Commencement Speakers

From the Chronicle of Higher Education is this list of commencement speakers at 556 colleges and universities. The list goes back to the year 2000, and it's searchable.
I've never heard of some of the speakers, but I suppose I shouldn't admit it.
Fun.
http://chronicle.com/free/speakers/?handler=search&year=2008

Brief Hiatus

The roofers arrive every morning at 7:00am.
I'm not a morning person. Maybe they'll finish tomorrow.
Very busy this week getting ready for you know where!
(see May 2 post)

A Rainy Day Birthday

Three Weeks and Counting

The snow should be gone in three weeks. My place is at the bottom of the photo, just a little right of center. The road in is the white line. At the end of the line, we hop in the boat for the ride across.

Everything Went Sideways on the Monitor

One of the catalog computers did an odd thing today. Everything suddenly appeared sideways on the screen. It would have been perfect if it had happened on April 1st.
Anyway, the fix for this dilemma is ridiculously simple.
Enter these keys, and voila - everything is back to normal, and no one will have a stiff neck.
Alt + Ctrl + the up arrow

Data & Statistics Lovers

Sis told me about this site. It's to die for. It has every statistic on every country you could ever want. You can compare data between countries. Go to their homepage, and it'll explain it all much better than I can.
NationMaster.com

Best Wedding Punch

This punch was served at a wedding reception we attended back in 1972. I remember it was so good, I asked the bride for the recipe.

Jennifer's Wedding Punch

4 oz. lemon juice
4 oz. pineapple juice
3 oz. fruit cordial
8 oz. brandy
3 oz. grenadine
1 bottle - white wine
2 bottles - champagne

Mix all, except for the champagne, over ice in a bowl.
Add the champagne, and some fruit just before serving.

32 servings, depending on who's serving

How to Contact Syracuse China Archives

Recently, there was an event at Syracuse China, where you could bring in your pieces for identification. I missed it, but the newspaper article said you could also mail in photos for identification.
Here's the address:

Syracuse China Archives Department
2801 Court St.
Syracuse, NY 13208

Forget calling them. The phone menu is impossible.

Webcams - Some Up, Some Down

Finally. One of my favorite webcams is working again. It's from RIOT.
The camera is in Manhattan on Fifth Ave. at 45th St., looking north.
http://www.rioting.com/rioting/index.php?page=webcam

I've just about given up on the Syracuse webcam that is focused on Clinton Square in downtown Syracuse.
For months, they've been saying that it's temporarily down, and will be back up soon.
For how long is something temporary?
http://www.syracuse.com/clintoncam/

The Honolulu webcams are iffy. Some days they work, some, they don't.
http://www.honolulu.gov/cameras/index1.htm

Here's one of the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. It moves around a bit.
http://www.earthcam.com/usa/dc/metrosquare/

This one is becoming a favorite. It's the O'Connell Bridge in Dublin.
http://www.bay.tv/baycams/3757.php

Indian Rocks Beach

This will probably my favorite Florida photo for the year.

Maria's Ginger Crackle Cookies

Maria's Ginger Crackle Cookies - the best

Here's a fabulous recipe for an old fashioned ginger crackle, or gingersnap cookie.
It's adapted from a recipe in The Weekend Baker, by Abigail Johnson Dodge.

2 1/2 C. flour
1 C. sugar - for the dough
2/3 C. sugar for rolling the balls of cookie dough in
1 1/2 t. ground ginger
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. ground cloves
1/4 t. salt
8 T. softened butter
1/4 C. shortening
1 egg
1/4 - 1/3 C. light molasses

C. = cup, T. = tablespoon, t. = teaspoon

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Line cookie sheets with parchment paper, if you have it.

In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients, except for the sugar, and mix with a wire whisk.

In another large bowl, combine the butter, shortening, and ONE cup of sugar. Add the egg and molasses. Beat until blended.
Gradually pour in the dry ingredients. Mix until well blended.

Shape the dough into one inch balls.
Roll each ball in the remaining 2/3 C. sugar.
Place 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for about 13 minutes until they're puffed up and lightly brown on the edges. Let cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet before removing them.

Who Has Which Blood Type

Type
O+ 1 person in 3, 38.4%
O- 1 person in 15, 7.7%
A+ 1 person in 3, 32.3%
A- 1 person in 16, 6.5%
B+ 1 person in 12, 9.4%
B- 1 person in 67, 1.7%
AB+ 1 person in 29, 3.2%
AB- 1 person in 167, 0.7%

Source: BloodBook.com
http://www.bloodbook.com/index.html

Found a Treasure

Several years ago, I found this oil painting in the back of a Florida closet. Twice, I almost donated it to a rummage sale. I never cared much for it, but I think it was the frame. Without the plastic wood frame, it's really quite nice. A new frame will give it a whole new look, and off to the Adirondacks it will go.
There's even information on the back. Mildred Marsh of Manhattan Beach, Minnesota painted it in 1987. It's Island Lake, going into the Whitefish Chain - Minnesota. It was a gift to Edna Klaus.
It's lovely.

Reusable Grocery Bags

This goes into the 'stumbled upon' category.
There's an article in the New York Times about the tax on plastic bags in Ireland.
In 2002, a law was passed which adds 33 cents to every plastic bag.A photo shows a cloth bag at a Superquinn store.
I like it. I want one. I wonder if there are any on eBay.
Do any of the stores in England have bags like these?
We're currently drowning in plastic bags - the broom closet is overflowing with them.
It's time we switched to the reusable ones, but it would be so much more fun to have one from Dublin.
This could be more fun than collecting bookmarks from libraries.
Here's the New York Times article.
Motivated by a Tax, Irish Spurn Plastic Bags

Groundhog Day - 2008

Here's the link to the official Groundhog Day site.
They're saying that Punxsutawney Phil did see his shadow this morning, so there will be SIX more weeks of winter. Doesn't he always see his shadow?
http://www.groundhog.org/prediction/

Books Read - 2007

Here's what I read in 2007, with the most recent read listed first.

• Wonderful Tonight - Patty Boyd
  
• Good Dog, Stay - Quindlen
• The Paris Option - Ludlum/Lynds
• My French Whore - Gene Wilder
• The Kite Runner - Hosseini
• About Alice - Trillin
• An Imperfect God - Wiencek
• The Devil in the White City - Larson
• The Diving Bell & the Butterfly - Bauby
• Rise and Shine - Quindlen
• By the Rivers of Babylon - DeMille 2x
• The Secret Servant - Silva
• Mad Dogs - Grady
• North River - Hamill
• The Thornbirds - McCullough 2x
• The English Assassin - Silva 2x
• The Digital Person - Daniel Solove
• Truck - Perry
• The Unlikely Spy - Silva's 1st
• The Short Straw - Woods
• Act of Treason - Flynn
• Mary, Mary - Patterson
• Wild Fire - DeMille

Best Cheesecake Recipe - McCalls

This is from a 1975 issue of McCall's magazine.
I haven't found a better recipe for cheesecake.

Crust
1 C. sifted flour
1/4 C. sugar
1 tsp. grated lemon peel
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg yolk
1/4 C. softened butter or margarine
I usually double these amounts so I have enough.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Grease the inside of a springform pan.
In a medium bowl, combine everything except
the egg yolk and butter.
Make a well in the center, and add the yolk.
Blend, then add butter, and blend.
On the bottom of the pan, roll out 1/2 the dough.
Bake 6-8 minutes, or until golden brown.
Roll out remaining dough.
Cut it into 3 inch strips.
Press it around the side of the pan.
Don't bake the side strips.
Assemble the pan.

Filling
5 packages of 8 oz. creamed cheese
1 3/4 C. sugar
3 T. flour
2 tsp. grated lemon peel
1 1/2 grated orange peel
1/4 tsp. vanilla
5 eggs plus 2 egg yolks
1/4 C. heavy cream

In a large mixing bowl, blend cheese,
sugar, flour, peels, vanilla.
Blend until smooth.
Add eggs and yolks, one at a time.
Scrape the sides often.
Pour into the pan.
Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes.
Lower the oven to 250 degrees,
and bake for one more hour.

Honolulu Traffic Webcams

I love this site. It runs for five minutes, showing a whole bunch of traffic hotspots in Honolulu.
I think I like it even more than the Waikiki beach webcam, tho that one can be interesting at 5:00 or 6:00AM. You can access the beach cam from this site, too. Fun.
http://www.honolulu.gov/multimed/hotspot.asp

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

My favorite book is now a movie.
Ages ago, I'd read that Johnny Depp was going to play Jean Dominique Bauby, but wasn't able to.
I can't wait to see it.
Read about it here:

Premiere
http://www.premiere.com/cannes/3838/ringing-his-bell.html

Screener
http://nbm.typepad.com/screener/2007/10/nyff-the-diving.html

P.S. One year ago today, it was raining. At the moment, it's about 12 F degrees, and there's snow on the ground.

101.5 FM The Point - Tampa

This is the best radio station! I can listen to it all day without even being at Camp Largo, and .... they list the songs as they're played. I need new, really good speakers.
These headphones are a tad confining.
The only problem is - after a day, they play the same songs over again.
http://1015thepoint.com/