25 Kislew 5769: Ḥanukkah, day 1

Greetings.

It is the first day of Ḥanukkah, and as usual, for the sake of publicizing the miracle, I lit my windproof menorah outside last night. (This is a good way to confuse one’s non-Jewish neighbors. For those who feel self-conscious about “extreme menorah-lighting”, keep in mind that Christians tend to put up lights for the holiday they happen to have around the same time of year, too.) For a change I did not use those sealed glass oil bulbs, but instead used olive oil poured (or rather squirted with a medicine dropper) directly into the menorah. At first I used a wax wick held up with a little cork circle, but that went out too early, so I replaced it with a more old-school cotton(?) wick, which lasted much longer.

Today’s news and commentary:

• “Gift Giving”: Note: There is no authentic tradition of giving presents on Ḥanukkah or of a Ḥanukkah fairy.
  
• Rhymes with Orange 2008-12-22
  
• “Octopuses give eight thumbs up for high-def TV”
  
• “Milan's homeless get caviar for Christmas”
  

Today’s weird thing is “Heinlein's Fan Mail Solution”, which offers a peak into the mind of one of the people who is going to get clobbered by my Divine Misconceptions project. Enjoy, share the weirdness, and happy Ḥanukkah.

Aaron