Tiff had mentioned small kitchens and storage problems and it reminded me of a setup I have that I love. I can’t recall if I’ve shown it before:

You see, we don’t have a window in our kitchen, so there was this stupid open empty space above the sink. We went to the Container Store and picked up this rack and two shelves (we had some Ikea hooks already). Goodbye wasted space, hello organization!

It holds all of my frequently used things. Measuring spoons, measuring cups, bench knife, spatulas, small measuring cup, cork screw, graters, can openers, peelers, and so on. It’s a great way to organize things and keeps things right at hand. It’s proven to be well worth the money for our tiny galley kitchen with no window.

A photo is worth a thousand words. Take a look at that measuring spoon near the ruler. That’s kinda what I’m looking for. A regular spoon is above it. I want the spoon to work with that bowl you see–you can see why I want a short handle, a regular spoon would be top-heavy (due to the long handle).

So far it looks like BCBS of TX has gotten about $4500 worth of bills from the hospital, path lab, and other stuff. Since I have a $10K deductible, that’s all out of pocket. Like I said, the most expensive Indian lunch in Austin.

For those just starting out in the Real World, or those just getting their finances is order: This is exactly why you always, always, always, always keep at least 6 months of living expenses in the bank. Always. Always. Am I looking forward to paying (up to) $10,000 for hospital expenses? Hell no. Will it wipe me out? Nope. Always save for a rainy day. Because it will rain. Screw the newest gadget, forget eating out — get that 6 months in the bank first. Someday you’ll be glad you did. (The peace of mind alone is enough for me.)

Does anyone know where I can by individual measuring spoons? I don’t want to get a set, I have plenty of those. What I’m looking for is a Teaspoon sized measuring spoon. You know, kind of the half-sphere type.

The trouble is, I want about 10 of them–all the same size. They would be handy for taco sides, putting in the sugar and salt containers, etc. I don’t want a full-sized spoon because their handles are too long and will fall out of the little serving dishes. A small measuring spoon would be perfect, but all I can find are sets. The handle shouldn’t be any longer than about 4 inches and very thin, so the weight is in the bowl, not the handle.

It’s such a simple thing, but hard to come by. And I want metal, too, not plastic.

Poor Evelyn has been sick as can be the last three days. It started out with aches and pains and moved into high fever territory (104 F at its peak). She’s not hungry at all, and is having a hard time even eating chicken soup. So, I prepared a batch of Ron’s Magical Elixir. It’s very Japanese, very light, and tasty.

In a pot, combine the following:

• 2 cups of water
• 2 Tb of high quality soy sauce
• 1 Tb Mirin (Japanese sweet cooking wine)
• 1 Tb sugar
• 1 tsp Hon Dashi (Japanese soup stock, Bonito base)
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, very finely grated (use a Microplane grater)

Whisk together and bring to a very gentle simmer. Try not to bring to a boil. When you are ready to serve, add:

• One small, very finely cut, green onion (scallion)
• 1/4 tsp additional Hon Dashi

Serve in a large mug. There will be enough soup for 2 regular sized mugs.

Mirin you can find almost anywhere, it’s a light yellow cooking wine. I use Kikkoman because it’s widely available. Hon Dashi, a dried fish soup base, might be a little harder to find. I use the Ajinomoto brand. You can buy little packets, small jars, or boxes. I use it a lot, so I have a gigantic 2.2 lb box in my fridge (it keeps better in the fridge). Most normal people will only need the little jars of it. A little goes a long way!

Why do I put the additional dash of Hon Dashi in there at the end? Because the dried fish (Bonito) flavor breaks down when simmered too long. Tossing a bit in at the end gives it a nice kick of flavor. Don’t get put off by the “fish stock” idea. This is a wonderfully light, slightly sweet, broth that is very easy on the upset stomach.

This is also a great general Japanese soup broth (normally without the ginger, I added it to give it a punch for illness-sake). I double up the above and serve with some nice Soba or Udon noodles. Delicious! Just cook your noodles apart from the broth, then put drained and well rinsed noodles in the bottom of a bowl and cover with hot broth. Sprinkle scallions on top, maybe a dash of Japanese red pepper, and enjoy. It’s a wonderful comfort food.

Evelyn and I were watching War Games the other day and I was left thinking, wouldn’t it be so cool to have a computer that looked like the WOPR:

Obviously, I couldn’t have a full-sized WOPR, but I think a desktop sized model would be pretty darn cool. There are enough close-up shots of it in the movie for you to make it “realistic”.

What other movie computers do you think would be cool to re-create as a desktop? The M5 from Star Trek? That would be cool. Hal, maybe.

I rarely read news sites anymore because of all the doom-and-gloom. I’ve given up on sites like Fark, too, because I’m sick of 12 year olds and other assorted rejects fighting amongst themselves. You can pretty much copy-paste one months of content with another and you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. What pisses me off most about the Fark-type crowd are two types of people: The Survivalists and the Retreaters.

The survivalists are the easiest to spot, as they are a cliche. Those people who don’t care what happens to the country — bring it on! they say — because they live on a farm / off the grid / have lots of guns. (If they were so off the grid as they yammer on about, how is it they have Internet access — and so much time to post on Fark? Most farmers I’ve known are so fucking tired after working all day that they wouldn’t have the desire to sit in front of a computer.)

The other group, the Retreaters, probably annoy me even more. They are those who say “America is Fucked, I’m Moving to [County-That-Sounds-Cool]“. I’m moving to Canada, I’m moving to Central America, I’m moving the Southeast Asia. Funny thing is, this group hasn’t even moved out of their parents’ basement.

Why do these people piss me off so much? Because they both Give Up. Instead of staying for a fight, they retreat to the rural utopia or their malaria infested shangri la. Why bother trying to fix things when you can just run away? 

What we need in this country are more true patriots. Not those flag waving assholes, but people who care about this country, its history, and who want to leave it a better place than it was. And, quite frankly, people enlightened enough to realize that the world is turning into one big place, with individual countries mattering less and less. The best and brightest will go to those places that are the most conducive to their success, and I want that place to be the United States.

Instead, we try and keep people out, not realizing that the people who come to this country are the risk takers. The people who have the guts to break away from all their history and start a new life. This is a nation of risk takers, and the second we take that out of our national DNA is the second we become just another washed up place.

Maybe that’s part of the problem. We’re so busy bubble-wrapping our world. We’re so busy not allowing anyone to fail. We’re so busy taking out the ouch out of life. What are you left with? A bunch of fucktards who think the same, act the same, and couldn’t find their way out of a paper bag.

What can I do? I’m only one person! I hear that all the time. To quote Captain Kirk:

In every revolution there’s one man with a vision.

Be that one person with a vision. No matter how small a scale, help one other person, help two, help ten, but help someone. Pass on your knowledge to others. Provide support. Show by example that you aren’t one of those people who have just Given Up.

Can someone explain to me why Atlanta and Nashville are having gas shortages? Oh, horrible Ike! You must have done it! You’ve killed all the Texas refineries! Those Texans must be paying throught the nose for gas! You must have lines around the block!

Except that we aren’t. Gas went up, maybe, 10 cents because of Ike. And no shortages of any kind here in Austin. This is what I call a self-fulfilling prophecy. And an example of the madness of crowds.

The only gas shortages are being caused by people 1500 miles away panicking. It reminds me of the people in bumb-fuck USA worrying that Al-kie-eee-ta is gonna blow up their 2500 person town. Give me a fuckin break.

There are some albums that take some getting into. I felt that way with Kate Bush’s latest, Aerial. There are other albums, however, that you instantly and completely enjoy. “Carried To Dust” by Calexico is one of those albums.

The band has been around for a long time, twelve years I think, but this is the first time I’ve encountered them. How do I describe them? James meets Los Lobos? Manu Chao without the nuttiness? A soundtrack to Fear and Loathing, without the drugs?

The songs drift from traditional Mexican to Southwest America to somewhere else entirely. The intermingling is embedded into the songwriting…a given song will drift from English to Spanish and back to English, without you even noticing it. The Spanish heavy songs are wonderful, everything you’d expect from a solid traditional arrangement (without the ‘crying’).

As an added bonus, it’s a solid album, not a collection of 10 singles. It moves from one beautiful track to the next. Check out the MP3 previews on Amazon if you’d like to hear more. The band site also has a full download of the “Two Silver Trees” track.

This is great music, easily the best album I’ve heard in a long time.

Highly recommended.