The tree pollen count around here is at insane levels. I wake up every day with burning red eyes, my ears itch way down deep, and the tinnitus is especially loud. We've stopped saying "Bless you," and "Gesundheit," at work because we're all sneezing constantly. They're predicting rain soon and even though the weather's been beautiful, I really want it to rain to wash some of the pollen out of the air.

Anyone remember this game, Master Mind? We played it a lot in the 70s. I found this one at a used bookstore this weekend and was very excited. The "deluxe" version isn't my favorite (it forces you into matching the key pegs to the colored peg holes because otherwise there would be so many possibilities you'd run out of board space), but it's still a great game, in spite of the creepy box. I guess I found it less creepy living in Jakarta where lots of supercilious old bearded guys hung out with gorgeous Asian women (the original game box had different models).

This was talked about before on Facebook, but here's a photo of the labor-intensive teatini (in a PS2 glass, natch). I managed to remember to get sweet vermouth at the store and it improves the drink immensely. Dry vermouth mixed with the orange bitters is just too overwhelmingly tart and kills the tea flavor in the vodka.

Last night I reduced the balsamic vinegar before pouring it over the strawberries, and it was good--the thicker balsamic holds onto the fruit better. There's a controversy over whether to add sweetener of some kind to the vinegar as you reduce it. I did not, but would probably add a squirt of agave syrup or honey in the future if I'm going to put it on fruit.

I've been enjoying the first season of Mad Men so much that even though I'm watching the episodes on On Demand I'm still tempted to buy the DVD set just for the commentaries. By chance, The Apartment with Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine rose to the top of my Netflix queue just after I watched the MM season finale, which was perfect timing as it's set in the same year and revolves around office politics and affairs.

Could not have cared less about the finale of Hell's Kitchen. GR certainly likes perky blonds.

Knitting is mostly on hold lately because of persistent pain in my hands. The symptoms are neither classic carpal tunnel nor arthritis, so hopefully it'll go away soon with some rest. It's making yoga challenging, too.

E3 was this week and I doubt they'll hold another one next year. While losing the out-of-control megabooths and general show chaos was a good thing, the ESA's and IDG's disorganization meant a lot of press didn't come to the show and many of those that were there missed the Concourse pavilion booths entirely, thinking all the companies were up in meeting rooms. Some big companies even sent their demo'ers home Wednesday night, leaving their games unattended all day Thursday because the traffic in the pavilion was so light.

One of my clients did receive the distinction of having the Worst Trailer at E3 (maybe Ever) as decided by the trolls over at gametrailers.com, so that was something. Never mind that it wasn't exactly a trailer and had been thrown together in a couple of hours right before the show because the deal had just been signed and they wanted something to catch the attention of walk-bys. At least they're talking about the game.

I finally got to watch last Monday's Hell's Kitchen yesterday, and I'm really pissed off that Bonnie was chosen to stay over Jen. While Jen is probably not ready to run a kitchen on her own, Bonnie is a spoiled little brat who I seriously doubt could supervise a Burger King.

There's an interesting little blog fight going on over at Bravo's Top Chef site between Tony Bourdain and Rocco Dispirito. Rocco actually takes the edge in this one.

In a little burst of stress relieving compulsive shopping I've bought a bunch of games for my Nintendo DS: Puzzle Quest, Chocobo Tales, Trauma Center and an old Harvest Moon game. I also picked up Cooking Mama for the Wii (we're handling the mobile version, so it's research) and Exit for PSP (also research). I'm playing Puzzle Quest, and while I like the Bejeweled style of puzzle combat, it's getting a little repetitive and boring.