My apple of choice (and let's face it, we all know that an apple a day keeps the doctor away blah blah blah) is golden delicious. Could be learned behaviour, I grew up on them, or it could be the 9 grammes of sugar in each apple, but that's my thing.
Except, they seem to have disappeared. I've googled on a whole host of key words, I've tried to order them at Tesco Online, and I've gone into various Kilburn fruiteries (aka market stalls) and they just don't seem to be "there". No one knows why.
I was forced in to paying 40p an apple in some Hendon fruit shop this morning for a Faux Delicious, which I don't think will cut it. Anyone know the answer?
4:16 PM
So someone sent me a little tin of seeds and fake-soil as a strange promotional gift to make me go to their stand at the Exhibiting Show.
Not sure I ever made it to the stand, but I loved growing the grass - I feel all mustard-and-cress and spring-summer and at one with nature.
Long may it last.
9:58 AM
Friday, June 27, 2008
It's been a while.
I know. I'm sorry.
What brought it to a head is that yesterday, I was lunching with a former (lovely) client in my club, darling, and I bumped into some old friends/flatmates lunching with a former college friend. I know, I know, small world (when you're Jewish). Afterwards, I ran into one of the party by the lift and he said to me, "you know, when you sat down, M said that's Sashinka, and the other guy was like wow, I love her but she doesn't write any more."
Flattered, of course, but I'm still here. And I do write.
I've been busy. I know I always say that, and I know that other people are busy too.
Here are some random things that have happened recently;
I bought at Asus EEE pc on which I am typing now. It's life-changingly small, but actually the keyboard's quite crap for proper writing rather than websurfing. Because it's Linux, not Micro$oft, it works straight out of the box, which is good
I got married. Just over a month ago. I've never been happier.
I have more comics in my house than I ever thought possible.
I launched the second edition of my show, the Virtual Worlds Forum Europe, in London in October, the meeting place for those interested in the business applications of virtual worlds, MMOs and games. it's going to be quite some party, believe me, and we've got some amazing announcements coming up.
Let's just say I've done a lot of baking.
Mostly cheesecake and chocolate chip banana bread, but other things too.
...
Anyway, we're off out for dinner, shabbat shalom, and I'll write more. Promise.
7:09 PM
See, pesach, you can't own any leavened goods (chometz) so all your everyday stuff is chometz, and you get in pesach food and get out your pesach pots and spring clean, but you still own stuff. So you sell it to a non-Jewish person. Judaism is full of these little legal workarounds.
In fact what you do is appoint someone - typically your Rabbi - to act as your agent, and then they batch-process the sale of their community's chometz.
It's complicated.
But the yichus. This was in the window at Kosher Kingdom. It's not just that the sold their chometz. It's that they did it through the fomer Chief Judge (dayan) at the Beis Din (law courts).
Not everyone takes it this seriously, but I do. Some take it more seriously. My view is that everyone is a little bit frummer on pesach than they are the rest of the year.
Anyway, it's all over Sunday night. Let's just say I've eaten a lot of matzah. And my kishkes are struggling for it.
5:31 PM
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Matzah wars in North London
It's cho ha mo'ed, the days in the middle of Pesach/Passover. We've been to two seders, done a serious spring clean, put away all the everyday crockery and got out all the pesach stuff, covered all the kitchen surfaces and seriously cleaned all the kitchen appliances. This is why it's called the Festival of Freedom.
I've also had a lot of fun; hanging out with friends, relaxing, eating pesach food, including matzah. Fascinating piece in the Guardian on the first day of yomtov about the matzah price wars in North London.
It's interesting when there's a piece about a subject you know intimately; I did my pesach-shop at Kosher Kingdom, and I know that Richard Hymans from Manchester is really called Richard Hyman. Not because of the Jewish conspiracy, but because I grew up with him (Cheadle lad). And the prices are slightly inaccurate because there are different brands of matzah, and some cost up to £1.19. But then, so does a loaf of bread.
7:37 AM
