Last night @estherbenoit and I dined at The Inn at Little Washington, a quirky, delicious three Michelin Star restaurant. It was amazing!

I started this as an Instagram story, but since I’m leaving it behind, I want to make sure it is preserved.

“You should write down your brand statement, and then EVERYTHING you communicate online (or around your customers) should be in line with that statement. In short, if it doesn’t advance your brand, don’t share or say it.”

And my heart rose up in revolt and shouted: F@CK THAT SH*T!

Cheri Baker wrote this and I think she is so right! There is something that is so weird about someone who only posts things online that are focused on their “brand.” People are more complex and have more diverse interest that what is contained in a “brand statement”.

I guess this is the director’s commentary behind my first YouTube video.

youtu.be/PfNyLOxqf…

Everyone I spoke to for this story pointed out that some level of noisiness in restaurants is intentional — and you can thank (recently disgraced) celebrity chef Mario Batali for that.

In a great New York magazine article about loud restaurants, Adam Platt points out that the “Great Noise Boom” in eateries started to flourish in the late ’90s, around the time Batali began pumping the music he and his kitchen staff enjoyed working to into the dining room at Babbo in New York. “Over the next several years,” Platt writes, “as David Chang and his legions of imitators followed Batali’s lead, the front-of-the-house culture was slowly buried in a wall of sound.”

Batali has explained his penchant for loud restaurants: He feels the sound conveys a sense of vibrancy and energy, feelings diners associate with eating out in New York. So the raucousness is by design.

Today, restaurants still use loud music to achieve that same dynamism. As Sietsema told me, “When I go around town to hot restaurants, they are all pretty noisy, for a lot of reasons, I think. But partly I blame it on restaurants, because you’re looking to create buzz or energy in dining rooms. No one wants to walk into a mausoleum.”

As someone who has sensitive ears, the best dining experience I have had in my life was at a small restaurant with absolutely no music.

It was heaven.

Two games of Warhammer 40,000. One 1,000 points, the other 500 points. Death Guard was defeated in both, but a different strategy proved to be much more effective than previous battles.

I have always enjoyed Bad Lip Reading’s political videos, but this Star Wars one is just a delight!

Another documentary in my documentary kick that was captivating is Icarus. I started watching this thinking I was watching one movie, but then, like a very good documentary, it took a turn into a story that was far more interesting than the first one.

The timing of me watching this was also very interesting. Let’s say, a movie that I thought was about doping on the Tour de France joined up with the news that Russia will not be allowed to compete in the upcoming Winter Olympics.

• Icarus - Netflix

A little over a year ago, I switched my site to Medium. I read Marius Maslar and Drew Coffman and understood that Medium was a platform that focused on writing and exposing that writing to others. And while I think that is still true, I find Medium's changes to be at odds with that ethos.

If Medium is focused on having people read what is written, why do they adorn their web versions with John Gruber coined "dickbars"? The mobile reading experience has become very hostile, forcing readers to become users. This sounds more like Silicon Valley venture-funded thinking than the mission of a company focused on connecting writers and readers. It is focusing on "user engagement" instead of being a platform for writing.

I have switched away from Medium. Why? Because of the reader-hostile nature of their changes, for a company that is focused on writing and reading. Because of the company’s ridiculous release notes on their iOS app. Because of the company's need to change things just for change’s sake. Because of their lack of an explicit business model.

I have switched to Squarespace. Not because it is the most popular blogging platform. Plenty of people have complained about that. Not because it has the best API support. Because it has a business model that makes sense. And I am in control of my content without having to do a lot of work to keep the platform that I write on up to date. No patching, minimal security risks. It is in line with the belief that when working in IT, I don't need to use all of my IT knowledge on personal or home projects. Sometimes simpler is better.

One of the greatest obstacles to planetary science has always been the human life span: Typically, for instance, a direct flight to Neptune would take about 30 years. But in the spring of 1965, Gary Flandro, a doctoral student at Caltech, noticed that all four outer planets — Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune — would align on the same side of the sun in the 1980s. If a spacecraft were launched in the mid- to late 1970s, it could use the gravity of the first body to slingshot to the second, and so on. Such a trajectory would add enough speed to shorten the total journey by almost two-thirds. What’s more, this orbital configuration would not appear again for 175 years.

https://nytimes.com/2017/08/03/magazine/the-loyal-engineers-steering-nasas-voyager-probes-across-the-universe.html via Daring Fireball

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This post was originally written when I was young, immature and dumb. I didn’t understand the trans community. I regret having written this, and I have removed it.

freeker_cnu: wigwam, frightened of the dark:

I honestly can say I’ve had the time of my life these past five years and today was the perfect capstone… minus the capburn. I got my B.A. I got to spend the afternoon and evening surrounded by those I love. Yeah, I got money, but I also got advice and words of encouragement. And I hugged the balls off of Paul Trible. OH, he tried to pull away. But I said, ‘bring it in, buddy,’ and he gave me a look of utter terror as I hugged him.

I have been intrigued by the concept of Coca-Cola Blak from its first announcement. How can you combine a sweet syupy cola flavor with the bitterness and strength of coffee? Before I continue with the review a brief interlude. While living in Europe, I came across a great little stop, the Baeren-Treff, a purveyor of fine gummy bears. One of the most unique flavors that they carry is a coffee flavored gummy. A slightly different flavor that what I was used to, the coffee gummies became my favorite very quickly. Enough coffee flavor with enough sweetness.

… continuing the Coca-Cola Blak review. The drink is a liquid coffee gummy. It has struck a good balance in flavors, althought the carbonation is a little off putting. The initial smell is overly sweet and when the coffee flavor hits you, you might be a little dumb-founded. The flavor is good, but I don’t think that Coke can go up against Starbucks like they were planning. The fizz doesn’t do it for me.

Esther, after tasting it found the perfect use for the drink. Ice cream floats! That is the most perfect idea/use of the sode ever! A little dollop of vanilla would make the cola and coffee flavors dance. I will try it tonight. Outside of the odd flavor and limited use, the only “real” gripe that I have is the price. At nearly $5.50 for 4, it is along the lines of a Frappachino 4-pack, but not nearly the same volume. That’s a little bit of a disapointment, but overall it’s not too bad of a drink.

Work as been stressful the past couple of days, lots of projects with tight deadlines. Not so much fun.

Oscar went in on Wednesday to “reduce his manliness” and when we got him back yesterday, the vet said he had a a seizure. I thought: “No big deal, so high powered drugs might make me seize up too.”

Last night he had one at 6:15ish. It was freaky. I’ve dealt with people seizures before but never an animal one. It’s scary and sad and very, very messy.

So right before bed, we let Oscar out into our bedroom. We have been slowly trying to introduce him to the cats and the house. He was acting really weird. He would look at me and then at Esther. It was a confused look. I knew something wasn’t right.

After twenty seconds or so, he started to convulse. He ran into the bed, Esther’s nightstand. He was shaking but wouldn’t fall over. He looked like a little wind-up toy that vibrates and moves around. I grabbed him and we took him into the bathroom. He finally convulsed onto his side. I held him and tried to talk him through it. The weird thing was when he came out it, he acted like nothing had happened. He did have something wrong though, he kept wanting to rub part of his shoulder or head on the ground.

Esther hardly slept last night. I know she was worried. She’s going to probably crash this afternoon.

Before I left for work, he had another episode. Esther has taken him to the vet. They said he might be epileptic. Oh my…

When the idea of a la carte cable has been floated, I am usually over joyed. I can get ride of a whole lot of channels that I never watch. Here is my list:

• Lifetime
  
  “Next on Lifetime…” the same old bleh movies about mothers who love their children, etc.
• ESPN
  
  I know that I’m the only guy every who isn’t addticted to ESPN.
• ABC Family
  
  I don’t need family friendly programming. Watch what your kids are watching and you don’t have to worry.
• The Weather Channel
  
  Ever hear of the internet, or a window?
• CNBC
  
  I don’t care about your stocks!
• CMT
  
  I have an aversion to country music, even more so on TV.
• BET
  
  Have never watched it. Ever.
• Disney
  
  See ABC Family
• INSP
  
  Don’t need the “God squad” on my TV.
• Animal Planet
  
  Do I really need to say more?
• QVC, HSN, any channel that sells stuff
  
  I don’t like to shop. Do you really think I want that gawdy jewelery?