: About Me

Poet and photographer Michael Deqel holds degrees in psychology, creative writing, and English literature from the University of Minnesota. He studied Torah and Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) in the US and in Israel; he's also been an anti-racist activist and men's movement(s) proponent, as well as a feminist. His poetry intertwines mysticism, politics, sensuality, and every day images. He is interested in finding a path toward a just peace in the Middle East, where he now lives.

Deqel recently returned to Israel to continue study, photography, and writing. He taught writing at various U.S. colleges and Universities for nearly 20 years. He continues to teach in Israel, currently at The Hebrew University. Michael Deqel is a pen name, His poems have recently been published under his real name, Michael Dickel, in: Poetica Magazine: Reflections on Jewish Thought, why vandalism?, Zone Magazine: International Forum for Experimental Poetry and Prose and Blue Earth Review. Dickel becomes Deqel, or date palm, in Hebrew.

The World behind it, Chaos (why vandalism? E-Bookpress, forthcoming) presents poetry and images that explore personal themes bordering on the surreal, cultural themes, politics in the context of post-modern theories and contested concepts of nature, urban, love, male and female. Yet, it still manages to be readable, sensual, and poetic.

Jerusalem Imagined & Recalled: Poems and Other Expressions- a collection of poems, prose and photographs by Michael Dickel- vividly explores contemporary Jewish themes and Jewish mysticism (Kabbalah) within the context of 21st century politics, contemporary (post-modern, post-post modern) poetics, and human sensuality. The poems in this collection begin in a time of collapsing promise for the Middle East, 1998. They convey the dissonance and uncertainty that the coming years saw blossom into more, not less, conflict. The poems continue through the 2006 Hezbollah-Israel conflict now called the Second Lebanon War. Personal experience, current events, and ancient texts blend, transcending simple understandings, taking readers to the edge of articulation with contradictions and paradox held in juxtaposition by strong imagery. Accompanying photos and digital art throughout the book convey visual images of Israel as reflected in the poetry. Two essays blend a personal voice with current events and mysticism to move beyond the immediate moment of history to abstract sense, if not sensibility. This book still seeks a publisher.

"I love the way Michael Dickel's poetry mixes eros and kabbalah with politicsbeautiful, disturbing, soaring," exclaims Adeena Karasick, poet, cultural theorist and performance artist, and the award-winning author of six books of poetry and poetic theory, most recently The House That Hijack Built (Talon Books 2004).

Deqel is:
- poet
- musician
- photographer
- Jewish
Activist
- eclectic in so many ways and interested in so (too) many things.

Deqel tends to:
- procrastinate
- become distracted with the next project before finishing this one, but to come back to finish this one when the next one slows down
- be non-linear in thought and deed, but logical when necessary.

Deqel's politics are radical (going to the root), unique, his own (no labels); he shows a sense of humor most days and loves word play; Deqel overflows with contradictions, however; this certainly is not nearly a complete description; he doesn't usually use this many semi-colons.

For some of Michael's photos and links to his other writing, go to Michael Dickel's home page http://web.mac.com/michael_dickel/.

My passion is ...

Besides my wife, Aviva, my passions are poetry, art, music, mysticism, and nature.

I know too much about ...

Rhetoric and "proper" English grammar

My parents always told me ...

I talked too much.

My childhood ambition ...

To write. Or be a marine biologist. Or be a super cool secret agent.

My favorite memory ...

There are so many... but perhaps when a woman I did not know came up behind me on a hike in the Banyas, Israel, and said she liked stopping where I took pictures because there was always something beautiful to see there. She was beautiful, and now is my wife.

Why I write ...

I can't do otherwise. My mind explodes, my soul implodes, when I stop writing. So, I write.

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

I read a lot, constantly. But I highly recommend Joy Harjo and Adeena Karasick as poets, Don Delillo for fiction, Daniel C. Matt for Kabbalah. Also good for Kabbalah is the Cohens' translation of Rav Ashlag's In the Shadow of the Ladder (http://www.nehorapress.com/).

My first job ...

LIbrary page. No, really...

My best moment ...

Dancing with angels on the head of a pin... really, I don't know, so many... my wedding day, with Aviva; the birth of my daughters...

My inspiration ...

Creation, life, nature, Aviva

Personal Finance > Investing Basics Understanding the difference between investing and gambling

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In many ways, the difference between investment and gambling is like the fable of the ant and the grasshopper. Investing is putting your money to work like ants, working hard and storing up what you will need for the winter. Gambling is using your money like grasshoppers, enjoying the sunny summer without thought of rain or winter. It works, so long as it is perpetual summer. The current wintry climate of the real estate market demonstrates that having your money work like ants might be better in the long term. We all make investments, if not in the financial markets. We invest time into a...

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