Easter thoughts

For our two consecutive open houses this afternoon, I have two chocolate pecan pies in the oven, tickling my nose with the seductive fragrance of hot butter melding with sugar, eggs, chocolate, pecans, and a hearty dose of Trader Joe’s vanilla (hand-carried from San Francisco last December).

If I had any thought of wearing an Easter bonnet (I have two bonnets, both with plenty of frills upon them), the thermometer has persuaded otherwise. It may be Hallelujah He is Risen Indeed in the pulpit, but outside we’re In The Deep Midwinter (which in Florida means below 40, as it did in California), or possibly, down the road at Jack-the-rabbi’s temple, Pesach on Ice.

Twitter: I know you’re all wondering where I weigh in on the great Twitter debate. Should I do this or not, I hear you ask… What does FRL say? And a hush fell over the crowd…

At the risk of boring you to tears, my take is that opinions about Twitter within the biblioblogosphere sometimes appear to be opinions about people. (Not that librarians are ever passive-aggressive or anything.) I am “on Twitter,” but I don’t know if I care one way or the other.

I do think too often we claim to be pursuing “connectedness” when we’re really allowing ourselves to lapse into the weak adrenaline buzz of continual partial attention. Plus, as a kind of diary, Twitter does raise some interesting problems. I am glad you tuck your child in at bedtime, but am I to assume that if another friend doesn’t mention the tuck-ins… does that mean she’s standing her children in a corner all night? If I write that I opened a beer and then I forget about Twitter for five days, will you assume I went on a binge?

On the other hand, if Twitter makes you happy and strengthens weak ties, that’s not a bad thing, either. Furthermore, if it means you finally put down that crack pipe and addict yourself to something that encourages you to tuck in your children–and of course in biblioblogosphere fashion I’m not going to mention names but you know who you are, and the answer is hidden here in secret code –well, my goodness, then thank heavens for Twitter. It’s free. It’s fun. It could possibly save you from a miserable addiction standing between you and a healthy lifestyle. Mazel tov!

Blog “heroes”: I don’t see any reason why you shouldn’t list the blogs that are important to you; at one point in my blogging career I reviewed blogs in depth (did I really have a life where I could do that?). But my heroes (aside from people like Dietrich Bonhoeffer… but he didn’t blog… and my sister, the funniest person in the world, who recently bought a Hebrew National sun-umbrella for her backyard… but she doesn’t blog, either) are the people who wrote back last week when I privately shared some personal challenges (not with Sandy, I rush to assure you, aside from the gargling noises I am putting up with from her horrendous head cold that has the poor gal “coughing up hairballs,” as she puts it), and in every case comforted me.

In many cases my friends and colleagues shared their own personal challenges… the kind of stuff you won’t read online… and as real friends do, pulled me off the pity-pot and restored my perspective, my humor, and my piss and vinegar. I have health, a wonderful relationship, my personal writing, interesting people to work with, and more “things” than I have time to play with.

Plus there’s a package of green Peeps with my name on it, just waiting for the post-dual-brunch late afternoon when Sandy and I can finish the Times and just “be,” not a-twitter, not in some other life, not in someone’s prefab Space, but on the dear old overstuffed couch, brushing green sugar off the Magazine section and the Book Review while the cats snooze bellies-up.