Archive for December, 2009
Searching for the best Christmas movie…
Dec 19th
Watching movies has never been one of my strong suits as a somewhat-ADD dude. After all, a lot of things in life can happen in 92 minutes, and if I’m stuck in front of a TV, I might miss some of it. Going to the theater is better, because then it’s more of an “event” and I’m forced to sit in my seat for the duration with my cell phone on vibrate.
Should I go for it? Or pick a different one?
With that in mind, since I have some time off for Christmas, I’d like to fire up the DVD player and watch a good Christmas movie (or perhaps several). I’ve mentioned to a couple friends that I’ve never seen…(a gasp will follow, please breathe now…) “A Christmas Story.” I know the little kid with the big 80s glasses who wants a BB gun, and I know there’s a line in there about “you’ll shoot your eye out, kid.” Other than that — call me clueless. I always cry my eyes out during “It’s a Wonderful Life.” I’ve laughed at “Elf” and a few others.
I decided to run a poll about it: What is your favorite Christmas movie? If I’m going to brave the lines at the video store, what should I get?
The poll is on the upper-right of my blog. Your comments are welcome.
I look forward to your votes.
Brownies vs. nuts
Dec 4th
Picking the nuts off the brownie?
Brenda had some great-looking brownies at work today…at least I though they were, until I investigated a little further.
She lovingly put nuts in them, and I’m definitely not a nut guy. More specifically — and I know this borders on OCD or something — I do like peanuts and almonds, but I despise walnuts and pecans. I have no idea why!
- Brenda: “You liked my peanut brittle…”
- Me: “Yes…yes I did. It was fantastic.”
- Brenda: “So why don’t you just have one of my brownies?”
This reminded me of an age-old debate I used to have with my mom (bless her heart). You can substitute “mushrooms” for “nuts” here, because the conversation went that way on occasion too:
- Mom: “Aren’t you going to eat some of _______?”
- Me: “But Mom, it has little pieces of [pecan | mushroom] in it!”
- Mom: “They’re really small, and you can’t even taste them.”
- Me: “Then why would you bother putting them in?”
It’s amazing how many times this conversation has repeated itself over the course of my life. I’ll just do my Tom Hanks impression — from the movie Big where he nibbles on the “baby corn” at the dinner party. I’ll delicately eat around the nuts and enjoy the rest.
Is your life full of nuts/mushrooms that are irritatingly tough to pick out, but provide a little texture and variety anyway?
Here’s the deal: You need an online backup.
Dec 1st
- Note: this blog post was originally published March 10, 2009 but the advice is as good as ever. Mozy is offering me a small referral bonus of additional storage space if you sign up. So…full disclosure, blah blah blah; this is more about you than me, but I do get a tiny spiff of extra Mozy megabytes if you click on my referral link and sign up for the free account.
OK, gang, I’m sitting here restoring a few hundred document files to my reformatted and newly-OS’d hard drive while the thunder rolls, and the lightning strikes (thank you, Garth).
And it reminds me how desperately EVERYONE needs to backup their files. Unless you’re storing all of your documents and work-in-progress in the “cloud” (Google Docs, etc.), you really need to back up your important files. I guarantee you will be burned by NOT doing this…something will happen and the technician (or neighbor) will say, “so…we’ve fixed your computer, now where are your backups?”
I’ve been a big fan of Mozy, an online backup service that offers you 2 gigabytes of FREE storage. Online. While you sleep. Securely. Somewhere out there…beneath the pale moonlight (thank you, Linda Rondstadt).
So here’s what I want you to do. Stop what you’re doing right now, and go here and sign up for the “Mozy Free” account. It really is free, and it really does work.
When your computer goes kaput, you’ll be so glad you did this. I’ve found their service to be very reliable and intensely easy to use. It’s basically a “set it and forget it” thing — your files are backed up and you never need to worry. Obviously, they’d like you sign up for a higher-capacity paid option, and you probably should — but for now, at least take this step and start backing up your stuff.
Thank me later, when lightning takes out your computer, and you gleefully restore everything with a few clicks.
Tupperware vs. Gladware
Dec 1st
Evelyn and I were discussing my recent kitchen overhaul.
After Meg left this past weekend from her awesome help, I ended up with a giant table full of Gladware. It was like the Island of Misfit Toys. Lids that didn’t fit anything, containers without lids, extra lids from who-knows-where, and a few thick thermal coffee mug lids (with no corresponding mugs) for good measure.
What to do…what to do?
Evelyn and I decided there’s a great mystery afloat: you purchase Gladware because it’s cheap, it’s disposable, and it’s really not so much for posterity, right? And you pay $40 for a single plastic bowl from Tupperware because you want its durability, lifetime guarantee, and all-around usefulness…
So why is it that the Tupperware always disappears (at the church potluck dinners…with the sick friends to whom you take some good food…wherever), and the Gladware stays around, way beyond its useful life?
Great mysteries.
We think Gladware is akin to fruitcake. Nobody really knows why it persists for so long.
Tupperware is like those really good no-bake cookies everyone snarfs down — turn your head and it’s gone. Go figure.