There is nothing whatsoever "lame-o" about this topic. Board games are a wonderful pastime. I'm actually trying to develop a business model that revolves around teaching people to play new games and to help organize family game nights.

That said, I think that my favourite board game may be Samurai Swords (aka Shogun.) It combines some of the good unit diversity of Axis & Allies with the simple, abstract gameplay of Risk. If I don't happen to have three or four other people with hours to spare, then Quarto is probably my favourite. It's a "solved" game, but most players, myself included, don't play perfectly. One thing that really appeals to me about it is how beautiful the game looks. It's just wooden blocks with a handful of variations to them and it looks like a work of art, sitting out on the table.

Blenders are an essential tool in the kitchen for the preparation of creamy banana milkshakes. (You can prepare a lumpy banana milkshake with a butter knife and a plastic cup.)

I think that I have the most trouble with self-praising techniques and cognitive emotive behavioural therapy because it always just feels like I'm telling myself lies. That's where the expectation-based approach to confidence comes in. If my experience suggests that women don't want to talk to me, it seems stupid to tell myself that they do.

I'm not really sure how to internalize your advice on confidence. I'm moderately happy - 6 or 7 out of 10, I'd say - and I'm proud of who I am. Very rarely, however, have I had an experience that suggested that anybody really wanted to get to know me when I was "being myself." Rather that compromise, I've given in to approach anxiety. Unless I KNOW otherwise, I live by the mantra that "She doesn't want to talk to me."

You go on to mention how nice guys bottle up their fun, wild sides because they're afraid of rejection. I can see, in some ways, how this is the case for me. Of course, I've been accused of being creepy on more than one occasion. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but it hardly seems useful to keep doing it.

Lastly (and I'll grant that this is at least partly from lack of practice) I don't know how to start an interesting conversation. Is there a good way to segue from "Hi, my name's Eph" into "What do you think of Rousseau's 'Social Contract'?"

Greek Chicken Salad Poufs

I use Alton Brown's recipe for savoury pate a choux to make the poufs and then I prepare a very simple chicken salad for the filling. (Pate a choux is the batter used when making cream puffs, which use the sweet preparation.) I took these to a potluck at work and they were a big hit. By the way, Alton Brown does not recommend using a pastry bag, but rather a freezer bag with the corner cut out of it. In this one regard, I think he's an idiot. He uses this trick every other episode because he disapproves of mono-taskers. If he has an application for a pastry bag every other time he cooks, though, he should use one (especially since for this recipe, he actually advocated having the tip assembly for a pastry bag anyway, even if you were using a freezer bag.)

***

Here is the recipe for the pate a choux, c/p'd from foodnetwork.com. The instructions indicate that you're supposed to mix this up with a mixer and bowl. I don't have one and a spatula and some elbow grease did the trick, just fine. I also did not have parchment to put on my cookie sheets, so I just greased them up with a little bit of shortening and there was no problem lifting the poufs off the sheet.

1 cup water
3/4 stick butter (6 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon salt
5 & 3/4 ounces flour (Yes, it is best to weigh flour, rather than measure it by volume. Just tap your measuring cup with a table knife, poke it to knock out air pockets, and level off the top with the back of the knife and you'll be okay. 5 & 3/4 ounces is equivalent to 1 & 1/3 cup.)
1 cup eggs, about 4 large eggs and 2 whites

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Boil water, butter, and salt or sugar. Add flour and remove from heat. Work mixture together and return to heat. Continue working the mixture until all flour is incorporated and dough forms a ball. Transfer mixture into bowl of a standing mixer and let cool for 3 or 4 minutes. With mixer on stir or lowest speed add eggs, 1 at a time, making sure the first egg is completely incorporated before continuing. Once all eggs have been added and the mixture is smooth put dough into piping bag fitted with a round tip. Pipe immediately into golfball-size shapes, 2 inches apart onto parchment lined sheet pans. Cook for 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to 350 degrees F and bake for 10 more minutes or until golden brown. Once they are removed from the oven pierce with a paring knife immediately to release steam. (I remember from this episode that you MUST NOT open the oven while the poufs are cooking, no matter how tempted you may be. The heat loss is particular devastating in this case and the poufs will probably be ruined.)

***

Here is the recipe that I used for the chicken salad:

1 lb. chicken breast, diced (I just picked up a package of the scraps that they sell "for stir fry")
1 cup chopped celery
pinch of cilantro
pinch of rubbed sage
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup feta cheese

Cook the chicken by your preferred method. I boiled it because it was fast, cooked the pieces consistently, and gave them the right texture for chicken salad. Blend together the celery, mayonnaise, feta cheese, and herbs. Toss the chicken with the sauce blend and then mash the mixture together with a potato masher.

***

These can be served either warm or chilled. If chilled, then let both the poufs and the chicken salad chill in the refrigerator separately until you're ready to serve them. Slice open the poufs. They may not have a huge cavity in them, but that's okay. This preparation looks quite nice with a pouf "overstuffed" with chicken salad, with the 'cap' of the pouf set on top of the filling at a jaunty angle. You don't have to be particularly accurate with the amount of filling. I used approximately a heaping tablespoon per pouf.

I actually know a fellow who used to be a military policeman in the US armed forces. Apparently, even MP's are issued radar guns because it was a common prank to get the "new guy" to try to clock the speed of a helicopter. The gun would lock onto the rotors and would need to be sent back to the manufacturer to be reset and recalibrated.

Oh, golly, I didn't even check out the OP's vitals before I responded. I still mean what I said, but it helps give me some perspective on WHY everybody is so closed off and private.

^_^ Yokoke linked to the video. I went at watched it. I had seen it before, but it's one of the best. I find it really odd, though, that the girlfriend has a southern accent, but her sister has a Bronx accent.

Well, they say that it is easier to ask forgiveness than permission. This one just reminded me of the Calvin & Hobbes comic where Calvin asks if he can tear up the floorboards in his room to make a secret passage.

I sympathize. My experience with every dating site that I've used has been one of frustration. I actually journaled about the phenomenon at OKCupid and the general response was, "Suck it up. You're not entitled to a response from anybody."

Although I had to acknowledge that was true, I have also concluded that an attitude like that is harmful nonetheless. I can only surmise that there are many people who use dating web sites either with unrealistic expectations or with the specific expectation that they don't want to get involved with somebody from a dating web site.

In either case, the result is that many members are not willing to engage in [private] communication with other members under most circumstances. This is unfortunate because it undermines the effectiveness of the service as a means of bringing together like-minded people. Even though neither may claim to be entitled to any communication, it seems that one robs oneself and others when one chooses to isolate oneself.

As an aside to those who would encourage others to become more deeply involved in the forums and to just enjoy the community, I'd like to note that one of my larger goals in getting involved in internet dating is the first place is to find somebody to get me OUT of my apartment. I've spent thousands of hours using the internet as a surrogate for "real" human interaction. Joining another online community and putting my goal of meeting people in real life on the back burner would be a step backward.

This one is a triple-groaner. I'm going to have to relay it to my father. Thanks!

I've always had success with service gifts. Put on some music that she likes and make a meal that she'll enjoy. Buy her a movie that she wants and watch it with her after dinner. Give her a foot rub. Basically, give her a romantic evening that is 100% about her and the things that she likes.

I eat scrambled more than I eat fried, mostly because I usually break the yolks. I was very pleased with myself.

And I know that you're a scrambled girl. You already told us that you've been high on Vicodin all day.

CBFraser, they were the crispy kind, all right. In fact, they were a little bit too crispy. More like potato sticks than hash browns. They're really delicious, though, with the yolk from the eggs dripping down over them.

Here's hoping that your cracked rib mends before your supply of Vicodin runs low!

Just one wish, huh? I had better make it a selfish one, 'cause everybody else has the PC stuff covered. My Christmas wish is to have somebody to smooch on New Year's Eve. Last year, I spent it at home alone and that was really depressing.

I just thought I'd post a record of the good times I've had today. I'm in high spirits and I thought I'd share. I enjoyed a breakfast of hash browns and fried eggs this morning. I think that it's the first time ever that I've fried two eggs and kept both yolks intact. I had a relaxing afternoon that included completing the paint job of a gaming figurine I've had for a while. Judo this evening was a good, intense workout. After I got home, I made a batch of cupcakes to take to work tomorrow. Yup, it's been a good day.

This is not precisely the case. Bear in mind that this is an emotionally charged issue across both the scientific and religious industries, so it's tricky for anybody to remain completely objective.

My opinion on the matter, though, is that there is a sufficient weight of evidence in favour of evolution that a researcher stating a pre-existing bias against evolution is jeopardizing his objectivity. It is also possible that the research being performed accepts evolution as a premise and that failure to recognize evolution could taint the credibility of one's conclusions. (The research does not necessarily need to be for/against evolution. It might just be, "We're trying to research the evolutionary origins of this biological feature." Evolution is assumed in this case and what is being researched is the biological feature and its origin.)

This IS the crux of the legal matter, but I don't think it's an easy distinction to make. One of the duties of research is to make inferences and draw conclusions from the facts that one has observed. If his employer had reason to believe that he would not be making completely rational inferences, they would have grounds for dismissal. This isn't like a labour job where you can ask whether or not the work got done. There will be a lot of scrutiny into whether or not he completed the work in the objective manner that was asked of him.

Honestly, if I had an hour of absolutely nothing exciting to do, I'd read a book. I have thousands of pages of text to work through before I'm allowed to buy anything new.

What are some other things that you like to do? I always find it enjoyable to write about my other hobbies. I wrote an article about Dungeons & Dragons last night for a friend's web log.

Abracadabra, that's really the level-headed way of thinking about this matter. We probably don't have all of the facts about the situation and the article is probably spun to elicit an emotional response. I agree that whether or not he was technically capable of performing his duties, he would probably be happier working for a company that is more ideologically compatible with his beliefs.