Fri Mar 19 2010 14:30: More REST stuff, this time outsourced to Martin Fowler. In the embarassingly-titled "Richardson Maturity Model: steps toward the glory of REST", Fowler talks about the maturity model I set out at QCon in 2008, and shows examples of services at the different maturity levels.

(3) Wed Mar 17 2010 21:24 Alternate ETag Validation Functions: Yes, months after driving away everyone who read this weblog hoping I would talk about RESTful topics, here's some REST stuff. This is an idea I got from my co-worker Björn Tillenius. I hope someone else has come up with the same idea and given it a better name.

Here's the problem, on a high level of abstraction. Consider a representation (#1):

<p id="1">Forklift</p>
<p class="read-only" id="2">Green</p>

And let's say the ETag of this representation is the string "x".

According to the protocol governing this media type, you can modify the text in any paragraph unless its class is "read-only". So maybe you can PUT a document like this (#2):

<p id="1">Hovercraft</p>
<p class="read-only" id="2">Green</p>

Or PATCH a document like this (#3):

<p id="1">Hovercraft</p>

OK, that's easy. Now suppose that the read-only text changes randomly according to conditions on the server. Let's say the read-only text suddenly changes from "Green" to "Red". If I were to GET the document again, I'd get this document (#4):

<p id="1">Forklift</p>
<p class="read-only" id="2">Red</p>

And let's say the ETag of this document is "y". If I sent a conditional GET with an If-None-Match of "x", I'd get 200 and a new representation instead of 304 ("Not Modified").

OK, but I don't send a conditional GET. I don't get the document again at all. Instead, I PUT document #2, with an If-Match of "x", and the request fails with 412 ("Precondition Failed"). Maybe it should fail anyway; maybe the server is very strict and thinks I'm trying to change a read-only paragraph from "Red" to "Green", which would probably be 400 ("Bad Request"). But we don't even get to that point because the ETags don't match.

The request also fails with 412 if I PATCH document #3 with an If-Match of "x". But there's nothing really wrong with that request. The point of If-Match in conditional writes is to avoid conflicts with other clients, and there are no other clients here. The ETag is different because a read-only paragraph changed on the server side.

One obvious solution is to calculate the ETag only from the read-write portion of the document. This fixes conditional writes, but it breaks conditional reads. A client that requests document 1 and then makes conditional requests will never get document 4. The ETag is no longer a strong validator (update: actually, it's not any kind of validator); the document might change significantly without the ETag changing. So that's no good.

The solution Björn came up with is to split the ETag into two parts. The first part is derived from the read-only portions of the document, and the second part is derived from the read-write portions. The ETag is a totally opaque string to the client, but the server knows what it means. On a conditional read, the server checks the entire ETag. On a conditional write, the server only checks the second half.

In this example, the ETag for document #1 might be "1.a" and the ETag for document #4 might be "2.a". A conditional GET of document #4 with If-None-Match="1.a" would fail, but a conditional write with If-Match="1.a" would succeed. When the write went through, the document's ETag would change to "2.b", and "1.a" would not be good for either conditional reads or writes.

From the client's perspective everything just works: your conditional read returns 200 iff the representation has changed, and your conditional write returns 412 iff someone else is messing with the resource. But is this okay from a standards perspective? Section 13.3.3 of RFC 2616 says "The only function that the HTTP/1.1 protocol defines on [ETags] is comparison." That doesn't seem to prohibit me from defining another one.

If "x" is a strong validator then so is "1.a", but the new comparison function ignores some of its information about the resource state, effectively treating it as a weak validator (update: or as something that's not a validator at all). Is that okay? Would you believe the following definition of a strong validation function? "In order to be considered equal, the second halves of both validators MUST be identical in every way, and both MUST NOT be weak." (cf 13.3.3 again)

I'm interested in your thoughts on this. Smartass comments like "you should have two resources" will not be dismissed out-of-hand but also will probably not convince me. If you're curious, here's the real-life bug that spawned this thinking.

Sun Mar 14 2010 22:34: Speaking of Evan, he's started a new weblog, walltype, where he curates photos from Flickr that fit his own baroque categorizations. I think it has explodingdog-esque potential.

Speaking of new weblogs by my friends: Pat Rafferty's Raffertyesque. Now you have something to read while you look at Evan's curated pictures.

Sat Mar 13 2010 13:29: Evan: "You really need to watch Summer School on the original rental VHS. It's like listening to the Beatles on LP."

(2) Fri Mar 12 2010 08:47 The Long Joke: In 2001 my sister Susanna sent me the birthday card you see before you. It said "Whee! You're 3 22!" I thought this was hilarious, and I kept the card.

Then Susanna had a daughter, and I had an idea. Recently Maggie turned three, and I gave my niece the birthday card Susanna had sent me eight years earlier. "Whee! You're 3 22 3!" The payoff was worth it. "I laughed for like 5 minutes," said Susanna.

Recently I was doing a video chat with Susanna and I mentioned:

L: So I'm jogging for an hour every day, and I realized I wasn't doing enough reading, so I decided I also needed to read for half an hour every day. And I also want to devote half an hour to games, though that's not as much of a problem. And I think I should also allocate at least half an hour for writing. But if I keep dividing up my free time like this then my whole life will be...

S: Organized?

Hmm.

# (0) 19 Mar 2010, 05:47PM: Careful What You Wish For: Suddenly the daytime temperatures here have jumped to 75F and plateaued there. My body isn't adjusting well. I got a haircut from the barber on Crescent (and buzzed Leonard's hair myself), so at least I don't have that sweaty, brain-fritzing perma-hat feeling. But I'm still grumpy and look pale. Let me just add to the whining to fill up this whineglass: computer problems, communication problems with Leonard, procrastination, WOW health insurance companies hate us. I'm sure I could go on, but perhaps it would be more productive to drink some seltzer water and watch The Rotten Tomatoes Show and try to get into a more agreeable mood.

# (3) 18 Mar 2010, 11:12AM: In My Dreams, I Know Everyone: "I was friends with Jerry Seinfeld. We were just hanging out. He had a plot in a community garden so we went over and worked on that for a while...as he dropped me off at the train station, I told him I was worried that I didn't treat him enough like a regular person, because sometimes it was hard to get around how famous he was. He said, 'I think you do a pretty good job.'"

"Sumana's ultimate celebrity fantasy."

"And then I remember being worried about how to talk with my other friends about this. I mean, I don't want to be name dropping, but if it comes up in conversation, 'Oh when I was hanging out with Jerry the other day --,' and the other person asks, and I say 'Jerry Seinfeld,' then it's just coy. Like, either I'm name-dropping, or I'm pretentiously not name-dropping..."

"This sounds like a Seinfeld episode."

# (0) 18 Mar 2010, 10:10AM: Predictions Come True: A French reality/game TV show has reproduced the Milgram experiment. You know, the one about giving a stranger electric shocks, even when he begs you to stop. (Why couldn't they redo the other Milgram experiment?)

About eight years ago, I was thinking of reality shows as psychology experiments that the Human Subjects Committee wouldn't let you do. Turns out I was really right.

# (3) 17 Mar 2010, 10:11AM: In Which I Offer To Do Research For You: So far, no one has suggested things for me to look up at the NYC TV/radio archive. Leonard and I added two items to my list. Frank's Place is a well-regarded eighties dramedy that used a bunch of great music and thus is unlikely to ever come out on DVD due to licensing issues. And the "Persistence of Memory" episode of Cosmos is up on Hulu, and has an anachronistic computing-related montage near the end. Specifically, although Cosmos dates from 1980, the montage includes a Shoemaker-Levy 9 webpage as viewed in Netscape. So Leonard is interested in learning what the original montage featured.

Any other suggestions?

# (2) 14 Mar 2010, 10:18PM: Web: About eleven years ago, I saw a link from Slashdot to a geek humor site called Segfault. I started reading it, then started reading the homepage of one of the editors. Leonard Richardson. He posted something new nearly every day, like a diary. (I didn't know the word "blog" in 1999.) He shared funny lines from his friends, his mom, his colleagues. I kept reading.

About ten years ago, I started reading Joel on Software. Just a few years previous I'd discovered Gerald Weinberg, specifically his The Psychology of Computer Programming, and loved it. So this Joel guy was talking about things I found interesting, and was introducing lenses, metaphors, models that immediately spoke to me. Fire And Motion. Ben & Jerry's vs. Amazon. The Law of Leaky Abstractions. Managers as the developer's abstraction layer (I later heard the synonym "windshield"). Smart and Gets Things Done. The iceberg problem in software development. Five Worlds. Architecture astronauts. I could go on.

Almost exactly nine years ago, I saw a funny line ("Those guys are gods of applied physics!") in an article on SFGate, decided that Leonard guy would appreciate it, and sent it to him. He and I started corresponding, and then hanging out. I went down to Bakersfield with him one weekend to help his mom move. Eventually we started dating.

About four years ago, I saw another pivotal blog post. I was living in San Francisco, in my third year working for Salon, and realizing that I'd like to go into management, and this Joel guy announced that his company was looking for me. Well, for someone who wanted to lead geeks, not necessarily a programmer. I saw that post, then woke up at 3am the next day, thinking, "I have to apply."

I applied, thinking I hadn't a chance in hell. Joel phone-screened me. I'd been told to prepare a short lesson ahead of time, on a topic of my choosing. So I came up with my stand-up comedy lesson plan, which I still use today. He asked whether, if accepted, I could move out to New York the next month. I hesitated a second or two, then said sure. They flew me out for an interview. I got an offer and said yes. Fog Creek paid handsomely to relocate my household. Leonard, who had left Collabnet to work on Ruby Cookbook, came with me. He'd never seen New York before we arrived in January of 2006.

Leonard and I were unhappy that we were moving so far from his mom. Frances had been fighting HIV for more than a decade, and had lived far longer than the doctors had ever predicted, but her health was still perceptibly declining. So I told him he should fly back once a month to see her. But he didn't get much of a chance to do that, because her health started getting much, much worse a few months after we moved. Leonard flew back and spent several weeks with her as she died. I took some time off to go be with her; later I discovered that Fog Creek had quietly, kindly given me those days for free, and not counted them against my paid time off.

Of all the job perks I ever got at Fog Creek -- relocation, half a Columbia Master's paid for, lunches, Broadway tickets, unlimited sickleave, Metrocard, a great library -- that one sticks with me most.

Oh man, this thing is getting long. Anyway. I learned a lot from Joel, before, during, and after my time at Fog Creek. I appreciate his decisiveness, his straightforwardness, his species of eloquence and encouragement, his financial generosity, his entrepreneurial spirit, and his insight. Sure, it wasn't all roses and sunshine, but he changed my life, mostly for the better.

A few days from now, Joel Spolsky will retire from active blogging, ten years after he started. Leonard and I are married, and still live in New York, and will for the next year at least. We still miss Frances terribly. Segfault's been gone for nine years. My Fog Creek salary subsidized Leonard's work on Ruby Cookbook, then RESTful Web Services. I have a master's degree in tech management and am looking for my next job in that field. Fog Creek was 6 or 7 people when I arrived, and now it's thirty or more. All those articles of Joel's are up on the web, ready for us to reread or brandish or rip to ribbons.

And so are my archives, and Leonard's, and Frances's.

It really is a web, isn't it.

# (0) 14 Mar 2010, 03:20PM: QuahogCon and Open Source Bridge: In the US style, the date is now 3/14, which makes it Pi Day. Happy Pi Day! (I'll have to remember to celebrate Mole Day on 23 October; I always forget, despite Mr. Marson's success in making me love chemistry.)

More calendrical news: I'm going to QuahogCon in Providence, Rhode Island, April 23rd-25th. They have infosecurity and DIY/maker tracks. I'm especially interested in a few talks:

• Joan Pepin's Gender Hacking
• Jason Scott's TBD ("Jason gave us a blank slate to work with. We're going to come up with a crazy topic and have him speak on it.")
• Dan Kaminsky's New Research TBA
• Beginner Lock Picking

but of course there's way more advanced stuff about SQL injection and WiFi vulnerabilities and bone-chilling madness, &c., &c. Let me know if you're going; I'm interested in splitting a hotel room with another woman. WILL YOU BE HER?

I've also nearly decided to go to Open Source Bridge in Portland, Oregon, at the beginning of June (right after WisCon, which may be a bad idea). I've submitted a proposal for one talk ("The Second Step: HOWTO encourage open source work at for-profits"), and plan on submitting one or two more.

# (0) 12 Mar 2010, 12:51PM: Huzzah: I offer my congratulations to Dr. Danielle Lee on her successful dissertation defense. It got streamed live on the web which would have given me pause at my oral defenses (for my master's)! Her blog, "Urban Science Adventures!", seems really cool too. (via BoingBoing)

Thu Mar 18 2010 19:55 UTC0UTC Space Audio: I have determined this to be awesome.

Thu Mar 18 2010 19:49 UTC0UTC Vegetarian (and Vegan) Delights of NYC: Mock Duck at Sumran Thai in Astoria, Queens - New York Restaurants and Dining - Fork in the Road: Kind of a walk, but probably worth it

Thu Mar 18 2010 16:27 UTC0UTC Artistic New Directions - Calendar: "Boxers," starring a guy I met on the subway last night, is on the 19th, 20th, 21st, 23rd, 25th, 27th, & 28th of March 2010

(2) Wed Mar 17 2010 07:48 up with the moon: I get up early. I guess 6:30 isn't super early, but it's early to me. Especially when it's dark again right after daylight savings. Maggie's room is next to the garage, and she has set her internal alarm clock to the opening of the door at 7 am as I trot off to work. She screams for Susie to get her to wave good-bye to me.

Today I could hear her screaming from the garage. So I went back in to say good-bye. She kept telling Susie to go to work and me to stay home. Oh, if only.

I guess I need to forgo the luxury of a garage for the home stretch of busy season and just park in the driveway to help Maggie get her beauty sleep.

Tue Mar 09 2010 07:36 to her with love: Happy Birthday pretty! I have a 3 year-old now.

I had hoped to work from home today, but it wasn't meant to be. There's always next year, or the year after that, or the year after that. I do at least hope to cut out early.

Maggie already opened her present from us anyway. We gave her a portable DVD player, in anticipation of the car ride to Bryce Canyon and the plane ride to India. The added bonus is she can now be near Susie when it's time to make dinner, instead of downstairs by herself. She really likes it!

Thu Mar 04 2010 10:19 to sleep perchance to dream: Last night Dalton woke up about 2 am. Being sick and all, I opted to drag myself out of bed and snuggle him back to sleep, which seemed to quell him until about 8 am. We rocked in the rocking chair for about 30 minutes.

During this 30-minute interlude, there was silence, followed by a loud "No!" coming from Maggie's room, followed by more silence. I wonder who/what she was saying no to. It was probably me or Susie. I would love to experience a Maggie-sized dream.

(2) Wed Mar 03 2010 07:54 true love: Dalton is sick, so I got up 30 minutes early to snuggle him since he was whining, and also since I didn't see him last night before he went to bed. He smiled at me and fell asleep in a very akward position, basically staring up at me. I rocked him for 30 minutes then put him back to bed so I could get ready for work.

Then Maggie heard me so I got her up, got her some yogurt, and told her I had to go to work today, but that tomorrow was a daddy home day (ie daddy work from home day). That appeased her.

I get up and go to work early so I don't have to suffer saying to good-bye to the little ones, but they catch on quick. If they want to see me, they set their internal clocks for daddy work time I guess.

(6) Tue Mar 02 2010 07:56 the great leak: Word is finally circulating around the hood about the supposed-impending India extravaganza. Of course, my work still has told me nothing. People I've never talked to have come up to me to ask about India.

We got a new bishopric recently, which inevitably brings change on all fronts. New Relief Society, new callings, and, most importantly, rumors of a new Elder's Quorum Presidency. I told Susie I feel confident that, once released from the shackles of the guilt squad I will be left unfettered, due to the fact that our old Bishopric believed us to be teachers of false doctrine (their words, not ours. In retrospect, I should have asked them to define false doctrine, but I was blindsided, so who knows what I said). Susie doesn't think these kind of notes pass between bishoprics, but I'm not so sure.

This week I should enjoy a brief respite before I pick up for the last 5 weeks of busy season. I hope to enjoy it by spending time with Maggie, who tends to get quite cranky during busy season. She wakes up every morning at 7 when the garage door opens to bid me adieu out the window. I miss my kids when I work so much.

Maggie was sick last week and now it's Dalton's turn. It's hard to watch the kids be sick, but in some ways, it's also nice. They don't have the same energy for screaming as when they are well. They're so cute and pathetic that I actually find them extra-endearing. Is that horrible? It is what it is.

Thu Mar 18 2010 10:32 Third Time is Silly:
Maggie: Mommy, what's on your chin?
Me: What is it?
Maggie: It's an elephant!

I went out to Coldstone and to see New Moon at the dollar theatre with some girls in the ward last night. Hard to believe I stayed awake through a 9:20 movie. It was really fun to spend time with friends and take a break from the kids.

We are staying home today, except for playing outside in the SUNSHINE. Lots of snuggling and reading to ensue.

Wed Mar 17 2010 10:24 Swimming School Dropout: I took Maggie out of swimming lessons. She wouldn't participate or obey the teacher, and was distracting to the other kids. It was a waste of time for everyone involved. We're going to do a couple private lessons instead, so she can have the teachers full attention, and be made to do stuff. At least I got nearly a full refund, because the private lessons are expensive!

(4) Thu Mar 11 2010 15:14 Maggie Quote Round-Up: More movie quotes (including frequent requests to sing "Woody's Round-Up":
To abiabie! and beyond! (Toy Story: it's "infinity", though she denies it if I correct her)
Don't you EVER run away to me again! (Monster's Inc.)
This works! (holding up something to her eye. This is one of Flik's inventions from A Bug's Life.)

She loves going places like the bank and the post office. The other day when we went to the post office to mail a package for Rachel's and Edd's birthdays, she ran in, looked around and said, "Where's Aunt Rachel? Where's Edd?" Not only that, but apparently a "stamp" is not a cute ink mouse you get on your hand like at the library, and she got mad when I said I didn't need any. She was quite disillusioned.

Maggie: What's on yours back?
Mommy: I don't know, what is it? (thinking it's a sticker or something)
Maggie: *climbs on* It's a Maggie!

Also (yeah I fell for it twice)
Maggie: What's on yours nose?
Mommy: I don't know, what is it? (thinking it's marker or a smudge)
Maggie: Glasses!

Bummy toes! (wanting a "bummy tumble" (tummy bubble) on her toes)
I'm just standing on my bed. I'm not jumping on it. (She really was)
She wants there to be a monster under her bed, but when I told her the crocodile (in her Peter Pan coloring book) was going to eat Captain Hook, she went across the room to direct my coloring so it wouldn't eat her.

She says "adain" for again, and uses a "s" sound (more like "ts") for just about any double consonant: tr, dr, sh, etc. So truck=suck, dream=seam, treat=seat.

And best of all, in the car: Those people don't know how to drive!

(2) Sun Mar 07 2010 11:46 the great supermarket class war: A while ago there was some #middleclassinsults trend going around twitter. I don't follow twitter so I don't know about these things unless they bleed over into facebook/ blogs, but I had a look at this one and thought it was retty stupid. Anyway I can't remember how it transpired but it lead to a discussion amongst my friend group consisting of brits and non-brits of the middleclass-ness or lack there of of various british supermarkets. My idea is it going something like this:

Waitrose
Sainsburys*
Tesco
Morrisons
Somerfield
Lidl
Iceland

*I have put Sainsburys above Tesco, despite the fact that I have found shopping for the same things comparable. This is because Sainsburys seems to have a better range of "Taste the Difference" "organics" etc.

The bottom rung sort of bleeds together. I've never been to Lidl but I think Iceland is pretty rank. Budgens/ Costcutter are local supermarkets that never have big versions with delis, etc, so I'm not including them here. (I'm not sure if Iceland qualifies by those terms but it is important to the discussion so whatever.) I'm not sure where Co-op fits in. M&S I have excluded because it is not a grocery store, it is a food store, where you can only buy food that has been preparded and prepacked and costs 4 times what it would if you made it yourself. (I went in one looking for vanilla back in my FOB days... turns out they don't do an M&S own brand vanilla!)

The Hypothesis I want to put forward is simple: It is ironic that in the UK, there is more class status attached to the supermarket where you shop, despite the fact that there is less likely to be a choice (ie you live in a big city and don't have a car, or you live in a small community with only one supermarket in driving distance, and that supermarket has put all of the local shops out of business). In the states this is less likely to be the case (broad generalization and based only on my experience in the highly populated south west where everyone has a car and lives within 10 minutes of 10 supermarkets.)

In the states, by contrast, there are a few exceptions. Whole Foods and similar where the snobby hippies shop. Trader Joes where the proper hippies, students, and other cool people (yes, that is a value judgement) shop. Local and 'mexican' super markets where poor and down to earth people shop. But that's about it. Everything else: Albertsons, Vons, Super Target, those foriegn ones I've only heard of (HEB etc) seem pretty much the same and no one is gong to sneer at you for shopping at one rather than the other. Maybe because they are tooo busy sneering at your for shopping at Walmart. Hmmm. But even that doesn't seem to have the same stigma that it used to.

Back in the UK, where there is great statement attached to your supermarket of choice (or not so choice) not to mention potential price difference, consider the following case study. I have lives in 5 different places since moving to london (all in 2.5 years!) and in each place there was one supermarket within walking distance (proper one with deli, bakery, butcher etc). The first place I lived, in halls in the center of London, had a Waitrose nearby. This is highly ironic. Being central London, the only housing nearby was for students, council flats, and the very rich. The Waitrose catered for the very rich but left the rest of us with little choice. I didn't have a kitchen, so it wasn't a huge deal. I could get my microwave ready meals at the Tesco across from Russell Square tube, about the size of a postage stamp and always with a queue four times as long. Oh well. Then I moved to Seven Sisters where I considered myself lucky to have an enormous Tesco across the street. I suppose this is where I aquired my Tesco habit because when I lvied here before I always shopped at Sainsburys. In East Finchley there was a Budgens and an Iceland. The Iceland was horrible and I only went in if I was feeling particuarily poor, and the Budgens was hideously expensive, mainly because they don't have their own brand so you have to buy the name brand -- thus the refuge for the desperate. There was a massive Sainsburys in Muswell Hill, always crowded but well stocked, however it was a 15 mintute walk (20 with heavy groceries) or a bus ride, and at the time I had a severe bus phobia, so we lived mainly on Tesco orders and topped up at Budgens or places "in town." In Dalston, near Newington Green, there is a massive Sainsburys in the worst shopping centre known to man. Dalston is teeming with life, butchers and vegetable markets and ethnic food stores, so I never understood how that Sainsburys thrived much less was always more crowded than Disneyland, but some things you can only get in a supermarket, or its better, or cheaper, or easier to do your shopping all at once. I don't know. For whatever of those reasons I have been there many times myself, and I always end up wanting to chew my arm off to escape. It's that bad. Well, no more.

The whole reason for these musing is because I recently discovered Morrisons. I took Tonks to the vet in "Stamford Hill" (the bit of Stamford Hill that's right by Stoke Newington station) and I noticed the Morrisons. In my head I got it confused with Somerfield which sells Co-op products so I thought I would go there and check it out and buy some fairtrade chocolate. (There is a Somerfield nearby but I didn't find it.) Whoo hoo! It was one of the most pleasant grocery shopping experiences of my time here. It was crowded, sure, but everyone was polite, the shelves were well stocked, the staff were friendly, no screaming babies and despite the crowds there were no massive queues because all the tills were open. There was a bakery, a butcher, a fishmonger, and a deli, and everything was that much cheaper than Tesco or Sainsburys, but still the same quality. All a 5 minute bike ride from my house. Now, I am trying to kick the supermarket habit, for reasons I'll explain later because this is already too long and I've sat here ages writing it, so I doubt I'll be going to Morrisons every week. But it sure is nice to know its there. I came out very excited, and when I remembered that shopping at Morrisons is supposed to be an insult, I laughed.

On the supermarket class scale, this makes no sense. Morrisons is definitely a 'lower class' supermarket according to these #middleclassinsults. The prices are cheaper, too. But the people in Dalston are not going to trek all the way to Stamford Hill to shop at Morrisons, and the people in Stamford Hill/ Stokie are not going to trek all the way to Dalston to shop in Sainsburys. Stoke Newington and Stamford Hill (to a lesser extent) are definitley areas of middle class-ness in between Dalston and Seven Sisters. For a lot of people, (probably *most* people in London) your supermarket is determined by location. There are always ways around it such as delivery but come on. Why the scale? Why the snobbery?

Vast generalization here, I think that in the US the class obsession is more to do with image, whereas in Britian its more about substance. It's possible that this is changing. That might explain the topsy turviness of this example. A tin of tomatoes is, after all, a tin of tomatoes no matter what the label looks like (except the basics ones... I have in fact found those to be inferior) so, it shouldn't matter where you shop. Hmmm.

Thu Feb 25 2010 17:03 British reserve: There was nearly a riot in the post office today. The queue snaked all the way around and back again. I went in to change some money (going to Amsterdam tonight!) and waited for 10 minutes for someone to come up and say "2 min." and then for another 15. So I wasn't very happy about that and the people in the queue were not very happy with how fast it was moving. Then a guy started ranting and after a few uncomfortable minutes others started murmuring "he's right, he's right."

Might I have joined the riot? Possibly. I was not impressed by how long it took someone to come off their coffee break to take my money, and not to mention today I got a "You were out" sheet in the mail. For the record, I was NOT out and neither were at least two of my house neighbors. I had heard that sometimes lazy posties don't bother with the packages and just give the "you were out" sheets as a matter of course, but I didn't believe it till now. Now I have to go wait in that massive queue to pick up my package and pay £1 for the pleasure. From now on I'm having everything shipped to work.

(2) Thu Feb 18 2010 14:54 A tale of two tomatoes: I have been thinking about tomatoes a lot lately. It started with the tesco delivery missing out the 21 tins of chopped tomatoes I had ordered. Long story short it ended with a call from the manager to apologize and I discovered I am becoming British because instead of demanding the tomatoes delivered for free an my convenience, I accepted his apology. At least I got the original delivery charge refunded.

This afternoon, on my way back home from collecting a brita filter from freecyle, I stopped at the large sainsbury's I love to hate in dalston. My main objects were tea (which Tesco also didn't deliver-- actually I prefer tea from sainsbury's because their own red label is free trade, tastes great and is super cheap) and a filter for the brita, which incidentally I forgot to buy. I also thought I would get some tomatoes since the cupboard is sadly lacking in the department. Then I got to the tomato aisle and remembered this article I read on the guardian about how they are switching their chopped tomatoes from tins to tetra-paks.

I have been having a crisis of conscious since my upstairs neighbor (currently playing the same three chords over and over, but I am doing my best to be equally annoying by blocking him out with amy winehouse.) told me tetra-paks can't be recycled here in Hackney. It turns out they can, but in the meantime I have learned that they are actually really hard to recycle and it's hardly worth it. So I have been torn about what to do about juice and tomatoes, and decided for the benefit of easy recycling to switch from my beloved tomato passata (40p for 500 grams) to canned tomatoes which are slightly more expensive (except when they are on offer, which is why I ordered 21 cans in the first place). But now it seems Sainsbury's has foiled even this small effort. Oh well. In the meantime I bought two cans of whole tomatoes figuring I can put them through the food processor.

I think the best solution would be to grow a years worth of tomatoes over summer and can them. But considering the result of my gardening efforts last year, this is extremely unlikely to happen...

(3) Fri Feb 12 2010 07:50 A Little Spotlight: Yesterday we were at the park with our friends when a news reporter came to get the local buzz on potential snowfall. I thought I'd share the link . Even though we didn't get snow this morning, we were on TV last night at 11pm (you can watch the video at the right). Samuel's response to being a star: "Hey, they changed my voice!"

Wed Dec 30 2009 22:15 White Christmas: Just got back from spending the week at a beach house with my in-laws at Cape San Blas off the Gulf of Mexico. Despite December temperatures of 45-55 degrees, the boys (with the buffering of wet suits) swam every day. Unfortunately, turbulent waters prevented Atticus from enjoying his favorite beach past-time: snorkeling.

"Who wants to snorkel in that water?" he speculated. "Unless you just want to study brown!"

Mon Dec 21 2009 22:38 Disappointment Ruins: We had to cancel an outing and Samuel was very bothered.

"And I put on one sock for NOTHING?"

(1) Wed Dec 09 2009 21:29 Atticus Wonders: Would monkeys perform well on a man-made rock climbing wall? Vote "very well," "not so well," "very poorly." "Very poorly," he decides. "Their posture is for swinging, not for climbing."

Wed Dec 09 2009 21:22 Oh, you have an opinion, do you?: Molly is nothing but a honey-smelling muffin with curly-locks. She formerly demonstrated nothing but interest in her world and its offerings. So--imagine my amusement during moments like this one tonight. I am ready for bath time to end. Like any other end-to-bath time, I reach with towel in hand to take her out. "No, no, NO!" she shouts and shakes her wet curls.

These wonderful bursts of emotion--her first taste of sweet rebellion. I can't help but smile.

Sat May 13 2006 21:59 Obituary: Here is the link to Mom's obituary, printed in the Bakersfield Californian on Tuesday. The death date is wrong, it was actually May 5, 2006

Fri Sep 12 2008 12:51 Funny things: I heard today...

"There are nice ones and naughty ones like 'Hey lets make Icecream sundaes tonight' is nice, while 'Hey babe, I'll bring the nuts and chocolate syrup if you bring the cherry' is naughty."

"Can you believe I'm seventy and still wearing a g-string?"

"I'm going to choke on my ice!" "Don't worry, it should melt before you expire."

(2) Wed Aug 20 2008 01:23 Museum of Ancient Life: Yesterday we went to the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving point. I don't care what your philosophy is on how or when or why dinosaurs etc, existed they are still cool to learn about. I hadn't been to the museum in years but it still was fascinating to walk around. Of course my favorite was t-Rex and the giant shark. I still remember years ago when all of my cousins were in town and we pretended to throw Lorna in the shark's mouth, I ducked from the caveman skeleton that was throwing a rock, and Frances posed with the archeologists because we were sure to be related!

(14) Wed Aug 20 2008 01:21 Precepting: Newsflash... I get to precept this semester in the ER at Ogden Regional Hospital. I am so excited!!!

(1) Tue Jun 24 2008 00:07 lazy: I have nothing much to report except that I am LAZY. I have always known this, but I realize that I really just pretty much do nothing most of the time. I guess it's becaus I have to be so efficent at work and school, that I can't do it at home. oh well.

Current Projects: -catching up on my scrapbook. Doing ok except I haven't started BB season and I just printed 200 new pics. Yes seriously at least 200. I have an addiction. -Finishing my recipe book. I am frusterated because I can't find my 34th ward RS cookbook and it has recipes I need. Otherwise it is looking awesome. -Cleaning my room. Not doing so well, let's be honest. -Laundry. Hate it, need to desperatly do it. and for the love it's FREE finally, why don't I just do it already!?! -petting the dogs and watching TV....very good at this.

Random thought: I went to the movies (finally saw Indiana Jones) and there was a poster that disturbed me... "No children under 6 allowed in rated-R movies after 6 p.m. Keep your child safe." ummm last time I checked children under 6 shouldn't go to rated-R movies period. Not to mention before 6 anyway...

New favorite quote: "All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another." -Anatole France

(3) Thu Apr 20 2006 10:20 PST School: So I am currently attending UVSC. I have had an ok experience and am ready to move on. Next semester I will be attending Blinn at Bryan, TX. I am very excited because I will be 2 hours away from my house instead of 22 hours!!! I am going to get a degree in early childhood education and am very pleased with my degree. I am currently reading a book that is called A Man's Search for Meaning written by Viktor E. Frankl. If you haven’t read this book, i suggest that you do! It has changed my way of looking at things. Take care Shell

(1) Thu Apr 20 2006 10:20 PST School: So I am currently attending UVSC. I have had an ok experience and am ready to move on. Next semester I will be attending Blinn at Bryan, TX. I am very excited because I will be 2 hours away from my house instead of 22 hours!!! I am going to get a degree in early childhood education and am very pleased with my degree. I am currently ready a book that is called A Man's Search for Meaning written by Viktor E. Frankl. If you haven’t read this book, i suggest that you do! It has changed my way of looking at things. Take care Shell

Thu Feb 07 2008 13:10 (Susanna Chadwick) Cookie Cookie Cookie!: I was going to go to the library after Maggie's nap, but she didn't take a nap, and also it is snowing and really blowy. So, instead I made Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies. Cookies! If you have been blessed with one of mom's family recipe boxes, this is in there.

1 cup, plus 2 tablespoons flour
1 cup quick cooking oatmeal
2 T unsweetened cocoa
3/4 t. baking soda
3/4 cup butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
16-ounce package chocolate chips
1/2 c. walnuts, chopped
Mix dry ingredients in a small bowl. Beat together sugars and butter in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Stir in flour mixture until well-blended. Fold in chocolate chips and nuts. Drop batter by teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees. Let stand on sheets 3 minutes. Remove cookies to racks to cool.

Susie the Chef says: 16 ounces of chocolate chips is a ridiculous waste of money and chocolate chips. I put 1/4-1/3 that much. I also didn't put nuts. Even though the batter was pretty dry, I felt like the cookies had a lot of butter in them so I might use a few tablespoons less next time. Next time: yes, they were very yummy!

Thu Jan 24 2008 18:32 (Susanna Chadwick) Yummy in my Tummy: I've been trying out a lot of new crockpot recipes in an attempt to make feeding my family easier, faster, and yummier. Yesterday I put two chicken breasts and half a jar of spaghetti sauce (Ragu was only $1 at Smith's and I had a coupon - I haven't bought spaghetti sauce in years!) and let it cook on both settings for who-knows-how-long. I served it with whole wheat pasta and parmesan cheese and it was yummy. Probably the easiest meal I've ever made!

I also made an eclair cake at John's request. I made chocolate sauce from scratch because I only use it for eclair cake and I am out of money in my grocery budget this month. It was easy and super yummy. I couldn't find mom's recipe, so I 1/3-ed one I found online:

1/3 c. cocoa
1/2 c. water
1/2 c. sugar
Boil for 2-5 minutes.

PS: I uploaded some cute pictures of the bug to our picture blog - click on "Pictures" to the right. And read all my latest articles while you're at it!

Tue Dec 04 2007 22:13 (Susanna Chadwick) Taco Stack: I was a good wife and made dinner tonight. This isn't the recipe I kept the page for, but it was yummy!

1 lb ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
1/2 package taco seasoning
12 corn tortillas
shredded cheese

Brown ground beef with onion in skillet; drain fat. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce and taco seasoning. Place 1/4 c. meat in bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Place two tortillas side by side on meat mixture. Top each tortilla with some meat mixture and shredded cheese. Repeat until each stack contains 6 tortillas layered with meat and cheese. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Cut each stack into quarters. I served it with sour cream and green onions.

Also, Tasha inspired me to make babyfood so I bought a butternut squash, baked it, and pureed it in the blender with a bit of water. It is delicious! Maggie liked it too. I'm not sure it was any cheaper though. I will have to try some other recipes.

Mon Oct 01 2007 23:08 (Susanna Chadwick) Apple-Cheddar Soup: I made this earlier today and it is so yummy. I think I put too many potatoes, because it was kind of chunky.

1/2 c. finely chopped onion
1 T. butter
2 med. potatoes, diced
2 c. apple cider
1 t. fresh thyme
1/2 t. salt
dash cayenne pepper
1 med apple, peeled, coarsely chopped
1/2 c. milk
2 T. flour
4 oz (1 cup) shredded cheese
fresh apple slices

Cook onion in butter. Stir in potatoes, cider and seasonings. Boil. Simmer covered 15 minutes. Add apple. Simmer 5 minutes until potatoes are tender. combine milk and flour - stir into soup. Cook and stir until bubbly. Whisk in cheese until melted. Top serving dishes with apple slices and fresh ground pepper.

Fri Aug 03 2007 12:10 (Susanna Chadwick) Fondue for Two: Last night John and I celebrated our anniversary at The Melting Pot. Maggie got babysat by a couple in the ward with two little boys and had the best time.

We enjoyed our yummy fondue meal, but it was very expensive and now that we've done it I don't think we'll go back. We especially enjoyed the dessert fondue. The waiter told us how to make the cookie and/or graham cracker crumb covered marshmallows (just dip the marshmallows in water), so now we can just do that at home. We were thinking what a fun FHE activity that would be to do with young kids.

(1) Fri Aug 05 2005 08:40 (Pete) The Eagle Has Landed: We made it. I'm writing this now via some neighbor's wireless.

(13) Tue Aug 02 2005 23:06 (Sumana) The Right To Bear Fardels: During a recent summit The Poor Man made some nonsensical remark denying that there's any humor in C.S. Lewis or Shakespeare. One of those half-drunk "contrarian = sophisticated" bits of bollocks.

In refutation, I've found my favorite (so far) joke in the Bard: Act III, Scene 2 of Hamlet, the bit about Guildenstern, Hamlet, and the pipe. Gertrude has sent Tweedlecrantz and Guildendee to check on why Hamlet Jr. is acting so crazay. Our goth protagonist asks Guildenstern to try playing a recorder.

GUILDENSTERN
I know no touch of it, my lord.

HAMLET
It is as easy as lying. Govern these ventages with your fingers and thumbs, give it breath with your mouth, and it will discourse most eloquent music. Look you, these are the stops.

GUILDENSTERN
But these cannot I command to any utt'rance of harmony. I have not the skill.

HAMLET
Why, look you now, how unworthy a thing you make of me! You would play upon me; you would seem to know my stops; you would pluck out the heart of my mystery; you would sound me from my lowest note to the top of my compass; and there is much music, excellent voice, in this little organ, yet cannot you make it speak. 'Sblood, do you think I am easier to be play'd upon than a pipe? Call me what instrument you will, though you can fret me, you cannot play upon me.

Mon Aug 01 2005 12:37 (Riana) Geeks, Fire, and Dangerous Things: Seth and I were at Defcon in Las Vegas this weekend. Seth got our friend Praveen to bring Seth's giant Fresnel lens to the con when Praveen drove out on Saturday. The Fresnel lens is roughly 1 meter in diameter. On Sunday afternoon, as the con was winding down, we took the lens (wrapped in a black sheet for safety) out to a quiet back lot behind the convention hotel and, though the sky was overcast with a thin cloud layer so that we could not focus direct sunlight through the lens, we set some stuff on fire. Seth brought four pairs of welding goggles and two pairs of sunglasses for the group, plus safety gloves for whoever held the lens. It was about 102 degrees out, scorching hot even with the clouds, but before the heat drove me back indoors, I watched Seth and David Weekly burn a brown spot into the side of an aluminum can; turn a piece of wood to charcoal; set aflame and burn through a handful of dry grass; and light an onlooker's cigarette (placed on the ground, not in his mouth!). They also tried unsuccessfully to melt a penny and a quarter. I guess it's not as easy as I thought to burn through your money in Las Vegas.

(1) Sat Jul 30 2005 14:35 (Sumana) She's an ENIAC: From phone conversations today I gather that Leonard and Frances are visiting the American Computer Museum. In contrast, I'll be enjoying Will Franken's comedy shows tonight, whose most computer-related joke is probably his absurdist "voice command for file cabinet" bit. You can get a hint of that style in his "Show!" clip.

Note to local comics I saw in the back room of a pizza place last night: it is possible to do good spam and Match.com jokes. Please try harder.

Sat Jul 30 2005 06:15 (Pete) Mr. Joad's Wild Ride: Today Annalisa and I start our drive out west. On our first trip out, we lost a mirror in the middle of Nebraska at 80 mph, ran over a tumbleweed in Colorado, got our truck towed in LA because it was in 7th Heaven's shot, and almost rented Charles Manson's quaint Topanga getaway... here's hoping for a less exciting trip. Here's also hoping that I will be able to post while I'm on the road. California, here we come!

(5) Sat Nov 21 2009 15:28 On death and dying: Nothing prepared me for the day one of my kids asked me why do people die?, so naturally when Lily asked me that question I was dumbstruck. We decided to buy the new Pixar movie Up. It came highly recommended by many people including Louise, who is a very tough critic. She rarely thinks anything is "really good" so I thought it really must be good.

Aaron popped it in for the kids. I was puttering around, getting things done, and still haven't seen it. It wasn't until the next day while Gunnar was napping, and Lily was watching it as I was doing the dishes. When all the sudden I heard this sad little voice and teary eyed girl peeking over the arm of the sofa almost begging me mommy, I don't want you to die. Why did Ellie have to die? When will she be back? I want Ellie to come back. I don't want you to leave. Why do people have to die? Where do people go when they die? I felt ill prepared to answer all these abstract questions in a way a 5 yr old would understand. All I could do was hug her and cry on each other's shoulder. I know it was wrong, but I promised her I wouldn't die, at least anytime soon. She was so sad and I wanted to reassure her and make her feel better.

Death is such a difficult topic and I think it is every child's worst nightmare. We talked about heaven and the resurrection and eternal families and I think we both felt better. It made me remember life is short and fragile and as a result I have not yelled at my kids as much this past week. I used to ask my mom what would you do if I died? And she would always say I would spank your little bottom. Death is something I struggle with and definitely don't want a lesson on it anytime soon. So the moral of the story is if you watch Up with your kids you might have to explain the mysteries of the universe with your kids.

(5) Tue Nov 17 2009 15:44 for your eyes only: So last week, I tried to write a health care post about my health care of all things. A couple hours after I had posted it, my brain reflected on it and I just about died inside to think I just shared with the world my IUD problems. I quickly got to a computer and deleted it and spent the rest of the night feeling sheepish and wondering if anyone had already read my open book life.

Today, I will give it a go again, yet this time about Gunnar and with much less TMI. Gunnar's health care. My poor little baby Gunnar. I adore this little boy. I could eat him for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and still snack on him throughout the day. Gunnar is and will always be my baby. This little guy went in for his "6 month" ophthalmologist appt. He was actually a few months overdue for a proper one since the past two were right before the move and right after the move and weren't proper appointments at all. We finally got the full blown appt out of the way and have been given two official diagnoses. First, our suspicions are correct. Gunnar has intermittent exotropia. Basically, one eye wanders when he is tired or not on his A game or zoned out. He can have surgery to correct it, but it really isn't too bad yet and the Dr and I both agreed that it is something to look into when he is older like 6 or 7 when "kids start making fun of his eyes in school" as the Dr put it, since his condition is very mild right now. Kids are so mean! And they probably will make fun of him, so when he is older and if it gets worse we will look into that, but for now he is ok. Just ignore his wandering eyes if you speak with him face to face and he zones out.

Secondly, his nearsightedness is now a raging -6.50 in both eyes. A whole 1.25 higher than last dilation. He's legally blind, but with his glasses he has near perfect vision, and it is very correctable with surgery if he chooses to get lasik when he is older. All in all, it is nothing serious. He is a happy, healthy boy. Sometimes, as his mother, I wished my body had been able to make his body more perfect, but there my vanity goes thinking I am responsible for creating my beautiful children. They are Heavenly Father's children and he is just letting me borrow them to discover tremendous happiness, and just a touch of torture.

But, there it is. Gunnar's health update. He is turning 3 in exactly 2 weeks so I better get onto making his well baby check up. Then we shall see how much this boy has g r o w n!

(2) Wed Nov 11 2009 11:33 Burr, it's cold in here: This is all quite new to me, the wearing jackets in Oct and not really letting up. In TX the year Gunnar was born, I was so excited to not have to be my largest in the summer. It may have well been summer because as I recall, it did not get cool until the day I left the hospital with him. Geez, thanks!

Oh sure you might need a zip up in the morning, but by 2:00 you were sweating. I literally NEVER EVER wore jeans from the months of May-Oct. For 6 months I wore shorts every day. Even in April and Nov, the jeans were worn intermittently. But for those 6 months I didn't even look at jeans.

Yesterday, to make more room in my closet, and because I have a large Rubbermaid labeled jeans and sweaters that needed to be unpacked (and still one in the garage), I gathered all my shorts that I haven't worn a single time in a month, and all Aaron's shorts and exchanged places in the Rubbermaid with the jeans and sweaters.

It's not that it has been too bad here, gorgeous weather actually, but if I am not dressed properly my toes and hands will be frozen by 4:00 on. In SA I remember wearing flip flops year round. If it was too cold to wear them, that's ok because I knew by the afternoon I would be fine. It goes like this in the winter-mornings and evenings it is cool. Midday is warm. For a week or two we could have a cold front and then it is chilly, but then it goes away and for 3 weeks you are left with "perfect winter weather" picnic weather if you will. And the cycle continues.

Now maybe I am a tad cold because we haven't turned our heater on past 66 degrees. Perhaps. We are trying to save money, electricity is a lot more here, and all I have to do to get comfortable again is vacuum. (Why does that job make you sweat even in the winter? You are just pushing the thing around.) OR my new favorite thing is what Aaron calls my Back To The Future vest. It is AWE--wait for it--SOME. I have it in a couple colors, and it's perfect. It keeps you cozy at the same time freeing your arms to do household chores without feeling constricted like sweat shirts or jackets do. Plus, Old Navy is having 50% off all their outerwear. (Ok, online they are not quite 50%, they are more like 30% off and they have half the color selection so go to the actual store.) Go and get you one, and if you have an Old Navy card like me, you can get it for another 30% off that making it only $14. It's that awesome.

Now I am looking for some rain boots, because every week it rains cold rain here ALL DAY LONG from anywhere between a day to 5 days straight. My feetsies get cold walking around with wet socks and tennis shoes. So if anyone one knows of awesome rain boots for cheap (you know me, it's gotta be a good deal) please let me know.

(1) Sat Nov 07 2009 14:53 Brisk: During my early morning run today, the sweat from my hands came out on top of my gloves and then turned frosty. I could tell because I was wearing black gloves and it looked like they had been flocked a little bit. Pretty weird--I've never had this happen before. Yeah, it was cold!

Sat Oct 31 2009 13:33 There were four in the bed and the little one said: I love lazy Saturday mornings. I awoke to Gunnar's noise and decided I wasn't ready to get up for the day and that I wanted to see if Gunnar was old enough to snuggle in the morning. Lily is at the age where she will lay down for a couple minutes but I didn't know if Gunnar "got it" yet. I went and got him and brought him in the bed. He knows what snuggling is because at night he always asks for me to snuggle just a minute so when I told him that he went for it.

It's seriously one of my favorite things to do is on a Saturday morning when no one has to be anywhere, just to lay in bed and snuggle and play and laugh with the kid(s). Gunnar is the most affectionate little guy. He leaned over to Aaron sleeping and kissed his cheek and said "I love you daddy". He then snuggled into me and said "I love you mommy, you're my big boy". He calls me that because I go between saying "You're my baby" or more lately "You're my big boy" so now he calls me his big boy too. He knows the difference between boys and girls which makes it that much funnier to hear him say it.

Gunnar leaned over and was pointing to my eyes and said "eww, what's that brown stuff?" I had a little smudged eye liner on from the night before that didn't wash off and he goes "that's disgusting." lol little noodge. Lily woke up finally and came in. Then I got to really snuggle-this girl knows how to spoon. It was the complete family, all four of us in the bed spending time together. It was a great way to start off the day.