I know what some of you are thinking – this is a crappy topic for a diary. Well, you have Mr Pickle to blame. He told me about an article he’d read on MSNBC, which has mysteriously disappeared down the tubes, regarding the differences in energy consumption between Japan and the US. Apparently, Japan uses considerably less energy per capita than the US. However, the Japanese are being de-throned as the standard bearers of energy efficiency. Indeed, one could say that many of the advances they’ve made in lowering energy consumption are being flushed away by increases in energy use for luxury toilets. I’m not kidding.

Ahhh, tax day. We all dread it, yet we must all face it. I have the distinct pleasure of filing taxes in two countries. Because of the filing deadline is later in Canada than in the US, I haven’t finished my US taxes yet. Indeed, I had to file a form for an automatic extension. (If it’s automatic, why did I need to file it? Nevermind.) And, fortunately, I don’t actually have to pay anything to the IRS, but even so, it’s annoying to have to deal with filing every fraking year.

Undoubtedly, many of you are en route to the post office to get your taxes postmarked before midnight. I remember doing that a few times when I was in grad school and couldn’t leave until late in the evening. There was a line two blocks long at 10 pm. A line filled with really, really happy people. You can imagine that tempers were flaring just a tad.

I’ve fortunately been spared any horrifying experiences, at least so far. Does anyone care to share their taxing experiences?

I hate Valentine’s day. I really do. In my always humble opinion, it’s the ultimate of ludicrous Hallmark holidays. Well, not really – Sweetest’s day and Christmas in July probably win that dubious distinction, but V-Day irks me nonetheless.

I was actually surprised to find that V-Day actually has its roots from the Middle Ages. I still find it a sickeningly-sweet mass-marketing ploy to make people feel guilty if they don’t spend a huge amount of money. And the idea that there’s one day when you profess your love to another human, and that you need to be endlessly reminded to do so, makes me rather nauseous.

So, follow me on the flip side for some more interesting and less costly ways to spend Valentine’s day.

Last week, my Top Comments diary covered the unsavory topic of Worst Meals Ever! Edition. Kossacks shared their horror stories which made my experiences pale by comparison: from something that resembled shaved, boiled hamster to turkey testicles and slugs in hot chili garlic sauce, I was repeatedly amazed by how many dreadful food experiences we’ve had.

These memories clearly continue to make us shudder with revulsion. But, I thought, we must also have memories of some stellar meals; I was not alone in this belief. So, join me on the flip side for a synopsis of some of my favorite meals.

I was having a tough time finding a topic for my Top Comments diary. My Eureka! moment was when I looked through the Spam folder in my email account, just for laughs. "Spam," I thought, "what a truly horrid food substance." And then I had it! I should write about all the bad food I’ve eaten in my 30-something years on the planet.

Having been born in the 70s, I’ve had my fair share of food with low nutritional value. The 70s and 80s seemed to be the era of junk food, and my family was far from immune. I’m not sure if it was a matter of convenience or whether it was because junk food was cheaper. Both are reasonable possibilities: my mom was the parent who worked AND did everything around the house (until we kids were old enough for household chores) and our family didn’t have a lot of money.

Though I love the festive nature of the holiday season, I’ve come to lament the never-ending frenzy of consumerism that begins the day after Thanksgiving and ends on New Year’s Day. In years past, we’ve given gifts that were made locally or obtained through fair trade practices (at least, to the best of our knowledge). Not surprisingly, these were typically hand-made gifts, rather than the mass-produced melts of plastic available in stores geared toward the masses. This year, rather than get caught up in the consumerism/consumption game, Mr Pickle and I have decided that all of our gifts – given and received – will be charitable donations.

Follow me on the flip for more.

Cross-posted on Docudharma

Once inside a bathroom dreary, while I pondered weak and weary
Over many a quilted rolls of tp on the bathroom stall door
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping
Again some one gently tapping, tapping ‘neath my chamber door.
‘Tis some visitor,’ I muttered, ‘tapping ‘neath my chamber door –
Only this, and nothing more.’

One year ago today, I signed up on Daily Kos. In honor of this momentous occasion, I planned tonight to give a brief synopsis of how I found Daily Kos and how I eventually came to signing up. {Special thanks to taylormattd who gave up this diary slot!}

To be honest, I don’t remember the first time I came to this site. I probably followed a link from Salon, which I read almost religiously in the wake of 9/11 and in the lead up to the invasion of Iraq. In any event, I bookmarked this site and others, most notably Eschaton and AmericaBlog, checking a few times a day for breaking news and analysis. But, I refrained from commenting, feeling that by the time I read a diary and all the comments, any point I had to make had been made a dozen times. So I lurked, mainly on the front page, which, according to Jotter, is typical of lurkers.

For the past few days, I had wondered, in my cold-induced stupor, what I would write about for tonight’s Top Comments diary. For some reason, even amidst the Gore-mania, I hadn’t clued in that today is when the Nobel Peace Prize would be announced, and that, irrespective of the recipient, I had my diary topic. When I clicked on the Nobel Prize website this morning... well, let’s just say that I was ecstatic! Everyone join me now, and, mimicking your favorite sports announcer, scream Goooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre! (And, congrats, too, to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change!)

Now, the Nobel Peace Prize wasn’t the only one announced this week. So, follow me on the flip for a brief round-up of this week’s Nobel Prize recipients.

The Daily Kos community includes people with a wide range of personalities, opinions, experience and backgrounds. Since most of us are Democrats and left-leaning, it is not surprising that we tend to agree on a number of topics; nevertheless, there remains a wide range of disagreement on every possible issue. To me, this is what makes the community so interesting and the site so valuable – just when you think you agree with one user’s perspective, another person posts an equally compelling comment. I love to learn from other participants and hearing their perspectives.

Notwithstanding the diversity of opinion, if there is one thing that binds the community (apart from the burning desire to change the country’s direction), I would have to say that it is the love of pets. We seem, anecdotally at least, to be crazed about our pets (diarist not excepted!).

Which brings me to tonight’s diary topic: we may love our pets, but we all know that they can drive us bonkers at times. So, follow me on the flip for some stories about my Pet Peeves about my beloved pets!

As some of you might know, my husband and I are avid paddlers. For the past two years, our summer vacation has been expedition kayaking in coastal British Columbia. Tomorrow, after a summer of work-related travel, we finally embark on our summer paddling vacation. Our boats will be weighted down with all the wonderful books suggested by fellow kossacks. Our destination: the Deer Group in Barkley Sound.

Last summer, my husband and I ventured into the coastal wilderness of British Columbia for a kayaking expedition. We were in a really remote region and went for several days without seeing another person (apart, of course, from each other!). This was a fascinating trip and one that I am eager to repeat.

I’ve always been amazed by idiomatic expressions. Some are pretty easy to understand, but others are a bit more opaque. Some are useful; others... not so much. Often, I think these expressions get tossed around without thought to what they actually mean. Well, at least by some in my family.

I’ve compiled a list of some of the phrases that I think are particularly useless and uninspiring. Not included on this list are extraordinarily insightful phrases coined by the Sphinx in Mystery Men. To wit:

Learn to hide your strikes from your opponent and you'll more easily strike his hide.

You must lash out with every limb, like the octopus who plays the drums.

Destroyed by impeachment madness, starving hysterical naked, dragging themselves through long-dead threads at dawn looking for an angry rant, angelheaded kossacks burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the US Congress in the machinery of night, who ridiculed and troll-rated and hollow-eyed and pajama'd sat up commenting in the supernatural darkness of late-night dkos floating across the tops of threads contemplating impeachment who bared their anger to the Mighty Kos under the orange banner and saw the troll-rated staggering on Hidden Comments illuminated, who passed through meta threads with radiant cool eyes hallucinating about impeachment and Bush-light tragedy among the scholars of war who were expelled from the Usenet for crazy & publishing obscene odes

Back in my heady days as a grad student, I actually found the time to take a day trip with my boyfriend (who is now Mr Pickle) and my roommate to the Napa Valley. The landscape was amazing – rolling hills covered with vines loomed around us as we made our way into one of the best wine regions in the world. We were all excited – this was the first visit to a winery for each of us. Our first stop: Robert Mondavi, a highly acclaimed wine Napa winery. We eagerly signed up for a tour of the winery itself, as we didn’t know much about how wines were made. The tour was informative and the tasting even better. So far, the day was as fun (hic!) as expected.

However, the day took a decided turn for the worse as we arrived at our next stop: Domaine Chandon, the California subsidiary of Moët & Chandon, the famed champagne producers.

Follow me on the flip side for my near escape from throttling the tour guide.

For me, there’s nothing more rejuvenating than a backcountry camping trip in the wilderness, whether the destination is a secluded beach or an ancient rainforest. To ensure others will be able to enjoy the outdoors long after my journeys have ended, I strive to adhere to the principles of minimal impact camping.

With summer approaching, I decided to use tonight’s Top Comments diary to provide an overview of the principles of leave no trace ethics. For more detailed information, visit the following websites: US and Canada or check out Kayak Routes of the Pacific Northwest Coast. My focus is on minimal impact coastal camping, but my hope is that even hikers and day-trippers will benefit from these tips. Indeed, these basics are applicable to daily life as much as excursions into the wild.

So, follow me on the flip side for some tips on how to enjoy your outdoor activities while minimizing your impact.

Symmetry is a familiar property. From a simple vase to common architectural motifs, we’re surrounded by symmetry. The famous detective Hercule Poirot found the need for symmetry so compelling that he chose his London flat on the basis of symmetry. Hercule is not alone: a recent scientific study concluded that "facial symmetry seems to be important in ratings of attractiveness." Indeed, beauty and symmetry are commonly linked. For example, the first entry in Merriam-Webster’s definition of symmetry is: balanced proportions; beauty of form arising from balanced proportions.

Symmetry is also an important concept in math and science. A particular type of symmetry, chiral symmetry, forms the basis of many biological interactions, and thus plays a crucial role in forming the basis of life on earth. Unlike symmetry, the term chiral is not immediately familiar to most people outside of math and science.

So, join me on the flip side for a brief description of chirality!