Bitter cold is back

The snowstorm is pretty much over for us, although the winter storm warning is still in effect until 1 PM.  It looks like we only got a few inches here in Cambridge, but you don’t have to go very far to see a lot more.  I don’t anticipate having a lot of problems shoveling, aside from the ridiculous cold temperatures, plus wind chill.  It’s currently about 6 degrees Fahrenheit here, with wind chills between -5 degrees and -20, depending on how hard the wind is blowing.   And tonight it’s supposed to get even colder.

-Geoff

 

Winter is coming (back)

It looks like today will be the last “balmy” day for a while, insofar as the temperature was well above freezing most of the day.  Starting tonight temperatures will begin to drop, and they are predicted to not go above freezing for a good while – possibly as long as two weeks.  And we will probably get more snow too, starting tomorrow night.  So enjoy today, Boston, but prepare to be cooped up inside for a while.  You aren’t going to want to spend a lot of time outside after today.  So go grab some DVDs from the library or Netflix or whatever and catch up on your favorite show or shows.  You might have some free time in the near future.   Or if you are like me, grab a stack of books.  It will be a good time to curl up with that monster George R.R. Martin book with a cup of something hot to drink and some small furry companions at your side.

-Geoff

Major kitchen reorganization and cleaning, supervised by Scratch

My big project this week has been the kitchen.  I have wanted to do a major cleaning for a while now, and it’s as good a time as any.  This also gives me a chance to do some reorganizing since I have a good idea now of what new kitchen items (I mean post-wedding) get used more often than others.  So my electric griddle gets put somewhere that makes it easier to use, for example.  The clam boil pot, as much as I love it, might get used once or twice a year and so it can go somewhere out of the way.

Anyway, as I was cleaning yesterday Scratch decided he was going to “help” by heading up to his new cat bed, up on the freezer.  Now, before I get into this too deeply, some background is required.

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Meravelha featured at Opus Affair Punch Bowl Fund

I’ve written about Meravelha in this space before.  Most recently I mentioned that they were up for nomination for the Opus Affair Punch Bowl Fund.  Well, they won, and now they need your help.  The Punch Bowl Fund is an event happening on 1/27/14 from 6pm-9pm at:

59 JFK Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

It should be a great time, its walking distance from the T, and with any luck Meravelha will win the money raised there as well.  Will you come and support music making in the greater Boston by purchasing a $5 drink?  This will be great socializing and great fun and I think we can all drink to that.

Geoff and I will be there.  See you on the 27th!

~Kelly

The kitteh who wants to be a puppeh

One of the things we always say about my cat Scratch is that since he grew up with a dachshund, and since he spends so much time with the dogs, he wants to be a dog.  He has always wanted to go outside with the dogs whenever they go out to do their business.  And he tends to curl up with them to nap from time to time, especially when the weather is cold.

Well, it turns out he also likes to burrow into the blankets, just like the dachshunds do.   And I managed to snap a few pictures for once.

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Heraldry, history and ASOIAF/GoT

As dumb as it sounds, one of the things I love about George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire is the heraldry.  Specifically, the house sigils, as they are more commonly known, are some of the most iconic things about the show.  Of course Martin based this on medieval heraldry practices that, at least technically, still exist to this day.  Plenty of families have coats of arms, as do cities, towns, universities and colleges, etc.  And the central part of any coat of arms is usually a shield of some sort.  In the world of ASOIAF these tend to be fairly simple (the direwolf of House Stark, both the HBO version and book-ish version) although a few do get more complex (like House Tarth, HBO version and book-ish version).   And GRRM goes to a lot of trouble to describe the sigils of a great many houses in ASOIAF.  To give you an idea of the sheer amount of creative calories burned, check out the Heraldry page at the Citadel website and this awesome Westeros map some uber-geeks put together.  I totally geeked out about both of those.

Well, Kelly and I decided a while back to make our own sigil (in true geek fashion) and now I will share it with the world via the Intertubes.  A lot of people did something similar with the “Join the Realm” promo web page done by HBO for Game of Thrones.  But I wanted to do our own, with symbols that meant something to both Kelly and me.

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Poverty and the polar vortex

Today I read two very different but still related stories about things that happened in Hammond, Indiana due to the polar vortex.  Both stories emphasize the plight of the working poor in the United States, and how extreme cold affects them in ways that many people may not have even considered.

The first was about a house fire that claimed the lives of three small children and put two others and their father in the hospital.  The second was about a warehouse where workers were forced to continue working – without heat – even after the state had declared an emergency.

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What we’re reading now – Nerd Edition

This is probably more like what I’m reading now as these are all my geeky contributions.  Either way, this post was inspired by this first link.  Enjoy.

I’m as interested in design and the engineering behind things as the next person.  I’m also interested in Star Trek and I think Wil Wheaton is a great writer.  That being said, I grew up watching Star Trek TNG and I’ve heard all sorts of stories about it over the years.  Somewhere I heard a story about how the uniforms on TNG required special Star Trek issued underpants.  I can’t find it ANYWHERE on the internets, but I remember reading it somewhere.  That’s why I found this article so interesting.

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For my church organist friends

This popped up on our Twitter feed this morning.  Somehow I suspect you’ll all understand.

All that’s missing is one that says EJECT.

~Kelly

The cat thermometer

There’s a joke somewhere on the internet about how you can use your cat to tell how cold it is.  At some point around freezing the cat gets friendly enough to let you pet him, below freezing he’ll actually cuddle with you, and at some point near zero the cat tears open your midsection while you sleep and warms himself in your viscera a la Luke on Hoth.

That’s not quite how it works in our house.

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