Recommended for you

Amazon has a nifty little feature that recommends items for you based on your purchases, your ratings and things added to your Wish List. Sometimes it confuses me.

Today, my recommendations include a Korg GA-30 Ultra Compact Guitar and Bass Tuner, "because you purchased Planet Waves PW-GH Acoustic Guitar Humidifier," and "Animaniacs, Vol. 3," "because you purchased 'Pinky and the Brain, Vol. 1.'"

Those make sense.

But what about "There Will Be Blood"? I haven't seen it. I don't know much about the film. But does it really seem like a movie I might like because I rated "Lars and the Real Girl"? Or "3:10 to Yuma" because I rated "Stardust"?

I've seen both "Stardust" and "3:10 to Yuma" and I while I liked them both, I'm having a hard time thinking of their commonality? They're both about a rescue? Sort of. But then one is set in the old west, with lots of gun play. The other is about a fallen star, witches and finding true love. Oh, there's a battle there, too. So, maybe the battles?

Maybe there are actors or actresses common to these recommended movies (I haven't checked) but I don't think that necessarily means you'll like the western with this guy just because you liked the fantasy movie with that guy.

But my favorite today: "Battlestar Galactica - Razor" because I rated "Futurama - Bender's Big Score." Because, you know, they're both "sci-fi."

Pete Rose, he ain't

Pete Rose played for the Cincinnati Reds way back in the '70s and '80s. He was probably best known for his head-first slides. He had a .303 batting average and holds multiple Major League Baseball awards.

The S.O. plays recreational softball. He has not learned the art of the head-first slide.

The photograph to the right shows Rose executing a picture-perfect head-first slide.

The photograph below shows what happens to your hand when you attempt a head-first slide and you're not a 17-time MLB All-Star.

The finger is broken "in several places" and will require a specialist. On the upside, the S.O.'s team won the game.

It's a very small upside, in my opinion.

Fun with Typos: Construction Edition

Today in Fun with Typos, we examine the word "expect," as in "Construction ahead. Expect delays."

What do you get if you swap the "c" and "p"? You get the word "except." And you get a sign that says: "Construction ahead. Except delays." Which means what, exactly? That there is construction, except there are no delays?

Big flashing sign on the side of the road. Most people probably drove by without given it a moment's thought. What is wrong with me that it is still bothering me some five hours later?

My experiment continues

This week I have vowed to try a new recipe for dinner each night (or in today's case, lunch). I have pulled five recipes from Real Simple: Meals Made Easy, because I am a lazy cook, and a cookbook with both the words "simple" and "easy" sounds good to me.

Today's lunch was Steak with Root Vegetables -- very simple, very tasty. Here's what it looks like in the cookbook:Here's how mine turned out:Not as pretty, but not bad. And it was quite tasty. Someone recently said to me, "If you can read, you can cook." I beg to differ. I can read and follow directions, but my meals are never quite as tasty as my friends' meals.

On the other hand, I think my first two experiments this week have been fine. The S.O. hasn't complained. But I think he's just happy I'm cooking.

Making music

Slowly but surely I am learning the guitar. I surprised myself this weekend by picking up a friend's guitar and actually pounding out a bit of a song. No one can tell what song it is yet, but it's coming along.

For a while, every time I walked by my guitar I avoiding looking directly at it. I could feel the failure radiating off it. Now, I can pick it up and make sounds that resemble music, and we have a much better relationship.