They are at a USY convention.
This is the first time in a LONG time that Sharon and I have had a weekend alone together.
Light posting for the next few days.
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Category: family
My Colon Rejoices!
Passover is over.
No more “Bread of Affliction”.
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My Daughter is Over the F%$#ing Moon!
Yesterday, I was kvetching about being in New York City because I was in the culinary center of the Hemisphere, but because it was Passover, and day 7, one of the 4 Yom Tovim of Pesach, so by the time we got to the City, even those few Kosher restaurants that were serving over Passover, were shutting down.
We were there for an audition for Natalie with the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, a prestigious acting school (in fact the oldest acting school in the English speaking world).
It has a 2 year conservatory program.
Well, she got a call from them today, and she’s in!
Much happiness all around.
Here is a video of her reaction.
Note, however, that this is about 10 minutes after the call, so she had already calmed down by at least a factor of 10:
In the immediate aftermath of the call, she was way more euphoric.
It was actually a bit scary.
This Sucks Wet Farts from Dead Pigeons
We are in New York for Natalie’s audition with the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, and it is Passover, so there is nothing we can eat.
I am arguably in the middle of what is the most diverse, and best, cuisine in the western hemisphere, and I cannot have any of it.
Gaaaaahhhh!!
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Kind of Like Norman Rockwell … On Acid
Charlie is the youngest, and so is responsible for asking the 4 questions at the Seder, which he did in both Hebrew and English.
For some reason, he chose to deliver the 4 questions in the … unique … stylings … of … William … Shatner.
There are no words…..
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Night of the Jewish Cleaning Pon Farr
Cleaning the house and hunting for Chomeytz (leavened bread) products ahead of Pesach (Passover).
Wish me luck.
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Back from Elmira
Natalie was most impressed with Elmira College.
She spent the night in a dorm and hung with some current students.
The area around there is lovely as well.
After the tour, we went to Corning, and saw the glass museum.
That being said, the trip was a little bit over 4 hours each way, and I did most of the driving.
At this point, I need an air pump to inflate my butt cheeks.
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Things to do in Elmira When You’re Dead
I got up at an ungodly hour this morning to take my daughter Natalie to a college tour of Elmira College.
According to Google Maps, it is 4 hours and 18 minutes to the college, and the tour starts at 10:00am.
You do the math. (I actually post dated this to post at oh-my-God:30 last night)
Any suggestions as to what we should do to get a sense of the town?
What do people do for fun in Elmira.
Minor Freakout at the Saroff Household
It was a good one.
I was channel surfing, and saw that The Princess Bride was about to start on one of the cable channels.
Neither of the Saroff children had ever seen this film in its entirety, so I ran around like my hair was on fire getting them down to the TV.
We also made grilled cheese sandwiches and from-scratch tomato basil soup (this started before I saw the movie).
They enjoyed the film immensely. For them not to do would be ……… Inconceivable!!!
I expect to hear quotes from the film incessantly for the next few weeks.
Hey Charlie! It’s Pi Day!!!!!
Charlie does not like Pi (π).
He thinks that Tau (τ = 2π) is a better number.
Well I set this to post at 3/14/15 9:26, as in 2 3.1415926.
Happy Pi day, Charlie.
This is the 2nd Largest Rubik’s Cube That I’ve Ever Seen
Yes, I know, technically, it’s not a Rubik’s cube, it’s Megamynx, but it is a Rubik’s type puzzle.
Charlie was at the River Hill cubing competition today, and one of his fellow cubers was showing off a puzzle that he had made for him at a 3D printing shop.
You know what they say about the size of a man’s …… Megamynx.
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My Daughter, the Scenery Chewer
I just finished watching the Lansdowne High School production of Bye Bye Birdie.
Natalie was cast as the overbearing mother, and played it with appropriately overbearing gusto.
People loved her.
But thank God that it is over. Both shows weren’t off very well, but it appeared that the show was cursed.
There were multiple practises that were cancelled due to snow, including the full dress rehearsal, (!) and a spate of injuries, mostly sprained ankles.
They say that the show must go on, and go on it did.
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Sometimes, My Son is a Bit Dense
We were at an SCA event today, in a hall ruin by the Manchester Volunteer Fire Department, and I noticed this little display in the kitchen.
We spent a lot of time in the kitchen today, as Sharon was feastocrat (head cook) for the event.
Charlie did not get it.
It took the better part of a half hour, each time getting more and more detailed, until he FINALLY got the joke.
For someone who is scary smart, he can be awfully dense on occasion.
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A Poem for You
I had a little bird,
And its name was Enza.
I opened the window
And in-flew-enza.
Yes, I gots the Flu.
I has a sad.
Not Watching the State of the Union
I’m brewing something: Low grade fever, sore throat.
I am already feeling crappy, so I am disinclined to listen to Obama.
It won’t help.
A Correction:
When I wrote about the fact that the Iditarod sled dog race was beginning to look like Arizona, I mentioned that I saw the start of the Iditerod in 1968.
This is in error. It was a different race.
According to Mutharch, aka Saroff, aka my dad, it was the the Anchorage Fur Rendezvous which was a fair and a roughly sled dog race of about 25k.
My apologies.
What the F%$#ing F%$#?
Police Detained, and Child Protective Services opened an investigation on the family, because the parents allowed their children to walk home from the park:
It was a one-mile walk home from a Silver Spring park on Georgia Avenue on a Saturday afternoon. But what the parents saw as a moment of independence for their 10-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter, they say authorities viewed much differently.
Danielle and Alexander Meitiv say they are being investigated for neglect for the Dec. 20 trek — in a case they say reflects a clash of ideas about how safe the world is and whether parents are free to make their own choices about raising their children.
“We wouldn’t have let them do it if we didn’t think they were ready for it,” Danielle said.
………
On Dec. 20, Alexander agreed to let the children, Rafi and Dvora, walk from Woodside Park to their home, a mile south, in an area the family says the children know well.
The children made it about halfway.
Police picked up the children near the Discovery building, the family said, after someone reported seeing them.
………
The more lasting issue has been with Montgomery County Child Protective Services, he said, which showed up a couple of hours after the police left.
Mary Anderson, a spokeswoman for CPS, said she could not comment on cases but that neglect investigations typically focus on questions of whether there has been a failure to provide proper care and supervision.
In such investigations, she said, CPS may look for guidance to a state law about leaving children unattended, which says children younger than 8 must be left with a reliable person who is at least 13 years old. The law covers dwellings, enclosures and vehicles.
This is nuts.
Notwithstanding the , “It bleeds, it leads,” standards of local news coverage, children have literally never been safer from stranger abduction, and crime rates are at a decades long low, but the ginned up child abduction mythology of the early 1980s keeps the general public, as well as law enforcement and the social services bureaucracy, in a state of acute paranoia.
This Reminds Me of My Mother-in-Law
It’s Titled, “So Papa, hod do you like the iPad we got you?”
My Mother-in-law is a nice lady, and we get along quite well, but my occasional forays into being her IT help desk seem a lot like this video.
Snow Day Today
So the kids did not go to school.
We cut a deal, they shoveled the walks, and I (insert ominous music) cleaned the cat boxes.
Natalie, as you can clearly see, had a very bad hair day, which she posted to her Facebook page.
BTW, the best comment to her post was:
OMG YOU LOOK LIKE YOU COULD WORK IN A 60’S DINER WEARING ROLLER SKATES
It’s nice to have a daughter who does not take herself too seriously. (she loved the comment)
Dodged a Bullet Yet Again
No hang over.
I’ve never had a hangover.
I know of 4 people, including myself, who have never had a hangover as a result of being drunk.
It’s genetics, I think.
3 of the 4 people who appear to be hangover proof are Eastern European Jews. (The 4th might be, I’m not sure)
If you possess this mutant power, I would add a warning: 2 of the 4 people who do not get hangovers are alcoholics.