I’m getting a little tired of Gladwell.

This book is about the little things that make situations, phenomena, and epidemics “tip”. Apparently, they involve: the right people, the right ideas, and the right contexts. Quel surprise.

Perhaps I’m merely living in a post-Gladwell world, where his previously radical thinking is just assumed truth.

There is no limit to what a man can do or how far he can go if he doesn’t mind who gets the credit.

— Robert Woodruff

I heard someone say that Meryl Streep was put on the list of actors people thought should play the next Spider-Man.

She could do it.

Around Diqing in Yunnan, China. June, 2009.

I’ll be keeping these tips in mind.

Cooks and bakers are distinctly different creatures. Cooks are the jazz musicians, bakers and pastry chefs are the classical pianists.

— Michael Ruhlman

The sad state of our nation.

Shirred eggs with herbs and cheese. Potatoes with spinach.

The story of this ship and its crew is ridiculous.

Mixing some delicious chocolatey goodness.

Nice. What the heck are reference books doing in classrooms, anyways.

Skillet plus broiler to approximate a real pizza oven? Worth a shot sometime.

Takes the best of Harry Potter, Narnia, Lord of the Rings, and a few other fantasy worlds, mixes them with a double of Scotch. And perhaps because Grossman makes it about as close to real life as a fantasy could be—gritty, painful, dark—The Magicians goes where those other books never could.

Dude I need to cure cancer! Then all Asian dramas will end happy!

— Andy

Bizarre, cute, and funny.

I could watch this over and over and over again.

Except I don’t have enough money. So the soundtrack will have to do.

• Start a company.
• Write a novel.
• Make friends with everyone.
• Learn Spanish. And more French.
• Have a kitchen with four ovens.
• Okay, maybe three.
• Live outside of America again.
• Teach. College or high school, perhaps.
• Go to space.
• Own a boat. A yacht would be cool, but to be perfectly honest, a canoe will do.
• Learn how to play the guitar.
• And the piano. Again.
• Have children.
• Become a doctor. Of something.
• Figure out why my chocolate chip cookies don’t turn out that great. I mean, they’re good, but… I’m gunning for Mrs. Fields, here.
• Run a marathon.
• Ride every roller coaster, ever.
• Wake up when my alarm clock goes off.
• Learn to make more practical and achievable goals.

Baked crab mac and cheese, sautéed asparagus, filet mignon with onions. Ten easy steps.

1. Make macaroni.
2. Make roux. Not too much. Add milk. Then your favorite cheeses and herbs. A lot. (Of cheeses.) Adjust quantities until it is thick and delicious. (You know this when you can’t stop eating it.)
3. Combine your sauce with your macaroni. Add lump crab, or lobster, or something of your desire.
4. Put it in a pan, top it with buttered panko.
5. Bake it.
6. Make steak. (Possibly in a pan. On the stove.)
7. Remove steak from pan, throw in onions and a lot of wine (red, please). Reduce until it looks like it belongs on a steak, and doesn’t kill you with EtOH.
8. Make asparagus.
9. Season everything to taste.
10. Serve!

Voilà.

(Okay, so some of those steps are a bit overloaded. And I might’ve left some out. But I leave you some creative freedom. And really, the last two are throwaways, anyways.)

Freelance Whales: “Generator ^ Second Floor” (.mp3)