Owroe Yari, the traditional fireworks celebration in Suriname each 31st of December.

December 31, 2013 at 04:29PM

Had a meal at a sit-down restaurant for the first time in about a year this afternoon. Chicken tikka masala has my fingernails stained orange! I overheard one of the diners there speaking Dutch, so on my way out the door, I wished him a happy New Year: "Goed nieuw jaar, meneer!" This startled him more than I would have predicted. It startled me, too, to be perfectly frank.

Torrone? In huge blocks? There goes my diet....

Thank you, Microsoft, for "upgrading" the capability of the video card on this PC so beautifully. If this screenshot of what I'm seeing on the screen right now is an example of the coding that's coming out of Redmond these days, perhaps it's time to change operating systems after 30 or so years or so of DOS and Windows.

December 30, 2013 at 09:10PM

A Windows Update has crashed my monitor. After wasting all day, almost, trying to figure out how to get the screen to paint better than 4 colors, 480 pixels across, I'm rather bummed. It's like being in one of those '50 Mad Magazine parodies of advertising, where products are made much worse, but advertised as being "New! Improved for your convenience!"

December 29, 2013 at 03:02PM

Just realized that all the browser stalls this afternoon have been caused by a background virus scan that I'd forgotten was scheduled for today. Since I can't make myself less absent-minded, the only alternative is to think fondly about getting a new PC with more RAM, as soon as I can afford one. Hmm, let's see, how does the year 2057 sound? I should be flush by then.

December 29, 2013 at 02:16PM

"Ignorant people raise questions that wise people answered a thousand years ago." - Goethe True enough, but thank goodness that wise people today raise questions anew that other wise people gave the wrong answers to, for whatever reason, a thousand years ago!

1929: The "Spruce Girls" of Hoquiam Washington, showing off the industrial specialty of Gray's Harbor County by wearing spruce veneer bathing suits on the local beach.