Happy Blog Day, everyone! Grab a drink and saddle up. I’m spinning a short blurb about five blogs you might dig. Blog Day is a meme where I introduce some of the blogs from far and wide that I frequently read.

Here are the bloggers in my midst (pretty close to the order in which I started reading them):

1. Petite Anglaise Petite is an English expatriate living in France, and a single mother. She writes beautifully about kid rearing, workaday life, and her dating life. I found her blog way-back-when while Googling a couple of phrases for a French translation , and the link took me to an endearing story of one of the funny things little “tadpole” had done. I’ve been hooked ever since. Since then, she has had some interesting things come of her blog, including getting published, and garnering some fame for being fired over her blog, and finding triumph over the company who did it.
2. Delusions of Grandeur I worked with Mark at my previous employer. The blog ranges from pictures and stories of his girls to reviews of gadgets and Linux Distros, to just funny things found on the web. Checking in on Delusions is always a surprise.
3. MouseClone I currently work with this Mark. This is another personal blog, and has a lot to do with weird and metaphysical things on the internet, video gaming, and some technical info.
4. Zen Habits Leo is an Obi Wan kind of guy. The blog is loaded with advice on simplifying, saving, organizing, cleaning, etc etc. I originally found this blog when I was looking for a howto for using free web tools like gmail to implement the Getting Things Done (GTD) philosophy, and found his Zen Things Done (ZTD). The site is loaded with hacks for everyday occurrences and conveniences, so if you stay there long, expect a small personal transformation.
5. Bad Astronomy Phil has a blog about astronomy, engineering, and science in general. Updates on new findings, and how they affect our daily lives.

Now that I’m finishing my five, I’m thinking of a few others that I’d like to include, too. Explore your blogosphere, folks! There are a lot of voices out there!

It’s actually the 108th Thursday Thirteen, but this is my first entry in this meme…

1. Idiocracy
2. Undertaking Betty
3. He Died with a Falafel in His Hand
4. Over the Hedge
5. The Last Mimzy
6. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
7. Sideways
8. The Prestige
9. Lady in the Water
10. Big Momma’s House
11. Are we there yet?
12. OT:Our Town
13. Spare Parts

Credit cards are kind of a crazy thing.  They can be devastatingly bad for you, but at the same time, there are tons of situations where you really absolutely should be using one over any other method. 

They get so many people in trouble, and ever since Alan Greenspan came onto the scene, making the average monthly payment for credit cards start out at $10 a month, lulling the populace into a huge bear trap, credit card companies have been growing like weeds.

We had colors, and types of metals for a long time, but now there are so many custom cards out there, before long, there will be a type of consultant to help pick out your new card, based on your Horoscope, some personality traits, and maybe the inseam measurement of your pants… Check out this article that highlights the latest gimmick offerings with the related points systems, etc.

Shopper: “Hi. I’m looking for a credit card that gives me points toward earning a free roll of State Lotto scratch-off tickets, and has a graphic logo on the front that conveys serious business sense, but also a carefree and young sensibility.”
Consultant: “Yes. Well, you have described the “Hopeless Yuppie” card, but according to Chinese Astrology for your birth year, and the right ascension of Mars on your birthday, you will be much better off with the “Shifty Burger Bonus” Credit Card.
Shopper: “I would be embarrassed of that one. It has a greasy handprint for a logo.”
Consultant: “With your credit score and payment history, not to mention your pale yellow aura, you won’t be earning the lotto tickets any time soon. You may as well take the free ‘Heart-Attack-InnA-Sack™’ meal that comes with every on-time card payment. It’s Instant gratification.
Shopper: “You know, I think you’re onto something. I’m glad I didn’t just wing this decision on my own.”

Serious advice, you say?
The Simple Dollar Had some good advice for dealing with the card you already have.
Clark Howard Is always a good source, too.

Mark from Mouseclone started his own meme today, where he is highlighting bands he discovered on Amie Street. I love the site, and have discovered quite a few bands there that I really like. If you want to participate, and really dig the embedded player, please use Mouseclone’s linkback. When you are on the artists’ page at Amie St., there is a button under their profile pic that says “Promote this artist”. he resulting page will give you all the code you need to embed either one song or a whole album. Pretty nice of them, I think.

So, for my first Wednesday Band Spotlight, I’m going with Neuromance. Tell me what you think of Transit Station.

I’d like to see them sometime. I wonder if they ever get to the East coast… When you are checking them out, don’t miss the tracks Pocket Knife and Machine World.

I’ve heard a lot about “multitasking” for about 20 years.  There was a lot of hoopla about home PC’s becoming powerful enough to multitask, and ever since then, management types seem to expect humans to do it.  And humans seem to think that they can do it.  The idea behind multitasking is that a computer would have enough processor power and memory that it would be able to handle instructions from more than one program at the same time, rather than taking the instructions or queries sequentially.  This became a huge buzzword when the general public was used to having PC computers, and the Microsoft Windows ads were showing that the user could have a word processing app open, as well as a spreadsheet, and have the ability to make changes in either, and switch quickly back and forth. 

What really happens is that the programs are optimized with threading, but I won’t bore you with those details.  The geeks among us have that part down.  My point is that people cannot multitask.  There is even Legislation forbidding it.  If you are multitasking on the job, what i means in reality is that you know the timing of several tasks, and operate on something while you would otherwise be waiting for another. 

Somewhere along the line, management got the idea that people are actually able to do several things that require attention to detail and great care, all at once. 

Can you?  really?

I was looking at Patrick’s site and saw a post about the impact that a theme song can have on a political campaign.

As I was typing that, I was reminded of theme songs for intros of, say, pro wrestlers. I think that I will start requesting that any time I make an entrance someplace, whether it be a meeting at work, or when walking into a bar, that the music be changed to one of my theme songs. After I have them all trained to do this, then I’ll gradually increase my demands to include the use of the fog machines, shooting of flares, and the display of video close-ups on an overhead widescreen for those in the crowd seated too far away to be able to see very well.

The Sunday seven asks for one theme song, but in order to make it a Sunday Seven, I’m making a list of seven theme songs I’d use for either public entrances or for political campaigns:

1. Wilco — What Light
2. Shawn Colvin — Even Here We Are
3. Poets and Pornstars — Get Your Kicks
4. Black Crowes — Remedy
5. Norah Jones — Any Other Day
6. Rilo Kiley — Under The Blacklight
7. Boston — Don’t Look Back

Just off the top of my head.

Back at the beginning of the summer, I found a recipe through a related link for this amazing vegetarian asparagus-pesto lasagna, and decided to try it out. I got the majority of the ingredients from the farmer’s market. After it was baked, I offered it to the girls, and they didn’t want anything to do with it because of the asparagus. Until they tried it. Everyone who got a taste of the stuff then has brought it up from time to time ever since. In preparations for making it again, I was looking at the recipe, and remembering some difficulties. So, I’m posting the recipe again with some modifications so that I can reproduce it easier in the future.

from Vegetarian Times; April 2006
Serves 10

1/3 c all-purpose flour
3½ c low-fat milk, divided
6 Tbs Pesto (the freshest you can find or make).
2 Tbs Grated Parmesan, plus additional for garnish
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
2 tsp olive oil
1¼ lb. asparagus spears, tips cut off and reserved, spears trimmed and cut to ¼” pieces
1 tsp minced garlic (1 clove)
1 small box lasagna noodles
2 c shredded mozzarella (8 oz), divided

Noodles: If you are using the no-bake noodles, they are ready. If you are using regular lasagna noodles, boil them to the point just prior to being al dente.

Steps one and two below are independent, so if you have extra hands on deck, both can occur simultaneously.

ONE: Make The white sauce

Preheat oven to 350°. Whisk flour and ½ cup of milk in saucepan until smooth. Gradually whisk in remaining milk. Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly, and boil 1 minute, until thickened. Remove from heat: stir in pesto, Parmesan, salt, and pepper. Reserve one cup of this sauce.

TWO: Prep The asparagus spears

Warm oil in a large nonstick skillet over med-high heat. Add chopped asparagus (except tips) and cook, stirring often, 5 minutes or until tender. Add garlic, cook, stirring, 1 minute and season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from heat.

THREE: Assemble the masterpiece

Coat 13 x 9 baking dish with cooking spray. Place layer of noodles in dish, overlapping slightly. Layer with half of cooked asparagus, ¾ cup cheese and half of sauce. Add another layer of pasta, remaining sauce, remaining cooked asparagus, and ¾ cup cheese. Top with a layer of noodles, then with reserved cup of white sauce. Arrange reserved asparagus tips over top and sprinkle with remaining cheese.

FOUR: Controlled reaction

Bake, uncovered. 35 to 45 minutes, or until golden. Let stand 10 minutes; serve with additional grated Parmesan.

When I made it the first time, it didn’t seem like there was enough of the white(pesto) sauce. This time, I think I’ll double the ingredients for just the pesto part. If I end up with too much, I could always just make the whole thing a couple of layers taller.

This recipe is amazing, and it refrigerates and freezes very well.

I was reading this page about an NYC burger place called brgr. The following is a short list of additions I’d make to the menu:

The Del.icio.us – Digg leftovers from yesterday and even last week are pressed into burger form.
The Minti – Always served at the tables next to the kids’ play area. Comes with a stack of extra napkins.
The LinkedIn – Loads of onions and garlic. You sit at a table full of old colleagues you never liked, anyway.
The Flickr – Requires the use of picture menus, laced with information on the make and model of cameras used in its making.
The Pandora – Filled with puffed rice to amplify the sound of your chewing. May be removed from menu if the RIAA has its way.
The Technorati – Has paper tags hanging from every nook and cranny, most of which are not used by anyone.