Mabfan's Musings

[This is about the kids.]

One of the things that Nomi and I have been learning to do for the past five-and-a-half months now is putting the kids to bed in a way that gets them to go to sleep quickly. Whether or not they get to sleep and stay asleep can sometimes feel like a crapshoot; for the past two nights, the girls have gotten to sleep relatively quickly (thanks to Nomi) but then woken up within a half-hour and been unable to get to sleep again until very late. There's also the fact that they do wake up during the night for feedings and diaper changes, all of which contributes to a lack of sleep for both Nomi and myself.

A nice part of all this, however, was developing a bedtime ritual that we thought the kids would enjoy. As it now stands, here's what we tend to do.

First we tend to feed them as much as they'll eat, change them into fresh diapers, and then put them into their sleep sacks. We know the kids are learning because one night we put Muffin in her sleep sack before feeding her, and she got this sad, confused look on her face as if we were planning to put her into her crib without dinner. We fed her immediately, and she ate two and a half bottles of food, and was most satisfied.

After they are in their sacks, we sit them on our laps and read to them. Right now, we're mostly reading to them from "But Not the Hippopotamus" by Sandra Boynton, and they seem to appreciate it a lot. We tend to read them the book twice.

Then we walk them into their room, gently lay them down in their cribs and sing to them. A lot of our singing is from the davening, which makes Nomi think that the girls will spend their lives falling asleep in shul. Sometimes we pick them up and rock them as we sing to them, but we also try to get them to fall asleep without that.

Anyway, that's our usual bedtime ritual with the kids.

Tomorrow, of course, is Christmas. If you're celebrating Christmas, may you have a merry one, full of happiness.

It's also Isaac Newton's birthday, something I always like to commemorate given my background in Physics.

And earlier in the month of December, I celebrated the festival of Chanukah. Let's take each of these in turn.

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So that's it. To all my Christian friends, as I said before, may you have a merry and joyous Christmas. To all my Jewish friends, I hope you had a happy Chanukah. To all my friends who celebrate some other holiday of the season, may it be for good. And for those of my friends who celebrate no holiday at all, may you enjoy a good start to the Gregorian New Year of 2010.

One of my day job colleagues is an artist named Steve Rider, with whom I share a love of the TV show Doctor Who. A few weeks ago, Steve was showing me elaborate plans he had found for building your own Dalek, and I mentioned how useful I would find a Davros-style wheelchair.

Next thing I know, Steve has sent me the following piece of original digital art (posted with permission):

Dadros by Steve Rider Copyright ©2009 by Steve Rider. Do not copy.

I'm very pleased to say that as of this afternoon, he has also gifted me with the original sketch, framed.

Now I just have to find something for my daughters to annotate....

Why am I up after midnight? We got the kids to go to sleep on the early side, and then they woke up and would not go back to sleep. Eventually, we got one of them down, but the other just wouldn't go to sleep, despite being tired.

Nomi sat with her and starting reciting "The Walrus and the Carpenter," which gave me an idea. I found my Annotated "Hunting of the Snark" and started to read it to her.

By the time "the Baker had fainted away," so had she.

Good night.

Two years ago, Smart Pop Books published Webslinger: SF and Comic Writers on Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man edited by Gerry Conway, and I was pleased to have an essay in the book. I grew up in Forest Hills, the same neighborhood of Spider-Man's secret identity, Peter Parker, and as a result I always took a greater interest in the character than I might have otherwise. It didn't hurt that I, like many others, identified with Peter and the difficulties he faced in his regular life. So when I had the chance to contribute to the book, I plumbed my own personal life and wrote an essay about the real Forest Hills, as opposed to the one in the Marvel universe. I explored what Peter's life might have been like had he grown up in the neighborhood of my childhood, noting the actual stores, schools, and sites he would have woven into his background.

Smart Pop Books is promoting their line by running whole essays from their books, and for this week only my essay is available. So if you never picked up the book, but would like to see what I said about Spider-Man (and about my own childhood, come to think of it), check it out here:

"The Friendly Neighborhood of Peter Parker"

I'm not sure how interesting this will be for people, but...

A few years ago, Nomi and I got iPods. But when we got iPhones, I stopped using my iPod as my portable music player. Especially after my Palm device died, it made much more sense for me to combine all my functionality into one device. It's true that my iPhone can't hold as much music as my iPod, but it was easier to carry around only one device rather than two (or the three I used to carry).

Sometime after we bought the iPods, we also bought a Bose SoundDock so we could plug the iPods in and listen to music in the living room. But once I stopped using my iPod, I thought that perhaps that was the end of using the SoundDock.

It wasn't until this past weekend that I realized how foolish I was being.

I dug out my iPod, loaded all my new music into it, and plugged it into the SoundDock. We now have a SoundDock with an iPod always plugged into it, so we can always play music for the room.

I took advantage of this yesterday by playing songs for the kids, and singing and dancing with them. I hope they like Schoolhouse Rock and Peter, Paul, and Mommy.

Any suggestions for music for babies would be welcome.

As everyone in the Boston area knows, last night we had the first accumulative snowstorm of the season. On December 4 at 12:29 pm, Universal Hub declared the French Toast Alert level to be at Elevated.

That put me in the mood for French toast. So on Friday, Nomi went out to the supermarket to make sure we were well stocked with eggs and milk. We had plenty of homemade challah for French toast, so we didn't have to worry about buying bread.

This morning, Nomi and I made French toast. (Well, I sliced the challah at the start and washed the dishes at the end; Nomi had the hard job of making all the French toast.) I documented the making of the French toast because I felt it was important to note the first French toast of the season. I've placed most of the photos behind a cut to spare your browsers the download, but if you want to see the whole French Toast Alert photo essay, click away. Or you can skip to the end, which is a good bit and has Marvin in it.

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And finally, the reason we have French Toast Alerts in the first place.

French Toast Begins to Accumulate Photo copyright ©2009 by Michael A. Burstein.

More French Toast On the Way Photo copyright ©2009 by Michael A. Burstein.

French Toast Alert: Three to Five Inches of French Toast Photo copyright ©2009 by Michael A. Burstein.

I hope you've enjoyed this photo essay. For the next snowstorm, maybe I can convince Nomi to make pancakes.

So this morning, before I left for work, I received alerts for the Green Line saying that there were delays on the Green Line D. I usually take the Green Line C, so I ignored the alert. (I live close enough to a D stop that I can take it as well if I choose.)

Well, as I was standing in the wind and rain on a stretch of unprotected-from-the-elements concrete with a gathering crowd, I received an alert that there were now 10-15 minute delays on the Green Line C due to a disabled train at Cleveland Circle.

One disabled train led to a much more crowded commute and got me into work about twenty to twenty-five minutes late.

The irony is that before my C train ever arrived, I received an alert saying that the D line was back to normal. Maybe I should have walked over there instead.

All of us here at the Burstein household – especially Muffin and Squeaker – wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving!

Muffin and Squeaker say Happy Thanksgiving! Photo copyright ©2009 by Michael A. Burstein. Do not copy. All rights reserved.

Once again, I'm pleased to note that I was invited to participate in a Mind Meld discussion by the fine folks over at SF Signal. This time, the question they asked was, "Do you read eBooks? If not, why not? If so, what are the pros and cons of eBook reading? What device(s) do you use?"

Participants include (deep breath): Rachel Swirsky, Rose Fox, Jeremiah Tolbert, Dominic Green, Fabio Fernandes, Paul Levinson, Tim Lebbon, Jeff VanderMeer, Paul Melko, Ellen Datlow, and me.

What surprised me the most was the number of people who don't read eBooks, and why they don't.

Go check it out:

Mind Meld: The Pros and Cons of eBooks

About a week or so ago, I noticed that the Borders store next to my office building was advertising Jeff VanderMeer's appearance to promote his new novel Finch. Sadly, the event was scheduled for tonight, so there was no way I could attend and finally meet Jeff in person.

However, Jeff happened to be staying in the area, so we met for breakfast.

Michael A. Burstein, Jeff VanderMeer Copyright ©2009 by K. L. Bryant

It turned out that we had a lot to talk about. We discussed science fiction and fantasy writing, of course, and teaching, and Clarion experiences, but we also talked about Florida. In my day job, I'm working on a project for Florida, and it turns out that Jeff had some relevant experience in the same field. So who knows, maybe we'll be working together on something totally different than fiction later on.

Jeff graciously signed my copy of his book Booklife: Strategies and Survival Tips for the 21st-Century Writer, which I highly recommend. The link will take you to a website devoted to the book that includes a lot of supplementary material. Check it out if you're trying to carve out a life as a writer in today's world.

So after a brief bookstore browse, I returned to my office and went to the refrigerator to put my lunch together. Which was difficult at first, because although my bread was where I had left it, the rest of my food wasn't.

Someone had literally moved my cheese.

I just found out because I was recommending them to a friend that Arnold Hatters closed a few months ago.

Arnold Hatters was my favorite haberdashery, with Worth & Worth a close second. I discovered Arnold Hatters a few years ago when Nomi located an Ivy cap for me (my cap style of choice). We ordered it from them over their website, and the next time I was in New York City, I visited the store and met the owners.

They were a family-owned business. Father Arnold Rubin and sons Mark and Peter Rubin were true gentlemen. Many was the time Nomi and I would go there when on vacation so we could find me a new hat. You know those caps I always wear? Arnold Hatters. Those Fedoras that Nomi and I sport in the fall and winter, which make us look "fedorable"? Arnold Hatters. Even now, I can reach into my coat pocket and pull out the ear warmers that Mark sold us on one of the coldest Wednesdays in NYC that I can recall, back in late 2006. Any time someone in the Boston area admired my hats, I would send them to ahat.com and tell them to let the Rubins know that I sent them.

The last time I shopped there was in mid-2007, the summer after Mom died. I told Peter what had happened, and he offered his condolences. And then I bought another cap.

I hope the family ends up doing okay. Peter, Mark, if you're out there, drop me a line.

Jeremiah's Vanishing New York: Arnold Hatters

Lost City: Take Off Your Hats: Arnold Hatters Closes

Hat Life: Arnold Hatters Closes

Nomi and I have almost gotten the kids' room done, but we still have some boxes we need to unpack and sort through to finish setting up the room.

Anyone willing to help us out this Sunday afternoon? We'll provide some sort of dinner afterwards...

Edited to Add: We're looking at 1 pm to about 5 pm or so, with dinner after. We want to bring food in (either pizza or Chinese food), but it would help if someone coming had a car...

It's been a few weeks since I've managed to blog here; as I hope people can imagine, the kids still take up a lot of time in our lives. Nomi and I continue to enjoy being parents, and I find myself torn between wanting to post every update about the kids and not wanting to deluge the readers of this blog with all those details. I would post about other things going on in my life, but as I noted recently on Twitter and Facebook, there's not much else going on.

Well, that's not entirely true. We're working, of course, and I'm always trying to make progress on some writing project or other. We're continuing to clean the apartment; in particular, every day we make a little more progress in the kids' room so it will one day be entirely theirs. And we socialize a little bit, although that's mostly close to home. We did make it to a wedding last month, and we're going to another one this month, but any trips out of the house involve so many logistical details that they have to be considered carefully before implementing. (I sound like a military general.)

Amidst all the current chaos that is our lives, however, I didn't want to let two anniversaries pass today without mention.

A year ago today, on Sunday, November 2, 2008, was the official publication day of my collection I Remember the Future. It's hard for me to believe that the book has been out for a whole year. I blogged about publication day last year in my post The Publication Party, and I noted how wonderful it was to have so many people turn out for the celebration.

In honor of the first anniversary of the book's publication, the Open Book Society website is featuring an exclusive interview with me. I discuss a variety of topics, including my thoughts on the current state of the publishing industry and how having twins has affected my writing. Feel free to check it out.

(Also, although I'm probably preaching to the choir here, keep in mind that the book is still in print, and would make a great gift for Chanukah or Christmas. And check out all the other books Apex has for sale.)

Ahem.

So that's one year ago. Nineteen years ago... well, nineteen years ago my father died. And oddly enough, that's true this year on both the Gregorian and Hebrew calendar. Dad died on the evening of November 2, 1990, after sundown, which means that he died on the 15th of Cheshvan in the year 5751. As it so happens, the 15 of Cheshvan began last night and lasts all day today until sundown – and today is November 2.

I've discussed my father here before and how much he influenced me – in fact, I did so again just last year in the post Joel David Burstein for anyone who wants to be reminded about him. Yesterday evening, when I went to shul to recite the Mourner's Kaddish, I contemplated how far I've come from that night in college when Dad was taken from me.

For many years, I defined myself as an adult who had lost his father. Then, in 2007, I had to learn to redefine myself as an adult who had lost both his parents, and that was at an age when most people still have their parents around. But this past summer, I began to redefine myself again, as a father to twins. Last night, as I held my two daughters and thought about how they've both been named in a way that honors my parents, I thought about how joyously Dad would have held the two of them were he alive today.

I wish they could have met my parents, their grandparents, and I hope I'll be able to impress upon them the kind of people they were.

One year ago, and nineteen years ago.

My younger brother Josh called from Seattle, where he's away for meetings, to remind me that today was Mom's birthday. If she were still alive, she'd be 73 years old.

I am sad to say that I had forgotten. But I'm sure Mom would have forgiven me. :-)

For those interested, the kids slept very well on Monday and Tuesday night, probably because we did our best to help them get used to the idea of going to sleep. Yesterday we went out to a meeting of the New England chapter of the MWA to hear a police officer talk about her experiences in law enforcement. It was a fascinating talk, but that meant that the kids went from nanny to babysitter, so they were a little fussier last night after we got home.

More when I have a moment...

My younger brother Joshua lives with his wife and three children in Eugene, Oregon. Earlier this year, he entered a writing contest sponsored by The Jewish Review, a local community newspaper that serves all of Oregon and southwestern Washington and is devoted to Jewish issues. The theme of the contest was “Why do community newspapers such as the Jewish Review remain important for their readers and for the communities they serve?”

Josh was one of the two winners of the essay contest.

In his essay, Jewish Review Extremely Relevant, he talks about our father's devotion to justice and how that shaped him, as well as the need for Jewish community newspapers in places where there aren't many Jews. If you want to learn a little bit about my younger brother's background (and my own as well), go read the article. I think you'll be glad you did.

And Josh? Congratulations!

For those of you unfamiliar with the term, Tuckerization is the term given to the act of naming a character in a work of fiction for a real person. It was named for writer Wilson Tucker, who did it often. I've Tuckerized people in some of my own stories; in fact, I offered two Tuckerizations in a raffle for when I Remember the Future was being pre-ordered, and both of the winners had their names (or names of their choosing) appear in the book.

Ten years ago, I answered some questions for Robert J. Sawyer as he was writing the novel Flashforward, which has now become a TV series on ABC. Rob mentioned me in the acknowledgments and gave me a minor Tuckerization on page 150, under the assumed name of Michael Burr, a name that James Patrick Kelly had used when he Tuckerized me in "Think Like a Dinosaur."

And yesterday, I picked up the novel Iron Man: Femme Fatales by Robert Greenberger, and found out on page 58 what I'd be doing with my life if I lived in the Marvel Universe; apparently, I'd be working for Stark Industries:

"Michael, it's good to see you," Stark said enthusiastically as he rose. Rounding the desk, he accepted the new mug in his left hand while shaking Burstein's hand with his right.

"Good to see you, too, sir," Burstein said in a soft voice. He was in his mid-thirties, slightly overweight, and prematurely balding, and he wore a colorful yarmukle pinned to his thinning hair. His clothes never seemed to fit right, nor did he ever wear a tie – an affectation Stark allowed. After all, comfortable people were productive people.

I was delighted to be surprised by this Tuckerization for a few reasons, beyond the enjoyable egoboo. For one thing, I could see myself in that position. For another, years ago there was a scientist in the Marvel universe named Noah Burstein, so maybe we're related. For a third thing, Bob has done a good job of interweaving diversity in his character cast throughout the novel, and the offhand mention of the yarmulke just adds one more tiny note in showing that humanity isn't monolithic.

(And for those of you who would point out that technically this isn't a Tuckerization, since the character does appear to be me, albeit an alternate version of me, well, you're right too.)

Bob, thank you. I can't wait to find out what happens to my alter ego. Hopefully, I won't get killed by Hydra.

Back in January 2000, Analog magazine published a short-short of mine, "Whose Millennium?" The story has been available for a while as an ebook for anyone who wanted to read it after its original publication. The point of the story was that the new millennium did not begin in 2000, or even 2001, but won't arrive until 2239. Just check a Hebrew calendar.

Last week, the reviewer who writes the Red Adept's Kindle Book Review Blog, Lynn, got in touch with me. She had read "Whose Millennium?" on the Kindle and had decided to review it, and she asked me for some comments on the story.

I'm glad to say that she liked the story. If you'd like to see what I said and why she gave the story five stars out of five, check out her latest review post here: Short Stories.

It should be no surprise to people that I haven't had the time to post on my blog as often as I used to; as I assume everyone knows by now, Nomi and I are now parents of twin infant girls, and that takes up a lot of time and energy. (For more on that, see my earlier post on Traction.) That said, tonight the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah begins, inaugurating the year 5770 on the Hebrew calendar, and I have some thoughts to share. Not that I consider my own thoughts on the holiday to be of any real significance, but I imagine they might be of interest to some of you.

To begin with, the arrival of 5770 means that we're entering a new decade. I actually remember ten years ago how one friend of mine, noting the arrival of 5760, made a connection to the culture of the 1960s and suggested that the new decade would be similar. I'll leave that question for the historians to answer while I acknowledge that the Hebrew calendar gives me a few months to get used to the arrival of a new decade on the Gregorian calendar.

Speaking of which, this year, amusingly enough, the first day of Rosh Hashanah coincides with September 19 on the Gregorian calendar. As everyone knows, September 19 is International Talk Like a Pirate Day, which led many of us who noticed this happy coincidence to wonder if this year Rosh Hashanah should also be International Daven Like a Pirate Day. Part of me was expecting to see more jokes and references on this topic as Rosh Hashanah approached, but instead, it seems to have fallen by the wayside (other than the two posts I just linked to, one of which suggests among other things adding the phrase "And who by walking the plank" to Unetaneh Tohkef). My guess is that most people continue to find the holiday too awesome to joke about.

And awesome it is. As others have said much better than I can, Rosh Hashanah is (or can be) an awe-inspiring holiday, in which we contemplate the birthday of the world and God's sovereignty. It also kicks off the ten days of repentance or Days of Awe, during which many of us undergo major introspection about our lives as we try to figure out how to become better people for the new year. For me, personally, the length and depth of the religious services on these days can sometimes work against my finding the spiritual connection I hope for; but this year, things are different. For the first time in a long time, I actually feel as if God has personally blessed me with the great gift possible, and for that I am thankful.

I would say more, but I'm about to collapse from lack of sleep. :-)

For those of you who are observing this holiday, shanah tovah, and have a happy and healthy new year.

For those of you who are not observing this holiday, have a good weekend and be advised that starting this evening, I will be away from the Internet until Sunday night at the earliest.

For those of you who want to know what it's all about, check out Judaism 101: Rosh Hashanah for a good basic introduction to the holiday.