It was all Windows’ fault. Windows FTP seems to think that it shouldn’t notify me if I’m overwriting a .htaccess file. So I overwrote one, and killed Typo (The blogging engine that I use for From Harvard Street). It’s fixed now.
Also fixed – all the permalinks to Harvard Street posts now redirect to the corresponding pages at Complaint Hub. So if you’ve linked to a post, the link still works, it just takes you to Complaint Hub instead. I’m quite proud of myself.
From Harvard Street seems to be missing at the moment. I’m working on it. It’s late, though, so it will probably have to wait until tomorrow. Sorry for the inconvenience.
It turns out it was kind of silly for me to manage two blogs. I mean, who needs two blogs? So I’m combining them. If you’re a regular reader of this blog and From Harvard Street, you’ll see some posts you may have read there show up here. They should all be here, in fact.
All the comments from Harvard Street have not been transferred over. They aren’t gone, though, and I may eventually transfer them. If I get really motivated, I might even redirect the permalinks to Harvard Street posts so that they go to the corresponding Complaint Hub posts.
Anyway, if you have any questions, just ask.
If the site looks like crap, sorry. If you’re using Internet Explorer, it’ll probably look really bad. For that, I’m less sorry. You shouldn’t be using that browser anyway.
I’m still working on it. If I don’t get too distracted by Script Frenzy, I’ll finish fixing it pretty soon.
As many of you may have, I saw Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen on BoingBoing the other day. Yesterday morning, we tried her recipe for a Spanish Breakfast Scramble.
I’ve never really tried raw vegan cooking. I mean, I’m certainly not going to start eating vegan exclusively, but that doesn’t mean I can’t learn anything from the diet.
Now, before I go any further, let me just make it clear that the wife cooked all this, not me. I just found the website. Well, BoingBoing found the website. Anyway.
So, we tried it yesterday, and it was quite good. “It was better than I thought it was going to be,” says the wife. I concur.
The fact that you have to watch the video on her website to learn how to prepare the meal is a pretty annoying way of encouraging you to buy her book, but I suppose I understand. As a result of this, I’ve done some quick Googling for other raw vegan recipes. Much of what I’ve found is buried in self-righteous crap – “Oh, you aren’t a raw vegan? You probably kick puppies too.” But I’ll keep looking.
Now, I’m sure Officer Key is just doing his/her job. But that doesn’t mean I appreciate the parking parking ticket I got this morning. $100. Failure to register the car in DC. The policewoman at the station on V St. said my guest parking permit should be all I need. Apparently she’s a liar. On the bright side, however, I now have official DMV-issued temporary tags. I made it from Pentagon City to Columbia Heights (via Metro) to 95 M St SW (via car), got my tags, back to Columbia Heights, put them on, and back to Pentagon City in three hours flat.
That’s two trips to the DMV at 95 M St SW, and two great experiences. Yes, they gave me dirty looks because I haven’t registered the car in time. But I didn’t wait long, and they took care of my problem for another 45 days. By then I’ll have my title, and I’ll be able to get real tags.
I really can’t say enough about how the DMV has exceeded my expectations. True, my expectations were pretty low. And I don’t particularly appreciate the $100 ticket (Not that the DMV gave me that, but they played their role). But I was expecting at least the fourth or fifth circle of Hell when I walked in to the DC DMV, and I got quick and efficient service. The lady at the metal detector even complimented my hemp messenger bag as she searched it.
Well, I guess I can say enough about the DMV. I’m done now.
The wife is in Vegas for work, so I’m left on my own until Thursday. Last night, I cooked a frozen pizza for dinner, but tonight, I thought I’d do something a little nicer. When I was in college and lived near my paternal grandmother, she used to cook me dinner sometimes. It was nearly always the same thing. Steak, steak fries, and peas. She always had Coke to drink, and always had something for dessert. Here I’ve substituted a Red Hook Long Hammer IPA for the Coke, and I was too lazy to cook the peas, but the rest of the dinner is all there.
I made a pretty big greasy mess of the stove, and I overcooked the steak, but it was immensely satisfying nonetheless. The wife, apparently, is going to a sushi buffet with some coworkers tonight, and ordinarily I would be jealous. But not tonight.
I do miss the wife, but she’ll be back soon, and I also appreciate the time alone. The cat and I are hanging out (she was helping me cook. And by “helping me cook” I mean “poking around in the trash and sniffing the bit of leftover gristle in there”), watching some tv, and enjoying our freedom.
You can see the rest of the pictures of dinner here.
I mentioned a book I’m reading earlier. I said I was “looking forward to reading [the book] and understanding a little more about [Islam] and the culture behind it”. Sounds like a good idea, right? Islam has gotten a pretty bad rap lately because of a small but difficult-to-ignore minority, and I feel like I know nothing about the religion and the culture.
Well, it turns out I picked the wrong book. I mean, Robert Payne’s “The History of Islam” is an interesting read. But the guy makes absolutely no distinction between “This is an event which many historians agree actually happened” and “This is a conversation Muhammad had with the angel Gabriel”. None. Both are presented as fact.
The first time I really got the feeling that Robert Payne was a little wacko was page 32.
Soon there came another revelation: it was right and proper for the faithful to kill the infidels.
What? Kill the infidels? There is absolutely nothing in this book between “There is one God, and Muhammad is spreading his word” and “The faithful should kill the infidels”. I’m just not buying that. No one in their right mind looks at that and thinks, “Yeah, that’s cool.”
Later on, in the chapter on the Caliphs of Damascus, he tells of Sulayman, a guy who loved to eat. Maybe a little too much.
He posessed, like many enormously fat people, a steady driving intelligence.
Okay, that’s it. I’m going to finish this book, but I’m going to read it as what it is – a work of historical fiction. I still need a book on Islam. The real Islam. Real information on the history of the religion and the culture, not these fairy tales about decapitations and visions of angels.
Boing Boing: Al Gore’s impressively messy office
It won’t be the first time, nor the last, that I’ll complain about Al Gore. I’m still angry that he and his advisors weren’t able to win a very, very winnable election against an opponent who has done very, very terrible things to our country.
I am not impressed with Al Gore’s messy office. Yes, I know that they say really smart people are often messy. I don’t care. I’m not here to debate his IQ. I am here to debate his dedication to his cause. Does the man who is becoming synonymous with saving the environment really need three monitors and a television running? Does he really need hard copies of all those books and papers? And why not a reusable dry-erase board?
This is why you lost, Al. On the rare occasions when you have a message, you can’t stick with it.
I’m not really sure why Al Gore pisses me off so much. Maybe I just need a nap.
Dear Wonkette readers:
Uh. . . hey. How’s it going? I figure since (with three links since May 3rd) you all make up over 96% of my traffic in the last thirty days, I should say hello.
So, hello. I hope you’re enjoying it here.
I’m not exactly sure why I’ve been linked three times this month. It’s certainly nice to have people reading what I’m writing. My return traffic hasn’t gone up all that much, though, so either I’m not keeping your interest, or you’re all using RSS readers, which I’m not tracking.
I really have no idea how I could be failing to keep your interest, though. I mean, who can resist listening to me complain about owning a car in the city? You should all be riveted. And look out – later this week or early next, I expect to make a return trip to the DMV to try and get temporary tags while I wait for my title to arrive. I know you’re just shaking in anticipation, but you’re going to have to wait.