To my 32-year-old self: In 10 years you'll be vegetarian, divorced, living in England, Jewish, wheat-free, broke and alone (mostly in that order), You'll also be listening to folk music and eating rice cakes. However, you'll be happier and much more content with your life, you'll have known some wonderful women, and finally learned the importance of friends and family...so carry on. You're doing something right.
P.S. Shave the mustache and don't even think of growing your hair long.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Saturday, May 26, 2012
End of hell week
What a day! Up at 6 to get the train to Exeter, the client arrived an hour early so we didn't have any time to practice our presentation, and instead of staying 3 hours as planned, they stayed 6. (From a sales perspective we must have done a good job, but coming the end of this week the last thing I wanted to do was talk to 10 strangers...)
I had security duty in Maidenhead tonight (of all nights), so I had to be there at 7:50. The trains from Exeter were hourly, and the last one I could take and get there in time was 5:03. Leaving nothing to chance, I called ahead and booked a taxi for 4:30, even though the train station was only 10 minutes away.
The taxi showed up at 4:54! The only reason I made it was the train was 1 minute late! Unbelievable.
I got to Reading at 7 and had to leg it back to my house to get my car to leave by 7:20--the synagogue is 25 minutes away--only to find I had a flat tire!!
Assuming it was a slow leak (I hadn't driven the car in a week), I went to the nearby gas station and, after I paid 50p, discovered their air compressor didn't work!
So I crawled--at 20mph--to the next gas station,*6 miles* away! That's when I discovered the first air compressor wasn't broken, I just didn't know how to use it. (The second pump was exactly the same but included directions, and after you paid you had to press a button to actually start pumping.)
In the middle of all this, I got a call from the girl I was infatuated with (and still am). When she told me she wasn't interested in dating, I suggested we be friends. Now she was calling to tell me she wasn't interested in being friends, either! Could this day get any worse? :-(
I did make it the synagogue--about 20 minutes late--but it wasn't a slow leak, and an hour later the tire was flat again. I couldn't be bothered to change it--I just pumped it up again and drove home. Tomorrow I'll take it to the shop and see how much damage I did...
But hell week is over! Well, almost--tomorrow, after I take care of the car, I'm going into London to meet a woman for coffee (first date), see some friends, and see the musical 'Ragtime.' It is at the 'open air theatre' so of course booking in advance in England is quite risky, but I really lucked out--it is supposed to be a fabulous weekend!
Thursday, May 24, 2012
The week that wouldn't end
I knew this was going to be hell week.
Over the past several months, as events came up I bought tickets to things I was interested in, so it was completely coincidental that I ended up with three events in London this week. (And nothing for two weeks before and after.) That would have been fine, of course, except that all four of my projects -- that have been running me ragged over the past month -- suddenly needed me to be travelling this week!!
Tuesday I had to be in Sheffield, Wednesday in Coventry, Thursday in Manchester, and Friday in Exeter! All of these were 2-3 hours from my home. Again, that would have been fine -- I would have just stayed in hotels -- except that now I needed to travel back to London each night to attend these events!
I did catch two breaks -- the trip to Coventry was changed to a trip to London, and I was able to stay at my friend's hotel Wednesday night. However, on Monday -- the one day I was allowed to work from home -- I got a call at 10am asking me to be in London for a meeting at noon!
The worst day was Tuesday, when I had to leave before 6am, and got home after 10pm. The meeting in Sheffield was scheduled to last 3 hours, but it ended up lasting 8 hours, and we didn't even break for lunch!!
Friday I would have happily spent the night in Exeter and explored the British coast during the glorious sunshine we've been experiencing, but even that was thwarted--I had been tasked with security detail for my local synagogue!
So my goal is to simply survive this week, and rest next week -- I have absolutely nothing planned, and no travel scheduled! I suspect by this time next week, I'll be complaining about how bored I am. :-)
Over the past several months, as events came up I bought tickets to things I was interested in, so it was completely coincidental that I ended up with three events in London this week. (And nothing for two weeks before and after.) That would have been fine, of course, except that all four of my projects -- that have been running me ragged over the past month -- suddenly needed me to be travelling this week!!
Tuesday I had to be in Sheffield, Wednesday in Coventry, Thursday in Manchester, and Friday in Exeter! All of these were 2-3 hours from my home. Again, that would have been fine -- I would have just stayed in hotels -- except that now I needed to travel back to London each night to attend these events!
I did catch two breaks -- the trip to Coventry was changed to a trip to London, and I was able to stay at my friend's hotel Wednesday night. However, on Monday -- the one day I was allowed to work from home -- I got a call at 10am asking me to be in London for a meeting at noon!
The worst day was Tuesday, when I had to leave before 6am, and got home after 10pm. The meeting in Sheffield was scheduled to last 3 hours, but it ended up lasting 8 hours, and we didn't even break for lunch!!
Friday I would have happily spent the night in Exeter and explored the British coast during the glorious sunshine we've been experiencing, but even that was thwarted--I had been tasked with security detail for my local synagogue!
So my goal is to simply survive this week, and rest next week -- I have absolutely nothing planned, and no travel scheduled! I suspect by this time next week, I'll be complaining about how bored I am. :-)
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Energy
So, having dispatched the myths around protein and energy, the question remains: Where does the body get its energy from?
The answer is the "Kreb's cycle" (or Citric Acid cycle) which I will simplify at a great loss of accuracy:
Each of your cells has several hundred to over two thousand mitochondria* inside of them, depending on their need for energy. For instance, heart cells and muscle cells may be up to 40% mitochondria. All together, your body has over one quadrillion mitochondria that are constantly producing energy. Approximately 90% of the oxygen you breathe will be used by your mitochondria.
Your body takes the sugar or fat molecule and breaks it down to smaller units of two carbons. Mitochondria then use oxygen to break down the carbon and strip off two electrons, creating carbon dioxide as a waste product. The electrons, in a series of chemical reactions, are attached to a phosphate molecule, which is then attached to another molecule, changing adenosine diphosphate (ADP) to adenosine triphosphate (ATP). When your muscles need energy, this high-energy phosphate is stripped off the ATP, and it becomes ADP again. These chemical reactions require vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, and B6; vitamin E, Coenzyme Q10; iron, sulfur and other micronutrients.
Of course, your body gets the sugar or fat from your digestive system but, unlike protein -- which is discarded if not used -- your body will happily store excess for later.
Of course, it's pretty complicated because it was designed by a blind watchmaker, but it is also very efficient, and all animals use the same basic process to create energy.
However, stripping electrons is dangerous business, because at the cellular level they can do significant damage if not controlled. Oxygen is already pretty volatile (and the reason your body uses it to produce energy), but if it picks up an extra electron it becomes a "free radical" which can rip through cell membranes, There is some fairly compelling evidence to indicate that the entire "aging process" is actually the result of the damage of free radicals over time. Experiments with aging rats, for instance, indicate that the mitochondria become less efficient and the cells themselves become "leaky" and less able to control the processes of what goes in or out of the cell.
Some interesting experiments were done with these aging rats to give them supplements of acetyl-L-carnitine to increase the mitochondria rate, and alpha-lipoic acid to reduce the number of free radicals, and found that within two weeks the old rats were as active as young rats. Of course, humans aren't rats, as we discussed on the issue of protein! (I've been taking alpha-lipoic acid since I read that over 10 years ago, and I seem to have aged just fine...)
* Not to be confused with "midi-chlorians," which is the source of the Force. George Lucas is an idiot.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Death by misadventure
The coroner is a uniquely English institution.
In medieval times, justice was slow -- literally. The court (or 'eyre') would travel around the country in a giant circuit. When the court was in session, the first thing they would demand is an account of all crimes that had occurred since the last court, which may have been 7 years ago, or 44 years ago!
Now, if you thought the purpose of this was to ensure justice was done, you get points for altruism but lose them for gullibility. The courts -- then as now -- would fine the miscreant (and sometimes the entire village) which was an important source of income for the government!
So in 1194, King Richard the Lionhearted -- trying to raise money to support his disastrous Crusades -- ordered that every village appoint three knights and a scribe to keep track of all crimes, which would then be reviewed by the next court. This was known as "keeping the pleas of the Crown" (Latin, custos placitorum coronae) from which the word "coroner" is derived.
Now, if that sounds like the role of the sheriff, you're probably right, except you'll know from Robin Hood that sheriffs were notoriously corrupt, and for a small contribution a crime would not be reported to the court. Coroners (or "Crowners" as they were known at the time) were an attempt to curb this, by having a separate person document the crime.
From the start, one of the key functions of the coroner was to investigate a sudden or mysterious death. Again, if you think that was to understand how the person died, or to figure out by whom, you've been watching too much CSI. One of the first acts of the Normans (after conquering England) was to pass the "murdrum" -- a huge fine levied against any community where a Norman was murdered. Thus, the coroner had to determine if the body was Saxon or Norman, and if the death was intentional or accidental. To that end, they could order an inquest, subpoena witnesses, hold a jury, and deliver a verdict. Much of this has been carried forward today.
They also had one other important function: To determine the object that caused the death. That is because the Normans also supplanted the Roman law of noxal surrender -- whereby animals or objects causing serious damage or death were given to the victim -- with "deo dandum" (literally, "to be given to God") which, in effect, meant they were forfeit to the Crown. (Usually, they were assessed a value that the accused had to pay to keep the item, so it was effectively just another tax.)
In 1340 they did away with the murdrum, and in 1846 they abolished the deodand. As courts became established there was no longer a need to "keep the pleas," and coroners increasingly focused on sudden deaths. However, historically this was never a medical role, and even today a coroner in England must have a degree and five years' experience in the medical or legal field. In the US and other colonies, there are a patchwork of laws -- many areas require a degree in forensic pathology, but other areas have no requirements whatsoever! Other countries
In the UK, a coroner can return one of 15 "verdicts":
In medieval times, justice was slow -- literally. The court (or 'eyre') would travel around the country in a giant circuit. When the court was in session, the first thing they would demand is an account of all crimes that had occurred since the last court, which may have been 7 years ago, or 44 years ago!
Now, if you thought the purpose of this was to ensure justice was done, you get points for altruism but lose them for gullibility. The courts -- then as now -- would fine the miscreant (and sometimes the entire village) which was an important source of income for the government!
So in 1194, King Richard the Lionhearted -- trying to raise money to support his disastrous Crusades -- ordered that every village appoint three knights and a scribe to keep track of all crimes, which would then be reviewed by the next court. This was known as "keeping the pleas of the Crown" (Latin, custos placitorum coronae) from which the word "coroner" is derived.
Now, if that sounds like the role of the sheriff, you're probably right, except you'll know from Robin Hood that sheriffs were notoriously corrupt, and for a small contribution a crime would not be reported to the court. Coroners (or "Crowners" as they were known at the time) were an attempt to curb this, by having a separate person document the crime.
From the start, one of the key functions of the coroner was to investigate a sudden or mysterious death. Again, if you think that was to understand how the person died, or to figure out by whom, you've been watching too much CSI. One of the first acts of the Normans (after conquering England) was to pass the "murdrum" -- a huge fine levied against any community where a Norman was murdered. Thus, the coroner had to determine if the body was Saxon or Norman, and if the death was intentional or accidental. To that end, they could order an inquest, subpoena witnesses, hold a jury, and deliver a verdict. Much of this has been carried forward today.
They also had one other important function: To determine the object that caused the death. That is because the Normans also supplanted the Roman law of noxal surrender -- whereby animals or objects causing serious damage or death were given to the victim -- with "deo dandum" (literally, "to be given to God") which, in effect, meant they were forfeit to the Crown. (Usually, they were assessed a value that the accused had to pay to keep the item, so it was effectively just another tax.)
In 1340 they did away with the murdrum, and in 1846 they abolished the deodand. As courts became established there was no longer a need to "keep the pleas," and coroners increasingly focused on sudden deaths. However, historically this was never a medical role, and even today a coroner in England must have a degree and five years' experience in the medical or legal field. In the US and other colonies, there are a patchwork of laws -- many areas require a degree in forensic pathology, but other areas have no requirements whatsoever! Other countries
In the UK, a coroner can return one of 15 "verdicts":
- Death by natural causes
- Death by misadventure
- Accidental death
- Lawful killing (e.g. self-defense)
- Suicide
- Unlawful killing
- Occupational disease
- Drug dependence
- Non-dependent drug abuse
- Attempted abortion
- Self-induced abortion
- Disaster
- Still birth
- Self-neglect (for example, anorexia)
- Lack of care/neglect
They can also return an "open verdict" (cause not established) or a "narrative verdict" which makes no sense to me. (I don't have all the answers!!)
There is no effective difference between accidental death and one of misadventure, except that one sounds tragic and other sounds hilarious.
Friday, May 18, 2012
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Olympic disappointment
Well, it looks like I'll be watching the Olympics from home, on the telly. What an epic disappointment. I tried to buy tickets in the 'pre-sale' this week, but my efforts were frustrated by work (I had meetings at 11am every day, which is when they released the new tickets), and the web site was set up so poorly that if you weren't able to reserve tickets to your first choice, it took five minutes to make a second choice, by which time those were all gone as well. Naturally, game theory suggests I should have gone for a second-tier choice instead of fighting it out for the prime seats, but I didn't, and I failed.
I could have bought tickets for £295 each (or closing ceremony tickets for $655 each), but that's just crazy.
I could have bought tickets for £295 each (or closing ceremony tickets for $655 each), but that's just crazy.
Crash and burn
OK, that was short-lived. I told her how I felt, and she suggested I not contact her again. Ouch.
It actually hurt quite a bit; I'd really opened myself up. In hindsight, I wish I'd done a million things differently, but in the end I'm sure it's for the best. As I said, I'm grateful just to know I *can* feel that way again, and now the trick is to find someone who feels the same about me.
In the meantime, however, I have the very practical problem that I've now cut off contact with everyone I was talking to, I don't have anyone in the "pipeline," and I have tickets to *four* events in the next week! I've invited friends, who are all busy, and I'm really going to kick myself if I waste these extra tickets.
P.S. Ben & Jerry's cookie dough ice cream contains wheat. Duh. I'm eating it anyway.
It actually hurt quite a bit; I'd really opened myself up. In hindsight, I wish I'd done a million things differently, but in the end I'm sure it's for the best. As I said, I'm grateful just to know I *can* feel that way again, and now the trick is to find someone who feels the same about me.
In the meantime, however, I have the very practical problem that I've now cut off contact with everyone I was talking to, I don't have anyone in the "pipeline," and I have tickets to *four* events in the next week! I've invited friends, who are all busy, and I'm really going to kick myself if I waste these extra tickets.
P.S. Ben & Jerry's cookie dough ice cream contains wheat. Duh. I'm eating it anyway.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Summer is here
The number of events, festivals, and activities in summer is staggering. In Los Angeles I had to comb the web sites to find things; here I have to avoid web sites to avoid going to too many things!
Next weekend I'm going to a wolf sanctuary, which turns out to be just up the street from my house in Reading.
The Rooftop Film Club has a number of outdoor movie screenings -- I have tickets to see Trollhunter, Big Lebowski, and Labyrinth.
The Queen's Diamond Jubilee is on 5 June, the Olympics 27 July-12 August, and Paralympics 29 August-9 September
Music-wise, I have tickets to Rumer, Paul Simon, and Paloma Faith, plus a revival of the musical, Ragtime.
If it's dry, I'll be attending Folk by the Oak again. (I thought about attending WOMAD, the World Music festival, but it is at the same time as the Olympics...)
Outside of London, I plan to go to the Bristol hot air balloon fiesta and the Edinburgh fringe festival, both in August.
Comedy includes Pajama Men and a staged reading of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
And finally, I will be attending the Thames Festival, which marks the end of summer, on 9 September. :-(
Of course, those are only the things I already have tickets to. I'm sure there will be much more before the summer is out.
Next weekend I'm going to a wolf sanctuary, which turns out to be just up the street from my house in Reading.
The Rooftop Film Club has a number of outdoor movie screenings -- I have tickets to see Trollhunter, Big Lebowski, and Labyrinth.
The Queen's Diamond Jubilee is on 5 June, the Olympics 27 July-12 August, and Paralympics 29 August-9 September
Music-wise, I have tickets to Rumer, Paul Simon, and Paloma Faith, plus a revival of the musical, Ragtime.
If it's dry, I'll be attending Folk by the Oak again. (I thought about attending WOMAD, the World Music festival, but it is at the same time as the Olympics...)
Outside of London, I plan to go to the Bristol hot air balloon fiesta and the Edinburgh fringe festival, both in August.
Comedy includes Pajama Men and a staged reading of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
And finally, I will be attending the Thames Festival, which marks the end of summer, on 9 September. :-(
Of course, those are only the things I already have tickets to. I'm sure there will be much more before the summer is out.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Feasts
As I've mentioned before, I don't celebrate rituals to praise God, but to connect with people and history, and I just read a nice parable about this. I will paraphase to keep it short:
So a festival is an appointment with the past, an encounter with an event that occurred in our history, but becomes part of our present and our future. It comes complete with instructions on how to re-open the well and access its waters. These were not "one time" gifts because these were not "one time" needs, and festivals serve not only as perpetual reminders, but as perpetual sources.
So it really doesn't matter if you celebrate the Jewish festivals, the Christian festivals, the American holidays, or just make up your own. The important thing is to mark and remember, to appreciate what has gone before and what is yet to come, to know that you are part of something bigger, and while you can always choose to cut yourself off, you can also always choose to reconnect. As I get older, I have really started to appreciate not only the circle of life, but how important those circles are in our life.
A king was travelling through the desert, when his son became ill with thirst. The king ordered that a well be sunk into ground, so that his child might drink. His soldiers argued it would be faster for them to ride to the nearest town and bring back water, but the king insisted on digging the well. When the child recovered, he, too, was puzzled and asked his father, "Why did you trouble your men to dig a well when we had the means to obtain water more quickly and easily?" And the king replied, "In many years, you may again be travelling this way, perhaps alone and without privilege, but the well will still be here to quench your thirst."
And the son replied, "But father, in many years the sands of time will have refilled the well, stopping the water and erasing its very memory." But the king said, "We will mark the site of this well on our maps, and preserve our maps, so whenever you travel this route, you will be able to reopen the well and obtain the water that will sustain you on your journey."
And the son replied, "But father, in many years the sands of time will have refilled the well, stopping the water and erasing its very memory." But the king said, "We will mark the site of this well on our maps, and preserve our maps, so whenever you travel this route, you will be able to reopen the well and obtain the water that will sustain you on your journey."
So a festival is an appointment with the past, an encounter with an event that occurred in our history, but becomes part of our present and our future. It comes complete with instructions on how to re-open the well and access its waters. These were not "one time" gifts because these were not "one time" needs, and festivals serve not only as perpetual reminders, but as perpetual sources.
So it really doesn't matter if you celebrate the Jewish festivals, the Christian festivals, the American holidays, or just make up your own. The important thing is to mark and remember, to appreciate what has gone before and what is yet to come, to know that you are part of something bigger, and while you can always choose to cut yourself off, you can also always choose to reconnect. As I get older, I have really started to appreciate not only the circle of life, but how important those circles are in our life.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Completely besotted
Spring is in the air, the birds and the bees are up to their old tricks, and while I actually hate to admit it, I met a girl who makes my heart skip a beat whenever she smiles, and all I want to do is lie in a field with her and watch bunnies.
Which, incidentally, is exactly what we did today.
In some sad, self-loathing way, I was actually hoping to find out our first date was just a fluke, that she couldn't possibly be as wonderful as I thought, or as lovely, and that I've been obsessing over her for nothing. However, in those terms, it was a spectacular failure. Not only was she just as pretty, but I went to her neighborhood and in the process of walking down the street, half a dozen people came over to say hello. And she'd only lived in that area for a couple of months! I've been in Reading for 9 months now and I can't think of a single person here who would recognise me, never mind say hello. :-(
Which brings me to the other major emotion I've been feeling: Inadequacy. It's funny, at some level I recognize how much I've accomplished in my life, but I don't derive any pride from it. On the contrary, it feels like it's no longer relevant. Years ago I took a personality profile (of one sort or another), and one of the things it said was that the clock started over every single day. I think that is absolutely true, and I wonder how that comes across.
In any case, I have no idea how she feels about me, or if anything will come of this, but the important thing is that she reminded me how dating is supposed to feel like. I've spent a lot of time with some really lovely people and I've certainly enjoyed every experience, but I haven't been "dating." So I've ended communication with everyone else I've been talking to, which wasn't easy but was necessary.
Watch this space.
Which, incidentally, is exactly what we did today.
In some sad, self-loathing way, I was actually hoping to find out our first date was just a fluke, that she couldn't possibly be as wonderful as I thought, or as lovely, and that I've been obsessing over her for nothing. However, in those terms, it was a spectacular failure. Not only was she just as pretty, but I went to her neighborhood and in the process of walking down the street, half a dozen people came over to say hello. And she'd only lived in that area for a couple of months! I've been in Reading for 9 months now and I can't think of a single person here who would recognise me, never mind say hello. :-(
Which brings me to the other major emotion I've been feeling: Inadequacy. It's funny, at some level I recognize how much I've accomplished in my life, but I don't derive any pride from it. On the contrary, it feels like it's no longer relevant. Years ago I took a personality profile (of one sort or another), and one of the things it said was that the clock started over every single day. I think that is absolutely true, and I wonder how that comes across.
In any case, I have no idea how she feels about me, or if anything will come of this, but the important thing is that she reminded me how dating is supposed to feel like. I've spent a lot of time with some really lovely people and I've certainly enjoyed every experience, but I haven't been "dating." So I've ended communication with everyone else I've been talking to, which wasn't easy but was necessary.
Watch this space.
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Shavuot and cheesecake
There are five festivals mentioned in the Old Testament, with directions on how they will be celebrated:
1) Rosh Hashanah to listen to the shofar (horn)
2) Yom Kippur to repent and make atonement
3) Pesach (Passover) to eat unleavened bread
4) Sukkot to live in a tent
5) Shavuot to...uh...well, this one is a bit vague.
To be fair, all of these involve making sacrifices of meat, fruit, and bread, and three of the festivals (including Shavuot) involved going to the temple in Jerusalem (which, oddly, hadn't been built when the Old Testament was supposedly written). Unfortunately, the Romans destroyed the temple in 70 CE, and while all the other festivals had other things to keep them going, Shavuot was kind of forgotten.
Fortunately, the great sages managed to rescue it from obscurity. They argued that since Pesach represented the Jews fleeing Egypt, and Sukkot represented the Jews entering Israel, then Shavuot (which fell between them) must have been the day the Jews went to Mount Sinai and received the Bible from God. (That's a pretty big stretch, although not quite as big as when they literally interpreted the phrase, "the people were beneath the mountain" and therefore claimed the entire mountain lifted off the ground.)
Now, of course, it gets a bit weird. The sages then argued that during the day, the Jews would have been preparing a meal, slaughtering animals, and so forth. Then they went to Mount Sinai and accepted the Bible, including all the laws about keeping kosher, so that when they came back to their camp, they would not have been allowed to eat any of the meat. Therefore, they only ate the dairy products and went to bed.
From this we get two traditions around Shavuot: One is to stay up all night discussing the Bible; and the other is we eat cheesecake.
I probably won't stay up all night, but I will definitely eat cheesecake.
Here is the section of Leviticus 23 (King James Bible translation) that deals with the festivals. (Leviticus, the fifth book of the bible, was kind of a cliffs notes for the first four books, and even though it got a lot of stuff wrong, it summed up the holidays nicely.)
Passover:
5: In the fourteenth day of the first month at even [sundown] is the LORD's passover.
6: And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.
7: In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
8: But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
...
Shavuot:
15: And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:
16: Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.
...
21: And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
Rosh Hashanah:
24: Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.
25: Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
Yom Kippur:
27: Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
28: And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God.
Sukkot:
39: Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath.
42: Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths:
43: That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
P.S. Oddly, Christians have tried to claim all of these festivals, with the idea that these were not annual events, but prophecies to be fulfilled by Christ. I don't get that at all. However, since Shavuot falls 50 days after Pesach, the Christians renamed it Pentecost, with something about the holy spirit. Christians=holy spirit comes to earth, Jews=cheesecake. 'Nuf said.
1) Rosh Hashanah to listen to the shofar (horn)
2) Yom Kippur to repent and make atonement
3) Pesach (Passover) to eat unleavened bread
4) Sukkot to live in a tent
5) Shavuot to...uh...well, this one is a bit vague.
To be fair, all of these involve making sacrifices of meat, fruit, and bread, and three of the festivals (including Shavuot) involved going to the temple in Jerusalem (which, oddly, hadn't been built when the Old Testament was supposedly written). Unfortunately, the Romans destroyed the temple in 70 CE, and while all the other festivals had other things to keep them going, Shavuot was kind of forgotten.
Fortunately, the great sages managed to rescue it from obscurity. They argued that since Pesach represented the Jews fleeing Egypt, and Sukkot represented the Jews entering Israel, then Shavuot (which fell between them) must have been the day the Jews went to Mount Sinai and received the Bible from God. (That's a pretty big stretch, although not quite as big as when they literally interpreted the phrase, "the people were beneath the mountain" and therefore claimed the entire mountain lifted off the ground.)
Now, of course, it gets a bit weird. The sages then argued that during the day, the Jews would have been preparing a meal, slaughtering animals, and so forth. Then they went to Mount Sinai and accepted the Bible, including all the laws about keeping kosher, so that when they came back to their camp, they would not have been allowed to eat any of the meat. Therefore, they only ate the dairy products and went to bed.
From this we get two traditions around Shavuot: One is to stay up all night discussing the Bible; and the other is we eat cheesecake.
I probably won't stay up all night, but I will definitely eat cheesecake.
Here is the section of Leviticus 23 (King James Bible translation) that deals with the festivals. (Leviticus, the fifth book of the bible, was kind of a cliffs notes for the first four books, and even though it got a lot of stuff wrong, it summed up the holidays nicely.)
Passover:
5: In the fourteenth day of the first month at even [sundown] is the LORD's passover.
6: And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.
7: In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
8: But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
...
Shavuot:
15: And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:
16: Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.
...
21: And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
Rosh Hashanah:
24: Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.
25: Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
Yom Kippur:
27: Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
28: And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God.
Sukkot:
39: Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath.
42: Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths:
43: That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
P.S. Oddly, Christians have tried to claim all of these festivals, with the idea that these were not annual events, but prophecies to be fulfilled by Christ. I don't get that at all. However, since Shavuot falls 50 days after Pesach, the Christians renamed it Pentecost, with something about the holy spirit. Christians=holy spirit comes to earth, Jews=cheesecake. 'Nuf said.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Olympic nonsense
If they are trying to dampen my enthusiasm for the Olympic Games by making all sorts of ridiculous processes and procedures...they are succeeding.
Today I got this email:
So in other words, it's an even worse way of allocating tickets than the lottery was!
I can't imagine what is wrong with the people organising this, other than they are getting their own tickets out of the 45% reserved for corporate sponsors, and so don't give a damn about the 55% being sold to the public. :-(
Today I got this email:
Priority presale for Olympic Games tickets
In short, they recognise I was shafted during the original ticket lottery, and so to make it up they are giving me a chance to buy the crap that was left over before it goes on sale to the general public. Fair enough, except you only get to buy tickets to one event, and the different events are being released over 4 days, and there's no guarantee you'll be able to get tickets to the event you want! So game theory dictates you should apply each day for one event, even if the event you really want is another day, because odds are you won't get tickets to any of them. (Remember, over a million people did not get any tickets in the lottery!)We would like to invite you to take advantage of an exclusive presale for London 2012 Olympic Games tickets from 11am on Sunday 13 May until 11pm on Thursday 17 May 2012.
You are one of the many Olympic sport fans who have applied for tickets previously and were unsuccessful. To recognise your support for the London 2012 Games, you now have a chance to purchase up to four tickets for one session of your choice on a first come, first served basis.
There is availability in most Olympic sports - however, not all sports will be available on day one. To make the process as smooth as possible for everyone who wants to purchase we will release a new set of sports every day. Read a full list of what tickets are on sale and when. We suggest you look at this schedule carefully, and decide what tickets you want.
We anticipate demand will be high when ticket sales open. There may be occasions when you will be held in a queue while we are processing transactions for the customers ahead of you. If this happens please be patient, don't refresh your browser or move away from that page. You may also receive a message saying that no tickets can be found. This is because the tickets in that price category and/or session have sold out. If this occurs, please select an alternative price/session and try again.
Once you have purchased tickets in the presale, you will not be eligible to purchase further tickets until the general sales of any remaining Paralympic Games tickets on 21 May 2012 and Olympic Games tickets on 23 May 2012.
So in other words, it's an even worse way of allocating tickets than the lottery was!
I can't imagine what is wrong with the people organising this, other than they are getting their own tickets out of the 45% reserved for corporate sponsors, and so don't give a damn about the 55% being sold to the public. :-(
Wheat-free
So it's been about 2 months since I stopped eating wheat (or at least started talking about giving it up). I haven't lost any weight, I don't feel any different, my eczema hasn't cleared up, I haven't found the love of my life or inherited a million dollars or any of the other things that were promised.
But somehow I'm okay with it. I think it was partly because the withdrawal was so difficult, that was just a red flag to me. I don't like being addicted to anything.
Obviously I've started eating a lot more rice and oats, which are delicious. (I did eat some spelt until I found out it is just another form of wheat!) It's also made me appreciate how hard coeliacs have it, since wheat (or at least gluten) is put into just about everything.
For breakfast I switched from cereal to oatmeal, which was nice because I got a hot breakfast now. I've since switched to an oatmeal from "Rude Health" that combines 5 grains with 5 seeds, so much more balanced. Throw in a handful of raisins and serve with a banana, and it just doesn't get any healthier. (If I could ever remember to combine the cereal and soymilk in the evening and let it soak overnight, I am assured it will be even more delicious, but so far I haven't remembered...)
Lunch has been difficult, because all the obvious options are out, and many salads (or at least the interesting ones) like to throw in couscous, "wheat berries," or some form of wheat. I can usually find a salad or go to the supermarket and get an "Innocent veg pot" such as "thai coconut curry," "mexican 3-bean chili," and "eggplant moussaka." (Innocent also make a line of smoothies that are also my drink of choice, but more importantly they make the best commercials in the world.)
Dinner has been a hit-or-miss affair, full of stir-fries, tacos, the occasional risotto. Sadly, I've been travelling so much (and busy when I'm here), I haven't really been able to stock up the fridge and plan any meals. Hopefully that will change soon.
But the important thing, of course, are snacks and desserts. Going wheat-free drove me into the "free from" aisle at the supermarket, where I found 9bar. When I was in Israel, I discovered a candy bar made from sunflower seeds and honey that was absolutely divine, but of course I haven't been able to find it in England...until I found 9bar. They added pumpkin seeds (plus sesame seeds, poppy seeds, and hemp) to make it even better! At 250 calories per bar, I really shouldn't eat so many...but I do anyway. (To my mind, that's half as many calories as a chocolate bar...so I eat two.)
For dessert, I've been sticking to smoothies, which is good, although I really hate cleaning the blender. But last night I made a very dangerous discovery: Rice pudding is insanely easy to make. Seriously, a pint of milk, 1/4 cup of short-grain white rice, and 2 tablespoons of sugar...mix in an ovenproof pan (not covered), and cook at 300F for 2 hours. (Mix once after 30 minutes, and reduce cooking time by 30 minutes for convection ovens.) Add some nutmeg and raisins and...wow. They say it feeds four, but I ate it all by myself.
So what's my point? I don't actually have one, other than life is humming along pretty normally despite making such a drastic change to my diet. If I'd known it would go this smoothly, I would have given up wheat years ago.
Next up...shavuot and cheesecake.
P.S. Hummus and avocado on a spelt waffle with a little chili oil is delicious. (Not wheat-free, but delicious.)
But somehow I'm okay with it. I think it was partly because the withdrawal was so difficult, that was just a red flag to me. I don't like being addicted to anything.
Obviously I've started eating a lot more rice and oats, which are delicious. (I did eat some spelt until I found out it is just another form of wheat!) It's also made me appreciate how hard coeliacs have it, since wheat (or at least gluten) is put into just about everything.
For breakfast I switched from cereal to oatmeal, which was nice because I got a hot breakfast now. I've since switched to an oatmeal from "Rude Health" that combines 5 grains with 5 seeds, so much more balanced. Throw in a handful of raisins and serve with a banana, and it just doesn't get any healthier. (If I could ever remember to combine the cereal and soymilk in the evening and let it soak overnight, I am assured it will be even more delicious, but so far I haven't remembered...)
Lunch has been difficult, because all the obvious options are out, and many salads (or at least the interesting ones) like to throw in couscous, "wheat berries," or some form of wheat. I can usually find a salad or go to the supermarket and get an "Innocent veg pot" such as "thai coconut curry," "mexican 3-bean chili," and "eggplant moussaka." (Innocent also make a line of smoothies that are also my drink of choice, but more importantly they make the best commercials in the world.)
Dinner has been a hit-or-miss affair, full of stir-fries, tacos, the occasional risotto. Sadly, I've been travelling so much (and busy when I'm here), I haven't really been able to stock up the fridge and plan any meals. Hopefully that will change soon.
But the important thing, of course, are snacks and desserts. Going wheat-free drove me into the "free from" aisle at the supermarket, where I found 9bar. When I was in Israel, I discovered a candy bar made from sunflower seeds and honey that was absolutely divine, but of course I haven't been able to find it in England...until I found 9bar. They added pumpkin seeds (plus sesame seeds, poppy seeds, and hemp) to make it even better! At 250 calories per bar, I really shouldn't eat so many...but I do anyway. (To my mind, that's half as many calories as a chocolate bar...so I eat two.)
For dessert, I've been sticking to smoothies, which is good, although I really hate cleaning the blender. But last night I made a very dangerous discovery: Rice pudding is insanely easy to make. Seriously, a pint of milk, 1/4 cup of short-grain white rice, and 2 tablespoons of sugar...mix in an ovenproof pan (not covered), and cook at 300F for 2 hours. (Mix once after 30 minutes, and reduce cooking time by 30 minutes for convection ovens.) Add some nutmeg and raisins and...wow. They say it feeds four, but I ate it all by myself.
So what's my point? I don't actually have one, other than life is humming along pretty normally despite making such a drastic change to my diet. If I'd known it would go this smoothly, I would have given up wheat years ago.
Next up...shavuot and cheesecake.
P.S. Hummus and avocado on a spelt waffle with a little chili oil is delicious. (Not wheat-free, but delicious.)
Monday, May 7, 2012
Good people
Last weekend I went to Amsterdam to see an old co-worker. In 1998, I (rather spontaneously) quit my job at SEI, and was desperately looking for another, when I attended an "open house" event where Kim was one of the presenters. I completely monopolized Kim's time, in part because I figured getting to know one person was a better strategy than just introducing myself to a dozen people, but mostly because I found her enchanting. Full of energy and expression, she was a delight to talk to, and I figured any place she enjoyed working was good enough for me.
I did get the job and I actually hated it (or, more specifically, I hated my boss) and I was already talking to my old company about coming back in a different capacity. I did get to work with Kim for a while -- and I came away with even more respect for her abilities -- but the whole time I was trying to leave the company, so it was a strained relationship.
Shortly after that, I moved on to another project and she moved to the San Francisco area. We didn't keep in touch but we had mutual friends, so I got updates when she got married, had kids, and in 2004 moved to Amsterdam.
Fast forward four years, and I find myself in London, just 300 miles away! I got Kim's email from a friend and made contact but, for fairly ridiculous reasons, it took me another four years to go see her! It was hard to believe it had been 12 years -- she looked the same -- but the proof was standing in front of me: Her three daughters, aged 11, 8, and 6, whom I'd never met.
Now, on the face of it, this is actually quite ridiculous: I never really knew Kim, we were never really friends, and I just showed up at her doorstep after 12 years and she let me stay for three nights. And I had a great time. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed talking to Kim, and playing with the kids, and just hanging out doing nothing. And if I were trying to find a definition for "good people," I couldn't do much better than that.
But if I'm honest, it was also very depressing. I didn't realize this before, and perhaps it's because they are family, but when I see my nieces I don't think, I wish I had a family. But as I watched Kim dealing with a mountain of laundry, a kitchen full of dishes, children arguing, and all the while coming up with a creative way to spend Queen's Day, I was filled with envy. And when her youngest curled into her side for a story, I had to reach for a tissue. (Fortunately, I had an allergic reaction to their dog, so grabbing a tissue was not unusual...)
I did get the job and I actually hated it (or, more specifically, I hated my boss) and I was already talking to my old company about coming back in a different capacity. I did get to work with Kim for a while -- and I came away with even more respect for her abilities -- but the whole time I was trying to leave the company, so it was a strained relationship.
Shortly after that, I moved on to another project and she moved to the San Francisco area. We didn't keep in touch but we had mutual friends, so I got updates when she got married, had kids, and in 2004 moved to Amsterdam.
Fast forward four years, and I find myself in London, just 300 miles away! I got Kim's email from a friend and made contact but, for fairly ridiculous reasons, it took me another four years to go see her! It was hard to believe it had been 12 years -- she looked the same -- but the proof was standing in front of me: Her three daughters, aged 11, 8, and 6, whom I'd never met.
Now, on the face of it, this is actually quite ridiculous: I never really knew Kim, we were never really friends, and I just showed up at her doorstep after 12 years and she let me stay for three nights. And I had a great time. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed talking to Kim, and playing with the kids, and just hanging out doing nothing. And if I were trying to find a definition for "good people," I couldn't do much better than that.
But if I'm honest, it was also very depressing. I didn't realize this before, and perhaps it's because they are family, but when I see my nieces I don't think, I wish I had a family. But as I watched Kim dealing with a mountain of laundry, a kitchen full of dishes, children arguing, and all the while coming up with a creative way to spend Queen's Day, I was filled with envy. And when her youngest curled into her side for a story, I had to reach for a tissue. (Fortunately, I had an allergic reaction to their dog, so grabbing a tissue was not unusual...)
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Bluebells
But as she contacted me, I had to respond, and a lively and interesting conversation ensued. Meanwhile, I had been hoping to go see the bluebells -- as I do every year -- but they generally peak in April and between my travels to the States and Amsterdam, I'd been out of town every weekend in April! However, on Thursday I learned that, because of the cold, wet spring here, the bluebells were quite late.
There are many bluebell woods throughout Britain, but the only one I knew of was the one Jess took me to, north of London. This also happened to be about halfway between me and the woman on eHarmony. I proposed we meet there, and she agreed. Friday night I even got home early enough (10pm!) to call her and have a brief chat.
So I'm not sure why I suddenly got cold feet while I was sitting at the restaurant, waiting for her. Perhaps it was because I hadn't met anyone knew in some time. Perhaps it was because I was someplace I had last gone with Jess. Perhaps it was just because I was exhausted from working 16-hour days and travelling all over.
Whatever the reason, it turned out to be completely unfounded. She walked in and I was instantly infatuated. She was bright and sparkly, with beautiful blue eyes, short dark hair, a slight build, and -- this is important -- lovely hands. She was intelligent and clever, with a fascinating history and interesting insights. We spent about four hours, between the restaurant and woods, and had an absolutely lovely time.
And the bluebells were perfect.
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