I'm actually still surprised when I meet an Episcopalian priest who isn't a lesbian.

Mmm- I would love to find a place that does these for breakfast or brunch, instead of the giant overstuffed monstrosities. (each to their own, but I don't tend to enjoy them.)

Right? I only see them as dinner items at Haute French restaurants. Even the French influenced breakfast places around here make American omelets. This was simple and delish: two eggs, whipped and worked in the pan. Fresh herbs.

What Would Jacques Do? is an excellent life philosophy.

Watching him teach omelet technique on YouTube he was the first person who ever really explained what's going on. "You have to break down the albumen or the white gets hard in the pan. You can add a little chervil, or a little parsley..." Gallic shrug indicating anything beyond that is excessive to the point of baroque. Also I like the way he says "albumen" and "chervil."

I just blanch at all those web forms that can't be submitted without first and last names filled in. It would really chafe me to have to fake it.

I was just reading something about how Google+ requires a first and last name, and some Aborigines are protesting it, since they traditionally have just one name. (No one has actually come forward and said, "I have just one name and Google+ won't let me sign up," though, since, according to the article, most Aborigines who have much contact with the outside world also have a two-name name that they use.)

I took today off of work too so that I could do stuff like grocery shop and clean, but somehow all I've done so far is sit on the couch and figure out that if I make a quick run to the Safeway tomorrow night, I can hold off on real grocery shopping until next weekend.

I don't think this was linked here, but I also don't remember exactly where I ran across it...

Falsehoods Programmers Believe About Names: [link]

Aims, I can't recommend Band-aid Blister Block highly enough: [link]

I'd suggest wearing your walking shoes for a short walk before DC, noting any areas that rub even a little, then using Blister Block on them before every DC walk. I don't know if it's made of simmered unicorn tears or what, but it has saved my feet many times. I bought a new stick of it just for my trip to France this fall.

Anyone have some helpful links to point an older person to about the reasons why a Federal Balanced Budget Amendment may not do what Faux says it will do?

I've got a lot of students from China, and the class lists that I get seem to have no logic at all behind how they sort out personal name and family name. Like, a kid with the personal name Jingmei and the family name Chen could be listed in different university computer systems as "Chen, Jingmei" or "Jingmei, Chen" or (I had one of these last semester that always screwed up the alphabetizing) "Meichen, Jing." Or sometimes "Jingmeichen" or "Meichenjing" or something else entirely. I get student lists from a few different university offices, and frequently have to check one list against a different one to make sure the same students are on both lists, and there will usually be several names that are written differently on the different lists.

Ezra Klein

Nate Silver

The Economist

Jared Bernstein

My sister works there! What broke you?

Uncanny Valley! Or, rather, Uncanny Canal!