Do I, Can I, Should Anyone Believe In Love?

I was asked to write a piece (under 300 words) using the title as a jumping off point. Here's what I came up with, tell me your thoughts...

Do I, Can I, Should Anyone Believe In Love?What is love. It's not a question. Rather it is a reminder. Love is not what we see online or what Victoria's Secret sells us. Love is illusive, ever-changing, a living breathing entity.When I was a child, I didn't think much about love. I loved, yes, but there wasn't a thought behind it. I loved those in my life and they loved me back. I felt it in the warmth of their gaze.As I got older there was the fairytale love. The deep and all encompassing, emotional, even post-coital 'you just made me feel so warm and good' love. But that kind of love burns hot and fast and soon is out.Only as of late have I looked at love as an investment. Not an instant gift with purchase. It's more like layaway or buying a car. You put a deposit in the bank. You may not love them at first sight. You may not love them when they annoy you or leave the toilet seat up or nag you to death... but that is when you make a withdrawal from the account. And every time they kiss you on the forehead so sweetly or remember to buy your favorite cookie or let you take pictures of them when they really aren't into the mood... that's when you make the deposit.I don't know about love at first sight... but I do believe in the bank of love. And I am still looking for a co-signer on my account.

So what are your thoughts? Love at first sight? Should you even believe in love?

Busy Times

Hi blog fans.I am sorry for my lack of posts. I wanted to say hi and let you know that I am still around. I just moved and do not have Internet yet in my new place. Plus all the unpacking and starting a new job. Sheesh! So much going on but I promise to write soon.Just a thought swirling around in my head... New, clean apartment just before Pesach... Do I not eat at home until Pesach to keep it clean and kasher l'pesach? Hum...Good luck on your Passover cleaning!

There Once Was A Girl Named Talia

There once was a girl named Talia.She was born under a full moon,On a very special holiday called Purim,In a leap year, in a month called Adar II.Her early life was filled with laughter and whispers.Tea parties, costume parties, doll parties, and Purim parties.Nothing was ever quite normal for Talia,Always a slight detour just out of the mainstream.Talia embraced her unique life,Just as soon as she figured out how.Her journey was filled with pot holes and misleading signs.She learned the art of retracing her stepsAnd paying attention to details on her journeys.She met many characters along the way,Some so wonderful and some very much less wonderful.A king, a queen, a jester, 5 little princesses,A friend, a lover, a sneaky confidante,A car named CiCi, a ferret named Sammy Davis Jr,A tired, washed out blankie with sage advice to share.Along her journey, she laughed and cried copiously.Sometimes she cried when she laughed...More often, she laughed when she cried.She pierced things (and often threatened to pierce more).She tattooed things (and still threatens to tattoo more).She made people proud.She made people mad.She made people wonder...There once was a girl named Talia.She was born under a full moonOn a very special holiday called PurimIn a leap year, in a month called Adar II.

She now fills her life with laughter but few whispers.Yoga, photography, and writing replacedTea parties, costume parties, and doll parties.

Nothing will replace her Purim parties.

Nothing will ever be quite normal for Talia,She likes to speed and swerve,making a slight detour just out of the mainstream.

Happy 30th birthday to me.

13 Adar II, 5741

The Never Ending Apartment Search As A Metaphor For Life

An igloo built for one (or three small children)I need an apartment. I came home from Israel and have been staying with my folks but this girl is about to turn (cough cough) 30 and needs her space. I love my family and I am so thankful that despite close quarters they were willing to take me in... but I need my space.So I have been on the hunt for an apartment. First I had to get a job. Some level of stability is important, you don't want to get a lease and then not be able to afford it but also apartment complexes and owners frown on giving apartments to people without income. So I found a job. Once I had a contract signed and was sure it was going to pay me... I started looking for an apartment.I found every resource online (have you met me? I am, as a dear friend puts it, an interwebs ninja) and tracked down every locale. I pinpointed the areas I wanted to live in, the price range I wanted to be in, the amenities that were key:Must have: washer and dryer, parking space, be close-ish to work and friendsMust not: be on the first floor, have old fixtures, be in a bad neighborhoodI thought, there has to be a place out there somewhere... within my price range. Every spare second of my day was consumed with the search. I would find places on Craig's List and contact them immediately only to find them gone before I had even seen the post. I would call complexes offering one price online only to find out that when you spoke to them parking was an extra $80 a month, the price was only for the first floor and everything else was $400 more, or they had nothing available until May.What was going on?! Why wasn't my dream place just appearing like I had anticipated? I just couldn't understand... heck, I still can't understand why as I sit in my father's office at my parent's house. The final nail in my apartment coffin came this evening, when I received an email from a place that I had built up in my mind as the perfect place declining my application. It made no sense! I have a stellar rental history, solid income and employment, decent credit, and to top it all off... I WAS HIS ONLY APPLICATION! I don't know why my mini real estate mogul turned me down... I will have to investigate with his consumer reporting agency but what I do know is this... the place was a little on the small side. The kitchen was tiny and you have to be one of those super creative space people (like my friend Morgan at Casa Cullen) to make the living room/dining room space work. But I had convinced myself that since it was in my price range, it had the amenities I wanted, it was in the perfect location for me that it was the right place for me.But what if I was wrong? What if Hashem (G-d) turned me down for this place because The Big G knew that I wasn't going to be happy there? I got tired of looking, I settled for a place that met my surface requirements.Don't we all do that sometimes? Don't we all just want to find the 'right now' solution instead of the right one? We do this in dating, in work, in numerous situations in life. Right now, I am doing that with an apartment. With too many other balls in the air, I decided to stop juggling that one and take the superficially good one I found. G-d said no. In the form of a consumer-reporting agency... but G-d said no.I am a big believer that G-d makes G-d's will known in your life. With little nudges, you can see the right/better/more fruitful path. I am also a big believer that most of us ignore G-d's signs/signals/morse code most of the time and that is how we end up in the crummy situations with 20/20 hindsight.Sometimes life is a seemingly never ending search for the right apartment. The place where you will feel like home and safe. A search that makes you an apartment real estate expert and a very frustrated person. One where you often find yourself ready to pay more than you wanted for less than you wanted... but that rarely works out for the best.You just have to know what you want (w&d, parking space) and what you don't (first floor, old fixtures) and how much you are willing to give of yourself in exchange for it. And if you sacrifice on those details, it may work out... or you may come to resent your home space and be stuck with it for the next 11 months of your lease.

2010 in review

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here's a high level summary of its overall blog health:Healthy blog!The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

Featured imageA Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 5,200 times in 2010. That's about 13 full 747s. In 2010, there were 113 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 157 posts. There were 137 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 108mb. That's about 3 pictures per week.The busiest day of the year was September 17th with 917 views. The most popular post that day was We have to walk?! Where?.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were twitter.com, wordpress.com, facebook.com, taliashewrote.blogspot.com, and frumsatire.net.Some visitors came searching, mostly for ransom note generator, zeev orenstein, talia she wrote, funny ransom note generator, and france after ww1.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

We have to walk?! Where? September 201056 comments and 12 Likes on WordPress.com

2

About Talia July 20103 comments

3

The Laws of Sukkah According to Dr. Seuss September 20107 comments and 2 Likes on WordPress.com

4

Totoro goes to Israel September 2010

5

Zivug vs Beshert October 20102 comments

Great Dectective Radio Shows Online

I think we know by now that I am obsessive about Sherlock Holmes and the classic versions of them on the radio.Well, since I have been in Israel, I have found a really great podcast on iTunes that offers a huge selection of the best detective stories from old radio online. Great Detectives of Old Time Radio has a knowledgeable host and extensive archives. I have listened to most of his Holmes podcasts and have started enjoying others, like Let George Do It and The Thin Man. I definitely recommend checking it out on iTunes or his blog. He even has an iPhone app.One of my favorite parts of the old shows is the old commercials. Petri wine, Clipper Craft Clothes, Kreml Hair Tonic for Men, Bromo Quinine, Washington Coffee... It is so cool and to hear their calls for war bonds and victory gardens... it transports you to the past. Very cool.

Lightning Bolt...

A lightning bolt hit me tonight and boy was that inconvenient. Really, lightning? While I am trying to take a quick nap? Arggh...The upside of this odd weather pattern was the insane flow of words that flew out of my brain and hands...More to come.

Stunning pictures

Recently, my friend posted a link to some amazing pictures that were enhanced using HDR techniques. It has gotten me interested in playing with some of my photos using this technology. I haven't tried yet but here are a few from the site. The Denver image isn't the coolest on the website but it's cool that Denver got included. And here is another fav... MonacoYou can find more here - Copy and Paste BlogMaybe I will do one of Jerusalem...

Ode to an Empty Apartment

Stolen and modified from Ode to a Tree. My weak attempt at poetry (and humor).Ode to an Empty ApartmentI think that I shall never seeAn empty apartment by me.An apartment whose open door is wideFor all to come and look inside;A home from where I did look at G-d all day,A place where I used  to live and pray;An apartment that does in Summer wearMany nests of pigeons in her hair;A roof under which my head has lain;Who so gallantly shielded me from the rain.Poems are made for fools like me,But clearly only G-d can make an empty apartment.- Talia DavisOde to a TreeI think that I shall never seeA poem lovely as a tree.A tree whose hungry mouth is prestAgainst the earth's sweet flowing breast;A tree that looks at God all day,And lifts her leafy arms to pray;A tree that may in Summer wearA nest of robins in her hair;Upon whose bosom snow has lain;Who intimately lives with rain.Poems are made by fools like me,But only God can make a tree.-- Joyce Kilmer