Just a moment to wish all a Happy New Year for 2007. Many changes and new things are coming for me and my family, and I wish us and you the strength and wisdom to meet what comes with equanimity and even joy. Embrace it when you can, tolerate it when you need to, endure it when you must. Look out for each other, look out for grace when it finds you.
I really like Mark Bittman, “The Minimalist” food columnist for the New York Times. Today’s column, Overindulge? Snack on This is about Welsh Rarebit, a fancied-up version of cheese toast. He offers a recipe that sounds very good, requiring mustard, cayenne, and dark beer in addition to the cheese. Mmmmmm.
This reminds me of the staple late-evening dish of Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin, their hallowed “toasted cheese,” ably described and beautifully placed in context by Anne Chotzinoff Grossman and Lisa Grossman Thomas in their Lobscouse and Spotted Dog: Which It’s a Gastronomic Companion to the Aubrey-Maturing Novels, a volume that will greatly enhance your enjoyment of the series.
I also recall Dream of a Rarebit Fiend by Winsor McKay. They were cautionary tales warning against overindulgence. Hah.
Shoot First, Eat Later | Food & Wine
Here, a user-friendly guide to taking perfect food photographs, from great cameras to simple techniques (use your water glass as a tripod!)
I like taking pictures of food.
I wish I’d thought of 30 Days of Pork. Proof that bacon is a starter meat that leads to harder uses of pork. I also wish I’d thought of Serious Eats. I need to take my serious eating to a whole new level.
Making Light pointed to this (and gave credit for it as well).
The Times’ Sunday Travel section on how to spend a quick, intense visit to Paris , including a Friday evening dash through the Louvre, Moroccan food, Baudelaire’s grave and finding great costumes at the flea market.
“THE chief danger about Paris,†T. S. Eliot wrote to a friend, “is that it is such a strong stimulant.†That wasn’t merely the overcaffeinated ramblings of a Left Bank cafe habitué. Few cities thrill visitors with such a beguiling multiplicity of personalities. There is the devout Paris of Notre Dame’s Gothic solemnity, and the naughty Paris of Pigalle’s red-light bars. Sophisticated Paris radiates from the vaulted galleries of the Louvre and the gilded Opéra Garnier, while bohemian Paris emerges in the art galleries of the Marais and gritty rock ’n’ roll nightclubs. For every Gallic gastronomic temple, there’s an Asian, African or Middle Eastern restaurant brimming with exotic flavors. And for every Jean Paul Gaultier, there’s a fledgling fashion student opening his first boutique. In the words of Henry Miller, another American drawn to Paris’s manifold pleasures, lofty and low: “To know Paris is to know a great deal.â€
I fully realize the Paris I’m expecting will not be the Paris I actually see, and that’s perfect.
E and I just returned from some final shopping errands, including a case of wine for us and whoever is around to help with it over the next month or two. The image I put up with this post – those snowflakes grabbed from the screensaver – is a nod to the season; it’s actually sunny and in the mid-50s here, very pleasant.
We’re off in about an hour to usher with Ellen’s folks at the Atlanta Ballet’s Nutcracker at the Fox Theatre, and then an evening of gift wrapping and other preparation for Christmas.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.
The Reality of Resizing: Changing Image Resolution without Changing Quality | Layers Magazine
Possibly one of the most confusing aspects of dealing with digital imagery is resolution-specifically, what it really is and how changing it affects an image. You’d be shocked at the number of brilliant designers who don’t know how to change an image from 72 dpi to 300 dpi-without turning it into a pile of pixel mush. That is, until now.Today we’re going to talk about the relationship between resolution and pixels, and what it means to you. We’ll discuss the difference between upsampling-a rather evil practice of increasing the resolution (and thereby the number of pixels) in order to make the image larger than it originally was-and changing the resolution of an image without changing pixel data. First, let’s chat briefly about resolution in general.
I’ve never adequately understood this, neither to I know what it might have cost me in image quality. Good to find this resource.
Via.
This week Mark Bittman, the NYT’s Minimalist, offers For the Uninitiated, a Pancake Primer. I want some butter and maple syrup now.
I particularly like the idea of adding ricotta, which he recommends. I’ve always liked bananas and pecans in pancakes, and blueberrys. Frozen fruit works well in a pancakes, so you can have them any time. I remember after spending the night at my friend Chris Hicklin’s house, I was shocked when he put sour cream on his pancakes and then syrup. I was grossed out, but much more by the unfamiliarity than by the flavors. I wish my calorie count could allow that now. So, have pancakes and if you can find it, real maple syrup.
He’s an old friend from the College of Business, and he wanted to see what blogging is about. Hi, Roy!
Lifehacker’s Geek to Live offers iTunes power tips
I want to keep track of these, for Ellen. (Shhh.)
The Open Culture blog posts several links to the Foreign Language Lesson Podcast Collection at iTunes. I’ve posted about similar Podcasts before, but these are reminders as much for me as anything.
Home sick today from work and poking around the web, I followed a link to cautions about pickpockets abroad. A search for Paris pickpocket led to Virtual Tourist, a site with thousands of members worldwide sharing their experiences. After learning not to leave my bags unattended, to keep my hand on my wallet in the Metro, and avoind people trying to help remove daubs of condiments or pigeon crap from my clothes, I came across Paris Restaurant Tips by BeatChick I’m enjoying her first-hand recommendations for places to go and see and dine. Virtual Tourist is a large site full of first-hand accounts from real enthusiasts; it doesn’t seem slick or too packaged.
I’m getting excited about going.
Came across a pointer in the TextDrive forums to this very cool looking online lens rental service, ZipLens.
I want to try out a fast normal lens, like this Sigma 30mm f14. It would be $25 for a week, and they’re offering $5.00 discounts through the end of the year.