Ramble On.

2004-07-29T11:41:00.000-04:00

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> I've moved... 'Ramble On' can now be found at CourtneyKnapp.com We're still decorating, but come on over and please update your links. Thanks for reading! <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

2004-07-27T18:52:00.000-04:00

Ramble On: The Great White North Edition So it's eight kilometers away... is that like in miles? Canadian News. Canadian's get Braille t-shirts. Americans get Teresa's "shove it" thong. A mood killer no matter your political suasion. I get shivers just thinking about unzipping anything only to be reminded to Teresa Heinz Kerry. High five to Meghan Keane. Canadian Nudes. Working in the

2004-07-27T00:01:00.000-04:00

Hypothetically.... If someone mails you a self help book. Just a book. No note. No nothing. Should one be distraught? Confused? Touched? Just curious.

2004-07-26T23:31:00.000-04:00

I Am Gamma Enhanced. I could tell you that every time I go to WalMart I don't look for the Hulk hands. I could promise that I do not ever chase other customer through the aisles imitating a Hulk voice and smashing my big foam gloves together. But, I'd be lying. Who can resist talking foam hands? Not this girl. Twice I've been asked to 'settle down.' I think that's why I like Hulk's Diary so

2004-07-26T20:54:00.000-04:00

Talk Nerdy to Me. Thomas implores me to bleg. A quick google search and perusal through SuperPages brought up quite a few people with the exact same name as mine. I figured there's a good chance one of them will be famous. So I plan to make a mint selling the domain name I just purchased to some other Courtney. (Read: I am a narcissist who's not ready to admit conceit) Now, I want to move

2004-07-23T10:00:00.000-04:00

Have a Grande! Just in case you are going to Seattle this weekend (cough) and wanted to bring home a "Thinking Of You" gift for your favorite coffee aficionado, keep the historic Pike Place Market in mind and get your capitalism-loving-touristy-self to the first Starbuck's. While you're there, ponder the fact that the price of you daily double latte may go up for the first time in almost four

2004-07-22T17:48:00.000-04:00

Daddy not willing to pay for that increase in cup size? Enlist! Here's a new incentive to join the military: Your tax dollars are already paying for the 496 breast enlargements and 1,361 liposuction surgeries military doctors performed on soldiers and their dependents between 2000 and 2003. "All four branches of the U.S. military can get face-lifts, breast enlargements, liposuction and nose

2004-07-21T18:38:00.000-04:00

Soldiers, urine for a treat! According to an article in the New Scientist, food scientists working for the US military have developed a dried food ration that troops can hydrate by adding the filthiest of muddy swamp water or even peeing on it. This is a huge advancement in technology, will reduce the amount of water soldiers need to carry, and increase the length of time soldiers are able to

2004-07-21T17:40:00.000-04:00

Count 'em This week's Economist has an good article on the Fraser institute's "Economic Freedom of the World" This year's top 10 countries terms of economic freedom: 1. Hong Kong 2. Singapore -New Zealand -Switzerland -United Kingdom -United States 7. Australia --Canada 9. Ireland --Luxembourg See how this compares to last year's Economic Freedom Rankings: Hong Kong retains the

2004-07-20T00:26:00.000-04:00

The Ghosts in the Machines. I saw I, Robot Monday night at the Courthouse Theatres (who do accept student ID's and is probably colluding with the Ballston Theatre). The movie is loosely based on Asimov's classic sci-fi/sci-fact book and it does a surprisingly good job bringing robots to life. I, Robot had imaginative special effects and a storyline with twists, though I could do without Will

2004-07-19T19:18:00.000-04:00

Now, I am Officially Never Getting Married. I was always an odd kid. Some little girls dream about beautiful dresses and shiny diamond rings when they imagined their wedding. Some fantasize about the man who would sweep them off their feet. I told my mom "If I get married, it's so I can have a big cake and a KitchenAid mixer as a wedding gift." (And I swear, every wedding I have ever been to, a

2004-07-19T11:36:00.000-04:00

High five to James of OTB, who tips me off to this neat NYTimes article about outsourcing in the fast food industry. The order taker is in a call center in Colorado Springs, more than 900 miles away, connected to the customer and to the workers preparing the food by high-speed data lines... Cheap, quick and reliable telecommunications lines let the order takers in Colorado Springs converse

2004-07-16T16:26:00.000-04:00

Grope a Canuck. Here's a conversation starter: A Canadian company is selling Braille t-shirts. Curious admirers read with their hands slogans like 'Up For Anything' or 'Cheap and Easy.' Quite classy. If you're they shy type, you can "Flip it up and Flash it" as the translations are also printed on the inside off the shirts. In other news: Manitoba, BC, and Ontario have recently seen an

2004-07-16T11:35:00.000-04:00

July 26 - August 1, 2004 ... ... Is DC Restaurant Week. This is the fourth year of the bi-annual event, which I think is one of the few good ideas the DC Convention and Tourism Corporation has come up with. And by 'come up with' I mean stole from NYC, but I digress. I live here now. Sigh. Prix fixe meals (lunch $20.04, and dinner $20.03) at over one hundred restaurant will draw big

2004-07-16T10:32:00.000-04:00

Hooray! The Mercatus Center is on the front page of the Wall Street Journal this morning. WSJ Online is subrciption only, but the article, "In Washington, Tiny Think Tank Wields Big Stick on Regulation" is also posted proudly on my fridge. When it comes to business regulation in Washington, Mercatus, Latin for market, has become the most important think tank you've never heard of. Now

2004-07-14T17:46:00.000-04:00

Get in the Kitchen and Google Me Some Dinner! Unless I have a crave-specific dinner in mind, nine times out of ten, making dinner is more of a mish-mash of experiments than system and a recipe. I am even less motivated on the night I come home late to find Jacob on the couch eating frozen pizza [Swoon] A typical evening goes something like this... 1. Look in Fridge/Cabinets. 2. Groan, remind

2004-07-14T13:41:00.000-04:00

The Grand Duchy of Courtania. Care of Obernews guest blogger Adrienne Aldredge, I am able to pass on the Free State Project and move here. New Hampshire sounds lovely and all, but how often are you given the chance to design your own country. This is excellent because so many times I voice my pragmatic concerns of the mutual implementation of free market ideal and temper it with a comment like

2004-07-12T20:13:00.000-04:00

Funniest thing all week. This land will surely vote for who?

2004-07-12T11:23:00.000-04:00

July 12 Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday Dear Jacob... You look like a monkey. And you smell like one too.

2004-07-08T15:35:00.000-04:00

It's the Tights. Highway robbery at the ticket booth and concession stand, sticky seats, gummy and sugar-coated floors combined with a general lack of interest in recent movies has kept me out of the theatre since the opening night of the first Spiderman. But, last night I braved the theatre to see Spiderman 2. I've yet to hear a bad review of the movie and I don't have much to add. But, here's

2004-07-06T18:40:00.000-04:00

Maybe I'm behind on the times... But, I think this is cool. Quickdrop is the answer to old women with attics full of junk and no desire or ability to use the online marketplace. Or pack rat luddites like me. It's a service that acts as a middle-man for those with crap to sell on e-bay who aren't quite ready to do it on their own (cough). It's a physical store, where customers bring their

2004-07-06T12:42:00.000-04:00

Sshhhhhh! I'm going to New York on Friday, so this is my obligatory 'NY is Going to Hell in a Handbasket'post before I rave about how much better it is than DC. Last month Bloomberg launched his much publicized (second!) attempt to fight noise in New York City. Bloomberg claims cites the city’s 311 hotline statistic that over 1,000 calls about noise are placed each day. New York is a loud city

2004-07-02T18:17:00.000-04:00

Celebrate Independence. I didn't think I could handle the irony of being in DC on the Fourth of July. So, I'm Southward bound and road-tripping. Enjoy the long weekend, you crazy kids behave.

2004-07-02T17:59:00.000-04:00

Perfect Frosting. Some of my favorite recipes are winners and entries in Pilsbury's Annual Bake-off. The molten chocolate lava cake is a dinner party staple and I've eaten more peanut blossom than is healthy to admit. The first Bake-off was held in 1949, a time when women rarely worked outside the home and had hours to spend in the kitchen. Each year since, thousands of women would enter lavish

2004-07-01T00:03:00.000-04:00

Fun with Technology. I discovered a fun new tool in my blog-keeper-tracker-of-site. Thus, I present to you the newest recipient phrase of the 'Oddest Google Search used to Stumble Across This Site Award" [drumroll] Tell me how to make weather with witchcraft without having to buy anything. Yeah, I forget to tell you all that I am an expert at raindances and amulets on a shoe string budget.