The Power of Egg Salad

1. Boil eggs
2. Peel eggs
3. Place eggs in vessel 
4. Add mayo and Dijon mustard until right
5. Salt, pepper, and paprika, to taste
6. Paprika on top for color

This simple recipe dominated our pre-Yom Kippur preparation for years.  More or less since I left the URJ to move into the private sector, Abby and I have hosted the break-the-fast for our Jewish friend who were stuck far away from family on the holiday. It started small, with about 10 people (a dozen eggs) we collected at services who had no where to go and ballooned to about 35 people (four and half dozen eggs) in our 550 square foot apartment in New York, with the smoked fish sponsored by the CC parental units.  

It was a big deal. We had kuggel and bagels.  We had fish for about 300 people and fruit and cookies and challah, juice, coffee, soda, and every once in a while a few shots of booze.  But for our friend Anna, the egg salad was reason enough to move heaven and earth.  Her break-the-fast was not complete without the consumption of copious amounts of the above listed egg salad. 

This year, we did not make it nor did Anna eat it. And that was strange.

Book Report: Eat & Run

While I read this in about two days (during the week and having work to do too), this book was not that good.  I suppose reading one of the best memoirs ever written according to some list I read somewhere and then reading this semi-self-help running book didn't set it up for what it could be...but overall I didn't love it.

Scott Jurek's story is an interesting one and one I trust others could learn something from.  However, as he notes, it isn't that special.  He was a kid who had it tough but not that hard (it might have been worse but the book doesn't dive that deep into it) and he had trouble with his marriage that doesn't seem that extraordinary (or it might have been but the book doesn't dive that deep into it) and he worked really hard at becoming the greatest ultra runner of all time but not harder than I think you would have to in order to run more than 100 miles in a day (or he did but the book doesn't dive that deep into it).

I will say that I very much enjoyed the stories of the races and wish he went into more detail (see above) about what he had to do and what made him run like this.  I run marathons and I have to change parts of my life to get by...I believe it would have made the book better to know more about his non-running struggles.

This was also my first "with" book.  I believe after flying through this light read that I could tell when Steve Friedman's hand was heavier than Scott Jurek's dictation.  It wasn't always extremely apparent but it was clear after a while.

A couple of words about vegans.  There is no such thing as a non-militant vegan.  I believe Jurek might come close, but not really.  A vast majority of the recipes in this book seem good, but would be improved with butter.  I will however, try to recover with less animal product now...so in some ways Jurek wins.  In others I had a burger last night and it was good.

Three and half out of five stars.

An Anti-Government Rant

Over the course of my running I have lost a good deal of poundage.  I was pushing American unhealthy when I started running. Now I am in better shape...I even have one of those before and after shots. 

Pre and Post Running

I am in even better shape now than I was in this picture which was taken during the IU Mini Marathon in 2011.  But according to the USDA I am border line obese with an estimated Body Mass Index (BMI) of 29.  Now I don't feel like I am on the edge of death by heart disease or walking up stars and having the house lit on fire. 

Not in the humble brag way, but I have run 974 miles this year and will complete two marathons within a month and I love it. I eat at least 1/3 of a plate of greens with every meal and I don't have red meat more than a few times a month. We have cut most of the "bad" foods out of our at home diet and have low-fat high-protein breakfasts 6 days-a-week.  I can't tell you the last time I had McDonald's and I have  completely ended my Diet Coke addiction.  All of this and the Government says I am border line obese -- which sucks.

Book Report: Homage to Catalonia

George Orwell is a bad ass.

That could very much end this report but I cannot leave it there.  I choose to read this book because it was listed on a list of the best memoirs ever written by some person who read a lot of memoirs.  While I am no expert in such things, or any things really, I happen to agree.

The narrative chapters about Orwell's time at the front and his posts during the May fighting in Barcelona were raw and beautiful at the same time.  He pulled no punches and provided an honest view of something I never want to know.

While written in the 1930s, there are a number of parallels to today's economic situation in Europe generally and Spain specifically.

I will say that the chapters about the internal anti-Facist political struggles behind the front were extremely complicated and hard to follow.  I understand that, at the time, they were used to set the record straight (or as straight as they could be set) but they were tough to follow today.

War sucks and this book does nothing to convince you otherwise.  However, it does provide insight into the mind of someone willing to die in the muck to fight against what should not be.  It was clear that Orwell in someways enjoyed the fight and what he was doing, but he didn't pretend that it was something beautiful.  His heroism was beautiful, as was his desire to leave the country.  His dedication to democracy and workers' rights was as inspirational as was his dash to get out of Spain before he was killed or arrested.

4 out of 5 stars.

Eating the humble pie

NYRR caved listened.  There will be a baggage check for the NYC Marathon.

And the peasants rejoice while I am must eat my humble pie.

Nice work NYRR.

However, you have to think that this was an option from the very beginning.  NYRR did some really serious damage to its reputation.  As a friend said to me earlier today, you can't unring a bell.

But this is still the right move and will help with the finish.

Well done.

Jerusalem is the undivided capital of the Democratic Party

Save a Puppy.

So, that happened. 

AP is now reporting that President Obama intervened personally to change the recently adopted platform, which was pro-Israel by any account, to include more specific language about God and Jerusalem.  This was met with opposition by many of the party members and CSPAN zooming in on the only Arab it could find in the crowd.  The vote was close and most likely did not reach a two thirds voice approval. But that doesn't matter, it passed.

He is saying "No."

Now, I am a Democrat and a Jew.  I believe that Israel has a right to exist in peace and security; and I think the US should support Israel.  I know that Israel believes that Jerusalem is its capital. The United States has never recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital but still is its only staunch ally in the world.  Republicans and Democrats alike have not recognized Jerusalem and both have been supporters of the Jewish state. 

The fact that the Parties must include Jerusalem, even if neither has ever had a president that recognized the city as Israel's capital, as a plank in their platform doesn't make any sense. Supporting the country is clearly more important than this stupid semantic argument but hey, substance has no place in convention season.

This is a failure of democracy and transition.  This change and then regression, via presidential intervention, is a power play of small minded special interest politics. Good job AIPAC, you still have your chops.

Not only was this a back-track, flip-flop, or whatever else you want to call it, it was done shamefully. The Party builds the platform and nominates its leader...not the other way around.

So, no matter how you feel about the Jerusalem issue, this was just as bad, if not worse, than the rules changes forced upon the GOP by the Party Leaders that the wack-a-do Ron Paul delegates were so pissed about.

If you wonder why young people aren't interested, his presidential intervention a perfect example of why.  Party leaders say something and then it is done.  No voice for those not in the back room.  No voice for those without the ear of the special interests. No power for those who are told they are being empowered.

And now the Democrats look like fools

Puppy Link.

Last week we got to see the wonders of the GOP convention and its non-fact based presentation.  Now we get the Democrats.

To kick off the week the California Democratic chair, John Burton, compared Paul Ryan to Joseph Goebbles.

STOP IT. BAD POLITICAL OPERATIVE. NO. BAD.

“They lie and they don’t care if people think they lie… Joseph Goebbels – it’s the big lie, you keep repeating it,” Burton said Monday before the Blake Hotel breakfast. He said Ryan told “a bold-faced lie and he doesn’t care that it was a lie. That was Goebbels, the big lie.” (Source: SFGate.com)

New rule that shouldn't have to be said: NO NAZI REFERENCES. That goes for both sides. And this quote wasn't even that good! If you are going to have the gal to call someone a Nazi at least put a sentence together, you illiterate ass-hat.

This bodes well for the next few days.  Perhaps the DNC and the California Dems might think about giving this guy the boot for being an idiot.  Doubtful but it would be nice.

Just a thought

Puppy Link.

It would appear that my posts about Paul Ryan and FOX News and Paul Ryan and his marathon times garnered a lot of views on this little, meaningless blog. So after making a big deal about Paul Ryan being a lying sack of shit, I want to talk about how the media has jumped on an unimportant issue --his marathon times-- as harbinger of something more meaningful.

• FACT: Paul Ryan said he ran a "two hour fifty-something" marathon.
• FACT: Paul Ryan ran a 4:01:25 marathon in 1990. 
• FACT: Paul Ryan finished a marathon and that is nothing to scoff at. 
• FACT: His "slip-up" should upset runners but not the general public. 
• FACT: The general public should be upset with Ryan about his lies about everything else.

However, the NPR, the New York Times, The New Yorker and a few others have made a big deal about his marathon lie.

Besides the fact that many people in high stress gigs, like political reporting, tend to run and also hate when people lie about their PRs, this seems like a pile on. These publications have discussed short parts of the nearly 99% untrue speech delieved by Ryan, but they have given significant digital column inches to his "mistake" regarding his marathon time. Not to go all liberal-media-conspiracy here, but come on folks.

Do not take this for me for forgiving this lying sack of shit for lying about his PR. But I am a runner who will never BQ nor ever coming close to a "two hour and fifty-something" marathon.  So after the untruths perpetrated during his speech in Tampa, this just got my goat.


As a runner I feel like I am in the right bitching about Ryan's slip-up, however the Times, NPR and The New Yorker should focus on fettering out the real, important bullshit that Ryan and Romney are spewing to lead our country back to the 1700s and not about the running thing.

 Just a thought.

An Open Letter to Mr. Buffett

Mr. Warren Buffett
3555 Farnam Street
Suite 1440
Omaha, NE 68131

August 31, 2012

Dear Mr. Buffett,

I must start this letter by admitting that I do not currently own any shares of Berkshire Hathaway, INC.  I do however, find your investment strategy (find something good and make lots of money off of it) and your philanthropic strategy (give most of that made money away) to be inspirational and exactly what we should expect from leaders in our country.

But this open letter is not about big issues or strategy.  It is about one of your investments and why I believe you found it to be such a worthwhile place to park some coin over a finite period of time: Brooks Sports.

As you can tell from above, I have been a fan of yours for quite some time.  My mother taught me from a young age to respect the power of Berkshire and your strategies behind its power. She purchased a share back in the day, and made a handsome profit on that investment. She regularly says she "could kick herself" for selling that one share when the investment doubled, but it was still one of the best investments she ever made. It serves as a fantastic learning opportunity for us all.

I have been a fan of Brooks for a shorter period of time. After running a in a few different kinds of shoes, I discovered the Adrenaline GTS 11s.  These shoes were both light but supportive of my extremely flat feet.  However, like most shoe companies, Brooks updates its shoes every year so to make us runners have to change into new shoes.  Granted we run through on average 2.6 pairs a year, but I don't like having to get new shoes after I find a pair I like.

So when Brooks came out with Adrenaline GTS12s with a cartoon of you on it sole I knew I had to own these shoes.  These shoes were made especially for your last shareholder meeting. Not being a shareholder, it took some work to procure those shoes.

I called the only shoe store in the country with pairs of these shoes and ordered them to be sent first class mail from Omaha to San Francisco.

Good running investment?

I was then a proud owner of the Buffetts.  And they were great for about 125 miles of running.

Two Hours and Fifty-something

In today's installment of why I hate politics I would like to focus on a lie that any marathoner can spot. In that this post is really about running, you don't get an early exit puppy link.

In an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt last week, Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan said he's run a sub-3:00 marathon.

In the interview, after Ryan told Hewitt that he ran in high school, Hewitt asked if Ryan still runs. Ryan replied, "Yeah, I hurt a disc in my back, so I don't run marathons anymore. I just run ten miles or less." When Hewitt asked Ryan what his personal best is, Ryan replied, "Under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something." Source: Runner's World (Updated at 7:20pm with new info.)

I call bullshit, Mr. Ryan. If you ran a Boston Qualifying marathon, either with this year's or last year's rules, you would remember where it was, the weather, how you felt at mile 22, what you wore and for sure you would remember your exact time.

Ryan's finish line photo

I don't believe runners are a significant voting block so this won't matter much. But this kind of crap is a sure way to piss us off. These are PERSONAL records and should be held as point of pride.

My first marathon was completed in 5:00:03 and I am proud of that. It stood as my personal best time until I ran my second marathon, where I cut nearly an hour off my time with a 4:00:11 marathon.  Believe me I would remember my 2:50ish marathon for sure.  And I am not alone; we all remember how we did in that PR race.

NYC Marathon 2010, Owning 5:00:03

It is one thing to lie to me about medicare funding (which you did) or even about the President's record (which you did).  But don't lie to me about your marathon times you blowhard. You are no longer a guy with a big heart from a small town; you are on the main stage.  Mr. Ryan, you have graduated to the big leagues and now you need to run a clean race and finish, but not make up your times. When you came up fast from the back bench of Congress people were impressed with your P90X routine and your boyish good looks, but that doesn't cut it anymore.

Step-up and lead, or get off the course.

Fine, here is a puppy link.

The Word of the Day is Liar

Puppy Link

When I was in fifth grade, my class took a trip to Sacramento to do gold rush stuff, take pictures, and eat too much candy in Old Town Sac. But there are two things that I remember most from this trip.  My dad came along as a chaperone and we watched a comedy show, which I think was In Living Color, in which they spoofed a kids' show with a word of the day.

The word of the day was liar. L I A R, Liar.  The bit was way above my head at the time but the adults who were in the room thought it was really funny, and the kids just laughed along.

L I A R

This is a long way of saying that the spelling of liar in that sing-song kids' show way was ringing through my head while reading Paul Ryan's speech from last night. (Yeah, I don't watch. I just read in the morning. Better than coffee to get you moving.)

But this morning the liberal Internets exploded with claims of FOX News calling Ryan a liar. This claim is just a lazy and untruthful as his speech.

Sally Kohn, an opinion contributor to FOX News' website, is a left-wing, community-organizing, feminist with a history of working for foundations and organizations that support equality for LGBT Americans. Sounds like the typical FOX News contributor, right?

Book Report: Gentlemen of the Road

I have never read a book for pleasure so quickly.  In less than a week I flew through Chabon's 2007 adventure fiction, Gentlemen of the Road and think I loved every second of it.

The story is fast moving but written in Chabon's typically grand style.  Considering the tempo of the story, the multi-page sentence structure does not work for speed at which the narrative unfolds.  There were a number of places that required me to go back a few pages to make sure I read the storyline correctly...and most times I did not, which took a bit of the fun out of the page turning.

However, other than being well written, this book was great.  An easier read than Chabon's other novels but equally entertaining. I came to Chabon late and read The Yiddish Policemen's Union first, so I came to expect his books to be historically interesting and well-researched. 

Yet after reading the Afterward in my edition of this book, I learned that Chabon didn't write much out of his comfort zone of his own life prior to this book. It seemed effortless to me, but I am sure it was a labor of love and it came across as such in pages of this book. 

I have no need to provide a re-cap or analysis beyond that this was a good choice and I will be picking up The Amazing Aventures of Kavalier & Clay after I read some depressing stuff about the Spanish Civil War.

4.5 out of 5 stars.

Published in a Book

Almost two years ago, I was contacted by a woman who was working on her Master's thesis on 20's and 30's Jewish life in America.  I had written a pretty easy going post on the in-your-face Jewschool blog about joining Shaaray Tefila, my New York congregation, and its young adult program JeTSeT's Shabbat Unplugged and this student was interested in using the post for her work.

Sure, go for it. It would be my honor.  She then asked if she could put it in her book.  I said great! Thanks.  That was December of 2010.

A few weeks ago, I got an email saying that the book was out.  I looked at the cover, recognized a number of friends and "Liked" their links on Facebook but didn't think I was in the book because I didn't remember anything besides the brief interactions in October and December of 2010. 

Today, I thought, I should check to see who else made the final cut for the book.  And I found my name on the contributor's list.  A nice way to start a Monday.

Unplugging Expectations, By Donald C. Cutler

So I am now a published author. 

You may want to buy this book.  So here is the link: Living Jewishly: A Snapshot of Generation.

I have yet to get my copy, and I look forward to reading the other essays, but I got to say I am pretty proud that my essay made it into print.  I have written a lot of this subject and had another blog post (which I think is better) that was published on RJ.org on a very similar topic around the same time. The more we learn about engagement of younger people in the Jewish community, the better we will be in the longer term. And if my point of view will help make our communities and congregations stronger, then I am a very pleased, published author.

Look at all the social medias NYRR gives

Early this morning, the New York Road Runners announced that due to overwhelmingly negative reviews of the post-marathon park exit that it was instituting "a new No-Baggage Policy designed to ease finish-line congestion and provide a better and safer post-race experience [and] as a result, you will no longer be able to check baggage at the start of the race and there will be no baggage retrieval after the finish."

Needless to say this did not go over well.  NYRR was trending on Twitter in New York.  The Wall Street Journal,* New York Times, Runner's World and countless blog post reported on or fueled the controversy.  I know the New York Daily News is also planning a significant story on the topic.  The NYRR Facebook page exploded with negative comments, many of them very funny and some just down right mean. 

My thoughts exactly Fred. (Via Kevin Beganics)

Now my views on this are simple: This is a bad idea. But that is not what I am taking away from today's events.  What I see is the power of social media to create a ground swell and still have no impact.  Hear me out on this one, considering I am blogging about it.

These little town blues

This past weekend included 15 eating and drinking establishments, at least seven different kinds of beer, a lot of Mexican food of varying degrees of authenticity, and that piece of New York Pizza.  It also included a two month-old, old friends, a set of parental units, paint cans, a flee market, 16 miles in Central Park, and mid-town lunch specials. The only place something like that could take place in what amounted to three-and-half day vacation is in the best city in the world: New York City.

Some background:

1. The wife and I have not been on a non-wedding/non-visiting hometown vacation since our honeymoon.  This is not to say that these other trips weren't fun or we couldn't relax during them, but there is something to be said about this luxury of a "real" vacation.
2. San Francisco is a nice town.  There is good food and the people are nice, but it is not a city and it is very slow. Stuff closes too early, it isn't easy to get around, and there are no good bagels. This isn't to say we don't like it here, but we should be honest, it pales in comparison to New York.  Anyone who says otherwise either has not lived in New York or couldn't cut it in New York.
3. Going on vacation to your old home is strange. But at least you don't have to pretend you are getting the inside scoop on the local spots by asking the bellmen where they eat. Right, because those guys aren't told where to tell you to go by the same people providing information (and tips) to the concierge.

Now that I got that out of the way, here is what went down.