The local Toastmaster’s online (i.e. webcam) speech contest is Monday. Last Wednesday, one of my competitors gave a practice run of her speech. It was very good and blew mine out of the water. I’ve thrown that out and I’m starting over. I like to watch YouTube cooking videos, but they’re all edited. I’m goingContinue reading “Online Speech Contest”
Author Archives: Mark
Set a Timer!
On the bright side, I (with The Laird’s reminder) did manage to beat the smoke detector. Today’s replacement is rising (38:45 left on the timer).
Brassicacearum Papilionoideae
Normal people call them cabbage butterflies. I don’t know if that’s their Latin name, but “brassicaceae” is right because they don’t just attack cabbage but also cabbage relatives (broccoli and brussel sprouts, in my case). In Denver, I threw in the towel and just didn’t plant any after two summers of hosting larvae farms. Here,Continue reading “Brassicacearum Papilionoideae”
Fun Concert
But I still don’t like concerts. The Laird and I went to see Disturbed at the Full Throttle Saloon. He was surprised that I wanted to go, but I like Disturbed, it’s Sturgis Rally week (which is, I’m sure, why they bothered with South Dakota), and I’ve never been there or done any rally stuff.Continue reading “Fun Concert”
Why I don’t like Art
I started What These 4 Trends in Painting Reveal About Our Image-Saturated Age with a sense of hope. As is usual with things related to art, I was disappointed. When your gallery display looks like Costco’s discount rug aisle, you’re doing something wrong. I will admit it does have a certain “capturing the Zeitgeist” vibe,Continue reading “Why I don’t like Art”
Learning 2 Bake from Scratch LXVII
Strawberry Pound Cake I don’t really like shortcake and I wanted something with the new strawberries. Pound cake is fairly simple. I chose the Preppy Kitchen The Best Pound Cake recipe because it has sour cream in it, which seemed novel. It’s not bad. It’s a bit grainy and dry – for pound cake. ForContinue reading “Learning 2 Bake from Scratch LXVII”
“Should” is Evil
That’s a fairly obvious point, but for today’s installment we have a new level of “should” stupidity. Delete should mean delete. I do not disagree. However, having the vapors when delete does not mean delete is more than a bit overwrought, especially for someone who “has been recognized by Forbes as one of America’s topContinue reading ““Should” is Evil”
Chair Update
It’s been almost a year since I put it together. A couple of months ago, the left armrest pad came off. I didn’t much care because I don’t put my arm there. I looked at the issue long enough to realize that other things needed to come apart to get the pad reattached (it boltsContinue reading “Chair Update”
Not Muffins!
They are slider buns that I may have let rise a bit too much in a muffin pan. They’re even somewhat “whole grain” because I used 100g of whole grain rye flour (in addition to 300g of bread flour for gluten).
Plant Me!
The bare root asparagus plants (asparagi?) looked sad and I’ve had bad luck planting asparagus in the past. So, I thought to myself, I thought, “why not put them in water?”. This is the result. Apparently, one can grow asparagus inside, but it feels as if it really wants to be planted. I just needContinue reading “Plant Me!”
Marked Up 