Karl expands on Nilly's thought: Nilly speaks for me in this. Nilly and Shir and all the lovely Jewish folks here: chag sameach and may you also find bits of joy and love and courage during the holiday. Shir, in particular your posts about wanting a future that includes everyone give me hope for that future; your courage bolsters my own.

I don't post much these days, but you folks are very important to me. Please continue to take care of yourselves and each other.

The perimenopausal hivemind at work:

sj: We should start a club!

smonster: Right?! This is it. This is the club.

Jessica: Let's call it Buffistas, we'll meet online :)

Karl gets to the heart of the crisis in the Middle East.

Shir, Nilly, the only words I have that aren't all tears and swearing are: I love you both. Hug your families for me, please.

Shir, on Seder in a crisis.

It took a lot of thinking on how to prepare for Seder this year, when nothing feels normal and you can't really plan anything. And it's a holiday of freedom, and we are where we are, and there are the hostages. How can one have a Seder like this?

Eventually, two things helped me this year. The first, 'Seder' also means order. And I've been organizing alternative Seders for a while. What's a better year to call for a new order in the universe than this year? The other one was an interpretation of the text of the Haggada. It was a reminder that the text itself refers to a call for freedom when nothing was certain and everything seemed doomed. And Jews read this text for years, at least some of them had their own uncertainties and doominess. So in this year, I can do it too.

I'm not having an ordinary friends' Seder. Some elements will be missing on pourpse. Others added on purpose (lemon on the Seder plate, symbolizes the hostages. Other than the color, "missing an opportunity" and sourness are a wordplay in Hebrew. This holiday in particular is full of wordplays). It'll be outdoors, since so many of us lost their homes this year, and most of us had to stay indoors and take shelter when we were supposed to be elsewhere. 2/3 of my holiday donations are going to Gaza this year. But a Seder - a certain kind of Seder - will take place. Ordnung muss sein.

Have a good Passover, Jewistas. May our Seders bring back the good kind of order into this world.

Jessica in Natter:

Basically the entire rear exterior needs to be replaced (bumper, trunk door, the back/side bits that connect to the bumper). Between this and the new hybrid converter/battery last year, I am rapidly approaching Prius of Thebes territory.

Because “Prius of Thebes” made me giggle,

From Calli:

To be fair, I’d vote for one of my cats’ hairballs before I’d vote for Trump, with the sure and certain understanding that the hairball would do a better job.