Migrating

Hey Blog Friends-
Google changed the way I get to it, and I wasn't happy with the work around. I ended up installing WordPress as my blogging platform, and I'll be happy and content with it.

Anyhow, in the process, some of my feed links got mixed around and messed up. So if you are reading this message, you aren't getting my real blog anymore. You're getting a back up version, which basically means after this post, you won't get any more. I'd hate for that to happen.

So here's what's what. I'm still blogging at bradyemmett.info. You can always get me there. If you use a feed reader, please check to make sure that you are subscribed to this feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/SometimesThoseWhoWanderReallyAreLost.

I'm not sure how it works if you want to Follow Me using the Google Follow thing. I think you can type in a Follow Me request.

Cheers-
Brady

Addicted to Argyle

I have a problem, and I know that admitting it is the first step on the path to recovery.

I'm addicted to Argyle. I'm on the 4th day of an all Argyle sock bender. I haven't worn my Argyle sweaters yet, but I'm on my last clean pair of Argyle socks, so who knows what might happen tomorrow.

This addiction came on rather suddenly. Before Christmas I owned exactly zero pairs of Argyle socks. Now I own five different pairs. And I've actively tried to find an "Argyle Sock of the Month" Club. (Sadly, no such thing exists).

What should I do? Those overlapping diamond squares are taking over my life!

Flip Flop: Winter Holidays Edition

I am, by nature, a food flip-flopper. I have many times reversed decisions about whether or not I still like a certain food group or not. I have spent several entire summers not eating corn on the cob, only to (wisely) reverse my stand the next year. I flip-flop almost monthly in my feelings about citrus. On one occasion, I decided that I didn't like watermelon at all, which in my present state of mind is an absolutely ridiculous stance.

Most recently, I have flip flopped my stance on eggnog. It's getting to be the end of eggnog season, but I decided on one of my first shopping trips after the New Year that I should get some eggnog. After all, I had insisted that we have eggnog pie at Christmas Dinner (a very popular decision, I might add). Additionally, over Christmas, we twice had eggnog shakes while enjoying such diverse pastimes as reading the Christmas story and playing Dominion. If it had been delicious then, why not now, I reasoned.

How I reasoned wrongly!

I don't know if it is just the brand that I got at Meijer's or something else that turned me off. It's cloyingly sweet and thick, and I just don't like it. At all.

I have once or twice had some of it straight, but I can't take very much of it that way, so I've taken to cutting it with milk. Unfortunately, this process forces the eggnog to last longer. I've had to begin masking it with other things, which as it turns out is a very effective method to increase my eggnog consumption to the point where I don't feel like I've wasted the entire half-gallon.

Some highlights:

1- Eggnog French Toast. Turns out, eggnog and french toast were made for each other. Just swap out the milk for the 'nog, and you barely have to season.

2- Eggnog Hot Chocolate. I tried this one this morning. Of course, I had to cut it with milk, but chocolate and eggnog seem to compliment each other.

One (extremely) lowlight:

I thought that the general success of the Eggnog Shakes over Christmas was a general indicator that eggnog mixed with any type of ice cream would be heavenly. Not so, my friends, not so. I had some left over ice cream cake from my birthday. It involved red velvet cake and cake mix ice cream, and was not improved at all by being blended with eggnog. In fact, it was the opposite of improvement. Do NOT ever try this. Not ever. Unless you have swallowed some poison and are trying to get it out of your system. I can think of better ways though.

So, now I'm on the outs with eggnog. I still have most of that half-gallon left, and fortunately, it's just about at its expiration date, so I don't feel bad about throwing it out now. I wonder if I'll like it again next eggnog season. Anyone else have a food flip flop for Christmas?

32 Short Statisics

I've compiled a list of 32 statistics which I believe describe my experience in 2009 quite nicely. Did I miss any vital statistics? Do you have any statistics about your year that you'd like to share?

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• 10Ks: 1 (plus 1 5.7mile almost 10K)
• 5Ks: 5
• Blog Posts: 150 on three different blogs
• Books purchased about Writing: 6 (two of which were Stephen King’s On Writing. Oops)
• Complete Television Series watched: 3 (Jericho, Battlestar Gallactica, Pushing Daisies)
• Devices purchased which contain GPS devices: 4
• Emails forwarded to the Hill Street Ward List: 249 (Interesting fact: First and last email forwarded this year had to do with Chapel Cleanup)
• Favorite Books read this year: The Book Thief, The Shadow Gate Series, The Alchemist, The World Without Us
• Favorite New Games: Dominion, Bohnanza
• Favorite New Music Groups: Jack’s Mannequin, Blind Pilot
• Games I play on Facebook: 3 (Mousehunt, MythMonger, Mafia Wars)
• Geocaches found this year: 58
• GPS devices left underwater within one week of purchasing: 1
• Great Lakes which I skipped rocks into: 3 (Huron, Michigan, Superior)
• Half-Marathons: 1
• Least Favorite Books read this year: Little Brother, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
• Maximum Consecutive Days Skipping Rocks into Great Lakes: 5
• Miles run: 245 (Per Nike+ iPod) Stopped using in July
• Miles run: 342 (Per Garmin GPS) Started using in April
• Months in which I ran a race: April, May, June, August, September, October, November, December
• Movies I actively hated: The Seeker
• Movies which I unexpectedly liked: Hoop Dreams, East of Eden
• New Year’s Resolutions that I actually completed: 1 (Run a Half-Marathon)
• New Year’s Resolutions that I can still remember: 3 (Run a Half-Marathon, Write Something Every Day, Do 100 Pushups)
• Number of Pages that constitute my Grad and Undergrad degrees, once scanned: 3,796
• Pairs of Black Shoes I bought: 3 (and still haven’t really found one I like after the first few weeks)
• Places visited for the first time that I’ve been meaning to get to: 5 (Kirtland, The UP, Charlevoix, Mackinac Island, Michigan Renaissance Festival)
• Songs with highest play count on my iPod: Good Christian Men Rejoice (Traditional) – 28; The Black Hawk War, or, How To Demolish An Entire Civilization and Still Feel Good About Yourself in the Morning, or, We Apologize for the Inconvenience But You're Going To Have To Leave Now, or, "I Have Fought The Big Knives And Will Continue to Fight... (Sufjan Stevens) – 13; A short reprise for Mary Todd, who went insane, but for very good reasons (Sufjan Stevens) – 13; Go On, Say It (Blind Pilot) – 12;
• Text Messages (Sent and Received): 863
• Weight of Thanksgiving Turkey: 23 lbs
• Woot! T-shirts purchased: 2
• Writing Classes: 2

The Symphony of Science

I've been trying to decide if I should post a navel-gazey blog about my alarm clock. Instead of making hard decisions, I'll just post this video which I recently stumbled across. Who knew Auto-tune could make such miracles possible?