Monica

As we go through the process of digitizing our non-digital music and ripping the CDs, both Dani and I have had multiple instances of iTunes crapping out on us in various ways. Usually the failure mode is that it takes over all the CPU, won't respond, and forces a reboot. Or it'll just decide to stop paying attention to the CD drive and not acknowledge the disc I just put in. Is this iTunes' doing, or Windows'?

Anyway, yesterday we ripped about 100 folk CDs. Progress. I've been going through tape-recorded Clam Chowder concerts. I hope to one day identify the source of the five stray tracks at the end of another concert tape -- a tape I had actually catalogued at the time, but I didn't record those additions. Hmm.

Links:

One Velociraptor Per Child, from jducoeur. I hope they're offering a buy-one-get-one program; Dani really wants his own velociraptor.

From shalmestere: dressage... with a camel (video). I didn't know they could do that.

From siderea: feline cavalry (video).

kyleri passed on this twist on animal rescue.

From a locked post: curry can stave off Alzheimers?. If so, I'm even happier that Sree's is now selling Indian food across the street from my office.

We visited with my parents (and sister) this afternoon. Ironically, my father is also contemplating digitization of his music collection.

Does anyone know where I can get some of those microfiber cloths that sometimes come with glasses and things with delicate screens? Or, failing that, a reliable way to wash them so that they (1) get clean and soft and (2) don't die in the wash?

"The other day, I bought a toaster. It came with a free bank." - xiphias

Two cat links:
Leslie Fish on smart cats (funny, from thnidu) and how a blind cat saved his owner's life (touching, from scaharp).

Microsoft announces 20 editions of Windows 7 (from dr_zrfq).

Presidental candidates play an RPG (forwarded by siderea).

Fun, unconventional greeting cards from ohiblather.

"What's the capital of Iceland? About £3.50." (forwarded by nancylebov).

And finally, an edible Flying Spaghetti Monster from kmelion (cool!):

Lately the Jewish Chronicle has had ads from Giant Eagle pitching their kosher deli (in the store at Center and Negley in Shadyside). Last week they advertised a special on rotisserie chickens. Drool. It's been years since I've had that, because Kosher Mart doesn't do them in their prepared-foods section. So tonight after work I headed over to check them out. The chicken was very tasty and tender, and I picked up some side dishes for later use. I'll definitely be back.

Small-world moment: the friendly and helpful person who took care of me is happyingreen's husband. :-)

Airfare to Israel these days costs how much?! This may require more thought.

The local SCA choir started some new songs tonight, including Salamone Rossi's Kedusha, which has been in the files waiting to emerge for a few years. It's a pretty piece as a whole; some of the individual lines are a little funky. I think it's going to sound really nifty when we've learned it. The director quite reasonably asked me to lead people through the pronunciation; I had forgotten how awkward I now find transliteration. I should have just read from the Hebrew. Oh well.

The choir performed at an event last weekend, including one joint piece with our consort. That was fun, and the consort is bigger than it's often been in the past. We'll be doing a joint performance at Pennsic.

Last night Dani and I went to a pot-luck dinner (by local SCA folks). The theme was "black history month"; most people interpreted this as calling for African recipes. (I would have figured we'd get some Carribean, but no.) The result was that almost everything involved at least two of: rice, beans, peanuts. (I made a West-African vegetable stew with peanuts, served over rice.) It was all quite tasty, though we usually manage more variety. :-) (Themes sometimes act as themes and sometimes as loose inspiration. We once hosted one with the theme "once in a blue moon", which produced round foods and stuff with blueberries.)

I owe a few sets of interview answers. Thanks for the interesting questions.

The Pardes of pastoral care by Velveteen Rabbi is an interesting, multi-level take on the sometimes-difficult task of relating to people.

Two interesting studies reported by siderea. "Rat Park" was new to me; who knew that rats use drugs to relieve boredom rather than out of addiction?

Signs you might not be from LJ originally; I forget now who pointed this one out.

Qualities people will pay for even if there are free options, via dsrtao.

Every fall browngirl sends excellent fruitcakes -- yummy and beautifully decorated -- to some of her friends. She makes a bunch of different types and this year I knew she would be sending me a sampler. I figured that meant, oh, two or three random mini-fruitcakes, probably.

Today's mail brought a package. As I cut open the box I took in the lovely aroma, and when I got the paper off I saw three little fruitcakes. This seemed generous -- and then I saw that there was a second layer. Ooh.

Some of the icing qua art was damaged on its way to me, alas, but here, let me show you:
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I'm looking forward to tasting them, but I don't want to cut into them just yet.

Thank you, browngirl!

I know I owe questions to some people. I'm not ignoring you.

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Naturally, yesterday (when I couldn't put up the sukkah) the weather was wonderful, and today (when I could) it was colder and threatening rain. But I got it up and I didn't get wet, so that worked out. It only took half an hour to put the frame and roof (s'chach) together. The walls took another half hour. I'm sure I could expedite if I'd just use plastic walls like lots of other people, but I like the look of the lattice pieces that I use much better, so it's worth some fussing. Besides, the lattice makes it easier, in principle, to have decorations; one of these years I'll get some of those.

Sukkot begins tomorrow night. Chag sameach to all who celebrate!

Yesterday was the wedding of two SCA friends. I think the SCA people outnumbered the relatives at the reception. Everyone seemed to be having fun, even the pinch-hitting cooks. (The original cook got into an accident on Wednesday and is still in the hospital. We planned to visit him today, but he was moved back into the ICU so we couldn't. I really hope he's ok!)

Yesterday morning I chanted torah. There was no bar mitzvah, so my rabbi stayed for the whole service and acted as my checker. He had chanted the portion the previous night; I'd tried to call him on Friday to talk about that but didn't reach him. (It was a very busy week. I had learned the portion anyway. I was calling to offer to save him the time preparing it, which I suspected he wasn't going to do until after Yom Kippur anyway.) He usually doesn't chant but did this time, though, so I suspect he wouldn't have taken me up on the offer. And he is, as you might expect, much better at it than I am. Still, mine went ok -- forgot one trope and had to be prompted but fine otherwise. My comments on the portion were well-received. Some people commented on my having read for Rosh Hashana and wanted to know if I'd really learned this portion since then; mostly, but it was short. But hey! I can learn a torah portion more quickly than I used to be able to.

Most dates are taken for the next several weeks, except one week when I'll be out of town (Thanskgiving), so I'm next reading for Vayishlach in mid-December. I'll ask to read Friday night too; I last did that at the end of August. I'm glad that we've got people siging up again for Shabbat morning; there were some rough spots during the summer, I guess due to vacations.

Tonight's dinner included a culinary mystery. When I was last at the store I picked up a package that was labelled "California lamb chops". I didn't know what that meant (origin? applied seasoning?) but they looked like lamb chops so I shrugged and put the package in my basket. Tonight, in preparing to cook them, I saw that they looked like they'd been fabricated from ground lamb -- but they had bones! What was that all about? I cooked them and they were ok (but not as good as actual chops), but I'm still a little puzzled by what I was eating. Is this some novelty I'm unaware of, or was the packaging meant to be deceptive? Next time I'll look more closely, I guess.

A moving essay of faith and death and clerical calling: Nunc Dimittis. Thanks to Real Live Preacher (preachermanfeed) for pointing it out.

On a lighter note... Zomick's egg challah is way better than anything I've found in stores here. estherchaya gave me a couple loaves when we were down there this spring. Yummy! I don't think a mail-order subscription is feasible, but ...pause... yes! There are places on the net where I can order it occasionally! Kosher.com to the rescue (though their prices seem high).

"Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper". That's a lot of adjectives. The coworker who was holding it wondered if it comes in caffeine-free. (He also made the most spectacular face when he tasted it.)

Doesn't Dr. Pepper already have some cherry flavoring by definition? That's what made it different from Coke originally, right? (Which raises the question of the difference between Dr. Pepper and Cherry Coke. I rarely drink either, so I can't speak to that.)

D&D Thursday night was exciting. We are in the middle of a fight with our arch-rivals, a pair of high-level vampires. We ran out of time before we ran out of vampires, so we had to freeze the combat until next time.

Shabbat services were good. My rabbi seems to be mostly recovered from his surgery, so things are back to normal. He's moving around more easily and has more of his energy back. Friday night he gave an excellent sermon (that doesn't summarize well).

Saturday morning we had an interesting discussion at torah study that started off with the observation that we all reflect on the people as a whole. This somehow morphed into the question of how a congregation handles notorious members (or attendees). If a Jew who's accused -- but not yet convicted -- of heinous crimes shows up at services and asks for an aliya (saying the torah blessings -- an honor), do you give it to him? ( Read more... )

I'll be chanting torah in a few weeks, so I spent some of Saturday afternoon working on the portion. Let me just say that the third aliya of Sh'mini looks like it could be the poster child for weird trope combinations. I had to consult Trope Trainer for some of them; the book and class weren't enough. I'm just sayin'.

Saturday night was Ralph and Lori's annual St. Patrick's Day party. This was fun, and it looks like the hosts got to spend more time enjoying the party this time. (I believe they expressed a desire to have "only" too much food, as opposed to the vast quantities of food they've had in the past. This worked.) Several of the Claritech gang were there, though some past regulars were missing. We met some of Ralph's coworkers and didn't scare them away. There were people playing music, but not much gaming this time. (Well, we left around midnight and I think some gaming started later.)

We hosted Sunday dinner to allow Ralph and Lori to recover. As sometimes happens, I had a dessert I wanted to make and worked backwards from that. The dairy dessert dictated a non-meat meal, so I opted for spinach lasagna to prove I can make things other than fish. :-) (Note to future self: the recipe in Easy Kosher Cooking works well, and much much better than the one on the side of the noodle box.) As long as you're making lasagna anyway you may as well make extra, so I now have a pan in the freezer to donate to the synagogue food stash. Dessert was a gingerbread pineapple-upside-down cake, so I made a tossed salad with fruit (including pineapple) for foreshadowing. Ok, ok -- I had leftover pineapple. I wasn't sure how much garlic bread to make, but seem to have made exactly enough. It was a nice relaxing evening of pleasant conversation, and a good wind-down from the weekend.

This week is the final session of the trope class. Our numbers have dwindled and I don't know what's going on there. David (the teacher) told me to bring the torah portion I'm working on and we'll go over it. Sounds good to me.

Purim is in a bit under two weeks. estherchaya and sethcohen and beckyfeld and Harold invited Dani and me down for Purim and Shabbat, and I'm glad that Dani decided to go with me. It's been a while since I've seen most of these folks; it'll be nice to spend a weekend visiting. And, well, eating and drinking, 'cause you have to on Purim. :-)