(no subject)

[plural]

you have my apologies, and I'll set about rectifying that now.

as I've hinted in recent (or not so recent posts, my bad) posts.

Much has been afoot in recent months but nailing things down and getting a plan in action has taken me much longer than I expected.

Of course, now that I've done so, things are moving at a lightning pace.

The brief overview, I am moving to Israel in early August where I am taking a job as a contractor with the Israeli government and will be living in Jerusalem.

Those of you who know me well will understand this decision brings up a variety of thoughts and concerns for me however the government has made me an offer I cannot refuse (and providing a cute little studio for me to live, in the German Colony of Jerusalem - my favorite neighborhood in the city, sure doesn't hurt).

I have about a billion things to do between now and then but for now I'll settle for giving yall a rough itinerary of where I'll be over the summer. As always I'd love to see any of you if our paths cross close enough although unlike my usual travels my schedule is already filling up so allow me to apologize in advance if I'm unable to get together.

May 25-30 Washington DC
June 3-8 Seattle
June 12 - July 10 Tel Aviv / Elat / Netanya
July 13-16 Sydney (Nova Scotia sorry my Aussie lovelies)
July 17-30 Seattle
July 31 - August 2 San Francisco
August 2-8 Seattle
August 10-28 Jerusalem
*September 3-8 Sicily (tentative scheduling - buffy does that work for you?)
September 10-30 Jerusalem
*October 10-20 Ghana (tentative)

So there you have it.

So, I'm sure many of you will be wondering why the move, etc etc and feel free to ask any questions you may have but the overall gist is along three fronts.

1) After spending several years abroad, I've come to feel more at home outside the US than within it.

2)Israel is quite centrally located and makes an easy hub point for my future ventures and given that the govenrment has been most flexible and generous it became quite apparent that Israel was a better choice than the other nations which I was considering, in addition, there are familial questions/obligations which make Israel the obvious choice over the other nations I was considering.

3) Given the above and my general unease with the economy in the US and given that the vast majority of my assets are outside the US already, there seems little upside and a great deal of increased cost/risk to staying in the US and great potential benefit to moving to a place where I can upgrade from a tadpole in an ocean to a guppy in a pond, if that makes any sense.

Anyway, I'm parked outside a coffee shop using the internet as my home internet is currently down due to a failed cable modem so I probably should wrap this up and head for home.

Be well and lots of love.

Your Plural

Comments

[doc-neuro.livejournal.com]

dude you make them provide your ass with a car or find some way to make arrangements to do so. Highly inconsistent and inefficient mass transit is one of many things that sucks balls about Jerusalem. Trust me when I say its a much better place to visit for a few days than it is a place to live, work, or otherwise stay for an extended period of time.

That having been said once you get there there is a restaurant on french hill I want you to check out once you get there. I made friends with the family that owns it. their food was so delicious I gained about 50 pounds in the 10 months or so I was there. Im sure some of it was muscle though from all the walking uphill. Its called M'taiim Tziyona. One of three people will be behind the counter: A middle aged sephardi man, a middle aged Ashkenazi woman, or a young guy about our age.

If its the young guy, his name is Eres but it isnt that important you remember that. Just tell him Jonathan Kadmon from New Orleans lost his contact info and give him my email address, jkadmon@gmail.com

Also, tell him you want the same thing I used to get...beef shishlik in a lafa. When you are picking the salads make sure you get the purple stuff. It is all kinds of awesome. Just trust me, you'll never get anything like it anywhere else...at least not for that price.

I want you to confirm you are going to go there. Trust me when I say you will regret it deeply if you dont. Well maybe you wont, I suppose you cant miss what you never had. But you will be missing out on something very very very very very very tasty. I cannot express enough how extraordinarily tasty it is.

There is a nice little coffee house nearby and if you can get in the back room after your shishlik for a post meal espresso I reccomend it. Just dont try for it on saturday mornings. that complete turd bibi netanyahu likes to bring his wife in and seal off the back room with his bodyguards. hoards it to himself. but it has a nice view of the eastern suburbs of jerusalem and the surrounding mountains and judean desert.

[doc-neuro.livejournal.com]

there is also free wifi at the coffee house. I spent many hours there downloanding porn.

[plural.livejournal.com]

really?

When I lived in Jerusalem before, I almost always used cabs or walked.

I had a motorcycle for trips out of the city and that system worked really well.

The few times I needed a car, I either borrowed one or rented one without the hassle of parking/dealing with a car.

Awesome, I'll definitely check it out, always looking for good food to chow down and I'll definitely say hello for you / make use of your cred / pass on your email.

as for the coffee house, do you remember the streets or name or even a visual description so I can recognize it while strolling around?

I will be provided with mobile broadband upon arrival in Israel so net connectivity shouldn't be an issue but a good cafe is life in the middle east.

and if there is anything else you can think of about that I should know, (such as good places to acquire technology PCs, etc or otherwise useful things to someone like us in Jerusalem) I'd love to hear it.

Its been over a decade since I've lived in Jerusalem and while they are providing a "liason" to help me get settled, I'm sure there are things which are more specific to the needs of someone like you and I that they might know about (like where the best place to dump the dead hookers is).

thanks in advance

[doc-neuro.livejournal.com]

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Jerusalem+Regency&sll=31.797057,35.213928&sspn=0.260865,0.439453&ie=UTF8&t=h&ll=31.799245,35.236073&spn=0.008152,0.013733&z=16&iwloc=A

I bookmarked the Hyatt Regency as my landmark, because that was literally directly across the street from my dormitory. If you go uphill on Lehi St around the meyonot, just past where it turns into Etsel you'll see on the map they've marked a shopping center where Etsel meets Hahagana just past the traffic circle. Thats where it is.

If you look up hagana st. from the circle you should see it. Just past it is the grocery store Mister Zol, which made me snicker every time I saw it. Only the Jewish State would have a chain of grocery stores called "Mister Cheap". But its not hard to find. Its right next to the number 4 bus stop. I dont reccomend taking the number 4 bus though. You can walk it from the german colony faster than the Arba will get you there.

[plural.livejournal.com]

sweeeeeeeet.

I'll provide a complete report once I've checked it out, and yes, you will be graded ;)

[doc-neuro.livejournal.com]

If it's not an A+ I'll eat my shorts.

[plural.livejournal.com]

ok but I'll require a YouTube video documenting that.

After all, if it isn't on YouTube, it didn't happen..

[doc-neuro.livejournal.com]

just dont forget to pass on my message.

[plural.livejournal.com]

nope, I shan't. As a vice president of the international jewish conspiracy, I take intra-tribe networking very seriously.

[doc-neuro.livejournal.com]

Also the very existence of such an intersection is amusing if only for the historical irony. Every time I walked past it, which was many many times, I imagined the crew of the Altalena turning over in their graves.

[plural.livejournal.com]

As I recall, the land of Israel (not to mention the nation and it's people) has always been fond of its ironies and seems to possess a unique sense of humor.