Visible Human

Several days ago I saw a very good show on the History Channel about medical imaging. They talked about x-rays, CAT scans, MRIs, and the Visible Human Project. Prior to his execution a convicted murderer donated his body to science. They froze his body then cut it into 2,000 wafer thin slices. After each slice they took a picture of the top of the ice cylinder. A computer then rendered 3D images from these digital photographs.

Kirsten and I looked at the slices at many different angles. It's very interesting. Give it a try.

Rubik's Cube

I remember getting my first Rubik's Cube as a kid in the 80's. Today I finally solved the cube with the help of the Beginner Solution to the Rubik's Cube. It's pretty simple to follow using these algorithms. I'm still not at a world-record pace but that's not what's important.

In Love

One of the few benefits of surgery has been the time I've been able so spend with Kirsten and the girls this past week. I've been horizontal most of the time but it's been nice to watch the girls play and to have long conversations with Kirsten. Kirsten is amazing! Last night we watched Before Sunset. It's the sequel to a movie we both enjoyed recently, Before Sunrise. The movies have two characters that have an uninterrupted conversation the entire movie. These movies gave Kirsten and me a lot to talk about which is always nice.

This evening we typed in captions for our photo albums. It's one of those tasks that we've procrastinated a long time because it's seemed so boring. We didn't have a good system. So I created a spreadsheet with an associated mail-merged Publisher file. It's working well. We ordered a nice paper cutter that should arrive early next week. That will make the most difficult part of the task quite simple. It was fun to sit together and look at old photos. We always enjoy doing projects together.

Before we started doing the captions I made us a couple new drinks that were very good. The first was another variation of the Purple Hooter and the second was a drink called Screaming Orgasm. Most of our recipes so far have come from a book called The Ultimate A-To-Z Bar Guide. It's FULL of great drink recipes and advice for both the new and experienced drink mixer.

Too Busy

Dictionary.com defines time as a nonspatial continuum in which events occur in apparently irreversible succession from the past through the present to the future. It is abstract. Time is not a commodity that can be accumulated, traded, bought, or sold.

We all have exactly the same amount of time; my present becomes my past at the exact pace everyone else's present becomes their past.

Time is the primary constituent of meaningful relationships. Happiness is a function of our relationships and is the essence of life. Therefore, fostering our relationships merits the highest priority and quantity of our time. We should spend as much of our time cultivating these relationships as possible.

The common phrase, "I don't have time" translates roughly to, "I'm choosing to spend my time doing something else." Remember this the next time someone you care about requests you spend some of your time with them. They'll know how much you care by your response.

Kirsten has been excited lately--passionate even--about coffee. She researched coffee history, different drinks made with coffee, and products used for making those coffee drinks. Her entire experience with coffee, however, has been limited to a single cup of cappuccino from the local convenience store she purchased a week or so ago. After exhaustive research she decided to purchase a $300 espresso machine so she could make her own delicious gourmet coffee drinks here at home. She decided to sample coffees before making the purchase to be sure it's what she wanted. So off she went tonight to the nearest Starbucks. They were kind enough to explain everything to her, make suggestions, and make the drinks free of charge. She returned a few hours later and declared, "I'm definitely not an espresso or coffee drinker." I'm glad she tried before she buyed. It's back to cappuccino at Quiktrip;)

Surgery, RSS, Wikipedia, and Mixed Drinks

A week ago today I had my fifth surgery to correct what seems to be a chronic pilonidal cyst. It's been a week spent on the couch and almost always heavily doped up. I'd post a picture or two but I'm hoping to increase--not decrease--readership of the blog. Hopefully this will be the last surgery!

Today I enjoyed very much talking to my brother Michael on the phone as well as chatting and sharing pictures using Hello. If you haven't used Hello I highly recommend you install it and give it a try. It's one of Google's tweaked software titles. Like Google it's very fast. Pictures can be dropped from Windows Explorer ([Windows] + E), sent from Picasa, or dropped from a web browser. It's one of the short list of software titles everyone should have on their computer.

For some time now I've heard and read about an open community development called Wikipedia but hadn't used it. Yesterday a Slashdot article led me to discover for myself what the hype has been about. I have been blown away as I've discovered this incredible resource. I wish I'd have had access to this when I was in elementary, junior, and senior high school. It's wonderful. The best part is that it will improve with age as people add articles and correct and add to existing ones. One interesting thing I learned today is that Wichita has a flag. The article about Boston is very good!

Another discovery I made yesterday is Atom/RSS. Like you I've seen the small orange buttons on webpages and blogs. Kirsten read the RSS Specification and a number of other tutorials to me (remember, I'm taking narcotics for pain). It was fun to learn together. We have a great time;) After learning what RSS IS I began to use it. I added several RSS subscriptions to my aggregator of choice, Mozilla Thunderbird. This allows me to read my favorite news sources (Slashdot, Wired, Make, Business 2.0, WSU News, and ACM Queue) just like I read Gmail in Thunderbird already. RSS puts all the news and blogs that I read in one place. I no longer have to go to many different websites to get the information I read every day. Why did it take me so long to discover? I took it one step further when I added this blog to my list of feeds. It is an atom file. See the link in the upper-right corner of this page for the feed url.

I must give two plugs before I end this post. First, last week Kirsten bought me the Microsoft Keyboard Elite for Bluetooth. Most people that know me even a little know that I mostly despise Microsoft and their products. This is one exception! The feel is superb but the other features make it special. The mouse and keyboard each have a smooth scrollwheel with horizontal scroll. The keyboard is bluetooth and has an ample number of programmable buttons. The media buttons are also nice as they allow me to control Winamp without moving my hands from the keyboard. With this new keyboard I rarely have to use the mouse which, by the way, is excellent. In fact, it's a slightly improved version of the one it replaced. The second plug is for Tigerdirect.com. If you haven't shopped from them you should. I recently purchased two new LCD monitors, mounts, and a video card from them. One of the monitors had a dead pixel, was slightly yellow, and the red intermittently went out. I called them and they rushed a new monitor out to me with free shipping. They also had UPS email me a shipper label to return the faulty monitor and they allowed me to add anything to my order and take advantage of the free shipping. Of course this is a win-win but it's still a win for me. Nice touch. It turns out that the main problem with the monitor is a faulty video cable and could have been replaced by me for a few dollars. The new monitor arrived today and works brilliantly (get it?).

Kirsten and I have tried the Raspberry Fucker, Redheaded Slut, Seabreeze, Brain Hemmorhage, Banana Daiquiri, Mudslide, Purple Hooter, Jagermeister, Irish Cream, Sex on the Beach, Buttery Nipple, Mocha Mint, and Woo-woo. There are many more we have marked to try. We're pacing ourselves ;) Leave a comment to let us know what your favorite drink is.