I’ve added a reference to the new Creative Commons license for the contents of this website to my template; scroll down to the bottom of the sidebar and it’s there. What does this license mean? Essentially it makes explicit the terms under which most bloggers have always made their content available: anyone can copy, distribute, display or perform the contents of the weblog, provided they give me credit. No one can use the contents of my website for commercial purposes without my permission. And no one can create an altered or otherwise derivative version of my website. The full text of the license is also available.

Creative Commons has made it very easy to decide which of their licenses (currently there are eleven available), and to apply the license to your content.

I was busting George’s chops earlier about scrapple, but I had to ignore a small voice inside my head that said, “hypocrite bloggeur! —mon semblable, —mon frère!”

Yes, I too am guilty of desiring unidentifiable meat products. In particular, ring bologna, which is similar to summer sausage in taste but not form. I used to eat a half-pound of this stuff at one sitting. On Triscuits. Hey, I was young.

Anyway, I was amused to find quite a few online sites for ordering both ring bologna and scrapple, including Stoltzfus, which sells both products in holiday gift boxes (still available, though Christmas has passed by) or individually. If you’re ordering scrapple or ring bologna on line, I think you’d have to do it from Stoltzfus, since not only do they have a fine Dutch (as in Pennsylvania Dutch, or Deutsch) name, but also an address in the fine town of Intercourse, PA.

Hey, I’m not making this stuff up. Other towns in Lancaster include Paradise, Bird-in-Hand, and Blue Ball. My parents were gifted on their wedding day (at Leacock Presbyterian in Paradise) with a set of road signs measuring the distances to each of these towns, in case they got lost on the way to their honeymoon destination. After all, as it is written, “In order to get to Paradise you have to see Bird-In-Hand, enter Gap, then go through Intercourse without reaching Blue Ball.”

Jay posts his first update in a while to bemoan short holiday vacations. I suppose there’s an answer to this—perpetual student life, or unemployment—but I certainly sympathize with his perspective. George chimes in with a “welcome to the real world.” George, talking about the real world is one thing, but mentioning it a few moments after discussing scrapple: something else again. I’m not sure the concepts real world and scrapple can ever coexist in a meaningful way.

I should also mention (and blogroll) George’s other weblog, where he now keeps all his writing about fishing.

The rain finally caught up with us here. The nice thing about living in Seattle is that inclement weather rarely delays the traffic at SeaTac; the airport is so used to dealing with rain that it barely registers. My in-laws are currently being driven to SeaTac on their way back to New Jersey. It was a fun couple of weeks.

They took us out to dinner last night. There were only a handful of restaurants open on New Years Day on the Eastside; one was P. F. Chang’s in the mall. Putting aside my reservations about chain restaurants, we decided to go. It was quite good, actually. And they’re not afraid to spice the food. In fact, the Schezuan Beef was so highly spiced it’s still reminding me I ate it. Hopefully my stomach will calm down enough soon that I can have some coffee. I am not waking up quickly this morning...