Take a moment of this holiday season to lean back, enjoy, and let it all hang out.
23.12.09
9.12.09
8.12.09
Starter list: Around the World in 2010
I've got a handle on my reading for next year with fifteen ideas (click title link). At some point I'll pare that down to twelve. So many of the fiction books publishers decide to translate into English are Depressing, Weird, or Weird and Depressing. A book is either about genocide/infidelity/oppression or it is some sort of experimental novel composed entirely of questions/written from the point of view of an inanimate object. Or all of the above!
Any suggestions for NON-DEPRESSING books set outside the US? (Preferably in translation and not just an American author writing about another country.) Genre fiction is welcome, but nothing from France or UK, since I read lots of those anyway.
I'm also looking for more titles set in Asia; I only have Russia and Japan. I've already read a lot of Indian books about arranged marriages and emigrating to the UK.
As far as other parts of the world, I have:
North America:
Canada, Mexico
South America:
Chile, Argentina
Africa:
Morocco
Europe:
Ireland, Sweden, Italy, Switzerland, Iceland, Germany
Middle East:
Iran
Thank you!
Any suggestions for NON-DEPRESSING books set outside the US? (Preferably in translation and not just an American author writing about another country.) Genre fiction is welcome, but nothing from France or UK, since I read lots of those anyway.
I'm also looking for more titles set in Asia; I only have Russia and Japan. I've already read a lot of Indian books about arranged marriages and emigrating to the UK.
As far as other parts of the world, I have:
North America:
Canada, Mexico
South America:
Chile, Argentina
Africa:
Morocco
Europe:
Ireland, Sweden, Italy, Switzerland, Iceland, Germany
Middle East:
Iran
Thank you!
6.12.09
lights out today
Bruce strung out the lights today. Usually, the cats love the extra sparkle. This year, Paulette's only response was an unladylike belch.
Keaton was appalled.
Yesterday I tested the Polaroid with precious precious film and if you average things out, it shoots perfectly!
I am learning. I am also not looking forward to going out in the snow tomorrow.
Keaton was appalled.
Yesterday I tested the Polaroid with precious precious film and if you average things out, it shoots perfectly!
I am learning. I am also not looking forward to going out in the snow tomorrow.
30.11.09
fishing for ideas
December is a matter of minutes away and I'm already thinking of next year.
2010 sounds way too futuristic for me.
Anyway, this goal-setting business (Kitchen and Literary) that I started back in Hellabama circa 2005 STILL works for me. I'm tossing around ideas for next year.
Kitchen Goals:
- keep baking bread
- make sausage
- work at cooking without recipes
- learn to measure small amounts in hand
Potentials:
- Going only from my To Be Read Pile, read the alphabet by author's name (I lack a Q, V, X and Z).
- Read twelve books by authors in twelve different countries. (Or set in twelve different countries?)
- Focus on one author. I have five unread Nancy Mitford books, three Raymond Chandlers, and could easily find others.
steal a moment
We're having an odd spate of mild weather down here--nothing like this image of Dana's place in September, but cheering nonetheless, with sunny, clear, breathless mornings.
Thanksgiving meal prep was probably the least stressful I've ever had. It was nice that Bruce's mom joined us around the table. I cut up the carcass yesterday, made stock, and left it on the deck overnight to cool. Hooray for natural refrigeration!
I'm already stressed about Christmas gifts. I've done no shopping. I am not going to make a Starving, Lazy Cookbooklet this year but I think I have a good other idea.
23.11.09
on the way to mt. rushmore
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| From Loose Ends Tied Up In Knots |
We encountered a Mustang braking for a mountain goat!
The animals of South Dakota show a shocking amount of scorn for wheeled machines.
I wanted to set up a one-on-one between the mountain goat and the bighorn sheep we saw in the Badlands, but they couldn't agree on a venue.
10.11.09
Shortly after the cave adventure . . .
. . . there was a BISON ADVENTURE! You may think two adventures in a row is too good to be true, but that's just how it rolls when we vacation.
SO.
All fresh and happy from their Cave Adventure, Bruce and Sarah bundle themselves back into the car (after digging it out of all the snow that fell during the Cave Adventure) and drive off into the (still falling) snow.
Suddenly, Sarah sees a dark hulk off in the distance. She slows and pulls over. YES. It is a BISON. Roaming free on the prairie.
Way, way, WAY out there on the prairie, but free-roaming nonetheless. Sarah and Bruce think about the tragedy of the bison, its near-extinction by over-hunting and the greed of men.
Well, Sarah thinks this; Bruce thinks Sarah should take her photo and get back into the car already.
Sarah notices that this free-roaming bison does not seem to be walking very well. She pops back into the car.
"I think he's limping!" Sarah exclaims.
"Naw, he's fine," replies Bruce, brusquely.
"No, he is really limping," Sarah insists. Bruce can hear the italics in her voice. "It is freezing and will only get colder tonight! We just can't leave him--what will happen?" Sarah thinks about how much grass a 1500 pound herbivore like a bison has to eat in a day to keep warm, how little he's possibly eaten due to the injury, and envisions the bison lying down in a hollow space between hills to die, cold and alone, slowly covered by snow. She cannot let this happen.
They think and worry.
Bruce suggests calling the park rangers back at Wind Cave National Park to let them know; they are still on park grounds. Sarah calls and their very own Cave Tour Ranger picks up the phone. Sarah gushes something about the injured bison and its location and maybe they let nature take its course and all but the bison is really limping and she just wanted them to know. The ranger thanks her and says they will check it out, his Matthew McConaughey-like drawl more soothing than the words he actually speaks.
So, all is well, although Sarah is disappointed that the one bison they see was injured and at a distance. She pulls back onto the road, thanks Bruce for suggesting the phone call,
AND
THEN:
ALMOST RUNS INTO A BISON!
So wrapped up in Good Deeds, Bruce and Sarah fail to notice the bison BLOCKING THE ROAD just ahead. Sarah grips the steering wheel tightly and maneuvers around the enormous bovine, praying it doesn't decide to charge the little Honda and fling it aside. Bruce bravely documents the event with his camera; it could be their last image of the world.
Luckily, this non-limping bison goes on eating whatever delicious icy chemical has fallen onto the road from passing cars and all is well.
FOR NOW.
Because then,
there were
MOUNTAIN GOATS!
* Note: Bruce was not as heartless as I've depicted him. I was as stricken as depicted---I get too wrapped up in things sometimes, but it was really painful to see such a huge animal struggle to walk, especially with the weather and night coming on. I hope they found out what was wrong with him.
SO.
All fresh and happy from their Cave Adventure, Bruce and Sarah bundle themselves back into the car (after digging it out of all the snow that fell during the Cave Adventure) and drive off into the (still falling) snow.
Suddenly, Sarah sees a dark hulk off in the distance. She slows and pulls over. YES. It is a BISON. Roaming free on the prairie.
Way, way, WAY out there on the prairie, but free-roaming nonetheless. Sarah and Bruce think about the tragedy of the bison, its near-extinction by over-hunting and the greed of men.
Well, Sarah thinks this; Bruce thinks Sarah should take her photo and get back into the car already.
Sarah notices that this free-roaming bison does not seem to be walking very well. She pops back into the car.
"I think he's limping!" Sarah exclaims.
"Naw, he's fine," replies Bruce, brusquely.
"No, he is really limping," Sarah insists. Bruce can hear the italics in her voice. "It is freezing and will only get colder tonight! We just can't leave him--what will happen?" Sarah thinks about how much grass a 1500 pound herbivore like a bison has to eat in a day to keep warm, how little he's possibly eaten due to the injury, and envisions the bison lying down in a hollow space between hills to die, cold and alone, slowly covered by snow. She cannot let this happen.
They think and worry.
Bruce suggests calling the park rangers back at Wind Cave National Park to let them know; they are still on park grounds. Sarah calls and their very own Cave Tour Ranger picks up the phone. Sarah gushes something about the injured bison and its location and maybe they let nature take its course and all but the bison is really limping and she just wanted them to know. The ranger thanks her and says they will check it out, his Matthew McConaughey-like drawl more soothing than the words he actually speaks.
So, all is well, although Sarah is disappointed that the one bison they see was injured and at a distance. She pulls back onto the road, thanks Bruce for suggesting the phone call,
AND
THEN:
ALMOST RUNS INTO A BISON!
So wrapped up in Good Deeds, Bruce and Sarah fail to notice the bison BLOCKING THE ROAD just ahead. Sarah grips the steering wheel tightly and maneuvers around the enormous bovine, praying it doesn't decide to charge the little Honda and fling it aside. Bruce bravely documents the event with his camera; it could be their last image of the world.
Luckily, this non-limping bison goes on eating whatever delicious icy chemical has fallen onto the road from passing cars and all is well.
FOR NOW.
Because then,
there were
MOUNTAIN GOATS!
* Note: Bruce was not as heartless as I've depicted him. I was as stricken as depicted---I get too wrapped up in things sometimes, but it was really painful to see such a huge animal struggle to walk, especially with the weather and night coming on. I hope they found out what was wrong with him.
Experimentation
Intrigued by the variety of "coffees in cans" we encounter in our grocery store lives, Bruce and I decided to TRY THEM ALL. After weeks of observation, we collected subjects and STARTED THE EXPERIMENT.
We grouped them as best we could according to the label and declared flavors (an imperfect science, but anything to keep us from downing all the cans in one glorious caffeine explosion).
The first batch: the three on the right.
Verdict:
STARBUCKS DoubleShot
*This was the only one either of us had ever had before.
bitter tones
smoother than Illy
creamier
would be good over ice
Illy Cappuccino
straightforward, clean
not overpowering
kindof thin
would not be good over ice
JavaMonster Mean Bean
smells VERY sweet
caramelly
Bruce: Not a coffee drink, more of a coffee-flavored drink
Sarah: Good alcoholic vehicle
(we could not finish this one--it was overpoweringly sweet)
Next session: TOMORROW. (Bruce has the day off--Veterans' Day--and is free for imbibing.)
8.11.09
I love Thanksgiving almost as much as I love my Holga.
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| From Loose Ends Tied Up In Knots |
I think Bruce is worried because this means fewer leftovers.
THE MENU:
Sage Butter-Roasted Turkey with Cider Gravy from this month's 2009 Bon Appetit magazine. (The gravy is made with Calvados!)
Sausage-Maple Bread Stuffing from November 2007 issue of Fine Cooking. Third year in a row!
Purée de pomme de terre à l'ail from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, the only potatoes to ever grace my Thanksgiving table. I could probably make several batches of these and not bother with the turkey and we'd be happy campers. They are that good.
Broccolini with Smoked Paprika, Almonds and Garlic from Bon Appetit, November 2009. Is it wrong to try a new vegetable on a special holiday meal with a guest? Oh well . . .
Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce, my favorite.
Store-bought dinner rolls, they are Bruce's favorite and I am not letting that bother me, that he prefers smooshy rolls to my authentic homemade ones (really, I'm not).
We never have room for dessert and will just put that time and effort into choosing more wines (this does not include Wine for the Cook, a necessary elixir to mediate stress incurred whilst crafting the meal). Or a couple of fancy cheeses.
This year's Thanksgiving Butter Count comes in at 22 tablespoons to make the dishes listed above. Mmm.
What are you doing on 26 November, 2009?
5.11.09
An Adventure!
To make up for my dearth of posts, here is a story.
Because they are exciting types, Sarah and Bruce decide to visit South Dakota in October. (NOTE: October in South Dakota means wintertime.) They survived crazy snowstorms on the freeway and bitterly cold dawn at the Badlands. They visited two caves!
Here is Sarah at Cave #2, Wind Cave, conveniently located in Wind Cave National Park.
Ah, the nice, peaceful, original-discovery, natural opening of Wind Cave! The cave is breathing out today at just over 15 mph and the air is slightly misty because it is warmer in the cave than it is outside! Isn't that crazy and fun? Sarah jokes this would be an ecological place to dry your hair. Heh heh!
Sarah leans in for a closer look, amazed that someone squeezed down there to explore (the horizontal opening into the cave is only 12" by 10")! She ponders the bravery of ye people of olden times and wonders if she, too, would have entered, probably dislocating both shoulders in the process, sure, but EXPLORING!
OH MY GOODNESS! Is that a high pressure system dropping in on us RIGHT NOW? Is the pressure inside the cave lower than outside??
The cave is now inhaling! Sarah's being sucked in, an appropriate punishment for hopping the stone barrier set up around the cave just to pretend to be a cave discoverer/explorer and get a few memorable photos!
Where did Sarah go??? (PS: You can see the actual break into the cave here. It's the dark circle at the bottom of the large opening.)
Thank heavens she had a souvenir rock from the Crazy Horse Memorial in her pocket, safely weighing her down from the wild wind intake! God bless granite!
THE END.
Because they are exciting types, Sarah and Bruce decide to visit South Dakota in October. (NOTE: October in South Dakota means wintertime.) They survived crazy snowstorms on the freeway and bitterly cold dawn at the Badlands. They visited two caves!
Here is Sarah at Cave #2, Wind Cave, conveniently located in Wind Cave National Park.
Ah, the nice, peaceful, original-discovery, natural opening of Wind Cave! The cave is breathing out today at just over 15 mph and the air is slightly misty because it is warmer in the cave than it is outside! Isn't that crazy and fun? Sarah jokes this would be an ecological place to dry your hair. Heh heh!
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| From Cave Adventure! |
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| From Cave Adventure! |
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| From Cave Adventure! |
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| From Cave Adventure! |
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| From Cave Adventure! |
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| From Cave Adventure! |
3.11.09
25.10.09
ag.
It's Sunday. I've been home since Wednesday night but still feel like I just walked in the door.
21.10.09
through the rabbit hole and home again
Will return after laundry and general sense of self has returned to normal state.
13.10.09
looking back after 1368 miles
I have lots of photographs to show and things to tell you about our trip (October 2009: The Erosion Tour) but am off to Seattle bright and early tomorrow morning for a week.
Expect a high percentage of silly sister photos from that trip.
6.10.09
fleeting
Well, fall is over. That was nice, hmmm?
Nebraska has an awful tendency to go right from summer to winter; today I hacked up the last of the basil and will be making pesto like mad tomorrow. The nights are getting cold and the last tomatoes on my cherry tom plant are going to freeze before they ripen.
Bruce and I have planned a road trip up to South Dakota to see the Badlands and Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse and a couple of cave systems. The weather people tell me we might also see snow and we will definitely see the thermometer drop down below 20°.
Someone asked me the other day if we were camping.
NO. We are NOT camping.
4.10.09
Happy Birthday, Buster Keaton!
(and happy birthday to me, too.) (I made myself a Julia Child fancy French cake containing chocolate and almonds and butter and rum. The icing is chocolate and butter and rum. It tastes goooood.)
Here are some clippies for you. I'm off to watch a few shorts before bed!
27.9.09
7.9.09
Bread Reckoning
I'm doing way more baking than blogging. Last night I took a leviathan challah out of the oven. It is delicious and I learned a lot about manipulating dough for braiding--my hair-braiding skills are excessively sub-par, so I was worried; I am better with dough.
But it's one of the most successful breads I've baked so far, along with the bagels, focaccia, pizza dough (I've lost track of how many pizza doughs I've made), and white sandwich bread. There were two Vienna loaves that came out really well a few weeks ago. We haven't bought bread in aeons. There is always a bag of portioned doughs in the freezer ready to become pizza. Bruce gets to listen to me shout excitedly about gelatinization and oven spring. Really, good stuff all around for all!
My baguettes need work and most of my whole-wheat attempts come out very heavy (sorry Dana!), but this is not uncommon.
What this all comes down to is adding Bread Snob to my list of Food Snobberies. It joins Coffee Snob, Salt Snob, Cheese Snob, and Beer Snob, among others.
What Snobberies do you harbor?
24.8.09
in which Sarah chats up paleontologists
Little did I know that the way to take my mind off of my shoddy career situation and ensuing lack of self-worth and personal identity was to go look at a bunch of twelve million-year-old animal skeletons encased in volcanic ash.
Perhaps this treatment would work for others?
When thinking about interests and hobbies, I list quickly reading and photography. Soccer and hiking used to be on there, too, but, alas, Nebraska is not for hikers and I haven't engaged in authentic soccer action in years. Also on that list of interests, neglected, usually, should be Science and Ancient History/Stuff. Or the best of both worlds, any of the paleo- sciences.
So I loaded up the car last Friday and drove four hours to the Ashfall Fossil Beds to gawp (really) at the remains of rhinos, horses, camels, cranes, various dog-like animals, three-horned rodents (!), sabre-toothed deer (!!), giant tortoises, and four-tusked elephants. Their hardened skeletons were perfectly arranged as if they'd just settled down for a nap. Intact.
How did this happen, you ask? (And you should ask!)
Long ago and a thousand miles away in the Rocky Mountains, there was a HUGE volcanic eruption that sent a giant ash plume shooting across the Plains. Some of the ash was so tiny it flew all the way to a certain waterhole in what is now Nebraska, where it floated and fell for weeks and weeks, coating everything in a grey haze and the ground in fluffy layers one/two feet deep. The animals breathed it in (volcanic ash is essentially glass; fun!), filling their lungs and collecting in eyes and ears and various body folds, nooks, and crannies. The decreased lung capacity led to oxygen deprivation and painful, rapid, abnormal bone growth. Wanting relief, many animals sought out the waterhole.
Birds and smaller animals died first, with rhinos and the like holding out the longest. Within a matter of weeks, no one was left. The deadly ash covered and preserved the bodies as they died--you can even tell that that crane's last meal was a lizard; its bones are in the bird's stomach. There's a pregnant rhino who never gave birth and a baby rhino that they estimate at one month of age. It was likely born at the beginning of the ashfall and never knew any other way of existence.
The big deal about this site is most of the skeletons are WHOLE, untouched by scavengers. They are left in situ, so you can see the rictus of the spine, necks turned up and back. You can see how they lay down next to each other.
I didn't realize until I got home and checked the website again that one of the paleontologists I talked to was the man who discovered the first fossil back in 1971, a baby rhino skull sticking out of an eroded hillside, that ended up being connected to an entire skeleton. They are still working at uncovering more skeletons, hoping for a large predator (sabre-toothed tiger!).
Because I was there on a Friday afternoon, the other visitors were mostly retired people, one or two of them a bit too talkative and wanting to know why I was so interested and snappy with my camera. My patent answer for this is "I'm a teacher." People understand this: oh, she's learning for her students. But it isn't really true. (Well, not true at all, right now, not having a classroom.) For all that we expect and encourage children to learn, adults aren't generally included. They are occupied with matters of career and family and directed purpose. Researching for an article or doing a bit of photography for a project is acceptable; it is work. (And here I am blogging about it, so: Purpose!) When adults have down time, they relax and vacation. Pick up some beach reading, go on a winery tour, ski Utah, whatever. How many adults go out and learn something new, unrelated to their career path? It is not common. If I'd told the nice chatty retired man that I like science and am exercising my Lifelong Learner muscles, it would have been weird. (And he might have gone off on a rant about how when he was my age he was busy threshing wheat by hand and saving pennies for his polio-stricken sister, not looking at a bunch of decrepit bones strewn about.) But I just really like knowing how things work and why they work and what happened and what that means. Fossils fascinate me, but so do so many other things: deep-space exploration, glaciers, string theory, heart valves, the evolution of written language and contrasts with spoken, telescopes and microscopes and lenses, caves, consciousness and the brain . . .
And when I got home (another four hour drive) I thought about my day spent looking at old dead things and wandering around the sunny hillsides of the park, and thought that one of the things that makes me a good teacher is my enthusiasm for MANY things. If you have an excited adult waving her arms about and exclaiming about the Epic of Gilgamesh and cuneiform writing and how AMAZING it is--and really meaning it--half the battle is won. The students are on your side, curiosity piqued.
This was comforting, as I have not felt successful as a teacher in a long while.
I don't know how much arm-waving librarians do. Maybe I need a job as curriculum and schools coordinator for a museum. Unless you have a better idea?
13.8.09
31.7.09
smooth sailing; or, the joy of shredding algebra notes
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| From Loose Ends Tied Up In Knots |
EVEN though I've taken more standardized tests than anyone else I know (transferring teaching licenses between states)-
EVEN though I've already done grad school-
EVEN though I studied for the past three weeks like it was my new unpaid full-time job-
EVEN though I know I'm not a brainless potato-
I was still scared. Because I am a WORRISOME person.
Short version of events: yay! I walked out of the testing center with a big smile on my face and drove to the art store and bought a handful of new pens, because I love new pens and they are fun fun things to pick out. Then it was off to the library with very loud happy music playing to pick up the latest E. Lockhart book that was waiting on hold and then Bruce came home and we went to McFoster's for dinner and had sweet potato fries and enchiladas and beer and I brought home carrot cake with a GIANT GLOP of cream-cheese frosting on and it was niiiiiiiiice.
This morning I slept in and finished the library book and enjoyed coffee. Today I get to clean up the detritus that's built up since I've been studying so madly.
Thank you for all the luck-wishing and smart thoughts sent my way--they must have done something because I thought I blew the math portion and I did well, actually!
Here's to many happy irrational number-free days.
29.7.09
point of fact
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| From Loose Ends Tied Up In Knots |
I am upset about how much algebra fell out of my head since high school. I've studied a LOT for the past three weeks but there is no way to contain every little rule (or even every big rule) in my skullcase.
I generally think I have a pretty decent vocabulary. But, for many words, it turns out I have more of an inkling of meaning instead of the Official Definition. (I could pick a chary person out of a lineup but I couldn't tell you exactly what makes them chary.) My knowledge of Greek & Latin roots and prefixes is negligible. I am an excellent speller; sadly, spelling is not part of the GRE.
This culminates in moments of frozen panic and despair and of searching the Web for what constitutes a decent score for a MLIS degree.
(It all goes back to my lousy SATs.)
I realized this morning that the purpose of a GRE score is to predict an individual's potential success in grad school. Well, guess what? I've ALREADY BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN GRAD SCHOOL! I have a nice little transcript and everything.
So I feel better.
(Wish me luck, anyways. Thursday, noon to 4pm Central time.)
26.7.09
I do love me some fancy French cheese.
I've spent way too much time cramming forgotten math formulas and facts into my brain in preparation for the GRE (THURSDAY!THURSDAY!THURSDAY!). I can't sleep well, I have bad dreams about math and failure (except for the nice dream I had where I graduated from library school and none of my friends-family could come but Neil Gaiman showed up to congratulate me).
After studying a few hours at a teashop with Bruce yesterday (I had a pot of Jasmine Pearls), we trekked to Whole Foods to buy fancy aged goat cheese to make a fancy dinner to break the parade of quadratic equations marching through my head.
I hacked off large branches of my basil plant and made pesto (the Cook's Illustrated recipe is my favorite), which was spread between slices of (local) fat, red tomato. The tomato slices were arranged (not very neatly) around a sliced round of Bûcheron that had been dipped in olive oil and ciabatta bread crumbs before being baked in the oven for ten minutes. The pesto stands up to the Bûcheron and you get creamy bits of cheese with crunchy breadcrumbs and mmmmmaaauughhh.
It was fabulous, especially with a glass of cold white German wine. I'm sad not to be eating it right now.
19.7.09
weekend
Saturday started with this:
Saturday contained a lot of time spent here:
Saturday ended with pretty flowers.
Click through for details on the landscaping adventure. LANDSCAPING ADVENTURES--how can you resist?
Saturday contained a lot of time spent here:
Saturday ended with pretty flowers.
Click through for details on the landscaping adventure. LANDSCAPING ADVENTURES--how can you resist?
14.7.09
no more embarrassing hair!
Lookee tomorrow, in RED! And also give me pity for all that green studying; there will be some after dinner as well. Sigh.
Just a cut; no highlights. I was going to wait until travelling took me to such curly-hair-cutting meccas as Seattle, Portland, Boston or Chicago, but then I got tied of waiting for Susie's house thing to finish and then allow me to make plans and THEN I've been wearing a bun all the time and looking too PRIM. I'm going back to the same woman who cut my hair in . . . December? (Photo here; I think I'll go a little shorter.) Augh.
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| From Loose Ends Tied Up In Knots |
Just a cut; no highlights. I was going to wait until travelling took me to such curly-hair-cutting meccas as Seattle, Portland, Boston or Chicago, but then I got tied of waiting for Susie's house thing to finish and then allow me to make plans and THEN I've been wearing a bun all the time and looking too PRIM. I'm going back to the same woman who cut my hair in . . . December? (Photo here; I think I'll go a little shorter.) Augh.
13.7.09
please let this be the last standardized test ever
I'm registered and $150 poorer, set to test on 30 July.
All the math has fallen out of my head. I will spend quite a bit of the next couple weeks with this book.
Tomorrow I'm making pesto because the basil plant exploded.
6.7.09
in the kitchen
I counted up the recipes I've made from The Bread Baker's Apprentice and today marked the twelfth! Ciabatta is one of the more time-intensive breads. I made a starter (poolish) on Saturday and today went through the mixing, fermentation, shaping (need to work on that part), proofing and baking.
The loaves had good oven spring and now I am waiting for them to cool down so I can check the innards---ciabatta is supposed to be quite holey.
Two cherry tomatoes are almost ready. The basil is exploding. Maybe I'll have some bread and mozz and tomatoes and basil with olive oil drizzled on top tonight.
2.7.09
hanger space
GIRLY BLOG ENTRY! YAY!
I'm bad about getting rid of clothes. (Not as bad as Bruce, who has a WAY larger and OLDER wardrobe than I do--and that's not counting all his uniforms.)
PROBLEM: I tend to wear things until they fall apart (not OUT, mind you; I have way too many "around the house clothes") because I am stingy.
PROBLEM: Because I am stingy, I also keep the things that I do not wear. This is obviously to punish myself for buying the garment in the first place. You don't wear it? Too bad! You paid for it and now endure the reminder of wasted monies every time you open the closet.
It is July and I've halfheartedly gone through my clothes several times this year, tossing a few things in a bag to take to Goodwill. Today I finished a hardcore look-through and divided and conquered. Pile for Goodwill, pile to sell and garbage pile (ucky old tees and other worn items).
My main fashion flaw is buying tops that are too big. This is most evident in my professional wardrobe because I end up looking like I was caught playing dress-up. I also have a lot of boring clothes.
My best fashion skill is buying great coats and jackets (I did give away two that were too big, however). This does one little good in steamy Nebraska summers.
GOAL: Buy blouses that fit properly. Get some structured light jackets or blazers that will work in warm weather. Things that can be layered.
Not that I know where to buy these things . . . malls are not fun anymore.
1.7.09
right foot (starting the month on the)
Progression:
cafe
home
coffeeshop
bookstore
Thai restaurant
home
Veronica Mars
deck + fireflies
book
bed
cafe
home
coffeeshop
bookstore
Thai restaurant
home
Veronica Mars
deck + fireflies
book
bed
29.6.09
classic: breakfast for dinner
You may or may not recall that 2009 is Year of the Oven. [fanfare!] In case you were worried, and I know you are to the point it is giving you nightmares, I AM still working away in the kitchen on various breads, with The Bread Baker's Apprentice at my side, floury pages and all.
Most recent goings on: I made English muffins on Saturday and today marked two firsts: made Hollandaise (Jacques Pepin's recipe: no lemon) and poached eggs. The sauce didn't break or scramble and wow--so smooth--and the eggs were simply a delight, I tell you. A delight!
These items went quite well with local Canadian bacon for a ka-pow! Eggs Benedict. I never knew that I liked Eggs Benedict, but I do and it will go into regular weekend breakfast rotation. Dinner closed with cantaloupe, which isn't in season yet but it looked so good. Wasn't.
Fireflies are out.
Shower book & bed.
Most recent goings on: I made English muffins on Saturday and today marked two firsts: made Hollandaise (Jacques Pepin's recipe: no lemon) and poached eggs. The sauce didn't break or scramble and wow--so smooth--and the eggs were simply a delight, I tell you. A delight!
These items went quite well with local Canadian bacon for a ka-pow! Eggs Benedict. I never knew that I liked Eggs Benedict, but I do and it will go into regular weekend breakfast rotation. Dinner closed with cantaloupe, which isn't in season yet but it looked so good. Wasn't.
Fireflies are out.
Shower book & bed.
28.6.09
like a rolling stone
I am gathering momentum (or trying to) for the Next Step.
You may or may not remember that way back in my Alabama days (oh woe!) I applied to the ol' library school program in Tuscaloosa. That was when my mom died and things got messy and then we moved to Texas. I kept my admission status open, put it off for a year, and then two, and then dropped it.
I am looking into that again--not in Alabama, thank you, but here in Nebrasky and also UW. I'm on the fence about getting just a library endorsement so I can work in schools or going for the full-blown MLIS + a school specialty.
I am meeting with a prof later this week.
It feels like I am copping out by not teaching, but there are too many places Bruce could be moved to next summer. It could even be one of the states I DON'T have a teaching license for! (Shocking, I know; my collection of US teaching licenses is not quite complete.) Subbing is cruel and, as I say all the time, I don't want to teach full time at a school for only one year. (or do I just say that because I subconsciously don't want to teach?) He COULD get sent to a three-year posting, but we won't find out until next Spring (if that) and even school districts are cutting back these days.
On the good side, I have to choose between mango-run sorbet or chocolate-peanut butter ice cream for consumption. That is the kind of decision making I cherish.
You may or may not remember that way back in my Alabama days (oh woe!) I applied to the ol' library school program in Tuscaloosa. That was when my mom died and things got messy and then we moved to Texas. I kept my admission status open, put it off for a year, and then two, and then dropped it.
I am looking into that again--not in Alabama, thank you, but here in Nebrasky and also UW. I'm on the fence about getting just a library endorsement so I can work in schools or going for the full-blown MLIS + a school specialty.
I am meeting with a prof later this week.
It feels like I am copping out by not teaching, but there are too many places Bruce could be moved to next summer. It could even be one of the states I DON'T have a teaching license for! (Shocking, I know; my collection of US teaching licenses is not quite complete.) Subbing is cruel and, as I say all the time, I don't want to teach full time at a school for only one year. (or do I just say that because I subconsciously don't want to teach?) He COULD get sent to a three-year posting, but we won't find out until next Spring (if that) and even school districts are cutting back these days.
On the good side, I have to choose between mango-run sorbet or chocolate-peanut butter ice cream for consumption. That is the kind of decision making I cherish.
25.6.09
the reckoning; or, longest post ever
 |
| From Loose Ends Tied Up In Knots |
Four weeks ago Bruce and I got up extra early, ate the sad bananas the bed and breakfast owners had left out for us (they did not offer a real breakfast at such hours), drove across Edinburgh, and got on a plane bound for New Jersey.
Fifteen days in Scotland.
The trip was huge. I claim a pretty good knowledge of the Pacific Northwest and California. I've been to Montana. Idaho. I fell in love with Boston during grad school and did a few day trips up to Maine, Vermont & New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. I spent a week in Chicago and a weekend in DC. I lived in Omaha, Nebraska; Montgomery, Alabama; and San Antonio, Texas and drove through all the states in between. I do not recommend all these places but I am glad I got to see what they are like (except Montgomery, which is vile).
Aside from a couple of visits to Vancouver, Victoria, and Whistler (working the end of the alphabet in British Columbia), I'd never left the US. This bothered me for years, but wasn't very notable until I left Portland and started meeting people from all over. (NOTE: In retrospect, Oregon seems like a foreign country to lots of people, like the girl I met in Boston who assumed it was like the TV show Northern Exposure, set in Alaska.) (To be fair, NE was filmed in Washington State.)
We are supposed to travel with open minds. See different places, see how different people go about their lives. Marvel at different packaging and products in the shops (I think that's particularly fun--the Scottish grocery stores had a mind-blowing yogurt aisle). Try to decipher that street sign before a vehicular mis-translation crashes into being.
I spend far too much of my time comparing and I am really good at it! This is not a bad skill for an English teacher to have; grading essays means comparing a student's work against the ideal, or to their previous efforts, or to other students. It is also a good way to mask my uncreativity, as in taking someone else's idea and improving upon it instead of starting from scratch. Where a skilled comparer goes wrong is in when comparing clothing or hair or lifestyles. This often leads to vexation.
Regardless, I really enjoyed noting differences between the US and Scotland---appreciating some and tolerating others, yes, but not complaining (much) about it.
What I Didn't Get:
The use of old-style keys and keyholes, even on non-old doors in the modern-built bed and breakfasts. This was quaint at first, but I never got very good at working the locks. With your basic, flat, modern key, the opening is just the size for the key. It fits in smoothly, not at slight angles that prevent the turning of the tumblers and make lots of noise so everyone can hear the Americans who cannot figure out how to lock/unlock their door.
What I Found Amusing:
Hear music playing in a business? Restaurant, grocery, filling station, whatever—almost always American 80s music. Huh.
The cute signs. I'm not big on cute things, but the street signs walk a nice line between clever, cute and effective. (Not talking Japanese candy packaging cute, but close.) Residential area signs proclaim: “Twenty's Plenty.” Single-track roads on the islands have “Passing Places” to pull into to allow oncoming traffic to get by or hurried drivers to overtake you. And then there were “Elderly People” signs, showing a man and woman, slightly bent. The man has a cane and the woman leans on him as they walk. Elderly people! Watch out! (I imagine these signs are helpful for young Scouts looking to get their Citizenship badges. BONUS: Can easily be turned into a "situation" for points towards a Lifesaving badge, should sign be near a bridge or body of water.)
What Was Pretty Cool:
Scottish banks issue their own paper money! We exchanged some money at Newark before our Crossing and they gave us regular ol' British pounds. In Scotland, pick your ATM and pick your nice Scottish pounds! Bank of Scotland? Royal Bank of Scotland? Clydesdale Bank? How about a fiver with Robert Burns on? Although our dollar didn't go very far, the exchange of goods and services for Scottish money was at least a treat for the eyes.
What I Missed:
Good coffee. I know English and coffee-speak alright but no one in Scotland knew how to make a decent cup. I quickly gave up morning coffee at the B&Bs and switched to tea, although sometimes I'd get hopeful and try again and end up with a mouthful of bitter mud. As a rule, the B&Bs had very good breakfasts—many were INCREDIBLE. The coffee situation was misleading, as all the B&Bs brought out press pots of coffee per request. This was very exciting, at first; press pots (AKA French presses) make excellent coffee.
This does not translate into ALWAYS making excellent coffee.
Quick summation: Brewing by press pot means pouring near-boiling water over coffee grounds, letting them steep for four minutes or so, then pushing a plunger down to stop the brewing process and strain the grounds. Pour, drink and enjoy! It is very simple.
If you get a press pot in a good restaurant or coffeeshop, they give you a timer or tell you when to push the plunger down for perfectly brewed coffee. There was no such information given at the B&Bs. At first I thought I was just waiting too long, but after few hopeful experiments, I think mostly they were using really horrible coffee from a packet.
Ordering coffee in restaurants and cafes was interesting. “Cappuccinos” ordered our first day in Edinburgh meant milky lattes (Bruce happy, me unsatisfied). Some restaurants had the same press pot problem as the B&Bs. Even Peter's Yard in Edinburgh, which screams Cool! Artisan! Coffeehouse! and is full of college students gave only passable cappuccinos. I ordered a dry one, and it was wetter than the plain one I'd had the previous day, made by the same barista. Augh.
If you just order “coffee” what do you expect to arrive at your table? In the US, that means drip coffee. We ordered “coffee” in Portree, on the Isle of Skye. The waitress asked if we wanted milk, we said yes. She brought us each essentially a café au lait (again, Bruce loved it, I need more on the coffee side).
My continued search for a good cuppa was not in vain, as I had the best non-espresso drink of my life at the restaurant at the Lodge on Loch Lomond. We were there for Sunday lunch with Bruce's Scottish extended family. I had two coffees. They were breathtaking, and served with dainty lumps of “brown sugar” (not US brown sugar--I think a version of raw sugar?). Press pot coffee at its best. Sigh.
And we did have rather well-made cappuccinos in Glasgow, at Kember & Jones Fine Food Emporium & Cafe. Bruce went to Starbucks twice on his own. I can't answer for him.
(Incidentally, the local beer offerings were fantastic. I am not a Scotch drinker.)
What I'd Never Thought of Before:
How living in and around Things of Olde influences worldview. Yes, yes, as an American, my definition of old is limited. One of the oldest things I've seen are the burial grounds in Boston (going back to the 1600s!!) but that's not at all impressive in other parts of the world.
(There are other old places in the US, mounds of varying shapes and sizes built by ancient Americans two thousand years ago, but they don't get much press.)
Back to Scotland. Find an old historic building, or statue, or ROCK or entire town (Conservation Villages), and, instead of working it over, people work around it. They figure out how to go about their business, regardless of inconvenience. This is most evident in automobile matters (and the Scottish are the nicest drivers I've ever encountered). High-shouldered historic buildings on narrow historic streets, better suited for the discerning horseman hoofing it to his ancestral home? Well, you bear forward as best you can and pray that no coaches or wide lorries come the other way. But if they do, someone will reverse (nice, remember?) and keep reversing until they find a nook to tuck into so you can get by.
In the US, such streets, if they even survived until today, would be CLEARLY MARKED as one-ways and off-limits for parking. Ah, parking. Parking is another big work around in Scotland. Because the streets are so small and the cars are so tiny, people park pretty much wherever they can get a fingerhold, even if that means blocking part of the very small street. Parking was . . . creative.
This isn't a fair comparison—if there was a church in the US that had been around for 900 years, we'd take care of it, narrow streets and all. Probably. And sure, I may be romanticizing, but it made me think that the US values efficiency over history, or beauty, or preservation. In Scotland (and, if I may generalize, Western Europe) people are more tolerant, more willing to make do with what is instead of “fixing” it. Not to say one is right or wrong; they are just different and it made me think.
And the Obvious:
Ah, plumbing and electricity, which go hand-in-hand in the bathroom.
In a word: complicated. Bathroom light outside the bathroom door? Takes a little getting used to, but, okay. But there is more. Feeling dirty? In one place we had a water heater in the kitchen to energize, a switch to turn on the power to the shower and then another button to turn on the pump and make water flow. One dial control gives you scalding or freezing water; the other, for water pressure, has two settings: Dribble and Trickle. (There were lots of buttons and dials in Scotland—every outlet had its own power switch.)
In other places, you pulled a string hanging from the ceiling to turn on the shower power (I had to ask, as I thought it was a “Help, I fell off the toilet!” string.)
The only shower with decent water pressure was in the B&B owned by an American.
Some of the B&Bs had bathtub-shower combos. None of those had shower curtains. Instead there were glass half-door things that half-assedly kept water from spraying onto the floor. You know what's different between a glass half-door thing and a shower curtain? The half-doors let whatever part of your body that isn't getting dripped on (see low pressure, above) freeze. A shower curtain keeps all the steam inside the tub area. A glass half-door? Not so much. This may be a water-conservation measure, because you just end up crouching under the showerhead, rotating in tiny circles to keep what little water percolates from above falling on as much of your body as possible, trying to keep warm and failing, so you hit OFF and get out of the tub. Ta-da: Lower water bills!
To close the plumbing discussion, I must say I have never heard such noisy toilets! A flush took sixty seconds and there was so much gurgling and shooshing and tinkling going on when those toilets filled, it sounded like someone was still USING the facilities. That took forever; they must utilize pipes the size of capillaries to get the tank back to the ready position.
So, I learned a lot.
Scotland was better than I imagined.
This is impressive, as I spent a considerable amount of time imagining. (Imagining includes worrying and agonizing, by the way.)
I found the card at the top of this post at a paper, postcard and ephemera show months before the trip and forgot about it. From Stirling Castle, I took the below photo of the Wallace Monument, on one of the few misty days we had. I stumbled across the postcard the other day and found I'd taken a similar picture. It was perfect closure.
Fifteen days in Scotland.
The trip was huge. I claim a pretty good knowledge of the Pacific Northwest and California. I've been to Montana. Idaho. I fell in love with Boston during grad school and did a few day trips up to Maine, Vermont & New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. I spent a week in Chicago and a weekend in DC. I lived in Omaha, Nebraska; Montgomery, Alabama; and San Antonio, Texas and drove through all the states in between. I do not recommend all these places but I am glad I got to see what they are like (except Montgomery, which is vile).
Aside from a couple of visits to Vancouver, Victoria, and Whistler (working the end of the alphabet in British Columbia), I'd never left the US. This bothered me for years, but wasn't very notable until I left Portland and started meeting people from all over. (NOTE: In retrospect, Oregon seems like a foreign country to lots of people, like the girl I met in Boston who assumed it was like the TV show Northern Exposure, set in Alaska.) (To be fair, NE was filmed in Washington State.)
We are supposed to travel with open minds. See different places, see how different people go about their lives. Marvel at different packaging and products in the shops (I think that's particularly fun--the Scottish grocery stores had a mind-blowing yogurt aisle). Try to decipher that street sign before a vehicular mis-translation crashes into being.
I spend far too much of my time comparing and I am really good at it! This is not a bad skill for an English teacher to have; grading essays means comparing a student's work against the ideal, or to their previous efforts, or to other students. It is also a good way to mask my uncreativity, as in taking someone else's idea and improving upon it instead of starting from scratch. Where a skilled comparer goes wrong is in when comparing clothing or hair or lifestyles. This often leads to vexation.
Regardless, I really enjoyed noting differences between the US and Scotland---appreciating some and tolerating others, yes, but not complaining (much) about it.
What I Didn't Get:
The use of old-style keys and keyholes, even on non-old doors in the modern-built bed and breakfasts. This was quaint at first, but I never got very good at working the locks. With your basic, flat, modern key, the opening is just the size for the key. It fits in smoothly, not at slight angles that prevent the turning of the tumblers and make lots of noise so everyone can hear the Americans who cannot figure out how to lock/unlock their door.
What I Found Amusing:
Hear music playing in a business? Restaurant, grocery, filling station, whatever—almost always American 80s music. Huh.
The cute signs. I'm not big on cute things, but the street signs walk a nice line between clever, cute and effective. (Not talking Japanese candy packaging cute, but close.) Residential area signs proclaim: “Twenty's Plenty.” Single-track roads on the islands have “Passing Places” to pull into to allow oncoming traffic to get by or hurried drivers to overtake you. And then there were “Elderly People” signs, showing a man and woman, slightly bent. The man has a cane and the woman leans on him as they walk. Elderly people! Watch out! (I imagine these signs are helpful for young Scouts looking to get their Citizenship badges. BONUS: Can easily be turned into a "situation" for points towards a Lifesaving badge, should sign be near a bridge or body of water.)
What Was Pretty Cool:
Scottish banks issue their own paper money! We exchanged some money at Newark before our Crossing and they gave us regular ol' British pounds. In Scotland, pick your ATM and pick your nice Scottish pounds! Bank of Scotland? Royal Bank of Scotland? Clydesdale Bank? How about a fiver with Robert Burns on? Although our dollar didn't go very far, the exchange of goods and services for Scottish money was at least a treat for the eyes.
What I Missed:
Good coffee. I know English and coffee-speak alright but no one in Scotland knew how to make a decent cup. I quickly gave up morning coffee at the B&Bs and switched to tea, although sometimes I'd get hopeful and try again and end up with a mouthful of bitter mud. As a rule, the B&Bs had very good breakfasts—many were INCREDIBLE. The coffee situation was misleading, as all the B&Bs brought out press pots of coffee per request. This was very exciting, at first; press pots (AKA French presses) make excellent coffee.
This does not translate into ALWAYS making excellent coffee.
Quick summation: Brewing by press pot means pouring near-boiling water over coffee grounds, letting them steep for four minutes or so, then pushing a plunger down to stop the brewing process and strain the grounds. Pour, drink and enjoy! It is very simple.
If you get a press pot in a good restaurant or coffeeshop, they give you a timer or tell you when to push the plunger down for perfectly brewed coffee. There was no such information given at the B&Bs. At first I thought I was just waiting too long, but after few hopeful experiments, I think mostly they were using really horrible coffee from a packet.
Ordering coffee in restaurants and cafes was interesting. “Cappuccinos” ordered our first day in Edinburgh meant milky lattes (Bruce happy, me unsatisfied). Some restaurants had the same press pot problem as the B&Bs. Even Peter's Yard in Edinburgh, which screams Cool! Artisan! Coffeehouse! and is full of college students gave only passable cappuccinos. I ordered a dry one, and it was wetter than the plain one I'd had the previous day, made by the same barista. Augh.
If you just order “coffee” what do you expect to arrive at your table? In the US, that means drip coffee. We ordered “coffee” in Portree, on the Isle of Skye. The waitress asked if we wanted milk, we said yes. She brought us each essentially a café au lait (again, Bruce loved it, I need more on the coffee side).
My continued search for a good cuppa was not in vain, as I had the best non-espresso drink of my life at the restaurant at the Lodge on Loch Lomond. We were there for Sunday lunch with Bruce's Scottish extended family. I had two coffees. They were breathtaking, and served with dainty lumps of “brown sugar” (not US brown sugar--I think a version of raw sugar?). Press pot coffee at its best. Sigh.
And we did have rather well-made cappuccinos in Glasgow, at Kember & Jones Fine Food Emporium & Cafe. Bruce went to Starbucks twice on his own. I can't answer for him.
(Incidentally, the local beer offerings were fantastic. I am not a Scotch drinker.)
What I'd Never Thought of Before:
How living in and around Things of Olde influences worldview. Yes, yes, as an American, my definition of old is limited. One of the oldest things I've seen are the burial grounds in Boston (going back to the 1600s!!) but that's not at all impressive in other parts of the world.
(There are other old places in the US, mounds of varying shapes and sizes built by ancient Americans two thousand years ago, but they don't get much press.)
Back to Scotland. Find an old historic building, or statue, or ROCK or entire town (Conservation Villages), and, instead of working it over, people work around it. They figure out how to go about their business, regardless of inconvenience. This is most evident in automobile matters (and the Scottish are the nicest drivers I've ever encountered). High-shouldered historic buildings on narrow historic streets, better suited for the discerning horseman hoofing it to his ancestral home? Well, you bear forward as best you can and pray that no coaches or wide lorries come the other way. But if they do, someone will reverse (nice, remember?) and keep reversing until they find a nook to tuck into so you can get by.
In the US, such streets, if they even survived until today, would be CLEARLY MARKED as one-ways and off-limits for parking. Ah, parking. Parking is another big work around in Scotland. Because the streets are so small and the cars are so tiny, people park pretty much wherever they can get a fingerhold, even if that means blocking part of the very small street. Parking was . . . creative.
This isn't a fair comparison—if there was a church in the US that had been around for 900 years, we'd take care of it, narrow streets and all. Probably. And sure, I may be romanticizing, but it made me think that the US values efficiency over history, or beauty, or preservation. In Scotland (and, if I may generalize, Western Europe) people are more tolerant, more willing to make do with what is instead of “fixing” it. Not to say one is right or wrong; they are just different and it made me think.
And the Obvious:
Ah, plumbing and electricity, which go hand-in-hand in the bathroom.
In a word: complicated. Bathroom light outside the bathroom door? Takes a little getting used to, but, okay. But there is more. Feeling dirty? In one place we had a water heater in the kitchen to energize, a switch to turn on the power to the shower and then another button to turn on the pump and make water flow. One dial control gives you scalding or freezing water; the other, for water pressure, has two settings: Dribble and Trickle. (There were lots of buttons and dials in Scotland—every outlet had its own power switch.)
In other places, you pulled a string hanging from the ceiling to turn on the shower power (I had to ask, as I thought it was a “Help, I fell off the toilet!” string.)
The only shower with decent water pressure was in the B&B owned by an American.
Some of the B&Bs had bathtub-shower combos. None of those had shower curtains. Instead there were glass half-door things that half-assedly kept water from spraying onto the floor. You know what's different between a glass half-door thing and a shower curtain? The half-doors let whatever part of your body that isn't getting dripped on (see low pressure, above) freeze. A shower curtain keeps all the steam inside the tub area. A glass half-door? Not so much. This may be a water-conservation measure, because you just end up crouching under the showerhead, rotating in tiny circles to keep what little water percolates from above falling on as much of your body as possible, trying to keep warm and failing, so you hit OFF and get out of the tub. Ta-da: Lower water bills!
To close the plumbing discussion, I must say I have never heard such noisy toilets! A flush took sixty seconds and there was so much gurgling and shooshing and tinkling going on when those toilets filled, it sounded like someone was still USING the facilities. That took forever; they must utilize pipes the size of capillaries to get the tank back to the ready position.
So, I learned a lot.
Scotland was better than I imagined.
This is impressive, as I spent a considerable amount of time imagining. (Imagining includes worrying and agonizing, by the way.)
I found the card at the top of this post at a paper, postcard and ephemera show months before the trip and forgot about it. From Stirling Castle, I took the below photo of the Wallace Monument, on one of the few misty days we had. I stumbled across the postcard the other day and found I'd taken a similar picture. It was perfect closure.
 |
| From Loose Ends Tied Up In Knots |
16.6.09
june accounting - self-indulgent list writing
Back in January, like a good list-maker, I made a list of things to do in 2009. I have not been really gung-ho about the list (hence entitling it: “vague plans: 2009) but as June is half gone and so is the year, I am taking stock.
Completed things are crossed out, new items are in blue. Items in progress are green.
FOOD THINGS:
Completed things are crossed out, new items are in blue. Items in progress are green.
FOOD THINGS:
Do kitchen a favor and take my knives in to be sharpened.Calibrate all thermometers.Get candy/deep-fry thermometer.(thanks, Meera!)Make amazing, rustic, pain-in-the-ass inconvenient loaf of bread.- Bake a soufflé (Um, I ate a soufflé.)
- Try a new restaurant once a month (with Bruce).
- Teach Bruce how to properly sauté shrimp.
- Get a new job. Preferably something I don't hate and/or dread. I've applied to ONE job since January.
- Look into School Librarian qualifications for Oregon and see if it's something I can get a jump on.
- Renew Oregon teaching license.
- I'm feeling a hankerin' to read things in translation. Read two, in the middle of another.
- Visit Brownville, Nebraska for bookstores. Bring and stick to a budget. On the calendar for next weekend.
- Read a lot of Dumas. Have read one, am in the middle of a second.
Shrink Web footprint. Stop maintaining 300 profiles & pages.- Make Omaha friend(s). Met up with former library coworker twice.
- See a play. (With Omaha friends?)
- Travel: Boston, Portland, Chicago, Badlands,
overseas . . . - Make more phone calls. I suck at phone calls.
See a doctor (it has been YEARS). (Why am I paying for health insurance if I'm not using it?)- Find competent Omaha hairstylist.
- Do more creating, less consuming. Don't buy crap.
- Do more DOING and less reading & thinking ABOUT doing.
- Make a will.
Take sewing class (Jan-Feb!).- Finish sewing drapes. I should have been more detailed and broken this into steps.
Make own laundry detergent.This has saved a lot of $$$.Buy wide-angle lens (do before travelling).
12.6.09
cheers
(Above) Scotland's sodypop.
I'm done sorting through the 800 (!!!) photos from the trip and don't have too many regrets about what I did and did not shoot, hooray, hoorah. It was a vacation where I took photos, not a photo-shooting vacation. (Gotta get priorities straight.) I do wish I'd taken more during our second time though Edinburgh, the last days before getting on the plane, but I was kindof photo'ed out by then. No regrets about carrying around three lenses, though; the dent in my shoulder was worth it.
There were things I was not allowed to photograph that I really wanted to. At Stirling Castle, they are recreating the seven Hunt of the Unicorn tapestries to hang in the Queen's Hall. They are enormous: about TEN by TWELVE FEET and each takes anywhere from 2 1/2 to 4 1/2 years to make. The project started in 2001 and won't be finished until 2013. Four are finished and hanging and gorgeous but the best part is the light-filled studio building on the castle grounds for the weavers, and you can go and watch an artist sit at a giant loom and work, stitching away. You aren't to talk to the weaver and no photos are allowed (understandable) but I kept framing neato macro shots with interesting DOF and would have been so cool.
Anyway, the complete set of Sarah's Scotland Photos is here. Thanks for all the comments!
3.6.09
nebraska. yawn
Well, hello hello! We've been back for a week now, so I must stop sighing and being wistful about Scotland (and the scene captured in the above photo). But that doesn't mean I can't think about going back, already. I'm thinking Shetland or Isle of Lewis. Further & farther out . . .
I've posted 22 pictures to a Scotland set on Flickr, encompassing the best snappy parts of our first three days in Edinburgh; I have somewhere around 800 photos waiting to be looked at and will post maybe another twenty or so.
To fill my I'm-not-in-Scotland-anymore hours I'm all about getting dirty. We planted a Japanese maple in the backyard over the weekend and it is still alive. I check on it, daily, watching critically for Signs and patting the ground underneath. Today I finished a round of planting & transplanting : tomatoes, rosemary, garlic chives, basil, lemongrass, lemon verbena, mint, thyme, parsley. Tomorrow I sort seeds.
What with school being out, I have no method of employment and even less of a schedule than I had while substitute teaching. To Keep Active, I put my Berlitz French CDs in today and did a session. I spent some time on the Wii. I poked at some job sites. I picked out a blueberry muffin recipe to make tomorrow.
I feel guilty about not working, but financially, I am okay for a little while. Should be grateful for this but am mostly guilty. Bruce is back at work and, speaking of which, returned to much acclaim! Instead of saying Bruce was on holiday, his office-mates explained to colleagues ACROSS THE COUNTRY that Bruce was on a three-week honeymoon. Bruce has been squashing offers of congratulations and fielding queries from disappointed friends who wondered why they weren't told about the Happy Occasion. Another office even put a cake together. And people say the military is no fun.
28.5.09
photo update
I don't think there are very many of you who read this and don't view my Flickr page every now and then, but I have started processing my photographic evidence of Scotland. You can view the slideshow version here or click through the set here. I'll be adding more photos by the handful for the next week or until I get bored of it (I am not a true artiste).
Happily, I did keep a journal the entire time but am not going to blog about the trip much; fond reminisces will be attached to photos in my Flickr stream to give them more context and make them actually interesting.
Included in my obsessive planning efforts of the months preceding the holiday, I thought lots about what sort of pictures I wanted to come home with--I did not want to do a Everything I Saw In Scotland!!! thing. I tried more along the lines of Here's Some Cool Stuff From My Travels! and hope I succeeded.
Happily, I did keep a journal the entire time but am not going to blog about the trip much; fond reminisces will be attached to photos in my Flickr stream to give them more context and make them actually interesting.
Included in my obsessive planning efforts of the months preceding the holiday, I thought lots about what sort of pictures I wanted to come home with--I did not want to do a Everything I Saw In Scotland!!! thing. I tried more along the lines of Here's Some Cool Stuff From My Travels! and hope I succeeded.
27.5.09
feet on the ground (head still in the clouds)
As of yesterday afternoon, we are back! (not yet fully functional, but certainly present and accounted for)
Omaha exploded into green while we were Overseas (I'm totally going to insert that into as many conversations as possible because I've NEVER been overseas before). The trees in the backyard all decided to throw out their leaves and the neighbors (and their annoying floodlights) are once again hidden from view. Tiny purple flowers carpet the ground under the trees. It's very pretty, which is good, since my optic nerve got used to being continually exposed to Items of Great Beauty and/or Great Interest over the past couple weeks.
The cats are healthy and happy to see us. Paulette seems less neurotic; I guess boarding did her well. Maybe she saw how lucky she really has it?
The self-watering system I rigged worked and all my plants are alive.
We picked up a load of (mostly) very boring mail on the way home from the airport.
I got more spam than actual email, and more promotional/subscription emails than Real email from Real People (because you all knew I was Away) (I hope that's the reason). I did not miss the Interwebs.
American plumbing is a wonder I'll always treasure.
First meal back: pizza.
I woke up at 2am. I got up at 4am. It's not yet noon but I'm ready for dinner (leftover pizza)
I have 10GB of photos to sort through.
And the cupboard is bare and we are going to get groceries.
More soon--
Omaha exploded into green while we were Overseas (I'm totally going to insert that into as many conversations as possible because I've NEVER been overseas before). The trees in the backyard all decided to throw out their leaves and the neighbors (and their annoying floodlights) are once again hidden from view. Tiny purple flowers carpet the ground under the trees. It's very pretty, which is good, since my optic nerve got used to being continually exposed to Items of Great Beauty and/or Great Interest over the past couple weeks.
The cats are healthy and happy to see us. Paulette seems less neurotic; I guess boarding did her well. Maybe she saw how lucky she really has it?
The self-watering system I rigged worked and all my plants are alive.
We picked up a load of (mostly) very boring mail on the way home from the airport.
I got more spam than actual email, and more promotional/subscription emails than Real email from Real People (because you all knew I was Away) (I hope that's the reason). I did not miss the Interwebs.
American plumbing is a wonder I'll always treasure.
First meal back: pizza.
I woke up at 2am. I got up at 4am. It's not yet noon but I'm ready for dinner (leftover pizza)
I have 10GB of photos to sort through.
And the cupboard is bare and we are going to get groceries.
More soon--
9.5.09
tips
Except for our first stop, we are staying exclusively in bed and breakfasts this trip. I've never been in a B&B. Initially I was reluctant--it is someone's HOME--but in some places, they are the only type of lodging, and it will be nice to have people to ask about the area. It will force me to talk to strangers.
Okay: the only selling point I needed was all those offers of Full Scottish Breakfasts.
In looking for info about B&B's I came across this bit of advice:
Attire: When in the public areas of the B&B it is best not to wear your negligee or only your underwear, go barefooted, etc. If your room is not en-suite and you have to cross the hall to a bathroom, cover up.
The fact that such behavior has to be explained means there must have been problems, somewhere!
Thanks for all the advice about what to bring on the long flight. I loaded up a carry-on messenger bag today with the following:
Okay: the only selling point I needed was all those offers of Full Scottish Breakfasts.
In looking for info about B&B's I came across this bit of advice:
Attire: When in the public areas of the B&B it is best not to wear your negligee or only your underwear, go barefooted, etc. If your room is not en-suite and you have to cross the hall to a bathroom, cover up.
The fact that such behavior has to be explained means there must have been problems, somewhere!
Thanks for all the advice about what to bring on the long flight. I loaded up a carry-on messenger bag today with the following:
- kleenex
- hand lotion
- hand sanitizer
- chapstick
- ibuprophen
- gum
- mints
- EmergenC
- earplugs
- headphones
- iPod
- Larabars
- neck pillow (I am NOT wearing that arm thing she has on)
- books
- solid perfume
- scarf
- pens
- journal
- all the camera equipment that doesn't get more than one foot away from me in public. (This Domke insert fits my camera + lens and two extra lenses perfectly.)
5.5.09
it couldn't be any more gorgeous outside
early morning rain freshened everything up and now the sun is out, the birds are happy and it smells so green.
4.5.09
details
Things I cannot bring back from Scotland:
- All products made from sea turtles
- All ivory, both Asian and African elephant, and rhinoceros
- Furs from spotted cats
- Furs from marine mammals
- Feathers and feather products from wild birds
- Most crocodile and caiman leather
- Most coral, whether in chunks or in jewelry
- Irreplaceable family objects
- All unnecessary credit cards
- Social Security card, library card, and similar items that may be in your wallet.
3.5.09
decisions, decisions
One of the most important decisions one makes when taking a trip, journeying or going on holiday is literary in nature.
Q: What printed texts will accompany me? It has to be interesting but somewhat obscure (at least the cover), so as not to encourage nearby fliers to strike up conversations. (If it has been on Oprah's show, it is disqualifed.)
My go-to travel companion used to be (and sometimes still is) Wodehouse. (Oprah doesn't know about Wodehouse.) The old thin Penguins fit easily into carry-ons and following along on Bertie's or the Blandings Castle crew's adventures is not only entertaining, but it does not require a whole lot of focus. (I tend to be distracted on flights, fidgety and worrisome about connection times.)
I tried McSweeney's as airplane reading the single year I subscribed, but the contents were such a mixed bag (and sometimes the issues were ENORMOUS) I gave up.
And this month I'm coming up on a ten-hour flight to Scotland. What will keep me company? Yes, yes, Bruce will be sitting right beside me, but neither of us is a big plane talker--everyone around you can hear and did I mention TEN HOURS? That's time INSIDE the plane, not including transfer or wait time at the airport. I've got to have something good! I've been savoring the Decision.
I made it last night.
Two years ago, I discovered that the Paris Review is the perfect in-flight companion. (see photo above by the delightful Meera) A non-snooty literary journal, it has essays, short fiction, short nonfiction, photojournalism, poetry and author interviews. It has everything! And that everything is almost always ALL GOOD. (Weird fiction does creep in at times. There was a "short story" that was composed solely of questions, but it just didn't take off for me. I tried. Twice.) So I've saved the Spring 2009 edition For Scotland.
But a 170-page lit journal will only get one so far, like maybe to the Atlantic. For the rest of the flight I'm taking Chandler's The Long Goodbye, 379 pages of gritty hardboiled crime. That and a charged iPod should do me just fine. And maybe a Gervase Fen mystery.
FYI: Return flight reading material to be found in Edinburgh used bookshops.
QUESTIONS:
What do you read on your travels?
Should I get a neck pillow? (We're flying a red-eye.)
What food do you bring on airplanes? (I'm going to stash a couple of Larabars in my bag but need more ideas.)
How do Meera and Ross survive flights to Singapore?
2.5.09
2 May 2009
Ta-da!
May heralds the opening of ye olde farmers market downtown. I showed up around 9.30, missing out on a few things (I always mean to get there early but never can Get Out of Bed). It was packed; I parked blocks and blocks away and had a very pleasant sunny stroll into the Old Market area (which is not really like a European city, regardless of what the Omaha tourist board says).
Best Practice: I always walk the whole space first, to see who has what, who has the best, and how much they're selling it for, then go back and make purchases. It's nice to recognize certain stalls--I don't know any of the farmers firsthand, except for the people up the road we buy eggs and bacon, etc. from every weekend, but everyone generally is in the same location as last year.
[Familiarity is still novel to me, after all this moving business.]
Well, the spigariello lady was not in the same location--I asked, not remembering her stall from last year. She caught my eye as I did my slow perusal and I walked over to see what she had. She'd sold out of spinach, but I purchased her last bag of mysterious Italian greenery and she told me what they'd have later in the summer. Then I circled round to buy a pint of cherry tomatoes and added a $2.00 bunch of green garlic on the way back to the car.
I walked right past the bakery stalls. I bake bread! I've got a loaf of cinnamon raisin waiting to be sliced, lightly toasted and brushed with butter.
Not knowing what I'd find at the market, I'd thrown (gently) a couple of cookbooks in the car before leaving the house. None of my purchases were showcase items, so I chose a Sweet Potato Vichyssoise, made a list, and went to the grocery store. The green garlic will sub in for shallots. I'll use the toms and greens in salad.
And now I'm home. Bruce has been in DC and Alabama this week; I pick him up tomorrow. I'm glad it is sunny.
21.4.09
I'll never go hungry again
THINGS TO DO WHEN VISITING OMAHA:
☺ A list, by Sarah ☺
1. Admire lovely completed backsplash:
2. Eat sweet potato fries:
3. See something glamorous:
4. Act glamorous:
Meera doesn't need gargantuan sunglasses to look glamorous; she's a natural:
5. Make and eat ice cream(s).
6. Drink brain-influencing chemicals, like caffeine and whatever they put in North Shore's Distiller's Gin No. 6 to make it taste so good (thank you, Meera!). (NOTE: Do not consume caffeine and gin at the same time.)
7. Act (pretend if you have to) ladylike (see Meera's natural glamor again?):
8. Eat macaroni and cheese and french toast and bacon and Canadian bacon and fancy sandwiches and salmon and scallops and shrimp and croissants and everything good.
9. Go see a classic on the Big Screen, such as Gone with the Wind. When I visited Meera and Ross in Chicago, we saw All About Eve; does two times make it a Thing?
10. Continue enjoying the bridges of friendship (sorry-sappy!):
11. Did I mention the eating part?
☺ A list, by Sarah ☺
1. Admire lovely completed backsplash:
2. Eat sweet potato fries:
3. See something glamorous:
4. Act glamorous:
Meera doesn't need gargantuan sunglasses to look glamorous; she's a natural:
5. Make and eat ice cream(s).
6. Drink brain-influencing chemicals, like caffeine and whatever they put in North Shore's Distiller's Gin No. 6 to make it taste so good (thank you, Meera!). (NOTE: Do not consume caffeine and gin at the same time.)
7. Act (pretend if you have to) ladylike (see Meera's natural glamor again?):
8. Eat macaroni and cheese and french toast and bacon and Canadian bacon and fancy sandwiches and salmon and scallops and shrimp and croissants and everything good.
9. Go see a classic on the Big Screen, such as Gone with the Wind. When I visited Meera and Ross in Chicago, we saw All About Eve; does two times make it a Thing?
10. Continue enjoying the bridges of friendship (sorry-sappy!):
11. Did I mention the eating part?
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