Celebrating Chrismukkah the Jewish way

Miracle Max

I was going to do the Jewish Christmas today but was too tired after serving food at Kate's Kitchen (came home and fell asleep on the couch) so it's a good thing I did something like it last night on Hanukkah/Christmas Eve.

The "Spread the Light Community Hanukkah Event" at Congregation B'nai Israel in Northampton last night was a lot of fun. I didn't know anyone but sat at a table with people who were warm and welcoming. We lit menorahs, sang and said the prayers and then had Chinese food and watched "The Princess Bride."

I didn't realize that is considered to be a Jewish movie. But people said that's why it was chosen for the evening. I guess it's fitting, on a holiday having to do with miracles, to show the day being saved by a character named Miracle Max (Billy Crystal). And you have your Jewish actors: Crystal, Mandy Patinkin, Carol Kane and Peter Falk, who says, when he is finished reading the book, "Shalom."

You're not supposed to broadcast when you're going out of town (not safe) so I will say that at some point in the near future, Katie and I are going to New York to see Falsettos. A friend who is from Brooklyn calls New York "The Old Country," but when I say I'm going to The Old Country, not everyone gets it. Because to many around here, that's Ireland. In any case we're going to see some people and do a few other things in our short visit. In my Old Country.

Last week my essay, This is What It's Like Living With Two Types of DNA, ran on a new site for me, Vice.com. I told some people that it explains why I'm so weird. One of my doctors sent me a screenshot to show me that Apple News picked up. That was fun.

On the medical front, I found out last week that the spot that was concerning me was indeed another squamous cell cancer. It is larger than the others so it might need a graft. My first concern was that, since it's on my ankle, it's going to make me sit out of tennis and hurt my running comeback. These are not serious but just the sound of them freaks me out due to having lost a friend to a squamous cell cancer that appeared on her tongue and spread through her body after she survived leukemia.

And for days after, they hurt a lot. I'm wondering if it's going to be hard to get around for a few days.

It's a good thing I advocated for myself after a PA told me repeatedly that it was nothing. I don't think it has gotten any larger during that time but, unlike the others, it hurts, and I could have been done with it sooner. I'm going to Mohs on the ankle and my left hand the first week of January.

My blood pressure was super high at the dermatologist's on Thursday. I imagine it's because I spent a week being worked up about this. Someone said it also might be the election.