28 posts tagged “nablopomo”

We Now Return You To Your Regularly Scheduled Posting

Dec 1, 2008
8 comments

I really enjoyed this whole “30 posts in 30 days” for nablopomo. Going in, I’d thought there’d be days when I absolutely scrambled for a post – and there certainly were a couple of those, but in general I was pretty happy with the content.

Nablo1108.120x240

I think the one thing I tried to do was keep better notes when I had a “hey that might make a good post” sort of thought – so that I wouldn’t forget about it like I so often seem to…

Proof

Also, I thought the weekends were surprisingly hard. Maybe its because my information input is less during the weekend, or maybe my brain is just in “down-time” mode. Not sure.

Anyway – onto December – there’s still a lot of things on my note list!

QotD: New Car

Nov 30, 2008
7 comments

If you were forced to buy a new car today, what kind of car would you get?
Well heck if you FORCED me -- I guess I'd get one of these -- the new 1-series from BMW. We saw them when we were in Germany back in February. Smaller than the current 3-series -- zippy -- ridiculously fast. I have to say I've been longing for a slightly smaller car.

135i_convertible_dermatologist says no

Of course, my dermatologist would crucify me (not outside during the day -- probably at night or inside) if I got a convertible, so I guess if I was FORCED to, I'd settle for the coupe.

135i_coupe

Time and Money

Nov 29, 2008
24 comments

Okay – I have a question for folks that peruse this page.

Setup: The Beloved and I set out Saturday morning on a number of errands – many Christmas-related. Our path was: the bank, IKEA, The Container Store, Target – a stop at PF Changs for lunch, and lastly Whole Foods. It was a busy morning for sure, but everything went pretty smoothly and we were home at a decent time.

Now the weird part occurred when we arrived at IKEA. We got there around 9:25 and there were two lines: one for the LENGTH OF THE STORE and one shorter one milling around the entrance. We almost walked away right there, but we found out the “short” line was for the café that opened in 5 minutes – the other longer line was for the store itself which opened at 10. So we decided to get breakfast.

As it turns out breakfast (eggs, bacon, potatoes, coffee) was free. (BONUS!) At 10, we went down into the store and looked for the things that we were interested in.

As we were heading to the checkout, there was a massive line that doubled back on itself. Again, we were ready to bail (we only had maybe ~$25 of stuff) but it turned out the long line was for a discounted easel for kids. That product was only discounted today. We were able to go to a more-or-less empty checkout area and leave.

So it seemed that the big line was to get in so that you could then go and wait in another big line to pick up an easel and then go wait to checkout. At lunch (which was yummy – thanks PF Changs), we were wondering just how much they were saving to endure such lines.

Fsi_products

So when I came home, I looked the deal up online. Turns out the easel was discounted $15.

So my question is: would you stand in line for an hour to save $15?

My Favorite Dish

Nov 28, 2008
12 comments

There’s been a lot of discussion this past week about what peoples’ favorite dish is for Holiday meals.

And yesterday as we were going about our tasks of feastly preparations, I realized that there was another aspect to a favorite “dish” that I hadn’t thought about. Here are my favorite dishes. They are Buffalo Pottery and depict exotic “asian” vignettes. Full of birds, stylized trees and pagodas, I’m sure they were meant to bring a little of those then-practically unknown foreign lands to American tables.

Dishes

I inherited these two serving dishes from my mom when she passed away a few years ago. On the back of each piece is the Buffalo Pottery emblem and date of manufacture. The platter was made in 1909 and the serving dish is a little blurred, but I think it’s 1910.

Dated

They were the “special” service that came out only on really important family meals – Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Day, Easter. They were her mother’s before her and her mother’s before her. That’s nearly a century of tables and family get-togethers that tie a turn-of-the-century farm in lower Delaware to a turn-of-a-different-century home in southern California.

That’s pretty cool.

Thanksgiving Blessings

Nov 27, 2008
10 comments

To say that I am thankful for all the wonderful things in my life is the biggest understatement that I can think of – other than perhaps that I have been more blessed than I could possibly have hoped for.

I love and am loved everyday -- which has been the most wonderfully unexpected joy for someone to find at this time in life. I am healthy and happy (if still working on the wise-thing…), have a wonderful family and great friends and am still curious about life and honestly do look forward to every day. Did I mention that I was blessed?

I am also thankful for all of you that stop by here. What a great "experiment" this blog has turned out to be. I enjoy sharing things with you and am grateful and honored that you share yourselves with me.

The Beloved and I hope that everyone has a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Data Analysis

Nov 26, 2008
23 comments

Now, I might not have John King’s (from CNN) fancy interactive electoral map, but I thought it might be fun here on Thanksgiving Eve to look at the polls focused on the holiday’s feast and activities that I put up last week.

First-off – turnout was great! A 50% increase (or more) over any previous poll here. Clearly, people have strong opinions about Thanksgiving.

Feast Data

For the question about what part of the meal is their favorite, stuffing eked out a narrow victory over sweet potatoes and the bird itself. Also, demographically, stuffing RULES the Northeast, with sweet potatoes and turkey better represented once you get out of that region.

Taken together, there was a huge majority for side dishes (68.8%) over the turkey or desserts (which together came in at <10% -- maybe folks are too full by the time they get to dessert).

Coming up short on the table was long-time staple mashed potatoes, with one lone vote (from SLO-town – cough cough).

Holiday Data

Looking at the broader holiday, getting together with friends and family was the easy winner, getting 40% of the vote (which is interesting because we're doing neither, opting for a 2-person feast The Aerie...). Having a 4day weekend was next and the feast itself pulled up 3rd.

Interestingly, there were no votes for commonly-associated-Thanksgiving activities of watching football and Christmas shopping. And apparently, the Bluegrass State of Kentucky is where folks love that post-feast-coma. Also curious -- two more people voted in the feast question than the holiday question.

Thanks for your participation -- that was fun!

Happy Birthday, Donovan

Nov 25, 2008
8 comments

Today is Donovan McNabb’s 32nd birthday. I can’t imagine it’s a very happy one. He was benched last week (first time in his career, though rightfully so) midway through the Eagles humiliating loss to the Ravens which was on the heels of a truly wretched performance versus the Bengals.

Sidelined

Donovan’s played his whole 10-year career for the Eagles – and has handled himself admirably. On draft day, he was booed by fans that wanted the Eagles to take long-ago-washed-up-dope-smoker Ricky Williams. He was maligned by Rush Limbaugh on ESPN, during the network’s misguided attempt to interject edginess into their NFL pre-game show. He’s been graceful through all that and more. By all accounts, he’s a decent human being, a good husband and father – never on the news for any of the poor behavior exhibited by too many athletes these days. You’d be happy to have your kid put his poster on their bedroom wall.

By most accounts, he’s been successful on the field as well. He leads the Eagles in wins and touchdowns. He’s approaching 30000 yards passing for his career. The Eagles have won 5 NFC East titles in the 10 seasons he’s been there. When he’s “on”, he’s absolutely scintillating – a One Man Gang.

Better days

And yet, we’re probably at the end of the road for him in an Eagles uniform. He’s never won the Big Game – coming up tired/sick/confused in the closing minutes of Super Bowl XXXIX. And there were the three NFC Championships left on the field. There have been too many times where he’s seemed bewildered while on the field. His up-and-down year this season is great example of this maddening inconsistency. With everyone healthy this year, the Birds were supposed to contend again and they’re at .500 and in last place. As these things go in the NFL – the coach and QB will shoulder most of the blame.

And so, as a belated birthday present this year, you’ll probably get your ticket out of Philadelphia. I hope folks treat you well on your way out – despite all the craziness and hyperbole, you deserve that.

Sunday Night Special -- The Blackbird Orange

Nov 23, 2008
10 comments

When the Beloved and I went to Chicago back in September, we had a fantastic meal at the restaurant Blackbird. In addition to the great food, the restaurant also had a fantastic cocktail selection.

In their menu, they listed the components for each drink, but not the proportions. So when I returned, one of my goals was to recreate the drink that I had that night: The Blackbird Orange.

I think I got it.

Mix together in a cocktail shaker with ice:
1 oz brandy (or cognac/armagnac)
½ oz gin
¾ oz Averna*
½ oz lemon juice
½ oz orange juice

Shake the hell out of it –this produces a wonderful foamy texture. Strain into a martini glass.

Blackbird Orange

*Averna is a spiced liqueur from Italy that adds a complex “autumn-like” flavor to this drink. You can find it at well-stocked liquor stores (I found ours at BevMo).

The Not So Big Dig

Nov 22, 2008
7 comments

Back around Memorial Day, we met Janette and her husband for brunch. The Beloved and I were discussing our trip to a local home-fair and that we were excited because we were going to re-do our backyard. We’d hoped that maybe we’d be able to invite them over for an Independence Day cook-out when it was done.

See, The Aerie has a teensy Southern Californian backyard. The previous owners had planted a number of tropicals – which by this Spring had all overgrown – and so we weren’t even getting the most out of the small space that we had (plus, they were blocking our view…).

All we needed was to agree on a design and landscaping plan (we’d found someone at the home-show that seemed like she’d be good to work with), get that approved by our HOA, find a contractor and get the old yard demo’d and the new plan installed.

Okay – so maybe the 6 weeks between Memorial Day and Independence Day was a little optimistic. Surely, by Labor Day, right?

Errr --- Columbus Day??

Election Day Cookout, right?

Sigh.

Finally, we’re entering the homestretch (the main delay was finalizing the design and planting plan…we wanted flagstone, planting beds and drought-tolerant plantings). The old stuff is gone, and out contractor assures us that they will be finished the plantings and laying the flagstone by Thanksgiving. With only 3 working days left, I’m a little skeptical.

Old plants out, a few new ones in already

Maybe just to be safe, I should be preparing invites for a Boxing Day BBQ….

Thanksgiving Data Collection

Nov 21, 2008
15 comments

Patty recently had a post on what we thought was the best part of the Thanksgiving meal. She was collecting responses, but of course being a scientist, I want numerical data.

If you choose an “other”, please indicate it in the comments.

Data For The Meal:

Data For The Holiday:

For me, it's cranberry sauce (because I get it so rarely) and the Feast. Thanks for contributing!