You may have heard of Resting Bitchface Syndrome. If you aren't familiar with RBS, some people, when their facial muscles are completely relaxed, look like they are angry, frustrated, or depressed, even when they are relatively happy and content.

I have a theory entirely of my own making. It goes like this:

The older you get, the weirder you get. (I want to pause here to note that by "weirder", I mean, generally, non-mainstream. "Weird" is not a pejorative in this essay, it's a simple descriptive term which means "not like everyone else.")

I have wanted to learn how to play the bass for quite a while. But I've never done anything about it because it all seems too intimidating. I'm afraid of messing up, so I don't start, so I don't get past the "I mess up everything!" phase.

2yo: "Thomas... robot?"
Me: "You want to know if Thomas the train is a robot?"
2yo: "Uh-huh."
Me (after thinking a bit): "No honey, Thomas can't be a robot, he doesn't obey the three laws of robotics."

This is an ancient Michigan Tech elixir for keeping warm when you have to spend all day outside. You can get everything you need at the local co-op.

1 quart of water
1 rounded tsp cloves
1 rounded tsp peppercorns
1/2 to 1 full stick cinnamon
A fair sized chunk of ginger (about thumb sized)
2 rounded tsp. peppermint
Milk
Maple syrup (REAL maple syrup!) or agave syrup

On Monday night I got to hang out with Ian and Dave of Down and Above. I made a couple of amps for them as Christmas presents and, well, between their schedules and my schedule, it took a while to come up with a mutually agreed upon time to hang out.

Here's Ian trying it out for the first time:

So I have been working like a madman getting ready for the Minne Faire. It's coming up in a week! April 13 and 14 at the Hack Factory.

Batter and fry up 4-5 chicken livers. Set aside to cool a bit. Crumble livers onto a bed of greens. Liberally apply some freshly made Penzey's Italian salad dressing. Toss.

Serves one.

A couple of months ago, I had a Christmas sale planned, but due to some bad planning on my part, followed by a supplier who accidentally sent the wrong parts, I ran out of things to sell before I could put them on sale. :-(

So instead of a Christmas Sale, I'm having a Valentines Day Sale! It's exactly the same discount only it's in a completely different month!

The sale is going to be three dollars off a Stella Amp kit, from now until February 14th. It's Christmas in February!

A friend of mine gave me an old Super Graphic recently. It had been in his basement for quite some time and had gotten a bit musty. After my experiences with the basement flooding and the mold, this was something I wasn't terribly happy about, but I figured I could do something about the problem and not vaguely ignore it.

I googled some variation of 'clean musty super graphic' and came upon a few pages that recommended wiping it down with [vinegar / dilute vinegar / dilute bleach / Formula 409] and letting it dry for a few days.