So much love to you Nora. Losing a parent is a very particular sort of loss.

{{{{{{{{Nora}}}}}}}

Oh Nora, I'm so sorry.

Nora, my condolences.

I've skipped, I'm sorry, so general good vibes and ~ma and hugs-to-those-who-like-them and timelies all around.

(We're still OK. I still can only take the news in extremely small doses at a time, or the very thin I'm-OK outer-shell might shatter. I'm still grateful for this place, and hope that as much as possible is well for each and every one of you. I'm still OK.)

(Just to say that I'm still OK as possible here too. Just not sure what to write anymore. It's all just heartbreaking. Unfortunately I started to be able to read more about Oct. 7th and the war at times, which means I'm usually up until 2am these days, trying to make some sense out of it. I can't, but a part of me is still trying to understand).

Sending you both love, Shir and Nilly. And thank you again for continuing to check in.

Thanks for the check-ins from Israel, Nilly & Shir.

Just not sure what to write anymore. It's all just heartbreaking.

I don't even know what I'm hoping for at this point, except Biden to push for a ceasefire.

I need to get my shit together and clean house before Thanksgiving. As well as getting a turkey.

We're having three guests, and two are new to our Thanksgiving and I think that'll be good. Just a different, welcoming dynamic and we won't just be sitting there feeling Jacqueline's absence.

Aside from the long distance planning/thinking about the trip to Spain, I just made immediate plans for my high school friend, Jeanette (aka, Jet), to visit in Mid-January for the upcoming Church of the Sacred Silversexual Bowie shows. She'll be coming down with her husband, and her daughter who is trans and is still getting used to going out en femme. I figure a Bowie show in San Francisco is about the safest place you're going to find for flexing your gender expression.

I haven't seen Jet since we were both in college, but we reconnected on FB about five years ago and it's been a joy. She's very funny and has a lot of wild experiences too. She and her bestie, Diane, introduced me in HS to both The Princess Bride (the book) and Edward Gorey, so she's always been a super smart nerd-friend.

Like several Buffistae, she and her family relocated to the PNW to escape a less welcoming environment.

That reminds me that I need to text my SIL and tell her what I am bringing to Thanksgiving. The last time she hosted she asked me to make 2 lasagnas TWO days before the event. This year I am choosing to make a cheesy cauliflower casserole and roasted brussels with pecans. DH and I are keto again so I want to make sure we have adequate options. Also, making these keto pumpkin cheesecake bites that are super yummy.

In random music news, my son and I often send each other music links because we both enjoy a wide range of music we never heard before. Anyway, he sent me this a couple days ago, and although the music is lovely, the song titles are the bestest. [link]

I don't even know what I'm hoping for at this point, except Biden to push for a ceasefire.

Same-ish. The liberal Israeli way of agreeing to a ceasefire without saying they're agreeing to a ceasefire is to demand the return of the hostages and protest for it. Hostages' exchange cannot and will not happen without a ceasefire.

If I wish for anything, it's not merely a ceasefire. It's the safe return of the hostages that are still alive, a new government here (to say this one is useless will be a gross understatement. I don't trust them, I don't support them, and I now know they won't protect me on the most basic level of physical security). Also for some kind of international solution in Gaza as the Palestinian Authority cannot at its current state to rule there (they're not Hamas' friends). If I dream of something, it's a coalition and solidarity of moderates and liberals against far right and militants, Jewish or Arab.

Regarding the hostages and Gazans and our bomimgs in Gaza, there's an aspect to this that I feel in my bones. My great grandmother was killed by allies' bombs on Budapest when she was hiding there in 1944. Only five members of my grandfather's family (her son) survived, out of dozens. And I know there is a terror group in Gaza that wishes to kill me and everyone else here and for that you need a military solution too. But boming cannot be the only solution. We need a political one. We didn't hear what it is yet, because, well, my god this government is the worst. Simply the worst.

May some politicians be brave enough to choose a decent political solution to get us out of here before the situation gets worse.

Oh, I also recommend this talk, for those wondering about the concepts of settler colonialism and colonialism, and how they relate to the conflict here: [link] it's a very leftist podcast, and it also clearly points that some ideas of local nationalities and ethnicities were lost in Western translation.

If I dream of something, it's a coalition and solidarity of moderates and liberals against far-right and militants, Jewish or Arab.

I'm not sure how this will come about but it is the only solution I see. Those who remain in power only by heightened conflict will never seek peaceful solutions.