We (my daughter and I) went to see West Side Story on Broadway this week with her theater camp. Tomorrow she performs in a Broadway Spectacular at Middlesex County College – she is in a skit of Peter Pan.

On My Blog

  
  

Elsewhere in the Blogosphere

• Mrs. S. and family visited Tel Chatzor: looks like an enjoyable place to learn history and have a picnic.
• They Dared to Return: a true spy thriller WWII tale is reviewed by Jew Wishes.
• EllieVellie has been creative in how she depicts architecture.
• Carver reports on the heat in her Nature Notes; I’ve been too hot to spend much time outside, other than gardening in the early evening.
• Ilana-Davita continues Jewish History in Hamburg with some fascinating gravestone photos and a tale of a sweet girl who died too young.
• Baila moved to a new home with a view. And what a view!
• Looking forward to Sunday’s JPIX – it will appear on Toby’s blog, where there is currently a beautiful sunset.

Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, is in less than one month. So I started looking at past posts I wrote about the holiday. I have an idea for a new way to present the simanim (symbols) – I plan to post it next week.

On My Blog

  
  
- Agnon, Joyce, Woolf and Kafka
- What Happens When You Raise Taxes

Elsewhere in the Blogosphere

• Jew Wishes reviewed Izzy’s Fire, a book about a Catholic family who saves Jewish families in Lithuania during the Holocaust.
• Ilana-Davita wrote part one of Jewish History in Hamburg. She also has a fascinating photo of a kosher dining room, where Jewish passengers ate before traveling to America in the early 20th century.
• Cooking Manager has some delightful recipes for black-eyed peas, one of the simanim for Rosh Hashana.
• James took some fascinating shots of Philadelphia through a fountain. My daughter wants to go to the Philadelphia Art Museum, because we got a pamphlet about a Renoir exhibit.

I read Nomad by Ayaan Hirsi Ali – she has led a difficult life, and what she has to say is not easy to hear, but she is a good writer and her story is gripping. I read the book in only two days. I can’t say I agree with her conclusions, but her story of growing up in Somalia, Kenya and Saudi Arabia, then running away to Holland because she doesn’t want to marry the man her father has chosen for her is quite a tale. I amazed that she has made it as far as she has in life (at one point, she was a member of Dutch Parliament; now she is a fellow at American Enterprise Institute).

On My Blog

  
  

Elsewhere in the Blogosphere

• Ilana-Davita reviews Welcome to Heavenly Heights in a non-traditional format.
• Ruti Mizrachi interviews Ilana-Davita
• I need to print Mrs. S.’s cookie recipe for my son to try out on our family.
• Carver has beautiful photos of the North Carolina beaches – I’ve never been there, have you?
• Robin has photographed lovely plumeria blossoms.
• Shimshonit asks questions about the mosque at Ground Zero.

It’s been quite a while since I did a blog review, and I owe a few people links, so I will aim to do them when I can on a Sunday morning instead of a Friday. I have more photos from the Longstreet Farm, but it was such a hot and sunny day that many of the pictures I took came out too bright. I may need to ton them down in Photoshop. The above one is a model of what might have appeared in the Longstreet farmhouse in the 1890′s. The original farmhouse was built in 1775 and more parts were added on in later years.

On My Blog

  
  
JPIX Spring 2010
Review of The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit
Interview with Gary Minkoff about Grandma Clara’s Cheesecake
Ten Things to Do While Waiting at Jury Duty

Elsewhere in the Blogosphere

• Thank you to Rebbetzin’s Husband for including JPIX Spring 2010 in last week’s experimental Haveil Havalim.
• Ilana-Davita posted an apricot cake recipe, and it inspired me to make a peach cake, though I used an apple cake recipe and modified it.
• Mrs. S. recommends the book Don’t Go Near the Water: “This wonderful, lighthearted, and hilariously funny novel focuses on a US naval PR unit based on Tulura (a fictional Pacific island) during World War II.”
• On the subject of funny books, Jew Wishes recommends The Frozen Rabbi. But she didn’t like the end. Too bad.
• Eva Abreu’s video interview with Gary Minkoff of Highland Park about Grandma Clara’s Original Cheesecake.

Busy, crazy week – birthday boom bash for my daughter on Sunday, busy, busy, busy with work, then this morning my daughter wakes up with a fever and a virus! The nerve of her – I hope she gets better soon. She is missing the last two days of school.

On My Blog

  
  

Where the Fortress Looms: After discovering the fabled Ruin Rui in Ruins, Patrick finds mutated pins and dead racers everywhere. Bruce is the last rebel left. Or is he?

Elsewhere in the Blogosphere

• Ilana-Davita teaches us about the philosophy questions in France. Here are a few: Can a scientific truth be dangerous? Can art exist without rules? Is the role of a historian to judge?
• Ima2Seven called this post Health Nuts but of course I think the people who are nuts are the ones eating the junk food. It’s been a big struggle for me to get my family to eat healthier. I told my daughter I wanted to bring apples and carrots for a party (not being totally serious), and she told me the other kids would laugh at her (they seriously would).
• Dr. Weil on ADHD Without Drugs
• Jew Wishes reviewed The Story of a Life by Aharon Appelfeld.
• Therapy Doc writes about depression and loss in I’m Not Depressed.

Upcoming on this blog: An interview with someone who has experience managing and helping out with a shiva house

On My Blog

  
  
  

How to Pay a Shiva Call

Millet recipes (I tried the millet cakes – as a pilaf, it was delicious, but it failed to become cakes. Maybe I’ll cheat and add eggs and a binder like matza meal).

Elsewhere in the Blogosphere

• Ilana-Davita reviewed A Year with My Father. We all await the English translation (it’s in French).
• A Mother in Israel wrote about An Alternative to Adler: Parenting Answers from Dr. Gordon Neufeld.
• This broccoli rabe recipe on Simply Recipes looked appealing (if I link to it, will I remember to try it?).
• Are you afraid of Twitter? Try one of these three approaches: Smart, Friendly or Responsive.
• It was D-Day this past week, and I heard very little about it. But Jew Wishes had a commemorative D-Day post.
• Robin is doing the photo meme Summer Stock Sunday again this summer.