I am sleepy

So when I first got this whole semester in Israel shizzle advertised to me, they always played up this bit saying "so here's the bad news: school is from 8 in the morning to 7 at night." And then they explain how much of that is breaks and how the 3 hop ur Jewish history class really flies. 11 hours of school a day? That's blatant exaggeration.

And in some ways it is, when you've got that juicy off day from your third period and get an hour to nap which you desperately need and/or study for an important physics test but end up just playing Super Mario Bros 2 (ok, maybe that story isn't universal). Then the school day's not really 11 hours. 

But really, all the normal academics plus 5 hours of pure unadulterated 30-proof Kabbalah main-lined to the soul can get a bit trying. That and the fact that breakfast has no fruit makes for quite the...reminder that I'm waaaay too privileged. Breakfast has milk anyway, I can roll with that.

Today, we went to the shrine of the book, where the Dead Sea scrolls are kept and researched. It is a nipple.

In which I'm prompted to update

Seriously, look at this sexy bastard. The rest of us didn't stand a chance.

Hey readers! Well, this time I'm actually posting twice within four years. It's still not as immediately after my first one as I'd have liked, but life invaded. Israel's crazy. Even right now I have maybe 90 minutes of homework and breakfast in 7.5 hours but this is important for me and every so often my immaculate time-management skills can take a backseat. I do wish I could've waited a little while to do a largely serious post (this is the equivalent of a sitcom dropping the "very special episode" where they learn about drugs on the second episode), but as I'm about to talk about, the world doesn't care about your schedule.

So today kinda sucked. I was in a foul, foul mood all day and can't even owe it to my usual school-stress because one week in I really feel I'm getting the groove of this whole deal of two-person classes. That and I've got great friends, I've already arranged a catchy cover of Frank Zappa's "Bobby Brown Goes Down," the nature renders me speechless

And Thursday we're seeing Kung Fu Panda 3 with my boys JK Simmy and B-ry Cran-Cran. This trip is so far everything I've hoped for. But today sucked.

It's been long enough (almost a third of my life, wow) that the pain ebbs largely. But I was thinking about Mitch a lot coming into this trip. He always wanted to do it and probably would've navigated the awkward first week of socializing far better than I have. (Getting there, though.) And then it came today and no matter how beautiful the historical site I was visiting was, nor how magical when a gazelle came bounding across ten feet in front of me, I just wanted to sleep.

It was hard being alone. There were people for support of course but for the first time ever on this day (and one of the first times ever in my life) I wasn't surrounded by people touched by my brother. Which really speaks to him. People always get inflated when they die. It becomes faux pas to accept their limitations. But I honestly think all the praises we extol of Mitch would still reach ears if he was here today. Look how "Keep Smiling" has turned out, huh. We have.

It's 11:57 PM in Jerusalem, which means it's changing from February 1st to Groundhog Day, maybe the single biggest increase in quality the calendar sees in a single two-day period. I'll watch the movie Groundhog Day on my room's TV and think of Mitch when Bill Murray punches Ned Ryerson. We go on, because he's still with us. I don't think he knows another way to be.

One last thought for the week's adventures: The movie "Pay it Forward" is absolutely horrible.

Chocolate Milk from a Bag: Fancy That

Hello to friends, to family, and to my occasional reader from Germany who finds this page by Googling "Ferris Wheel." currentlystupid.blogspot.com is back and better than ever, from a lexical standpoint if not from one of entertainment value. As I write this, I'm about to go to sleep, signing off from what has for me been a 30-hour journey to my hotel room here in Jerusalem. I've certainly made some friends, and also been on an airplane. That part sucked. I wish I could apparate.

Anyway, here I sit in my room at the Kibbutz. What's a kibbutz, you ask? Good question! Google it!
I have more important topics to discuss.

This is "Shoko," a popular drink in Israel. It's chocolate milk in a plastic pouch that you tear apart with your teeth, as is tradition. It is to drinks as Jonathan Mulberry Slattery is to acting: complex, cultured, smooth, and delicious. After a travel day where exhaustion and crabbiness fought hard to beat out excitement about the awesome thing I'm embarking on (oh yeah, high school semester in Israel, leggo) coming to the room and finding 4 packs in the fridge was a Godsend. I didn't check if it was expired and I rather hope it was, as is tradition.

Sleepy time, that's all for today, sorry if this sucked, gimme some slack though.

Shout out to Erica Barish and her time-commitment to activity suggestions

The Return Is Upon Us

Stay Tuned...

The Return

As I promised, I have returned to the Internet to blog again. I know you are all overjoyed.

While I was gone, many things happened in the world, including Willard "Mitt" Romney choosing his presidential running mate in Paul Ryan. 

Paul Ryan

Alan Rickman as Professor Snape.

I didn't know anything about Paul Ryan, so I looked him up and found out that he used to sell Oscar Mayer products. Also, a bunch of stuff about his political past and his ideas for fixing the economy and Medicare, but I found the fact that he used to go door to door selling bologna much more interesting. If you actually want to know valuable information on the man who may be our next vice president, then why are you reading this? Clearly I'm not a good source, I just associated Paul Ryan with Alan Rickman for no particular reason.

In other news of the past two or so months, The Dark Knight Rises was very good, the Orioles are six games behind the Yankees, and I just returned from summer camp. I shall take a nap now.

Gone Fishing

Today is my last blog for two months, as I am going to summer camp, where Internet connection is reserved for our tyrannical overlords. (Don't worry, we're working on starting a revolution. It's been really fun writing this blog every day (mostly) for the past month, and I look forward to writing more in the future. So tell your friends to read, and I'll see you August 19th!

The Top Five Pixar Movies

(For #13-6, see my previous post "Pixar From Best To Worst: Part 1." The two posts were supposed to be one, but I had a a meeting with my business partner Mark Sandberg from Vermont over some undisclosed settlements from the last quarter I went to sleep before finishing.)

Every movie here is a classic, a wonderful, wonderful film that should be cherished for years to come. Choosing between them was extremely hard.

5. Wall-E

The robots in this movie are perhaps the most human of all the Pixar characters. The story of Wall-E and Eve is a great romance. The story is a cautionary tale about the future of humanity that somehow manages to be inspirational and hopeful, and we see all the political upheaval and world crisis through the eyes of a simpler character, sort of like Forrest Gump. But with more robots. And it's a better movie than Forrest Gump.

Best Line: (Eve, as Wall-E lays dying in her arms) "Wall-E."

4. Ratatouille

Definetely the most underrated Pixar movie, I bet most of you reading this didn't even think of Ratatouille when you opened the article. But it's a great one. I love food, and this movie talks about food a lot, which is good. Also, the visuals of Paris are amazing, and Peter O' Toole's performance as Ego has me in shivers every time. A heartwarming tale of friendship.

Best Line (Anton Ego) "I don't like food, I love it. If I don't love it, I don't swallow."

3. Up

The first 20 minutes of this movie, narrating Carl's life with Ellie up until her death is the saddest piece of film I've ever seen. It's simply beautiful. With its minimal dialogue, it could have gone on to be one of the Pixar shorts, but the real story is what happens to Carl after what seems to be the last adventure of his life. Because after there's a whole new adventure. And part of that adventure is Christopher Plummer trying to kill him, which must have been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Best Line: (Dug, the dog) "Hey, I know a joke! A squirrel walks up to a tree and says, "I forgot to store acorns for the winter and now I am dead." Ha! It is funny because the squirrel gets dead. "

2. Toy Story 3

You saw this movie. You cried. Don't worry, I did too. Even though I wasn't born yet when Toy Story came out and only an infant when the second was in theaters, I have fond memories of Toy Story from when I was a small child, just like millions of other people do. Due to the toy aspect, the movies even stir up those feelings for people who were adults when the movie came out. And Toy Story 3 does with those memories and feelings what it does with its characters: almost burning them to death in a giant furnace before swiftly saving them and preserving them happily forever.

Best Line: (Lotso, having sentenced the gang to death) "Where's your kid now, Sheriff?"

1. Finding Nemo

This is the best children's movie ever, and one of the best movies. There is not one wrong note. Every character is interesting and memorable, the scenes of the ocean are breathtaking, every joke is hilarious, and the story is touching as can be. This is a pick-me-up movie. It will make you smile, no matter what mood you're in. It's a real work of art, and it's the greatest Pixar movie of all time.

Best Line: Pick any Dory line.