Absquatulate

Caterina Hits Nail On Head

In this post on misbehaving.net regarding female execs Ms. Fake is spot on. I've always been irritated with the idea that women in high powered positions are leaving because they can't hack it in the competitive corporate world. While that may be true some of the time, I have a feeling that most women who can't hack it have abandoned that career path a LONG time before they've become VP of whatever. Their leaving shouldn't be cast in the light of, "What is wrong with them?" (which I think is applied way to often with women in the workforce) but rather, "What is wrong with the system?"

It is those stupid petty bullshit battles that drive me nuts in my job and I'm a peon!

Go Pats!!!

I've been so busy with other offline super-secret projects that I've barely had time to think about the Patriots and their bid for glory. So here's my obligatory OMG GO PATS post.

OMG GO PATS!!!

That is all.

Spiced Lentils

Serves: lots, but at least four main courses or six side dishes.

• four cups of low sodium stock. Beef is our favorite, but works well with chicken or vegetable stock.
• 1.5 cups of lentils, rinsed and picked over
• salt and pepper to taste
• 0.5tsp of cayenne pepper, 0.25tsp coriander, 0.5tsp cumin, 0.5tsp cardamom, pinch of cinnamon, 0.25 tsp ground cloves or three whole cloves.

Combine everything in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil. Reduce to medium low and simmer partially covered for at least 30 minutes. Add a little more liquid if the beans get dry. When lentils are cooked and starting to get mushy, sautee two cloves of minced garlic and some minced ginger in olive oil until soft, about 8 minutes. Stir into lentils and enjoy! Look out for the whole cloves, you'll be treated to an eye opening experience if you happen to much down on one.

Breathtaking.

Via Metafilter I found this report about an exhibit of personal items found in the attic of Willard Psychiatric Center in NY. Reading the few stories they had posted there was riveting; this kind of thing captures my imagination for some reason (probably the same reason why I've always loved archeology, history and the like.) We accumulate so much in our lives; what happens to it when we die? What clues about our lives do we leave behind? What stories will be told based on our 'stuff' and if we were still alive, would we scoff or smile at them?

Personal to Professional

It is a harsh realization when, after what one thinks is a breakthrough in the process, one realizes the very important essay they were writing was written like a blog entry which in this particular case may not work to one's advantage.

Let loose the hounds.

I'll be very busy the next few days, so posts here may be light.

In response to Megnut: On Comments and Weblogs

Meg of Megnut/Pyra/Blogger fame recently posted her thoughts on comments in weblog posts. It got me thinking, thinking lead to writing, and well, look where *that's* gotten me.

I have the utmost respect for Meg and the work she had done. My comments should not be construed as a dig but rather an interpretive echo, if you will.

1. ... Are you writing about something that can engender a discussion? And do you want to have a discussion about it? Not everything needs a discussion, and if it doesn't, think about disabling comments for a post, if only to avoid spammers and trolls.

I leave comments on for all my posts, with a few exceptions. You can say that I've taken her observation and turned it inside out. Leaving comments on works for me because I am a little known website with only a few readers, most of whom I know and have a good idea of where they sleep at night. While one particular post may not warrant discussion, sometimes the comments themselves will spawn a new comment on my site, or a side discussion. I've only started writing on TypePad and so my comments are, um, well, few (/me looks at readers, eyeing them sternly. I know you're out there, is it that my posts are so dry that you can't drum up a response? .... Drat, I thought as much.) So while Meg says "turn them on only if you specifically want to" I'd counterpoint with, "Turn them off if what you are posting is not open for discussion."

2. Do I have time to manage a conversation right now? It's easy to turn on comments, it takes work to host a discussion. Especially when the post is controversial or inflammatory, the poster needs to be prepared to stay on top of the thread.

She's dead on. Need some examples? View Jason Kottke's website. Turning on comments does require attention, however take it with a grain of salt. Meg, Jason, and others such as Dooce and Powazek are incredibly popular (aka the digerati.) Me? A complete unknown. And that's just fine, because I know my audience (for right now) are my friends and family. I want them to participate in conversation and I know for the most part they will be civil. The important caveat to my response is: Make sure you stay on top of your target audience. Dooce is a prime example of a site which had comments on for a very long time, but she eventually had to shut them off because of trolls and Sarah B. is going through the growing pains of online popularity. Remember though, that turning off comments doesn't stop the deluge of hate mail though.

3. Is this conversation over? There comes a point in every thread when the conversation is done, either because posts have petered out or because it's gotten so out of control and unpleasant that it needs to end.

If you're going to leave comments on you have to monitor the threads. Period. It's your responsibility, lest your site become a google bomb for some unsavory website.

Rather than just having a blanket rule -- whether that's "comments on" or "comments off" -- it would be nice if we could consider these questions before posting. Turning on comments is an opportunity and a responsibility.

I think it's perfectly okay to have blanket rules. So comments are on all the time, or they're off. What makes a good blogger is someone who has control over their site and sometimes that means turning comments off, or ending a discussion. You just have to know your audience, and that's 99% of any website.

Our House In the Middle of Our Street

Because I currently rent in the city I've recently been obsessing over buying a house. I don't have any plans to in the near future, but Sundays, once meant for sleeping in after a night of martinis at some local hotspot, are now spent watching Nothnagle's Showcase of Homes, mocking god awful taste in lace curtains, horrible turquoise walls, and honest-to-god pointing and laughing at the McMansions. Everyone at work asks, "So when are you going to buy a house?" and I always hedge and mumble, "Not anytime soon, because I hate this hellhole of a city and who'd want to live HERE now that Kodak is about to layoff thousands of people? You think I want to be around to see THAT? No thanks."

So one day while in the throws of my most recent home ownership obsession I came across Joi Ito's site and his photoblog of his new house. I have a good idea of what American homes are supposed to be like, but to see a Japanese home? It's beautiful! Could this be considered a regular house in Japan? Is this high end? Low end? Is this an old house? What do new houses look like? It's so exotic compared to the cookie cutter developments that are sprawling all across former farms in the upstate area. I don't think I could make such a house my home, I would love to vacation in it. What is it like in other countries? What kinds of abodes would, say a French webdesigner/programmer be thinking about purchasing or renting?

Basque Chicken

I have to try this. So do you:

• 4 links chourico...2 pounds sliced into thin slices
• 2 large chicken breasts.. split, boned, skinned
• 3 large garlic cloves through garlic press
• 2-- 4 oz. each pimentos
• l large onion chopped
• 4 tsp parsley snipped
• 1 cup rice (uncooked)
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups water Oh come on, be adventerous and use white wine or something.
• l tsp Italian seasonings
• l tbsp olive oil or more for sautéing
• salt and pepper to taste

Sauté chourico, garlic and onion in olive oil till onion is limp. Place chicken breasts in bottom of large casserole dish. Mix all remaining ingredients and add to casserole. Bake in 350 F oven for one and a half hour, stirring twice. Add more broth if mixture becomes too dry.

Why I Wear Flip Flops in the Shower

Add this to the list of things you never want to hear in the locker room at your friendly local gym:

"So guess what I got again? Pink eye! I swear, if there are germs somewhere, they will seek me out and infect me. I'm just so susceptible to infections!"

Everyone, All the Time, All Right Here!

Take a gander at this photo of a new light rail station in Minneapolis, slated to open later this year.

While I can't say I have an opinion one way or another about the design what really caught my eye were the illustrations of the happy city dwellers, all of them eagerly going about their business on a sunny Minneapolis day. Using 17 sprites they've managed to illustrate almost every possible type of urbanite a reasonably sized city could expect to contain (see if you can find them all!):

• The philharmonic orchestra members
• the old college chums, on their way to a cafe to reminisce about their sorority
• The well dressed but still young urban black male
• the overweight geek, pointing out transportation technology tidbits to the
• disinterested companion to his right who'd rather be home right now
• urban college student, complete with backpack
• Father with baby (no stroller? does he intend to carry that kid through downtown!?)
• businessman in suit, looking for the *next* train

Also, do they think these trains will come often enough to warrant the complete LACK of seating at this station? Will the employees at the posh retail shop at this light rail stop let commuters wait in the lobby of their store on inclement days (only with a $100 purchase of a Chanel perfume!) And one last observation anyone who lives in a snowy clime can appreciate: Is that little wavy thing supposed to be adequate protection from harsh Minnesotean winters?

Proof

If you need it, here's proof that the "People's Choice Awards" are rigged:

Favorite musical group or band: Matchbox Twenty

They must be joking. At least pick Linkin Park or Nickelback or something SORT OF believable (please note I said believable, not good) rather than a band the peaked in 1999.

Doff your cap to Languagehat

Despite recent bellyaching by some people about why blogs are useless I for one think that the blog phenomenon is a wonderful explosion of ideas. Sure there's lot of chaffe out there in that grainery, but hey, that's why you don't go to sites you don't like, right?

One of my favorite blogs to visit is LanguageHat. I don't know who this chapeau afficionado is but he constantly has the most facinating blog entries about phonetics and language from around the world. Of particular note is his recent entry titled, "Deaf Thinking". Given my background I was quite interested in this and highly recommend any visitors to my site to read the post and the comments.

Language is a beautiful and completely mystical thing.

$5 or a kiss to whomever sets this to music

Absquatulate / Absquatulate / She's really fun / She's really great / For Pigs she is / The perfect mate / What's not to love? / Absquatulate!!!

Lyrics by Corey Tamas.

Do you recognize this confection?

I've been wracking my brains for years and I need to come to you, gentle Internet Reader.

My grandmother (who was Italian, Roman I believe, and lived in Brooklyn, NY) used to get this pastry for the holidays; I'm thinking Easter. It was dozens of mini pastry puff-ish balls, about the size of marbles, maybe a little larger, arranged in a conical fashion. It would be smothered in honey, and decorated with pastels (not jimmies, not sprinkles, but the little hard pastel colored confections that are found on non pareils.) You'd pull off each pastry puff and eat it as a nibble during fruit and dessert. Does anybody know if this is a real dessert of some sort!?? Please post it in the comments. Thanks in advance!

Good/Bad/Ugly

Good: Decide to roast that frozen chicken that's been taking up alot of space in your freezer using the directions of Alton Brown
Gooder: Successfully pull out the keel bone of a 7lb. chicken.
Goodest: Eat said chicken. It was the moistest, most flavorful chicken I've ever had, period.

Bad: Your 7 lb. chicken taking FIVE DAYS to defrost in the refrigerator.
Badder: Realizing that you don't have a roasting pan.
Baddest: Noting that despite the long cooking time and themometer readings, the chicken is STILL undercooked.
Baddest²: Realize that your 8 mo. old digital thermometer is off by over 20 degrees.

Ugly: Parkleigh before Christmas.
Uglier: The man who came into the local diner wearing more cologne than an entire Macy's counter. Thank goodness we were not eating yet.
Ugliest: wearing socks with Christmas trees and bells on them *after* Christmas. Urge to gnaw off feet of said woman dutifully but painfully subdued.