05/08/2008
to market, to market, to buy a fat pig for shabbos...um.

Candy bulletin: this week, my novel has shown up with some unexpected company, namely the Hasidic birth book A Labor of Love (in our friends' bathroom in LA) and First Blood, the novel that was the basis for Rambo (from my friend Alex in Philly). Alex confessed that he only read mine in public, though, because the pic of Sly Stallone on the cover was getting him odd looks.

Friends: Lisa Klug's Cool Jew finally has a website. Nothing there yet but the cover, but it's a good cover. Stereo Sinai's site is finally live -- and look for me to be making a cameo there, which was incredibly fun to record and will be even more fun to get out into the world, if only because people will be saying "is that...you?" again. And the ever-lovin' Fred Chao got nominated for 4 Eisners, which is the comic book equivalent of the Oscars. Which only, like, Brian K. Vaughan and Joss Whedon tied with....I'm feeling more geek-giddy than I ever have. Way more than when Lucas announced there was going to be an Episode I.

04/29/2008
golems and cookie monsters

After I ran into John Safran on Carlisle Street last week -- I heard he was doing something about golems, and he heard that I was -- he invited me on his radio show, a weekly programme cohosted by the remarkable Father Bob, who might be 70 years old but has this beautiful cynical outlook on everything. I can't even remember what was said, but never before has someone been so happy about being so disgruntled.

So here's the podcast in its entirety -- they talk about me a bit in the beginning, but go to 27:24 into the program to hear me. I talk about practical and esoteric Kabbalah, the inevitable Madonna monologue, and what your rabbi doesn't want you to know (or doesn't know him/herself).

And, as promised: You know how you start Googling and you'll never really know where it's going to end? Today, blaxsploitation on Sesame Street: Owly tells Cookie Monster that a cookie is a sometime food, based on the song from Porgy & Bess. Plus, the controversy over whether Cookie Monster was ever going to be replaced by a Veggie Monster...

04/29/2008
the very hungry yaltapillar