Thanks, #8.

Skip Prosser

Skip Prosser was one of the good guys.

garden state variety post

Just some odds and ends this time, with numbers next to them to give the illusion of organized thought.

1. Baltimore's road back to baseball decency certainly includes Jeremy Guthrie. Incidentally, since I just got internet service here, today's game was the first I've listened to since leaving Berkeley. I listened to it while making...
2. Seared wasabi-glazed tuna, with cold soba noodles and edamame on the side. This, ladies and gentlemen, is one of the finest meals I have ever cooked, and it was on the cheap too, thanks to Trader Joe's fine selection of frozen fish. The whole meal for two clocked in at about 10 bucks.
3. 9 of the 10 dumbest traffic patterns I've seen in my life are in New Jersey, a state I've lived in for 2 weeks.
4. Other than #3 and absurd state bureaucracies that make everything take longer than it should, NJ is great. The summer weather is nice, but not oppressive, NYC is right there (cheap options for getting into town have been located and will soon be explored), and it's on the correct coast. The apartment is excellent, and I feel like a king in my new kitchen (many readers may not know until this post that I love to cook).
5. K and I have visited two churches here so far. At the first, they had us, as newcomers, present the elements for the Eucharist. The one this morning removed the epistle and replaced it with a contemporary spiritual text. So far the first one is the favorite. Paul's not my best friend, but I think churches need to come to grips with him.
6. The Sunday NY Times is fun for the whole family. K and I enjoy the excellent reporting and the day-long process of perusing it, and the cats find it to be an excellent place to take a nap.
7. As a veteran of several different stores in the chain, I can safely say that IKEA is what hell would look like if we let Swedes design it and fill it with largely practical and attractive furniture. It provides the illusion of escape at all times. The Elizabeth, NJ location is right next to the turnpike and Newark airport, and yet mysteriously hard to get to.
8. I read articles in last month's Harper's about the greening of urban spaces in Detroit and also about the "topography of resurrection" in NOLA. Even given the melodramatic slant of both articles, I've been daydreaming about the next phase of urban development in the US, post-whatever. Jurgen Moltmann (rightly, I think) cautioned a recent audience not to confuse the end of our society with the end of the world, so I'm not labelling anything apocalyptic.
9. UNC's basketball recruits for the '08-'09 season are nasty.
10. I'll be back more often now that I'm settled in NJ and have reliable access to the interwebs.

Take care.