Ari's an ambitious guy. He wants to go outside and swim, even though it's low 60's, windy, and raining. We're in Ft. Myers Beach, FL for a week in his parents' timeshare. We drove down on Saturday morning and arrived 18 1/2 hours later around 4 am Sunday morning.
















Ari did most of the driving:














I did most of the napping:














These guys were all about the Terps:














Most of the way down we saw RV after RV from Quebec, and when I started driving through Georgia, a huge pack of Maryland drivers caught up to us. We're pretty well represented here, I see a lot of Orioles hats.

Speaking of hats, South of the Border anyone?














These guys used to own every billboard for at least 100 miles north of the North/South Carolina border. Amazing signs, with moving cars, sheep, and weiners sticking out of them. They had a sign each mile which said how many signs are left, even one that said "The next sign was made by [some little girl], and sure enough the sign was written in crayon.

Now we have this shit:

Looks like I'm the last one to post this. I thought I was day 5 and today is day 4 but TONIGHT is day 5. I'm so confused. Anyway, this is a meme for the CHannnukahh Blog Tour for Amy Guth's book "Three Fallen Women." I consider myself a spiritual, unaffiliated Jew. Though I like to wave hello to the tribe on occasion :)

Here's a picture!










Here's a meme!

1. Quick! You must turn a plate of latkes into an upscale gourmet delight (as if they aren't already?). What would you add to them to dress them up, flavor and/or garnish them?

Add to them? How about take away? Just one latke on a plate, and a single cup of sour cream, in its own stand... on fire.

2. What is the dumbest thing you've ever heard anyone say about Chanukah?

Can't think of a single one. But I do love the look on peoples' faces when I tell them it's a minor holiday compared to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. I was also taught that Shavuot is the third High Holiday, so it's like I'm teaching them about a super-secret holiday nobody knows about.

3. What's the best possible use for olive oil?

Israeli Salad. Here's the penultimate recipe:

• 1/2 head lettuce cut in thin strips. Your choice of lettuce - I like Romaine but iceberg is easier to cut.

• 1.5-2 large cucumbers. Peel and cut in cubes. It's easiest to cut in half lengthwise, then each half lengthwise into thirds, then cut across to cube.

• 2-3 medium tomatoes. Cut into cubes.

• 2 large green peppers. Cut out the center and cut into cubes.

• Spanish olives 1/3 jar or about 20-30 olives, cut in halves.

• 1/2 onion or scallions chopped (optional)

• 2-3 large carrots peeled and shredded (optional but good if you have time)

• lemon and olive oil (or mayo) to taste. This could be 1-2 lemons (be careful of pits) or the store bought lemon juice is good too. You should be able to taste the lemon but not too much because the olives will make it tart too.

Chop and mix all ingredients - that's it!

4. Settle it once and for all. Latkes or hammentaschen? Which to you prefer? What about pitting the winner of that contest against sufganiyot?

Latkes win in overtime, because they still taste great out of the fridge. Sufganiyot loses to Dunkin' Donuts in the pigtails.

5. What's the best way to mix up a game of dreidel?

Spin'em upside down.

6. My novel, Three Fallen Women, shockingly enough, is about the lives of three women. Which three women would you like to have over this year for latkes and why?

Linda Cardellini, Penelope Cruz, and Summer Glau because they're all beautiful and I could probably beat them in Mario Kart.

7. Other than Three Fallen Women (har har), what book do you think would make a great Chanukah gift this year? What book would you like to receive as a gift this year?

Hrm, tough call. I think "Blind Side" would make a great gift for a lot of guys. It's about the development of the Left Tackle in football, although I hear a lot of the book is essentially a biography of a player. I may get it for my brother. I wouldn't dare ask for a book, since I'm so backlogged in the books I have, but I'd love to get "In Cold Blood" as I just saw "Capote" and would love to read the source.

8. What bloggers didn't participate in Chanukah Blog Tour 5767 and you think should have?

Sadly, I'm a stub in the Jewish Blogosphere. But that's the reason I did this, so I hope to read more of everybody's blogs in the future.

Happy Chanukah!

Well, this thing tanked.

There needs to be a term for the act of completely disregarding a blog for a month or more, then apologetically calling yourself out on it in the next post:

Blogfart
Deadblogged
It's been a blog blog time


So "Going to Berlin" is outdated. I'm off to Vegas for another one of these Samsung gigs in a few weeks.