Full Performance

Posted 20 Feb 2009

Daily Life | Leave a Comment 

The other day a little message popped up on my computer as I was working during the day:

I greatly regret that I didn’t have a higher capacity AC adapter handy, as I never am satisfied only seeing part of a performance. Like the way video arcade games let you play a few seconds and then ask you to pay to continue, I felt like my laptop wanted me to step up the juice if I wanted to see what it really could do!

Come. Break bread with me.

Posted 19 Feb 2009

Drinks, Food, People, Places | Leave a Comment 

At a fine pub in Oxford, the beer is tasty, the staff friendly and prompt, the chairs are comfortable, and it really does have all the fittings required for a nice modest night out. Unfortunately I can’t recall the name of the pub at this time, but the most important detail is still sharp in my mind.

In addition to offering a nice variety of food and beverages for your enjoyment, this restaurant also had one unique menu item which,  I must confess, I have never seen on any other menu, anywhere in the world. From the fancy restaurant to the hole-in-the-wall to the street vendors, this item has never been duplicated, as far as I know.

Someone to eat your bread with you! If that isn’t thoughtful, what is?  Mind you, you have to pay, but 2.50 is really a very reasonable price for some good company to break bread with, don’t you think?

Daytime is ok!

Posted 18 Feb 2009

Guest Post, Signs, Weird | 6 Comments 

Apparently one would be welcome to trespass before the sun goes down, it’s just the folks sneaking around after dark that creep out these property owners.

Thanks to a couple of readers from Chicago for this photo, taken on their recent vacation in Florida. Stay alert for the chickenmonkeydog events in your life!

Fighting extremism

Posted 17 Feb 2009

Daily Life, Language | 4 Comments 

Doesn’t extreme imply ‘too much’ or possibly ‘dangerous’? If so, can teeth really be too clean? I can just see something terrible happening in a luxurious Hyatt just outside Tulsa, OK:

An unsuspecting guest brushes his teeth with the complimentary toothpaste. He steps unwittinginly out of his room, into the hallway and then onto the lift. As the lift stops on the floor after he get on, he smiles a casual morning greeting.

ALARM! ALARM! TEETH TOO CLEAN! EXTREMELY CLEAN TEETH IN ELEVATOR 17! CALL SECURITY!

To bookmark or not to bookmark

Posted 16 Feb 2009

Daily Life, The Little Things | 8 Comments 

I am not a committed bookmark user. Sure, I have used them to hold my place as a I work my way through whatever book I am reading, but generally I just try to remember the page number before I close the book. Sometimes I have no issues with this trial-by-memory approach. Other times, I am very aware of my system’s shortcomings. (This has been particularly clear as I work my way through The Bookseller of Kabul – a book well worth reading.)

My primary hang-up with bookmarks is what to do with them when I am actually reading the book. Move it forward? Move it backward? Set it on the bed stand? It’s a cumbersome little tool, albeit in quirky way.

So, I am open to suggestions. Do you use a bookmark? If so, how?