not the rhino
Wednesday, April 14, 2004
Oh, how I weep for that badness in me...
Yesterday I posted a cute note that I found. Here are some more found love notes, if a bit late for valentine's. A few bad. A few good. The Atticus one makes me glad I'm not in high school anymore...
And speaking of love: Dan Savage got a marriage certificate! Not to marry his partner of ten years, who he raises a kid with, no no no... with a lesbian chick that he works with. He can get married, of course. But only to someone he doesn't love and has no intention of starting a family with. That's logical.
I also love quantum computing. (How's that for a segue?) Cool science tidbit: I know these guys.
Yesterday I posted a cute note that I found. Here are some more found love notes, if a bit late for valentine's. A few bad. A few good. The Atticus one makes me glad I'm not in high school anymore...
And speaking of love: Dan Savage got a marriage certificate! Not to marry his partner of ten years, who he raises a kid with, no no no... with a lesbian chick that he works with. He can get married, of course. But only to someone he doesn't love and has no intention of starting a family with. That's logical.
I also love quantum computing. (How's that for a segue?) Cool science tidbit: I know these guys.
Tuesday, April 13, 2004
No two people are not on fire.
I found a lovely, tiny yellow post-it note on the floor. In a wispy scripty hadwriting, it says:
B-
I hope you have a beautiful day! Thoughts of you and last night are already all I can think about. I love you so much!
(heart) me
Whoa. Hells yeah.
And this, from the NY Times, which most of you have probably seen already:
Ms. Rice said she believed that a memo from a presidential briefing on Aug. 6, 2001, contained information that the F.B.I. was "pursuing full-field investigations" of the cells.
But she said she could not recall having discussed that information with Mr. Bush.
She added that the administration was aware that there were issues inside the United States, "but I don't remember the Al Qaeda cells as being something that we were told we needed to do something about."
Mr. Ben-Veniste persisted, asking, "Isn't it a fact, Dr. Rice" that the presidential daily briefing on Aug. 6 "warned against possible attacks in this country?"
He ended the question by asking her to give the name of the memo, to which she replied: "I believe the title was `Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the United States.' "
Ms. Rice insisted, however, that the memo did not warn of attacks inside America. "It was historical information based on old reporting," she said. "There was no new threat information, and it did not, in fact, warn of any coming attacks inside the United States."
I found a lovely, tiny yellow post-it note on the floor. In a wispy scripty hadwriting, it says:
B-
I hope you have a beautiful day! Thoughts of you and last night are already all I can think about. I love you so much!
(heart) me
Whoa. Hells yeah.
And this, from the NY Times, which most of you have probably seen already:
Ms. Rice said she believed that a memo from a presidential briefing on Aug. 6, 2001, contained information that the F.B.I. was "pursuing full-field investigations" of the cells.
But she said she could not recall having discussed that information with Mr. Bush.
She added that the administration was aware that there were issues inside the United States, "but I don't remember the Al Qaeda cells as being something that we were told we needed to do something about."
Mr. Ben-Veniste persisted, asking, "Isn't it a fact, Dr. Rice" that the presidential daily briefing on Aug. 6 "warned against possible attacks in this country?"
He ended the question by asking her to give the name of the memo, to which she replied: "I believe the title was `Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the United States.' "
Ms. Rice insisted, however, that the memo did not warn of attacks inside America. "It was historical information based on old reporting," she said. "There was no new threat information, and it did not, in fact, warn of any coming attacks inside the United States."
Tuesday, April 06, 2004
Who's your DADDY?
from Salon:
Mr. Formality: At a press conference on Iraq and the 9/11 commission, President Bush snapped at an Associated Press reporter who failed to address him as "Mr. President." "Sir, in regard to --" began the AP journo, who was interrupted mid-query by Bush. "Who are you talking to?" asked the president, prompting the reporter to stammer out "Mr. President" and Matt Drudge to label Bush "cranky." (Audio, courtesy of Drudge, is here.)
And, my most favorite sentence in recent memory is here, for your pleasure. It is taken from a bulletin about recycling at the lab: "Metal Recycling Moratorium Continues." Basically, the memo is about a moratorium on the unrestricted release of recycling scrap metals that we have left over at the lab, since there are radioactive sources around... but if there's one thing we do well, it's monitoring radiation, since it's important for our health, etc. So, the lab argues that it should be allowed to send out our recyclables after checking, thoroughly, that they're not all aglow. Currently, this recycling is prohibited. And the award for best unintentional dig at the gov-ment goes to the author of this sentence:
"Although this prohibition seems illogical, it may not be permanent."
Nice.
from Salon:
Mr. Formality: At a press conference on Iraq and the 9/11 commission, President Bush snapped at an Associated Press reporter who failed to address him as "Mr. President." "Sir, in regard to --" began the AP journo, who was interrupted mid-query by Bush. "Who are you talking to?" asked the president, prompting the reporter to stammer out "Mr. President" and Matt Drudge to label Bush "cranky." (Audio, courtesy of Drudge, is here.)
And, my most favorite sentence in recent memory is here, for your pleasure. It is taken from a bulletin about recycling at the lab: "Metal Recycling Moratorium Continues." Basically, the memo is about a moratorium on the unrestricted release of recycling scrap metals that we have left over at the lab, since there are radioactive sources around... but if there's one thing we do well, it's monitoring radiation, since it's important for our health, etc. So, the lab argues that it should be allowed to send out our recyclables after checking, thoroughly, that they're not all aglow. Currently, this recycling is prohibited. And the award for best unintentional dig at the gov-ment goes to the author of this sentence:
"Although this prohibition seems illogical, it may not be permanent."
Nice.
Monday, April 05, 2004
There's more bread in the blender than usual...
A few food links, before I forget them:
I have yet to try these three recipes, but they come highly recommended.
1) Scallops with a complicated lemongrass sauce -- this was described to me as "one of the best things I've ever made" by a foodie physics professor.
2) Easy and yummy salmon with brown sugar, lime, & chiles, from the Whole Foods cookbook.
3) I'm really excited about making pizza on the grill this summer. Mark Bittman says: " I'm not sure there is a grilled food that impresses guests more than pizza. The results, once you get the hang of the process, are outstanding." He's the guys who writes the excellent "Minimalist cooks at home" column in the Wednesday Food Section of the NY Times. I don't have it, but I definitely recommend his book by the same name.
And here's a recipe I *have* tried. LL was asking me about things to cook with whole grains, and wheat berries are kind of weird, but I really like them. Whole foods has a salad made with wheat berries that I recommend. (Wheat berry is kind of a funny name, since they're no more "berries" than barley grains are "barley berries" or whole oats are "oat berries.") If you go to Whole Foods, you might want to try a bit on the salad bar before you try to make it. The texture is a little strange and chewy.
A few notes on that recipe: I've used walnuts instead of the Brazil Nuts (but I'm sure Brazil nuts would be fine, too) and I think that the crumbled feta cheese is absolutely essential to the salad. The feta's salty though, (mmm) so watch the amount of other salt you put in.
A few food links, before I forget them:
I have yet to try these three recipes, but they come highly recommended.
1) Scallops with a complicated lemongrass sauce -- this was described to me as "one of the best things I've ever made" by a foodie physics professor.
2) Easy and yummy salmon with brown sugar, lime, & chiles, from the Whole Foods cookbook.
3) I'm really excited about making pizza on the grill this summer. Mark Bittman says: " I'm not sure there is a grilled food that impresses guests more than pizza. The results, once you get the hang of the process, are outstanding." He's the guys who writes the excellent "Minimalist cooks at home" column in the Wednesday Food Section of the NY Times. I don't have it, but I definitely recommend his book by the same name.
And here's a recipe I *have* tried. LL was asking me about things to cook with whole grains, and wheat berries are kind of weird, but I really like them. Whole foods has a salad made with wheat berries that I recommend. (Wheat berry is kind of a funny name, since they're no more "berries" than barley grains are "barley berries" or whole oats are "oat berries.") If you go to Whole Foods, you might want to try a bit on the salad bar before you try to make it. The texture is a little strange and chewy.
A few notes on that recipe: I've used walnuts instead of the Brazil Nuts (but I'm sure Brazil nuts would be fine, too) and I think that the crumbled feta cheese is absolutely essential to the salad. The feta's salty though, (mmm) so watch the amount of other salt you put in.
Sunday, April 04, 2004
Oysters are not for breakfast.
Note to self: when you think "breakfast food," oysters are not really something that should come to mind. Why, you ask, would the thought even enter my silly, sleep-deprived brain? (Stupid Daylight Saving Time!)
Well, a bunch of the Chicago crew and I had brunch this morning at the Signature Room, which is on the 95th floor of the Hancock Tower. It was a gorgeous morning for it -- clear and blue -- so, even though many of us weren't really awake, the sunshine helped perk us up.
It was a brunch buffet, which seems like a particularly American style of eating brunch. It's almost like a food challenge. How much food of different types and sizes can you eat in one sitting? Start with eggs and toast, and move on the prime rib, roasted turkey, lobster bisque -- I dare you! Along with traditional breakfast consumables like french toast and omelets, we offer you crab legs! green salads! insane chocolate dessets! oysters on the half shell!
Wait a minute, I says to myself (I says I says) I says, "hold up." The crew who had organized this outing thought that the brunch was only $15 per person, but no $15 per person brunch has oysters. I grew a bit suspicous about how much I would be shelling out, (ha ha!) but it was a bit late for that. So, I tried the things that I wouldn't usually have at home: oysters, lox, various fish roe, applewood smoked bacon (so good!) crazy chocolate cake...
Those things don't really go together, though, and they also don't really go with OJ, or coffee which I had. I still feel a little ill from eating weird food. It wasn't bad food, itself, it just seemed like the wrong food at the wrong time. And when the bill came, suffice it to say that it wasn't $15 per. The morals of the story are that brunch at the Signature Room can be pretty fun, but, Moral 1: go on a Mon - Sat, when it's only 15 beans. And Moral 2: even if they have them, I'd skip the oysters.
Or! if you're looking for brunch, check out Orange. It's awesome.
And here's another quick thing about Daylight Saving(no "s") Time: I'm going back and forth between time zones now, when I go from Illinois to AA or Pittsburgh, so I change my laptop clock a lot. I was surprised to see that my laptop hadn't sprung-its-own-self ahead this evening, since I thought it was smart enough to figure that shit out. But! the computer was confused, because I don't usually set it to normal time zones, like "Eastern US" or "Central US" ... I like to be a bit more colorful and set it to Saskatchewan time or Guadalajara time or "Bogota, Lima, Quito" time. Apparently, by doing so, I foiled the DST algorithm, and once I switched to boring old Central Time, it sprung ahead. It's too bad I'm not in the Mountain Time zone -- I wouldn't feel the need to set the time zone more creatively, because, as Mike Doughty would say, Mountain Time is cool enough sounding on its own. Say it... "Mountain Time."
Note to self: when you think "breakfast food," oysters are not really something that should come to mind. Why, you ask, would the thought even enter my silly, sleep-deprived brain? (Stupid Daylight Saving Time!)
Well, a bunch of the Chicago crew and I had brunch this morning at the Signature Room, which is on the 95th floor of the Hancock Tower. It was a gorgeous morning for it -- clear and blue -- so, even though many of us weren't really awake, the sunshine helped perk us up.
It was a brunch buffet, which seems like a particularly American style of eating brunch. It's almost like a food challenge. How much food of different types and sizes can you eat in one sitting? Start with eggs and toast, and move on the prime rib, roasted turkey, lobster bisque -- I dare you! Along with traditional breakfast consumables like french toast and omelets, we offer you crab legs! green salads! insane chocolate dessets! oysters on the half shell!
Wait a minute, I says to myself (I says I says) I says, "hold up." The crew who had organized this outing thought that the brunch was only $15 per person, but no $15 per person brunch has oysters. I grew a bit suspicous about how much I would be shelling out, (ha ha!) but it was a bit late for that. So, I tried the things that I wouldn't usually have at home: oysters, lox, various fish roe, applewood smoked bacon (so good!) crazy chocolate cake...
Those things don't really go together, though, and they also don't really go with OJ, or coffee which I had. I still feel a little ill from eating weird food. It wasn't bad food, itself, it just seemed like the wrong food at the wrong time. And when the bill came, suffice it to say that it wasn't $15 per. The morals of the story are that brunch at the Signature Room can be pretty fun, but, Moral 1: go on a Mon - Sat, when it's only 15 beans. And Moral 2: even if they have them, I'd skip the oysters.
Or! if you're looking for brunch, check out Orange. It's awesome.
And here's another quick thing about Daylight Saving(no "s") Time: I'm going back and forth between time zones now, when I go from Illinois to AA or Pittsburgh, so I change my laptop clock a lot. I was surprised to see that my laptop hadn't sprung-its-own-self ahead this evening, since I thought it was smart enough to figure that shit out. But! the computer was confused, because I don't usually set it to normal time zones, like "Eastern US" or "Central US" ... I like to be a bit more colorful and set it to Saskatchewan time or Guadalajara time or "Bogota, Lima, Quito" time. Apparently, by doing so, I foiled the DST algorithm, and once I switched to boring old Central Time, it sprung ahead. It's too bad I'm not in the Mountain Time zone -- I wouldn't feel the need to set the time zone more creatively, because, as Mike Doughty would say, Mountain Time is cool enough sounding on its own. Say it... "Mountain Time."
