G+ Migration Blog

That's it. Today is fired. In addition, I'm putting in for a temporary change of birthday, because I'd like one 24 hour period without any crap in it on my birthday.

Ann Arbor, I am in you. #letthewildrumpusstart

Night, night. I need to get my road trip sleep.

Pain is bad, right? I think I may have overdone something. It kind of hurts. Walking is not going so good. Ice helps at little, stretching was helping until it wasn't. If I keep moving a little, it loosens up. If I stop moving, it spasms when I try to start moving again. Stupid exercise. I mean, just because I did you 3 days in a row so it would not fall too far behind this weekend.

Having a bbq is a bit macabre, but, come on, have a sense of humor. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/08/25/british-embassy-apologizes-for-tweet-commemorating-the-burning-the-white-house-but-not-for-the-actual-burning-of-the-white-house/

'Cuz nao I want one. http://www.saucemagazine.com/a/1058 http://cookingannie.hubpages.com/hub/Restaurant-de-la-Pyramide-and-Their-Famous-Marjolaine-Cake http://www.saucemagazine.com/a/1058

Is everybody's family crazy, or is it just mine?

New Doctor Who: Disappointing. No further comment to avoid spoilers. Will, however, say that BBC America could have made it more commercial and annoying in terms of their presentation of the episode, but not by much. Not unless they had simply not shown the episode and just shown a bunch of ads and pointless commentary segments.

Man, they are showing the new Dr. Who in movie theaters at midnight on Saturday in Ann Arbor and Livonia. Not that I won't have already watched it on television, but I would definitely be that nerd who would go, but I won't be there until next weekend. #tinyviolins

http://www.dorktower.com/2014/08/21/games-for-girls-dork-tower-21-08-14/ http://www.dorktower.com/2014/08/21/games-for-girls-dork-tower-21-08-14

Oh, hai, still awake.

Even moar science. Poblanos and jalapenos for science! And nummy salsa verde.

Moar science! A plethora of eggplant from the farmer's market, grilled and smoked into smooshy yumness. Since there are many variations of this, I made a few different variations on the basic, to which olive oil, or yogurt-like substances can be added as desired. 

For Science! There's someone at the Farmer's Market selling lots of nifty critter bits, including eggs other than chicken. So I got a mixed dozen of duck, chicken, and turkey eggs to try. They must have an interesting variety of chicken, because even the chicken eggs were close to the size of two 'regular' eggs.  For this eggsperiment (sorry), I cooked them up sunny-side. I cooked them one at a time with a tiny bit of butter. I learned the hard way from a prior experiment that being close in size/volume does not equate to cooking similarly. The chicken egg cooks like a chicken egg, no surprises there. The turkey and duck eggs are challenging because the whites cook much faster than the yolks, but using low to medium low heat seemed to work. The yolks go from chicken to turkey to duck in order of least to most rich in both taste and texture. The whites had very subtle differences in taste. The most noticeable thing, though, was that the duck white was a more solid textur...

This made me glad to have watched the news: http://www.si.com/more-sports/2014/08/19/mone-davis-little-league-world-series-sports-illustrated-cover http://www.si.com/more-sports/2014/08/19/mone-davis-little-league-world-series-sports-illustrated-cover

For Amy Young : I must soap.
 Soap is the dirt-killer.
 Soap is the little-cleaner that brings total ablution.
 I will face my soap.
 I will permit it to pass over me and around me.
 And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
 Where the soap has gone there will be nothing.
 Only I will remain.

Watched the BBC special An Adventure in Space and Time about the origination of Dr. Who in the 1960s. I guess I should not spoil this in case someone would be bothered, so I'll just say I found it very touching, which was not expected, but wonder how much was real, and how much was invention. Have other thoughts on it in detail, but suppose should not bother until feel like putting in spoiler space.

Absolutely certain without confirmation that my mother is inserting herself into my uncle's situation. In fact, strongly suspect she is trying to have him brought back to this area. I give up. Her stress from all of this tells me that she has to know what is wrong with this, whatever her good motivations might be. And she keeps projecting it onto everyone else. Pretty much, at this point, if she has an irrational anger reaction that's out of proportion, it's an excellent bet that it times out to something to do with my uncle. I wish she'd stop projecting it onto the rest of us. I walked out the other morning. I couldn't deal with it. I had something I needed to do anyway, so I just went and did it, so it wasn't a waste of time. Plus, it's not like I really have a whole lot of places to go. Nobody said anything when I came back. Her big rapprochement was to ask me for help with something innocuous on her computer later in the day. I'm really tired.

I am kinda laughin', here. Originally shared by Bryn Smith Anyone know of any statues in need? http://www.themoscowtimes.com/article/505354.html

To distract us from other news in the world, Arizona has decided to have flash floods. Be safe, people who live there.

Not sure this is whom I want to quote, but I keep hearing it in my head: "This business will get out of control. It will get out of control and we'll be lucky to live through it."

Have determined definitively that I do not like spearmint for food/cooking purposes. We had a bumper crop (it's even beating out the peppermint), so I thought I'd try it. Nope. Belongs in toothpaste, gum, and maybe a few candies, possibly some form of alcoholic beverage, not food. Blech.

Not much was taught to me about Canada's involvement in the Civil War. This is an interesting story.... http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2014/08/13/dean-jobb-the-tale-of-the-tallahassee/

When everything started in Ferguson, my first thought was, oh, my god, we're living in the 1960's. But then I thought that was too hyperbolic. Then they called in the National Guard. If Putin invades Czechoslovakia, we're screwed.

I am not ready for it to be labor day weekend, but today I need it to be labor day weekend. There's a little too much psychological whiplash going on.

Magic words to make it rain: Let's grill!

So stupid. Because of the prevalence of Lasik and like procedures, it is getting harder to find donor corneas, and ones from a young donor would be invaluable, as they are likely of a much higher quality. That, and I am unaware of any report of HIV being transmitted by a donor cornea. Ever. Hepatitis B, specifically, yes; some herpes and related viruses, yes; fungi, bacteria, prions, all yes. If organs, which have been documented to transmit a lot of things, were deemed safe for transplant, why on earth would you reject his eyes? http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/08/15/gay-teens-organ-donation-rejected/?tid=pm_national_pop http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/08/15/gay-teens-organ-donation-rejected/?tid=pm_national_pop

Half of Common Meds Increase Fall Risk: Which Are Riskiest? This is the title of an article regarding something fairly serious, but I'm me, so when I read it, the first thing I thought was: levo or dextro? the left half, or the right half?  #specialisednerdhumor   #itsonlyfunny

I needed cute to offset all the awful: http://www.buzzfeed.com/expresident/animal-pictures-you-need-to-see-before-you-die#24hrokt http://www.buzzfeed.com/expresident/animal-pictures-you-need-to-see-before-you-die#24hrokt

Kitty! http://www.viewbug.com/photo/29497961?type=upload&fb_action_ids=10201365832987966&fb_action_types=viewbugphotocontests%3Aupload&fb_source=og_timeline_photo_robotext http://www.viewbug.com/photo/29497961?type=upload&fb_action_ids=10201365832987966&fb_action_types=viewbugphotocontests:upload&fb_source=og_timeline_photo_robotext

Got 9/10, but had to guess on 7 & 8. http://www.theguardian.com/books/quiz/2014/jul/29/jrr-tolkien-trivia-quiz-60th-anniversary-fellowship-of-the-ring http://www.theguardian.com/books/quiz/2014/jul/29/jrr-tolkien-trivia-quiz-60th-anniversary-fellowship-of-the-ring

Omg, dying!  Peer 1: Brilliant! Accept with no changes; Peer 2: Groundbreaking! Accept with no changes; Peer 3: Reject. IT's ALL TRUE! https://twitter.com/LegoAcademics https://twitter.com/LegoAcademics

Super-awesome. http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn26044-iranian-woman-wins-maths-top-prize-the-fields-medal.html#.U-vzXiicSdy http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn26044-iranian-woman-wins-maths-top-prize-the-fields-medal.html#.U-vzXiicSdy

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/storyline/wp/2014/08/12/why-the-police-shooting-riots-in-ferguson-mo-had-little-to-do-with-ferguson/ http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/storyline/wp/2014/08/12/why-the-police-shooting-riots-in-ferguson-mo-had-little-to-do-with-ferguson

"If you want me, just whistle." http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/lauren-bacall-screen-legend-dead-at-89-1.2734806 http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/lauren-bacall-screen-legend-dead-at-89-1.2734806

We are getting thunder, lightning, Smaug! #severeweather   #whatshobbitdoc

Interesting. http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/in-science-it-matters-that-women-come-last/ http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/in-science-it-matters-that-women-come-last

I thought the O Captain posts were intense. Then, they led to the Good Will Hunting posts, and that was sad. But that led to his daughter's post. Now, I  have well and truly lost it. https://twitter.com/rabbitnutz?original_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fabcnews.go.com%2FEntertainment%2Fgood-hunting-fans-find-perfect-honor-robin-williams%2Fstory%3Fid%3D24940503&tw_i=499016991236431872&tw_p=tweetembed https://twitter.com/zeldawilliams/status/499045688559165440 https://twitter.com/zeldawilliams/status/499045688559165440

Happy birthday Therese Noren!

Thinking about it, they really missed an opportunity to honor Robin Williams with the Mark Twain Prize. They haven't honored Mel Brooks with it, either, but they gave it to Wil Ferrell before either of those two? Lame. At least Mel Brooks got Kennedy Center Honors. They never gave that to Robin Williams, either.

There will be an overwhelming number of these, but this one seemed particularly touching:

The news is reporting that Robin Williams is dead? I can't even say how sad that makes me. He should have been still doing his stuff until he was at least in his 80s.

The string, it's the string that really got me. http://xkcd.com/1406/ http://xkcd.com/1406

Clarity! There are two baby showers! 400 miles apart! And it was apparently up to my brother to find this out and share it with my mom, sister, and I. Blah blah blah, read the other rants about thoughtless people with no manners yadda yadda.

Unreal. My brother just forwarded the baby shower evite from their [adj del] friends, who were both wedding attendants (i.e., they met all of us, so know we exist). I know this, because I was there and, apparently unlike some people, I remember their names, Once again. Smart and courteous = only inviting people who live nearby; doing that and maybe notifying or inviting the future grandparents, if you feel so inclined (none of whom live in state); or doing that and inviting all family members at a given level, say, siblings, or siblings and their children, etc.  Stupid and discourteous = selectively inviting out of state family members across random divisions of time and space and relatedness. In particular, one sister and not another, esp. if they were both in the same wedding party as you. The friends get a double [adj del] for apparently sending out paper invites in a timely way (maybe a month ahead?), but sending the evite today for a party on the 16th. Which is what made my broth...

Happy birthday Mike Bruce!

Found a shiny! https://archive.org/details/NicolWilliamsonPerformsJ.r.r.TolkiensTheHobbit https://archive.org/details/NicolWilliamsonPerformsJ.r.r.TolkiensTheHobbit

Retro posting: Mt. Hood from the road. #CavnessTours   #pdfs  

I wish I had a proper camera. The just post perigee moon is pretty amazing and looking relatively large. This doesn't capture the awesome color it was, though, nor do you quite see the beautiful shadows and highlights of its features, which are pretty pronounced, even now. #supermoon #ithilanglennol  

Went and saw Morty. He kind of smells like rotten fish. Apparently, that's subjective. Anyway, he only blooms for about 24 hours, so by the time we got there, he was wrapping up his skirts. Crazy long line to get to see him. Eventually, there will be a spike with little fruits all over it. Expected to see a cloud of flies around (that's what the smell is for - to attract those happy little pollinators), but fortunately not that many. Guess I don't need to go to Sumatra, now. #bucketlist #likethatwasgonnahappen

Somebody shared this privately, or I'd credit them, but I kind of like its approach. http://www.robot-hugs.com/comics/2014-07-24-Harassment.png http://www.robot-hugs.com/comics/2014-07-24-Harassment.png

Ymmv: ... but seriously, tell us again how you're allowed to breed? http://www.dorktower.com/2014/08/06/the-spoils-of-spoilers-dork-tower-06-08-14/ http://www.dorktower.com/2014/08/06/the-spoils-of-spoilers-dork-tower-06-08-14

You know how stupid little things can bother you like they were big things? I did not get to eat what I wanted for breakfast because they messed up the order. It took a long time, and by then they couldn't make another one, and I had to make a special trip in the first place, and they only make it on Sat and Sun, 8-11am. So, yeah. It's stupid, but I was really looking forward to it, and now I am disappointed (ref Kevin Kline).

Amy Young I really should just get your email. Anyway, saw a soap maker at farmer's market today and they were selling shaving soap. Couldn't find price for the round discs alone, but they were selling brushes, 2 kinds, one for $15, one for $50; one was boar, one was badger. They were selling the shaving soap with a ceramic mug for $30. The mugs were labeled hand made but they must have been slip cast, because of the shape, color, etc. and they had transfer print logos and a couple of thin painted gold rims. They looked commercial. I'm sure they were handmade, I'm just saying that so you have an idea of what they looked like because of the whole marketing thing.  I just figured this might be useful info.

Remember last year I posted a picture of the nectarine tree with all the fruit on it (linky)? Well, the squirrels weren't the only problem, but they were the biggest one, and they finally managed to kill the tree. Between stripping anything that looked like it would turn into fruit, and breaking branches off because they were too heavy for the branches to support (fat squirrels), it died. I hadn't posted them, but these are pictures I took of the tree blossoming this spring. RIP. https://plus.google.com/107085665537347703493/posts/ghJ6cZWnytw?pid=5906182956690323746&oid=107085665537347703493&authkey=COT7i6ikxNm6Fg

Is it meta that the airstrikes were launched from the USS George HW Bush?

They named it Morty. http://wivb.com/2014/08/08/smelly-flower-begins-to-bloom/ http://wivb.com/2014/08/08/smelly-flower-begins-to-bloom

I wish somebody could unravel the byzantine morass of levantine history and politics for me.

Hawaii does not do well with storms named with the letter "I".

Tell me, oh internets, should I go look at the full moon Saturday night or Sunday night? Since perigee is in the middle of the afternoon, I am just hoping for the closest I can get.

Kenneth Cavness 's post reminded me of this: A local woman found out about this really bad situation with a growing and persistent population of feral cats on an island in the Niagara River (it's roughly 12 miles from Niagara Falls), which was kept surprisingly quiet until she tried to help out. Then she found out it's against the law to help the cats because the local city passed a well-written law that was clearly only directed at hoarders. Not. Now it turns out that the only place in two counties that doesn't have these stupid laws is the City of Buffalo, and that only changed recently. It isn't even cheaper to kill them all, which they weren't even bothering to do on this island. "It's against the law to feed, give aid or comfort to a stray cat ... since 1999, when ... passed restrictive cat laws in response to a hoarding situation."   http://www.niagarafallsreporter.com/Stories/2014/AUG05/Coogan.html http://www.niagarafallsreporter.com/Stories...

Would someone clarify this for me? The verbage and rhetoric is hurting my head. (There's an older statement, and a newer one that's much shorter.) This has to do with another company objecting to the ACA. http://www.edenfoods.com/articles/view.php?articles_id=219 http://www.edenfoods.com/articles/view.php?articles_id=229

At least there aren't any open pit copper mines near Lake Erie. (I don't know what the risks to the Fraser River really are, but that is the big river that flows through Vancouver to the ocean. The water flow would be something like Hazeltine creek, Quesnel lake, Quesnel river, Fraser river. Depending on how widely it affected the system, this is a significant salmon run area, so if that stuff is toxic to salmon eggs or baby salmon, that's a big deal, as well.) http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Water+effect+southeast+Quesnel+after+tailings+pond+breached/10088871/story.html http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Water+effect+southeast+Quesnel+after+tailings+pond+breached/10088871/story.html

Crossing the #waybackwednesday  streams: In The Mood - Bette Midler https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUaceJDGRHQ

Movies be damned. Ain't no miracles here, people. Additionally, I am shocked at the amount of good quality reporting I am seeing in print and on air. Kudos, guys, really. Keep off-setting the goofballs. http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidkroll/2014/08/05/ebola-secret-serum-small-biopharma-the-army-and-big-tobacco/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidkroll/2014/08/05/ebola-secret-serum-small-biopharma-the-army-and-big-tobacco

I think I may have mentioned this at some point? It appears that the weakest link muscle may be my butt? I find this inconvenient, but should probably start doing those PT exercise thingies to see if they help.

Man, Burlington has really been getting the short end of the stick. Originally shared by Tom Napier So, here I am driving home to Etobicoke after a nice day down in the Niagara area. The skyway just reopened and so did the skies over Burlington. The QEW was flooded in sections from the Brant St. exit to Appleby Line. Strangely, when I arrived home, there seemed to be very little rain as most of our outdoor plants needed to be watered. http://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/flash-flooding-sweeps-burlington-more-storm-chance-tuesday/33328/

Augh, my mother just ate an hour and a half of my life dealing with her angst over the uncle, aka, her brother. Why won't she just go talk to a professional counselor? Why?! She reportedly told my dad last week that she doesn't need to because she can talk to him. o.O Uh, oookaaay. headdesk headdesk headdesk

Gotta catch 'em all: http://www.giantmicrobes.com/us/products/ebola-gigantic.html #toosoon   http://www.giantmicrobes.com/us/products/ebola-gigantic.html

I choose to believe that's Chris Hadfield in the middle of the google doodle.

How Not To Report The Not News, or how to work the public into irrational panic:  An anchor on a CNN show today kept teasing that later in the show she would talk about how ebola could go airborne, based on something she supposedly picked up from Canadian sources. Then she said they were out of time on the show and never gave any other info. This is already spreading on the web. Surprise. I searched CBC, just for the heck of it, and found nothing. [Canada's not telling because it's finally their chance to become pre-eminent in North America, muahahaha.] Not that there are no other sources of news, but it's a pretty major one, so you'd think they'd have the story. The only intelligent post I found out there was this one, and it's from yesterday , before the CNN stupidity. http://scienceblogs.com/aetiology/2014/08/03/are-we-sure-ebola-isnt-airborne/  [Go, Dr. Tara Smith!] Really, people, there's reporting, there's sensationalizing, and then there's do...

Things every park should have: http://makezine.com/2014/08/03/giant-spirograph-makes-mathematically-perfect-chalk-drawings-on-the-street/

And now for something completely different: Tiny Hamster in a Tiny Mansion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoJVGFGhuVM

I really do not think this is going to solve anyone's problems. And yet, once again, this seems to be the most constructive thing some people can think of to do. It is deeply concerning and I really don't think you're going to make anyone more open minded this way. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/02/world/europe/anger-in-europe-over-the-israeli-gaza-conflict-reverberates-as-anti-semitism.html http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/02/world/europe/anger-in-europe-over-the-israeli-gaza-conflict-reverberates-as-anti-semitism.html

All my life, cupcake/muffin pans have had 12 indentations. Why, oh, why, then, have there forever been recipes for 8, or 9, or 16, or anything other than 12 cupcakes or muffins in a recipe?

Thunder grumblies!

What a mess. Glad I do not have to go anywhere near this right now, but I hope it's fixed in a couple of weeks. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/news/burlington-skyway-crash-what-you-need-to-know-1.2724775?cmp=fbtl http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/news/burlington-skyway-crash-what-you-need-to-know-1.2724775?cmp=fbtl

Witide?!  http://www.myparentsopencarry.com/ http://www.myparentsopencarry.com

Nom nom nom http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/2014/commentary/editorial-in-the-circle-fresh-focus/harmful-algal-bloom-expands-lake-erie/

These are so keeping me amused. Sporkuku! http://www.dorktower.com/2014/07/30/the-spork-of-destiny-dork-tower-30-07-14/ http://www.dorktower.com/2014/07/30/the-spork-of-destiny-dork-tower-30-07-14

Retro posting: Tea House and selected photos from Lan Su Chinese Garden in Portland. #CavnessTours   #pdfs