I heart foreach

My programming life is not very glamorous. Most of my time is spent in loops, usually working over arrays of objects that are loose wrappers around records stored in a database. Pretty much the bread and butter of all web…

A little weekend Vespa porn

The sun came out just long enough this weekend for me to get some good shots.

Load object by id + database call or by array?

I closed my post I heart foreach with the following question: What I don’t know is how the performance savings of select * from table compares to the memory savings of select id from table + select * from table…

If I had $49,066…

There are three transportation devices I covet. The first, a Vespa, I now actually own. I believe I first became Vespa-aware after discovering a vintage Vespa repair-shop-cum-art-gallery in Carrboro, NC while looking for an apartment before grad school. The second…

Not on my way to Buffalo

I should start a category called “not on my way to someplace I should be on my way to.” Once again, weather has intervened in my travel plans. Stephanie and I left the apartment blissfully unaware that severe thunderstorms and…

With Alice to Alcatraz

On Sunday I got a visit from Alice and her man Mike. I’ve known Alice since I was a sophomore at UNC. Which is actually quite a bit of time, though it doesn’t feel like it. I’d never met Mike,…

Buffalo wings in Buffalo look like buffalo wings

Courtesy of Duff’s

Niagara Falls

Oh Canada! So weird to be driving into a foreign country. Last Sunday (while in Buffalo, New York for my Grandfather’s 90th birthday) the whole family entered Canada via the Peace Bridge to visit Niagara Falls. Canada sign on top…

Fog over Sausalito

taken on the way to Alcatraz

Alcatraz, pixelated

Some more “outtakes” from the trip to Alcatraz.

Pâtes au poulet

But first, a story. The other weekend we were out drinking and somehow got to talking about Time-Out in Chapel Hill, this strange all-night country-style cafeteria eatery, one that had all manner of fried chicken, pulled pork, overcooked vegetables, mashed…

A home for our helmets…

…or new use for our bench (previously seen here: The art wall grows) Three helmets on a bench

I’m an edge lover

Christmas came early this year. Yesterday I made some brownies in my new Baker’s Edge brownie pan. Verdict: it’s awesome. Surprises: it’s heavy. It appears to be made out of thickly cast aluminum. It’s big. It looks almost too big…

What basil sees