You can learn a lot by watching "The Simpsons".

The monorail was a disaster for Springfield. It has sentimental value in Seattle, but try as you might, it won't have transportation value there, either.

Architects are guilty too

But not as guilty because you cannot fundamentally alter IPC, just omit certain key contributions. In Accounting, on the other hand, you can rename things in clever ways.

Reconstructed! Sort of

Chocolate Truffles

just over 1/2 lb. good-quality dark chocolate, 8.8 oz. to be exact
just over 1/2 c. heavy cream
good slug of brandy

Bring the cream to a gentle boil. Shut off heat and stir in chocolate until incorporated. Stir in brandy. Transfer to a bowl.

Beat the mixture with an electric mixer until it (the mixture not the mixer) lightens in color and becomes thicker. Transfer the mixture to a flat container. Cover and chill.

Cut the mixture into pieces and dust with cocoa powder. Keep cool.

Next task: experiment with flavors other than brandy.

Lord Acton got it right.

Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. And there's nothing like election day to make his point.

Maybe spitwads are the answer.

The guy next to me has a voice that carries. He spends a lot of time on the phone. He is aware of all of this and made a symbolic gesture toward addressing the issue. The symbolic gesture quickly went by the wayside. I can't keep turning up the headphones. Certain broadcasts cause them to pulse.

Ham Sandwiches

I've found the recipes on epicurious.com to be generally reliable. The comments from the reviewers also tend to be useful because more often than not they come from relatively seasoned cooks with a reasonable sense of what works, what doesn't, and what would probably taste good.

The comments can also be quite entertaining. For example, a comment on a turkey meatloaf recipe might read, "I made this with beef and pork instead of the turkey, and put a ketchup glaze on top instead of the curry. Oh, and instead of the carrots and zucchini, I put in more onions and a little oregano, just like my Dad used to. It was fantastic!" I find these comments hilarious because once you've done all that, it's not really a turkey meatloaf anymore, is it?

When this happens, I'm reminded of the time I had a coupon for a ham sandwich and soda from the campus coffee shop. They didn't have ham, and they didn't have bread aside from a few bagels left from breakfast. So, instead of the ham, they gave me lettuce, and instead of the bread, they gave me croutons, tomatoes, a few Kalamata olives, and a little Parmesean cheese.

It was a lovely salad, but it was surely the strangest ham sandwich I'd ever had.

*snicker*

I just named it log_root.

Wait a minute.

Where did all these meetings come from?

Dear Spammers,

I don't know what kind of simple-minded sucker you think I am. You seem to have this weird notion that any mention of sex, racism, politics, debauchery, and possibly gambling will catch my attention. My friends and I are all intelligent human beings. We do not spend our days thinking about sex, sex, and debauchery. You know that bit about Britney Spears being one of the most popular Google searches? I assure you I had nothing to do with it. If you want to impress me, put up some intelligent spam. Go on, I dare you.

Dear Hostess (and spammers),

Please find a way to make a whole-wheat Twinkie. I am sure you can do it. It will surely be a better breakfast option than Sara's preservative-laden 100% Whole Wheat Bread.

Dear Sara (and assorted spammers),

It was very clever of you to say that your 100% Whole Wheat Bread is "better" for me. It definitely is "better" for me than a Twinkie. However, the preservatives you added make for a depressing counterpoint to all the ways in which you try to play up the naturalness and healthfulness of your product.

Another experiment.

Sex! Debauchery! Spam!

MNN. (My News Network)

I don't understand why none of the news networks have tickers worth reading. It took a good 10 minutes yesterday (and three channel changes) to figure out what was wrong with that JetBlue plane. There was plenty of footage of the front tire blowing apart and sparks all over the runway. The captions mentioned JetBlue, LAX, and something dire, but they never mentioned why the situation was so scary. And what is more, the announcer guy never mentioned why the situation was scary. Instead, he talked about what a great landing it was.

Well. There you go. I guess it's an indictment of society today. We want to know what happened, but we could care less why it happened.

I am sure tonight there will be plenty of interviews with various passengers. There will be the usual comments about how scary it was, whether it was good/bad to watch it on the television screen (personally I think that's very cool), and how professional and level-headed the crew were.

Maybe I'll watch that M*A*S*H rerun instead.

Groan.

I'm trying to decide whether that was 1) being creative, 2) being starry-eyed, or 3) rambling. Judging by the sweat pooling under the right armpit, I'm guessing 3).

The lesser of two evils

Should I sit in my ergonomically adjusted cubicle and let my fingers freeze, or should I sit in my ergonomically inappropriate lab and feel my fingers?

No, I can't wear gloves and type at the same time.

If I put on a sweatshirt in addition to my jacket, my core will roast by the time I can feel my fingers.

I have opted to regain the feeling in my fingers, but my shoulders are starting to ache already.

3 kinds of drivers.

My view of the world classifies drivers into three categories according to how they find an unfamiliar address.

1. Map drivers. These are the people who do some research and study the maps in advance. They are for the most part rational, logical, and IMHO, sensible.
2. GPS drivers. These are the people who adore their in-car GPS units. They plug in the address and do whatever it says, even if it tells you to drive around in circles. They are for the most part spontaneous and often not very sensible.
3. Random drivers. Their motto is, "You aren't lost until you've run out of gas."

I love light rail.

Note to self:

"Blackened" does not mean "A little charred around the edges". It means "coated with a fiery mix of spices and onion powder that will give you an unslakeable thirst and heartburn three hours later".

It would have been nice if they added the qualifier "spicy" or "piquant" to the menu. The service was slow, too. Not one of my favorite restaurants.

Z's here!

She and Y arrived in her adorable new car. We had tofu stew for dinner last night. It was delicious, but we agreed that it's not the same without J, especially since this particular tofu stew place offers a vegetarian version made with seaweed broth.

I can't ditch work, so we pretty much only have the evenings. Tonight we'll dine at Max's Opera Cafe, assuming our plans don't change. That means we won't have Chinese food on this trip. Oh well. That just gives us another excuse for more travel. Some stories just can't be told properly over the phone or e-mail.

Dear Cricket of Cricket Magazine fame,

I adore you, Ladybug, and the whole gang. You put together a wonderful magazine that encouraged this young scientist to explore a whole world of literature.

Now, you and your ilk appear to be invading my home. Sluggo's relatives are leaving slime everywhere outside. I don't remember if there were any wasps in your gang, but they set up residence in an air vent. Once the Bee Man took care of the wasps, the aunties (ants) moved in. And don't get me started about the spiders.

Please stop. I love you guys, but as pen pals.

Best,
M

An Experiment

Spam spam spam spam glorious spaaaam... The comments will be spammed...