I have a pile of stuff to do for the Ronald McDonald House
I have a pile of information for a certain special project.
I have a pile of wedding magazines, lists and related materials.
I have a pile of information for a (sigh) name change. At least I'll keep my initials, but it is an absolute mess to change my name.
I have a pile of shirts to decorate for a certain floor hockey team.
I have multiple piles of clothes to put away.
I have a pile of clothes to hang, and a pile of spring/summer clothes to sort through.
I have a pile of things to go to goodwill.
I have a pile of older wedding magazines (any takers? I'll deliver to north buffalo/amherst).
I have a pile of socks that may or may not have mates.
I have a pile of papers to file.
I have a pile of winter accessories that have, mercifully, been put in a closet until winter comes again.
And I have a puppy whose sole purpose this evening has been to step on, in or near every pile, knocking them over when she can.

Now that most of the snow has melted from our yard, I finally had the chance to do one of my most dreaded, most hated, most feared chores: dog poo duty.
I have a sturdy, easy-to-use scooper, which came in handy while picking up at least 15 pounds of the stuff. Note to self: next year, do this while the ambient outside air is still below freezing. Frozen bits are easier to deal with than mushy bits.
That being said, the temperature felt much higher than 52 degrees, and I was happy to be outside for - gosh, I think it took me twenty minutes.
So if you happened to drive on my street today, I was the girl in the pink jacket, muttering disgustedly to myself and talking to my muddy dog. If she had the capability, I swear she would have been laughing at me.

Does anyone have a carfax subscription (or whatever it's called). I need to look up a VIN. I'll spend the $19.99 if I have to, but I hope I don't have to.

(As an aside, if you type a VIN into Google, it automatically brings up the fact that it is a VIN, and provides a friendly link to Carfax.)

Cool links from this past week:

Zillow find out the worth of your house, and your neighbor's house.
What is tapioca? I shared a bowl of tapioca pudding this weekend; wikipedia says exactly what this delicious food is made from.
Subpixel rendering if you love photoshop, you'll appreciate this info. Also check out DesignFruit for some unique photoshop brushes.
Do you know what Tyler Durden would do?
Create and publish with lulu . It's been on my list of things to do for awhile.
The Six Thousand interesting people, every day or three.
Suckerfish when they work correctly, these CSS (with a 12 line javascript addon) menus are awesome.

1. Did you support President Bush's decision to invade Iraq in 2003?
If yes, and knowing what you know today, would you change your answer?
Absolutely not. There are no WMDs, Iraq had no connection to the attacks on 9/11 (though if you believe the ideas set forth in the Loose Change video, the attacks were staged events), and our soldiers are dying over there while companies like Halliburton are enriched by government contracts and oil profits.

2. Do you think this Administration deliberately overstated the threat
posed by Saddam in 2002 in making its claim to Congress? (ref. Gulf
of Tonkin resolution, 1964).
If "overstated" can also be interpreted as "lied," then yes.

3. Almost as many people were killed by Katrina as were killed in 9/11. Do
you think the reaction of this Administration has been even-handed to
these two events? If not, why not?
More people were killed in Katrina. More people were affected by Katrina. The economic and social impact of that hurricane will be felt for decades. The reaction to Katrina was abysmal and embarrassing.

4. Do you think the enmasse wiretapping of phonecalls of American citizens
by the Administration that has been revealed recently was illegal?
Yes. We have laws. This administration should use them.

5. Do you think gays should have the right to marry?
I think all people should have the ability to marry and have that union be recognized by state legal authority. If a church doesn't want to recognize a marriage, so be it - those are cultural traditions that the state does not have the right to mess with. 2 guys or 2 gals getting married won't affect my marriage, so leave them be.

6. Do you support a woman's right to unhindered access to abortion?
Of course. I think of it as the right to get medical treatment. See a definition of the pro-life movement at "[dict]hypocrisy[/dict]"

7. Do you support the idea of mandatory prayer in schools? If yes, would you
support a Muslim Imam leading the prayers in your child(ren)'s school?
No, unless it's a religious school.

8. Do you support the right of a person to grow a little bit of pot in
his/her home and consume it as s/he sees it fit? Assume the same
laws about DUI, DWI, etc. apply.
Eh - pot is less destructive than alcohol or hard drug abuse. I'd say it could be grown for personal medicinal use - once you start to sell it to others, go to jail or pay a fine.

9. Do you support the idea of a national healthcare system? Why, or why not?
Yes. Lack of health insurance is a leading cause of bankruptcy. I'd say to make the same health care plan that our illustrious congress critters have available to all Americans.

10.For self-identified Democrats/Republicans/Libertarians/Greens alike:
would your answers to any of the questions 1-4 above be different if
the President was (or was not, if you're Republican) from your party?
If yes, which ones and why?
I'm not registered in a political party. Corrupt politicians are endemic to all political parties, and the individuals in office do not affect my personal political opinions.

I just attended an Admissions/Alumni event for (one of my) alma maters, Le Moyne College . They treated me right there; the outstanding liberal arts education, supportive scholarships and caring faculty that I had there for 4 years are a big part of the reason I am where I am today. And now I sound like an admission marketing piece.
Anyway, it was great to connect with a few of the prospective students and their parents. I haven't yet forgotten what it was like to be so young, but in seeing these "kids" I realize I do have a different perspective now than I did when I was that age.
I also had the chance to see other alumni from the area, some of whom I already knew. It is such a small world.
Beyond being able to share what my experiences at Le Moyne were, I went for the food. Ever since my first admission event as a high school senior, Le Moyne's admissions events have had fantastic desserts. Go Dolphins.

I saw this on Yahoo news and DailyKos had the link to the video at Crooks and Liars .

The operative sentence in this story:
Bush didn't ask a single question during the final briefing before Katrina struck on Aug. 29, but he assured soon-to-be-battered state officials: "We are fully prepared."

Even Fox News is reporting on the "Katrina Eve" video. Draw your own conclusions.
. When veterans, NRA members, honest Christians and those traditionally in the republican base are standing up and saying WTF is going on, maybe this signals that something good can come from something so tragic. By "good" I mean a less-corrupt, more-fiscally and socially responsible mandate for positive change and growth. By "tragic" I mean our entire government right now.

I saw a version of this on BakingSheet and since I have not eaten cauliflower voluntarily in my life, this was going to be a challenge. I don't know how to prepare foods that I don't like. For example, eggs gross me out. If you asked me to make a poached egg, I'd crack the egg open and that is as far as I could get. Omelets are a foreign concept to me, and I think the best way to enjoy an egg is to match it with flour, sugar, butter and chocolate in a mixture of cake or brownies.
One caveat to this recipe: I made a mess. Between the splashing, the burning, and the dish dirtying, this is a meal that I will make only when I have a bunch of time.
Anyway, here's how I made my soup.
Ingredients
One head cauliflower
Olive oil
garlic cloves
Vegetable broth and/or boullion
assorted diced veggies (I used an onion, carrots and celery); about 2 cups worth
salt and pepper
milk
spices (be creative here; I used marjoram; other recipes suggest basil or paprika)
Tools
large bowl
Saute pan
Large pot
Blender
Cookie sheet or cassarole dish
alumninum foil
Steps
Break up the cauli into chunks; drizzle with olive oil and stir to coat in a large bowl.
Spread it out on a cookie sheet or in a casserole dish; bake at 400 for 30 minutes or until tender.
Wrap a few garlic cloves in alumninum foil and place those in the oven too. If you don't have garlic cloves, just add some minced garlic to the blending.
While these are roasting, saute up your veggies in a little olive oil or butter. Salt to taste if necessary.
Boil up 4-5 cups of water and add your veggie boullion. Or, heat up an equivalent amount of your veggie broth.
The reason you shouldn't cook the veggies and the broth in the same pot is that you'll be taking the broth and adding it to the blender in a batch or two.
Once the cauli is roasted, remove this and the garlic from the oven.
Add 1 cup of water and 1/4 cup of milk to the blender, and half of the cauliflower pieces and the garlic. Blend until smooth, and dump this into the large bowl you used to coat the cauliflower.
Repeat with the last half of the cauli. Add all the creamed-up cauli mixture back into the large pot. Heat on medium, and add in your chopped veggies.
Add your spices to suit your particular tastes.
Top with shredded cheese, chopped parsley, or parm. cheese. I don't pay much attention to the presentation of my meals; I generally slop it on the plate and hand J a fork. For this, I would try to cut a few long, thin strips of celery and place them artfully across the surface.

My personal summary of this evening's Geek Meet at the Town Ballroom.

What a wonderful collection of talent at this event. Programmers, designers, and entrepreneurs coming together to geek out for a few hours - I've had dreams like this.
I wasn't taking notes, so this is all from memory, and I'll be restricting myself to general impressions that are constructive and instructive.
1) Shawn Rider and GamesFirst! : I'm not really into online games at all, but I appreciated how Shawn has taken a massively popular technology genre and capitalized on it. Drawing from local new media talent is something to be applauded (::applause::).
2) Artvoice/Dave K : this publication is moving in the way that all media will have to go. They recognize that cell phone/mobile delivery is truly the wave of the future, and I am looking forward to how they'll scale their multimedia content and mobile versions.
3) (e:paul) and (e:strip) : We are privileged to have such a talented and creative programmer in our midst. The AJAX, javascript and general usability solutions that Paul is implementing are beyond cutting edge. I can't say enough good things about the content of this presentation.
4) Buffaloresearch.com : I could have gone for less "reading from the screen" and more "this is a site with invaluable resources for historical, social and geneological research." I like to explore web sites on my own, and to watch someone read a web site outloud makes my mind go numb in a painful way. That's just my thing; I was happy to hear that the Central Library branch has wifi access, and I'll be delving into the buffaloresearch.com content throughout the week.
5) schneiderdigital.com : Just as (e:paul) produces innovative social software, Schneider Digital's communications, marketing and programming projects are outstanding. When Zach said "ruby on rails" and "mambo" I think I actually swooned. When I look into my crystal ball to see the future of the web, Schneider Digital has the skills and attitude for being a leader in whatever the web turns into. I'm not talking about Web 2.0 - SD is already there. I'm thinking for whatever comes after what's coming now.
6) 3 created : I'm not linking to them. This was a commercial pitch masquerading as a commercial pitch. I learned nothing new, and the blatant sales talk made me fidgety.
7) Me. Ronald McDonald House of Buffalo . I think I could have been more complete and descriptive in what I was trying to say. Not having notes is a blessing and a curse, since I left out a whole bunch of stuff, but was able to speak more naturally and spontaneously. My main point: use your geek skills for good and help out local non-profit groups that need it. There are dozens of cheap/free software programs out there that can dramatically change the way that non-profits communicate - they just need a little geekery to make it work. Email me if you want to know where to start, whether you're a potential volunteer or someone from a nonprofit. I've got two nonprofits on my plate right now, but may have the potential to take on more.
8) Buffalo Politics with (e:dcoffee) : I skedaddled at this point, since my puppy was alone in the dark, but I wish I could have heard the entire presentation. Bottom line: the political climate in Buffalo inspires and enrages. Whichever side you fall on, and whatever your politics, site like wnymedia.net Buffalo Rising , and other media exist as emerging outlets for discussion, growth and change.

The Ronald McDonald House of Buffalo was established over twenty years ago as a home away from home for the families of children who receive medical treatment in Western New York. When a child from out of the area requires surgery or specialized care in a Buffalo hospital, their families can look to the House to provide a warm, comforting environment for families to stay.
So - what does the RMH have to do with a geek meet?
A lot, actually.
Last month, I worked with the RMH Staff (wonderful people, but definitely not geeks) to convert their Web site to use Wordpress . This software works as a content management system, allowing their staff (and me) to easily update their site with news, images and information that shows the people on the internets the wonderful work this place does.
Plans for the next few months include:
- train the staff to post regular updates and images
- generate profiles about the staff, volunteers and families of the house
- increase the House's visibility in the Buffalo region as a leader in using technology for communications
- demonstrate how nonprofits can use blogs to communicate to their respective audiences
- encourage fellow geeks to apply their programming skills to those who need it.

I have a few other tricks up my sleeve too, but I won't give them away here.