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Breakfast of Champignons

March 23, 2006

Originally posted to ydnar.vox.com in March 2006.

breakfast ingredients
chanterelles & eggs

Had some chanterelles waiting to be eaten, so I decided to make breakfast. Used all organic ingredients, save for the dill. Preperation time: 7 minutes. Verdict: tasty. The goods:

  • 3 eggs
  • 1/3 large red onion
  • 1/2 clove garlic
  • handful medium chanterelles
  • pinch dillweed
  • coarse sea salt
  • pepper
  • butter (or alternative)

Slice the garlic and onion into coarse pieces and chop the chanterelles into thirds. The mushrooms should be approximately 1/2 again as large as the pieces of onion, and the onion should be 1/2 again as large as the chopped garlic. Set aside.

Whisk 3 eggs with a splash of water, set aside.

On medium heat, melt butter in a large sautee pan. When it starts to make noise, throw in the vegetables. Wait about a minute, then shake the pan to evenly distribute the contents.

Add the whisked eggs to the mixture. Add pepper and salt. Sprinkle about half the pinch of dillweed over the eggs as they cook down. Reduce heat and fold or chop the eggs occasionally to introduce air and prevent them from burning.

Just as the last bit of liquid egg disappears, immediately remove from heat. Sprinkle remaining dill on plate and serve.

The Dichotomy of Shuffle

March 20, 2006

With a large enough library of music, I've found that it's simply not possible to mentally keep track of everything I like listening to. Simply put, there are huge swaths of tracks that are unlistened-to-recently. In the absence of time to better organize my iTunes library, I resort to using the shuffle feature. Just point iTunes at my library, hit the little X button and Play. If a track isn't appealing (or it's an iTrip station), I just hit next, like a reflex.

Pro: Lots of library coverage, and I'll end up listening to things I wouldn't otherwise remember I had. Con: No continuity. However sophisticated the shuffling algorithm ends up being, it's not the same (not the same being equivalent here to never gonna be anywhere near) as a back-to-back listen of a well-produced album or mix set.

Music helps me concentrate. Once I get going down some mental path on task X, the continuity of a record helps keep me on track. A library-wide shuffle doesn't. My mind might settle into a pattern after a few minutes, but by then most tracks are over. Then it's a subtle shift (depending on the set of music being shuffled) to another record, and a mental reset.

Navel gazing moment: Found the inexplicable appeal of minimal repetitive electronic music? Bass tastes good.

GRY

March 19, 2006

Originally posted to ydnar.vox.com in March 2006.

It's official. Not only am I old, [1] the state of California has seen fit to commemorate this occasion by describing the color of my hair on my driver's license as gray.

I will refrain from going into detail why this is awesome.

[1] 29

V for Vendetta

March 18, 2006

Originally posted to ydnar.vox.com in March 2006.

The Wachowski bros have redeemed themselves. V is a beautiful spectacle of a pro-terroristanti-warpro-surveillance-state film. Heavy doses of Shakespeare and Errol Flynn--Hugo Weaving was great as V, and naturally Natalie Portman is the hotness.

Mac Home Theater Hacks

March 17, 2006

Originally posted to ydnar.vox.com in March 2006.

A few people (you know who you are) at the office just picked up an Intel Mac Mini. If you're like me, you have more than a few movies on disk somewhere in formats other than QuickTime (mov). Since Front Row is the best thing since sliced bread, clearly a way to watch these movies with Front Row is in order. A few links:

For those burdened by the unholy cross of the Comcast/Motorola PVR, a bonus link for piping digital HD video from the PVR to your Mac for recording.

That is all.

Music: Pleasurehead/Seafood

MoCo LoCo

March 16, 2006

Because I'm such a modern furniture whore, I find this [blog] utterly delicious. Not only does it have an excellent listing of local designers, shops and other spots around the SF bay area, but Google maps it.

Joy.

Edit: Well designed cars go hand-in-glove with furn, so these spy shots of the 2007 Audi TT are worth seeing.

Edit 2: Well, it's true. A friend said Audi screwed it up, and I didn't want to believe him. They did. Darn.

The Neighborhood

March 15, 2006

Originally posted to ydnar.vox.com in March 2006.

One of my best friends John just put an offer on a place in my neighborhood. It's a nice place-dark hardwood floors, view of the bay, and an unwarranted loft/office space above the kitchen.

He's been looking for a few months, and hasn't been able to find the right combination of space and location until now. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, I really hope he gets it. It'll be good to have a friend in the hood.

Edit: So the owner countered his offer for like 5 grand more. Which is akin to the bartender at the Redwood Room asking you to pony up an extra penny for your posmo.[1]

Edit 2: Counter-counter-offer accepted by both parties. Sweet!

[1] Huzzah, I used posmo in a blog post!

Hayes Valley to SOMA

March 15, 2006

shadow archA couple months ago I tried to see if it was possible to walk from Hayes Valley (specifically Blue Bottle) to the office in SOMA. While not quite technically possible, it's close. Alleys in San Francisco early on a Saturday morning are an interesting sight.

28 Paragraphs

March 14, 2006

28 was a good year. It was the year I saw Japan and Hawaii for the first time. Bought a house, sold a house, moved in and broke up with someone. Became a manager and helped build a huge software project from the ground up. Took a hundreds of photos, learned to cook better. Went to more rock shows, learned to appreciate bluegrass. Adopted a puppy. Slept on a plane for the first time in decades. Blogged more. Gave up on brakes and learned to skid. Introspected. Hiked to the top of a mountain, bought a mountain bike and did the Turkey Ride. Scored 400 in a game of Scrabble. Took more chances. Learned to do nothing. Didn't snowboard once, but OK with that. 29 will be better.

Audio Bullys

March 10, 2006

Originally posted to ydnar.vox.com in March 2006.

We made a higher grade.

This post made in the daily Comet meeting.

WiFi wins loses.