Enjoying the Good Times: Baltimore-based

I've decided to push off writing about Jewish debt until after Sukkos. I want to enjoy the week, and if I start writing that post it probably won't help me do that. So next week, iyH.

A quick shout-out to ChanaF, because I said I would. (And you probably didn't believe me.)

I'm spending this week in New York, while Serach and Elianna are enjoying the wonderful city of Baltimore with family and friends. Yesterday, I went to work. SerandElianna hung out with my parents, sister Verv's three kids, and other family. Today, I went to work. They went to Hershey Park (where hopefully they didn't have this happen to them), where they visited with SIL, my dear OD brother, Ben, Henna Bayla, and SIL's family among others. Tomorrow, I'm going to work. They're doing other fun stuff. Ah well - as long as some good pics come out of this (pleeease say that someone is taking pictures...!!!) so I can see them. And of course, I actually collect a paycheck (assuming you consider what's left after the Fed, state, city, and island all take their cuts a "paycheck" - it's amazing that there are working people who actually think higher taxes make sense).

Anyways, we've always been fans of Baltimore. For all the knocks we've heard about it, and seen for ourselves, it's overall always a pleasant place to be, and that's just not as common in most other cities. We actually almost moved to Baltimore a few months ago until my work called me at just the right time and convinced me it was worthwhile to stay for the time being. One of the reasons for this is perfectly discussed in this guest post at Unenlightenment by the Cubicle King, who I met (again) over the first days of Yom Tov. He wrote it a week ago and Shoshana linked to it then, but I wanted to post it closer to Simchas Torah, which is the perfect time to keep it in mind.

I had a bunch of other "happy" things to post, but I'm drawing a complete blank. Chana (there are getting to be waaay too many Chanas...) reminded me: See Ushpizin if you haven't yet! It's great! (Cruisin' Mom, Jack, FurryHyraxMan, this means you - I saw it in a theater in LA last year...) I'm too lazy to search for it now, but I wrote about it last Sukkos.

Once again, Moadim L'Simcha!!

Woah - one more thing. RafiG posts about this year's Birchas Kohanim (Priestly Blessing) at the Kotel (Wailing Wall) which drew 80,000 people, apparently a record for it. Weird, because I thought the estimates for my second year there were at 100,000, but perhaps I'm mixing up Birchas Kohanim with another event. However, the year I was there, it was not only spectacular; not only packed to the point that my kind-of-sister B couldn't get close enough to even see the Kotel; and a stunningly gorgeous morning and incredibly inspiring davening, but I also was standing right behind the chazzan for davening which added quite a bit to it.