A heartwarming Hanukkah/Christmas story

Joel Rosenberg explains it all.

"Some years ago, I was asked by Judy's second-grade teacher to come in and explain Chanukah to her class. I resisted, at first -- I find the public school emphasis on Chanukah as a way of allowing Christmas celebrations there to be offensive tokenism -- but I did finally relent. The only condition I insisted on was that I'd tell the truth about Chanukah, in a way that I thought second-graders could understand, and that it wasn't going to be about candles lasting longer than their official specs.

So, I went in, and he introduced me, and talked about how Chanukah was one of the holidays that we all celebrate this time of year (I think my body language said, "Say what?").

I kept it short. 'Chanukah is the time that we Jews celebrate having risen up and killed people who tried to make us celebrate their holidays. You know, like Christmas.'

Lots of wide eyes in the classroom; I wasn't asked back. Not even for Purim."

And with that, I'm off to get my fasting glucose blood test done, do a little (very little) shopping at the Walmart, and then maybe clean up the apartment some. Exciting plans, I know, but the Zyvox and Levaquin are still kicking my ass while expunging the bacteria, so I'm not up to doing much.

A heartwarming Hanukkah/Christmas story

Joel Rosenberg explains it all.

"Some years ago, I was asked by Judy's second-grade teacher to come in and explain Chanukah to her class. I resisted, at first -- I find the public school emphasis on Chanukah as a way of allowing Christmas celebrations there to be offensive tokenism -- but I did finally relent. The only condition I insisted on was that I'd tell the truth about Chanukah, in a way that I thought second-graders could understand, and that it wasn't going to be about candles lasting longer than their official specs.

So, I went in, and he introduced me, and talked about how Chanukah was one of the holidays that we all celebrate this time of year (I think my body language said, "Say what?").

I kept it short. 'Chanukah is the time that we Jews celebrate having risen up and killed people who tried to make us celebrate their holidays. You know, like Christmas.'

Lots of wide eyes in the classroom; I wasn't asked back. Not even for Purim."

And with that, I'm off to get my fasting glucose blood test done, do a little (very little) shopping at the Walmart, and then maybe clean up the apartment some. Exciting plans, I know, but the Zyvox and Levaquin are still kicking my ass while expunging the bacteria, so I'm not up to doing much.

Friday Five meme - reading!

Ganked from marainsanity.
1. Do you enjoy reading?
Yes. I often do it when I'm at the computer waiting for something in a game to finish processing.

2. What is the first book you remember reading?
Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time.

3. Who is your favorite author?
Tough call...just about all my favorite authors have written stuff I don't like. I'm going to indulge in imitation (as the sincerest form of flattery!) and name five of my favorites from different fields: Bruce Catton, George MacDonald Fraser, Tom Wolfe, Bill James, and Robert Heinlein.

4. What is your favorite book?
I have 21 of them.
Books 1-3
Books 4-6
Books 7-9
Books 10-12
Books 13-15
The remaining six, which I swear I'm going to write up Real Soon Now are in a text file which I won't see again until P gets done assembling the new desktop box. Sorry.

5. What was the last book you read and the first you'll read next?
Last book I read was The Sheikh and the Dustbin, George MacDonald Fraser's third MacAuslan collection, which contains the hilarious "The Servant Problem", "The Constipation of O'Brien" (which has nothing to do with GI disorders) and "The Gordon Women", which has a rather bloody intro. Good stuff. Next book I'll get stuck into? Hard to say. I've got a sizable library here, and it's been a while since I looked at some of it. Tentatively, Camille Paglia's Sex, Art, and American Culture.

On an unrelated topic, Paco explains why some of Obama's appointments seem a bit...strange.

Friday Five meme - reading!

Ganked from marainsanity.
1. Do you enjoy reading?
Yes. I often do it when I'm at the computer waiting for something in a game to finish processing.

2. What is the first book you remember reading?
Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time.

3. Who is your favorite author?
Tough call...just about all my favorite authors have written stuff I don't like. I'm going to indulge in imitation (as the sincerest form of flattery!) and name five of my favorites from different fields: Bruce Catton, George MacDonald Fraser, Tom Wolfe, Bill James, and Robert Heinlein.

4. What is your favorite book?
I have 21 of them.
Books 1-3
Books 4-6
Books 7-9
Books 10-12
Books 13-15
The remaining six, which I swear I'm going to write up Real Soon Now are in a text file which I won't see again until P gets done assembling the new desktop box. Sorry.

5. What was the last book you read and the first you'll read next?
Last book I read was The Sheikh and the Dustbin, George MacDonald Fraser's third MacAuslan collection, which contains the hilarious "The Servant Problem", "The Constipation of O'Brien" (which has nothing to do with GI disorders) and "The Gordon Women", which has a rather bloody intro. Good stuff. Next book I'll get stuck into? Hard to say. I've got a sizable library here, and it's been a while since I looked at some of it. Tentatively, Camille Paglia's Sex, Art, and American Culture.

On an unrelated topic, Paco explains why some of Obama's appointments seem a bit...strange.