Asymptomatic

There must be intelligent life down here

Morimoto Trip

On Friday, a bunch of us went to Morimoto, the restaurant of  Masaharu Morimoto, the Japanese chef of Iron Chef fame.  Berta, Adam, Dave, Jen and I took off right after work to visit the restaurant in Philly.  Thanks to Adam for upping his original reservation to include Berta and me.

It turns out that like many good places to hang out, Morimoto is a hole in the Philadelphia facade.  Amongst graphitti-riddled garage doors and tattoo parlors isn't where I expected to find this upscale restaurant, but it wasn't unusual amongst many of the more chic places we have dined.

Racial Bias

Ever more these days I feel a growing trend toward conservatism that chills me.  As scary as the potential of a baseless war is, I don't think Bush can do too much to devalue our image in the world community simply because everyone already hates americans.

On the other hand, Bush seems to want to involve himself in any issue that can get him re-elected or put his name in the history books for future generations to read.  In his recent ponderings about upcoming supreme court cases, he seems to be trying to appear as if he is taking a side on the issue yet walking the middle line.  This particular topic, race bias on college admission, is one that I can't fathom needing a discussion.

Pinochle Challenge

This isn't exactly what it sounds like.  A co-worker thought that this might be an interesting puzzle to solve.  Monthly, he plays pinochle with a bunch of other couples.  Recently his group size increased by one more couple, giving them a total of 14 couples.  Prior to now, they had a schedule for games using only 12 partner pairs, but they need a new game schedule to include the new players.  Since there are only 3 tables in the setup, only three pairs of partners can play at once, leaving two people on the sidelines.

Here is the challenge, in a nutshell:

New Look for 2003

This design has been in the works for a few days, but I just hadn't been able to tear myself away from the TV for long enough to implement it until now.  So, here it is, the new Abby-look to Asymptomatic.

I took this picture the other day and thought, "You know, you could probably put that picture right on the home page."  And *poof*, there it is.  Isn't she cute?