Whatever your passion might be – language, computers, quilting, golf – there are probably dozens of people living near you who feel the same way. How can you get to know them? Check out Meetup – a hub for thousands of conversation clubs on more than 4,000 topics all over the world. Just type your interest, indicate your location, and go.
Local Theater
I saw a wonderful play last night at our local theater: “The Foreigner,” by Larry Shue. It’s about an English guy who goes to Georgia and is so shy that he pretends not to speak any English. The people around him then proceed to confide in him, say horrible things to him, and even “teach” him English, while he gabbles away in a strange gibberish of his own invention (with the occasional French or Swedish phrase thrown in). It was very clever and extremely funny, and it reminded me how much I love local theater. The actors may not be famous, but they are very talented, the sets are invariably amazing, and we always have a great time. If you’ve never been to a play at your local or repertory theater company, I highly recommend it. Broadway isn’t the only place to see a great play.
Favicon.ico
Have you ever noticed that when you bookmark sites or add them to your favorites, they sometimes come with a little image next to their name? This is called a favorite icon (favicon for short), and I just discovered a site that will make them for you. If you have a website, you can upload an image and click generate favicon. Then just upload it to your site, add a single line of code to your homepage, and when someone bookmarks your site, your little logo will be right there too. Apparently it can also make animated icons, but I haven’t tried that yet: FavIcon from Pics
Recycled Paper, Metal, Plastic… and Food?
I recycle pretty much everything, but I’ve always drawn the line at food – I just throw those scraps onto the compost pile. But an enterprising graduate student has come up with a way to get just a little more use out of inedible food scraps: wasteware. The scraps are ground up and then molded into dishes that can be used a few times before they become compost. Pretty cool.
Wasteware, it’s everything but the squeal in food recycling
French Recipes
Bastille Day is rapidly approaching – celebrate à la française with some of my favorite French recipes, including crêpes, French onion soup, and vichyssoise.
2006 World Cup: France Loses to Italy
Italy beat France in the 2006 World Cup in penalty kicks. But for me the game was lost when Zidane headbutted Marco Materazzi in the chest, apparently in retaliation for a verbal insult from the Italian player. Up until that moment, it was a fun and exciting game, but afterwards I could barely stand to watch. I couldn’t have been more shocked if a weapon had been used on the field. What an awful way to end the game – and his career.