July 30, 2008

  • If you were on the death row, what would be your last meal?

    Growing up, I had this meal all the time:

    • Ggak du gee (square kimchi – we made kimchi by hand growing up)
    • Hot white rice fresh from the rice cooker
    • Tuna fish from a can mixed with mayo, a dash of salt and black pepper, and some spicy mustard
    • Ketchup (I never said I was high class)

    This dish is definitely my comfort food.  I know it sounds gross, but somehow I concocted this as a kid and then my brother and I ate it at least twice a day for years.  If I were to die tomorrow, I wouldn't mind as long as this could be my last meal.

    I just answered this Featured Question, you can answer it too!

July 29, 2008

  • WTH happened to Alicia Silverstone?!

    What the heck happened to Alicia Silverstone?

    Her career was on fire when she did Clueless.  Then she did those two Aerosmith videos (or maybe she did those before Clueless).  Anyway after that, I only remember her in that horrible Batman movie.  Then, I didn't hear anything for a decade or so...

    I know she's making a comeback now, but I am curious: does anyone know what the heck happened to her back in the day?

July 28, 2008

  • What is Loyalty?

    Nhungbear asked, "what's considered loyalty to you?"

    What a great question.  How do you define loyalty?

  • What TV shows have you been watching lately?

    I don't get it when people say TV is a horrible waste of time.  I find some of the best storytelling these days is happening in TV dramas!  I read a lot of books/magazines, so I feel like I can watch TV without feeling too guilty.  But I still feel bad confessing that I actually follow and enjoy TV shows!

    Here are some of the shows I've been watching lately:

    • Entourage - I avoided this show for so long, and I don't remember why.  My favorites are Johnny Drama and Ari Gold... priceless.
    • Burn Notice - The second season started, and it's been ok.  I love slightly campy shows, so it's a fun break to watch an episode now and then.
    • Psych - What can I say, I'm enjoying USA lately.  Still cracking up over this show, because I love Guster's reactions to Shawn harassing him.
    • Monk - Just to complete the USA Networks trifecta... although I haven't enjoyed this season very much.  Every episode is kinda the same to me.  Someone dies, Monk thinks it's a murder, nobody believes him.  Why doesn't anyone believe him?!  He is right every time... the man's a genius.
    • In Plain Sight - Wow, do I really follow FOUR shows on USA?  Anyway I like this show so far... it's about a U.S. Marshall who does witness protection.  There are shows about detectives (L&O), crime scene investigators (CSI), interrogators (The Closer), coroners (Crossing Jordan), forensic anthropologists (Bones)... is there any tiny slice of law enforcement that hasn't been made into a TV show?  Apparently there is: witness protection.  Amazing...

    Shows I don't watch:

    • Dexter - I hear great things, I just have a thing about knives and blood.  I will probably never watch this show.
    • Mad Men - I have heard so many amazing things about this show, I will probably watch it next year or something when I am less busy.  Also, what channel number is AMC?!  I have no idea.
    • Army Wives - They had me at Army... and lost me at Wives.  I hear great things (mostly on Xanga), so maybe someday I'll watch this.
    • Project Runway - I've loved this show in the past, but watching it just takes up too much time and concentration... I am not good at watching reality television.  Too many faces and names to keep track of.

    I was watching Hulu for a while, but that sucks up too many hours.  Now I just leave the TV on while I am on the computer at night.  TV has become a hobby of mine over the past year or so.  It's probably a waste of time in some ways, but I also feel like I'm learning so much about writing and storytelling.  Maybe one day, I will work on a TV show.

    Enjoying any good TV shows lately? 

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July 25, 2008

July 2, 2008

  • Multiple Replies in One Comment

    Got this great question from ElusiveWords:

    I have a question about Xanga etiquette.  Is it considered good form to reply to multiple comments in one comment "box"

    e.g.

    @user one  ...
    @user two ...

    or is it better to have a single reply per comment?

    That is a great question... anyone have a take on this one?

July 1, 2008

  • Best Reads from 1983-2008

    I read 24 out of the top 100 "best reads from 1983-2008." (from TheTheologiansCafe):

    2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling (2000)
    5. American Pastoral, Philip Roth (1997)
    7. Maus, Art Spiegelman (1986/1991)
    10. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami (1997)
    11. Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer (1997)
    15. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers (2000)
    20. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding (1998)
    25. The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan (1989)
    27. Possession, A.S. Byatt (1990)
    29. Bel Canto, Anne Patchett (2001)
    39. Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri (2000)
    40. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (1995-2000)
    50. The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen (2001)
    51. The Journalist and the Murderer, Janet Malcom (1990)
    53. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon (2000)
    56. The Night Manager, John le Carré (1993)
    57. The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe (1987)
    72. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003)
    73. A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving (1989)
    79. The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell (2000)
    80. Bright Lights, Big City, Jay McInerney (1984)
    88. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby (1995)
    96. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (2003)
    98. The Predators' Ball, Connie Bruck (1988)

    Haha, I got "credit" for all the popular books on the list: Harry Potter, Bridget Jones, The Da Vinci Code, John le Carre, Nick Hornby .

    Probably the book I enjoyed most above is Bel Canto, by Anne Patchett - a truly beautifully written novel.  Maybe after my next fave book was "Kavalier & Clay", by Michael Chabon (it felt like a hybrid between ficton and non-fiction, which I loved).  I loved The Corrections too, although the first chapter was difficult to wade through.  Haruki Murakmi is my favorite author (by far), but I didn't love The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.  I simply loved his earlier book, A Wild Sheep's Chase!

    I'm looking for some books to read this summer... read any good books lately?

June 17, 2008

April 30, 2008

  • Punctuation

    I have no idea where to put punctuation when it comes to quotation marks and parentheses.  Two examples:

    • "I sometimes get confused," I told my friend, "about whether or not periods should come before or after the final quotation mark."
    • He nodded his head (as he did sometimes). <-- "Should I have put that period before or after that parentheses?" he asked.

    Are there any simple rules for this stuff?

March 25, 2008

  • Random thoughts

    A few random late-night thoughts on Recommendations:

    • We got 771 recommendations yesterday.  Many of those recommends were
      for the same posts.  We're working on grouping those together nicely,
      so it doesn't appear in your Inbox more than once .
    • I know some of my recommendations are better than others... but I don't know which ones.  It'd be kinda cool to see how many of you guys click on each recommendation I give (just the total number, not who clicked on my recs of course)..
    • Patrick pulled together a list of the most recommended posts and it was neat to see - they were pretty good posts overall!  We'll have to share the list later, and hear your thoughts.

    Ok that's it for now... good night!

    John

    ps Oh, one more thing: I thought theblackspiderman's post about Xangstas was awesome (in fact, I recommended it).  A
    number of people asked if we would create another badge for Xangstas. 
    Sorry guys, no more badges are in the works... isn't two enough?