I arrived home from school Monday tired after a thirteen hour day. I left for work at the writing center at 8:30 a.m. and arrived back home after 9:30 p.m. I was worn out and grumpy. Then, when I checked my mail, I noticed a key in my box. The key was to a row of lockers to the side of the mailboxes that hold larger packages.

Finally! Something to be excited about.

I tore open the package on the way up in the elevator and discovered Erin Morgenstern’s
The Night Circus. The book included a personalized note, some confetti shaped like top hats and bows, a book mark, and a calling card. The book was signed and included a personalized doodle.

I won the book in Kyle Cassidy’s Night Circus Contest (under the name Howlokitty); I had to write flash fiction revolving around Cassidy’s cat Roswell and a night circus. It’s hard to describe the feeling an author experiences when someone validates their work. It did a lot for me and my confidence. I’ve been racking up more than a few rejections lately.

So far, I’ve found the book delightful. This is the type of book that makes me jealous that I didn’t write it first. I hope to have a review up soon. It definitely won’t be an objective review. I feel the kind of pride I felt when I received my first check for a published news story. This book will forever be linked in my mind with the moment that I opened my mailbox and found a key inside.

I was at the neighborhood coffee shop, enjoying the almost fall-like January NOLA weather, when a blood-thirsty chubby dandy of a bird hopped onto the table inches from my hand. It stared at me with its cold, calculating warm and friendly eyes. Soon, a flock of these critters had surrounded me. I was going to take a picture, but I was afraid for my life they flew away.

Even when I try to be an hermit, trouble finds me.

I went to dinner at my friend Don’s house Christmas afternoon. Like the good Jew I am, I made fried rice, and I enjoyed Turkey Surprise, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, chocolate cake, cookies, and lemon tarts with friends. Xan and Willow, a local illusionist and witch professor, respectively, showed up and offered a night of interesting conversation. (I would link to their site, but it appears to be down.)

New Orleans really is wonderful.

I live in October Country year round.

While walking from my final class today to my car, I realized how much this is true. Though I would live in October Country no matter where I physically resided, tonight living in this fair city added an heightened awareness to my October leanings. I would have taken a picture, but I am much better with words than visual images. I’m no Kyle Cassidy.

So, let me set the scene:

A crow cawed out her disdain for me from her perch on a wrought iron gate that swung into the grounds of a local high school. Amanda Palmer wailed directly into my brain from my iPod headphones: a powerful, raw, emotion-filled feminine voice. The coming dusk bruised the tempered fire of an autumn New Orleans sunset.

These elements converged to create a perfect October moment. I appreciated it.

-My Spiritual Life

I feel like a stranger in a strange land. I am a convert. I converted at a Reform synagogue. The only synagogue I feel comfortable in is a Conservative synagogue. Where do I fit in?

I would like a synagogue that has a more musical tradition. I would like a synagogue where gender norms aren’t so strictly followed. However, I’m not going to find the music or gender deviants I want in New Orleans. New Orleans is very Southern, and the ways in which it assimilated with the culture at large are very different from the variants I found in Tampa. Somehow, I’m going to have to find a way to feel comfortable with what I’ve found here.

-Rosh Chodesh Group

I would like to join a Rosh Chodesh group, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable in an Orthodox setting, so New Orleans’s Rosh Chodesh group is probably not a great fit for me. This is where I really feel I can work on the community; I would like to start one. I just need to find a group of (probably exclusively) women who would like to join and figure out other logistics, like where we’re going to meet and what the meetings will look like.

-Jewish Learning

I am hungry for more Jewish learning opportunities. I want to understand what’s going on in Jewish texts, learn how to read Hebrew, and attend classes based around Jewish issues and themes I’m interested in. There are some learning opportunities here, but I would like to see them grow. I have less confidence in my ability to start a group, because I don’t feel like I have enough expertise to run one, and so far I haven’t found many other people willing to give up their time and energy to teach or participate in the classes.

I do admit that this old friend is a born-again Christian, and there is a good chance that his publisher is a Christian publisher. I don’t know much about the Christian publishing industry, though I do read a few blogs published by people in Christian publishing.

I would ask my old friend more, but he’s gotten on the defensive. He won’t say which company will be publishing his book; he just says that it’s a “sister company” of a “large publishing company.” They want to “make sure his book will sell before they invest real money into it.”

While I can’t say whether or not his publishing company is legit, I can say that it is important for a writer, especially in an age of scams concocted through the ease of the internet, to educate herself about common practices in the industry. One of my favorite websites for doing this is Writer Beware. It is hosted by the SFWA, and it has provided priceless advice to me over the years. I subscribe to the blog. It is all free and readily available to anyone with an internet connection. I advise all writers, especially new writers, to become well acquainted with it.

Now, if I could only get him to sneak in and clean up after me and the cats.

If you take into consideration that I also attended the National Havurah Committee’s Summer Institute the first week of August, you will see that I have an even more concrete reason to take stock of my life. For an entire week, I got to learn, schmooze, network, and live with a bunch of hippie Jews in the woods. It made me realize some Jewish areas in my life that need work. It also made me realize how much I enjoy other aspects of my life.

I want to talk about these positives today, at least where they revolve around my Jewish life.

-My Community:
Today was the naming ceremony for my rabbi’s daughter. Members of the larger New Orleans Jewish community showed up for the occasion. Rabbis attended. The director of the Jewish Day School attended. The Orthodox rabbi from down the road read a blessing that asked God to protect the new baby and her family. Then, we all ate pizza together and enjoyed the moment. I love that the New Orleans community comes together in ways that you don’t find in other cities, especially as members of different denominations of Judaism.

My Rabbi:
Ethan Linden, my biggest asset when it comes to Jewish geography. He is open, welcoming, and made moving to New Orleans a lot easier. He lets community leaders lead egalitarian services and is welcoming and open to everyone I’ve seen him come in contact with. He takes time out for his congregants and makes sure to carve out time for his family. He leads by example, and his example is a pretty tough act to follow.

My Synagogue:
Shir Chadash. Every time I attend an event here, I am greeted by people of all ages who always ask where I’ve been and what I’ve been doing if I’ve been absent. Members bring food to congregants who are sick or just need extra support. The staff is awesome and organized; events are always memorable and well attended.

Organized Communities:
I am a member of the queer Jewish salon here. I attend the occasional independent minyan service. I get updates about events for young singles, for young families, for events that need volunteers, for concerts and plays and lectures by and for the Jewish community. If I had the energy and time, I could probably fill up my week with Jewish events.

Kosher Restaurants:
There are two kosher restaurants near where I work. It’s nice to lead up to Shabbat with a kosher lunch or just choose kosher over the fried and fast food alternatives.

This is not an exhaustive list, but I think it’s pretty representative of what I feel is being done right in New Orleans.

I pay for my business cards, and I’m happy to do it. I know that Vistaprint offers free business cards. I could get 250 free cards instead of paying around $15 for 100. Vistaprint offers all sorts of templates and colored inks and features. However, the impression I’ve gotten from the cards of many of the creative types I know who have used Vistaprint is that the bells and whistles Vistaprint offers make for cluttered, unprofessional cards. I worked for a company that used Vistaprint, and the company-offered cards were on cheap paper with a fuzzy logo. Vistaprint’s free cards also have the Vistaprint web address on the back; the free advertising on the company’s part is what really pays for the business cards. There are also a lot of extras and services that are a good idea to take advantage of but once added up could bring the tally for the 250 cards up past $20 (like card editing, better quality paper, carrying a front design to the back of the card).

It’s not that I don’t appreciate the importance of having access to free business cards. It’s a great idea for college students, people who are just starting businesses, and people who don’t think they can afford to order cards to take advantage of the service. But, I’ve had some great reactions to my Moo cards over the years. They always come out simple yet elegant.

I like Moo because they offer mini cards, which are half the size of standard cards. This has proven to be memorable. I also like that they offer back-of-card designs by independent artists. If I have a book published, I will be able to upload my own pictures (or if I have designs commissioned by an artist friend), but for now I have been very pleased with the results from using their offered designs. Even better, anyone who orders can mix and match designs from different artists in their gallery.

When I network, I want to be remembered in a certain way. I’m building a brand. Everyone who has received my card has given me positive feedback, because these cards are fun and fashionable. They reflect my personality. And, they’re printed on high quality, glossy paper. I see the $15 as an investment, and I’m happy that it goes towards supporting a growing business in an iffy world economy. Even better, I always feel like the company is looking out for me when I order from them. They have always exceeded my expectations when it comes to quality and the speed with which I receive my order. That means a lot when so much of business (especially online business) has become impersonal.

Also, this is a pretty standard sight in the New Orleans metro area, where there are parts of New Orleans proper that flood even worse during smaller storms. What a surprise I would be willing to leave a paradise like this for a week.

I love it here, but it will be nice to enjoy a real vacation.

Tonight, I’m pretending to pack for my trip. In reality, I’m watching Luther and reading The Magicians.