Best New Years Ever

Perhaps the best New Years eve I've ever had, spent partying with friends here in New Haven. Sushi for lunch (the volcano roll is especially good and I tried a tempura roll for the first and likely last time), lots of fun snack food including Bacon-wrapped waterchestnuts, musical fun with Guitar Hero and Karaoke Revolution. Leap second (we spent it leaping, getting it on the second try). I had a wonderful time.

I'm blessed to have such generous friends who share their breaks and take me in when I visit, and I'm blessed to have the chance to visit such friends.

Life is fundamentally good.

Bacon wrapped waterchestnuts

Lightly oil rimmed cooking sheet with olive oil. heat oven 350. Drain waterchestnuts. Wrap each waterchestnut in one half piece of bacon, poking a toothpick through to hold it together. Bake for 10 minutes, turn, and bake for another 10 minutes. Delicious, tasty and crunchy.

A New Years holiday tradition in my family.

Missed Christmas eve service

I missed the Christmas Eve service today. In a scene so very Home Alone-like, I stepped into a bedroom to change to church-suitable attire and when I emerged the family had already headed out. I ran after the last SUV in the entourage, but couldn't quite catch it and didn't manage to be noticed. I then ran back to the cottage and called my sister's cell phone number -- and listened to it ring where it had been left on the mantle. Then I called my father's cell phone number -- and listened to it ring where it had been left on the table. I didn't bother trying my mother's cell.

I eventually found car keys to the remaining vehicle but decided it wouldn't be smart to head out to catch up since I hadn't managed to get in touch with anyone and wasn't really sure of the way. That's my excuse. If I were honest I'd admit I was a little miffed at having been forgotten, something I soon got over and should have gotten over sooner. I spent most of the time home alone reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

Every Christmas eve service has something to offer. In past years I've enjoyed sermons exhorting me not to worship angels (and thereby miss the true meaning of Christmas) and not to over-value the trappings of Christmas (puncuated by the smashing of an heirloom Christmas ornament at the pulpit). Fortunately, missing the service didn't involve my having to helplessly watch chicks flee their coop into the snow and freeze to death (featured in another memorable Christmas eve sermon) -- but I think it likely was an even better reminder of the true meaning of Christmas than attending the service would have been.

My favorite cake recipe

My favorite cake recipe:
3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
6 T cocoa
0.5 t salt
2 t baking soda
2 t vanilla
2 t vinegar
2/3 cup veg oil
2 cup lukewarm water
Bake at 350 degrees 30 to 40 minutes.

Wit's End

My sister's home from school, and we celebrated this evening by playing a family game of Wit's End. Tidbits that came up that I learned something about: Ray Orbison hit Only the Lonely, poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, the Atlanta Braves won the World Series only once between 1970 and 1999, Descartes once said "Travelling is almost like talking with men of other centuries". Wilson was elected president in 1913, Mussolini came to power in 1922, and Lenin died in 1924. Max Bruch was German, not Austrian. short:hour::long:? (do you know? I didn't.) The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse represent Conquest, Famine, Death, and War. The lemon tree is evergreen.

A random game, quite a bit of luck, and some of the questions are too hard / obscure to be fun. Still, we had a great time.

It's Christmas!

Note to self: chill out! I realized I've been worrying too much lately about the future, about what comes next, about moving, and I've been missing out on enjoying the present. It's Christmastime! My sister's coming home today, we'll be visiting my grandparents for the holiday. We're going to have a fabulous time and everything is going to be okay.

Or, as Yoda put it:

always looking to the future this one is. Never his mind on where he is, what he is doing.

What will you do when they come for you in the night:?

What will you do when they come for you in the night?

Or, just because you can try and convict someone, doesn't mean you should.

100,000 FTEs

By some estimates, there are well over 100,000 young people working in China as full-time gamers.

Handel's Messiah

Heard University of Chicago's University Chorus and Rockefeller Bach Soloists' excellent rendition of Handel's Messiah. Rockefeller memorial chapel.

warning label stupidity

I bought a Southern Cross wood pantry stool. Solid natural wood with a built-in handle. "Great for the kitchen, pantry, and garage."

It has a label: "Do not use this stool as a step or for standing." Um. What else would I use it for, in the kitchen, pantry, and garage? Grab it by the handle and use it to fend off invaders? Maybe tame a lion?

The proliferation of pointless, stupid warnings distracts from the warnings that are important.

This has parallels for issue tracking. Not every issue is "major".

Oxford Dilemma

I narrowly won the Petro family Thanksgiving game of Oxford Dilemma, a spelling board game. Luck plays a significant role in the game, but it's still reasonably interesting.

Things I learned: I could neither identify nor spell Vajpayee and Cucamonga. syzygy. Delawarr. Pinatubo. Macrolepidoptera. The name of Alexander the Great's horse. Falkland Islands. Chiang Kaishek. Sagittarius.

Learned to spell: ovipositor. millennium. Champs Elysees. battalion. ratatoiulle.

Closer to heart, I couldn't spell heuristic.

Maybe automatic spell checking really is bad for my brain. But a few rounds of Oxford Dilemma may have undone some of the damage.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! There's more to life than computers.

Sa-Bai Thong Thai

Sa-Bai Thong Thai in Madison, WI with Colleen. The Sa-Bai roll was pretty weird. Volcano chicken was delicious.

Indian Palace with the crowd

Hanging out with the crowd at Indian Palace. Clockwise from left: Drew, Jen, Evan, Michael, Wei-Ying, James, Gill, me, Minh.

Safe In Hell

Safe In Hell (Yale Repertory Theatre) was a well intentioned but ultimately failed attempt to make comedy out of the fundamentally un-funny Salem witch trials. When the performance was cut short by a fire alarm (apparently not as Safe as expected?), Anthony and I just headed home.

Flu vaccine

Got my flu vaccine today at the flu clinic at the Hales Corners department of public health. $23. If it prevents me from getting the flu this season, it's worth it.

Needs more Cowbell

Finally, a shirt to express the music preferences of people who can appreciate a good cowbell.

Yet Another Blog

It's not that I don't like blogs.yale.edu. I did like it. And being able to authenticate to the blog via Yale's CAS instance was very convenient. (When will blogger.com start using Google account SSO?)

But Yale blogs lacked the ability to allow non-Yale users to log in and comment. So here I am, re-launching on blogger.com. Howdy.

ZipCar at Yale

My uninformed opinion: Zipcar would be an awesome program to have on campus at Yale.

Picnic In the park

Today's Broadway tunes NHSO concert was excellent.

Selections included

• Overture to State Fair


• Another Opening, Another Show


• Falling in Love with Love


• YOu're Just in Love


• I Got Lost In His Arms


• One Alone


• Naughty Baby


• Where or When


• If Momma Was Married


• Together Wherever We Go


• Cinderella Overture


• Grant Ave


• All Through the Night


• Adelaide's Lament


• Symphonic Suite from Light in the Piazza


• Hello, Young Lovers


• Hold On


• Impossible Dream


• With a Song in my Heart