I bought one of these things a year ago because I have always wanted to try pressure cooking. And it does have its moments. But I have yet to find a recipe that was better than the same thing cooked low-and-slow in a nice enameled pot in a conventional oven.

I did once successfully use it for aggregating and monitoring news sites across the state of Pennsylvania, which was necessary in a job I had briefly, so I can see its utility in specialized situations. And I have some journalistic colleagues who have used it successfully in breaking news situation, though I have had…

Honestly, I don’t understand Twitter. I have accounts, both personal and professional, but unless you’re a company or politician making announcements, or you really (really) like beefing with people you don’t know all day long, I don’t see the point. Certainly from a professional point of view, Twitter generates…

It’s so cute when the president acts like he knows what he’s talking about.

Call this Ted’s “Beaver and Buffcoat” moment:

Oh, God. Now a new generation will learn the meaning of “Distinguishing Characteristic.” Will the 1990s NEVER be over?

I am holding out for “Superironic ice.” That is a discovery I could get behind.

Thanks, Obama.

This was one of my favorite things about Oblivion and Skyrim - your little house and surrounding neighborhood where you can go, drop some stuff, hang out with NPCs that are not trying to kill you (Why is nobody ever glad to see us in these damned games?), and with some good mods, trick out your little abodes with…

The worst part of the interview is that Miller is so boring that it is almost beyond human endurance to watch through to the good stuff. I had to turn him off and just read the key quotes in the CNN summary. The clip they posted is 2 minutes long and I was ready to claw my own eyes out after 30 seconds.

I’m with dad. I wouldn’t wait an hour in line to get into Heaven; why on earth would I wait an hour for a table at Cheesecake Factory?

$500 a ticket? I’d have to think hard and long about paying that much for the second coming of the Beatles, let alone Taylor...

Hey, despite that whole vandalism and arrest thing, I had a really great time, Lindy Lo. Can I call you next week?

I LOVE spending New Year’s Eve alone (being that I hate New Year’s Eve and I don’t like to stay up late). The problem is that other people keep interfering, working overtime to drag my ass out to socialize even when I protest that I am having a perfectly good time all by myself. They seem to view it as some sort of…

As both a member of the effete, liberal coastal media and a member of a family with deep (and current) roots in confluence of Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky and North Carolina, I have watched this narrative with some interest. There is a lot of truth to this new stereotype that is emerging - these were in fact thriving…

The original is charming and hilarious, but only if you ignore the whole false pretenses, held against her will, rape-y kind of overtone of the Sweaty Carpenter’s scheme to defraud the rude rich lady. It works because the chemistry between Goldie and Kurt is palpable and everyone in the movie is having a really great…

Damn, way to rub it in. I miss my Witcher 3 something awful. I finished everything I could do months ago, but sometimes I want to log back in and walk around a little while, just for old time’s sake.

Long ago on a reporting trip for my newspaper, I was invited to dinner at the home of the chairman of the Republican Party in a rural Georgia County. It was a lovely meal - no booze, of course, but good food and very wholesome, welcoming people. I was a little take aback, however, when the extended grace before the…

One day in the early ‘90s, the managing editor of the newspaper where I worked wandered into the newsroom and said, loudly and for no apparent reason, “I fucking hate Garrison Keillor. I should have one question in job interviews; Do you like Garrison Keillor? If the answer is yes, then no job.” Then he stormed back…

To describe Roscoe Bartlett as “Not exactly a reliable source” is an insult to unreliable sources. They guy was a loon almost from the first moment he got to congress. He advocated all kinds of bizarre things, propounded lunatic theories and did strange things, such as refusing to bury dead animals on his farm near…