Archive for January, 2009

New Camera Coming – Nikon D60

Friday, January 30th, 2009

Charlotte and I have decided to go to Hawaii for our honeymoon at the beginning of March. I’ve been holding off buying a new digital camera after stupidly losing mine, but we both agreed that it was crazy not to have a nice camera while we’re spending two weeks in a tropical paradise, so we [...]

Cocktail: Spring Break Jack – Applejack, OJ, Vermouth, Lime

Tuesday, January 27th, 2009

I’m back with another cocktail. I know, I know — this blog doesn’t even mention cocktails in the title. I just can’t help myself! I got that awesome new book for Christmas and now that I’ve had time to go through and play with some of the recipes, I’ve gotten creative again.
This drink uses Applejack, [...]

My Cats Are Not Dignified

Monday, January 26th, 2009

No, no they’re not.

I’m Addicted to HGTV.

Thursday, January 22nd, 2009

Between the post about not having played Portal (which I’ve since rectified) and this post, I’m beginning to think that I should have a “shameful secrets” section on this blog. I mean, let’s be honest here … this is a pretty absurd admission. I barely even watch television, normally — an occasional “Iron Chef” or [...]

Books – Randy Kennedy’s “Subwayland”

Tuesday, January 20th, 2009

Subwayland: Adventures in the World Beneath New York by Randy Kennedy
My review
rating: 4 of 5 stars
If you live in New York City, which I do, the subway is probably a substantial part of your life. Even if you don’t, it’s a pretty fascinating place to visit, in person or in print. Randy Kennedy’s collection [...]

Cocktails With Cranberry, Grapefruit, Bourbon and Gin

Monday, January 19th, 2009

Stork Club Sign by michaelz1
Things have been quiet on the cocktail front of late, not because I’ve stopped enjoying them, but rather because I received a terrific book for Christmas: The Craft of the Cocktail by Dale Degroff. I highly recommend it. The first half is interesting and informative, tracing the evolution of the cocktail [...]

Sometimes I Write Poetry

Sunday, January 18th, 2009

It’s a rare occasion, I’ll admit, that my writings diverge from the path of traditional narrative and forge ahead into the largely unexplored (in my case, anyway) realm of poetry, but it does happen.
Largely when I write poems, I do so as an exploration of the language. They’re structural in nature, focused on rhyme scheme, [...]

Review – Portal (PC)

Friday, January 16th, 2009

The Short Version

Platform: PC
One Word: Clever
Two Words: Amusing Writing
Worth It: Yes (conditionally)
Scale: terrible | poor | fair | good | great

The Long Version
“Android Hell is a real place, and you will be sent there at the first sign of defiance.”
So says GLaDOS, the psychopathic AI construct who serves as both your primary guide, and primary [...]

A Wee Bit o’ Site News

Tuesday, January 13th, 2009

I made some minor changes to the CSS and the site’s PHP code so that the tag cloud is less crappy, and added some links in case you want to “become a fan” of this blog on facebook.
Also, here is a picture from the other night’s beer tasting!

Bureaucracy, Bad Timing, and Bad Luck

Tuesday, January 13th, 2009

Man, Charlotte and I sent 2008 out with a bang. We got married, we had a big Christmas trip, and we threw a Caribbean-themed New Year’s party which almost FIVE PEOPLE attended (including us)! Clearly, we are social butterflies.
Alas, bad luck comes in waves, and one such wave crashed over us in the first few [...]