ChaiLife Atlanta Brainstorming Luncheon Set for May 4, 2008

Despite some technical difficulties with Google calendar, please be advised that the brainstorming meeting/luncheon will be held next Sunday, May 4, 2008 at 12 noon in my office.

Please email me your full name and telephone number before April 30 if you would like to attend.

Hope to see you then!

What to Do in Atlanta This Weekend 4/25/08

SEE

Waiting for My Growth SpurtWhat: Fourteen-year-old Jason David’s one-act take on everything from his love for girls named Jessica to what he and his friends are really up to most of the time is a barrel of laughs.Why: The kid stays in the picture.When: Thru May 10. Thurs.-Sat., 7 p.m.Where: 14th Street Playhouse, 173 14th St., Midtown (404-733-4750). Tickets at 404-733-4738.

Form .02

What: Kaleidoscope, Squash Blossom, DressCodes, and more team up for fashion and fun on Decatur Square.Why: It’s a clothed set.When: Sat. Doors open at 7 p.m.; show at 8:30 p.m.Where: Old Decatur Courthouse, 101 E. Court Sq., Decatur. Tickets at participating boutiques.

EAT

Straits What: Chris Yeo and Chris “Ludacris” Bridges team up to bring Chino-Thai-Malay-Indian food to Spice’s beloved old space starting Friday night.Why: A tasty disturbance to your peaceful weekend.When: Mon.-Wed., 5 p.m.-midnight; Thurs.-Sat., 5 p.m.-1 a.m.; Sun., 11 a.m.-3 p.m. & 5-11 p.m.Where: 793 Juniper St., Midtown (404-877-1283).

courtesy of Daily Candy www.dailycandy.com

Happy Passover!

May this holiday

bless you and your loved ones

with good health

and abundant peace and

bountiful happiness.

ChaiLife Atlanta Brainstorming Luncheon Set for May 4, 2008

I am hosting a brainstorming/planning meeting for ChaiLife on Sunday, May 4, 2008 at noon.

We have a handful of enthused peope who are interesting in jumping on the ChaiLife planning bandwagon. and I am confident we will make ChaiLife a reality!!

If you are interested in attending, please contact me at chailifeatlanta@gmail.com. I promise you a good lunch and who knows? You might make some new friends!

Hope to see you on the 4th!

April 10 2008 What to Do This Weekend in Atlanta

Courtesy of Daily Candy... http://www.dailycandy.com/

Practice your “I’m a clever patron of the arts” speech.

EATCrepeMastersWhat: The new pop-up food stand operates during weekend shows at Dad’s Garage Theatre.Why: You’re sandwidextrous.When: Thurs.-Sat., 7:30 p.m.-midnight.Where: 280 Elizabeth St. , ste. C101, Inman Park (404-523-3141). Catering info at 404-661-7688.

SEEBigWhat: Atlanta Ballet dancers interpret Big Boi, Outkast, and Purple Ribbon jams through music and movement.Why: Bump that through your speakerboxxx.When: Thurs. & Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 2 & 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 & 7 p.m.Where: The Fox Theatre, 660 Peachtree St., Midtown (404-881-2100).

The Mother of All EnemiesWhat: Political satirist Paul Zaloom’s new adults-only show is in town for just one weekend.Why: Eighteen to party. Any age to think.When: Fri. & Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 5 p.m.Where: Downstairs Theater at Center for Puppetry Arts, 1404 Spring St., Midtown (404-873-3391).

BUYDolce & Gabbana Trunk ShowWhat: Spring menswear (wovens, denim, and sneaks) hits shelves with a cocktail and Ducati bike reception.Why: This one’s for the boys.When: Sat., 5-10 p.m.Where: Moda404, 254 Pharr Rd., Buckhead (404-869-3398).

DOHenri Jova Home TourWhat: The architect’s private residence is open for self-guided tours, guest lectures, and design day dreaming.Why: Midcentury modern in Midtown? That’s a brainful.When: Preview party and tour Fri., 7-10 p.m.; tour, Sat. & Sun., 11 a.m.-3 p.m.Where: 861 Mentelle Dr., Midtown. Tickets online at ticketalternative.com.

And you thought your last online date was bad?

I came across the following Q & A while researching online dating . Have you had a similar experience? Let's discuss............

At their first meeting, she was already planning the wedding.... in other words, big red flag.

"Dear Rosie & Sherry,

A few weeks ago I took a trip to meet a woman I had been corresponding with for six months via a Jewish dating website. Unfortunately the trip was not a success. In my mind I had developed an image of a perfect person that I had heard over the phone and read over Internet text conversations.
But upon meeting, I could not foresee her as my potential wife and the foundation of our home. Besides that I did not find her physically attractive.
To compound the problem, she had jumped many months into the future by already thinking that we where engaged and she was even planning our "wedding." I hadn't even met this person yet!
After our first date, I was ready to say goodbye. But since we had a weekend planned together, I decided not to break the news right away, so that the weekend wouldn't be ruined for her. On Saturday night I told her that unfortunately her thoughts of marriage would not become a reality.
Besides her desperation to get married, I found her lying about a previous broken engagement and exhibiting poor treatment of customer service personnel in stores and restaurants.
She took it very hard and asked me for a second chance but I refused. I ended my trip much earlier than expected and proceeded to return home then.
I don't know where to go from here. I corresponded with this woman for six months and now I have to start all over again. I'm very busy with school and work, and I don't have much time to go out and meet people. I got a really bad feeling and no longer want to continue online dating. (I live in a city with few regular dating opportunities.) Not only that, but I am very reluctant to travel long distance for a date.
I'm ready to start a long-term relationship, but I feel stuck in a hole and unable to come out. I fear that years will go by before I meet my soul mate.
Your advice?
Jack

Dear Jack,
We're sorry that your first on-line dating experience was not successful. It appears that you made some key mistakes that contributed to that. But don't get discouraged. Many people experience similar problems. The solution is to become educated how to identify and avoid the pitfalls in the future. Our article, "Maximizing Dot Com Dating" gives guidance about Internet dating that should be helpful to you in the future.
For now, we would like to focus on a few ideas for how you can make future on-line dating more successful:
(1) Arrange to meet earlier. Corresponding for six months over the Internet is way too long. You gave yourself too much time to develop an idealized image of what your e-pal was like. Even if she would have been an attractive woman, yet did not live up to the fantasy your mind had produced and then reinforced over several months, you would have been disappointed. In the future, don't keep up a virtual correspondence for so long -- try to meet within a month or two, if at all possible.
(2) Do advance research. Once two people get to the point of considering long distance travel to meet, we recommend checking references. Find out her name, city, the name of her rabbi, where she went to school, and whom she views as her mentors. Then, contact a number of these people, or have your own dating mentor (someone you confide in from time to time) help you make the contacts.
Checking out a potential dating partner is not a hunt for negative information. If you hear something negative, don't rush to pass judgment. You may be receiving incomplete or inaccurate information from someone who doesn't know the person or the situation well enough. That's why we recommend speaking to a few people, especially since no one person will likely be able to answer all your questions.
Here are some questions you could ask:
What are his/her family and siblings like?
What kind of relationship does s/he have with them?
Where is s/he headed in terms of spiritual growth?
What does s/he like to do in his spare time?
What are his/her friends like?
Have you ever seen him/her deal with challenges or crisis? How did s/he react?
Do you have any reservations about recommending him/her as a potential marriage partner?
In your case, a little advance research might have saved you a disappointing trip to a distant city. You would have learned about your e-pal's misrepresentations, the reasons behind her broken engagement (that in itself wouldn't be a problem, but you would have discovered that she did not tell the truth about it), and possibly other information that would have made you reconsider going to visit her.
(3) Don't ignore the red flags. This woman was planning your wedding before the two of you even met. We're always wary of anyone who decides that someone they have never met is "The One." Physical attraction and face-to-face compatibility are such important components of a relationship that people who ignore their importance may have difficulties with judgment and emotional maturity. Certainly, two people can develop an emotional connection over the Internet, but meeting face-to-face is obviously a prerequisite to moving forward.
Although you say that you are so busy with school and work, we would like you to make a firm commitment to set aside a certain number of hours per week for networking and dating, and spend the time making telephone calls, reading dating advice, talking to a mentor, and going out on dates.
In order to do this you will have to reassess your priorities. It seems that you are having difficulty doing this because dating seems a bit daunting. It is a lot easier to retreat to the "comfort" of a set routine of work, school, learning, and friends than rework your schedule and enter into the dating arena. If you stop for a minute and consider that unfortunately the dating scene is difficult for almost everyone, but is an inevitable stage you must go through in order to get married, it might give you incentive to make it your priority.
Keep your eye on the ball. The time you spend networking, checking people out, and dating may cut into your time... but it is the only way you are going to get married.
Wishing you success,
Rosie & Sherry

Static Over Banned Jewish Ad

Published in today's New York Post:

April 8, 2008 -- WQXR, the sleepy classical radio station owned by the New York Times, likes to avoid upsetting listeners with anything remotely controversial - and that has a prominent Jewish group crying foul.
The Manhattan-based American Jewish Committee, founded in 1906 to help "safeguard and strengthen Jews and Jewish life worldwide," says station brass unfairly killed a paid 60-second commentary about bombings carried out against Israel by the militant Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas.
"It's unbelievable. At the end of the day, WQXR listeners are interested in Israel," AJC spokesman Michael Geller told Page Six. In the ad, AJC Executive Director David Harris says: "Imagine you had 15 seconds to find shelter from an incoming missile. Fifteen seconds to locate your children, help an elderly relative, assist a disabled person to find shelter. That's all the residents of Sderot and neighboring Israeli towns have. Day or night, the sirens go on. Fifteen seconds later, the missiles, fired from Hamas-controlled Gaza, hit . . . Their aim is to kill and wound and demoralize . . . This is what Israelis experience daily."
In a letter to the AJC, WQXR general manager Tom Bartunek said parts of the spot were "outside our bounds of acceptability. First, the opening line . . . does not make clear that the potential target of the missile is not our listening area, and as a consequence, runs the risk of raising anxiety in a misleading way. Second, the description of the missiles as arriving 'day or night' and 'daily' is also subject to challenge as being misleading, at least to the degree that reasonable people might be troubled by the absence of any acknowledgment of reciprocal Israeli military actions."
Geller said Bartunek told the AJC the "general tone" didn't meet WQXR guidelines for "decorum," and the station also bans ads for "hemorrhoid cream or sexual potency pills." CBS Radio had no problem with the same spot, which it aired nationally on newsman Charles Osgood's "The Osgood File."
"We are finished with QXR. We've canceled our contract," Geller told us. "It's a shame, but we can't allow ourselves to be edited on a whim."
In the past, some media critics have accused the Times of having a pro-Palestinian slant. Times flack Catherine Mathis told us the paper "had no role in determining whether to run this ad." She noted WQXR had run eight other AJC spots read by Harris over the past 12 weeks.

Springtime in my 'hood!

My yard is finally coming alive. I love springtime in Atlanta!

Nice Jewish Girls Gone Bad

The following is the review of a new musical review in New York City about Jewish girls....check it out......


GIRLS BAWDY AND NICE
By FRANK SCHECK

April 4, 2008 -- I'VE spent a good part of my adult life searching for "Nice Jewish Girls Gone Bad," so it wasn't hard to entice me to the Zipper for this bawdy musical revue, playing Saturday nights.
Featuring an alternating lineup of female performers delivering a mixture of comedy, music and fairly tame burlesque routines, the show is good kosher fun.
The evening is hosted by "The Goddess Perlman," whose increasingly daring outfits ("I'm bringing camel toe back") are topped only by her risqué commentary.
"I put the whore in hora," she says, before explaining that "You get dinner on JDate, but you get laid on Craigslist."
She also delivered several amusing musical numbers, including an ode to gefilte fish, which she calls " 'Fear Factor' for Jews."
At the show I caught, the acts included a trio of comediennes, including Mindy Raf, whose routine included a hilarious song delivering the female perspective during a bout of bad sex; Rena Zager, explaining that "Jews are like an emotional Weather Channel and Jessica Golden, complaining about constantly receiving pictures of her friends' babies ("I'm not sending them pictures of DUI's I've been getting").
All were very funny, even if they were thrown off their comedic rhythms by the noisy interjections of some drunken women in the front row.
Rousing musical accompaniment is delivered by a four-piece klezmer rock band cheekily dubbed the Four Skins, while the scantily clad Sister Schmaltz delivers a series of provocative dance numbers, including a Hasidic strip routine.
Admittedly not for everyone, "Nice Jewish Girls Gone Bad" has the outrageous feel of a bat mitzvah gone terribly, terribly wrong.

My search has ended....I found a great pizza in Atlanta!

I am most definitely a pizza snob. Having been raised in metropolitan NY/NJ, I grew up on great pizza....nothing like a great slice from a neighborhood place. Nirvana. I have been on the constant crusade for great pizza since moving to Atlanta in 1983. I am proud to announce that I have found a great pizza from Galla's on Peachtree Industrial Blvd. in Chamblee. http://www.gallaspizza.com/. They also have a restaurant in East Cobb/Marietta.

Galla's actually found me. I received a flyer from Galla's in my mailbox. One rainy night I was in the mood to treat myself to pizza and decided to call Galla's. I questioned the person who answered the phone like a DEA agent.....describe your crust.....your sauce...where are the owners from and so forth. I was told that the owners were from Buffalo, NY so I decided to give Galla's a shot because they deliver.....and boy, did they deliver....a wonderful, delish veggie pizza with a thin crispy crust, delicious sauce and covered with black and green olives, mushrooms and peppers. I was hooked from that day on! As a serial dieter, this has cut into my weight watchers points for the week. I highly recommend Galla's. Tony Soprano would be proud and certainly would have a slice or two or three...bada bing!

The Cutest Birthday Cake Ever....

It was Ellie's birthday yesterday. She is the consummate fashionista. This cake was so on point and also, so delicious. In my opinion, Publix makes the best birthday cake in town and the butter cream icing can't be beat!