About @EstherK, AKA the Urban Kvetch

Welcome, Twitterfolk, to My Urban Kvetch.

Me

I'm Esther Kustanowitz, writer, blogger, editor and consultant. And yes, some of those things do overlap.

My Blogs

My Urban Kvetch is my main blog, with content running the gamut from Jewish life to pop culture to life in New York (which I left in September) and Los Angeles (where I arrived in mid-October), with regular visits to Israel, and generally sharing with readers the things I experience along the way.

Want more dating and relationship stories? Try JDatersAnonymous, my other blog which deals exclusively with dating-related content.

I blog pretty regularly at Beliefnet's Idol Chatter, which examines stories of a pop culture and spirituality nature.

One of the main projects I'm involved in is the ROI Summit and Community: I stay in touch with this growing international cohort of twentysomething and thirtysomething Jewish leaders through email and via the website.

I also periodically check in with my old blogmates at Jewlicious, and have been known to accidently found a blog or two on lunch breaks...it's that easy!!

Professional information, clips and professional backstory often available on EstherK.com.

Other stuff

I was recently named #10 on the JTA's list of 50 most influential Jewish Twitterers. No, really! You can even see for yourself here.

I'm a published author, and just might be again one day in the next few years.

I used to write a column for the Jewish Week about Jewish single life, but now spend most of my time writing about Jewish creativity, innovation and community, with a solid side of pop culture and entertainment stuff.

Space on both of my blogs is available for advertising. Contact me at MyUrbanKvetch or JDatersAnonymous at gmail dot com for details.

Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, all that stuff. I'm connected. And I give other people lessons in how they can connect to audiences via social media. All inquiries welcome: myurbankvetch@gmail.com.

To sum up...welcome...please visit often, leave comments, send me emails. This tree likes to know that there are other people in the forest, there to hear her if she begins to fall. Or some other meaningful metaphor.

Comments

[Richard Marcus]

c
Esther,

Wrote this. Pretty sure you'll appreciate it.
Richard Marcus

A Bagel Is More Than A Jewish Donut
by
Richard Marcus

A bagel is more than a Jewish donut,
More than a roll with a hole.
More than a strange English muffin.
A bagel’s got bagely soul.

It is something a baby can teethe on.
The true home of cream cheese and lox.
A bagel is used to tie up a boat,
To keep it from hitting the docks.

A bagel is comfort. A bagel’s a pal.
A bagel never forgets.
Bagels as hard as bricks and concrete
Make wonderful weapons and pets.

A bagel is kind.
A bagel’s well rounded.
A bagel is wholesome and neat.
I’ve seen bagel Boy Scouts on busses and subways
Graciously give up their seat.

A bagel’s profound, the Einstein of bread
The Shakespeare of flour inspired,
The Rolls Royce of noshing,
The Buick of Bulk,
And as chewy as one of its tires.

First given to Israelites fleeing from Egypt,
Who whined, “Enough with matzo, already.
Smoked salmon on manna;
That’s a pox on the lox!
Would it kill You to make something bready?”

Spam and Velveeta are sins on a bagel,
Eggs work, except Sunny side.
Chopped liver’s okay,
If you first toast the bagel,
If not it will squish out the side.

I once saw a man who was struck by a bagel,
It gave him such a “potch” in the head.
Yet I heard him exclaim
“I would rather be maimed
By a bagel than be crippled by bread.”

But bagels today have gone to extremes,
Pizza, low carb; Not to kvetch, but…
Vegan-schmaggegan? tofu-jalapeno?!
For bagels it’s too much a stretch.

Still, in these times we should love all bagels
Like warm, chewy halos we eat.
They fill us with love, they fill us with joy,
Not to mention two pounds of wheat.

So when you’re worried or tired,
Outsourced or fired,
Caught in the grind and the crunch,
Stagger right into your neighborhood bagelry
And take a nice bagel to lunch.

c
Copyright, All Rights Richard Marcus 1975, 1999

5032 SW Custer St.
Portland, OR 97219
(503) 788-9967
rmarcus8@comcast.net

[Michael Blackburn, Sr.]

Great, and hilarious as well!!!!
You've probably heard this one:

A Martian goes into a deli and asks "What are those wheels behind the counter?"
The owner says, "They're bagels. Try one."
The Martian tries one and say, "Mmm, these are good.
Imagine how they would taste with lox and cream cheese!"