Repeat visitors (hel-lo, Russian spammers!) will notice a possibly unwelcome addition to the bottom of this site. Yes, I’ve sold out and set up google adwords. Basically, I’ve erected a tiny little billboard on my tiny corner of the web. I’ve added code to allow google to display an advertisement of their choosing on that space. I’m told that if anyone actually clicks on that ad – I will receive fractional pennies!

I was all worried about the moral ramifications of this decision, until I asked a friend to take a look and tell me what she thought. She was using the adblock plugin for Firefox, and was quite unable to see what I was talking about. I feel much better now. If being exposed to advertising bothers you, then you should do likewise.

For what it’s worth, I have no illusions that this will bring any money my way. However, if at some point I find myself at the center of an internet tempest in a teapot – I’m now positioned to be able to get a nice dinner out of it afterwards.

Landed in New Orleans yesterday, around 3pm. Took a cab to my posh hotel, just outside the French quarter. My cab driver opened up after I asked how old his daughter was (photo taped to the dash, she’s 2 and 8 months). He’s produced an independent film about drunk driving, and is halfway through his pilot certification. Didn’t get his name.

After checking in, I took my constitutional stroll – straight up Bourbon street. Ungh. Do NOT look at Bourbon street in the plain and unblinking light of day. Turn down the lights. No no, ALL the lights. I got pretty frankly pissed off at the organizers for dragging me to this titty bar, alcoholic, pickpocket laden hellhole.

Walked to the far side of the French Quarter and turned towards the water. Along the way, I walked past a dude in his 50s, sitting in front of his chess table. $5 a game. Walked a little further, to Cafe du Monde. Stopped and had the beignets and a cafe au lait. Tipped the street gospel singer, and went back with $5 in hand. Sat down and got game.

We played – and for the first 5 moves or so he kept emphasizing, “take all the time you need.” After about 10 moves I was rewarded with a grunt. 15 moves in, he might have actually paused to consider. At around move 20 he looked at my position and said “bummer, let’s go get that king.” Around 25 moves – I conceded. Didn’t get his name.

At that point, he glanced up at me through his dense, coke bottle glasses and said “wanna go meet the club? You have POTENTIAL.” With that, he was off – already across the street by the time I bounced up to follow. Across a block, into a fancy restaurant, and into the back – where servers from a variety of the local restaurants were hanging out – playing chess. He introduced me around, and then dashed back to his table. I had to go to the conference, but man – I was no longer as irritated with the organizers. This town has personality.

Made my way to the conference, checked in, and attended the opening gala. Met up with a friend from high school, who pointed out later in the evening that we’re also friends from elementary school. Then went to catch Greg, who works in the NOC and helps to build the supercomputing network every year. We wound up at the Howlin’ Wolf, sitting around swapping stories about cariaso until late in the evening.

Shook off a distinctly P. Diddy feeling this morning and went to the conference. Excellent keynote – about which I hope to write later. Spent about three hours making it through four out of 48 aisles of exhibitors. Summary: I’m way behind the times. Also attended a few technical talks. Summary – I’m pretty much current. Drank a lot of coffee.

As of 6pm, declared myself brain-fried and got a free beer (courtesy of Univa) at La Boca. As you might infer from the URL, there wasn’t much there for my vegetarian tastes. Moved on – dropped my backpack at the hotel, and braved Bourbon Street again. Tried to go to the acme oyster house, but was dissuaded by the line – so I wound up at Storyville – who make a fine gumbo and serve Dixie beer.

Fed, continued straight down the street from hell (pausing to get a cigar from the hand roll guy) to Frenchman street. Walked farther. Past the hookers. Past the dealers. Into the darkness.

All of a sudden – I was somewhere else. I was – for lack of a better term – in Dixie. Delta. New Orleans … but I’m not sure what year.

I think I was on Frenchman street when I walked past a group of homeless kids huddled in a doorway. Realized that I had walked too far and there wasn’t enough light, so I turned back. The kids had reconstituted themselves into a little band. Banjo, bass, fiddler with the fiddle on his hip. The best damn bluegrass I’ve ever heard. Songs about moonshine and missing North Carolina. Hung out for a few songs before moving on. Didn’t get their names.

I heard delta blues coming out of a place called Checkpoint Charlie’s – and went in. Settled in at the bar. There was a man with a remarkable beard, playing guitar and singing, low and filled with soul. He was bothering the locals to get on stage with him – and they did. A clean cut man with too much moustache took the lead guitar for a while, and then passed it to an older vietnam-vet type. He finally managed to get a bass playing woman to sing lead. Then they began to rock. I felt like I was at somebody’s house … for the low key jam session that happens every night.

Meanwhile, the locals were at the bar. Swear to god a guy did a massive bong hit right on the copper bar next to me. The guitarist was calling friends in between songs to see who he could stay with. At one point the bartender tapped me on the shoulder. “Shot?” I glanced up and saw that drinks were lined up for all of us at the bar. So we clinked glasses and hoisted them. And the band played. “Went to the corner store / for a $3 bottle of gin / three, six, nine, twelve / don’t talk back.” “Ham and eggs, ham and eggs, can’t you hear me callin’ you.”

Also, the bar had a laundry room in the back. It’s that place.

I need to start asking people’s names.

I love these:

Dear Dr. Insert Name Here

Seasonal Greetings,

I am introducing myself as Prof. Somebody, Head ,Division of Bioinformatics, A. University, A., TN, India. I am going to organize an International Symposium on Bioinformatics and systems Biology on 16-17 Feb 2011. I noted your valuable papers in reputed journals and contribution to Bioinformatics. Our university is located 200kms away from Chennai international Airport. which is one of the historical place has a famous Natraj temple ie 2000 years old. Chidambaram town is surrounded by many historical monuments of Chola king. I will provide a conveyance from airport and sight seeing and good hospitality .I will provide to you a separate air conditioned car for the whole programme and sight seeing. I invite you on behalf of organizing committee to deliver a special lecture on any one day of your convenience. I request you to permit us to include your name in the expert committee of the conference.

Expecting your favourable reply
with kind regards
sincerely yours

Somebody

Replies:

a) I ain’t no “Dr.” I work for a living.
b) Papers? Seriously? I’ve put one-page non-reviewed crap in a trade magazine – perhaps 12 times in the past 6 years. My last peer reviewed “publication” was a courtesy authorship in 2004. The last paper I actually wrote happened in 1999 or so – and was about as far from bioinformatics as it’s possible to get.
c) 200km away from Chennai? Um, suddenly I’m kinda interested. Can I bring my wife? For valentine’s day?

redmed just got home from work. They called her at 7pm on a Sunday because, as she put it, there was a woman trying to die and doing a pretty decent job at it. The second in command doctor was freaking out – and apparently the chain stops at my wife.

What’s the most important thing that makes your phone ring?

So redmed went in and did her damndest – operating – thinking – and finally doing some large number of chest compressions (“I can tell I’ve been working out”) before they finally “called it,” and pronounced the woman dead. The woman’s daughter was visible from where redmed was doing the compressions – on the bed, with said second in command spotting her so she wouldn’t fall. She would dedicate sets to the daughter, to the father of the baby, etc. “This one’s for that relative right there. Live.”

redmed is now sitting next to me drinking tea, reading recipes online, and occasionally needing a hug.

Me? I didn’t do shit today. Or this year. Or with my whole damn life.

How about you?

I’ve developed an odd and personal dietary plan over the last 35 years. It’s working out pretty well for me so far. I make no promises that this will work for anyone other than me.

1) Eat meat (animal protein) only in moderation. I’ve gotten down to “no mammals or birds” and “occasional fish.” I’m working on “sustainable fish only.” I doubt that I’ll make it to “real vegetarian,” and I’ve got no designs whatsoever on veganism.

2) If I *do* eat animal protein, I’m obligated to deal with a dead animal carcass from time to time. Currently, this is served by the fish CSA that delivers a five pound fish once a week. I have to carve it up and deal with the big, lifeless eyes looking at me while I do it. I don’t particularly enjoy that – but I feel that I owe it to myself as part of respecting the animal who died so that I could eat it.

3) Eat food as spicy as I can stand it. My theory is that this keeps me strong and virile. Also, it keeps predators and opportunists out of my food.

4) Eat pickles. Lots of pickles. And olives. And some more pickles. My theory is that this keeps my guts powerfully churning and the bacteria down.

5) Eat in balance to physical activity. If I’m crazy hungry because I exercise a lot – that’s fine.

6) Allow myself to get hungry before eating. Don’t eat just because it’s suppertime.

7) Restaurants serve stupid-huge portions. Don’t feel obligated to order a “real” entree, or to clean my plate in a restaurant. However, once I know the portion sizes, I am obligated to order sensibly. The exception to this is garlic fries. I can order a whole bowl of garlic fries and only eat a couple of them.

8) Drink all the water I want – plus a couple of glasses a day.

9) Watch out for suffering in my food chain. I don’t want to exist atop a large stack of suffering.

For the record:

My law of idiot inclusion: Any sufficiently large group of people will include some truly awful idiots.

Merely finding an idiot in the group with whom you disagree is not sufficient to damn that entire group as idiots.

One should also consider my corollary of idiot prevalence: While all large groups contain idiots – some groups contain observably more idiots per capita.

There is some value to measuring the density of idiots in various groups.

Speaking as someone who seems to be in the thick-of-it on a number of fronts right now, I read John Halamka’s recent post with great interest. In the middle, he offered this checklist:

10. Select your change and what not to change
9. Identify those who will lose
8. Acknowledge their loss
7. Over Communicate
6. Be Honest and Consistent
5. Consensus is not essential
4. Embrace conflict
3. Focus on your detractors
2. The last two minutes of the meeting are the most important
1. You cannot please everyone

Here we go.

Holy crap – incoming winter farm share:

What's in the October 23rd share?

Picadilly Farm
Sweet potatoes, 4 pounds. Another record-breaking harvest this year! We’re looking at a tremendous year for sweeties, with excellent flavor. We planted two varieties this year, and it’s the Covington’s that will make their appearance in the first Shared Harvest box. The sweeties are pretty well cured at this point, meaning they will store just fine at an ideal temperature of 50 degrees. A basement, attic, or even sitting on the kitchen counter would be a fine choice– just remember to take them out of their plastic bag.

Gold potatoes, 5 pounds. Store out of bag, in a cool dark place. These “satinas” are our favorites, full of delicious potato flavor.

Carrots, 3 pounds plus a bunch. These big fall “Boleros” are a mix from our farm, and from a neighboring CSA farm, Tracie’s Community Garden. Due to unfortunate weather and mechanical circumstances, our large (about an acre) fall carrot planting was a 90% loss. We replanted a few weeks later, which didn’t provide quite enough of a growing window for the carrots to get up to size. So, we traded our surplus potatoes to Tracie for her surplus carrots, harvested some of what we have, and picked the smaller “re-plants” into bunches.

Delicata squash, 3-4 pieces. If it isn’t your favorite winter squash already, it will be after you taste these! Delicata can be roasted like other winter squash, or sautéed on the stovetop. The skins are edible, and the seeds are great for roasting.

Red peppers, 1 pound, a mix of italia and Bell types. The peppers were harvested at the beginning of October, before our first frost. We’ve stored them in our cooler, taking care for proper temperature and moisture conditions, and they’ve held on. We put row cover over four 500 foot-long beds of our Red Italia peppers, with the intention of harvesting them fresh for the boxes. Unfortunately, a lot of wind and some bad luck blew into town, and we lost almost all our pepper plants after a particularly chilly night. So these last remnants of summer should be enjoyed sooner, rather than later. Most people are familiar with the rounded Bell-type peppers, but we’re also throwing in the mix our “Carmens”, which are the long, pointed Italia peppers-very sweet and perfect for salads or cooked.

Green Bell Peppers, 1 pound. Same story as the red peppers, eat them quick!

Hakurei salad turnips, a bunch. Delicious raw (try it with cheese) or cooked.

Celery, 1 head.

Radicchio, a head. Enjoy these slightly bitter heads as a salad enhancer, or try them roasted or grilled with a sprinkling of strong cheese.

Riverland Farm
Beets, 3 pounds. Try roasting them: Roasted Beets

Broccoli or cauliflower, 2 pieces. There are purple cauliflowers in a few of the shares!

Fennel, 1 bunch. Cream of Roasted Fennel Soup from the Wicked (Awesome) Whisk

Cilantro or parsley, 1 bunch

Leeks, 1 bunch. Here’s a nice recipe from a shareholder’s blog: Sausage, Potato, Leek & Spinach Stew from Semii-Sweet

Red onions, 2 pounds
Yellow onions, 2 pounds. Caramelized Onion Souffle

Spinach, about a pound

Squash, pie, 2 squashes

Busa Farm
Lettuce, two heads, one red and one green.
Greens, a bunch. You’ll find one of these types of greens in your share: Rabi senza testa , red mustard , white turnips (with edible greens) or Kamatsuna. All of these greens are lovely sauteed in olive oil and garlic or stir fried with peppers, turnips, a bit of celery and carrot.

Moraine Farm, Baer’s Best Beans
Jacob’s Cattle dried beans, one pound. This heirloom variety typically has a lot more white on it, but we think that the extreme heat and lack of water combined to leave them almost completely purple this year.

Cider Hill Farm
Apples, five pounds. Glenn Cook from Cider Hill tells us that his fruit trees didn't take kindly to the late frost in May. Frost, combined with the warm, early season had diminished the amount of variety in apples Glenn will have for us. You may choose from Mutsu, Empire, Cortland, Macoun, and Carousal varieties. What they lack in variety, they make up for in taste!

Last week I was in MI for redmeds med school 10 year reunion. We spent the whole trip driving back and forth to see various family and friends. Logged 800 miles on the rental car in four days. Hung out with two different sets of grandparents, my dad, and some of the rest of you. Sorry that we missed the rest. There was simply no more time to be had.

Got back at about midnight Sunday, and started the week with a two day trip to California. Out on Monday at 11am. Meetings in the afternoon, dancing at DNA Lounge, and then all day meetings on Tuesday, and the red-eye back to arrive at 7am on Wed. Yesterday was a bit confusing, but I pushed through and was rewarded with a very pleasant dinner with redmed, capital_l, and technolope. Turns out that beer hits you hard when you’re exhausted. Wheeeee!

Today was absolutely consumed by conference call after conference call. Then, at the very end, I got a total softball of a DNS configuration question to make me feel smart. After that, I hit the wall and just sort of passed out from 6 to 7:30. 7:30 is when Judo starts – and I’ve been wanting to get back to judo – so my body went ahead and woke itself up … but I was wiped. Puddle of drool on the pillow. Cats sitting on my head. That sort of thing.

It is now nearly midnight. It is time to go to bed.

As the military guys (and gals) will tell you: Nobody puts it all on the line for an abstraction. It’s all about the guy (or gal) next to you. Thus, after my dark thoughts the other night – I share this IM interaction with my colleague:

Me: Having one of those days where I feel like anything I touch turns out poorly.

Him: Don't touch me.

That was all it took. I’m back! Wahoo!