Will's Good Idea for the Week of 10/01/23

Happy October and good Sukkot, Stroock's Books Kibbutzim. We took a day off yesterday which was fine. Yesterday was the first day we haven't blogged, we think, since our Ireland trip in 2019. We're feeling bloggy this morning, so let's blog. Why not? [So what you're saying is you could only stay away for one day?-Ed] Pretty much. Saturdays will remain no-go zones. 

Today is Sukkot. One builds a shack or tent outside, celebrates and dines. We shall do so at our synagogue this afternoon. The illegal Israeli settlement jokes write themselves. 

Mrs. Stroock's Nittany Lions dispatched Northwestern with ease yesterday 41-13.  It didn't feel like a 41-13 game though. Weird. Mrs. Stroock is pleased nonetheless. 

Autumn comes to New Jersey in earnest. Actually, the temperature will approach 80 today, but it feels like autumn this morning. Autumnal Sundays are high energy, creative days for us.  Right now, Mrs. Stroock is baking for Sukkot, she could totally go on one of those amateur baking contests. The girls are chirping away about school, clothes, Taylor and Travis. There's just a feel, an electricity in the air and anticipation for today's football games. We first noticed the Sunday autumnal energy in 2003, which means this is a 2003 and Me post. 

We'd finished our BA and were working on an MA in the American Revolution. Sunday morning we'd start at our new favorite coffee shop, the Daily Grind, in Bedminster, New Jersey. We'd bring a stack of books and our computer and do graduate work. We'd go home at about 10:30. Half a dozen Sundays that year, we'd head to Giants Stadium. We missed one game for the dedication of our mother-in-law's gravestone, and the last game of the season because the Giants were 3-12 and playing at 4:30. Trust us, a late December afternoon at Giants Stadium is no time or place to see a 3-12 team. The Meadowlands has the most underrated homefield advantage in the NFL. In December the temperature plummets and the cold gales come right off the Atlantic. 

We spent a lot of time yesterday researching the Swedish air force and the Saab Viggen and learning, or relearning, how to write dog fight scenes. In addition to docs and pilot interviews, we watched some flight simulator videos showing the Viggen dogfighting the Mig-29 Fulcrum. 

Segue to Will's Good Idea for the Week of 10/1/23. We'll write a Viggen/Fulcrum dogfighting scene and wrap up the Swedish intermission chapter. The more we learn and write about the Swedish military, the more we like them. These guys are pretty bad-ass. Everything about the Swedish military says, 'Fuck around and find out, Ivan.' By the way, Swedish surnames being what they are, we could name a character Thor Thunderaxe, and it wouldn't be out of place. 

Also, this week being the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, we'll be writing about the Yom Kippur war all week. God bless Ariel Sharon, Israel's Patton and Charleton Heston rolled into one.