Random thoughts equal a post

[magid]

This year's Black Rock City map includes these measurements: the Man to Esplanade was 2120 ft, Esplanade to Athens was 400 ft, and all the other radius blocks (A to B, B to C, etc.) were 200 ft.

Given that, I calculated the lettered blocks out to Hanoi, rounded to the nearest foot (why H? I never ended up going out farther; Istanbul, Jakarta, and Kyoto felt too far for random meandering on foot):
Esplanade 0.5 hour block: 555 ft
Athens 0.5 hour block: 670 ft
Baghdad 0.5 hour block: 712 ft
Cairo 0.5 hour block: 764 ft
Detroit 0.5 hour block: 817 ft
Edinburgh 0.5 hour block: 869 ft
Florence 0.5 hour block: 922 ft
Guangzhou 0.5 hour block: 974 ft
Hanoi 0.5 hour block: 1026 ft
All of which shows up how useful it is to know circular geometry if one has time constraints rather than just meandering to see what there is to be seen (which is totally wonderful too, just a different goal).
I didn't wear a pedometer, but did want to have some idea of how far I walked, so wrote descriptors of where I went each day and calculated approximations of distance when I got home. Some days were pretty noticeable mileage!

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A thought I keep coming back to is what Shabbat would be like had the halachic decision about electricity had gone another way, not analogizing it to fire. There would still be the other prohibitions (cooking, carrying, writing, and other creative activities come to mind first), but not having to set timers would be a change. And if electricity is not fire, perhaps one could read a Kindle. Or use a computer? Though that might have other issues, ranging from typing being writing to listening to music files. Though if one were merely listening to recorded music, one would not be tempted to fix the musical instrument if it broke, so perhaps that would have been considered acceptable? And even if typing weren't acceptable, but mousing were, I could see a setup with special Shabbat-friendly sites that only used mouse-clicks, perhaps including some sort of Skyped Shabbat services (from the Kotel? Kotel-cam?). It fascinates me to think how utterly different today's Shabbat observance would be based on one decision, not so long ago. It's not like most of us are likely to be harvesting, or threshing, or sowing, or something; urban life is far from majorly agricultural. But we are incredibly electricity dependent, and that vulnerability shows on Shabbat, when the biggest workarounds have to do with leaving things on, or setting timers.

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I'm slowly starting to unearth my apartment again; too much travel + ongoing construction had my place feeling un-home-like for a while, and that was not good. On the construction front, it seems likely that the not-large fix that should keep the roof from flooding (who builds a flat roof in New England?!) will be done in the next few weeks, so the rest of what's going on in my apartment can then happen without fear of flood damage. In the meantime, I've managed to get supplies and tools down to one room invaded, and I'm reclaiming the living room. It's not done yet (and I have a genetic predisposition to piles of stuff in corners), but it's noticeably better (at least to me, since I saw it so much worse). Now if I could just get myself out on the bike more regularly....

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I got a watermelon in my farm share a couple of weeks ago, and made batches of watermelon liqueur. I don't think it's among the better flavors, unfortunately. Now I'm starting to consider how strange it would be to make a tomato liqueur, with some nice heirloom tomatoes. And the farm is offering bulk tomatoes now, too, so I could get a bunch, roasting a lot of them for later. And a bunch of beets for pickles, too (so perhaps I'll have enough that I'll be willing to share them rather than hoarding). On the whole, though, I've been feeling less inspired than usual, perhaps a function of not being able to host people as I usually do. I think it's not helping that I'm uninspired for the next hat with the yarn I have (though I have a commission for a hat that I don't yet have yarn for).

Oh, and I found out that without a solar oven, just using the Indian spice tin in the afternoon sun on the playa, I can make not only couscous but also bulghur, however not brown rice or red lentils. Next time, though, it's really time to invest in a solar oven, early enough that I can learn the parameters while cooking on the porch.

Comments

[queue.livejournal.com]

Though if one were merely listening to recorded music, one would not be tempted to fix the musical instrument if it broke, so perhaps that would have been considered acceptable?

I don't know about the fixing-stuff thing, but if you can't play/listen to live music because you might be tempted to fix a broken instrument, wouldn't the same hold for using a computer, or, really, any kind of electronic device? So, regardless of electricity being considered fire or not, you have these devices that might break. Or am I missing something more subtle here?

[megmuck.livejournal.com]

Tomato liqueur sounds like an intriguing base for a bloody mary. Oh, wait - liqueurs are sweet, right? In that case, ergh.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Well, I've read of tomato jam, so I suspect that tomato wouldn't be too weird. Not for a bloody mary, perhaps: the rest of these have been sipping liqueurs.

[magid.livejournal.com]

It's complicated, and I know I don't have all the information. I know that there's the idea that a musical instrument is more likely to break than say, a hot plate, presumably because it's used more actively. And depending on the kind of fix, one would be tempted to fix it then, rather than later. But I know I haven't studied this much, so I can't give you a better answer than maybes and hand-waving.

[(Anonymous)]

Fascinating ideas about electricity and Shabbat. Like other actions that are permissible on Shabbat, it would have limitations. An eruv can be used, but only for certain things. Many people who use the telephone on Shabbat, like those using an eruv (okay not exactly the same thing), take care not to use it for purposes that are otherwise (also) forbidden. There's also the opinion that the interpretation of the halachah as applied to electricity and Shabbat was without a doubt correct, because it is obviously such a good idea to be offline, unplug, put down the mobile communcation device, etc., for Shabbat. Just as the proscriptions during shiva mean that we have no choice and cannot worry about other responsibilities, here we are able to say we are prohibited from engaging in such activities and cannot feel guilt about it, not that it is permissible and we are deciding not to anyway, with no pressure to do so or else be made to feel like we are making excuses and being irresponsible.

Bulk tomatoes!

Would the brown rice and red lentils work if first soaked overnight, perhaps?