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Forty, Eh?

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Clarissa

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I was planning to indulge in an existential crisis of massive proportions but it’s hard to do that while running around with a screaming infant in my arms. So the existential crisis will have to be put off. Maybe I’ll do one at 45.

Please congratulate me by sharing the reason that keeps bringing you back to this blog. I will enjoy reading your comments.

image

And let’s celebrate! I will keep you updated throughout the day on how the festivities are proceeding.

P.S. It was not easy to find a picture for this post. Go to Google images and see for yourself, it’s pathetic. Most pictures are so self-conscious and stilted that it’s simply sad. “Forty is still young! Forty is the new 30! Forty is 18 with 22 years of experience!” My heart goes out to the poor bastards who are so tortured by the knowledge they are turning forty.

33 responses to “Forty, Eh?”

  1. el Avatar
    el

    Congratulations and wish you always have new happiness of all kinds in your life to prevent existential crisises. 🙂

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  2. el Avatar
    el

    \ Please congratulate me by sharing the reason that keeps bringing you back to this blog. I will enjoy reading your comments.

    In short, your posts are usually interesting to me.

    Longer version: we have just enough in common to allow me feel I understand your (and partly my) FSU past history and how it informs current worldview, while taking somewhat (*) divergent paths in the present. In “The Road Not Taken,” Robert Frost mourns being unable to “travel both / And be one traveler.” My Israeli road is different from the one of American Jewry or from the one of Jews still in FSU. Reading your blog allows me (or gives the illusion of allowing?) to explore the other road, despite travelling down the one my family has taken by immigrating to Israel.

    Regarding identities, yesterday I stayed till 2 at night reading Prof. Elana Gomel’s book (in English) “The Pilgrim Soul: Being Russian in Israel.” She is a Prof. of English literature in Tel-Aviv university and an immigrant from Kiev in the late 70ies – late 80ies (forgot when exactly). You praised Max Blumenthal’s chapters on Russian-speakers in Israel, however, I believe Prof. Gomel is in the best position to truly describe and analyze this community. I will write longer review in the Links post soon, but meanwhile – heartily recommend this book. It does not pretend to answer every question, but this honesty only makes it more valuable. What she wrote rang true to me and, I think, it would allow you too to feel “the other road” of Russian-speakers in Israel beyond cliches and not always correct projections from Jewish Russian-speaking American-Canadian community.

    (*) I also am a citizen of the modern world with not 100% simple single identity.

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    1. el Avatar
      el

      \ an immigrant from Kiev in the late 70ies – late 80ies (forgot when exactly)

      Wanted to write

      “an immigrant from Kiev in the late 70ies – EARLY 80ies (forgot when exactly)”

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    2. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      “Reading your blog allows me (or gives the illusion of allowing?) to explore the other road, despite travelling down the one my family has taken by immigrating to Israel.”

      This is very profound.

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  3. Renée Avatar
    Renée

    Happy birthday and best wishes to you !
    I come back to the blog because of breadth of subjects discussed, good books /author recommandation(especially in spanish as i try to improve it), an insight into the US politics, links to bloggers/articles and the comments section of the blog.

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      Thank you so much!

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  4. Pen Avatar
    Pen

    Happy Birthday! 😀

    I keep coming back to your blog in part out of habit, I think — I’ve been reading it since I was in high school and your blog was on Blogger. The other part is because you have lots of interesting things to say. Some of it really resonated with me, and I just sort of kept coming back.

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  5. Dame Eleanor Hull Avatar
    Dame Eleanor Hull

    Happy birthday! I like that you hate Rauner and keep calling out stupidity in Illinois. And I like the baby updates. And in general your “outsider’s” view of American things I’m used to—I love the twist of perspective that makes me see differently.

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      It’s good to know that I haven’t bored everybody to death with my Rauner obsession. I will continue then because I have a lot more left to say!

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  6. J. Otto Pohl Avatar
    J. Otto Pohl

    Happy Birthday from Africa.

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      Thank you! It’s cool to know somebody so far away. It’s also weird that I have a lot more readers in Africa than in Ukraine (or Russia).

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      1. J. Otto Pohl Avatar
        J. Otto Pohl

        I have a lot more readers in Ukraine and especially Russia than Africa so double weirdness.

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  7. Ol. Avatar
    Ol.

    Bonne fête!!! The reason why I keep coming back to your blog? Because you are always original, and you more than anyone else avoids commonplaces. And I am a huge admirer of your prose, which gets better and better over the years. And it is the best way to keep in touch with a dear friend living thousands of kms away.
    xxx

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      I miss you, too!!! We totally need to hang out together when I come over in August.

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  8. Z Avatar
    Z

    Happy birthday! I read for the unpredictability and also because I don’t know that many people who think psychoanalysis is more interesting than psychotherapy, or accept that sex is important in romantic relationships.

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      I love the comment about unpredictability. Thank you!

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  9. E (The Third Glance) Avatar
    E (The Third Glance)

    Happy birthday!

    I keep coming back to your blog, because I’m fascinated by your perspective on pretty much everything you write. I always feel like I’ve learned something, because you think deeply about such a wide range of topics. Reading your thoughts about things I know nothing about is fascinating, because there’s always so much out there to learn and discover. Reading your thoughts about things I do think about is just as interesting, because I have grown to respect your opinions and it makes me think and add more perspective to my own understanding of the world.

    As a STEM pre-academic with professorial aspirations (my dissertation is due in 7 days, and I have a nice postdoc, so I like to think I’m actually not quite a pre-academic anymore), I am particularly keen on hearing about your experiences as a professor – your field and mine are basically as separate as they can get, but I think there are many more similarities than differences, and it is fascinating to hear about your experiences.

    I also just keep coming back because it’s fun and interesting to read 🙂

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      Wow, congratulations in being almost done with the dissertation! That’s a huge milestone. It’s really amazing.

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  10. Marc McKenzie Avatar
    Marc McKenzie

    Happy Birthday! And as someone who went through this existential crisis…well, hang in there. I’ve found ways to move past it and just live my life the best way I can.

    Liked by 1 person

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  11. Stringer Bell Avatar
    Stringer Bell

    Happy Birthday!

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      Thank you!!

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  12. cliff arroyo Avatar
    cliff arroyo

    I actually showed up for the impending existential mid-life crisis. Now that it’s been delayed I have to admit that I feel a little bit put out.

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      I can try to scrounge up one really fast. I hate disappointing people! 🙂

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  13. Evelina Anville Avatar
    Evelina Anville

    Happy Birthday. I’m 41 and I’ve loved my 40’s so far! Enjoy what’s ahead.

    I continue to read your blog because it’s such an active space. You post multiple times a day; your readers comment throughout the day. It’s just a fun and dynamic space. And I feel like I know you now! Clarissa’s blog is just a part of my daily reading. 🙂

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      Yay! I like to be the equivalent of a daily newspaper. 🙂

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  14. xykademiqz Avatar
    xykademiqz

    Happy birthday! The 40’s are great. I will be 43 in June, and am really enjoying the decade. When I reflect back on my life, I see that I have all that I have wanted, so I am pretty content. II think that people who are busy with the things they enjoy don’t suffer much from the midlife crisis and similar ailments, so I think yours may not show up even at 45!

    Why I love your blog? You are an interesting, intense person, and you writing is strong and incisive regardless of topic. What’s not to enjoy? And now with baby pics and updates!

    Happy birthday again and keep up the great work!

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  15. Shakti Avatar
    Shakti

    Happy Birthday, Clarissa!

    I think you’ve already had existential crises. You like the general direction and setup of your life so why would you have one now?

    I found your blog a while ago through feministblogs.org. I come back because I like your posts and I like the discussions (most of the time 🙂 )

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  16. Fie Upon This Quiet Life Avatar
    Fie Upon This Quiet Life

    Happy birthday! 40 is going to be great for both of us. I’m 17 days older than you!!

    Why do I keep coming back to your blog? Your insights about American politics always make me think more deeply. I learn a lot from you. And I love hearing about your experience growing up in Ukraine. It’s given me a lot more perspective on what was going on in the FSU and challenged my assumptions. I find your stories fascinating.

    Plus, with the hardships and tragedies you have faced, you have had the courage to continue. I greatly admire that courage and your audacious spirit. (I LOVE audacious people.) It’s like you give me permission to be audacious myself, which I think is quite wonderful!

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      Thank you! What a beautiful comment.

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  17. Dreidel Avatar
    Dreidel

    Happy Birthday (one day late). Congratulations and chill out — forty is so young it’s ridiculous to worry about. The only time I ever felt like I was getting old was when I was pushing 30. (I had several friends in their early thirties who was starting to get fat and bald, and I thought, “Ah, that’s what I’ll look like in a few years.”)

    Today is MY birthday, just turned 71. Not a big deal, either. 🙂

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      Happy birthday! It’s the best time to have a birthday because spring is the time of hope and beauty.

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      1. Dreidel Avatar
        Dreidel

        Yeah, remember that silly but hopeful birthday greeting that was popular with the New Age set some years back: “Today is the first day of the rest of your life” —
        sometimes parodied as “Today is the first day of what’s left of your life!”

        (Both versions are equally true, of course — the future is all that any of us have left, whether it’s our birthday or not. So the only obvious choice is too enjoy!)
        🙂

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        1. Dreidel Avatar
          Dreidel

          Please forgive the obvious typo “too” in the last sentence above. To expect an academic not to frown at the error would have been too much!!

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A conservative literary critic and college professor

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