This is not only a perfect lesson on how to write the perfect thank you note (something which, as everyone who bought Gill and I wedding presents will know, I have not done since I was out of short trousers - thank you notes coming soon [in the grand scheme of things], wedding people, honest!). The writers byline “Leslie Harpold is exactly like you” is about as perfect as could possibly be.
Monthly Archive for October, 2003
No surprise here, Fox viewers are stupid and wrong.
I bought one of those big round pumpkin-type winter squashes the other day. It’s proved very handy at lunch-times, provided I remember to stick a piece in the oven half-an-hour before I want to eat.
Here’s what I do: cut a segment from the squash, scoop out the seeds, scatter some stuff over it (I’ve been using a few olives, a bulb of garlic, some cubes of feta cheese, maybe a few nuts, I think I’m gonna try some chilli sauce) then stick it on a baking tray, drizzle some oil over and put it in the oven. Then 30 minutes later I take it out, put it on a plate, mash the topping into the squash (or should that be squash the topping into a mash?) and eat the lot of it (once it’s cooled a little). You can even eat the skin - although it’s a little tougher than the rest, it’s quite palatable after a while in the oven.
Not exactly haute cuisine, but it tastes bloody nice, feels like a proper meal, and is easier to cook than pretty much anything else I can imagine.
New photos: Dan and Lola in Bushy Park.
I’ve been having a lot of fun hanging out on M John Harrison’s forum these last few days - check it out, especially the recent posts on alternative power-sources for space travel (starting with my post of 01.10.2003 05:06): from purity to pornography to worms to suavity and beyond. Funny stuff, especially Al’s imaginary scenarios on the captain’s deck.
Stu Hughes is urging people to rig the vote of the 100 Welsh Heroes poll. I had every intention of doing that when I went there, but I couldn’t help wondering who I’d vote for as my heroes and, damn my earnestness, ended up submitting a semi-serious list of my top five. Here they are:
Leader
Jim Griffiths - because of his role as first secretary of state for Wales and as architect of this country’s National Insurance system and (although I neglected to mention this) because he was my best mate’s grandad.Thinker
Howard Marks - because the man is a genius who has livened up the debate on drugs and drug taking.Performer
Anthony Hopkins - because he’s just great.Creative
Roald Dahl - because his books are enequalled in originality and compulsiveness, for children and adults alike.Groundbreaker
Clough Williams-Ellis (I dunno, was he even Welsh?) - because he gave Wales one of its most distinctive man-made landmarks and helped preserve Wales’s natural beauty by founding the CPRW.
OK, so they’re not entirely serious, more the first five Welsh people who sprang to mind, but they’re my five, and hopefully they range a bit more widely than some others.
Guess what I did today?
I was going to post a new blog this morning. But…
(PS. Over one million stars in the blogosphere).
This made me laugh - a detailed primer on how to fluff out your documentation, if your boss has asked you to produce more, and how, if you suspect the ulterior motive is that you’re about to be sacked, to make it useless and even counter-productive for whoever gets dumped with your job afterwards. As it says, “your management is easily distracted by shiny things”. Purely malicious and lots of fun. Read the article on kuro5hin.org. It ends up by saying:
The above article is a satire meant to help you write good documentation. Honest.