Does anyone out there know anything about Pinterest?
I’ve recently seen it show up in my referrer logs, and it turns out a bunch of people I don’t know have “pinned” a bunch of photos from my blog. I feel like this site came out of nowhere.
Screenshot of pinned images from my blog
You can imagine my surprise when I discovered my sister-in-law browsing Pinterest over the holidays with her new Android-based Toshiba Thrive tablet! When did everyone get so high-tech?
The name of Myanmar’s first girl band is absolutely, completely brilliant
Get it? Me N Ma Girls…Me and My Girls…Myanmar Girls! (Plus it sounds so much better than Bur Ma Girls)
For more: Myanmar’s First Girl Band Pushes Limits of Censors, and Parents
“Sort Sol” in San Francisco at Sunset
On my walk home tonight I saw these birds flying around in formations that resembled the Danish sort sol, or “black sun”. I felt compelled to pull out my camera and snap a few stills. As it happens, my 21mm lens broke last weekend, so instead I had my 35mm with me, which turned out to be the perfect focal length, capturing the whole flock without feeling too wide or too tight.
I’m famous! (on a TSA sign at Orlando International Airport)
Someone brought this accidental QR Code usage to my attention last August, but thanks to Fred Trotter, O’Reilly Radar’s open source health blogger, who happened to be flying through Orlando recently, I now have photographic proof!
The TSA’s “Hola Niños!” sign at MCO, showing off my QR Code
In his post, The Transportation Security Administration’s QR Code flub, Fred speculates on the ease with which published QR Codes could be hijacked with stickers—and wonders if that was the case here. Think how trivial it would be for an “Anonymous” band of individuals to surreptitiously sticker over TSA QR Codes with ones that link to Bruce Schneier articles. This is the stuff of cyberpunk fiction!
Unfortunately the truth in this case is far more benign. My QR Code was accidentally used as a stand-in by whomever designed the poster, and was never checked before it went to press—not to mention anytime in the four months since it’s been on display.
Pepto-Bismol vs. Turducken
This newspaper ad tickled me so much I had to take a photo of it:
It’s a chicken. Inside a duck. Inside a turkey…
Happy New Year from Austin
Beth, Matthew, Katie, Dad, Mom, Justin, and Stephanie
To our friends and family all around the world: we wish you a very happy new year.
A Melt-in-the-Mouth Cookie Santa
To the casual outside observer, my mom has “a Santa problem”, which we playfully tease her about every Christmas (even though we all secretly love it). She morbidly taunts us that when she’s dead and gone, her Santa problem will become our problem—our inheritance won’t be counted in thousands of dollars, it will be thousands of Santas, muahahaha!
Well, it seems she’s not content to wait until she’s dead and gone. This year I got a very cool Santa Claus of my own, custom-made by Michelle Treichler, complete with a stack of Melt-in-the-Mouth Cookies and miniature reproductions of Woman’s Day Magazine (where the recipe first appeared).
Santa, just chillin’ on the mantle with a plate of Melt-in-the-Mouths
December Cookie Traffic
I love December, and not just because of my birthday or the holidays—because it’s when people start baking lots of cookies. And inevitably, someone searches Google for a certain long-lost cookie recipe and stumbles upon my Melt-in-the-Mouth history (or my original post about the recipe that inspired it).
Blue is the Melt-in-the-Mouth recipe, red is the history
And the best part is that occasionally they’re so floored to have found the recipe (usually after missing it for several years), they leave a comment to express their heartfelt thanks. Here’s a taste.
From Marlene:
Justin I too had the recipe 25 yrs ago. THANK you for posting this!! My Son still remembers when I made them. Now we can share these with his children!!
From Gina:
My mother has had this recipe for years, since I was a little kid, and I’m 40 now. We used to make them every Thanksgiving and Christmas. But we lost it a few years ago and I’ve been looking for it ever since. I can’t believe I finally found it!!! Thank you!!!!
From Melissa:
I’m just another grown kid searching for childhood cookies! I imagine my mama found this recipe in Woman’s Day like your grandmother did. No one else I knew ever made them, but we loved them. I have my mama’s handwritten recipe but they never come out like hers. I will compare notes tonight and see if she left out any “special” instructions. I look forward to sharing these with my grandkids this Christmas! Thanks for your diligence!
You are welcome, all. Please, help yourself to a cookie:
A plate of Melt-in-the-Mouth cookies
