Ooh! Brie en croute! Maybe not for summer, but a parents' party classic. Another thing way easier than it looks, if you buy the frozen puff pastry. Throw some apricot jam on top, and bake. YUM.

My mom used to do a brie wheel (unbaked) with shredded carrots and ginger mixed into the apricot jam and spread on top. Nom.

Also gazpacho in little plastic glasses.

Grilled quesadillas cut into slivers! (the grilling makes them crisp, not floppy.)

Actually, most of the tapas I had Saturday would work, though some take more effort than others: pita and tzatziki, zucchini/onion fritters, cheese pie and spinach and feta pie (small, in a pastry wrap, sorta like spanikopita but not. The cheese one was incredible. Ricotta texture, but tangy and rich at the same time ) and another pastry wrapped thing of some sort of cured meat, cheese and basil. Num.

I just gathered up all the spare change laying about in my apartment. Oh, and in a small box and a cereal bowl (where I was storing the change that wasn't laying about) It came to $64.00.

I love the change-counting machines....

now I want mezze's spinach fritters sarameg.

I do a skewer of grilled chicken sausage, a cherry tomato, and a basil leaf. The sweetness of the tomato and basil contrast nicely with the spiciness of the sausage. sometimes I might add a kalamata olive.

Video of the most powerful nuclear explosion in history: [link]

You can tell the camera was miles away by how long it takes sound to reach the camera (18 seconds). What is it - one mile for each five seconds? So the camera was almost four miles away.

eta: Although now that I think of it - at four miles the camera would have been destroyed, huh? So maybe not the largest (the link doesn't say it is, but a link to it did).

So. This is my life, the universe and everything birthday. I made it this far, at least, so there's that.

Happy holidays, those who have them. I'm spending the next several days on an island off the coast of Maine (and I have my annual family shindig on same island), so I'll catch you all on the flip-side.

Happy Birthday, Frankenbuddha!

Happy birthday, Frankenbuddha!

And morning, everyone else.

I had a very interesting discussion with someone last night about musical fandoms and the place of the fan in them, or how a fan can be active in one. It revolved around that basically, if an artist decided to throw his/her life away and abusing themselves, the fans can't do much about it; if they say something, it's rude and out of place to speculate about the artist private life. If not, they're ignoring a problem and a becoming a part of the web of silence. And you know, you're not in the circle of friends and of course you can't help a person who doesn't want your help and it's not your place, but in this day and age, with the interent, message boards and all, shouldn't be another option to show your concern? One of the reasons being a music fan can suck sometimes is because you can't be active about it like in other fandoms (though, I'm probably wrong about it. Inlight me if so).

So I thought that you might have interesting thoughts about this, because you know, you are Buffistas.

Also, there's a butterfly who tries desperately to come through my window.

Happy birthday, Frank!

Shir, I spent a fair amount of time amongst the Tom Waits fandom while I was writing my last book, and while they can't (or couldn't) do much to help him during his darker days, they are a community. They take special notice of the causes that he champions. They put their time, money and effort to support those things. They try to do right by him, because his music means something to them every day.

Any work of art winds up being a gift that goes out into the world and - if it's resonant - it travels a long way. People respond to that generosity. They feel beholden - but in a good way. Looking for an opportunity to do right.