My goodness, I'm a real expert at talking myself out of things I don't want to do. It's amazing!

My goodness, I'm a real expert at talking myself out of things I don't want to do. It's amazing!

Are you avoiding Spanish again?

Oh, wait. That's me.

Oooh, new kitchen! Pictures?

The plan to redo it was just hatched last week after my friend took up the ugly ass tile. We were trying to figure out if he'd just redo the wood floor or put a new floor down on top and that led to Whole New Kitchen plan! But he can't do it until February.

I bought a laptop off of eBay and it should be delivered today. I'm very excited. It runs Win98, but I'm very familiar with that program and it's a sturdy workhorse. And the laptops designed for it are cheap.

Does hollow ground mean the same as hollow edge?

Yes - you can see a whole bunch of different knife styles here - some say "hollow ground edge" some just "hollow edge" etc etc, but they're all referring to the same style of blade.

I use my santoku knife for all kinds of slicing, chopping, mincing and dicing. I like the way the gently curved blade rocks on the cutting board.

Anyone up for playing career counselor? Don't worry, I'm not in emotional, panicked, job-hating mode. It's more that my talk with my boss yesterday, coupled with her plans for sort of mentoring me into a hospital administrator's role, got me thinking about long-term plans. Not that any force on earth would make me stop writing, but I feel like maybe I need a contingency plan if I don't sell in the next few years, because if I'm passionate and confident about what I do for a day job, those qualities will transfer into my writing. At least, I think they will.

Ginger, that's rough.

GC, I have Home Envy! That's gorgeous stuff.

Henckels are best for people with really big hands. I like Wustof, personally. CI likes Forschiner/Victorinox, and Alton Brown likes Shun.

I have tiny wee hands, and Henckels were the only ones that felt balanced in mine, which is yet another clear indication that the only way to know is to go and hold some.

The Wustof handles didn't fit right in my mitts (which was a shame, because I thought the Wustofs were gorgeous), and I kept feeling like I'd injure myself if I had to use them.

Ginger, my sympathies.

I have CutCo knives, and they're perfectly fine for what I need to do. I'd much rather have Wustofs (which did fit very well), but I'm not spending the money.

Ohhhh, house porn! I want to paint my apartment so much, but I probably won't.

Suzi, you should come to North Beach and drink.

It rained! I missed rain! Except now I have to worry about it rusting my bike! Augh.

I like the way the gently curved blade rocks on the cutting board.

If the blade is curved enough to rock back and forth, it's not a real santoku, it's a santoku-style chef's knife. Santoku blades are tapered, but almost entirely flat on the sharp side (like a cleaver).

Santoku.

Chef's knife.