In 1861 Charles Darwin wrote a letter to Charles Lyell, a Scottish geologist, who besides his many scientific contributions, also advocated the use of geological surveys and explained the cause of earthquakes. Darwin, of course, brought us the first version of the theory of evolution, fundamentally altering the entire field of biology and irrevocably influencing
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How We Become Our Parents
I’m having a really frustrating day. SPF/DCIM authentication is an evil torture, created to make people go nuts, and I’m sticking to that story. I think I might be getting dumber. Braining seems to be more difficult, especially when it’s something that’s not in my typical wheelhouse. Or maybe it’s just the lack of sleep.
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Closet Questions
This weekend I bit the proverbial bullet and tackled my closet. I hadn’t cleaned my closet in 5 years. It doesn’t seen to bad until you consider that when we moved, I simply transferred the hangers from one house to the other. Some of my clothes were so old, they could’ve gotten their own driver
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Fog of War
In strategy video games, the kind where you build a base and then send your scouts out to find more resources, most of the map is covered by the fog of war, a dense cloud-like blanket that recedes as the scouts explore the map. I have sent all my mental scouts out and the fog
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Happy New Year
It is 2023, the year of the Rabbit in the Chinese calendar, which will officially begin on January 22. Rabbits jump high so our highs will be very high and our lows will be very low. Never mind all that. I wish you a boring year. May you have as few up and downs as
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Monday After Christmas
We had a very nice Christmas. We had 9 people staying over, which was a bit more than usual, but we got through it without any fights or problems. We ended up doing our usual surf and turf Christmas dinner, and I didn’t overcook or undercook the prime rib, which was a miracle. I had
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Monday Before Christmas
It’s Monday before Christmas for us, and the house is a swirl of pre-holiday chaos. Presents have been arriving via mail, and small towers of randomly sized boxes are leaning precariously in the corners. The gift wrapping station has taken over the dining room table, the quilting cutting mat barely fitting among the bows and
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Tea and Hammering
::taking a figurative hammer and hitting the holiday project:: Get! Into! Shape! I should do that to myself. I haven’t worked out in 2 weeks. I haven’t walked either. It is super crappy. It’s like Portland, Oregon weather over here, grey and dull and depressing. We mostly have two seasons: awful heat and gloom. We
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Catching Up
Popeyes turkey, a quick recipe, and a funny story.
Is it the season?
Hi everyone, Mod R here. All the Things Ilona Andrews are still happening in the background, soon to be unveiled. Several of you wanted to know if we’ll get the reveal for the Guess the World post and we are *so*, so close you could smell the house fire…oh, oops, is that too much of
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Life Salad
I made it to H-mart. It was glorious. I bought a duck. I bought frozen shucked oysters. I bought mushrooms. Best of all I bought banchan, the Korean vegetable side dishes. They had a tray with like 9 of them on it. I should’ve bought more. Our local Korean place doesn’t offer them, and I
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Conversations at Chateau Andrews
Gordon: Tuna has something. I spin toward Tuna who is crouched in a hunting position by the raised dog water dish. Me: What do you have? Is it a scorpion? Please don’t be a scorpion. Gordon: It’s probably a lizard again. Kid 1: What’s going on? Me: Tuna has something! Kid 1: Not again. Gordon,
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