FIVE SECOND STORIES

 

Interesting ad for a feature on iPhone: Personal Voice samples and recreates your voice, so if you ever lose the ability to speak, you can continue to communicate through your iPhone, iPad, or Mac and still sound like you — which means your voice is never lost.

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German baking show translation: the dough has become like a cloud. Yep, soft and fluffy!

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The man had developed an intense yen for Triscuits-normally not one of his favorites. Perhaps his body was screaming for some fiber. 

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Gingerbread men! I haven't attempted making these (if ever) in 40 years! C had expressed a particular yen for these guys so I took on the baking. She was quite touched that I had taken the time to make them and we are both pleased with the results. We're both happy with my reducing the sugar by a third and in fact, I could probably cut the amount by half. Seems to bring out the flavor of the spices rather than have your taster overwhelmed with the sweetness. Chester looks on approvingly as well.  

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I bought a pair of these a month ago and I am very happy with them-warm and I like the sole grippers. I am not happy, however, either out of coincidence or because I bought them, with the fact that I am followed everywhere with Bombas ads. Alright already-I bought your product, now leave me the eff alone! 

Imagined corporate reply: 

Dear valued customer-thank you for your purchase of Bombas. We're sorry you are unhappy with our continued outreach but if you read the terms and conditions of your purchase, you will see that by virtue of your actions, you have granted our algorithms permission to afford you the opportunity to make additional purchases. Have a happy holiday! Bombas

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The owner of a family-owned business, seeing his empire of 15 stores spiraling into debt, became erratic when it came to solutions for his problems. In one scheme, he decided that all heating and a/c in the stores would now be controlled remotely, by him. I can save a few bucks and I use this to punish stores when they underperform. Roasting their balls or freezing their fingers ought to get their attention he thought.

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From an Attenborough doc: for some, there is a wait for the water temperature to reach 16° C. Once achieved, for many species on the reef, it is time to mate!

Another example of how temperature impacts species, whether it is temperature signalling the time to mate or determining what gender a turtle will be while it is still in its egg or when to head in a certain direction in the ocean to coincide with the arrival of a species that will feed you so you can procreate and have food for the little ones. 

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Bad subtitling classic: anemone was translated as anonymity. There was a bit of logic to this-some fish species was hiding in the anonymity.

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Wood turning with epoxy resin to create wood bowls, vases. Cool patterns, but one has to wonder about the toxicity of resin dust.

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We splurged and bought a Frazier fir from Tannenbaum Tree farm on 12/8. Wow! What a tree! Biggest one we have ever gotten. Nicest weather as well with temps in the lo-50's and not too muddy. 

 

We had our traditional tree-trimming party-I made vegan chex mix in the morning and yes, there exists a vegan W sauce. It's from Whole Foods, part of their 365 organic line. Not as sharp as regular W sauce, which is of little surprise without the anchovies. Still, it's a decent sub and does the job. Word of warning-take time to fully whisk the W sauce into the melted butter otherwise it won't emulsify and you'll have stretches of chex with butter but no W sauce. 

 

We brought Mr. Big Tree home, got him into the stand and set him up in the library. Buddy quietly watched from the Great Room. What the heck are Mom and Dad doing now? I got the fire going and C put on YT her favorite version of The Nutcracker ballet-1977 with Baryshnikov-for background music and viewing. We cracked open some adult beverages-C was drinking her non-alcoholic cabernet, I dipped into some Grand Marnier. When we finished and were hanging out on the couch, Bud surveyed the scene with little interest and joined us for some scritches.

What a magnificent tree!

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C bought Buddy a couple of catnip delivery devices for stocking stuffers. Our old one from Aunt Karen was retired-battered from years of use. She thought these were a hoot.

Mr. Chameleon

Mr. Pineapple

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Saturday, 12/9 was even warmer, reaching 59 in the early afternoon. Bud napped in a corner of sunshine on my bed.

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A fascinating doc from the National Art Gallery about the Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675). Arty and academic, this piece reminded me of Art History classes I took back in the day. Vermeer has always been one of my favorite artists with his astonishing skill of depicting light. What I didn't know and what I found so interesting was the in-depth examination of his work. He was a big time user of perspective and his inventive brushwork is astonishingly prescient of the Impressionists 200 years later. Well worth one's time to simply admire the efforts of this great artist.