An 11-year-old girl has read more books this year -- by Christmas, even -- than you've read your entire life, you loser. #

Standing on the shoulders of giants, my name shows up in the Library of Congress catalog as the publisher contact for Ephemera Bound Publishing. Well, I think it's cool, and I don't care if you do, so there. #

Behind The Typeface: Cooper Black, a cute and informative description of a very common font. Not only is it the font in the logo for Equilibri-Yum Inc, I also have a cousin actually named Cooper Black. #

Scientists secretly tracked 70 teaspoons in their lab's breakroom, and discovered 80% disappeared within five months. That, science-fans, means 250 spoons would have to be purchased annually to keep a consistent teaspoon population. Their explanation has to do with self-aware spoons wandering away, but my best guess is the absentmindedness of scientists is to blame. #

Ate at Grand Junction Grilled Subs (sorry, no website) yesterday -- I've eaten there in the past, and while I wish I liked their food, it's a less than average experience. The sub contents are grilled in front of you in an entertaining manner (much like a mongolian grill), but the lack of English-speakers behind the counter made it hard to place the made-to-order sub request, and the grilling process take so long that people on a lunch break will spend much of their time standing around. The 'seasoned fries' were painfully over-seasoned, and there was no method for differentiating between several sandwiches in the same order (resulting in a lot of 'who ordered what' when our party of 6 got to the table). My sandwich itself, a philly cheese steak, was heavy on banana peppers, lots of meat, but not much cheese, and I'd have expected onions and mushrooms. It was good, maybe not worth $6 for the combo -- and the experience left much to be desired. #

Taxidermy mannikins are enormously creepy. I, dare I say, will have nightmares about skinless creatures stalking me in the woods. #

I am unable to "wolf-whistle," but with help from these instructions, maybe I'll learn. That is, if I can find a time near the computer when nobody's around to watch what I'm doing. #

Regret The Error has released their list of most regrettable media retractions -- my favorite: the recall of beef panties. #

Reporters Without Borders presents the "Handbook for bloggers and cyber-dissidents". Focused on giving media access to unempowered or oppressed communities, the outline would be useful for any person wanting to start a blog to air their feelings at the world. #

Del.icio.us and Yahoo! have joined forces to promote superfluous logo punctuation. #

You, too, can be a Rich Uncle Moneybags -- with printable Monopoly money! Unfortunately, it won't be convincing Monopoly money because the color comes from the printer, not colorful paper. Instead, you'll just look like a two-bit counterfeiter with an inkjet printer. #

Dec 6 2005 0 comments

Happy St. Nick's! If you haven't heard of it before, up until a couple years ago I wouldn't have known it, either. The celebration has been imported to North Dakota, via my wife, as part of the general holiday festivities.

December 5th would seem to be an odd day, if not for another holiday I'd never heard of before: The Feast of St Nicholas, December 5th. On the evening of the Feast, children put out footwear by their bedroom doors, and awake to find it full of trinkets or candy, much like the stocking tradition of Christmas.

So, last night (despite the grounding of one child), the children were instructed to take a large, clean sock (clean emphasized), cuff the top, and slip it over their doorknob. After they fell asleep, D and I produced a number of little boxes from the closet. It seems St Nick is a bit overwhelmed these days, so he opts to let distant relatives mail the St Nick gifts. We opened up the packages from afar, sorted out who got what, added our own little gifts, and snuck up the stairs to deliver St Nick's wares.

With the commercialization of Christmas, you might not think an extra day of gifts would be much fun...but it is. Especially since it seems 'special,' something that not everybody else is doing. Plus, there's the candy. The kids get some...but, of course, there's always extra for us parents.

The coolest christmas light display you'll see today. Welcome to the world of audio-synchronized lighting controls. Used at raves == old, lame. Used for Christmas == timelessly r0xx0rz. #