And that is from just one week in February, 2008.

It’s why I can’t stand posting some days, and so, I don’t.

I think it may be time to do a 180 and go back to making this a personal blog that occasionally discusses current events. I can only take so much bad news before I need a dandelion break.

It’s my very own watermelon-rind helmet. (You’ll have to click here to find out why; but you won’t know until Sarah posts the pictures. I have no idea when she’ll be getting to that.)

Update: And the picture is now up. Yep, Max is wearing a watermelon-rind helmet.

I really can’t stand watching/reading the news anymore.

*Yes, Rahel, we know where you stand on this question. It’s directed at everyone else who reads this blog.

I’ve been writing about Jewish and Israeli issues since 2002. But the origin of my blog wasn’t Israel, or Jewish issues. That’s what this blog has turned into. It’s what I write about now almost exclusively. But it’s not why I started blogging.

The main reason I started this blog was to improve my writing. This blog helps me write something every day. The goal has always been to improve my skills, and ultimately, to get my fiction published. The fact that it’s become a soapbox from which I point out media bias against Israel, double standards from the world on Israeli behavior, and all things Jewish—well, you write what you know, and I’ve been interested in Jewish issues ever since I can remember, what with being Jewish and all. Thankfully, my parents did not bring me up to despise Judaism, unlike some I’ve written about over the years. I love being Jewish. That hasn’t changed in the past ten years, and never will.

I’ve struggled for years with writer’s block. I came out of the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer’s Workshop with a short story sale and great contacts, as well as a wonderful writer’s group. But my writing stalled, and stalled, and stalled again. Every time I thought I’d gotten past whatever it was that was stopping me and start something new, after about a chapter or two, I’d stop again. It’s like there’s a switch inside me, but it was stuck in the Off position. I’ve been working on trying to get past that block for longer than I’ve been blogging.

This spring, something finally changed. This spring, everything’s different. The switch inside me is now in the On position, and I’ve got 8500 words of my novel, as well as over 30 4×6 index cards on my Outline Board in my office. I have a three-book story arc plotted, with an opening at the end of Book Three for another story arc. You can see the progression of my Outline Board in the last few weeks. On the left is what it looked like on the first day. The right-hand picture was taken 23 days later.

This is what’s going to be taking up most of my time from now on. That’s why I wanted to get a few more co-bloggers. Because when it comes down to it, writing fiction is more important than blogging.

Over the years, this blog has been great for me. It’s given me friends, relatives (a part of the family I never knew found me via Google), a new (used) laptop (reader contributions), a job, and now, it’s helped me get to the goal I was trying to reach ten years ago. About the only thing more I could ask this blog is to get me an agent and a publisher, when the first book is done next spring. (Fantasy, YA, if any agents are reading this, and it’s an extremely marketable concept.)

No, there’s one other thing I’d really like. I’d like to have Soccerdad back as my co-blogger, but I know that’s not going to happen. Life is more important than blogging, and he’s got things to take care of.

So I think I’m in it for another ten years, but I’m working towards being able to blog on my own time—in between writing, editing, and plotting—instead of doing it before and after work.

Change is coming for me. I’m sure of it.

As for the blog? Take a look at this post from nine years ago. Compare it to today. That’s why I’m still here. When it comes to Israeli and Jewish issues, nothing’s changed.

First. Second. Third. Fourth. Fifth. Sixth. Seventh. Eighth. Ninth.

Back then, the JBlogosphere was Tal G in Jerusalem, and Israeli Guy, Imshin (Not a Fish), Gary Farber, and Allison Kaplan Sommer—and I was here before all of them. Lair Simon was a commenter at LGF when I first started blogging. Israpundit/Ted Belman started around the time of the posts I’m reprinting. The Elder of Ziyon? Pshaw, he’s just a toddler in comparison (although an extremely gifted one).

Ten years. I’ve been doing this for ten years. I can’t even begin to estimate the number of words I’ve written, or the thousands of hours I’ve spent blogging. But I do know that I’m not bored yet, and I’d like to try to get some of my old fire back. The redesign was originally planned for the Yourish.com birthday celebration, but thanks to my tech support, Jay, we have the new layout now. And as I have the time, I’ll be bringing back more posts that I’m pretty sure very few of you have read. My blogging time is more constricted lately because I’m writing fiction again. (That’s the main reason I’m so interested in the ebook revolution. A writer no longer needs to rely on the agent-publishing house route to becoming a published author.)

It’s always been about the writing for me. That’s why I started this blog, and that’s why I keep going. That, and the message. I know you can get the other side of the Israel story in dozens of places now. But none of them has my specific level of snark, and, well—I was here first.

Gee, I hope I didn’t break anything.

Update: Oh, look. It’s a post on top of the other posts that doesn’t have a title. Now I know what an “aside” is. I wouldn’t call it “aside” though—I think it’s more an “atop.”

I know my long-time readers will remember that there was a point when I couldn’t afford to buy a used laptop to replace the one that was dying on me, and my readers came through with hits to the tipjars (which no longer exist, since I don’t need the help anymore). When Gracie was sick years ago, her medical bills put a huge strain on me. You helped me out then, too. (She turns fourteen on Tuesday.)

I think I finally found the answer to whether or not I’m going to continue doing what I’m doing on the blog. Ten years is a long time, and my readership has stayed pretty static for the past few years. I have less and less time to write for the blog, and sometimes less and less interest. Things never seem to change for Israel and the Jews. It gets tiresome, writing posts on almost the exact same subjects now as I did nine, eight, seven, three, two years ago. Really, I could just cut and paste an old post to a new one and I swear you’d never be able to tell the difference, because Israel’s enemies are unchanging, the anti-Israel media is unchanging, and about the only thing that changes is the names of the victims. But—

Yesterday, I went to a b’nai mitzvah that was held at the Virginia Holocaust Museum. A set of twins from my last year teaching had it there because their grandfather is a survivor. One of my other former students asked me during the reception if I would escort her around the exhibits, because she was afraid to go by herself. So we went through the museum, and I explained a lot of the exhibits and history to her.

We stopped at the survivors exhibit as requested (see below) and saw the picture of the twins’ grandfather. He looked to be about ten years old in that picture. He grew up to become a rabbi. When I first moved to Richmond, he was co-editor with me of my synagogue’s newsletter for several years. Rabbi K. would come over to my apartment, and we’d put together the newsletter. Actually, I’d put it together in Microsoft Publisher and print out the pages. Rabbi K. would edit, proofread, correct, and play with Tigger. (My cats have always been partners in my volunteer editing/writing work; Tigger the first entertained Neil Clarke while I wrote the user and sysop manuals for his 2AM-BBS software.)

The b’nai mitzvah program had a note on it from the twins:

Thank you for coming to our B’nai Mitzvah. Please feel free to tour the museum while you are here. Be sure to look for our grandfather on the wall in the Displaced Persons Camp. And whenever you are near the Nazi flag in the floor, give it a good stomp.

That we did. Several times. And while I was touring the museum with my former student, I remembered what I discovered about teaching religious school—that I was making a difference in Jewish life, one child at a time. I can’t teach at the moment. I can’t take the time away from my job. But I can still blog.

That’s why I blog: To inform the world that there is another side of the story about Israel that they are not hearing. To make a difference. To change minds. To get the truth out, no matter what.

I used to say that my job was an anti-Semite’s worst nightmare: Teaching little Jews to become big Jews. Well, this blog disturbs their dreams, too, I am happy to report. I intend to continue to piss them off on a daily basis. Of course, my very existence is enough to piss off the Jew haters, and, well, that actually makes me smile. Pissing off the Jew haters is one of the perks of writing this blog.

One of the things I taught my students was this way of summarizing many Jewish holidays: “They tried to kill us. They failed. Let’s eat.” A slightly altered version of that would make a good secondary tagline for this blog. (I won’t be changing the tagline, though.) Something like, “They tried to kill us. They failed. Let’s blog.

I have some plans for my life for the next few years that, if they succeed, will change my life in even better ways. And considering that the reason I am out of debt, have a great job, and own a home is that I worked my ass off to achieve those goals, I think that five years from now, when I’m on the cusp of my fifteenth blogiversary, things will be even better. I hope they will be better for Israel, too, but I won’t make any predictions. Well, except for one: In every generation, they rise against us. But the Holy One, blessed be He, saves us from their hands.

They tried to kill us. They failed. Let’s blog.