Tag: stuff

For some time I have cringed every time I heard someone using the phrase “mano a mano” incorrectly. You often hear people using it mistakenly in a confrontational tone: “C’mon buddy let’s take this outside. It’s you and me, mano a mano.”

You see, the very first record I bought as a kid in third grade, Hall & Oate’s Private Eyes, had a song called “Mano a Mano”. It was the only song on the album that John Hall sang on, and the lyrics went something like “Mano a mano, hand to hand.” It had to do with world peace or something.

Something told me to place my faith in Hall & Oates rather than American colloquialisms on this one. I was right.

I discovered that Cecil Adams, the author of the Straight Dope series of books, maintains a web site, and had a topic on this issue. Cecil says that it’s understandable that people think the term has to do with confrontation, since “hand to hand”, the translation of the Spanish “mano a mano”, could be mistaken for “hand to hand combat”.

Anyway…just had to get that off my chest. Now back to goat herding.

I came across a valuable list of Ten CSS Tricks You May Not Know. There is some great stuff in there. Be sure to read the comments too, for people offer more advice and alternate ways of doing things.

And while we are talking about the wonderful CSS, here are some CSS Shorthand Properties to help make those style sheets ever smaller.

Yay. I have found enough time to sit down and slap together a little photo gallery of our Thanksgiving 2004 Extravaganza. This year, my brother and his wife had baby Scarlet to bring along in addition to her maternal grandmother Wilma. They came all the way from Dallas and Oklahoma respectively, and it was great to have them.

We had a little bit of a nail biter, coming down to the wire with our kitchen/study/bath addition to the house. Things got completed just in the nick of time though, save for the glass stovetop that I cracked by mistake. We were still able to cook food, and it all came out great in the end. I’m still eating leftover stuffing.

More updates soon to follow. Trust me: they shall rock.

If Architects Had To Work Like Web Designers.

So true, so true.

My RSIS teammate, Chris, recently dropped his iPod and ruined it. He took the opportunity to open it up and check out the inner workings. The technology was remarkably small, and adds an amount of awe to the engineering that goes into these things.

Here are a few shots of the inside of his 10GB iPod.

The University of Louisville Cardinals haven’t gotten off to a great start with the first two games this basketball season. They beat the first team they played by a not-so-emphatic 10 points (and it was a division II team), and they lost to Iowa tonight. They seem to have a problem with Iowa, as they lost to them last year at the same time.

The consoling factor is that after last year’s Iowa loss, they won 16 straight, propelling to #2 in the nation. Then injuries plagued them for a fizzled-out NCAA tournament appearance.

The season is young, and things will get better, I am sure.

I have posted some new pictures of the construction going on in our house, which is almost done. Just in time for Thanskgiving!

Just a quick update about life around here lately. Our house addition is finally in the home stretch. We spent all weekend painting, finishing up the hardwood floors, installing the beadboard ceiling in the kitchen, and adding a little molding. We are hoping that this effort gives the contractors a jump on what remains: installing the cabinets and appliances, finishing the deck, and doing the trim. Oh, and the plumbers need to set the bathroom fixtures and sink, and the electricians need to finish the lights and switches.

Our hope is that the bulk of this will be done by the end of the week so that we can prepare a nice turkey dinner for the dozen or so family members descending upon us for Thanksgiving.

Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Pictures of the progress will be up soon.