for love of water

FLOW

the best birthday present ever

was to hold my coworker Lee's baby.

divine

this is perfect with a glass of mint tea...

too tired to say "i'm tired"

got to work at 7am this morning....

didn't get done with work till 7pm.

where's dinner? whose got my dinner?

the possibility of a nighttime meal in the hadar is in the air - let's see if it wafts my way.

oh, and shana tova :)

my saturday morning

yup, i went for another 3-4 hour walk yesterday - took a nice long rest at the beach

the moth

new found amazing podcast: the moth

thanks ez

arrested viewing

i finally found a site to view "arrested development" online...i'm happy chappy :D

stick

so, if you use...well, if you use a computer or more specifically some sort of chat application you must be familiar with this creation: :P

this is the "smiley" that can have a few different meanins - "oops, i messed up :P", "oh, how cute us that! :P", "silly :P", etc. the list could go on for ever.

the POINT of this post, is that unconsciouslly and unwittingly and just, like 5 minutes ago, reacted to something, like physically acted, with this smiley icon.

i read something, and i felt my mouth form a straight line and my tongue darted out on the side. i felt myself doing this, but couldn't stop. it was like i was watching it all like a confused and embarassed spectator.

looking back now at my chat history with a variety of people up to today, i realize that i have been using this icon MUCH too often. this was a danger sign that it needs to stop or at least decresae sharply - it has invaded my mind.

hmm, just a thought, but as more and more people around the world are using chat based mediums in which to communicate two things happen i think. 1) grammer and the usage of language fails (and i write this knowing full well that i'm violating an enourmous amount of grammer rules with this post); and 2) that as these icons become more and more the norm through which people express emotion in this virtual world, our range of expression is going to become sharply limited - unless of course the continue to develop new and more advanced icons...i guess this is actually where we are headed.

but just imagine if, because we have such a limited means of expression through msn and gchat and aol, we all started to express ourselves in daily interactions with just this miniscule amount of emotionla depth - it would be quite comical, but ultimately horrifying.

i mean, look what it did to one of the world's greatest thinkers!

luis is back!

luis is back from vacation!!!

here's to you luis

this past weekend: assorted

sina and ez - dead sea

haifa

dead sea - johnny h swimming ashore

sunrising - sina khan looking longingly out to jordan - epic

sina trying to figure out where in masada we actually are

arad - towards the dead sea

we're off on the road to morocco...

nuns on stella maris

masada in miniature

johnny h trying it out - dead sea

about to enter the gondola - haifa

church door - haifa

overlooking the bay - haifa

salt encrusted board - dead sea

Baha'i Perspectives

new post up for Baha'i Perspectives: Where are the Poets, Part III

four steps healthy

all images videos captured with handy dandy camera phone

on the road to the dead sea

shots captured with camera-phone

raw

over the weekend i was body surfing in tel aviv with ezra and his friend johnny hall from nz. as the waves got progressively stronger it got harder and harder to stay afloat and not be swept and churned around in the undercurrent. at one point i got pulled under, flipped and my back scraped against the sand.

it was unpleasant.

i now i have strawberry on my lower back that is quite uncomfortable.

this morning i shaved. normally this wouldn't be a big deal, but i haven't shaved in about a month or more. i've just been trimming it up to this point. lucia you'll be happy to know that i now again look like i'm 12 - for the fans of the beard...it'll grow back. it took a while though to shave, the hairs just didn't want to release their hold on my face. my skin feels a bit sensitive, like it hasn't seen the sun or felt air for quite a long time.

here are also some photos that i took during lucia's last days here:

birthday twins

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO NAVID AND AMELIA!!!

LOVE YOU GUYS, WILL BE SEEING YOU SOON!!

in tents, intense

this past weekend sina, ez and johnny (ez's friend from NZ who is visiting) packed up our things and headed to the dead sea to camp by the shore.

it was intense.

i took a fair amount of pictures and i'll be posting them soon.

photos

new photos up on flickr

its a suspenders day

and i love norah jones.

feelings

i was thinking that i should post something about my feelings, my own personal feelings...but then i thought "hmm, well, why do i need to let the world know what i think of myself. what business is it of theirs, and what is the good that would come out of that. it would be some sort of global confession". nah. i'll do something else. let's talk about YOUR feelings.

at the outset i recognize the problem. this is a bit of a one-sided endeavor. not to mention the fact that i have about 6 billion + feelings to choose from.

and then i thought...its 4:30 am, what am i doing up so early? roya just asked me the same question. i try to go running at about 5:30, and so what am i supposed to do for the next hour? roya said it must be exciting writing at 4:30am...but, you know...there's not much going on.

ok, enough of this. i'm off for a run.


********************************

change of plans. i'm making a cake first.

Israeli city first to aim for water independence

Israel may be in a severe water crisis, but in the city of Rishon LeZion the drought isn't causing any alarm. Summer temperatures regularly soar to the upper 80s and 90s, there's no rain for six months of the year, and the country's key source of drinking water, the Sea of Galilee reached the critical "Red Line" in July, but still city residents remain relaxed.

That's because Rishon LeZion, 20 kilometers south of Tel Aviv, is well on its way to becoming the "first independent municipal water economy? in Israel. It's a groundbreaking initiative that is attracting interest from countries all over the world searching for solutions to their own water problems.

Currently, Rishon LeZion provides 70 percent of its own water from local sources such as wells, with the remainder being supplied by Mekorot, Israel's national water company. But the city's municipal water company, Meniv Rishon, has set itself an ambitious goal: to turn Rishon LeZion into the first city in the country to be 100% water self-sufficient.

"We want to supply all of our water needs ourselves, for industry, agriculture and for households too," says Daniel Low, general manager of Meniv Rishon, a corporation owned by the Rishon LeZion Municipality. (more)

water line

Fifth water line for Jerusalem proposed

The national planning and building committee for infrastructure decided Monday to bring for approval a plan to build a fifth water line into Jerusalem. According to the Water Authority, without it, in light of growing demand, water shortages will begin in the city by 2012.

In light of the urgency, a statement from the Interior Ministry said, Mekorot is merely awaiting government approval to begin work immediately.

red-tipped

i saw a cat get its tail chopped off by a car today...

film

the soul's corruption through instant access to sensory impetus via industrialization

a film by
ezra l hopkins
luis g dechtiar
geoffrey d tyson

semi-dark room

phew...i really miss you lucia.

awkward moments

i love witnessing awkward moments. i may turn red and blush...but those of you who know me realize that i do this with everything...so...but more than witnessing awkward moments, i love creating them.

today my office threw a small birthday party for me. i walked downstairs to see a lovely spread of cake and snacks and then the most lovely surprise of all was that one of our local workers, Lee (who just had a baby) was sitting in Theresa's office gently cradling her 8 week year old.

i promptly sat down and just stared intently. yes...i did get to hold him. my shoulder still smells of baby and it was the best gift i could have received today. such a rush of love...nothing else...just surged up my body, tingling my spine, letting me know that "yup...i'll have my own one day". Al then walked in to say "Now Lee, giving away your baby is much too generous of a gift for Geoffrey!"

ah! but the awkward bit. i was successfully directing conversation away from myself, but everyone kept asking me to impart words of wisdom. so it began. "i came into this office fairly green - but over the past year and a half i have experienced so much, and each of you have contributed to it immensely. you've all tested me in your own...unique ways..." ~silence~and then a burst of confused, comical and indignant remarks erupted from all sides.

needless to say, i was dying of laughter inside, while trying to maintain a sincere expression (Al was in the back nodding his head in approval, ruha was having trouble holding back the giggles and yasmin was busy trying to tell everyone that "hellooo, this is Geoffrey here - don't take him seriously) - this office has grown into a bit of a family and we all take digs at each other. it was hilarious. but in my defense, as i stated then, i am operating on minimal sleep right now - my mental and verbal guard isn't working.

double sided

yesterday i turned 24.

sink in....sink in...

i first came here to israel when i was just 22. i've gone through 2 whole years of my life here. it sort of all comes full circle though. three years ago, on my 21st birthday lucia first left home to come here to serve. and now on my 24th birthday she's left me once again to some new exciting stage of life. in one sense, i'm sort of glad that happened...it took the focus off of me and we were able to concentrate on making sure she was good to go.

lucia was very strong. she'd spent three years of her life here in Haifa. and the only time she cried, at least that i saw, over the past couple of months was when we went to Bahji yesterday and then when we were saying goodbye.

but my birthday was wonderful all the same. i was sick, but i tried to make the most of the day. though when we went to Bahji, i was coughing and sneezing too frequently to attempt to go into the Shrine with any sense of reverence. afterwards, dinner on ben gurion, a birthday ice cream from mcdonalds and then a quick shop through a the mall where i treated myself to a couple new items and then home to do the final bit of packing with lucia and just wait until midnight before we had to head to the train station.

i'm glad i'm 24. it's going to be such a good year. though it's starting out with me still quite ill and tired from the night's travels. it's going to be a strong year, a hopeful one, a positive one.

so! thanks, 23, for yet another foundational year...and 24...you know what to do.

gift

i'm treating myself to "my fair lady". its a loverly day.

crocodile man

seriously?

various

in a train on the way back from dinner in tel aviv

one of those times where the english and the hebrew are pronounced the same way

wednesday boys lunch

these last two are from a dinner with friends at a great new sushi place in the mercaaz

pink panther

classic peter sellers - brings back so many memories of dying of laughter at home with the family. :)

boys

phone duty today...lucia may be going to the mall...the boys are on their way down for pizza wednesday.



thanks khat :)

obsession

i was obsessed with watching youtube clips on lions and great white sharks today - it was amazing.

bbq at sina's

morning ii

after getting back from my run, i felt...creative :) so i began to work a little more on a song that i'm trying to put together. around 7:30 i realized that lucia was being bidden farewell in 30 min at tuesday morning prayers. and a couple minutes later i got a reminder from lucia as well.

i quickly jumped into the shower, and after a record washing of 1.5 minutes i was throwing cloths on and running out the door.

i was going to catch a taxi, but the 23 bus came around the corner and i hopped on. i'd forgotten that this bus goes on a bit of a loop - so i arrived for the farewell just after prayers were being said, but quickly sidled in next to lucia.

she's leaving soon. it doesn't feel like its actually happening, and i think that's because she's been so organized about it all. she's really on top of things and just...happy.

that's really good to see. it means she ready to take on the rest of her life. :D

morning

i woke up early this morning...lots of thoughts on the brain and i just felt this rush of energy to do something.

i had been really trying to psyche myself into doing exercise for a while, but i just couldn't get out of bed in the mornings. after a quick chat with roya who wouldn't accept any excuses and just told me to stop whining and get out of bed - i went for a 20 minute run up stella marris.

haifa is really beautiful at 6am.

adele

fr kt

her voice is amazing, and she has such fresh and wonderful melodies. her songs make me so happy. today is kent's birthday.

Average salary moves higher

The average gross salary in the first half of 2008 was 1.4% higher than in 2007.

Shay Niv 7 Sep 08

The average gross national salary rose to NIS 8,448 in June from NIS 8,072 in May, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported today. The average gross national salary was NIS 8,120 in the first half of 2008, up 1.4% on the first half of 2007.

Israel Electric Corporation and Mekorot employees topped the salary rankings in June, with an average salary of NIS 19,573, regaining the top spot from financial workers whose average salary dropped to NIS 17,203 in June from NIS 22,373 in May. The average salary of financial sector employees rose by 4.6% in the first half, compared with the second half of 2007 - the highest gain of any sector. In contrast, the average salary of IEC and Mekorot employees rose by 0.4%.

du jour

lucia's last

today is lucia's last day in the office....wow :)

office prank

i had been wanting to put this down for the last two weeks. so, it had been a while since rich and i had pulled an office prank - so a couple of weeks ago we sat at lunch, concocted a plan, picked a target (mona, the legal secretary), and then began the execution.

1:40 - rich brings a folder to me.

1:45 - rich, back in his office, fakes a phone call from someone very important who is requesting a file urgently - mona is within ear-shot.

1:47 - rich gives mona, in a very frantic manner, a post-it note with a file name on it that he says that only geoffrey has. the file name is: 215.489 Dawait Andsee file.

1:47 - mona comes rushing into my room, wide-eyed and stressed. she passes the note to me and begins to really urently say that rich needs it as soon as possible. as planned, i ask her to wait, i have it just here. and i begin to look on my computer at my records for the physical location of the file. i begin to say how confidential this file is, and that if someone is requesting it, something is happening. I begin to search on my computer.

1:49 - mona is still sitting in front of my desk. rich calls me and i pretend it is our secretary downstairs. the call is to say that there is someone at the gate to see me and to drop something off. i panic. i tell mona just to wait right here, don't move - i'll be right back, but i have to go see the person at the gate. i rush out of my office.

1:50 - i enter rich's office. we burst out laughing, but then realize we have to control ourselves because mona might here. he begins to entertain me with stories and we just chat.

2:00 - we feel mona has suffered long enough, and so i rush back to my office, apologizing profusely to mona for making her wait - the guy downstairs just took forever. i rush back to my computer, and then i find the location of the file. i turn around to the file drawer next to my desk and triumphantly pull out the folder rich had brought to me in the beginning: 215.489 Dawait Andsee.

2:01 - she steps out of my office and begins to open the file. it has one single sheet of paper in it, with one little inscription in the middle of the page: "For Mona, just wait and see." she cries out in exasperation, i burst into laughter and a moment later i hear rich laughing his head off and telling our prank to the whole legal office.

it was a great day.

overview

the other day, yesterday in fact, after work at noon i joined lucia and kerii in the hadar for some lunch. one of the best meals i had in a long time - mcdonalds. only, i spent the first 30 min of the whole meal coughing and unable to speak because i had a piece of overcooked fry lodged in my throat.

but this seemed to be fine, as the three of us were trying to be quite and "really pay attention to what we were eating".

i think if we were REALLY paying attention to what most of mcdonalds meals are made of...well, it would be a different story i think.

the reason we were in the hadar was that lucia needed a new zipper and some various other items. kerii had to cut his stay with us short and head back to the office, so lucia and i continued on foot window shopping, commenting on the horrendous israeli outfits that were for some reason occupying most of the store windows - but more importantly we were looking for out-fits for lucia that were "edgy" or "funky".

she is looking into a new hair style, and the kind she wants NECESSITATES a new wardrobe.

one thing i have noticed...i like the shoes here. in one shop i found this amazing pair of brown leather, high-top, velcro and lace-up dress shoes. the description may sound a bit odd, but it worked. seriously. i may be stopping by there again in the future.

today though, lucia and i worked on our spirituality. joined by kent and nathan we first had breakfast at my place (and begrudgingly kent's place), and then luckily caught a sherut (driver by the name of Zoher) out to Bahji. though hot, Bahji was as beauitful as ever.

afterwards, sina and ezra joined our troop and we went back to sina's place (minus kent...who no doubt was doing something interesting with loud voices and dramatic hand gestures) to have barbeque and just relax on his roof.

i just got back - i'm so exhausted and full. now kent is lying down next to me reading harry potter (so proud of him)...and i just got done taking some black and white pictures of him with my minolta.


also - i've been practicing my south african accent. be prepared - it's awesome.

it's me!

so i have some google alerts on various topics and themes, and one of them is concerning the Israeli National Water Company of Mekorot.

a couple of minutes ago i saw that i had a another update come up in my account - i looked at the author, and it said "Geoffrey". i thought, wow, that's a coincidence. and so i opened it up and it was my own blog! it was the story i had cited yesterday.

just thought that was funny - i'm getting updates about myself.

Court rules Mekorot can't supply extra water

The Tel Aviv District Court dismissed an injunction to block the company from supply water to an agricultural cooperative that exceeded its quota.

The Tel Aviv District Court today ruled that Mekorot National Water Company may not supply more water to farmers beyond the quotas set by the Water Authority. Judge Esther Hellman-Nussboim dismissed a petition by the Matte Miriam Agricultural Cooperative for an injunction forbidding Mekorot from cutting off its water supply. (article)

images of haifa: a series

(ben gurion)

(haparsim street)

(allenby road)