Sweet and yummy onion tart for spring! 1) Two pounds of onions, red, white and yellow. Four tbs. olive oil. Three sprigs fresh thyme. Brown slowly and gently for 30 minutes or more. Let the mixture cool. 2) Roll out a little pate brisse to a diameter of about 14 inches and slide it onto […]

Hooray! Robot-using dogs! [thx Laughing Squid]

… and masters sushi rice to create our Sunday lunch of Spicy Yellowtail Handrolls!

Says the New York Times:
From his detailed forecast of telecommunications satellites in 1945, more than a decade before the first orbital rocket flight, to his co-creation, with the director Stanley Kubrick, of the classic science fiction film “2001: A Space Odyssey,” Mr. Clarke was both prophet and promoter of the idea that humanity’s destiny lay […]

Despite Republican tactics that pulled the House of Representatives into a late-night secret session — only the third since 1825 — today the House said no to warrantless government wiretapping and no to immunizing telcos that participate in warrantless trolling of American citizens’ communications. Nicely, they also said yes to investigations of the whole Bush […]

Wow, things are suddenly so busy here — only time to bang out a roundup.
Doing: With Val’s hot, under-the-hood stylings, I’m redesigning a new and streamlined CaliforniaAuthors [sketch], with a simultaneous rework of thenightnote [sketch]. Also: I’m still on board with Claudio, helping him with the lightning-fast launch of his dream practice. While he works […]

We have found the first sign that the vine has restarted its annual journey! The first growth of the vine means happy Spring! Here’s to the grapes of Fall, 2008.

To see another picture of the vine, click

… as covered in the Grunion Gazette, now officially the only newspaper that cares about me, and conversely …

My test/procedure at the audiologist went well and I am cleared to resume my normal activities tomorrow, including driving. It’s funny how news like that can make everything beautiful. The California sky was California blue. The sunlight caught in my Parisian perfume bottle, made a light show in my cozy bedroom. Val took photographs. The […]

Divide the $608 Billion spent on Operation Iraqi Freedom through FY 2008 [1] by the population of the U.S. and you’ll see that the war is costing every US man, woman and child about $2,400 — that’s just through the end of this fiscal year. Now, take note that public broadcasting costs about $1.53 per […]

Duane Kaiser, the talented creator of the now-famous Painting A Day blog/movement, has a series of nice time-lapse movies of his beautiful still life technique. Enjoy the one below and check them all out here.