Another head covering eaten by my afro.

Yes, dear, I owe you a blog post.

There have been many recent developments I’d like to share. Unfortunately, none of them mean coming back to blogging full-time as I am still trying to recover from the downturn in my health since April 2010. But there’s plenty of goodish news in there somewhere.

Please keep praying for me. My Hebrew name is Aliza Moriah bat Sarah. Aliza means joy and Moriah is the mountain on which Abraham almost sacrificed Issac. I remember telling my rabbi that I hoped one day I would have as much faith as Abraham did that day but I never imagined that I would be tested the way I have been since falling ill in 2005. I joined the Jewish community and quickly became (in)famous for my blogging, writing, videos and around the same time, joined “spoonies” like me around the world daily deal with chronic illness bravely (and sometimes, not so bravely or loudly weeping or angrily).

Moving to Los Angeles in 2010 has been a blessing in so many ways and though I have no idea how long this will be my home, I have a feeling that in 2012 as many wonderful new people help my recovery speedily along that I will get to enjoy more time at the beach and pretending to be a tourist here so people will stop commenting on my “pathetic” tan. (Still, I DO tan with SPF 100 on. Aren’t you jealous? Thank you, my Afro-Dominican ancestors!)

If you miss me as much as I miss you, please check in on me via Twitter or Facebook. My fan page is dedicated to you but my Facebook profile is private. If I get anymore Hollywood, I will have to change my name again so I won’t feel really sad about not being able to friend you all. Come on, you already know WAY too much about my personal life. Do you really want to know more?

You can also check out my husband’s awesome blog: “Musings of Rabbi Hausman.” He is teaching in Los Angeles, available for one-on-one or group learning and speaking at Bnai-David Judea daily after davening is over Saturday morning. Please check him out.

Our writing style is very different. I find my writing to be, well, blunt. My husband is a poet at heart. That’s why I never let him critique my writing. Though some have claimed his blog is “really intellectual,” we do share a similar sense of humor and wit if not a similar level of Jewish education.

For the sake of my reading pleasure, he tries to “dumb” (he uses other kinder words) things down for me and I try to help him navigate his way via the blogging and Twitter and Facebook world. I think he is not-so-secretly trying to beat my number of followers. This is what happens when you marry a tennis-ping pong athlete/rabbi and fellow writer. We cannot decide who will get their MFA or PhD first.

(Thanks to you, I’m still kicking his butt in numbers! Though he does get some pretty good fan mail! But then, so do I! Thank you for being patient as I try to reply to your emails as my health permits.)

2007 Here is a photo of us just before our 1st anniversary visiting Montreal, where quite handily there is a prominent Haitian community that keeps us in plantains whenever we visit. I have since burned that outfit and my afro has once again outgrown those 10.5 & 11.5″ Parkhurst berets. I have grown more (ahem, very) round from all of his Dominican cooking. He has grown more facial hair  as rabbis tend to do, adopted a rabbinic-if-you-were-in-Los-Angeles-OR-Santo-Dominigo hat and given up short sleeves.

We have just celebrated our 5th anniversary on December 17th, 2010. So, I guess, other than a blog post, I owe you and mi Abuela some mini-mes and mini-rabbis. But remember, my uterus is still none of your business. Abuela, this means you! Wait, she can’t read English! D’oh! 😉

Playing (click to listen) Clair de Lune, which he learned for me for our 5th anniversary.