G+ Migration Blog

Retro #3: Wildflowers. #CavnessTours   #pdfs  

Retro posting #2: I hear they have this rose garden in Portland. #CavnessTours   #pdfs  

First in a series of retro postings. Classic Portland. Sign on the bathroom in a coffeehouse. #CavnessTours   #pdfs

Where she got this, I don't know, but my niece just asked my dad if she could have poutine with confit while she was recovering from her toothy ordeal tomorrow. Obs, no. Lols.

The power of three = 1 virtually tangible drama llama. Looking for scat, and other signs.

Current thoughts on cherry baking. Prefer to go with something halfway between completely uncooked fruit and completely cooked down fruit for fillings. I like the texture of still having fruit to bite into. I haven't quite figured out the perfect texture for the thickened or gelled juice, yet, therefore, have not figured out the perfect ingredient/technique. Definitely like to add sm amt almond flavor, whether extract or liqueur. Like to add sm amt cinnamon and tiny amt clove, as well. Have determined that specifically for sour cherries, prefer to use honey over sugar to sweeten, which is not something I've experienced with other fruits. I use whatever neutral flavored local raw honey I can get, generally either clover or wildflower. Super delicate honey flavors would be wasted as a cooking ingredient, and anything too strong would have a tendency to get bitter when cooked and then baked.

It turned inside out ... and exploded! And I thought they smelled good on the outside! No, no disassemble! (Ok, it's only strudel no. 4, but come on.)

11 lbs cherries = 2 pies, 4 strudels. So why aren't you here?

A few last photos from the battle reenactment. Did that, got the tshirt and the commemorative coin. Perks of marching 1.5 miles. Also, photographic proof of what I said about mustering at the hockey arena. #lundyslane200  

Because I know you were all worried: http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-07/28/russia-sex-lizards http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-07/28/russia-sex-lizards

Lots of thunder rumblies all day, but no rain and can't see anything.

My niece is having her long-delayed removal of wisdom teeth on Friday. She is very stressed out. I think her mom is having a little mom-stress, too. She gets approximately 2+ weeks to get over it before she heads off to start college. Yep, I'm pretty sure she and her mom are both stressed.

Sooo tired, for nooo reason.

My brother's TBI really pops up in strange ways, sometimes.

My brain is just randomly popping up stuff and I am remembering that they had an Oculus at Detcon1. I didn't sit through the whole program, but the part I did sit through was a roller coaster, and my experience of that was that it was pretty motion sickening. Possibly why I did not sit through what might have been a less affecting next section of the program. Interestingly, it was bothersome in a way that real roller coasters have traditionally not been for me. It was neat to try out, but I'm not sure it's the thing for me.

"...the profound lack of universally inspiring or realistic female heroes." Yes, that. http://www.tor.com/blogs/2014/07/sdcc-women-who-kick-ass-panel-highlights http://www.tor.com/blogs/2014/07/sdcc-women-who-kick-ass-panel-highlights

You get a spork. http://www.dorktower.com/2014/07/28/the-lost-mines-of-phandango-dork-tower-28-07-14/ http://www.dorktower.com/2014/07/28/the-lost-mines-of-phandango-dork-tower-28-07-14

Someone pointed this out to me. Still laughing. P.S. Spoilers. http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/07/life-is-futile-so-heres-what-to-do-with-it-according-to-lucy-a-spoilereview/375006/ http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/07/life-is-futile-so-heres-what-to-do-with-it-according-to-lucy-a-spoilereview/375006

Heh. Originally shared by Felipe da Veiga Leprevost #bioinformatics  =)

This kind of blew my mind. Originally shared by Make: This incredible chocolate mill has to be seen to be understood. Fascinating to watch and so tempting to eat! http://ow.ly/zC09U http://ow.ly/zC09U

Super sad. People like to over use and toss around the term 'hero' a great deal. At the very least, this man is courageous, as were his colleagues who stayed. http://www.npr.org/blogs/goatsandsoda/2014/07/23/334467906/a-doctor-leading-the-fight-against-ebola-has-caught-the-virus http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/23/doctor-contracts-ebola-sheik-umar-khan_n_5614228.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular http://www.npr.org/blogs/goatsandsoda/2014/07/23/334467906/a-doctor-leading-the-fight-against-ebola-has-caught-the-virus

Oh! Forgot to mention. They had this whole music track thing going on at times behind the narrated parts of the battle. Not all of it was, but kudos for the period appropriate choices. Including Beethoven as the closing piece. #lundyslane200

I wanted it to let me make the exciting photos the cover, but it wouldn't let me. Anyway, There were Americans there, but far more Canadians. Assignment was random, though, and let me assure you that red-neckery is not exclusively south of the 49th parallel.* Mostly, though, people were into the spirit of the thing. They marched us at a really reasonable pace, so not hard at all. A lot of streets in Niagara Falls must have been closed, since the British and Americans were marching from different sides of town to Drummond Hill, which is pretty central. And we had a police escort all the way. People were standing on their porches and lawns and stuff. It was pretty neat. Fife and drums all the way. When we got to the battlefield, they kind of tried to reorganize us, but not too hard, and we did our competing song and huzzah thing. Then they sat us down within about 3 feet of the near side of the field. May I just say, once again, that even without shot, cannon and flintlocks are freak...

Have been assigned to the American forces. We shall be marching from above The Falls to what is now Drummond Hill. We are doing this in relatively real time, as the battle was fought in the evening and at night. #lundyslane200

Will shortly be heading over to the hockey arena for the muster and march. Yes, hockey arena. Guess in what country I am presently? #lundyslane200

Hanging out on Queen St. in a coffee cafe. Queen St. is cute, but virtually deserted. Weird.

If it all works out, tomorrow I will be helping reenact the 200th anniversary of one of the major battles of the War of 1812. As a volunteer, not a pro, I will not be handling any black powder, or rudimentary lathes, but I know what I'll be thinking of if I get to pretend. We find out if we're Americans or Canadians/British when we get there. I hope it's not too hot out and I hope the parking isn't a complete pain. This will cap off my Weeks of 1812, as the week prior to Detcon, I got to be a sailor on the US Niagara for a day on Lake Erie. That's the ship on which Oliver Hazard Perry won the Battle of Lake Erie. It was really hard, but a lot of fun, and I got picked as the volunteer who was offered the opportunity to steer her for a while. Yay! The primary thing I learned from this, other than being a sailor was just as difficult and unpleasant as you probably thought it was, is that the movies are even more full of nonsense than you likely thought. The Niagara is ...

I posted a bit more detail elsewhere about the creeper business, to which I've gotten a lot of sensible and supportive replies. They also asked intelligent questions, which then prompted a lot of internet reading. All of the answers, descriptions, explanations, etc. are out there. And yet. Therefore, I've been thinking, and this is what I think: This behavior is predatory, the responsibility of the predator, and nobody is that socially inept, or clueless, nor does having Aspergers or Autism excuse you (per people with said conditions, as well as professionals). It's never an accident, it is always about control, and it is almost always deliberately manipulative. Narcissism is also not an excuse. In fact, it makes you more dangerous and in need of professional help, should such be of any benefit, which it often is not.  Now that I've read up on the latest unreal and egregious behaviors that have been documented over the last several years in the con community, I'd li...

Final Detcon1 post, much delayed. Several pictures from the con suite, day pics of bridge to Canadia, evening pics of sunset. Followed by rooftop photos of casinos in Windsor (and barely visible searchlight lights that were quite bright in reality), and fireworks over the ballpark.  Had a great time overall, got to see Bethany Willick, Christina L Brainard, Megan Frank, and my sister and niece. Met the Scalzis (way too normal and sociable), Helen Greiner (co-founder of iRobot), Jacqueline Carey, and others.  Had totally unexpected and very uncomfortable creeper issue. Very much hope it ended with the con. Would have been completely unmarred, but for that.

I have 15 lbs of freshly picked cherries, 10.5 of which are Montmorency, the others are a mix of red and yellow sweets.

So that piriformis or hip flexor or iliotibial band is now possibly a high hamstring.  Whatever it is, it should go away.

Helen Greiner has a lycra R2D2 dress, complete with matching headgear. Some role models are overachievers.

New experience in nickel and dining to death. On the rocks = 50 cents up charge. Apparently, ice doesn't grow on trees. #reallyquestionmark

Run into interesting people at cons. Fascinating. Really.

Super tired and headachy this am. Going to come up to help and b/c there are some panels andworkshops really wanted to attend. Also really want to go dance tonight, but probably want to eat dinner, crash, and change at some point after 6pm. What're you guys doin' today?

Florida? or Detroit? You decide!  Ok, the palm trees amused me. Yes, GM, your employees work in an oasis of delight. The other pics are from my drive in through lovely southern Ontario and its rolling countryside.

So my volunteering assignment thus far has consisted of sitting by the ground level entrance/dock to help arriving vendors/dealers. Which is nice for sitting outside on an awesome day purposes, but feels very cut-off from the main action. Also, co-assigned volunteer is historically interesting, otherwise awkward old guy elder citizen. Possibly best described in doge.

Otra tomorrow morning. Heading for Detcon1.

We have monarchs! If they are still here next week, I will try to get you a picture.

I had a nice conversation with my dad this morning.

So tired. So indented.

I have gotten super irritable. Specifically, I much prefer if someone just says, "I'm thinking of going and doing X." Followed by variations such as: Would you be interested in going, too? or It'd be fun if you came with. or I'd enjoy your company, if you could make it. As opposed to: So there's this thing, and I'm going to talk about it for a while. I'm not going to make it clear whether I'm just mentioning it because I wanted to share something I thought was interesting, or I was just chatting, or I have an agenda that may or may not involve you, or someday I may ask you something or invite you to something. The second approach eventually gets a response out of me along the lines of "What's your point?", which is a really grumpy response, but it's like having a dog or cat stare at you expectantly and you can't figure out what they want. What Do You Want, already. Just ask, for crying out loud.

It was a cute little faire, but mostly it was about the critters, which, duh. It's mostly owls and raptors, but they have a small to moderate group of other critters, as well. All injured or rescued in some way. While you get to get quite close to some of them, you can't really interact (duh). The only bird that tried to interact, per se, was the gray parrot, who was clearly annoyed that he wasn't the only bird getting all the attention. They have a river otter that lost a leg as a child and never quite got full grown, although she's an adult, and she kept coming over to the side of her enclosure, looking for snacks, I'm guessing. They have a few small and medium large cats, rescued almost entirely from other rescues in the US that were damaged in the last few years by hurricanes or tornadoes. All the cats were sleeping in the coolest, darkest corner they could find. It was hot out. The one exception was the ocelot that is part of the educational show. That one was ...

Heard on CBC radio (very 20's style): Little Miss Higgins & The Winnipeg Five Heavy Train http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGeSb4ZteVc

That is a harsh google doodle.

Sigh. So the monkeys are twofold. There's the real part, about which I may  say more another time. And there's the usual, really? Are we doing this again? I should have become desensitized by now, part. So, the first bit is simply that my brother got suddenly laid off. On the upside, his wife has a job. The second bit is likely going to sound tiresomely familiar in some way. Which is that my mother decided to interpolate herself. In this case, she got permission to tell me that he was laid off. Sounds innocent, but it's not. Anyway, managed to anger me enough that I did not sleep well last night, at all. Therefore, did not go to yoga at 7 am this morning, even though that might have helped me. Because I have learned the hard way not to do significant physical activity when overtired and unable to concentrate. That is why my one knee got injured introducing itself to solid ice. So, yeah. Frustrated on multiple counts. Sigh.

Happy birthday Jasper Janssen!

Aaand today has become: https://www.etsy.com/listing/125218240/not-my-circus-not-my-monkeys-letterpress?ref=shop_home_active_1 Explanations, or not, some other time. https://www.etsy.com/listing/125218240/not-my-circus-not-my-monkeys-letterpress?ref=shop_home_active_1

I was less productive today. It started out productively, with run/walk, and later yoga. Ate some of the curry, ate some of the pie. Not a lot concrete after that.

So, I guess I was productive yesterday. I did all the clothing laundry (towels and sheets have yet 2bd), and cooked all the things. When I went to the grocery store, I was getting spaghetti squash and some veggies for sauce, and chicken for a quick soup and curry. In the event, I discovered some local strawberries (this season is really late) and fresh rhubarb ( extremely late), and the strawberries smelled like strawberries (snozzberries, etc.). Spot decision to once again attempt pie. 2 lbs. of berries and 1.5 lbs. of rhubarb later, it worked! Tastes like pie! Then there were still garlic scapes available, so got those and made pesto (scapes, basil, toasted walnuts, fresh parmesan, pinch of sea salt, dash of black pepper, lots of good olive oil). Then there was fresh, wild caught grouper and amberjack. Controlled self and only bought one. Pan seared, with above pesto. Also made the previously planned spaghetti squash with roasted red pepper sauce (with roasted garlic; mushrooms, on...

NY has a restraining order against Lyft (or maybe not? the news is confused). I wonder if they are doing this against Uber, as well.

Probably, I will go to a Ren Fest tomorrow. It's not a standard type, it's held at an animal rehab that focuses on raptors. I'd go next weekend, because realz jousting, but will be elsewhere. Eagles make up for a lot, though.

Hm. It turns out the zebra mussels may actually make it more likely to have algal blooms. So nevermind, back to wanting those invasive species removed.

They say it's your birthday.

In case it helps anyone feel more optimistic (aka go to Nova Scotia and eat dirt): http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/06/25/antibiotic-resistance-may-be-reversed-using-fungus-chemical-mcmaster-researchers-find/ http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/06/25/antibiotic-resistance-may-be-reversed-using-fungus-chemical-mcmaster-researchers-find

You know how we kept putting on insect repellant? Well, one of the little rat bastards crawled up under my hair and bit me on the bone behind the ear. Being where it is is probably why it wasn't particularly severe, but it's been severely irritating and it's just about now starting to be pretty unbothersome. Unless I forget to avoid that spot when I'm brushing my hair.

Arrival confirmed. Trip paused briefly for blinding rain and border crossings. Let the unpacking commence.

DOT claims cleared or clearing on accidents, so packin' up and movin' out.

Weather has moved through sufficiently (along my entire travel path - thanks, weather patterns), but the highway I have to take to get out of here is shut in at least 2 places, one right where I have to get on, because of weather related accidents. So I think I will wait a little. Hopefully not too long, though, because you can't trust weather.

Hope everyone travelling/about to travel has good weather and is safe. Thank you, Maggie Brazeau. Very happy to see all of you. Hope to be seeing some of you again asap.

I forgot. The best thing I learned on my summer vacation: potato salad loves the internet.

What I did on my Summer Vacation, an essay: Other people took lots of awesome photos. Things blew up. And made noise. Nobody died. The end.

Completely lack energy - what is up with that?

Ok, this really shouldn't be funny, but it seems they are having fireworks tonight around here and I'm being smothered by a dog and a cat who are not thrilled with the big bada boom. The other cat keeps laying his ears back, but he is what I would describe as laconic. Poor critters. Their instincts are good. They don't know we do this for fun.

I'm heeeere!

Southern Ontario, I am for you.

http://www.tor.com/blogs/2014/07/chris-hadfield-guy-gavriel-kay-order-of-canada http://www.tor.com/blogs/2014/07/chris-hadfield-guy-gavriel-kay-order-of-canada

Less than 24 hours.

I approve of this food truck! http://www.bettycrockski.com/ http://www.bettycrockski.com

24 hours, people. 24 hours.

Argh, we are having I didn't know the numbers went so high 90s with HI over 100. To quote one of yous, stahp!

Heard and seen many comments that just not getting insurance through your employer would solve "the problem". The alternatives being either you pay or the government pays. I don't see anyone running out and advocating a single payer system, nor do I see anyone running out and establishing a way to be certain everyone has a financial situation that facilitates paying for their own coverage. However, it seems to me that that isn't really the problem. It's part of it, or a symptom of it, but I don't think it's the mychorrizal fungus at its root. The problem is that there are people who want to be free to live by their own beliefs, but be able to impose their beliefs on others. Granted, there's a long and glorious tradition of that in this country. Nevertheless, freedom of religion means you will have to tolerate people who don't believe the same things you do, just as they will have to tolerate your beliefs. Unless there's something like a core be...

If the Silver Surfer and Iron Man team up, they’d be alloys. Know any jokes about sodium? Na. #samebattime_samebatjokes

Google doodle, lol. P.S. Suddenly wondering what the doodles have looked like all over the world, and whether they have been different.

Margaret Atwood is one of Canada's most famous est of hobbits authors. She's been receiving even more attention recently since she won a  Governor General's Award, again, in 2012. They were interviewing her on CBC radio sometime in the last month, and it was depressing and funny and hopeful and admirable. Why does this come to mind? Hobby Lobby/Handmaid's Tale.

Hobby Lobby Confusion: Somebody lawyerish was being interviewed about the Hobby Lobby thing, and said the decision included something that I'm going to paraphrase as "they can get the coverage elsewhere", and the government failed to show that this was a problem beyond a certain standard that had to be met. In other words, to me it sounded like as long as the coverage was available some way that wasn't too big of a deal to access, it was ok for the employer to not offer coverage.  Having had insurance through an employer, I know that they basically say, here, this is what we're offering, take it or leave it. You might have choices within that, but if they won't cover contraception, then they won't cover it. Are they assuming that the employees will be offered HSAs, and should use that to cover it? Are they assuming that the employees have the option of something entirely through the ACA in their state instead of the employer coverage? Or is this a legal te...

Happy Canada Day!

Things I learned last week: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wojtek_(bear) I learned this because the English version of a documentary about this was on TV. The Polish version of it is on YouTube (link below), in case you read or understand Polish. Wojtek The Bear That Went To War 2010 Lektor PL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94Sj572pWzY

Last night's dinner: 1. Roasted baby beets (from the other end of the beet greens made the other day) with sauteed garlic scapes. 2. Zucchini and summer squash ribbons in an heirloom tomato, garlic, basil sauce. I like this farmers' market fresh produce thing. Oh, and if I didn't mention, the beet greens turn out not only to look like baby swiss chard, they taste like it, only a tiny bit sweeter.