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Category: religion

09/23/07 07:00 - 74ºF - ID#41273

Post Yom Kippur update

Had a decent Yom Kippur, at least as decent as you can have for a day where you're supposed to be remorseful for all of the bad things you've done. For me my remorse was largely remorse for all of the tremendous anger I felt about my past relationship with the ex (and her mother) back in NC. Need to move on, as folks in the current relationship are counting on me and I shouldn't dwell in the past.

Wish I could have attended the blogtoberfest...it just had to be scheduled on Yom Kippur...aargh! Was it actually devoted just to bloggers, or was it a general octoberfest? For some reason I'd never imagine that there were that many enthusiastic Buffalo bloggers outside of (e:strip). I'd like to see Central Terminal sometime before there's some huge bat guano problem and they have to knock it down to prevent an epidemic. I wonder if they give tours...

Today at an estate sale (e:inscrutable) and I got a chest of drawers for $40 for our move to the new apartment. It's kinda moldy and the drawers don't open because the humidity of the basement made them swell shut. I'm really more worried about the mold, as the thought of the mold spreading throughout the house and making my existing respiratory situation (already exacerbated by (e:inscrutable)'s cat zeke and (e:ktmuffin)) gives me the willies. I need to find a can of "mold nuke" (if it exists) and apply liberally to said dresser. The dresser does have substantially dovetail joints and looks circa 40's-50's, so I'm hoping it turns out to be a good deal. It's going to be a pain in the butt to move it from the storage warehouse we're storing it in to the apartment, but hopefully we'll round up some of (e:inscrutable)'s friends to help us.

Oh, yeah, I'm moving from Elmwood Village to north buffalo on Sanders St. I'll probably writing more about this event in a future journal entry.
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Permalink: Post_Yom_Kippur_update.html
Words: 337
Location: Buffalo, NY


Category: religion

09/20/07 07:07 - 76ºF - ID#41219

Who shall live and who shall die

With the coming of Yom Kippur, there's the inevitable thoughts of death. There is the thought of death in the future (will I make sufficient amends for g-d to inscribe me in the book of life for another year) as well as thoughts of those around you who have died in the past.

Buffalo, I've noticed, is also a city of death. I see so much around me that was once beautiful and grand being subject to endless decay and destruction. I thought I had seen it all until I saw Beth Jacob cemetery, an abandoned Jewish cemetery in eastern Buffalo that is pretty much as destroyed and desecrated as a place in Buffalo can be. Until I had seen Beth Jacob, I've had been able to somehow stomach much of the blight in the city, but seeing blight on this level was the ultimate outrage.

In spite of my feelings that this situation with the Beth Jacob cememtery has got to change, the one thing that sets this place apart from all of the other decaying places in this city is that it's the only place where I have found decay and growth, death and life, in equillibrium. The area has so devolved that nature has taken over, and the decaying headstones are covered over with vines and surrounded by tall green grass. It's awful, yet quite eerily beautful at the same time; when I went about two weeks ago (with (e:inscrutable)) we saw deer in resting out in the open, as if to stake nature's own claim on the area.

"The Gates of Repentance are always Open"

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The Deer we saw

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The rest

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Permalink: Who_shall_live_and_who_shall_die.html
Words: 316
Location: Buffalo, NY


Category: birthday

09/20/07 09:11 - 64ºF - ID#41209

Happy Birthday

Happy b-day, spud girl (aka (e:lizabeth)).
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Permalink: Happy_Birthday.html
Words: 7
Location: Buffalo, NY


Category: religion

09/14/07 02:43 - 58ºF - ID#41089

Cycles

Today, I spent the first day in the year of our lord 5768 reflecting long and hard about the person I want to be. The gates of repentance have been opened with the blast of a horn, and it is up to me whether I will be inscribed in the Book of Life for another year, or whether I will part from the life I want to lead ten days from now.

There's so much that I'd like to write right now, but I don't have the time tonight. However I think that my posts for the next nine Days Of Awe will be a little more deeper than usual, especially considering the challenges and life-changing events in the coming year.



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Permalink: Cycles.html
Words: 120
Location: Buffalo, NY


Category: life

09/07/07 10:55 - 84ºF - ID#40986

Labor Day Summary

(reposting because I can't find out how to delete comments)

Labor Day Weekend Summary

Introduced (e:inscrutable) to the parents, and the four of us had yet another great buffet experience at the India Gate.

Found a nice apartment in Northern Buffalo near Sanders @ Colvin where (e:inscrutable) and I can live together and merge households.

Went to Toronto to see relatives I had not seen in seven years, the last time being at my grandfather's funeral. Nice to see them again in happier circumstances. As my orthodox relatives tend to have lots of kids, I wasn't surprised to find that I had another six 2nd cousins who I never knew existed. And they're all cute, of course.

Experienced the unbearably sad reality that my parents are getting older. Seeing the people who I relied on to protect me and be strong for me requiring my protection and strength was an extremely emotional experience for me. I also started realizing the burden on me to be the strong and protective one in my existing and future family relationships. I see a lot more gym visits in my future.

Got to see Toronto and eat lots of yummy Indian and Thai food. Remembered that I'd actually have pictures of said food if I wasn't dork enough to forget my digital camera. I also saw the Great Wall of China . That's Canadian humor for you.

Got a whole bunch of CD's of Candian artists I've heard across the water on 102.1 The Edge. I've found it surprisingly hard to find Bedouin Soundclash, Ill Scarlett, D.J. Champion, and Billy Talent in Buffalo stores, so I kind of went hog-wild the moment I stepped into HMV.

Got the non-blocking, multi-threaded querying feature of my Postg reSQL Coc oa framework in the initial stages of working, which should help reduce users' perception of latency in applications using the framework. In plain english, I spent some time on my laptop computer doing programming stuff and accomplished something important.

Got pizza scissors. For cutting pizza. I'll add a picture when I have time.



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Permalink: Labor_Day_Summary.html
Words: 353
Location: Buffalo, NY


Category: life

08/30/07 12:09 - 74ºF - ID#40820

Secret Confessions

I told my parents tonight. It wasn't half as bad as I imagined it. It's a huge weight off my chest, and with that past me I can finally concentrate on being productive and preparing for the future again, especially since my parents seem kind of cool about it.

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Permalink: Secret_Confessions.html
Words: 49
Location: Buffalo, NY


Category: life

08/22/07 06:58 - 78ºF - ID#40677

Hot Potato Mashup

Today I have little to write.

I instead reflect on the fact that sometimes there's stuff that you just can't write on the Internet because it's just such a hot potato and personal enough to the point of being inappropriate to share with others.

Time will change this, I'm sure, but it sucks that I have to (justifiably) limit my emotional outlets.


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Permalink: Hot_Potato_Mashup.html
Words: 62
Location: Buffalo, NY


Category: computers

08/16/07 09:36 - 75ºF - ID#40584

Basket Case

Got my new case today.



I'll probably write a review somewhere on the Internet at some point. Considering my investment, the case was virtually cost nothing.


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Permalink: Basket_Case.html
Words: 34
Location: Buffalo, NY


Category: housing

08/12/07 04:58 - 78ºF - ID#40497

House Hunting

(e:inscrutable) and I looked at more houses today. It's actually pretty tiring work, though I'm not sure exactly why. We're

Most of the houses don't have central air or insulation, and a lot of them are slightly smelly and not well kept. There was one we found off in the Kenmore Ave./Colvin area that was really nice. It was actually nice enough that I'm not understanding why the price dropped from $120,000 to $100,000, which is kinda of setting off my spidey-sense. But dammit, the house is nice, at least for northern buffalo. It's well kept, and it has central air, and the basement is rather non-icky. But there's always some kind of catch. It breaks the second law of thermodynamics if there's not a catch.

I've agonized over what the catch and reasons for sudden price drop could be. Maybe it's the school system, and that everyone wants to send their kids to Williamsville. Maybe it's crime. Maybe it's an enormous sinkhole under the house or enormous heating bills. There's so many different permutations of things that could be awful that I haven't found yet.

It probably doesn't help that I'm trying to please my parents a little bit with this decision. My mom can recount from memory endless horror stories about friends and relatives who got more than they bargained for, and my father has kept repeating the mantra "you may have lots of expenses that may make you wish that you were still renting." I'd like to show them the house I found so perhaps they might be more positive if I ended up buying it, but I'm worried that if I wait the two more weeks until they arrive, it'll be snatched up. I mean, the house seems nice enough and cheap enough that only an idiot would pass it up (unless there's a catch).


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Permalink: House_Hunting.html
Words: 309
Location: Buffalo, NY


Category: politics

08/03/07 09:56 - 80ºF - ID#40366

War on Error

To get a passport, I had to take half the day off from work, spend $100 in fees, and postpone any trips across the peace bridge in Canada for 12 weeks because I was required to send the government my notarized birth certificate. Yesterday, I get back my passport only to find that my first name is misspelled.

This brings to mind a lot of scary thoughts. Such as being stranded in a foreign country and not being to leave because some overzealous bureaucrat will only let a fellow with the first name of "Nial" leave (Nial is my first name misspelled. (e:inscrutable) helpfully suggested I solve the problem by legally changing my name to "Nial"). I am also worried that Osama Bin Laden will be allowed to enter the country because Osama Bin Lader's passport does not show up on any warning lists.

I don't think that this is how the War on Terror was supposed to work.
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Permalink: War_on_Error.html
Words: 158
Location: Buffalo, NY


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