kalifornyer

[kalifornyer]

summer retrospective 2017

andre w the acne scars who kept his shirt on until the end and the weed in the christmas tin

sam the baseball loving zionist who thought 1977 was the best year for film

chris my love from kansas city who let me show him my world and he showed me his 

asher the cool jew who couldn’t last 

joseph from sholem who had never seen pubes

maxwell who ate one too many pupusas

chandler w the dying dog and the crush on the middle aged woman in simi valley

sean with attitude problem and the messy house and no lube

hunter the homeowner at 25

john my love who was too self centered to grow

michael lil boy man who was so good why did i wait so long

patrick my first fuck in madison

the person whose name i do not remember

the three blowjobs i gave to nebraska lizard face and spoiled brat

mark who made me bleed and brought me lentils

ben who fucked me through labor day but was too norm core

ben who was so spoiled and so sad and useless when my car got towed

n here i am again

#personal

[kalifornyer]

its the last of summer 22 years of the sun on my skin freckle faced and sweaty

if i could wag my tail i would touching the wrinkles of your skin kissing your sweaty forehead sweet smelling arms and hands

you listen to me and i feel good next to you and beneath you and  on top of you and beside you

how long will winter last

[kalifornyer]

9/4/17

i.

its labor day

and we fucked four

times and im still 

throbbing

you studied how i fucked you

and fucked me back

so i could feel myself

ii.

its september

and the weeds

look like march 

back home

its wet

and im wet

and im dry

its starting

and im here

and im changing

iii.

its a small town

filled with boys

i have kissed

i want to kiss

i will kiss

i am kissing

its a small town

filled with big trees

im looking at

im touching them

we are both changing

iv.

when you fuck me i am empty

when you fuck me i am bleeding

when you fuck me i am scared

when you fuck me i am needy

when you fuck me i am shrinking

when you fuck me i am not there

v.

when you fuck me i am full

when you fuck me i am strong

when you fuck me i am beautiful

when you fuck me i am wet

when you fuck me i am present

when you fuck me i am here

#personal #dad don't read

[kalifornyer]

your breath fills 

the space between our bodies

my nails leave

open parantheses on your arms

half finished words

messy feelings

long mornings in bed

a summer of firsts and lasts

#personal

[kalifornyer]

i wanted to start writing again today

but then i felt anxious and sad and i texted three boys hoping that one would have sex with me. 

but then i was a real estate agent and i was answering phone calls and bending the truth and i was strapped for cash and time and energy for this.

but then you were eating me out and i couldnt stop worrying.

but then i was telling you that you had to leave and you were clothes on then out the door

but then i was already on the phone with my mom crying and she was on the way to get me

and then the minty puke and the sleepy dog and the morose hold music being on hold with animal poison control

and then i was so happy to see my mom and we were sitting together in a medical waiting room and it felt so familiar and i felt so safe and supported

then we spent an hour in that room with no plugs or tvs or sound or reading material and no reception and we were with ourselves and i told you i thought i should become a toxicologist and i know your dreams are in me

then you were giving the woman across the hall a hug as she walked home with a little less life but you had so much life 

then it was late and we were tired and i couldn’t speak only joke and i wanted so bad to go home while it still was there and i was so thankful you were there and its really scary when you leave home

i think i’ll start writing again tomorrow

#personal

[kalifornyer]

As left wing Jewish activists invested in de-centering Ashkenazi identity, we need to work on how that’s defined in the first place, and how it fits into anti racism work. We can’t be distracted into thinking that there’s a one-to-one relationship with whiteness and ashkenazi-ness; after all, do Ashkenazi Jews know actual Ashkenazi history? Do we study Yiddish, for example? Do we know the history of the Jewish Labor Bund? Or does our history simply play out when we eat pastrami at Katz’s deli? 

When combatting ashkenazi-centricness, we should also be combatting this lack of identity, this notion of bland whiteness of Ashkenazi Jews; because it is precisely in these identities, and our connection to these specific histories, that valuable sources of Jewish Resistance can be found, since ashkenazi identity is something that Jews were forced to give up in order to assimilate into white supremacy. We affirm the solidarity between Ashkenazi and Sephardi and Mizrahi and Romaniote Jews through our uniqueness. Our histories and languages may vary, but our fights converge. 

But we need to be cognizant of the ways in which Jewish activism can erase specific identities by focusing broadly on religion or on Hebrew, for example, in an effort for us all to unite.

[kalifornyer]

Join us as we build a Jewish community that stands up for the dignity of Palestinians.

Sign the pledge to protest AIPAC. 

[kalifornyer]

From the Tablet article:

For most practitioners of Jewish geography, Laredo is off the map, somewhere in the vast expanse between Sherman Oaks and Scarsdale. But in Brad Lichtenstein’s There Are Jews Here, a new documentary on the Jewish film festival circuit, the focus is on four Jewish communities that are fighting to stay alive: Laredo, Texas; Latrobe, Pennsylvania; Butte, Montana; and Dothan, Alabama. […]

Across four story lines, There Are Jews Here finds moments of tenderness in that struggle, as is rightly just as interested in how those communities live as it is in how they may die. There’s Nancy Oyer, president of the Butte congregation, fighting back tears as her migraines keep her from leading her handful of friends and neighbors in her typically guitar-heavy service. There are three generations of the Balk family, who drive 45 minutes into Latrobe every Saturday morning, making up 6 of the 10 needed for a minyan. And of course, there’s Udi’s wife, Susie, who converted when she married but still feels like a bit of an outsider; when the family does havdalah with Udi’s parents, she can only hum as the rest sing the prayers.

For some of these communities, their Jews seem to be perfectly suited to outsider status; shacharit attire in Butte tends towards jeans and ballcaps, and at a regional Hadassah meeting, there’s this gem from a Billlings congregation president: “If I was in a suburb of Philadelphia, I’d never be president of congregation, I’d be rebelling against the president of a congregation.”

[kalifornyer]

Statement from Rabbi Dr. Aaron Panken, President of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (1/3/17)

This morning, the Hebrew Union College- Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) was vandalized. The sign at the entrance to our Cincinnati Campus was defaced with a swastika. The paint was easily removed and the sign quickly repaired. The incident is under investigation by local police.

For more than 140 years, HUC-JIR has been devoted to the values of pluralism, open dialogue, and the pursuit of knowledge. We pride ourselves on being a vital and engaged  part of the Cincinnati community. Our academic institution of Jewish higher education lives, teaches, and brings the values of diversity and tolerance to the community, the nation, and the larger world. Our faculty, students, staff, and alumni, proudly representing all faiths and backgrounds, work together to build a just and humane world.

We will not let this act of hate alter our important work. We are indebted to the people of Cincinnati who have stood by us for generations and who have offered their support again today. Tomorrow, a new day will dawn and the values we hold dear will continue to light the way.

Photo taken around 8:00am 1/3/17 by Adrianna Marie

#:( #my work's sister school

[kalifornyer]

Devendra Banhart’s recollection of dating Natalie Portman

[kalifornyer]

now that i have a job i mostly buy orthopedic shoes

[kalifornyer]

Diversity of the Finnish Lapphund as a breed.

Photo by Oona Heikkinen.

From left to right:

brown, pale markings 

brown

black, brown markings 

domino (aka husky markings)

black, pale markings 

Then there’s also cream, wolf sable and blue colors. (Just from the top of my head, not going to go google and see what else there is.)

Please go have a look-see here if you’re interested on seeing the variety even within the colors: http://www.lapikas.net/varisivut/

Quick translation of the menu from top to bottom: Blacks and Browns, With Markings, Cream and Yellow, Wild / Wolf Sable, Blue, Sable, Domino, Mantle, Brindle, Glasses, White with Markings, All colors on puppies.

#this is my favorite dog

[kalifornyer]

A cactus grove, Arizona, species Cereus giganteus, 1871. Report upon United States Geographical Surveys West of the One Hundredth Meridian.

[kalifornyer]

I love her

#i love this

[kalifornyer]

$429,900/4 br

Houston, TX

[kalifornyer]

[kalifornyer]