About 7pm or so Pan and I started getting hungry. So, she asked if she could make a “surprise dinner.” I reluctantly agreed not knowing what I might get. When the dinner bell rang I was treated to something ONLY described by the word “surprise.” As you can see from the image below we had a tasty one put dish consisting of some brown rice, minced scallions, garlic clove, onions, some other kind of rice, hot dogs, and a host of spices and “true taste disguisers.” It was actually kind of good and by the time I had doused it with hot sauce I could barely taste the amalgam of food that had been emptied into the pot. So, besides filling our tummies we managed to clean out some leftovers and unused non-persihables while laughing at Pan’s inventiveness the entire time.

So, I have found that I can take an image, have it printed in a multitude of sizes at Walgreens for between $0.99 and $8.99 and then framed for as little as $2.99. It works out so well. It is easy to wrap. It is a delight to give. And it is well within my 2008 Christmas budget.

So, what are you doing this year to keep Christmas gift expenses down?

Now, I know that purists may say, “save more money by getting rid of the phones altogether.’ However, we don’t have a home phone, we don’t remember life without cell phones, and I use my PDA smartphone for a calendar and contacts. So, for now, we will enjoy moderate savings with our Verizon phones. But rest assured, if we end up saving more…I’ll call you and tell you.

• We went to the Museum of Natural History and made this video….

• We took some photos.

•  I added to my Treo 650 project.

Since mid-September Starbucks has been continuing to charge $4 for a coffee drink but then offering at their POS (read: cash register) FREE copies of the GOOD sheet. Each week this fumbling duo has attempted to tackle one election topic, like carbon emissions, health care or education. I found especially ironic since my first free issue was on ‘The Economy.’ Yes, leave it to Starbucks to inform me of the national debt, unsecured credit lines, and the stock market collapse. All set inside a bio-degradable fold out wrapped in a GAP ad on one side and an American Apparel on the other.

“We had been looking at ways to bring a little bit of those conversation-starters into the Starbucks environment,” said Terry Davenport, the senior vice president for marketing at Starbucks to the NY Times. The iconic New York newspaper covered this unorthodox paradox of over-priced coffee and over chewed sound bytes via an online article. My favorite quote? “We thought, boy, if we could distribute some of those in the stores, it’s a quick way — without sitting down and reading a five-page article — a quick way to join the conversation,” Mr. Davenport said, adding that he envisioned stores holding discussion nights. Seems a bit like subliminal messaging to me. But who am I? Just the guy that paid $4 for a cup of coffee a few weeks back.

I was joined in this huge endeavor by Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Chris Brown, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Schawbel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Dave Davison, David Armano, David Berkowitz, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne & Todd Cabral, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, John Herrington, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kristin Gorski, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tim Brunelle, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, and Yves Van Landeghem.

Age of Conversation 2 is now available for purchase at lulu.com/ageofconversation in downloadable format ($9.99), Hardback ($29.99), and Softback ($16.95). Keep in mind our goal is to not just write a book but to raise over $15k for Variety.

You can also learn more about the project and the authors at the AOC2 blog.

I just want to thank all of you, (my two or three blog readers) for supporting me in my writing goals and in this endeavor. If you purchase a copy, please let me know so I can publicly thank you (or have you photocopy my chapter for me. hahahaha).

One of my last morning at the S’bucks I ordered a low-fat Blueberry Muffin. While eating the expensive, low-taste treat I got to thinking that I could probably make this myself and save $2.50 or so. So, I looked for a recipe. I first started with some box recipes but they didn’t work out that well. So, I moved on to this:

Drew’s Dark Chocolate Chip Muffins

• 1/4 cup oil
• 1 medium egg
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder (3 teaspoons)
• 2 cups flour

In a large bowl combine the oil, egg, milk, sugar and salt. Mix it very well with a fork or wire whisk. Measure in the baking powder and flour. Mix again until all of the dough particles are moistened. Do not over mix. The whole thing should take about 20 to 30 strokes. Add about a cup (or to your flavoring) of Dark Chocolate Chips (yes, dark chocolate is better for you than milk or baking). Spoon the batter into a dozen well oiled (I like the grocery store version of PAM veggie spray) muffin cups. Bake at 400° for about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool slightly before removing from the pan.

This is the basic recipe. You can do with it what you like. Whatever fruit or berry is in season in your neck of the woods can become the flavoring for these muffins. You see, not only are they breakfast treats but also great for a quick afternoon snack. Wrap them in seran and you have a treat for about 3 days. Bon apetit!

Quicken for Mac 2007