All my life, I’ve been lazy. Through my school years, the most consistent mark on my report mark was the check mark for “does not work up to capacity.” With a long list of chores to do, I’ll go out for a long walk. Or read a book. Or play video [...]
Archive for the ‘not-writing’ Category
impaired executive function
Posted in goals and planning, not-writing, tagged goals, life, planning on December 2, 2009 | 6 Comments »
back in the saddle
Posted in not-writing, tagged family, life on November 30, 2009 | 5 Comments »
The funeral is over. Thanksgiving dinner at Neil’s sister had me thinking a line from Shakespeare, the one about funeral meats and the wedding feast. Which was not totally apt, since we went out for a very nice family dinner after the funeral, and the Thanksgiving turkey was freshly roasted just for the [...]
life goes on
Posted in Recipes, not-writing, tagged family, food, life, Recipes on November 19, 2009 | 4 Comments »
We were in Detroit for the weekend, visiting Neil’s mom. She has advanced Parkinson’s and has been gradually declining for some time. Last week the staff noticed she was limping; an x-ray revealed a broken hip in a place where it couldn’t have a cast. The pain has been bad and it [...]
the valley not so uncanny
Posted in not-writing, tagged life, science and life on October 14, 2009 | 2 Comments »
New research shows that Macaque monkeys also display “uncanny valley” reactions.
The “uncanny valley,” for those of you who don’t know, is a robotics term that refers to a revulsion reaction many people experience when they study faces that are realistic, but not quite realistic enough. The evidence from this study strongly supports a biological [...]
the Polanski thing
Posted in not-writing, tagged life, mini-rant on October 1, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
I’m old enough to remember when Polanski skipped the country. How disgusted I was that if you were rich and famous, you could get away with something like this. That the nobody he raped was going to have to live with this for the rest of her life while he was off living [...]
mailbox tale
Posted in not-writing, tagged family, life, mini-rant on September 30, 2009 | 8 Comments »
One of the joys of living in New England is that mailboxes die unnatural deaths.
making vichyssoise
Posted in Recipes, not-writing, tagged food on September 25, 2009 | 2 Comments »
At the cooking school Tuesday night, Scott showed us how to make vichyssoise, veal cordon bleu, and a peach tart. I was there for the vichyssoise, which I’ve loved since the first time I had it years ago at Scott’s restaurant (Bullfinch’s in Sudbury MA, just down the road from us). Vichyssoise, for [...]
Back from yet another vacation
Posted in not-writing, tagged family, hiking on September 23, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Anniversary weekend in the White Moutains of New Hampshire was wonderful.
Saturday, we played golf at the surprisingly tough 9-hole course in Waterville Valley. Had dinner at the Wild Coyote Grill, which was excellent as always. Walking back the sky was so clear and bright the milky way overwhelmed the constellations. [...]
discussion question
Posted in not-writing, tagged family, food, life, planning, writing on September 15, 2009 | 2 Comments »
So which is the worse waste of time?
* spending a couple of hours reading articles about unsolved murders in the region
* spending a couple of hours playing Fitz and/or WordSlinger and/or Bejeweled Blitz?
* spending a couple of hours puttering around the kitchen with chicken carcasses and dry beans?
I’ve done all three [...]
sometimes it’s just shit
Posted in not-writing, tagged life, mini-rant on September 13, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Lately I’ve seen a lot of supposedly comforting and supportive comments from people in various blogs and in real life, to the effect that “These bad things always happen for a purpose.” (I guess mainly because a lot of bad things have been happening recently.)
And sometimes that’s true. Sometimes life does set [...]
