Jewish Musings, Sunday, July 16, 2023

[peachymom1]

What’s on your mind — how to make kugel? This week’s Torah reading? Life goals? Prayer? We are all engaged in weight loss/weight maintenance journeys and we are all Jewish or at least interested in Judaism. We like to eat, we like to discuss. It is our goal here to provide each other support on our journeys, to share experiences, to call on our rich cultural heritage and texts, and to help each other grow spiritually.

Some of us take weekly turns starting the thread:

Frieda
Holly
Lee
Louise
Lynne
Peachy

And for those of you that stop by to read this thread without posting — you are welcome to, but you are also welcome to chime in. Don’t be shy!

[peachymom1]

Good morning and shavua tov! Sister #3 absolutely loves celebrity autobiographies (not biographies; she wants to hear their stories in their own words). When this sister and her husband are talking about people they find interesting, like a singer, actor or other famous person, they often say, “Let’s put them on the dinner list.” This means they’d love to invite them over for dinner and get to know them over a friendly, home-cooked meal.

Do you read autobiographies by famous people? If so, which ones have you enjoyed the most, and whose autobio would you like to read (available or not)? Are you ever surprised by things you learn about them? Who do you think is the most overrated celebrity? Who are you the most tired of hearing about? Have you ever interacted with a celebrity, and if so, what was your impression? Are you a star-struck person in general, are you put off by celebrity, or are you somewhere in between? What celebrity would be on your dinner list? And what would you serve them?

I like movies and TV shows as much as anyone else, but I’m not the star-struck sort. I do appreciate good acting, and I’m not immune to good-looking actors, but I see them as people, not icons, and that means I hope they are good people, just like I hope my coworkers, neighbors, doctors, family, etc. are good people. I think paparazzi are way out of control, especially after I read Prince Harry’s “Spare,” which was an eye-opener to me in regard to the relentlessness of paparazzi (because it’s so darned lucrative for them).

As far as autobios, I especially enjoyed Michael J. Fox’s, and I learned a lot about Parkinson’s from it, as well as a lot about the actor himself. One of my favorite movies of all time is “The Secret of My Success,” because I totally get the portrayal of the corporate world. As far as my dinner list, I would love to host Kelly Clarkson, because she seems like such a kind and down-to-earth person, and she definitely knows how to talk to people!

How about you?

[hollygail]

I'm not impressed by celebrities' personal lives. I am interested in whether someone may be a "good" actor, but their personal lives? Not at all interested. My late DFIL, on the other hand, was celebrity-crazy. He'd make an enormous deal out of seeing one wherever he was. I, luckily, wasn't in his company any time he did so; however, DH has mentioned numerous occasions in which his DF made what kind of fuss where he'd spot one. And DFIL lived in the Los Angeles area, home to a zillion celebrities. I grew up in New York City where many celebrities lived and live. I remember one time (I was probably a young teenager at the time) standing in the lobby of a Broadway theater waiting to purchase a ticket to something, and it was difficult not to spot Jayne Meadows several heads in front of me, also waiting in line. No one in the entire lobby made a fuss. I learned at that moment that famous people deserve the same respect as the rest of us. In my life I have been in the company of many famous people and just took each of those experiences as normal, natural occurrences. I'm even annoyed when DH and I are watching a movie and he feels it necessary to tell me who the person on the screen is married to or the adult child of or the parent of someone else famous.

On another hand, I have been at many webinars since the beginning of the pandemic and have specifically registered for several about the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in which someone was being interviewed who had had a long friendship with her. I learned about her personal life from several of them, along the lines of who cooked and/or ate what at some of the many dinners they'd shared. It made RBG more "real" in my eyes than just knowing what she'd accomplished in her professional life. But was I ga-ga over any of it? No.

I do understand the fascination people have with famous people and no, I'm not putting anyone down over such feelings. I just don't happen to share it.

[louise]

I was starstruck at the synagogue job I had a few years ago - it was right near Columbia and JTS and many scholarly Jewish luminaries were members of the shul. Names I recognized as editing prayerbooks I had used, etc. One day I answered the phone and it was Rabbi Joseph Telushkin - poor guy just was calling to sponsor a kiddush and I was dumbstruck for a few seconds.

I love James Taylor, Bonie Raitt, Neil Young and a few others. It is so obvious they have loved deeply and may have sometimeslost but love deeply all the same. I would probably be too starstruck to be at dinner with any of them but would love to at least hear them sing in person - small venue please (not likely).

[lee058]

Good morning everybody. Hope you are all well and SAFE!

Re today's topic: I guess I would like to meet people who invented various vaccines or had other scientific discoveries. There are a lot of artists and writers I think I would enjoy meeting, too. I would probably sound like an idiot though, asking dumb questions like, "So where do you get your ideas?"

As for what I would serve for dinner, it would definitely be things that people could eat without having to worry about spills or needing to cut up the food. Probably sandwiches.

This is a good question but I can't think of more to respond.

Have a peaceful day, Lee