Pray for me!

Oh my!

Prayer does work after all!

I'm famous!

I'm famous!

Well, not really, but if you go to this link you can see, very, very briefly, as screen-shot from a program that I wrote that is used to detect chromosomal abnormalities.

Our company stock is the pits right now, but this product is doing well, and I'm busily at work on improved software. I really love that I get to work on software that is used in cutting-edge scientific research, rather than just buying and selling widgets on the web.

Time is passing

Time is passing. And there is nothing I can do about it.

Oh well. At least that means lots of fun things, like renew my driver's license! I had to actually go to the DMV this time because I was supposed to take a vision test.

I was nervous, so I practiced a lot in advance, looking at all sorts of things real hard. I didn't want them to decide I would have to wear my glasses while driving, even though I always do, anyway. But then they forgot to test me anyway. They just asked me whether I wear glasses while I drive. I said no, and that was that. (They had eye-charts all over the place and I could read them fine, so it doesn't matter.)

I also got to spend the big day up in Mendocino in this house and drink organic Argentinian bubbling booze and eat mushroom ice cream!

And to top it all off, I got a BOX! In the mail!

I wonder what's inside! It has a fish theme, so maybe it will be fish.

Mmmmmmmm!

Gateau Basque

I'm going to a BBQ today with some French folks, and I'm supposed to bring a dessert. I just watched a show recently that showed a Basque chef making a Gateau Basque. I remember liking those in Paris, so I decided I'd give it a try.

At the bakery in the 10th arrondissment where I'd get mine, they were available in pistachio and plain. But apparently the traditional filling is either sour cherry or pastry cream. I decided to go with sour cherry.

I couldn't find online any recipe that looked quite right to me, so I took one and made substitutions. That's just like me; even on my first try I'll be changing things. In this case I swapped almond meal for half of the flour.

That made a dough that was very difficult to work with. It didn't want to stay together. Oh well, I'm just sure that the ones I ate in Paris had almond meal in them.

The one on the TV show was decorated with a big lauburu. I wasn't ready to go that far for authenticity, since it might be misinterpreted. so I modified it into something a bit more swirly (and backwards).

All considered, it came out looking OK. Let's hope it tastes good.