Bearshorty's musings

Global Giving had a promotion today, right in time for my donation of the month. I didn’t even realize it was first of Nisan until I looked at my little calendar. Timely of Global Giving.

Seven or six years ago I wrote a paper for a graduate seminar on Eileen Power (1889-1940), an prominent medieval economic and social historian who was a major pioneer in women’s history. Maxine Berg wrote a wonderful biography about her called A Woman in History , which I highly recommend. It was my very favorite paper I wrote in all of graduate school; it was a historiographical paper based on Power’s work and a bit about her life too. I realized this morning, as I’m finally tackling writing the women’s history historiography section in one of my chapters, that I can actually use a page of the paper. So I had a lot of fun re-reading the Power paper and being surprised at how well it stands up and that I wrote it. Well, I know I wrote it because it is my prose, but the quality is much higher than I remember.

I finally finished “Ender’s Game” today. Overall, I liked it but I didn’t love it and I can’t point to why on both. My favorite parts about it were psychological methods of training a boy into a commander and Peter and Valentine’s use of the internet to influence the world (very prescient of the author). The battles and games after a while got a bit tedious. The last chapter felt completely out of place – not a surprise, since the author rewrote it later to match the sequels he has written. After looking on Wikipedia about the content of the sequels, I have no desire to read any of them since the plot sounds a bit silly and far-fetched. I think I would have liked the book much more without the second half of the last chapter and “Speaker of the Dead” part.

As we went to post office today to get money orders for the stupid transit visa, we saw so many fallen trees from the weekend storm. Huge large trees, especially large fir trees, just fell down on yards, wires and occasionally houses. The storm really caused some damage.

Purim is tomorrow and it preparation, and to go with whole reading some Bible this year theme, I decided to actually read the Book of Esther. I did a Purim play when I was fifteen and was in a drama club at local YM-YWHA in my sophomore year of high school. I played several roles including the Queen who got her head chopped off. (I got to scream loudly off-stage) So I know the story, but of course, I want to read the actual bible now. There are only 10 chapters, so the book is pretty short and I can just read it all at once, especially since it really reads like a story. And the actual story is probably very different from the play we did anyway. Beside part of Purim is actually reading the story in the evening and in the morning, which I’m technically doing since the sun has already set.

Esther WTF moments of the day:

Queen Vashti is banned from king’s presence and her throne because she disobeyed King Xerxes’s order to show up at his feast so he could “display her beauty”. It was thought by the law council that that disobedience will inspire other women to disobey their husbands, so, of course, she had to go away to set up the example. Nice, King. The gender stuff didn’t bug me in high school but it sure does now. (Actually, I might have played her a bit differently too, and she doesn’t die in the actual Bible anyway.) So the whole deposition was over their masculine pride and, god forbid, should a woman do something she wants.

But, of course, the King is all happy since now he can pick from lots of beautiful virgins. I do like that at least the girls get spa treatments in the harem. Esther had a year worth of “beauty treatments” before she even came to the King for her sex interview. (It just occurs to me that Esther is Mary Sue since everyone likes her upon meeting her, she is just so perfect.)

So the whole trouble with Haman started because Mordecai, Esther’s cousin and guardian would not bow to him. Still, Haman did take his personal dis a bit too far by wanting to kill all Mordecai’s people, namely the Jews. And the King doesn’t even question this, he is like, yes, go kill them since they are different and might not obey me, you don’t even need to put up your own money to do it.

Esther, had to sort of actually disobey the King, by going to see him without a summons from him. After knowing what happened to Vashti, that was actually brave of her. But she did play it smart, by getting into King’s field of vision, so he would request to see her and think it was his idea. I like that when the king can’t sleep he had a book of chronicles of his reign read to him as a bed time story – it sure would put him to sleep. Haman is a bit of a Lockhart too, too full of himself. Chapter 6 is a bit of a farce too – Haman has to give boons to his greatest enemy because he suggested them, thinking it will be for himself. Bible is amusing at times. Esther claims that she is only bothering the King with her request because her people will be destroyed, if they were just sold into slavery, she wouldn’t bother. (Haman thinks – doh!)

Since King’s commands sealed with signet ring could not just be revoked, Mordecai wrote another one that allowed Jews to assemble to defend themselves. Very clever there. And Jews actually kill lots and lots of people, thousands – they weren’t merely spared – funny, that most modern retellings leave this out. And on the next day, after all the killing (they did not take the plunder, though, the Bible is careful to note) there was feasting and rejoicing that we celebrate to this day as the happiest of the Jewish holidays. The end.

My little Jewish calendar with dates and various holiday descriptions tells a slightly different version that makes Haman a bit more evil in claiming divine bows and other details. I’m glad to have actually read the biblical account of it. In the Purim play I did, Esther and Xerxes were portrayed as a grand love story too.

Actually, to me Esther is also a story of how women were limited in their power but also how they used the limited power they had to influence state affairs. Esther was able to plead and change policy and, through her, her cousin Mordecai was appointed as a sort of prime minister. He would not have otherwise gained that position. She gave him control of Haman’s estates after Haman’s execution and Mordecai was able to hear of a plot against the king that he could stop because he came to the gates to check on Esther. I can’t turn off my brain from analyzing all the gender issues in this story. Stupid graduate school!

I should see what movies they made of this – so much drama.

When my universes collide, it is a bit weird. On EW review of last night’s “Caprica” episode, the reviewer began with extensive reference to “Ender’s Game” – a book I got as a gift for New
Year and which is next on my reading queue. I do enjoy these coincidences sometimes.

I wish NBC could show the whole exhibition gala stake at one time. Kim Yu-Na does beautiful movements with her arms when she skates. Plushenko did a great routine as well; he can be artistic when he wants to.

Bobsled men’s outfits are really really tight.

Possession scene in “Order of the Phoenix” is my favorite scene in all Harry Potter movies. Starting with when Sirius calls Harry ‘James’ until Voldemort leaves the ministry – I just have to watch it whenever those scenes are on, like today on ABC. It all works so well and the filmmakers assumes the viewers are intelligent to understand all the points, he doesn’t overstate.

We went to Brooklyn today, to show the girl staying with us Brighton Beach. It is always fun to see the familiar streets through the eyes of people who never saw it before.