Oy gevalt!

Pic I took at Bally today while working out...ain't it beautiful!

Today was a strong day of reading. I made it through a lot of the book. Key events were the annual Trachimday celebration, Brod’s mermaid endeavor, love, Shalom from Kolki, Yankel’s death and Grandfather’s anguish.

The Trachimday celebration is to honor the death of Trachim…so they think…each year. The celebration is full of many quirky customs, as are many traditions, and complete with a person dressed as a mermaid…which happens to be Brod…which happens to possibly be Trachim’s real daughter. Each year, the Tolerable Rabbi throws a sack of gold in the river. When he sees it fit, he signals for all the men to jump in and search for it. This symbolizes Trachim’s descent to the bottom of the river. Searching for the gold symbolizes searching for Trachim. Whoever finds the gold gets to keep it. This particular year, a man named Shalom from Kolki happens to be the winner. To make a long story short, he falls in love with Brod (Foer’s very great grandmother) and says he will not leave town until she goes with him. She says she will not go until he has sex with her. What an ultimatum.

Backing this up for a second…the book centers around how coveted Brod is within the town’s male population and hated she is with the females. She is supposedly the most beautiful girl in Trachimbrod. The women are jealous and all the men propose to her and touch her inappropriately. She is the most celebrated person in town…the most loved and hated person. Even Yankel loves her and covets her. His love is different, though. He is proud she is so beautiful and wishes he could tell her he loves her and she understand the type of love it is. He is sad she is not his real daughter. In fact, Yankel is beginning to lose his mind and memory and is worried he will not have the chance to tell her any truths. He has to write notes on his walls about who he is and what he represents. It is really sad. He is proud that she is the mermaid for the celebrations and proud everyone gets to “admire” her.

When celebrations end, Brod comes home. She discovers Yankel’s body dead on the study floor. It explains how he is sad he died on the floor and not on a chair to look more descent. You can’t help but to hurt for him. Foer (the author) does a great job of describing his aging process and anguish. It is sad and you cannot help but feel so badly for him. The description of his death and of the house decaying is amazing. As he dies, water is leaking in the roof. The picture portrayed is that of all of his notes melting off of the wall as snow melts. Very vivid.

A theme that lasts for a while is that of love. The issue of loving someone just because you are in love with being in love is brought up. It is so true to human nature to fall in love with the mere concept of being in love. Sometimes we oversee the fact that someone is not right for us but we fall in love with them or fall for them because we are in love with being in love. It becomes a tricky line to define. Love is a tricky game anyway.

In the present day of the story, Grandfather is in anguish over his wife. He is a widower…which I am now Widowed on Facebook if you look at my status, because Stephanie divorced me. Grandfather is having a hard time because Foer’s grandmother reminds him of his wife. There is so much caught up in that sub-plot. I am beginning to think Foer is related to Grandfather and we will find out later in the book.

As usual, the translation antics are still running throughout the dialogue of Alexander and Foer. They still have problems understanding the nuances of language.

Today was an eventful day. I went to CPS to apply for a job. Of course, they were ghetto as Hell. My response from the tattooed desk lady was extremely educated when I requested to leave my resume and cover letter. We don’t take no applications here. You gots to fine (find) the principal. Wow. No wonder CPS is falling so far down in the shitter. They are extremely unprofessional. I don’t think people realize the demise of education is coming because of the people they put on the frontlines. We are losing good teacher candidates because of bitches like that. You all know what it is like to walk into a school and have the administrative assistant turn you away. The people they put up front in so many places are just rude and overly entitled. It is like Suzanne Compton at LHS. If she had as much weight in her affairs as she does on her overly bloated body, she might be able to have a reason to act like such a witch to parents and students….but she doesn’t. So, I think I learned today CPS might not be for me. If they have people running the business like that, they need to think again. Education is going downhill because of people like that and people like my co-teacher last year. They are giving the profession a bad name. I just don’t understand how they all sustain jobs.

But…on a happier note, I was able to apply, in person, to Hubbard Woods School in Winnetka…home of the Home Alone house. The school was SOOOOO pleasant and the office staff was opposite of all I had to say above. They were truly one of a kind. It was the best experience I have ever had in a school. I have such a good feeling I will at least be interviewed for this general music position. Keep your fingers crossed. J

Today was the most beautiful day ever in Chicago. It was so nice. I could not believe it. The sky was blue. Flowers are emerging from the ground (well the tulips and daffodils). I actually ran into two people I know downtown. Oh…and the fountain in Daley Plaza is dyed green for St. Patrick’s Day!!! J I cooked for Dena tonight…grilled cheese and tomato soup. This is day one after her surgery. Oh la. She and I watched my Prospect Show Choir videos.

Before Dena’s, I worked out with my friend Brandon. He is a riot, but like Dexter and Brian, he is a motivator. After dinner, I got to hang out with my buddy Jeff.

Well, it is time to go to sleep. Gap awaits me for markdowns at 6AM. OY.