OneOfMany

Torah613: why thank you. I hereby bestow upon thee a *high five of awesomeness*

WIY: 😛

What is the meaning of life, the universe, and everything?

did someone say math jokes?

A Biologist, a Physicist and a Mathematician are sitting in a cafe. They see two people enter the condemned building across the street. A few minutes later, they see three people leave the building. The Biologist turns to his companions and explains, “They have reproduced.” The Physicist says, “The third must be an experimental error.” The Mathematician says, “If one more person enters that building, it will be empty again.”

Just assume we’re talking about 400 pounds.

Or should we assume that she’s a size 8, like you said in the other thread? Or should we assume that you assume that a size 8 is about 400 pounds?

when you need to sneeze/burp but it just won’t happen

Question for NSH and Yiddishemeidel: If not getting in to places is from Hashem, what happened to the Bechirah Chofshis of those who make the admissions decisions?

Didn’t you know? People in seminary don’t have bechira–kal v’chomer those who never LEFT seminary.

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Torah613: Don’t forget the four elephants. ^_^

writersoul: Refuah sheleimah! 🙁

writersoul: I think the “chick lit” aspect comes in from the fanbase more than the book itself. (Again, definitely not saying that it’s on the caliber of any of the other books mentioned here–just that I don’t think it deserves the hate in and of itself.)

ym613: Honestly though–cheesy as it may be, it wouldn’t really be realistic without that element… 😛 But in The Hunger Games it is really not very well done. bleh

Yeah, Luna and McGonagall are my next favorites. And more power to you, reader! 😀

Here is a good method for mashing bananas: http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/coffeeroom/topic/post-here-to-addchange-your-subtitle/page/5#post-411852

^_^

Logician: What does my favorite novel say about me? Let me hear. 🙂

And never really thought about it, but I can hear Dahl and Rowling being in the same league…what does Dahl have on Rowling besides age?

writersoul: C’mon…don’t tell me you didn’t see the Snape revelation coming. And I don’t think we are related (don’t have any relatives in your school :P) but it would be neat if we were. 🙂

Also, I would cut The Hunger Games a little slack–I don’t know if you’ve ever dabbled in the dystopian genre, but pretty much everything bearing that label deals with the issues of current society: 1984–Communism, Brave New World–eugenics, etc. I think Farenheit 451 actually shares a lot of themes with The Hunger Games. The whole pseudo-intellectual vibe you are getting might be more a function of it being so popular and so prolifically discussed. In my opinion, it’s not a bad series on the whole.

ym613: The first is probably also my favorite. 🙂

The romance in HP isn’t really what bugged me (it doesn’t really eat at the plot, and let’s face it, it’s pretty much unavoidable for books of the YA genre). I think it was as writersoul said, the lack of meaningful character development. Honestly my favorite characters are Snape and Aberforth (and of course TONKS ^_^). Also, I much preferred the simpler style of the novel. More complicated doesn’t make it better.

and if are annoyed by gratuitous romance then you probably shouldn’t see The Hunger Games through to the end. :/

and heyyyyy I love Lois Lowry! I read her when I was going through my dystopian phase (along with The Hunger Games trilogy, actually). Definitely superior to The Hunger Games, though.

Q: How many feminists does it take to change a light bulb?

A: That’s not funny!

I found this one funny. ^_^

Know the feeling. :/ Refuah sheleimah!

Yeah, seriously. What sort of clean freak are you?

ym613: I actually liked the first four the best. From the fifth on it was more of a matter of seeing it to the end…

and lol

Do you mean my post? Sure. ^_^

and speaking of Nobel prize-worthy skill…I always say I don’t pick favorites in books, but Beloved by Toni Morrison has been it for about three months now. have been trying to dislodge it but to no avail. 🙁

what does azoy shteit mean?

I don’t object to people liking those books, but if insist on naming them the BEST series then I will be forced to beat them over the head with my hardcover single-volume The Lord of the Rings. and drop the collected Discworld works on their toes.

Harry Potter and Twilight are the best and well written series!!!

?(????)

o hai troll mod

snort @ mod

One more thing I thought of to add–regarding what you say here:

I have my own views, and I don’t mind sharing them, which doesn’t always endear me to people. It’s more that I have a very out-of-the-box viewpoint and I don’t mind debating people on their views. The argumentativeness is something I’m working on cutting down on, because I’m aware it’s not always very appreciated, but I’ll go bonkers if I sit all year in a bais yaakovish sem trying to let everything go over my head and not say anything, like my mom tells me I should. My head would explode. I want to learn, but I don’t want the learning shoveled into my ear, either, and I don’t want to have to let it all trickle out the other ear or force it to stay in my brain and not be able to ask about it.

apart from the classes having a total lack of teachers-shoveling-material-down-gullets (they are half preparation of sources and half discussion and analysis of said sources), the best thing about Machon Raaya is that EVERYONE there is like that–opinionated, like to discuss their opinions, and open to expanding their views. That is definitely what I felt like I gained most there–finding people who shared my interests that I can discuss things, argue, and really just speak with.

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nope, didn’t taste a difference.

ahahahaha I may have just figured out which school you are in. 😛

So basically I felt pretty much as you do–except I had gone to a bit of a brainwashing high school and was therefore VERY prejudiced against seminary. But then one of the few high school teachers that I really respected convinced me that there were schools out there that were more my speed (she actually pushed me toward Darchei Binah) and that I should at least look into the whole matzav further. I decided on Machon Raaya for a lot of the reasons that you are hesitating over. I pretty much said it all HERE–you can read that and ask me any questions you may have.

and if you decide to go to Michlalah that is fine. as long as you get to take R’ Bernstein’s shorshei halacha class. ^_^

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