How about a little distraction on this fine Friday while we wait for the whistle to blow? Although I am not privy to all these new-fangled detective shows, I know many of you out there are. For the love of all that is scientific, if you are going to go out and play CSI and corpses though, make sure your work is not sloppy at the very least!

In a quest to increase my audience by more than two regular visitors, I am striving to change things up a bit around here. Instead of regurgitating others' ideas, I will try actually producing some content. Besides my neighborhood pictures, how about some cooking lessons? Now I just need a catchy name...kitchen tales, cooking with monk? Oh well, in the meantime, on with the show!

Today's first feature is Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic. In general, it is a fairly traditional dish with many variations, but this version is the quick and healthy version. As far as difficulty goes, I would have to say the most difficult part was getting all the garlic peeled (special thanks to my sous chef).

Here we have the cooking process in action. At this point, the chicken has been browned, and the garlic is sauteing. All that is left is to pile the chicken onto the garlic, add the measuring cup of wine/stock, cover, and drink your glass of wine until sufficiently simmered (25 minutes). At the end of the night, you are left with a nice plate of delicious chicken. The chicken was moist and the garlic was sweet, soft and perfect when spread on the baguette.

Lessons Learned:

Brown the chicken just a few minutes longer for a little more texture.
Be liberal when adding stock and wine (the reduced sauce makes the dish).
Take more pictures.

All in all, this recipe will definitely be added to my permanent collection for further tweaking. Let me know if you think this feature will be a good addition, and in the meantime, I will be cooking away for next Wednesday's edition.

Statistics: The only science that enables different experts using the same figures to draw different conclusions.
- Evan Esar

As my job sometimes entails data calls to gather statistics on the whim of management, I have become all too aware of the ease with which data can be manipulated to show just about any result I want.

Data has no meaning without context. Just keep that in mind next time someone quotes a stat (especially if they have something to gain/lose from it).

Things you find in your (fairly distant) neighborhood, courtesy of The Beach House.

Not too shabby for a measley cameraphone, eh?

And now for something completely different. I decided that this would be the best place for me to put out the word to my network (and, I really need to network more if my site stats are any indication). I had considered throwing this bone to the business club at my alma mater, but then I was relegated to the functional "kiddie table" at their last professional interaction event. Way to build that professional alumni network kids.

Anyway, enough grudges and on to the real reason I am here today. I am looking to find a few good techs. I am hoping (for the sake of my sanity) that my company will be hiring entry level desktop technicians soon. If you or anyone you know is interested, send an email to techjob at meanderingmonk.com. My only requirements are living within driving distance of Honolulu, logical computer troubleshooting skills, and the ability to acquire a security clearence (having one is even better).

Well, I did have something in mind to post today, but every single time I managed to remember what it was, I got sidetracked by that pesky gnat known as responsibility. Anyway, I did come across this little distraction. It was good for a chuckle, and it finally gave me the chance to see what in the heck those movie-trailer voiceover guys look like.

Although I really do enjoy my culinary time, it seems that, lately, when cooking and me are in the same room, I have magically volunteered to cook for everyone. So, as I prepare for a little lunchtime grilling at work, I have to think that at least it must be a good sign of the quality of my cooking.

Anyway, while I contemplate how best to prepare a T-bone on a portable grill, here is the next installment of "Things you find in your neighborhood."

Yes, that is my garage. Yes, that is the tire of my truck. And yes, that is a piss-drunk (and fairly smelly) bum we found one Friday evening under tire of said truck in said garage.

For all my tall building friends, get there quick with this little trick. Hack the planet, and other various anarchist slogans, man!

Today, of course, is Monday. That means my office is full of the walking dead, myself included. Walking dead, Monday, lack of sleep. They are all just a part of my nefarious plot to direct you to an interesting article on mattresses. Bottom line is that you are not missing out by not having the latest, greatest, pillow-memory, adjustible, buckwheat-husk-filled mattress on the market. Makes me feel a little better about my second-hand, roadside mattress that has lasted me well since my college days.

While I am on my current science kick, I just cannot resist posting a link to this little inadvertant experiment. This is why I like science. Mass desctruction due only to simple forces of physics.