Another great offering from Wendy - one woman’s account of her first experience, her initiation, into the world of grilling.
You ever want to learn how to play that little-known card game 45s? You grew up somewhere other than Lawrence, MA, and want to know what the heck I’m talking about? Here’s your chance.
Wendy was kind enough to point me to this link:
For some reason, I never really thought of Harleys as being big in Japan, but I suppose this website proves how much I know.
Great links for today:
So Carleton and Melanie are getting married this weekend, I’m getting to meet a bunch of Wendy’s family, and life is generally good. Except for the Red Sox losing two out of three to the Yankees. That’s not so good.
So it’s been well over a month since my last post, in which time I’ve, well, turned thirty and had the vast majority of my family and friends collaborate to throw the biggest surprise birthday party that I’ve ever experienced. I guess part of the reason I haven’t yet written about it is because I still don’t know quite what to say. You guys all rock. Thank you. Check out Ant’s pictures for a quick visual summary of the event.
And while you’re there, meet Wendy, this cooler-than-cool girl I’ve been going out with. She rocks too. Note in the birthday party pictures that she was brave enough to meet my entire group of friends and family in one night. And she happily hangs out with complete goofballs.
The Red Sox are back, and they’re playing 0.750 ball. Unfortunately David Wells didn’t pitch so well at his (and, as luck would have it, my) first game of the season. But Wendy, Steve, Mary, and I all had a grand ol’ time in the bleachers what with the Guinness in plastic cups, Fenway Franks, and Italian sausages. Really - why else does one go to the games?
Steve, Brett, and Beth have revived the forums, so feel free to go and post about all things Red Sox. Also don’t forget to patch your Windows systems, especially if you’re still using IE. Activate the force field around your car. Oh, yeah, and if you have a Pentium computer, your system may be fundamentally insecure. But hey - at least you weren’t taken out by the Feds for dressing up like a pirate…
At least the Patriots didn’t lose the Superbowl this year. Pittsburgh won, which (well, I think, at least) is good since they were my backup team. Here’s a couple of interesting links this morning:
Wow - since the last time I wrote, I’ve updated WordPress to 2.0 and already there’s another update that I need to install.
Just got back from hanging out with Julie, Brett, and Cassidy in Texas, and like I’ve said to others, I’m now armed with more “cute, adorable” niece stories than I can shake a stick at. San Antonio is great - I strongly recommend hanging out at the Riverwalk and dining at one of the various establishments. A couple notes from the past month or so:
That’s it for now, except to possibly say that the AJAX-based interface in WordPress 2.x really cleans up the administration pages from previous versions. I’ll stop now before the puns get worse.
After today, the holiday season is over. It’s been busy, it’s had its ups and downs, its stressful times and its peaceful moments as well, but after today we go on to whatever it is we do for the rest of the winter until the ground thaws and we can go outside without freezing our tails off.
For today, I present a poem that I first heard in Ireland and which struck something of a chord with me. I remembered bits and pieces of it in my jet-lagged and overtired state, and now through the wonders of Google I present it to you in what I believe is its entirety, translated into English:
But with what?
With wine, poetry, or virtue
as you choose.
But get drunk.
And if, at some time, on steps of a palace,
in the green grass of a ditch,
in the bleak solitude of your room,
you are waking and the drunkenness has already abated,
ask the wind, the wave, the stars, the clock,
all that which flees,
all that which groans,
all that which rolls,
all that which sings,
all that which speaks,
ask them, what time it is;
and the wind, the wave, the stars, the birds, and the clock,
they will all reply:
“It is time to get drunk!
So that you may not be the martyred slaves of Time,
get drunk, get drunk,
and never pause for rest!
With wine, poetry, or virtue,
as you choose!”
Charles Baudelaire
The Ireland Pics are finally up for your general viewing pleasure.
Thought for the month (yeah, it’s a been a while since I last updated this thing) - you know you hit your local coffee shop a lot when you get multiple invitations to the holiday fund raiser party, and then a bunch of the employees get together for a picture and invite you to come on in. Yep, that and the switch back away from decaf could explain my boost in productivity at work…
So, I’m going to see NIN again with Julie Ball. And my Dad once again came out with a good one, perhaps the Quote of the Century (at least so far):
Dad: Who’re you going to see?
Me: Nine Inch Nails.
Dad: Oh, well - have fun anyway.
‘Nuff said. Joe, you couldn’t have worded it better.
Ireland, in a word, rocked. This vacation was the best nine consecutive days that I can recall. I would highly recommend that anybody who wants to go to Ireland - just go. It’s awesome. The people are friendly, the island is beautiful even when the weather is dreary and raining, the women, ah, the women, are stunning, and the beer is, well, Guinness. Oh, yeah - and Smithwicks, Murphy’s, and Beamish. But mainly Guinness.
We took a bus tour with SMI Tours that was the absolute best. The entire tour group and the tour guide (one Peter Clark) just clicked perfectly, and we all drew off of each other’s personalities and high spirits. We even had our own theme song, thanks to Peter. If you’re looking to take a tour of Ireland or Scotland, check out SMI. If you get Peter Clark, then prepare yourself for an amazing experience.
I took a few pictures with my Dad’s camera, and I’ll have them up as soon as I figure out what broke with the picture server.
It’s amazing how getting out of the country will change your entire outlook and viewpoint, give you a completely different perspective of life - especially if you’re visiting the country from which a significant percentage of your ancestors emigrated in the last two centuries. You get an idea of why some people left and why some people stayed, and the conditions that each group had to endure to follow through with their decision. You get an appreciation for where you’re from and what others had to do so that you can be right here, right now. And, you get a nearly perfect chance to re-evaluate the problems that seem so significant when you meet them in daily life, but that shrink considerably when you compare them to either the ordeals that your ancestors experienced or simply to the fact that the world is so much broader than your little slice.
Now the challenge is going to be getting back into the everyday routine without losing touch of this experience…
Quick update: Red Sox weekends rocked. Baltimore was a heck of a lot of fun, hanging out with Carleton and Alicia and watching the Red Sox kick some Oriole but-tocks. The game on Monday got canceled, but I went to back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday to watch the Sox beat the Yankees once and then get beaten once.
Well, we made it into the wild card spot, at least. Now for the ALDS, game four of which I have a ticket to see. Although I’ll somewhat inconveniently be in Ireland. Oh, well. This life is tough, but somebody’s gotta live it.
Hey - this thing is still on, and I even remembered my password!
It’s been a busy month what with the vacationing and all. Spent a week in Maine in August, spent a weekend here and there in Maine since then, and am getting ready for the trip to Baltimore to visit Carleton and Alicia and to watch the Red Sox beat the Birds. Plus, I finally broke my curse - I went to a Sox game and listened to the beautiful sounds of “Dirty Water” being played after a Red Sox win.
Eighteen days until Ireland…
That’s right - let’s have three big cheers. Woohoo!
The Tuesday Night Debauchery(tm) went off without a hitch, with much playing of Ninja Burger and Chez Geek, two hilarious card games that can be enjoyed by afficionados of RPGs as well as those of us who fear them.
Mozilla Thunderbird’s Remove Duplicate Messages extension is the best thing since sliced bread, and when combined with the Dovecot IMAP server is the only way I’ve found to convert Microsoft Outlook .pst mail files to a format that’s more compatible with other mail readers. Of course, the easiest way to attack the problem is simply to not use Outlook in the first place.
10. Attempt to get Java to function properly on a lab machine.
9. Or, update your blog. (Of course.)
8. Nah, forget that. Leave early.
7. Catch up on Slashdot.
6. Play Ninja Burger.
5. Check out Strong Bad’s Bottom Ten List.
4. Imagine World War II as a RTS.
3. Build giant Gummy Bears. (Thanks, Ben!)
2. Pun. (Thanks, Joe!)
1. Two words: Office Commando.
Monday - an oftentimes frustrating yet necessary way to spend one-seventh of your life.
Make: Volume Three has arrived, the only magazine that teaches you how to weld, make your own biodiesel fuel, and convert an old VCR into an automatic cat feeder all in the same issue. Talk about geek-centric.
Now let’s play a game I haven’t touched in a while - click those links for fun and enjoyment:
That’s both for me and for the system, of course. For me - spending a weekend in Maine this weekend, a week off to hang in Maine in August, a long weekend to chill with Alicia and Carleton and watch the Red Sox beat down the Birds in September, then let’s not forget the Ireland trip in October. It’s gonna be a nice and relaxing bottom half of 2005, methinks.
As for the system, well, let’s just say that I should know better than to wiggle a processor in my server while I’m cleaning the proc fan with canned air. At least while it’s still running. ‘Cause it won’t be for long.
Unfortunately, the Red Sox lost another one on Monday, and yes, I was there. Too bad, though, because it was Joe’s first game. Everybody’s first game at Fenway should be a winner. Provided you’re there to see the Sox and not their opponents, of course. If you’re not there to see the Sox, then you should be prepared to watch your team lose.
My cousin Stacy has a couple new puppies. Remember, Stacy - Carpe Babeum! 
Now that the parents are moved into their new house, I have time to get back to other things - like brewing beer. Ant, Dave and I put together our first Irish Red Ale, half of which is brewing with Irish Ale Yeast, even. With any luck we’ll have this batch ready for the wedding for which we volunteered the fruits of our brewing efforts, and we may even have a little bit left over for others to try, as well.
The Sox lost the series to the Yankees, but I do believe we still outscored them over the course of the four games. As my Mom pointed out, that statistic doesn’t mean a whole lot in the long run - except, of course, for the embarrassment of having beaten them 17-1 on Friday night.
Many thanks to Joe, I’m now running the latest and greatest WordPress. Now to update the rest of the website to use the new themes. And to add more interesting stuff. Or some interesting stuff. Whatever.
The parents are mostly moved into the new hizzo, which means I’ll have more time to work on silly things like the website and converting from CVS to Subversion. In the meantime, check out the golden retriever that took on a 700lb alligator and won.
