Much Madness is Divinest Sense

Since the beginning of the school year, I have gained about 20 pounds. Since I could probably have stood to gain some weight, it wasn’t a really big deal. The only problem is that a lot of my clothes don’t fit now. I am not worried about the way I look now, but the thought has crossed my mind that perhaps I won’t quit gaining weight — that my metabolism has changed. The women in my family do tend to start out thin and get very, very big.

Being “too skinny” has been a part of my identity since I can remember. It was how I was teased as a child. It formed me into who I am. I guess, in a way, gaining weight kind of makes me feel like I am losing who I am. Right now, I weigh the same as I weighed at 9 months during all three of my pregnancies. And like I said, it isn’t bad, and I shouldn’t complain. But that is a thought that will give one pause, right?

It was a beautiful day here in Georgia. I sat outside at school and graded papers. That’s one thing that is really nice about our campus on sunny days — we can spend so much time between classes outdoors. It is sort of set-up almost like camp. I guess whenever we move to our new building, we might lose that. I will not miss the rain, though. Our campus is absolutely miserable when it rains.

I haven’t written here in a while, and frankly, I just don’t have anything worthwhile to talk about. I haven’t been up to much. I got my oil changed. I bought a new cell phone. I tried on a pair of shoes that fit really well, but the heel didn’t look right, so I didn’t buy them. I can’t find my Black Crowes CD (The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion). I am re-reading the Harry Potter series. That’s my life.

Why are you here? There are fascinating things all over the web. Go learn something.

In observance of Purim, my school held a day-long celebration. Judaism for Dummies describes the holiday: “Take the Christian Christmas pageant, add a down-home Halloween and a couple bottles of wine, and you start to get a good idea of the Purim festival.” I’ve also heard it called the Jewish Mardi Gras. It was a really fun day. We had good food. We read the Megillah, which was actually very interesting. Jewish readers of mine are aware of the custom of noisemaking whenever the name of Haman is mentioned. It was really different for me, because Biblical text is at once so sacred and solemn. I guess I’m not used to it being interactive and fun. I was only able to follow along with the text, which students, faculty, and others delivered in Hebrew, because I listened for the names of “characters” in the Book of Esther. I must have been convincing enough, because one of the Hebrew teachers asked me if I could read Hebrew. I said no, but showed her that my copy had an English translation. It is a mitzvah to read and listen to the Megillah on Purim.

Aside from that, we all wore costumes. Purim is associated with mistaken identity. It seems to be customary to dress as someone else or as something opposite. Many of the 10th grade boys dressed as girls. Some of the kids just wore silly hats. I dressed as Ophelia. We seemed to have a few “Esther” bunnies running around (including our headmaster).

My favorite part (and from what I can tell, the most popular part of Purim) was the Purim Shpiels. The students did an excellent job with theirs — quite satirical, very funny. The faculty shpiel was better than I thought it would be after I saw the script yesterday. I guess when you have entertaining characters like I work with, that wasn’t hard. Both shpiels mocked members of the other group; i.e., the students mocked the faculty and the faculty mocked the students. I suppose, though I didn’t ask, that such is customary at our school.

One of my students gave me gift basket. That was really sweet. As I was driving home, it occurred to me that one might even call that an “Esther basket.” Har, har, har! But seriously, folks… you can learn more about Purim at these websites:

• Purim — ReligionFacts.com
• Purim (Wikipedia)
• Purim (About.com)
• Judaism 101: Purim

I wrote something over at the Pensieve of which I am preening and proud — “A Defense of Harry Potter: How to Respond to the Critics in the Ivory Tower.” I no longer suck. You still do if you don’t read it. Ha. Except Tudor of course, because he read The Sun Also Rises. My essay on Potter is the shorter, quicker route to non-suckitude.