Before I consumed Gmail, my life was in disarray. I could never find that email I got a week ago telling me about a party my friend was having. I never remembered if I entered someone’s email address in my address book. I had one big pile of email that had no order, everyone was mixed in with junk and mailing lists. I couldn’t send pig pictures, and when people sent stuff to me, it filled my inbox until it overflowed.

Gmail has taken that chaos and turned it into order. All email gets automaticall put in it’s place. I can find that email about the party. When I forget what my mom’s new phone number is, the one she got 2 years ago, Gmail finds it for me. Gmail has even gotten me a job, sent me to a foreign country, kept me in contact with old friends.

So dump your old Yahoo or Hotmail and learn how to use archive, search and labels. It will change your life too.

I had a pass to the Seattle International Film Festival last month, and I wanted to take my dad to see a movie. In the discription for this movie, it said it was a black comedy, but the synopsis didn’t seem like something that would intrest my dad. But it was the only one that seemd like a good choice for him on the only night he could go, so I chanced it.

He loved it. It is well written, a unique story, and hiliarious. My dad said it was the best movie he’s seen in years, and I’d have to agree. You probably wont see this movie in theaters or Blockbuster video, but look for it on DVD or the festival circut.

This it the first book by Ayn Rand that I’ve read. It’s a good thing that it was short, because it didn’t waste much of my time. The plot and story telling was bland, the message was hollow, and the way the characters talked using the Royal We was just annoying.

The last I had sushi was at the great place in the neighborhood I lived in in Tokyo. Then I got sick, had to come back to the US, and was told not to eat anything uncooked by my doctors. Well last week was my birthday, so I went out and had the most wonderful sushi. I figure that nothing else has managed to kill me yet. And if the sushi did, at least I’d die happy.

P.S. That Californai roll stuff? Not Sushi!

Natto is something that many people never give a second chance. Most never even give it a first chance. There are many reasons for this, most having to do with the smell and texture. The texture is like cooked beans covered in slug slime. Like slug slime, if you touch it, you’ll have a tough time getting it off your hands. It also has an odd smell. I guess since its fermented soy beans, the smell is of rotting things. Beans in this case.

Dispite its faults, it is a reaaly great food. It is made by steaming soy beans, and allowing them to ferment in a warm location for a day or two. They are normally bought in stirofoam packs of individual servings. You can find it at any good Japanese market. To eat, open the pack and pull out the mustard and soy sauce packets. Next, remove the clear plastic covering. You may need to spin the plastic or use chopsticks to disconnect the slime before throwing the plastic away. Now add the mustard and soy sauce and stir with your chopsticks until it’s frothy. The more you stir, the more it breaks down the slime. Eat it over a bowl of fresh steemed rice.

It may be a strange food, but it’s among the most healthy foods on earth, so give it try.