Happy Thanksgiving

The turkey is out of the brine and into the oven; my parents are in Mexico with my Uncle John and Aunt Susie; Ian is hosting a dinner with Liz's family and Caitlin and Ash; Adam's sister Maya has flown down from San Fran, Mike is driving in, and the LA orphan crew will be assembling shortly. We're healthy and happy and in good company.

Plus, our president-elect has given us a message of hope and thankfulness.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

And You Thought Your Pumpkin Was Cool

Follow the link and prepare to get schooled.

Trick or Treat

Happy Halloween; always my favorite holiday.

Didn't get the time to make a costume this year, so I guess I cam dressed as Peter Jackson – shorts, bare feet, and a baseball cap.

Huzzah.

In honor of the holiday, here are a couple of spooky link treats.

• Mary Poppins really was here to terrorize us all along.


• A guide on dealing with being buried alive.


• A glimpse into a dystopian, chilling, and (hopefully!) alternate future.


• A parasite so disgusting, I almost don't want to live in the same world as it. [ Side note: although I find it fascinating, and really reminiscent of the flying louse in Godzilla: 1985. Ugh, that thing gave me nightmares! ]


• Watch as zoo animals eat some pumpkin treats.


• Recession, reschmession. See what really scares investment bankers.


• Last, look deep into the abyss... (see here for more info).

Happy Easter!

Enjoy the holiday everyone, in whatever way suits you best.

Just remember... nobody knows Easter like the Cadbury Bunny.

Happy Birthday Tracy!

Today is Tracy's birthday; even though we both have to work today, we have Kevin and Sarah visiting, so that makes today extra-special.

Love you!

February 29th

By-the-by, happy Leap Day everyone. Enjoy some random facts.

Quick research shows that the "extra day" added to the calendar every four years (to compensate for the fact that our yearly rotation around the sun takes an actual 365.25 days) has a name: Bissextile Day. Tell that to some sixth graders to make them laugh.

Ask yourself how many people, how many Americans, don't really understand why we have leap years, but assume it's just something that we do.Modern people think they're so smart, but the Romans figured out the need for a "Leap Day" 2054 years ago! Or, to be more correct, they already knew about it then, but that came up with the current system (and calendar) at this point. The old system involved a four-year cycle of years with different lengths: 355 days, 377 days, 355 days, 378 days. Now, repeat that four times (for 16 years elapsed), and then do this: 355 days, 377 days, 355 days. 377 days, 355 days, 377 days, 355 days, 355 days. This was their 24-year cycle, which resulted in a 24 year span where the average length of those years was 365.25.

You can see why the Julius Caesar changed it.

On another note, the Wikipedia entry for today pointed out a legal point I had never considered:

An English law of 1256 decreed that in leap years, the leap day and the day before are to be reckoned as one day for the purpose of calculating when a full year has passed. Thus, in England and Wales a person born on February 29 legally reaches the age of 18 or 21 on February 28 of the relevant year.

So forget Groundhog Day, we're literally reliving yesterday again.¹ Or we would be if we were in England.

So if you made any mistakes yesterday, here's your chance to get it right.

[1 - Actually, I think it means that the two days are treated as a combined day, not a repeat, so you get a day with two sunrises, two sunsets, and two nights. More practical, but less poetic. Although, would you get overtime pay for that second day? Hmmm...] ⇪

So Long, 2007

Last post of the year...

It's been 1 year and 3 days since my first post. In that time, I've made 125 posts (including this one), for an average of about one post every three days. 108 of those have been since September, at almost a post a day. I've used 27 categories (or, more accurately, tags, as that's the way I've ended up using them).

Not too bad for Year One.

Many of you may be singing a very famous song tonight: Auld Lang Syne. This is a Scots song, so when you start toasting in the New Year, you're honoring my people.

Wikipedia lists the translation as literally "old long since," meaning either the popular "days gone by" or, alternatively, "long long ago."

Hm. Now that sounds familiar... I wonder if these would work for lyrics?

It is a period of
Civil war. Rebel
Spaceships, striking from a hidden base,
Have won their first victory
Against the evil
Galactic Empire.
During the battle,
Rebel spies managed to
Steal secret
Plans to the Empire’s
Ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR,
An armored space station
With enough power to destroy
An entire planet.
Pursued by the Empire’s
Sinister agents,
Princess Leia races home
Aboard her starship,
Custodian of the
Stolen plans that can save
Her people and restore
Freedom to the galaxy…

Ha!

Happy New Year, Everyone!!!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, Happy Solstice, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Hanukkah, Joyeux Noël, and all the rest!

A little late, I admit, but I desperately needed a nap this afternoon.

So tough noogies.

Post-Thanksgiving

Well, that was a success.

The turkey came out well— came out great, if I do say so myself. Everyone brought a wonderful selection of food, from swiss chard to cranberry mousse. Will made his first cheesecake (pumpkin-flavored). We played some Wii games (Super Mario Galaxy is a solid console entry). We talked and went for a walk. We drink good wine, some Beaujolais Nouveau, some low-end blush sparkling white wine.

For those of you interested, I put my Nikon D80 to solid use tonight; once I finish developing the photos, I'll post and entry to new Flickr photos.

Coming home, unloading my equipment from the car, the cold air caught my attention. I was wearing my new hoodie jacket, hood on my head, carrying a large Rubbermaid tub full of cooking utensils and ingredients. I still smelled of brined and roasted turkey, a smell associated with the cooking my parents did. I had a pumpkin pie in my hands. I closed my eyes, just for a minute, and imaged I could smell frost on the cool air, and hear the wind in the woods back home.

Pretty damned close, for a minute there. Almost like home.

I hope all of your dinners were as good, and as fun, as mine. For those of you going shopping tomorrow, good luck. Will and I are heading out quite early... and, one way or another, I plan on ordering my HDTV. And who knows? Maybe I'll find some other things that spark my fancy... for either myself or others. The Apple Store is down as of right now; computers may be a cool $100 cheaper for tomorrow, both online and in person. And maybe Airport Base Stations and TVs will find themselves discounted. Who knows?

Sweet dreams to you, Dear Reader. I am off to bed to dream of the smells of home cooking, the chills of winter, and the feelings of home.

Goodnight.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Things are starting to get going back at the old digs in Century City...

More pictures as things progress... but I hope all of you have a happy Thanksgiving with great food, great times, and great company!