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moist mittens
moist mittens
Monday, March 12, 2007
Visual DNA?
The boy let me in on Imagini, a website that uses images to create a social network based on a user's reaction to certain images. Interesting concept, and a huge time-sucker for Monday afternoon.
There's something incredibly intriguing about using images instead of words, such as how Ouverture Facile uses images as puzzles. Something to think about this week....
Yesterday the boy and I spent wayyy too much time ad-spamming each other on gmail. He kept typing 'WOW' and all my ads were set to World of Warcraft. I countered with 'tampon,' but the final blow was the 25 entries of 'mayonnaise' at the bottom of his email... I will forever have fatty recipe ideas thanks to him. Today I'm hoping to use it subliminally to get flowers or chocolates or something. At least I know it works for revenge.
I've been "NOOoOOooO!"-ing this for awhile, but now my coworkers chiming in with me. Anyone, what has happened to the wii seeker website? Before it would say how many wiis were arriving at Target and Walmart... now, it tells me what games they have. Boo, I say. At least i got mine while the info was good.
Maybe I’m the only one, but I love RFIDs (you know, those little identification chips that everyone is putting in products). The thought of tracking my stuff is so cool and futuristic… imagine my excitement when I read on InfoWorld that a shoe company in Britain plans to implant them in their footwear! Just imaging how easy it would be to find your shoes in the morning.
Frankly, with CCTV and cell phones and all types of tracking devices out there, I don’t see how one more chip could really make a difference in my personal security. These people disagree… maybe I should start a counter movement to RFID the world.
This is by far the best and easiest bread I have ever made... i'm sure you've heard about it since the idea is sweeping the food blog world.
The best part about this bread (aside from the effortless results) is that there is really no way to screw it up. When I made it this weekend, I tried to make it from memory. Big mistake. I added way too much water, forgot salt, and then let it rise way too long in a semi-warm oven, yet it still turned out fabulous (after I picked off the crusty parts from the dough). I did have to add salt to each slice, but the texture and crust are superb. So if you are one of the 3 people left in the world who haven't tried this, you really should.
3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting ¼ teaspoon instant yeast 1¼ teaspoons salt
1. Combine ingredients; add 1.5 cups of water. Let sit, covered w/plastic wrap, in a 70 degree place (I like to put mine in an unheated oven) for 18-24 hrs. 2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes. 3. Shape into a ball, and cover with a floured towel. Let rise 2-4 hours. Dough should be kind of blob-like still. 4. Preheat oven at 450 degrees F with a covered dutch oven pot inside (4-5 Q). Dump blob of dough into pot, cover, and bake for 30 min covered. Then uncover and cook til done. The recipe says 30 more minutes, but I only need 10 with my oven. A thermometer inserted into the bread will read 200 degrees, or try thumping the bottom. If it sounds hollow, its done.
I learned a new word today. “Cribtimonials” -- wanting whatever a celebrity has in his/her own home. Maybe if I become a ROC-city celebutante, I can get corporate sponsorship by infusing my friends with desire every time I open up my humble abode for another classy cocktail party. But right now my only Cribtimonals would be IKEA & the thrift store... huh. I can still throw the cocktail parties though.
This past Friday was one such occasion... I love a good party. And since I took the time and cash-money to pimp my apartment for Christmas, I thought I’d show it off. It’s supercute, full of adorable felt holiday paraphernalia and a red, gold, purple and green themed tree (I decided to be one of Those People who color coordinates their holiday decorating with their living room... please don’t hate me.)While fun for other people, I was a tad stressed through the whole night, to the point where I even got a bit snippy towards The Boy and one of my slightly obnoxious guests. O dear.In retrospect, I have assembled a brief list of things to prepare for next time to prevent these little lapses in hospitality.
1. Make easy to eat treats. I have this one down, but it’s always a good reminder. My favorites are anything involving crescent rolls (baked brie, lil cheddar cocktail weenies), childhood (chocolate chip cookies, rice krispie treats), or Mexico (guacamole, taquitos!). Classy, eh?
2. Assemble the music playlist at least one week in advance. This was my first cause of stress, as I a) had no holiday tunes b) used a playlist I’ve recycled from the past 5 billion parties. The Shins can be very depressing at 1 am.
3. Never, ever pit boys against girls while playing a board game (Taboo, in this instance). It gets violent and awkward, especially for the single ones and those with relationship drama.
4. Have paper towels nearby so spills are easy to clean up. That would have saved me a ton of scrubbing on Saturday. The Mystery Beer Scent still eludes me. I think it might be in the tree...
Last night I joined Second Life. My name is Starkville March, if you ever see me wandering around.... And in case you want to jump on the bandwagon too, the whole signup process took about 5 minutes. Getting used to my new (superhot) second body is going to take wayyyyy longer.
After about 2.5 hours I finally mastered sitting, standing, walking without a drunken stumble, flying, and jumping.Occasionally I could pick up and move objects and talk to people. I even built a couple of completely pointless structures. Aww, if I had a mother in this game she would be so proud.
While getting a physical comprehension of the new world was a daunting task, even more difficult was coming up with this new alternate persona. Who is Starkville March? Provided with limitless options in hair, skin, eyes, clothes, body type, chin shape, and boob size, I instinctively set everything to my first life appearance. After 2 hours of building half-buried wooden donuts and blue chenille cubes, I decided to throw the reality thing out the window. I’ll become a new Starkville, with long brown hair and green eyes, maybe some tight plaid pants and a hot leather shirt. Ooooh..
It’s hard to change and be someone else on the screen, but I’ll give it go. After all, this thing is about a second life, and not re-living the one I have now. I have no Second Family, Second Job (yet) or Second Boyfriend, it is just me. All alone.
Name: starkville williams Home: Rochester, NY, United States About Me: just here having fun, playing with techie toys, and cooking tasty food for my friends. See my complete profile
