This evening Anna and I enjoyed some Wicked Chowder. This is a variation of a recipe called Killer Shrimp which I first read about on Matthew Haughey’s Ten Years of My Life. Ingredients 2 tbsps fresh or dried rosemary 2 tsps thyme 1 tsp black pepper 2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped 1/2 tsp fennel … Cod Piece

I started out wanting to redesign my nerdy Web site nerd.newburyportion.com, but instead I came up with a new design that best suited our shared site. Almost a million years ago I toyed with the idea of having a banner photograph at the top of the page, however, I didn’t seem to be able to … Fresh for Spring

Molly cries a lot. No, much more than that. You might well say that from time to time, Molly stops crying briefly. Say, to inhale. The other day we tried to offer Molly some rice cereal. She didn’t seem to like it much. I appointed myself official photographer and busted out the big glass: a … Making It OK

According to an article on CNNMoney.com, Study: CEO pay grows at slower pace in `05, we should be feeling sorry for the poor CEO: The total direct compensation for top corporate CEOs grew by nearly 16 percent last year, a significant increase that was still well below the 41 percent growth of the prior year, … CEOs Feeling the Pain

As part of my post-operative care, I’ve been irrigating my sinuses with salt water. The instructions pretty clearly state that I should use warm or room-temperature water. This morning I made some more “nose water” with the filtered water from the fridge. In went 3 tsp of salt (iodised instead of kosher, sorry) and a … Brain Freeze

I’m a tidy person by nature. My dictionary defines tidy as: ti•dy |ˈtīdē| adjective ( -dier , -diest ) arranged neatly and in order : his scrupulously tidy apartment | figurative the lives they lead don’t fit into tidy patterns. (of a person) inclined to keep things or one’s appearance neat and in order : … Mister Clean

I just got back from the schnoz doctor where the remaining clotted blood and other assorted goop was removed from my sinus cavities. By gods, I can breathe. Really, breathe. Like a normal person. This is so weird. I can’t actually remember a time when I could actually breathe. Maybe when I was a young … I Can Breathe

Thanks to slashdot and Yahoo! News, I just finished reading Mind Control by Parasites, Technovelgy.com. The premise here is that 50% of the world’s population is infected by Toxoplasma gondii (a parasite that lives in a cat’s gut). Toxo (as it is lovingly called at the Merrimac River Feline Rescue Society) starts off in rats. … Toxoplasma Mind Control

Beelzebub himself called to give me the news. In other news GM chief agrees to halve salary, BBC: The chief executive of General Motors (GM) is to take a 50% pay cut to help the struggling carmaker save money. Rick Wagoner and other executives have agreed to reduce their pay and forgo bonuses as part … Hell Has Frozen Over

Perhaps you know that I drink tea. Lots of tea. Between 10 and 20 cups of tea each day (actually that’s really 4-9 mugs of tea, but it takes 10 to 20 cups of water). So it’s safe to say I’m fairly familiar with the packaging for Twinings English Breakfast Tea. But just the other … Why Change