Monday, October 06, 2008

The fun of Being Me!

Sorry for neglecting the blog recently, but you know how it is... Writer's block I guess....

Well, here's a long overdue post:

I was out with my son the other day and I called him JB. This lady stopped and looked over at me and asked me what I just called my son. I told her I called him JB cos those were his initials.

She asked if my last name was Caton and I looked all confused and told her it wasn't.

She looked so disappointed and walked away.

I guess she didn't know I wrote under a pen name LOL.

That's my fun anecdote.

More later!

G'mar Chasima Tova everyone!

19 comments:

Jewish Side of Babysitter said...

That is funny!

Ezzie said...

Hehe. :)

It's harder to deny being me, but that's worked out well over time... (was reminded tonight when a good friend came by and was explaining to his friend how we actually met).

nmf #7 said...

LOL. Would have loved to have seen that.

JOE said...

LOL......

Anonymous said...

what if i was the one who met you and i came accross this blog,,,,,,,,, so now i know who you are and i was right when i asked you.....

Sick of Shidduchim said...

Cute story there. Just wanted to let you know that i read your book a little bit ago and I loved it!!! I loved reading a book written from a young point of view!! Can't wait for you to put out another book-in the meantime i have your blog (happy you finally posted s/t new!!!)

J.A.P. said...

Ah Anonymous- well then if you found me and realize you were right... email me your address and I'll send you my autograph-it's easier to do that than to stand out in the cold holding my squirming kid and listening to you yap about what parts of the book you hated the most...

Just kidding :-)

Married and Navigating Jewish Brooklyn said...

That is funny :)

Bas~Melech said...

Hehe. Go get 'em!

Anonymous said...

great blog.
quick question, since I'm sure some of you can relate:
suppose you had an emotional disorder that's pretty common, but because of the stigma involved no one in your community discusses it.
suppose you got online to do college courses because chas v'shalom that you should actually attend college (but that's a separate issue ...)
suppose you finally decided to find out more of your disorder, and discovered an online forum of thousands of people exactly like you.
no, they are definitely not yeshivish--to be more precise, they're not Jewish--and there's no telling what they'll write next.
but yes, there are moderators. and censoring.
yes, your parents would flip if they found out.
but you're REALLY sick of not being understood, and feel that you've finally found a place.
would you do it?

Anonymous said...

talk to your parents. when i was in a situatuon like this i did, and they were able to sort it out with me, to find an alternative. tell them (respectfully) exactly how you feel. don't tell them about the forum now, maybe another time, but not now. tell them your sick of nto being understood. they might shy away from this, but tell them that its important that you talk about it. they love you and will try to help you.

little sheep said...

hey, if that's a picture of j.b, he's really cute!

to the anonymous poster who wanted to know about the website, i have a very odd feeling that i know what you're talking about...did you ever try frumsupport.com? it doesn't get nearly as many posts as the site you're talking about, obviously, but i'll bet you that what you want support for is on there!

and if i'm really right about what you're talking about, (you can check out my blog to find out!) please contact me through my blog!

J.A.P. said...

Anonymous, I'm sorry I didnt post a response sooner.

I dont know what you are going through and what kind of support you are looking for, but I would say that going it alone (yes, online help is great, but you're still alone without your computer) is awful.

One of the huge reasons for making my cancer public was for all the help the support that came flooding in. We knew that keeping to ourselves was only going to make it harder- the social stigma of cancer was worth it for all the help we got.

I dont know you or your parents but I would suggest in any normal case that you talk to them. MAKE them understand. And even if they dont, at least make them aware of what you are feeling and facing.

There ARE Jewish resouces out there- why not try calling Relief Resources. They advertise primarily help with mental health issues, but they do a lot more than that. They can connect you to the support you are looking for.

I hope this helps- its hard cos you're not giving details, but trust me, there are places to look here - you dont need to lose yourself on some questionable forum.

Anonymous said...

Hey, My students loved when you spoke to them...especially about me!

Great blog, and perspective.

See ya around.

Anonymous said...

Hey everyone!
I know this isn't the best place to put this... but please go to www.wellsfargo.com/somedaystories and vote for "Evyln from MA" to help YALDAH magazine win $100,000. Yaldah Magazine was founded by now 17 year old Leah Larson when she was only 12, and it's helped so many girls become closer to Hashem. It's the only magazine out there really "for Jewish girls by Jewish girls" Please take the time to vote! (Evyln is her mother, because Leah is under 18 she could not enter herself)

idk said...

OK, I'll give you my label, since some of you seem to want it.

I think Anonymous understood my dilemma a bit better--can you tell me about the solution you found?
The RELIEF suggestion made sense, but they don't seem to have much about my particular problem. I emailed them and have not yet received a response.

Anonymous said...

Oops, I probably should not have given those initials. They can really be taken out of context.
For those who are curious (a polite way of saying nosy): :(
SAD = Social Anxiety Disorder
SP = Social Phobia

Sora C said...

LOL. Funny story. I didnt know that it was a pen name. Wouldbe asked the same question! Whats his real name?,if you dont mind saying.

J.A.P. said...

So now you know Sora!

JB's real name is Shimon- for Shimon Hatzadik. But we really did call him JB up until recently. Now he finally hit a growth spurt and doesn't look like a jellybean anymore as much as he looks like Curious George.

We knew we'd have to stop calling him JB eventually. I mean picture a girl asking him on a date what JB stands for and my (IY"H) 6'4" son will tell her in a deep voice, "Oh, well uhm, JellyBean...")