We've nothing to fear when Washington near-Dec 25, 1776

I was under the impression that there'd be a farbrengen in Morristown tonight in honor of Rosh Chodesh Shevat, but unfortunately I was mistaken. Since I don't have that to post I'll instead give y'all a post I wrote a while back but never got around to posting.

Is it just me, or are my most popular posts the ones where I'm embarrassed or confused about something and come out looking really cute and cuddly (and pathetic)? Like where this older Asian women in the train station out of the blue starts talking to me. While I I'm wearing headphones and listening to Yisroel Werdyger's excellent CD. And looking in a totally opposite direction. I of course have to take them off to hear what she's saying. "Peacocks." I make a noncommittal grunt. "Eyes. Lots and lots of eyes." I said something like, "Oh, yes." Then she said something which I didn't catch, and then, "Black and white. Do you agree?" I did, and thank the good one above she picked herself up and moved away. The moral of this story is that I had no idea what to do. When the black guy approached me and asked for two bucks so he could buy a train ticket home I gave it go him. When the teenage snag/bochur walked over and asked if he could sit next to me I said, "Please do." So I know how to deal with normal people. Or at least, relatively normal people. But this? What are you supposed to say? And I'm sure that most people in my situation would do the exact same thing as I did. And I'm also sure that somewhere out there has a great line to deal with this kind of thing. I have to meet that person.
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All right. Enough of the past. How about the present? There are so many issues currently flying around this little corner of the blogosphere, and it seems a pity to ignore them. The question is though, which one to choose? I could follow the self-proclaimed rational and pious one's suggestion and blog the whole truth and nothing but the truth, in the form of a primal scream, but I don't think that's very practical. At the time he suggested this he refused to understand the downside to the approach, but from the heading of his blog it appears that he now understands my objections.
I could follow many people's lead and complain bitterly about Loving Leah, buy it seems to me a pointless endeavor. What do I have to add of originality? I could even go the frum satire route and reveal that one of my friends just came out of the closet, but seeing as it didn't happen I'd have a hard time justifying such a course of action. Besides, I blogged about the topic around Rosh Hashanah time. What else? I suppose I could tell everybody that thank the one above Taaruvos is going much better, or that it's seriously cold outside, but it seems to me that there isn't much more to be said on the topic.
Oh, I know, I'll write a little something about Rosh Chodesh Shevat. The first day of one of the most important months in a Chassid's year. A day that has in potential all the others. A day that marks the completion of the second ten day period of preparation for the Yom Hakadosh, Yud Shevat. Less than two weeks to my birthday. So obviously, a very important day. And what can we learn from it? How can we improve our daily service of the holy one blessed be He? Honestly, I don't know. In this long slog that is life, we sometimes don't get it. In fact, we usually don't get it. As I said to a friend of mine today, "reality lies." Because what we percieve as reality is olam m'lashon helem. This world is just a joke. It lies to us. We can't even percieve why every creation is unique, why every day is the greatest day in the history of mankind. But you know what? That's OK. Because we were put down in this world to slog. To work. Sometimes, often times, it's in the dark. But again, that's OK. Because only from the dark can you percieve the light. Only from toil can come rest.