Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Shoshana's LiveJournal:

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Saturday, July 25th, 2009
11:00 pm	For Drew's sake My blog came up in conversation last night, so I figured that would post something new should Drew remember the address for the blog that I gave last night. Livejournal said that I last posted 19 weeks ago. Yeah, this blog has been sorely neglected. It is not that I have had anything witty or deep to share, like most bloggers, and I found that many a time this blog has been more about remembering events in my life. I actually have plenty of started posts that have not been finished. I just can't seem to get the brevity part of recording events. My most recent unfinished entry was about a baseball game (I know, shock!). I was well onto a second page on MS Word, where I write some of my posts, and I was barely into the 6th inning (the post was about the night that we were the "fans of the game" and got to move down to the fancier seats). When I am that wordy, it is hard to get everything in before I run out of time. Then it just becomes forgotten while I deal with more pressing issues. Current Mood: tired (Comment on this)
Friday, March 13th, 2009
3:07 pm	Once Upon a Time... Once Upon a Time I started a blog. And I wrote it in. Sometimes. Not enough for some folks, or as often as I wanted to (since I wanted to record far more events in written form), but I updated it. The time between posts started getting longer and longer. I read less and less entries of others until I started forgetting to check the blogs here. Now, 25 weeks since my last post, I'm taking another stab at things. For those of you who wonder why I'm not on Facebook, see above. I feel like it will be one more thing that I will ignore. (Or, far worse, something that will end up eating all the time that I should be spending on other things). I was so enthusiastic when I first started this blog and it has gone by the wayside. When I went to update today, it asked me if I wanted to continue from my previously started post. I said okay, just to see when that was. It would be when my nephew was born, which was back in September. What's that saying about "good intentions"? I so wanted to write how the weather is getting warmer and there are so many things to look forward to with Spring. However, it was lightly snowing this morning and the beautiful weather of a week ago seems to have run away. There is excitement for Spring though. Yesterday our 2009 Nationals tickets showed up. 21 games of baseball fun. While last year had the added excitement of getting to finally see the new stadium in person (I would watch the construction cam since it had gone "live"), this year has plenty of excitement. It's a brand new season and anything can happen. Granted, last year's "anything" was most folks spending time on the disabled list and many losses, but each season is a clean slate. Maybe they will have the worse record again (chas v'shalom!) or maybe they will make the play-off (not holding my breath) or maybe something in between. Current Mood: calm (Comment on this)
Sunday, September 14th, 2008
8:00 pm	Change in Plans My plan for this afternoon was to leave Michael to watch the Redskins game on television while I went to work out and watch something more to my liking in the exercise room. Instead the both of us watched the game from Section 333 at FedEx Field. This was my first ever live football game. High schools were played on Friday nights, my college won't have a football team until next fall (Go Monarchs!), and there has never been any other opportunity until a friend offered us tickets this morning. Did I want to go? Heck yeah! Our seats were on the Club level, right behind the end zone. The view was fairly decent and we were mostly out of the sun for a good part of the game. The inside part of the Club level was lovely. Having not used the bathrooms on the main levels, I don't know how they compare, but let's say that they were nice, clean and a pleasure to use. There was plenty of room to sit inside and the A/C was just lovely. After the game was over, we were positioned perfectly to watch the post-game radio show, which broadcasts from the Club level. One thing about which I got quite a kick was that one does not need to physically open the door from the Club to go out to your seats. Each set of doors has an electrical eye that automatically opens the door for you. If you want a good review of the game, I'd suggest reading the professionals. I'm just not able to pick apart the various plays and decisions. I was certainly more happy with the game when they were winning (which was only really early and really late), but I found it exciting most of the time. Seeing the crowd get noisy when we were on defense. Seeing the celebration when we scored (or, heck, each time that we got a first down). It was just lots of fun. I don't know if I would feel that way had they lost, but I know that I would have walked away with at least some enjoyment. One annoying thing: As part of the tickets we were given, it also came with a parking pass to the Orange lot (just in case someone was wondering where we parked). This being football, tailgating is very popular and that was no less the fact in our lot. The problem was that folks were taking up 2-5 spots between their cars/trucks (which were not always parked in one spot) and all their tailgating stuff. I didn't think that we would ever find a spot! But we finally did. Still, quite annoying. EDIT:In full-disclosure, I'm not really a football fan, especially when I care about the outcome (as I get emotionally involved). I grew up in a family where we didn't watch sports and a Redskins game was a great opportunity to go shopping since no one was out (since they were all home watching the game). Current Mood: happy (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, September 5th, 2008
5:51 pm	I have not read Livejournal in a while. And people wonder why I'm not on Facebook (there's a post in my head about Facebook that might get posted). I feel so unmotivated to make dinner. I'm glad that we don't have an invitation for tonight, because I'm looking forward to not going out. Once I get out of my shower, I'm going to change into my "stay at home" Shabbat clothes. It's a cute dress that I just don't feel comfortable wearing outside of the apartment or with others around. A little too low cut and shapeless but really comfy. For the first time in I can't think of how many weeks, I have nothing planned for Sunday. You would think that summer would have been when the schedule slowed down but instead it was when everything picked up. I will be happy to not have to be anywhere. I'm actually thinking of catching an early "chick" movie. I haven't been to a movie in a while (last one seen was WALL*E) and some of them will be gone fairly soon. Time to go deal with the chicken. (Comment on this)
Monday, July 28th, 2008
10:00 pm	Pet Peeve (Warning, this pet peeve might gross out a few) I understand that some ladies might not want to sit down on a public toilet to urinate. I get that. They can be gross and hundreds of women have used the same seats (although you would hope that they are cleaned on a more than daily basis). Fine. But for the love of all things good and holy, if you are going to do that, Please, PLEASE, clean the seat up afterwards. I have stepped into far too many stalls that have urine all over the seat. Um, ewwwwwwwwww. (Yes, sometimes the toilet will "spit" when flushing. I myself tend to make sure that the seat is always dry before I leave the stall and I'm a "sitter"). Okay. Rant over. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, July 7th, 2008
9:35 pm	Root for the home team? Sorry. No. I have a mental list of places that I would love to visit. Some of them are dream places, where even winning a huge lottery wouldn't get me there (like the Taj Mahal). Others are ones that are not as logistically desirable (like Mount Rushmore--there really isn't anything else close by, right?). Then there is the list of "do-ables". The list where it may take some planning, but I can get there. This past Friday, I got to cross one of those places off my list. I am a baseball fan. I love my Nats, even if they aren't winning (hey, you try winning when everyone keeps getting hurt. We don't have to send folks down to the minors. Just wait a day or two and someone else will go on the DL). Before Nationals Park opened, I had been to one other Major League park--RFK Stadium, where the Nats played when they first came to town. People speak of certain ballparks with a certain sense of reverence. They talk about the ivy at Wrigley Field (which I would love to see). They speak of the Green Monster in Fenway Park (another that I would love to have the chance to visit). Then, there is the "House the Ruth Built" (although it was pretty much gutted during one of the renovations and isn't so much the stadium in which Ruth played), Yankee Stadium. I can't figure out why I wanted so much to see Yankee Stadium before they tore it down. I don't like the Yankees. In fact, I quite dislike them. I will root for whomever is playing the Yankees, even if they are playing one of the Nats' rivals. There is just something about Yankee Stadium that made me want to visit. Maybe it was to be able to say that I had been. Maybe so that I could feel like I had visited part of baseball history. I guess you could say that the real reason we went is because our friend got tickets to Friday's game. A few months back, he, his wife and daughter were visiting DC from New York. We got talking about how Michael and I wanted to see Yankee Stadium before they tore it down. He comments that July 4th is on a Friday this year, so it would be perfect for us to come up for the Friday game at Yankee Stadium and then we could spend Shabbat with them in Staten Island. Let's see. July 4th. On a Friday. At Yankee Stadium. Against the Red Sox. Yeah, it's going to be a tough ticket to get, but we figured that if he was able to get tickets then we would go. He got the tickets. So we went. Our seats were up high and out the left field line, right past the foul pole. On the upside, we could see the deep fly balls being caught. On the downside, we could not see the plays that were made out in left field. Unfortunately, a lot of the cool plays were made out there. There was a play where Johnny Damon leapt to catch a fly ball, caught it, had it pop out of the glove and sit on top of the wall spinning, then it fell onto the field and Damon threw it into 3rd base to hold Kevin Youklis to a triple. I saw the replay on the online highlights, but while at the park, all we could do was wait to see which set of fans reacted in a happy manner. Being a Yankee hater in Yankee Stadium, I was also blessed to be surrounded by many Red Sox fans. It made it easier to clap for good Boston plays and not fear that I would be dumped over the railing. :) The weather was overcast for much of the early innings, which I didn't mind. I could tell that if the sun were shinning, I would be melting in my seats. Most of the seats are not under any kind of cover, which would also come into play in later innings. One thing I learned about these teams is that they both like to work the pitcher. They will take pitches, hit foul ball after foul ball and ask for time if they need. I could not believe how long this game was running! The the overcast skies started releasing some of their water. At first it was just a drop here and there, which was refreshing in the heat. This was around the 5th or 6th inning. After a break from the sprinkling, it started up again and turned into a heavier sprinkling (light rain drops but many of them). The rain was getting heavier but I stayed in my seat through the 7th inning stretch. After Okajima let two guys on in the bottom of the 7th (the Red Sox were up 6-3 at the time), and the rain coming down harder (still lighter drops but large amounts of it), I decided to go for cover. Two batters later (Abreu had popped out and A-Rod grounded out) the inning is over and everyone is heading for cover. Due to the time, we headed towards the subway along with loads of other folks. The game was finally going into a rain delay and plenty of fans were ready to call it a day. By the time that we snaked our way through the stadium to the closest exit to the subway, the rain had changed from large amounts of light rain to heavy downpour of thick drops. Yeah, we got soaked. We didn't end up missing any of the coverage of the game though. The rain delay didn't end until after we were back in Brooklyn, where we had parked the car, and on our way back to Staten Island. We caught the last bit of the game on tv when we got back to S.I. In the end, the Red Sox won 6-4. I'm still not sure how I feel about the stadium. While it is historic, I could really tell that it was old. The concourses were really narrow. They were so narrow that they made RFK look huge. The scoreboard looked like a refugee from the 70's. The volume on the announcing and music was WAY too loud (which might be better than not loud enough, which I have encountered at Nats games). One of things that I really wanted to see was Monument Park. We did not end up making there in time, but that is a complete separate rant. I did get some pictures from the side though. One last funny observation from the day. Michael and I both wore Nationals attire to the park (I wasn't going to wear Yankee gear, I didn't have the cajones to wear Boston attire and I couldn't find any "Senators" clothing). We got quite a few positive comments from Red Sox fans to our Nats attire. I still can't figure it out, but I did think it was funny. Current Mood: happy (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, June 5th, 2008
7:09 am	Organs, money and rain Last night I experienced my first baseball rain out. Michael and I had gone to the park with the hope that the delayed start (we knew that it would be delayed) would be just that--a late start to the game. There was a period of heavy rain around 7pm that moved through rather quickly. Then we waited around for the next wave that they knew was coming our way. We hung around, talked with a few folks, walked around a bit and watched the huge scoreboard, which was showing baseball stuff. About 8:20pm, it started raining lightly again. Then it started pouring. That lasted for a while but then the rain lightened up, though it was still coming down. Plenty of lightening during this whole time. Near the end of our waiting, we started walking closer to the exits and came upon a group of fans hanging out and having fun. We all vowed that if they actually played the game, that we would be going down to sit in the expensive seats. At about 9:45pm, after a lot of speculating among the ushers and us that the game would be called (and wondering why it had not been called), the announcement was made that the game was postponed until today at 1:10pm. Neither MIchael nor I can go, but luckily they will let us trade in our tickets for a different game. Funny/interesting story from our wait: At some point I overheard someone mention about growing up in Springfield, VA (which is the city in which I grew up). I made some comment about folks actually being from Springfield and then told the guy that I too grew up in Springfield. I ask him where he grew up in Springfield. "Kings Park" (my neighborhood). Which street? "Thames" (my street). What address? "?458" (I was at ?450, there is no ?454). Immediately I know that this is one of the much older brothers of a friend of mine from elementary/junior/high school. In fact, his mother had hosted my mother's surprise 50th birthday celebration. How random and funny. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ I like to joke that I want to lay claim on folk's organs when they are doing something stupid. An example is someone trying to cross a major street, in the middle of block, at night, wearing dark clothing, with heavy traffic coming both ways. Yeah, that's an invitation to getting hit. Obviously I would not wish for any of these folks to actually be hurt, but it is my slightly morbid way of taking notice of folks doing stupid things. The other day I found another potential person. I was leaving my building in the morning and someone else was also leaving for work, on his bike. I noticed that he was not wearing a helmet, but I figured that maybe he had it under his arm and I had just missed it, especially when I saw him stop at the top of the driveway. Nope. Instead of putting on a helmet, he preceded to put in the earbuds for his iPod and turned up the volume. Okay, to review. Guy on bike, during rush hour traffic, no helmet and loud music playing in his ears. Yup, stupid person. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Okay, on to happier items. Last week I was called to do a study with Shugoll Research. They run discussion groups on behalf of companies in the area. In the past I have been on panels about banking (First Union) and ice cream treats (Drumstick brand). It's normally an hour and a half to two hour panel and they have food and drink before hand. Of course we are give a gratuity for our time. This time I was coming in to talk about my local Safeway. I get there, check in, get a soda and fill out the survey that was requested. About 10 minutes after the announced start time they come in to get everyone to go in to the research room (has a big table with chairs around it and a two way mirror so that the folks from the company can observe the responses if they wish). The guy announces that they decided to use only 8 folks, and I was not one of them. But they asked myself and the other woman to wait around for 30-40 minutes in case they did decide to use us. So we stay in the room, reading magazines and shmoozing. About a minute later another woman came in. Apparently they didn't want her either. We agreed that it was because we don't shop at Safeway more than other stores. So we sat and shmoozed and read magazines. After about 30 minutes we were told that we could leave. Even though we were not used in the study, we were still given the $125 gratuity. Sweet! Easiest $125 that I have ever made. :) Current Mood: rushed (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, May 21st, 2008
6:32 pm	Dog License Some people should not be allowed to own dogs. Sure, I get annoyed about all those folks that won't pick up their dog's poop (If you don't want to touch it, even the more so for me!). I can understand the desire to let your dogs run around off their leash in a large field. That's just an annoyance, and does not pose a harm to anyone. Today's case was far worse. I walk home from work along an area that tends to have many dogs transverse. For the most part, most owners get their dogs back the leash once they leave one of the two large grassy areas. The owner in question today did have his dog on a leash. They were standing near the edge of the park, near where there is an exit from Rock Creek Parkway. The dog was noticing the other dogs approaching, barking at them and trying to go over to them. The owner was doing okay holding him (it was a German Shepherd). As a Lab was approaching, the GS started wiggling in his leash and managed to free himself. He goes running towards the Lab, barking and jumping. He also runs into the exit lane from the Parkway. The owner's reaction was to start walking slowly over to his dog, who is going nuts, to try to catch him. He finally gets him, but doesn't hold on to him, or try to get him back on the leash. The Lab and his owner have continued on their way by this time. Since the owner of the German Shepherd wasn't holding on to his dog, he goes after the Lab again. Part of his running around now included running onto a heavily traveled road (for the locals: P Street). Not just onto P Street, but RIGHT IN FRONT OF A BUS. Thank G-d the bus was moving slowly enough that it could stop in time and the cars coming from the other direction was stopped already but it was a scary moment. I just don't understand why the owner was no concerned about any of this, nor why he failed to try to prevent any of it. Right after this scene, he got the dog back and *still didn't put the leash on*. I would think that if your dog was this out of control, maybe you should get him home and away from danger. Then again, I don't own a dog. I'm just glad that the dog was okay. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, May 9th, 2008
5:44 pm	It's been a while since I have posted something here so I figured it was time. I don't have anything exciting to post. In fact, I am feeling rather "blah" right now. As much as I like not having to rush into Shabbat at this time of year, I also feel like there is this gap of time that just sucks the day away. I think the rain today is what is making me feel this way. I was able to get out of work earlier than expected (but still after 1pm). I had to pick up a few things at a store and I was trying to figure out to which store to go. I had the great idea that I would walk to the Foggy Bottom station and take the first train that came, heading towards VA. If it was Blue, I would go to Pentagon City and shop at the Harris Teeter there and pick up a gift at the Mall. If it was Orange, I would go to Ballston Commons, go to that Harris Teeter and find a gift at that Mall. But with the rain and the time (and my soaking shoes since I used them to clear the drain behind the synagogue so that the courtyard would drain the 2 inches of standing water back there), I decided to wait for the 38B bus and go to Ballston. I was hungry, and it was raining, and who knows when the next bus going that way would come, so I just turned around, walked to Trader Joe's and got the items that I needed before 9am on Sunday morning. No bridal shower gift (hopefully the bride isn't reading this before the shower, although I might make it some place tomorrow night to get a gift), but at least I was able to get some lunch before it was too late. Not too exciting but yummy: peanut butter and blackberries (not jam, jelly or preserve, the actual berries) on cranberry-pumpkin bread. Current Mood: meh (Comment on this)
Wednesday, March 12th, 2008
7:52 pm	A poem While watching Demetri Martin on YouTube, I came across a link to the following poem that he wrote. See if you can figure out what makes it "neat". I will give hints if requested. "Dammit I'm Mad" by Demetri Martin Dammit I'm mad. Evil is a deed as I live. God, am I reviled? I rise, my bed on a sun, I melt. To be not one man emanating is sad. I piss. Alas, it is so late. Who stops to help? Man, it is hot. I'm in it. I tell. I am not a devil. I level "Mad Dog". Ah, say burning is, as a deified gulp, In my halo of a mired rum tin. I erase many men. Oh, to be man, a sin. Is evil in a clam? In a trap? No. It is open. On it I was stuck. Rats peed on hope. Elsewhere dips a web. Be still if I fill its ebb. Ew, a spider… eh? We sleep. Oh no! Deep, stark cuts saw it in one position. Part animal, can I live? Sin is a name. Both, one… my names are in it. Murder? I'm a fool. A hymn I plug, deified as a sign in ruby ash, A Goddam level I lived at. On mail let it in. I'm it. Oh, sit in ample hot spots. Oh wet! A loss it is alas (sip). I'd assign it a name. Name not one bottle minus an ode by me: "Sir, I deliver. I'm a dog" Evil is a deed as I live. Dammit I'm mad. Current Mood: relaxed (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, March 6th, 2008
5:49 pm	Random posting One of the young guys that comes to morning minyan (morning services) was mentioning a comic about whom he had recently learned. He was telling us a few of the jokes. They sounded funny so I thought I might look up the guy on YouTube. Oh. My. Gosh. I'm not rolling on the floor laughing, but he is certainly funny (or at least I think so). Check out Demetri Martin. It is worth it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My job is kicking my butt. I did not get home yesterday until 11:47pm, and I live about 10-15 minutes from work (by foot). I was there until late on Tuesday and I will be back at the synagogue, albeit as a congregant, fairly late tonight. Tomorrow night I will be there as a volunteer at the dinner. We'll see if I make it to services on Saturday morning. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mazal tov to the E-B's on their new daughter, born super early on Sunday morning. I could make the joke that the baby blanket that I made did the trick, since it arrive on Saturday, but I don't think it had a role. I hope that it gets much use though. :) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you are looking for me on Sunday, March 30th at about 8:05pm, look at Nationals Park, Section 134U, Row FF. Tickets are in hand, as well as the tickets for our 20 game plan (Section 416, Row J). I'm getting excited for the new season. Whereas in the past I looked forward to watching the games, this season I am actually excited to see specific players play in the games. Reports from Spring Training indicate that some of the "young-uns" are playing/pitching really well. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Purim is 2 weeks from tonight. I feel like it has crept us on us, kind of like the month of March. Things were going along slowly and suddenly it is March 6th and Rosh Chodesh Adar II. Next thing you know it will be the end of April and Passover. Where do the days go? (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, February 15th, 2008
5:34 pm	Today is the Day Those four most magical words: Pitchers and catchers report And so it begins. (I've been accused of having my blog be heavy on baseball. Might as well embrace it). Current Mood: rushed (Comment on this)
Tuesday, December 18th, 2007
12:40 pm	Needed my camera It's a shame that I didn't have my camera with me just now. I was coming back from running a work errand and I saw a Parking Enforcement car getting towed. I'm sure that it was something as simple as the car having broken down, but it was still funny. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 12th, 2007
7:18 pm	What do hear in these sounds? That thumping sound that you keep hearing is me hitting my head repeatedly against a wall. That silence that you have between the "thuds" is me smiling at an email thread. Thank heaven for the Kehser Israel shpiel. Between the on-going emails going around the cast email group and knowing that the first meeting of the year (the year being 5768) is on Sunday evening, I feel like I might be able to make it through the weekend. 3pm on Sunday. 3pm on Sunday. 3pm on Sunday. This whole thing will be over by 3pm on Sunday. Current Mood: frustrated (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, December 10th, 2007
7:42 pm	Walking the mouse There is an episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" called Band Candy. In this episode, all the adults start acting like teenagers (due to the candy that the band was selling). The idea is that if the adults are acting like teenagers, then they aren't watching the babies and the Demon of the Week can prey on babies. Near the end of the show, the teenage main characters are looking at the damage that was done to the high school. One character looks at one piece of graffiti-KISS ROCKS!- and comments "Kiss rocks? Why would anyone want to kiss rocks?" I was reminded of this today at work. This morning I took a mouse for a walk. Why in the world would I be walking a mouse? Of course, I wasn't actually walking a mouse. My mouse was in a box. See, my work place has a bit of a mouse problem. Two years ago when they moved in to the main building, I put out traps with peanut butter on them. The mouse did what they were supposed to do and tried to eat the peanut butter resulting in their swift death by metal bar (sorry if this offends anyone). After a little bit, they figured out how to get the peanut butter without setting off the traps. So the next time the exterminator came, I had him set out poison packets. That did the job. About a year ago the mice returned. They had passed on the skills of the trap so we tried solid poison in little black boxes. Nothing except holes in food packages and lots of droppings. So we added the poison packets that had worked the previous year. No dice. So we tried a different kind of solid poison in the black boxes. Still nothing, beyond the occasional dying mouse once or twice. By this time the mice have learned that we can't hurt them, so they come to say "hi" occasionally. The one upside that I could take was that they had not come into my office building. That all changed last month. On Veteran's Day observed, I started hearing munching from underneath the radiator in my office. It drove me insane and I couldn't figure out on what they were munching. After a few days I figured out that the freaky little rodents like the styrofoam packing peanuts that were used to ship something to the office. At least I now knew what caused the sound. Then last Wednesday I heard a little rustling sound and noticed a small mouse sitting on the side of the box with the peanuts. S/he jumped in the box and I quickly closed the top and held it closed. I took it outside and went a bit up the street (hey! it was snowing!). I opened the box back up, gave it a little shake and a small grey mouse ran out and up the street. I knew that I should have gone farther away, since mice can find their way home from close distances. Fast forward to this morning. I'm taking to a congregant on the phone and I heard that same rustling again. I look over and a larger mouse was sitting on the box (the short flaps on the box, to be exact). I was careful not to move, for fear that he might see me and run away. Instead he decided to jump into the box so I quickly closed the flaps and placed a ream of paper on the top of the box. Once I was off the phone with the congregant, I picked up the box with the paper on top (since it was hold the lid closed) and got ready to take a little walk. By this time the mouse was going a little nuts in the box. This time, I went for a longer walk, a good few blocks and then opened up the box. This mouse didn't need any encouragement to leave. It went bounding out of the box and running down the street. I hope that s/he doesn't him his/her way home. I'm wondering how far this love of styrofoam peanuts can take me in the mouse problem. Someone came up with the idea of putting poison in the box with the peanuts. I'm ready to try this. Another thing that I might try is using the styrofoam as bait in other traps (likely tying the styrofoam to the trap). It's worth a shot. These mice are driving me insane! They taste food that's left out (including things in plastic bags!), they leave droppings everywhere. They even shredded my office trashbag! Not ate a hole in it. It was completely shredded in one corner. (Yes, I do think that they might be nesting). I used to have the opinion that trap and release would be okay. Now I just want them to die. See, you never have *a* mouse, unless you have it in a cage. If you have a mouse, you have mice. And I am sick of having mice. Current Mood: annoyed (Comment on this)
Thursday, November 8th, 2007
7:46 pm	Reverse Meme Taken from ReZ O. Lution Copy and post your answers in the comments, and if you post on your site, I'll post my answers: 1. Do you have a tattoo? 2. How old are you? 3. Are you single or taken? 4. Fish? 5. Do you dream in color? 6. Ever seen a corpse? 7. Hipsters or Hillbillies? 8. How did we meet? 9. What's your philosophy on life and death? 10. If you could do anything with me, and have no one know, what would it be? 11. Do you trust the police? 12. Do you like musicals? 13. What is your fondest memory of me? 14. If you could change anything about yourself what would it be? 15. Would you cheat ? 16. What are you wearing? 17. Have you ever peed in a pool? 18. Would you hide evidence for me if I asked you to? 19. If I only had one day to live, what would we do together? 20. Which do you prefer - short or long hair? 21. What's your favorite day of the week? 22. What's your favorite color? 23. If you could bring back anyone that has passed, who would it be? 24. Tell me one interesting/odd fact about you? 25. What was your first impression of me? 26. Have you ever done drugs? 27. Will you post this so I can fill it out for you? Current Mood: blah (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, October 25th, 2007
6:47 am	Test taking I don't know why I find this so funny, but I wanted to share it. Thanks to eyow for sharing it in a different forum (apologies to those that have already seen this in that same place). Intro to Communications 101 Heehee. Current Mood: amused (Comment on this)
Sunday, September 23rd, 2007
10:20 pm	The home team After 45 years, RFK Stadium has hosted its final baseball game. Although there are still 6 more games to play this season, I wanted to reflect on some of my memories of the stadium and baseball in DC. MLB's website had a good review/article on today's game and festivities. It can be found here. Feel free to add any of your memories (or comments) in the comments section. September 2004-The announcement is made that baseball will return to Washington. Although it doesn't seem real to me, I am very happy that MLB has made this decision. December 2004-With the wind blowing, standing in line outside to get into a double-wide trailer in Parking Lot 4, to buy a Nationals baseball cap. Although thinking that a 7 would be the better size, pick up a size 7 1/8 cap due to them being out of the proper size. This cap will be worn to all the games that I have attended and will come to the new ballpark with me. April 14, 2005-The first homegame of the Washington Nationals. An amazing night. You can check out my blog entry from that night. July 4, 2005-Nationals sit on top of the National League East, having had an amazing June, including a 10 game winning streak. While it was a great afternoon at the park with friends, unfortunately I view this game as the turning point of their season. October 2, 2005-Last game of the first season. Despite going 51-30 to start the season, Nats then go 30-51 to finish the season at .500 and take last place in the NL East (with a better record than all but one team in the NL West). June 18, 2006-Last game in the series with the NY Yankees. Bottom of the ninth, down by one, one out, one on, rookie Ryan Zimmerman hits a two-run walkoff homer. Nothing can be sweeter than beating the Yankees (the previous night the Nats came back from being down 9-2 to win 11-9). July 4, 2006-Zimmerman does it again. Walk off home run to beat the Marlins. I wasn't there but it deserves mention. We would have many more game winning hits since that point. September 16, 2006-Soriano joins the 40-40 club, by stealing his 40th base. By the end of the season, he would also have 40 doubles and 20 assists. The 2007 Season-Really, this season has been more overall memories than date-related memories. This is the season that we join the "season ticket" club by purchasing a 20-game plan (Plan B). -Freezing in April while watching games at RFK. Where is my spring weather? -Starting 9-25, with an 8-game losing streak. Looks like we might rival the record for worse season. -The swarm of bees at the Orioles game. At first they just hung out on the concourse but then came to our section. Still don't know why they were drawn there. -Nats don VirginiaTech hats after the shooting on the campus. Zimmerman, a UVA grad, proudly wears his to show his support for the school. -Wireless Wednesday. Wish I could have seen more. -Section 424. There were some good people in our section. I wish we could have made friends with them earlier in the season. We're all hoping to be in the same section in the new park but it's not so likely. Susan and Mary kept score at every game. The other night we were having a discussion about something from April and they pulled out the scorebook and flipped to that game to see the answer (it had to do with Flores and whether he had started or came in as a pinch hitter; it was the latter). -The rag-tag pitching staff that just went out and did their best...and won games, both by pitching well and getting hits. Hanrahan's triple on his first at-bat, Redding's clutch double (and thinking double play on a pop-up), Hill making things happen on the mound and on the basepath (and going on the DL due to a dive back into 3rd base), Rauch with the most wins on the pitching staff, Bacsik giving up 756 to Bonds and being okay with it, Lanan starting the season in A ball and ending in the majors with a few wins. -Playing a team with other's cast-offs. Dmitri Young has an amazing turn around and Ronnie Belliard a great infielder. Nook Logan even starts hitting towards the end of the season, although still not for power. -The Nats getting their 43rd win. Take that '62 Mets (and those folks who thought that we were worse than them). -The Nats getting their 63rd win. The loss column will be in the double-digits for the Nats this season. -Dmitri Young's triple. -Belliard's amazing twisting toss to Lopez at second. -Zimmerman making amazing plays all season. -Meeting Justin Maxwell, Mike Bacsik and Manny Acta, three of the nicest guys on the Nationals. -The middle-of-the-ninth "pep talk" from Animal House ("Over? Over? It isn't over until we say it's over. Was it over when the German's bombed Pearl Harbor?", etc.) -Today's final home game. Walking into RFK and being handed my t-shirt by Ryan Langerhans-"It's been a great season". The "Short Still Stinks" banner that someone unfurled down from the 400 level in the outfield. Now for some cool coincidences: --score of first Nats game at RFK: 5-3 (Nats beat Arizona) --score of final Nats game at RFK: 5-3 (Nats beat Philadelphia) --closer for first Nats game at RFK: Chad Cordero (with Brian Schneider catching) --closer for final Nats game at RFK: Chad Cordero (with Brian Schneider catching) I close with a link to a column by Tom Boswell about RFK. I couldn't have expressed it any better. Current Mood: happy (Comment on this)
Wednesday, August 15th, 2007
5:30 pm	Just talk about what you know About two weeks ago, my friend G calls me up and asks me if I would like to give the drasha/People's Pulpit on August 11. Knowing that I would only have about a week to write it, and being a bit of a masochist, I said okay. I have zero problem speaking in public. It's the writing what to say that is the hard part for me. You know the old adage "Better for folks to think that you're an idiot than to open your mouth and prove them right"? Yeah, that was my thought. Folks that give the People's Pulpit are smart and present thoughtful, intelligent speeches, with in depth research and sources. I did not think that I could do that. I had access to all these source books, but I don't have the Hebrew skills to use them. Here's a printed version of my talk, for those that might have missed it. Due to length, I have placed it behind the cut. For those who do not speak any Hebrew, I have tried to translate what was not already translated in my speech. Anything in brackets in post speech translation. ( D'var Torah ) I got a lot of compliments on my delivery of the speech. I frankly think it sounds better when I deliver it, because then it is hard to see the holes throughout the speech. A few people gave me compliments on content, but I'm not sure if that was real compliments or just being nice (or both, for those folks that are that was naturally). As I said above, I am fine on delivery. I can be loud, clear and pace appropriately. One funny story, when I spoke at Hashkama [the early service] I ended up standing on a chair. I started the talk by apologizing to those that couldn't see my due to my height and the pole in the middle of the room. Some said that I should stand on a chair, so I did. Folks seemed to get a kick out of that. Current Mood: thirsty (Comment on this)
Tuesday, August 7th, 2007
10:33 pm	Two months I just checked and it has been exactly 2 months since I last posted. It's not like there hasn't been stuff to write about, I just have been really bad about posting. Maybe I'll do a highlights post at some point, but not tonight. Okay, I'm now yotzei for posting. :) Seriously, I'll try to put a real post up soon. Current Mood: tired (1 Comment |Comment on this)