Learning to fly...

it's another cold January day...it is raining...no, it is snowing...not quite...it is snaining...and I am in the JetBlue terminal at JFK bound for the second Holy Land...Florida...despite the weather, it would seem we are leaving on time....but as I look around the gate I see many children...more children than I have ever seen on one flight...this is after flying south so many Christmas breaks...February nightmares...Passover kill-me's...I can't figure it out...but I am realizing that these are Orthodox families...it must be a break week for their religious schools...oh...I try to be nice...these are my people, I think...until the level of "geschreing" reaches levels that are making dogs howl in Cleveland...and I start to panic...how long is this flight?...how many minutes?...but I think...well, I'll put on the headset and watch a stupid movie and poof...we'll be landing...I look at my watch...we will be boarding soon...that should take about 5 hours with the strollers, and car seats...and, then I see the weather looks worse...and a man is davening at the window...it is morning prayers or does he think we are going to crash or is he praying his kids pass out after take-off?...oy, can it be tomorrow, I think...we finally board...our plane needs deicing...half the plane needs Children's Tylenol...the other half straight up martinis...we finally take off...the volume is not working on my tv...neither is Mike's...the poor woman to my right has a message for three hours that her screen is rebooting...I can't fall asleep...and half-way through, thanks to the delay...I have to crawl over the humanity to the bathroom...over mothers with many screaming kids...and attendants passing out salty snacks that make everyone drink more and have to pee...and omg...this is like my worst nightmare and favorite musical all in one morning...I am flying the friendly skies of Air Anatevka...I thought that was Fruma Sarah with the extra legroom!...and now, enjoying our visit in frigid temps for Florida...I wonder about our flight home...praying for a headset that works...calm  skies...a safe flight...right?...of course right!!!!

Back to Black

2018...and we're out of the gate...and heading deep into awards season...from #metoo to #timesup...2017 is still burning in the rearview mirror...and so, with award show #1, we swam in a sea of black...familiar faces side by side with those who should be familiar...the women in the trenches far from the paparazzi of Beverly Hills...these women had a lot to say...but for the most part the "E" idiots gave them 20 seconds before cutting to celebrities who were not nominated, and really just on the very fringe of the film industry...sometimes I felt the urge to shout "yes" in solidarity...but then sighed at the prospect that the message may have been lost...this wasn't funeral black...or interview black...or camouflage the extra 10 pounds black...it was Armani Prive...and Christian Siriano...and drop dead jewelry...and the weeks of not eating prior to the notice to toss the emerald for black still showed in the size -20 pantsuits...the sexual assault issue in Hollywood is real...and raw...and ugly...Oprah got me off my seat...after a year of starving for the beauty in language...and powerful speech writing...there was a glimmer...but really, it was Natalie Portman who summed up the "Golden" bullshit with one line...presenting best director..."And here are the all-male nominees"...this is the essence of the fault in the bigger picture...and all harassment...the lack of equal representation in management...without it...without a clear and safe and legal harbor for reporting...the risk of job loss for whistle-blowing is all too real...and we are never going to move forward...instead of harnessing this golden opportunity...with a chance for change...we will just go back to black