Peace in the Middle East?

I was speaking to a friend tonight. Here's how our conversation went...Him: How's the middle east? You get peace yet?Me: Not yet. It's pretty damn warm though... maybe that's why they are all so irritable...Him: True.Anybody think of handing out air con's and THEN holding peace talks?(this is totally j/k, I know air conditioning can't solve 5000 years of conflict)

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

Packing up is a hard thing to do

Note: Inspired by my friend Erin over at Dec-O-Blog, I have decided to post my adventures from the start, despite the fact that I am already at one major end destination. Follow the fun!Probably the worst experience in my whole world was packing up my apartment for storage and packing to live in Israel for 5 months and packing to be driving for 4 days and 7 days in NYC. Now I know what you are thinking, "Duh, Talia, packing ALWAYS sucks!" Yes, you are right. Packing always sucks. This just sucked harder. What goes into storage? What goes to Israel? Oh crap, I don't have enough room for that to go to Israel. No more boxes, just shove stuff into bags... it was madness. In fact, I had hoped to take pictures to post of this whole process but I was just so overwrought, I couldn't deal with that.Finally, on Sunday the August 15, my very wonderful and dear friend Ben joined me to get my truck. Then the very nice movers came and helped me move everything into a Uhaul and then into my parent's basement. Note to my readers: Uhaul has a great service on their website that helps you find movers to help you pack, unpack, load, uload, and/or clean. I highly suggest this to EVERYONE! In Denver it is only $15 per person per hour. I hired two guys for three hours and it was well worth it. (Read: no carrying things down three flights of stairs.) Not to say I didn't walk my butt off on those stairs but it was great. I gave my brother all my non-perishables (rice, beans, pasta, quinoa, etc) and my parents all the rest of my food, ziplocs, foil, cleaning supplies etc. I have always been a horder when it comes to that stuff. I am always worried that I won't find it on sale again so I make sure I am stocked up... hence, a lot of crap to move.The next step was packing for Israel. I thought I had this under control but... no... not even close. When a fourth of what I had planned to take filled up my allotted two suitcases, I knew I was in trouble and in true Talia fashion, I freaked out and called my parents. I hate doing this stuff alone! My mom's sage words of advice were this - throw it all into trash bags and get it to our house, we will help you sort it out. After a few late night trips back to the apartment with and without my mom to finish the last minute stuff and clean the place, I ended up sweaty and dirty at my parent's house ready for a shower... such was not my luck. My step-mom, in her truly brilliant-ness had us all stay up until nearly 3am sorting out the things for Israel until it became a manageable pile. Then shower and bed. WHEW!The next day was more sorting and picking then running around and helping my brother. Oh didn't I mention? He was moving too... to NYC. Yeah, good planning! :) So we got our rental minivan and loaded his stuff up. That night, my father (who is the king of packing) helped me roll my clothes and with the assistance of many space bags, I managed to get my necessaries into two checked bags at 50lbs and one rolling carry-on and one backpack! WHEW! YAY! Then they got shoved into the minivan and we slept.During this whole process I really realized how much I have in my life, not only to be thankful for the good fortune to have things but also that there are many things I am sure I don't need. My Israeli wardrobe consists of a lot less than all I own and a LOT less shoes. It is hard to part with it all but we will see where I stand in January. I imagine it will be a nice homecoming to my closet!Now I know some of you are wondering, Talia, how in the world are you going to manage it when you come home and have a bunch of Israeli purchases?! Here is the answer... much of what I brought will stay here. I am sure I will wear out some clothing but mainly, I brought comfort things for the dorms here. There are none or few hangers, a very hard bed, and no towels. Here's what I brought that will be left here:

  1. twin sized jersey sheets (the soft material) - I don't own a twin sized bed anymore
  2. mattress pad with a bit of cushion
  3. egg crate pad for the bed
  4. two old towels (I have literally had them since camp in middle school)
  5. a bunch of old wash cloths
  6. a small bath mat/rug for near my bed
  7. toiletries
    1. shampoo & conditioner
    2. face wash
    3. body wash
    4. toothpaste
    5. lotions
    6. hand soap

Pretty much... I think I might have an empty suitcase on the way back to fill with goodies! No, really, I know you must be thinking that is excessive but when I arrived in Israel it was the nicest thing to have familiar sheets, a soft bed, and toiletries. And I don't mind leaving it for others who might want or need it here. :)Well, there is part 1 of my trip. Look for part 2 tomorrow... The Sibling Drive(ry)!

Arrived in Israel!

Very exciting, I have arrived in Israel!! Thank G-d, I am finally here and getting settled. It is kinda crazy and definitely a new experience.I apologize for the lack of blogs but will fix that soon... just need to get settled and rested!Shalom for Eretz Yisrael!

On the road

My brother and I are on the road to NYC right now... A nice brother/sister road trip before I leave for Israel. Don't have much time or energy to write right now but once we land in NYC, I promise to update. And be ready... there is a special friend joining the adventure!Before I leave you, we stopped in Cincinnati today to visit my great grandparents' internment, their home from 70 years ago (I have a picture of my Nanny (great grandma) holding my dad as a baby on that porch and that is where they told her that my mom was pregnant with me), and the archives of correspondence, pictures, and writing that they donated to the American Jewish Archives at the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. It was pretty incredible.Here are some photos we took today -

Drumroll please...

It's been approved. I just received this touching email from the dean and my department -So warm and kind...THIS IS AN AUTOMATIC MESSAGEYour Capstone Project has been approved by your department.CONGRATULATIONS on your accomplishment!University College************************************

Student Name: Davis, TaliaSchool: University CollegeDepartment: Organiz & Prof CommunicationDegree Name:  Master of Professional StudiesType: CapstoneTHIS IS AN AUTOMATIC EMAIL NOTIFICATION

The Final and Official Iteration of My Capstone

Well.... here it is folks! The final edition of my Capstone. After an intense 10 weeks of writing and then 4 weeks prior of writing the proposal, it is complete.Here is an excerpt from the paper -

Abstract Social media and inbound marketing have been on the receiving end of muchhype in the past five years. Due to the rapid growth of Internet usage,companies find themselves needing to stay current and develop newmarketing tactics. This is especially true for companies whose product is thecontent they deliver electronically through their Web site. The initial depictionof online social media marketing as an easy and cheap/free solution hasproven to be inaccurate. Many companies find themselves lacking for a wayto measure successes with these new tactics that provides an accuratepicture of the success or failure of their online initiatives. This study surveyedconsumer behavior and evaluated extensive historical analytics with theobject of finding a uniform way to measure success. However, the outcomeproves that as of yet there are no definitive measurement tactics but thereare clear best practices to capitalize on success.

If you are interested in reading it in it's full 57 page glory, use this link - Talia Davis CapstoneI welcome feedback and you are welcome to use parts of it as long as it is attributed to me!

Family in all it's glory

This past long weekend I visited my aunt, uncle, cousins, and grandmother in Kansas with my family. We wanted to squeeze a visit in to my grandmother before both my brother and I go off on our adventures. It was an incredible visit. I enjoyed seeing the younger cousins growing up and, as my aunt pointed out with the older ones, the age difference doesn't see quite so huge as we get older (though 30 and 15 are still quite different!).Seeing grandma was heart-wrenching in the best way possible. In fact, just writing that sentence and I got a lump in my throat and started tearing up. My relationship with my father's mother is fairly unique, even in relation to my brother and cousins. You see, I was the first grandchild and for the first six or so years of my life, we lived in the same house with my grandparents. One of my very first memories in my entire lifetime was being not quite two, in my great grandmother's room with my grandpa, grandma, and father the day she died. From my first breath, we were all a family. No lines were drawn between generations. We were all one. On my hardest days I find myself pulling on the memories of us all in that giant house in White Plains, New York. The deck out back where I would swim in a baby pool, the dining room and dining room table where I stole freshly washed grapes laid out to dry, hitting my head on the marble table my uncle hit his head on when he was little, the double attics where my small part of the family lived, feeding the ants on the sidewalk out front with grandma, getting into trouble with my faux 2 year old boyfriend Ricky, stuffing freshly made meringue cookies in my mouth illicitly, or planting MY garden grandma had made for me where the concrete path had cracked. For me, that time in my life is the touchstone. Nothing else ever lived up to the idyllic days of White Plains.Grandparents (both sides... I was the first grandkid all around) were best friends. So losing them has been some of the hardest moments in my lifetime. I remember each one. I remember losing Nanny too (great grandma). And (shhh don't tell) I still talk to them.So this weekend was pretty hard. I came home feeling brittle. Just talking to me could break me. I am straddling this line of adulthood and adventure with the want and need to crawl into grandma's lap and be 3 again.However, despite the difficulties, there were so many joys. My nephew turning 13, watching Mimi and Jonathan interact as very independent 8 year olds, being the passenger for 15 year old Zahava while she drove, and interacting with everyone as an adult. My Aunt Kay and I discovered we were kindred genealogical souls. We both love genealogy and have joined forces to fill out our family trees. It is all so exciting. We made so many discoveries this weekend and it was twice as good having each other to share it with. We found pictures of great great grandparents and lots of papers. But at this moment, I find myself staring at a ring. It was part of what I was given this weekend. My Nanny's college ring. Rose Hentel Cronbach, class of 1914. I remember the day I said, "She's in my heart, poppa," when she died. She's in my heart and on my hand and always with me.Family is just amazing.