yos.si is yossi langer's blog

Pictured: all of our worldly possessions, plus my parents. See...

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:23:56 -0500

Pictured: all of our worldly possessions, plus my parents. See you in California, worldly possessions!

Gung hei fat choi!

Contacts day 2.

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 15:01:22 -0500

Couldn’t get them in after ten minutes of trying just now. Later. Also, this:

Me: “Would you still have married me if I looked like this?” (I.E. without glasses.)

Shannon: (Long pause.) “You know, I think I’m the wrong person to ask.”

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN.

There are discs inside of my face! I’m seeing through my...

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 20:47:33 -0500

There are discs inside of my face! I’m seeing through my eyes right now without wearing glasses! I have contact lenses and they are touching my eyeballs! You guys, I am blinking SO MUCH.

So weird SO WEIRD. I’ve worn glasses since second grade. They are basically my face. NOW I DON’T HAVE A FACE AND I KEEP POKING MYSELF IN THE BRIDGE OF MY NOSE.

I have peripheral vision. What is this madness?

Ahem. What happened is this: We had some money left in the medical flex spending account, so I bought a fancy pair of prescription sunglasses, as one does. We picked them up on Saturday, and on Sunday someone stole them from Isaac’s stroller in Prospect Park - with cold emotionless logic passing up the grubby sock and drained yogurt pouch. For whatever reason, I decided that that was the last straw and that it was time, after thirty years of glasses wearing, to streamline. So I went back to the optometrist this morning and then she put DISCS ON MY EYEBALLS. Then she made me do it twice, and an hour and a half later I had that down. And now I’ve done it again.

Blinkblinkblinkblinkblinkblinkblinkblink. If you see me walking down the street, walk on by, because you’re not going to recognize me, because I no longer have a face.

New York things I’ll miss: free street books. Just scored...

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 22:06:24 -0500

New York things I’ll miss: free street books. Just scored a hardcover “Up In The Old Hotel” & some old John McPhees.

Things I’ll miss about New York, number 3: the combo of Xian Famous Foods and the...

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 20:14:22 -0500

Things I’ll miss about New York, number 3: the combo of Xian Famous Foods and the International Bar.

Isaac’s new words today: “bird,” “cheese.”

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 20:14:06 -0500

Isaac’s new words today: “bird,” “cheese.”

Things I’ll miss in New York #2:

Sat, 05 Nov 2011 19:12:46 -0400

Sitting in the parked car while Shannon nurses Isaac in the back, watching New Yorkers pass by, and wondering which of them he might be like someday.

61° yesterday and Mario Lopez is outside. Why are we moving to LA again?

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 10:00:36 -0400

61° yesterday and Mario Lopez is outside. Why are we moving to LA again?

Things I'll miss in New York #1: El Rincon del Sabor

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 12:46:00 -0400

Yes, I know: Mexican food is better in L.A. Don’t even start, because a) E.R.D.S. serves Ecuadoran food, and b) my love for it isn’t about the taste or quality of the caldo gallega. I love it because it’s four flights up a cast-iron staircase in a regular old office building on Jeweler’s Row - but because it’s Jeweler’s Row, visiting a regular old office building means taking a trip to 1932. Every tiny room or suite has another jewelry-ancillary business going on, from medieval-seeming smith-type operations to a little guy behind a desk yelling into a phone in Yiddish (on my way up the stairs) and Dutch (on my way down). Going to El Rincon (where only Spanish is spoken and the wood-paneled interior is as cozy as a rec room) is my only access to that world. Plus the food is pretty good.

We’re moving to Los Angeles. In February, or maybe a little sooner, but not forever - just for...

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 13:42:00 -0400

We’re moving to Los Angeles. In February, or maybe a little sooner, but not forever - just for a couple of years. Just thought you should know!

Three hours of sleep, 9.5 hours jetlagged, in a hot room, listening to a presentation about video...

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 05:57:09 -0400

Three hours of sleep, 9.5 hours jetlagged, in a hot room, listening to a presentation about video encoding.

So this happened: through a complicated series of travel logistics and schedule misreadings, I ended...

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 22:04:58 -0400

So this happened: through a complicated series of travel logistics and schedule misreadings, I ended up getting a ride from Belmar to Perth Amboy, NJ with a very nice lady - a stranger I met in the train station parking lot - who believes that the world is going to end on Friday. Apparently the Family Radio guy has set a new date, and she is a believer. Actual exchange:

Yossi: Well, now that we’ve figured out the train schedule, you shouldn’t have this problem next time.
Nice lady: Yeah, that’s true. Although hopefully the world is going to end on Friday.

I wish I could say I came away from the experience with some understanding of her mindset, but we mostly talked about her grandkids.

Isaac looking for Shannon in the changing room.

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 14:27:56 -0400

Isaac looking for Shannon in the changing room.

At Zeitgeist in the Mission. First Drive Like Jehu album. Couldn’t be happier.

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 01:24:10 -0400

At Zeitgeist in the Mission. First Drive Like Jehu album. Couldn’t be happier.

Hey, quit doing this, L.A.

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 20:44:51 -0400

Hey, quit doing this, L.A.

With Isaac at Umami Burger in Hollywood just now.

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 21:35:51 -0400

With Isaac at Umami Burger in Hollywood just now.

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 21:34:09 -0400

With Isaac at Umami Burger in Hollywood just now.

Cool earthquake, gonna go loot.

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 14:05:45 -0400

via the Awl.

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 10:24:01 -0400

via the Awl.

Mobility

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 14:37:20 -0400

Often when I run into people who don’t have kids, they ask “so what’s he doing now?” - meaning, generally, what stage of development has he hit? I asked the same thing myself many a time.

Here’s what he’s doing now: Saturday, at the playground, I changed his diaper, then put him on the rubber mat for a second. He immediately crawled away from me over to the playground equipment, climbed a stair, climbed another one, made a left-hand turn, up another stair, crossed over eight feet of platform, up another stair, and then head-first down the slide. In about six seconds. This kid’s going to be exhausting once he learns to walk.