Sunday, November 25, 2007
it's been a nice, mellow weekend here.
we were in michigan last weekend, and got to see family and friends (thank you, everyone, who came to my birthday party!).
that means that this thanksgiving we were in sf sans family. it would have been sad if we hadn't just been to home, so we were fine with lying low. we went to jeffrey's for thanksgiving dinner. it turns out that, since he's a professional chef, he didn't get invited anywhere either. so we had what we termed a "white trash" thanksgiving: he cooked up the free turkey he got from work, and we had stuffing-from-a-box, frozen veggies, and cranberry sauce right from the can. we had a cheese ball (one of those awesome almond-crusted confections) to start, and finished it off with a storebought pie. yummy-tastic, with little effort.
we saw that band 'band of horses' on friday night at the fillmore, and then yesterday we went to the farmers' market and made a gigundous batch of soup. we've also been doing computer-related stuff (steve's been fighting with 'leopard' and i've been cleaning up my desktop and inboxes), as well as planning our holidays. we're throwing a new year's eve party here in SF, so if you're around, please come!
i guess that's the news here.
oh yeah, and steve thinks i should dress like this for the party. what do you all think?
we were in michigan last weekend, and got to see family and friends (thank you, everyone, who came to my birthday party!).
that means that this thanksgiving we were in sf sans family. it would have been sad if we hadn't just been to home, so we were fine with lying low. we went to jeffrey's for thanksgiving dinner. it turns out that, since he's a professional chef, he didn't get invited anywhere either. so we had what we termed a "white trash" thanksgiving: he cooked up the free turkey he got from work, and we had stuffing-from-a-box, frozen veggies, and cranberry sauce right from the can. we had a cheese ball (one of those awesome almond-crusted confections) to start, and finished it off with a storebought pie. yummy-tastic, with little effort.
we saw that band 'band of horses' on friday night at the fillmore, and then yesterday we went to the farmers' market and made a gigundous batch of soup. we've also been doing computer-related stuff (steve's been fighting with 'leopard' and i've been cleaning up my desktop and inboxes), as well as planning our holidays. we're throwing a new year's eve party here in SF, so if you're around, please come!
i guess that's the news here.
oh yeah, and steve thinks i should dress like this for the party. what do you all think?
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Friday, November 23, 2007
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
two things i'm really excited about tonight:
- hank was a shark for halloween (wearing the costume we bought him)
- rich bayless is opening a place here in sf. granted, it's an outpost in macy's, but i'll take what i can get.
things that i was really excited about last night:
- hot hot heat, which is great in concert
- the fact that the earthquake (a 5.6) wasn't scary at all
- hank was a shark for halloween (wearing the costume we bought him)
- rich bayless is opening a place here in sf. granted, it's an outpost in macy's, but i'll take what i can get.
things that i was really excited about last night:
- hot hot heat, which is great in concert
- the fact that the earthquake (a 5.6) wasn't scary at all
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
in case you need some help generating insults, this handy dandy kim jong il random insult generator could be of assistance.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
i highly enjoyed these articles, and thought i'd share with you all:
- an article in american way magazine (yes, the american airlines magazine) highlighting several people lucky enough to be tasters at fun places (you'll have to scroll down to read it, since their website is lame)
- nytimes's piece on how global warming is changing greenland's flora, which has an especially cool slideshow
- an article in american way magazine (yes, the american airlines magazine) highlighting several people lucky enough to be tasters at fun places (you'll have to scroll down to read it, since their website is lame)
- nytimes's piece on how global warming is changing greenland's flora, which has an especially cool slideshow
Thursday, October 25, 2007
i was at the CTIA show this week (wireless/entertainment show) and i can tell you that the only thing that has had me excited about my phone since the iphone came out is the mobile version of guitar hero that's coming out on verizon soon. sweet!
this promotion between the MLB and taco bell is pretty cool. (thanks, k-bob, for pointing this out).
i don't know what to think of this product. cool? scary? i can't decide.
i don't know what to think of this product. cool? scary? i can't decide.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
steve pointed out that this article about apple cider donuts isn't exactly hard-hitting news, but boy, oh boy, does it make me miss midwestern autumn.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
we are both getting over nasty colds here, and had to cancel our weekend plans to be lame stay-at-home sickos. i got a number of random projects done, caught up on bills/magazines/etc, and we watched two movies, hot fuzz and the illusionist. neither one is going to be on my list of favorites, but both were fine uses of sick time.
of course, i surfed the web too. i found silly things like these special edition seattle seahawks sodas from jones soda co., which are really gross sounding.
of course, i surfed the web too. i found silly things like these special edition seattle seahawks sodas from jones soda co., which are really gross sounding.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Friday, October 12, 2007
check out these amazing photos from nikon's 'small world competition for photomicrography', which is the art of photography through a microscope.
Credit: Dr. Stephen Nagy, Photo courtesy of Nikon Instruments
Credit: Dr. Stephen Nagy, Photo courtesy of Nikon Instruments
i didn't see it (although i found a clip online), but stephen colbert appeared on larry king's CNN show last night. larry accused colbert of using the publication of his new book as a platform to run for president. colbert happily confirmed this, saying that he would seek the nomination from both parties. king then said this was a "cop out," and colbert replied that it actually demonstrated true "courage" because "i could lose twice."
Monday, October 08, 2007
check it out: a travel writer found one of my photos from kauai on flickr, and he's going to use it with some of his articles. you can see one of the uses (with credit given below) here.
Sunday, October 07, 2007
we had a lovely and relaxed weekend. we went up to dillon beach this weekend with our friends liz and steve (& their ridiculous weinerdog, howard).
of course, my steve is sick.
we celebrated his birthday in an extremely mellow way. we took some walks on the beach, the boys flew kites, we played games (we let the birthday boy pick the game), watched a heckuva lotta college football, and cooked quite a bit of yummy food (chunky veggie pasta sauce, roasted chicken, chicken noodle soup, and big hearty breakfasts). that's the sort of mellow weekend i needed.
i have columbus day off of work tomorrow (!), so i now have a day to catch up around the house. that pretty much rules.
of course, my steve is sick.
we celebrated his birthday in an extremely mellow way. we took some walks on the beach, the boys flew kites, we played games (we let the birthday boy pick the game), watched a heckuva lotta college football, and cooked quite a bit of yummy food (chunky veggie pasta sauce, roasted chicken, chicken noodle soup, and big hearty breakfasts). that's the sort of mellow weekend i needed.
i have columbus day off of work tomorrow (!), so i now have a day to catch up around the house. that pretty much rules.
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
this article was on the edit page of the journal yesterday, with the subheading "michigan's worst defeat since appalachian state"
i've copied-and-pasted it in full since wsj.com is a subscription site and it's a pain to link to it.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Hail to the Taxers
October 2, 2007; Page A16
Actor Jeff Daniels makes a cool pitchman in those national TV spots inviting business to Michigan, but soon he may have to start pitching inside the state. At about 2 a.m. Monday, a handful of Republicans in the Legislature broke days of gridlock and handed Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm the $1.48 billion tax increase she has been demanding.
The state's personal income tax will rise to 4.35% from 3.9%, and the rest of the revenue grab will come from a new 6% sales tax on business services. Already 14th in tax burden among the 50 states, according to the Tax Foundation, Michigan is now headed up in the rankings. Congratulations.
The Michigan Chamber of Commerce estimates that two-thirds of the $750 million in new sales tax revenue will apply to business transactions that are tax exempt in most states to avoid a compounding effect that raises costs to final consumers. The tax is especially unfair to small employers that contract out for activities, such as office services, that large businesses provide in-house with no sales tax applied. By the way, last year Michigan introduced a new 4.95% business income tax, which will be applied on top of the sales tax.
Last year, amid the national expansion, Michigan was the only state outside the Gulf Coast to lose jobs and see a decline in economic output. Comerica Bank recently moved its headquarters to Texas, in part because of Michigan's hostile business climate. Michigan's 7.4% jobless rate is the highest of all states and far above the 4.6% national rate.
The state is suffering from the decline of Detroit's car makers, but that's all the more reason to promote policies that attract new businesses -- or at least don't drive current employers to Florida. Ms. Granholm argues that the combination of new taxes to balance the budget, and to finance such new public "investment" as job retraining and education, will reinvigorate Michigan.
She should check her history books. In the past 25 years, the only period when Michigan's growth has exceeded that of the national economy was in the mid-1990s after then-Governor John Engler's tax cutting and welfare reform. For a time, Michigan became the unlikely national leader in job creation. Now the total tax burden is returning to where it was before the Engler years.
Michigan last went on a taxing binge in 1983, and voters were outraged enough to mount a successful recall campaign against two state Senate ringleaders. This time, two of three Michigan voters have told pollsters they want budget cuts, not new taxes. It may be that the only way to get jobs back into Michigan is to make sure the taxing politicians in Lansing lose theirs.
i've copied-and-pasted it in full since wsj.com is a subscription site and it's a pain to link to it.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Hail to the Taxers
October 2, 2007; Page A16
Actor Jeff Daniels makes a cool pitchman in those national TV spots inviting business to Michigan, but soon he may have to start pitching inside the state. At about 2 a.m. Monday, a handful of Republicans in the Legislature broke days of gridlock and handed Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm the $1.48 billion tax increase she has been demanding.
The state's personal income tax will rise to 4.35% from 3.9%, and the rest of the revenue grab will come from a new 6% sales tax on business services. Already 14th in tax burden among the 50 states, according to the Tax Foundation, Michigan is now headed up in the rankings. Congratulations.
The Michigan Chamber of Commerce estimates that two-thirds of the $750 million in new sales tax revenue will apply to business transactions that are tax exempt in most states to avoid a compounding effect that raises costs to final consumers. The tax is especially unfair to small employers that contract out for activities, such as office services, that large businesses provide in-house with no sales tax applied. By the way, last year Michigan introduced a new 4.95% business income tax, which will be applied on top of the sales tax.
Last year, amid the national expansion, Michigan was the only state outside the Gulf Coast to lose jobs and see a decline in economic output. Comerica Bank recently moved its headquarters to Texas, in part because of Michigan's hostile business climate. Michigan's 7.4% jobless rate is the highest of all states and far above the 4.6% national rate.
The state is suffering from the decline of Detroit's car makers, but that's all the more reason to promote policies that attract new businesses -- or at least don't drive current employers to Florida. Ms. Granholm argues that the combination of new taxes to balance the budget, and to finance such new public "investment" as job retraining and education, will reinvigorate Michigan.
She should check her history books. In the past 25 years, the only period when Michigan's growth has exceeded that of the national economy was in the mid-1990s after then-Governor John Engler's tax cutting and welfare reform. For a time, Michigan became the unlikely national leader in job creation. Now the total tax burden is returning to where it was before the Engler years.
Michigan last went on a taxing binge in 1983, and voters were outraged enough to mount a successful recall campaign against two state Senate ringleaders. This time, two of three Michigan voters have told pollsters they want budget cuts, not new taxes. It may be that the only way to get jobs back into Michigan is to make sure the taxing politicians in Lansing lose theirs.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
i know it's a little weird, but i think it's pretty cool: nike designed a shoe specifically for the native american population.
.....................
we had amazing weather the last couple of days, but tonight the fog is rolling in. it's supposed to be nice again this weekend, thank goodness. my good friend ann is coming in from nyc and i'm superduper excited.
today i went to some meetings at google and we ate at their famous free cafeteria. although i've been there before, it's still amazing to see that sort of perk in real life. the indian food is especially good, and has the longest lines.
.....................
we had amazing weather the last couple of days, but tonight the fog is rolling in. it's supposed to be nice again this weekend, thank goodness. my good friend ann is coming in from nyc and i'm superduper excited.
today i went to some meetings at google and we ate at their famous free cafeteria. although i've been there before, it's still amazing to see that sort of perk in real life. the indian food is especially good, and has the longest lines.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
