Quitting smoking is hard, but it's not that hard.
A week and a day in; I might make it, but I should have been smoking nastier cigarettes before I quit, because the ones I was smoking were deeeeelicious.

Which is a moot point, because I don't smoke.

Memes are awesome when you don't want to think about stuff.

You Are An INTP

The Thinker You are analytical and logical - and on a quest to learn everything you can. Smart and complex, you always love a new intellectual challenge. Your biggest pet peeve is people who slow you down with trivial chit chat. A quiet maverick, you tend to ignore rules and authority whenever you feel like it. In love, you are an easy person to fall for. But you're not an easy person to stay in love with. Although you are quite flexible, you often come off as aloof or argumentative. At work, you are both a logical and creative thinker. You are great at solving problems. You would make an excellent mathematician, programmer, or professor. How you see yourself: Creative, fair, and tough-minded When other people don't get you, they see you as: arrogant, cold, and robotic

I honestly have only the dimmest idea of how others perceive me--I'm okay with "arrogant, cold, and robotic." Wonder if it's true.

For such a quick hit, I'd say the romantic part is about dead on. In fact, substitute "distant" for "aloof," and you've got the break-up speeches of at least a couple exes.

Poll #1339383 Don't think too hard
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Fish or Cut Bait?

If "other," then what?

What happened to supersteph?

Did you cry?
I cried.

If I didn't already have a totally kickass luchador mask, I'd be wearing this one tonight:

Happy one-hundred-twenty-second birthday:




You're still a little much of a muchness, but I love you.

. . . is cookies.
I like to practice the holiday recipes before springing them on the world (which means I'll be making lots of pan muerto next weekend), so I tried out these guys from here.

They're kind of a pain, but also delicious and sort of funny. I recommend (1)adding a half t. of cinnamon to the chocolate dough and (2) a half t. of orange zest to the vanilla. Also (3) freezing the dough before you slice it, if you have a good sharp knife.

I don't mean to get anyone's brains dirty by linking them to Fox News, but:

McCain is "suspending" his campaign to help with the bailout.

It's probably best if you don't read the comments on that page, by the way.

If it were a different time, and if McCain hadn't sold his soul in bloody little pieces, I could be persuaded to take this at face value. But we're here and now, and it stinks.

Did everyone else know that John Jacob Astor was an opium smuggler?

I'm so uncool.

My comic book shop--the only one in town--is closing on Saturday.

From the very excellent Veganomicon, by the maintainers of The Post-Punk Kitchen. Seriously a great book.
I have left out some of the hints (make the dough and/or roast the squash a day ahead, serve with guacamole, etc.) but otherwise, these are the words of the authors, not me.
( Acorn Squash and Black Bean Empanadas )

This was the first recipe I made from this book. I used canned black beans, and the result was fantastic.

First the June 2008 issue of Harper's, about the Idaho couple who donate their time, boat, and equipment to search for drowning victims. The article started with this set of images:



and described how terribly easy it is, drowning, how inevitable. And for a few days I was haunted, obsessed with finding more side scan sonar images. Sunken ships and piles of tires and cars and more bodies, unmistakable, resting:



Second, all this sorrow here on LJ, pouring up smokelike from Texas, about this woman Shannon Leigh, who I'd never heard of and whose life seems to have been well lived and whose drowning so wrong, so hinged on a few seconds.

Third, Bill Studebaker, whose work I've been reading my whole writing life, has died on the South Fork and all that's left is to find the body. Resting.

Shining waters opening up and swallowing poets. Sonic shadows and they're growing closer, more distinct.

It's a beautiful pointless world; cast the best shadow you can before it gets you.

Maybe I'm taking this a little personally because next year my son will probably be in kindergarten (and I'm wondering if I'm "tiger mom"-ing [as one of you describes it] by proxy), but here's your Bad Teacher story of the week.

In brief, Wendy Portillo had a five year old kindergartner stand up in front of his classmates and have them tell him what they didn't like about him and then "vote" him out of class. Kid likely has Aspberger's. Kid is five. Wendy Portillo is a Bad Teacher and should probably find work in a different field.

I know it's a holiday weekend and all, but if you could take some time to be outraged over the internet or with a real live letter?
Here are the relevant contacts:



( Read more... )



I've actually thought about the fact that there may be more to this than is being revealed at the moment, but the teacher confirms the heart of the story: that she had five year old children "vote" one of their classmates out of class, calling him "disgusting" (and also, less disturbingly, "annoying"). Even if he's a pain-in-the-ass five year old (which certainly can happen), it doesn't really seem like she created a "teachable moment" here. In fact, she sounds cruel and stupid. At best, she's an incompetent creep.

While I'm generally reluctant to cry havoc and let slip the dogs of internet rage, it seems (1) justified and (2) potentially effective in this case.

So: purple and/or orange cauliflower--discuss.

I'm still confused about how what certainly felt like a greasy kernel of loathing for this show somehow transmogrified into a buttery fluffy lump of love.
I'll stay up all hours to catch Sunday reruns. Weird, because it really might suck by accident instead of on purpose.



But seriously, it's a comedy, right?

What happened to you, Eliot Spitzer? You used to be cool.

The teevee show I'm watching right now says he's resigning. Whoa.

EDIT: He's being indicted. Double whoa.

FURTHER EDIT: Yes indictment, "expected to resign," but no confirmation. Jeeeeeez.

Depressing, awesome, or both?

Svalbard Global Seed Vault open for business in Norway in case there is some doom.

For which we should be lauded or chided.

I guess that my favorite part (aside from the brave attempt to thwart at least a few strains of apocalypse) was the armed guard named, hand to god, Jimmy Olsen. "My job," he said, "is to keep away people who aren't supposed to be here, and guard against polar bears."

So acquisitive today. I want:

A lovely pocketknife, for defense and nail-picking
A perfect bike
A copy of Skippyjon Jones and the Big Bones (this one I actually have to go get; promises were made).
Some tacos

I'm all sevenish or something.

And there's too much coffee.

Because of the squishing and the poking.

It's quite cold.