I looked at my Flickr account the other day and ran across this piece that I put together and posted August 3, 2010. As of today it has 10,058 views. A few people have requested to use it for one reason or another. Others have just gone ahead without asking. I’m pretty flattered either way.
Owen
Google recently announced that on July 1, 2013 its RSS Reader will no longer be available. In preparation, I read several posts about what the best replacement options might be and landed on NetNewsWire. After a few weeks, I now prefer it to Google Reader. Here are a few reasons why.
In addition to the video, here are a few useful links to help you along:
http://netnewswireapp.com
http://blackpixel.com/blog/2013/03/the-return-of-netnewswire.html
Blogs Referenced in the Video:
http://www.dilbert.com
http://thestonesoup.com/blog/
http://mashable.com
Owen W Brown
I posted a recipe on Facebook a few weeks ago with the idea that, while I wasn’t really the type of guy to do that, it was too good not to share. I have been making a lot of homemade sauces lately and, well, I guess I really am that guy, because here I go again. My latest conception. I call it Fresno Pepper Ketchup. Tastes great on pork chops.
Mix the following ingredients in a small mixer and blend. Personally I use the Magic Bullet.
1 Medium Fresno Pepper (cut the top off but put in the rest, seeds and all)
1 TB EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
1 TB Tomato Paste
1/2 TB Bragg Liquid Amino Acid (Soy Sauce Substitute)
1/2 TB Balsamic Vinaigrette
Pinch of Salt and Pepper
Buzz that up and there you have it. If you are careful not to leave a lot of mix in the jar you can get two servings. Enjoy!
I was reading my Kindle on a flight a few days ago and happened to think about jotting down a list of the books that I have read this year. Here is that list in no certain order. It is certainly not meant to impress anybody. It certainly should not other than perhaps folks that do not read at all and then they are not the type to be impressed by a list such as this anyway, now are they.
(1) The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins [I bought this just a few minutes after watching the movie trailer. This was a fast read and I finished it the same day as I bought it. The whole book was really intense. It did lose me at the end when it went full young adult on me. As a result I have not picked up the other two in the series yet. Perhaps in 2013].
(2 – 6) A Game of Thrones: A Song of Fire and Ice: Book One – George R.R. Martin [This series is a monster. The hardback copies are real doorstops. Martin can certainly spin a yarn. I have had to put these down several times but I always have to pick them back up. Each one has its own charm. Getting thru them all has at times been fantastic, and at other times something more like a chore. Mostly fantastic, and I was, at least before, not really a big fan of the genre.]
A Clash of Kings: A Song of Fire and Ice: Book One – George R.R. Martin
A Storm of Swords: A Song of Fire and Ice: Book Three – George R.R. Martin
A Feast of Crows: A Song of Fire and Ice: Book Four – George R.R. Martin
A Dance with Dragons: A Song of Fire and Ice: Book Five – George R.R. Martin
(7) The Graveyard Book – Neil Gaiman [I am actually listening to this book on audio and am about to the end. very interesting so far.]
(8) Imperial Bedrooms – Bret Easton Ellis [Ellis’ books to me seem, in a word, manic. They are extremely violent but somehow manage to be beautiful at the same time. I do not know how he pulls that off but in my opinion he does. I really enjoyed how he wrote a sequel to Less Than Zero without it really being a sequel. Warning: Do not read this to the kids at bedtime. Or at all.]
(9) Stranger in a Strange Land – Robert A. Heinlein [This is the first book of from this author I have read but I have a long list of his books that I intend to read in the new year now that I have finished the Game of Throne series, as it stands.]
(10 – 12) How to Hit Longer and Straighter – Darrell Klassen [Why read books on golf instruction, much less three? Dunno. These are the first and only I have read and I believe they have helped my game on some level. I have no plans to read others.]
Perfect Shot Control – Darrell Klassen
How to Chip it Close – Darrell Klassen
(13) Anything You Want – Derek Sivers [I picked this up one late morning and finished it by late afternoon. It has some interesting stories about how he put together and ran his CDBaby business. I found it mostly forgettable otherwise.]
(14) Trail Food – Alan Kesselheim [I thought I would get some good ideas from this book. While there are some good ideas in this book, I did not use any of them. So, I guess it was either a waste of time and money, or it showed me what I was not willing to do in regards to preparing, and cooking, on the trail.]
(15) The Count of Monte Cristo – Alexander Dumas [A Classic that I never actually read in High School. I picked it up just this past week and cannot seem to put it down. That is good since it is about 1,500 pages long.]
Owen
I began planning this trip to the Grand Canyon around the beginning of 2011. I learned a lot in the process. I had originally planned on doing this Rim to Rim hike in two days and camping in Phantom Ranch at the bottom. That plan did not work out as you must book your stay in Phantom Ranch thirteen months in advance and there are only realistically ten available spots for women and another ten available spots for men, all dormitory style, since priority for all of the best rooms are given to those riding mules down and for those folks staying overnight on a rafting trip.
Once I realized that Phantom Ranch was not a realistic option I made the decision that our group would make the South Rim to North Rim hike in three days instead of two, camping two nights in the Canyon Backcountry. The upside is that we were able to choose one of the best weeks of the year for backpacking. The downside is that a fully loaded backpack can weight twenty or more pounds than a reasonably loaded day pack. (I’ll provide details on the gear I used in a later post.)
We ended up driving out to the South Rim from Phoenix on Monday, September 24 and camping in Mather Campground. We woke up Tuesday and took a van ride to the North Rim and camped. On Wednesday we woke up and hiked our way to the North Rim Trailhead which is about one mile from the campground. We then hiked our way down about eight miles the North Rim to the Cottonwood campground. On Thursday morning we hiked our way about another eight to the Bright Angel Campground. On Friday morning we woke up and hiked our way back up about nine miles to the South Rim. We camped in Mather Campground again on Friday night, woke up on Saturday morning, had a very nice breakfast at the El Tovar restaurant, and started our trek back to Phoenix.
All in all it was a really great week. The group was very laid back and fantastically helpful to each other in so many ways. It is true that the journey is, and in this case certainly was its own reward, but the sense of accomplishment at the end, well, that will linger a very long time.
Work In Progress 