Analytical Brilliance

I thought Professor Noah Feldman's piece " Why Shariah" in the New York Times magazine was a fascinating read . His analytical erudition sparkles with an in depth understanding of the factual history/emotional/spiritual behaviour/ interactions & realistic reactions that govern the intimate relationship religion(in this case muslim law) and common law might enjoy if they understood each other .
There is so much depth in this article I haven't fully absorbed yet.
The way the whole religous structure system is based on their understanding of the law and how they came to understand what should be considered law is fascinating, as is the juxtaposition of English common law and Islamic law.

For instance this quote "As for sexism, the common law long denied married women any property rights or indeed legal personality apart from their husbands. When the British applied their law to Muslims in place of Shariah, as they did in some colonies, the result was to strip married women of the property that Islamic law had always granted them — hardly progress toward equality of the sexes".

I need to read this piece a few times to understand all the nuances/underlying stances and undertones involved , it's definitely unadulterated analytical brilliance.

Intellectual Inspiration Scholar of the Decade

It's exceedingly difficult to find jewish intellectual inspiration nowadays.
If I was in charge of a jewish association for intellectual inspiration and spirited innovation, I would probally keep orthodox out of the picture. I would focus on brilliant guys like Mayor Bloomberg/XGovernor Eliot Spitzer/Professor Noah Feldman/Shalom Auslander/and Steve Almond.
From a female's perspective, Orthodox isms and related must do's and how to's are just too growth oriented to the point of crowding out or into a corner behind a partition. Not to mention the starch n stifling & staunch stances, prone to bossing around. I dont understand many of the male oriented laws. And no matter how carefully & sincerely, I strip apart the laws that pertain to women exclusively, I havent been able to make any sense out of the nonsense. I see demeaning/ridiculous and outrageous where many pretend ? to see dignity/spirituality and benefits. Not that there is anything wrong with spiritual growth, discipline and other fine refining tools . Its just that I think I'm done growing/refining in that kind of way.
Re-reading Professor Noah Feldman's emotionally stirring essay "Orthdox Paradox" today , two teardrops actually dropped over my keyboard, when I read the part where he felt that deep connection, when reading the megillah with his kids. I have no such connection to the Megillah I havent listened to in recent years.
Everyone was so busy deliberately misconstruing his words/painting all kinds of false alterior motives and outrageous agendas and piously protecting their own pride in the name of "religion", they failed to understand and appreciate the analytical brilliance and unadulterated depth he was using to present the contradictions he was trying to reconcile.
My pick for intellectual inspiration scholar of the decade would be Professor Noah Feldman.
His analytical brilliance and innate depth coupled with his astoundingly astute understanding and creatively erudite writing style is the stuff intellectual inspiration is founded off of.

Say it With Whore Say

I came across this quaint coffee mug branded with the mission statement of Mabels Whore House at one of the exhibits at the Museum of Sex.
Quite the mystical mission statement.

WTF Why Resign ?

I dont understand why "resign' is the automatic reaction everyone seems to be touting around triumphantly, regarding client #9 and the expensive prostitute fiascoe.
I think Elliot Spitzer is brilliant and has done so much for New York.
Ok he made a little mistake , big fucking deal.
Why is his colorful sex life everyone else's main concern this Tuesday morning ? Are the details surrounding Clintons blow jobs and sexacapade admissions still bothering you in 2008 ?
There are so many states where prostitution is a perfectly legal profession.
This would seem to connotate that the inherent moral properties and or lack thereof for prostitution in and of itself, is a subjective wishy washy per state affair. What makes prostitution so much more acceptable in the Netherlands and Nevada than here. Its not especially crystal clear really.

A Stitch in Time

It's always the right time for a drink at Stitch.
So Stitch is my favorite name for a bar at this time.
Whoever thought of this perfect on so many different levels name is brilliant.

Artificial Sparkle

Artificial lighting generally works the best and its so much more reliable too.

Enlightened Lanterns

The more enlightened I am, the dimmer the bright lights sparkle.

Knowledge is like a built in dimmer , in so many more ways than none.

Sometimes I wish I wasn't so enlightened.

All that twinkles with glitter ......

Breathing in the intoxicating scenery at Rockefellor Center this past holiday season and knowing that holiday decorations are not all year long affairs I made sure to spend as much time as I could among the glitter and color . One of the many lessons learned during the after work christmas lights and decor imbibing was that all that twinkles with glitter sometimes, are the Christmas lights during the holiday season.

And If you look hard enough you can spot the single swarovski crystal star in the center .

When I was a kid I believed wholeheartedly in the message "twinkle twinkle little star" was trying to convey.

Now I understand that most of those stars are swarovski crystal or cubic zirconia .

"like a diamond in the sky" is just wishful thinking/ a metaphor or myth not to be confused with wishful fact.

If most stars in 2008 are just swarovski and cubic zirconia, functioning like smiling decor similar to the one that adorns the tree why bother looking up to them for guidance.