abunchofrandom. joshua conner's weblog.

Not every day you get quoted in the New York Times

2008-02-05T19:43:52Z

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/05/us/politics/05parties.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

P.S. Come to our party tonight!

House pictures!

2007-12-28T10:40:07Z

No, not Dr. House, the Stephen Colbert's favorite doctor who plays by his own rules.

Our apartment, finally. Here. Clever descriptions included for your enjoyment.

Two things, for the record

2007-10-12T06:39:44Z

1) If you want to order a really mean shot for someone's power hour, I recommend the WMD: 1/2 shot Wild Turkey 101 (but 80 is okay, I guess), 1/2 shot Maker's Mark, and 1/2 shot Dewar's White Label, lined up in 3 side-by-side shot glasses, 3 Kings-style. "Why do you recommend this?" you ask? 1) It will mass destruct your ass; and 2) I fucking invented it. For the record.

2) I just painted my room orange. Like, Home Depot Orange, except a little redder and warmer. Every bit as intense though, especially in the early morning when the sun is directly hitting it. You should come by and check it out. Just in case orange suddenly gets trendy (and Lord knows it's fucking due to) you heard it here first. I will post pictures as soon as I borrow a digital camera from someone because iPhone photos don't do it justice.

Wii

2007-08-14T07:44:48Z

I bought a Wii! It was kind of weird, I was in Wal-Mart - where I never go unless nothing else is open - to buy some New Skin because I cut myself pretty badly bartending tonight, and I thought to myself, "heck, why not go see if they have any Wii's."

So I did, and they did; 3, the other two of which also sold while I was waiting in line to pay for mine. I haven't even taken it out of the box yet because I have to work really early tomorrow morning, but what a fine end of an otherwise pretty ho-hum day.

That is all.

Torn

2007-04-13T05:31:05Z

Good news!

2007-03-28T22:54:40Z

Radio Lab Season 3 - coming to a radio or iPod near you, May 2007.

It's like This American Life, but for science, people! The "Musical Language" episode is particularly worth a listen.

sometimes behave so strangely, sometimes behave so strangely, sometimes behave so strangely

First episode online

2007-03-23T19:53:49Z

You can watch the first episode of the brand-spanking-new This American Life TV show here.

Anyone want to come see Ira Glass 12/1 with me in Scottsdale?

New car!

2007-03-23T06:06:12Z

It's a 2000 Subaru Outback. Don't worry, I took those yellow stickers off.

Also there's a survey inside!

Questions from learntoflyrar:

1. Did I just go there?
Well, the way I asked you to interview me was by saying "Do me!" so I'm pretty sure you did.

2. If I'm baking you cookies, what kind am I making?
Oatmeal chocolate chip, I hope! They're my favorite.

Let me just step back here to mention that even though the cooking world has positively exploded and is evolving in extraordinary ways, some things will never go out of style. One of these things? The Joy of Cooking - don't get the newly updated 75th anniversary JoC, or the original 1931 JoC (which apparently has recipes for cooking, like, weasels and stuff) - I'm talking the standard edition here. While some of the main dish stuff has maybe gone out of style, the desserts (in particular the oatmeal chocolate chip cookie and fruit pie recipes, in which she presents separate recipes for making fruit pies with frozen and fresh fruit) and side recipes are excellent.

Okay, moving on. But seriously, that JoC oatmeal chocolate cookie recipe's the best cookie recipe ever. Okay, really, moving on.

3. Who is someone you admire greatly, and why?
Stewart Brand started the Whole Earth Catalog (and the seminal BBS-turned-online community the WELL), jump-started the organic foods movement, wrote one of my favorite books ever, turned me on (when he was guest-editing Kevin Kelly's awesome Cool Tools) to the joys of ultra-light backpacking, and he's trying to make applied history a freaking academic concentration (!!!). This man is amazing. If I could eat dinner with one person, it would be him right after Jesus. 'Nuff said.

4. Would you rather leave an great, lasting impact on the world, or be happy?
I want to say I'd rather leave a lasting impact but if actions speak louder than words it would appear I'd rather be happy, at least at this point. Hopefully I will not have to choose.

5. Congratulations, you are now the mayor of Flagstaff. What's the first law you're going to push? (hypothetical because I know mayors can't just make laws willy nilly)
Oh, man, I'm so painfully ignorant of local politics...I think water is going to be a huge issue in the southwest in the next 25 years and anyone who's not dealing with it now is going to really pay when crunch time comes, so that's what I guess I'd like to see. Also, sustainable energy - not sure how much a city can help/make people do this kind of thing, but at the very least the city buildings could have solar panels on them. Flagstaff is wide open to the south, and lord knows we get enough sun.

Okay, now it's your turn. Post a comment and I'll ask you five questions.

Robert Goulet

2007-03-14T21:51:17Z

I'm sick and tired of people not getting the joke when I run down to grab a snack around 3pm "so Robert Goulet won't mess with my stuff."

Really?

2007-03-12T03:49:01Z

I make less than $11,000/year. My estimated family contribution according to the US Department of Education - and I'm old enough to be considered an independent student now, so no parents' incomes factor in to this - is $1,624.

Anyone else Twittering?

2007-02-26T23:35:34Z

http://www.twitter.com/abunchofrandom/

My latest t-shirt idea

2007-02-07T23:34:05Z

Proper capitalizers do it with

the first words of sentences; the pronoun "I"; proper nouns; family relationships (when used as proper names); the names of God, specific deities, religious figures and holy books; titles preceding names; directions (when not used as compass directions); the days of the week, months of the year and holidays; the names of countries, nationalities, and specific languages; the first word in a sentence that is a direct quote; the major words in the titles of books, articles and songs (but not short prepositions or the articles "the," "a," or "an," if they are not the first word of the title); members of national, political, racial, social, civic and athletic groups; periods and events (but not century numbers); trademarks; and words and abbreviations of specific names (but not names of things that came from specific things but are now general types).

Any takers?

Fantastic Anthony Bourdain on the Top Chef contestants

2007-01-31T04:17:28Z

http://blog.ruhlman.com/2007/01/guest_blogging_.html

I only watch five TV shows anymore: 24, Battlestar Galactica, 30 Rock, Studio 60 and Top Chef. If you care about food at all, go find torrents and watch the old episodes. It's everything reality TV should be (except Padma, who really is a fine host but just doesn't really know food enough) and very little that it shouldn't. And Bourdain is spot-on in his assessments.

BSG season 3 gag reel

2007-01-26T06:41:26Z


Probably won't find this funny if you don't watch BSG, which I think eliminates everyone except fontosaurus. All well.

"In Heaven," by Stephen Crane

2007-01-24T03:25:20Z

In heaven,
Some little blades of grass
Stood before God.
"What did you do?"
Then all save one of the little blades
Began eagerly to relate
The merits of their lives.
This one stayed a small way behind,
Ashamed.
Presently, God said,
"And what did you do?"

The little blade answered, "Oh my Lord,
Memory is bitter to me,
For, if I did good deeds,
I know not of them."
Then God, in all His splendor,
Arose from His throne.
"Oh, best little blade of grass!" He said.

(via Ask Metafilter)

This makes me want to re-read The Red Badge of Courage.

Sometimes they slide on their bellies. To go faster.

2007-01-16T22:23:53Z

RIP, Michael Brecker

2007-01-14T22:10:26Z

Question

2007-01-10T23:52:15Z

Why doesn't anyone talk to anyone on AIM anymore? Is it just me?

Delicious LiveJournal Links for 1-4-2007

2007-01-04T08:22:41Z

Google Operating System: How to Add Search to Google Reader

This is all I want in life, to be able to search the blogs I read and nothing else. Okay, not all I want, but this does make me very happy.

(tags: googlereader search google rss blogsearch blog)
gDiapers - Home

Cloth diapers with flushable linings!

(tags: diapers baby green)

Delicious LiveJournal Links for 1-3-2007

2007-01-03T08:26:52Z

Mac OS X and Home / End keys

Make your home and end keys jump to the beginning and end of a line in OSX!

(tags: osx apple home end hacks mac keyboard)

Delicious LiveJournal Links for 12-21-2006

2006-12-21T08:24:27Z

Pitchfork Feature: Guest List: Best of 2006

Best-of lists from Beck, Jenny Lewis, Mogwai and others

(tags: pitchfork music bestof2006)
Paper Thin Walls :: 2006 Mixtape

We asked more than 30 of our favorite music writers to pick just one song that sums up 2006â”one fragile, downloadable fragment to drop in our time capsule, to be buried deep under the cornerstone of the PTW servers. Weâ™ve collected all of them here as

(tags: 2006 mp3 bestof music)
The Fix Its: Shrink Wrap Your Windows For Winter Â» Curbly | DIY Design Community Â« Keywords: video, the-fix-its, windows, winterizing

(tags: windows shrinkwrap insulation utilities)

Re: "things I haven't done yet" list

2006-12-18T09:51:08Z

Check another item off.

Delicious LiveJournal Links for 12-12-2006

2006-12-12T08:26:16Z

74 68 65 20 64 69 67 69 74 61 6C 20 6D 65: Fun with UNICODE and Mirroring Character

‮Cool hack to make all of your text read right-to-left.

(tags: unicode fun hack mirror mirroring)

Delicious LiveJournal Links for 12-10-2006

2006-12-10T08:25:55Z

onigame: I wish my cell phone had a setting where

This makes so much sense.

(tags: cellphones ideas)
Pocket Ref

Great gift for the jack-of-all-trades-y type. This is on my wishlist!

(tags: books building gifts reference wishlist)

Almost really awkward

2006-12-10T04:52:18Z

ingrid: im moving to brooklyn
ingrid: next sunday
josh: with your sister?
ingrid: yeah, and brother
josh: it's like party of five except your parents aren't dead! i hope!
josh: your parents are okay?
ingrid: haha
ingrid: theyre fine
josh: phew