Saturday, August 11, 2001

Yahoo! Personals Spam

Got this in my e-mail shortly after I re-posted my personals ad the other day...

---

From: <darla1972yng@yahoo.com>
Subject: I saw your ad on the net ....:))

I saw your Ad on the net, and I could not answer
you because my computer died
and I could not get a new one until I get a new job or
something. I hope you are still interested,
as I realize lots of days past.

Gosh, I really don't know where to start ....
Mabey you can tell me little more about yourself,
and most of all, are you still looking ?

If you are interested in more about me, I have a profile
at a free site ... I didnt want to use a pay site because
that did not seem like a good thing .. To many of those
around. You can check my profile at

http://www.[some-porn-site].com

I am NOT a Porn Chick ..:)
I just chose it because you don't have to pay,
And they allow any pictures I want.
Oh yea , My username is darla1972 .

Dont really know what else to say for now
Let me know if you are interested, And I hope
you dont run when you see my picture :)

Bye ..... Darla

---

Gee, that's funny. I got the same message a month ago when I created my original Yahoo! Personals ad (I guess she got her PC working only to have it break again). Except that the e-mail address was slightly different (darla1972 at the front of the e-mail address, but it had a different suffix) and the porn site URL is different. I'll admit that the first time around, I went for the bait and clicked on the link (and got bombarded with a splash page full of ads for escort services and whatnot). It's actually a pretty clever piece of social-engineering because the first e-mail cause of the way that it's worded.

So if you get a message from darla1972, don't bother reading it... because even though she may not be a porn chick, she is pimping for them.

posted by Wuphon's Reach at 10:18 PM

The Unofficial Online Myers-Brigg Test

Got this one off of Dri Dri Land's blog. Supposedly the Jung - Myers-Briggs Typology test. It should tell me that I'm an INTJ.

Your Type is
I (44%) N (11%) T (11%) J (44%)
Introverted Intuitive Thinking Judging

Qualitative analysis of your type formula
You are:
moderately expressed introvert
slightly expressed intuitive personality
slightly expressed thinking personality
moderately expressed judging personality

INTJ type description by D.Keirsey
INTJ type description by J. Butt and M.M. Heiss

posted by Wuphon's Reach at 9:19 PM

Am I really a kinesthetic?

Sometimes I do question whether my primary method is Kinesthetic or whether it's Visual. My brother claims to be a Visual with Kinesthetic as a strong secondary mode. I question it because of how much I like to read and write (I always had my nose buried in a book growing up); but then I think about my afinity for planting things and working with dirt, mulch, and flowers. Kinesthetics are usually athletic and I wouldn't begin to describe myself that way (I was always the skinny uncoordinated one would be a team's last pick); but I really enjoy a game of volleyball or getting out on my bike and cranking out a trail.

Sometimes I wonder if we were really starved for physical affection growing up or not... was it as bad as we remember, or have our memories been colored by the years? And what has caused us to be so 'touch-sensitive' that we used to recoil if someone touched us that we didn't trust? I really don't know where the hostility towards our folks comes from, some days it's strong and I don't want anything to do with them, other days it's hardly there and I can stand to be around them. I'm not sure that 'hostility' is the right word, more like 'try my patience past the breaking point' or "I would prefer not to deal with your issues and foibles right now" or "why does it feel like they're an emotional vamp after I see them". I think it's a defensive reaction to their vamping, of trying to live through my brother and I because they have no dreams/hopes/excitement of their own. Home is never a place where my bro' and I go to relax, so when we're emotionally drained already and have to go there and they start vamping we react with anger to drive the vamp away so that we can rest. Unfortunately, it has the undesired effect of making the vamps get even more intrusive because they want to know why we're driving them away (which makes them vamp all the more). Nasty, vicious circle with a short-fused feedback loop (and my bro' and I can't always short it out before it escapes our inner dialogue). (Of course, after this rant, they're going to want to shower us with even more unwanted physical affection. [sigh])

At times I think there's a dark secret hiding somewhere in the attic. I have suspicions that things were not as rosy as they've always been painted with my parents' childhoods. Sure, they're both introverts, but sometimes their reactions are so skewed that I wonder what skewed them or if they've done the skewing themselves. It really doesn't matter as much to me anymore because we're both out of the house, past their sphere of influence, where their internal issues no longer actively impact us. And since I'm not the knight in shining armor whose supposed to slay their dragons; I'm not going to go poking into business that I want no part of. They created their life, and it's not dangerous to their health or to anyone else it's just not a happy life, and I choose to live my own life away from them. So we each have our own lives, and I'm happiest when I don't have to rub up against theirs.

Some of you are thinking that I'm an idiot for feeling that way (some of you are calling me worse names) about my folks. That I'm a bad son for not wanting to have them as part of my life or for not wanting to help them out. Um, okay, you're entitled to think that... Let's see if I can explain my reasons why (and why they're reasons and not excuses). How about this one; I'm not myself when I'm around my folks. It warps me to be around them; and I dislike myself after a visit with them because of the involuntary personality change that I go through.

Well, as interesting as all that is, it still doesn't answer my question of "were we starved for physical attention growing up?"... I think we had a sub-normal amount, which is to say I can't say we were denied it, but I remember other people's touches as being special (like Mrs Dooley's hugs) and I don't have that same feeling about any memories involving my folks. Maybe the other memories are happier because they were all of people who didn't vamp off of me, they were genuinely glad to see me and we're wanting anything from me. Hugs from my folks are more of the "because you're a bad son if you don't and I'll act all hurt if you don't", not the genuine "glad to see you" type.

Dead-end, not sure where I was planning on heading with this, but I obviously didn't get there.



posted by Wuphon's Reach at 8:43 PM

More interesting blog links

Still spending time checking the latest blogs to be updated... (hey, it's one way to spend the day). I've found a few that are like "wow, that's a pretty good read" but followed up by "hmm, I don't think people would understand why I linked there", which will probably be followed in a few weeks by "hey, I really don't care if they understand, maybe it will broaden their horizons if I link to that one". I'm still trying to find a general tone / topic / style for this blog; so bear with me for a few more weeks.

Blork Blog
in the Tradition of Lunatics
Dri Dri Land (I need to come back and read more of this one)
A day in the Life (Hey, same template as me!)
b a r b a r a f l e t c h e r : obligatory blog
Conversations with Riley
Neurotica: A Journal (Baltimore MD)

posted by Wuphon's Reach at 7:43 PM

Get to know yourself

Took a quiz called Get to know yourself better!, I thought the results were interesting and reasonably accurate...:

Your view on yourself
Other people find you very interesting, but you are really hiding your true self. Your friends love you because you are a good listener; they'll probably still love you if you learn to be yourself with them. (Okay, pretty much on target...)

The type of girl/boyfriend you are looking for.
You are not looking merely for a girl/boyfriend - you are looking for your life partner. Perhaps you should be more open-minded about who you spend time with. The person you are looking for might hide their charm under their exterior. (So that explains why I took out that web personal ad...)

Your readiness to commit to a relationship.
You are ready to commit as soon as you meet the right person. And you believe you will pretty much know as soon as you might that person. (Yeah, close enough)

The seriousness of your love.
You are very serious about relationships and aren't interested in wasting time with people you don't really like. If you meet the right person, you will fall deeply and beautifully in love. (I hope!)

Your views on education
Education is less important than the real world out there, away from the classroom. Deep inside you want to start working, earning money and living on your own. (Wow, that hit the mark ... that's one of the reasons I didn't bother going back to college for my 4th year.)

The right job for you.
You're a practical person and will choose a secure job with a steady income. Knowing what you like to do is important; find a regular job doing just that and you'll be set for life. (Actually, I tend to get bored once the job gets into a steady routine ... there has to be constant change and new challenges because I'm not a 'maintenance' type person.)

How do you view success?
You are afraid of failure and scared to have a go at the career you would like to have in case you don't succeed. Do not give up when you have not even started yet! Be courageous! (No points for this one either, I'm in the career that I'd like to have and it was a risk to do it.)

What are you most afraid of?
You are afraid of having no one to rely on in times of trouble. You don't ever want to be unable to take care of yourself. Independence is important to you. (Hmm, I am independent and I have friends that I can depend on in a pinch... yeah, this is close enough.)

Who is your true self?
You are mature, reasonable, honest and give good advice. People ask for your comments on all sorts of different issues. Sometimes you might find yourself in a dilemma when trapped with a problem, which your heart, rather than your head, needs to solve. (Pretty good guess.)


posted by Wuphon's Reach at 7:01 PM

Time to change my travel plans

Well, I'm not confident that I'm going to get my car by Aug 16th (in order for me to leave on 8/24 as I originally planned on doing), so I'm going to have to move it all back a week and not leave until after work on Thursday 8/30. I'm also going to run in the opposite direction as I originally planned (going to see my cousin first) and I've had some other ideas as well.

My original itinerary:

Friday, Pennsylvania to Atlantic City NJ
Saturday, Atlantic City NJ to Salisbury MD
Sunday, Salisbury MD to Chesapeake VA
Monday, Chesapeake VA to Columbia NC
Tuesday, Columbia NC to Morehead City NC
Wednesday, Morehead City NC to Wilmington NC
Thursday, Wilmington NC to Fayetteville NC
Friday, Fayetteville NC to Charlotte NC
Saturday, Charlotte NC
Sunday, Charlotte NC
Monday, Charlotte NC
Tuesday, Charlotte NC to Pennsylvania

My revised itinerary (guess I'll be making lots of changes to my vacation pages):

York PA to Charlotte VA (Thu 8/30)
Charlotte VA to Charlotte NC (Fri 8/31)
Charlotte NC (Sat 9/1)
Charlotte NC (Sun 9/2)
Charlotte NC to Savannah GA (Mon 9/3)
Savannah GA (Tue 9/4)
Savannah GA to Charleston SC (Wed 9/5)
Charleston SC (Thu 9/6)
Charleston SC to Wilmington NC (Fri 9/7)
Wilmington NC (Sat 9/8)
Wilmington NC to Columbia NC (Sun 9/9)
Columbia NC (Mon 9/10)
Columbia NC to Salisbury MD (Tue 9/11)
Salisbury MD to York PA (Wed 9/12)

I like the revised itinerary because I'll be staying in the same hotel for 2 nights in a row in most of the cities. That gives me the pattern of a slightly harder travel day (4-6 hrs) followed by a day with no travel (so I can see the local sights). I've also managed to avoid the weekend crowd in Nags Head (and I'll be using up all of my remaining 8 days of vacation from last year).

posted by Wuphon's Reach at 10:01 AM

Start of the day

Drinking my coffee, watching the Blogger.com home page and checking out the blogs that were just updated. I wish they'd get the directory fixed (the last listing is from February 2001) so that I could see more than 10 at a time (and the directory also shows the blog description).

Here's a fun word... Kinematics (the science of motion). The article talks about it in relation to studying body motion so I don't know if that means that kinematics is associated with studying the motion of a person's body (like walking gait) or if it's a more general term. (Okay, I'm lazy and don't feel like wandering through a google search.)

So when the weather forecast says "Locally heavy rainfall of up to 2 inches possible where repeat thunderstorms occur.", do I need to water my balcony plants? I'm wondering if my sage and basil plants are going to drown (I think herbs like mostly dry soil but it's been raining off and on ever since I planted them at the end of the week). Guess all I can do is hope for the best. Now I just need to find some good recipes that call for sage and basil. I'm thinking of planting a second window box of herbs (since I already filled the first one) using some other types (not sure which types yet). Hmmm, I've got a lot of reading to do to learn about growing herbs (it was a impulse buy at the nursery).



BTW, the URL on the care tags for the herbs results in a 404 error, and trying to access http://www.horticulture.com/ resulted in a "500 server error" page. (Gee, I was going to make some witty remark about how everything has a web page ... but murphy's law is in effect.)

posted by Wuphon's Reach at 7:15 AM

Friday, August 10, 2001

Anime that I haven't seen yet

Watching the previews at the start of the BGC 2040 DVD.

Gasaraki - The preview that I've seen has the coolest lyrics (very moody). Here's a review by Anime on DVD.
Samurai X - I don't normally care for ninja-centric anime, but this one looks very well done in the preview.


posted by Wuphon's Reach at 9:13 PM

More blogs

This is just a quick list of stuff I'm going to keep an eye on to see if it continues to be worth linking too... (oops, time to switch screen settings now that the sun has set ... word to my brother; when are you going to get your blog up so i can link to it?).:
ALLY - Not Just Another Blond!
her perspective



posted by Wuphon's Reach at 8:40 PM

Rain rain come again, don't wait for some other day

It finally rained today. In fact I got soaked while looking for the Market St Cafe at lunch today (it wasn't much of a thunderstorm, only 10 or 15 minutes of froth and fury). So now it's about 0.00001 degrees cooler (okay, maybe 5 or 10) and very humid (uggh). But not wet enough to classify as "damp". Picture a dryer full of half-wet clothes because you didn't put enough coins in and that about sums up how it feels right now. It's supposed to rain most of the weekend which means I'll be cooped up inside, wanting to be outside. There's a zillion things to get done around the apartment, but I'd really like to get out and do something else to recharge for a bit before I tackle any more inside projects.

Yes, I'm suffering a little bit from cabin fever... which is a good thing because if the weather is nice I'll want to go bike riding tomorrow (if I can find a dry trail nearby).

posted by Wuphon's Reach at 8:19 PM

Market Street Cafe

I finally found the Thai place in York! I'd heard rumors that there was such a place (I miss having Thai ever since I moved down from Hbg), but thought it was located somewhere around Market Sq in central York. I was pointed in the right direction by friends of mine who had actually eaten there. It's located between Tremont and Ablemarle on Market St on the north side. Just a little place, really, maybe seating for 30-40? The staff was very friendly and courteous; wanting to know if I liked it (you bet!). I spent about $13 for lunch, including tip, but I also had a small bowl of soup as an appetizer. I'd stick a link in to their listing on SuperPages.com, but it's one of those million-character long links so you're better off just searching for it. Their listed hours were 11a-9p, Monday-Saturday (I think that's right).

Market Street Cafe And Catering
917 East Market Street, York, PA 17403
(717) 846-9302

posted by Wuphon's Reach at 8:12 PM

It's Friday Already?

What do you mean it's Friday already? Guess I should start planning to make plans for the weekend earlier in the week. If I thought the old car would make it (or if the new car had arrived), I'd probably be planning or executing a road trip somewhere with my mountain bike strapped to the roof/trunk just to get away for a day or two. I'm definitely ready to take my vacation (I'm wondering if a 12 day road trip is really enough time to recharge my batteries completely).

Ah heck, that's a beach, I think my DSL line just went out again (after it was out for 4 hours on Wednesday too). Well, I was having a good time digging through the most recently updated blog listing, trying to find new sites to add to my favorite blog links listing. I also need to look into BlogDex and see what that's all about.

Anyway, like I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted by Verizon's flaky DSL service, this seems to be one of those weekends where everything has just stopped (if the world's stopped spinning, can I get off for a bit?). I haven't been making plans for the weekend because I've had too much to do (either for work, or around the apartment) and I've wanted the down-time (as if I've had time). So now I'm sitting on my back porch on a Friday evening (can't go riding 'cause it just finished raining and the trails are too wet and I'm finding it too darn easy to make excuses to not ride lately) wondering what I'm going to do this weekend. I know that I'll find something to do, but I'm not feeling motivated to do anything in particular (if you understand what I mean)...

That usually means that I've been on the go for way too long (or that I'm still fighting off that stomach bug from a day ago). I'm sure I'll feel much more motivated in the morning (might be a good day to move some servers around in the office and get the office put back together); but right now I feel like veggin' out and watching a good movie or maybe going out for ice cream with friends (low-key stuff like that).

Of course, the fact that my office is a mess doesn't help my mood...


posted by Wuphon's Reach at 7:32 PM

My Favorite Comics

5am, time to read today's comics (on-line of course!)...
FoxTrot - Jason dresses up Quincy as a pirate.
Cool Cat Studio - Nothing going on here (someone's on vacation).
General Protection Fault - One of my new favorites, it's currently in the middle of a dramatic story arc that's supposed to set the stage for a bunch of new adventures.
Greystone Inn - A comic about a gargoyle who works on a comic about a gargoyle (confused?)
Dilbert - Not as funny or as on-point as it used to be (or maybe that's just because I no longer work for a large faceless corporation and now get to be my own pointy-haired boss), but still on my daily list.
Melonpool - This one's about space aliens living on earth. It has it's moments and a pretty decent backstory, but the author's been on vacation/hiatus since Aug 4th.
Kevin & Kell - This is one of my favorites. You used to only be able to read it on one of the Compuserve forums, but when Compuserve went under they made the move to the web.
Over The Hedge - A new one that I've just started to read. It's starting to grow on me.
User Friendly - And the truly geeky entry of my day...

posted by Wuphon's Reach at 5:34 AM

Thursday, August 09, 2001

So are internet personal ads better?

Made some updates to my personal ad again. My last ad actually drew a few responses (I sorta posted it on a whim back in July never dreaming that anyone would be interested), but I've been so busy the past few weeks and it's been so hot that I've only been able to e-mail tag. Now I figure I'll wait until after vacation before I go on any dates (I'll have my new car (with A/C) by then and I won't be frantically wrapping up work so that I can go on vacation).

So far I haven't gotten more than a handful of responses that were risque or iffy in other ways. I'm pretty careful in my ad and on this website at not revealing any personally identifiable information (if you know me then you already know everyone that I'm talking about so I don't need to name names). I'm not too concerned with being stalked (not too likely), but I've had close enough brushes in the past that I do take some precautions about not using my real name until I get a feel for whom I'm talking to.

Probably the nicest part about on-line ads vs the ones in the newspaper is the pictures and the additional information that most people post. It makes it much easier to decide whether or not I'm interested enough to get in touch with that person. Pictures help as much as the additional information because it's harder to mislead with a picture (when you look at my picture, I can't claim that I'm skinny as a twig when I'm actually a few pounds overweight). I won't say that people lie on their personal ads, but the temptation is certainly there for you to stretch the truth a bit to make you sound more attractive.

posted by Wuphon's Reach at 10:15 PM

Balcony Gardening 104

Well, the experiment has started... All three window boxes now have dirt and plants in them. The goal of this experiment? To see whether or not I can keep these poor little plants alive until September or October. (A more ambitious goal is to see if I can get them to over-winter and come back next year.) I went for the basics in two of the planters and only put in a pair of good-sized yellow mums in each. The other planter ended up with sage and basil herbs. Since all three planters get a lot of sun (southwestern exposure) and it's been so darn hot out lately, it's going to take some diligent watering habits to keep them alive.



I haven't given up on the hanging baskets yet. (Note to self, look for hanging baskets in June not August...) I'll probably put the hooks up tomorrow and head out to the nursery on the east side of York to see if I can find any half-decent looking hanging baskets. I figure if I have the hooks up it will encourage me to hang something on them.

posted by Wuphon's Reach at 8:23 PM

Can You Ever Really Go Back

Friends of mine asked if I'd be willing to get back together with my last girlfriend if she "came to her senses" (their words, not mine since it was a mutual decision to go our seperate ways) and wanted to get back together. It took me no time at all to make the decision. "No", I said, "because I haven't been happy with the relationship for over a year". (Sad but true.) Back when we started dating, everything was pretty good, because new relationships have enthusiasm and both partners make a valant attempt to communicate using all 3 modes; but after some time goes by, both partners will tend to revert to relying only on their primary communication method. Since ours were completely opposite (we could have met in the middle by using visual methods) this meant that neither of us felt fulfilled by the relationship (we felt secure because we trusted the others fidelity, but there was no deep soul-merging connection). "Lack of emotional intimacy" was one of the phrases that we both used when we broke up. In a lot of ways, I'll miss her three cats and the nieces and nephew more.


posted by Wuphon's Reach at 5:25 AM

Wednesday, August 08, 2001

Balcony Gardening 103

Got my nice heavy-duty window box brackets from Gardeners.com for my 2x4 railings yesterday. Definitely worth paying the extra money for them (they even have little hooks that fit over the lip of the window boxes to keep them from sliding out sideways). Here are some pictures:



I also picked up some redwood window boxes to use instead of the big green plastic window boxes (which didn't fit in the new brackets because of the little "lip hook"). So now it's time to go get dirt and some green stuff (flowers?) to put in the boxes.

I realize that it's pretty late in the season to start growing something (especially with as hot as it's been lately), but I haven't had a whole lot of time to devote to this (and I didn't decide to do it until mid-July). At least I'll get a month or two's worth of enjoyment out of trying to keep the stuff alive (I have so-so luck with past plants because I forget to water them).

I think I'm going to add a pair of hanging baskets on hooks at both ends of the porch (using the posts on each outer corner). Those brackets are easier to find (and they don't have to be as sturdy) and I can buy pre-potted plants (at least in order to get started this year without too much fuss).



posted by Wuphon's Reach at 9:02 PM

How to start the day off wrong

1. No coffee in the house.


2. Get up on the wrong side of the bed, and you slept in the crow's nest.

Anyone got any more ideas? E-mail me via WuphonsReach at Yahoo.com. (I'm feeling much better now that I've had my coffee.)

posted by Wuphon's Reach at 12:00 PM

Tuesday, August 07, 2001

Car update

Finally got the word that the car has been released from the manufacturer yesterday. According to the car dealer, I should see it in about 10-14 days (which is Aug 16 to Aug 20). Since I'm supposed to leave for vacation on Aug 24, it's cutting it mighty fine (I think I'll be post-poning or re-jiggering my vacation at the last minute because I won't have time to get everything setup in the car for my trip). I'm real close to just re-doing my plans anyway to leave a week later and go the opposite direction (starting in Charlotte and heading up the coastline).

Acadia National Park

On a related note, a good friend of mine says that the peak weekend for Acadia is Oct 16. So that may be next year's road trip destination (it will be too soon after this year's road trip to do it this year).

posted by Wuphon's Reach at 10:45 PM

Monday, August 06, 2001

Representational System Web Links

Did some digging... it seems most of the web sites deal with NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming). Some of the sites out there focus on using NLP to take advantage of other people:
An introduction to NLP - discusses the basics of visual, auditory and kinesthetics and the eye movements associated with accessing different memories.
NLP Explained - Discussion of the 3 types.
AVKTO - Auditory - Visual - Kinesthetic - Taste (Gustatory) - Olfactory (Smell)
Somatic Representational System - Mmm, interesting, but not really focused on AVKTO.
Learning Styles: Primary Represenational Systems - A good article that focuses on learning styles (specifically the Barsch Learning Style Inventory).
Learning Styles - Says that 40% of the populate is auditory, 40% is visual, and 20% are kinesthetic.
Learning Styles - Modality Preference Survey - A quick survey to determine your primary mode (done by Middlesex Community College).

posted by Wuphon's Reach at 8:56 PM

Representational Systems

No, I'm not talking about governmental systems here. As described in Lucy & Dennis Guernsey's Real Life Marriage, representational systems (or personal maps) deal with the different ways that people interact and view the world around them. There's not a whole lot about this on the web (but drop me a line via WuphonsReach at yahoo.com if you know of any), but simply described there are three methods of interaction and each person usually has a preferred method (or two):

Visual or Seeing - These people tend to learn through watching a task being done. They usually like to read and things are more real if they are written down.
Auditory/Tonal or Hearing/Speaking - These people learn best by listening to a lecture. They can recall details about the conversation (perhaps even produce a transcript).
Kinesthetic or Feeling/Touching - Kinesthetics are big on "gut feelings" and learning through hands on activities. They can be very good at picking up on the mood of a room or body language of another person (and will find that more real than what the person looks like or what they are actually saying). Kinesthetics will have often developed visual or auditory skills to help them deal with the primary teaching methods of the educational system (lectures, assigned readings).

So why do I bring all this up? Because my last girlfriend was auditory/tonal as her primary method and her least preferred method of communication was kinesthetic; I, on the other hand, am primarily kinesthetic with some visual and my least preferred method of communication is auditory/tonal. That means that we always felt like the other wasn't "communicating" when in fact we were doing just fine (at least initially) but we weren't able to read the other person's signals. Somehow we managed to date for about four years... but we never made it past being very good friends (there was no vibrancy, no rush of immediacy). Now, as I get ready to start dating again, I'm planning on paying more attention to little details like how the other person likes to communicate (things that I didn't know five or ten years ago). I didn't function well in a relationship where touch was so low key and infrequent (I would often get to the end of a weekend and realize that I could count the number of touching events on one hand ... that I was unconciously keeping track of that was a sign of trouble). Then I would get together with another circle of friends where touching was frequent and casual and would drive myself to distraction wondering if I was making the right decision dating the person that I was currently dating and whether it was cheating to wish that I was dating someone who was more touchy like the friends that I was with. So, if there has to be a single reason why I stopped dating my last girlfriend, it would have to be the communication issue, about how isolated I would feel after a weekend of trying to communicate through opposite methods.

Of course, being kinesthetic has other disadvantages. I'm a sucker for touch. Which would surprise a lot of people who know me because I used to be very reactive if someone would touch me without my permission or without warning. I have a very strong sense of personal space that I don't like violated by people that I don't trust/know. I find it very difficult to lie with my body language, so if I don't like the person who's invading my personal space I tense up and get very stressed. Since I don't like being tensed up, I tend to keep a certain amount of distance from other people that I don't know/trust. (Being on a crowded train is an interesting experience for me; trying because of the close proximity, but easier because of the anonyminity of the encounter. Usually, I keep to myself and try not to infringe on the other person's space unless forced to.) Being a sucker for touch can be translated as "wears his heart on his sleeve" because proximity has a strong role in my attraction towards a gal. Having been around long enough; I realize that weakness and am less foolish than I was growing up.

No, I guess this entry really doesn't have a point to it... just trying to lay the groundwork for what comes along in the future.

posted by Wuphon's Reach at 7:41 PM

Pedal your way through a vacation

The Big Splurge: Pedal and Splash Through Europe's Fortified Towns with This Bike-and-Barge Tour: 02-Apr-01 - Put this down as my idea of a great way to see Holland. The 4Winds Tours site also has information on France and Belgium tours. Prices seemed very reasonable (about $100 per day).
The Wayfarers is a non-profit group with very good rates. Trips include weekends or longer time periods.

posted by Wuphon's Reach at 4:56 PM

Sunday, August 05, 2001

Baked Salmon

Now for a short culinary break (actually it's because this is a decent recipe that I don't have any other place to put right now). It takes me about 15 minutes to prep this a few hours before I cook it and makes 2 servings.

Ingredients
2 cloves garlic, minced (or 1/4-1/2 tsp of garlic salt)
1/3 cup light olive oil
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp salt (you may want to only use 1/3 or 1/2, don't use any if you use garlic salt)
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
2 6oz salmon filets

Making It
1) In a medium glass bowl (I prefer to just mix inside of a zippered plastic bag that I can use to marinate the fish in to make cleanup easier), mix all of the ingredients (except the Salmon) together. Place the salmon fillets in the marinade, cover/seal the bowl and place in the refrigerator for about 1 hour, turning occasionally.
2) Preheat oven to 375F (190C)
3) Place fillets in aluminum foil, cover with marinade and seal (like you see on those Reynold's wrap commercials). Place packet in a glass dish and bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until easily flaked with a fork.

My notes:

I've done a good bit of substitution when I've made this (using 1 tsp garlic salt in place of the garlic cloves and the 1tsp salt) and I haven't had any parsley in the cupboard so I've just left that out. The last time I made it, it's been too salty so I think I'm going to halve the amount of salt/garlic salt that I'm using in the marinade and add some water (1/4 cup) to the packet when I cook the fish. I may also cook a larger amount of fish or a thicker fillet in order to tone down the saltiness. If you use the plastic bag to mix the marinade and to marinade the fish, and you make your foil packet large enough to contain the boiling marinade (so that it doesn't leak out) then this is almost a zero-cleanup cooking method (which is important to bachelors everywhere).

posted by Wuphon's Reach at 6:38 AM