I was listening to the local classical music station and happened to hear the haunting song that is used in Ken Burn’s documentary, “The Civil War.” For some reason I needed to find out who wrote the song and when. I discovered that the song is called “Ashokan Farewell”. It was composed by Jay Ungar in 1982 and recorded in 1983 by “Fiddle Fever” on their album entitled “Waltz of the Wind“. There is a FAQ to go with the song that explains it’s origins. The song plays for 59+ minutes of the 11 hour documentary. It’s no wonder that song instantly calls up black & white images civil war dead strewn on battlefields for me.

I’ve been out of tea for a while, so I swung by Tea Source yesterday. I bought a packet of my old favorite tea blend, Prairie Passion. After some head scratching I decided that I should try another oolong, so after some guessing I decided to try “Green Dragon Oolong“. After the second cup I’ve decided that this tea is my new favorite. The tea comes out much greener than most green teas I’ve brewed before. It tastes very smooth — like honey. It also stands up to multiple steepings very nicely, making the steep price easier to swallow.

I got out this last Sunday for a short ten mile bike ride. It was fine except it started snowing a few blocks from home. I haven’t gotten around to purchasing any long pants for biking in so by the end of the ride the snow had settled onto my legs making something approximating snow pants but not nearly as warm. I think the thing I liked the least about biking in January wasn’t the cold, it was the road grime that covered me and the bike.

After consultation with my editorial board and the inspiration of the “THE 100 MOST ANNOYING THINGS OF 2005“, I’ve decided to add a new category to the blog called, “Annoyance of the Week.” I plan to chronicle all the things that I find especially annoying throughout the year. If you want to nominate someone or something as a candidate for annoyance of the week drop me a line.

My nominee for Annoyance of the Week is the radical American cleric Pat Roberts.

In week one of 2006, Pat Robertson distanced himself from the pack by stating that God had caused Ariel Sharon’s stroke. Never mind the fact that Mr. Sharon is in his late seventies is overweight and has a stressful job. I’m speculating now, but it also looks like Sharon probably doesn’t get enough exercise — although he does look significantly more lifelike than the other radical cleric Jerry “Looks So Lifelike” Falwell”. If all that weren’t enough reason to have a stroke, MSNBC reports the stroke may have been caused by a medicine combined with a pre-existing condition. Pat has been outdoing himself lately calling for the assassination of foreign government officials and suggesting the reasonable voters in Dover, PA shouldn’t ask God for help in the future. What an embarrassment.

If we all ignore him will he go away?

Seriously which job would you rather have — Pat Robertson’s PR guy explaining to the press what your boss meant to say or would you rather teach angry ferrets how to program with templates in C++? I say bring on the ferrets.

Ed Emberley’s Drawing Book of Animals

by Ed Emberley

One of the great things about having kids is that you get to revisit doing all the things you enjoyed as a child. That means I get to go sledding, play on swings, go down slides and spend time with crayons.

Elise got “Ed Emberley’s Drawing Book of Animals” for Christmas. After I spent hours scrubbing crayon off the walls of her room I realized that she must have a real passion for art. Wanting to encourage this passion I got her an easel and an art instruction book for Christmas. Ed Emberley’s books contain fabulous step by step instructions for making a number of cartoonish animals. You can checkout samples instructions posted on his web site.

Without further ado, check out my latest materpieces.

Every once in a while I notice news blurbs where a celebrity of one sort or another has placed personal items for sale on Ebay. This weekend I was thinking, hey I’m a blogger — practically a bush leaugue celebrity — maybe I should sell some of my possessions on Ebay.

So now you can
buy my old pants on Ebay.

I’m still working on my “Top Ten Reasons to Buy My Pants” list.

If you tell my wife you “bid on my pants” please be sure and ennunciate the “d” in “bid”. She seemed startled when I said someone bid on my pants — turns out she thought someone “bit” on my pants.

In all seriousness, while I’ve bought many things on Ebay, I’ve never sold anything so I’m curious to see how this goes. In my effort to declutter a bit, I’m hoping to sell or donate lots of stuff this year.

Remember if you aren’t just buying my pants, you are winning them!

How to prepare a pomegranate with minimal splatter.

I loved serving the seeds arils during the holiday season. I’m going to make it a Christmas tradition at my house.

Check out the “Yearly Review” at Harpers.

Here is an example of what happened last year.

Did all that really happen or was it a bad dream?

[Link courtesty of boing^2]

Happy New Year!

It’s time for those pesky New Years resolutions. Last year I resolved to be more thankful, drink more tea and spell check more often. Well I gave it a good try and for some definitions of the word success I was successful.

So what are my resolutions this year?

• De-clutter & simplify.
• Spend more money on things that matter & less on things that don’t.
• Do something kind & don’t tell anyone about it.

I’ll let you know how it works out for me.