First, there’s the procrastination factor. As in, yes, sure, I could get another couple hours in on this prototype while The Kid is lost in Legoland, but dinner isn’t going to cook itself. Read More »

I can’t seem to stay offline, even when we’re supposed to be on strike to protest SOPA. So, in case any of my 3 readers check in, I’m not here today. Read More »

My five year old is pretty well adjusted. He can dress himself, build Lego rocket ships, talk in full (if bizarre) sentences and wipe his own bottom – all pretty much the standard requirements for a short person of that age. Read More »

Jenny “The Bloggess ” Lawson doesn’t necessarily have cancer . Since I’m incapable of any real medical help, I can offer only metaphysical support, in the form of expanding her photobomb.This one’s for you, Jenny. Read More »

I’m a big fan of This American Life, so it was with some irony that I remembered how I had enjoyed the episode “Cat and Mouse” a few weeks ago, as I now sat with my phone, waiting for the saleswoman to tell me that our couch’s delivery date had been pushed back another month. “There’s a fabric problem,” she reports. Read More »

Since I still haven’t found a full-time gig here, I decided to take a week off as vacation. Meaning I would not spend all week stressing about finding a job. Read More »

I had no idea that Cleveland would so resemble Chicago. Clearly reinforcements are in order.Saturday morning we woke up to see a very tilted top sukkah strut outside the living room window. Read More »

Here in Cleveland Bad Cohen and I have much more exposure to the frum community than we had in hippieville, Oregon. Having now spent years in virtual conversation with frummies via blogs like DovBear, my natural tendency to provoke people is now leaning towards in-person, rather than online, conversations. Read More »

Part of the “fun” of moving cross-country is trying to find a new shul. Bad Cohen and I are still undecided on affiliation here in the Cleve, but I will share some highlights from the places we visited over the last couple weeks.- YK morning services in a sanctuary whose Ner Tamid looks like nothing so much as the Eye of Sauron. Read More »

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As you may have noticed, I’m losing my mind a little bit from spending every waking moment with a short person who constantly demands attention, food, and/or TV. Tomorrow he starts kindergarten for real; I look forward to getting my brain back.In the meantime, I’ve been exercising it by trying to figure out the new neighborhood, anthropology-style. Read More »

No, Cleveland weather isn’t quite that strange. The Kid found a new activity yesterday – breaking up extra pieces of styrofoam from the move into “snow,” otherwise known as a big freaking mess in my living room. Since I’m kind of at the end of my parenting rope, I let him do it, with a warning that he would have to vacuum it up afterwards. Read More »

My son is adorable. He’ll turn 5 this weekend, if he lives that long. When you’re used to dashing off to work every day, dealing with grownups who are, for the most part, logical and interesting even when they’re assholes, kids seems great. Read More »

Both cats arrived late but traumatized, and we drove to the 80s-chic hotel near our new house at 1am to sleep off the trip. Read More »

Cat exploring the wall of boxes. After sniffing at the tall, narrow box for our framed pictures, she decides to jump in. “I’m not stuck. Read More »

Fine china set (for Shabbat). Everyday dishes. Passover dishes.Add in milk/meat for real kosher folks, and OMFG. Seriously. Read More »

There’s an entrepreneurial adage that emerged in the last 10 years that goes, “don’t sell anything that Amazon can deliver cheaper.” That is, channels of distribution are changing. Retail, especially, is changing. Starting up a brick and mortar bookstore, music store, video store, makes little sense. Read More »

Our impending move has been doing great things for my social life. Suddenly, people we haven’t seen in months are clamoring to get together one last time before we’re gone. Read More »

I’m working on being grateful for good things, so my challenge for myself for today was to make a list of all the GOOD things that come from moving our whole family across the country. There will be wardrobe boxes to play with/in after unpacking. Read More »

Once you have children over the age of one, you find it necessary to rearrange your social life around other friends with kids. Read More »