Well, it's been an interesting few days here in Connecticut, and, certainly, it's flown by to some extent. I flew in on Tuesday from Burbank, on an all-day flight that took me from Burbank to Las Vegas to Nashville and ultimately to Bradley Airport in CT. Luckily, the flights were not too bad and I managed to sleep for a good deal of the way (it helped that I had gotten about 3 hours of sleep on Monday night due to a severe case of packing procrastination). When I wasn't sleeping, I used my handy iPod Touch to catch up on Monday's episode of CHUCK (very entertaining, as per usual), played a little God of War on the ol' PSP, and finally cracked open WORLD WAR Z by Max Brooks, which I had been saving as reading material for my flight.
Of course, practically as soon as I landed in Windsor Locks, the whirlwind that would be the next few days began. After catching up on the presidential debate from earlier in the evening, I eventually fell asleep hungry on Tuesday night, as my last meal during the day had been at about 12 pm Pacific Time, and so by the time I landed at 10:30 EST, I was starving. In CT at 10:30 though, your options for food are pretty much nonexistant. So suffice it to say, by the time I woke up even hungrier sometime Wed. afternoon, it was only a few hours prior to my last meal before the Yom Kippur fast. Before I knew it, I was off to Beth Hillel synagogue for Kol Nidre services, sitting in the familiar white folding chairs for a couple of hours as I greeted a parade of semi-familiar faces from our family's congregation. By the time we got home from services, my brother and I were pretty exhausted, and I was already pretty hungry as my internal clock was totally out of whack. With Matt having had a long day at work at his new job, he was quickly done for, and I was out of commission soon after.
The next morning, it was back to synagogue. Sure, we got there a bit late compared to some of the other congregants, but for me who was still mostly on West Coast time (and who is averse to waking up in the first place), it still felt obscenely early. But I put on my shiny blue tie and tried to put on a happy face to greet everyone at Beth Hillel. The night before, our longtime Rabbi and now Rabbi emeritus, Rabbi Lazowski, greeted me with a bear-like hug and a cry of "my boy from California!". This was actually set to be the retired Rabbi's last go-round at Beth Hillel's high-holiday services - he will soon be moving to neighboring West Hartford and to another congregation in easy walking distance from his new digs. So, for his sake, at least, I sat and prayed and whispered the occassional inappropriate joke to my brother (darnit all).
The funniest moment came late in the afternoon when much of the congregation had already emptied out for the day. I was asked to come up to the bimah to open the arc. I tried to politely decline at first, but soon made my way up to the pulpit and shakily opened the door to the holy arc. Now, as many know, there are times during the High Holiday services when the Rabbi and Cantor will get on hand and knee and fully bow before the arc for a certain length of time. And, this happened to be one of those times, only I had forgotten if only those two bowed or of everyone on the stage was also expected to prostrate themselves before God. So, with my view blocked off, and unable to quickly see what the various others were doing, I figured I had better take my chances with bowing, and so prostrate myself I did. Yes, I, Danny Baram, in front of an entire sanctuary of people, got on all fours and bowed, bathed in celestial light and engulfed by holy energies.
Suffice it to say, I haven't heard the end of this since.
Anyways, when we finally got home late Thursday afternoon, my brother planned some sort of epic movie marathon to pass the time and make us forget our rumbling stomachs. We popped in Saving Private Ryan - a seemingly appropriately-solemn and gravitas-infused film for this most solemn of holidays. However, within minutes, I was a hungry and sleepy mess, and could not keep my eyes open. I feel asleep, and woke up again only when it was once again time to don jacket and tie and head back to synagogue for one more round of praying for forgiveness and to be sealed for one more year in the Book of Life. Oy.
Finally, services were over and it was time to eat! We collectively stuffed our faces at the synagogue, where my family was pretty well-represented, to the point where the Barams and Wagners had our own table at the break-fast festivities. After talking with some old familiar faces at Beth Hillel, my parents, Matt and I ventured to the Small residence for their own break-fast get-together. While there, I was reminded that several of the Small clan are also avid readers of this blog (perhaps the only avid readers of this blog, in fact), so I will take a moment to give a *small* shoutout to Andrew, Becky, and Jennifer, who are apparently such fans that they receive notifcations of new blog entries via Google Reader, and who savor each new personal reflection, political rant, and Prison Break review. Truly, their dedication and support of this fine blog is a shining example of the kind of commitment and hardcore fandom that I look for in all of my (7 or so) readers.
Friday was finally a non-Yom Kippur day in Connecticut. See, my non-Jewish friends may not fully get the concept of the non-fun holiday. They hear that a Jew is taking a day off for Yom Kippur and assume that it conforms to the normal definition of a holiday - rest, relaxation, presents, fun, etc. NOPE. Yom Kippur is not fun - if you observe it, it means fasting all day and spending practically all day in synagogue recounting all of your sins and listening to a cantor chant one melancholy prayer after another. We are gluttons for punishment, what can I say? But back to Friday, with Matt at work, I did a bit of shopping and of course took a little time to grab a slice or two of Luna's Pizza in Simsbury - holy lord, so good.
Then, it was time for the usual craziness that is the Baram Family Friday Night Dinner. For those keeping tabs, it marked my third straight evening of Baram Family Fun. Yes, by this point my sanity meter was beginning to veer towards the red.
Luckily, today marked the beginning of the Almighty Weekend. Matt and I did what all people in suburbia do on the weekend - go to the movies and TGI Fridays. We took in a late-afternoon showing of Appaloosa, met up with the folks for dinner, and now, I'm back at home chillin' and engaging in a little martial-arts movie marathon. Currently, we're taking a break while Matt watches the end of the Sox game, but I'm hoping that we both have enough gas in the tank to follow our viewing of DRUNKEN MASTER with a double-feature of FIST OF LEGEND. As for tomorrow, we're set to ship up to Boston for a bit to visit my grandmother there. And then, before I know it, I'll be packing up my stuff and bound back for Burbank on Monday. Yep, NEXT weekend already can't come soon enough, as I'm mentally drained just thinking about the long flight back to CA.
I would say it's been a long strange trip, but it hasn't been that long. It's been abnormally warm here in CT, although as I've driven around a bit I have gotten to take in some scenic Fall Foliage. But there've only been so many opportunities to take it all in. Like I said, it's been a whirlwind.
- Alright, I'll be back soon with reviews of NICK & NORAH and APPALOOSA. For now, this is Danny, signing out from Bloomfield.
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