Ginger, I bookmarked your post on the radiation so I have somehwere to go back to when I say "I know someone who understands radiation much better than I, and she says . . ."

Not that I am planning a wedding, but I would love "Isn't She Lovely," except isn't that a little much to pick for yourself?? Yes, thank you, I AM lovely!

I was thinking about that one, because I love that song, but I hesitate, because...yeah, it seems a little conceited. (I actually have a Stevie Wonder CD next to me in case I want to rip that song.)

Stevie Wonder sang it at Ross and Rachel's fake wedding!

Definitely have it on the playlist, if not for the father/daughter. Never too much Stevie!

If your dad picks it isn't conceited.

Stevie Wonder sang it at Ross and Rachel's fake wedding!

The one where the doves put the ring on her finger?

Mm, like fine. I have a french press but the key to it is to let it settle and pour gently into the pot. Because otherwise, my coffee has texture. But then, I came to loving coffee in the CzR, where they boiled fucking espresso grounds in a big kettle, let it settle and that stuff could lacquer walls. But oh so good. In tiny teacups.

Manages to get out to Hampdenfest's last hour and eat a gyro, then a couple hours of live music from my friend/neighbor (I need a shorthand for that)'s boyfriend's band at Cafe Hon*, where they managed to pick up new fans from the Hampdenfest stragglers walking by, which is awesome. But I couldn't last. Came home and am still decompressing.

* mixed feelings on this. On one hand, the owner did some stupid community fouls. On the other, she gives them a standing gig once a month and she is one of his regular guitar lesson clients and apparently is a sweet eager learner. Her bartenders are also really nice. And she's at least given face to undoing her fouls, how legit, I dunno.

If I'd realized and made cowboy coffee or Turkish coffee (which is very much like the process you describe, sarameg, except small kettle) it would've been perfectly okay. Actually, the cup of coffee I got was perfectly okay, the grounds pretty much settled to the bottom of the cup as I drank, just the process was so very different from what I expected it was unsettling. Mostly, I wish this grinder had come with a bit more in the way of instructions so I would know if I was turning the adjustment wheel the wrong way or what - I want a coarser grind in part so it'll be easier and quicker to grind up my beans of a morning.

The one where the doves put the ring on her finger?

Yes!

my friend/neighbor (I need a shorthand for that)

Freighbor?

One reason a lot of wild figures get thrown around about radiation is that most of the data before Chernobyl came from atom bomb survivors. To put it crudely, dose levels were based on the idea that if being hit with 30 hammers at one time will kill you, then being hit with one hammer a month for 30 months will kill you. We don't really have evidence that low-level radiation has much effect. People in Denver are exposed to more ionizing radiation than people at sea level, but Denver doesn't have more cancer.

In 1991 (pre-collapse-USSR) I was on a work trip with a Georgian firefighter who had done a stint at Chernobyl in the first weeks. He had been advised to avoid sun exposure for more than 15 minutes a day by Soviet doctors. Of course he didn't. He'd already buried several coworkers. But they were definitely the extremes. I do assume he's dead now.

OTOH, the sun-exposure cautiousness that Aussies exhibit compared to where I grew up (where low lat and 4000 ft) was remarkable. But they might have a hole?