An app for the grocery store

With it, my iPhone can scan the UPS of a packaged food, and give me advice about its nutritional qualities.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fooducate/id398436747?mt=8

Fooducate

I want: Sticky Note calendar

http://poketo.com/shop/stationery?product_id=1140

Link to homemade salad dressing

five elements to homemade salad dressing/

I'm trying to remember a great homemade dressing that came on the back of a bag of spinach--to my recollection it was just olive oil, juice an orange, and add garlic salt.

Looking at these five elements, oil, acid, sweet, salt, and aromatic, this recollection might be right.  The fresh orange juice is acidic and sweet, the garlic salt is salt and aromatic.

Shut Up.

You never open your mouth until you know what the shot is. 

Cooling off the Three Cups of Tea outrage

Amira on the Greg Mortensen scandal:

http://amiralace.blogspot.com/2011/04/keeping-things-in-perspective-in.html

in which she points to this news piece, as evidence how difficult it is for anyone to do development/aid work in Central Asia
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/63328

And, even Krakauer points out Mortensen has done a lot of good, has built schools.  Just  not as many has he's said, and the money's not being handled the way you've been led to believe.

I can't bring myself to regret the money I've donated to Mortensen's Central Asian Institute.  I do, however, expect they'll now bring their financial practices into line, and I do hope they'll be able to continue good work.

The Guardian complains that the US uses Mortensen because he provides a feminist pretext for interfering in foreign countries.  I'm laughing because of all the Soviet materials I read in college in Uzbek.  The Soviets needed an underclass to justify the revolution, and chose women as their substitute proletariat.  I'm not on board that furthering women's education is really the same thing.  

Most enlightening review of the Book of Mormon Musical

Most enlightening review of the Book of Mormon Musical

Which I badly sum up in my own words here:

Thinks religion is ridiculous, but Mormon people are nice.  They got the doctrinal details correct.  It's crude, the language goes beyond a few f-words.  There are on-stage sex acts, mimed I presume.  Very, very funny if you like South Park humor, but music isn't that great (road show?) and performers aren't A-list quality.  Evident racism in the way the Ugandan characters are presented.  Big reliance on shock value.

I haven't seen the show, unlike the reviewer I link to above.

My husband saw the show and liked it, but I don't think I would.

Daybook

Book reviews as five-panel comics

http://bnreview.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Drawn-to-Read/bg-p/drawntoread

Where can I read Nicholeen?

All Nicholeen Peck's parenting posts on M*

reading lamp hunt

LED, but 90 of them? too bright?  toggle on column. ~$190

square base is cool but I don't like the traditional shade.

Halogen, ~$300, not modern but functional classic.  

a little too show-biz, halogen,  switch near bulb, $100

LED, switch on column, diffuser is a big old dorky glass circle, ~$150 

"Gyro" bends in 3 places, LEDs, in-line pedal switch (on cord?!), too dental? ~$180

Halogen, high-quality German company, but 4x price

LED, switch on column, looks like shower head, ~$150

LEDs, 20 of them in square pattern,  toggle on column, ~$120

too long a light line?  LEDs, oval base

So, I need three reading lamps--two for our room, so we can read at night, and one for the piano.

I figure stand lamps would be best. And, if they all match, we can borrow the lamps from our room for other musicians when there's a concert at the house.

LED, switch at light, too-shiny chrome finish ~$150

Kacy on Obvious Homemaking Tips

Blog: Everyday I write the Book; Tag: Obvious Tips

best ever.
they're useful, but what makes them really good is:
she's a good writer.

guest post: my son on church talks

It seems like whenever someone gives a talk at church, they always cry excessively.

"boo-bhoo-hoo, sniffle, and that is my secret chili bean recipe, for which I am very thankful. sniffle."

Patio Furniture, of synthetic wicker

Yes, nothing is so dull as watching me shop. But I'm going cross-eyed trying to figure this out, so I'm putting my notes here.

Price range, top to bottom.

Niko 6-pc. Two corners, two armless, two ottomans.
Pros: can make conversational setting. Two armrests can hold drinks.
Cons: lots of pieces.
Confused: silver corner feet
1-2 week delivery

same price
Savannah 3-piece plus table
Pros: Corner and two 5" sides, '
Cons: table wants to be chinese but isn't. Glass top smaller than table surface
Confused: channel that the cushion tucks into. Are the cushions thin, or comfy? No visible feet
3-4 week delivery

$100 less
Encore 4-piece. Chaise long, armless, one-armed loveseat, table.
Pros: lots of positive reviews, including on thickness, comfy-ness, and stability of cushions
Cons:

also $100 less
Euro Lounger Set. One SofaSleeper/DoubleLounge, two club chairs, two sidetables. Conversationally perfect.
Pros: Hey, we can sleep outside. (but we could do that on the trampoline too?)
Cons: Could be considered weird? Tufted cushions on the SofaSleeper.
1-2 week delivery

Also $100 less Panorama 4-pc One couch, one 1-armed, two sidetables
Pros: Good reviews. Could be couch + odd chair
Cons: Cushions are hard
2-3 weeks

$400 less (on sale)
Endura 6-piece: 2 corners, 2 one-arms, armless loveseet, large ottoman
Pros: Darker fabric. Makes nice long sofa plus loveseat plus ottoman.
Cons: lotsa pieces, corners won't work as armrests. Some sliding apart complaints in reviews, no clamps to hold pieces together, suggest using zipties.

$600 less Portofino sofa and table
Pros: Sofa, which is my #1 priority. Cushions look good.
Cons: coffee table hard to put together according to reviewer. No conversational seating, which is my #2 priority. Rather than legs, this has platform style.

Brandon Sanderson, the mormonism seeping into the fantasy

I'm reading Sanderson's The Way of Kings, and I'm a well established Sanderson fan.

I'm wondering who else is caught up short when they read phrases like this:

The [noble] turned to the [man]. "It is better for one man to sin than for a people to be destroyed, wouldn't you say"

(redaction to prevent spoilers)

My guess is that Sanderson knew this phrase would draw us up cold, is supposed to raise our goosebumps and the little hairs on the back of our neck, and freak us out a little. It's a play on what Caiaphas says in weighing the political advantages of having Jesus of Nazareth killed: "Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not." (KJV, John 11:50)

Furthermore, if you're mormon, which I am, and mormonism is something Sanderson is well familiar with, we get the 1 Nephi 4:13 justification, used by an angel telling Nephi to kill a local corrupt ruler: " It is better that one man should perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief."

I don't think Nephi's murder of Laban was justified. The things the "angel" says to me are excuses that don't hold. I'm looking forward to what use Sanderson is going to make of the phrase--is the person who says it evil and unjustified?

But I do like how he inverts it. The scriptural versions are a a death to preserve the faith of many. Sanderson's play is a sin (murder) to perserve the lives of many.

Segullah as a search term

Measuring in feet and inches

Relevant to the school assignment on architecture.

Stonehenge/Spinal Tap
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeGteg74mjw&feature=related
at 5:58

March Menus

Monday: Tuscan Bean Soup, Hamburgers, Fruit tray
Tuesday: Burritos, Fruit Tray
Wednesday: Turkey breast, Cream of Broccoli soup, green salad, garlic bread.

Password Rules

http://blog.zonealarm.com/2011/01/securing-yourself-from-a-world-of-hackers.html?view=infographic

Good to know

Mormon Women podcast on Pantheos

Podcast of Mormon Women roundtable at Pantheos.  I'm posting direct links to the audio files so I can download the podcast to my mp3 player.
http://www.patheos.com/community/theroundtable/2011/01/25/podcast-1/#more-1

Here are the links to the audio files.  Right click on them to download.  I'm taking them with me in the van and on my walks.

http://media.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com/Media/TheRoundTable1_1272011.mp3

http://media.patheos.com/Media/RoundTable2_1272011.mp3

http://media.patheos.com/Media/RoundTable3_1272011.mp3

Dining Room Chandeliers

ET2 Larmes 24-light pendant

linear strand from ZGallerie

Sospesa from ylighting.com

Ether 90 from ylighting.com

Logico Triple Suspension Lamp, Design Within Reach

I'll add more here.

iPod shuffle again

• How Does the World See Me?  Rocks, Sticks, Bugs and Fire (Bengt Washburn)
• How is my life going? Roy G.Biv. (They Might Be Giants)
• What do my friends really think of me? Sam's Second Toe (iCarly)
• Do people secretly admire me? Same Old Scene (Bryan Ferry)
• How can I make myself happy?  Same Thing Happens Every Night (Bill Cosby)
• What should I do with my life? Santa Evita (Evita Sountrack)
• What about children?  Saving Time (Bengt Washburn)
• How will I be remembered? Science is Real (They Might Be Giants)
• What is good advice for me? She is a Diamond (Evita Soundtrack)
• What is my signature dance song? Silent Sea (KT Tunstall)
• What do I think my current theme song is? Simplest Love (Edward Sharpe)
• What do my friends think my current theme song is? Sissyneck (Beck)
• What song will play at my funeral? Slave to Love (Bryan Ferry)
• What is my day going to be like? Small Talk and More Death (Bengt Washburn)

link, great britain, england, etc, explained

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rNu8XDBSn10

iPod shuffle meme, cheated

Here are all the questions:

• How Does the World See Me?
• How is my life going?
• What do my friends really think of me?
• Do people secretly admire me?
• How can I make myself happy?
• What should I do with my life?
• What about children?
• How will I be remembered?
• What is good advice for me?
• What is my signature dance song?
• What do I think my current theme song is?
• What do my friends think my current theme song is?
• What song will play at my funeral?
• What kind of men do I like?
• What is my day going to be like?

Cheat version: shuffle through until I see or think of a good answer.

• How Does the World See Me?--Face Fashion, Bengt Washburn
• How is my life going?--Both Sides Now
• What do my friends really think of me?--Meet the Elements
• Do people secretly admire me?--I Caught Myself, Paramore
• How can I make myself happy?--Noah: Me and You Lord.  Bill Cosby
• What should I do with my life?--More Than This.  Roxy Music
• What about children?--Novacane.  Beck.
• How will I be remembered?--Waltz for Eva and Che
• What is good advice for me?--Of Course, Jane's Addiction
• What is my signature dance song?--Hard to Handle.  Black Crowes
• What do I think my current theme song is?--Glasses, Sandwiches, and Pizza. Bengt Washburn
• What do my friends think my current theme song is?--Take Me As I Am.  Wyclef Jean, Love Actually soundtrack
• What song will play at my funeral?--Simplest Love.  Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros.
• What kind of men do I like? "Ain't No Other Man But You" Christina Aguilera
• What is my day going to be like?  Bust A Move.  Glee Cast.

iPod shuffle meme

Since I've managed to accrue 365 songs into my iPod, here is one of those iPod memes.  I have to answer each question with whatever song title comes up next in shuffle mode.  Half the questions are more fitted for teens than 40-somethings, but I figure a random shuffle quiz fits a random mode.

1. How does the world see me?
"No Air" Glee: The Music Volume 1.
How much I love this song: I don't know this song at all.  I bought this CD for the kids.

2. How is my life going?
Welcome Back.  Bengt Washburn, Earthquake in a Coffee Shop.  Comedy album
i LOVE this track.  "This is Janet."  Ha!

3. What do my friends really think of me?
Black Horse & The Cherry Tree.  KT Tunstall, Eye to the Telescope.
One of those ex-favorite songs I'll always love, but not so much.
"No, no, you're not the one for me."

4. Do people secretly admire me?
Funny, not one of my favorite tracks of his though.
Boycotting Disney.  Bengt Washburn, Earthquake in a Coffee Shop.

5. How Can I make myself happy?
How much I love this song: yes, excellent.
I Just Dropped In (To See What My Condition was In). (soundtrack: Big Lebowski)

6. What Should I do with my life?
How much I love this song: totally unfamiliar with it.
Stoppin' the Love KT Tunstall, Eye to the Telescope
another one I don't know.

so you think it's funny
that you've been calling all the time
and I don't know why I wouldn't follow.
You got me looking up
Even when I'm looking down
You've got me crawling out of my skin.
I am underneath this big ole sky
Stoppin the loving getting in.

7. Will I ever have children? (Ha, I have more children than you.)
How much I love this song.  So Much.
Makes Me Wonder.  Maroon 5

I still don't have a reason
And you don't have the time.

8. How Will I Be Remembered?
How much I love this song:  Also so much.
If I Never See Your Face Again.  Maroon 5.

9. What is good advice for me?
Back to You, John Mayer, Room for Squares
How much I love this song--came with the album.  It's pleasant but I don't know it well.

"I can't turn and walk away."

10. What is my signature dance song?
Old Weird Harold, Best of Bill Cosby
How much I love this song: I bought this album recently, mostly for my son.  But when I listened to it with him, I had to explain to explain so much cultural context to him.  But I thought it was very funny.

But seriously, this is my dance song?  There's no music.

11. What do I think my current theme song is?
Copeland, Billy the Kid, The Ope... (track 20)
How much I love it.  Love it.  Love Copeland.  Love Copeland dances.  Love all that grand, grand sound.  And it's short.

12. What do my friends think my current theme song is?
Growin' Up Mormon.  Bengt Washburn, Earthquake in a Coffee Shop.
Love this track.  I can quote long passages of it.

13. What song will play at my funeral?
Obvious.  Jane's Addiction.  Ritual De Lo Habitual
This is one of the songs I just *love* the sound of.  But don't play it at my funeral  "Digging something up" and "You don't know me."  That would be rude to anyone who would go to anyone's funeral.

14. What kind of men do I like?
Defying Gravity, Glee: The Music Volume 1.
Okay, that makes no sense as an answer.

15. What is my day going to be like? (although it's close to midnight and I'm about to turn in.  If it were morning, I wouldn't be doing such a silly thing as an iPod shuffle.)
Go All The Way (Into The Twilight) Perry Farrell.
Everyday, we're going all the way.  Tonight lighting strikes.
how much do I like this song: I am a Perry Farrell fan.  This song is very commercial, so commercial is it really Perry Farrell, our Perry Farrell?  But its placement in the movie as a soundtracks song, at the high school prom, was just right.  When I hear it I think of little twinkly lights and happy kids.

16. And what came next on shuffle:
High Flying, Adored.  Evita Original Cast album.
how much I love it?  I love it.  We need a question here so I can include it.  And Mandy can sing (pitter-pat my heart)  Make this the answer to all the above questions.

Solar Clipper Watch Schedule

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6am-->noon->6pm-->midn->6am-->noon->6pm-->midn->6am-->noon->6pm-->midn->

6 hours on,

6 hours off,

6 hours on,

12 hours off.

6 hours on,

6 hours off,

6 hours on,

24 hours off.