Hi Everyone! Welcome back to Astronomer in Shanghai. I hope that you are all doing well and staying safe and healthy. I hope that all of you had a safe, happy, and healthy holiday season and had the opportunity to spend time with family and friends. Moreover, I hope that all of you continue to stay safe and healthy in the coming year. Additionally, for those of you celebrating, I wanted to wish you a Happy Lunar New Year!
Before sharing some of the more enjoyable and interesting things that happened this month, I do want to begin by discussing the current COVID-19 situation in China. For those of you who are interested in China, I highly recommend the Drum Tower podcast from The Economist. In my last post, I described how China swiftly dismantled and removed all of the policies associated with COVID-Zero (mandatory testing, lockdowns, travel restrictions within China). As such, there were no restrictions remaining (in terms of testing requirements) for most of day-to-day life. I haven’t been tested in ~ 6 weeks, which given that for the previous 8 months I was tested at least 1 time per week and often 3 times per week feels very strange. Some places, such as nursing homes, still require tests though. The removal of these policies lead to swift and large waves of COVID-19 spreading around China (with early surges in Shanghai and Beijing). Thankfully, I have been able to avoid getting sick (though that’s because I was extremely cautious and rarely left my apartment during the month or so). On the positive side, it seems as though the wave has past its peak in both Shanghai and Beijing, so things are slowly returning to normal. In fact, the only remnant of COVID-19 is that masks still remain prominent. It’s somewhat surreal now that I don’t have to scan a QR code to enter a store, restaurant, or a park (yes, even outdoors, we had to scan to enter public parks). While I’m still remaining cautious and vigilant, I’ll probably begin doing some of the activities (like going to the gym or restaurants) that I was previously doing soon. That said, it’s still entirely unclear to me whether this means that I’ll be going to campus in the Spring Semester, as SJTU still plans for some sort of hybrid model.
The other important update is that on January 8th, China removed any required quarantine to enter the country. They only require a negative PCR test. As of now, tourist visas are not being issued though. As a result of the surging cases here, the US and other countries put a similar requirement for a negative PCR test before the flight. Thus, after 3 years of either 2 week or longer quarantines (which were shortened in the last year), people no longer need to plan weeks long hotel stays upon entering China. While this is exciting, it’s not exactly a return to normal because the number of international flights remains far lower than it was in 2019. Moreover, flights to the US remain rather expensive and are still infrequent as most US and international airlines only operate 2-3 flights per week. It’s currently ~ $4,000+ for an economy seat to the US (estimated during February, which is not a peak travel time). When I flew to Shanghai in 2019 fora conference (prior to my move) in July (peak travel season), the flight was ~ $1,100. At that time, I had multiple (10+) options per day (spread across 3-4 airlines). Since I’m planning to move to my next position this summer, I haven’t been in a rush to spend tons of money to rush home. That said, it’s good to see things beginning to return to normal, as not being able to see my parents over the last 3.5 years in person has been one of the most challenging and frustrating parts of my time living in Shanghai.
Despite the vast number of cases, it does appear as though China will be celebrating the Lunar New Year/Spring Festival in a much more normal manner. Ironically, this will be the first “regular” Lunar New Year celebration that I get to see (as COVID-19 emerged during my first year). From what I can tell, not much has changed, there’s still tons of decorations (you’ll see that later) and lots of lanterns. While I’m glad that people are able to celebrate, I do share concerns (that are discussed on the latest episode of Drum Tower) about what the continued spread of COVID-19 will do to the rural parts of China where access to medical care, vaccines, and doctors remain far scarcer than what is available here in Shanghai or Beijing. Moreover, Emmet’s shared with me that Beijing is providing a fourth booster shot to residents (including foreigners), but no such option has been made available in Shanghai. My last shot was on 1/26/2022, almost exactly 1 year from today, so hopefully this will happen soon.
Astronomy in Shanghai
In terms of Astronomy, this was a productive month. The semester ended ~ 1.5 weeks ago, so it’s been a bit more relaxed since, which after all the job applications was definitely needed. That said, I did submit a few more applications this month. I’ve now applied for 39 positions (there are a few more I may apply for that are due at the beginning of February as well). Thankfully, I’ve already had a few interviews (and have a few more scheduled), all of which I thought went very well. While I’m currently waiting to hear from those positions, it is reassuring to know that I’ve made the interview stage for multiple positions already (so people clearly think I’m doing good and interesting science). Hopefully by the time I write next month’s posts, I’ll have a sense of where I’ll be going next!
Other than interviews and postdoc applications, a lot of my time was spent writing/editing my research papers. As I mentioned last month, I was all set to submit my conditional luminosity function paper when one of our collaborators asked us to use an updated version of the cluster catalog. Thankfully, with some help from another co-author (an SJTU grad student, who has been very helpful on this project), I was able to redo the analysis in ~ 1-2 weeks. Even better, very little changed, which was good. Moreover, we also posted the paper on arXiv so that I could share it with the positions I was applying for. I’ve since finalized the paper and am waiting for any feedback from the co-authors before submitting (likely after the lunar new year).
While I’ve talked about the work that I was doing on this paper for a while, I wanted to provide a brief summary on what this research is about. I’m currently working on an education/public outreach article on this paper and will share it when it’s available. This paper measures the conditional luminosity function (CLF) of galaxies within clusters. In laments terms, this is a number counting of galaxies with a given brightness within galaxy clusters (divided into samples of clusters with the same halo mass). In our analysis, we compare two different cluster catalogs that are identified either using red galaxies (the red sequence/redMaPPer) or the overdensity of all galaxies (the Yang catalog). We also use a sample of clusters cross-identified between the two catalogs for comparison. It’s important to compare the two cluster catalogs because differences in how clusters are identified can lead to biases (particularly in cosmological measurements). We then measure the CLF for the two cluster samples and see that significant differences in the shape and slope between the CLF measured for each of the catalogs exist. However, when we compare the clusters with cross-matches to those without along with the measurements of the matched clusters using both centers, we see that much of this difference is a result of the difference in the cluster’s choice of center. Moreover, when we compare the weak lensing estimated halo masses (the total mass of these clusters), we don’t see any significant difference, which suggests that there’s no strong underlying bias in the catalogs. So, even though the galaxy content is sensitive to the cluster’s centering, the actual halo mass is not.
In addition to wrapping up this paper, I also resubmitted my paper on the stellar properties of the ICL done using DES-ACT clusters! The revisions were very straightforward, but because of all the applications, it was hard to find time to finish everything. The paper was previously accepted with revisions, so once the paper is published, I’ll make sure to share a link again here.
In addition to my research and applications, at the beginning of January, I also did remote observing for DESI (my third time). Unfortunately, I had terrible luck with the weather. The first night it was raining. The second night the dome was still dripping, so we were unable to open. The third night had some dripping, but we were able to open for half of my shift. Lastly, the 4th night had terrible clouds (which you can see). Thankfully, this was virtual observing (and due to the time difference I didn’t have to stay up all night). While we were able to do some calibrations, it was disappointing to not be able to help to take more data. Hopefully my next observing run (in the spring) will have better weather
Despite this being yet another month where I was exclusively working from home, I still was able to be productive. As I look forward to the Spring semester, I hope that I’m able to go into campus with some degree of regularity (and without restrictions). As a result of all the restrictions/testing requirements/covid cases, It’s been almost 11 months since I was going into campus with any regularity (outside of a 3 week stretch in November, which still required registration and testing). Moreover, of the time I’ve worked at SJTU, 40 months, I’ve only been able to actually go in to campus without restrictions for 22 of those months (which includes 6-7 months of summers/lunar new year). So, despite COVID-Zero preventing cases, it wasn’t as though life was normal. I hope that I’ll get a few more opportunities to interact with colleagues and see the campus (and maybe pick up an SJTU t-shirt) during the next few months.
Life in Shanghai
As a result of the combination of the COVID-19 surge and working on my papers/applications, there wasn’t a lot of fun stuff. I even stopped going to F45. While the trainers are doing a great job cleaning and people are allowed to wear masks, I wanted to wait until the case numbers had passed the peak before going back to an in person gym as it seemed like almost everyone I knew other than myself and Emmet got sick. Hopefully I’ll start going to the gym again in the next few weeks.
The non-Astronomy highlight of the month was that it snowed in Shanghai! While the snow didn’t really stick, it was so magical to see it snow in Shanghai (it hasn’t snowed when I’ve been awake during my time here and I really miss snow). So, before I show you all the cool Chinese New Year decorations, I hope you enjoy Shanghai in the snow!
While this can only be generously called a light dusting, it’s more snow than I’ve seen in years (since my trip to Harbin) and it was so much fun (and relaxing) to go for a nice walk in the snow! Since it was a little hard to see in many of the photos, I wanted to share the videos as well!
The primary highlight of this month was all the lovely lunar new year decorations! My favorite part of the Lunar New Year is seeing all the decorations! In particular I love the red lanterns that are in front of so many buildings!
This upcoming year is the year of the Rabbit! So, it’s been so cute to see all the different Rabbit statues, posters, and sculptures! One of my favorite things about this holiday is seeing the different decorations that appear each year!
I’m also eagerly looking forward to going to the Yu Gardens (Yuyuan) for their Lantern Festival Display in the coming week or two and will definitely have lots of photos to share once I do!
In addition to the fun and festive Lunar New Year I also saw a lot of other cool things! Most notably, all of the cat statues I had previously seen around Xuhui district were gathered in one area!
I had to highlight the Magritte cat though! There were also a lot of other cool things that I saw on my walks that I wanted to share!
Also, for the first time in awhile, I saw some anime/cartoon things out in the wild! During one of my walks, I popped into Uniqlo, where they had some awesome One Piece and Naruto t-shirts as well as some fun Looney Tunes t-shirts, in the spirit of the Year of the Rabbit! Emmet and I already have a Luffy t-shirt, so I got us the Zoro one!
Scottie and Charlie
This was another great month for Scottie and Charlie! With me spending so much time at home, my boys got all the treats and cuddles that they wanted. Plus, they were very attentive and even let me sleep in when I was under the weather (I had a cold/soar throat, I didn’t test positive for covid) towards the middle of December.
Of course, Scottie and Charlie are most adorable when they’re snuggled right on top of one another! It makes me so happy that they continue to be best friends!
They also continue to find new fun perches and places to explore (including my back)! Charlie especially loves to sit on my back when I’m working. And though there’s no pictures, there’s nothing quite like doing pushups, crunches, or planks with a cat (often Scottie) trying to sleep on top of you.
One fun thing for Scottie and Charlie was that earlier this month, my air conditioning heating stopped working so I had to use my floor heating (which is better, but much more expensive). Scottie and Charlie absolutely loved lounging on the floor and basking in the warmth!
They usually spend most of their time napping and are always so adorable when doing so!
Food in Shanghai
Unsurprisingly, I didn’t go out for any meals this month. However, I did do a lot of great cooking! Since it was cool, I made a lot of soups! I made corn and potato chowder (using the Lunchroom’s recipe, the Lunchroom is one of my favorite vegan restaurants in Ann Arbor), Thai red curry, a fantastic minestrone soup, and lastly, a creamy tomato soup! I also made two dishes that Emmet shared from the Vegans of Beijing cooking classes. The first was the noodle soup and the second was a pan roasted potato and pepper dish. Both were fantastic and different from the food I’ve ordered at Chinese restaurants before. I also made homemade bread again! And interestingly, Charlie is super interested in bread! I gave him little bits to nibble on, which he really enjoyed! Scottie also likes to eat it, but he doesn’t follow it around like Charlie does. Lastly, I made vegan meatballs and baked “fried” tofu for lunch. Lastly, for dessert, I made chocolate oreo fomu (Fomu is a vegan ice cream company in Boston that Emmet introduced me to) and a chocolate covered peanut butter/oat bar!
So, despite spending the month at home, I had lots of good food to enjoy!
Additionally, as part of my own celebrations for Lunar New Year, I wanted to make some vegan Chinese food! Using recipes that Emmet learned in his Chinese cooking classes from Vegans of Beijing, I made mapo tofu filled Baozi (steamed buns)! I also made mapo tofu and fish flavored mushrooms (they’re called fish flavored because the sauce used on the mushrooms is commonly used in fish dishes, but doesn’t contain fish)! I look forward to being able to share these and other recipes with family and friends in the coming year!
Jewish Life in Shanghai
This was another quieter month in terms of Kehilat Shanghai. We unfortunately had to cancel our Channukkah party because of the covid-19 outbreak. We had ~ 15-20 RSVPs a few days beforehand and almost all of the planned attendees ended up getting sick. So, while it was disappointing to cancel it, it was the right decision. Despite that, I still tried my best to make it an enjoyable Channukah!
The highlights were probably Charlie and Scottie’s curiosity about the menorah. They didn’t try to sniff it, but spent a lot of time staring at it! The other highlight was that I made homemade latkes for the first time! It was much easier thanks to my food processors grater. 🙂 And totally vegan! I’ll definitely do it again next year!
Even though we haven’t been able to have any in person gatherings (due to the COVID-19 surge and many people traveling for the Lunar New Year holiday, Emmet and I have continued to co-lead Zoom Shabbat services each Friday for the Kehillat Beijing and Kehilat Shanghai communities. While the attendance isn’t large, it’s been a really nice way to reflect on the week! That said, I’m optimistic that we’ll be able to have in person Shabbat services and dinners and other events next month.
What I’m Reading and Watching
Since I spent the entire month mostly at home, it’s not that surprising that I’ve watched a bit of TV (plus it helps to relax after the job application submission). Some of the highlights included finishing the first half of Doom Patrol Season 4. Doom Patrol is based on the DC Comics series and follows the misadventures of a group of superheros who have been shunned by society because of their weird superpowers. I’ve loved each of the seasons and this one is off to another strong start. I also finished the 2nd season of Jack Ryan. While there is definitely a glorification of the military/military intelligence/CIA going on, John Krasinski does a great job in the starring role and it provides an entertaining story. I also finished the 3rd season of Ozark. This season was incredibly dark and the whole situation appears particularly dire for the Byrd family. It’ll be interesting to see just how dark the end of the show is. At this point, there’s really nobody who is redeemable and worth rooting for.
I also watched two movies. I watched Glass Onion on New Year’s Eve. I really enjoyed Knives Out and found this to be an equally fun (and somewhat goofy movie). While the whodunnit portion of the mystery wasn’t really that difficulty to figure out, it was a lot of fun to see all the clues come together and featured a number of strong performances. I also watched Black Adam, the latest DC Comics movie. This was another fun and action packed film. While the story could have been more developed, the action and visual effects were great and made for a fun watch!
In terms of reading, I haven’t finished any new books yet. I’m currently working through the 4th book in the Witcher series: Time of Contempt. I’m really enjoying it (as I have the others). As a fan of the TV shows, it’s interesting to see how divergent the books and show are as there’s a lot of political machinations and side stories not included in the show.
This upcoming month should be fun and have a lot of interesting things for me to share. Most importantly, I’m planning to finally visit Beijing and see Emmet at the beginning of February!!! Despite Emmet and I living in the same country, the travel restrictions Tsinghua and SJTU had put in place made it rather impossible for us to travel, so I’m eager to see Emmet, meet his cat Goldie, and see Beijing (and then have him visit Shanghai in March). There are also a few exhibits and the Yu Gardens Lantern Festival that I hope to visit. On the opposite end of the spectrum, this will also be the start of more of my friends moving from Shanghai, as I have a few more friends leaving each of the next few months.
If you’ve gotten this far, thank you for reading my blog and for your interest in my life and experiences in Shanghai. It’s always so nice to hear either directly (or from my parents) that so many of you are thinking about Emmet and me. I hope that you found this update interesting and that you’ve enjoyed seeing all the photos of Scottie and Charlie and the Lunar New Year decorations. If you have any questions about anything I’ve written don’t hesitate to reach out either in the comments or via e-mail.
For any of you celebrating Lunar New Year! 新年快乐! Happy New Year! I hope you all have a wonderful Year of the Rabbit!
In peace,
Jesse
Eagerly awaiting your blog when you visit Emmet. Perhaps, I missed this in previous blogs: What will happen to Scottie & Charlie when you leave Shanghai?
Regards, Dora Lee
Hi Dora! So nice to hear from you! I’m looking forward to sharing the photos of visiting Emmet with everyone next month! When I leave Shanghai, Scottie and Charlie will come with me. Once I know where I’ll be moving to, I’ll start reaching out to friends to find someone to travel with me as each person can take only 1 cat on the plane (to go under the seat).
Hi Jesse,
Thank you for another terrific blog post. I’m glad that things seem to be slowly improving in Shanghai (and Beijing, too!). I’m sorry that there is still no info about a 4th booster shot in Shanghai. Maybe reach out to some of the hospitals after the Lunar New Year Holiday to find out? It seems insane that Beijing would allow it and not Shanghai. I didn’t realized just how much of your postdoc has been spent working remotely. I hope that wherever you land next, you get a bit more office camaraderie. Thank you for recommending the Drum Tower podcast, too! I’ve really enjoyed listening to it. I’m glad to hear your research has gone well this month. I hope you have a smooth time submitting your paper and an easy referee process. I am (slowly) making headway on our project, but will try to spend some more time on it in the next few weeks. I’m sorry that the remote observing was a wash out. At least you didn’t have to stay up until the early morning. That was always the worst at BU. I loved seeing the snow! The one time we had flurries here this year (I assume we’ll get some more snow eventually), it barely stuck and I couldn’t really see anything. I love all of the decorations for the Lunar New Year! Maybe I need to head to some of the more commercial areas, because I don’t see anything like you do (I see lots of decorations and lanterns, but not the large rabbit sculptures). I love all the cats! You should see if they’ll do any kind of book or something with them in it! And thank you for the t-shirt! I love seeing Scottie and Charlie cuddle! I can’t wait to meet them this spring! It’s kind of crazy that you’ll have had them over a year by the time I’ll actually meet them. Your guys certainly do seem to explore everywhere. I’m amazed by Scottie’s jumping and how they just jump right on your back. Goldie is much more of a low elevation cat. I’m sure they’ll miss you when you visit me, but I imagine they’ll be super affectionate when you return. All of your cooking looks delicious. I’m glad you’ve enjoyed so many of the recipes! I’m sorry that you had to cancel your Channukkah party, but hopefully Kehillat Shanghai will be able to do in person events (even if they’re masked) soon. I’m glad you got to have homemade latkes, though! Wishing you a happy, healthy, safe, and successful year of the Rabbit! I can’t wait to see you in Beijing in a couple of weeks!
Love,
Emmet
Thanks Emmet! I’m glad that things are slowly returning to normal for you as well. Though it’s very strange because of how dramatically the situation has changed in such a short time. I hope that my next position allows for a bit more camaraderie as well (or at least what you have). I’m glad to hear that you’re enjoying Drum Tower as well! I’m glad to hear that you’re starting up our project again. As I figure out how to split my time (with the ICL/CLF projects wrapped up), I’m looking forward to diving into the COBRA/redMaPPer sample! I’m glad that you enjoyed all the lunar new year decorations (and the snow!). You should definitely check out commercial areas as that is where I’ve seen all of the decorations. If I knew what the cats were associated with, I definitely would look for a book, but I’m glad I got the photos. I’m excited to have you meet Scottie and Charlie soon, too! It’s hard to believe I adopted them almost 11 months ago. And yes, there’s basically nowhere that either Scottie or Charlie can’t fit (or figure out how to get too). I’m looking forward to meeting Goldie soon, too! I hope that you also have a successful year of the Rabbit! Can’t wait to visit you soon!
Thanks, as always for another very entertaining and informative blog. Tonight begins the month of Shevat and so the new year for trees is in two weeks. What for me is fascinating is that we have a very small fig “tree” that Lisa acquired from a friend of hers and although we have had this for more than 5 years it has never blossomed or borne any fruit. No matter. But when ever I bring it indoors for the winter (we have more often than not covered it but left it outside) it is fully leafed in time for tu b’shvat (the new year for trees). This year is no exception.
Re Covid: Sounds like the Chinese govt is only providing data on the number of hospital deaths and not those who may have died at home from Covid. Also , I hear that doctors are being discouraged from citing Covid as a cause of death on death certificates so the actual intensity of Covid in China may be very different from the figures being cited.
One important datum here is what is called excess deaths. We know the expected numbers of deaths each month from all causes and so if the numbers are significantly different during a period of a known epidemic or pandemic you can be fairly confident that the disease is a likely cause… In the US excess deaths are still easily viewable… I wonder if the Chinese provide such data (how many deaths , say 2019? 2020? 2022? month by month. The govt. doesn’t need to label them covid deaths for epidemiologists and public health officials to understand such “winks”
Good news on the interviews you’ve had. Curiously, I was recently on a search committee and the candidate was a post doc (from Lebanon, I think) who was working in China… We had to do a great deal of juggling to speak with the candidate’s references (10 in the evening our time)…
Fascinated by your research paper. As a certified layman, (ha ha) I tend to ask: what is the question or problem that paper X is trying to address and I am thinking that your paper is not about gleaning new data from the galaxy clusters as much as confirming that the tools offered by the catalogs are not biased despite the different ways they determine “centers”? How close am I ?
Snow – OK that really was a dusting but I am curious, suppose there was a snow storm that dropped 6 inches of snow – who is responsible in your apartment building for ensuring the sidewalks are cleared? Does that fall to the tenants or to the city? and what about snow removal on the roads? How effective is the city? Of course, if you have not experienced much snow in the time you’ve been in Shanghai , that may not be anything you can answer – but I am just thinking how good Rochester and Buffalo are at removing enormous amounts of snow (because they have land they can dump it) and how poor (IMO) NYC is – perhaps because they have no place to push it.
Scottie and Charlie – They seem to behave as if neither is the alpha. Have they given you that honor, or is one of the cats more dominant when it comes to food?
The cat statues remind me of the ballet and horse statues we have in Saratoga, where a few dozen blank molds were produced and offered to different local artists to paint. Would you know if these creatures in Shanghai are part of the same idea? No idea where the origin of this public art arose.
The photos of the food you made look delicious. I have been experimenting making falafel. It’s incredibly easy to make – and quite delicious. The secret is to use dry uncooked chickpeas (or fava beans – also uncooked). You soak the beans (say 1 Cup) overnight (24 hours) and you process them with a small onion, a handful of parsley leaves and a handful of cilantro (stems and leaves) , 3 or 4 cloves of garlic, a couple of T of lemon juice, Cumin (1 T) salt and pepper, cayenne pepper (1/2t) 1 t of baking powder (to make the mix more fluffy), and I add 2 T of chickpea flour to help bind the mix. Grind this until you have a fairly fine mix – not a paste but no lumps either. Let sit a few minutes to allow the flavors to combine and press into balls or patties and I bake at 400 F for 30 minutes (turning after 15 minutes) on an oiled baking sheet. (you can pan fry , too or deep fry: deep fry is best with the oil at about 375 – but you cannot add too many balls at once (the temp drops too much).
Nothing great to report on what I have been watching although I have been streaming an old TV series on Netflix – The Sinner – a police procedural with Bill Pullman as a kind of mentally disturbed but good detective , and last night I watched Japanese Tales of the Macabre – an animated series that sorta kinda looks like anime… very weird but I may watch more this evening.
Last point – I had an opportunity to meet (on zoom ) with the interim rabbinical student who will be standing in for the Rabbis at Temple Sinai – His name is Jesse Epstein. Really nice fellow. He now owns the brewery in Clifton Park -Schmaltz and he has plans to bring together Jews and brewing
Stay well and stay safe, Jesse.
Thanks Bernard! That’s very interesting about your tree! In terms of covid information, it certainly appears as though the Chinese government is under reporting the numbers (though at least now they acknowledge there are some covid deaths). On the Drum Tower podcast, they talked to workers at crematoriums and funeral homes who said that many are receiving 2-3X the regular number of customers, so that may give you a good sense of the number of excess deaths.
Thanks for the well wishes on the interviews! I’ve been fortunate and each has been very accommodating of my time zone. So, they’ve either been in the evening or in the morning for me. I don’t know if anyone has had to contact my supervisor here, but it wouldn’t surprise me if that could have led to similar difficulties getting in touch.
In terms of my paper, you did a great job parsing the results! Your second conclusion (about the bias) is 100% correct! The first part isn’t quite right because while it’s not entirely unexpected that the conditional luminosity function’s slope/shape would be dependent on the cluster’s centering it is a new result. There were kind of two related goals (the cluster population and the bias) and much of the writing was figuring out how to balance/present these in a cohesive manner.
Shanghai almost never gets snow. This was the most I’ve seen in 3+ years. Given that the neighborhood committee managed everything for all the PCR tests and handles recycling/trash pick up, I imagine they would also be in charge of managing snow removal. Emmet may know better, since it actually snows (and sticks) in Beijing. That said, given the number of vehicles that aren’t cars that use the streets, I can’t imagine that people handle snow well here.
Scottie is definitely the alpha when it comes to food. He can get very “hangry” when he wants a treat/meal. So, often he’ll start the begging for a meal and then after a few minutes Charlie will join in. When they play though, Scottie being bigger can boss Charlie around, but he’s not really dominant over him. Sadly, I am not the alpha as they wake me up almost every morning.
The falafel recipe that you shared sounds great! I’ve made falafel before (using canned chickpeas), but mine have often become crumbly and not held together well.
Emmet and I both watched all 4 seasons of the Sinner. While it’s a rather dark show, I did find it interesting. Japanese Tales of Macabre sounds like something I might enjoy though!
Glad you got to meet the new interim Rabbi for Temple Sinai, too! Hope you stay safe and healthy!
Hey Jesse, great to hear things are getting back to normal, and you’ll visit Emmet In February! Zoro’s my favorite character from One Piece! Great you got to watch some movies. Fingers crossed for you with the job applications!!
Thanks Ryan! Zoro’s a great character! He’s definitely one of my favorites, too! Thanks for the well wishes on the job applications! I’ll definitely let you know once I hear anything! 🙂
Hi Jesse
I loved your blog this week, especially the beautiful artwork . Your pictures are so vivid and Scottie and Charlie are sure Studs. Along with being photogenic they are so cute and playful. I look forward to meeting them when they and of course you move closer.
Please take care of yourself and enjoy your visit with Emmet in February.
Sol and l leave for a few months in Florida for some warmth and fishing..
Love,
Halli
Hi Halli! Great to hear from you! I’m so glad that you enjoyed all the photos! It certainly helps that Scottie and Charlie are so adorable and position themselves perfectly! I hope you get to meet them as well! They’re very sweet, but a bit timid when I have friends over. I hope that you and Sol enjoy the warm weather in Florida for the next few months!
Jesse,
What a wonderful blog as usual. I loved seeing all the pictures of the cat sculptures in particular. The Magritte cat is my favorite. I always enjoy seeing pictures of Scotty and Charlie; it is certainly a beautiful sibling relationship. And I am certainly so impressed by your Asian cooking. The sword beans look amazing. I also am excited to try jianbing someday.
When you note that you have not been home for 3 1/2 years, it really sounds like a long time. I am so looking forward to seeing you soon!
Not much to share since my broken wrist and bruises have kept me homebound, but I am grateful I broke my left wrist, not my right. And I am feeling a bit better every day! Your flowers really cheered me. You and Emmet are such thoughtful and wonderful sons!
Keep up the excellent research. Fingers crossed on the interviews that will hopefully lead to offers. I am rooting for you. Love, Mom
Thanks Mom! I knew you’ld love the cat statues! I’m so glad that you enjoy all the photos (plus the others I send you) of Scottie and Charlie! Our bond is the best thing to come out of all the lockdowns. I look forward to cooking up some delicious (and not spicy) Chinese food for you and Dad to try! I miss you both and as you said, 3.5 years is too long. I look forward to seeing you this summer.
I hope that you are continuing to rest and recover and that you have an easy recovery. I’m so glad that you liked the flowers Emmet and I sent you!
Thanks for the well wishes on the interviews! Hopefully I’ll have some more exciting news to share with you soon!