Mount Ventoux

Nearing the end of the long struggle up Mt. Ventoux, a classic climb in the Tour de France

only to be astonished by this sight at the very top:

The impact of those brilliant colors and intense aromas, after the long climb through moonscape, simply cannot be described.

Cat Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Felines

A series of furniture-like objects which are actually resonant cavities for trapped felines.

Basic CASEF:

Dual-beam CASEF:

Free-feline CASEF:

CASEF for felines in a low-energy state:

Provision of a suitable beam-dump is left as an exercise for the experienced user.

What I want for Christmas

My old bike just doesn't satisfy anymore. I need something REAL, something TOUGH, something ITALIAN:

I ran across this in a link from David Thompson:

Gianluca Gimini's Velocipedia

Renderings of bicycles from drawings by folks of all ages, from memory.
Absolutely wonderful.

Adequate heat

I'm sitting in my sister's kitchen, watching her son carmelize sugars on creme brulee.  Using a huge MAPP gas brazing torch.  I hope they have the Fire Dept. on speed-dial.

Preparing one's house for sale

is a never-ending task, it seems.  Not much time for writing stuff...

A new US Citizen

Primo Lucas has arrived and is making friends.

Cue eerie sound effects...

So for the last couple months I've been reading the diary of Samuel Pepys via the fine website at The Diary of Samuel Pepys.  (Good title, amiright?)  And... I'm getting a little freaked out, because this has been happening a lot lately:  I finish my day, fire up the Kindle, and right there in the next diary entry is some reflection of his from 1662 regarding the EXACT THING I have spent my day doing.  Like, painting the dining room.  Or moving furniture in my home office.  Or wondering about the motives of a business acquaintance.  Or worrying about taxes.

This could be really good for me, e.g. Sam was President of the Royal Society when Newton's Philosophia Naturalis Principia Mathematica was published.  Or this one, from the entries I'm currently reading: he and some Navy Office mates are digging in the cellars of the Tower of London, looking for buried treasure.  (I'm guessing they won't find anything, but still...)

Or it could be bad.  In last night's entry, he had received a letter from his wife, supposedly detailing her arguments about some household changes being contemplated, and also her stance about how high-handed he has been lately.  He didn't unseal or read it, thinking to burn it in front of her as a show of force.  I sure hope he comes to his senses real soon now.  In my own era, we have not yet progressed beyond casual disputes over which bits of junk from 25 years in this house might be discarded before our move.