Identity Politics

So Tim this weekend (as in Easter Sunday) had a priest, a rabbi, a nun, some megachurch reverend dude, a Muslim, and...some guy from Newsweek. The nun was pretty awesome, to the point that the boy (who needs a blog nickname...I'm going between the JC and CurrentMatt so if you have a preference let me know) is thinking about buying her book. And let me tell you, sitting there eating matzo we felt totally integrated into the theme, which was apparently Faith in America. Insert joke about my middle name here. Apparently inquiring about Faith in America involves asking representatives of the major monotheistic religions how they feel about abortion and gay marriage. Apart from the nun, who was totally getting intellectually belittled by the priest, it was boring. And the megachurch guy was totally used car salesman. Creepy, waxy, permanent smile...people trust that guy with their souls? Yikes.

In other religion news, I had a seder for 14 people. Luckily it wasn't at my house, I just did a bunch of the cooking and led it. It was actually pretty fun, what with the mandatory four glasses of wine and the fact that I'm super Reform so there was less religion than "people are oppressed...more wine!" We even busted into the emergency brisket. And I make a damn good brisket. Even the boy (who did not go to my seder because he sucks) said so and he is an actual Jewish person, not a mixed-up half-Jew like me.

Yesterday was the annual INS retreat that I didn't go to. Why would I miss an even with free food and free booze? Because they scheduled the thing during Passover and didn't have any food that one observing it could eat. Trust me, I asked. It is so weird - this is Penn, not Mississippi or some crap where excluding the Jews would be less surprising.

Luckily, tonight is the last night. So I'm making beer and pancakes in celebration of all things yeasty, grainy, leavened, and good. Bread of affliction whatever - the lack of beer is what really makes me cranky. I think that's from the WASP/alcoholic side.

Fishing for Complements

First, my father has returned from Mexico, where he spent the entire time drunk. How that is different from his life in Fredonia I don't know. In other familial news, apparently my mother is suing my father, for real this time after years of saying she would and never actually doing so. So he'll either be really, really nice to me or stop talking to me altogether. Again. Or both in sequence. You'd think that after being apart nearly a decade, my parents would have finally managed to work things out and I, at 25, would no longer be put between them. But you'd be wrong.

I finished this hat months ago. I really like it, it is from a free pattern (google Nautilus hat and you should find it) and I made it from really fantastic wool/alpaca.



the top makes a nifty spiral pattern



Commence speaking of my awesomeness!