Almost every time I’d see them on sale, I’d buy figs. They’ve been such a delicious treat with cheese, ice cream, scones or mac & cheese.
A couple months ago, I learned that what we think of as the fig fruit contains lots of little flowers (that stuff inside that has a sort of grainy texture)—weird to think that I’ve been eating a bunch of tiny flowers all summer long…
Then again, I also enjoy capers.
Love the energy of Tim McMorris’s latest release! If you like this one, check out “Made to Be Free“. And I still think “Shape the World” is fantastic.
In the order in which they were read.
Key: Engrossing Reads Graphic Novels Young Adult
Future Perfect
The Question Mark
Peanut
Tesoro
Go Wild
The Third Elevator
Danza
Last Days of an Immortal
La Quinta Camera
Rules of Summer
Continue reading
Songs I listened to heavily this summer, depicted in two dimensions.
It still blows my mind that Blue Apron figured out to how send out fresh ingredients for delicious, low-fuss recipes for just $9.99 per meal per person (I roll with the weekly box containing three meals for two at $59.94 per box).
But the real boon to me (as an occasionally lapsing health-conscious quasi-foodie) isn’t the convenience, it’s the variety Blue Apron regularly provides—ingredients I’ve never heard of and ways to prepare ingredients I almost always have on hand. And that’s why I’ll be a Blue Apron chef for a while—Blue Apron is a fantastic resource for culinary neophiles, in resonance with our omnivoracious heritage, nicely described in Go Wild as follows…
Because we are omnivores and because we range over the entire planet, it is in our interests to exploit as many food sources as possible. This means that an important characteristic of omnivores is bred to the bone in humans: we are neophiliacs. We have to be. We have an innate love of novelty, of variety, a need to sample new things.
Aug. 15th Addendum: Here are the Blue Apron recipes I’ll be cooking this weekend.
I didn’t think I’d be as enthralled as I am by The Verge series This Is My Next, but the central idea and its deft execution are really working for me. This has shifted me into exactly the mindset the series has in mind, a mindset that perhaps I should have had for a while in this age of consumer electronic abundance: tell me what’s the best out there—the best smartphone, the best digital camera, the best whatever—cut down my information overload, my choice fatigue, and I’ll gladly take it from there. Sure, there’s a bunch of tech options this trust I’ve placed in The Verge is filtering out, but as a recent episode nicely sums up,
…the truth is, most of them are garbage.
Coming from a long readership tenure with Engadget, my attitude had previously been “show me everything that’s out there, lay out the whole consumer tech smorgasbord, and I’ll figure out a supremely well-informed decision.
Then along came The Verge, and they know what they’re doing. Continue reading
There’s this poignant scene in the Honey & Clover drama where Mayama asks demands, “How do I become an adult? What do I do become a person who can support someone else?” How does someone become a person people can rely on? Several episodes later he answers his own question: start behaving like that person. It errs on the melodramatic side, but this scene really touches upon something so quintessentially human.
When thinking about this scene recently, The As If Principle quickly came to mind. The title of this enthralling book by Richard Wiseman comes from the words of William James:
If you want a quality, act as if you already have it.
The realization doesn’t quite come to Mayama in that form, but Continue reading
Am I so touched, so emotionally struck by Apple’s recent videos because they reveal not only the amazing potential of technology being realized but also the amazing potential of humanity being realized?
Maybe it was best put in Halt and Catch Fire:
Computers aren’t the thing. They’re the thing that gets us to the thing.
What the sliz? It still works!
With the poor contrast in this image, it’s hard to tell, but as far as I can tell, but after two days of letting this laundered iPod nano sit unactivated, it’s totally functional: touchscreen responds normally, battery charges, sound output through headphones sounds fine… wow.
Is this device sealed up really good or was it because the iPod went through an efficiency washed with a full load (and therefore didn’t get totally soaked through)? Or both? Whatever the case, looks like I may still be able to recommerce this one!
( And in case you’re wondering what’s on the iPod screen, it’s one of the recent Story of Stuff podcasts. )
Recently, I packed up the worn Kyocera ceramic knife I’ve been using and shipped it to Kyocera’s re-sharpening facility. A week and a half and $10 later (this re-sharpening fee includes return shipping), the chip in it is gone, and it swiftly and smoothly slices through fruits and vegetables just like it did when it was new. Awesome.
I love preparing ingredients for meals with this knife. It cuts well, and its light weight and nicely molded handle make it comfortable to use, so long as I’m careful about my knife skills.
A Contemplative Compilation 