Based on Alton Brown’s Broiled Butterflied Chicken recipe though I have made a couple, ah, modifications… This version of the recipe is not for the faint of heart (nor for competent cooks, apparently :) 1 1/2 teaspoons black peppercorns 4 garlic cloves, minced 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1 lemon, zested Extra virgin olive oil Onions, carrots and celery cut into 3 to 4-inch pieces 3 to 4-pound broiler/fryer chicken 1 cup red wine 8 ounces chicken stock 2 to 3 sprigs thyme Some anonymous herb Canola oil Position the oven rack 8 inches from the flame/coil and Turn broiler to high.

We now have a new fridge, oven, dishwasher and microwave. woo hoo! I am so stoked! Appliances rock. Also, we were going to have the dishwasher installed by someone else, but in order to unhook the old one, I had to leave the hot water to the sink turned off. That meant, turn the cold water off too, so no sink and no ice machine, or leave the cold water on and when you use the sink, cold water sprays out the open part of the hot spigot underneath. Having tried both options, I decided I didn’t really want to wait a week for the situation to be fixed. ...

Thanks to bhanfhlaith for the cool icons.

Would someone good at making icons and banners make some of these sentiments into pictures? I’m thinking it would be appropriate to have them on a red, white and blue background, looking a lot like “I Voted” stickers. Honesty is a Moral Value Love is a Moral Value Hatred is Not a Moral Value War is Not a Moral Value

Hey, look! A new icon that says exactly how I feel today. A picture is worth a thousand words. And guess what, it’s an easy solution for both the healthcare problem and getting cheap drugs from Canada. Thanks to kethry for the artwork.

“the most important election chimpanzee of our lifetime”

Radio reports say that the race is still too close to call. But, while Kerry seems to have a slight lead among all registered voters, Bush currently has a slight lead among “likely” voters. That means that higher voter turnout will probably benefit Kerry. Remind friends to vote, and remind them that they are allowed to take time off from work to do so. Offer rides if necessary. Walk around at work and remind your co-workers to vote. ...

Also, thanks to senatorhatty for pointing me to this NY Times Article by Ron Suskind. (Registration is free and in this case quite worth it) In the summer of 2002, after I had written an article in Esquire that the White House didn’t like about Bush’s former communications director, Karen Hughes, I had a meeting with a senior adviser to Bush. He expressed the White House’s displeasure, and then he told me something that at the time I didn’t fully comprehend - but which I now believe gets to the very heart of the Bush presidency. ...

I know you have probably seen this on your friends page already, but it deserves to be linked more. Bush Supporters Still Believe Iraq Had WMD or Major Program, and Supported al Qaeda 72% of Bush supporters continue to believe that Iraq had actual WMD (47%) or a major program for developing them (25%). 56% assume that most experts believe Iraq had actual WMD 57% also assume, incorrectly, that Duelfer concluded Iraq had at least a major WMD program. _ 75% of Bush supporters continue to believe that Iraq was providing substantial support to al Qaeda_ 63% believe that clear evidence of this support has been found. 60% of Bush supporters assume that this is also the conclusion of most experts 55% assume, incorrectly, that this was the conclusion of the 9/11 Commission. ...

Sort of related to what traveller said, I wanted to say a little bit about “viewpoint” characters and deciding what is “on camera” vs. “off camera”. There are three “voice” styles. First person is, “I went to the store.” This makes it very clear who is speaking, and who your viewpoint character is. Second person is, “You went to the store,” or “You are on your way to the store.” (Second person is not used much except in Choose Your Own Adventure books :) And third person is “Joe went to the store.” Most of us will probably write in the third person. With third person, you have to give the reader some cues as to who the viewpoint character is. The viewpoint character is usually your main character, but you can sometimes switch to another viewpoint character if you want to show something else happening out of sight of the main character. The best time to do this is at a chapter break when you would naturally change scene anyway.