Who am I?
Secret Arafat
Phone Transcripts
All about Meryl (well, no, not really)
Who am I? Well, my name is Meryl Yourish, and I'm a lot of things.
I am a weblogger. I started this blog in April of 2001, and cringe now when I read some of the older entries, because:
I am a writer. My first non-assigned piece of writing was a poem I wrote in sixth grade; it is titled "Ode to a Hummingbird," and the first lines were "If I were a hummingbird/A little, tiny hummingbird," and while I may actually have that piece of paper in my memorabilia box, I refuse to go back and look at the rest of the poem. I was only eleven, but still. That's as far back in my memory as I care to go about that piece of writing. I no longer write poetry, except as parody. I know my limitations.
I am a Zionist. I am an avowed, unabashed, unashamed supporter of Israel and Zionism (the establishment and maintenance of a Jewish state) and an uncompromising foe of anti-Semitism. If you hate Israel and Jews, you're going to have an unpleasant time on my weblog if you try to bash Israel and Jews. Do the smart thing: Leave now. And do let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.
I am a one-woman publishing company. I have been a web developer, a desktop publisher, a typesetter, a copy editor, proofreader, editor, and writer. I am now a digital photographer and am starting a company to train people in the use of their digital photographic equipment (hardware and software).
I am a native of New Jersey, and proud of it. I like New Jersey, but it got too crowded. I made frequent trips south to visit a friend in the Richmond area, and moved here in the summer of 2002. It's much less crowded here (for now), but Richmond needs more kosher butcher shops and Italian bakeries. My fellow New Jerseyans, come down, join me, and bring your families. But not your traffic. Leave that in New Jersey.
I am a teacher. I currently teach the fourth grade at my synagogue's religious school. I take great pleasure in that job, which I maintain is to turn little Jews into big Jews. I'm trying to make their Jewish identity stick. I'll let you know in a decade or so if it's worked.
I am a feminist. I still don't believe women are on an equal footing with men in America, and I certainly don't believe that men are oppressed by radical feminists (I loathe the use of the "N" word in relation to feminists; I don't call Rush a coNaziservative commentator; don't cheapen the argument with Godwin's Law.)
I am amused at how annoyed the fact that I'm a feminist makes so many of my conservative readers. Let me repeat: I am a feminist, and I am not ashamed to call myself that. Deal with it, dudes.
I am a wiseass. Tacitus himself (even before I knew he was my old friend Josh Trevino) gave me the title that I yield to no one: The Master of Juvenile Scorn™. This is what I consider the best of my juvenile scorn posts to date.
I am constantly changing. My views used to be liberal. I seem to be turning center/left, some say center/right. I am intolerant of intolerance, for the most part—if that isn't a contradiction in terms. Sometimes I find myself being intolerant of things I should be tolerant of. I'm only human.
I am me. If you knew a Meryl Yourish in New Jersey, yes, that was me. In fact, I'm pretty sure there's no other Meryl Yourish in the nation, and quite possibly the world, so yes, if you met a Meryl Yourish at some point in your life, it was me. Thanks to Google and a rare name, I'm rediscovering people from my past.
You can read more about me on my FAQ page. And there are also the Terms of Use, a recommended read if you want to quote anything from this weblog.