Anyhoo, Totilo talks about "beating" Black, inspiring a rant in which Alex Ward chastizes the use of the word "beat." He asks if when you listen to a new CD, do you say you "beat" it? Or when you go to the library do you say you "beat the first floor" and "beat the second floor." Or "beating" all the movies in the cineplex. He then talks about "beating" War and Peace, all three thousand pages.

[ Don't Say "Beat." Just Don't! - Kotaku ]

He certainly brings up a good point. Americans can be inconsistent. I plan on beating more things...

Baby Z, originally uploaded by cafechimp.

Zahra Shirley Kearns
Born Feb. 5th 4:08 PM
8 lbs 2.4 oz
21 inches

Koosh told me first, but Amazon practically spammed me second. Book 7 is due to arrive in July:

And, according to Amazon, there are two versions, standard and deluxe, but I can't figure out what makes the deluxe so deluxe. And is this seriously the cover art?

I'm a big geek:

New Lappy, originally uploaded by cafechimp.

It was time to upgrade, and Dell and the folks at SkinIt suckered me in. I'm not 100% sure how Samus got past their "copyright censors", 'cause I was fully expecting this to be denied, but it arrived, and looks just as great as I expected.

I love the new featured item, Steak Grilled Taquitos:

Please make this a permanent addition to the menu!

Project 51 Productions Ltd. is proud to announce that it has acquired the worldwide animation and related rights to the classic video game series “Castlevania” from Konami Digital Entertainment.

[ Project 51 Productions Ltd. ]

I hope for something with the feel of Vampire Hunter D, but much better updated animation and the Castlevania world plot. Hopefully they aren't too tied to just the Castlevania III story, and can work in elements from the entire timeline.

And that problem is Grocery Stores. How many do you visit on a weekly basis, here's my list:

• Giant - close by, self checkout, has basic traditional American products
• Safeway - sometimes we're in that neighborhood, much like Giant but more Organic selections
• Whole Foods - lots of Organic cruelty free type stuff, and great cheese selection
• Trader Joe's - just has things no one else seems to carry
• Kam Sam - Chinese Grocery right around the corner for basic Asian products
• Asian Market - Farther away but with better Indonesian selection
• Grand Mart - Korean supermarket way up in Gaithertucky, but really great produce
• Shah & Patel - Indopak groceries that no one else carries
• Lezzet - Turkish dry goods, only they have the super awesome sour cherry juice that I'm growing to love
• Rockville Gourmet Halal Meat Market - super butcher even if you aren't Islamic in your leanings

And those are just the regular spots, then sometimes we'll stop into a specialty market like

• Yekta - Persian grocery
• The Italian Store - just found out they carry Illy pods

Where do you shop?

Can I pay to keep more of my photos on Flickr?

Absolutely! Upgrade to a Pro Account for just US$24.95 a year. Here's what you'll get with a Pro Account:

• Unlimited uploads (10MB per photo)
• Unlimited storage
• Unlimited bandwidth
• Unlimited photosets
• Permanent archiving of high-resolution original images
• The ability to replace a photo
• Ad-free browsing and sharing

Compare that to what you get with a Free Account:

• 100 MB monthly upload limit (5MB per photo)
• 3 photosets
• Photostream views limited to the 200 most recent images
• Only smaller (resized) images accessible (though the originals saved in case you upgrade later)

[ Flickr: Help: Free Accounts, Upgrading and Gifts ]

This site used to have a gallery, but those photos only just made it up on my flickr. They are pics of my daughter so I restricted it to family and friends, so if you are family or friend but a lurker, it's time to tell me your flickr info so I can add you as family or friend.