out of the blue

A fried corn tortilla sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar, with a slice of lime on the side, and followed by a tasty afternoon tea.

Between my thesis, senior project, trying to get good grades in my 19 credits this semester, a UI internship at a local Spokane company, and staying sane on the side, I'm booked. I'll post whenever something comes to mind, or if I have something I absolutely need to say. But you can expect my blog to be relatively empty until early May. See you guys later.

Making Light recently posted The true history of the Bush years, a compendium of Onion articles on the Bush presidency. This quote from one of the articles sums it up well:

President George W. Bush was unusually reflective in the final weeks of his administration, taking time during speeches and press conferences to look back on key decisions, expound on his legacy, and tout his role in paving the way for the nation's first African-American president….

Here are the ten that I thought were the funniest:

(more…)

A few days ago I discovered that ginger and cardamom are in the same taxonomic family. This is a fact that deserves some contemplation. Two of the three best spices, in one family. If it also held cumin, the Holy Trinity would be complete. In a perfect world, it would.

And made it to Portland alive. We left at 5:30 and arrived at 1:30, which is only an hour and a half more than the usual transit time. Some challenging driving from The Dalles to Cascade Locks, but not too bad besides. Except on I-84 coming into Portland we saw about five accidents in a row on a particularly icy stretch of the highway. It was fun to swerve slightly and feel the rear of the car responding in a delayed manner. Anyway, I'm home, and ready to see all you Portland folks.

Sarah and I drive to Portland from Pullman (through the Columbia Gorge) during the brief storm window that is tomorrow morning and early afternoon. If we don't make it, please mourn us by making snow angels. And loving your fellow mankind. It would be a good thing to do anyway.

This statistic floored me. For context, the total estimated population in 2008 is about 306 million. [1] Apparently, there are 2.30 million people incarcerated in the United States. [2] By contrast, we have 1.45 million active military personnel. [3] They're not really related statistics. There's no absolute reason you'd want either one to be above the other. But even so it astounds me. It gets even worse when you look at particular demographics: 1 in 15 black men above the age of 18 are incarcerated. [4] Correctional facility spending has risen 127% annually, while spending on education has only risen about 21%. [4] Makes you wonder what's wrong with our society.

1. Wikipedia: Demographics of the United States
2. Wikipedia: Incarceration in the United States
3. Wikipedia: United States Military
4. PEW: 1 in 100: Behind Bars in America 2008

…. A message from the Big Three.

I'm not usually one for posters, but I want this.

I'm going to be busy until next Monday or Wednesday. That's why I haven't been posting much recently. But don't worry, I've been reading all your fine posts. See you all soon.