Saturday, June 19, 2010

Instructables.com

The Instructables.com website is so cool, I figured I'd try adding a recipe to it and see how it worked. This link is for the Habanero Garlic Pasta recipe that also appears here on this blog. Take a look at both and see which format you like better.

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Blog's been updated with labels

I have been working on things in the background to get the blog posts updated with labels. I've worked through all 760-some posts and I've added labels to just about everything. In the course of this, I've been able to:
  • correct a few typos and missing words
  • re-read about cats that aren't here anymore (sniff!)
  • remember any number of things that had happened in the last 6 years (which is why I wrote them down)
  • look at maybe a dozen posts that I started and never finished and are still saved as drafts, some of which may get finished
  • updated a few posts that had additional information
  • changed everything to Verdana for easier reading
  • admire my writing again (humility has never been a strength of mine and, damnit, I like what I have to say here)
I have the labels listed on the right side, currently with the "cloud" format, where the number of occurrences for a given label is indicated by the size of the label. The biggest are funny, me, and websites. (Go figure....)

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Friday, June 18, 2010

Charlene Strong to meet with the President

I know Charlene Strong from the Washingtonians. She is a wonderful singer and a great person. 3 years ago, her wife Kate (who was also a wonderful singer and a great person) was killed in a tragic accident. Charlene's experiences thereafter underscored why LGBT couples need marriage rights as much as anyone else. I wish her great success meeting with the President next week.


There's an article in the Huffington Post about what she's going to be doing. Please share the video clip with folks, particularly with people who aren't aware of why marriage rights are important for everyone.

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Thursday, June 17, 2010

A cherished childhood toy

When I was about 7, Dad gave me a wonderful educational toy called the AstroExplorer. It's a nifty little gadget for seeing constellations.


The AstroExplorer is a small plastic gadget with a flashlight bulb that's almost completely blacked out. You open it up, slip a disk of black paper into the base with a constellation in white on it, then fit the two pieces together again. The light bulb (powered by an AA battery) puts out a very dim light that backlights the paper and shines dimly through the white bits. You hold the AstroExplorer up to one eye and look with the other eye at the sky so that the constellation image overlays the stars in the sky and voila! Thanks to the miracle of binocular vision, you can see the constellation in the sky with some of the star names, the connecting lines, and a drawing of the figure in the constellation. The disks also have arrows pointing to other constellations nearby, the ecliptic, and so on.


I love this toy, both because of how cool it is and because it reminds me of Dad whenever I look at it. (I may take it with us when we go visit him this December.) Although the manufacturer, Tri-G Company in Venice, CA, vanished decades ago, you can still buy these for $10 or so on eBay. They're a wonderful gift for anyone who likes stargazing.

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Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Joke du jour

Rude joke from Candy Hogan.

One car salesmen complained to the other, "Business sucks. If I don't sell more cars this month, I'm going to lose my fucking ass."

Too late he noticed a beautiful woman sitting two stools away. Immediately, he apologized for his bad language.

"That's okay," the woman replied, "If I don't sell more ass this month, I'm going to lose my fucking car."

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Quote du jour

From @hollybarakat on Twitter: 

If you play a Justin Bieber album backward, you hear messages from Satan. Even worse, if you play it forward, you hear Justin Bieber.

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Decommissioned a computer

My former #1 computer, CHLOE, is completely decommissioned. I had tried to get it up and running with a new 2T hard drive, but nope, it was still dying unexpectedly. Examining it Monday afternoon when we were swapping out DVD drives finally showed how the damage from the lightning strikes this past summer had manifested: half a dozen of the small on-board power capacitors were bulging and at least three were leaking electrolyte. I'd had CHLOE as my #1 computer for a number of years, so it's the end of an era.

I could have the board fixed for $60, but you know... I just don't need a second computer at the moment. I may want to get a RAID box at some point, but I don't see any overwhelming need to do that now, so I've just scrapped it.  I've got some spare parts from it that I probably won't need, including 3GB of DDR RAM, a CPU chip, and a great big tower case that may be of help.  

I've now got more room under the desk as a result, too.

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Joke du jour

From Candy Hogan:

"It's just too hot to wear clothes today," said Jack as he stepped out of the shower. "What do you think the the neighbors would think if I mowed the lawn like this?"

His wife thought for a moment, then replied, "That I married you for your money."

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Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Drugs are good for you--yes, we know that!

Caffeine is the drug that makes life worth living. This sterling silver necklace helps you celebrate your addiction to the drug that perks you up and gets you out the door. More information is available here. They also have things like theobromine chocolate earrings, an endorphin choker necklace, and phone charms with your favorite molecule, including testosterone, estrogen, and acetylcholine.





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In Tacoma last weekend

We spent the weekend in Tacoma with the Babe's family for a graduation party. Ashleigh (one of the Babe's 16 nieces and nephews) graduated from the UW and there was a large party. We are very proud of Ashleigh and rejoiced in her graduation with everyone. She's wonderful.

We had some extra time, so we also looked at houses and neighborhoods in Tacoma. More about that later.

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