We made a modified version of Alton’s Melon Sorbet on Sunday. It turned out wonderfully. This sorbet meets with the misty_shadows seal of approval. Our modified version contained: 1 lb 10 oz diced melon 10 oz sugar 2 Tbs peach schnapps All ingrdients into bar blender. Pulse until visible chunks are gone, then blend low for about 30 more seconds. Chill mixture for about 30-60 min in fridge. Process in ice cream machine (with our machine we broke it into 2 batches at about 20 min each) until it is slushy and holds its shape. Relocate the mixture to the freezer for 2 hours. ...

OK, here is something to try if you’re bored and happen to be in front of a browser. I was clicking around on the Netflix site and I was looking at the Jim Carrey page, and I thought to myself, gee, I would like to get to the John Cleese page, I wonder if I can get there just by clicking links? Here’s what I came up with on the first try (without using the Back button at all): Jim Carrey, Batman Forever, Nicole Kidman, Eyes Wide Shut, Tom Cruise, Mission Impossible, Ving Rhames, Lilo and Stitch, David Ogden Stiers, Spirited Away, Hayao Miyazaki, Princess Mononoke, Billy Crudup, Big Fish, Danny DeVito, Get Shorty, Gene Hackman, Antz, Danny Akroyd, Trading Places, Jamie Lee Curtis, A Fish Called Wanda, and finally John Cleese. That’s 11 degrees of separation, so that means I kind of suck at this. I probably would have done better if I had allowed myself to use the Back button, but c’est la vie. ...

Exercise log for May Sun 5/1: Mon 5/2: Tue 5/3: Wed 5/4: Thu 5/5: Fri 5/6: Sat 5/7: Sun 5/8: Mon 5/9: Tue 5/10: Wed 5/11: Thu 5/12: Fri 5/13: Sat 5/14: Sun 5/15: Mon 5/16: Tue 5/17: Wed 5/18: Thu 5/19: Fri 5/20: Sat 5/21: Sun 5/22: Mon 5/23: Tue 5/24: Wed 5/25: Thu 5/26: Fri 5/27: Sat 5/28: Sun 5/29: Mon 5/30: Tue 5/31:

M and I have joined NetFlix again, so we will soon have movies mailed to our house. I notice that NetFlix now has a “Friends” feature where your friends’ ratings, recommendations, and short reviews show up when you are browsing for new movies. So, if any of you fine folks also use Netflix, let me know and I will add you as a friend. (No, I’m not going to just enter someone else’s email address and click Invite without their permission - *I* have a privacy policy too :) Speaking of which, if you want to enter me as a friend on Netflix, I approve… they already have my email address at this point - the nekodojo.org one) ...

I have previously written about beliefs and belief systems. The short version was something like this: 1. A belief is both a thought and a feeling, or a link between thought and feeling. It is a Thought that you Feel is true. 2. Beliefs influence our behavior. We get into a situation, we decide based on our beliefs (or other factors), and we act. 3. The consequences of our actions, in turn, serve to reinforce our beliefs or break them down. If a belief leads to a decision with good consequences, it gets strengthened. If the belief that leads to a decision with bad consequences, it will be weakened. ...

My company is seeking some DNS advice. This will probably be of the “consulting service” type of arrangement, where the consultants prepare a quote, work on a specific task, and bill by invoice. (If we can’t find a consulting service we like, we may also consider hiring an hourly contractor for a short period of time, probably 3-6 weeks). Approximate prerequisites are: Knows more about DNS than I do Exposure to multiple (at least 5) corporate IT environments with a role in managing or advising DNS infrastructure, preferably multiple “mixed” (unix/windows) shops Familiar with recent trends in DNS (such as dynamic updates, Active Directory, etc) and familiar with DNS best practices. Able to intelligently discuss choices that most IT organizations make with regard to DNS and articulate the pros and cons (i.e. don’t say “this is the only way”, rather say “here are the tradeoffs”) ...

I spent some time last night looking at my Tarot deck and the book that goes with it. I really really like this deck, (I lost my deck when I lost my game bag with books, dice, etc. in it, but luckily I had a second copy of the same deck.) The deck is The Witches Tarot. The four suits are already well known for how they integrate with elements, and states of existence/awareness… Pentacles - Earth - Physical Cups - Water - Emotional Wands - Air - Mental Swords - Fire - Spiritual ...

There really should be a journal for: Worldbuilding. This would be a place to post ideas for worlds, where people would ask questions and offer suggestions to help flesh it out. A world starts with a “concept” - usually the concept is “What makes this world different from the world we live in?” Some examples might be: “There are three genders, and mating is by groups of three.” “The cost of magic is pain.” “The American Civil War led to the formation of two separate nations.” The concept is then fleshed out by asking “Why?” and “Therefore?” These questions lead to investigation of cause and effect, to see what unfolds. “If the cost of magic is pain, some might choose to suffer pain themselves, and do positive magic, and others may choose to cause pain to others so they can do dark magic.” The cause and effect chain leads the writer to visualize some of the aspects of this particular world. For the purposes of checking out the prototype, keep other important aspects of the world as similar to ours as possible – i.e., fully explore the effect of making one important change, but only one, before changing something else that is unrelated. ...

Minutes of Eurythmics in our collection: 398.1 Minutes of Pink Floyd: 326.9 Minutes of The Bobs: 319.2 Loreena McKennitt: 235.1 Queen: 202.3 Enya: 192.7 Billy Joel: 189.9 Peter Gabriel: 181.2 All others: Less than three hours each Total running time of entire collection: 7 days, 1 hr, 52 min That is all.

I am officially off the low-carb diet, due to the attack of gout and other concerns. It did what it was supposed to do, though… I lost 9 pounds on it in 3 weeks. That rate is probably too aggressive, though. The directions from my doctor(*) are to follow a low-calorie, low-fat diet. Which sort of leaves the door open to any number of diets. The deciding factor for me is that I want something that’s easy to figure out. That is, I want to be able to eat a sensible breakfast and lunch, and then instantly (or at least quickly) figure out what would be best for dinner in order to balance things out. ...