We live in a converted house in west Philly. The house was originally a three story twin (two family house) built in the late 1890s. One half was converted into 3 apartments, one on each floor, and the other half was actually used as a home for mentaly disturbed people for many years until it moved. I’m not sure what the place was used as between the time homeward bound moved and this past summer, but someone bought it recently and began massive renovations on the place. They essentially gutted the entire inside and refurbished it, even to the point of rebuilding the concrete steps out front. (The final product is much nicer than the previous one).

A few weeks ago I talked to one of the construction workers to see what was going on. Apparently the house was bought by The restaurant school and was being turned into a dorm. The gentleman also informed me that they were putting a double bed in each room, and there were 4 rooms per floor, and three floors. The first thing that occured to me was that I was about to be living next door to 24 college students. Hmmm….. keg parties at 3AM, wonderful.

Despite my initial negative reaction, I think I may be having a change of heart. As someone else pointed out to me, the restaurant school made the building nicer which helps the street look better. Also since it is a dorm they have a certain amount on control over the students. The parties usually happen in apartments and frat houses. The other thing that really made me change my mind though was just observing the students themselves over the last few days (although Friday night will clearly be a litmus test). One of the things that’s annoying about our street is that it feels a lot less safe than some of the surrounding streets. Walnut, just a block south, has a bar, a 7-11, a grocery store, and a movie theater. Most importantly it’s well lit and has people on the street even late at night. Our street is usually dead, not well lit, and feels a lot less safe. The one trueism about living with a rommate in college is that sometimes you can’t be in your room. I remember as a freshman having lots of phone conversations in the lobby or the hallway when one of my roommates was asleep, or hanging out with friends in the hallway because our roommates were sleeping. The house has a porch, so the exiled roommates end up standing on the porch chatting or talking on cell phones. Although it doesn’t have the same affect as a commercial establishment, the very that that there are another 24 people whose worst crime will probably be underage drinking out on the street really isn’t so bad. The fact that they actually hang out on the street and simply add a human presence to a somewhat deserted street is a definite plus. For now I’m neutral on their presence, although the minute I get woken up at 3AM by drunken revelry that will probably change.

From ESPN

“Baseball is a hard game to learn, but it’s not unlike studying Talmud,” Kurtzer says. “It’s very complicated, but once you get it, it’s interesting. You have a lot of statistics you can follow, and you can spend hours discussing it.”

I would just like to say that I totally agree with the decision by the IAU. I know everyone learned in elementary school about the nine planets, but the truth is, Pluto is nothing more than a comet that got lucky. Also making a fixed definition of a planet keeps Xena from being ever called a planet. (And seriously, what kind of person calls a planet Xena and its moon Gabrielle? Wouldn’t it be easier to tattoo the words “total loser” on your forehead?) I do find the definition somewhat imperfect, but I suppose that’s to be expected given that this is the first time we’ve really had a good definition of a planet. I think eventually some mention of the shape of the orbit and the angle to the rest of the planetary plane will have to be incorporated into the definition.

To all my friends who complain about bad dates: you’ve just been topped by Darren Sherman, the man who will probably never have a date again as long as he lives.

This is a little late, but my final week in DC there was a lot of rain. I mean a lot. Rock Creek, which I cross over twice a day is usually a mild stream you could wade through and not get your ankles wet. With all the rain the final week, it kind of changed.

This picture was taken from the back of the baseball field in Rose park.

As everyone knows, the best way to get a five year old to eat their vegetables is to tell them that they’re not allowed to have any vegetables. Well, today is Tisha b’av. Although I can’t claim to study torah every day, I find that on this of all days, I have a craving to open a gemarah or read parshablog. Funny though, that I don’t have a craving for leather shoes or anointing myself with oil (two other things I can’t do on Tisha B’av).

update: KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHNNNNNNN!