I chanced upon The Cheese Companion Second Edition by Judy Ridgway in my local bookstore the other day. Much like the author, I am really interested in cheese, though I couldn't say I sampled more than the fingers I have in my hands. The cheeses I had weren't exactly the gourmet variety, more like the Industrial-era produced counterparts. But despite that, sampling some of them during Christmas season (cheese balls or queso de bola) when they are usually made better than the rest of the year and an occasional chance to get served in some cocktails kept my interest in it. Somehow, my intuition reasoning, if something of this quality tastes good, how much more is the real thing! I have to say, just likethe author, I would choose cheese over chocolate anyday (only pure dark chocolates could probably be a rival). And so it was really a joy for me to have bought the book and started on a journey of knowing more about this fascinating food. 
I am currently into the history of cheese section of the book, and already it's raising my level of enthusiasm and inquisitiveness. I won't be surprising myself if I start a dedicated blog on cheese anyday soon. And I think I would spend the rest of this week thinking how I could get into all those wonderful places and sample their cheeses.
If you have any interest in cheese, do leave your comments along with information on the resources you have on this wonderful food. It might turn out there are a lot of us than we thought.
I was searching for something else today when I found this interesting thread which is basically discussing a question which goes like this: "Are all these talks about simple living just another term for giving up?" I have to say the discussion was quite lively, entertaining, and thought-provoking. Enough to make me take a look at the forum's host site which is WiseBread. It's basically a site which host forums on frugal living. What frugal living means isn't really clear to me at the moment. But as I take a look at the stuff that floats around the site, I get the feeling that frugal living is simply finding your own spot where you don't sacrifice the quality of your life for quantity. I guess that would be better than simply saying it's about saving, spending less, getting out of debt, having an "easier" job, etc., which I think somehow discredits the whole philosophy of it and makes those who adhere to it appear lazy and out of touch with reality.
On a personal note, I try to follow these simple (no pun intended) rules:
1. I try to spend less than what I earn (basic basic basic)
2. I try to see if the second alternative can be as good as the first (and usually more expensive) choice, given my purpose.
3. I try to postpone expenses if it would mean incurring a debt.
There's a still couple more things I follow, but the three above usually influences most of my financial decisions.
How about you? Are you following any site that features stuff on frugal living? Do you practice it as well? Do share it with us.
Internet chess has expanded the horizons for chess players in many ways. They are no longer limited to their long-term pals, important as they may be. They can now play at their convenient time, with a player across the globe who probably has his feet in the air as well at that time. And with the development of correspondence chess in the net from the simple emails to server-based sites, this manner of playing chess has become as prominent as its real-time game counterpart.
If you are not familiar with correspondence chess, it is a way of playing chess that usually takes a considerable amount of time, usually days or weeks, since the players are not usually present at the same time. Usual time controls involves making a number of moves within a number of days or weeks. The earliest versions of correspondence chess involves mailing the moves to the other player via the post, or snail mail. With the increased usage of e-mails, moves are now transmitted to the other player as email messages. Now, there are dedicated websites that would store a player's move to their servers, waiting for the other player to make a reply when he logs in. In each case, the basic characteristic that the other player need not be present for the game to progress is retained. Many players who play correspondence chess do so because the extended amount of time per move allow for more analysis and reflection, which can then be utilized in on-the-board games.
Schemingmind is a site dedicated to correspondence chess. In addition to hosting standard chess games, it also features chess variants, all using correspondence chess time controls. It has become a sort of hub for enthusiasts of chess variants. Some of the features of the site include:
- Free lifetime membership, with restrictions
- A significant number of chess variants, with a considerable number of player-enthusiasts
- Use of the "Fischer clock", wherein time increments are added to a player's time everytime he makes a move, replenishing his clock and ensuring a more even time consumption and prevents the "mindless rushing" in the last few minutes in normal game controls
- Variable time control lengths, as short as less than a week to as long as a month of time bank, with variable increments as well
- Access to game database and annotated games
- Option to join teams organized by country or genre
- Active, educational forum
Surely this article will not be able to cover the dynamics of correspondence chess as well as expound on all the features of Schemingmind. But I hope it sparked your interest to find out more about correspondence chess. Do check out Schemingmind as well (click the pic at the top).
