The summer before second grade, I attended one of those Hebrew day camps. One of my favorite activities was, of course, singing. We sang various songs in English and in Hebrew, and the melodies have stayed with me forever. Not being fluent in Hebrew, my memories of the words have faded over time. There is this one particular melody I remember. We used to sing it, hundreds of kids, around a huge tree, led by the head rabbi and his wife who played guitar. (I had a crush on one of the rabbi’s daughters who was in the “grade” above me, naturally.)

I used to sing this song to myself for years and years, and every once in a while it pops back into my head. Well I was listening to some Matisyahu — a hasidic reggae/rap artist — and even though he doesn’t sing this particular song, my mind became flooded with all of those melodies from when I was much younger.

But I couldn’t remember the Hebrew words as we sang them around that huge tree. I decided, for the first time, to use the internet to find the words to that song. I simply searched Google, in English, for the transliteration of some of the sounds that best matched my memory. My query was hebrew song avodah ki hashem. Well, I had the “ki hashem” part right, but not “avodah.” While that’s a valid Hebrew word, it’s not in the song. Basically, my mind had transformed the consonants to different sounds, replacing spotty memory with recognizable Hebrew words, but amazingly the vowel sounds I contained in my memory remained largely intact 25 years later.

The first page of search results led me to this page, a blog entry naturally, containing the real words to the tune I remember. The internet never ceases to amaze me, and some times it just blows me away.

The streetlight
it shines through the shades
casting lines on the floor
and lines on his face
he reflects on the day

I’ve given my notice and I’ll be starting a new job in a few weeks. Same company, new office. It will be a nice change, but I’ll be sticking to my philosophy of “Don’t get too comfortable.”

The cool thing about Fox’s new show about a young exec at an airline company, The Loop, is that the pilot episode can actually be titled Pilot.

Christopher Guest and crew are at it again. This fall, the usual crowd (plus Ricky Gervais from The Office) will release a new film, For Your Consideration. The film is about an independent film’s path through awards season. The film within the film is called “Home for Purim.”

Finally, something in the theater to look forward to. I also can’t wait to see Home for Purim’s studio-designed website — there better be one.

Thanks to everyone who sent happy birthday wishes! I’m looking forward to getting together with everyone.

I’m back from Florida. I had a great time with my relatives. My cousins have grown up so much, it’s hard to contemplate. One is getting ready to graduate college and is still collecting scholarships like they’re pennies. He’s planning to be a CPA. My grandmother is still getting around at 90 years old.

The neighborhood where my cousins, uncle and aunt live was devastated during last year’s hurricane season. Most of the houses haven’t been completely fixed up — especially the rooves — and probably won’t before the next hurricane season starts.

We visited Las Olas and Miami. Las Olas reminded me of an upscale New Hope. The shops were a bit touristy and not very interesting to me. Nothing beats people-watching in Miami, though. There happened to be a film festival taking place when we were visiting, so there was an interesting mix of characters.

On Friday, I’ll be flying to Florida to celebrate my grandmother’s 90th birthday. Over the same weekend, I’ll be turning 30 and my brother will be turning 25. It should be a good occasion to get in touch with relatives I haven’t seen or even talked to in a long time. I believe the last time I saw my Florida grandmother was during college. It would have been nice if a traveling companion could join me this time, but alas, she must teach.

My brother and I will be staying with my uncle, aunt, and cousins while down there.

When I come back and see people again, I’ll be old.

If The Simpsons wasn’t animated, this would be the opening sequence. Nice editing. It’s also very accurate.