Does anyone use profilactic?

I recently came across Sam's deserted Profilactic account — does anyone else still use their services? It seems like a good idea to bring together the feeds of all social media accounts. Why it didn't take off? I have an account myself and I find it difficult to use, and the site itself was very slow to load each tab and section.

Apartments on New York Magazine

Mr. Merrin. Source: NY Mag.

I said I would post about a blog this time, but actually, things will again turn out a little differently. (Next week, I promise.) Just a short update, as I'm quite busy this week.

Real estate, in terms of apartments, is a big market in New York, and this is evident in the New York Magazine's article on the Apthorp Condo. Sam is a great fan of the building, which features as many amenities as you could possibly (reasonably) want in NYC — a courtyard, and a nice interior and exterior design, as Sam said.

The prices, are, however, not so appealing and high to others. But all in all, Mr. Merrin is probably right — it looks like a great place to live:

Hidden away is the Apthorp condo's large courtyard. Source: NY Mag.

What do you think?

Egyptian Mummy on Flickr

A particularly interesting social network, albeit not a blog, so a bit off-topic, is Sam Merrin's Flickr profile. On the profile, Sam posts updates on some of the most interesting and latest acquisitions and sales at his gallery.

Perhaps the most interesting one, and the most recent by Sam, at the time of writing, is a sarcophagus from ancient Egypt — plus a mummy! It is really quite a beautiful piece in terms of both original work and the preservation — looks like there's not even a scratch! The mummy of a guy called Neshkons (not a pharaoh) was found in it's tomb over 100 years ago (almost 111 to be exact). On the sarcophagus (the coffin) itself, there are writings about the ancient Egyptian gods of Osiris and Isis — two big ones you should know!

That's the dead guy right there. Photo: Mr. Merrin. (No, that's not him.)

Ancient Egypt is fascinating, isn't it? Now take a look at some other photos in Sam's Flickr account (link above). Next time, I'll post about an actual blog, I just thought this was fun and notable.

Jewish Life on WordPress

The roof? (Click it.)
Photo: Mr. Merrin

The aspects of Sam Merrin's philanthropic and Jewish life are most prominent on the WordPress blog in his name. Right now, this year's Rosh Hashanah is coming up, and Sam has already prepared an article on his experiences of Sukkot — where he and other New York Jews organized themselves, together with their children, and built sukkah's instead of buying them from the supermarket.

Their kids were sent out to collect fallen branches and other (organic) materials for the roof, as you can see in the photo on the right.

There is also a post on a charity in Rwanda that Sam urges everyone to support — which is actually a whole-family initiative, including his brother Seth and father Ed. Apart from that, there's a few posts on some ancient pieces, and there is mention of his favorite works of art (notably a Mayan vase).