October 2005 Archives

October 24, 2005

Today is a special day on YUTOPIA. According to SiteMeter today will be the day we will have received our 100,000th hit. Granted, it took some time to get here, but considering my frequent and often extended absences from writing that's to be expected. In a way it's fitting to reach this milestone on Hoshanna Rabba. The meaning and significance of both the holiday and web hits have been greatly exaggerated over time, but both still mean something I suppose.

Sometime after the hag I'll do a little retrospective and contemplate where this blog will go from here. Despite my inconsistent postings and a general malaise afflicting some fellow bloggers (including my self), I'm not ready to close up shop just yet. The truth is I do miss the writing and there are some topics I've been meaning to address. I'm looking for ways to continue in my new schedule while maintaining some semblance of quality. Two new features to look for are weekly parasha related derahsot and book reviews, and we'll see what else comes up along the way.

In the meantime, to all loyal and accidental readers thanks for reading.

Moadim Lesimha / Hag Sameach
Josh



October 9, 2005



The recent trip to Seattle went off with out too much excitement. Sure there were definitely some ups and downs along the way, but the over experience wasn't terribly unpleasant. The really short version is that Seattle is largely a combination of unbridled beauty and mind-numbing stupidity - everything you'd expect from the major city in a state whose official gem is petrified wood.

Many thanks to everyone who helped out with their suggestions. I'll spare the gory details up here, but if you're really interested in my exploits, observations, and digital photography, feel free to read on.