Over the last several years I've given a bunch of money to Senate candidates, because I want to turn the Senate blue, and elect more women, and also because often they're in swing states where I figure the candidate's GOTV operation will help the top line of the ticket too. I'd like to think I made a difference, and certainly some candidates I've ( Read more... )

I am at the start of two weeks of reduced social interaction, even compared to my usual fairly isolated baseline. This made a good time to do a great big grocery shop: it can't increase the risk to anyone I saw up to yesterday and isn't likely to increase the risk to anyone I'm seeing two weeks from now. Stop and Shop was emptier than usual as I ( Read more... )

A week ago I bought three bunches of scallions from Baldor thinking I'd make scallion pancakes. In fact I made all kinds of other things that use scallions, like ceviche and khao na kai, and I managed to use nearly two of the bunches before they started to look sad. Tonight it was time to use up the rest of the scallions, though, and I had ( Read more... )

I'm not pandemic baking but I'm doing a lot of cooking. For the most part this is improvisational and doesn't so much result in recipes. I've accidentally made cracklins (yum) and succotash (which is pretty much "throw whatever needs using up in a pan with a bunch of adobo" if there is corn and probably beans in there somewhere). I've discovered ( Read more... )

Twelve or thirteen years ago I picked up a vintage blue-and-white Italian bike frame to build up for fun, fast-ish rides. Shortly after that I bought a very similar (but red) bike on Craigslist, put 144 miles on it in the first 48 hours I owned it, and then proceeded to work on that bike instead (including some work that really should have ( Read more... )

In the Before, I almost never worked from home, because I didn't want to sink the cost of learning how to do that effectively. So of course in March and into April I spent a bunch of time -- about three weeks in all -- coming up to speed on this WFH thing and optimizing my workflow. As part of this I spent a bunch of time on the equipment. I ( Read more... )

One of the several skills I have that I don't use as much as I'd like is bicycle maintenance. I have a whole backlog of projects and all the tools I need and a pretty good spare parts situation. But today I took my bike stand out into the back yard in the glorious weather, and put my Trek 520 up on it, and spent a happy couple of hours doting on ( Read more... )

Another meme! This is the seven truths and a lie meme, famous people I've met submeme. Which one of these have I not actually met?

• Samuel R. Delaney
  
• Richard Feynman
  
• Neil Gaiman (before he was dating Amanda Palmer)
  
• Steven Jay Gould
  
• Amanda Palmer (before she was dating Neil Gaiman)
  
• Fred Pohl
  
• Sally Ride
  
• John Scalzi

(comments screened, because I can.)
(
( Read more... )

Isn't that what social media is for?

I even saw this one here, rather than bringing it here from Facebook.

It/its: Not for people, possibly excepting some extremely kinky situations.
She/her: If we're in an Ann Leckie novel.
He/him: This is what I'm most used to.
They/them: Accelerating linguistic change towards more use of this for everyone is great.
( Read more... )

Just got back from a 25 mile bike ride. Boy, was that good for my head. I definitely want to keep up the tradition of riding my age in miles on my birthday, which is in a month and a half. I might have to bring food along instead of stopping for lunch, and who knows what it'll look like to ride with other people, but I'll be doing something.
(
( Read more... )