Thursday, February 21, 2008

And it's official!

I'm engaged!

Thank God, she's everything I've hoped for, prayed for, waited for...and then some!

So much to do already, but it seems like I just have to show up and recite my lines...

Things are only gonna get busier!

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Interesting...

The other day, she and I went to the Bodies exhibittion in New York City. For those of you not familiar with the exhibit, Bodies illustrates how the human body - the musculature system, the skeletal system, the pulmonary, respiratory, et al. - works in an unusual yet innovative fashion: they use real cadavers.

All the bodies are Asian, and from what I understand, they were all executees.

The exhibit can take anywhere from one hour and on to go through, and we had an amazing time. Actual bodies are shown, the flesh peeled away, and - depending on what they are trying to point out - cross sectioned. In order to show the veins and arteries, for example, they inject them with a sort of latex material that solidifies once the veins are full, then take away everything else, leaving just the circulatory system standing alone.

It truly is amazing, and we had a blast.

For the record, I got the idea from her. She had been there as a requirement from school, and was fascinated with the display, and was more than willing to go again. At the end of the exhibit, near the exit, they have real preserved organs that patrons can touch.

Naturally, I hefted the human brain, and made a quip of "enjoying some nice Chianti." The guy behind the desk got it, and we shared a laugh. My date didn't get it, but didn't seem to mind, either.

Anyway, we had a very good time at the exhibit, but after I spoke with my father, I got to thinking...

My father thought that it might have been inappropriate to go to the exhibit, because of Nivul haMes (basically, desecrating the dead). To be honest, I hadn't really considered it - I thought about it briefly, but decided that since the bodies are most likely not Jewish, it's probably not an issue. However, my dad countered, we don't know for sure whether or not it applies to just Jews, or even gentiles, because we know that everything is created B'Tzelem Elokim (literally, in God's image). Thus, it's possible that the Bodies exhibit may not in fact be the best place for a nice Jewish boy to take a girl, let alone go himself.

After we hung up, I started thinking of the amazing dichtomy I was presented: on the one hand, we have this potential issue of doing something inappropriate, if not downright wrong. However, on the other hand, I can honestly say that this exhibit deepened my appreciation for the way God created us.

How often do we encounter such situations? We can rationalize everything, make it into something that we can channel towards service of God, but where is the line? At what point do we need to determine what is right, and good for us, and what isn't? I'm aware of this particular issue, but it was definitley raised again last week after the exhibit, and it lent towards some good thinking...

Any thoughts?

Thursday, February 7, 2008

The plot thickens...

Well, our fourth installment was today.

I picked her up at 2 in the afternoon, and had her back at a quarter to twelve. A whopping nine and three-quarter hours, and I must say that I'm exhausted.

The thing is, I can't sleep.

While our comfort around each other is growing (or at least, I think it is), after each subsequent date my fear of rejection intensifies that much more.

I start analyzing everything. I can't determine how much of myself to let her see, can't tell what the balance is between too much information and not enough. On the one hand, I want to share me, in all my me-ness. On the other hand, I'm afraid it will scare her away if it's too much too soon. She's so normal (that being a relative term, of course).

I'm staying honest about myself, open. I won't hide who I am and what makes me myself. I've never done it before, and I won't do it now. I'm not embarassed. But how do I get to that point where it can happen without it blowing up in my face?