Jaffe

Still undecided?

It's hard to believe that anyone is still undecided... but maybe this will help those who are...

Labels: politics

posted by Aron @ 11:25 PM 3 comments

Celebrity sighting!

Some of my cousins in L.A. are obsessed with celebrity sightings. Some of the people they have pointed out to me were so low on the celebrity list, I didn't know who they were even after they told me what movie/TV show/commercial they were in.

That celebrity culture exists, albeit to a lesser extent, in New York City. And I admit that I was pretty excited when I saw that Abe Vigoda shopped in my Food Emporium.

I thought all of my celebrity sighting days were over with my move to Boston. So imagine my surprise tonight when I saw who was sitting next to me on the bus on the way home from work.



What? You don't recognize him? Maybe this would help...



Ai caramba!

Labels: Boston, celebrity sighting

posted by Aron @ 8:03 PM 1 comments

Boston Pumpkin Festival, 2008

Yesterday was the Boston Pumpkin Festival, which took place in Government Center, and had a display of about 7,500 jack-o-lanterns. Pretty impressive stuff.

Labels: Boston, halloween

posted by Aron @ 7:26 PM 0 comments

Thank you Colin!

Colin Powell this morning on Meet the Press:

Labels: politics

posted by Aron @ 11:11 AM 1 comments

Just one heartbeat away...

This was forwarded to me earlier today by C Lo. Although I know this is meant as a parody, but how close is this to the truth? Let's hope we never find out:

Palin as president

Labels: politics, social commentary

posted by Aron @ 8:32 PM 0 comments

Election 2008

I think I speak for everyone when I say that I'm tired of the US presidential campaign. The economy is a disaster, we're in a war that's costing a fortune in both lives and money, and there's no end in sight.

This election should be a no-brainer. When an administration presides over (or is responsible for) the worst 8-year stretch in our country since I've been alive, the opposing party should be able to put up anyone who meets the requirements for becoming a US president. This is an excerpt from the Wikipedia entry about the President of the United States.

Article Two of the Constitution sets the principal qualifications to be eligible for election as President. A Presidential candidate must:

* be a natural-born citizen of the United States;
* be at least thirty-five years old;
* have been a permanent resident in the United States for at least fourteen years.

Natural-born citizen of the U.S.... check
At least thirty-five years old... check
Have been a permanent resident in the United States for at least fourteen years... check

I'm in!

My candidacy has already caused a groundswell of support. Check out the news coverage here.

Labels: politics, social commentary

posted by Aron @ 8:44 PM 5 comments

Talking pretty

Everyone has a story. Everyone has people in their family who seem like they're from another planet, or been in situations that were so awkward that just thinking about them makes them embarrassed. Fortunately, none of us needs to share those elements of our personal lives. David Sedaris does it for us. I've read two of his collections of short stories, Me Talk Pretty One Day and Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, and both had me laughing aloud. As outlandish as some of his stories are, there's always an element that's familiar to the reader.

A couple of days ago I saw that he was performing at Symphony Hall, but didn't buy the ticket because I wasn't sure I could make the 7pm show this evening. Fortunately, I live just around the corner, so after a little dinner I wandered over to see if there were any tickets left with 15 minutes until showtime. I found a guy selling one of his tickets because his friend didn't show up, so for $30 I had a front row balcony seat for my first show in Symphony Hall.

David Sedaris didn't read anything from his new book, When You Are Engulfed in Flames. Instead, he chose to read some unpublished stories, which ranged in content from biographical (a very interesting trip on Amtrak) to political (trying to understand how anyone can be an undecided voter in the upcoming US presidential election). Anyone who has heard him on This American Life knows the kind of wit and humor Sedaris has in his delivery. But one of the highlights of the show was the Q&A with the audience after his readings. His interaction with the members of the audience was so natural, the conversation could have easily happened in my living room... minus the microphone.

Labels: Boston

posted by Aron @ 10:09 PM 0 comments

Taking a bite out of the big apple...

Without a doubt one of the nicest things about living on the east coast of the US is being able to visit other cities easily and cheaply. This past weekend I visited New York to meet up with some friends - $36 return on Bolt Bus, a (relatively) new bus company that has plugs for your laptops and free wifi. Definitely a change from the trip I took to Boston on Lucky Star a couple of years ago!

Lots of catching up with friends, drinks in the East Village, a walk in Central Park...

all only a few hours away...

Labels: East Village, New York, travel

posted by Aron @ 10:00 PM 1 comments

Moving at the speed of life...

I moved to Boston on July 3, 2008. Those of you who read Jaffe regularly will recognize that date as (roughly) the day I disappeared. Sure, I've posted a couple of things since then, but nothing about life in Boston since the move.

A couple of weeks ago I got an email from Matt, a friend from grad school (who, incidentally, has the same birthday as me). The email was about raising money for the genetic disorder that is both Matt's clinical and research interest. He's running the Chicago Marathon along with some other people who have been touched by the disorder, called Cornelia de Lange Syndrome (CdLS). I'll add a link in the support sidebar, for those of you interested in reading more about this syndrome and supporting Matt in his first marathon.

Anyway, I had no idea that Matt was a Jaffe reader, but his last line in the email was this:

P.S. If you get the chance drop me a note to with a quick update--your last blog update was in July....

The reason I started the blog was to give my friends back in London a chance to experience settling down in New York through my eyes. There are a lot of people that I knew I wasn't going to speak with weekly or even monthly, and I thought the blog would be the perfect way to stay in touch.

After two and a half years, I was back to settling down again, and I guess I let the blog get away from me. It's not that I haven't thought of posting, it's just that there has been so much going on that I haven't felt like a quick post here and there really captured how quickly things are moving here.

Quick posts are clearly better than no posts... thanks Matt.

Labels: blogging, Boston

posted by Aron @ 8:07 PM 1 comments