Put on the Glasses

My cat Leela loves to sit around and knead blankets. She only does it with certain blankets, but when she starts she does this for unbelievably long periods of time. That's a whole lot of adorable right there.

I firmly believe that PowerPoint is overused in the workplace. Many people seem to use it as a crutch or -- and this is really a pet peeve of mine -- simply read off the slides.  Edward R. Tufte's essay  The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint: Pitching Out Corrupts Within reinforced many of my beliefs: Slides were not meant for large amounts of data. You either lose something by cramming it into a slide or the slide so packed with numbers it is not useful. PowerPoint presentations are not meant to be read later nor should they be posted on your internal corporate website. It is a presentation and something should be lost without a speaker to clarify the content of the slides.  Bullet lists dilute thought through unnecessary categorization. Yes, I know that I am using a list right now. However, not all data or information should be presented with bullet points. The book gives a great example of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address being br...

Thanksgiving was great this year. Gathered at my sister's house in the morning, where I cooked a turkey using the Cook's Illustrated recipe for Old Fashioned Stuffed Turkey . That recipe always works like a charm. Here is the bird after it came out of the oven: The picture doesn't do the bird justice. Here is a picture of my brother-in-law, Paul, carving up the turkey (my sister Vanessa is in the background): Here is a shot of my husband with a brew as I snapped pictures of the bird: And here is my sister's dog, Jackson, who was very shy and ran away every time I tried to take a picture of him until my niece helped me out: It was a good time. Later in the day, I went with my husband to our second Thanksgiving dinner at the Copeland house. Another round of turkey and stuffing was consumed. Here are the pies I made for dessert: The pumpkin is just a straight up version of Libby's Pumpkin Pie recipe with a homemade crust. The other is my Mom...

Due to popular request, here is the list I compiled of the movies I plan to watch this year in preparation for Halloween: Key:  N= Netflix instant watch A= Amazon prime Cabin in the Woods The Shining Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil (n) Shaun of the Dead Dawn of the Dead (1978 and 2004) High Tension Paranormal Activity Rosemary’s Baby Night of the Living Dead Session 9 (n) Anatomy Anatomy 2 13 Ghosts 28 Days Later Blade Trinity Case 39 (n) 30 Days of Night Cloverfield Devil Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (n) Evil Dead Evil Dead 2 Army of Darkness Final Destination 2 Freddy vs. Jason Friday the 13th (n) + sequels Ghost Ship Hostel Hostel 2 House of Wax House on Haunted Hill (n) I am Legend I Spit on Your Grave Insidious (n) It Jennifer’s Body Nightmare on Elm Street + sequels Piranha (n) Poltergeist Saw Slither Texas Chainsaw Massacre http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDqwLna8fwY The Birds Psycho Blair Witch Project The Crazies The L...

Watched my first horror movie of the season last night: V/H/S. It's available for rent in iTunes and Amazon for $9.99 before the theatrical release. So, while I wanted to save the horror movies for October this year, I could not resist seeing this one early. It's a series of five vignettes tied together with a central story ala Tales of the Crypt or Trick R Treat. Each story is different and so the film in it's entirety involves a range of sub-genres, from monster movie to serial killer to paranormal. What I liked about it: Each story was filled with tension that kept you on the edge of your seat. My husband, an admitted pansy, had to go read the story summaries on Wikipedia just so he could sit and watch. Also, the short story narrative helped keep my interest. If I didn't like a particular actor, I could just wait it out for the next story. What I didn't like about it: The beginning was slow, and with the shaky camera, the first 10 minutes were hard to watch...

I love the new Hot Chip single:  

This is the first quote in years to make me laugh out loud: via webby_mc_webberson at reddit.com