The Once in a Lifetime Compliment

Today I was sitting in Washington Square Park on a park bench, holding my Moleskine notebook in my lap and writing a diary entry.  The notebook isn't a hardbound one, so I was struggling to write in it.  After I'd filled about a quarter of a page I was interrupted.

Two well-dressed, elderly ladies walked by and said to me that they couldn't read what I'd written, but that my handwriting looked very nice.

I tried to tell them that my handwriting isn't really very good, and never has been, but they cut off my protest with, "it's very neat and orderly."  I decided not to argue and said, "thank you."

I mean, my handwriting is awful.  Calling it "chicken scratch" is likely to get chickens up in arms (wings?) over the insult...  It's never been good.  In elementary school I had to take special handwriting classes with a special pencil because my writing was simply that bad.

The only time it was ever not terribly awful was the few years I used a fountain pen for my diary entries.  It actually had improved a little during that time, but then all my pens started leaking and I quit using them.

So, it was very odd for complete strangers passing by to tell me my handwriting is nice, neat and orderly...

This is what I was writing in my notebook when the ladies saw me...  They would've seen
it upside down, from the walkway...

This is something I wrote a few weeks ago, in my previous notebook, with a
more rigid plastic cover, writing at a table on the High Line.

A Requirement or A Choice?

One of the things I've been thinking about lately is whether religious restrictions and activities are a requirement or a choice.

For instance, I work in an office where everyone but me keeps strictly kosher.  I respect that, and I make sure all the snacks I bring to work are certified kosher, and I don't start conversations with others about what non-kosher foods I eat outside the office, though I'm honest if anyone else brings up the topic.  And I don't tell anyone else that they should change their ways (let's face it, being an observant Jew is not a bad thing, it's not like being a heroin junky or something that harms others) and I generally don't disapprove of other people living their lives the way they want.

But a few times I've had discussions about meals and some of my religious coworkers sigh and say they wish they could eat what I eat, "but I can't eat that."

On fast days that are still work days, some (not all, of course) of my coworkers lament that they can't eat or drink all day, as much as they would really like to, and they don't sound happy about fasting.  On those days, out of respect for my coworkers I choose to not eat or drink, so as not to make the fasting harder on them.  It's a sacrifice I choose to make, and I don't grumble about it during the day, and generally I don't even mention that I'm doing it unless someone else brings the topic up first, I accept it's my choice.

Yesterday I did not fast on Yom Kippur, a choice I made to not participate.  In an online conversation someone else said they wished they could eat, and that while I cut my finger on a food related item during the day, they said that they'd happily make that trade themselves, a cut finger for not fasting.

So, why not?

I think I'm missing something.  People are following religious restrictions, but in some cases don't sound happy about them.  They don't sound like they accept that being religious and following the religious activities and restrictions is a choice they've made.

The word "can't" implies that one doesn't really have a choice, that someone else is forcing it on you, possibly against your will.

What I'd rather here instead of "I can't" is "I won't" or "I choose not".

Yom Kippur - Not For Me

This evening begins the Jewish holiday, Yom Kippur.  It's the most solemn, and holiest day of the year for Jews, involving fasting, with the goal of atonement and repentance for the past year's sins.

However, I don't think I'm going to participate.

It's something I've thought about, and based on the fact that I simply don't believe in G-d, it doesn't make sense.

Some holidays are about people, like Passover is about when the Jews were slaves and left Egypt, Chanukah is about the temple and people.  Those I can honor and feel good about it.

But Yom Kippur is between an individual and G-d.  So, in my case, with my beliefs (or lack thereof), half the equation would simply be missing, making it an empty participation.

Last year I fasted for part of Yom Kippur and in the end decided it was pointless and not fulfilling in any way, so I quit in the afternoon and enjoyed a nice meal.  This year I don't think I'll bother at all.

Thursday Evening on the High Line in September

Thursday afternoon I spent a few hours on the High Line park in Manhattan, since it was a day off from work.

At sunset I walked north with the 100-300mm lens on my camera, and then at 30th Street, after the sun had set, I swapped to my 11-16mm f/2.8 lens for some night photography.

Unfortunately, my hands shook a lot more than I realized and I've had to toss out lots and lots of photos.

The album, with captions (I really with Blogspot would copy those over when I choose photos from Picasa albums) are on my Picasa page...

This is one of the coolest sunsets I've seen.

My Dad, Octopus Wrangler

My father just embedded this video in an email he sent to me...  You can see him wrangle and Octopus at the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, Oregon...

My parents have been volunteers at the aquarium since it first opened (whatever year that was) in the 90s...  Both still volunteer now, my father with the animal husbandry staff and my mother in the office.  My father also conducts special hands-on tours and octopus handling.

I've been there numerous times and it's a lot of fun.

The last time I was there, in 2008, I followed my father on his fish feeding rounds, snapping lots of photos...

Friday Afternoon at Brooklyn Bridge Park

Yesterday after I worked the usual half day at work (my company works half days on Friday for people to prepare for Shabbat (or Shabbos, depending on your family's regional origins...)).   I got home, but didn't really want to just hang around the apartment, I wanted to go outside.

I didn't have much of a goal in mind, so just went out to the subway and got on...  Not long after I got on, though, the glass of orange juice and orange seltzer I drank sort of caught up with me, so I got off at Jay Street - MetroTech in Brooklyn to find a convenient public restroom...

In my wanders I ended up at the Brooklyn Bridge Park, down by the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges (where there was a decent public restroom...).  I saw the middle section of the park, between the bridges, open for the first time since I got to New York City, and the new carousel was operating.

Unfortunately I'd only carried my 100-300mm lens for the SLR, so I had to use the iPhone for the sky photos...  But I had some fun with the SLR, too, photographing people around the park.  A few couples gave me their cameras for me to photograph them with the bridge and the Manhattan skyline behind them, and I always smilingly oblige...

Anyway, I wrote captions for all of them, but importing the photos from my web albums here doesn't bring those in automatically.  You can see them all in my Picasa web album...