Mmmmm, Burger....

I just love this photograph. Any guesses as to where this is located? It's pretty famous.

Books I Am Reading

Am reading this.

Just finished reading this.

A Chip Odyssey

When I was a kid, I never ate plain potato chips -- they were totally yuck! At some point either someone invented or I discovered barbeque-flavored chips. Then I ate potato chips. In fact, you couldn't stop me eating potato chips.

Flash forward a couple decades and I find out I should not eat potatoes any more. So what would I snack on? Well, I cannot eat wheat, so wheat crackers are out. I can eat a little corn, so how about corn chips? Okeh, corn chips are fine.

And then, one day, I discover Fritos. Where have you been all of my life? I totally LOVE Fritos (and no, they are not paying me to say this). I cannot eat very many of them, but if I am going to eat a corn chip it will be Fritos. Why should it be that I like corn chips but LOVE Fritos? There is a big difference in flavor and satisfaction.

The other night I asked Matt if he had any idea. Corn chips and Fritos are made from the same three ingredients: corn, oil and salt. Fritos uses only corn oil, while the brand of corn chips we get uses one of four oils -- three of which are not corn. However, while corn chips taste fine, Fritos sends me. Why? I have no idea.

Books I Am Reading

Am reading this.

Just finished reading this.

Til RIP

It is with sadness that we say good-bye to little earless bunny Til (2012 - 2012) who died at the tender age of three weeks. His short-lived fame came from a genetic defect in which he was born without ears. This uniqueness doomed him, however, when during a photo shoot he was crushed beneath the foot of the cameraman. Sometimes bunny heaven is short one bunny and needs to add one unexpectedly.

You can read more here.

Encyclopaedia Britannica Print Edition RIP

I had a very special relationship with my 1966 edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica print edition (1768 - 2012). As a child, I had allergies and asthma really bad -- bad enough to have to stay home in bed, sick and alone (my parents both worked). I spent a lot of that time reading everything from comic books, paperback comics ("Peanuts" being, of course, my favorite) and, yes, the Encyclopaedia Britannica (pictured). I loved little more in life than sitting on the family room rug flipping pages, looking up all kinds of things I never heard of before -- my favorites being dinosaurs and stuff having to do with space (like planets). Man, it was a treasure trove of adventure and science -- as well as a healthy learning experience for a child. I spent many, many hours with my best friend the encyclopaedia.

All those hours exposed to words definitely helped guide me to my profession (writing) because words are so magical and powerful. They can create anything -- anything at all -- and that's pretty amazing. The Encyclopaedia Britannica people still publish their magnificent opus online, but it will never be quite the same as the paper version. It is a sad day, indeed, for word lovers everywhere.

You can read more here.

Books I Am Reading

Am reading this.

Just finished reading this.

Seriously, Now...

Can you ever get too much of baby polar bear Siku? Of course not.

The Siku webcam can be found here.