Category Archives: true life 2007

Gingerbread Pop-Tarts

[tag]Gingerbread Pop-Tarts[/tag] are real. I kept hearing people talk about them, but I thought they were kidding. They weren’t kidding.

I’m ridiculously excited, especially for someone who rarely eats processed foods. The saddest part is, I decided I wanted to try the Pop-Tarts while I was baking real gingerbread. It’s not the same thing at all. There’s something so uniquely delightful about the strange chemical flavor of [tag]Pop-Tarts[/tag]. And we have a toaster again, so I can heat them up and cause that strange exothermic reaction that gives them that unusual texture and unnatural crispiness. Bonus.

Please oh please let Target have some when I go to the pharmacy in the morning. I could wait until Monday to pick up my prescription but now I really want those Pop-Tarts. Not enough to go out earlier, when I learned of their actual existence, but enough to go to Target on a Sunday. That’s saying something.

The Snow Melter

My Spiritual Advisor and I want to build a Snow Melter, because we think snow blowers are goofy. We figure all we need is a [tag]flame thrower[/tag] and a lawnmower frame. I’ve been trying to figure out if it’s legal to own a flame thrower in Maryland or Virginia. I haven’t been trying very hard, because I’m lazy. (see also: why the Snow Melter will never get built).

My guess is that in Virginia it’s a Class I Misdemeanor to carry a concealed flame thrower. But as long as it’s clearly visibly I believe you’re in the clear.

At lunch with Roger and Husband I reported back on what I’d learned about the legalities of flame thrower ownership. (Nothing). The rest of the discussion went something like this:

Husband: It’s illegal.
Me: It’s Virginia, how can it be illegal?
Husband: It will be after you build it.

He has a point. Husband is much too practical sometimes.

NaNoWriMo update


Official NaNoWriMo 2007 Participant

December needs to be [tag]NaNoWriMo[/tag] revision month because what I’ve got doesn’t even qualify as a 1st draft. Last night in a dream I was having about [tag]Harry Truman[/tag], I realized that one of my novels from last year (yeah, I did 2 50,000 word novels for last year’s NaNoWriMo) might work better combined with this years. They didn’t really seem all that related until President Truman explained it to me.

So yes, soon perhaps some of you can read it. But not yet. I may need to wait for the okay from President Eisenhower.

More on Mirant's Potomac River Power Plant

The Virginia Dept. of Environmental Quality put the Mirant Power Plant issue on the agenda of the Air Pollution Control Board.

The meeting is Friday night and there’s time on the agenda for public comments. Here is the meeting location:

Omni Newport News Hotel
1000 Omni Boulevard
Newport News, VA

Here are the driving directions from Alexandria to Newport News in case you’re a resident of Arlington, Alexandria or Fairfax and would like to attend this public hearing:

it’s only 177 mi (about 2 hours 58 minutes) according to google maps. Each way. Oh, and the meeting is at 9 a.m. so to compensate for rush hour you’ll probably want to hit the road no later than 4 a.m.

The meeting is in Newport News. Doesn’t this seem wrong?

On a related note, I found this interesting site, CARMA (a project of the Center for Global Development), on the excellent blog, The Daily Ecocentrist.

I looked the carbon emissions measurements for the Potomac River Power Plant. Blech.

Then I got sucked into the nifty maps on the CARMA site and lost my train of thought entirely.