DoubleAmericano

penguins!

noreply@blogger.com (wendy) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:59:00 +0000

That's my sailor, back when we first started dating, with a real, live penguin. In antarctica. We're getting married soon, so just think... I have years more of crazy penguin photos from emergency deployments to the South Pole to look forward to the rest of my life. ;)

Happy Veteran's Day!

fuzzbusters

noreply@blogger.com (wendy) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 00:21:00 +0000

I've been a blogging slacker over here, and haven't updated in about a month. How about some fuzzy shelties to make it up?

On one of my favorite topics, Target printed out a coupon for me the other night for $1 off a "Fur Fighter Kit". I got a huge kick out of it- I've never bought dog food there, so how do they know that I'm surrounded by sheltie fuzz? I do occasionally buy stuffed dog toys for Christmas or the sheltie birthdays, so that must be it. I really wish it had a "click here to see why we recommeded this" on the coupon, do 3 dog toys a year add up enough to recommend a fuzz fighter kit? Maybe I'm buying too many de-lint rollers??

cabbage

noreply@blogger.com (wendy) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 22:31:00 +0000

cabbage
Originally uploaded by wck

Soon. Very very soon.

Horked

noreply@blogger.com (wendy) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 22:09:00 +0000

Is "horked" really not a commonly used word? I just used it to describe a mess I'd created baking, and my mom had no idea what the word meant. What really amuses me is that her dad is an electrical engineer, and I'm fairly certain I've heard him use it a few times! Anyway, if you use the wrong type of baking chocolate in a flourless chocolate cake for a family Valentine's dinner, well, you just horked dessert and it's a runny mess. Not the elegant chocolate dessert that should have landed on the table! Anyone want fruit salad for dessert instead?

I've been surrounded by nerds for so long that I think that there are a lot of geeky words that I just use. "Horked", definitely. "Punted" which I picked up at MIT. There's the famous "foo" and "bar" and "baz" and then in security land "Alice" and "Bob." Munged. That's another favorite of mine, especially since perl is affectionally called "a data munging language."

Thomas

noreply@blogger.com (wendy) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 13:08:00 +0000

Making a toaster from scratch

noreply@blogger.com (wendy) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 00:46:00 +0000

On Boing Boing today, an article about making a toaster from scratch. Pretty funny. Also made me glad that I farm and I sew... I mean, those are easy ways to "reconnect" in comparison. ;) Really, people think I'm nuts for making bread and applesauce from scratch and growing a few tomatoes and eggplants? There's no microwave smelting involved at least. This guy really needs to start a blog to document this adventure...

seagull

noreply@blogger.com (wendy) — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 23:37:00 +0000

seagull
Originally uploaded by wck

on the elizabeth river in virginia

braindump

noreply@blogger.com (wendy) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 23:26:00 +0000

* I wish I could write a shell script to schedule haircuts. What's with this having to pick a phone thing? ;-)
* Currently addicted to Rancid's Olympia WA song. Deeply, deeply addicted.
* I've had a partially written post on We'll Find a Way by the Ducky Boys floating around in my head for a few weeks, and I'm never going to finish it, so here it is in pieces

I never go up to midtown without a lot of grumbling, but I ended up spending the night in a hotel up on 50 something and 7th ave, just on the north edge of Times Square, on Dec 30. I was sitting at the desk, watching the sun go down and turn the skyscrapers a fantastic bright orange color, though the brown tinted hotel windows. It felt so 80s in some very weird way. I was listening to We'll Find a Way and a few other songs on a small playlist that kept looping and looping. Later in the evening I walked my way south down 7th, though the bitter cold, and after midnight back north up Broadway, still with the same mix. This song fit in with the crystal cold, with the blazing orangish lights so well that I now can't listen to it without the "hey nanana"s sounding like a setting sun and sharp cold air. And stumbling past crowds of tourists- walking Times Square a night early- some sense of dislocation, rooted by the chorus coming up and up all evening.

The "Harry Potter" problem in recommendations

noreply@blogger.com (wendy) — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 13:10:00 +0000

Greg Linden covered the Harry Potter problem in a blog post on recommendation technologies a few years ago:

A very sharp and experienced developer named Eric wrote the first version of similarities that made it out to the Amazon website. It was great working with Eric. I learned much from him over the years.

The first version of similarities was quite popular. But it had a problem, the Harry Potter problem.

Oh, yes, Harry Potter. Harry Potter is a runaway bestseller. Kids buy it. Adults buy it. Everyone buys it.

So, take a book, any book. If you look at all the customers who bought that book, then look at what other books they bought, rest assured, most of them have bought Harry Potter.

-http://glinden.blogspot.com/2006/03/early-amazon-similarities.html

When I worked on the personalization team we were still struggling with the problem- there are definite ways to identify a Harry Potter problem, but you have to remember to apply them. Adding to that, within certain genres there are Harry Potter books/music albums that are only runaway successes within those genres. If you compared those books to the general list of books that amazon sells, they wouldn't look like books that everyone has bought. Taking it a step further, if then if you narrow the scope to only related books you'll find that they are crazy popular.

The biggest side effect of the Harry Potter problem is that it weakens recommendations. For instance, I've bought the O'Reilly regex pocket book and the O'Reilly Python Cookbook and Ruby Cookbook. From those three books, you can pretty easily peg me as a web nerd and safely recommend a Steve Souder's website performance book. Those are very strongly correlated purchases in a narrow band of interest. However, because I'm a geek, I've also bought Neal Stephenson's latest book, Anathem. As have a few hundred thousand OTHER geeks. We could say that Anathem is a nerd's Harry Potter.

So I received an email today from amazon with a list of recommended books, most of which were based off Anathem and Daniel Silva's latest book, Moscow Rules (great book but also a bit of a Harry Potter widely-bought book). As you might guess, the recommendations were really bad. I wish that email had a link that I could click that would say "never recommend any of these books to me again please" -I could go to each detail page and mark that, but it would take a massive amount of time.

santa on a WA state ferry

noreply@blogger.com (wendy) — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 15:55:00 +0000

santa on a WA state ferry
Originally uploaded by wck

From my Santa christmas tree

stagger

noreply@blogger.com (wendy) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 23:06:00 +0000

I'm still working on that "blackberry flip vs ipod" blog post. I will still write it some day and I am still using the flip for my music player. I recently discovered that the flip has another minus against it, in that it has no "repeat 1" unless you make a playlist containing a single song and put that on repeat.

I've been kind of hooked on Stagger from the Street Dogs (it's on Back to the World) for a few days. This is the first song on the mix CD I have in my car at the moment, and I've listened to it every morning at the start of my ride to the train station. I don't know why in particular I've gotten so hung up on this song, although the opening is especially beautiful. It's not even my all time favorite Street Dogs song, so... who knows. Taste is weird.

christmas card photo shoot

noreply@blogger.com (wendy) — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 01:48:00 +0000

christmas card photo shoot
Originally uploaded by wck

Today was the one day that comes only once, each November. Yes, the annual "take a cute picture of my sister's kids for her christmas card" day. Dresses are pulled out. Squeeky toys to attract their attention are gathered. Lights are clipped to doorframes. And then it's total chaos. This was the first year I shot this in digital, which I suppose made it marginally more workable, although I do miss the black and white photos I usually take.

Anyway, we all sort of survived, and I'm sure next year's photo shoot day will be here in the blink of an eye.

more music!

noreply@blogger.com (wendy) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 23:18:00 +0000

I think's possibly been over a year since I've posted anything about music to this blog. Which is insane, because I started it to write about music I listen to, and I certainly still listen, constantly. Probably more now that I have that looooong train ride to sit and enjoy an album.

Here's the mix that I listened to this morning. I've FINALLY got one device that does phone calls and plays music... and it's not an iphone. It's a blackberry flip, and in a week or so I'll write a review of it- I'm still figuring a few things out. I originally wrote about my desire for this kind of gadget in March 2005. Hello progress, nice to see you three and a half years later.

So gadget snark aside, this could almost be a St Patricks day mix. I've been a bit heavier than usual into the Celtic punk/folk thing since our trip to the virginia beach irish festival 4 weeks ago.

Phoenix Park - The Tossers
A new album to me, which was stupid because they're a wonderful band and it's been out since forever. I love the beautiful melody. I want to wake up to this song every morning

Smokin' Bowl - The Real McKenzies
Two summers ago, walking down 8th ave in NYC, I remember a few weeks where I played this song over and over and over and over several more times.

Rise Above - Black Flag
see above comment, sans the hook

A Rainy Night In Soho - The Pogues
Rum, Sodomy and the Lash... is, I don't know... perfect. I adore this album. I know this is considered an "important" album, but I have such a deep personal connection with it. Walking in the evening, listening to this- I love most of the songs on here too much.

Upstarts and Broken Hearts - Drop Kick Murphys
One of my favorite songs ever

Blue Period - Smithereens
amazing use of strings. I listen to this one over and over and over.

Galway Girl - Town Pants
they played this at the festival, and wow- the hook from this one got stuck in my head for a few days

i voted

noreply@blogger.com (wendy) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 23:13:00 +0000

This is my 4th presidential election I've voted in. I was 19 in 1996, so I campaigned for Clinton in New Hampshire and voted for him, and I've voted Democratic in every election since. It's been exciting to see so many other people my age who never bothered to register or vote to actually follow through and do both of those this year.

tom

noreply@blogger.com (wendy) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 13:27:00 +0000

tom
Originally uploaded by wck

playing at home

Dust

noreply@blogger.com (wendy) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 00:33:00 +0000

I have finally- thanks to a 5 year old who was too inquisitive with my point and shoot digital camera and the rising costs of film development- broken down and gotten a DSLR. Yes, I'm the last photo nerd on the planet to get one, I know. I still adore film, but Kate's doing in of the lens on my little digital elph pushed me to just get a DSLR.

My new camera has one of the built in dust sensors, so over lunch today with another former art major (like me now slumming as a software person) we discussed how you used to deal with dust with film developing and printing. If you had a speck of dust on a print that you just couldn't get rid of, you had to manually paint it out. With a real paintbrush and ink. I'm serious! I spent so many hours hunched over my black and white prints before a show, with a teensy paintbrush, making tiny dots with a bit of ink to simulate film grain over dust spots. My eyes ache just thinking about it. And really... talk about an arcane skill! This is one of those spots where I guess digital technology really has a massive advantage over film.

macarons

noreply@blogger.com (wendy) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:27:00 +0000

Until the trip to Seattle this summer, I had been perfectly content to think of pistachio macaroons as a Paris thing. However, when I was out poking around Pike Place Market, I discovered that Le Panier now carries macarons. Hmmm... and they're delicious.

I just stumbled over a blog post on macaron reviews in NYC: In Search of the French Macaron in NYC�. Now I forsee a side trip to Rockefeller Center at some point.

food and security

noreply@blogger.com (wendy) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 17:09:00 +0000

Via emergent chaos, a blog post on foodies and security nerds.

I find it interesting that security people and foodies are strongly correlated. Or at least are strongly correlated among the ones I know.

Too funny. So here's my list. Bold is food that you have eaten.

Venison
Nettle tea
Huevos rancheros
Steak tartare
Crocodile
Black pudding
Cheese fondue
Carp
Borscht
Baba ghanoush

Calamari

Pho

PB&J sandwich

Aloo gobi

Hot dog from a street cart

Epoisses

Black truffle

Fruit wine made from something other than grapes

Steamed pork buns

Pistachio ice cream

Heirloom tomatoes

Fresh wild berries

Foie gras

Rice and beans

Brawn, or head cheese

Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper

Dulce de leche

Oysters

Baklava

Bagna cauda

Wasabi peas

Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl

Salted lassi

Sauerkraut

Root beer float

Cognac with a fat cigar

Clotted cream tea

Vodka jelly

Gumbo

Oxtail

Curried goat

Whole insects

Phaal

Goat's milk

Malt whisky from a bottle worth $120 or more

Fugu

Chicken tikka masala

Eel

Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut

Sea urchin

Prickly pear

Umeboshi

Abalone

Paneer

McDonald's Big Mac Meal

Spaetzle

Dirty gin martini

Beer above 8% ABV

Poutine

Carob chips

S'mores

Sweetbreads

Kaolin

Currywurst

Durian

Frog's Legs

Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake

Haggis

Fried plantain

Chitterlings or andouillette

Gazpacho

Caviar and blini

Louche absinthe

Gjetost or brunost

Roadkill

Baijiu

Hostess Fruit Pie

Snail

Lapsang souchong

Bellini

Tom yum

Eggs Benedict

Pocky

Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant

Kobe beef

Hare

Goulash

Flowers

Horse

Criollo chocolate

Spam

Soft shell crab

Rose harissa

Catfish

Mole poblano

Bagel and lox

Lobster Thermidor

Polenta

Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee

Snake

-the HTML is via a handy form that will generate the html for you. http://reddywhip.org/lj/foods/

Soho to Penn Station

noreply@blogger.com (wendy) — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 22:08:00 +0000

Viviane suggested that I blog this information, so here goes. She wanted to know how to get from our office at Broadway and Houston to Penn Station, buy a NJT ticket, and get on her train. I've optimized this route to pieces, so here it is.

enter the Broadway Lafayette station at Broadway and Houston
Go all the way down the first set of stairs past the turnstile to the BDFV Uptown platform. wait just behind the stairs
Get on the first train that comes and go 1 stop to West 4th
When you exit at West 4th, the escalator that skips the mezzanine is right there. Get on it and go to the ACE Uptown platform
walk down to the other end of the platform. take a C or E train.
exit at 34th Street/Penn. you will be very close to the turnstiles, go out them and down the half flight of stairs
you're now on the lower level of NYP Station. Walk straight ahead, and take the first corridor that goes off to the right. That corridor starts off with LIRR tracks, and the NJT tracks are at the far end
Near track 6ish or 4ish, there's a set of ticket machines that will rarely have a line. Buy your ticket there.
There are NJT monitors nearby- watch them for your train. You will see the track announced 10 minutes before it will leave NYP

glasses

noreply@blogger.com (wendy) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 20:22:00 +0000

ana & me
Originally uploaded by wck

Nerd glasses on me and nerd glasses on my niece! I did always say when she was little that I knew she was going to be a programmer when she grew up.

trains, ferries and buses

noreply@blogger.com (wendy) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:09:00 +0000

Riding on the amtrak cascades train to PDX. It occurs to me that this trip isn't even half over, and I've racked up a pretty good set of transportation methods.

* Commuter rail: to NYC last Wednesday, to EWR
* subway: within NYC
* monorail: EWR airport train station to terminal
* airplane: to Seattle
* taxi: to downtown
* bus rapid transit: downtown Seattle transportation
* bus: out to Greenlake
* car: driving out to anacortes ferry
* ferry: to and from the islands
* train: to and from PDX
* streetcar: MAX service in PDX

Not bad, 11 modes of transportation, but I'm missing bikes. Last night I could have borrowed my friend's bike, but I chose to walk around the neighborhood with Bandon instead.

summer weddings

noreply@blogger.com (wendy) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 22:04:00 +0000

When I graduated college and started working at amazon, my very first office was a big room I shared with the rest of the production QA team. There were 5 of us there. Geoffrey, who was already married. And David, Jason, Russell, and me. 9 years later, and I've been to each of their weddings. (Well, except Geoffrey, who had beaten everyone to the punch!) It kind of made me pause and think about how blessed I've been to have such great friends.

David - Aix-en-Provence, June 2002

Jason - Seattle, August 2005

Russell - Orcas Island, July 2008

san juans

noreply@blogger.com (wendy) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:52:00 +0000

view from mt constitution
Originally uploaded by wck

This is the view from the highest point on orcas island, looking eastward at the rest of Washington State. Insanely beautiful. I love the PNW.

Happy 4th

noreply@blogger.com (wendy) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 23:41:00 +0000

sunset
Originally uploaded by wck

So it's the 6th already... Happy 4th a few days late! I went to Norfolk to see my sailor. This picture is the Elizabeth River at sunset, taken from the ferry just after dinner. The river is so beautiful in the evening, I'm always tempted to stay on the ferry to do a few more round trips.

peonies

noreply@blogger.com (wendy) — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 16:03:00 +0000

peonies2
Originally uploaded by wck

Gorgeous, no? I actually sold two prints on etsy! Amazing. One of them is this print. I had them printed up at Duggal on W23rd, which was kind of fun. They take a lot of care with your prints, so it was fun to go get the print color corrected and printed up nicely on some matte paper. Ooooh... I need to get a photo of the print, as it's just too nice.