Do the Yak

I tried to avoid it as long as I could, but that damn singing Susan Boyle is everywhere -- news sites, NPR, blogs, pieces by Nora Ephron and Tina Brown , and finally a Facebook thread I got roped into, even though I'd never seen the clip. So I watched her on YouTube -- and I was duly impressed. Yes, she does have a lovely voice singing a cheesy show tune, and yes, she is a dumpy, unemployed, middle-aged Glaswegian. But all the bloviating about her inspiring performance in these gloomy times (paging Capt. Sullenberger et al) skips over the issue of why she's so inspiring. Is she a good singer? If there was no trickery, then certainly. Is she the greatest singer ever? Hell no. But is she the ugliest good singer ever? By implication, yes. It's a comment on the appearance-obsessed judges and viewers that everyone was smirking when they took a look at her, because how could anyone who looks like that possibly have a decent voice? Reminds me of a story I read somewhere about mu

Getting ready for Passover can bring out the Martha Stewart in all of us. My friend Eleanor commented that she could imagine a Martha Stewart seder, which got me thinking. I use as my model that timeless classic, the Martha Stewart Holiday Calendar , for... the Martha Steinberg (you know she changed her name, right?) Passover 2009 planner: March 30 Make guest list for seder. Peter Bacanovic is so not invited. Hand-write invitations (calligraphy with goose quill, of course) and mail. March 31 Hire Union for Reform Judaism’s head rabbi to write personalized haggadah from scratch, omitting all references to slaves or lack of freedom (reminds me of that little prison stint -- thanks a lot, Peter!) April 1 Finalize seder dinner menu. Decide between Argentine beef tenderloin (brisket? as if!) with port/beach plum reduction, or sun-dried tomato and garlic-crusted roast leg of lamb with tarragon-mint butter. Oh, and matzoh. April 2 Harvest wheat from my organic farm; grind flour for my ho

I suddenly realized (after waking up in a state of tension at 2:00 a.m.) that coming up are: My dad's 80th birthday party -- still trying to find a caterer who won't charge us a breathtakingly high amount An exam in microbiology next Tuesday, and I've barely picked up the textbook since the last one, never mind started writing the take-home portion Passover next week. We're definitely having a seder here, so much planning/shopping/cooking to do, though two segments of Ben's family are still seeing who wins the guilt-trip war over the location of the other seder (nephew's house in Mass. or brother's house in New Jersey). We are not going to Jersey. No way. A weekend chock-full of kiddie activities that would be totally unmanageable were it not for Google's blessed invention of color-coded online calendars. I want to have Google's baby. Saturday morning synagogue -- it's our turn to supply post-service food, and Ben and Sarah will be away on an ove