Magic Jewball

I can’t believe it’s been a week since Austin! In between there was a parade and, well, I love a parade. Myself, Sister1, and Niece4 (away from school on special dispensation) braved hordes of drunken mooks to get tiny glimpses of baseball players’ heads. It was worth it! People climbed trees and street lights and sanitation trucks but we just stood on a bit of higher ground behind a fence that finally gave way from all the pushing. Freedom! Here’s the only picture I got with anyone in it. See Tiny Jeter in my hand? (That’s Bob’s joke, thanks Bob). Also shown, Minka Kelly and her mother-in-law, Mrs. Jeter, at the front. Delightful.

But Austin, oh that was fun. And just as last year, people came despite health and personal issues that could easily have held them back. I’m so proud of my team! I’m also thrilled to tell you that they’re all such great and fun people that the weekend just flew by, like a blink. Even the stuff that I planned (I was a co-captain) that didn’t quite work out didn’t bother anyone. Like Haunted Austin? Not so fabulous… picture people in old-timey costumes telling lame stories between trotting you all over the city at forced march tempo. At one point, the lame cowboy’s neckerchief just fell right off and he didn’t notice for ten minutes. But after we made a dash for it, we discovered a carriage ride in the most beautiful Cinderella coach led by Princess Fiona who was charming and perky. People kept honking and calling out congratulations. Clearly, marriage between multiple women is now legal in Texas.

Speaking of, here’s the Texas Statehouse. There are lots of fun things inside, like hinges with the state seal on them and light fixtures in the shapes of stars. But this is my favorite photo. Oooooo.

That evening, we went to the Halloween procession down 6th Street. It’s sort of famous but we went too early to see the best of it, mainly because there was some sort of race we were supposed to be in the next day. There were lots of great costumes, notably the Headless Horseman (he was the horse too, it was kind of amazing) and the Dick in a Box guy. You heard me. But the best was this kid. We later spotted her at the Damned show.

But then, of course, there was the thing for which we had come.

No, not this!

This! It was such a beautiful day and because it was in a location off the beaten track, they imported Texas cheerleaders to place along the route to cheer us on. They rocked! I understand they take football seriously in Texas or something.

Other things I can’t forget to mention: the food, which I’m told by my more meat-eating compatriots was the greatest they’d ever eaten in their lives. And the space… well, I mostly saw that from the plane. But let me tell you, last week I attended my first co-op board meeting and much was made about a lawsuit going on between two neighbors over a leaky pipe issue. Pipes. I share pipes with my neighbors. In Texas, there would be a house and then miles before another house. Not farms, mind you, just lots of space. Rachel, our teammate who lives there, told me she could never live in New York just because of this. Whereas I need to see people breathing in my face 24/7 just to know I’m alive. But we agreed that it was fantastic to see how people live so differently.

And lastly but definitely not leastly, Team Fabulous! raised over twice our goal and just being there to be part of a sea of people all trying to achieve the same objective was as emotional as ever. Thank you all so much for your contributions and support. Everything’s bigger in Texas, including my thanks.

Did you know this band was from Austin? And they played this on the radio while I was there. You can’t make this kind of stuff up! Well, I could, but I didn’t.

Fastball – The Way

Yeah, what did you think I would post about?

I know Cubs fans are crying a river, but it’s felt like a long time and certainly, the beginning of the season didn’t really point to this outcome. But somewhere along the way, pies were had and everyone seemed to be having fun. Fun = good.

Speaking of fun, tonight’s game was essentially my only break in a really long week, so sorry for the delay in pictures and updates about Austin. I hope to get to that soon. I’m also going to try to squeeze in a trip to the parade in the Canyon of Heroes Friday, somewhere between my “extra” Java class and my two meetings with two different collaborative groups I’m in for final and mid-term projects.

I can’t believe I’m awake. See you in February, baseball.

Queen – We Are The Champions

Sorry!

Anyway, I managed to combine school and baseball tonight with my “Visualization of Instructional Design.” That is, do a PowerPoint (well, now I use Keynote but whatever) illustrating theories of Instructional Design with some other method of visualization.

Here’s how I did it.

(click to enlarge)

The professor said it was, “very unique.” I think that means, “I don’t even know what to think” in academic speak.

People always ask me, what’s the proper greeting for Yom Kippur? So if I see Suzyn Waldman, hurrying out of the WCBS booth at today’s delayed Yankee game to get to services, what should I say? Happy Yom Kippur? Happy Holidays? Seasons Greetings? (Well, it is a season, the season of repentance… but that’s a stretch.)

There are several options. Yom Kippur isn’t a holiday in the secular, Madonna sense. Celebraaaate! It’s a holy day, in the old-timey, Biblical sense. It’s the last piece in a period of reflection that begins over a month before, where we think about ourselves, what we have done wrong, how we can make those wrong things right, and hope that God shows mercy. On Yom Kippur, we fast and spend nearly twenty-four hours in continuous prayer. At the beginning we ask God to inscribe us in the “book of life” a metaphor for forgiving our sins and allowing us to have a good life for another year. At the end of Yom Kippur, the “book” is closed and sealed. So the most traditional greeting is:

Gmar chatimah tovah (Gmahr ha-tee-mah toe-vah) = may your finished sealing be good
That is, may you be sealed in the book of life with a good outcome.

This can be shortened to Gmar tov (gmahr tove), literally, “a good finish,” but really a shorter way of saying the above.

You can also still say, “Shana tova” (shah-nah toe-vah), or, a good new year.

There is also “have an easy fast,” which I’ve inherited a non-fondness for, because my mother used to say, quite rightly, that the point of Yom Kippur is to suffer so that one really turns inward to think of their behavior and past actions. So having an easy fast defeats the purpose, really. She used to say (and others do too), “have a meaningful fast.” Of course, you can cover all bases by saying, “have an easy and meaningful fast.” But it’s perfectly acceptable to go with the standard, “have an easy fast,” and I promise, no Jew will ever answer you, “don’t tell me what kind of fast to have!”

Not to mention, this is all easy for me to say, since I’m on medication that doesn’t allow me to fast. But I’m not eating steak frites either.

Anyhoo, thanks for the good wishes, and thanks to the Yankees for having an early game so Suzyn and I can attend evening services without missing the game. I’d also like to say that I’m sorry for anything I might have done to hurt anyone this year and I hope that you’ll forgive me. In conclusion, clinch early and clinch often.

Hothouse Flowers – I’m Sorry