Authorities investigate Sarah Palin effigy in West Hollywood - Los Angeles Times
I may disagree with almost every word that comes out of Sarah Palin's mouth, but the idea that people would hang an image of ANY currently living human being in effigy is appalling. It's just another example of how people are so totally irrational that they diminish the solemn political processes that guarantee our freedom in the US.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
A Prairie Home Companion for October 11, 2008 from American Public Media
A Prairie Home Companion for October 11, 2008 from American Public Media
Due to J.'s lack of enthusiasm for Garrison Keillor, I don't usually listen to Prairie Home Companion anymore. However, I was leaving work on Sunday, driving the short distance to the farmer's market when I heard the News from Lake Wobegon. I ended up having to run around the market in a mad dash for produce, only getting to the market ten minutes before closing.
Garrison had me laughing so hard with his description of the Arboreal Devotees Association and the numerous dangers of autumnal leaf compulsion (and the people who experience it) that I nearly had to pull over the car at one point.
You can listen below:
Due to J.'s lack of enthusiasm for Garrison Keillor, I don't usually listen to Prairie Home Companion anymore. However, I was leaving work on Sunday, driving the short distance to the farmer's market when I heard the News from Lake Wobegon. I ended up having to run around the market in a mad dash for produce, only getting to the market ten minutes before closing.
Garrison had me laughing so hard with his description of the Arboreal Devotees Association and the numerous dangers of autumnal leaf compulsion (and the people who experience it) that I nearly had to pull over the car at one point.
You can listen below:
Monday, September 29, 2008
John Oliver's Literature Rodeo and my friend Rob's new book
Shameless self-promotion is at its best when it involves getting your buddy from your day job (who just happens to be John Oliver) to plug your new book.
Go to the JBooks home page, and click on "John Oliver's Literature Rodeo" to learn the tiniest bit about Daily Show writer Rob Kutner's new book, Apocalypse How (available from Amazon).
JBooks.com - Index: Home
Go to the JBooks home page, and click on "John Oliver's Literature Rodeo" to learn the tiniest bit about Daily Show writer Rob Kutner's new book, Apocalypse How (available from Amazon).
JBooks.com - Index: Home
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Official Google Blog: NYC transit directions have arrived
Finally!! (How is it that it's taken this long??)
Official Google Blog: NYC transit directions have arrived
Official Google Blog: NYC transit directions have arrived
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
When a bored husband makes a happy wife
J. and I often stay in touch during the day with occasional IMs and text messages. It's usually just cursory "hi" messages, the occasional link to an interesting news article, "I'm leaving now," or information about necessary stops on the way home or whether the dishwasher is clean or dirty. But every once in a while, I get a string of several messages and even phone calls. A bored J. reaches out for entertainment and connection. Sometimes the messages are flirty; other times, they are simply proclamations of the inanity of his current task or the event he's forced to attend. Regardless, anytime I get a series of communications from J. over the course of a day, I get a big smile on my face.
I pointed this out to J. on Monday, and he gave a simple explanation: "Well, you are my best friend." That made me smile even more.
I pointed this out to J. on Monday, and he gave a simple explanation: "Well, you are my best friend." That made me smile even more.
Friday, September 19, 2008
May His Memory Be a Sweet Blessing
Robert Steinberg, Chocolate Maker, Dies at 61
Dr. Steinberg was a food-loving doctor who threw himself into the chocolate business, eventually helping to make one of the most highly regarded fine American chocolates.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/business/19steinberg.html?ex=1379563200&en=27fcfeff59187104&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Dining & Wine - Bitten Blog - NYTimes.com
I love Mark Bittman's cookbook, How to Cook Everything. I've given this and other of his excellent books as gifts to several friends. What I didn't know until just now is that he has a blog at the NY Times and even has mini-videos in a series called, "The Minimalist." Check out the video for Heinan Chicken. The recipe is here.
Dining & Wine - Bitten Blog - NYTimes.com
Dining & Wine - Bitten Blog - NYTimes.com
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
A book I'm afraid to read
I just saw Barton Gellman, the author of Angler, the new book about Dick Cheney, on the Daily Show. (You can read the New York Times review here.) Now, I already had no love of the Vice President. In fact, I have said--without humor--that I actually consider him evil. However, the details that Gellman provides give WAY too much proof to my claims against Cheney's morality. In fact, I am afraid that, if I read Angler, I will actually explode with righteous anger. And gooey bits of Rachel all over the walls would not improve the decor of the new house.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Things entering or emerging from RochelLeah's kitchen in recent months
Entered:
Blueberries from the Burlingame farmers' market... It's really just this one farm where the berries are only in season for about 6 weeks in May through July. J. and I went through multiple flats' worth. We still have part of one half-pint frozen in the freezer. J. and I couldn't stop eating them and decided that they were (a) the world's most perfect blueberries, and (b) the best snack food on earth. I made an amazing sauce with them, but screwed up the seals by allowing the sauce and jars to cool too much before sealing. I was only briefly dispondent.
Truffles from Max Brenner, in New York City. They had these little pink boxes for $5 each with purchase. I bought two in early July and forgot to leave one with my mother in Baltimore. I felt guilty, but there was no way that I would send chocolate through the mail in the summer. I have eaten them VERY slowly. I am still only half-done with the second box. Of course, J. and I did also eat at Max Brenner in Tel Aviv this summer.
Seasonings from Istanbul's Spice Bazaar. Including Persian saffron.
Hazelnut butter. Also from Istanbul. Before our trip, J. and I had no idea that hazelnuts were such a big deal in Turkey. The hazelnut butter is sweetened (which I usually don't go for) and as a delightful, slightly chunky texture.
Early season apples. The approach of autumn brings with it a multitude of apples from local Northern Californian orchards. I still favor the apples-only merchant at the Palo Alto farmers' market, but I've gotten some great apples and pears in Mountain View recently. I haven't started my chutney and applesauce production for the season, but I can't stop eating apples with peanut butter. I'll have to try the hazelnut butter. Mmmmm...
Emerged:
Browned gnocchi with lemon, butter, and green peas. Plain boiled gnocchi bore me. Boil them and then brown them in butter, and you have pure magic. With J.'s feedback, I've been working out the kinks in this dish, which is great as a main dish or side. It went excellently with pan-fried, nut-crusted salmon (which I cooked to perfect done-ness but couldn't keep the coating on). J. gets disappointed if I don't make it often enough.
Watermelon sorbet. I learned from friends M. and A. in NYC that one can freeze fresh watermelon, slightly thaw, then puree with rum (or another alcoholic substance) and either simple syrup or agave syrup. I couldn't stop eating it during a particularly hot NYC Shabbat in July, so I made some when I got home. I think it's sublime; J. wasn't as impressed.
Chicken thighs with gravy, served with kasha varnishkes. I love chicken thighs. I find them highly underrated. Although I love chicken breasts, they just aren't as flavorful. You can't make a good chicken soup with breasts only. You can't make a gravy with them. But thighs... a totally different ballgame. I made the kasha on Thursday, and Joshua deemed it a bit boring, even with the sauteed onions. He recommended adding mushrooms and chicken. I forgot about the mushrooms, but I did acquire chicken for Shabbat. I browned, then poached the chicken in olive oil, Earth Balance margarine, herbes de Provence, white pepper, salt, and white wine. When the chicken was done, I removed it, then added additional water to deglaze the pan. Finally, I reduced it while stirring in the usual cornstarch-and-cold-water mixture. Not a lump in sight. Now, if I could only find a kasha that doesn't come with overly toasted and pebble-like pieces...
Blueberries from the Burlingame farmers' market... It's really just this one farm where the berries are only in season for about 6 weeks in May through July. J. and I went through multiple flats' worth. We still have part of one half-pint frozen in the freezer. J. and I couldn't stop eating them and decided that they were (a) the world's most perfect blueberries, and (b) the best snack food on earth. I made an amazing sauce with them, but screwed up the seals by allowing the sauce and jars to cool too much before sealing. I was only briefly dispondent.
Truffles from Max Brenner, in New York City. They had these little pink boxes for $5 each with purchase. I bought two in early July and forgot to leave one with my mother in Baltimore. I felt guilty, but there was no way that I would send chocolate through the mail in the summer. I have eaten them VERY slowly. I am still only half-done with the second box. Of course, J. and I did also eat at Max Brenner in Tel Aviv this summer.
Seasonings from Istanbul's Spice Bazaar. Including Persian saffron.
Hazelnut butter. Also from Istanbul. Before our trip, J. and I had no idea that hazelnuts were such a big deal in Turkey. The hazelnut butter is sweetened (which I usually don't go for) and as a delightful, slightly chunky texture.
Early season apples. The approach of autumn brings with it a multitude of apples from local Northern Californian orchards. I still favor the apples-only merchant at the Palo Alto farmers' market, but I've gotten some great apples and pears in Mountain View recently. I haven't started my chutney and applesauce production for the season, but I can't stop eating apples with peanut butter. I'll have to try the hazelnut butter. Mmmmm...
Emerged:
Browned gnocchi with lemon, butter, and green peas. Plain boiled gnocchi bore me. Boil them and then brown them in butter, and you have pure magic. With J.'s feedback, I've been working out the kinks in this dish, which is great as a main dish or side. It went excellently with pan-fried, nut-crusted salmon (which I cooked to perfect done-ness but couldn't keep the coating on). J. gets disappointed if I don't make it often enough.
Watermelon sorbet. I learned from friends M. and A. in NYC that one can freeze fresh watermelon, slightly thaw, then puree with rum (or another alcoholic substance) and either simple syrup or agave syrup. I couldn't stop eating it during a particularly hot NYC Shabbat in July, so I made some when I got home. I think it's sublime; J. wasn't as impressed.
Chicken thighs with gravy, served with kasha varnishkes. I love chicken thighs. I find them highly underrated. Although I love chicken breasts, they just aren't as flavorful. You can't make a good chicken soup with breasts only. You can't make a gravy with them. But thighs... a totally different ballgame. I made the kasha on Thursday, and Joshua deemed it a bit boring, even with the sauteed onions. He recommended adding mushrooms and chicken. I forgot about the mushrooms, but I did acquire chicken for Shabbat. I browned, then poached the chicken in olive oil, Earth Balance margarine, herbes de Provence, white pepper, salt, and white wine. When the chicken was done, I removed it, then added additional water to deglaze the pan. Finally, I reduced it while stirring in the usual cornstarch-and-cold-water mixture. Not a lump in sight. Now, if I could only find a kasha that doesn't come with overly toasted and pebble-like pieces...
Friday, September 12, 2008
Wondermark Lite.: #442; In which Beth keeps her Books
Wondermark Lite.: #442; In which Beth keeps her Books
Finally, someone who understands my and J.'s book quandary.
Finally, someone who understands my and J.'s book quandary.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Monday, September 1, 2008
Preoccupations - Girl Power at School, But Not at the Office - NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/31/jobs/31pre.html?em
Sunday, August 31, 2008
How I spent my summer vacation
Last year's summer was, in a word, busy. Getting married in August will do that. You know, take over your summer. Locating the wedding in a city in which you are not currently a resident ratchets the busy-ness up a notch, adding in the element of frequent travel. But you already know that story.
I was hoping that this 2008 would contain a more restful summer vacation. Knitting. Exercising regularly. Scrapbooking the gazillions of photos from the wedding, honeymoon, and mini-vacation in British Columbia. Writing. Working with a few tutoring students here and there.
I hadn't really anticipated that J. and I would start the summer with a successful bid on our new home, we'd almost immediately have to start packing, I'd leave town for a day, I'd leave town for ten days (visiting three metropolitan areas), I'd come home to finish packing and finish writing two articles while slowly picking up more students and spending two days at a work training conference while finishing up packing, we'd move and immediately leave town for two weeks (and two countries) but not before my computer died, and we'd come home to finish watching the Olympics in English. Then we'd have a couple of weeks to catch up on our laundry (two weeks of lots of walking and profound quantities of sweat washed away) during the few hours of each day in which the water wasn't turned off for sewage line repairs. Plus, I got to change classrooms at work. And J. and I have worked to rescue my files from the computer that is no more and restore everything I need to the new computer on which I am tip-tapping at the moment (OK--the keyboard isn't brand-new, but the rest of it, right down to the new 19" flat screen monitor, is).
Phew!
Which is why we think that we'll be staying home for winter break. Or at least, on this continent.
And it continues! Today started with two loads of laundry (half-folded before Joshua was even awake), acquiring nutritious items at the local farmers' market, purchase of a new computer, purchase of red-meat (and discovery that we can now get Kosher elk loin alongside our Kosher bison), acquisition of new grill racks for our built-in brick BBQ at Home Depot (while carefully avoiding the plants and gardening supplies I want to ogle), and return of unneeded items (including inappropriately sized grills) at OSH. When we got home from this rather long set of errands, it was only 3-something in the afternoon! So, J. went to work cleaning our little backyard patio, prepping it for BBQing while taking breaks to put my new computer through it's various installs. I did a bit more unpacking of the house, marinated our meat, caught up on e-mail, and signed up for Facebook because one of my work projects requires it (really, it had nothing to do with the peer pressure). Within 4 hours, I had sixteen friends. That is, sixteen of my friends (so far) have already decided I am worthy of being their "friend"--which, I am told, may or may not have to do with whether we are friends in real life.
And I still can't find everything I moved. Although, I did manage to locate my bike helmet and gloves today while looking for my copy of Davkawriter to put on the new computer.
Is it any wonder that I named the new computer "Busy Bee"?
I was hoping that this 2008 would contain a more restful summer vacation. Knitting. Exercising regularly. Scrapbooking the gazillions of photos from the wedding, honeymoon, and mini-vacation in British Columbia. Writing. Working with a few tutoring students here and there.
I hadn't really anticipated that J. and I would start the summer with a successful bid on our new home, we'd almost immediately have to start packing, I'd leave town for a day, I'd leave town for ten days (visiting three metropolitan areas), I'd come home to finish packing and finish writing two articles while slowly picking up more students and spending two days at a work training conference while finishing up packing, we'd move and immediately leave town for two weeks (and two countries) but not before my computer died, and we'd come home to finish watching the Olympics in English. Then we'd have a couple of weeks to catch up on our laundry (two weeks of lots of walking and profound quantities of sweat washed away) during the few hours of each day in which the water wasn't turned off for sewage line repairs. Plus, I got to change classrooms at work. And J. and I have worked to rescue my files from the computer that is no more and restore everything I need to the new computer on which I am tip-tapping at the moment (OK--the keyboard isn't brand-new, but the rest of it, right down to the new 19" flat screen monitor, is).
Phew!
Which is why we think that we'll be staying home for winter break. Or at least, on this continent.
And it continues! Today started with two loads of laundry (half-folded before Joshua was even awake), acquiring nutritious items at the local farmers' market, purchase of a new computer, purchase of red-meat (and discovery that we can now get Kosher elk loin alongside our Kosher bison), acquisition of new grill racks for our built-in brick BBQ at Home Depot (while carefully avoiding the plants and gardening supplies I want to ogle), and return of unneeded items (including inappropriately sized grills) at OSH. When we got home from this rather long set of errands, it was only 3-something in the afternoon! So, J. went to work cleaning our little backyard patio, prepping it for BBQing while taking breaks to put my new computer through it's various installs. I did a bit more unpacking of the house, marinated our meat, caught up on e-mail, and signed up for Facebook because one of my work projects requires it (really, it had nothing to do with the peer pressure). Within 4 hours, I had sixteen friends. That is, sixteen of my friends (so far) have already decided I am worthy of being their "friend"--which, I am told, may or may not have to do with whether we are friends in real life.
And I still can't find everything I moved. Although, I did manage to locate my bike helmet and gloves today while looking for my copy of Davkawriter to put on the new computer.
Is it any wonder that I named the new computer "Busy Bee"?
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
BNB is back
Yesterday, J. mentioned to me his disappointment that I had not been better at keeping BNB active while maintaining a very active "rabbi blog." He didn't press the issue, but I got the message. Since I am having one of my excessively early, "why am I awake" mornings, I thought I'd finish up a few drafts from the blog and make a vow to get back on track with BNB.
BNB news...
BNB news...
- J. and I just bought our first house, a condo a bit further down on the Peninsula. We are nervous, excited, and buried deeply amid boxes. We are down-sizing our possessions quite a bit, as the new place is only 1000 sq. ft.
- I have started writing again for myjewishlearning.com. I have the featured lead article (and a related one) on the homepage for this week, that of July 13, 2008. It even has a little illustration. The part I'm most excited about is that I proposed the articles myself, and the editor thinks the topic (religious diversity in Jewish families) is as important as I do.
- My teaching this year has been fabulous. Really. I love my fellow teachers and director. I love my students (as always). And I love being able to have sufficient time to prepare as I like. Plus, my teaching blog (Rabbi Rochel's RealLife) has taken off big time. It even has a fan in France!
- In the past year, I travelled to: Fiji; Auckland, New Zealand; Victoria and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; Sacramento; Las Vegas; Salt Lake City; Boston; New York City; and Baltimore. Not to mention the usual trips to LA. J. and I are about to head out to Israel (to meet another new niece) and Turkey.
- I saw an incredible film A Jihad for Love, about gay and lesbian people from Islamic countries, working hard to maintain their dignity and their dedication to Islamic practice.
- All my wedding research of the past couple years is being put to good use by friends B. and S., who are getting married next year. In particular, B. (for whom I will be matron of honor) shares my love of Bridal Bargains, especially the clear way it breaks down how bridal salons, caterers, locations, and other vendors break up their bills and sometimes add on excessive fees.
- J. is whipping me into good fiscal habits. I produce a monthly expense and income report for him, and he tracks our budget. And takes care of the taxes. Thank God for that!
- I sometimes sound like an evangelist for marriage. I am even more convinced that human beings flourish in the security and intimacy of committed, formalized monogamy and will continue to advocate for marital rights for my gay and lesbian friends.
- I'm seriously thinking about writing a book proposal this fall.
- I am researching organization strategies, including built-ins, that enhance small-space living. We have two poorly-organized bedroom closets that will need some early work, as well as a plan to build in a wall-unit with bins for toys and Judaica, bookshelves, TV and media storage. We are contemplating putting a washer and dryer into a hall closet and buying a new refrigerator that is bigger, better, and Energy-star rated in the next few years. And I am fantasizing a teeny bit about convincing the HOA that we should all go solar, at least for our water heaters. (Yes, I know it is a dream.)
- I have been knitting up a storm, which motivated me to join Ravelry. Recently, I have caved in to the pressure and joined the ranks of happy sock knitters. And I've chosen a pattern to try again knitting myself a sweater.
- I love Google Docs. Between it and Google Calendar, J. and I are SO coordinated and organized in our planning. Plus, I've started using Google Docs for work, including interactive progress charts for students.
- I have committed to finishing our thank you notes from the wedding in the next week. We figure, if we can get the last few out before our year anniversary (August 5), we'll be OK. Whatever the manners-mavens say.
- Discuss more fully how I resolved my issues with the non-egalitarianism of the traditional ketubbah and Jewish wedding ceremony.
- Reflect on the decision to buy a home.
- Confess the ticking of my biological clock and my frequent desire to hold a baby.
- Bemoan the delay in the completion of Battlestar Galactica due to the writers' strike.
- Justify my love for watching television when I know I have something better to do.
- And most of all.... WRITE MORE OFTEN!
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