The Scribbler

2007 eh? What a year. I always find it quite a challenge to think back over the previous eleven months. January 2007 seems like such a distant world. The only thing I really remember from that time is the execution of Saddam Hussein. Isn't that tragic? Isn't it sad that I lived through thirty one days of a month and I only remember one horrific moment. It gets worse. I remember February primarily because of our trip to Eilat - and that's it. Then again, it is a more pleasant memory. I suppose I should remember this year because it was the last one I lived through before crashing into the ginormous 4 0. It hasn't been an easy annum either. I endured a lot of shit in my last school and although I am much happier, I'm also much more hassled and stressed, trying to keep up with the crushing workload. I take this all in my stride because I hope that the next academic year will be easier, granted that I will have been in my current post for a full year. So what do I hop...

EU CONDEMNS PALESTINIAN CHEMICALS SMUGGLING DISGUISED AS HUMANITARIAN AID The European Union on Sunday condemned a Palestinian attempt to smuggle chemicals used to make explosives into Gaza by marking it as humanitarian aid from the European Commission. An EU official called the act detrimental for the Palestinians and said, "If this was an attempt to misuse the name of the EU or European Commission it would be an isolated criminal act and we condemn it." The comments were made after the IDF released a statement on Sunday saying that a truck carrying 6.5 tons of potassium nitrate, a banned substance that can be used to manufacture explosives and Qassam rockets, was discovered at a border crossing in the West Bank. The IDF statement noted that the chemicals were disguised in sugar bags that were marked as humanitarian aid provided by the EU. A photo of the bags showed a white sack with black print on it reading "EEC 2 Sugar Exported from EU". The EU official said ...

What is it about the lust for power that made an intelligent person like Benazir Bhutto end her eight year exile in relative safety, ultimately to leave this earth in a pool of her own blood? It is not as though she didn't know she was living on borrowed time. No sooner had she arrived back in Pakistan, than an attempt was made on her life. So why stay? Why risk the most important thing she had? Was gaining power worth it? I just can't understand her reasoning for coming back and staying. She could have gone back into exile and called it a day for her political career - I don't think she had would have had a problem finding a job. However, she stayed, knowing she was a target. Its a no-brainer. So another world leader succumbs to the lethal vanity of power and her death ends up being another statistic to add to the over-bloodied board of political assassinations. Forget the simplistic adage about power corrupting. In plain and simple words - it kills.

I'm going to cut to the chase and reveal that I absolutely loved this movie. Rarely has a film lived up to its title, but the entire affair is truly enchanting, from beginning to end. The acting is fabulous, the songs (especially the Central Park number) captivating, the characterisations....what more can I say except.... GO SEE THIS MOVIE!!! Really, please don't miss it - it is a gem. My Rating *****

I would like to wish all my Christian friends and visitors to this site a very spiritual and meaningful Xmas. May you celebrate the day in peace, within the bosom of your family and may your prayers of peace for all mankind, be gracious to the good Lord whom we all look up to for guidance over the next twelve months. Thank you most sincerely for supporting this site through thick and thin over the last three-and-a-half years.

FROM: Pauline Lewis, Human Resources Director TO: All Employees DATE: 4th November RE: Christmas Party I'm happy to inform you that the company Christmas Party will take place on December 23rd, starting at noon in the private function room at the Grill House. There will be a cash bar and plenty of drinks! We'll have a small band playing traditional carols...please feel free to sing along. Exchange of gifts among employees can be done at that time; however, no gift should be over $10.00 to make the giving of gifts easy for everyone's pockets. This gathering is only for employees! The Managing Director will make a special announcement at the Party. Merry Christmas to you and your Family. Pauline ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FROM: Pauline Lewis, Human Resources Director TO: All Employees DATE: 5th November RE: Holiday Party In no way was yesterday's memo intended to exclude our Jewish employees. We recognize that Hanukkah is an important hol...

I'm really not quite sure what to make of Tony Blair's conversion to Roman Catholicism. On the one hand, I believe it is perfectly within his right to take on whatever religion he wants. At the end of the day, he has the freedom to choose his own spiritual path. Saying that, I very much hope that that he embraces a more modern interpretation of Catholicism - the kind which doesn't blame the Jews for the death of Christ (as per the last two millennia ) I also believe it most uncharitable of people to call him a hypocrite for his past views. Maybe it's my Jewish sensibilities, but we hold that when one moves up the spiritual ladder, as Mr Blair is undoubtedly doing, the rest of us do everything to encourage him/her and at the same time, avoid bringing up past decisions and actions. Why shoot someone down when they are trying to reach a higher spiritual plane (assuming that their aim is to avoid becoming a fundamentalist and as a result, taking on homicidal intent)? I wi...

I get daily emails from Memri , the Middle East Research Institute , whose raison - d'etre is to provide accurately translated English texts of articles in the Arab media, for the non-Arabic speaking world to read. Many of their reports provide a fascinating insight into a media that many of us feel secluded from, not least because our Arabic isn't exactly up to scratch. With this in mind, I felt it important to reproduce the email that was sent to me today, so that it receives some more exposure in the blogging world that many of us seem to be inhabiting. "Saudi Academic: "Muslim Organizations, Leaders Must Condemn Terrorism – Our Enemies Are Translating Statements of Each and Every [Islamic] Scholar, Imam, and Charity Spokesman" Articles in the Arab press repeatedly warn about MEMRI's monitoring of the Arab media, and call on the media not only to moderate extremist statements but also to condemn terrorists and their supporters in no uncertain terms. In a...

No, the title isn't a misprint. Imagine you were looking at me right now (a frightful thought I know). If you were, you would see a face that's been through the scholastic wars. My nose is blocked, my throat went on holiday about a week ago, but was kind enough to leave me with a voice and my eyes are so darkened by their dark southern pockets, that I've started wondering if I'll ever resemble any member of my family. Yes folks. I've survived the first fifteen weeks (or is that weaks) at my new school. However, it hasn't been too bad. In fact, at times, I've even had some fun. The work is at times crushing, the kids, often even more so, but I'm kind of addicted to the place. I don't know why I work so damn so hard, but I feel that it's something I just have to do. Am I making any sense? I am definitely going to do my best to enjoy this holiday and proverbially chill out. I have a lot of take-home work, but I point-blank refuse to let it get in t...

Firstly, an apology/explanation. I know that I haven't been posting here for quite a while. I will give you an honest excuse (something that teachers have to believe all the time...) but I really do not have the time during the school term to sit down and start writing blogs. Last week, I was so busy that I didn't check my email for three days. That said, I haven't and will not forget you guys and gals. Please keep checking back, because I do update this site, albeit less frequently than previously. With the holidays coming up, I plan to write in more often. To make up for all of this, I present you with the following, text of which you've probably already seen, but I'll stick it on anyway: WHAT TEACHERS MAKE wow! The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life. One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education. He argued, "What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teache...

I'm conducting a totally unscientific (but highly appropriate) experiment. I want you to put your hand up if you believe that Iran stopped it's nuclear reactor program back in 2003? You can put your hand down now-if it is raised. Please put your hand up if you think that the so-called declaration that the Iranians were no longer involved in their missile program, had less to do with concrete fact and more to do with saving the last vestiges of President Bush's rapidly diminishing credibility? Do you feel sort of silly sitting there scaring at a screen, with your hand in the air? It's OK , you're in good company. I really don't know what the Americans are up to. If they were hoping to pull off some sort of vanishing trick (e.g. the disappearance of tangible evidence that the program is no longer operational), they should have looked to aping David Copperfield, instead of the late, lamented Tommy Cooper (a British magician who had a knack of botching every trick...

I have decided to make life a smidgen easier for you. If you have difficulty remembering the URL or web address of this site, you can type in http://tinyurl.com/226bhf and you'll get here just as quick. The choice is yours. www.cwscribbles.blogspot.com or http://tinyurl.com/226bhf Now don't say I don't spoil you.

I really didn't know what the day had in store. Before Shabbat (the Sabbath) came in, she gave me my birthday present, an incredible JVC digital camcorder, which I can't wait to use (and which I spent the Sabbath day reading about in the instruction manual). We were invited to a very special evening at the local synagogue, where the youth movement my daughters attend on Shabbat , Bnei Akiva , were holding a Friday night dinner. All went well until I popped out and came back to be greeted by the host asking if anyone was celebrating their birthday on the next day and when inevitably, my name came up, 150 people sang me Happy Birthday. I refused to tell them how old I was (despite everyone there knowing). The spectacle was repeated on a smaller scale in the little kids service that I helped to run this morning. I still didn't let on to my age, singing ("you already know") to the familiar refrain. All well and good. Dana had a special surprise when I came home. I ...

1. I'll be entering my fifth decade, nuff said about that one. 2. Twenty year olds will look at me mockingly. 3. I'll be the same age as John Lennon - when he was shot. 4. Next year, I'll be nine years away from 50. 5. Prostate problems. Need I expand on that one? 6. I'll never be able to put a 3 before my age. Depressing or what? 7. My friends who aren't yet 40 will have a good laugh at my expense. 8. My middle age spread will keep on heading east. 9. My wife and children won't let me forget my age, even if I try. 10. 50 year olds will tell me how lucky I am to be only 40, which sounds like a compliment but isn't one. 11. My libido will face new challenges. 12. I can forget having any fantasies about gorgeous young models. I might be 40, but I don't want to be a "dirty old man" 13. I'll start having to care about my pension. 14. I'll start longing for the 80's. which is frankly embarrassing. 15. My hair is black right now - but for...

Israel beat Russia 2-1 in the Euro 2008 qualifier. Yessssssssssssssssssssssssssss!

In 2000, France2, a highly respected news organisation broadcast the infamous footage of 12 years old Mohammed al-Dura, a Palestinian child, being supposedly shot dead by Israel as he cowered next to his father. It had been shot by a Palestinian cameraman. The footage was of course seen around the world and Israel was, as usual, blamed for this "act of barbarity" against Palestinian children. Case closed. As a result of this incident, countless Israelis were butchered in numerous suicide attacks. Mohammed Al-Dura became a THE icon of the second intifada. His "martyrdom" was burned into the minds of little Palestinian children, who were told that Mohammed Al-Dura was a symbol of Israeli brutality. However, it wasn't that clear-cut. An independant and thorough investigation was launched by the Israelis, which includee a ballistics check and it was found that the boy could not have been killed by the Israelis. If he had been killed at all. Fast forward seven years ...

Dassi has managed to do it again. She scored 92% in her maths test and she's absolutely bowled me over in the pride stakes. As someone who just about managed to scrape a "C" at 'O' Level arithmetic (and that was with a lot of help), I can only quiver in admiration and respect at her astounding score. As the proper Jewish thing to do, with a result like that, I'm writing this blog to let everyone to know that she's my daughter - not that I had anything to do with her maths chromosome. Blame her mother for that.

NEW DELHI (AP) -- A man in southern India married a female dog in a traditional Hindu ceremony in a bid to atone for stoning two dogs to death, a newspaper reported Tuesday. P Selvakumar, left, garlands his "bride," Selvi. The 33-year-old man married the sari-draped dog at a temple in the southern state of Tamil Nadu on Sunday after an astrologer said it was the only way to cure himself of a disability, the Hindustan Times newspaper reported. P. Selvakumar told the paper that he had been suffering since he stoned two dogs to death and strung them up in a tree 15 years ago. "After that my legs and hands got paralyzed and I lost hearing in one ear," the paper quoted him as saying. Family ...

Reading the news today, between the shooting in a Finnish school and Iran about to go nuclear (not forgetting the bloodbath in Afghanistan ), one can understand that there isn't much to smile about. Whereas I am just as glum as the next person (and I really am), there is only one piece of news that makes me even more depressed than any of the above. In less than a month, I am going to be forty years old. OH MY G-D. To make things worse, by an almost sadistic twist of fate, both my Hebrew and Gregorian birthdays fall on exactly the same day of the week that I was born - Shabbat . I was born on Friday night, 1st December, corresponding with the 29 th day of the month of Cheshvan , which just happens to fall tomorrow night. If that weren't bad enough, my birthday will fall this year on Saturday/ Shabbat . Do you think the good Lord is trying to give me a message here? I am depressed. How the hell did I find myself on the threshold of my fifth decade? I mean, sod it, according to ...

My experience of Facebook has to date been only positive. Every now and again I am contacted (or find) a person (usually a school friend) with whom I haven't been in touch with for ages, sometimes even decades. Living inside your own little bubble that is your life, one tends to forget that everyone else is also inhabiting their CO2 universe, merrily bubbling along the timeline of their existence. People change. We all do but we often forget that others are still around, eking out their existence in totally different circumstances than your own. Yes, there are similarities as many have gone through university, got married and taken on the parental roles that we now all seem to wonder how we ever lived without. Others have chosen different paths, but still we are all the same age as you, facing many of the same challenges that life seems to enjoy throwing your way. Before you realise it, it is twenty years since you saw so-and-so and that he or she didn't stay the same, as thou...

How to Make a Woman Happy It's not difficult to make a woman happy. A man only needs to be: 1. a friend 2 a companion 3. a lover 4. a brother 5. a father 6. a master 7. a chef 8. an electrician 9. a carpenter 10. a plumber 11. a mechanic 12. a decorator 13. a stylist 14. a sexologist 15. a gynecologist 16. a psychologist 17. a pest exterminator 18. a psychiatrist 19. a healer 20. a good listener 21. an organizer 22. a good father 23. very clean 24. sympathetic 25. athletic 26. warm 27. attentive 28. gallant 29. intelligent 30. funny 31. creative 32. tender 33. strong 34. understanding 35. tolerant 36. prudent 37. ambitious 38. capable 39. courageous 40. determined 41. true 42. dependable 43. passionate 44. compassionate WITHOUT FORGETTING TO: 45. give her compliments regularly 46. love shopping 47. be honest 48. be very rich 49. not stress her out 50. not look at other girls AND AT THE SAME TIME, YOU MUST ALSO: 51. give her lots of attention, but expect little...

I guess you could call it one of those "unknowns". Tomorrow, I will be starting the second part of this term at the school and I really don't know what lies ahead. I'll be spending the next twelve hours or so preparing, marking and recording in the naive belief (or maybe hope) that I will have adequately covered myself for the next five days. I could go down the road of panicking and chewing my nails off their petrified little fingers, but I choose to face each day as a new challenge and deal with the mass of obstacles as they hurtle towards me at meteoric speed. I know that whatever I do, it probably won't be enough, but that's the nature of the beast we call 'teaching in the earliest part of the twenty-first century'. The paperwork is endless, the deadlines often so close that you can almost touch them with your nose and the expectations higher than the nearest star. That said, I wake up each day with a sort of smile, knowing that I will meet all of ...

The Government of Israel have finally started to think clearly vis -a- vis a way in which to deal sensibly with the ongoing aggressive and totally pointless rocket attacks on her civilians from within Gaza. She could go down the route of bombing the people to hell, which would only exacerbate the situation, but instead she is doing something that I've heard countless people suggest to me over the last few months - cutting off all power to the Gazans . After all, since Israel supplies all the electricity, why should they put up with being rewarded with missiles and rockets raining down on their kindergartens and shopping centres? Of course, you can bet your bottom dollar that the same people who said nothing when Israelis were being bombarded, will be first in line to brand the Government " in humanitarian ". Frankly though, I don't care. The Gazans voted Hamas in and although Fatah are behind the attacks (which is all the more interesting granted that they are c...

Three thousand, six hundred and fifty two days ago, something very special happened to me- I became a father for the very first time. I didn't know what it was like to be a father. I had always been the son and grandson. This was a new status, a new place to be in. What does a father do? What does he feel like? What can he do to make sure he doesn't screw up someone else's life? What rules must he follow to get it right? All these questions had no answers and in a way, still don't. Dassi though, made some of the answers easier to work out. From Day One, she was a free spirit, an independent little person who knew exactly what she wanted. She could fight her corner but at the same time, show incredible generosity to everyone around her. She knew how to answer back, but not in a childish, selfish fashion. Dassi was going to be special and we all knew it. One hundred and twenty months later, we celebrate her explosion into our little world on this very day. I don't th...

I was happy to help the wife out this morning by taking the kids into school. However, having coped with truly horrendous traffic on the way there coupled with finding the holy grail that is parking place in the school car park and running out of time , I have decided to give the school run a miss and pick the kids up in the afternoon instead. I came home from the experience, almost having forgotten that I was on ho lid ay .

That bastion, so unique to the teaching profession is upon us again. Half term is back. Most of you who read this are not teachers and probably of the opinion that we get far too many holidays. Those of you who do subscribe to this point of view could be termed as being "envious" or "jealous", but I'll be kind and just title you as "understandably ignorant". You see, seven weeks in the the teaching profession, is akin to about three months in every other sphere of work, taking into account the kind of crap we have to deal with from some of our young people, the needless amounts of extraneous paperwork the Government heaps upon us and the general exhaustion that seems to envelop us as we go about doing our thing . I love teaching and wouldn't do anything else. Period. I also appreciate the fact that every seven to eight weeks, the education system in this country allows me (and my students) to take a breather, re-focus my attention on doing the job...

To my delight, I've found myself in the enviable position of being to go off to Israel for a few days in February to attend the wedding of a family friend. I was last in mainland Israel (we'll discount the trip to Eilat , which though wonderful, wasn't really "Israel") in 1998 and I've been longing to go back since. Ten years is a long time to be apart from one's dearest love. The added bonus is that I get to take Michal with me, so that she'll (please G-d) be the first of my children I will be able to take to the Kotel (Western Wall) - which as you know, has a very special place in my heart, granted that I was there In- Vitro and then, thirteen years later, for my bar mitzvah . I have long dreamed to be able to share my beloved Kotel with four of the most important people in my life. This evening, I booked the tickets. Suddenly, the winter doesn't seem too foreboding because it is always wonderful to have a little light at the end of a cold wint...

As some of you have commented, this little corner of the web has been awfully quiet of late. You're not wrong. I guess that work is taking over my life, or has been for the last few weeks and I've not really had the chance to do much thinking - well, of the reflective kind anyway. Saying that, I guess that, ironically, in the words of the great Paul Simon, I could probably be accused of thinking too much. I wish I didn't analyse everything so much, dammit. I wish that I could get on with my life, just like every other shmoe. It would be so much better if I didn't do so much thinking. Why all this? Why the downbeat tone? Maybe it's because now, I've got the time to think/consider/analyse/reflect. Maybe, it's better when I don't have the time to do any of the above. I don't "think" it does me much good.

Think about it. There aren't that many people in your life whom you can honestly say you really love. Maybe if you're lucky, you can count them on the fingers of one hand and if you're super-blessed, two. And that's it. My paternal grandfather is one of those precious fingers. Today was his yartzheit or anniversary of his death in the Hebrew calendar, going back exactly twenty eight years. I still remember the terrible moment on that criminally early Shabbat morning when the telephone rang and my late grandmother, New York based, sobbed out the news to my shell-shocked father. I still remember the feeling of how unfair it was that this wonderful man, one of the only two men in my life whom I truly loved (the other being his son) had gone and left me, but a year before my bar- mitzvah , something that he was so looking forward to. I still remember receiving the haunting gift of a beautiful fleeced jacket, only days after his sudden death, through the post - and not w...

I'm really delighted to write that at last, the marathon of festivals is finally over! I know they say that you can't get too much of a good thing but I beg to differ on this one. Yes, it was lovely to be able to sleep guiltlessly in the afternoon in the middle of the week. Yes, it was wonderful to spend so much time with the family and get to know my children really well (without a single major row throughout) Yes, I thoroughly enjoyed socialising with my friends and humming along to some beautiful Synagogue-centred tunes... ...but, enough is enough! I'm looking forward to re-starting my five-day week on Monday in the knowledge that I don't have to spend the next two days worrying about how I will plan cover lessons for classes that I've hardly taught. I'm excited about using the lessons I don't teach in (on Thursday and Friday - the days that I've been off) to mark the work, thereby making my evening workload lighter and finally, I'm really excite...

I've managed to make it through 3/4 of the festivals and I'm really looking forward to hitting the "normality track". We've got another bonanza of food, synagogue, sleep, friends and intensive family time and that's it, for another year. I wouldn't mind it so much if I didn't find it so difficult to balance this existence with my schoolwork. My colleagues might think that I'm having a ball taking all of these days off (which for the most, I'm not being paid for), but they probably don't realise that our (Jewish) idea of a religious holiday isn't exactly the "holiday" that many would understand to be, in the conventional sense of the word. I am taking time off, but at no point in that religious endeavour, am I able to plan for school. At no time can I sit and prepare lessons. Whereas ordinarily, I have some free periods to plan and sort myself out, I have found myself fighting to clear some time to sit and do the work I so nee...

Can some please explain to me how a racist thug like Ahmadinejad can step foot on US soil? What the hell is he doing at the UN anyway? This is a man who continues to openly call for the annihilation of another member state and the deaths of millions of people, whilst developing nuclear weapons for the sole purpose of carrying out his fascist agenda. We won't even talk about how Columbia University could be so incredibly stupid as to allow him the platform to address its students. If the UN has a crumb of credibility left (UN + credibility = oxymoron if ever there was one), it should impose a statutory ban on his coming anywhere near its offices. It is absolutely disgraceful behaviour by everyone concerned.

I have just seen this film and I am absolutely speechless. I think it could be one of the best thrillers I've ever seen (and I've seen a lot ). The acting is perfect, the set pieces (particularly the chase through the market), jaw-dropping and the script, as sharp as the shards of glass that almost fly out of the screen at you every quarter of an hour or so. In one word... stunning. My Rating *****

It's been two days since I got "the twinge" and I'm beginning to wonder if it was more of a message from my brain, recommending me to pace myself and calm down. I am spending most of my waking days doing something school related, be it planning lessons, thinking about planning lessons, wondering whether my lessons are being properly planned, de-constructing the lesson after the planning has gone awry and basically living between classes. It's got so bad that I'd convinced myself from the moment I woke up that today was Thursday. Please don't ask me why. Just remind me that it is still Wednesday. It's not that I'm getting anal about teaching (well, ok yeah, I probably am), I just really want to do the very best I can in my new job, aware that next week, I'll be off for two days again for Sukkot and then, a week later, for another two days. I have just about caught up from the two days I lost over Rosh Hashanah (well, really three, because I did...

I remember the exact moment when I got the twinge. I was in the corridor at the start of break this morning and I'd just taught my Year 12's (A Level class). Suddenly, I got the twinge that told me everything was ok and I'd finally found my feet in the new school. How can one describe that moment of satisfaction, when you know that you've made it through the turmoil that accompanies a new job? It's like, you know know that you're going to be ok. You feel in control of the situation for the very first time. You are aware that although you're still the new boy (or girl) but you can do it - you will make your mark and be part of the team. Whatever it was, I got the twinge, felt wonderful inside and made my way confidently to the Staff Room. I'd finally arrived.

It's probably not best form to begin the new year with an apology, but this is the first time I believe, in the history of this blog, that I have not wished you all a Shanah Tovah (Happy New Year). Of course I have an excuse! I really, genuinely, honestly was too busy to get onto this blog in time to get that wish out to you. My new school is great and the workload is even greater, which I'm not complaining about...enough carping, Happy New Year already! It's been a busy festival, with lots of people coming and going, coming and staying, staying and going. Three days in and I've finally had the time to read my 117 emails (is that a lot?) and answer the ones that have been sitting there, waiting for the right moment , if that's how you can describe it. The one advantage of having the festival and shabbat together are that, at least I have Sunday to regain my composure and face the working week with some sort of plan. And finally, to my Muslim readers, in case you are...

I'll start with that rarest of things (at least for me), namely an apology. A number of people who read this blog have approached me and asked me how the new job is panning out. I know I should have followed the original posts with updates, but honestly, I came back so tired from work, that I didn't have the will to compose any reports. In short, I am really happy in my new school. The students line up outside the door to my classroom (yes, my classroom) quietly instead of rushing in like a pack of deranged beasts and then, to my utter delight, stand , yes STAND(!!) behind their chairs and wait until I tell them to be seated. These students are actually listening to my instructions. When I tell them to switch their monitors off, they do what I ask. I don't find myself having to wait for fifteen minutes until they can be bothered to be quiet, they do something that I've been longing to experience for two years - they show an interest, in fact, a very keen interest, in w...

I wrote my first blog today "before" I had gone into school and so, I feel it only fair to bookmark that entry with an "after" statement. It has been a long, tiring but ultimately satisfying day. The people I will work with seem very pleasant and although I did feel, at times, quite overwhelmed by everything, I guess that this is par for the course. We have another INSET day tomorrow, in which I will be able to crystallize in my mind, exactly what I will be teaching and to whom (we start lessons on Wednesday)...well that's the idea. I'm the new kid on the block and I can see that I will need to hit the ground running. It won't be the first or last time this has happened and I just have to prove that I'm up to the tasks that will be thrown at me over the next few days, weeks and yes, months.

Well friends, I guess this is it. After six weeks, I'm finally returning to work and a whole new future lies in front of me. I'm really not sure what to expect. At this time last year, I was able to walk into a staff room, greet the people I'd worked with over the last twelve months and get back to the routines that I knew so well. Today, I'll be sitting a staff room with strangers, some of whom I'll become friends with, others....well, let's hope they're as friendly as the people I've worked with in the past. And that's just the staff we are talking about! As per the norm, I won't be teaching today, as that begins in earnest tomorrow. new children, new classes, new experiences. It is crunch time, as I launch myself into a new academic year. I hope it will be easier than the one I've just come through. I don't think I want to be assaulted again....or have my car vandalised. Maybe, for the first time, I'll be able to teach the kids, wi...

I can't quite believe it, but Shira is now four years old. She keeps on asking if she's still four, as on Thursday, she was only three! She had a lovely party at home and Dassi showed some amazing skills in her (single) handling of the party and running the events such as pass the parcel , musical bumps and pin the tail on the donkey . I'm very impressed with her. This morning, Dana and the girls went off, with my mother-in-law for a two day trip to Paris. They will be staying with relatives and having a pretty cool time. I'm not complaining though, as it gives me the time to get ready for my first day in the new school. It also gives me a chance to seriously tidy up the house and enjoy the little luxuries in life, such as unrestricted and un-nagged (there's no such word, but there should be) access to the computer, tv and dvd collection. In other words, I'm sort of partying, albeit in a rather formal manner. I do miss them all, but the peace and quiet around t...

Julian plays Strawberry Fields Forever in the most appropriate location possible. My guitar's never felt so proud.

I left Liverpool at just after midday and managed to get home inside four-and-a-half hours, driving without a break. I encountered some mild traffic around Chester and of course, in Birmingham (I know I could have paid the £4 toll, but I felt that I'd spent just about enough money for the moment). The important thing was that I would be back in time to celebrate Michali's 7th birthday and this indeed is what happened. Dana had taken them out to the cinema (to see Bratz , which apparently wasn't as bad as it sounded) and so I was able to be back in time to greet them when they returned. I now have three daughters aged 7,8 and 9 - not forgetting Shira who is four, but you know what I mean). I know that this will change when Dassi celebrates her tenth birthday in just under two months, but I like the idea of the sequential ages. I really can't believe that l'il Michal is already seven. She looked so cute today with her newly cut hair and beaming birthday smile. That...

I'm back! I drove for nearly four-and-a-half hours, directly from Liverpool to London, traversing the UK from the North West to the South East. Throughout my week in Liverpool, I kept a diary of my trip and submitting postings or rather, notes, to my Facebook page, via my phone. I felt it only fair to reproduce these for those of you who have not read my entries on my Facebook page. So, now, without further ado, I proudly present to you.... My Liverpool Diary: Day One (22nd August 2007) Having returned to one of my favourite places on earth, it feels as though I'd never left. The sun is out and the city is radiant. I am sitting in Sefton Park writing up this post on my mobile phone...ah the wonders of technology. The parents are talking with their friends as the children run about, feed the ducks' fall over, cry when dogs approach...in other words, pretty much like in London, but oh so very different . This morning, I was treated to two amazing guided tours, one after anoth...