Cholent Bowl III: PPD (laziness); no makeup date announced.

It is a most unusual experience, writing a blog entry with people looking over your shoulder. It is even more unusual that they are Israeli yeshiva students, yet another category of blog readers I had never anticipated. But the more the merrier, I always say. Or actually, never said. But you know what I mean.

The Sabbath came and went with a rollercoaster of emotions. Observe:

• Sweet victory, at winning a late-night game of Risk. I fended off, in order, White (Josh Tal), Yellow (Israeli Yitzchak Brody), Gray (Micah), Green (Micah's other friend Ilan), and finally Red (Micah's friend Yoni). Victory has never tasted better, unless served with a succulent ice-cream sundae.
• Disappointment, at not having my weekly cholent prepared by Jason. He will most definitely pay.
• Mirth, at reading my second David Sedaris book, "Naked." After reading "Me Talk Pretty One Day," I couldn't wait to read another, and this one is as good as the last. These books contain anecdotal and autobiographical stories of a gay Greek wickedly witty writer, so creative that they are listed under "American Humor" rather than biography.
  
• Anger, at the cafeteria neglecting to serve the (bad) cholent, soup nuts, noodles, and pudding. Combined with them forgetting to cook Wednesday's pizza, I predict a kitchen riot.
• Befuddlement, at listening to one of Rav Shmuel's lectures. But not all of it. I actually understand all the lectures now, up to a certain point, until some unidentifiable instant when I can no better understand the Hebrew shiur than if it was delivered in Klingon. I am still attempting to unravel the secret of this turning point.
• Contemplation, at playing bughouse with the Israelis. Bughouse is a variation on chess, involving two boards and four players. Some play to gain a different perspective to chess; I play because I am bad a regular chess. Nevertheless, I won all my bughouse games, while simultaneously providing commentary on the games' progression. Among my favorite lines was calling Ilan, who is good at developing his pieces, Kodak Caplan. If you don't find it funny, then I guess it was one of those "you had to have been there" moments. So it goes.

And now? Well, since my gmara chevruta Eitan has moved on to bigger and better gmaras here, I am left by myself during this all-important bkiyut time. I need to find something to do. And soon.