Me and Julia

2011 went out with a bang; 2012 came in with a boeuf … Julia Child’s boeuf bourguignon.  And if you think that sounds tortured, you should have seen me in the kitchen trying to make sense of the recipe! Three Christmases back I gave Donna a copy of Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French […]

Out with a Bang

The year, that would be.  Out with a bang.  Shot right through the brain. This Christmas we added a compact 9mm pistol to our arsenal, so Polly and I took it and its big brother (a .357 revolver) to an indoor range this morning.  I wanted to get the feel of the new pistol, and […]

Thanksgiving Means Family

Well, it does, doesn’t it?  We drove to Las Vegas to spend Thanksgiving and the weekend with our son, daughter in law, granddaughter, and grandson.  To make the family gathering complete, our daughter Polly came with us.  We got in Wednesday evening and headed home Monday, sans Polly, who stayed behind in Las Vegas to […]

Goatheads and Authoritarians

I just ended the longest no-flats streak I’ve had since taking up bicycling again a few years ago. The culprit:  the dreaded goathead, a thorn that detaches itself from the devil tree it grows on and then, through some kind of plant/asphalt magnetism, migrates unerringly to the nearest bicycle path. What amazed me, once I […]

Monday Bag o’ Miscellaney

One Friday night, back when buffalo wings first became popular, I decided to make them at home.  After cutting the wings, I breaded them by shaking them in a paper grocery bag filled with flour, a little paprika, some salt, and pinch or two of powdered cayenne.  Then I deep-fried the wings and dipped them […]

An Update from 99% Land

What’s new? An Australian friend from Perth, traveling around the States on a two-month sojourn, dropped by to spend the weekend. Since John’s a fellow Hash House Harrier I took him hashing Saturday night. The hash started an hour late and trail took two and a half hours to finish, and of course we went […]

Me & My Deskbuddy™

I’m sitting here with my Deskbuddy™ 1.0, enjoying the quiet afternoon that comes after a busy Friday night and Saturday morning. Polly went on a date earlier in the week, and last night the young man (her age, twice divorced, with children … but hey, young to us) dropped by to visit Polly and her […]

Glock and Load

I was going to lead off with this article from Wonkette, then follow it with a satirical headline of my own: Arizona GOP Announces Emancipation Day “Slave Auction” with Prize for Best Black-Face Costume And then I read the original article, and of course the event isn’t being held “in memory of the Gabby Giffords […]