Author Archive

We finally had our front-side landscaping done (thanks to my old nurseryman friends, Howard and Jeff Kirshner, of Kirshner Nurseries (don’t let their cheesey website fool you). The plant list: 5 Skip Laurel (Prunus laurocarensis ‘Schipkaensis’ ) [photo] 5 Winterberry Holly (4 Ilex verticillata ‘Sparkleberry’ and 1 ‘Jim Dandy’ ) [photo] 14 Japanese Holly (Ilex […]

(full trip photos here) Just returned from Israel and Ä°stanbul, and things are finally getting back to “normal.” This was our best trip ever, and I hope to have time to write up some of our stories. For now, here’s a quick A-to-Z to commemorate some of the things we saw and did. Israel: A […]

I keep hearing people complain about how expensive gas has become. More significantly, I’ve heard several news programs report that “thousands of motorists” are choosing not to travel this holiday weekend, due to those high prices. I don’t get it. Are Americans mathematically challenged or something? (Oh, wait, I forgot–we are!) Here’s a little puzzle […]

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The last day of our little experiment. I’ll be sorry to see it end–not! Sara’s Juice Fast: Day 3 9am: Earl Grey tea 10:30am: Odwalla orange juice 12:45pm: We ran out of vegetables at home, so I had to buy vegetable juice from Wild Oats (carrot, spinach, parsley, cucumber). This juice machine operator, as well […]

Sara’s Juice Fast: Day 2 What a night. 2am: Woke up with a splitting headache and nausea. Violently ill for an hour. Threw up several times. (Did some research: this is apparently a not-uncommon “healing crisis” (a.k.a. a Herxheimer Reaction) to detoxification.)

Inspired by a friend, we’ve started our first juice fast. Inspired by on-line strangers, we’ve decided to keep a diary of it. Sara’s Juice Fast: Day 1 8am: Sara’s fast begins. One cup of green tea. “This is easy!”

(trip photos here) San Francisco is redeemed–for the following 26 reasons (with thanks to my new friends Molly & Mike for the format): Airborne Bowling with :(|)boy Cousins at the Cliff House Delicious beef BBQ at Memphis Minnie’s (*) Eating meat (pork, even)–accidentally, at the Slanted Door Fog Great white sharks eating Sara’s feet Hog […]

We just returned from a trip to the Finger Lakes with some friends. (See the complete photo set here.) Some highlights: Thursday: The Pizza Crapital of the World We set out in the evening, anticipating a memorable dinner. Sara had planned a fabulous itinerary, and its first attraction was dinner in Old Forge, PA, “Pizza […]

For those who don’t know, Sara and I met an absolutely lovely Swedish family while we were in India last December: Anna, Lars, Sara and Emil, and Sara’s boyfriend (whose name, I’m afraid, we’ve forgotten). Anna was armed with an impressive digital camera and a wonderful artistic sensibility. She took some amazing photos of India […]

A birthday buddy of mine recently told me that she gets a chuckle out of the abundantly misused “quotation mark.” That reminded me of my lunch from Tuesday of this week. My Coworkers and I went to a Mongolian barbecue place near the office, and while standing before the raw ingredient buffet, we noticed that […]

We just returned from our first trip to Las Vegas (see the photos)–which my father-in-law and I have dubbed the “City of Plastic.” Everything there is plastic–the casino money, the grass (Astroturf), the décor, people’s body parts… Despite the ubiquitous wails of the nickel slots, we spent a grand total of $0.00 on gambling. Our […]

Last night, in reverse: We returned home, tired, but happy that we got to spend time and laugh with our all wonderful friends. As we drove back home from the city, I became more and more sure that I like “Night on Disco Mountain” (from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack) better than the original–and arguably […]

We’ve already established that Hotmail sucks. But, as if Microsoft didn’t want to leave any shadow of a doubt, this is what I saw when I tried to log in earlier today:

Summer is almost here. Be prepared. P.S., The banana is Sara’s. :)

Proof that the language of love is universal: FACT: we went to our friends’ wedding this weekend. FACT: 90% of it (best man’s toast, emcee’s announcements, etc.) was in Russian. FACT: we understand but 5 words of Russian. FACT: we [basically] understood everything that was going on (at least the important parts). CONCLUSION: True love […]