If you are happy to see this you may thank OldMiner. He emailed me about using one of my old nodes in a podcast. I was curious...

Yes, I left abruptly and in retrospect it was pretty childish to nuke my recent works. It was especially mean of me to nuke my little game as it had already involved a few noders and asked them to do work on its behalf. That was really rude.

I'm still probably going to be mostly away or 'fled' but maybe a small explanation and an apology of sorts are in order. As it turns out, I received a lot of messages about this (more than I expected).

First, why I left - I knew that when I took on the grandiose plan of reinvigorating E2 with fun and frivolity I was in way over my head. I'm neither fun nor frivolous. I also knew that I was courting the nuke fairy.

My first nuke was my one word writeup "bump" in the Letters to the Editor. I disagreed with that nuke but I understood it. I felt that even that one word was fairly well laden with commentary and it deserved its place. Whatever...

The second nuke really sent me over the edge though. In a node titled "running bad" I posted a poker hand history and included a two line comment that explained the difference between a bad beat and running bad. That node quickly fell to -10 in rep and that is fair. It isn't up to E2's usual standards. That doesn't change the fact that it was a perfectly legit writeup by every rule here, and, that regardless of the fact that nobody here plays enough poker to understand it, it was still a succinct explanation of a subtle difference. The editor who nuked it was the same as the one who nuked the "bump" writeup and in neither case did they seek to contact me first, to even try to understand them. It was precisely that attitude that I felt was unnecessary around here and that it should bite me so hard so quickly was too much. Those were my first nuked nodes since my first month here...

Look, this site is already hampered by the fact that it has no pictures or videos, the only 'live' interaction is a stale chat feature and the most common replacement for that on the net, the forum or comment, does not yet exist here. This site faces an uphill battle for traffic. The "good old days" when membership was high were different in one key way - any contribution was welcome. Coincidence? I think not.

This site apparently wants to be elite and high quality. Well, you are welcome to it. I tried that route and the only reward was a very mild, vain, ego stroke from time to time. I don't need that.

Understand, too, I'm not trying to say anything about the current membership. The people I know, as little as I know them, I like just fine. I never attended a nodermeet though, I never got all the way into the community. That makes blowing up or leaving (again) pretty easy.

I still check in every few months to see if anything significant has changed. I always did like this site and I hope one day it really blows up again, steps out in popularity where it deserves to be. I hope it gets several hundred active users and has tons of chat channels and etc. Until then, though, I have other things to do.

In order of the messages received, my responses and a request:

RedOmega - yes, it maybe was a valuable thing I was trying, so why'd you stomp on it at every other opportunity?

Swap - Eh? Oh. :)

RACECAR - It wasn't you :) I have a man-crush on you and your fishies.

avalyn - very professional, thank you

Junkill - I'm so, so sorry. You have always been so nice to me, so supportive. I should not have done what I did and I feel like a real ass now. I hope you've forgiven me for that and will consider trying again.

Auduster - Same as for Junkill but one extra request. Will you take it over? As much as it needs a boss anyways...

Deb - you are so sweet :) I didn't see that until now and now I'm going about this all stupid and public like. I'd be a better member if I had more discretion ;)

clone19 - Sorry :/ Yeah. I'm gonna try to fix that.

Last - will some nice editor or admin, whoever has the power, please unnuke citation needed? It won't be a secret anymore but hey, it wasn't going to last long as one anyways. I do think it was a good and fun idea and I hope people play with it.

If that flies, there is no reason not to unnuke my contributions to it - Roger Penrose Trafalgar Square Matt Dillon and, as lame as it is, Kyle Orton. That's the point though eh? People around here just can't stand a lame effort :) Fix it up and renuke it when it is appropriate.

Since mauler thought it funny enough to C!, unnuking How to get YouTube hits would be nice. That writeup had nothing to do with citation needed and there was no reason for me to nuke it.

And, lastly, if a quorum of editors can see my side of it I'd like running bad unnuked. It was the only one that was nuked without my say so and the main one I disagreed with. I think it is a fine addition to the nodegel. Could it be better? Hell yeah. As verbose as I am I could easily write a novel on the topic that would walk every member through to complete understanding of the topic. I didn't want to, though, and I still don't. I think what I wrote was sufficient and leaves room for someone more ambitious to pick it up if they want.

Summer's Bounty

This is my favorite time of year. The farm stands are open in our lovely little corner of the country. The sweet corn is not quite ready, however, there're plenty of other veggies singing their siren song ("eat me! eat me!").

July is the time for blueberries, heirloom tomatoes, peaches, cucumbers and squashes. The first herbs are also appearing for sale. The farm stands also bring in beautiful things from New Jersey farms. I'm like a kid in a candy store, often spending as much as I have in my wallet in one shopping trip.

The following recipe earned me a prize in a long-ago culinary competition in New York City:

Tomato-Peach Compote Vinaigrette

2 pounds garden-fresh tomatoes

2 pounds orchard-fresh peaches

A big fat sweet Vidalia Onion

1/4 cup Raspberry vinegar (or substitute apple cider vinegar)

1 tsp. Dijon Mustard

As much fresh (or dried) Tarragon as you like

1/2 cup virgin Olive Oil

Blanch the the tomatoes and peaches to get the skins off: Boil a large pot of water. Have a large bowl filled with ice water (more ice than water) nearby. Plunge the fruits into the boiling water for no more than 15 seconds apiece. Remove immediately to the ice water bath. The peels will now come off the peaches and tomatoes if you score the skin with an "X" and then pull down on the skins. Use a paring knife to assist in skin removal. (You can keep the skins and put 'em in a blender with some yogurt, to make a very tasty, nutritious smoothie. Just make sure you puree the mixture a good long time, to avoid large pieces of skin.)

Now cut the peaches in half and remove the pits. Slice the peaches 1/4" thick. Cut the tomatoes in quarters and push out the seeds, discarding them. Slice the seeded tomato quarters 1/4" thick. Place the peaches and tomatoes into the bowl you'll use for mixing the salad.

Skin the onion and cut it in half. Slice the halves into 1/8" slices. Put the slices in the bowl with the fruit.

In a food processor or a small bowl place the vinegar, mustard and tarragon. Start the food processor (or start whisking rapidly), and add the olive oil in a very thin stream. Start out with just a few drops; you're going to emulsify this sauce. After the oil's been incorporated, process about 1/2 minute more (the sauce will begin to look white).

Dress the salad with the vinaigrette, and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place the salad in the refrigerator for at least a half hour prior to serving. Enjoy with grilled meats, especially lamb. This salad is also glorious next to cold poached (or grilled) fish of any kind.

Now, I beseech you, go visit your local farm stand and take advantage of summer's delights for the palate!

Pants.

I recently did something that I have wanted to do for a long time - join a political party.

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I swing towards the right side of politics - especially how I view the economy should work. You know, free markets and minimal government intervention in business (yes, I agree with how John Howard dealt with the Ansett Australia collapse, despite how painful it was). However, this is a fair unpopular position for someone my age and it causes me quite a bit of flack. Being Australian, this means I vote for the Liberal Party - and have done so for the four times I have been called up to vote.

Unfortunately for me, my 18th birthday coincided with the downfall of the Liberal Party in federal politics, so every time that I have voted the party has had crushing defeats (well, except in the Brisbane City Council elections). It is a tad upsetting.

Anyway, I received my induction pack today from the Liberal Party, and I don't regret my decision for a moment. It is packed full of interesting facts and information - how you can make a difference and so on.

The most interesting thing for me has been people's reaction to the news of my recent membership. I picked up my mail on the way to work - so discovering the goodness inside became a public event. I have so far received the following reactions:

Time for me to continue reading - and book in to the next meeting.