G+ Migration Blog

My relationship with my brother, in 10 minutes, or less. No, really, this happened in 10 minutes, or less. 1) I asked my brother what he's going to be doing in his new job. Long story short, I never really got an answer, because since I'm not in finance, I couldn't possibly understand. 2) Somewhere in there, I got called "Hon". Now, other than those of you with whom I have that sort of affectionate relationship, or we have a modicum of Southern Exposure in common, that is condescending, MCP nonsense guaranteed to lead to loss of limb. Don't call me "hon"; I'm not your "hon". This is not Mad Men. 3) When we were getting ready to leave, he tossed his napkin onto my plate and was getting ready to put his plate and silverware onto my plate. This was halted because I was already standing up and in the process of taking my and my father's plates to the trash, and because I tossed his napkin right back on his plate. I also quietly stated, ...

Sharing specifically for the cover photo. You know who you are :) Originally shared by Make: These incredible sculptures mix plants, animals, and even machinery in whimsical ways. They're simply captivating! http://ow.ly/L03dM http://ow.ly/L03dM

Guilty pleasures: RuPaul's Drag Race.

Guess what? It snowed today. #statingtheobvious

I think toxicity attracts its own bad karma. I'm just sayin'. Little bits of random badness.

Omg. There's some kind of charming probably hand gun battle going on nearby and my mother and sister are arguing about what kind of firearm it probably was and I'm like, well, you know, Dad was actually in the army and all, so, call me crazy, I'm gonna go with his opinion on this, m'kay? Also, don't ask my mother to be a witness for anything based on hearing, because 3 of us thought it was to the South/Southwest (confirmed by the police, btw), but we were wrong, per her. And then she was sure it had gone on for 10 minutes. Except for the fact that we were all quite certain it had gone on only for 1-2 minutes, at most. You can fire a lot of shots in 1 or 2 minutes. Anyway, the police came right away and if my mother ever stops talking at me it will probably be fine. Also, nobody here or nearby got hurt that we know of. Fun times.

Omg, the reason for the glut of baby pictures is my sil is doing a 365 pic/day of the baby. headdesk

Whoever caused I94 in Michigan to be shut needs to suffer mercilessly.

Monday or Tuesday, can't remember which, we had hoarfrost on things in the morning. At the time there was this weird idea that it might be spring and there wouldn't be any more of these sorts of things. So I thought it would be neat to try and take some pictures with my teeny, tiny macro lens for my phone. Overall, it's pretty ok for a first effort, although it does show up the limitations of doing this with a smart phone.

You've heard of therapy dogs? Portland has something more special (not a goat). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JzjV2xS794 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JzjV2xS794

In other annoying news stories on medical science, there was a radio thing on CBC yesterday about how There's Bleach in our Bodies! Man, talk about click-bait. Yes, duh, if you ever took any level of biochemistry or anything else that got into inflammation or white blood cells and how they fight infection, you already knew that one of the neutrophil's (type of white blood cell) defense mechanisms was the Respiratory Burst, in which (among other things) myeloperoxidase (an enzyme kept in little granules inside each neutrophil) plays with hydrogen peroxide (also kind of bleachy) and chlorine ions (anions, if you're interested) and makes hypochlorous acid, aka bleach, aka Clorox, which is used for fun things like denaturing (twisting up their proteins into unusable shapes) and killing bacteria of the uninvited kind. Reactive oxygen species and their friends are very well known parts of the immune system, and inflammation (which is part of the immune system). Every so often, th...

Does the content of this make any sense to you? Because it doesn't to me. I mean, right off the bat it says that they "defined hypertension-related death as any mention of hypertension on the death certificate."  Ok. It's news to me that a death certificate lists anything other than the presumed or documented cause of death, but let's say it lists your whole medical history. Now all you're looking at it the prevalence of a given diagnosis among dead people. How does that translate to "the number of hypertension-related deaths increased 61.8%"? You can prove a causal relationship? And the study they link to about the cancer and hypertension thing was an observational study where the authors even say they can't claim a causal link. AUGH! Am I missing something, here? Tell me, please, before something else causes my blood pressure to go up. http://time.com/3758758/high-blood-pressure-related-deaths-are-way-up-cdc/ http://time.com/3758758/high-blood...

Hey, guess what! It's snowing! Betcha didn't see that coming! I'm starting a pool for whether it'll snow on Easter. Who's in?

Religious Freedom and other stuff - So, I thought I'd educate myself in the most rigorous way possible: on the internet. Now, I find myself 1) deeply confused, 2) utterly appalled. For number one, I tried to understand in a cursory manner what the body of law in this country was and how it got there. I was also curious as to the distribution of this weird set of ideas about the poor, overburdened religious in this country. I mean, we have a lot of civil law that should cover stuff, don't we? It would seem that there is no particular rhyme or reason to which states have or haven't gone this route, and while I have not looked at the details of each particular one, in case there's something different that matters, I am kind of boggled at some of the states that did pass a religious freedom law. As far as being confused, I tried to parse the reasoning and series of changes in how to figure out what is or isn't ok based on claims of religion, and I feel like maybe the po...

For Kenneth Cavness. I know, these are terrible photos. I took them fast, out of a car window, with a film camera, about 10 years ago. The stalk is somewhere between 3-4 ft high.

Tonight's dinner: 1. Flounder, pan seared with that honey-lemon-dijon sauce I've done before. 2. Fresh peas with fresh mint in butter. 3. Baked Sweet Dumpling squash with nothin' on it because it is that sweet straight out of the oven. Yes, it's pretty much the same color as the sauce on the fish. This time, I measured so I could tell you more accurately how I got the honey-lemon-dijon glaze. I ended up with 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice, 1/2 tablespoon + 1/2 tsp dijon mustard, 1 full tablespoon honey.  I like being able to get a fair kick of the mustard, which is why the extra 1/2 tsp, which I added after tasting it. Otherwise, it was present but very honey-forward. If you like it more honey and just a hint of mustard, you might not want the extra bit. Also, I was using a fairly light honey (sage blossom - because it's what we had). Different honey would affect how you wanted to balance the flavors, as well. I shook it all up in a jar, making sure the honey was dissol...

How bored are you? Actually interesting. https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/fastest-airlines-fastest-airports/ https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/fastest-airlines-fastest-airports

My strudel has been Dad approved. Which is saying something, since that means it is being compared to my grandmother, whose cooking has something of a saintly status, with added nostalgia. (She died when I was 3, hence my not learning these things directly from her.) I guess I will have to practice this frequently enough to get consistent at it.

Does anybody know anything about the content in this article (as opposed to the click baity headline)? http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2015/03/24/fcc_to_decide_the_future_of_phone_number_portability.html http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2015/03/24/fcc_to_decide_the_future_of_phone_number_portability.html

Oh, look. It's snowing.

Omg, this is the cutest type of pika, evar! http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3009783/Is-cutest-endangered-animal-world-Meet-tiny-mammal-Ili-pika-lives-Chinese-mountains-1-000-world.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3009783/Is-cutest-endangered-animal-world-Meet-tiny-mammal-Ili-pika-lives-Chinese-mountains-1-000-world.html

I have a horrible headache. I have a horrible, chemical odorant induced headache. I have a horrible headache because my mother HAD TO HAVE THE HOUSE CLEANED. Yes, in all caps. Because PEOPLE ARE COMING TO VISIT. And because the person she has come to clean once a month, who probably averages being here once every three months, because there are always #reasons, didn't come 2 weeks ago Monday. Normally, mom just tries again next month, etc. But the queen the president my siblings and their attachments are coming. Soft clue, mom. Dad just had surgery, you managed to make yourself sick (for true), and they're just your kids, all of whom are staying at hotels. You have never had a House Beautiful. Once all of us were out of the house it became clear that this was because that just isn't your style, no matter house much you wish it were. I'm not sure you have a style, other than clutter light with a side of cozy hoarding. I realize you were raised in the 50/60's by an ...

Courtesy of Lara Beaton  - Oh, do I want to have this to pull out of my back pocket for sooo many discussions of medical recommendations or health care spending. http://www.tylervigen.com/ http://www.tylervigen.com

Aaanyway ... When life gives you lemons, you make your first strudel. Eat your heart out, Serious Eats. I will have to experiment with doughs and flours, and, yes, I got some holes in it when stretching the dough, but it was thin enough to read through, which turns out not to be the hard part. Getting it stretched evenly thin all over is the hard part. This is presumably why the optimal situation is a table you can walk all the way around. Rolling with sheets - just make sure you roll evenly along the whole length. Not hard, though.

Inspired by the combo of Jessica Musinski's post and hearing some of either a CBC or NPR interview about this book about black women and being fat, I give you interestingly opposed linkys. P.S. Are people crazy? She doesn't look unhealthy, but every picture I have ever seen of Josephine Baker she looks pretty damn trim to me. Don't keep putting this out there as some example of big and curvy just because she isn't emaciated. She looks good, so just leave it. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/06/opinion/sunday/why-black-women-are-fat.html?_r=0 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/duchess-harris/black-women-obesity_b_1505861.html http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/06/opinion/sunday/why-black-women-are-fat.html?_r=0

Motivation, where did I put the motivation?

I am so out of it that I don't even remember if I already posted this stuff, which is mostly positive. My sister is receiving a national level Girl Scout award in April. It will be formally presented in Lansing. I gather it is a big deal.  My brother finally got another job. It allows then to stay in SF, which they wanted. Also, to have an income. He is now working for a private bank that is based in SF. His boss does not golf and likes motorcycles. This may be a better fit than his previous job. So those are both good things.

Still below freezing, but not currently snowing. One laconic yay for you.

I ... did not know I could get this angry. And I really, really am. Like, actual punching angry. Except for the part where I have soft, breakable hands. At my parents. Both of them. My dad's situation is a both simpler and more complex. He kindly saddled me with having to talk my sister down, on top of everything else that's been going on. She was trying to decide if she should drop everything and rush here for him, or stay home and spend time With Her Own Child. Chapped monkey butts, people, who does that? Things he does not need to start doing: emotionally manipulating the fiber out of people. At some point, unless he's never well again, we are Having A Talk.  My mom's situation is what you already know. The rationalization, holy mother of Om; and she's delusional. At this point, I could be demonstrably wrong about something and I'd still believe my version over hers. It's not even a question of too tired or stressed to remember, even though that's a r...

It's snowing. It's been snowing all day. I spent about  an hour driving through snow showers (they did not reach the officially required level for squalls). As a stranger commented to me at one point, guess we will have a white christmas for easter. Probably not, but it feels that way. Also, the temperatures are confused. They are significantly below freezing. Toronto has a cold weather advisory. I really think we need to take this up with the board, and if they are not responsive, we need to do something about the hedge fund that owns the company. Just saying.

Ok that's it. I am now 100% pro national health care, whatever the heck you want to call it. Because you could not possibly do things any worse, and the imprint of money incentive, that is, how not to spend it, is screamingly all over these screw ups. At least with a single governmental over-arching structure, you have one group of idiots to deal with. A group of idiots who may not believe it, but we pay their salaries and we have actual rights to get on their case for not doing things. Yeah, the system doesn't work, especially at the moment, but it's a hell of a lot better than the profit driven crap that totally doesn't give a snap about people. Not that the word people means much anymore, but the word patient means about as much as "relative value unit" or "full time equivalent". Iow, not a person. I'm not sure how long it will be before we are all expendable unpersons, but at the moment this person is extremely pissed off.

Dealing with my parents is like quoting Winston Churchill. You can count on them to do the right thing, etc. How did I ruin my life this way?

Very tightly locked My mother is telling me how to provide medical care. She's telling me how to provide medical care. That is the shortest and most polite thing I can say. I am going to metaphorically kill her.  I do not know how in hell this woman ever worked on a team with anybody. She is never wrong, she micromanages*, anything you say to her is a personal criticism or challenge. She gets pissed off if you follow up on something she discussed with you because You Are Putting Pressure On Her. She explicitly tells you no one should do something, then goes and does it anyway. She's nuts.  And don't stand up for yourself, because she tries so hard, and you are just making everything difficult, and she knows how hard you are trying, too! but it's just too much, and fine, if you want to be in control of everything, etc. Frakking passive aggressive controlling fertilizer.  *Like in Misery .  "Micromanages"

How to deal with stress healthily :  1) Reese's chocolate peanut butter egg - eat one large 2) Whoppers mini robin eggs - eat several all of them 3) Peeps giant white marshmallow bunny - bite off ears and half of face, chew

Somewhere along the line, there are individual nice things to say. In the meanwhile, if I type "augh" in all caps, with lots of exclamation points, and perhaps repeating several letters, would that adequately cover the screaming expression of our current physical, mental, emotional, and metaphysical state? I mean, really this needs Novak's or Vogel's level of eloquence to provide a minimum of one paragraph of appropriately vituperative vulgarity, or possibly more than one. Anyway, in the absence of that, would the aforementioned do? Just checking. P.S. They sent my dad home today.

Dad is out of surgery and on the floor in a private room. They are making sure he has pain medication.

I blame cats. Anyway, linking because I love this quote: "... I would have to skin a baby supermodel to have a face this smooth and flawless." http://www.buzzfeed.com/kirstenking/cover-girl-life#.lez1XOjd56 http://www.buzzfeed.com/kirstenking/cover-girl-life#.lez1XOjd56

The zantac isn't working. Time for the chalk tums.

Did I mention a few weeks ago, when it was still consistently well below freezing for the umpteenth day month in a row, I found what looked like a carpenter bee crawling around in the house? No bee could have been functioning at the outside temperatures, so it is extremely improbable that it came in on someone's coat, or what have you. Yet, if it was hiding in the walls, it should have been warm enough for it to appear much sooner. We have only seen the one. I am still nervous that when it stays consistently warm we will find some horrifying nest in the walls and I will be very, very sad.  #horriblemurderdeathbees

Good news - they moved up the time of my dad's surgery so it should be early afternoon tomorrow.

Remember when I mentioned some of my friends were going to be part of a tribute to Leonard Nimoy? This is part of that. Originally shared by kyl r https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUnraXPQUUA&feature=share

It's so weird. You can see the grass.

For as many times as it gets mentioned, you'd think something would change. Ha ha ha, nevermind. One specific bias they wave at as it goes by is the issue of trying to get anything published on negative results. I suppose that since you will overwhelmingly have negative results, that this started as a way of limiting how much got published, and everyone assumed there were negative results. However, they also assumed negative results were neither important nor informative. Developing a way of understanding and curating negative results for publication would probably also make a big difference in the number of, how do I put this non-judgmentally, "filler" publications that happen so someone can continue to justify their career and their funding. Maybe then we could shift toward less junk and more information.  http://www.vox.com/2015/3/13/8202465/sex-pheromones http://www.vox.com/2015/3/13/8202465/sex-pheromones

Happy birthday Megan Frank! May it be sparkly!

There are way too many songs with lyrics including "pie".

The final pie has been et (chicken pot pie). Soon, the last moment of nine perfect digits will pass (if using a 12 hour clock), and we will have to wait longingly for another irrationally delicious moment of its like.

Have had the pizza portion of today's program. And the apple hand pie for dessert because not waiting. #onceinacenturypiday

Have eaten breakfast pie. WIll await next pie as appropriate. But Happy Once in a Century Pi Day!

Happy birthday Amanda Heyen!

Adventures in cooking. I had two butternut squash left from the ones purchased this fall at the farmer's market. Decided to make butternut squash lasagna, kind of like a deconstructed butternut squash ravioli. Cut up squash and simmered with chicken broth, sage, clove. Mashed. Carmelized moderately one large, minced shallot and two thinly sliced garlic cloves in olive oil. Low and slow. Added to one small (about 15 oz.) container part-skim ricotta, mixed with one whole egg, nutmeg, black pepper. Made bechamel. Usual thing - flour and butter roux, milk, simmer, thicken, add nutmeg. (4c milk, 1/4c flour, 4T butter) Tried whole wheat lasagna noodles. Turn out dryer, crack more easily, texture is chewier. Useful experiment but wouldn't use 'em again. Layered sauce, noodles, squash, cheese, repeat. Finish with noodles, sauce, layer of crushed amaretti. Baked. Came out really well. Because I wanted my dad to be able to eat it, I limited the amount of sauce and cheese. Meds and il...

So guess what. My Dad was in his primary provider's office on Monday. When they did exam, EKG, blood tests, etc. to clear him for surgery. The surgery coordinator and hospital for the surgery kept saying they hadn't gotten the information. Lots of phone calls back and forth under the assumption that the primary got the results and wrote an official ok to have surgery letter to go with them. Nope. Got a phone call this am that there was no such thing on record. Without it, no surgery. Of course, after I called the insurance company earlier this week and they called the doctor's group and got him an appointment for managing the pain and disability, which they gave him for today, with a different doctor because his doctor is out of town, it turns out that he needed an appointment today after all! Only a different kind of appointment. Because the one the insurance company facilitated was a short appointment for a focused problem management. Now, he needs a full visit to get sur...

Ion, the birds and squirrels have definitely decided it is spring. Of course, it is supposed to get into the 50s today, so I can hardly blame them.

Ok. My sternocleidomastoid can stop being a pain, now. Literally. It decided I would wake up in significant discomfort Tuesday and has refused to improve itself in spite of ice, heat, stinky ointments, professional therapeutic massage, hot showers, and pills.  It's doing all the stupid textbook things: occipital headache, ear ache, slight vertigo (although I got really nauseated at one point - probably from the severity of the pain, but not necessarily just that), pain extending into my shoulder and upper back. My head won't turn in that direction, and if I force it to, well, don't do that, that was stupid and unbelievably painful. I am seriously wishing I could get my hands on some botox, right now, even with the risk of side effects.

Have the following ready for tomorrow: 1. Veggie pocket pie for breakfast 2. Pizza [pie] for lunch, although am considering going out for the closest thing to stuffed pizza around here. 3. Small but sufficient chicken pot pie for dinner 4. One little apple hand pie for dessert Haven't decided what would be the appropriate ritualistic behavior for 9:26:53 am. Any ideas? I feel like there should be something .

This place was highlighted on the news. I wish there'd been a school like this when I was growing up. http://www.ronclarkacademy.com/ http://www.ronclarkacademy.com

Not your grandparents' rugs. Holy cow, these are amazing. (Real, handmade "oriental" carpets.) Originally shared by Make: These aren't photoshopped or fake. These glitch rugs look like real life image glitches. http://ow.ly/Kg3H7 http://ow.ly/Kg3H7

I don't know why it never registered that he had PCA, not 'just' early onset Alzheimer's. It helps the sting a little, I guess, to know. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posterior_cortical_atrophy

Noli Timere Messorem.

Sharing because I desperately need counterpoint to the real world today. Originally shared by Anna Godfrey Happy Thursday! Hope your day is amazing and relaxing! "Of all God’s creatures, there is only one that cannot be made slave of the leash. That one is the cat. If man could be crossed with the cat it would improve the man, but it would deteriorate the cat." - Mark Twain "A cat has absolute emotional honesty: human beings, for one reason or another, may hide their feelings, but a cat does not." _ Ernest Hemingway

Too soon. This is not a good week/s in fandom. http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-31858156 http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-31858156

Happy birthday Bryn Smith! Yaaaaay!

Cool. I just found out a friend of mine who pipes bags will be playing, along with others, on stage at a con this weekend with William Shatner in honor of Leonard Nimoy. They will, among other selections, be playing Amazing Grace.

I am sitting in a Starbucks* overhearing a person of a certain socio-economic appearance describing their visit to France and how they ordered dinner at a restaurant and didn't know what they were ordering (because the menu was in French). One of which was something "scaloppine". And assuming it was scallops. That would come with pasta. And getting "something that looked like a thin pork chop". With an ensuing conversation of "I think it's veal" "It can't be veal. Veal would be thick, like a steak." Etc. Finally convincing the person I'm hearing to taste it. I presume from the retching noises that they were not pleased it was, in fact, veal. There was another snippet about asparagus soup, and how were they supposed to know that boeuf was beef, and so on. I should really be thinking good for them, they were clueless and took a risk, and stretched their boundaries. I am finding that sort of non-judgmental approach to be difficult. *...

Pretending to be normal ... The ras el hanout mentioned a few days ago was for this. More specifically, I had some awesome halibut that I decided to try a new thing with - sesame crusted. It needed a side. The halibut was dredged in seasoned flour, egg, and sesame seeds, then shallow fried. The texture came out great, but that's one of the things I like about halibut, its texture. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure I do not like the taste of sesame seeds with halibut. Sad face. I'm sure there is something upon which this crust would have tasted wonderful; it was certainly nicely crispy. Just not halibut. I decided that some sort of Moroccan-ish veggies would go well with the sesame taste, hence my ras el hanout. I did not go full tagine on this. I browned the onions in a little olive oil, added the spices and let that percolate, added some slivered garlic, then added the carrots (wanted them cooked, not mushy). This came out amazingly well. The fresh spice mix had more kick tha...

I ... do not know and cannot even. Too much, blargle, augh!  Dad's really bad, right now. They are trying to move up his surgery date to see if it gives him any pain relief. Meanwhile, the palliative care group that made so much difference last year - no longer exists. I mean, there's a phone number, and people answer it, but they are getting out of the palliative care business. They were apparently even the group that the insurance company referred people to, only, surprise, they don't exist any more. So they are not an option. His primary doctor is away, and that seems to mean that your options are the emergency room. So much for a group practice. After I spoke with the insurance company, they called the doctor's office and now there's an appointment for a different doctor to see my dad on Friday. Wth, it's only 5 days after we first called them. We could always go to the emergency room. The office that will be handling the surgery finally offered some meds. T...

Deep breaths and supportive energy needed and appreciated Thank you.

I don't remember if anyone already linked this. It amused me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3eRp6KMFgo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3eRp6KMFgo

Poll question: Does pizza count as a pie* for pi day? I have to plan my cooking now if I am going to eat nothing but food in some sort of pie form all day next weekend. [*Or is "pizza pie" an historical anachronism? ]

Rambling and pointless except to a few of you who are all classical music, woo! Or maybe not even then. Anyway, if I mention Scarlatti, most people (who aren't going Scar-what-ee?) probably think of Domenico, and mostly piano (harpsichord, really) sonatas. However, his dad, Alessandro, was a really famous Baroque composer well-known for his operas and such.  Skip to the 20th century and probably the best known of Alessandro's arias are the ones stuffed in standardized teaching collections most frequently used to assault junior high and high school music class students. You know, like in choir and stuff, for lessons. To the point that even the purely instrumental students know some of them, just like everybody knows Kreuzer (violin) or Czerny (piano), or something (would this be the right place for #cavnessing ?) Here comes the pointless anecdote. One summer it was really hot out and at a music camp thing and while eating lunch somebody noticed that it was so hot, the cafeteria...

Our stalagmites are melting. And the breaking has begun.

Happy birthing Will Frank!

For Amy Young  http://www.buzzfeed.com/matthewtucker/the-cutest-sloths-that-ever-slothed#.nwY1eWK3YR http://www.buzzfeed.com/matthewtucker/the-cutest-sloths-that-ever-slothed#.nwY1eWK3YR

I am slow. I just realized that the actor playing Spratt in Downton Abbey also played a servant in Gosford Park.

Cooking got done this week, I will eventually post some pictures. Meanwhile, one of the things I decided I wanted was Moroccan style veggies. This needed ras el hanout (spice mixture), which I did not have but it is totally makeable, so I did. There is an insanely long list of what could be included, some of which would be pretty exotic around here. So I used what I had and picked and chose. This list may not look like I chose, but this mix can include 30 or more ingredients. It turned out well when I used it so I'm posting it as much to remember what I did as to share. Ras El Hanout 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1 teaspoon ground mace 1 teaspoon ground coriander 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1 teaspoon ground ginger 1 teaspoon turmeric 1 teaspoon cinnamon 3/4 teaspoon paprika 1⁄2 teaspoon ground black pepper 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice 1⁄4 teaspoon ground cloves 1/4-1/2 teaspoon anise seeds (ground up) 1/4-1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds (g...

Know what I loved about this meme? All the people pointing out everything wrong with it* [in the comments]. There's hope for humanity, yet. * This has to be Lake Ontario to picture Toronto from that angle and that close. And because Toronto is on the north shore of Lake Ontario and nowhere near the Niagara River, which enters Lake Ontario at Youngstown, NY/Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON. There are, like, forts there, and everything from the War of 1812. * The Niagara River is not frozen over. Also, when it does freeze, you get huge uneven blocks of ice, like crevasses on a glacier, which are incredibly dangerous to cross. People try. See next point. * As pointed out by a commenter, without specific permission (unlikely), it is an illegal border crossing. * Lake Ontario didn't even freeze over last year, when you actually could have walked across Lake Erie . Originally shared by Douglas Tyrrell Global warming? Man walks across the frozen Niagara River from Buffalo to Toronto.

I'm not sure whether I'm more surprised that it took this long to notice, or that it made the national news at all. I came across the store when it was a tiny hole in the wall on Broadway in Kitsilano. This guy is the definition of the term "character", as in he's a character. As were many of the people he hired. He was also involved with one of the proper NY bagel places, iirc. Which is a bit of a thing in Vancouver, because the biggest bagel places tend to be Montreal style. If Vancouver versions of Montreal style bagels are really what bagels are like in Montreal, I'll stick with the old fashioned style NY bagels. That aside, I know he moved to a bigger, relatively proper store space on 4th Avenue, which I've never visited. That was 2 years ago. Many of his customers were people without cars, common in Vancouver. Even though Bellingham is only an hour or less away, there are lots of reasons why even with a car you might not want to go all the time - the...

Happy birthday John Dilick!

As an aside, I wonder if after the people in Iran were "detained" and what happened to Nemtsov, if anyone will ever be willing to speak to Anthony Bourdain on camera again. #startingrumors

Today is meant to remind us that the temperature can be unconscionably cold. It is likely a last stab at us, just to make sure. This weekend and going forward are predicted to rise above freezing. Conveniently, just in time for more precipitation. Because additional precipitation is what you want when the temperature goes above freezing.

* tight locked * The other thing that happened late in the day yesterday is that I found out a good friend from my life in the south has cancer. She is our age, you guys. She was a hugely important support for me when things were awful, and she and her family made a big difference in my life. The prognosis is supposed to be good, but that just doesn't matter. It totally sucks that this kind of stuff happens. She has an amazing support network and access to good healthcare, but I wish I could do something besides just be the umpteenth person to say the same things on fb. Stupid cancer.

Happy upcoming BIrthday!

Yesterday was pretty good, except for a couple of things late in the day. One of which was going to visit a family friend whose husband just died from cancer. My mom went to the funeral yesterday. Because of all the ice, and his difficulty walking, my dad couldn't go to either, so I went with my mom last night. Aside from the general not happy nature of these sorts of things, there were a couple of specific things that impacted my awareness. One was that there was someone there who had known both my mom and my uncle (yes, that uncle) and asked about him. Even though I mostly walked away, there were parts that I heard and it did nothing to lessen my displeasure at my mother's involvement. Nor did it reassure me about her insight into herself. I really, really hope this doesn't come back to bite us on the butt. The other thing was the pets. They have a cat and a dog. The cat tends to hide, then appear, rub up against people briefly, and walk away. However, he/she deposited th...

Happy birthday Kevin Otte!

Google's doodle appears to have been touched by noodly goodness.

Maple syrup season may prove limited and short-lived if the weather continues to be weird.

Happy birthday Mel Byrd!

You were bored, right? http://www.romanoriginals.co.uk/page/thedress http://www.romanoriginals.co.uk/page/thedress

Things one doesn't think about, but are microcosms of the effects of conflict and war. Oddly, war was why Kashmir saffron wasn't available for a long time (I think it is available again?), and I knew that, but I didn't think about the Aleppo pepper, which is a super tasty thing. http://theplate.nationalgeographic.com/2014/05/16/a-brutal-war-destroys-a-city-and-a-spice/ http://theplate.nationalgeographic.com/2014/05/16/a-brutal-war-destroys-a-city-and-a-spice

You guys got me thinking about chocolate bunnies. I have no idea where this picture came from. http://gourmetfood.about.com/od/wheretobuygourmetfoods/tp/top10chocbunny.htm http://gourmetfood.about.com/od/wheretobuygourmetfoods/tp/top10chocbunny.htm

I am a sick puppy. I read this headline and immediately thought "because anaphylaxis?" Peanut consumption may be linked to lower risk of death from heart disease. That's obviously not really the point of the article, but we're so bombarded with the increase in severe food allergies, it was what immediately sprang to mind. Survivor bias, it's a thing.

A form of cute. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aey6jzjEOmg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aey6jzjEOmg

Soon to be a thing of the past? https://www.thedodo.com/dogs-in-deep-snow-1021626946.html

Wow, it took until tonight, but it's like 36 degrees out and climbing. It might even reach 38 before it plunges right back below freezing just in time for the morning commute. -_-

Today has not been a good day. My stomach seems to be behaving better, but other things are being problematic and an attempt to improve my personal situation this morning went poorly. I am in a funk, I guess?

It has still not reached 32 degrees. Nonetheless, it has turned from snow to that sort of maybe kind of ice bits/rain?? stuff. It is still supposed to reach 32 overnight sometime. And then promptly turn right back around into the single digits from whence it came. It was around 3 degrees at some point early this morning; it might make 32 overnight. By tomorrow evening, it will be in the single digits, again. Won't that be nice. And I thought driving was fun today.

Feeling crummy so I'm messing around online. FB just suggested I add Stephen Hawking as a friend. Lol algorithms.

I don't know what's wrong with me. I felt fine when I woke up, but sometime this morning just started feeling really badly. Tried drinking some soda water, and that helped a little. Eventually tried taking a zantac and I guess that helped a little part of it, but the wonky head and the generally yucky, achy, vaguely unidentifiable stuff is just hovering like a miasma. Stress? Weather change? Moulting? I just want to feel better.

Having analyzed all the data, the radio announces the avg temp in Feb was 10.9, not 11.1. Get it right!

More photos from the Maw of Doom. Seriously, it looks like a mouth full of icy teeth ready to devour you. I am guessing that overhang is at least a foot away from the house at its greatest distance. This winter is brought to you by the word "cantilever". BUT... Tomorrow is supposed to be above freezing. 33 DEGREES, YOU GUYS. There will be much melting, glacier calving, probable snow collapse, and hopefully no flooding. Because it is also supposed to precipitate, which, after it assists in melting everything, they predict will very considerately freeze all over everything as that is only the daytime high, and it will be right back below freezing overnight. Sadly, I predict flooding for several reasons, not the least of which is blocked drains. #winterthinksitsfunny