Sunday, December 25, 2016






Christmas Dinner
4101 Albermarle St., N.W., #303
City of Washington, District of Columbia
December 25, 2016


Whiskey apple cider cocktail
served with mixed nuts

Italian wedding soup
(vegetarian)
served with Ruffino Pinot Grigio 2015


Beef rib roast with Yorkshire pudding
Mashed potatoes
Roasted root vegetables
Cranberry sauce
served with SoMek Adom 2010 Shomron


Orange and fennel salad
served with anchovies on the side


Iced desserts: pistachio gelato, cashew milk vanilla
served with assorted cookies

Coffee, tea

Limoncello


Wednesday, December 7, 2016


December 2016

Dear Friends, Family, and Followers,

            Greetings from the nation’s capital, home of the Washington Nationals, 2016 champions of the National League’s East division, and future workweek home of President Donald Trump. In the spirit of the season, we’ll make no further comment on that subject.

Instead, we’ll turn to the year’s happy news that son Andrew (AJ) is now the much blessed husband of Robbie Rogart Jost, married on Sept. 24 in Virginia’s wine country. The wedding weekend, cohosted by parents Katie White and Ken Jost and Rick and Shelley Rogart, was a joyous celebration of ritual, food, drink, music, and dance.

            AJ and Robbie took a two-week honeymoon to Hawaii, which included sightseeing on land in Kauai and Maui, parasailing over the Pacific, and helicoptering over Maui and Malakai. They returned to their apartment in Arlington and to their respective jobs: Robbie, now a fifth-year associate at the Washington office of Crowell & Moring; and AJ, investment analyst with Clark Enterprises. Before the wedding, Andrew also learned he had passed the CFA Level III exam: so he is now a “chartered financial analyst.”

            Nicole and her wife Lily Rea are resident in San Francisco’s Mission District. Nicole is a teaching artist for Performing Arts Workshop and a graduate teaching associate in theater and playwriting at San Francisco State University; Lily does audio and video for events for  the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco. Nicole’s playwriting continues apace. Two of her plays were produced this year. Slut was presented by Minneapolis’ Gadfly Theater as part of its festival of short plays in June; Monarchs in Space was presented in October in Berkeley by PlayGround as par of its new play festival..

            Ken continues in his 24th term of writing the annual series Supreme Court Yearbook for CQ Press and now occasional reports for CQ Researcher, including a comprehensive pre-election overview of President Obama’s eight years in office (“The Obama Legacy,” Nov. 4). Ken devotes more time to his blog, Jost on Justice, and writes occasional reviews for the on-line Washington Independent Review of Books. James continues as senior systems analyst for the IT consulting firm Total Resource Management. After 11 years, they still live together apart: Ken in Cleveland Park, subway close to the Supreme Court; James just outside the Alexandria city limits, a short drive from his Old Town office.

            This is written as Ken and James are set to take a pre-Christmas trip to Malta and Sicily. Ken’s other travels included a week on his own to Berlin, Germany; a baseball road trip with AJ to Atlanta (three ballparks to go); and a trip to Miami for the LGBT journalists’ convention. Ken also tailed along with James on a work trip to Westchester County, New York, where Ken visited the homestead of the first chief justice, John Jay, and  had a good reunion with cousin Jerry Reilly. James visited his parents in Taiwan. His father, now in his late 80s, is doing fairly well after the emergency hospitalization a year ago.


            Every year, it seems, the seasonal wishes for peace on earth and good will toward all collide with harsh reality here in the United States and abroad. And this year as well. We hope for a resurgence in 2017 of tolerance for all and compassion for those most in need. And for you and those close to you we wish a new year of health and happiness. L’chaim!