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Category Archives: miscellany
XyliChew Mints
A big box of mints arrived at my doorstep last week. But they weren’t just ordinary mints. No, they were XyliChew Mints with 100% Xylitol! I’ve been a big fan of XyliChew and its dusty purple cousin Ricochet for a couple years now, but their great taste is only one small reason for my affection.
Resolutions
Ben told me yesterday that his new year’s resolution was “to hope that the economics improve.” It was a sweet statement, but I couldn’t help notice that it involved no work on his part–unless you count as work worrying about something over which you have no control.
My resolution is less noble, and it also requires no work …
Mr. Smarty Pants
I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that not one of you is wondering why I haven’t been writing as often on this here website as I used to. Well, I’m going to tell you why, anyway.
It’s not because I don’t have enough time. Never had enough time. And it’s not because I’ve lost interest. The sad truth is that I have too much interest…
Artful Books
Whenever I see something about books as objects, as opposed to books as reading material, I think of my friend Vernon Wiering. Vern is one of the most talented people I know: a masterful bookbinder, carpenter, and tailor. At a time when many people, including myself, spend an inordinate amount of time in the virtual world–for work and entertainment and communication–Vern has remained grounded in the physical world of tangible objects…
Hope
On the bus ride to work this morning, I was listening to the podcast of a sermon given by Rob Bell, in which he quoted Cornel West, a Princeton University religion professor…
Blind as a Bat
This article from People Magazine is over a year old, but a blog I frequent just posted a link to it, so I read it for the first time tonight. It’s a truly amazing story of a boy who uses echolocation, the same technique that bats and dolphins use, to “see”…
Coffee Roaster Upgrade
A couple years ago I started roasting my own coffee, using an old popcorn popper and some green coffee beans I picked up online. A year later, I graduated to a little coffee roaster especially designed for home use. It usually did a great job of…
Looking for a Tank?
Why drive a Toyota Prius when you can drive in style? For the security-conscious motorist, Amazon is offering the Badonkadonk Land Cruiser/Tank. With top speeds of 40mph, this is the perfect vehicle for city or desert driving.
Unusual Day
Today was an unusual day in my town. Five blocks down the street from where I live, there was a funeral for a former President of the United States. Lucy got out of school in time to walk to the Episcopal church with Sara and see the honor guard and the secret service and the hundreds of onlookers. They also caught a fleeting glimpse of Dick Cheney. Apparently Jimmy Carter was there, too…
Food and Wine and Parenthood
An article in the New York Times got me thinking about all of the food and wine websites I come across, even though I have little interest in either food or wine — other than, of course, the ingesting of them. Food and wine led me to parenthood, which completes the three-legged stool of familial bliss. So here it goes, a list of sites to whet your appetites…