aleteoryx | the flood

My synagogue is being acquired [1] and this was the final nudge to find an alternative. This past Shabbat they cancelled our services in favor of the other place, so I went to Beth Shalom, which I last visited during Pesach. Beth Shalom is a large congregation, which is a little challenging for this introvert, but I assume that if I go there regularly I'll gradually meet people and maybe even be able to learn their names.

Their service is uplifting and pretty efficient. They're Conservative, so they include a lot of things that my current (Reform) congregation doesn't do, but it didn't make the service that much longer. I will need to practice the Hebrew in some unfamiliar sections so that I can sing the songs with them; I was kind of singing this time, hitting maybe one word in four and faking the rest. (I know how to read Hebrew; I'm just slow.)

I had not noticed that they had designated this week as Pride Shabbat until the rabbi spoke. I mean yes, I saw some pins and rainbow talitot and stuff, but I saw those the last time I was at Beth Shalom too, so that's just ordinary support/visibility stuff. And there'd been some signs outside, but I hadn't noticed dates. In other words, they integrated the already-welcome queer community into the Shabbat service, honoring people without replacing the whole service with a bunch of creative readings. (Temple Sinai's Pride Shabbat feels more like a poetry slam; Shabbat barely makes an appearance.) I haven't been to a bar or bat mitzvah at Beth Shalom yet, but I imagine it's the same idea there: celebrate together in the context of Shabbat. Conservative and of course Orthodox synagogues tend to prioritize the community, and Shabbat itself, integrating celebrations into the whole instead of carving them off as separate things as Reform is wont to do. It's refreshing.

They have a kiddush lunch every week, which is presumably the best way to meet and get to know people. During Sukkot I went there and ended up in a lunch conversation with another Babylon 5 fan who was explaining the show to a third person. (I haven't seen the fan again yet, alas.) This week I couldn't stay because we had a friend coming, but there'll be a next time and probably soon.

There was a passing comment about the senior rabbi's upcoming sabbatical. I don't know more than that, and I'll want to have a chat with him before, or as part of, joining there, but it's not urgent. There is also an associate rabbi who I like so far; I plan to soon start going to a weekly class he teaches. While exploring their web site I discovered that both rabbis have blogs, which I'm now subscribed to.

Beth Shalom, not unusually, does not publish their dues expectations; you need to have a conversation with someone. Large old congregations with large old buildings tend to have high dues, which I might not be able to afford, especially if they don't have the concept of an individual membership. It can be worked out I'm sure, but it's a little awkward and embarrassing to have that conversation, and I wish I had some data going into it. Oh well; we'll get there. The high holy days (the one time a year when this really matters) are not for a few months yet.

Rodef Shalom (the synagogue Temple Sinai cancelled services for) puts their services on YouTube, so I skimmed that service yesterday. I knew they were having a guest musician, Dan Nichols, as part of celebrating their rabbi's retirement. I knew from a past Dan Nichols visit that he leans toward creative songs and less liturgy (more of a concert than a service), but I was still surprised by what I saw. How do you have a Shabbat morning service that goes almost two hours and not do Kri'at Sh'ma or the T'filah?! By caring I am a minority in the Reform movement, I know, and while this is extreme, it's also a hint of where Rodef Sinai is going. It's time to be elsewhere.

[1] This is not how the leaders characterize it, but I have seen some of the sausage-making and I stand by this description.

siderea

I have a question about eye safety, maybe someone here can advise me on.

Apropos of the protests going on, I've seen a lot of helpful pointers about preparing for getting tear gassed or pepper sprayed, such as not to wear contacts and to have tight-fitting chemists' goggles. But not wearing vision correction is not an option for those who need it, and the alternative to contacts is glasses, which are apparently incompatible with most eye protection from gas or particulates.

I am aware of the existence of some models of full-face gas mask that have internal mounting hardware for glasses, but in addition to being expensive themselves, they require getting lenses made and fitted to the gas mask (i.e. not compatible with regular glasses). I'm surmising the existence of these means that other, cheaper, spectacle-compatible eye protection doesn't really exist, but I thought I'd ask.

My personal interest in the topic is less about protecting myself from chemical ordnance at protests – I only wish I could attend protests (though if things got spicy in the right location I suppose I could collect my fair share of tear gas at home) – than from wildfire smoke. The conjunction of the No Kings protests and the local air quality alerts from fires in Canada reminded me I should really be doing some preparation in this space.

I'm allergic to smoke. (It turns out it wasn't con crud I kept getting at Pennsic.) My reactivity to smoke only seems to be gradually getting worse over time. So when I've heard reports or seen pictures from the left coast of the sorts of wildfire smog they have there, I'm like "...not enough steroids in the world." I mostly manage this threat by not crossing the Mississippi, but it could happen here. Or upwind of here. It has. If not quite so "blot out the sun" bad, certainly bad enough for me to feel it.

So I've been looking at half-face elastomeric respirators, but that leave eyes unprotected.

Any suggestions?

Edit: I'm getting a lot of suggestions that aren't really helpful because:

1) Most safety goggles are for protection against impact or splashes, and as such literally have vent holes that make them useless against gases and airborne particulates.

2) Involve buying a prescription eyepiece. The whole point of my question was looking for alternatives to buying additional prescription lenses. Like I said, I am already aware of options that entail ordering custom lenses, I am looking for alternatives that don't involve that and are compatible with regular glasses the wearer already has.

There may not be any*, which would be good to know, but that is the question.

Allow me to put a finer point on this. If there is no affordable, readily available option for eye protection against gas/powder attacks for people who are dependent on vision correction, then that implies something important about protest safety that is entirely missing from all of the discourse of the sort that recommends having a gas mask to go to a protest.

* Since posting, I learned the term PAPR, and am now wondering why they're so expensive and whether that's a technology ripe for DIY.

lumemiruuuuuuuuuuu

IM FINALLY ON MID YEAR VACATIONS!!! YAAYYYY!!! FINALLY!!! even if this trimester has not been very hard im still relieved im out :D. i did mostly well academically, if it weren’t from the fact i failed my math test (I MUST CLARIFY, IT WAS BC OF VERY STUPID REASONS. not bc i didnt understood or anything, i just didnt remember a formula we needed to use in 6 questions until we had 30 minutes to finish the exam) and my physics one (bc i didnt brought my..uhh..compass (?) and we needed it for a practical excercise), but eh, we have some weeks left b4 we actually get into the hard shit, so im sure i can make up for it. im excited to have som much free time under my belt!! i think i’ll dedicate myself to make my ocs art fight profiles, make my neocities website and watch movies and anime this vacations (i have so many i want to watch ;-;). im struggling a bit the get the hang of html, specially on the div thing (AS I CANT SEEM TO MAKE THE BORDERS SHOW AAA) but is ok.

i havent consumed much media recently. i tried watching an extreme film (devil’s experiment) yesterday but eh, it was boring, i only made it through 20 minutes since it was just pointless (and frankly, tame) torture. i might finish it soon. i have also been quite busy making my mom’s birthday present and my dad’s father’s day present which i managed to finish 2day :3 (specially since i asked my mother to simplify her petition as i didnt have much time to do what she originally asked for…but then she simplified it too much and i managed to finish it today). ALSO NEW EPISODE OF ALNST THIS MONTH BABY!!!! idk if i should be happy abt it or not, as we have gotten many many comics revealing mizi’s past, AND OH BOY. i love how those fully breaked cohesively what we knew about mizi, even though i do need to read them again ;-; (the only coherent thought i have is that mizi has been treated as a cutesy dog for all her life, and it has affected her A LOT. and that she’s definetly a lesbian). i seriously hope this wont be the end of alien stage, as 1. i dont want this to end ;-; and 2. WE STILL HAVENT GOT AN EPISODE THAT FULLY FOCUSES ON LUKA. ik. we have gotten a lot information about his past on patreon, the comics and wiege, and is enough to get to a conclusion about what he has gone through, specially taking into account his role in the story as “the perfect idol”. BUT HOLY FUCK WE NEED MORE. AS FAR AS IM CONCERNED, LUKA IS THE ONLY CHARACTER WHO DOES NOT HAVE AN EPISODE FULLY FOCUSING ON HIM (wiege was half him and half hyuna-focused), A FOCUS SONG (like heart, parasite, yk. and to everyone saying the same could be said about sua, let me remind you about heavenly garden and heart. and to everyone saying till does not have a focus song, he had round 3 and a fair chunk of round 6 focusing on him, AND we might get a focus song from him) OR PRACTICALLY ANYTHING THAT EXCLUSIVELY FOCUSES ON HIS POV. ik this is smth stupid to complain about, since as i said before, sua also has a similar situation and we have a fair amount of info about him, but man..it’ll be a bummer that alnst finishes without smth like that ;-;. but eh, this might change soon and i cant complain. but on another note about why i dont want this to end…idk. it seems kinda hard for me to end it rn without it feeling rushed, unless vivimeng pulls our a 7 minute episode, which might not happen. im saying this bc, if it ends rn, luka’s development will prolly be unfinished, we might not know what happens after this season, and i feel as it would need more build up b4 alnst ends. so i trust it wont, maybe they could release this episode and another and it would feel much better :3. though the whole thing abt alnst ending fr this time is uncertain, so if anyone has more info abt it, i would appriciate it :3.

i hope everyone has a nice weekend :3

Current Mood: awake
Current Location: room
Current Music: LOS SONIDOS MÁGICOS DE ECUADOR

cellio

About a year and a half ago, the president of my synagogue started a project to merge ours with another synagogue. We were supposed to be exploring other options for our future too, but the leaders were really only investigating this one path. Some of us members had concerns about both that path and how this was being done, but power imbalances are a thing, and yesterday there was a vote.

There've been plenty of irregularities, and also some maligning by leaders of dissenters, and at this point it feels like the damage has been done even if the deal ultimately falls through. I've lost faith in our leaders, am disappointed by the unnecessary discord and condescension, and am saddened by the drop in civility and goodwill affecting people I care about. It is possible for people to disagree constructively and work together to address those differences, but it doesn't feel like that happened here. To me this felt more like a conquest than democracy, but as a member of the minority I'm naturally biased.

Maybe this was the swift kick I've been needing for a while to join a movement more aligned with me. I joined Temple Sinai despite it being Reform, not because of it, but our leaders seem to be more interested in the future of Reform Judaism here than in the future of Temple Sinai. My long-time rabbi retired a few years ago, recent trends have been leftward, and I think I've stayed only for my friends (a pattern in my life, I know). I don't want to lose those friendships, but it's time to go make some new friends too.

siderea

2025 Jun 7 11:40 am:

benjalvarez1 on Twitter:

WATCH THIS: https://x.com/BenjAlvarez1/status/1931375699786334704

Click through to see the video. You really, really should. Sound is irrelevant.

Text: "Tanks, fighting vehicles and howitzers arrive in Washington, D.C. ahead of next week's military parade. They departed from Texas on June 2." Two minutes and forty seconds.

Allegedly that train is a mile long and is transporting:

• 28 Abrams tanks (M1A2 main battle tank)
• 3 armored recovery vehicles (M88)
• 28 Bradleys (M2A3 infantry fighting vehicle)
• 5 Paladins (M109A7 self-propelled howitzer), and
• 28 Strykers (infantry carrier vehicle)

Source: 2025 Jun 6: @USAMilitaryChannel on YT [not official military channel]: "1-Mile Military Train -Texas to D.C. with Tanks, Armor, and More for Army's 250th Parade". I do not know if that source is reputable or if that inventory is accurate.

USA Today is reporting that "The military vehicles will be joined by 1,800 soldiers". (Source: 2025 Jun 6, USATODAY on YT: "Watch: Tanks, fighting vehicles head to DC for Trump's military parade", CW: face full of Trump, alt: screenshot).

I dunno, maybe it's just me, but I'm thinking that maybe the guy who attempted one coup already bringing a well-armed military force into our capitol city and, crucially, within artillery-range of the Pentagon, is just throwing himself a birthday party, but also maybe not.

ETA: For those of you confused by this, thinking, but doesn't he already control the military? You might want to watch this video about the rise of Xi Jinping.

Now, obviously, Trump would never play a long game like Xi did. But, 1) there are other ways to achieve the same end and 2) he doesn't have to, because his buddies, the Dominionists, did.

lumemiruuuuuuuuuuu

until thrusday, this week was somewhat calm, at least calm for what would be an exam week. we jst had our tests on monday which were...ok. i did have to cheat a bit on the math one and i also helped someone who was cheating but we didnt got caught, and the other one was an ethics test. which was mostly easy, as they were questions along the lines of "maria runs away everytime she has to talk to someone, what behavior pattern is this?". and the rest of the week transcurred calmly. i even had time to make a profile pic for my ocs art fight profile!!! here it is :3

that was until the peace was gone on thursday evening, when we got a fatidic email...that the middle/high school cordinator was fired out of the blue. and he wouldnt be working anymore from that thursday. needless to say, i was shocked. my mother was too, and things only got worse when we knew the elemtary coordinator (who, i must clarify, IS MARRIED TO THE MIDDLE/HIGH SCHOOL COORDINATOR) and 2 high school teahcers (who have been working in the school for ages, and are pretty much ones of the top teachers here. the type you instictively know its influence, and have been hated by every student before graduating yet loved once the students spend 0.00001 seconds at college, and frankly, responsible for much of the schools very appreciated results at the ifecs) were also fired out of the blue that very same day.

needless to say, there was shock and anger everywhre. most parents (including mine) were either angry or concerned, AND OH BOY THE STUDENTS...the class gropuchat was mad as fuck too, and some people were starting to think about protesting or smth, but man everyone was convinced this was the downfall of the school and stuff. i partially agree with it, bc even if those fuckers have been declaring that the school was going to fucking die since the beiginning of the year (bc of frankly, light reasons, such as the change of the entrance hours to 6:45am or the change on the grading system) this is truly fucked up. and weird. bc they were literally fired without fair cause. at least thats what some teachers and a frienc of my mother who works at the school told my mom...which is even weirder. if they were fired bc of some wrongdoing we would've known, specially since im sure a parent would've spoken up about about it and killed the headmistress if they attempted to cover it up, as this has happened before. but here LITERALLY NO ONE KNOWS ANYTHING. today 74384789374 students have asked the teachers and all of them have said they dont know anything and is jst a very mysterious mystery...which is even worse tbh. and we still dont know anything lol.

somehow, classes were very normal the first hours of the day. i had my science test (which was hell, as always, BUT, i have the hunch i may have done better today, as i applied A BRAND NEW SOLVING QUESTIONS STRATEGY, but im still nervous lol), until the class after recess, since some middle/high school kids went to protest at the headmistress office, and everyone was like "OMG WHATS HAPPENING!??!?!" for like 15 minutes, until the teachers forced everyone inside lol. and nothing, still, jst the headmistress telling them they were doing what they considered best and shit like that.

im mostly concerned about the kids who are in the school bc of scholarships bc they have relatives who are teachers, specially a classmate of mine, who's mom is an old teacher (bonus concern points lol) and who knows if she might get fired...LETS NOT SUMMON EVIL GUYS. but yeah my headmistress and the school council have been very silly lately lol

Current Mood: bouncy
Current Location: computer
Current Music: x w x - yeule