Abu Dhabi

by: Jesse Fox

Last month, I had the unexpected pleasure of visiting Abu Dhabi and Dubai, two of the seven tiny kingdoms that together make up the United Arab Emirates. I was there to cover the World Future Energy Summit, an international conference on renewable energy technologies.

Abu Dhabi is the political capital of the United Arab Emirates, and also the richest of the Emirates. About a million people live in the city of Abu Dhabi, on an island roughly the size of Tel Aviv. The rest of the emirate is harsh desert, of little interest to anyone were it not for the enormous deposits of petroleum stored underground.

A few decades ago, there was very little going on there. Today, Abu Dhabi sports all the trappings of a modern city: sparkling skyscrapers, wide boulevards, manicured promenades and well-watered parks (the abundant water, I was told, comes from desalination).

What’s it Like to Work at a Blog?

by: Jesse Fox

For about a year now, I have been working as a paid blogger at a couple of sites. This is a strange job to have, believe me. My editors at one of these blogs are concentrated in the northeastern United States, my blogger colleagues scattered around the globe.

I have never met any of these people (except for one other writer based in Israel) in person, and I likely never will. Aside from the occasional telephone conference (on Skype), all communications with this virtual “office” are via email. (This is not only the case at blogs – I have never met the editors of the various magazines that I write for in person either.)

Despite this, there is a lively virtual office culture, with water cooler conversations about every topic under the sun (though usually those related to topics under the blog’s purview) taking place in mass emails. So many, in fact, that I actually filter some of them out of my inbox just to keep my Gmail account manageable (don’t tell any of my colleagues).

הִרְהוּרִים על גַּעְגּוּע

הִרְהוּרִים על גַּעְגּוּע

by Sally Metsuyanim

 

הגעגוע מקופל

כעיסת נייר.

לא,

ככדור פלדה.

לא, לא ימס.

הדק, הדק היטב,

אני אומרת,

כי השחוק

יפה לשורדים.

במקום בו סוסים

שועטים קדימה,

אין

מקום

לגעגוע.

 

                                                                        

שנים וגעגוע

שנים וגעגוע

 by Sally Metsuyanim

 

(לאימי)

 

לֹא לִמְדוּנִי בִּנְעוּרָי

כַּמָּה שָׁנִים לַגַּעֲגּוּע,

וְאַף שֶׁמָלְאוּ בִּי

כָּךְ וְכָּךְ,

עוֹד מִתְאַוֶה הַגּוּף

לְזֶה הַמַגָּע.

וְידוע אַף יָדַּעֲתִּי

בְּאָחֲרוֹן גַּרְגִּירֵי הַשָׁעוֹן,

לִדְּבֹּק בְּזֶה הַבָּשָׂר הַנָמֶּק

לְעוֹד רֶגַעִים גְּנוּבִים

שֶׁל אוֹתוֹ מַגָּע

 

 

עיניים

עיניים

 by Sally Metsuyanim

 

הזמן פורם דמותך

כחוטי צמר עבים,

כורך לרגליי

כיסא הפוך.

מה לסוסים שועטים

וליד המיומנת

תנועות סיבוביות

לרגלי ההפוך,

אומרת

יש מאין מיש.

הלא אמרתי

אין מקום.

 

                                                                                                                     

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

 

Sara Gruen wrote a wonderful book. She tells the story of Jacob, who orphaned and penniless jumps on a train only to realize it’s a circus train.

 

Having nowhere else to go, he stays and eventually becomes the circus veterinarian. Of course from here it becomes a love story, love triangle, heartaches, heartbreaks and all that stuff we love. 

 

The book jumps between the present (an old man in an old-age home) and the past (this old man’s history).

Song of the Day: Hurricane Jane

Hurricane Jane – Black Kids

by DA-VID-EL 

גיל 27 וחצי – סיכום ביניים:

המון דייטים. לא זוכר כמה. המון.

10 קורבנות מיטה

3 מוצלחים. טוב, 4

2 וואן-נייט-סטנדז

1 מהם היה פעמיים.

2 מערכות יחסים של מעל חודש.

היתר באמצע.