Kindness reporter
Then Carrie at last turned to Matthew. "And what happened today for you, Bear?"
He finished chewing his dinner and had a sip of milk. Jordan and Victor giggled about some private joke. He spread his arms as if to stop traffic. "Everyone has to listen to me."
Once it got quiet, I said, "Yes?"
"I am the Kindness Reporter."
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A text adventure game for my kids
Recently I have read about so-called programmer abuse -- the practice of grinding developers with inhuman work hours and impossible deadlines. I'm not sure how many of these folks have children, but if they really want to be under the gun, they should announce to their kids that they are writing a game for them.
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Building a list of lists
A long list of items, which often begins simply enough, will become totally unwieldly. On scraps of paper it may be fine, but transfer this list to a web page, and it is about as clear and exciting as a cold bowl of plain spaghetti.
Of course, a little JavaScript could turn this in to several drop down lists, but what if scripting isn't an option? With XHTML and a little bit of CSS, the list can be transformed a navigable menu.
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Hurricane Charlie
Rain blew against the house like gravel from a bazooka. I put a towel under the front door where the rain was blowing in. Lights began to flicker, but everything was holding. From the crashing blackness I heard huge limbs and trunks crack and splinter, the sound of their falling absorbed by the maw of wind.
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Jewel of the Diaper
The Jewel of the Diaper is not for everyone. Weenies, wimps and whiners need not participate. However, it is quite invigorating for all players, a fun form of exercise and guarantees that the Attackers will climb in to bed without a complaint. Just the thing to wind up a late-summer day.
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To Clean a Roof
Houses are living beings. Under the right conditions they become homes. They protect their inhabitants from nature's elements. They expand and contract. They breathe. They care for you. In turn, from time to time in gentle repayment, you must care for them.
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Powerlifting
Powerlifting is different from Olympic weightlifting. The two events in the Olympic event are the snatch and the clean-and-jerk, both requiring explosive movement and technical skill. Powerlifting, on the other hand, is a display of raw strength. It is often called the ultimate strength sport.
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Walk/Run Breaks
In distance running, walk breaks allow runners to go farther than if they ran at a continuous pace. Runners generously applying them to either their daily runs and/or weekly long run will find their endurance increasing by leaps and bounds.
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Long Slow Distance
LSD is also an abbreviation for Long Slow Distance, a method of running known for its relaxed and gentle approach to training.
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Collapse Point
Theorized by marathon runners during the "running boom" of the '70s and '80s and researched by two-time Olympian Kenny Moore, collapse point states that a runner can complete three times his or her daily average before they hit the dreaded Wall. Therefore, a marathon runner must average nearly nine miles per day (approximately 63 miles per week) to have the necessary endurance to finish the race.
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Cinnamon Raisin Bread
Warning: The happy creation of this bread may force you in to the golden rut of making it every week. If you are a fervent bread baker, your longing artisanal loaves could go unbaked for months as the crowds clamor for the following. Unless, of course, you become a Secret Midnight Baker.
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Welcome Home Bread
After we hung up, the house expanded and to keep myself from walking ruts in the tile floors, I did the only thing I could do. I made bread.
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Pasta Carbonara
This is so incredibly yummy and rich. In my house this is a Special Occassion meal, usually contained within the Thanksgiving -- Christmas -- New Year's window. I normally boost the bacon, butter and cream just a wee bit to go with the two pounds of pasta I make.
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Broiled open-cased veggie sandwiches
I used to eat these all the time when I was a poor college student. It has recently made a smashing reappearance in my family's weekly dinner set list. Even my picky 8-year old asks for these.
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Broccoli monkeys
If you want anyone in your circle of cherished souls to eat more broccoli, serve them this. Yes, this will even work on picky third-graders. It is obscenely easy to make. If you have any left, it is even better the next day.
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Chicken enchiladas
This is fairly low-fat dish that my whole family enjoys. It makes enough to have some for the next day's lunch. Leftover holiday turkey goes well in this too. Don't forget to wipe the pot with a warm tortilla. (more)
Olympics junky
It's true. Every two years for two weeks I aggressively binge on the Olympics. From the opening ceremonies to the closing and for every available moment in between, I mainline whatever channel is showing anything Olympics-related. (more)
Geeks as friends
As I grumbled at work about how I have to buy a new computer and have most likely lost nearly everything on it (I performed only a minimal backup just before the disaster), Michelle said, "Bring it in and let me have a look at it."
"Really? You'd do that? What do you want for doing it?"
"Legos." (more)
Dumpster diving with the kids
Luckily, once we climbed the small ladder to peek in we saw that it was empty except for our discarded boxes. No bodies. No gooey refuse. No toothy jaws of demolished construction equipment eager to snap my ankles. I hopped in. (more)
Believing in Santa
"Do you believe in Santa?"
"I do. Let me ask you, do you feel better believing or not believing?" (more)
Physical Graffiti
This has been a year of experiments. None of them has turned out the way I expected, but that's the thing about true experiments -- regardless of the result, there is always data returned from which to learn. (more)
