kochleffel

I've just been virtually attending a wedding, being held somewhere on a beach. From the standpoint of watching on Zoom, it wasn't a wonderful experience. The sound was almost nil, and in-person guests kept standing in front of the camera. Also, what joker wears a tuxedo to a beach wedding?

Cheesecake is definitely not in my plans, because non-dairy cheesecakes, while they exist, aren't very good. Fish burgers with creamy slaw would be OK. No Margaritas of any kind for me, please. For the wine I might substitute Lakewood 2021 Long Stem Red. I haven't been to Puerto Chiapas and it sounds like maybe I haven't missed anything.

I'm in favor of tigers, especially Hobbes. Not an aficionado of chicken wings, and I'm only comfortable with lasagna if it's made with lactose-free ricotta, which exists but is hard to find. Grilled orange chicken skewers would have been OK with me, but it was raining most of the afternoon anyway. Neither tequila nor jalapeño figures in my plans. Shiraz and Syrah are the same grape, but there is a convention of calling in Syrah when it's grown in cooler climate, such as France or here, and Shiraz in a hot one, such as Australia or Israel. The wines are quite different, Syrah being more elegant (but often quite dark and heavy), Shiraz being fruitier and higher in alcohol. On the speculation that a blend with Viognier might result in something more in the French style, I'll suggest Fulkerson 2016 Syrah. Aomori wasn't on my itinerary for the TPAC from Yokohama that was cancelled. I was also one of the officiants this morning and did a number of things that are perfectly legitimate in our congregation but "not the way we always used to do it," as the old-timers would say. I'm no spring chicken, but I've lived here only 16 years.

You can definitely use gift cards to purchase internet services -- I did it this afternoon. BUT, on the website, add-ons can't be purchased with a combination of a gift card and a credit cards. Either the entire amount has to be paid by gift cards, or none of it. OTOH, payment for a booking can be made with a combination.

Hmph. Right after I posted, I tried to pay the balance. The HAL website couldn't accept fare-balance payments, although it could take payments for add-ons. Just now it accepted the payment, although it required some gyrations to use gift cards.

I know that I'm supposed to prefer dark chocolate, but I also like milk chocolate. For friends across the pond, American milk chocolate is sometimes an unpleasant surprise, because the formula that Milton Hershey developed, and which others copied, uses slightly soured milk. Not going to a waterpark although with the weather as it is, that's almost the only place anyone would consider going. The Buffalo Soldiers deserve more recognition. I don't really get the point of baked ziti. Would like the cocktail, but I think the recipe should say to drop the maraschino into the glass after pouring the shaken ingredients. No Rioja grown in the Finger Lakes, so maybe a Syrah from Shalestone Vineyards on the east shore of Seneca Lake. Shalestone is unique among Finger Lakes wineries in producing only reds. Haven't been to Hiva. The blood donation was OK, the usual difficulty with getting it started and also with drawing the lab tubes at the end, but they were quick both times to get help from a more experienced person. I felt terrible in the evening, but more likely from lack of sleep. I'm still tired. It's time to pay the balance for the Spanish Farewell, and I'm going to upgrade to premium Internet service. This is because I've applied to a graduate program with hybrid courses (in-person and online) and two of the classes fall when I'll be aboard the Oosterdam. They're at 4:00 p.m. EST so it will be no problem to attend them. One other falls during a layover in PHL, where I should be able to sign in but will have to keep my mic muted.

I'm not taking any houseplants for a walk, and certainly not on stilts. Once in a discussion about instrumental music in the synagogue (some are opposed to it), I told our rabbi that I would be OK with any instruments except bagpipes and saxophone. His son has since started to play the saxophone, and we have members who can play the pipes. Lemon chicken might be possible for tomorrow, if I get a lemon. OK on the drink and the wine, but as Zinfandel isn't grown here, I might suggest Lakewood 2021 Cabernet Franc. Pictures of the synagogue in Charlotte Amalie below. The second language on the poster is Danish. I'm due to give blood this afternoon, and I wish I felt better--I didn't sleep much last night. I'm also back on my exercise program, and today would have been a day for indoor rowing (it's raining intermittently) if I had been able to do it this morning.

I'm not sure that "all or nothing" is a good idea, but I'm OK with aunts and uncles even thought many of mine were crazy. I sometimes cook with tofu but don't have any on hand. I might like the cocktail even though I have no interest in tequila. I'd be OK with a Shiraz but don't have any, and probably won't have any wine today since I'm one of the officiants for a service at the synagogue tonight (more below). I haven't been to Malaysia. A Jewish holiday called Tisha b'Av, which is actually just the date, the ninth of Av, begins this evening. It is not a joyous holiday, as it commemorates the destruction of the Temple and, to a considerable extent, Jerusalem, twice in different centuries, plus several other calamities. In my circle, most people, if they have even heard of it, want to avoid it, but I think it's important even though I don't subscribe to the theology that established it. We do it in Spanish-Portuguese style, although with a modern liturgy, with the chapel in almost total darkness and the Ark draped in black. People should bring flashlights, and if wearing leather shoes, should leave them in the lobby.

Um, isn't everyone already someone? I refuse to honor junk food. (When there was a national effort to promote healthy eating, the head of an association of junk-food manufacturers predicted that it would ruin the economy. I had not realized that the economy was dependent on the junk-food industry). Every dog has its day, but is it today? I'll bookmark the vegan meatballs recipes, as my home cooking is about 80% vegan. No on the drink, and for wine I'll propose Fulkerson Lemberger. Lemberger is officially classified under the name “Blauer Limberger,” this red grape variety also goes by the synonyms “Lemberger” and “Blaufränkisch.” The late-ripening Lemberger probably originated in vineyards on the lower stretches of the Danube River. The grape was documented in Austria in the second half of the 18th century and is cultivated there to this day (as Blaufränkisch) in Burgenland and near Vienna. I didn't get to Skagway in 2021. The conference was great, both because it was so good to be with everyone again (well, everyone who attended, which was fewer people than expected) and because the sessions were good. The food was edible but that's all I can say for most of it. It was like a steam bath outdoors and a freezer indoors; the temperature in the dorm suites could be adjusted, but it seemed that nothing could be done about the extremely cold meeting rooms. I missed two sessions, on different days, through jump-starting a friend's car; after the second time she had the battery replaced. Some people, not including me, stayed up singing songs into the wee hours. It turned out that the university's conference center has a liquor license and there could be a cash bar during the evening programs, as long as no students were present.

I'll refrain from singing the Marseillaise, out of consideration for everyone's sensibilities. I'm aware of sharks but hope that they will stay where they belong, which is in the ocean. I don't enjoy pandemonium, nor do I particularly like macaroni and cheese, but what baffles me is why NCL should think that it (macaroni and cheese) is a good side dish with steak. To a person who keeps kosher, the mere thought of it is nauseating. Isn't salt-and-pepper fish just fish? The cocktail, for a change, is a genuine martini. I don't think that Malbec would be good with the fish, and I haven't been to Papua New Guinea, although I remember Margaret Mead's book about it. We've now been informed that our conference housing will be in a dorm complex called Mechuga Heights. It's the conference of a Jewish organization, and to the Jewish ear that sounds like Meshugga, Yiddish for "crazy." I'm not sure how the ban on alcohol and cannabis will affect that .

I'm applying to a graduate certificate program at what used to be Hartford Seminary, and they wanted transcripts. The two private institutions I've attended charged $9 and $10, and will take a while because when I attended in the last century everything was on paper. Enormous State University, which I also attended in the last century, sent it instantly at no charge.

I'm going to the barber shop this morning, but they never have a quartet. Everyone should know that the four basic food groups are sugar, fat, salt, and preservatives. OK on the salmon burgers, not OK on the cocktail. The wine is a Bordeaux blend , so for another 2019 vintage I could suggest the 2019 Damiani Meritage, although it emphasizes Cabernet Sauvignon more than Merlot. I haven't been to French Polynesia. The conference management just announced that we're meeting on a dry campus and that anyone possessing any amount of tobacco, cannabis, or alcohol will be escorted off the campus by campus police, who have state police authority. The alcohol ban will especially affect those who like to stay up into the wee hours singing "Kumbaya."

I came straight home from the car dealer, because I didn't feel like I could stand the stress of Wally World. The thunderstorms in the forecast have been postponed, so in a few minutes I'll finish the mowing--I had to wait a bit to be sure that the mower batteries were fully charged. It is always a toss-up whether the mower or I will run out of energy first. In other car news, I was ignoring Prime Day but the wiper blades the car also needs were a Prime deal yesterday. They were in stock at an Amazon warehouse in the next county and should get here yet this afternoon.

The son of friends of mine was born with a heart problem similar to Murphy's. He was rushed to Yale-New Haven Hospital (after his dad nearly decked a doctor at the community hospital who suggested calling in a priest to baptize the baby--the family is Jewish) and had surgery there the same night. Typically they repair this kind of "plumbing" problem in stages, so the boy had several more surgeries and for a number of years they couldn't travel more than an hour from New Haven. It took about 15 years for him to recover completely from the multiple heart surgeries, but he turned out completely healthy.

Last evening I happened to watch an old episode of Dr. Pol that was all about dairy cows and family dairy farms. I did not have an Etch-a-Sketch and when I tried one I didn't enjoy it. The garlic-butter salmon would be OK with me and so would Roy's alternative. The cocktail probably would not be. Riesling, like most German and Austrian grape varieties, grows well in the Finger Lakes. I'll suggest Red Newt 2019 Glacier Ridge Riesling. I haven't been to Puerto Chacabuco. This morning I take my car back to the dealer to have the part installed. I made the appointment online before they called to say that the part had arrived, because I suspected that if I waited to book, there might not be any slots open today. They called yesterday afternoon. After that, another stop at Wally World. Packing for the conference has gotten a little more complicated, because they notified me that the room in which I'm scheduled to present a session has a projector and cables, but no computer, so I should bring a laptop. The closes thing I have is a Chromebook, which will work, but I have to complete the presentation in Google Slides instead of PowerPoint.

I'm wary of Cheer Up the Lonely Day, because the typical effort to cheer people up is just to exhort them "Cheer up!" It seems to me that relieving the loneliness is what's needed. Would have been happy to have a blueberry muffin this morning, but I think that Bowdler's Day could be abolished. What I learned in kindergarten: (1) I was very clumsy and uncoordinated (still am); (2) some kids liked to eat paste. I would like the cucumber salad but I'd like Roy's alternative better. No on the cocktail, yes on the champagne. Sheldrake Point 2021 Riesling Bubbles would be an interesting alternative from the Finger Lakes. My only acquaintance with Cabo San Lucas is from episodes of The Love Boat that called there. Yesterday I booked flights for Utah next spring, using the last e-credits from cancelled travel, and ordered tickets for our community orchestra, which for a change is going to play a few works that I would want to hear. I had a hard time getting to sleep last night but had to get up this morning to take out the trash.

Vivid account of some of the flooding in the Hudson Valley. Ms. Dagaev looked outside. It was like a river had been diverted, running now through the middle of the four small buildings that are the Weyant Green Apartments in the village of Highland Falls. The water had grown deeper and faster as it flowed toward Highland Brook, feet away, and the Hudson River, downhill, and those little buildings were the last structures it would strike on the way. Ms. Dagaev was unsteady on her feet on dry land. No way she could go out there. I'm grateful that, between neighbors who rushed to help, and firefighters when they arrived, everyone got out safely. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/10/nyregion/new-york-highland-flooding-rescue.html

I don't have any digital pictures of Addison as a kitten, but here he is with Fergus as adult cats.

I was reading about the rains and flooding in the Hudson Valley. Will their area be OK? https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/10/nyregion/flooding-ny-vermont-new-england.html

I'll start with a photo of Fergus as a kitten in 1995. I also have photos of him with his littermate Addison as kittens, but they're predigital and I don't seem to have digital copies. I'll pass on both the Piña Colada and the punch. Probably yes on the vegan wrap as long as it's not made with real vegans. For the wine, instead of one from the Finger Lakes, I'll suggest one from Oregon: Eyrie Vineyard 2017 South Block Reserve Pinot Noir, at a mere $250/bottle. David Lett, the founder of Eyrie, pioneered growing Pinor Noir in the Willamette Valley in 1965. When I lived there ca. 1980 I knew him. I also wrote a wine column in an underground newspaper at a college where the students would never, ever have started an underground paper, but the faculty and staff had one. The college was nominally temperate but one of the owners of the Sokol Blosser winery was on the faculty. In 1994 I was at the Pike & Western wine shop in Seattle and saw a poster for an International Pinor Noir Festival that was being held at the college. I haven't been to Edinburgh, but I've read the 44 Scotland Street and Isabel Dalhousie novels by Alexander McCall Smith that are set there. The weather forecast for today was rain all day, but the reality is sunny and not too warm. This upends my plans for the day, and I will be mowing, mowing, mowing.

I agree with Lenda about using sugar-cookie dough to make snickerdoodles. I wonder whether the call of the horizon is like the call of the wild. For people like me there should be an out-of-fashion day. I don't mind stuffed butternut squash but would be unlikely to make it. Not particularly interested in the cocktail. For the wine I might substitute Hosmer Estate Pinot Noir 2021. I haven't been to any San Antonio, not even the one in Texas.

I knew that the cats had been venturing out more and farther, but I still hadn't seen one until tonight, when Mona Lisa (I think) ran past me while I was watching television. The show was Dr. Pol and they were, of course, examining a cat.

I finished the wet-sock treatment last night. It may have done some good. The treatment itself is not as unpleasant as it sounded; having cold, wet socks on my feet didn't feel bad at all. On the other hand, the process of putting wet socks on, and of putting other socks on over them, is very difficult. There was a reason that they used to wet the tablecloths on ships during rough weather. Do you remember that I retired a week ago? A few days later I received email from a head-hunting firm inviting me to interview for a job at Cornell that I would have been interested in 30 years ago. I wonder what their source of information was. I stopped working in that field in 1996.

I'll skip the body painting and I have no intention of riding a motorcycle. I have a mostly undeserved reputation for French cooking, and a friend asked me to plan a menu for Bastille Day and provide recipes. For the dessert I recommended a blueberry clafoutis, since blueberries are in season and it's easy to make. The rest of the menu is probably more complicated than she probably wanted, and possibly too heavy for July for health-conscious people (yoga teacher and physician), but French portions, in multi-course meals, are smaller than American portions. If the pad thai really took only ten minutes, and if I had the ingredients, I'd make it. I could do without the cocktail but might like the wine. The first few times I had Malbec as a varietal, from Argentina, it struck me as thin and overly tannic, but that is not really typical. It's one of the grapes allowed in a Bordeaux blend or a Meritage. It used to be thought that Malbec wouldn't ripen in the Finger Lakes, but here is a 2021 Malbec from Thirsty Owl, on the shore of Cayuga Lake, which was the first Finger Lakes winery to grow it. I haven't been to Omaezaki and it wasn't on the Japan itinerary that was cancelled in 2021. I was only virtual for the synagogue today, because my digestion is upset and, with a conference presentation in a week, I don't want to risk catching anything that I don't already have. I added Baby Murphy to the prayer list. Yesterday I ordered new sneakers for the conference, which is on a university campus with a lot of walking between buildings, because none that I had seemed to fit any longer.

I think that the might be the second forgiveness day that we've had recently. I'd be OK on the fish but not so much with the coconut. No on the drink. Yes on the wine, if it were in budget. From the Finger Lakes, Chateau LaFayette Reneau Unoaked Chardonnay 2021. My first cruise was from Civitavecchia. I can't locate my photos from Rome, but I want to post about the Basilica San Clemente al Laterano in Rome. The present basilica was built around 1100, with decoration continuing for several centuries, atop a fourth-century basilica atop a first-century building that housed a temple of Mithra, probably built over the ruins of a house burned in the Great Fire of 64. It has been excavated down to the Mithra level; here are pictures from its official website. The basilica has been owned and staffed since the 17th century by Irish Dominicans, who undertook the excavations starting in the 1950s. During World War II, Jewish religious services were held there, as it was considered extraterritorial property of the Republic of Ireland. It also houses relics of St. Cyril and is a pilgrimage site for Slavic Christians. The location is outside the principal tourist orbit but it is still busy enough that there are timed tickets to enter the excavations.