6 pm. Jan. 12. 2010. Skirball lobby.
George Gilder paces nervously. A man promises to get him a cup of coffee.
George walks off and drinks some cold water.
“Now’s my chance,” I think.
I summon my courage and I walk up to him.
“Mr. Gilder,” I boom. “I’m a big fan.”
He turns to me and says, “And you are?”
“I’m a blogger. I’ve been blogging for 15 years.”
“And your name is?” he says.
“Luke Ford. I read your book Men and Marriage 20 years ago.”
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6 pm. Jan. 12. 2010. Skirball lobby.
George Gilder paces nervously. A man promises to get him a cup of coffee.
George walks off and drinks some cold water.
“Now’s my chance,” I think.
I summon my courage and I walk up to him.
“Mr. Gilder,” I boom. “I’m a big fan.”
He turns to me and says, “And you are?”
“I’m a blogger. I’ve been blogging for 15 years.”
“And your name is?” he says.
“Luke Ford. I read your book Men and Marriage 20 years ago.”
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Mary: Maybe it’s the holidays but the extracarricular flirting is reaching critical mass.
Mary: And it’s fun and long-distance, so why stop?
Mary: But since nothing fun is right, it must be wrong.
Mary: Right?
YourMoralLeader: flirting on whose part?
YourMoralLeader: yeah, it is not good, drains your sexual essence
Mary: Others start it, I feed it.
Mary: And feed on it.
Mary: I absolutely live on adoration. I’m an addict. Attention is my drug of choice.
YourMoralLeader: Attention is our substitute for love
Mary: That’s just it, it’s not. It’s all part of it. I love and am loved but it’s never enough. I think “attention whore” is a pretty good descriptor. After all, people ‘pay’ attention, and the result is an almost sexual thrill. Or an actual sexual thrill, depending on the attention paid.
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During his second hour of his radio show today, Dennis Prager said: “If I ran for president, and I am actually thinking of doing so, I don’t expect to win but I would like to throw my hat in because I believe the number of Republicans who can inspire Americans to understand the great American calling is small. I wish it weren’t because I am not a political animal.”
In marketing terms, this is called “the reluctant hero.”
Think about the protagonist in Gladiator, Braveheart or The Patriot. These are reluctant heroes. They just want to stay home to be with their families. They don’t want to fight. They only fight because the bad guys give them no choice.
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I expect a Jewish newspaper to return to Las Vegas around Passover.
It will be called The Las Vegas Jewish Ink. It has no website yet.
“The Las Vegas Jewish Reporter” was closed by the local Federation last year.
Jewish Las Vegas is a feudal society. A few billionaires call the shots (some of the world’s wealthiest Jews live there, such as Sheldon Adelson of the Venetian) and the community is usually happy to follow their directions.
What troubles the Las Vegas Jewish Federation troubles most non-profits. There’s a lack of oversight. There’s not an engaged lay board. They’re not inspired and committed. They have no mission.
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Oy! The Lubavitcher rebbe said that all forms of yoga (in addition to transcendental meditation) are not kosher.
Oy! Why does this have to come up now? I quite enjoy going to Chabad. Oy!
Beth comments: “Do you follow the Lubavitcher rebbe? I’m pretty sure lusting after shiksas isn’t kosher either.”
Beth, in your morally degraded state, you do not understand that for me shiksas are purely a form of exercise. Practice, as it were, for the real thing that awaits me on the Great Day.
Many shiksas argue these days that they are just archetypal principles, but any third-grader in Hebrew school will tell you that they are idols. Veneration and offerings are unacceptable. I avoid shiksas where the shiksa is too into the mythos.
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I’ll never forget the day my therapist asked me, “What do you get out of being in an emotionally unsafe relationship?”
I’d never though of that. The question took me aback, but then I quickly answered, “It leaves me free to look. I’m not risking anything precious. I can talk to all the women I want and see if I can find someone better for me.
“If I walked around with a million dollar diamond entrusted to me and I also knew that it would be really easy to lose it, it could happen any moment, I’d feel tremendous anxiety. On the other hand, if you gave me a $1 diamond and told me I could lose it easily, I wouldn’t care so much.
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