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Archives for March 2002
Cakelove
Erin and I woke up early this morning in hopes that we might be the first customers for the new bakery on U Street. The place was opened by this guy named Warren Brown, who quit his job as a government lawyer to pursue his love of cake making full-time. The world benefits from this in two distinct ways:
- There is one more cake maker in the world.
- There is one less lawyer in the world.
Brown’s pursuit of his vocational calling was one of the reasons People Magazine named him one of America’s Top 50 Bachelors in 2001.
We were, in point of fact, the first legitimate paying customers. There was a crackpot lady there before us who insisted on giving them a dollar to be first. However, I would argue that since no baked goods were exchanged for money she was not an actual customer. It’s kind of like paying a hooker to do nothing at all.
Erin and I ordered two very tasty cupcakes, which we proceded to devour like angry wolves.
Later in the morning, while walking through Dupont Circle, we rounded the corner by Riggs Bank and found ourselves in the path of a staggering drunk with a thick and unkept beard, a fur hat, and what looked like a Soviet army coat. He was fumbling to screw the plastic top back onto his cheap booze bottle.
“Two words,” I said to Erin. “Red Square.”
Way Too Much Free Time
I’m all for historical accuracy in period films, but sometimes people go just a bit too far.
Krispy Kreme at the Smithsonian?
Erin and I went to see a presentation titled Krispy Kreme: Taking a Bite Out of American History at the Smithsonian Museum of American History last night. It consisted of five parts (and I am not making this up):
- A performance of doughnut related songs from the thirties by a female singer and the pianist from the Capitol Steps.
- A powerpoint presentation on the history of the doughnut by a very dry witted curator. He also spoke in detail of doughnut related pieces in the museum’s collection.
- A marketing speech and powerpoint presentation from a Krispy Kreme executive. The poor guy had outrageously bad luck with his computer, which crashed twice during the presentation. I was amused by the fact that the audience collectively jeered Microsoft everytime the Windows startup screen appeared. From looking at the information he presented I’m beginning to think that Krispy Kreme is as overvalued as any dotcom ever was. They have a market capitalization of over $2 billion and net annual income of around $25 million.
- Q. & A.
- Doughnut and coffee reception.
Toddler and Total Bastard
I used to love reading An Entirely Other Day by Greg Knauss. I was even a bit angry and bitter when he decided to stop maintaining the site. How dare he stop writing to spend more time with his family. THE BASTARD.
And so I hoped he would someday write a book.
And here it is. Granted, most of it is collected from his old site. But there is supposed to be new material as well. And only $6.00? No wonder they’re already printing more.
Taking Blogs to the Brink
My bandmate Aaron Lukas just set up a blog for Brink Lindsey of the Cato Institute on my server. Knowing Brink, it should make for good dose of daily insight on the state of globalization. Brink’s also got a new book out, which I definitely look forward to reading.
Crossing My Fingers
I’m preparing to upgrade the server this evening to deal with some enigmatic issues. I’ll be moving from Redhat 6.2 to Redhat 7.2 and if all goes well it should only take a few hours.
Dear God I hope there won’t be too many issues resulting from the upgrades. Unfortunately, only time will tell.
Tonight I learned my sister Katie will be attending a summer program at Georgetown University. It should be pretty cool. It will be fun to show her around. Erin and I will have to keep her out of trouble.
Du Hast
A little Rammstein in the morning can be better than coffee.
Doublespeak
Main Entry: op·por·tu·ni·ty
Pronunciation: “ä-p&r-’tü-n&-tE, -’tyü-
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -ties
Date: 14th century
1 : a favorable juncture of circumstances
2 : a good chance for advancement or progress
Main Entry: 1prob·lem
Pronunciation: ‘prä-bl&m, -b&m, -”blem
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English probleme, _from Middle French, from Latinproblema, from Greek _problEma, _literally, obstacle, from _proballeinto throw forward, from _pro- _forward + _ballein _to throw — more at PRO-, DEVIL
Date: 14th century
1 a : a question raised for inquiry, consideration, or solution b : a proposition in mathematics or physics stating something to be done
2 a : an intricate unsettled question b : a source of perplexity, distress, or vexation c : difficulty in understanding or accepting
synonym see MYSTERY
If you look carefully at the above entries from Merriam-Webster Online, you might notice these two words have different meanings. When we allow the practitioners of corporate doublespeak to use the former when they really mean the latter, we do a grave injustice to our language. Know it. Learn it. Live it.
