Saturday, August 29, 2026
This was a sort of yin and yang day. In the morning, we went to Conservative Synagogue Adath Israel of Riverdale for the Bar Mitzvah of the grandson of one of my wife’s dearest friends. The young man was impeccable in his command of the Hebrew prayers and Bible readings. In my time, I managed, but was never ever that good.
In the evening, we paid a shiva call on the family of William Freund, who died nine days before his 100th birthday. He was a remarkable man, fleeing Nazi Germany as an adolescent. He attended Stuyvesant High School and CCNY. After a very successful business career, he often returned to Germany to discuss the Holocaust with students.
Sunday, August 30, 2026
The cost of housing is a critical factor in the affordability crisis. Many people are dealing with it by living with roommates in a practical economic relationship. https://www.
Shared housing has grown by at least 20% in the last decade. The savings can be substantial, $6,700 annually per person as a national average for two people in a two-bedroom apartment. In some cities, such as Jersey City, New Jersey and Irvine, California, the savings are nearly double that. Maybe marriage is not the only way that two can live as cheaply as one.
. . .
Everything costs money. A survey says that the average wedding guest spends $1,395 to attend a wedding.
It’s just an average, not a limit. You may be unfortunate to have friends (worse, relatives) who think that Lake Como is the perfect setting for their marriage instead of the VFW hall around the corner. In 2024, 18% of couples reportedly hosted a destination wedding.
As another example of my descent into antiquity is my fond recollection of driving to New Jersey for what I called a destination wedding.
Monday, August 31, 2026
A modest proposal: Wherever Donald Trump’s name or visage has been affixed or is in the process of being affixed to a public structure, the name or visage of Dolly Parton be substituted.
. . .
At first I was impressed by the Smart City Index, looking for a “good balance between its economic prowess (jobs and business activity included), applied technology, environmental concerns, and inclusiveness.” It placed Zurich, Oslo and Geneva at the top with London fourth. Seeing the Holy Land 45th was disquieting, though.
Then, I looked at the methodology. “A unique feature of IMD’s smart-city report is that it puts aside hard data to focus on the human aspect of city living, computing the answers of a survey of about 400 inhabitants per city to rank cities by their ‘livability.’” In other words, the opinions of 400 people in Gothenburg, Sweden, population 625,000, ranked #44, are worth a tad more than 400 New Yorkers out of a metropolitan area population of 11,311,000.
Come on now. There are only two synagogues in Gothenburg.
Worse, it only has 22 Chinese restaurants.
Tuesday, September 1, 2026
Just over one week ago, Madam and I went to Best Buy to buy tablets. We did not have in mind recreating the Ten Commandments, but rather to have a convenient way to carry and read books. In fact, we each have been doing that for years and the very age of our devices was the reason that we were seeking replacements. Because Best Buy offered trade in allowances, we brought in a Mac Air laptop, a mini iPad and a Kindle reader along with the two old tablets, hoping to offset a large portion of the very attractively priced new equipment.
Zero! Zip! Zilch! Nada! Rien! Gor nisht! Niente! Nihil! Do I make myself clear?
What might have originally been a couple of thousand bucks was now worthless except maybe to a scavenger looking for electronic components. It made me, of course, consider myself. What, if any, residual value did I have and to whom? My lifespan exceeded the combined age of all five electronic devices.
Wednesday, September 2, 2026
This morning, I got a message from Google announcing that my reviews of local establishments had been seen by a nice round number of people. As you know, I don’t hesitate to share my opinions, but I usually confine them to this blog, unpublished letters to the New York Times and my living room. I only had about half a dozen reviews in Google, most from the distant past and, upon rereading, some out of whack with my current point of view.
Should I update them, delete them or ignore them?
. . .
That Donald Trump is clever. After he spent six months unsuccessfully trying to impose his will in the Middle East, “President Trump called on Iranians to ‘rise up and fight’.”
He obviously recognized the need for a competent military force to accomplish his goals.
. . .
Hey, Mom and Dad or Mom and Mom or Dad and Dad or Mom or Dad or To Whom It May Concern: As your high school senior contemplates a college choice, note that a list of the best party schools has just been published.
Do not necessarily fear that four beer-soaked years yields only bad results. America’s Favorite Epidemiologist is a graduate of one of the Top 10.
Thursday, September 3, 2026
Terrific Tom and I had lunch at Lovely’s Old Fashioned, 642 Ninth Avenue, a sort of strange name for a hamburger joint. It’s a very small place, eight stools inside, four outside. Two guys work incessantly over a grill in front of you.
The menu is quite simple, a variety of hamburgers, a chicken sandwich and a hot dog plus the appropriate accoutrements. I had an excellent patty melt with sautéed onions, mushrooms, Swiss cheese, pickles and “Charlotte’s sauce” on grilled marble rye bread ($9.85). Their notable potatoes are called Sidewinder Fries, “a cross between a curly fry and a steak fry!” ($5.95).
The tight quarters make it hard to linger at Lovely’s (the short-order cooks were too busy to be interrupted by our questions about the name), but it’s open until 1 AM, giving you plenty of time to enjoy great food.
. . .
As a graduate of the top party school, I have some great memories of my days at Florida State.
ReplyDeleteThat chart is a phallacy.
ReplyDelete