleepy, and finally after she fell asleep, I started doing the laundry because you can't throw vomit soiled things into the hamper for later! Even my husband got a special treat--he dressed her while I cleaned her room, and she goes and vomits some more on him. Fun for the whole family! (Should I add a smiley face to denote sarcasm?)

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This concludes my first official rant. And now to start my day (and my third load of laundry)...

Shabbus Shuloym!