Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Reading the Newspaper Makes You Smarter

It's true, reading the newspaper makes you smarter, but here's one thing I can't figure out: how come when I have a nice healthy breakfast, like maybe some fruit salad and a hard boiled egg, or some high fiber cereal with skim milk, I am actually hungrier in the run up to lunch than I am on mornings like today when I've only had a cup and a half of coffee? What is the better option here? Nutrition plus big hunger or coffee plus small hunger?


Okay, back to all the news that is fit to print. The Italian-American culture is full of rituals, traditions and what some might call superstitions. Perhaps identifying with this culture has left me predisposed to be fascinated by the many laws of the Orthodox Jewish Religion. I read with interest the piece about the eruv in Sunday's New York Times last night (I'm slow, it takes me a while to get through the paper).

Strung together out of poles and wire, the symbolic boundary known as an eruv is
a flimsy thing. Under Jewish law, however, it has all the strength of a masonry
wall. Within its enclosure, observant Jews are freed from certain Sabbath
prohibitions on transporting items or people outdoors. For example, they may
carry a prayer shawl to synagogue or push a child in a stroller.


I'll include a link to the story here, but you have to be an online NYT member to read it and soon it will become archieved so you will not be able to view it without paying. A little stingy with the knowledge, aren't we, Grey Lady?

I also read about how Zombies are a hot trend right now. EdithVed, I won't reduce your love of the undead to a fad- I'll merely say that you clearly have your finger on the Zeitgeist. It also makes me wonder if anyone is covering your Zombie March for any newspaper/ radio segment. If I knew the Boston markets better, I'd try to get all over that.

I also made this disturbing discovery last night. Now, I bet that many of you in the Cupcake Mafia knew this existed but were too afraid to tell me because you knew I would shit a brick. Listen to me, you weirdo shut-ins, no one on the Internet cares about the inner life of your cat! Oh wait, actually thousands of people do? My mistake. I don't know what more to say about this, other than to shake my head in a sad, disguisted way.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Nance. Wish I could help out with the Orthodox Jew thing but I'm just as stumped as you.

But I can answer the breakfast question. The reason you are hungrier when you eat breakfast is because eating that meal speeds up your metabolism. It's amazing - by eating, you're burning more calories throughout the day. I have actually heard of people losing weight by making no other change but beginning to eat breakfast.

Let's talk soon,
ML

J said...

Hey,
that Zombie March is kind of like this:
http://www.phillyzombiecrawl.com/

There's one in the midwest too.

as for the eruv, I think it's just a way to make being Orthodox a tiny bit easier in the modern world. Not sure.

Anonymous said...

I lived in Boro Park and it was like living in a different world. They are also not allowed to work electrical items during their Sabbath (sundown Fri. to sundown Sat.) so I had to turn on lights for them or stop the car alarm from running or turn on an air conditioner or kill a bug (you get the drift huh?). I know it is a religion but I could not stand the way they make their wives one step behind them

ka said...

that's funny i was just thinking about pitching the idea to a couple papers here. will get the jump on that. thanks for the shout out

Cupcake said...

Ved, when you pitch you should cite the NYT Article. I believe it was in the Sunday Styles section. Get a copy now before it goes "archeived" so you can reference it in the pitch letter.

Also, I didn't have a question about the eruv, I just thought it was an interesting article.

MCMCMCLY said...

Does every religion have a "Temporary Reversal of God's will" clause?

Catholic priests all over the US were giving destentation blessings on St Paddys day so the Catholic types could have that Corned Beef and Cabbage.

Kinda like the Get out of Jail Free card in Monoploy huh?

Dawn Z(ed) said...

catster? Good lord. My cat's inner life consists entirely of:

It moved! Get it!
Food is good.
Pet me.
Sleep is good.
Time to play in the shit box.

Rotate and randomize at will.

I love my pet, but some people are insane.