Category Archives: influences

The Virtues of Restraint

Posted on October 19, 2010 by David

Shortly after we moved into our house (which She Who Must Be Obeyed bought me for my birthday fifteen years ago), we were given a bonsai juniper as a housewarming present. Since I deal with all of the Chez Belm … Continue reading →

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Tony and Me

Posted on July 27, 2010 by David

From the day I read Kitchen Confidential (KC ) right through to today, Anthony Bourdain has been a huge influence on how I cook, eat, and think about cooking and eating. He motivated me to try new things, which has … Continue reading →

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Readercon 21

Posted on July 8, 2010 by David

I‘m off to Readercon 21. I wrote about the conference last year, but the big difference for me is that I am this year’s Program Chair, which means I’m in charge of the content creation and scheduling processes. It’s a … Continue reading →

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Rock That Font

Posted on June 11, 2010 by David

A friend and reader of this blog sent me this email about a month ago: About the typography of rock album covers: http://rockthatfont.com/ I have never seen a website that seems more precisely designed for [you] — except that there … Continue reading →

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Mellodrama

Posted on February 3, 2010 by David

The flutes that open “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Stairway to Heaven,” the strings in”Nights in White Satin” — these are sounds you know by heart. What you may not know is that they were played on a keyboard instrument called … Continue reading →

Posted in influences, music | Tagged , | 23 Comments

Alton and Me

Posted on November 13, 2009 by David

When it’s time to prepare the family Thanksgiving meal this year, I’ll start by thawing the frozen bird in cold running water the morning before. I’ll let the turkey sit in a big cooler full of a spiced brine and … Continue reading →

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Get Better

Posted on October 15, 2009 by David

Merlin Mann is one of my favorite bloggers. He had me hooked years ago with 43 Folders, when I was obsessed (along with the rest of my geek circle) with Getting Things Done. Today, I found this talk  — How … Continue reading →

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Whip It

Posted on October 6, 2009 by David

Jell-O® put me through college. I wasn’t a door-to-door Jell-O® salesman, but I was the son of a General Foods (GF) employee – Dad programed IBM 370 mainframes for the warehouse inventory systems in assembly language – which made me … Continue reading →

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In Which I Confess to Being the Last Food Blogger in the U.S. to See Julie and Julia

Posted on October 1, 2009 by David

I feel like a traitor. I have declared here that Julia Child is the reason I can cook today, but I waited more than two months to see Julie and Julia. Part of the delay can be attributed to finding … Continue reading →

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Mahlon Hoagland: 1921-2009

Posted on September 25, 2009 by David

He worked with James Watson and Francis Crick. He discovered transfer RNA and amino acid activation. He was twice nominated for the Nobel Prize. His name was Mahlon Hoagland, he passed away last week, and you have never heard of … Continue reading →

Posted in design, influences, science, skepticism | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments