News from the Bookshelf

I've recently had several additions to my bookshelf, which make my reading list extremely long.

First of all, did mention I love my e-reader? I do. It has a small problem with glare, and I would have liked it to ave the option to invert the black and white colors for reading in a poor light, but other than that... It is handy, easy to handle, just the right size etc.

Second, I had bought a couple of DVD's with an extended list of classics to read. I won't read them all, obviously, but even those I already downloaded to my e-reader make for a long but satisfying list.

I bought the electronic version of the "Warriors" volume (I had already read the "Mystery Knight" and Martin is excellent as always, but other stories are also very good so far), and I also bought the second volume of "Dreamsongs" (I already had the first one) and a couple of books by my friend Don Platt (check his site out).

All in all, this makes me very happy and busy with reading in the future.

Shameless Promotion Time

Well, I think it's about time for some self-promotion and self-aggrandizement :)

My story Something for Nothing had appeared in the 12/39 volume of Allegory magazine (here is a link to the story itself). I urge everyone to go to the site and read the story (and all the other stories, of course).

Have a great week

A dilemma

Well, it seems that good news go in packs. I got a phone call today from Jenna Lucas, who is responsible for admissions to the UNO writing MFA program. I was accepted to the program. Now, it looks like I have a small dilemma on my hands. If I get some form of scholarship (if I don't then there is no real dilemma), do I go to this program, do I go to the Materials Engineering PhD or do I try to do both? Theoretically I think it is possible to do both, since the writing program is low residence program, but it will be very hard and there will still be a problem of the few residences. I'll have to think about this till the end of the month.

Happy Dance

I have great news.
First, I have been accepted for PhD studies at the Nebraska University at Lincoln (Materials Engineering).

The second bit, I had mentioned about a month ago. Now it's official. I made my first sale. Something for Nothing is going to appear at the Allegory magazine issue 12/39 on May 1st.

A different ball game

Maccabi won the second game against Partisan today. The game was so different, it's amazing. They started the first game in a fury, and got everything their way at the beginning, with amazing percentages. Then it went downhill starting the second part of the second quarter. This game started even, but Maccabi went to fight and show very strong defense and ran away in the second quarter. The halves of both games ended with a similar difference, but with a completely different momentum. The game ended with Maccabi blowout. Now, it is away to Belgrade.

Elf Killing And Other Hobbies: Drive By Post#links

Elf Killing And Other Hobbies: Drive By Post#links

News, changes and a kitchen sink

Well, ok, there isn't really a sink... per se.
I've slightly updated the blog and created a blogroll, where I will add from time to time blogs I like to read. It isn't comprehensive, and some of the blogs don't have a direct connection to the issues of this blog, but I see it drifting into a more general direction anyway.

I hadn't written about it before, but i applied for an MFA in Writing at the University of Nebraska in Omaha. It looks like a nice program. We'll see. In any case, I needed recommendation letters, and it was a bit of a puzzle for me. The situation is different than the Engineering programs where I have plenty of people who worked with me in the past and would be able to vouch for my abilities. So, thankfully, AbsoluteWrite provided me with the opportunity to ask people I know there. Here are my deepest thanks to Celina Summers (I got a mention on the blog), to Don Platt and to my former team leader Sagi Abramovich for their recommendation letters.

There might be more to come out of my communications with Celina, but I will update if and when it happens.

Yesterday I had a pretty nasty shock in my work. I even felt emotional enough to send Sagi an e-mail on the subject. I translated a document talking about various money laundering schemes by Hamas to fund their operations. In one of the bits it talked about an arrest (several years ago) of a guy who was responsible for the Zerifin Camp hitchhikers' station. For those not familiar with the situation, there are hitchhikers' stations near every military camp in Israel, and Zerifin is one of the largest camps around. It is situated in the middle of Israel, near the town of Rishon-Le-Zion. I lived in that town for several years and served at that camp. It is mostly a training base with the addition of some other non-combat bases. During the Second Intifadah, there was a bombing on the hitchhikers' station near the base. I remember it very well, because I had spent the whole evening trying to reach the soldiers from the base to make sure they were ok. All the guys from my department were on the base at the time, but our unit was a small one, and I knew every soldier personally. This translation brought back those memories, and the two thoughts I had were, "what a small world" and "what a fucked up country we are".

Oy vey!

Maccabi had a 20 point lead in the second quarter and went to lose the first game and the home court advantage to Partisan. At the beginning it looked like a blowout for Maccabi, but ended in the fourth quarter with embarrassing misses under the basket.

The second game is on Thursday and then to Belgrade

Yay! I've got a new toy!

I think I should mention here that I had a birthday at the beginning of March. I know, I know, I am 33. This is so sad. Well, not really. I am pretty pleased with my life so far. I slowed down a little when we moved to Omaha, but that is only for the best.

Anyway, I ordered a Sony eReader The Daily Edition as a present for myself. It arrived a couple of days ago, but I hadn't had the chance to really play with it till today. It is great! I love it. Now, I have even more books on my "to read list".

Amazing!

Maccabi Tel-Aviv had won an amazing games against Real Madrid in Madrid. It was the usual heart attack inducing game Maccabi is so good at providing its fans. It won first place in the top 16 group and now will play Partisan Belgrad in top 8 in a best of 5 series. Maccabi will also have a home court advantage. For most of the game it looked like Maccabi was a no show, but they exploded in the last quarter.

Simply amazing. There is a hex on Real Madrid this week, after the soccer team was ousted out of the Champions' League. Now Real in basketball will play Barcelona (an incredible team), and Barcelona will have home court advantage.

Maccabi has a clear road to final four. They are dependent solely on themselves.

Writing

I've been having a rather productive week in writing. Which is great. I had something of a writers' block for a long while, but, hopefully, this is over now. I am also arranging the submission package for an MFA program at UNO. I am not sure I will end up going, but it looks like an interesting program. So, yesterday I wrote a self assessment letter of my writing. It got me thinking about what my goals really are, what is stopping me etc. It doesn't happen often. Maybe it should. Makes you sharper.

Spring or not

I was about to post how strange it was that most of the snow disappeared within a week. As far as I can remember from my childhood in Ukraine, this usually took much longer. Anyway, this post was foiled by a relatively heavy snow falling since this morning. Go figure.

Final 8

Yay!
Maccabi Tel Aviv had won today against Sienna in a very good game that ended with a much bigger difference that could have been expected based on the game. Since, at the same time Real Madrid had won against Efez Pilsen, Maccabi qualified to final eight today irrespective of the result next week. That doesn't mean there isn't anything to play for next week. If they win their away game in Madrid, they qualify from the top spot, making sure they have the home court advantage at the final eight stage. In any case, Maccabi played very well at this stage with the exception of the game last week in Pilzen. Congrats, and way to go.

Attack of the Giant Spiders -- movie at seven

We've been to a Purim celebration at the Synagogue yesterday. It was actually very nice. It is a bit hysterical how they mix the Hebrew words into English. The day before that, we went to the same synagogue for the reading of the Esther Scroll. It's the first time I actually heard it in full. I again wonder at the irony of me having to move to US to do these things.

Anyway. At the Purim celebration there was an attraction for the kids -- a woman made really cute balloon animals and stuff. I never saw anything on par in Israel. Rather amazing. Giant spiders were all the rage :) Hence the title of the thread.

While driving back home we had a really long debate whether we see the moon or something else. It was completely not of this world. Eerie, like in the werewolf movies. A perfect finish for our "movie" night :)

Good news

Well, I had some bad and some good news with y story submissions. The bad news were the usual rejections for a number of my stories, both in English and in Hebrew. The good news, I'll tell you in a couple of weeks when and if they are final :)

Heroes vs. Villains

I've watched the first episode of Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains last night. It looks great on HD and is shaping up to be a great season. I am not going to spoil it to people who by any chance are reading this and haven't watched yet. I am just going to mention that I was surprised at some of the choices, as well as the placement in tribes (I mean Cirie should definitely be with the villains). After saying that, it's going to be a very good season, I hope. They already did things in the first episode that hadn't happened on any other season (sorry, no spoilers :) )

Final 16

I watched Maccabi's game yesterday (I also did last week). I purchased an on-line subscription for sports programs from the Israeli TV. Can't say the quality justifies the cost, but I haven't found a good alternative yet. Anyway, the game was good, though not as good as last week. Maccabi looks to be gaining momentum and maybe we'll still see them in the final 8 this year. This is something I wouldn't have guessed after seeing their group.

P.S. Way to go Omri Caspi. First year in the NBA and a roockie Allstar. I hope I'll be able to watch the game

Study upates

Well, I got a letter from Prof. Dzenis last night. It looks like the situation will be resolved within a week. Just a little more patience

Bli Panika contest

Sorry for not updating earlier. I had finished and sent off the translation to the Bli Panika translation contest. Can't say I enjoyed the book excerpt too much. Pretty heavy handed, imo. Maybe it's just this chapter. I am not going to put up this translation at my translation web site because I am currently in the process of deciding how to proceed with it. Once I do, those who are interested and actually stumble on my bog/sites would be able to read it :)

Still Alive

I am still alive, if anybody is following this blog.
Sorry for not posting for along while. I'll update soon. I promise. Really, really :)