Friday, November 30, 2007
Thursday, November 29, 2007
When living with the common cold, get your hair cut.
I have a cold. I am miserable. The world shall know and look after me. I could have caught from one of two candidates. My house mate Cecil, or Tom's house mate Twinkle. No, neither of those are their real names. Yes , some people don't actually know their real names. Twinkle is coughing up blood every now and again. Tom is also sick, but not as bad as me. That means he made me peanut butter toast when he came to check on me even though he doesn't like peanut butter. That was lovely of him.
I have decided that having a cold is like living in clear sugar syrup. At first I thought it was like living in treacle, but then I thought treacle was all brown and hard to see through. You can still see everything when you have a cold, but it's a wee bit hazy and you move soooo slllloooowly. It is hard work to lift your limbs. Every word gets through to you a little while longer after everyone else. Time seems to pass less quickly. And so on . And so forth.
In other news. I had my haircut. In a real salon. Recommended by the Watson, Cream Hair Design at 70 Bedford Place, Southampton are wonderful. Definitely value for money, what with the massage chair you sit in while they wash your hair. I didn't want to leave. Dawn, the stylist, also created exactly what I asked for. No more than two inches cut off, feathers in the front, and layers through out. I feel like a new silky woman and can't stop playing with my hair.
That is all.
When living with the common cold, get your hair cut.
I have a cold. I am miserable. The world shall know and look after me. I could have caught from one of two candidates. My house mate Cecil, or Tom's house mate Twinkle. No, neither of those are their real names. Yes , some people don't actually know their real names. Twinkle is coughing up blood every now and again. Tom is also sick, but not as bad as me. That means he made me peanut butter toast when he came to check on me even though he doesn't like peanut butter. That was lovely of him.
I have decided that having a cold is like living in clear sugar syrup. At first I thought it was like living in treacle, but then I thought treacle was all brown and hard to see through. You can still see everything when you have a cold, but it's a wee bit hazy and you move soooo slllloooowly. It is hard work to lift your limbs. Every word gets through to you a little while longer after everyone else. Time seems to pass less quickly. And so on . And so forth.
In other news. I had my haircut. In a real salon. Recommended by the Watson, Cream Hair Design at 70 Bedford Place, Southampton are wonderful. Definitely value for money, what with the massage chair you sit in while they wash your hair. I didn't want to leave. Dawn, the stylist, also created exactly what I asked for. No more than two inches cut off, feathers in the front, and layers through out. I feel like a new silky woman and can't stop playing with my hair.
That is all.
A Short Picture Essay
A Short Picture Essay
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Hmmm.....
Hmmm.....
Friday, November 23, 2007
Starting early
I've started making my Christmas cards early this year. I love crafting. It is a lovely way to spend half an hour or so each day.
These are my Autumn Socks from Tom. He doesn't like autumn much and says "It sucks". I love it. I think "It Rocks." Somehow we got Autumn Socks out of this, as a way of cheering up autumn. So 21st of November, we swapped socks. It was awesome. I bought him some grey ones with bright pink spots.
In other news I'm extra hyper today due to the shots of espresso I was doing with Sarah at lunch time. (Hi Sarah!) We dicussed lots of knitty things as she's picked up the needles again. She's made an awesome garter stich scarf, and is teaching herself to knit on dpns by making a hat. I love talking about knitting so much. I met Karuna in Portswood today to advise wool buying and needle selection as she fancied knitting again too. More knitters returning to the fold. I must find a pattern for my next bit of Christmas knitting. Not so much to do this year but a pastel drawing of Aunties and Cousins to do.
Sarah's hoody is half a hood away from being finished, Tom has one and half gloves and then its various tube shaped things to knit. Oh and a pair of tiny things. Then sewing of 5 things. But I need to buy some darning needles as I have to sew things up and darn my new pointe shoes when they come. Ahh ballet. I'm going to see the ballet tomorrow too!
Starting early
I've started making my Christmas cards early this year. I love crafting. It is a lovely way to spend half an hour or so each day.
These are my Autumn Socks from Tom. He doesn't like autumn much and says "It sucks". I love it. I think "It Rocks." Somehow we got Autumn Socks out of this, as a way of cheering up autumn. So 21st of November, we swapped socks. It was awesome. I bought him some grey ones with bright pink spots.
In other news I'm extra hyper today due to the shots of espresso I was doing with Sarah at lunch time. (Hi Sarah!) We dicussed lots of knitty things as she's picked up the needles again. She's made an awesome garter stich scarf, and is teaching herself to knit on dpns by making a hat. I love talking about knitting so much. I met Karuna in Portswood today to advise wool buying and needle selection as she fancied knitting again too. More knitters returning to the fold. I must find a pattern for my next bit of Christmas knitting. Not so much to do this year but a pastel drawing of Aunties and Cousins to do.
Sarah's hoody is half a hood away from being finished, Tom has one and half gloves and then its various tube shaped things to knit. Oh and a pair of tiny things. Then sewing of 5 things. But I need to buy some darning needles as I have to sew things up and darn my new pointe shoes when they come. Ahh ballet. I'm going to see the ballet tomorrow too!
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Practicing
Jerusalem Practice Essay
Jerusalem as a city of many people, faiths, nationalities, appears in newspapers, on the television, in holy books, in art, in literature, in film. One tract of land holds the imagination of world captive. The reasons for this obsession are at the same time both obvious and mysterious. As a place considered holy to the Abrahamic faiths, whilst being somewhat alien to the secular majority of today, religion infiltrates almost every aspect of Jerusalem. To an outsider the politics of the everyday seem to be coded upon the people of the streets both intrinsically and obviously.
"Sometimes journalists ventured into West Jerusalem where an aging population of religious Jews in beards and hats and long dresses and wigs formed a backdrop of exotic extras. And the old city itself, the Armenians, the Greek Orthodox, the Lubavitch, the guardians of the Al-Aqsa mosque, everyone planting a stake in this weird piece of contested ground. Everyone was in costume so you could tell straight away what you are supposed to know about how they thought and felt."
This kind of clear distinction of groups is a remnant of Ottoman rule where each "nation" in Jerusalem was required to wear its own costume for ease of identification and administration. However, it will become clear that it is nigh on impossible to rely on such categories in trying to understand life in Jerusalem.
Numerous resources are available to the historian studying Jerusalem. Its contested sacred and political status has lead to a gamut of texts on both its religious and political significance in history, trying to explain why people were "planting a stake in this weird piece of…ground." However, another less studied strand of historical material slowly becomes apparent. This strand has more to do with the personal experience of the people of Jerusalem. As with any city, there is something tangible that binds its inhabitants together. This is something that Teddy Kolleck, the Mayor of Jerusalem from 1965 - 1993, although not a native Jerusalemite, clearly felt.
"Sometimes, in the company of true, veteran Jerusalemites, I still feel like a "newcomer" to the city. These native born Jerusalemites share a special bond, a kinship of memories no outsider can comprehend…The threads that bind Jerusalemites to their city are firmly woven into an urban tapestry unique to Jerusalem."
He goes on to recount how the particular mix of "seventh generation residents" and newcomers from around the world add to this particular Jerusalem feeling. Residents of Jerusalem have tried to capture this sense of Jerusalem through memoirs, art, film and more modern media such as weblogs. This production of representation is part of what is sometimes called 'collective memory' by modern academics.
This essay will examine the problems faced by historians who have to combine this sort of more personal material that could be considered historical by nature, types of cultural history, with the more traditional history based in facts relating to politics and religion in order to write comprehensive histories of Jerusalem. In doing this, it will also consider the wider issues surrounding the use of this 'kinship of memories' here. It will explore a range of case studies in these areas and try and uncover what these devices were trying to achieve through remembering Jerusalem in their own particular fashion.
Susan A. Crane writes that
"Perhaps the most banal thing that could be said about history, in general, is that "it happened" or something happened."
She goes on to explain that history is more than just the events of the past that are recorded; it also includes products produced about it both in the past and now. These products stand alongside the received recordings of events as a historical consciousness available to future and contemporary generations. When considering the history of Jerusalem, there are plenty of 'happenings'. The world is aware of its chronology, how the city changed hands over the centuries, how it is fought over both in the past and daily in the present. Indeed, there are 828 books in the University of Southampton Library that are related to such events, happenings, and Jerusalem itself. Furthermore, there is an overwhelming 'collective memory' surrounding Jerusalem that often expands upon or contradicts these 'happenings.' The banal history would record that Jerusalem was divided in 1948 at the end of the Arab – Israeli War and captured by Israel in 1967 by the Six Day War, and formally reunited in 1980. The 'collective memory' of these events, the cultural historical products inspired by them, create a more human picture of Jerusalem, showing the thoughts, feelings, and opinions of the people that were involved. Material is also available that records ironically banal happenings, everyday lives and experiences.
An example of this would be the poem 'Everyday Life' by Yehuda Amichai.
"Once I sat on the steps by a gate at David's Tower
I placed my two heavy baskets at my side.
A group of tourists was standing around
their guide and I became their marker.
"You see that man with the baskets?
Just right of his head there's an arch from
the Roman period. Just right of his head."
I said to myself: redemption will come only if
their guide tells them, "You see that Arch from
the Roman period? It's not important, but next to it,
left and down a bit, there sits a man
who's bought fruit and vegetables for his family.
This poem provides a slightly wider window into what life is like for the residents of Jerusalem. As a place full of pilgrims, both religious and secular, steeped in history and tradition the everyday seems irrelevant. Amos Elon writes of tourists and pilgrims becoming over whelmed by a so called 'Jerusalem Syndrome', the shock of the bustle and tension in the city. For Jerusalem is still a place where, as Amichai wrote, people buy fruit and vegetables for their families. The book To Live in Jerusalem, published by the Israel Museum in Jerusalem shows some of this normality, trying to create a historical consciousness of mundane life in Jerusalem with plates that show living rooms and kitchens. Natalie Zemon Davis and Randolf Stern vouch for this sort of use of memory materials;
"The collision of memories points to the way in which memory can challenge the biases, omissions, exclusions, generalizations and abstractions of history."
Nonetheless, Wulf Kansteiner warns of the inherent problems of 'collective memory' material. As Crane states it "expresses a sense of the continual presence of the past." Whilst historians can use this type of material, even deeper questions must be asked about its provenance.
"It can take hold of historically and socially remote events but it often privileges the interests of the contemporary. It is as much a result of conscious manipulation as unconscious absorption and it is always mediated."
Much as history itself can be said to be written by the victors, collective memory material in expressing the past in the present day can be used subjectively. The book To Live in Jerusalem is published under the auspices of the Israel Museum and so could be considered part of the Israeli establishment. It is endorsed by a longstanding mayor of the City. It is the work of leading academics. Its creation was supported by research funds. This could hardly be called the work of the everyman. Whilst it provides a starting point for understanding the everyday lives of Jerusalemites, for example explaining briefly that ultra-Orthodox families tend not to have furniture that would serve the purpose of a sofa or settee due to the Orthodox way of life leaving no place to for leisure, the reader can gather little sense of what the people who lived in those rooms felt or thought about life in the city. There is little or no mention of conflict, the book trying to create a historical consciousness of calm home life to pass onto future generations. The book is perhaps trying to perpetuate only part of Crane's 'continual presence of the past', the part of it that the editors of the book deem acceptable, 'privileging the interests of the contemporary.'
One can apply this same way of thinking to Yehuda Amichai's poem. One could argue that the Israeli government neglects the needs of the population in order to pander to tourists using this poem. Or that Jerusalemites feel overwhelmed when living in such historical surroundings, that they are always living with Cranes's continual presence of the pasts. A Jerusalemite may well agree with both or one of these sentiments, but that does not mean they are true, historically or otherwise. The type of material that is being processed here is much less tangible. It should be stressed that it is thoughts, feelings, people trying to make sense of the world that they exist in. It is useful at this point to consider the ideas of Clifford Geertz, the anthropologist. He considers cultural history to be people trying to make sense of their worlds through the creation of cultural products. Furthermore he considers it to be cultural reproduction, third hand ideas being rediscovered by each passing generation. One must be aware that in working with cultural historical material we are not necessarily accessing the reality of that person, but ideas that they had as individuals. These ideas will have necessarily been affected by the society in which the person was living.
In the rich vein of cultural material available to the historian of Jerusalem, a new type of source has emerged, which helpfully illustrates the ideas of Geertz. The blog as a phenomenon has taken over the internet over the last 5 years, with large companies using the easily updatable format to inform customers about news and special offers, to travellers writing online travel journals, to special interest logs giving in-depth personal accounts on specific topics from crafts to politics. Jerusalem, and the Middle East in general are popular topics for blogs. Within the cyber pages of these blogs the historian can analyse the both the cultural history of Jerusalem and the thoughts and feelings of people who live in all parts of the city.
As previously stated, as a source they are far from being "unmediated and unself-conscious". Nevertheless they can afford valuable insight much in the way memoirs and diaries have done in former eras. Due to the volatile nature of life in Jerusalem they can also help the historian understand how political and religious ideas disseminate through groups of people, and manifest in cultural products. Also due to the accessible nature of 'blogging', it is far easier to find blogs written by people from across the spectrum of groups who live in Jerusalem, whereas the status and market for memoirs and diaries written in English from the Israeli and/or Jewish perspective arguably make them more accessible than memoirs or diaries from other groups who live in Jerusalem.
A further reaching study would be able to use various blog posts as case studies in order to explore similarities and differences between the lives of the blog authors. It could also apply the same historical theories discussed in this study to analyse other forms of cultural material produced as part of the historical consciousness of Jerusalem. It could include those based in fiction such as Eitan Gorlin's 2001 film, The Holy Land, and the paintings of Ivan Schwebel and Motke Blum that marry biblical and other mythological elements with realistic representations of Jerusalem in art, and those based in supposed fact such as the memoirs of Linda Grant and Suiad Amiry. It would question the context of these sources and ask how that context would affect the inclusions and exclusion inherent in each work and how each work fits into the larger historical consciousness of Jerusalem.
Bibliography
Amichai, Y., Abramson, G., and Parfitt, T., (Manchester: Carncanet Press, 1997)
Amiry, S., Sharon and my Mother in Law Ramallah Diaries, (London: Granta Books, 2005).
Baxandall, M., Patterns of Intention: On the Historical Explanation of Pictures, (New Haven, London: Yale University Press, 1985).
Crane, S.A., 'Writing the Individual Back into Collective Memory' in The American Historical Review, Vol. 102, No. 5. (Dec., 1997)
Elon, A., Jerusalem: City of Mirrors, (London: Weindenfeld and Nicholson, 1990)
Goldman, S., Jerusalem in Jewish Life and Tradition, (London: Council for Christian- Jewish Understanding, 1970).
Gonan, R., and Kroyanker, D., To Live in Jerusalem, (Jerusalem: The Israel Museum, 1993).
Grant, L., The People on the Street: A Writer's View of Israel, (London: Virago Press, 2006).
Harb, A. 'Representations of Jerusalem in the modern Palestinian novel' in Arab Studies Quarterly, (Summer 2004).
Hunt, L., (ed.), The New Cultural History, (Berkley: University of California Press, 1989).
Kansteiner, W., 'Finding Meaning in Memory: A Methodological Critique of Collective Memory Studies' in History and Theory, Vol. 41, No.2. (May 2002).
Romann, M. and Weingrod, A., Living Together Separately; Arabs and Jews in Contemporary Jerusalem, (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1991).
Schwebel, I., Jerusalem - Tel Aviv, (Jerusalem: Aviva Publications, 1989)
Tai, Hue-Tam Ho, 'Remembered Realms: Pierre Nora and French: National Memory' in The American Historical Review 106.3 (2001).
Wilson, E. and Blum, M., Jerusalem: reflection of eternity, (London: Shepheard-Walwyn, 1990).Zemon Davis, N., and Stern, R., 'Introduction' in Representations, No. 26, Special Issue: Memory and Counter-Memory. (Spring, 1989)
Webography
Bogner, D., '[Waste] My Time… [spend] your money' in 'Treppenwitz', <http://bogieworks.blogs.com/treppenwitz/2007/10/index.html>, 8th October 2007.
C.K., 'Gentrification is Yummy' in 'Jewlicious.com', <http://www.jewlicious.com/?p=3881>, 5th November 2007.
Cone. E., 'The Rise of the Blog' in 'CIO Insight', <http://www.cioinsight.com/article2/0,1540,1786020,00.asp,> 19th November 2007.
El-Haddad, L., 'from East Jerusalem to Durham' in 'Raising Yousuf, Unplugged: diary of a Palestinian mother' < http://a-mother-from-gaza.blogspot.com/search?q=jerusalem>
Plummer, R., 'Business bites the blogging bullet' in 'BBC News', <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4879160.stm>, 19th November 2007.
University of Southampton Web Cat
< http://www-lib.soton.ac.uk/uhtbin/cgisirsi/XxJzadzUR1/HARTLEY/263250138/123> 19th November 2007.
Filmography
The Holy Land, Dir. Eitan Gorlin, Arts Alliance America, 2001.
Appendix A.
'Everyday Life' by Yehuda Amichai.
"Once I sat on the steps by a gate at David's Tower
I placed my two heavy baskets at my side.
A group of tourists was standing around
their guide and I became their marker.
"You see that man with the baskets?
Just right of his head there's an arch from
the Roman period. Just right of his head."
I said to myself: redemption will come only if
their guide tells them, "You see that Arch from
the Roman period? It's not important, but next to it,
left and down a bit, there sits a man
who's bought fruit and vegetables for his family.
Yehuda Amichai, translated by Glenda Abramson, and Tudor Parfitt, (Manchester: Carncanet Press, 1997)
Appendix B.
November 5th, 2007 by ck
When I first moved to my apartment located in the heart of the Jerusalem Market, I lived above no less than 4 "Mizrachi" style bars. ach would be open till late at night and the entertainment consisted of really loud singalongs of classic Moroccan and Iraqi musical scores. At first it was kind of charming but I soon grew weary of the drunken brawls and the total absence of quiet. I was certain that if I heard another rowdy rendition of "Shalom Leh Ben Dodi" accompanied by darbouka I would kill someone…. and this is coming from someone who likes Mizrachi music. But as Jerusalem becomes safer and safer, and as random terrorism becomes a distant historical footnote, real estate values have started to escalate and my once predominantly Sephardic neighborhood has seen a growing number of paler skinned interlopers.
There are now a number of chichi bars in the 'hood, the big growth industry here is capuccino serving cafes and while I was Thailand, one of the rowdy bars closed down and an Indian vegetarian joint rose in its stead. Now there are only 2 rowdy bars outside my window. But I am glad that my usual fare of rice stuffed peppers from Rachmo can be supplemented with the really savory, reasonably priced fare available at Ichikidana - the aforementioned Indian veggie place. Now I don't know anything about Indian food - but whatever the hell I ate was yummy. It was a big plate of vegetable goop, rice and yogurt and this flat bread I guess they call Nan. The owners were pleasant, the service was good and I couldn't help but notice these dirty Israeli hippies who I imagine spent a lot of time in India after their army service, nod in approval - which is a good thing because they would know, right?
So next time you're in the shuk - give these guys a spin. They are on 4 Ha-Eshkol street just off the open shuk area by the pita guys across from Rachmo and they are Kosher Leh Mehadrin though when was the last time you saw a Haredi guy eating Indian food? I don't know, but you can't eat Marzipan Rugelach all the time.
From Jewlicious.com
Appendix C.
Laila El-Haddad 'from East Jerusalem to Durham' in 'Raising Yousuf, Unplugged: diary of a Palestinian mother' <
http://a-mother-from-gaza.blogspot.com/search?q=jerusalem>
Sahar is from East Jerusalem. I am from Gaza. Our cities are about an hour away (without interruption). But now, ironically, due to Israeli closure policies banning Palestinians on either side of the divide from travelling to each other's locales, the only place we could meet was Durham, North Carolina, not Gaza; not East Jerusalem; not even Ramallah.
Sahar is a field officer with the Red Cross, here for a few months on a program at Duke. We had lunch the other day with a mutual Israeli friend and rotary fellow at UNC.
Sahar carries an East Jerusalem ID card. I carry a Gaza ID card. this means I am not allowed to cross Erez to visit Sahar in Jerusalem or the West Bank, and she cannot cross over to visit me in Gaza.
The Jerusalem ID is particularly precarious because the Israeli government makes it extremly difficult for Palestinians residents of East Jerusalem to maintain their residency there and thus their status through a series of draconian laws that are not applicable to the city's Jewish residents.
It is part of a decades old policy of maintaining the Jewish majority in Jerusalem by a ratio of 73.5% to 26.5% to reduce the Palestinian presence in the city. These measures included the controlling and revoking identity card holders inside the city for not paying things like "TV taxes" on time or being present at the residency address on a consistent basis (made more difficult by the wall and other restrictions faced by residents).
Students who continued to study long years abroad have also had their ID cards revoked. Palestinians who married and stayed abroad lost their right to be residents of the city. One Palestinian from Jerusalem I met last year is married to a Ramallah resident (who are also now not allowed into the city) and because she has lost her Jerusalem residency has to sneak in and out of the city to visit her parents.
One woman in an article I wrote a couple of years back explained it well:
"Our occupation is of a different kind than in the West Bank or Gaza," said Huda al-Imam, director of the Centre for Jerusalem Studies at al-Quds University.
"It has a clear strategy of annexing the land of East Jerusalem while not annexing the people, but transferring them," she added.
"I have a difficult time explaining my legal status to people, even Israelis- I am not a citizen of Israel and at the same time I do not carry a Palestinian Authority passport (all signs of Palestinian nationhood are banned in Jersualem, including flags). I carry an Israeli 'travel document' but this does not entitle us t any of the rights or services that citizens get."
The idea is, Israel wants East Jerusalem, but does not want its people. Bad for both its economy, and for its demography.
That is one of the reasons they made sure their viscious Wall last year cut through neigbhorhoods of East Jerusalem, cutting off nearly 150, 000 Jerusalemites from their schools, hospitals, and work in Jerusalem. Eventually the journey across the checkpoints and through the Wall may become too arduous, it is hoped, and they will move out of Jerusalem altogether into the West Bank.
"Its like a force of habit-people reach for cigarettes, I reach for my hawia (ID card), even here in the US," joked Sahar.
Jerusalem is the main exit for the north-south link in Palestine, from Bethlehem to Ram Allah, and from northern West Bank to southern West Bank.
"It's very strange that Israel is so much more preoccupied with creating more settlements than providing any service for legal residents and it's equally amazing Israel wants to overcrowd a very important world heritage that is under threat and has been defined as such by Unesco," remarked former Palestinian minister of Jerusalem Affairs, in an interview with me last year, in reference to the Israeli Muncipality's approval of new Jewish housing units in the Muslim Quarter of the City near the Dome of the Rock at the time.
Khoury went on to describe what it means to have a Jerusalem ID:
"As Jerusalemites, in 1967 when we were occupied by Israel, we were given identity cards to indicate that we are residents of the city. But we are not citizens of Israel - simply residents.
As residents, we are given permanent residency if we stay in the city, and if our centre of life is in the city. But if we live outside of city for seven years, then we have no right to come back.
In practice, it works differently. Students - including my son - who were away for two continuous years, came back to find their driver's licence and insurance cancelled.
Palestinians are treated as residents if they stay in Jerusalem, but many Jerusalemites found themselves in diaspora and couldn't come back, nor their children. These Palestinians have no right to come to Jerusalem."
Practicing
Jerusalem Practice Essay
Jerusalem as a city of many people, faiths, nationalities, appears in newspapers, on the television, in holy books, in art, in literature, in film. One tract of land holds the imagination of world captive. The reasons for this obsession are at the same time both obvious and mysterious. As a place considered holy to the Abrahamic faiths, whilst being somewhat alien to the secular majority of today, religion infiltrates almost every aspect of Jerusalem. To an outsider the politics of the everyday seem to be coded upon the people of the streets both intrinsically and obviously.
"Sometimes journalists ventured into West Jerusalem where an aging population of religious Jews in beards and hats and long dresses and wigs formed a backdrop of exotic extras. And the old city itself, the Armenians, the Greek Orthodox, the Lubavitch, the guardians of the Al-Aqsa mosque, everyone planting a stake in this weird piece of contested ground. Everyone was in costume so you could tell straight away what you are supposed to know about how they thought and felt."
This kind of clear distinction of groups is a remnant of Ottoman rule where each "nation" in Jerusalem was required to wear its own costume for ease of identification and administration. However, it will become clear that it is nigh on impossible to rely on such categories in trying to understand life in Jerusalem.
Numerous resources are available to the historian studying Jerusalem. Its contested sacred and political status has lead to a gamut of texts on both its religious and political significance in history, trying to explain why people were "planting a stake in this weird piece of…ground." However, another less studied strand of historical material slowly becomes apparent. This strand has more to do with the personal experience of the people of Jerusalem. As with any city, there is something tangible that binds its inhabitants together. This is something that Teddy Kolleck, the Mayor of Jerusalem from 1965 - 1993, although not a native Jerusalemite, clearly felt.
"Sometimes, in the company of true, veteran Jerusalemites, I still feel like a "newcomer" to the city. These native born Jerusalemites share a special bond, a kinship of memories no outsider can comprehend…The threads that bind Jerusalemites to their city are firmly woven into an urban tapestry unique to Jerusalem."
He goes on to recount how the particular mix of "seventh generation residents" and newcomers from around the world add to this particular Jerusalem feeling. Residents of Jerusalem have tried to capture this sense of Jerusalem through memoirs, art, film and more modern media such as weblogs. This production of representation is part of what is sometimes called 'collective memory' by modern academics.
This essay will examine the problems faced by historians who have to combine this sort of more personal material that could be considered historical by nature, types of cultural history, with the more traditional history based in facts relating to politics and religion in order to write comprehensive histories of Jerusalem. In doing this, it will also consider the wider issues surrounding the use of this 'kinship of memories' here. It will explore a range of case studies in these areas and try and uncover what these devices were trying to achieve through remembering Jerusalem in their own particular fashion.
Susan A. Crane writes that
"Perhaps the most banal thing that could be said about history, in general, is that "it happened" or something happened."
She goes on to explain that history is more than just the events of the past that are recorded; it also includes products produced about it both in the past and now. These products stand alongside the received recordings of events as a historical consciousness available to future and contemporary generations. When considering the history of Jerusalem, there are plenty of 'happenings'. The world is aware of its chronology, how the city changed hands over the centuries, how it is fought over both in the past and daily in the present. Indeed, there are 828 books in the University of Southampton Library that are related to such events, happenings, and Jerusalem itself. Furthermore, there is an overwhelming 'collective memory' surrounding Jerusalem that often expands upon or contradicts these 'happenings.' The banal history would record that Jerusalem was divided in 1948 at the end of the Arab – Israeli War and captured by Israel in 1967 by the Six Day War, and formally reunited in 1980. The 'collective memory' of these events, the cultural historical products inspired by them, create a more human picture of Jerusalem, showing the thoughts, feelings, and opinions of the people that were involved. Material is also available that records ironically banal happenings, everyday lives and experiences.
An example of this would be the poem 'Everyday Life' by Yehuda Amichai.
"Once I sat on the steps by a gate at David's Tower
I placed my two heavy baskets at my side.
A group of tourists was standing around
their guide and I became their marker.
"You see that man with the baskets?
Just right of his head there's an arch from
the Roman period. Just right of his head."
I said to myself: redemption will come only if
their guide tells them, "You see that Arch from
the Roman period? It's not important, but next to it,
left and down a bit, there sits a man
who's bought fruit and vegetables for his family.
This poem provides a slightly wider window into what life is like for the residents of Jerusalem. As a place full of pilgrims, both religious and secular, steeped in history and tradition the everyday seems irrelevant. Amos Elon writes of tourists and pilgrims becoming over whelmed by a so called 'Jerusalem Syndrome', the shock of the bustle and tension in the city. For Jerusalem is still a place where, as Amichai wrote, people buy fruit and vegetables for their families. The book To Live in Jerusalem, published by the Israel Museum in Jerusalem shows some of this normality, trying to create a historical consciousness of mundane life in Jerusalem with plates that show living rooms and kitchens. Natalie Zemon Davis and Randolf Stern vouch for this sort of use of memory materials;
"The collision of memories points to the way in which memory can challenge the biases, omissions, exclusions, generalizations and abstractions of history."
Nonetheless, Wulf Kansteiner warns of the inherent problems of 'collective memory' material. As Crane states it "expresses a sense of the continual presence of the past." Whilst historians can use this type of material, even deeper questions must be asked about its provenance.
"It can take hold of historically and socially remote events but it often privileges the interests of the contemporary. It is as much a result of conscious manipulation as unconscious absorption and it is always mediated."
Much as history itself can be said to be written by the victors, collective memory material in expressing the past in the present day can be used subjectively. The book To Live in Jerusalem is published under the auspices of the Israel Museum and so could be considered part of the Israeli establishment. It is endorsed by a longstanding mayor of the City. It is the work of leading academics. Its creation was supported by research funds. This could hardly be called the work of the everyman. Whilst it provides a starting point for understanding the everyday lives of Jerusalemites, for example explaining briefly that ultra-Orthodox families tend not to have furniture that would serve the purpose of a sofa or settee due to the Orthodox way of life leaving no place to for leisure, the reader can gather little sense of what the people who lived in those rooms felt or thought about life in the city. There is little or no mention of conflict, the book trying to create a historical consciousness of calm home life to pass onto future generations. The book is perhaps trying to perpetuate only part of Crane's 'continual presence of the past', the part of it that the editors of the book deem acceptable, 'privileging the interests of the contemporary.'
One can apply this same way of thinking to Yehuda Amichai's poem. One could argue that the Israeli government neglects the needs of the population in order to pander to tourists using this poem. Or that Jerusalemites feel overwhelmed when living in such historical surroundings, that they are always living with Cranes's continual presence of the pasts. A Jerusalemite may well agree with both or one of these sentiments, but that does not mean they are true, historically or otherwise. The type of material that is being processed here is much less tangible. It should be stressed that it is thoughts, feelings, people trying to make sense of the world that they exist in. It is useful at this point to consider the ideas of Clifford Geertz, the anthropologist. He considers cultural history to be people trying to make sense of their worlds through the creation of cultural products. Furthermore he considers it to be cultural reproduction, third hand ideas being rediscovered by each passing generation. One must be aware that in working with cultural historical material we are not necessarily accessing the reality of that person, but ideas that they had as individuals. These ideas will have necessarily been affected by the society in which the person was living.
In the rich vein of cultural material available to the historian of Jerusalem, a new type of source has emerged, which helpfully illustrates the ideas of Geertz. The blog as a phenomenon has taken over the internet over the last 5 years, with large companies using the easily updatable format to inform customers about news and special offers, to travellers writing online travel journals, to special interest logs giving in-depth personal accounts on specific topics from crafts to politics. Jerusalem, and the Middle East in general are popular topics for blogs. Within the cyber pages of these blogs the historian can analyse the both the cultural history of Jerusalem and the thoughts and feelings of people who live in all parts of the city.
As previously stated, as a source they are far from being "unmediated and unself-conscious". Nevertheless they can afford valuable insight much in the way memoirs and diaries have done in former eras. Due to the volatile nature of life in Jerusalem they can also help the historian understand how political and religious ideas disseminate through groups of people, and manifest in cultural products. Also due to the accessible nature of 'blogging', it is far easier to find blogs written by people from across the spectrum of groups who live in Jerusalem, whereas the status and market for memoirs and diaries written in English from the Israeli and/or Jewish perspective arguably make them more accessible than memoirs or diaries from other groups who live in Jerusalem.
A further reaching study would be able to use various blog posts as case studies in order to explore similarities and differences between the lives of the blog authors. It could also apply the same historical theories discussed in this study to analyse other forms of cultural material produced as part of the historical consciousness of Jerusalem. It could include those based in fiction such as Eitan Gorlin's 2001 film, The Holy Land, and the paintings of Ivan Schwebel and Motke Blum that marry biblical and other mythological elements with realistic representations of Jerusalem in art, and those based in supposed fact such as the memoirs of Linda Grant and Suiad Amiry. It would question the context of these sources and ask how that context would affect the inclusions and exclusion inherent in each work and how each work fits into the larger historical consciousness of Jerusalem.
Bibliography
Amichai, Y., Abramson, G., and Parfitt, T., (Manchester: Carncanet Press, 1997)
Amiry, S., Sharon and my Mother in Law Ramallah Diaries, (London: Granta Books, 2005).
Baxandall, M., Patterns of Intention: On the Historical Explanation of Pictures, (New Haven, London: Yale University Press, 1985).
Crane, S.A., 'Writing the Individual Back into Collective Memory' in The American Historical Review, Vol. 102, No. 5. (Dec., 1997)
Elon, A., Jerusalem: City of Mirrors, (London: Weindenfeld and Nicholson, 1990)
Goldman, S., Jerusalem in Jewish Life and Tradition, (London: Council for Christian- Jewish Understanding, 1970).
Gonan, R., and Kroyanker, D., To Live in Jerusalem, (Jerusalem: The Israel Museum, 1993).
Grant, L., The People on the Street: A Writer's View of Israel, (London: Virago Press, 2006).
Harb, A. 'Representations of Jerusalem in the modern Palestinian novel' in Arab Studies Quarterly, (Summer 2004).
Hunt, L., (ed.), The New Cultural History, (Berkley: University of California Press, 1989).
Kansteiner, W., 'Finding Meaning in Memory: A Methodological Critique of Collective Memory Studies' in History and Theory, Vol. 41, No.2. (May 2002).
Romann, M. and Weingrod, A., Living Together Separately; Arabs and Jews in Contemporary Jerusalem, (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1991).
Schwebel, I., Jerusalem - Tel Aviv, (Jerusalem: Aviva Publications, 1989)
Tai, Hue-Tam Ho, 'Remembered Realms: Pierre Nora and French: National Memory' in The American Historical Review 106.3 (2001).
Wilson, E. and Blum, M., Jerusalem: reflection of eternity, (London: Shepheard-Walwyn, 1990).Zemon Davis, N., and Stern, R., 'Introduction' in Representations, No. 26, Special Issue: Memory and Counter-Memory. (Spring, 1989)
Webography
Bogner, D., '[Waste] My Time… [spend] your money' in 'Treppenwitz', <http://bogieworks.blogs.com/treppenwitz/2007/10/index.html>, 8th October 2007.
C.K., 'Gentrification is Yummy' in 'Jewlicious.com', <http://www.jewlicious.com/?p=3881>, 5th November 2007.
Cone. E., 'The Rise of the Blog' in 'CIO Insight', <http://www.cioinsight.com/article2/0,1540,1786020,00.asp,> 19th November 2007.
El-Haddad, L., 'from East Jerusalem to Durham' in 'Raising Yousuf, Unplugged: diary of a Palestinian mother' < http://a-mother-from-gaza.blogspot.com/search?q=jerusalem>
Plummer, R., 'Business bites the blogging bullet' in 'BBC News', <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4879160.stm>, 19th November 2007.
University of Southampton Web Cat
< http://www-lib.soton.ac.uk/uhtbin/cgisirsi/XxJzadzUR1/HARTLEY/263250138/123> 19th November 2007.
Filmography
The Holy Land, Dir. Eitan Gorlin, Arts Alliance America, 2001.
Appendix A.
'Everyday Life' by Yehuda Amichai.
"Once I sat on the steps by a gate at David's Tower
I placed my two heavy baskets at my side.
A group of tourists was standing around
their guide and I became their marker.
"You see that man with the baskets?
Just right of his head there's an arch from
the Roman period. Just right of his head."
I said to myself: redemption will come only if
their guide tells them, "You see that Arch from
the Roman period? It's not important, but next to it,
left and down a bit, there sits a man
who's bought fruit and vegetables for his family.
Yehuda Amichai, translated by Glenda Abramson, and Tudor Parfitt, (Manchester: Carncanet Press, 1997)
Appendix B.
November 5th, 2007 by ck
When I first moved to my apartment located in the heart of the Jerusalem Market, I lived above no less than 4 "Mizrachi" style bars. ach would be open till late at night and the entertainment consisted of really loud singalongs of classic Moroccan and Iraqi musical scores. At first it was kind of charming but I soon grew weary of the drunken brawls and the total absence of quiet. I was certain that if I heard another rowdy rendition of "Shalom Leh Ben Dodi" accompanied by darbouka I would kill someone…. and this is coming from someone who likes Mizrachi music. But as Jerusalem becomes safer and safer, and as random terrorism becomes a distant historical footnote, real estate values have started to escalate and my once predominantly Sephardic neighborhood has seen a growing number of paler skinned interlopers.
There are now a number of chichi bars in the 'hood, the big growth industry here is capuccino serving cafes and while I was Thailand, one of the rowdy bars closed down and an Indian vegetarian joint rose in its stead. Now there are only 2 rowdy bars outside my window. But I am glad that my usual fare of rice stuffed peppers from Rachmo can be supplemented with the really savory, reasonably priced fare available at Ichikidana - the aforementioned Indian veggie place. Now I don't know anything about Indian food - but whatever the hell I ate was yummy. It was a big plate of vegetable goop, rice and yogurt and this flat bread I guess they call Nan. The owners were pleasant, the service was good and I couldn't help but notice these dirty Israeli hippies who I imagine spent a lot of time in India after their army service, nod in approval - which is a good thing because they would know, right?
So next time you're in the shuk - give these guys a spin. They are on 4 Ha-Eshkol street just off the open shuk area by the pita guys across from Rachmo and they are Kosher Leh Mehadrin though when was the last time you saw a Haredi guy eating Indian food? I don't know, but you can't eat Marzipan Rugelach all the time.
From Jewlicious.com
Appendix C.
Laila El-Haddad 'from East Jerusalem to Durham' in 'Raising Yousuf, Unplugged: diary of a Palestinian mother' <
http://a-mother-from-gaza.blogspot.com/search?q=jerusalem>
Sahar is from East Jerusalem. I am from Gaza. Our cities are about an hour away (without interruption). But now, ironically, due to Israeli closure policies banning Palestinians on either side of the divide from travelling to each other's locales, the only place we could meet was Durham, North Carolina, not Gaza; not East Jerusalem; not even Ramallah.
Sahar is a field officer with the Red Cross, here for a few months on a program at Duke. We had lunch the other day with a mutual Israeli friend and rotary fellow at UNC.
Sahar carries an East Jerusalem ID card. I carry a Gaza ID card. this means I am not allowed to cross Erez to visit Sahar in Jerusalem or the West Bank, and she cannot cross over to visit me in Gaza.
The Jerusalem ID is particularly precarious because the Israeli government makes it extremly difficult for Palestinians residents of East Jerusalem to maintain their residency there and thus their status through a series of draconian laws that are not applicable to the city's Jewish residents.
It is part of a decades old policy of maintaining the Jewish majority in Jerusalem by a ratio of 73.5% to 26.5% to reduce the Palestinian presence in the city. These measures included the controlling and revoking identity card holders inside the city for not paying things like "TV taxes" on time or being present at the residency address on a consistent basis (made more difficult by the wall and other restrictions faced by residents).
Students who continued to study long years abroad have also had their ID cards revoked. Palestinians who married and stayed abroad lost their right to be residents of the city. One Palestinian from Jerusalem I met last year is married to a Ramallah resident (who are also now not allowed into the city) and because she has lost her Jerusalem residency has to sneak in and out of the city to visit her parents.
One woman in an article I wrote a couple of years back explained it well:
"Our occupation is of a different kind than in the West Bank or Gaza," said Huda al-Imam, director of the Centre for Jerusalem Studies at al-Quds University.
"It has a clear strategy of annexing the land of East Jerusalem while not annexing the people, but transferring them," she added.
"I have a difficult time explaining my legal status to people, even Israelis- I am not a citizen of Israel and at the same time I do not carry a Palestinian Authority passport (all signs of Palestinian nationhood are banned in Jersualem, including flags). I carry an Israeli 'travel document' but this does not entitle us t any of the rights or services that citizens get."
The idea is, Israel wants East Jerusalem, but does not want its people. Bad for both its economy, and for its demography.
That is one of the reasons they made sure their viscious Wall last year cut through neigbhorhoods of East Jerusalem, cutting off nearly 150, 000 Jerusalemites from their schools, hospitals, and work in Jerusalem. Eventually the journey across the checkpoints and through the Wall may become too arduous, it is hoped, and they will move out of Jerusalem altogether into the West Bank.
"Its like a force of habit-people reach for cigarettes, I reach for my hawia (ID card), even here in the US," joked Sahar.
Jerusalem is the main exit for the north-south link in Palestine, from Bethlehem to Ram Allah, and from northern West Bank to southern West Bank.
"It's very strange that Israel is so much more preoccupied with creating more settlements than providing any service for legal residents and it's equally amazing Israel wants to overcrowd a very important world heritage that is under threat and has been defined as such by Unesco," remarked former Palestinian minister of Jerusalem Affairs, in an interview with me last year, in reference to the Israeli Muncipality's approval of new Jewish housing units in the Muslim Quarter of the City near the Dome of the Rock at the time.
Khoury went on to describe what it means to have a Jerusalem ID:
"As Jerusalemites, in 1967 when we were occupied by Israel, we were given identity cards to indicate that we are residents of the city. But we are not citizens of Israel - simply residents.
As residents, we are given permanent residency if we stay in the city, and if our centre of life is in the city. But if we live outside of city for seven years, then we have no right to come back.
In practice, it works differently. Students - including my son - who were away for two continuous years, came back to find their driver's licence and insurance cancelled.
Palestinians are treated as residents if they stay in Jerusalem, but many Jerusalemites found themselves in diaspora and couldn't come back, nor their children. These Palestinians have no right to come to Jerusalem."
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Rob's suggested addition to my essay on cultural products of daily life in Jerusalem.
my last sentence was " a further reaching study"
rob (squiggle) says:
"...could go into more depth about the historical attitudes towards both cats and the mats they sat on. It was widely believed that neither they nor foxes had any indication of socks but as we can see from {source 1 - any Dr. Seuss book} this is brought into question. At first sight socks and mats appear to occupy different magisteria but upon closer inspection the local culture has shown that they belong to the same type of children's books; namely those which are based upon rhyme."
Apt, no?
Rob's suggested addition to my essay on cultural products of daily life in Jerusalem.
my last sentence was " a further reaching study"
rob (squiggle) says:
"...could go into more depth about the historical attitudes towards both cats and the mats they sat on. It was widely believed that neither they nor foxes had any indication of socks but as we can see from {source 1 - any Dr. Seuss book} this is brought into question. At first sight socks and mats appear to occupy different magisteria but upon closer inspection the local culture has shown that they belong to the same type of children's books; namely those which are based upon rhyme."
Apt, no?
Calling any students or staff of the University of Southampton who might be reading
I know you are probably all social activism minded people and wondered if you would please consider signing this petition for the poor Humanities students at the Avenue Campus. The powers that be at Avenue Campus turned valuable and already limited study space into offices over the summer. As we all know Humanities students are basically paying tuition fees for the most expensive library cards ever and a bit of study space. The Avenue Library is notably small, and holds alot of the Arts reserve collection material. The 3hour loan system means they can't get home and back again and read the articles if they take them out on loan, so study space at Avenue is vital.
Please sign up here. The Humanities students will love you forever. Promise.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/avenue-campus-study-space
Calling any students or staff of the University of Southampton who might be reading
I know you are probably all social activism minded people and wondered if you would please consider signing this petition for the poor Humanities students at the Avenue Campus. The powers that be at Avenue Campus turned valuable and already limited study space into offices over the summer. As we all know Humanities students are basically paying tuition fees for the most expensive library cards ever and a bit of study space. The Avenue Library is notably small, and holds alot of the Arts reserve collection material. The 3hour loan system means they can't get home and back again and read the articles if they take them out on loan, so study space at Avenue is vital.
Please sign up here. The Humanities students will love you forever. Promise.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/avenue-campus-study-space
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Automatic Typing
Lynn Hunt, (ed.), The New Cultural History, (Berkley: University of California Press, 1989)
Pg 2
Annales school claims that one can inquire as to "how a whole collectivity functions in terms of its multiple temporal, spatial, human, social, economic, cultural and evenmental dimensions, Little is left out of this definition; consequently, in its presumed drive towards "total history" it loses all specificity."
Patricia O'Brien, 'Michel Foucault's History of Culture' in above
Pg 27
"Foucault questioned the very principle implicit in social history : that society itself is the reality to be studied"
Pg 33
Foucault's general rather than total history.
Everything not governed by annaliste "network of causality"
Everything governed by multiplicities.
Aletta Biersack, 'Local Knowledge , Local History: Geertz and beyond.' in above.
Pg 76
Look up Geertz. History in the ethnographic vein. How do ordinary people make sense of the world. Third hand ideas, recovering the already imagined.sssssaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Pg 77
Natalie Zemon Davis in The Return of Martin Guerre, reimagining the already imagined.
SPOT THE BIT WHERE MY BOOK HITS THE KEYBOARD? IT CLEARLY FEELS THE SAME WAY I DO.
Automatic Typing
Lynn Hunt, (ed.), The New Cultural History, (Berkley: University of California Press, 1989)
Pg 2
Annales school claims that one can inquire as to "how a whole collectivity functions in terms of its multiple temporal, spatial, human, social, economic, cultural and evenmental dimensions, Little is left out of this definition; consequently, in its presumed drive towards "total history" it loses all specificity."
Patricia O'Brien, 'Michel Foucault's History of Culture' in above
Pg 27
"Foucault questioned the very principle implicit in social history : that society itself is the reality to be studied"
Pg 33
Foucault's general rather than total history.
Everything not governed by annaliste "network of causality"
Everything governed by multiplicities.
Aletta Biersack, 'Local Knowledge , Local History: Geertz and beyond.' in above.
Pg 76
Look up Geertz. History in the ethnographic vein. How do ordinary people make sense of the world. Third hand ideas, recovering the already imagined.sssssaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Pg 77
Natalie Zemon Davis in The Return of Martin Guerre, reimagining the already imagined.
SPOT THE BIT WHERE MY BOOK HITS THE KEYBOARD? IT CLEARLY FEELS THE SAME WAY I DO.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
This blog just writes itself sometimes...
Yesterday Tom kissed my folder and nudged my head out the way. I think he meant to do it the other way around. Sometimes he can be a bit silly like that. He's currently swearing about the price of kettles. Aww. Except I've now just head banged him by accident. I'm clearly special too.
Yesterday I also spent part of the evening gaffer taping up my housemate Hannah's breasts. Yes you did read that right. She's off the to Student Radio Awards on Thursday night, having been nominated for the news category. She bought a cracking dress from Jane Norman, black strapless satin fishtail with green and silver embroidered flowers flowing accross it. However said dress is skin tight, and so a bra just wasn't working. Hence the gaffer tape, the one thing known to hold the whole universe together. Boobs weren't going to be a problem. It worked beautifully, but the removal left Hannah with smoother breasts than legs so a new solution to the dress problem will be sought in Oxford Street the day before the awards.
Today Karuna accidently spilt her tea in Chaplaincy. However because Karuna is awesome, she had already arranged her cup so when she tipped the table it slid towards in a manner that meant she could catch the cup between her knees and the only spillage was a minor splash on the floor, with neither Karuna or her laptop being harmed. She is truly awesome.
In other news, I got up to verse 11 of Ezra 5, we only got upto Ezra 6 in class, I've not started my essay yet and I feel spectacularly on my arse at Ballet class whilst attempting to do pirrouettes. I'm soooooooooooooo out of practice! I also snapped my pointe shoes and so need to go pointe shoe shopping. It's a toss up between a pair of Bloch Suprima Strongs like my last pair , or try something new in a pair of Bloch Synergy Rehearsals. Both are extra strong shoes as I tend to wear them out very, very quickly. High insteps you know.
This blog just writes itself sometimes...
Yesterday Tom kissed my folder and nudged my head out the way. I think he meant to do it the other way around. Sometimes he can be a bit silly like that. He's currently swearing about the price of kettles. Aww. Except I've now just head banged him by accident. I'm clearly special too.
Yesterday I also spent part of the evening gaffer taping up my housemate Hannah's breasts. Yes you did read that right. She's off the to Student Radio Awards on Thursday night, having been nominated for the news category. She bought a cracking dress from Jane Norman, black strapless satin fishtail with green and silver embroidered flowers flowing accross it. However said dress is skin tight, and so a bra just wasn't working. Hence the gaffer tape, the one thing known to hold the whole universe together. Boobs weren't going to be a problem. It worked beautifully, but the removal left Hannah with smoother breasts than legs so a new solution to the dress problem will be sought in Oxford Street the day before the awards.
Today Karuna accidently spilt her tea in Chaplaincy. However because Karuna is awesome, she had already arranged her cup so when she tipped the table it slid towards in a manner that meant she could catch the cup between her knees and the only spillage was a minor splash on the floor, with neither Karuna or her laptop being harmed. She is truly awesome.
In other news, I got up to verse 11 of Ezra 5, we only got upto Ezra 6 in class, I've not started my essay yet and I feel spectacularly on my arse at Ballet class whilst attempting to do pirrouettes. I'm soooooooooooooo out of practice! I also snapped my pointe shoes and so need to go pointe shoe shopping. It's a toss up between a pair of Bloch Suprima Strongs like my last pair , or try something new in a pair of Bloch Synergy Rehearsals. Both are extra strong shoes as I tend to wear them out very, very quickly. High insteps you know.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Panic Panic Panic
Panic Panic Panic
Sunday, November 11, 2007
I stayed in bed most of the day...
Especialy when its cold and grey and miserable outside. I love the nest one can make under a duvet, trapping warm air in a pocket to protect you from reality. I like to snuggle into them and sleep endlessly, soundlessly, dreamlessly. Under a duvet it feels like nothing can hurt you, and no one can get to you. I often retreat there for a mid-afternoon nap when the world is getting to much for me.
Eating fizzy jelly is also a bit of a retreat from the real world. It brings back memories of parties thrown by my mum, where she'd serve pineapple slices in gingerale jelly, the jelly being extra thick to counteract the enzymes of the pineapple. Those pesky enzymes. Did you know you should brush your teeth after eating pineapple as those enzymes will start breaking down the proteins in your gums? Anyway, fizzy jelly. I had a friend who'd eat my mum's fizzy jelly, but wouldn't eat fizzy drinks. I never did ask her why.
Fizzy Jelly
Packet of Jelly of Your Choice
100mls Hot Water
500mls Fizzy Drink of Your Choice
Break the jelly into cubes and pour over 100mls of hot water. Microwave on full power for about a minute, then stir till disolved.
Stir in 375ml of the fizzy drink. Pour into moulds. Chill in fridge overnight. Enjoy with a glass of the left over fizzy.
This works well with food and drink combinations from real life. Lime jelly made up with lemonade, perhaps with mangoes in it. Pineapple jelly and gingerbeer, Strawberry jelly and cream soda. You could make Pimms jelly by setting lemon jelly with lemonade and a few shots of Pimms with chopped fuit and cucumber in the mould. Any other combinations?
I stayed in bed most of the day...
Especialy when its cold and grey and miserable outside. I love the nest one can make under a duvet, trapping warm air in a pocket to protect you from reality. I like to snuggle into them and sleep endlessly, soundlessly, dreamlessly. Under a duvet it feels like nothing can hurt you, and no one can get to you. I often retreat there for a mid-afternoon nap when the world is getting to much for me.
Eating fizzy jelly is also a bit of a retreat from the real world. It brings back memories of parties thrown by my mum, where she'd serve pineapple slices in gingerale jelly, the jelly being extra thick to counteract the enzymes of the pineapple. Those pesky enzymes. Did you know you should brush your teeth after eating pineapple as those enzymes will start breaking down the proteins in your gums? Anyway, fizzy jelly. I had a friend who'd eat my mum's fizzy jelly, but wouldn't eat fizzy drinks. I never did ask her why.
Fizzy Jelly
Packet of Jelly of Your Choice
100mls Hot Water
500mls Fizzy Drink of Your Choice
Break the jelly into cubes and pour over 100mls of hot water. Microwave on full power for about a minute, then stir till disolved.
Stir in 375ml of the fizzy drink. Pour into moulds. Chill in fridge overnight. Enjoy with a glass of the left over fizzy.
This works well with food and drink combinations from real life. Lime jelly made up with lemonade, perhaps with mangoes in it. Pineapple jelly and gingerbeer, Strawberry jelly and cream soda. You could make Pimms jelly by setting lemon jelly with lemonade and a few shots of Pimms with chopped fuit and cucumber in the mould. Any other combinations?
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Going no where fast.
Oh the weekend, how I love thee...
Mornings spent reading blogs in bed. In the name of valid research. Afternoons spent being fed Boeuf Bourgogne and dumplings, researching and catching up with friends in shadowy corners of the library.
Evenings spent watching skate wing being pan fried and then consuming said skate wing with new potatoes, baby sweetcorn and broccoli. Making fizzy jelly with manderin segments in it for tomorrow. Finishing a glove. Making modern art with knitting implements.
Just one of those days where nothing really happens. Hardly warrants a happennings tag.
I think perhaps we forget how important this sort of day really is. Where there is no hurry, when you can browse around shops slowly, savouring the lack of speed. I feel a hundred times better for it. Now it is time for bed.
Going no where fast.
Oh the weekend, how I love thee...
Mornings spent reading blogs in bed. In the name of valid research. Afternoons spent being fed Boeuf Bourgogne and dumplings, researching and catching up with friends in shadowy corners of the library.
Evenings spent watching skate wing being pan fried and then consuming said skate wing with new potatoes, baby sweetcorn and broccoli. Making fizzy jelly with manderin segments in it for tomorrow. Finishing a glove. Making modern art with knitting implements.
Just one of those days where nothing really happens. Hardly warrants a happennings tag.
I think perhaps we forget how important this sort of day really is. Where there is no hurry, when you can browse around shops slowly, savouring the lack of speed. I feel a hundred times better for it. Now it is time for bed.
Friday, November 09, 2007
Little Shop, Little Shop of Horrors!
Pity my sister isn't especially well at the moment. The docs aren't sure what the problem is and she's wasting away before our eyes. She slept all day in front of the telly to conserve her energy, then went to bed as soon as she got home. Despite this she was all bright eyes and pretty facial expressions and making the part come alive. (Thank God for the undo function on blogger as I just accidently selected the whole post by accident and deleted it!)
My gradnparents took me home, which was very kind of them, and then I had a brisk lunch with Tom in Chaplaincy before trundling off to a lecture on Islamic Jerusalem, which just draaaaaaaaaaaaaaged! But I did manage to catch up with what I missed last week with being feek and weeble in the not very useful post presentation discussion. The post presentation discussion that I felt was mainly me trying to converse with lecturers, me being asked to read poetry out loud to the class by lecturers and then deciding to change my essay completely because well the best-in-class (tm) was doing the sametopic as me, and there's no point in competing. Also , no one has attempted a history of what living in Jerusalem was like for the everyday person, and I get to write about blogging , so yay!
Little Shop, Little Shop of Horrors!
Pity my sister isn't especially well at the moment. The docs aren't sure what the problem is and she's wasting away before our eyes. She slept all day in front of the telly to conserve her energy, then went to bed as soon as she got home. Despite this she was all bright eyes and pretty facial expressions and making the part come alive. (Thank God for the undo function on blogger as I just accidently selected the whole post by accident and deleted it!)
My gradnparents took me home, which was very kind of them, and then I had a brisk lunch with Tom in Chaplaincy before trundling off to a lecture on Islamic Jerusalem, which just draaaaaaaaaaaaaaged! But I did manage to catch up with what I missed last week with being feek and weeble in the not very useful post presentation discussion. The post presentation discussion that I felt was mainly me trying to converse with lecturers, me being asked to read poetry out loud to the class by lecturers and then deciding to change my essay completely because well the best-in-class (tm) was doing the sametopic as me, and there's no point in competing. Also , no one has attempted a history of what living in Jerusalem was like for the everyday person, and I get to write about blogging , so yay!
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Fire and the great outdoors
Here are some photos that the lovely Adrian took, with captions that are definitely all my own....
Fire and the great outdoors
Here are some photos that the lovely Adrian took, with captions that are definitely all my own....