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| Monday, May 21st, 2012 | | 11:25 pm |
Dr. Zornberg in NYC
Dr. Avivah Zornberg is currently in New York City. I'm not sure if she's doing many more talks, but I went to see her at Lincoln Square Synagogue tonight. I still enjoy her speaking, although I'm too tired to do more than quote the title of her talk, "Let me see that good land:" The story of a human life In my opinion, Dr. Zornberg's books are interesting, but hearing her speak is more accessible. I mean, you have to pay attention to her talks, and can't re-read a passage that you find confusing... but when she speaks, it somehow is easier for me to follow her reasoning. Maybe that's just an illusion? In any case, if you can, go listen to her speak. If you can't do that, buy her books. :-) | | Wednesday, May 9th, 2012 | | 9:23 am |
Restaurants of long ago
Yesterday I didn't feel like cooking, so I got out our manilla folder of takeout/order out menus. And realized that about half of it was filled with menus which were either (a) obsolete (we had newer menus), or (b) for restaurants which have since gone out of business. Or (c) both. So I tossed 'em in the recycling. Still, I'd like to take a moment to appreciate the cheap, fast, and close vietnamese/sushi place, the cheap, close, and good Ethiopian place (luckily there's still a close, slightly more expensive, and good Ethiopain place), and the Indian place that was very close to my old place before I moved and they were forced to move. Oh, and the sushi place which we only went to once, but whose name JD loved when he was younger because it was easy to read (Tomo). | | Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012 | | 9:16 pm |
Pics or it didn't happen?
Here are glorious photos of the yummy challah that I made last Friday. ( pictures of yummy challah )In retrospect, I probably should've cooked the challah a little bit longer... but it was fine. I also discovered that there's a real difference in heat between the levels of my oven (or maybe the huge cookie sheet was interfering with the movement of air?), because challah #1 cooked much faster than #2. Still, it was yummy. JD said it was better than Zaro's (the bakery which I get challahs at often). Mission successful! | | Friday, April 27th, 2012 | | 7:54 am |
Science for hungry people
As it has been said, Baking is Science for Hungry People. Today I embark upon something which is brand new for me, a man with a Ph.D. in chemistry[1]: baking challah. Well, not totally brand new. I mean, I have enthusiastically eaten home-made challah. One summer during college I punched down a friend's challah dough that one time. And about 7 years ago I watched with great interest as a minyan member who's a chef prepared some dough, and then braided some already-risen dough and let him put it in the oven. Oh, and I've used the frozen challah dough a few times (just let it rise and bake it). But last week at my shul, JD and I prepared some challah dough, and then froze it before the first rising. So today I'm going to do the rest, solo. Well, as solo as one can get with a recipe, and friends and the internets for help. I think I'm also going to buy a challah today just in case this doesn't work out. :-) [1] I should point out that my research was in theoretical computational chemistry, which doesn't help as much as one might think. | | Tuesday, April 24th, 2012 | | 10:10 pm |
Well, that sucks
I had lunch with W today, which didn't suck. What did suck is that he found out that his friend H. died last night. Joy and W. introduced me to H. once, about 5 years ago, and he was a really nice guy. Joy spent a bunch of time with W. and H. about 10 years ago, so this is hitting her hard, too. H. was in China, so W. (and Joy, for that matter) haven't seen him recently. But we had no idea this was coming. So, yeah, that sucks. | | Thursday, April 5th, 2012 | | 9:16 pm |
| | Wednesday, April 4th, 2012 | | 10:02 pm |
| | Sunday, April 1st, 2012 | | 8:25 pm |
| | Tuesday, March 13th, 2012 | | 9:10 pm |
Purim
As long as I'm writing about last week, I may as mention Purim. Joy went as... well, I better just paste a link. ( Joy )She described it as a sort of "incognito celebrity costume". So, of course, I had to be a paparazzi. My costume was much lamer (a bunch of cameras, some obviously fake "press" badges, and a backwards hat), but I guess it was better than nothing. JD went as Mordechai. | | 8:42 pm |
Other things
Hmmm, other things. I got tickets for JD's first musical (in April). It'll be The Lion King. My parents wanted to get him tickets to Anything Goes, but come on! The little guy isn't even 6 yet! The weather was freakishly warm again today. Nice, mind you -- I sat outside and read during my lunch break, but freakishly warm. I'm actually planning two Goljerp Gamings in the coming months: one on 3/31, and one on 4/21. Both Saturdays, true, but it's easier for me to plan those while Joy is teaching. I need to start pesach cleaning. I don't know when (I guess Sunday)? I should also figure out some time to go to a store that sells food which is "Kosher for Passover for those who eat Kitnyot". Ooh, some belated Purim Torah: I've been reading a lot of Bujold's Vorkosigan books, and so of course the question arises: do parents have to do a pidyon ha-ben for their first-born son who came to term in a uterine replicator? Does it matter when the fetus was transferred to the replicator? Finally, the time on this may be off by an hour, because I'm lazy. It's a problem, though, when I look up at my computer and it says "8:42" but it's really 9:42. Oh, well, it will get better in a few weeks. | | 8:27 pm |
Lessons learned
Some lessons learned: 1. Even though I haven't skated in years and years (30+), I got back in the swing of things, more or less. 2. I learned to skate on hockey skates; the toe pick on the figure skates I rented (and, to a lesser extent, the long blade on the back of the skate) are what tripped me up the two times I fell. Well, that, and the fact that the ice was pretty lousy on Sunday. It probably didn't help that the weather was around 60 degrees or so. 3. Next time, I should bring a backpack for our shoes (save $3.50) and some water (save $1.75) 4. JD may not glide on the ice (his movements look more like running), but the little guy sure can move when he gets into the swing of things. 5. I skate better when I don't think too hard about what I'm doing. After, of course, I start going. There were a few minutes at the beginning when I really didn't remember what to do at all. 6. My center of gravity is much higher than it used to be. That makes falling a bit more alarming. (I learned to skate when I was, um, 6 or 7?) 7. The day after skating I will feel it. Not in a crippling way or anything, but I could feel it. After skating, JD and I went to the blockhouse in Central Park, and then walked to the Great Hill, where JD watched a couple of people practicing with lacrosse sticks, and then eventually gave it a try himself. | | Thursday, February 16th, 2012 | | 8:07 am |
Merrily, Merrily, Merrily...
Well, it's 30 years late, but I've finally seen Merrily we Roll Along. Instead of the original production (which my father had tickets for), I saw it at the City Center Encores production of yet another under-appreciated Sondheim work. It is an amazing show. I can also see why it wasn't a commercial success. The version they produced is the "updated" version, with a score tweaked by Sondheim (some new songs, some old ones removed) and James Lapine's changes as well. But still... Well, the music is amazing, if you like Sondheim. If you dont, don't bother going. But, really, the man is amazing. It's worth going to see Merrily just for the music. Really, it is. ( spoiler alert )So am I glad I went? Yes. Would I recommend it to a fan of American Musical Theater? Yes. Do I understand why the show closed in November '81, before I was able to go with my parents? Sigh, yes. Oh, one last odd thing - so it's about 30 years later, right? And I'm about 30 years younger than my Dad. So I'm more or less the age that he'd have been if we'd been able to see it first time 'round. Now that's kinda strange for me. | | Tuesday, January 31st, 2012 | | 7:49 am |
Unintentional humor
Scene: walking down the street JD: Who were you rooting for, the monsters or the 49ers? Goljerp: huh? JD: Who were you rooting for: the MONSTERS or the FOURTY-NINERs? Goljerp: you mean the Giants? JD: yes... OK, maybe you had to be there. I thought it was funny. | | Sunday, January 1st, 2012 | | 9:38 am |
Infodump
Hmm, let's see. First of all, Snuff, the newest book by Sir Terry Pratchett. I bought it back in November, but was saving it for... I'm not sure what. Anyhow, I read it on Shabbat. It's a Discworld (R) [ Vimes ] book. Is it as good as Thud? Not IMHO. Is it worth reading? Well, I don't regret staying up 'till midnight to finish it. If you haven't read any of his books, though, I wouldn't suggest starting with this one. Actually, the tricky thing about Discworld(R) is that his first books in the "series" might not be the place to start, either. I'm not going to get into that more now, though, because I have other info to dump. JD is getting bigger. I know it's been a while since the last "State of the JD" post. Maybe I'll start them up again; on the other hand, he's starting to read, so there's probably only so much longer I can write about him without any repercussions. But I will say that, for some odd reason, he seems to be cleaning our toilet again. I only hope that he washes his hands well afterwards. I just asked him, and he said that he does it because it's fun, and because he wants to surprise us. And that he does wash his hands afterwards. "I do it at random times". Yes. Yes, he does. ( trip report. A bit long. )And thus ends the infodump. Now to do... well, something today. | | 8:23 am |
Happy New Year!
Happy new year! Joy, JD, and I had a very low-key, stay at home new-years this year, although we did have a couple of invitations. But we stayed at home; Joy and I finished our charitable donations, and JD played a puzzle game on his own. Joy and I ended up listening to the ball drop in bed, while trying to get a webpage to load on the laptop. Whee! (The sparkling grape juice must've gone to my head.) Resolutions? Mmm, I don't have any. A quick browse of my archives don't show any resolutions in the past, either, although I do seem to have used "Happy New Year!" as a subject quite often. | | Thursday, December 15th, 2011 | | 8:46 am |
Help me with ideas for a Hitch Hiker's themed Kiddush
I'm sponsoring Kiddush at my shul this week, and I'm going to have a Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy theme to the kiddush. I've come up with goldfish crackers (babel fish), but anyone have any other ideas? It should be something which can be Kosher (dairy)... Thanks! | | Tuesday, December 13th, 2011 | | 8:14 am |
I am connected...
Oh, and while I'm updating: I finally have a cell phone! Of course, I don't leave it turned on most of the time, and I don't plan to use it much... but I do have one. Hmm, note to self: figure out how to use the voice mail soon. Also: write down cell phone number somewhere; it's embarrassing not to know it, even if I don't really feel like giving it out to anyone. And no, I will not text. | | 8:11 am |
Goljerp Gaming recap
Quick Goljerp Gaming recap. ( details )Now I've got to get moving, but yay, gaming. And also a yay to JD, who didn't have any other children to play with and a father who was a bit distracted... but managed very well, all things considered. | | Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011 | | 10:20 pm |
Thanksgiving catchall
Happy Thanksgiving to all. And a moment of silence for the passing of Anne McCaffrey. ... and I need to get off the computer. Just wanted to say that. Be well, y'all! | | Sunday, October 23rd, 2011 | | 10:47 pm |
Cellphone question...
Joy has a Verizon cell phone. I have decided that I will finally bite the bullet and get a cell phone[1]. I was thinking of going with Credo (which is basically on Sprint's towers). I was originally thinking that this would be a good thing, as I might get coverage when Joy didn't. Now I'm wondering if that's actually a bad idea, especially if Sprint has lousy coverage in NYC, which is where I live and spend most of my time, and in MA, which is where I mostly am when I'm not in NYC. Any thoughts? Is the coverage of Verizon worth it even though Verizon itself is evil? Note that I am not interested in getting a "smart phone", so data speed isn't important. What is, in fact, Sprint's coverage like in NYC? MA? (Specifically Manhattan, and both Western MA and Boston suburbs)? [1] Yes, it's true, I don't have a cell phone. I've written programs for cell phones, but I don't own one myself. Mostly I don't need one, and often when I do, I can use Joy's. |
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