Gilad Shalit

Happy Sukkot!

How are you guys? If you asked me that, I might write a 10 page essay, but I do want to share some thoughts and opinions. As you can see, my title is Gilad Shalit. Gilad Shalit was kidnapped and held in captivity for 5 years and 4 months - exactly 1,941 days. And he came back yesterday. There is a lot of talk and emotional feeling connected to this subject, good and bad. Israel freed 477 terrorists on the first stage, which was yesterday too. Another 500 are getting out on the next stage. Some of those terrorists have blood on their hands and are responsible for the death of several people. There are several different opinions about the situation, and I think they all have a point. One opinion is that yes, we are happy that Gilad is coming home, but think about it, 1027 terrorists are getting out and are going to kill more people! Another opinion is saying that we need him to come home, and we CANNOT be annoyed or angry at Noam and Aviva Shalit (Gilad's parents) for putting so much pressure on the government and making this a public issue because any parent who was in their same situation will be doing the same exact thing.

Those both are not my opinions. My opinion about this is more similar to the second than the first, that I would the same thing as Gilad's parents if I was in their situation, but I have another point: I have complete faith in the government and the army that they are making the best decision for the country. I believe that they would never ever make an irrational decision, especially on something so big.

Yesterday morning, I was sitting by the computer, on ynet.co.il, and I was watching live what was going on. At that point Gilad was handed over from the Hamas to the Egyptians. The first glimpse of Gilad after the video that was released of him a couple years ago was out, and I saw him getting out of a car and being led somewhere. Afterwards, Gilad was brought to a place by the border of Egypt and Israel, in Israel, where he was handed over to the army. He was flown in a helicopter to a place to get some medical check-ups and then flown to where the Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, The Head of the Joint Cheif of Staff - Gantz, Ehud Barak and, of course his parents, his grandfather, his brother and sister and his brother's girlfriend. Afterwords he was flown to his home, had dinner and probably took a shower, got into his favorite pajamas and went to his sleep with his mother by him. I want to say here that there are many things that happened yesterday that I didn't mention but are very important and I recommend that you do some research.

Gilad was very pale and didn't look very good, but he was walking and he could stand up. While the Egyptians were leading him, they were rough with him, pushing him, but the second he was interacting with Israelis, the Israelis were hugging him, helping him - this all I saw on the internet. Everyone in the country is so happy that he's home! When Gilad was getting off the helicopter, and the Prime Minister was waiting, Gilad saluted him, shaked his hand and the Prime Minister hugged him, and led him to his father. While Gilad was hugging his father, you see the Prime Minister that is tearing up.

This is a historic event and I will remember this forever.

Chag sameach everyone!

The BIG question

What do you think is the most asked question in the history of childhood? I know! What do you want to be when your older? Very good question, right? I get asked that question a lot, also from myself. I somehow always knew that I wanted to work with people. I just couldn't see myself sitting in a lab making things go BOOM! Then, while I was talking to Yosef, having a sach"nash, he said, you want to be like Grandpa Saul when you grow up, right? And then, BAM! It is soooo clear to me now, that I want to by like Grandpa Saul (a psychiatrist), to HELP people, like a therapist or a psychologist.
There is a new word in Adina Hershberg's vocabulary, and that is sach"nash, and it is the ultimate Adina word. Sach"nash, is in Hebrew and it stands for sichat nefesh, which literally means in English a soul talk. Two nights ago, I was having one of those 'my life is horrible' moods, and I had an hour and a half talk to my friend about how life isn't fair and what music my friend has been listening to lately. I always wish I have a bigger phone package on my phone so I can talk to people also while I am on the bus, taking a walk etc. I just like talking. I will add it to the long hobby list of mine!
OK, Facebook. Every year, in my school, they have a whole month where they talk about Facebook and the internet. So, a couple things I noticed along the way: the had a speaker come to speak to us about how Facebook is bad, and guess what, that guy had Facebook! The school is always saying how Facebook is a waste of time, and how it isn't recommended, and then, you check on Facebook, and you see that my school has a Facebook page! Get out of here! So, now, I am here to give my opinion on Facebook. OK, fine, I don't really have an opinion, but what I do hate is that there is SOOO much negativity around it! Yes, it could be dangerous, and yes I've had friend requests from people I have never heard of and yes, Facebook can be addicting, but seriously, what did I do in my last reincarnation to make sit through boring speeches and class discussions about Facebook? I think that the reason that so many underage (legally, you need to be 13 to have FB) kids have Facebook is BECAUSE people make such a big deal about it. I know that it is important to know the dangers, and it is important to be careful, but puh-lease... That was my rant of the day. Thank you.
Have a good day!

Thoughts...

As I get older, I have the ability to learn more in two ways: 1. Things that once were 'when your older you'll understand' and 2. Being older, more mature and noticing and learning things on my own.
The past couple of years, I've come to realize just how messed up the world is, and how the world that we live can be cruel in many ways. How did I come to notice this? I read books, went through situations, had friends who went through situations and did research. First, books. These two books gave me a lasting impression - '13 Reasons Why' by Jay Asher and 'Someone to Run With' by David Grossman. If you haven't read these books, I'll summarize it in a couple of lines.
'13 Reasons Why' by Jay Asher. Wow. Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker--his classmate and crush--who committed suicide two weeks earlier. On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out how he made the list. Through Hannah and Clay's dual narratives, debut author Jay Asher weaves an intricate and heartrending story of confusion and desperation that will deeply affect teen readers..
This book left me crying, shocked and scared of the huge power words have. It made me realize that high school is just an opportunity, other than learning but to crush someone down. Down to the extent that someone is ready to die.

'Someone to Run With' by David Grossman. My heart was beating so hard when I finished it. Set in Jerusalem Israel in the late '90s [ish] Assaf is home alone for a while while his parents visit his sister in America. He gets hooked into the mystery of the story when he meets a stray yellow Labrador retriever. At the same time, on the other side of the city, Tamar is singing for her life on the streets of Jerusalem, trying to rescue her drug addicted brother from the seedy and seething underworld of Jerusalem.
Drugs, homelessness, theft,  in my favorite city in the whole entire world. And it's there. Everywhere. 


What do these books have to do with anything? It makes me want to change it. When I was in English class, and we were having one of those goofy discussions about what your goals are, I raised my hand, and said seriously 'to make the world a better place'. If you live in a place where everything is cupcakes and sunshine, I will personally come to you with a something sharp and pop your bubble. Living with this in someone's head can make them go crazy, and I don't think about that. I think about the difference I can make.
Trust me, it drives me CRAZY that my friends are stuffing themselves with things that are making their life unhealthier and getting fatter. I sort of realized that I just need to do it myself, to shine, and to show them, instead of  trying to convince them to try my tofu salad.
Ok, I need to go and give the computer to someone, so goodbye for now!

Why not?

Hello!

So, I just finished my first day of school as an 8th grader, and I gotta say one thing: the 7th graders are TINY!!!! Was I that small?? No way... I have some new teachers and some teachers who taught me last year and I don't know what it's going to be like. There are three new girls in my class, and they are all very sweet. Everyone 'Ooh'ed and 'Aah'ed on everyone else, and it was great to see my friends!

Now, I was thinking... There has been all this hate going around in this world, and, I mean, is there any point? OK, FINE, disagree but does have to end up in death or other horrible stuff I would not like to mention? Now, as an activist of happiness, I have found a solution that can solve everything... And what is it? Ice-cream! Wouldn't it be great if a random Arab and Jew can have ice-cream and talk instead of just fighting? So, calling all people who believe in happiness and ice-cream - STEP FORWARD and demand for your side to be heard!

I have a neighbor, a teenaged girl who did something that got me thinking... I was sitting outside my synagogue waiting for Abba to come out on Shabbat, talking to her about this coming school year. And then some random teenaged girl passes by, and my neighbor said 'Shabbat shalom', that random girl smiles at her and says 'Shabbat shalom' back. I was surprised because I knew of that random girl, and I knew that she wasn't really like my neighbor and they went to different schools. I asked her if she knew that girl that just had passed, and she said no. I was even more surprised and now impressed, and I asked her if she says Shabbat shalom to everybody who passes her, and she said, simply 'Not only on Shabbat, but every day! Why not?', and I repeated quietly 'why not?' again and again, even now. Why not? Why not say hello? Is there something wrong, socially by saying hello to people on the street? Why aren't we taught in school that it's OK and we SHOULD be friendly on the street? Not too friendly, by all means!! SMILE, say good morning or whatever, and I'm telling you, it will change the world. No one ever said that just one person, three, six people can't change the world, but what I DO know is that I am affecting my friends and family by the way I act. I want my friends to know that you can eat healthy and still have chocolate! I want my friends to learn that anybody can march up to somebody and compliment them. I do my part to make this world a better place. And you know what? Sometimes the world holds a grudge, but it won't stay like that! I try to compliment my friends on a good quality of theirs, or something they are wearing every day, as well as pep talks twice a week. But it's not only me, I try to learn from my friends! If it weren't for my friends, I would never be able to keep up my diet from their support, I would never be able to look positively on life if it weren't for my friends, because THEY are positive people, and when they have a hard time, I use what I learned from them to make them feel better. Today, at school, I saw a girl wearing the most breath-taking top and I was about to tell her how much I liked it, and then, last minute, I chickened out. And now, I'm regretting it. Why? Because it would've made that girl smile, and smiling is contagious.

Why not? Why not say hello to random people on the street? Why not compliment people all the time? Why not? Think about it...

Summer 2011

I am very sorry to announce the death of a very good friend of ours, Mr. Summer Vacation. A loving, caring person, who makes everyone feel free. We will especially miss his way to make the weather beautiful, the beach fun and sleeping in late possible. The burial will be at your local high-school on September 1st, to mourn for such a beloved person. R.I.P

Yes, this summer was the longest summer I have ever had, but it felt the shortest! There were trips to America, camping at the beach, slumber parties and a VERY messy room. New clothing, books, movies and more came along. What did you do in the summer? Of course, if I started talking about the summer I would never finish, but I'll tell you a couple of highlights. I just came back from a slumber party at my BFF's house with a couple of other friends, and somehow we ended up eating peanut butter at 1:30AM. Also, it so happened to be that we saw a great movie - Deja Vu! I mean, like, WHOA! I am also going to complain about a movie I saw at the movie theater called Super 8. Ever heard of it? Well, I saw the trailer and it looked REALLY good! In short it about a bunch of teenagers who are filming a movie together film a train crash, which was supposedly an accident. Then, after the mysterious train crash people start disappearing and only those teenagers are putting the pieces together. Sounds cool right? But, NOOOO, so guy had to ruin it in the end with (ready for a spoiler??) an ALIEN. I mean, seriously? Can't it be some crazy scientist who's gone bad???

Anyway, I just wanted to say hi - so... HI!

And now.... GOODBYE!

Welcome to teenage-land!

Hello people out there!
How's it going? Well, I just got back from a wonderful trip to America, to visit Nicki and Jason Nevarez in New-York and Grandma Judy and Grandpa Saul. Since I'm already talking about the trip, I want to take the opportunity to thank everybody for their effort to make my trip absolutely awesome!

I haven't posted in quite a while, and I did that partly because I didn't have something to say, ya know what I mean? So, who's read The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan? I am proud to say that I did. Well, I read the young reader's edition to be exact. What is your point of view? Are you a health fanatic? Do care about what you eat as much as cutting your nails? For all people who don't know what it is, it is a book that talks about food issues that have been going on in America. How come corn is in every single processed product? Why is fast food SO cheap? How are cows and chickens treated? The answers for these questions and much more is in The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan (OK, now I feel like an advertisement...). Now you must be asking - what is MY view on everything? So, straight out, I'm saying that I would seriously think about being vegetarian if I lived in America. Now, I like animals to some extent, and I've never been an 'animal rights' kind of person, but I'm sickened by the way chickens live, in fact, they don't live they are a product, food! OK, fine, I don't care if they aren't treated like kings, because you know what? They aren't kings and queens! Because we are the ones in charge of them! but still, it does not mean that I want my meat full of antibiotics and my milk filled with hormones! I also would like the chickens to have enough room so they don't start fighting with the other chickens in the coop. It also makes me suspicious that Michael Pollan didn't get permission to go into the places where the cows are slaughtered. Why? I don't know for sure, but my guess is that there are things that are happening there that IF the public knew, they would stop buying their food. Any comments from you guys about this would be great!


Now, onto a nicer and subject, welcome to the official world of a teenager! Yes, I don't think I actually posted that I am now 13, but now you know. Since I am the first teenager in this generation in my extended family, I have the responsibility to teach you and inform to you just teenager-ism is. I decided a while ago that I would be a nice teenager, and that none of the little kids should be scared of me, because the truth is, some teenagers scare me! You know it is quite disturbing, how they have this face like (snobby voice) 'I am soooooooooooooooo much better than you because, like, I am cooler than you so that makes you, like, annoying to be around' and 'I am going to be put a sour expression on myself because, like, I'm not allowed to have any, like, fun in my life.' Now, I am going to be smiley teenager who gives little kids hugs and babysits to get paid! I mean, like, it's a perfect job! You get to sit on the baby AND get paid to be doing it! It's kind of a win-win situation! 


I know, it's sad, but I got to go... Why? Well, because, maybe I need to go to the bathroom? Why are you asking nosy questions? Just kidding. Bye!

Nerd'ets UNITE!

I know you are all dying to hear about my report card since I finished two days ago. (Drum roll please) Straight A's! Except for one B+, and it's true, I could've studied more for that History test. While I was running this morning, I realized why I was so miserable this morning - it's because I miss going to school! One day of vacation would have been enough. I realized that I miss learning at school, and I wanted to start crying because after I finish High School - I won't be learning anymore! And then I realized that there is still college, but what after? After I played back in my head all of this, I started laughing my head off because I am a true Jewish nerd! And then my mind started going a little mozzarella, and figured out something very interesting:
Nerds (male) - Nerd'ets (female) = Nerd'ets - TRENDS (with an extra E)!
NERD'ETS SET TRENDS! Ooooo, YEA!
Speaking of mozzarella, I made a lasagna for a class reunion that I organized for my old class from Elementary. We did it at my Friend's house, and we were both joking around that we could just imagine 60 years from now, walking with canes, being a bubbaleh except for my friend and I because we decided we are going to be running marathons! Yay!
I wanted to say goodbye to my AWESOME uncle, Bentzi, who moved to America temporarily and I will really miss you! Actually, the day after you left I was going CRAZY because I really wanted to text someone in class...
I'm not into politics, I'm into nail polish, but I wanted to address something that really bothered me. You all know the story about Jonathan Pollard - right? I'm not going to go into WHY he is in jail, or SHOULD he be in jail, but what really bothered me was that the American government didn't let him go to his father's funeral. Who are these people in the Government? Do they have a heart? I'm telling you - I'm sure that Jonathan Pollard's father's BIGGEST dream was to see his son free again. But let alone going to his funeral? What I really want to do, is go to the American government, the people in charge and ask them - what happened to your heart? What happened to letting Jonathan go to a funeral of his father, who loved Jonathan, who cared for Jonathan - for ANYONE! It isn't right to make a person sit in Jail, and not give his father the LOVE that he got while growing up. All those people who work in the Government have children, they know what a father-son relationship is, they have parents, living or dead. If this is what the American government is, than there is no mercy or love. Oh, another note, Israel OFFICIALLY asked American to let him go. THIS is why I live in Israel. Any comments?

How are you?

You know that I know how to say this in Persian. Yeah! I have a Persian friend, in our grade's overnight hike she taught me Persian and I taught her English. I also know how to say bread and milk. Isn't that cool? This just proves how wacko I really am!

The problem with bad news is that it is bad, and I hate bad news, but I feel a need to tell everybody. A couple of days ago there was a very bad car accident in the Gush, including a truck and a car. I don't really know what the accident was, but the man that was killed was the Rav Uri Dasburg.
Let's go back around 15 years ago, one night when a family left one 2 year old, Dvir at a babysitter, and took with them they're baby, less than a year old. When they were on the way back from a wedding, the parents were shot to death, and the baby - Yishai survived with bullets inches from his head. Rav Uri was the mother's father. The parents were Effi and Yaron Unger , two great people. My Halacha Rav taught Effi when she was in 8th grade. That horrible and sad night, 15 years ago, Effi's parents decided to take Dvir and Yishai with them and adopt them.
Dvir and Yishai lost their father for the second time. My close friend, Adira lives where the Dasburg's lived and told the class, me included,  what a great man Rav Uri was. He was a Talmid Chacham, a scholar and was part in writing The Talmudic Encyclopedia. Not only that, he had great middos and he will always be remembered. Amen.

Everybody remember! Don't just remember someone, but learn from him, do something in honor of his memory! Everybody, please choose something you'll do/improve in memory of the Rav Uri Dasburg.

If there any mistaken facts, please let me know.

Shalom - hello

Shalom to all hoolagins!
I am back from a 4.8k run, and I am DYING to tell you what happened today. First, let me make this clear - this was the best run I EVER had because of what happened while I was running.
So, I am running to myself listening to Stevie Wonder down this steep hill, and I see that this overweight guy is biking up this hard hill, and I couldn't help myself and just say 'Shalom!' and wave at him, and the smile the came after that showed me that I had made his day. I felt sooooooooooooo good I wanted to jump up and down from this, which I couldn't really do because I was running. So, anyway tonight is Israel Memorial Day and there was supposed to be a siren at 8:00pm for a minute and stand still either say Tehillim - Psalms or just stand and talk to Hashem or just stand and think about all the soldiers that died to keep me, my family, my friends, my city, my country and my world safe. I stopped while I was running to do all of the above, and I started crying. I was thinking of the families that were waiting for this soldier to come home, to give him a pat on the back and to smile at that soldier. But that never happened. That smile was never given, nor gotten.
The siren ends fast, and I start running again. I decide right there and then, that in the honor of these soldiers who never got that smile, I was going to smile and say shalom to everybody I pass while I am running. So it starts a little awkward. But, every time I did it, I felt so good! So, the reactions were like this:
1. What is this almost-13-yr-old with a pink running hat smiling at me weirdly???
2. OK, that was weird... I'll just act like I ignored that (which I don't do very well)...
3. Smile
4. Smile AND saying hello back!
Which was most reacted? Yes! #4 happened like 70% of the time! Just doing it, even without that reaction, made me feel like I was making this world a better place, and all those evil bad people that just want bad in this world gets slapped in the face every time I do it.
I came back with such a smile that it started to hurt! Now, I have a job for each and every one of you - say hello today or tomorrow to 3 strangers. I have a couple of rules:
1. They can't be together
2. They can't be on a screen.
3. You can do it anywhere!!!!
4. AND HAVE FUN!
Please, please, please email me telling me what it was like. The stranger's reaction, your reaction to the stranger's reaction - tell me EVERYTHING!
If you want to, you can email this post to your friends and family and colleagues, and so friend/family/colleague - tell me what it was like: adinamenina@gmail.com!
Shalom!

Royal Wedding

Mazel tov in the name of all people who like fancy things (me included) to Princess Kate and Prince William for they're wedding! When people asked me this morning if I watched the wedding, I said no, and aghast my friends were. People were surprised! The way I answered it, was for a couple of reasons:

• They aren't going to see my wedding - so why should I see their wedding?
• ITS JUST A WEDDING! Not moshiach coming....
• Shouldn't Kate and William want their privacy???? How would you feel if 80% of the world or close to that is watching your wedding???!!!

I know, I know... It has fancy hats and everything!!!!! But.... You know what I mean??? DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH MONEY THE BRITISH HAS SPENT FOR THE WEDDING???

480 billion euro = 712 billion dollars = 2.4 TRILLION shekels.

WOW! It's true. No rumor. The rumor I did hear - Kate did her makeup! She is frugal :) if it is true. I was thinking - I have no problem with having a BIG wedding and HUGE celebrations, but these numbers above are way too big for my liking. I mean, there are children in Africa that don't have a school to go to and what to eat! There are so, so many people that are starving, sick people with horrible sicknesses like cancer that can't be cured now and so many problems in this world. Who is going to pay for that??? Even 300 billion euro would make a huge difference.

Disagreements? Comments? Please email!

 

Happy birthday!

To all people that have anything to do with me, I have an announcement to make! Two of me beloved relatives have a birthday. Not even beloved relatives, beloved sibs. YES! Happy birthday to Yosef and Atara A.K.A Ferri! Yosef is now 7 and Ferri is 11! Oops, I sort of lost count right, Yosef is 11 and Ferri 7, sorry...
Do you guys remember my Bat-Mitzvah? I have this behind-the-scenes picture that was taken a couple of hours before the event. Look at it closely, and then you might realize what makes it different (Oh, gosh! I'm going to make a fool of myself...)...

Now you get it? HA! I remember feeling very NOT me, but loving it. I kept on thinking 'Oh my GOSH! I'm turning into this piercer and I'll make a hole in my body wherever possible' and then I thought of the picture from the Guinness Book of World Records that showed the lady with the most piercings, and I almost started crying and I was soooooooooooooooooo depressed because I was scared I would start turning into a person I would try to stay away from. After that whole fiasco I asked my parents if they would let me get a second piercing in the ear, and now that I think of it, they never answered me. I wonder if they're scared that if they say that I can't then I will become this rebellious child and start hanging out with bad people and smoke and in conclusion, I'd do everything I'm NOT going to do in a billion (hopefully even more) years. Don't worry - I took it off before my BM, because it would have been a little awkward if people started showing up and seeing that I have a NOSE RING which I DON'T HAVE. I do wonder sometimes if I would end up being a rebellious child and everything. I hope not, but you never know... :)
Good bye!

Esperanza Spalding

Anyone heard of her? She is a relatively new artist/singer. Her genre is Jazz, she writes all the songs herself and plays the bass in all of her songs. Esperanza has two albums - 'Esperanza', and her second - 'Chamber Music Society', which is her 'harder and more advanced CD'.

What do I think of her? First, she has a BEAUTIFUL voice! And her music is real music. I love her music! Personally, I like her 'Esperanza' CD better, and I decided to introduce you to her music. Here is a few of her great songs (just press it the name of the song, and it will bring it to the song):

1. Precious - live
2. I Know You Know - live.
3. Ponte De Areia - live

 Anybody that has any other songs that they especially like by Esperanza Spalding, I would love to hear! If you listened to all of those, you will get a little idea of what her music is like. What do you think? Isn't she great or what?

 Shabbat Shalom!

Rant, pooh ears and a space monkey

Have you guys heard of the name 'Justin Bieber'? You probably heard of him from the newspaper, internet, TV and more. Do you guys know who he is? Before I give you my opinion, I will tell you a little bit about him.
Justin Bieber is a pop star from Canada, who got famous by posting videos on YOUTUBE for his family to see. Somehow, it became huge and BAM! he became this famous pop star (if you want to know about the process, which I'm not interested in telling you about just look in Wikipedia or something), and he has almost every teenage girl loving him. Anyway, he is performing in ISRAEL tonight in his world-wide tour and his hit song 'Baby' has over 45 MILLION hits on youtube. If you say the name in the presence of any teenage girl she'll go all pink and say 'OMG, he is sooooooooooooo cute' and say 'I'm going to his concert for 500 (!) shekels tonight'. This bothers me. Have you seen the youtube video that was going around of a 4 year old girl crying over Justin Bieber? Have you seen the slogan 'Bieber fever'? I am in the middle of teaching you about him, so now I want you to go on youtube and search 'Justin Bieber Baby official' and try to look in the point of view of a 15 year old girl, you will see why so many girls are attracted to him.
He is only 16, and and I have a couple of conclusions:
1. He is NEVER gonna have a normal life. Even now, he can't go out to the supermarket to buy some milk without a bunch (maybe a lot more) of girls jumping over him. In interviews, people ask him 'How are you planning to stay grounded and normal?', and he answers 'By my family and friends surrounding me and helping me' - yeah, right. His producer or something told him to say that, and mark my words: he is NOT going to stay normal. You know what, I could be wrong, but in most situations (Michael Jackson, for example), when a kid doesn't have a normal life, he goes a little crazy.
2. Every girl in my grade (almost) has a crush on him, and with that every single 7th grade class (almost) in the whole entire world love him, and I don't think it is so healthy. It's not Justin's entire fault, not even partly, I just think the whole world is too obsessed with him. In every single interview, the interviewer asks him if he has a girlfriend. I don't get it. It really drives me crazy.
Yes, it's true, he says 'Shma Yisrael....' in the beginning of every concert and he goes to hospitals to visit kids. It's true. Do you have any comments? Ideas? I'd be more than happy to hear what you want to say.


On to something truly cute, here is a picture of Sara with her pooh-ears:

Now you understand? I'll explain: Sara found this straining thing, and noticed that the ends look like ears, and it's yellow so it's winnie-the-pooh ears. A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!


Now it's the other cutie's turn: FERRI! Ferri got her birthday present from Grandma Bette, with arts and crafts, and we both made shrinky-dinks and a space monkey. Here is a picture of the space monkey after an hour+ work. It is soooooooooo cute, and it was great to make it with Ferri:

How cute, right? The back (base) is a paper bag, so you can say that it was recycled. :)
Have a Pesack Kasher Ve'sameach and a happy passover!

Solo and correction

Hey!
I just got back from a loooooooooong day of school, with lots of rehearsals for the show that is going to be tomorrow. Why don't you know about it? Well, it is a mother/daughter event where the girls make a play and dance. I am dancing (duh)! I even have a solo 'en pointe' that is like 15 seconds long. The dance is not on a high level, but I'm excited to put on a leotard, make-up and a smile, because it is long overdue! I haven't performed in about two years so I'm extra excited!

I need to make a correction on what I posted last post. The sun is not made out of Plasma, but is in the mode of Plasma. So is lightning!

Abba is away, so that means PARTY! But it doesn't mean that I don't need to do homework, so I need to go now...

Last thing: I have a question for you guys: What did you want to be when you were a child? How did that influence your work now?
BYE!

Poems and Physicists

I haven't written anything lately, so I am long overdue on very important things. Like Elephants. And Penguins. Just joking, that's not what I'm going to talk about... Apparently, they have nothing to do with the title, so I can't talk about it...
In English class, we read a Emily Dickenson poem, which was nice, but that's not what I want to talk about. Of course, we had to get homework, and we needed to right poem that had to do with nature with a pattern of syllables. And I wrote one.

The Sea

By: Adina Hershberg

The sea is just a wonderful thing,

it can be calm and relaxed,

the happiness the sea can bring!

Te can also be very enraged,

it thrashed and pounds while it's in rage

when it's angry, it's very badly mannered.

However, it's vast and long and blue.

I can just sit and watch the waves,

it's beautiful-ness and soul-ness is true.

What do you thing, and tell me the truth - I can handle it! It also has a rythem for the syllables (pretty much):

9

7

9

10

9

9

9

8

9

Yea, I did it!

On to the physics part... Last week, in my gifted class, 2 physicists from the University of Tel-Aviv came to speak to my class. One spoke about the physics in the eye, with awesome experiments and the other spoke about Plasma, which had experiments, a slide show and was even awesome-r! It was so cool and I learned soooooooooo much!

Did you know that most of the universe is made out of Plasma? Did you know that the sun is made out of Plasma (not gas, like when I was told in 4th grade)? Did you know the Plasma is when the particles fall apart?

I left, actually feeling smarter!

Happy purim and the night I saw him return

So, harry potter lovers - what's suspicious about this sentence??? I'll give you a hint - "The night I saw him return" - where is that from? The person who comes up with the right answer will win an awesome prize!

Anyway, HAPPY PURIM! What was your costume? What was the best costume you saw? What was the best Mishlo'ach manot that you saw??? I could tell you the best Mishlo'ach manot there was - my friend dressed up as a chef and gave french fries (cookies cut into the french fry shape) and a hamburger (also made out of brownies, gummy stuff, cookie and more)! BEAT THAT!

So, I am reading The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. How did that happen? Good question...
Phase 1: Mommy borrowing it from her friend.
Phase 2: Mommy putting it on the coffee table.
Phase 3: Adina being bored looking for a book to read.
Phase 4: Adina finding it and - BAM! - I'm half way through the book.
Did you guys read it? My mother says it is "Hot, hot, hot in America right now", and I have a lot to say about it. I still have more to read, so I am going to write about it only when I finish. Please await for the best book review of the century!

Did I mention I'm drunk?? Just joking, I literally had 2 tiny sips of wine.

Cheating

Hi!
Good morning! I am staying home a little late this morning because I had a horrible night's sleep. I have a question for all of you guys, and please comment/email me what you think, because I'm really interested in what you have to say.
Was there cheating on tests when you were a kid? Did you cheat? In my elementary school, there was no such thing as cheating on tests. To be compared, at my school right now there is cheating. I personally saw girls doing it. I talked to girls who were from different elementary schools, and they said that cheating did happen. The teacher brought it up a couple of weeks ago, and I was shocked. Completely shocked. I had no idea that it really was true, that kids cheat on tests! The teacher said that she knows who's been cheating in her lessons, on other teacher's lessons, and it is approximately 7 girls that cheat regularly. She asked from those girls to write her a letter saying that they are aware of what they did wrong, and what they are going to do about it. Last week, the teacher brought it up again saying the just one girl gave her a letter, and she is waiting for the rest. After the teacher said that, she asked what the class thinks about cheating and how she reacts to it. A girl named Sara (made-up name) raised her hand and said that cheating is totally wrong, but it's human and real. She also said that cheating has nothing to do with the relationship between the girls, or the trust between the girls in our class. I raised my hand, and said that, true, cheating is one of those bad things in life and it is human but that doesn't make anything better. It is still something that is not allowed and should not happen. I also disagreed with her about what she said about the relationship, that it is harder to trust that girl who cheats. Of course I wouldn't give the girl who cheats the silent treatment, but I wouldn't trust her with a secret.
What do you think?? If you saw a friend cheating in a test, would you tell teacher, and why??
So.................. Good night!

Spring is knocking on our door!

I went outside to do some errands with Abba about half an hour ago, and it was so warm! Isn't it supposed to be winter??? On my school bus, on the way to Jerusalem, I see all these colorful flowers and it makes me smile! Speaking of flowers... Have you read the poem 'Daffodils' by William Wordsworth?? Here it is (please read it as if I am reading it dramatically):

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they
Out-did the sparkling leaves in glee;
A poet could not be but gay,
In such a jocund company!
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils. 

So, what do you think? I really like it. We had homework to find a poem about nature, and since I really like this poem, I brought it and read it to the class with feelin'. 

Good Shabbos!