*sniffle*

As I mentioned the other night, I'm really not all that in to Holidays. I appreciate the good suggestions and comments on that post, but what I was really talking about was me celebrating. And now that I'm part of a familial unit with small children, I will have to engage more fully in the days. I have no problem with that, and maybe it will cause my own lost childhood wonder to rekindle. And if not, there's always Egg Nog with lots of rum. :)

Anyway, what I really logged in to tell you tonight is that there are a few things about the Thanxmasyear Arc de Celebration that I love. Like "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and "Miracle on 34th Street"... and a couple of others. And tonight I found Charlie Brown (downloadable) and so -- after I preview it to make sure all the bits are in fact CB and not PR0N (yes, it even gets there) -- we can watch it with the girls. Jen isn't sure if they've seen it before.

Also, I'm sick and going to bed.

For those of you in the US, enjoy the turkey & fixin's, parades and football tomorrow!!

For the rest of you, get the hell to work! It's Thursday (or, for those on t'other side of the Int'l Dateline, Friday), for crying out loud!

Kittehs....

(all via I Can Haz Cheeseburger [duh])

Mr. Deity!!

Happy Freakin' Thanksgiving, Paleface

Heh

Check this out! I'm #10 on Google on a search for "soft kitty, warm kitty", which, of course, is a little song from the wonderful program Big Bang Theory.

Okay, This Is One Aspect I Didn't Think About

Christmas -- and holidays in general, for that matter -- really haven't been a big deal for me since I was a kid. Once I stopped getting toys as presents, the whole deal paled.

Here I am now, in Costa Rica, part of a family with Jen and her two girls.

Girls who are 8 and 11.

Guess what?

New Classes!

This morning I started two new classes in Belen (aka three towns over). These are groups that are new -- both to each other, and to our institute -- and there was some question as to what level (or levels) for which the students were prepared. And it was left up to me to make the determination. Which was fun in a way, because I'm really just flying by the seat of my pants to begin with in teaching these classes.

Lucky for these students, I've now had -- or at least, I've begun (they've not all 'taken', which, I'm learning, is par for the course in Costa Rican language schools) -- five classes, so I do know approximately what the different Levels are expected to know.

The first class had twenty-one students in it, ranging in age from 30 down to 11 (yes, 11 year-olds), and the second one four students (three adult women and one teenage boy). I'm pretty sure (but have to converse further with the Director of the institute to be certain [hey, we were both tired at the end of the day]) that the two classes will be combined, because 4 students isn't really financially viable for the business.

Oh, and I decided that the class(es) are to be Level III. So best of luck to the students (and me)!!

It Always Scares Me When This Happens....

The Weather Channel Firefox addon thingy (...do da wubba bingo) -- application, I mean is way cool. Right there on the status bar of the browser, current conditions and immediate forecast.

Occasionally, however, it does this:


and I have to run to the window to make sure it's not the end of the world or something. So far, it has only been glitches in the programming. If it ever turns out to be something else, I'll let you know.

Truth In Advertising

(click to embiggen for full effect)

From a 1962 issue of Life magazine. Read more about it here. Humble Oil merged with Standard Oil as part of a deal that created Exxon.

From The Request Line

I'm not sure whether Dr. Monkey Von Monkerstein meant this comment as "please share the pie" or as "please share the pie recipe", so, in the interest of fairness (and since the pie itself is all gone), herewith be the recipe....

I like to use a graham cracker crust, but you could use any type -- pastry, oreo cookie, 'Nilla wafer, whatever. The filling is made as follows:

Put 1½ cups of milk (whole is best, but at least 2% fat -- nonfat won't thicken) in a medium saucepan over low heat, until bubbles form around the edge. A low heat will keep the milk from burning as it heats, so be careful with the temperature!

Whilst that is happening, mix together:

• 3T (that's Tablespoon) cornstarch
• 4T sugar
• ¼t (teaspoon) salt
• 5T unsweetened cocoa (or less, if you're afraid of real chocolate taste)

After the dry ingredients are mixed, add ½cup of milk and whisk until blended.

Add this mixture to the scalded milk, and turn up the heat to medium. Whisk the mixture until it reaches a boil, then boil for one minute (whisking constantly, so it doesn't burn on the bottom).

Remove from heat, let cool to lukewarm and add 2t vanilla extract.

Chill and serve.

Leftover Redux

The pie from the other day, tonight we shall finish it -- most likely:




So good.

It's Kinda Cool...

that being outside the US, there are a multitude of video platforms available that don't work in the US. There are also ones that work in the US, such as Hulu, that don't work outside the States, but having downloadable episodic television (both "first run" and older shows) is pretty cool. Even with the Chinese subtitles.

What's not so fun is when you get two-thirds of the way through an episode and the rest won't load.