Artistic Tendencies, Fairly Odd Parents-Present, Idiosyncratic Celebrations, News Outta My Control / 23.11.2002

I have always been interested in the social aspects of technology: that is, how new ideas brought on by technological development seep into the everyday lives of regular folk. In the last few months I've been contacted with greater frequency by subjects of my writing or from those who have been alerted to my stories in the process of a doing a web search. Googling is becoming a natural process. And the interactions I'm having because of it add to my sense of the enlarging net community. In September I began my 9/11 story with a quote by Jenna Jacobs, wife...

Idiosyncratic Celebrations, News Outta My Control / 30.10.2002

I don't think we'll ever be ready for John Allen Muhammad or John Lee Malvo Halloween costumes. But if you're still undecided about who you would like to be tomorrow night, there is still a overabundance of very scary public figures who just may fit the bill. But please, be careful not to frighten your kids (or your significant other) too much. Scaring the begeezus out of your stockbroker is ok (via Forbes). ...

Fairly Odd Parents-Past, Idiosyncratic Celebrations / 04.08.2002

Forty years ago I became a man. In the Jewish sense. August 4th, 1962 I was bar mitzvahed. It was actually the 4th of Av, 5722 on the Jewish calendar. And that day actually fell on July 13 this year. But I, being the assimilated Jew that I am, decided to commemorate this event by going to temple yesterday, a place not normally a part of my Saturday schedule. Since I live far from where I grew up I went in search of a synagogue. A coworker recommended a couple shuls nearby, one Reform and one Conservative. I grew up in...

Idiosyncratic Celebrations / 17.07.2002

Every year it's the same cast of characters: Phyllis Diller, Art Linkletter, Lucy Arnaz, and Donald Sutherland. All were born on July 17. And every year I make sure I tune in on Entertainment Tonight on this day to see if there are any new starlets who have joined our group. What just a minute. Doing a Google search, there are more of us. How could I forget Earl Stanley Gardner (Perry Mason), Bernice Abbott (photographer), Peter Schickele (Schickele's Mix and P.D.Q. Bach), Phoebe Snow, and David Hasselhoff (who turns 50 today)? We are an illustrious group. It's not only birthdays...

Fairly Odd Parents-Past, Idiosyncratic Celebrations / 01.05.2002

My name was Chaim Shmuel Guyetsky. My friends call me Jeff. My father calls me Chaim Shmo when he teases me and Jeffrey when he's about to invoke his fatherly rights of advice. I'm a Jewish boy in a gentile's body (well, almost). Like a family heirloom, the original importance of which is now lost, my spirit has been handed down from the shtetls of the Ukraine. Yet, like the game of Telephone, where a string of people quickly whisper messages from ear to ear, by the time it's gotten to me I can't understand a word of it. I...

Idiosyncratic Celebrations / 22.04.2002

Today's Primo Giro Grande della Bicicletta con il Giorno Correttamente Gonfiato delle Gomme, a celebration of my first bike ride of the year! The April weather has been unseasonable warm, more like June. Warm, dry weather is my favorite, just like the summers of my SoCal youth. Coworkers are complaining about the heat while I'm ready to sunbathe on the sidewalk in front of my office. I'm in a good mood and have temporarily suspended all new entries onto my fret list. I usually don't look forward to my first ride, more specifically preparing for my first ride. The tires...

Idiosyncratic Celebrations, Worker's Comp / 21.12.2001

It's ¡El Día Más Corto del Año Pero de los Días Está Consiguiendo más Largo y Soy Día Feliz! This is one of my most favorite holidays! Yes, it's the advent of winter (my second least favorite season) and I am not a cold weather person. BUT, the days are finally getting longer. The sun will not rise any later than it did today nor will it set any earlier. And I now have my personal equinox day to look forward to!! A few early winter discoveries I've made: First, I love these!! They make my feet feel toastie and keep me...

Artistic Tendencies, Idiosyncratic Celebrations / 10.12.2001

If you remember, I was consumed by preparations for our annual Leaf Blowing Festival. While the weather has been incredibly mild for a DC fall and it seemed more like May than November, the festival was a smashing success! We had a bumper crop this year and the dry weather made it a breeze to blow (it didn't make my allergies any easier, though)! The Closing Ceremony was attended by thousands. The roar of the crowd was deafening. It took a lot of work but it was worth all the hours of planning, raking, blowing, and showering off leaf dust....

Idiosyncratic Celebrations, Mechanical Aversions / 28.10.2001

Spores, spores, spores! That's all we've been hearing about here in DC. And it's clear those pesky little things are harder to control than the CDC originally thought. It is making me just a tad nervous. But what's really on my mind this weekend are spores of another kind: mold spores! For the month long La feuille Souffler la Fête (or Festival De Soufflement De Feuille, depending on which web translation page you use), what better way is there to put a positive spin on my yearly encounter with my handy dandy leaf blower than making it sound so, well, so...

Idiosyncratic Celebrations / 14.07.2001

If you remember, back in May Le Premier Fauchage de Pelouse du Festival de Saison marked the beginning of the lawn mowing season. You might also remember that we've been having trouble with the belt that propels the lawn mower around our palatial estate. By June it was slipping off so often it no longer made mowing a pleasurable experience. I hired a local guy to do it while I took the mower in for service. It took 3 weeks to get the estimate informing us the crankshaft was bent (the probable reason for the belt problem) and that it would...