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Lettuce

From the moment hungry primal Man stumbled through the wilderness and said, “I guess I’ll eat that,” to the modern Man’s willful decision to forego the fried chicken sandwich and say, “I guess I’ll eat that,” lettuce has throughout history filled the necessary niche of food that we eat, but not because we want to.

That is, until we cover it in oil, spices, MSG, bacon, cheese…

If nothing else it’s a medium–an empty slate onto which to append things that actually posses flavor.  So, inglorious vegetable, I salute you.

It was after one of these salad nights that Liz presented the depleted remains of the lettuce head and informed me that it was possible to regrow it by suspending it in water.  Admittedly, it was one of the last plants I had ever considered growing, much less salvaging.  But there was space under the grow light, so I figured why not?  As Liz suggested, I used toothpicks to brace the mass, and placed the remains of the spent vegetable in a pickle jar of water.

I thought little of the project, but was pleasantly surprised when the lettuce head showed growth overnight.  Sure enough, it was possible to restore this green ball of organic matter, and within 3 weeks, I had a leafy stem and roots.

I guess there’s enough to make a BLT
Look at those roots

Since I’ve come this far, I might as well give it dirt and see what happens.  You know, in case I’m starving and there’s nothing else to eat in the house and the grocery store is just too far away, and no one’s delivering pizza.

–Simon

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Oh My Oh My It’s a…

…Mile High Piece o’ Pie in the Sky!

That’s one of those weird Moorhead-isms.  24 hours in a car with your family will do that to you.  After the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn audiotapes grew stale and we started commenting on roadside advertisements, embellishments quickly arose and road delirium took its toll.

Anyway, my sister bought me a Raspberry Pi a couple years ago.  At the time, I think she intended it to be a low cost computer introduction for my daughter.  But by the time the kid was old enough to understand basic computer inputs, she had a tablet, so the Pi sat unused.  Then I made a dashboard, similar to my recent Xbox project, but this quickly fell into disuse as the Pi would timeout and I’d have to hunt down a keyboard and mouse to refresh the browser again (I discussed this recently).  Then I simply plugged it into the network as a Linux experimentation device to self-teach the command line interface.  Sudo apt-get upgrade!  cd /etc/…uhhhh ls… sudo nano /boot/config.txt… You get the idea.  I figured if I really screwed something up, it was a low-risk device I could wipe clean.

The old laptop had been reassigned.  Sitting in the basement on the shelf with the network equipment, devoid of battery and working WiFi card, it served as a simple OS to run a web browser.  With an external monitor, it ran two windows–my Google calendar, and my weather radar.  Then Windows’ on-board SMART monitor detected an imminent hard drive failure.  I repeatedly ignored the warning, since I didn’t really care about its longevity and all its data had since been backed up.  Then one day the computer installed updates and failed to find the drive upon reboot.  Maybe one day I’ll swap the drive and install a Linux distro.

But I missed the omnipresent calendar, so I decided it was time to revive the Pi and once again give it purpose.  After all, all I needed was a basic machine that could run a browser (and Windows had been overkill, and a big security hole).  So I ordered a cheap keyboard and mouse from Amazon, which I received 2 days later (I love Prime’s free 2-day shipping).  I also needed an HDMI to VGA adapter, which Amazon was happy to provide as well.  I hooked up that 18-year old Apple LCD display (which retailed for $1,999 at the time; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Studio_Display#15-inch_flat_panel_.281998.E2.80.932003.29, https://manuals.info.apple.com/MANUALS/0/MA473/en_US/StudioDisplay_15inchLCDSetup.PDF) plugged in the peripherals, and…everything worked instantly, because it isn’t Windows.

After some quick updating, I had the calendar up and running in kiosk mode.  All things considered, this was pretty benign, and was almost too easy to feel like a bona fide project.  Still, it got me the hour nerd fix I needed.

–Simon

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Poppy

No one owns a single whippet.  A quick search for whippets will reveal owners who collect them like antique silver spoons, or guns, or something.  Those are appropriate similes, given the peculiarities of both the breed and their owners.  So when Tori died, the pack became fractured, and another whippet needed procurement.

Such a task was easier said than done, but Liz can be quite determined.  After contacting the vet/breeder who acquired Tori, and after what I presume was a lengthy negotiation (and a hefty deposit), we had a whippet reserved.

Funny thing about specialty breeds–there’s no way to just get one.  No, there’s paperwork and genealogy tracing and AKC registration and contractual obligations (apparently this whippet’s father is a champion).  There was more paperwork behind getting a whippet than there was for having a kid.  But ultimately, whippet we had.

Naturally, this meant we couldn’t choose our whippet, but that hardly mattered.  Their endearing qualities are ubiquitous, and since she was a puppy, there’s wasn’t much concern for worrisome idiosyncrasies (like violent outbursts).

As a bonus, she took to the kid right away–who named her: Poppy.

Faye, however, is less than tolerant.  I just don’t get it.  She pouted when we got Tori, she pouted when Tori died, and now she’s pouting that we got a new whippet.  I think she just doesn’t like change.

No matter.  Once again we have a whippet pack.

–Simon

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The Horse and His Boy

I’ve been dragging my feet with these Narnia books.  Hell, it was back in March when I finished the second one.  The plots kind of force themselves forward, demanding a resolution, but at no point inspiring a lot of empathy for any of the characters.  They also make a lot of painfully bad decisions, but they’re all kids, so I guess that’s the point.  Still, it makes the reading difficult.

But I’m determined to get through these eventually, and I managed to finish The Horse and His Boy.  My initial thoughts were: “Ha.  I get it.  The horse can talk.”  And the story seemed to have used that one twist to drive the plot endlessly.  Fortunately, it eventually delved into more complex scenarios, with more adult themes.  I had to make it about halfway through, but the protagonist got to experience some life-changing events that turned him from an incidental character that forced the story along into a relateable character who inspired my commitment to see the resolution.  The obnoxious horse (and seriously: fuck that horse–I hate it), was revealed to be intentionally irritating, though all worked out in in the end in a way that was satisfying but not overly-convenient for a children’s novel.  There’s even battle, described in a gripping manner, however unconventional.

It took 3 books, but the chronicle is getting darker and more interesting.  Although I don’t really care for that lion.  He seems to be more of an ex machina than Lewis intended.  I get now why people keep trying to force symbolism upon it–it shows up as some sort of Old Testament god, driving events to his will while never really answering any questions, all the while inflicting appropriate punishments at his own discretion.  And while he was critical to the plot of the last book, his presence in this one seems largely unnecessary.  But again, maybe that’s the intent.

If nothing else, this book motivates me to continue with the series.

–Simon