Mah nishma? State of the Ben

"Mah nishma?" is the Hebrew version of "What's new?" It's an innocuous, universal greeting which needn't mean much more than a passing hello.

Job: I stopped slacking in late October and I caught on with a midtown NYC law firm where I have been since Halloween. It's document review to assist with ongoing litigation. The job at least has coined a new active verb that will be suitable for a job description on my resume - CHRONOLOGIZE, which means the separation, sorting, and date-ordering of responsive documents in preparation for depositions. The slang participle is CHRONNING.

Not to be confused in anyway, shape, or form with "The Chronic-Les of Narnia"

So anyway, day in and day out, there are more and more boxes of material to CHRON.

Living Space: Well, as some of you know, the loft I was looking at in October fell through. Very disappointing at the time.

Just before I resigned myself to remaining in the share, I perused Craigs List and was able to get into a one-bedroom apartment of my own in Harrison, New York. Harrison is the town between Mamaroneck and Rye on the New Haven train line of Metro North.

Advantages of this newly renovated apartment include an individually controlled thermostat, my own kitchen and bath, and separate bedroom and living rooms. This means that my turtles are no longer in the same room as me at all times. It also has reduced my walking commute to the train from 20 minutes to 8 minutes. I no longer live across the street from a pizzaria which bodes better for my waistline and cholesterol. My rent is a little higher, but it's worth it for the peace of mind, privacy, and not having to live with slobs. Except for the smallish kitchen, disadvantages are minimal owing only to the odd proclivities of my landlord.

Family: My mother had a health scare just before Thanksgiving: Congestive Heart Failure. It sounds worse than it was, but to be blunt, CHF, in my mother's case, occurred mainly from her failure to follow doctor's orders. There is no disguising or making excuses for 10 pounds of retained fluid leading to shortness of breath except that the cause is eating the wrong foods - not one time but over a period of time. Very frustrating to me that with all the best doctors and medicines, my mother can't do that which she should do - simply eat right and exercise.

I went to visit her, cooked a heart-healthy Thanksgiving dinner, helped her to make better and more informed food choices in the grocery store, and researched the best Medicare D prescription drug plan available for her. As confusing as the process is, if you as an adult child of your parent can surf the government's medicare website, enter your parent's information, especially the medications they take, then you can win the prized opportunity to compare (at least in Maryland) 48 different plans. Amazing how one insurance plan charges $2 for the same drug that another company charges $60 for. We settled on Humana - it wasn't really settling as their out of pocket prices were so much lower than anyone else - including, big surprise, AARP.

It took me about an hour of discussion with my mother and another two hours of research on the web. A phonecall to the insurance company to clarify a query and the process was completed. If you think that it's a lot of work, you have to consider how many hours your parents put in on your upbringing. That'll straighten your thinking right out in a hurry.

My sister and her family are doing well. Her newly renovated kitchen is gorgeous and she continues to work wonders in managing her very important job and the lives of all whom she cares about.

However, sadly, my young cousin, passed away at 46 from lung cancer despite having never smoked a single cigarette in his entire life. He fought the good fight through multiple rounds of chemo over a two year period. It's sad on a number of levels because our large family splintered following my dad's death in 1988 and has never been the same since. Jeff leaves behind a wife and daughter, a sister, and his mom and dad.

This was enough of a wake-up call for me to stop flying without a net as I increased my dues to society and signed up for the company healthcare plan offered during open enrollment. I am even getting to the gym more frequently this month. The new location in White Plains, atop the City Center's parking garage, is well lit, spacious, clean and convenient.

Music: It's all about the music, isn't it?

Steve Kimock, Railroad Earth and Government Mule. Those are my last three concerts. More about all three later.

Over Thanksgiving, there was a nasty snafu with the Live Archive's handling or was it mishandling of the Grateful Dead soundboards and audience recordings. Bob Weir took the brunt of the criticism - his comments did not help except to prove that Bob should focus on the music because he is not very articulate in interview situations. Fortunately, bassist Phil Lesh later came to his defense in this excerpted posting on the Philzone.

"I had two conversations with Cameron Sears, our CEO at GDP, regarding Archive, starting when our material first showed up there. I told Cameron that I was fine having the audience tapes up there, but that he should talk to everyone, including Bob Hunter and John Barlow, regarding the soundboards. A year later when I had not heard anything about the boards, I mentioned to Cameron that I felt by not doing anything we were making a decision about the boards and that I was fine with that. Again I urged him to talk to everyone. I was caught by complete surprise when, right before Thanksgiving, the recordings were pulled. I feel that Bobby was not updated properly and unfairly took most of the heat. A lot of our business disagreements are the result of poor communication from advisors. Bobby is my brother and I love him unconditionally; he is a very generous man, and was unfairly judged regarding the Archive issue."

Meanwhile, as those in charge tightened the grips on the classic soundboards, Phil made more available from his recent tour. Look at all those torrents, especially the digital soundboards. THANKS PHIL!

Unfortunately, I have had to curtail my concert going while preparing for the Bar Exam, yet one more time.

Fortunately, March Madness occurs after the exam. Eat a peach!





















Cooking and Food: I am wild about Mahi Mahi. I rediscovered my local Trader Joes. Their Mahi Mahi, wild caught in the Pacific, comes in nicely packed fillets that are roughly 6 inches long and a little over an inch thick. My preparation is to simply marinate in the juice of a lemon for a day (a la ceviche), roll it around in lemon pepper or other seasoning (which adheres to the lemony fish), and then bake or pan saute in olive oil. Simple, three servings in a package, and affordable. Here is their Fearless Flyer.

Also made several trays of cavatelle and broccoli for the Knotts driven and arranged MULE YEARS EVE party thrown by MikeO and Anna in their lovely UWS digs. It's a real joy to cook for others; especially when the food goes over so well.

And that is the State of the Ben. Stay tuned for other updates, especially about my bar exam preparation in the near-term.