It was glorious. The country hills are beautiful, the castle was fabulous, the food was good, and I feel utterly relaxed. Pictures and more details to to follow in a few days.
AND - the best part - when we got back to civilization and checked our phone messages, we found out that our Mini agent had called four times. Our car came early! So on the way home we swung by the dealership, signed paperwork, and Jonathan drove away in our BRAND NEW CAR. Again, pictures to follow soon.
It was a VERY good vacation. :)
Monday, June 30, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Me being a geek
I met with the last professor today about my independent studies in the fall. Everything's coming together! I'll be taking one course in Ritual Studies, one in Liberalism (a philosophy course), and one on writing my own high-school curriculum on body image.
Work is awesome - today Dan the librarian pulled me aside, asked if I had a minute, then told me to go wash my hands. I went to his corner and he put a book from the year 1240 in front of me. It was Rashi's commentary on the Bible, on the most ancient parchment I've ever seen. Many pages were missing the bottom section below where the words ended (strips of the bottom part of the page were literally cut out). Dan said that this was most likely because the owner of the book reused the parchment and cut out the strips for the purpose of making the prayers that go into mezuzot. At the end of the book of Genesis there was this amazing illustration of the High Priest's breastplate, in vibrant reds and greens. But most of the green was cut away - I thought that someone had taken scissors to the page. No, Dan said, whatever was in the green ink was more acidic, and over the years ate away at the paper. Then at the end of Deuteronomy the scribe had made the words into a diamond-shaped pattern on the page. It was beautiful. The whole thing was beyond fascinating. I couldn't believe I was actually turning the pages of a book from before the time of the printing press!
Then, to make the day complete, after I finished tutoring my Bar Mitzvah student I went to Half-Price Books, and they had the exact book I had been planning on ordering from amazon.com! It's on hypnobirthing, a way to relax yourself to make childbirth easier (since we're doing a homebirth, I've been reading up on all possible natural childbirth methods). I also picked up a few other fun historical novels for the weekend.
And when I came home, Jonathan told me that we now have Fourth of July plans with our nice neighbors across the street. Yay for neighbors and for plans. We even picked up some legal fireworks, so we can make noise and light up the sky in style.
Now it's off to PACK!! We're taking the scenic route to our B&B. What a weekend of simchas and fun times this is turning out to be - my sister just got out of the Israeli army, Ruthie's having her Bat Mitzvah, and both Sheryl and Jane and Sylvan's son are getting married. Mazel tov to everyone!
Work is awesome - today Dan the librarian pulled me aside, asked if I had a minute, then told me to go wash my hands. I went to his corner and he put a book from the year 1240 in front of me. It was Rashi's commentary on the Bible, on the most ancient parchment I've ever seen. Many pages were missing the bottom section below where the words ended (strips of the bottom part of the page were literally cut out). Dan said that this was most likely because the owner of the book reused the parchment and cut out the strips for the purpose of making the prayers that go into mezuzot. At the end of the book of Genesis there was this amazing illustration of the High Priest's breastplate, in vibrant reds and greens. But most of the green was cut away - I thought that someone had taken scissors to the page. No, Dan said, whatever was in the green ink was more acidic, and over the years ate away at the paper. Then at the end of Deuteronomy the scribe had made the words into a diamond-shaped pattern on the page. It was beautiful. The whole thing was beyond fascinating. I couldn't believe I was actually turning the pages of a book from before the time of the printing press!
Then, to make the day complete, after I finished tutoring my Bar Mitzvah student I went to Half-Price Books, and they had the exact book I had been planning on ordering from amazon.com! It's on hypnobirthing, a way to relax yourself to make childbirth easier (since we're doing a homebirth, I've been reading up on all possible natural childbirth methods). I also picked up a few other fun historical novels for the weekend.
And when I came home, Jonathan told me that we now have Fourth of July plans with our nice neighbors across the street. Yay for neighbors and for plans. We even picked up some legal fireworks, so we can make noise and light up the sky in style.
Now it's off to PACK!! We're taking the scenic route to our B&B. What a weekend of simchas and fun times this is turning out to be - my sister just got out of the Israeli army, Ruthie's having her Bat Mitzvah, and both Sheryl and Jane and Sylvan's son are getting married. Mazel tov to everyone!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Counting down until our vacation this weekend
We're going on a "babymoon"! For three nights, I can't wait.
And guess what exists in Ohio... Ravenwood Castle.
And guess what exists in Ohio... Ravenwood Castle.
Monday, June 23, 2008
The weekend in writing
Saturday I finished Labrinth by Kate Mosse, about the very first Christian Crusade in 1200s France. It went back and forth between the stories of the modern day and the Middle Ages, and I thought that the historical part set in the past was much stronger than the present. Maybe that's because I like history more though, the 2005 plotline was more of a mystery.
We also sold the bike! I won't write much on that besides to say *sniff.* I miss it already.
Sunday was a whirlwind. We went to the wedding of the daughter of one of Jonathan's coworkers. It was the first time I'd ever been to a wedding where I'd never met the bride or groom, but was invited as a friend of the parents. It felt very odd (as in, when did we get to be such adults?). But it was fun - we sat at the "work" table with people from Jonathan's department and their spouses, all of whom I knew, and chatted about everything from work to babies to the weird weather (the lights went out twice at the reception from the storm).
Then we drove straight from the reception in Indiana to Jessica's birthday party. Chocolate cake, fruit salad, and good company abounded. In a way it was jarring to transfer so quickly between my two social worlds (J's work friends and HUC). But after a few minutes I eased in again, and went from talking about computer jargon to classes. The funniest part was when we first walked in and an HUC spouse who I haven't seen in months pointed to my belly and literally said "WOW! Look at THAT!" Sandra, his wife, put her head in her hands and mumbled how she was just married to him but took no responsibility for anything he said. Jonathan tells me I blushed beet red.
Unfortunately I think I may have overdone it a bit, because now I'm feeling achy so am staying home sick. I also downloaded pictures from the camera, below. None from the wedding though, sorry. They sucked.
We also sold the bike! I won't write much on that besides to say *sniff.* I miss it already.
Sunday was a whirlwind. We went to the wedding of the daughter of one of Jonathan's coworkers. It was the first time I'd ever been to a wedding where I'd never met the bride or groom, but was invited as a friend of the parents. It felt very odd (as in, when did we get to be such adults?). But it was fun - we sat at the "work" table with people from Jonathan's department and their spouses, all of whom I knew, and chatted about everything from work to babies to the weird weather (the lights went out twice at the reception from the storm).
Then we drove straight from the reception in Indiana to Jessica's birthday party. Chocolate cake, fruit salad, and good company abounded. In a way it was jarring to transfer so quickly between my two social worlds (J's work friends and HUC). But after a few minutes I eased in again, and went from talking about computer jargon to classes. The funniest part was when we first walked in and an HUC spouse who I haven't seen in months pointed to my belly and literally said "WOW! Look at THAT!" Sandra, his wife, put her head in her hands and mumbled how she was just married to him but took no responsibility for anything he said. Jonathan tells me I blushed beet red.
Unfortunately I think I may have overdone it a bit, because now I'm feeling achy so am staying home sick. I also downloaded pictures from the camera, below. None from the wedding though, sorry. They sucked.
The weekend in pictures
Simcha cuteness.
"What in the world can that be?" It's a remote control mini-Mini, given to Jonathan by me to tide him over until the real thing comes.
"Oooh let's see if we can catch it!"
Flowers in our front yard. The colors are off in the picture, but they're vibrant blues, purples, and pinks.
More flowers.
Yellow ones on the side of the house.
Osher being fierce.
"Don't mess with me in my Think Geek box!"Sunday, June 22, 2008
Friday, June 20, 2008
The Invasion
As mentioned earlier in the blog, the cicadas have made a full scale invasion into the Cincinnati Cincinnati
Now, it is really hard to imagine what it’s like to experience this. It really is very Hebrew Bible-like and I now understand how people felt that locusts were a plague. So let me help you understand a little. For starters, these things are butt-ugly (see picture). I’m sure there are people out there that will find beauty in anything, but from a classical Western ideal of beauty, these thing things fall just below hideous.
Now, there are lots of things that I would prefer not to look at. Ever see a dust mite magnified a million times? A thing of nightmares. Unlike dust mites however, these cicadas are big. I mean, really big! About the size of a man’s thumb and four times bigger than the junebugs I’m used to in
A big part of this obnoxiousness is the fact that they have been celibate for 5-17 years and they are OH so friendly to anything that comes near. They are like those lounge lizards from the ‘70s that will go up to anyone who stays still long enough and ask them their sign. This adds new elements to their annoyingness. For one, what attracts them the most are things that make rhythmic vibrations like cars, motorcycles, and lawn mowers. Now, what romantic aspirations they have with a lawnmower, I’ll never understand (talk about dangerous love!) but anyone mowing their yard while these guys are around get dive bombed and pelted like a ship at
Deb, my coworker, was telling me that one year when she was mowing her lawn she had to don a scarf and hat because they kept flying into her hair and getting stuck. One of the managers on my floor who is known for his Harley Davidson macho-ness had one hitchhike in on his shoulder from outside. When it was pointed out that he had a stowaway on him, and he looked back and glanced at the amorous cicada on his shoulder, he jumped around and screamed like a school girl “get it off, get it off!!!”
Another time I was with some of my coworkers driving to a lunch spot when the driver decided that since it was such a nice day it would be a good idea to open the sun roof. Big mistake. The things started dropping in like giant buzzing hailstorms. We started yelling at each other hopping around in our seats. It went something like this:
Driver: “What the hell...”
Passenger:“AGHH… GET IT OFF”
Driver: “You get it off!..AGG ONE’S ON ME!”
Me: “CLOSETHETOPCLOSETHETOPCLOSETHETOP!!”
Passenger: “THROW THEM OUT THE WINDOWS!”
Me: “DON’T OPEN THEM, YOU’LL LET MORE IN!!!”
Passenger: “AAAAAGHH!!!”
Driver: “AAAAAAAGHH!!!”
Me: “AAAAAAGHHH!!!”
I’m sure that any outside observers thought that were in the hands of a drunk driver. Now, normally I don’t have a problem handling cicadas, or any other insects, but I have to admit, I did get caught up on the hysteria that was in the car that day.
I brought one of them home to the cats.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
New job responsibilities
Work is getting even better. I really like listening to the tapes, but I'm so visual that it's hard to concentrate aurally all day. So I asked if there was anything else I could do to break it up - and they gave me something awesome! I'm going to be doing actual archival work. E.g. my boss gave me a big box filled with paper relating to the history of one specific new synagogue, and then I organize it, write up a detailed description, and put it online. For an example, go to the American Jewish Archives and click on Major Manuscript Collections/Synagogues. I'll be organizing them along the lines of the one by Rockdale Temple (which I picked as an example purely because it's where I teach). Jonathan thinks I'm insane and that this is intensely boring, but I really like organizing, history, and Judaism, so I think it's a perfect match.
I also got a tour today of the Archives plus the collection from the rare book room from the library (it's being held in the Archives while the library is under construction). I saw a handwritten letter from the l800s from Isaac Mayer Wise, one of the founders of American Reform Judaism, proposing that they build a "Jewish theological university." His idea later became Hebrew Union College. Then later on, in the rare book section, I saw a first edition of a printed Hebrew Bible from the 1500s. The binding was incredible.
What else? Oh, I got last semester's grades. I did well. Though I'm amused that I received a "NG" (no grade) in one of my classes. I found out that other classmates received this grade as well - I'm starting to think the prof just didn't turn in his grades on time!
Oh yes, and we took Simcha and Osher to the vet for their annual checkup. They're both fine, but Simcha needs his teeth cleaned. And the estimate is over $300 for anaesthesia, cleaning, X-rays, and possible tooth extraction. My goodness, children are expensive. Why are we having a human one again?!
I also got a tour today of the Archives plus the collection from the rare book room from the library (it's being held in the Archives while the library is under construction). I saw a handwritten letter from the l800s from Isaac Mayer Wise, one of the founders of American Reform Judaism, proposing that they build a "Jewish theological university." His idea later became Hebrew Union College. Then later on, in the rare book section, I saw a first edition of a printed Hebrew Bible from the 1500s. The binding was incredible.
What else? Oh, I got last semester's grades. I did well. Though I'm amused that I received a "NG" (no grade) in one of my classes. I found out that other classmates received this grade as well - I'm starting to think the prof just didn't turn in his grades on time!
Oh yes, and we took Simcha and Osher to the vet for their annual checkup. They're both fine, but Simcha needs his teeth cleaned. And the estimate is over $300 for anaesthesia, cleaning, X-rays, and possible tooth extraction. My goodness, children are expensive. Why are we having a human one again?!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Tomatoes and cicadas and Minis, oh my....
To celebrate Ari's upcoming internship in Chicago (as in, he leaves tomorrow), he, Jonathan and I went to Newport on the Levee in Kentucky for dinner. I can't remember the name of the restaurant, but it's waterfront with a fabulous view. And guess what they served as a side? Fried green tomatoes!! They were... um... greasy. And fried. But I ate two anyway, just so I could say I've had them. At this point I don't even remember the part they played in the movie, but I was excited anyway.
Simcha and Osher have had a great couple days. Since Jeffrey and Courtney are in Baton Rouge, they asked us if we would mind receiving all their wedding registry gifts. Of course not, we said. This means that boxes have been coming in and out of our house all week. And since Jonathan doesn't necessarily have the time to move them down into our basement the moment USPS delivers them, this means that the cats have been overjoyed playing king of the hill on each and every box. They wrestle and tumble and hiss at each other, then rule that box for two or three minutes before the process starts with another one. Simcha has also claimed the glider in our bedroom as his own. Or, to be more specific, the glider ottoman - he likes to sit on it and swish his tail to make it move.
Work is going great. Just when I think I'm getting bored stiff, along comes a tape that's fascinating. Last week I listened to Robert Frost read some of his poetry, and then there was a 50's radio interview with a Protestant minister who was advocating the separation of church and state. The minister didn't want any tax money going to parochial schools, and he was getting creamed by all the conservative people calling in. The best part was the interviewer though, who had to read all these random commercials every 10 or 15 minutes from his sponsors. It reminded me of watching the George Burns show when Gracie Allen would play Vanna White to the new refrigerator at every break.
I think Jonathan may write about this later, but are any of you familiar with cicadas? Oh my GOD they are loud. When we drive down the freeway with the windows closed we can hear them screech, so loudly they sometimes drown out the radio. There are so many of them warbling their mating call that it's like white noise times ten. I can't think of any California creature that makes such a large impression on the area as a whole. It's like an infestation... Mom, a cicada makes a junebug look itty bitty by comparison.
Jonathan's been working all weekend, much to my (not to mention his) frustration. There was an issue at work Friday afternoon that never ended, so he's been glued to his Blackberry. In between calls we wanted to amuse ourselves, so we started watching episodes of Lost (a TV show is easier to pause than a movie) - and you know what? I'm hooked! I shouldn't be surprised though, I love JJ Abrams (he also produced the TV show Alias, the movie Mission Impossible III, and he's doing the upcoming Star Trek movie).
And the best news of ALL - our Mini has been shipped! Instead of the first week of August, we may be driving it by the beginning of July. This means we're stepping up the plans to sell the bike, too, since a two-car commute is in sight. Yay Mini!
Simcha and Osher have had a great couple days. Since Jeffrey and Courtney are in Baton Rouge, they asked us if we would mind receiving all their wedding registry gifts. Of course not, we said. This means that boxes have been coming in and out of our house all week. And since Jonathan doesn't necessarily have the time to move them down into our basement the moment USPS delivers them, this means that the cats have been overjoyed playing king of the hill on each and every box. They wrestle and tumble and hiss at each other, then rule that box for two or three minutes before the process starts with another one. Simcha has also claimed the glider in our bedroom as his own. Or, to be more specific, the glider ottoman - he likes to sit on it and swish his tail to make it move.
Work is going great. Just when I think I'm getting bored stiff, along comes a tape that's fascinating. Last week I listened to Robert Frost read some of his poetry, and then there was a 50's radio interview with a Protestant minister who was advocating the separation of church and state. The minister didn't want any tax money going to parochial schools, and he was getting creamed by all the conservative people calling in. The best part was the interviewer though, who had to read all these random commercials every 10 or 15 minutes from his sponsors. It reminded me of watching the George Burns show when Gracie Allen would play Vanna White to the new refrigerator at every break.
I think Jonathan may write about this later, but are any of you familiar with cicadas? Oh my GOD they are loud. When we drive down the freeway with the windows closed we can hear them screech, so loudly they sometimes drown out the radio. There are so many of them warbling their mating call that it's like white noise times ten. I can't think of any California creature that makes such a large impression on the area as a whole. It's like an infestation... Mom, a cicada makes a junebug look itty bitty by comparison.
Jonathan's been working all weekend, much to my (not to mention his) frustration. There was an issue at work Friday afternoon that never ended, so he's been glued to his Blackberry. In between calls we wanted to amuse ourselves, so we started watching episodes of Lost (a TV show is easier to pause than a movie) - and you know what? I'm hooked! I shouldn't be surprised though, I love JJ Abrams (he also produced the TV show Alias, the movie Mission Impossible III, and he's doing the upcoming Star Trek movie).
And the best news of ALL - our Mini has been shipped! Instead of the first week of August, we may be driving it by the beginning of July. This means we're stepping up the plans to sell the bike, too, since a two-car commute is in sight. Yay Mini!
Monday, June 9, 2008
More disjointed happenings in our world
I like B'nai Mitzvah tutoring, but the setup at the local congregations here is different than in CA. Here the tutors are expected to go to the students' homes, not the parents bringing them to the tutors' home. This strikes me as odd. What's more common? Anyone who reads this not from CA or OH, what happens where you live?
My laptop is half-finished. Jonathan's completely reformatted it, and now we're in the process of downloading things and moving over all my files. We've been doing it piecemeal, but I'm hopeful that by Wednesday I'll be completely set up.
We went to a poetry reading at a local coffeehouse the other night with Sarah and Chris. And pregnancy struck again - I got so hot with all those people crammed in, we had to leave after only a half hour. And I had liked the poetry, too. In other pregnancy news, Ari made Jonathan and I steak and eggs last night, and I ate more than both men combined. Then tonight I had double meat on my Jersey Mike reuben sandwich. Wiggly apparently will not be a vegetarian.
Speaking of Wiggly, we bought a glider last night! It looks almost like this, with blue cushions but with slightly different arms:
We got it on Craigslist, of course, and it even came with a back massage pad. The rocker and ottoman glide beautifully, and I practiced getting in and out of it with my hands full. I think it'll be great for the baby. And if God forbid something happens, then I like rocking in it anyway. Right now whenever I sit in it, I swish. You know when you drink a lot of water and you can feel yourself gurgle? That's what it's like. And then I feel a kick and am quickly reminded that no, there's more than just water in there!
Today was Shavuot, so I had the day off work. And a good thing too - I slept through half of it and used the rest of it to do house errands I'd been putting off (e.g. paying bills, organizing paperwork, calling the insurance company, laundry, etc). But it was still really relaxing, just sitting in my chair and talking on the phone and filing and petting the cat. I like days like this, where there are no expectations on me and I have nothing I *have* to do. Because of aforementioned nothing to do, I've also been able to make a dent in my fun books recently - this morning I finished Duchess: A Novel of Sarah Churchill by Susan Holloway Scott, and the day before that was Moloka'i by Alan Brennert. I liked Moloka'i, about the Hawaiian leper colony in the 1890s, much more so than Duchess. I think I mainly just didn't like the historical character of Sarah Churchill - she was so conniving in her relationship to Queen Anne (sister of Mary, as in William and Mary) that I couldn't relate. Moloka'i on the other hand was fascinating, and I learned loads about Hawaiian culture and history.
By the way, as a complete and total aside, the older I get the more I realize that my childhood was odd. I wasn't into cartoons, and whatever I did watch was pretty gendered. I know this because earlier Jonathan and I were playing a guessing game where he played all of these old theme songs and I guessed what they were. I got ones like Inspector Gadget, Get Smart, Pink Panther, and She-Ra/He-Man, but I had absolutely no idea on GI Joe, Thundercats, Felix the Cat, Transformers, Voltron, and more. Some of them were just before my time, like Greatest American Hero and Magnum P.I. I felt totally redeemed though when I only needed two bars to identify Cheers and X-Files!
Night all!
(edit) Now Jonathan's onto theme songs. So far I've missed Pulp Fiction but got Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. Fantasy over violence any day!
My laptop is half-finished. Jonathan's completely reformatted it, and now we're in the process of downloading things and moving over all my files. We've been doing it piecemeal, but I'm hopeful that by Wednesday I'll be completely set up.
We went to a poetry reading at a local coffeehouse the other night with Sarah and Chris. And pregnancy struck again - I got so hot with all those people crammed in, we had to leave after only a half hour. And I had liked the poetry, too. In other pregnancy news, Ari made Jonathan and I steak and eggs last night, and I ate more than both men combined. Then tonight I had double meat on my Jersey Mike reuben sandwich. Wiggly apparently will not be a vegetarian.
Speaking of Wiggly, we bought a glider last night! It looks almost like this, with blue cushions but with slightly different arms:
We got it on Craigslist, of course, and it even came with a back massage pad. The rocker and ottoman glide beautifully, and I practiced getting in and out of it with my hands full. I think it'll be great for the baby. And if God forbid something happens, then I like rocking in it anyway. Right now whenever I sit in it, I swish. You know when you drink a lot of water and you can feel yourself gurgle? That's what it's like. And then I feel a kick and am quickly reminded that no, there's more than just water in there!
Today was Shavuot, so I had the day off work. And a good thing too - I slept through half of it and used the rest of it to do house errands I'd been putting off (e.g. paying bills, organizing paperwork, calling the insurance company, laundry, etc). But it was still really relaxing, just sitting in my chair and talking on the phone and filing and petting the cat. I like days like this, where there are no expectations on me and I have nothing I *have* to do. Because of aforementioned nothing to do, I've also been able to make a dent in my fun books recently - this morning I finished Duchess: A Novel of Sarah Churchill by Susan Holloway Scott, and the day before that was Moloka'i by Alan Brennert. I liked Moloka'i, about the Hawaiian leper colony in the 1890s, much more so than Duchess. I think I mainly just didn't like the historical character of Sarah Churchill - she was so conniving in her relationship to Queen Anne (sister of Mary, as in William and Mary) that I couldn't relate. Moloka'i on the other hand was fascinating, and I learned loads about Hawaiian culture and history.
By the way, as a complete and total aside, the older I get the more I realize that my childhood was odd. I wasn't into cartoons, and whatever I did watch was pretty gendered. I know this because earlier Jonathan and I were playing a guessing game where he played all of these old theme songs and I guessed what they were. I got ones like Inspector Gadget, Get Smart, Pink Panther, and She-Ra/He-Man, but I had absolutely no idea on GI Joe, Thundercats, Felix the Cat, Transformers, Voltron, and more. Some of them were just before my time, like Greatest American Hero and Magnum P.I. I felt totally redeemed though when I only needed two bars to identify Cheers and X-Files!
Night all!
(edit) Now Jonathan's onto theme songs. So far I've missed Pulp Fiction but got Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. Fantasy over violence any day!
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Welcome, brucha ha-ba
To the little-ist cousin on the Floyd side. And a very sincere mazel tov to Clarissa and Bud... John is a whopping 9 lbs 6 oz! Auntie Lois is riding high, she's a grandmother twice over in the span of three months!
Thursday, June 5, 2008
We survived!
We made it through our first tornado warning! A huge storm was in the area and yesterday we spent an hour in our basement, with the kitties in their carriers next to us. It was not thrilling. And don't laugh at us, you never know.
Jonathan and I had a wonderful anniversary dinner last night though to make up for the morning's tornado festivities. We went to Outback Steakhouse and rolled ourselves home.
That's about it... life is often boring here in the Midwest.
Jonathan and I had a wonderful anniversary dinner last night though to make up for the morning's tornado festivities. We went to Outback Steakhouse and rolled ourselves home.
That's about it... life is often boring here in the Midwest.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Books and computers and work and food and... um... that's it.
I forgot to say that Carl brought me a treasure trove of books last weekend, 2o books for $20 from the Fortress Press book sale. It's actually a Christian publisher, but they sell pretty much everything, including a lot of Hebrew Bible academic inquiries that I want to own. So YAY for Carl!
My laptop is fixed!! I don't know how many of you know it was broken, but I've been using Jonathan's laptop for the past month. Dell finally returned mine with brand new working parts, and once Jonathan reformats it this weekend, it'll be like one freshly bought.
I started work at the American Jewish Archives, and I really like it so far. The AJA is applying for a NEH grant to convert all of its audio files to electronic media, and my job is to go through its massive collection (massive=over 3000 tapes) and sort out which is interesting enough to convert. Then I listen to them, write up summaries and give feedback. The most interesting ones today were Victor Frankl giving a talk on psychotherapy, a 1960 interview with the president of the American Nazi Movement, and a rabbi who was ordained in 1906 talking about what it was like having class in Isaac Meyer Wise's home. I can't wait to see what other things are buried in the pile.
On a sad little note, Jonathan and I have to go food shopping again. I'm eating us out of house and home. I bring a mini-fridge worth of tupperware to school every day, it's kind of funny. But I'm just always so *hungry*! (And speaking of food, shout-out to Jessica and Michael, whose restaurant blog is proving quite useful whenever I have cravings for something).
Speaking of food, I shall end this blog to go chop some watermelon...
My laptop is fixed!! I don't know how many of you know it was broken, but I've been using Jonathan's laptop for the past month. Dell finally returned mine with brand new working parts, and once Jonathan reformats it this weekend, it'll be like one freshly bought.
I started work at the American Jewish Archives, and I really like it so far. The AJA is applying for a NEH grant to convert all of its audio files to electronic media, and my job is to go through its massive collection (massive=over 3000 tapes) and sort out which is interesting enough to convert. Then I listen to them, write up summaries and give feedback. The most interesting ones today were Victor Frankl giving a talk on psychotherapy, a 1960 interview with the president of the American Nazi Movement, and a rabbi who was ordained in 1906 talking about what it was like having class in Isaac Meyer Wise's home. I can't wait to see what other things are buried in the pile.
On a sad little note, Jonathan and I have to go food shopping again. I'm eating us out of house and home. I bring a mini-fridge worth of tupperware to school every day, it's kind of funny. But I'm just always so *hungry*! (And speaking of food, shout-out to Jessica and Michael, whose restaurant blog is proving quite useful whenever I have cravings for something).
Speaking of food, I shall end this blog to go chop some watermelon...
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Cats and babies
It was brought to my attention that this blog has been remarkably Simcha- and Osher-free as of late, and that I should rectify the situation. So here are some pictures:
Silly kitties.
Bookends
Note that they always have to touch, even if it's just the paws.
All that's left of Simcha's wound is that little bare patch on his cheek.
Simcha in the cat house. He's making sure no one takes his stuffed squirrel.
"Good morning! What a lovely nap. Squirrels make the best pillows."
Not a cat, but my wondrous love who is of course equally cute.
And lastly, me yesterday at 23 weeks. I usually don't have such bad posture, but I was tired.
We've been thinking a lot about the nursery and have decided actually, at this point, NOT to have one. We realize the baby is going to be with us all the time anyway, plus we're going to have a ton of visitors this fall. So we're going to keep the guest room as it is and create a baby corner in our bedroom that will consist of rocking chair, mattress (no crib, per Montessori method), and hanging mobile. Lisa and Tony gave us a dresser that we've put in the hall landing right outside our bedroom, and that should work fine for baby clothes/diaper storage. Come December when the baby begins to be more active (and when we assume our guests will have left), we'll rearrange the rooms.
Speaking of babies on the mind, Jonathan and I have been getting in our share of infant time lately. Yesterday we went to Carri and Scott's son's 1st birthday party, and Shabbat dinner was at Carl and Anne's with their two girls. Carl and Anne's youngest, Abby, is a little over one and absolutely adorable. Dessert was chocolate cake - who knew that frosting could serve such good purpose as hair mousse? Suffice it to say that Abby had a bath after dinner.
I finished The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, and am now ready to watch the movie version. I highly recommend it, it's the first book by the author of A Thousand Splendid Suns. Everything I know about tribal conflict in Afghanistan I've learned from his novels, they're brilliant at incorporating and contextualizing history and politics with personal stories.
Silly kitties.
Bookends
Note that they always have to touch, even if it's just the paws.
All that's left of Simcha's wound is that little bare patch on his cheek.
Simcha in the cat house. He's making sure no one takes his stuffed squirrel.
"Good morning! What a lovely nap. Squirrels make the best pillows."
Not a cat, but my wondrous love who is of course equally cute.
And lastly, me yesterday at 23 weeks. I usually don't have such bad posture, but I was tired.We've been thinking a lot about the nursery and have decided actually, at this point, NOT to have one. We realize the baby is going to be with us all the time anyway, plus we're going to have a ton of visitors this fall. So we're going to keep the guest room as it is and create a baby corner in our bedroom that will consist of rocking chair, mattress (no crib, per Montessori method), and hanging mobile. Lisa and Tony gave us a dresser that we've put in the hall landing right outside our bedroom, and that should work fine for baby clothes/diaper storage. Come December when the baby begins to be more active (and when we assume our guests will have left), we'll rearrange the rooms.
Speaking of babies on the mind, Jonathan and I have been getting in our share of infant time lately. Yesterday we went to Carri and Scott's son's 1st birthday party, and Shabbat dinner was at Carl and Anne's with their two girls. Carl and Anne's youngest, Abby, is a little over one and absolutely adorable. Dessert was chocolate cake - who knew that frosting could serve such good purpose as hair mousse? Suffice it to say that Abby had a bath after dinner.
I finished The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, and am now ready to watch the movie version. I highly recommend it, it's the first book by the author of A Thousand Splendid Suns. Everything I know about tribal conflict in Afghanistan I've learned from his novels, they're brilliant at incorporating and contextualizing history and politics with personal stories.
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