J. K. Rowling

Must be a stargazer.

Evidence:

Sirius (the dog star. the brightest star in the night sky)
Regulus ("prince" or "little King". Brightest star in Leo, the Lion. It is very close to the ecliptic plane.)
Arcturus (brightest star in Boötes, the Herdsman. Arc to Arcturus, speed to Spica.)
Andromeda (our closest neighbor galaxy M31 lies in this constellation.)
Draco ("dragon". the large constellation that wraps around Ursa Minor, the Little Dipper.)

etc.

Hectic Life of Mine

Early Sunday evening I settled down to read HP VII after some professional & social obligations. Finally I got to enjoy the book and find a closure. Life was so good.

The book must have cast a spell on me, for I dozed off on Chapter 4 around 8:30pm and didn't wake up until 4:30am. I read for another hour and went back to sleep for 3 more hours.

A good night's sleep prepared me for a long battle yesterday. Same professional obligations kept me up until 3:30am and made me up and running again at 7:15am.

As of 10:30am, it's out of sight, out of mind.

Now I can really enjoy the magic world of HP VII.

云南的味道

这两天想的都是云南的味道。上个月在亚超买到了干的鸡棕菌（我一直都不知道这个棕字怎么写，问我妈，她这半个云南人也不知道。我怀疑这个“棕”字也是不正确的），今天炸了油鸡棕。自己琢磨的，先泡发，洗净，挤干，切小丁，用七成热的油中火煎到快脱水，中间加足够的盐，真的就做出了美味的油鸡棕了。多亏我在吃的方面勇于探索，也幸运地取得成功。要是浪费了这些鸡棕，我就要后悔为什么没问我妈怎么做了。

现在我是可以用油鸡棕下面或是拌凉菜了，可想起其他的云南美味我就只能咽口水。另一种我印象深刻的云南食品是牛干巴，也就是腌制的晒干的牛肉。切成薄片，用油煎过，很有滋味和嚼劲，可以做下酒的小菜。还有一种是茄子干，和碎米一起腌，吃的时候用油炒过，非常下饭。

下次回云南，一定要吃个够。

云南米线

忽然想起了多年前坐公车去中缅边境的小城看姨妈。车子颠簸一整天，要转无数的弯，才能翻越一座横断山脉的高山。在半山腰上的一个小到不能再小的小镇，一个毫不起眼的小店里，我吃了一碗最美味的云南米线。没有鸡汤，不是过桥米线。小锅里煮好的米线捞起来放到一碗盛着些咸菜的汤里，只要一毛五分钱，却让我觉得，云南米线是天底下最好吃的东西。

现在去姨妈家，已经不需要再坐三天的汽车了。高速公路上只要一晚上就能从昆明抵达。已经二十一年没有去过云南了。这个我生活过一年的地方，还能让我再次体验这米线的记忆吗？

Commutation

I think this is a better choice for Word of the Day:

commutation |ˌkämyəˈtā sh ən|
noun
1 action or the process of commuting a judicial sentence. • the conversion of a legal obligation or entitlement into another form, e.g., the replacement of an annuity or series of payments by a single payment.
2 the process of commutating an electric current.
3 Mathematics the property of having a commutative relation.
ORIGIN late Middle English (in the sense [exchange, barter,] later [alteration] ): from Latin commutatio(n-), from commutare ‘exchange, interchange’ (see commute ). Sense 1 dates from the late 16th cent.


Suddenly P. Hilton seems to be a better person. She actually DID and finished her prison time.


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附：每日一笑

Food Thief in Koch Building

Dear Koch Building Faculty, Researchers, Staff & Students,

For the past week, we have had a food thief eating his way through
the refrigerators in the Building 68 Tea rooms and leaving a major
mess behind him. Campus Police has stepped up their patrols of the
building. In the meantime, we do have a description of the thief:

Male, Caucasian, 5'10", short light brown hair, late 30's

There is no pattern to the time of day that he raids the fridges. If
you see him, please call Campus Police. Thanks.

Sincerely,

Mary

原来米国也有偷东西吃的贼。

KFC

Today I ate at KFC for the first time ever, in my whole life, which includes more than a decade in the States.

Finally. Been there. Done that.