Charles Sanders Pierce

Pierce was one of the greatest thinkers the United States has yet produced. Logician, mathematician, philosopher - many pies have the marks of his fingers. Here is his account of his life up to age twenty, written when he was twenty. It's rather amusing, I think; I find his notation for the two Miss W's entertainingly indicative of his future.

"It rounds to zero"

David Malki's comic "Wondermark" is kind of hit or miss for me, but I rather like the last panel, in particular, of the latest strip.

Improv, or More?

I am, generally speaking, not a creative cook. I follow recipes to the best of my ability, and I am willing to try new things; I occasionally improvise, when one or another ingredient is unavailable, but that's as far as I go.

This week, I made a batch of arroz con queso. As the name suggests, it's a rice and cheese dish, with tomatoes, black beans, onions and garlic. This was the second or third time I've made it. Unfortunately, when I went out for ingredients, I forgot to get cottage cheese. The recipe calls for a cup of that, and also a cup of shredded Monterey Jack. I decided to go with two cups of the latter as a substitute. The result is edible, but rather dry, probably as a result of the substitution. I'll know not to do that next time.

(Gracie has been begging for scraps, but with the onion and garlic in the dish, she's doomed to disappointment.)

It did occur to me that the dish could use a bit more texture. I'm thinking that next time I make it I might throw in some peanuts. (Cashews? No, that would be too rich, I think.) Maybe improv substitution isn't my limit, after all. We shall see.