Possible פטירה

My roommate's Apple laptop may be meeting it's maker (no, I don't mean Steve Jobs). The נפטר status of the computing machine is in doubt. Okay, well to me it is. My roommate thinks it has passed on; while I am optimistically (maybe a bit ridiculously so, were it not for such a solemn situation) hoping that it's kind of in a coma or something and maybe it'll come back to life.
The little laptop's life came to an end while he was using it, but most (about 100% likely) likely came to its end when it came into contact with some of the water that came from the massive torrential downpour from today's ridiculous rains. We had some windows open in our apartment from when we moved in, etc., (I had my windows open, kitchen window open, it was nice). Even though it was raining earlier today, none was getting in, and I was there, so it was cool, plus our angle is such that rain goes the opposite way of hitting our window (at least earlier today). However, when the rains picked up, that water stuff started coming in. I didn't notice it at first, but then I picked up some of my books in my room on the windowsill and saw that they were wet - not cool, but they were fine. But this was a window that was sideways to the wind, so not so bad. A little later, I checked on my roommate's room (what reason do I normally have for going in there?) and his tefillin were on the window sill - not good, but fortunately the bag was totally drenched but the תפילין were fine. But then I noticed that near the window on the floor was his laptop. Oh yeah, there are few things that one reaches for more quickly in water than electrical appliances, and certainly a computer. I had a towel in hand from drying off the windowsill, so that towel was on that laptop like nothing. He aspires to bring it to an Apple store (the closest thing he'll come to the Maker) and see what he can do.
המקום ינחם אתו בתוך שאר אבלי ציון וירושלים

Yay! Party

Well, I can now relax - at least more than I have since over a week ago. From after last שבת, I had been concentrating on preparing for ראש השנה at the old folks home in CT, primarily a couple of דרשות (though I ended up composing both of them on the train ride up there), (okay, so the truth is that I basically chilled out last Sunday (or at least that's how I recall it now). Then ראש השנה came around, then got back. Then we moved in. After finishing moving in on Friday morning, the preparations for our apartment-warming party began. Then שבת hit. It was fine, though after dinner, I slept for 13.5 hours straight, arriving an hour late for lunch. As soon as שבת departed, it was back to preparations. Then the party. Yay! the party.
The party went well - even in spite of the inclement rain (thank you all who made it to the party (you, too, Margueya (there, you got your name mentioned in my blog))), even though it started off a little slowly. ( Darisa/Aliza mentioned our party - another yay.) So, now, with a couple of social engagements tomorrow (or today), I can begin a little bit of relaxing or something.

MOVED!!!

Relieved. Totally drained of energy (well, still some reserves left). God am I pooped.
Relieved that we have moved in.
However, the unpacking is left to do, which is not fun, especially since I probably need to get furniture to properly unpack, which means I'll probably be semi-packed, still, for a little bit, which isn't unlike how I've been living for the past month or so, but I think by mid-November, I'll be mostly done settling in to the new digs.
Now the next hurdle is to go get massive amounts of food and beverages for Saturday evening's soiree in honor of our movin' on in. And as Tovey/Tova Isenberg (I know her last name, ok) and Zehava [Krinsky (for those who thought I didn't know)] requested, there will be beer there (unless Key Foods has suddenly sold out of such a product).

Moving In (not done, yet, though)

Good news #1: Our apartment was ready today (the picture with a blank room is of my bedroom pre-move-in). Good news #2: We began to move in today. Good news #3: Ben moved all of his stuff in today. Good news #4: I moved in most of my stuff today. Bad news #1: I wasn't able to move all of my stuff in today (the picture with the boxes is of my moving in in progress). Props to those who assisted us with the move-in (M. Schultz, D. Wolkenfeld, Y. Werbin, S. Weiss, anybody else I forgot, I appreciated your help as well).
After going to the building to pick up our keys around 1:15 pm today, waiting around for the super until 2:10, then taking another hour to go through all of the procedural blah, blah, we (Ben Greenberg and me) then packed and such until 5:30, then went up to Marble Hill and picked up a U-Haul. By the late evening, we were able to have just about all of Ben's stuff in the apartment and about half, maybe a majority of my stuff in the apartment. We then went for sandwiches, then decided I would finish packing up my stuff until 2 or 3, while Ben and his gf went to a hookah bar in the Village. I was, indeed, able to complete my packing and cleaning, and made it over back to our apartment to pick up the U-Haul. While about to go back and complete the last of the moving (which would be the end to my 2.5 moves in as many months, and finally end my semi-nomadship, and allow me to just settle in and sort out my stuff), which would be ostensibly ending in our returning the U-Haul before the 7 am due time (otherwise, we are charged another $19.99 for another day's fee) - alas, my about to be former roommate calls up, very pissedly, concerned about the cessation of his slumber for the night, but almost more bewildered about moving at nighttime! בשלמא about the arising in the wee hours, but, hello, it's not uncommon to move then. Well, I'm not speaking about most people, but it's common, nay, I would say de rigeur for me to move, etc. at nighttime - let's just say it's a particularly productive time to move. So, he forbade me to return to the apartment until his departure at 7 am (yes, the 7 am at which time the truck is due back).
Well, גם זו לטובה, eh? The take which I'm going for is that it'll allow me to focus on dealing with the stuff I have here now, rather than being soooooo overwhelmed about what to do with all of my stuff.
Okay, so, hopefully in three more hours (I know I'm going to be exhausted....), Ben and I will finish up the moving, return the U-Haul truck back to the place in Marble Hill, come back to the Heights, go to Key Foods to shop for our apartment warming, and then he'll get ready and head off to CT for שבת and I'll crash or daven שחרית or something.

Forgiving for the New Year

If there's anybody out there to whom I have caused any harm or mental anguish, etc., please forgive me as we enter into this new year. If, for whichever reasons, they are to great to simply let go, please let me know. Have a good, happy, and healthy new year, and may we all be signed and sealed in the book of life.

Watched movie #2 of my holiday break

Watched the movie tonight with a few people that included such great lines as the following.
-Anne-Marie, do all the interns get Glocks?
-No, they have to share one.

-You really think you can hit the sauce with a bun in the oven?

-We were both bad husbands, weren't we? But I had an excuse. I'm part gay.

-What would be the scientific purpose of killing it?
-Revenge.
Ahhh, aren't Wes Anderson movies funny (albeit in a horribly dry and restrained sort of way)?

No More AOL for Drew soon

After slightly more than ten years (since 25 Sept. 1995), my family will be dispensing with our AOL account. Although that's kind of sad in a way, life moves on, and so does the Internet. So now I'm hoping on two things: 1) I don't miss many important e-mails at that e-mail address and 2) maybe I can retain my AIM SN of drew6997. Time will tell.

Post-shabbas fun

Immediately upon the shabbas queen's departure, I endeavored in one of my favorite activities in this world: playing basketball [with Jews]. I went to Mt. Sinai for the first time ever in the gym there (if you were thinking about הר סיני in the מדבר and playing b-ball there, I'm sure that'd be an interesting image) and played basketball for the first time in months. I'll be sure to do that more often.
After which, I went to Tamar Ellman's apartment-warming party, which went well, met a few more Heightsians. We even got a little bit of an apartment tour (picture here is of Anna (Arona's roommate) and me sitting at a little kid's table and chairs by Tamar's bed in her room).
{deleted stuff (5/23/06}
And now I'm blogging and checking e-mail. Hopefully, I will now get to finish watching the end of that movie (see begining of previous posting).

Shabbas Reflections

My shabbas started well, aside from having a sinus cold, as I watched a majority of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, a great movie (I still have a half of an hour left to watch) on its own, but add to that that I haven't seen a movie in well nigh a month. It's so sad. But thank God and Rabbi Linzer for the month of October minus All Hallow's Eve for being on vacation such that I can enjoy some movies in this holiday season.
I made it to shul on time for מנחה for the first time in many a moon for a Friday afternoon, which was good for once.... Dinner was nice, though it was below 181st Street, but no hard feelings, gals. Right, it was nice, and I got to meet this girl about whom Meir had mentioned to me, which was cool, and it was a nice group of people, followed by a group mostly made up guys from, of all places, Columbus (yes, I knew them), so that was cool, as a couple of them were in town primarily for the שבת.
After sleeping for ten hours, I davened in my room and made it to shul to see most people already had departed, much to my social chagrin. Not cool. But, as Ilanit pointed out to me, it was a short layning. So I only got to speak to several people. Okay, as I'm thinking about that, that was a MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT!! Oh well, life goes on and God allows for such missed social opportunities. Don't worry, you concerned individuals out there, regarding my having recited ק"ש בזמנה, as I had arisen earlier in the morning, and took care of said מצוה before putting head back to pillow.
Lunch was cool. Post-lunch conversation included a query as to my utilization of Rabbi Abadi on a previous entry (see Smirnoff Ice posting), as he is, apparently, regarded as lenient. Granted, I know little upon the matter, but I wouldn't have noted it much, had it not been for the fellow with which I had spoken (again, see that posting).
Went back and slept for an hour and three quarters - wanted to continue, but had shul to attend. סעודה שלישית went well - got some comments on the blog, though I also got criticized (I sure hope jocularily) for having claimed to have lived in the Heights for the past 13 months, when 12 of those were on Amsterdam, which apparently "don't count". Whatever.

Miscellania from this week

I started to fall 'under the weather' (I use said (typed?) term as the weather has shifted for the cooler and my body mustn't've been prepared to deal with this change) Wednesday, with an inkling of a feeling Tuesday night. Boo. I had to survive a cold on my most social day and a half of my week (שבת קודש). That's weak - double boo. Although I'm hopefully feeling better (Please God, heal me), who knows how my throat will wake up tomorrow? I don't mind being sick too much, though this is break, so there's no better time to be sick than break. However, I am supposed to be leading מוסף for both days of ר"ה as well as giving a couple of דרשות, so it'd be horribly sucky for me not to be healthy and not to have full voice capacity.
I developed an interest in the exegesis of the beginning of Gen. 38, having realized that the simple reading of the text results in one realizing that Onan was killed because he did not provide offspring in his brother's name. That's it. So I begun to look at the relevant Talmudic pericopes, with Philo to follow, not to forget articles and, of course, the halakhic literature.
Found out that alcohol towards bedtime, although helpful in getting to sleep, actually mitigates one's sleep quality.
YCT had their/our first-ever (?) pre-holiday break mishmar on Thursday night. A מנין of guys stayed around, but I only made it until 2 am, mainly due to 1) my tiredness from lack of sleep in the previous several days, but also 2) because of my being sick (see above). It was cool, Reb Avi (Avi Weiss) gave us his Shabbas Shuva derasha, Rabbi Dovid Silber gave an AMAZING שיעור on סליחות - yeah, you read that right. But then again, he can give a lecture on anything and be amazing. That was a real treat. Then Rabbi Love gave a class on hashkafic perspectives on Sukkos, then Rav Nati gave a shiur on two days of Rosh haShana, then I stopped going to the classes and did some learning on my own until I left.
The pictures posted here are of Rabbi Avi Weiss and Rabbi Dovid Silber, both during the Thursday evening at YCT.
Friday mid-day, after waking up, I made it to Mt. Sinai and signed up for membership. So now I'm a Mt. Sinai member.