Category: Personal

Happy New Year from Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv

How was 2007? Not too shabby…

I chose a picture of Tel Aviv, since this year I became more and more attached to the city. It’s my 5th year here, and I enjoy it all the time. This year, I went to lots of rock concerts. I don’t know if there was more live music in 2007, or if it’s just me that explored it extensively. Anyway, I go to at least one show every week, and I like it a lot.

Tel Aviv also hosted lots of political activity. From protests against the municipality, through mass rallies against the government, and up to a demonstration in front of the Burmese embassy. These events are always fun, but they rarely bring any results. The biggest disappointment is that we still have a rotten government.

During the last year, I met lots of interesting people through the blog. Israel is a small country, so eventually you get to meet almost every person behind their blog. In addition, I write with my full name, and so do most of the people I read. Not too many secrets….

This year I’ve turned 30. The walls didn’t tumble down. Life went on just the same as before changing both digits on my life-o-meter. This is the same for the current occasion. U2 said: Nothing changes on New Year’s Day.

Well, being in Tel Aviv so much means that I haven’t traveled around too much. Well, I have been to some nearby countries, but only for small vacations. I have a growing urge to fly away for a longer trip, to a place far far away.

But for now, there’s no plane to catch, just another bird’s-eye view of the city:
Jaffa

New Year Resolutions? That’s not an Israeli tradition! Well, that’s just an excuse. I haven’t made any decisions, and I don’t have any goals for 2008.

Happy New Year!

* Both pictures were taken from the 30th floor of the Shalom Tower. The second one is of Old Jaffa.
* I’m lazy to link to all the past posts. But, if you’re reading my English posts, do browse through the English language posts.

Hanukkah

For those of you who are interested in some Jewish tradition, here’s a video featuring yours truly lighting the Hanukkah candles:

I’ve been to a house party on the 8th day of Hanukkah. The hostess, Gitit, insisted that we’ll put our beverages aside, stop chit-chatting for a few minutes and light the Hanukah candles. I volunteered to make the blessings, and Mr. Lerman captured the moment and Youtubed it.

I don’t like Hanukkah, since there’s no vacation from work!

Winter

Last week, there was lots of rain. So, I spent more time at home instead of wandering around. But instead of clinging to the computer and writing blog posts, I stayed away from the computer.

Why? I guess it was because of the cold air and the spirit of winter. I just remained in bed. Books that were collecting dust found themselves in my hands. I remembered that I can occasionally enjoy reading a book, or a blog post in a hard copy.

Another outcome of the cold winter was listening to music. I listen to music all the time, when sitting in front of the computer at home or at work. But music sounds different when I really listen to it, and not only overhear it. I tried listening to some podcasts as well, but didn’t that medium very appealing.

Anyway, those are excuses for not updating the blog for more than a week. I intend to get back to the normal pace…

Wordcamp Israel was Great

The first ever Wordcamp conference in Israel was a great success! 150-200 people attended the event, that was organized by volunteers.

Wordcamp Israel

All the pictures from Wordcamp Israel 2007. Start slideshow.

Many aspects of blogging and WordPress were discussed throughout the day. The technical issues ranged from installing and basic configuring of WordPress, through a small dip into designing with CSS and up to speeding page loads in WordPress.

The non-technical lectures featured Lorelle VanFossen as the keynote speaker. I enjoyed her lectures, which were interactive, funny and insightful. The Israeli speakers and panelists talked about WordPress as platform for expressing yourself in cultural issues, as well as marketing and knowledge management.

Legal issues, podcasts and even Facebook were also discussed along the day. The only bad thing that I can say about the event was that it was much longer than expected. The last lecture was 90 minutes late. Since I wasn’t in any hurry, I didn’t bother me…

Wordcamp Panel

Except listening to interesting lectures and panels, such events consist of lots of mingling. Since it’s Israel, and most of the participants aren’t into making a business out of their blogs, I can’t call it networking.

Anyway, this time I only revealed one or two faces that I haven’t sen before. All these blogging conferences and parties in the past year or so really made a community out of these independent bloggers. A good community of good people that I enjoy meeting.

Well, enough said. Special thanks go to Tal Galili, Hannit Cohen, and Ehud Keinan for organizing the event. Many other assisted.
If you want to dive into the details of the lectures, just explore the conference’s website.

Tel Aviv Blogger Party – May Edition

Another Jewish holiday, another blogger gettogether at this Shavuot holiday.
May 23rd 2007, from 20:30, at Carmel‘s house.

Address: Prague 4, Apartment 2 (ground floor), Tel Aviv.
If you’re driving, entrance is only via Ben Yehuda street.

How to get to the blogger party

Bring: Any beverage or snack.
Agenda: None.

Already wrote about it (and coming of course): Sharon, Hannit. (Hebrew links)
More people have confirmed in the responses to these posts.

Except the Good neighbors blog, Carmel also writes in Hebrew here and here.

I would love to see some Israeli bloggers that write in English in this party.
It will be fun! Come along and confirm either here or in the others’ posts.