Shrimp Gyoza
For my birthday dinner last night, I went to an “Asian Wraps” cooking seminar. There were four dishes, all of them excellent. I did most of the preparation and cooking of the shrimp gyoza below.
el 24 de febrero
I’m officially middle-aged today, and am feeling a lot better about this than my taste buds. On this day in… 1821, Mexico declared its independence from Spain. I know, you were thinking this was what Cinco de Mayo was all about. Actually, Cinco de Mayo commemorates General Zaragoza in the 1862 Battle of Puebla against
My two cents (of Federal Excise Tax)
Last month, I was musing about my phone bill. One mystery was why I was being charged $0.02 more for the Federal Excise Tax than the 3% mandated. I called the phone company, but they were unable to provide any explanation. I asked the public utility commission, who provided the information below. The legal interpretation
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Fun with Skittles
I’m taking a photography class in hopes that I can improve my technique. We have an exhibition in a couple of weeks, and I’m behind on the number of “exhibitable” (ahem) prints. This weekend I rented a fisheye (16mm f2.8) and a macro (105mm f2.8) lens and set out to take a bunch of photos
Home Depot’s Self-Checkout Doesn’t Work
Self-checkout kiosks have been appearing in various stores over the last couple of years. Businesses believe they can save money by having one employee monitor mulyiple registers. Customers are sold these as a convenience. Here’s how it’s supposed to work: You place all of your items on the input tray While there are items on
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Bowling and a Pizza
Among the hidden costs of parenting are the sacks of nickels and dimes embedded in various childrens’ extracurricular activities. You’ll learn about them once your kids are emotionally committed to whatever it is they’re doing. The experience feels a bit like buying a car because they’re expenses for things a rational human being might assume
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How many degrees of Kevin Bacon can be sliced?
I received an invite to join a group of friends in Orkut, “an online community that connects people through a network of trusted friends.” My first reaction was oh, brother, yet another linking portal. I already have entries on Friendster, the “online community that connects people through networks of friends” and LinkedIn, where you can
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Spring is almost here!
Well, not really. But this week has had some mighty fine weather. I was pretty happy after Wednesday’s glorious ride into Seattle to scope out a project for Cascade Bicycle Club’s Bike to Work Month. Today was even better: I folded my bike, stashed it in the back of the plane, and took a quick
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