That's Code for, "I'm Lost, Too"

That's the winning headline for the following:

Man: Excuse me, could you tell me where--
Biotech, interrupting: --Look, I don't have time to make up fake directions.

And it's mine. I guess that the fourth time is the charm.

Simone Walking at Christmas

Here it is, definitive proof she's walking. So much fun.

Life Is Too Short For Bad Code

I started a programming blog a couple of weeks ago and figure it's time to share with the vast audience of my personal blog. I thought it might be interesting to see what (if any) kind of audience I could get for programming folks. My personal blog will never grow larger than my family and a couple of friends, and that's just fine. But, it's possible I could find a small community that finds what I have to say regarding programming interesting.

Mostly the programming blog will contain tips for Emacs. During my last 3 years at Intel I had a tip of the week which was mildly popular in my department. I thought I'd keep that up now that I'm outside Intel. But I'm also going to post other ideas/revelations I've had regarding programming. It's an outlet for my programming geekiness.

I don't have any fallacies about making money with the blog (either of them), nor of even getting a readership of more than a couple dozen at most. I certainly don't have the time, and probably not even the ideas, to get a blog to that kind of popularity.

So, without further ado, here's my programming blog: Life Is Too Short For Bad Code

Coolest Thing This December

Johnny Lee is genius, check out this 3-D hack for display, it'd make for an awesome game.



He's also got prototypes for interesting displays, auto-configuring displays, a steady-cam, and low cost interactive whiteboards.

Simone at 19 months

Simone (seen here in a month-old photo):



just turned 19 months, and has begun walking. Here in my first internet video ever (taken on cell phone), Simone is walking with a stroller in a toy shop:

And her rocking on a rocking horse:

Tonight Simone walked back and forth between the two of us about a dozen times, crossing a span of 10 feet or so - she's getting pretty excited about walking. As are we.

Her favorite books are "Goodnight Moon" and "Snuggle Puppy", her favorite songs are "Snuggle Puppy" and "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" - both of which she'll start for us (singing "ooh..." and "duh..." respectively). She even does the hand motions for the Itsy Bitsy Spider song. And, she loves the thing where you pat the bottom of her feet while singing, "shoe the old horse, shoe the old mare, and let the young colt run bare bare bare."

Nose Blowing

So, Simone's teeth may not be coming in, it looks like she's caught a bit of a flu (cold?, gah I dunno, she's sick). She's phlegmy and not enjoying it, so we taught her how to blow her nose. Being parents, we think it's incredibly funny when she does it on her own and blows a raspberry into a kerchief.

iBike WW52

I was wrong in my last post, I figure I should bike next week (as two of the days are still in 2007). But I biked today, perfectly timing it to end my ride in the sunshine (the first 3/4s was in rain). Simone tagged along quietly, if not happily - she's feeling a bit under the weather, but if she's anything like the rest of us, it feels good to get out of the house.

iBike WW51

Took a ride in the rain on my single speed (seat still busted on the road bike). A good 45 minutes of slogging along. One more week to go!

Simone Update

At nearly 19 months, she's starting to walk. We think her next set of teeth (#8 and more) are coming in, and a part of that seems to be a runny nose. She's learning how to blow her nose.

Caprial and John cooking class

I took a cooking class from Caprial and John tonight. Mary had gotten me a gift certificate from there last Christmas, and I finally made time for a class.

What a hoot. They're very much like they appear on their TV show, though John is less obnoxious. The menu was:

Squash and Sage Bisque with Crispy Prosciutto
Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder Rubbed with Tomato and Herbs
Crispy Fried Potatoes and Parsnips
Spicy Braised Greens
Walnut Chocolate Cake

John is a pork freak, which I admire. The soup had prosciutto, the greens had bacon, and obviously the pork was ... pork. And he talked about making bacon - which I now need to try.

Anyway, the tips I picked up were: reduce, reduce, reduce - whether it be wine or stock, reduce and you'll get tasty results. Oh, and add bacon to everything, it tastes better. And their secret ingredient for finishing off soups is Ketchup Manis (a sweet, thick, Indonesian version of soy sauce).

David Lebovitz: The Easiest Chocolate Ice Cream Recipe...Ever

Using the excuse of having some friends over for dinner, I made this for dessert. I must say, I need to find another excuse for making this, and soon! It really is this easy, and it tastes divine. I might cut out the rum next time (or a little of the Bailey's) because it didn't set up quite as hard as I wanted (though I may not have given it quite enough time).

So smooth, so creamy, so delicious...

David Lebovitz: The Easiest Chocolate Ice Cream Recipe...Ever

Chocolate and Banana Ice Cream

Four to six scoops

2 ounces (55 g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

6 tablespoons (80 ml) milk, whole or low-fat

6 tablespoons (80 ml) Baileys liquor

1 medium-sized ripe banana, peeled*, and cut into chunks

1 tablespoon (15 ml) dark rum


1. In a small bowl set over a pan of simmering water (or in the microwave), melt the chocolate with the milk.

2. Blend the melted chocolate the Baileys, the banana, and rum until smooth.

3. Pour into a plastic or metal container, cover, and freeze for at least 4 hours.

iBike WW50

Simone and I rode downtown to do some Christmas shopping today. A little chilly, but we stayed toasty warm by dressing in layers. She fell asleep on the ride back - exhausted after an hour of shopping.

Water and Fire

Slow motion water and fire.



Hat Tip: Ze

iBike WW49

Simone and I took a nice ride in the sunny fall weather today, just the standard loop out the Midge Cramer path and back over Witham Hill. What made it interesting today was that I broke my seat post half way through the ride. It felt like a spinning class - 20 minutes of standing (including a 5 minute hill).

Mozzarella

Years ago I saw some cooking show where some lady made mozzarella and it looked way easy. But I never tried. I'd thought about making cheese off and on, but ... c'mon, it's cheese, it can't be easy...

Mary recently began reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and came to the part about making cheese. They made it sound easy, so we got off our butts and got the rennet and citric acid, and off to the races we were.

The recipe says it takes 30 minutes, and they're right. It is as easy as: warm milk, add citric acid, add rennet, strain curds, heat and knead cheese. Done!

One gallon of milk made one pound of cheese. We had a bunch of whey left over (3 quarts), and are planning on making ricotta because it sounds just as easy as the mozzarella (we'll see).

Ten Steps To Close Down an Open Society

Mary mentioned this article a couple of days ago, and then I just got a link to it from another source (so I could actually read it). Figured the world was trying to tell me something:

Naomi Wolf: Ten Steps To Close Down an Open Society - The Huffington Post

Every day I have trouble figuring out if I'm more scared about this country going to hell in a handbasket (b/c of things like the above and our country's continual shift away from a secular society toward a religious one) or the world becoming uninhabitable (global warming and other environmental problems).

I feel insecure raising a child in this world... I'm very uncertain of her future.

iBike WW48

It's getting harder and harder to bike in nice weather, this coming week looks to be nasty for most of it. Simone and I did manage to find an hour of time where the rain wasn't coming down yesterday. She nodded off in the Burley almost immediately, and I biked for the hour - excepting the part where I had to inflate the Burley tires (turns out they go flat after a year, go figure).

We also happened to get our Christmas tree during another part of the day where it wasn't raining. We put it up this afternoon. Woo-hoo!