So, Andrew, what have you been doing with yourself?

H and the kids are away for the week, visiting her parents. I, alas, don't have vacation days to spare so I'm holding down the fort at home.

The last two nights have been incredibly productive. I have been working on the final editing pass on my siddur, and although everything always takes longer than one expects, the improvements are visible everywhere. I've still got to do the cover design and polish up a few more interior spots, but I hope (!) to order proof copies next week. (Proofreading volunteers still needed! Sign up below!)

I've abandoned the Panda magazine meta for now. I'm not sure I was solving the right thing; the hint that Foggy posted over the weekend makes me think I was barking up the completely wrong tree -- which is fine, since I was getting nowhere. I've invested as much time in it as I think I can afford right now. The individual puzzles that I solved were fun, and now I can enjoy the "warmup" puzzles.

Sunday evening we had a lovely visit from mabfan, gnomi, and their daughters.

After a heavy week at work last week, this week is shaping up to be busy but productive.

And I'm eagerly awaiting the prototype decks for the game that rikchik and I have been developing.

So, Andrew, what have you been doing with yourself?

H and the kids are away for the week, visiting her parents. I, alas, don't have vacation days to spare so I'm holding down the fort at home.

The last two nights have been incredibly productive. I have been working on the final editing pass on my siddur, and although everything always takes longer than one expects, the improvements are visible everywhere. I've still got to do the cover design and polish up a few more interior spots, but I hope (!) to order proof copies next week. (Proofreading volunteers still needed! Sign up below!)

I've abandoned the Panda magazine meta for now. I'm not sure I was solving the right thing; the hint that Foggy posted over the weekend makes me think I was barking up the completely wrong tree -- which is fine, since I was getting nowhere. I've invested as much time in it as I think I can afford right now. The individual puzzles that I solved were fun, and now I can enjoy the "warmup" puzzles.

Sunday evening we had a lovely visit from mabfan, gnomi, and their daughters.

After a heavy week at work last week, this week is shaping up to be busy but productive.

And I'm eagerly awaiting the prototype decks for the game that rikchik and I have been developing.

Panda meta

So here's where I am on the Panda meta. Mostly, I'm posting this for Foggy's benefit :-)

( Spoilers? Perhaps )

So that's where I am.

Panda meta

So here's where I am on the Panda meta. Mostly, I'm posting this for Foggy's benefit :-)

( Spoilers? Perhaps )

So that's where I am.

Nice puzzle in today's Times

But of course one wonders if ( spoiler )

Nice puzzle in today's Times

But of course one wonders if ( spoiler )

Water, water!

As you may recall, one of the distinguishing features of my prayer book project is the inclusion of musical notation to help the shaliach tzibbur, the leader of the service, to remember the nusach. In most cases, this is just a brief reminder of the beginning of a familiar melody so that if I'm blanking at the start of a section I can get a jump-start, but in a handful of places it's actually a completely notated passage that occurs infrequently.

One such passage is the prayer for dew, recited on the first day of Passover, and the prayer for rain, recited on Shemini Atzeret. These share a melody that is designated mi-Sinai; not that we literally believe it comes "from Sinai" but it is an ancient melody, from time immemorial (almost certainly predating 1066CE), and one that the shaliach tzibbur Does Not Tinker With.

( Ethnomusicological detective story cut for length. )

Water, water!

As you may recall, one of the distinguishing features of my prayer book project is the inclusion of musical notation to help the shaliach tzibbur, the leader of the service, to remember the nusach. In most cases, this is just a brief reminder of the beginning of a familiar melody so that if I'm blanking at the start of a section I can get a jump-start, but in a handful of places it's actually a completely notated passage that occurs infrequently.

One such passage is the prayer for dew, recited on the first day of Passover, and the prayer for rain, recited on Shemini Atzeret. These share a melody that is designated mi-Sinai; not that we literally believe it comes "from Sinai" but it is an ancient melody, from time immemorial (almost certainly predating 1066CE), and one that the shaliach tzibbur Does Not Tinker With.

( Ethnomusicological detective story cut for length. )