Playing a bit of ketchup.

Finally, after three days of feeling like a poo sandwich on stale bread, I feel human again! Hooray! And I think I might even make it through a whole day at work. What's not to love?

 

So now onto some interesting things:

- Microsoft released their WorldWide Telescope application. I installed it and played with it for a bit, and I have to say that it is a pretty nifty little app. I'm not much of an astronomer, but I like looking at pretty pictures of the sky as much as the next guy, and this program is pretty good for that. You can see lots of pictures from famous telescopes, and you get a pretty good 3-d representation of the sky with the constellations marked for your convenience. Of course, the bad part is that it is a microsoft product, and is a pretty big resource hog. But I can totally see using this as a tool to get kids interested in astronomy.

 

- Granny J linked to a courier article about Tsunami on the Square's main light truss (~1,000 pounds worth of aluminum) getting stolen from the Prescott College's WolfBerry Farm location out in Chino Valley. Now this does bother me, because I really do enjoy Tsunami on the Square. It is one of the few events that happen downtown that I actually put on my calendar to attend. They always put on a good show, and it is primarily local folk who show up. So the fact that this happened to them totally sucks.

 

BUT, can they really be surprised that it happened? Anybody who has driven by the WolfBerry farm knows that it is not a secure location. Half-assed is the description that I would give to every bit of that place. Half-assed building (I've been inside), half-assed fence, and half-assed senior projects littering the grounds unfinished. Plus, its location leaves it pretty vulnerable. Miles away from anything but the Yavapai College Agribusiness center. To me, storing $15,000 worth of aluminum out there is like covering yourself with chum and getting in the water with sharks. It's just plain stupid.

 

I hope they get something figured out, because I was definitely looking forward to going to it this year and would be bummed if it couldn't happen because of this set back.

 

- FOOD - We made a great dinner last night (no pictures because I was still not feeling great) using DeCio pasta and some local grass-fed beef strips that we got at the farmers market saturday. I cooked the beef two different ways. Mine had a balsamic marinade (made of balsamic vinegar, olive oil, soy sauce, fresh garlic, pepper, onion, and a whole bunch of other spices). I turned the marinade into a sauce after searing the beef, by reducing and adding some sugar and butter. MMmm... tasty.

 

DaNece's beef got some italian spices, salt, pepper, and a quick sear in the pan (she isn't a balsamic fan).

Overall it was darn tasty, though the sauce didn't really compliment the tomato-basil-garlic pasta all that much. Oh well. :)

 

- I started reading my Robert Frost poetry book. I'm not generally the type to enjoy poetry (some about prose just doesn't work in my head when reading), but by golly this book is good. After I read each poem about twenty times, I start to think that I might have a glimmer of what the hell it means. :)

 

Making this book much better than what I have read in Unweaving the Rainbow so far. Three chapters in and all this book has conveyed is a ridiculous number of analogies, interspersed with the basic idea of "People are stupid and believe whatever is presented to them. So go ahead, and just believe me, because I'm right anyway." Okay, that may be over simplifying it a bit, but that is how it strikes me. The book tries to give a near-existential scientist point of view, which is just plain funny to me.

 

Hoping this one gets better.

 

-No Photos. It's true. I haven't taken a single photo this week. I'm seriously feeling the itch for it, and hopefully will get the chance today on my lunch break.

 

So that is my life at present... :)