In the Sims 2: Seasons, fall is a magical time.  Learning happens at an accelerated rate, paranormal activity is at its peak, and the scenery is filled with the same glorious colors we see mirrored in our reality.  (Disclaimer: Ordinarily I wouldn’t shill for a video game, but I like this particular game. It manages to be wholesome, healthy, and positive despite its complete lack of Judeo-Christian symbolism. It’s because of that careful balance that this game is one of the few I’m willing to play.)

The same expansion pack enables magical homegrown food, which sparkles.  Please excuse this tangent, while I explain that I have recently had the unexpected and unparalleled pleasure of eating breakfast cooked on the same farm that raised the chickens that laid the eggs on my plate.  The yolks were the single yellowest thing I have ever seen in my life.  The waffles were homemade, and the peaches on top were ripe, luscious and regionally grown.  Even the coffee was homebrew:  not just brewed at home, not just ground that morning in a burr grinder, but actually roasted at home.  Never in my life have I felt as much like royalty as when I mopped up the last of that unequalled meal.

And I don’t care whether you believe me or not, it’s true:  that plate of food *sparkled*.

programmer (pro‘gram’?r) — n.

A device for turning coffee into code.