Null Space

Public Service Announcement: Dried Wakame 

So, today I purchased a package of dried wakame, or seaweed, to put in my miso soup. The instructions of the packet were innocuous enough.

"Cover amount of wakame to be used with cold water. Let stand for 4 to 6 minutes, or until rehydrated and desired tenderness is reached."

What they fail to mention is just how big each little flake of wakame becomes when exposed to water. Look!



Each one of those little pieces at the bottom becomes the size of the ones above. Store away from water. Do not feed after midnight, lest your 57g packet swell to size of your kitchen and beyond!

This has been a Public Service Announcement!

In London 

Well, I've been in London since Saturday and haven't updated my blog and don't really have time now as I should be alseep as I'm heading to Bradford tomorrow for Eastercon. (Wimpy British can't handle a 5 day con, apparently. Eastercon is only 4!)

Suffice to say that I'm alive and well and have trodden a fair bit of pavement the last week. And just to prove I am here, here's a nice picture of the London Eye at night, from the Hungerford Bridge.

Off to New Adventures 

Typing this from a public terminal in Changi airport in Singapore, while eating a red bean bao.

I love being out in the world.

And now to catch my flight to London, on an Airbus A380. Awesome!

Big Afoots 

In my NYE post I said "Plans are already afoot for big things, big changes and big adventures in 2009."

So here is the big one.

On the 3rd of April, I'm going to the UK. I'm going to go to Eastercon this year, instead of Swancon.

And then I'm staying on for the next six months.

The plan is to try and find work and use the proceeds to see bits of Europe.

It's all big and huge and exciting and a bit scary at the same time.

But definitely a big adventure.

The Day the Music Died 

It's been 50 years since Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Boppper (J. P. Richardson) died in a plane crash near Clear Lake Iowa, with their pilot, Roger Peterson.

Of the three recording artists, one is the subject of a long running stage play, another was the subject of a Golden Globe nominated bio-pic, and the Big Bopper remains an unlucky bit part.

And So It Begins... 

The Presidential Oath of Office could have gone a little bit smoother, but the speech was nice. Full of so much conviction that all things are possible, and that everything can be made better with hard work and smart choices.

Good luck!

A New Start 

Right now, the most densely populated place in the planet is the National Mall in Washington DC, where 2 million people are gathered for the Presidential inauguration.

*boggles*

And it's -5C degrees.

NYE 2008/NY 2009 

Some stats:

• Number of parties attended: 5


• Distance travelled: 167km


• Number of parties where I forgot to take photographs: 4 :(


• Number of parties where I delivered portions of someone else's wedding cake: 2


• Time that left home: 6:35pm 31 December 2008


• Time returned home: 5:05am 1 January 2009

And here's a picture of dawn's first light.



Plans are already afoot for big things, big changes and big adventures in 2009. Looking forward to it all, and will document here once things are a bit firmer.