Lost in translation

Just before closing, a man (who was a non-native speaker of English) came in and asked if we had any movies about Hattie Porter. It took me a few moments to realize he was asking about Harry Potter.

In the details

These are photos of peony blossoms after the petals have fallen off. I'm just fascinated by the pattern of the central disk. It looks like really elaborate fretwork or a plaster medallion to me. Isn't it funny that you can find beauty in the oddest places?

Bitter much?

A couple of days ago, I noticed something strange—every time I ate or drank something, I’d get a mildly nasty bitter aftertaste in my mouth. Not a big deal, but it’s persisted for a couple of days. So, last night I googled “bitter taste”, just in case it was something to be concerned about.

According to one website, there are over 60 diseases that might cause a bitter taste, ranging from dental caries to cadmium poisoning. Cadmium? I haven’t been licking any batteries lately, so that’s probably not it. And my dental hygiene is above par, believe me.

And besides, it’s not a constant bitter taste—it’s only after I eat or drink. So I change my search strategy to say “bitter AFTERtaste”. And there it is. My answer.

Pine nuts.

I made a pasta dish earlier this week and threw a few pine nuts in there. Apparently, in recent years, people have reported developing a bitter taste after eating pine nuts. No one’s really sure why it happens, but it’s not permanent.

Who knew?

Who knew?

My profound lack of interest in most spectator sports is pretty well known among my friends & family. However (HOWEVER!), I find myself mildly interested in this year's FIFA World Cup. I have no idea about teams, or players, or rankings, or anything like that, but if I stumble across a match on TV, I might actually watch it.

Besides, the video is fun:

Update

Consider this blog updated. Happy now?