dastels @ 8:45 pm
So… I’m getting really tired of commuting up the peninsula daily. It’s a drag and worse on weekends. Pretty much all my friends are in the city. So… I need to move my ass up there. I figure I’ll see if I can leverage the collective power of my SF peeps. Here’s what I’m looking for:
- kitchen:
- granite counters and lots of them
- gas range
- microwave optional and really, even not wanted
- nice-ish neighborhood
- convenient for public transit and biking to/from SOMA
- nice view
- new & modern
- a bit of counter in the bathroom
- generous wall space for my desk & bookcases
- moderate sized living/dining area
- roomy bedroom
- laundry in unit or even in building
About 800 sq.ft. seems to be what I’m after (I’m in a 770 sq.ft. place now… and don’t really want to downsize).
Price is somewhat open. <=2000/mth preferably. One caveat is that there can’t be a credit check, as I have no US credit history… being on a cash-only basis since I moved here. I’ve been fucked over by that little detail at the last minute once already.
I don’t know if I can get what I want at the price I want in S.F. I know I can in Chicago, but I also know the cost of living difference.
dastels @ 2:22 pm
Since I got appreciative comments on my tweet of my Christmas brunch (including offers of semi-nudity), I figured I’d blog about it.
Here’s the end result:
I made the apple topping first:
- 2 Honeycrisp apples (more if you want to, you know, make more of it)
- butter
- some sort of sugar
- scotch
Core & peel the apples. Slice thinly. Heat a skillet to low-med. Melt a generous amount of butter in said warm skillet. Add the apples. Cook slowly, stirring occasionally until they are soft. Add sugary goodness. I used honey, but would have used brown sugar if I’d had some. Cook a bit more. Add some scotch (unlike the toast batter (later) I’d stick with scotch here for that lovely butterscotchy flavor you get). I used about an ounce. Continue cooking until the apples are browned & slightly caramelized. Keep warm.
Then the french toast itself:
- sliced, dayish old French Bread
- eggs
- eggnog
- scotch
As I was just cooking for myself and the egg nog is think & rich already, I used just one egg. Beat the egg into ‘nog (I don’t know how much… enough… maybe a cup). Mix in some scotch. I think it gluged twice. With your skillet hot (low-med), soak a piece of bread on both sides in the egg mixture. Fry to perfection. Repeat.
Serve topped with the apples, a handful of pecans, and a dust of cinnamon. Feel free to add a dust of powdered sugar and/or whipped cream as you like.
Enjoy! I know I did.
Note: I used scotch because a) I really like scotch, b) the bourdon I have it too good not to sip straight up, and c) I didn’t think to buy any rum to have over xmas.
dastels @ 10:44 pm
I just got this sleeved up and am ready to test it.
My plan was to call it “Holier Than Thou”, but at least over the holidays, I’ve dubbed it “Angels We Have Heard On High”.
The Curve looks good. Lots of life gain & damage prevention in the 1-4 slots, heavy at 4. Then the angels start showing up.. plenty at 5, a few at six and a showing at 7, 8, & 9.
I picked Reya Dawnbringer for the general, mainly for her recurring resurrection effect. Sure she costs 9 to play (the first time) but you likely won’t have many angels in the graveyard until turn 10 anyway.
I built the deck using plains from Urza’s Saga, 8 of each art. The images of Serra’s Realm are a natural fit for the theme of the deck.
General (1) Basic Land (32) Land (8) Planeswalkers (1) Creatures (28) | Artifacts (1) Enchantments (11) Sorceries (7) Instants (11) |
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The approach is simple: early game fog and life-gain effects. Sweepers to control the board. Angels to beat with, and a few ways to resurrect them. A bit of pump thrown in for good measure.
Just a note. The deck looks way nicer than is shown above. As I said, I used Urza’s Saga plains. Also, all cards are original printings (except for the WoG)… it just a sweet looking deck.
Merry Christmas, y’all.
dastels @ 2:32 pm
I did my first simple hardware project in a long time yesterday. I spent a good chunk of my high school years and immediately after with a soldering iron. Since then, not so much. I recently picked one up and have plans to design & build guitar effects units.
The first project was simple, and accomplished 2 goals:
- The USB cable to hook my guitar to my iMac (for Garageband) was really stiff and annoying to use. I wanted a way to use a standard guitar cable.
- Having the audio output connection on the back of the iMac is a royal pain in the ass. It wasn’t such a problem before, but now that I’m practicing with headphones, it is. I wanted to be able to move between my external speakers and headphones with a flick of a switch. It would also be nice to have a 1/4″ headphone jack
With these goals in mind, I headed to Fry’s for the requisite bits & pieces. After drilling out the project box, I had:
This project was pretty trivial. Just a housing and some wiring. A good re-starter project. Anyway, here’s with the wiring completed:
And the final unit securely in place on the underside of the front edge of my desk:
I have more ambitious projects planned 
dastels @ 12:53 am
I’ve been eagerly looking forward to this movie since first hearing about it sometime in the summer.
From the press kit:
Rarely can a film penetrate the glamorous surface of rock legends. It Might Get Loud tells the personal stories, in their own words, of three generations of electric guitar virtuosos – The Edge (U2), Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), and Jack White (The White Stripes). It reveals how each developed his unique sound and style of playing favorite instruments, guitars both found and invented. Concentrating on the artist’s musical rebellion, traveling with him to influential locations, provoking rare discussion as to how and why he writes and plays, this film lets you witness intimate moments and hear new music from each artist. The movie revolves around a day when Jimmy Page, Jack White, and The Edge first met and sat down together to share their stories, teach and play.
I have a hard time expressing how excellent and inspiring I’ve found this movie. Three of the most innovative, influential guitarists of their time, or maybe even of all time. Just wow.
If you like electric guitar (i.e. you’re white, apparently), or The Edge/U2, or Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin, or Jack White/White Stripes etc., see this movie! Use headphones if your in an apartment or don’t have a home theatre system.. and LET IT GET LOUD.
It’s recently available on DVD and iTunes. [apparently, while on iTiunes now, it's not on disk until Dec 22]
dastels @ 12:05 am
I finally succumbed and bought myself a new guitar. Between feeling the itch for many months, having friends that play, and being blown away by “It Might Get Loud“, I decided the time was right. Merry Christmas to me.
Here it is. Fender Standard Stratocaster, HSS (a humbucker at the bridge), brown sunburst finish and a rosewood fretboard. It feels as good as it looks. To quote Jimmy Page “It’s like a woman, you have to caress it like a woman.”
dastels @ 1:49 am
It’s always interesting riding the bus late at night.
I grabbed a late bus last night after having coffee/dinner in the city with friends & coworkers. All was fine until one stop. There were a couple guys waiting for the bus, both with bikes. The problem was that there was already one bike in the bikerack that will accommodate two. That left one of the guys without a spot for his bike. On a larger bus (the articulated ones) the driver will often let the rider bring their bike in the back door where there some open space. This was late though, and so it was a standard size bus… no room for a bike in the back.
The driver told the guy this “There isn’t room for your bike… I have to ensure the safety of my other passengers.” Instead of being reasonable, and say.. waiting for the next bus, this guy got all in the driver’s face. The driver was resolute. The guy popped his front wheel and a foot (iirc) into the stairwell of the bus, blocking the driver from closing the door.
The driver asked him to back off so he could depart. The dude wouldn’t. The driver threatened to call the cops. The dude said “Fine”.
And that’s what happened. The driver summoned assistance from the police and we waited for them to arrive. An officer arrived in a reasonably short time, calmly dealt with the situation, and we were on our way. I don’t know how the situation ended with the cop & biker, but I do hope a tazer was involved.
Throughout it all the driver was calm and professional. He deserves some sort of recognition or commendation. The guy with the bike, imo, deserves some time on a waterboard. Really.. how rude, self-centered, and inconsiderate can a person be?
Sometimes I wonder how we managed to make it to where we are.
dastels @ 4:55 pm
Today: buttered toasted artisanal asiago batard, avocado, scrambled eggs with UnieKaas Reserve gouda and fresh-picked basil, and a doppio espresso.
