for the first time in nearly 33 years our family has a new baby. she was born in berlin on saturday night, and everyone seems to be doing well.
my cousin steve was the one to point out the significance of being born in berlin, the city from which her grandfather z"l escaped just before the start of ww2.
my mother is convinced that one day they will all move to israel, but for now we are back in berlin. and i am an aunt! welcome to the world little baby - i hope i get to meet you someday soon.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Friday, March 17, 2006
tai shan debut
this picture is from a couple of months ago. nevertheless i post it now because i feel the need for some peace and serenity, and for some reason i find them when looking at and being with pandas.
breathe in. breathe out. smile.
breathe in. breathe out. smile.
Thursday, March 16, 2006
jonah's pk save
haven't had a pic for ages. i like treppenwitz's 'photo friday' ... maybe i should use the digicam i carry around?!
anyway, something that makes me happy - a superb moment from a queens park rangers player.
paul jones has been making quite a few blinding saves recently for the 'r's. thank you!
anyway, something that makes me happy - a superb moment from a queens park rangers player.
paul jones has been making quite a few blinding saves recently for the 'r's. thank you!
supermarket strategy
north america is full of supermarkets the size of aircraft hangers (although they seem small when compared to a wal-mart). once or twice a month, i am compelled to enter such edifices. this is because when i open the door of my fridge, i see only a couple of jam-jars containing one last cracker-sized smear, some old bottles of salad-dressing, 4 triangles of vache qui rie lite and many cans of the tropicana sugar-free lemonade that causes volcanic eruptions in my guts. o yes, and a kodak waterproof instant camera with the sell-by date of some time in 1996.
i'm not very good at supermarket shopping. i'm not really any good at any kind of shopping. i can, however, with great patience, be trained. i have learned not to enter the aisles that have chocolate in them. i have learned not to enter the supermarket that has maltesers and hob nobs in it. the greatest tool i have been given with regard to success in supermarket shopping is "the list". it is a strange idea - write down what you run out of as you go along, and take the list with you so you can get what you need. sadly, i don't usually do that, which is why last night i unpacked and found i had bought 7 tomatoes, 3 little squirty lemon juice bottles, diet fudgsicles (2 extra for free), party size hummus for garlic lovers, 6 packets of multigrain pita, bananas and a tube of preparation h. o, and a people magazine, strictly for my mother of course :-) . meanwhile, i asked the checkout person why when they ask 'paper or plastic?' and you say 'paper', they put the paper bag in the plastic bag? she said that they have to do it cos the paper bags don't have any handles.
i'm not very good at supermarket shopping. i'm not really any good at any kind of shopping. i can, however, with great patience, be trained. i have learned not to enter the aisles that have chocolate in them. i have learned not to enter the supermarket that has maltesers and hob nobs in it. the greatest tool i have been given with regard to success in supermarket shopping is "the list". it is a strange idea - write down what you run out of as you go along, and take the list with you so you can get what you need. sadly, i don't usually do that, which is why last night i unpacked and found i had bought 7 tomatoes, 3 little squirty lemon juice bottles, diet fudgsicles (2 extra for free), party size hummus for garlic lovers, 6 packets of multigrain pita, bananas and a tube of preparation h. o, and a people magazine, strictly for my mother of course :-) . meanwhile, i asked the checkout person why when they ask 'paper or plastic?' and you say 'paper', they put the paper bag in the plastic bag? she said that they have to do it cos the paper bags don't have any handles.
Thursday, March 09, 2006
bits 'n' bobs
was having so much fun checking out the bobs, i forgot what the bits were ... hang on a sec ... er ... o yes indeed, here are a couple:
was really sad to hear about the death of kirby puckett - just a couple of years older than i am and died of a stroke. he was a hall of fame baseball player, and the kind of player i really admire: he didn't have the most athletic build, but he made the most of what he had. he stayed with one team for his whole career. most of all, he always looked like he loved what he did. especially after the current round of european champions cup footie (you go barca! three cheers for ronaldinho!!!), and seeing all the talented mercenaries who are brilliant at what they do, but seem to lack the connection to the joy they might feel and the privilege of having fans to support them ... well i feel the loss of a sporting hero like kirby particularly deeply.
went back for a week on phase one of the south beach diet. yet again, the first day i returned to phase two i had unbelievably intense indigestion. must remember that however much i love bananas, they are not the best way for me to start phase twos :-( good news is that i think i have now lost over 30 lbs aka 2 stone & a bit
hurrah family is coming for seder ... aaaaargh my first ever seder in my own home and i shall have to cook. wonder if the valentine's day menu can be revisited?! my mother did say she would take care of the matza balls though. as with everyone, MY MOTHER MAKES THE BEST MATZA BALLS EVER! they are so good that when my sister and i became vegetarians, we would not give up these delicacies, even though they were cooked in chicken soup! instead, n. said that the soup was like bathwater - the chicken sat in it for a while, and then got out/was helped out. thus she felt able to eat them. i, on the other hand, said that was rubbish. my great rationalisation was to take the matza balls out of the soup and rinse the bathwater off them under the tap before i could eat them!
now for the bobs ... i put bob into google and here are the random entries of interest i found on the first page:
bob dylan ... say no more
the 'bob the builder' website would not load (can you fix it? :-) )
a very weird cartoon called bob the angry flower
cannot choose between the bob geldof and the bob marley sites to link to so please look them up yourself
finally, bob vila's tips on chain saws
was really sad to hear about the death of kirby puckett - just a couple of years older than i am and died of a stroke. he was a hall of fame baseball player, and the kind of player i really admire: he didn't have the most athletic build, but he made the most of what he had. he stayed with one team for his whole career. most of all, he always looked like he loved what he did. especially after the current round of european champions cup footie (you go barca! three cheers for ronaldinho!!!), and seeing all the talented mercenaries who are brilliant at what they do, but seem to lack the connection to the joy they might feel and the privilege of having fans to support them ... well i feel the loss of a sporting hero like kirby particularly deeply.
went back for a week on phase one of the south beach diet. yet again, the first day i returned to phase two i had unbelievably intense indigestion. must remember that however much i love bananas, they are not the best way for me to start phase twos :-( good news is that i think i have now lost over 30 lbs aka 2 stone & a bit
hurrah family is coming for seder ... aaaaargh my first ever seder in my own home and i shall have to cook. wonder if the valentine's day menu can be revisited?! my mother did say she would take care of the matza balls though. as with everyone, MY MOTHER MAKES THE BEST MATZA BALLS EVER! they are so good that when my sister and i became vegetarians, we would not give up these delicacies, even though they were cooked in chicken soup! instead, n. said that the soup was like bathwater - the chicken sat in it for a while, and then got out/was helped out. thus she felt able to eat them. i, on the other hand, said that was rubbish. my great rationalisation was to take the matza balls out of the soup and rinse the bathwater off them under the tap before i could eat them!
now for the bobs ... i put bob into google and here are the random entries of interest i found on the first page:
bob dylan ... say no more
the 'bob the builder' website would not load (can you fix it? :-) )
a very weird cartoon called bob the angry flower
cannot choose between the bob geldof and the bob marley sites to link to so please look them up yourself
finally, bob vila's tips on chain saws
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
emerson lishma
luckily for my job, the voiceless part of the stinking cold i have was during my day off. tomorrow, i can make use of the ample supply of tissues in my office as the catarrh comes to the fore. meanwhile, in between feeling a bit sorry for myself, mainly because my throat was too sore to enjoy singing marlene dietrich songs deeply and badly, i decided to read a book.
d. has noted that since we met, i have read an awful lot of childrens' books. ok i did reread all the harry potters again but that was because the paperbacks were next to her bed. and i discovered the 'lionboy' books, and 'inkheart'; and reread the philip pullman trilogy. today, however, for some strange reason, probably all the advil, i picked up a collection of emerson's essays and decided to read 'self reliance'. apparently i read some of this at university, but have no recollection of that whatsoever. o well. i couldn't sleep and this is what i read.
"to believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, - that is genius."
&
"trust thyself ... accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events."
at this point, i had to remind myself what transcendentalism was.
ok - so emerson was living in an era and an area where the forging of a truly american literary and philosophical identity was a contemporary cause. o dear i'm starting to sound a bit victorian. i guess what i am trying to say is that i can identify with his call to rebel against the status quo:
"society is a jointstock company, in which the members agree, for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater. the virtue in most request is conformity. self-reliance is its aversion. it loves not realities and creators, but names and customs ...
...whoso would be a man must be a non-conformist. he who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness. nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind."
wouldn't it be luverly to have the time and resources to speak out. enough money to be able to say no without fear, someone to clean and cook and wash for you, and someone to hold you and say 'there, there, m'love, they are all horrid and you are wonderful.'
nevertheless, despite his style coming across to me today as a pompous git, i rather like him so far. more, perhaps, when i have read more. time now to search through the medicine box and see if i still have any english sudafed ...
d. has noted that since we met, i have read an awful lot of childrens' books. ok i did reread all the harry potters again but that was because the paperbacks were next to her bed. and i discovered the 'lionboy' books, and 'inkheart'; and reread the philip pullman trilogy. today, however, for some strange reason, probably all the advil, i picked up a collection of emerson's essays and decided to read 'self reliance'. apparently i read some of this at university, but have no recollection of that whatsoever. o well. i couldn't sleep and this is what i read.
"to believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, - that is genius."
&
"trust thyself ... accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events."
at this point, i had to remind myself what transcendentalism was.
ok - so emerson was living in an era and an area where the forging of a truly american literary and philosophical identity was a contemporary cause. o dear i'm starting to sound a bit victorian. i guess what i am trying to say is that i can identify with his call to rebel against the status quo:
"society is a jointstock company, in which the members agree, for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater. the virtue in most request is conformity. self-reliance is its aversion. it loves not realities and creators, but names and customs ...
...whoso would be a man must be a non-conformist. he who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness. nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind."
wouldn't it be luverly to have the time and resources to speak out. enough money to be able to say no without fear, someone to clean and cook and wash for you, and someone to hold you and say 'there, there, m'love, they are all horrid and you are wonderful.'
nevertheless, despite his style coming across to me today as a pompous git, i rather like him so far. more, perhaps, when i have read more. time now to search through the medicine box and see if i still have any english sudafed ...
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