I didn’t do much today, as I had a mild cold which sapped most of my energy.
- Looked into SD memory cards, as I can’t put text files onto my Treo handheld unless I install one. They’re fairly inexpensive; a 256 MB card costs about USD $30, and I can fit an awful lot of eTexts in that space. On the other hand, I could get a 1 GB SD card and put a bunch of albums on there, turning my Treo into a portable MP3 player. I might actually use it for that (even though 1 GB would “only” store ten albums or so).
- After discovering that packaged hot cocoa mix contains partially hydrogenated soybean oil (which sticks in your arteries for about seven years), I made my own hot chocolate mix: a cup of powdered milk, a third of a cup of sugar, three tablespoons of cocoa, and a dash of salt (makes three servings). I plan to take it to work tomorrow and try it out there. I think I should add some vanilla flavoring, but all I have is liquid vanilla extract. Any idea where I could find some powdered vanilla?
- Wrote 370 words of my short story “The Old Man,” which finishes it. Or, at least, ends the story. It still needs revision, which I suspect will be severe. Perhaps I’ll follow Neil Gaiman’s advice and literally put the story in a drawer for a week or so.
- Assembled a list of cookies and ingredients for my yearly Christmas Cookie ritual. I plan to make up to ten different kinds of cookies this year, especially if I can devote pretty much all of Saturday to making most of them.