Mental Housekeeping

Today:  I think that I’ve finally caught up on my sleep.  I had already washed clothes, therefore today is
•    Listening to those CDs that I purchased
•    Cleaning up
•    Paying bills that came in while I was out.  Thank goodness, nothing important is overdue.  Important stuff is on auto pay since Katrina. 

I don’t think that I will be able to host Passover this year.  There just isn’t time.  Cleaning up isn’t the same as removing the leaven from the house, but you certainly have to have a reasonably clean house before you invite people in.   Maybe I can join the Krewe du Jieux celebration this year.  I have to check my email for their date.

I took lots of reading matter with me to Israel.  Long flight, you know.  I took the current Locus, the current New York Review of SF, and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz.  I bought the graphic novel version of Waltz with Bashir by Ari Folman while I was there.  I finished the graphic novel on the day that I returned.  It’s very effective. I missed the movie. It was here during the Mardi Gras season and I try to stay away from Canal Street during Mardi Gras. (That was the only venue.)  It was only here for a week, so it’s been added to my Netflix queue.   “Oscar Wao” was also good.  I  was nervous about taking it  since it was described as a family story, and I usually don’t like family epics.  This one is good.  I have no Spanish at all—I took French in high school and college—so much of the Spanglish eluded me.  It was still fascinating.  Interesting to see SF tropes used metaphorically.  I wonder how many mainstream folks got the references.  

Taking books on trips is always problematic.  Choosing the wrong book can leave you with nothing to read.  While a hardback book lasts longer and is more “collectible”, it weighs more and is more difficult to pack and handle.   Choosing an epic book makes sense for a long trip unless it’s the wrong book.  I’ve been lucky: for example, choosing  Aegypt to carry to a Worldcon.  It rained and I didn’t feel like going out to that night’s events.  I sat up and read instead.  Suddenly that dense and magical book got to me.   I usually take anthologies, which always seem safe.  I have plenty around here because I used to buy every “Best Fantasy” and “Best SF” that came out.   I’m glad that I took a chance on Diaz’s book.

Additional mental housekeeping

As for the trip itself, I am still ruminating. 

Little things: like coming back to the hotel room and finding that the cleaning staff has turned the air conditioning off while we were out, or finding my chargers unplugged.  Israel doesn’t mess around with saving energy.  If you aren’t there to use it, don’t waste it.  I learned to unplug the charger myself after I removed the batteries.

When you are in the Dead Sea, don’t waste water.  If you can re-use your towel, please do.   The faucet water is undrinkable.  They provided drinking water down the hall in my hotel.  The water from the faucet was filtered Dead Sea water and not potable.   In most locations throughout the country, the toilet had two buttons for flushing.  One button provided more waterpower than the other (for obvious reasons). 

Fresh fruit like no other.  Pomegranate juice is not bitter in its natural state.  Fresh-squeezed pomegranate in the market was wonderful.  Fresh dates were wonderful.  Seeing fresh almonds in their green-coated shells.