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[naomichana]

I keep having an urge to post about food on my Real Blog, but that doesn't seem consequential enough to warrant breaking silence. However, in case the world needs to know it, I'm going to try a mustard-coated baked cod and potatoes recipe from last month's Bon Appetit, fix a mess of kale (it turns out I like kale), and do something with

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[naomichana]

Mmmmmmm. That's interesting. Right, in no particular order, an extremely self-centered list (i.e., these are mostly things I like doing, not listening to):

(1) Saying the first prayer of the birchot ha-shahar. "Baaaaaa-RUCH atah Adonai, eloheinu melech ha-olam, natan sekvi vinah [slow down] le-hav-khin [speed up again], ben yom uvein lilah." I like the build-up of "Baruch," I like lingering over and enunciating "le hav-khin" (possibly I just like the puns), I like the feeling that something in my soul has just fit perfectly into place and now I Am Awake. (This is why I like davening Pesukei d'Zimra; I don't always get that feeling when I'm listening to someone else do it.)
(2) A good Eleh ezkerah service on YK afternoon -- can come in a multitude of guises, but must include at least the beginning in Hebrew and must not ignore the ten sages entirely in favor of the Holocaust.
(3) "Etz chayim hi," in that standard tune where you get to go way the heck up on "nashuva." Great tune, great imagery. It was my very favorite thing in the service when I was little, and it still is, even moreso now that I actually know where the last line comes from.
(4) Shabbat evening kiddush with friends and/or family, followed by fresh-baked challah and a nice meal. I enjoy the tunes, but that's not actually the important part for once -- the important part is making Shabbos with people I love.
(5) A rousing group rendition of "Chad Gadya" with both harmony part and sound effects, after a great Seder. (Call me sometime and I'll sing the tune that goes with the harmony part, if you don't know it. It's very easy to pick up.)

And because I think you will appreciate this:
(6) Reading Shir ha-Shirim with my husband. Will be a liturgical moment in several months (although we have to get out of the habit of method-acting the relevant bits before Pesach).

[kassrachel]

re (3) -- that's one of mine, too. I learned last week -- I must have known this once, but I'd long forgotten it -- that my father and I both choose the higher harmony on "nashuva," which pleased me far more than makes rational sense.

And re (6) -- :-) :-) :-)

I look so forward to meeting your husband. He just sounds...right for you, in so many ways. Which is as it should be, really, but apparently not everybody's as lucky as we are. *g*