27 posts tagged “qotd”

What method do you use to prepare your coffee or tea? 
Submitted by AgentBouche.

I've been slacking on the vox updates recently, so thought a QOTD would be a good way to get back into the swing of things.

Growing up, coffee was always instant. My parents liked Tasters' Choice, while my grandmother refused to drink anything but Folgers.  A special treat was the fine Columbian blend drip from Dunkin' Donuts. Since then, I've become a bit of a coffee snob, which is probably due to moving to Seattle, working out of coffee shops, and a penchant for late nights.

For years, Brooke and I only had a french press. It made great coffee, and I still enjoy preparing coffee in that manner.  However, one year, we had lots of guests over, and our grinder was missing, so we ended up using a mortar and pestle to "grind", followed by batches of 2 cups at a time in our little french press. It was time to give in and get an automatic coffee maker.

That coffee maker (a Starbucks something-or-another with a thermal carafe) served us well, until it was recalled one day, and we were again sans-machine.  As we were also sans-kitchen at this point, we didn't replace it, but instead started using our electric Bialetti, which is it's own distinctive flavor, but quite good.

Now that we have a kitchen again, I've been contemplating a new machine. Those single-serve models have been really tempting as they actually do taste quite good, and are just so easy, but I'm not sure if I can do it.

My parents love their Keurig. Everyone at work loves the Tassimo.  And the Nespresso is cute enough that Brooke will let it into the kitchen, plus it makes a pretty mean espresso.

I just worry that I'll miss buying my fancy beans from Victrola, Zoka, and Vivace, and before you know it, I'll be drinking Sanka instant decaf crystals.

How do you take your tea or coffee?
Submitted by Vasquez.

As much as I like my sugary milky things, I really don't like either in my coffee or tea..

Coffee
----------
Almost always, I get an Americano or Drip, black (no cream or sugar).
Occasionally, I'll get both cream and sugar, a mocha or cappucino, or with some booze in it.

Tea
-------
Green, Herbal, or Iced: no milk or sugar
Black: milk and sugar

Have you ever Googled your own name? How did you feel about the results?
Submitted by elen.

Anyone who says no to this is lying!

Having been online, and working online, for several years, I have lots of google matches (around 2300 for my full name in quotes). Most of the stuff is technical, like posts to mailing lists. It's actually quite fun flipping through all of them, and seeing the various things I've worked on over the years, and all the stupid questions I've posted..  Then there are links to my blogs, interviews, and other corporate type things. The oldest links I've found are on google groups of some usenet posts from 1994, looking for bootlegs of nirvana and pearl jam, lol.. :)

There is one particular set of google links that I'm not too happy with.. A few years ago, the company I worked for had a spamming incident. Basically, we sent out a bunch of email, and when people got angry, and started making false accusations, I attempted to explain things and the whole thing blew up out of control.  While I stand by what I said, I do think I said it poorly (I certainly wasn't attempting to defend our egregious actions, and definitely didn't mean to say it to a journalist!), and would rather the whole situation have never occurred. Happily, these links no longer show up until page 5 of my results.

What were you afraid of as a child that seems silly to you now?
Submitted by navelgazer.

escalators.. specifically UP escalators.. going from the 2nd+ floor to the next floor, without anything directly below them (like when there's a big atrium, and multiple levels of nothing but escalators).  I'm not afraid of heights at all, but those used to give me weird vertigo. Also, standing near the top of down escalators, I always felt sucked towards them.

What's your favorite radio station, past or present?

Without a doubt, KEXP is the greatest radio station in seattle and possibly the world. I don't like the world music shows, so when those are on, and i have to listen to the radio, i'm content to flip through the the other presets, which are 88.5 (K???: usually dance), 94.1 (KMPS: country), 95.7 (KJR: oldies), 99.9 (KISW: hard rock), and 107.7 (KNDD: alternative),  as long as there is music playing, and there isn't some annoying DJ babbling incoherently.

Growing up in Baltimore, WHFS was the cool channel to listen to. Also, I went to the University of MD for a couple years, and WMUC, the school's little 10-watt channel was pretty awesome, as it was completely free-form and student-run. The late night shows were the best.

How did you pick your Vox name? Does it mean something? 
Submitted by LeendaDLL.

 

It's my name! And I'm very happy to have it because on LJ, AIM, Hotmail, Gmail, Flickr, Skype, and countless other places, I'm ddaarryynn.  I'm still hoping for daryn.com one day!

What was your very first job? 
Submitted by Laurel.

My first unpaid job was volunteering at the nursing home where my dad worked. I did that for 3 summers, two for fun, and the third as the community service requirement at my high school. My first paid job was as a yard boy at the home for retired catholic priests (yeah yeah.. insert joke here..) at the same facility.

I have yet to work any of the normal first jobs: food service, hospitality, etc.. I got a job as a dishwasher once, but before I could start, a parent of one of my friends found out, and offered me an awesome job as a construction photographer. I suppose I don't regret that :)

What do you like to make or order for brunch?

I usually stick to the savory entrees (with my bloody mary), while brooke leans toward the sweet (with her mimosa).

Omelettes usually make me queasy afterwards, so i traditionally stick to scrambled eggs. However, most recently, I've been obsessed with poached eggs, and even enjoying hard/soft boiled ones.

Oh, and hash browns; nice golden brown, slightly crispy hash browns! I prefer what are typically called home fries (at least by me), the diced kind, not the shredded kind, but any vehicle for ketchup is a friend of mine.

What's the most memorable building you've lived in?
Submitted by Shelly.

It's been awhile since I've done a QOTD.. I have fond memories of almost everywhere I have lived, from my parents' house (1 house my entire life), to the trashy house in the u-district with 10 other guys, to my awesome first condo, and my current house, which at this very moment has people downstairs demolishing the kitchen and dining room!

But since the question says "building", I'm going to go with two of the dorms I lived in: cumberland hall at UMCP, and mcmahon hall at UW.

cumberland hall, university of maryland

Cumberland was just remodelled before i moved it, so I guess it was as nice as you could expect for a big dorm with painted cinder block walls and communal showers. I lived in this building for two years.

The first year, I had a roommate who dropped out, and one of his friends (whom my fellow residents referred to as the homeless guy) decided to move in. That was pretty odd, but we got along okay, so I didn't mind. The only two problems we ever had were 1. when he wet the bed (aka, the top bunk, and i was in the bottom one at the time) and 2. when he peed out the window (and forgot to lift the screen first). YUCK! :)

The second year, I had a single, with mattresses covering half the floor space. That was fun. The other highlight of cumberland was that you could pop the lock to the rooftop with a dining hall knife. It was a fun place to... "hang out"...

mcmahon hall, university of washington

McMahon was the third dorm I lived in at UW. I was in Terry for a summer, then Haggett for about two weeks before I was able to get transferred. There were a lot of great parties in the clusters (it was 4 or 5 rooms with their own bathroom, living room, and balcony), and of course the highlight of McMahon is that is where I met Brooke (my wife!).

Nowadays, I hear they have a really nice dining hall there.  It wasn't terrible when I was there, but my diet consisted mainly of mini-loaves of bread, with lots of ketchup, and odwalla superfood. Oh, and fried chicken burgers at late nite..