Pitching for the Middle: Essays & Musings

I think that may be the definition of a friend. Marriage, though not quite as irrevocable, suffers similar pitfalls of too much familiarity. So what is it about friendship that avoids that kind of craziness? The time we share with our friends is, almost by definition, time carved out of family obligations, work, housekeeping, reading, gardening, even sleep.

Of course, not all friendships last forever. Friends move and the commitment fades. Friends marry badly, or change too much, though I am still friends with a high school pal who votes Republican. When friends die, we are heartbroken and bereft. No one gives us time off work to grieve the loss of this particular, precious, mostly unspoken love. Sep 17, Sirpa Grierson rated it liked it Shelves: Delightful essays and musings about life that are sometimes poignant and often funny.

Diamant is an award-winning journalist and author who has that keen eye for the small things in life that resonates with readers. There is even a specific, funny name for its succulent subdivisions: It is where I am told what a great kid I have been by strangers and comforted on the anniversary of my father's death by acquaintances.

It is where I feel connected to people I don't even like, but who are part of my life by virtue of membership and affiliation and accident. Some of the short essays are exquisite; all are worth reading. Jul 21, Ahana rated it really liked it. I'm neither married nor a mother nor religious, but there is a comfort and warmth to Diamant's writing that touched me. She tells her own stories, because stories are meant to be told. She hasn't got the slightest intention of preaching or telling her reader s to live her kind of life.

But she's living it and it hasn't been all smooth. But there has been joy and sharing and a growing capacity to have fun in unexpected ways. That's really what she wanted to tell us. Sep 21, Linda rated it it was ok Shelves: I like this author's writing, but I'm not a fan of her outlook on life. Reading the favorite columns that she has written over the years would have been more interesting if I viewed life in a similar way. I found myself not agreeing with her, philosophically, on many points.

• An Interstellar Visitor.
• Pitching My Tent: On Marriage, Motherhood, Friendship, and Other Leaps of Faith!
• Remember Me: A Passover Celebration?
• Psicologia e Sport (Italian Edition).

I didn't enjoy it so I decided to stop where I was and move on to another book. Aug 13, Amber Chaplin rated it it was amazing Shelves: Make sure you have a box of tissues when you read this book. Some of the stories are so touching they make you cry, others make you laugh so hard that you cry again. Jan 26, Beth rated it it was amazing. Really made me wish I was Jewish. Mar 01, Emilia P rated it really liked it Shelves: I have never heard raspberries called an aphrodisiac. They do not make you want to do anything but eat more raspberries.

Which makes them truly paradisical. Lush, fleeting, a pleasure in itself, that's the way things are. A collection of very short essays on - in this order -1 romantic love "Despite their ephemerality and downy sensuality A collection of very short essays on - in this order -1 romantic love and marriage with the keen observation that its so important not to sleep alone , 2 her daughter Emilia hehe.

They went by too fast, really.

Diamant has a good sense of humor and relatability -- she never puts anyone down or holds up her own experiences as definitive and universal, but somehow they work on a really gut level. She just seems to have a faith and hope in the goodness and richness of life and the power that our families and friends and traditions and histories have to sustain us through the hard times -- which she doesn't mince words about.

Birth and children are ever-present in her essays -- but so is death and loss. Sometimes there is no silver lining. Sometimes we just have to keep going. She's not a hippy optimist by any stretch, but she's not a calculating rationalist either, and her gentle realism is refreshing. Tonight we come to remember and rejoice. My cantor opens her mouth to sing and we catch fire. So Beth El will remain my spiritual home, my sacred mess. Holidays grab time by its invisible hand and invite it to the table, where it seems almost palpable.

While it's good to learn about those, and think about the differences, there's also a big swath of common ground that this book reminded me of, as well as a lot of particularly Jewish lessons and attitudes that resonate with and fascinate me. Diamant stressed, without ever actually saying it secret, this book wasn't structured around Judaism entirely, but as a religious person it was unapologetically interwoven into her view of the world , that Judaism is a very earthly and even somewhat earthy religion, that faith in other people and in our own world is essential, and that there is a real positive power to continuing to wrestle with and fill in the blanks of and apply faith to contemporary life yeah midrash!

I didn't quite know how much I needed this. Oct 31, Maria Elmvang rated it liked it Shelves: I wasn't terribly impressed by "The Red Tent" by Anita Diamant, but had heard many good things about this essay collection, so I thought I'd give her another try. I'm glad I did, because it was a very enjoyable read. Being neither a mother nor a Jew, there were many essays I couldn't relate all that much to, but being a wife and religious even if it is Christianity rather than Judaism there were many others that I could. Not a book that "rocked my world", but a pleasant pass-time.

I did enjoy I wasn't terribly impressed by "The Red Tent" by Anita Diamant, but had heard many good things about this essay collection, so I thought I'd give her another try. I did enjoy this quote from it though: Oct 31, Rachel rated it liked it. Compilation of essays about the author's life and family. I particularly enjoyed her references to observing the Sabbath, lighting the candles every Friday night, sharing a moment of warmth and affection with her family.

In the chapter "Joyful Noise," she writes about the importance of music in religious life. It can break your heart and it can heal you. Its magic is undeniable. As lovely as the l Compilation of essays about the author's life and family. As lovely as the letters are on the page, when they are married to melody they have the power to reshape the whole universe, atom by atom, breath by breath.

Sep 23, Margie rated it liked it. A collection of essays from various magazines she has written for in the past by the well-known author of The Red Tent.

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Many of these essays pertain to various holidays, celebrations, observances, perspectives of being Jewish which Anita Diamant wears proudly. However many of the essays can also be of interest to anyone as she speaks to stages of life: The essays are for the most part short and her style is easy to read making this book co A collection of essays from various magazines she has written for in the past by the well-known author of The Red Tent.

The essays are for the most part short and her style is easy to read making this book convenient to pick up and put down without losing a flow of a full-length narrative. Jul 19, Hester rated it really liked it Shelves: The book is a compulsively readable collection of essays, many about Jewish life. In some, her honesty and wonder at life's difficulties inspired me. In others, I felt she tried too hard to make American life "Jewish.

Thanksgiving is time to be American! She did, however, make me want to celebrate Sukkot. Dec 30, Janelle rated it really liked it. I really enjoyed this collection. Some were a little harder to relate to, especially those about Jewish life but even those were informative and a quick read besides.

All were worth the read, but I did have a few favorites. Diamant's daughter chose as her first read. The other is "Heaven on Earth" and ode to raspberries, my favorite fruit. I wanted to read this book because we used an excerpt from it in our wedding ceremony. It's called Why Marry? I loved some of the things Diamant said about dogs and also loved the portion about women's friendships, but the book was largely based on her religion and I did not relate to it so much.

I like her voice and she portrays herself as a kind and compassionate woman.

I just think the book was not exactly a match for me. Dec 04, Cindy rated it it was amazing. I stumbled across this book by accident and am so glad I did. Loved The Red Tent, of course, but was unsure what to expect from this little book of essays. What I found was beautiful writing on motherhood, friendship and religious traditions. Its a sweet book that I want to share with friends when they have babies, or are in mourning, or just because we're friends. She says much of what I want to say, if I could find the words.

This book was a treat! Jul 15, Priscilla rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: You would have to be a stone not to be moved by the quotidian and the spiritual as described by Anita Diamant in her memoir. I wish she were my best friend. Don't miss out on this beautifully written collection of essays about a life of humble milestones and Jewish faith. If after reading you declare you can't relate, then do as Anne Sexton admonishes us in her "Words for Dr.

Imagine if a city simply added to its street signs simple QR codes. Not only would this give added information to citizens but information could be programmatically updated in the case of an emergency like Sandy. Over the coming decade billions of sensors get wired into the network, many of them in our cities. Most of these sensors primary purpose will be commercial yet there will be some level of aggregate data that the city government should have access to aggregate. Weatherunderground had some useful maps of the tide levels on monday night as Sandy approached but the detail needed on a local level to make informed decisions was missing.

What happened here in NYC was nothing compared to the earthquake in Japan and the nuclear fallout that followed. Yet alot of our technology failed us. Technology needs to be designed as flexible, adaptable to the context that it exists in. Over the coming decade we will see contextual computing upend many of the services that today we take for granted. Building and designing technology with events like Sandy as a consideration are a first step down the path of making computing and the machines we depend on, function regardless and in regard of the context they exist in.

I did a live interview last Friday on Bloomberg TV.

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A conversation about the early stage technology environment, increases in the cycles of change, new things at betaworks and the Facebook IPO. If the subject of the Facebook IPO and the acceleration of the rate of technology change interests you there are two other posts on the subject I saw this weekend. Live TV is always interesting, I dont enjoy it but I love the fact that its live, its your words, no editing possible. First check out that keyboard, Bloomberg terminals and airport checkin are the only places you see things like that.

Back to the screens. From what I could gather one on the right was email and a chat window. On the left was an application to let the host compose real time a feed into her teleprompter. Part way through it the producer in her ear tells her there is a breaking story about JP Morgan. Users of findings get to choose whether to make their collections public or private.

The piece resonated with me. At the time I had a flatfile system with years worth of collected quotes and clips; it was searchable but the happenstance of the discovery tool that Devon offered opened up a whole new dimension to my collection. Along the journey Steven found this wonderful quote from Robert Darnton about the commonplace book:. They broke texts into fragments and assembled them into new patterns by transcribing them in different sections of their notebooks. Then they reread the copies and rearranged the patterns while adding more excerpts.

Reading and writing were therefore inseparable activities. They belonged to a continuous effort to make sense of things, for the world was full of signs: This quote exemplifies how I read, and write, today. Despite this, the tools and the language of sharing quotes and marginalia are still only loosely formed.

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In short, it was too early for findings so we bought the domain and shelved the development. As a side note, we originally started with the domain findin. The project sat on the shelf for about 18 months. Today we are launching findings. The experience is simple yet the meta-data that is processed in the background is complex. I hope you will give it a try. Thanks to James and others for their insight, we are collectively just starting to understand what is possible and what reading will be in the future.

Sometimes ideas need time to develop, simmer and brew.

Michael Steinberg

And a final note, please be patient with us the site had a lot more traffic than we expected today. The growth numbers are insane and they have just announced a big, big funding round. Since the site was first introduced, 30 million blogs have been created using the tool. Those 30 million blogs now generate more than 40 million posts each day. This is stunning growth and is a testament to great work by David and the team over the past five years. Its also an indicator about how fast new social platforms can get to scale. We are living in an age of mutlple social platforms.

The next five years is going to be fascinating as the established platforms ie: Facebook, Twitter , relate to the new platforms ie: He believed publishing could be a simple and beautiful experience; holistic design of the publishing experience, from the post dashboard to the layout of every pixel, could be something simple and bold.

I remember talking with David about the early forms of blogging and how tumblogging was emerging as a short variant. We talked about dashboards and how they should be integrated into the published experience vs.

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We also talked about reposting from other networks and how he wanted tumblr to retain the layout of posts vs. The thing I remember the most from the conversation was David himself. He is one of the best and most dedicated product entrepreneurs I have ever met — he thinks carefully and deeply about every interaction that he and his team creates, and always has.

Every pixel has been considered with care. David is different and special. The rest of the story is history. David left Next New Networks and started focusing on tumblr full time. I started betaworks and made tumblr one of our first investments. Congratulations to David, John and the team. Note that as backdrop this talk was the day after tumblr had a large outage, so I think David had been pretty much up all night. Categories API's 19 betaworks 54 building blocks 42 data 26 essays 17 Fotolog 17 platforms 17 think 72 All Categories Thats it for now. I need to give this blog some love, its become a link blog.

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Susan's Musings

The Bloomberg team came over to the office to talk about how we work, at betaworks. Who Are the Brains Behind Betaworks?: Comments Off on how we beta-work. Its time for the annual betaworks shareholder letter. This is something that I hammer out at the end of each year — its long this year, sorry we didnt have the time to edit it further. Comments Off on Shareholder Letter.

Comments Off on tapestry: So what could have have been done differently? Here are five ideas: City, local, government data hubs: Towards a Machine readable city: Comments Off on Sandy and how the technology we build could serve us more effectively. Comments Off on Bloomberg interview re: Comments Off on How Bloomberg does interviews …. Comments Off on betaworks shareholder letter. Along the journey Steven found this wonderful quote from Robert Darnton about the commonplace book: Mar 1 entry. Jul 1 entry Feb 1 entry.

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