I am a dork #57, 234, and 1657

In no particular order-

  • A couple of women came to the door last week. When I opened the door, they introduced themselves and said, “We know you weren’t expecting us…” I thought, “Oh, my Visiting Teachers [members of the LDS Church assigned to check up on me, share Spiritual messages, and get important information out- in the case of a storm, etc] stopped by unannounced! I should totally invite them in!” And then they said, “We want to share a Bible message since everyone is so worried right now.” I thought, “Ooooooh, not my Visiting Teachers, just some generic Christians.” I politely told them I wasn’t interested. After they left I started questioning whether they really were my Visiting Teachers. Maybe they were worried since we had all been so sick? They didn’t say anything particularly LDS-y, but really, it’s not like we wear signs around our neck either. I finally called someone just in case word through the grapevine got around that I was shooing away Visiting Teachers.
  • Last week I actually left the house in the following: two-toned purple striped shirt sans bra, baggy capris (too big due to the weight loss caused by the two-week stomach flu last month), black and white checked sneakers without the laces [because 1) that is what makes them cool and 2) no, really, because Brian stole the laces], and a red purse slung across my body because it holds my iPod the most comfortably. Thankfully I didn’t have to get out of the car, heh.
  • There is a third thing, and probably a fourth, fifth, all the way to 196th, etc, but I can’t remember it. I think it involves Kevin and/or his job. Apparently it was so traumatic I blocked it out. Meh.\
    So, yes, I am a dork.\
    I have been trying to be less WOE WOE WOE. Is it working?

The Power of the Commons

Creative Commons Moon
\
[Creative Commons Moon](http://flickr.com/photos/denverjeffrey/301014978/) by Jeffrey Beall

In the past two days, people have e-mailed me to ask if they could use photos of mine for:

  • A short-run calendar (Downtown Boston At Night)
  • An illusion as part of a mentalists’ stage show. (not sure why he wants to use this one, but he does)\
    In the past, people have asked to use my photos in:
  • a history textbook (it might have been a different one)
  • several websites
  • a cookbook (he wanted to use a couple of my beach pictures)
  • presentations
  • several news stories on Now Public\
    In every response I send, this is pretty much what I say:\
    bq. Of course you can use my photos in insert use here. All my photos are licensed under Creative Commons, so as long as you provide attribution and your work is also licensed under Creative Commons, then you’re free to use any of my photos however you want.\
    I’m surprised how many people that surprises, but I probably shouldn’t be. Creative Commons is a great tool for creative people to share their works while maintaining some control over how they’re used. I love that Flickr allows people to choose from several different licenses and displays it alongside every photo. They were a big influence on our choice to make all the stories on ficlets Creative Commons licensed as well.\
    Now, when people don’t want to release their work under the same license as my photos, we can talk. And, in the case of the calendar, I sold my first photo! They’re actually paying me to use that picture, which I think is crazy (awesome, that is). I’m not a professional by any stretch, and that picture was taken with my crappy old Kodak point and shoot. Honestly, I think they should use one of my aerial Boston shots, but whatever.\
    So, thank you, Creative Commons for giving me an easy way to license my content that encourages sharing, and thank you Flickr for giving me an easy way to share my photos. You’re awesome!

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy

OMG, you guys. YOU GUYS. I found a preschool for Brian! WOOT. Can I get a woot from the crowd? He starts tomorrow, yay. I can stop feeling like I ruined my son’s future.

Let’s talk about something upbeat and happy, yes?

Um, I don’t have anything right now. Check back with me in a little bit. In the meantime…\
\
Violent rhetoric against Obama is the new campaign strategy of the McCain/Palin ticket\
bq. “It’s a dangerous road, but we have no choice,” a top McCain strategist recently admitted to the Daily News. “If we keep talking about the economic crisis, we’re going to lose.”\
bq. The ‘dangerous road,’ however, is not just a generic attack on Sen. Obama’s trustworthiness or honesty. Rather, the McCain campaign has chosen to stand before campaign rallies and accuse Sen. Obama of hiding sympathies with domestic terrorists–to accuse their opponent, essentially, of being a terrorist. Source.\
ETA- Meh, I can’t get the code to come out right, so whatever. This will have to do.

Max’s Birthday at the Oatland Wildlife Center

Max is excited about seeing some alligators!

Today is Max’s 9th birthday. To celebrate, I took the boys to the Oatland Wildlife Center to see some alligators and other wildlife. Little did I realize that it was a two mile hike around the center to see everything. And we did the whole thing. I, of course, took pictures which are up on flickr if you want to go see the rest of them.\
And just because it’s maybe my all-time favorite of Brian, here’s a bonus pic!

Brian wants more food for the fish.

One of these things is not like the other

Linky Dinky Doo: Click here.

Good Gnews from Gary Gnu.

1. The broken pipe isn’t actually going into the house in Va, so yay! They won’t have to tear up the house to fix the problem. This means the estimate was a lot higher than the actual bill will be. Phew. “Tonight we eat like the lower middle class to which we aspire.”\
2. Speaking of food, our grocery store finally got in some decent-looking strawberries. I don’t think I have seen any since we’ve moved here. They’re usually bruised and old looking, ewww. Even though these ones were more expensive than usual I bought them, because- yum- strawberries! Double, yay. Max then ate them ALL at breakfast the following day. I guess he was missing out on the strawberries too.\
3. The house we’re renting is for sale (as you long-time readers will know), making our situation here unstable. But! There have already been a couple of offers from people wanting to keep us as tenants, so triple yay. I am guessing at this point that the bank would rather take one of these bids than foreclose, but I don’t actually know the dollar amounts involved, so homelessness is still a possibility.\
4. Every once in a long while, Kevin will be sort of grumpy for a few days, only I won’t really notice it until he is suddenly in a good mood. Well, the same thing happened to me! After being a complete cranky-queen on wheels for the last month, I surprised myself by singing along to a commercial on the tv. (Me being in a bad mood isn’t all that unusual, just that I was surprised to find myself not in one.)\
5. In a PMS-fueled rage, I cleaned the house last night and it was awesome. I couldn’t sit still long enough to fold laundry, but I did scrub and mop and sweep and wipe, etc, etc. I guess PMS is good for something. Then I sacked out on the couch with the brownies I had made earlier in the day and watched some bad tv. What’s up with this lame season? (Oh wait, this is an all good gnews post, so never mind about that.)\
6. I have been a member of the LDS Church my entire adult life and almost half of my total life. It has been great, fulfilling, enlightening, fun, and has helped me grow spiritually, emotionally, and socially. I have had some of the most amazing experiences that are directly linked to the church and the gospel. I am forever grateful for the opportunity I had to meet Kevin, marry him in the LDS Temple, and become part of the Lawver family.\
While I disagree with the church’s support of Prop 8, I don’t have bad feelings for the church, the leaders, or its members. I have not written ill of the church, except to express my disagreement on this one issue, and don’t plan on it.\
So, there is this guy who started a website and wrote a really rational petition to the leaders of the church from members asking for the withdrawal of the church’s support of Prop 8. As for how he went about getting his message out there? I in no way sanction that or anything else about him. All I know is that I agree with the petition, believe that gays should have equal rights to marriage, adoption, government benefits, et al.

How’d I Do On “The Omnivore Hundred”

A challenge is afoot! Very Good Taste created a list called the Omnivore Hundred and challenged people to post it to their blogs and bold the things they’ve eaten. So, here’s mine, most of them with commentary and I linked to the Wikipedia entries for the ones I’d never heard of:

  1. Venison
  2. Nettle tea
  3. Huevos rancheros – Many many times. I used to stop at Filiberto’s in Tucson on the way to work a couple times a week and get either huevos rancheros or a breakfast burrito.
  4. Steak tartare
  5. Crocodile – I had alligator sausage in Charleston, SC, so I’m counting this one.
  6. Black pudding – A couple times in Dublin. I prefer white pudding with fried eggs. Not a huge fan of black pudding.
  7. Cheese fondue
  8. Carp
  9. Borscht – My friend Becky had a Russian dinner after she got back from her LDS mission and we had borscht with sour cream. It was good.
  10. Baba ghanoush – Not a huge fan of eggplant, so this probably won’t be a repeat.
  11. Calamari
  12. Pho – Yesterday for lunch.
  13. PB&J sandwich
  14. Aloo gobi – In Bangalore and at a buffet in Herndon.
  15. Hot dog from a street cart
  16. Epoisses
  17. Black truffle – Not all by itself, but I’ve had several sauces with black truffle in them.
  18. ~~Fruit wine made from something other than grapes~~
  19. Steamed pork buns – Thanks to Cindy Li and Dim Sum Sundays!
  20. Pistachio ice cream
  21. Heirloom tomatoes – Several times from Great Country Farms and other places.
  22. Fresh wild berries – We used to pick our own on the side of the road when we lived in North and South Carolina.
  23. Foie gras – Oh yes. At my favorite restaurant in the entire world in the South of France, L’Hermitage du Riou
  24. Rice and beans
  25. Brawn, or head cheese
  26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
  27. Dulce de leche
  28. Oysters – Yes, hated them, and now with my shellfish allergy, no more.
  29. Baklava
  30. Bagna cauda
  31. Wasabi peas
  32. ~~Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl~~ – Again, with the shellfish allergy, not going to happen
  33. Salted lassi – I love mango lassis from Shalimar, in Mountain View, CA. I’m not sure if that counts. I had a weird cucumber one, that I hated, so I’m assuming that was salted.
  34. Sauerkraut
  35. Root beer float
  36. ~~Cognac with a fat cigar~~ – Don’t drink or smoke.
  37. Clotted cream tea
  38. ~~Vodka jelly/Jell-O~~
  39. Gumbo – In New Orleans even, but again, stupid shellfish allergy, I can’t eat it again.
  40. Oxtail – In Germany as a kid. One of the strongest tastes I’ve ever experienced, I can still remember it twenty-something years later.
  41. Curried goat
  42. Whole insects
  43. Phaal
  44. Goat’s milk
  45. ~~Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/\$120 or more~~
  46. Fugu
  47. Chicken tikka masala – Once in India even, but I prefer Butter Chicken.
  48. Eel – as sushi, not a huge fan, but I’d try other kinds of someone served it.
  49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
  50. Sea urchin
  51. Prickly pear
  52. Umeboshi
  53. Abalone
  54. Paneer – At least three or four different kinds.
  55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal – I used to get them occasionally as a kid, but I don’t like the sauce anymore, and since watching Super-Size Me, I rarely eat fast food.
  56. Spaetzle
  57. ~~Dirty gin martini~~
  58. ~~Beer above 8% ABV~~
  59. Poutine – No, but after hearing my brother describe it, I want to!
  60. Carob chips – Mom used to “secretly” replace the chocolate chips in cookies with carob chips. We always knew.
  61. S’mores
  62. Sweetbreads – In Paris at an amazing dinner with Daniel Glazman, Jen and his wife. Amazing.
  63. Kaolin – The only mention I can find of Kaolin is a clay or Kaopectate. If it’s Kaopectate, you betcha I’ve had it.
  64. Currywurst
  65. Durian
  66. Frogs’ legs – Max and I tried them at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant in Sterling. He liked them. They were OK.
  67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake – All four!
  68. Haggis – In Edinburgh with Arun and a whole host of awesome W3C people. One of my all-time favorite dinners. The haggis was actually pretty good too.
  69. Fried plantain
  70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
  71. Gazpacho
  72. Caviar and blini
  73. ~~Louche absinthe~~
  74. Gjetost, or brunost
  75. Roadkill – Not that I know of… but I have lived in the Deep South, so who knows.
  76. ~~Baijiu~~
  77. Hostess Fruit Pie – Not in years, but I remember going through a phase where I loved the cherry ones.
  78. Snail – Several times, once in France.
  79. Lapsang souchong
  80. ~~Bellini~~
  81. Tom yum – I’ve had it at least once, but can’t think of where at the moment.
  82. Eggs Benedict – Jen gets this whenever she can when we go out for breakfast. I know we both ate it at least once on our honeymoon.
  83. Pocky – My sister introduced me to this one.
  84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant – I don’t know how many stars L’Hermitage du Riou has, but I’ve eaten there at least 8 times so I’m counting that.
  85. Kobe beef – At the Microsoft cafeteria in Mountain View during a CSS Working Group meeting as a hamburger. One of the best burgers I’ve ever had.
  86. Hare – At L’Hermitage du Riou – baby hare wrapped in bacon – the best meal I’ve ever had.
  87. Goulash
  88. Flowers – My brother and I ate dandelions once, and I know I’ve had edible flowers before.
  89. Horse
  90. Criollo chocolate
  91. Spam
  92. Soft shell crab – But not anymore… sigh
  93. Rose harissa
  94. Catfish – All over the South, fried in filets, on a sandwich, as nuggets. You name it, I’ve had it.
  95. Mole poblano
  96. Bagel and lox
  97. Lobster Thermidor
  98. Polenta
  99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
  100. Snake\
    Of the hundred, there are a few I won’t do because they involve smoking or drinking, but I’ve tried 59 of the hundred, which isn’t too bad.\
    Things I’d add to the list:
  101. Ankimo – Monkfish liver, introduced by Alex Mogilevsky at a CSS Working Group dinner at my favorite sushi restaurant, Satsuma, in Mountain View. When it’s good, it tastes a lot like foie gras. Ask for it at your favorite sushi place. It’s rarely on the menu, even if they have it!
  102. Pylsurs – James McNally reminded my of them with one of his Iceland pics. We used to get them whenever we went to town when we lived in Iceland. Lamb hot dogs… yum.
  103. Club Orange – The best orange soda, hell, just best soda, on the planet. Like Orangina but with real flavor. You can get it imported from Food Ireland or just go to Dublin.
  104. Fanta Grape – The European version with real sugar.
  105. Sarsaparilla – Birch Beer would work too.\
    So, how’d you do?

I just spent $80 filling up my gas tank

More from me-\
I get that the LDS church wants to silence dissents, but this guy isn’t speaking out about church doctrine. The petition states: We affirm the LDS Church’s right to define doctrine and policy for its own members. So, let the church proclaim all it wants about whatever. Let the church dictate the actions of its members, bestowing religious privileges only upon whom they see fit. But when it comes to denying civil rights to others? I just can’t support that all. Doctrine and Covenants 134:9 states, “We do not believe it just to mingle religious influence with civil government…” So, yea. There ya go.\
See the petition here: Signing for Something.

Bleebleeblahblahboo

I am vehemently against Prop 8 on California’s ballot in November.\
Ok, Church, do to me what you will.\
ETA- Kevin’s post beat mine by 6 minutes! I knew I shouldn’t have wasted time with a potty break!