31 December 2012

Gum Drops

Hello all,

I hope all of you have had fabulous holidays. I was lucky enough to spend a couple of weeks with my family out west, and so took a little hiatus from writing. But, now I have some (hopefully) interesting things to share.

Not long before I headed home I found a recipe for homemade gum drops floating around my Google reader. Not only did they look delicious, but they looked incredibly easy too (i.e. no candy thermometer needed). Unfortunately they required things like flavorings, and since I don't have a huge variety of those I decided to wait till I went home to make them.

My recommendation would be to use more flavoring than you think you need because my flavors ended up being much more subtle than I'd hoped. Also, I actually managed to make something red, using food coloring (you can maybe see the difference between round 1--on the back right and round 2--on the back left). The candy went over well with my family, though I found that longer I let them sit out the more gum drop-y the consistency was.

I hope you all are gearing up for a fabulous New Year!

13 December 2012

Relief Society Christmas Concert

Every year the Relief Societies in the Singles Wards in my stake band together and put on a Christmas concert. This was something like the tenth or twelfth annual concert this year. And it was pretty amazing. They had a variety of choir pieces, and also solo or small group songs. A girl from my ward who is a professional opera singer sang a beautiful rendition of Gesu Bambino, which I think was my favorite piece. I didn't sing in the choir, but I did contribute by making a pumpkin pie as part of the refreshments. It was an excellent concert. Maybe next year I'll step it up and participate a little more.

12 December 2012

Holiday Pops

Last week I used my college card, to attend the Boston Pops holiday concert. It was fabulous. One kind of fun thing about the Pops is that they take out the rows of chairs and replace them with tables and chairs and then serve food throughout the concert. It is fun little dinner-theater kind of thing. I didn't order anything (it was a little overpriced for my college budget), but the couple sitting at the table in front of me shared their pitcher of raspberry lemonade with me. It was very kind of them, and very delicious. I had popped by Modern's Pastry before the show and bought a canoli and some amaretto cookies, so I had the canoli during intermission. It was so good. It's been ages since I've been to the North End. I kind of miss being there all the time. I think my favorite piece was "The 12 Days of Christmas." They did a version where each day was sung to the tune of some other popular song. It was very well arranged and fit together real nice. They also had a person who read Twas the Night Before Christmas, which they had put to music. I felt that this concert was a wonderful way to start out my Christmas season.  

11 December 2012

Gift-giving

This year I really struggled to figure out what I wanted for Christmas. I started several months ago trying to compile some kind of "list" to make things easier for my family. But when it came time to really think about it I realized that there are really very few things that I need, and even fewer that other people can pick out for me (for whatever reason I find better success in picking out my own clothes). And some of the things that I was in need of I recently acquired from my Grandmother, i.e. a bread tin and mason jars.

I really hate having to make quick decisions about purchases. I always feel like I'm impulse buying, even if that's not really the case. I have a good story about my favorite dress that illustrates this well, but it will have to be a story for another day though. Because of this fear of impulse buying I'm a huge fan of the concept of putting something you want to buy on a list and then revisiting it a month or so later to see if you still want it. More often than not I find that I don't really need the thing I thought I needed. And so this means that as I was trying to figure out what I wanted for Christmas, that the things I thought I needed I really don't. And as I've tried to minimalize and declutter my life my wants have decreased quite a bit. For me I feel like this is great, but I think it frustrates those who may want to show their love for me through gift-giving this holiday season.

10 December 2012

Compliments

I was just thinking about how I haven't written any interesting posts lately--because the last few weeks have been pretty run of the mill. And then I remembered the great compliment I got today while out shopping. My roommate and I had gone to Target to pick up some things we needed and we were checking out when the cashier leaned towards me kind of conspiratorially and asked me if "she" was my daughter.

Yeah. I didn't really know how to respond to that, other than to super awkwardly say no. No, my roommate (who by the way is older than me) is not my daughter. I wish I could make an excuse for the cashier like that his age would make it more likely that two we looked like a mother-daughter pair but he was about the same age as us too.  Yeah, I still don't know what to do with that information.

06 December 2012

The Pops

Tomorrow I'm off to see the Boston Pops! The Holiday Pops, even. Yeah, I do love my College Card.

05 December 2012

1 down, 2 to go

Today was the last session of my technology class. It is over! finally! And it was a pretty easy day. We each had to give a short (3 min) presentation of the websites we created. It was fun to see what everyone had done with their websites. And rambling about a website for 3 minutes is a cinch. I don't think a single person in class really prepared and everyone did just fine.

Now I just have two more days of school until I'm free for approximately a month. One thing I love about grad school: long Christmas vacations.

03 December 2012

It all changes so fast

I think we are all agreed that the world is changing fast. Very fast. But, do  you ever think that maybe it's changing too fast? There are so many days where I feel like I just can't keep up. And the truth is, I don't want to. Why do we spend so much time and energy and money  fixing things that aren't broken and making things better that are good enough already? (and really, just making them worse than they were before, but covering it up with the fact that they look cooler). I spent a good chunk of the morning working on an assignment for my technology class. It's one I've been putting off all semester because when I did the first part of it earlier in the semester it made me want to take all my technological advances and throw them out the window. Which is a little how I feel today. Technology is great, mostly. But it just changes too quickly, and I don't want to keep up.

30 November 2012

Power Failure.

Last night I walked in to work and about 4 people stopped me to fill me in on the happenings of the last half-hour. Apparently some weird transmisssion-line something failed near Central Sq in Cambridge and caused this huge power outage that ran from Kendall to Harvard Yard. And because our servers are located in another part of town they were affected. So we had lights at work, and little else. No phone, no internet, no network drives. Nothing. It made my night really quiet, as I only had to field questions. I think everyone else's night was a lot busier. Lucky for me, one of my co-workers took pity on me and found me a book to read to help pass the time. (Yeah, it would have been a good night for me to have actually brought my homework with me. I would have gotten tons done, oh well. hindsight is 20/20.) But it made for a nice evening. I got to enjoy the effects of a power outage in a warm, lighted building.

http://www.boston.com/metrodesk/2012/11/29/cambridge-power-outage-thousands-hit-blackout/0r93dJVZglkOagAFw8w9bK/story.html 

28 November 2012

Something exciting

I had something exciting planned for today, but I'm not really feeling it right now.

Instead, enjoy this picture of a sunset in Antarctica that I found on Google.


27 November 2012

On being an adult

I've decided that being an adult is a hassle. A couple of weeks ago I noticed that we hadn't gotten any mail in a long time. But because I'm not always the one to check the mail I couldn't be sure. And my memory isn't great for things like that (I mean, why should I remember when the last time the mail came?). So I started paying more attention. And luckily I was expecting a letter. By mid-week last week I got concerned. We didn't even get grocery ads before Thanksgiving. So over the weekend I called up the post office. After some research they managed to establish that our letter carrier refused to deliver our mail after they slipped on the leaves on our sidewalk and fell. I told the post office that the walk would be cleared by Monday and that our mail needed to be delivered. Well, Monday came and the landscape people did a great job cleaning up the front walk and still no mail. So I called again. And this morning I went down to the post office (where they gave me the go-around and were utterly unhelpful) and ultimately I ended up spending more than an hour sitting on my porch waiting for the letter carrier to walk by so I could ask them personally to deliver my mail (in case you're wondering, it snowed all day--I only went inside because my fingers were so cold I couldn't type anymore).

When our mail was finally delivered this afternoon (about a 2.5 inch thick pile of it) some of it had postmarks back nearly 3 weeks ago (good thing there was only a handful of time-sensitive things in it). I understand the letter carrier's concern over delivering mail to a place where they had slipped and fallen, but what I don't understand is why the United States Postal Service can stop delivery without informing their customers. I can't think of any company where the service provider can quit providing that service without notifying anyone. I would have been more than happy to have swept the front walk 3 weeks ago if I had known it was problem (no one in the entire building uses the front door), but if no one tells me it's a problem then how can I fix it?

What it comes down to now is that I'm going to spend the entire snowy winter wondering if my walk is clean enough for them to deliver my mail (what am I supposed to do, quit my job so that I can be continuously shoveling?). I'm losing faith in USPS, and if I had another option for mailing letters I'd use it.

26 November 2012

An online portfolio

I am sure I have a nice long-winded post about how awesome my thanksgiving was, but for the moment I need your help.

I'm working on developing a website (ok, actually I've developed it, it just needs some finishing touches)  for my technology class this semester. The assignment was to create a personal website (with a variety of constraints, like the presence of 20 pages). I decided to create an online portfolio that I could show to a prospective employer.

What I'm looking for from you is feedback. What works and what doesn't? Where did my editing skills fail me? What do you wish was there that isn't?

http://folioleaves.wordpress.com/

I really appreciate your feedback. It will help me a lot. Hope your Monday has shaped up well.

23 November 2012

And now it begins

Here we are. Black Friday. A day that some people love and some of us dread (technically, given the two options I'd fall in the camp of the latter, but since I don't really care to shop on any day of the year, this day isn't really much different). Since I'm currently playing with my family in Utah, I am just reposting a timely article I read earlier this week from Slow Your Home. It's about preparing your home for the holidays with a "pre-holiday de-clutter."

Enjoy.

22 November 2012

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope you all are enjoying a food-filled day with friends and family.

Happy Thanksgiving!

21 November 2012

When to call a place home

The question always is at what point in living somewhere does it become "home"? I think one thing that makes a place "home" is the ability to navigate it mostly successfully, most of the time (not perfect, but good enough).

Yesterday I went on an adventure to buy books for a book drive my library is hosting this month and so I went to Porter Square Books in (you guessed it) Porter Square. Even though I've lived in Boston for nearly a year I've not really spent much time in Somerville, and so don't really know my way around it too well. I looked up directions to get to the bookstore and then to get to work afterward. They seemed simple enough and so I headed off on my bike.

Getting to the bookstore went as planned and I had fun picking out some books for a book drive the library was having. After getting my books I headed to the library. I'd been riding along for a while watching for the street I needed to turn on and eventually I decided that I'd missed it. Luckily the next intersection had a long line of cars coming from the direction that I needed to go and so I turned to "follow" them, figuring that they were all people commuting out of the city. Not too long passed before I found myself on a familiar street and much closer to the library than I had thought.

This was one of those moments where I felt at home. I managed to successfully navigate a city that I'm not at all familiar with because this is my home, and ones knows their way around their home.

20 November 2012

Greatest accomplishment of 2012

Janssen and her sisters shared their greatest accomplishments for 2012 today. Reading about their wonderful accomplishments has gotten me thinking about what my greatest accomplishment was this past year. Of course this year isn't over yet, but it's close enough that I doubt anything truly earth-shattering will happen. It's been something of a struggle to think of what my greatest accomplishment has been this year, I've done a lot. But one thing that I'm really proud of this year was the bookbinding class that I took this summer. I learned to work in leather which is a lot of hard work, but is really quite fun. And I even got to dip my feet in the waters of gold tooling. I learned so much in that course, and I hope that bookbinding can be a continuing part of my life.

Historic models
I even took this picture myself.
Sometimes my camera turns out reasonable pictures.

19 November 2012

Vulnerability is not weakness

So, yesterday I sat down and watched a couple of TED talks by Brene Brown. They were excellent. Here are a couple of take aways from the second one:

Vulnerability is not weakness.

Vulnerability is our most accurate measure of courage.

Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity, and change.

Shame is an epidemic in our country

Empathy is the antidote to shame.

And here are the two TED talks. I'm really looking forward to reading her book that came out earlier this year. It sounds really interesting.



16 November 2012

A leaf from a friend

To take a leaf out of Mel's book. It's been one of those weeks where not too much worthy of note has happened (I didn't quite fall asleep on the train today...) and so in lieu of something interesting from my own life I'm going to share a TED talk I've shared before.


15 November 2012

Boston Book Fair

Get ready. This weekend is the Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair. Yes, that's right. A whole book fair full of antiquarian books. What could be better?

14 November 2012

One of those days

Today has been one of those days where you get everything all ready to go and then have to make about 6 more trips back up the stairs for things you forgot.

It was also one of those days where you have the brilliant idea to stop at your neighborhood branch library on the way home from school so that you don't have to go to work early to work on homework. Sounds like a good idea right? I thought so, and since the branch library was only about  a block out of my way it was perfect. It took me a few minutes to get my bike chained up outside because the bike rack, peculiarly, is mostly inside a bush. But I got it chained up and I walked up to the door and it was locked. Yeah. That branch is closed on Wednesdays. And I knew that, which made me feel that much more foolish. Oh well, I just went in to work early and got the home work done there instead.

13 November 2012

The Wednesday Wars

So after I read Okay for Now last week I felt the need to reread The Wednesday Wars. It is so good. I love the way that Schmidt used Shakespeare to guide the story and to guide Holling's growth. I went back to Goodreads to see what I'd rated it when I finished this morning. I ended up raising my rating from 4 to 5. I think one of these days that I'm going to have to invest and buy a copy. This books a keeper.

09 November 2012

Techno Lust

I came across an interesting term in one of my textbooks the other day. Techno lust. I thought it was a pretty succinct way to describe the way that society feels about new gadgets that come out and new bells and whistles. I like the connotations that come with the word lust in this phrase. I feel like we never really need these new bells and whistles and that they are just a way of making us more dependent on technology that will probably eventually let us down and leave us stranded somewhere with no coping mechanism. And I feel like lust describes the relationship that we have with technology pretty well. It is something that we desire, and we want, but since we don't really need it we end up with this kind of co-dependent relationship on it. I'm not saying that all technology is bad, I'll be the first to admit that I love things like electric lights, and there is a lot of good that can come out of technology (like FamilySearch Indexing, for example). But I do think that a lot of times when we hear about the latest and greatest new toy a lot of us (myself included) want it just because it's cool and new, and everybody else has it--we lust after it. I'm hoping that now that I've become aware that that's what I do sometimes, that I can control it better, because let's face it, lust is pretty much never a good thing.

08 November 2012

Strawberry Cream Jell-o mold

One thing that we have in the new apartment that we didn't have before is a bundt pan. The best thing about bundt pans is their awesome shape. Ever since I discovered this I have been wanting to make another Jell-o mold so that I could make something that actually was shaped like something cooler than a bowl. So, here we are. This is actually the same Cherry Cream Jell-o that I made a while back, from the book Hello, Jell-o, but this time I used strawberry Jell-o because that's what I had.


07 November 2012

Okay for Now

I really enjoyed Okay for Now by Gary Schmidt. I loved the way that Schmidt used the Audubon bird pictures the same way that he used Shakespeare in The Wednesday Wars. I like that Schmidt uses things like literature and art to help his characters cope with life and learn to deal with the trials that come with being human. It's a good example of a coping mechanism that might work well for many of us. In many ways this book is very similar to The Wednesday Wars, and probably that's why I liked it. And while they do feature some of the same characters it is a totally different novel and any back story you might want from the other book Doug fills you in on. Okay for Now stands completely on its own and I think it's terrific. I found it when I was reading a post about good reads for book clubs by Janssen. In her posted she linked to her review of Schmidt's book. I clicked over and almost fell in love with the book before even starting it. And I enjoyed checking it out of the library and having the time (or pretending I did) to sit down and read it all in one weekend.

This makes me a little sad

I don't know if you can really read this, but it is a screen cap I got from weather.com today. It says that today's high was measured at 8:25 am. Somehow that makes me a little sad--that at pre-8:30 am it was the warmest it would be all day!

06 November 2012

It's that time of year

Alrighty,

It's that time of year again. A time of year for lots and lots of good food. And my first question to you today is what is your favorite appetizer (I'm looking for ideas for Thanksgiving, but an appetizer is an appetizer)? My second question is what is your favorite appetizer, that can be made ahead of time, or doesn't use the stove/oven?

And here is a picture of the Charles River. It was a delightfully drizzly day.

05 November 2012

The Fifth of November

Happy Guy Fawkes day!

I hope you do something exciting for it. Like build marshmallow effigies and burn them, or watch V for Vendetta.

02 November 2012

I win!

This morning when I got up it was sunny and blue skies, if cold. So when I was choosing footwear I did it consciously. I knew that I could wear my least waterproof shoes because it was sunny, hadn't rained in a couple days and there was only a 20% chance of rain today (the same as yesterday...)

We had an all day staff development day at work. It was really good, I'm glad I went (besides, free breakfast and lunch). The last speaker of the day talks about how she makes random little (achievable) goals for herself just so that when she meets them she can say "I WIN!" I sat there thinking that my random goal for the day would be that I dressed appropriately so my feet would stay dry all day. I was super excited that I'd get to say "I WIN!" I mean, who doesn't like winning?

After work, I get all my stuff packed up and walk upstairs and its raining.

Yes, raining. Which means that I don't win. I wore my shoes that get my feet wet if I so much as walk across a damp sidewalk (not a puddle mind you, damp). Yeah. I definitely didn't win. But my feet made nice squishing sounds all the way home. That's kind of cool...

31 October 2012

Just for Fun

Awhile back I read this post from zenhabits. It offers a unique view on goal setting. Essentially Leo recommends letting go of the need to achieve goals and instead do things for the fun of it. How do you feel when you set some goal and  then you fail at it? pretty miserable right? Well, if instead of setting a goal to do that thing you decided to do it just for fun then if it didn't work out you don't feel so bad and you can look back at what you did do as being fun. I think this is a pretty good take on goals. 

So let me tell you about a couple of goals I have/had this year. You probably remember a few weeks ago where I managed to go nearly a whole week without using the internet at home right? I went in to that goal less determined that I would succeed, but more curious about whether I could do it or not and how it would really impact my life. And when I "failed" at it, I didn't feel too bad, because I learned something about the way that I use internet and I can look back and think that it was an interesting experiment, and one that I would like to do again someday.

The other "for fun" thing I'm doing this year, is just that--it's purely for fun. I haven't bought meat at the grocery store all year. Now let me clarify, what I really mean is that I haven't bought raw chicken or beef. When I first moved to Boston I couldn't really afford to buy meat, and then by the time that I was in a position where I could afford it I was out of the habit of buying it. Now, I have, on several occasions, bought deli ham and I still buy canned meats occasionally and I'll buy things like frozen meals with meat, but so far as I can remember I haven't bought raw chicken or beef from the butcher all year. At this point it's kind of a challenge to see if I can go the whole year without buying it. Lest you worry that I'm not getting enough protein, never free I almost always eat meat when I eat out. But you know, if tomorrow I just had to buy hamburger at the grocery store I would survive and think that it had been a fun 10 months of having not bought meat. And it's just been fun. I've been learning to cook with lots of other things (like tofu, gasp!) and it has been a great way to broaden my horizons. It rarely even occurs to me to buy meat anymore.

I feel like goal setting is all about the way in which you think about it. If you set a goal thinking that it'll be fun to see how it goes then no matter what happens it will be a success.

30 October 2012

A storm named Sandy

Just a quick update today. Yesterday saw me stuck most of the day at home watching the wind wail around the eaves on my house. We were very fortunate however not to lose power at all, nor to have any trees blow down around us. I'm very grateful. The library was closed to I got the day off, and Simmons closed (which would have been more exciting if I had classes on Mondays). All my roommates were off too, so we were all home all day--which never happens. It was pretty weird.my first "hurricane" was pretty exciting. Except I'm pretty sure it wasn't actually a hurricane in Boston, more like a tropical storm or something. I don't know. I'm sure the poor souls in Delaware thought it was a hurricane.

Being home had its advantages. I managed to get a pretty decent amount of stuff done. And today dawned something like sunny, though it was looking pretty ominous when I got to work (I forgot my umbrella on my floor) and now it is absolutely pouring buckets. I think I'll be wet when I get home tonight.

29 October 2012

Boston Book Fest

I had the opportunity on Saturday to attend the Boston Book Festival. It was pretty fantastic. I had class in the morning, but managed to get to Copley just in time for the lecture I wanted to attend: Great Brits and Books--a lecture about authors Austen, Dickens, and Barrie. It was a fantastic lecture. Because I arrived right as it was starting they wouldn't actually let me in (standing room only), but my patience won out and after not too many minutes of straining to hear a few people left freeing up some space for those of us just outside the door.

I learned many interesting things. One was that Victorians considered novels to be throw-aways. Most Victorians didn't keep a lot of novels around their homes and the ones they did keep typically were presentation copies with inscriptions. They didn't treat them like coffee-table books that cluttered up their homes. They thought of novels and circulating libraries in more of a netflix-like way. The panel also talked about how Dickens and Austen are very fairy-tale like, especially to modern-day readers. It was really a fascinating lecture. I'm so glad I could go.

The booths around the festival were pretty good too. I managed to score free tickets to the ABAA fair in November and the Book, Print, and Ephemera show (also in November). It was a pretty successful afternoon.


26 October 2012

Plastic-free eating!

I just wanted to check in and let you know how my lunchbot and my reusable produce bags are working out for me. Pretty much they are awesome!

I really like my lunchbot. I've found that the lid both is easy to take off and stays on securely. It certainly is far from air tight, so anything with just about any amount of liquid will leak if it gets turned on its side or anything. But that's only a minor inconvenience--something to take note of more than anything else. reusable things!! And I love the size. It is a good size for taking a sandwich (and I typically have somewhat oversized bread). And it's a good size for a meal, or even for two if you pack it good. And I like that it's metal and so I can't put it in the microwave which forces me to eat my food on real dishes and thus to feel like I'm eating real meals even when I'm just wolfing down leftovers on my break at work.

My reusable produce bags I have also been very happy with. I find that I don't use them as much as I thought I might, because I usually just end up putting more of my produce in my basket loose. Most vegetables don't really need to be put in a bag, and so I don't always. But I do use them for sort of corralling my veges in the fridge. I do love that I use less plastic.


25 October 2012

Lattice Crusts!


Remember a few weeks ago when I went apple picking? Well, I took some of those apples and turned them into a pie. Pie is the thing in my family, and so I've been making pies from a young age. Ironically though, I'd never actually made a lattice crust for a pie. Usually when I'm making pie I'm in just enough of a hurry that it's either a crumble topping (my favorite) or just a plain two crust pie. But when I made this pie I was determined that this time I'd try my hand at a lattice crust. I don't think it turned out half bad. And it tasted delicious (but then what's better than apple pie made with apples you harvested yourself?).


24 October 2012

Books vs. eBooks

Here's an interesting infographic I saw today about eBooks. The last statistic I think is quite telling.
The Rise of eReading: Are Books Going to Become an Endangered Species?
Courtesy of: Schools.com

23 October 2012

Crazy homework assignments

Have you ever wondered how librarians came to know so many random facts? Or how they came to be such a wealth of information (some of it seemingly useless)? Well, I'll tell you. They give us homework assignments in school to purposefully find out random information. I'm in the midst of working on my first set of "sample reference questions" that are designed to teach me more about searching for answers and the possibilities that different sources provide. This sounds like a fun assignment right? Well, it's difficulty is precluding it from being much fun. I've been working on it all day and I still have about 4 of 15 questions left. But I have learned all kinds of interesting stuff today:
  • Did you know that that holiday we celebrate in February isn't actually called President's Day? When Congress passed Uniform Monday Holiday Bill in 1968, they debated changing the name to President's Day from Washington's Birthday, but the proposal was rejected. Even though we popularly call it President's Day, its official name is still Washington's Birthday. Also, with the Uniform Monday Holiday Bill it was arranged so that this holiday will never actually fall on Washington's birthday, it is always the week before. (and yes, I'm sending you to Wikipedia for more info, but the Encyclopedia Brittanica, didn't have as good an article about the bill.)
  • Did you know that Labor day was the original Monday holiday?
  • Did you know that the first ice cream cones were served at the World's Fair in St. Louis in 1904?
  • Did you know that there is an association for people who collect political ephemera and memorabilia?

22 October 2012

Grown up things

Today I met a friend in town for lunch. We both brought our lunches and then sat out in the grass near her office and caught up while eating our sandwiches. It was pretty wonderful. And it was a gorgeous day today. For whatever reason, it makes me feel really grown up when I meet up with someone for lunch.


19 October 2012

The Symphony

I got my first use out of my BSO College Card today. I had a ticket for the matinee and it turned out to be a pretty decent seat. It was off on the side but in row F! The BSO played Debussy's Symphonic Fragments from "The Martyrdom of St. Sebastian", Martin's Concerto for Seven Wind Instruments, Timpani, Percussion, and String Orcestra, and Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3, Opus 30. I really enjoyed the Debussy piece and I thought that it would be my favorite, but the Rachmaninoff blew me away. Nokolai Lugansky was the pianist for the piece and he ended up taking four curtain calls. He was amazing. He deserved every bit of his standing ovation (and I don't like to give standing ovations--I think that they are rarely deserved and too often given).



The piece is very long (which is part of what makes it so difficult), but if you watch even the first couple minutes you can get a taste for how awesome it is (it doesn't actually start till about a minute in). The concert notes talked about how some of the tunes in Rachmaninoff's piece have a very "familiar quality" to them. I definitely felt that. Actually, in some ways it reminded me of Ennio Morricone's score for The Legend of 1900. I'm curious now where Morricone got his inspiration for that film score--maybe it came from this piece?? And I really loved how Rachmaninoff's piece just feels like the early twentieth century. That's one of those sentences that doesn't really make sense, but it is exactly what I mean. I don't know how to explain it.

I was definitely among the youngest people there. It's funny how the matinee draws two distinctly different crowds: the college age kids, and the retirees. I don't think I saw any regular middle age people there, and really only a handful of college kids. But I suppose it does make sense for a Friday afternoon. I was very pleased that every single person in attendance had proper concert etiquette. And it was just fun to get all dressed up to go to the Symphony, it sounds like such a grown up thing to do. I am super excited to go to the Symphony again.

18 October 2012

Not using the internet at home is hard. very hard.

Well, I lasted nearly an entire week of not using the internet at home. I still really like the idea of not using it at home, but at this point in my life it is really helpful to not have to pack up everything and go somewhere else so that I can do a handful of things online. Today I have an early afternoon meeting at work, and I have plans to cook an actual meal for lunch and so it is just very hard to motivate myself to go to the library to work for an hour when I'll have to turn around and come back. And there are a lot of things I'd like to do online that are perfect to also get housework done (like watching the debates I've missed while folding laundry and cleaning my room). All that being said, I think I will stand by my no internet after work rule. That one seems reasonable, and doable--I should just be going to be after I get home from work anyways.

I'll try to remember to take pictures of the stir-fry I'm making for lunch today. I'm pretty excited for it.

16 October 2012

So many things, so little time

So I actually started writing this post yesterday, but didn't finish, and now I find that there are other things I want to talk about too. 

When I decided on Thursday that I wanted to be internet-free at home I figured that the first few days would be easy because I knew that I had a lot of plans already and that I wouldn't be home that much. But I did wonder about Sunday. I wasn't sure how it would go since I'm typically home for much of my Sundays.The first couple days went about like I'd planned--easy as pie. I've already done several things I wouldn't normally get around to doing (like reading books for pleasure). Sunday turned out to be surprisingly easy. I ended up with a mighty headache and so slept much of my afternoon away. whoops. Where I've hit snags have been the last couple days. My classes are all near the end of the week and so Mondays and Tuesdays are my days at home to do homework and other things. Yesterday I spent much of the day at the local library and today I spent most of the day running errands. But there are still many things I'd like to do online that I just can't squeeze in during the day. For example. Last week I missed the VP debate and tonight I'll miss the presidential debates. I did manage to watch part of last weeks debates today, but with limited internet access I just can't justify sitting down for an hour and a half to watch it when I have tons of homework that I need to do.

I keep wanting to make excuses and use my internet, but I'm trying to be strong. If nothing else, this is a lesson in my needing to plan better. And I imagine that this will get easier as the weeks go along. And if all else fails, we're halfway through October.

On a totally different note. Today I went and looked a neat encyclopedia of cookery at one of the Harvard libraries. The library the book is at isn't one of the libraries that are accessible to the general public and so I worried that I might not be able to get in. But luckily the girl at the door pretty much just waved me through. I was armed with an introduction letter, but she didn't seem to care too much about it (which is good, because now I can use the same letter to go back another time and peruse the book more). I was excited about how easy it was. I guess I must look like they expect researchers to look like (i.e. not a tourist). The encyclopedia was fantastic. It's this comprehensive eight volume set and has tons of stuff in it. Quite remarkable.


Every time I go to libraries and look at their cookery books I just want to own them. I want to have them on my shelves to access whenever I want. I'm excited for the Boston Book Fair in November, maybe I'll find one of these books that I am desperate to own. Now if only I had better heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) to store my books in.

Also, I bought milk in a glass bottle today. Yeah. I'm pretty excited about it. Nearly plastic-free milk!

15 October 2012

Today's sage advice

Don't buy anything you wouldn't pay full price for.


Good advice. Just because it's on sale doesn't mean you need it or should buy it.

12 October 2012

Oh Google...

I opened up Google Docs today and was greeted by this message:


I'm not exactly sure what a "modern browser" is and how Chrome embodies a modern browser, but Firefox doesn't. Sometimes Google makes me chuckle.

11 October 2012

Internet in your home

Today I read this article about taking the internet out of your home. Reading the article today was not the first time that getting rid of my home internet connection has occurred to me, but I think it was the first time that it occurred to me that other people actually act when they think of things like that. And that there are people out there who choose to not have internet at home. 

I really like the idea of not using the internet at home. In some ways it harks back to my Facebook-free month, and also to the numerous days that I decide that I'm not going to open my computer when I get home from work (on these days I invariably get more sleep and often get to read for pleasure). During my Facebook-free month I felt so much more liberated and free. Facebook weighs me down and I don't like that feeling. And I sometimes feel the same tether from the Internet at large. Don't get me wrong, the internet certainly is useful, but I'm not sure that I really need it in my home, consuming my life. Of course, living with roommates as I do I find it highly unlikely that I'd be able to get them on board with getting rid of the internet all together, but I don't think that that needs to stop me from doing something to get the internet out of my home.


I think my goal for October (what's left of it) is to not use the internet at all after work (or after 9 on non-working days) and I also kind of want to go cold turkey and declare no internet at home at all, but I'm not sure that I'm strong enough to do that. But it would be a good exercise for me in planning. And I have plenty of libraries near me where I can get internet. And I think that will help my homework to be done more efficiently too. I think I'm going to try. It'll be hard, but if it's not hard then I won't grow or learn as much, right? And I'm going to try it through the end of the month, though if it's going well then I'll go all the way to the 11th of November. A nice full month.

Keep me honest. Ask me how it's going. Really. I think this goal is going to be more challenging than my other goals have been.

10 October 2012

On being grateful

Writing about waiting made me think about the wonderful things that I have in my life. Here are a few of the many things that I am grateful for (in no particular order):
  • my wonderful and supportive family
  • my awesome job
  • the fact that I have a roof over my head and food in my cupboard
  • the Gospel in my life
  • my three fantastic roommates
  • my friends spread throughout the world
  • the opportunities I've had to travel in my life
  • the opportunity to watch General Conference last weekend and listen to the words of living apostles and prophets.
  • the opportunity to be educated
  • my bike
  • and about a gazillion other things.
 What are you grateful for?


As an aside. I bought more Muller Yogurt today--that's another thing I'm thankful for. Delicious yogurt.

09 October 2012

Muller Yogurt

My very favorite kind of yogurt in the entire world is Muller yogurt. (imagine the umlauts above the u). And it  makes me so sad every time I go to buy yogurt that American yogurt is so not-delicious. In fact, Muller yogurt was one of the wonderful perks of going back to London in 2010. It's just so smooth and creamy. It doesn't have the nasty grainy texture that American yogurt has. And it's not so thick as Greek yogurt. It is such the best. 

A couple of weeks ago I was in Harvard Square and a woman approached me and offered me a pot of yogurt. I didn't even really look at her and said "no, thank you" out of hand. She took the rejection well and moved on to waiting to cross the street. Since she was still standing near me I took a moment to look at what her hat said. It said Muller yogurt! I just turned down the opportunity to eat free Muller Yogurt, in the United States. What was I thinking?! But by then it was a little late for me to be like "actually, I will take your free yogurt..." 

This morning I stopped at the grocery store at the end of my bike ride to pick up a couple things I need for some muffins I want to make this week. I was in the yogurt aisle looking for plain yogurt and guess what I found??

Yes! It is! It's Muller Yogurt! In the US! It's days like this that I especially love living on the East Coast. 

I got my yogurt home (one each of strawberry and choco balls) and it's just as good as I remember. Smooth and creamy and delicious. Now I just have to hope that they bring the toffee yogurt over soon too.


08 October 2012

On Waiting

Last week I read this excellent article about waiting. I find that I am one of those persons who spends too much time waiting for things to happen. I often feel like "I can't wait till I'm done with school" or "I can't wait till work is over" or "I can't wait to get home and make a good meal."

I challenge you to take a moment today or tomorrow and just stop and think about awesome life is. And seriously. Read the article. It's not that long.

06 October 2012

The Nation's Bookbinder

Here's an interesting article from October's Fine Books & Collections.

It's about the nation's bookbinder. I bet you didn't know we had one. I didn't either.

05 October 2012

Autumn Adventures

Saturday dawned drizzly and grey, perfect for apple picking. One of my good friends looked up a place and after I got out of class we headed up to Peabody, MA. We managed to have quite an adventure on our way. We missed one of the exits and didn't realize our mistake till we were nearly to New Hampshire. It always amazes me how quickly New Hampshire comes up. Eventually we got to the orchard. We each came home with a nice selection of apples and also some apple cider donuts. Mmm, donuts. I never used to like donuts till I moved to Boston. The donuts here are just so good--but I think that is a story for another day. I had planned ahead this year and decided that I wanted to make apple butter. Look forward to more about that soon... I wish I had a picture to show you of how lovely the trees are looking. The leaves are changing and it is just gorgeous. Fall may be my new favorite season.


04 October 2012

Presidential Debate

Because the internet in my apartment has something of a mind of its own I missed watching the presidential debate last night. Luckily, I had some extra time today and so I watched while I got ready for the day and while I folded laundry. I was pleased with the debate. I'll admit that I'm no closer to knowing who I'll vote for than I was before, but I was pleased with the way the candidates comported themselves, and most especially by the fact that they didn't really bicker or mud-sling. I wish more politicians behaved in a civilized manner. For anyone who missed the debate I would recommend it as a worthwhile hour and a half. I feel like I am a more informed citizen, though at the same time I feel even more uninformed than before--I have a lot of work to do before the election next month. I'm hoping that the internet in my apartment will cooperate so that I can watch the rest of the debates. They are fascinating.

03 October 2012

Convenient or Better?

After watching Digital Nation yesterday, I got to thinking about technology and how it "improves" our lives. I think we can all agree that technology (or at least most of it) makes our lives easier and more convenient. We often equate this convenience with better-ness. Thus, technology makes life better. I wonder if that's the case though. What exactly defines better?

Naturally, I turned to the OED. Better has many definitions and uses, some more archaic than others (surprisingly, the one that was marked obsolete is one that I occasionally use...) In essence better is:
  • comparative of good
  • of greater excellence; of superior quality
  • said of persons, in respect of physical, mental, or esp. moral qualities; also of social standing
  • said of things, in respect of their essential qualities
  • of persons and things: more profitable, useful, or suitable for a purpose; more eligible or desirable
  • of greater amount: more, larger, greater
  • and a couple other similar things.
Merriam-Webster adds
  • greater than half
  • improved in health or mental attitude
  • more attractive, favorable, or commendable
  • more advantageous or effective
  • improved in accuracy or performance
The OED gives many definitions of convenient, but only the 6th sense really concerns us here:
  • personally suitable or well-adapted to one's easy action or performance of functions, favorable to one's comfort, easy condition, or the saving of trouble; commodious.
 Again, Merriam-Webster adds
  • suited to personal comfort or easy performance
  • affording accommodation or advantage
  •  being near at hand: close
 Given these definitions I think there are definitely kinds of technology that is "better," things like medical technology or indoor plumbing water, but there are some kinds of technology that I'm just not sure about. What do you think? Does technology make life better or just more convenient? Is that same?
So, my question is does technology make life better? or just more convenient? 

02 October 2012

Technology isn't good or bad. It's powerful.

Last week I showed up for my Wednesday class and the first thing the professor did was to have us divide up into groups to discuss the documentary Digital Nation that we were supposed to watch before class. So we divided up and it quickly became apparent that only about 5 people in the class had any idea what he was talking about... Anyways, he ended up showing us a trailer for it and we managed to still have our discussion. But it looked pretty good and so today I took part of my morning and sat down and watched it. It was thought-provoking. I feel like technology has so many sides to it that it's hard to tell what's good and what's bad and what just takes getting used to.

I've found that the more I think about technology and the issues that surround it the more I feel dissatisfied. I definitely can see the usefulness of technology, but I'm just not sure that the application is the best it could be. But hopefully with time we'll learn to balance it better and adapt. Anyhow, here are some of my take-aways from the film. It's definitely one I'd recommend. And you can watch it online.


Studies done at Standford show that people who multitask are actually really terrible at it and they are significantly slower than when they do one thing at a time.

South Korea is the first country to treat internet addiction as a psychiatric disorder.

“Over the past 20 years the internet has changed from a thing one does to a way one lives.”

“That was the first time it occurred to me that my children’s education might have a different purpose than mine did.”

“The world that we’re preparing them for isn’t going to require of them that they have to remember a bunch of information that someone tells them. The world is going to require them to do stuff, to build stuff, work on things, and that’s what we’re preparing them for.”

"I don’t know of any jobs in the world that require people to stay in their seats and keep quiet. But that’s what we require of them in schools…"

"To me there should never be a question as to whether or not students should have access to technology. Technology is like oxygen."

“It’s instant gratification education.” The short attention span makes people get bored faster.

Some surveys of college professors are showing that student’s basic skills (writing especially) are a lot worse now than they were 10 years ago.

People confuse the best ways of doing something once with the best ways of doing something forever.

Sure we’ve lost things. When we gained writing we lost memory. Now we lose attention and focus and become distracted. "That’s just the price of gain."

“Millions of people are inhabiting the Net as if it were a real place, satisfying the urge to connect to others in online games, virtual worlds.”

“The technology wasn’t isolating them; it was giving them a new way to be intimate.”

“What does the virtual world look like? It looks like the average of all the things we dream about.”

The part about military drones reminds me of Ender’s Game.

“A drone can’t dig through the rubble of that building and see what the results of that hellfire missile are.”

“That game world is equally rich to many novels, I would argue.”

“Technology challenges us to assert our human values. Which mean first we have to figure out what they are.”

“Technology isn’t good or bad. It’s powerful.”

“but most of all, I love being able to turn it off.”

Frontline’s DigitalNation

01 October 2012

Buying fresh flowers

A couple months ago I read a book called Apartment Therapy: The Eight-Step Home Cure by Maxwell Gilliam-Ryan. It was pretty good. Gilliam-Ryan provides lots of ideas of how to "fix" your home. They include things like deep cleaning, de-cluttering, learning more about your personal style, making sure you have good enough lighting in your home, etc. While there were a lot of useful ideas I found that a lot of them weren't really applicable to me because I don't have my own apartment where I have full control over how the rooms are painted, or furnished. But one idea that I did like and can use was to have fresh flowers in your home. They add a life and color to your home and are just nice. I was out shopping on Saturday and saw these flowers, so I thought that it was time for my apartment to have some fresh flowers in it. And you know what? Every time I walk past them I'm glad that I bought them.They cheer the place right up.


28 September 2012

Pizza

I feel like more and more my posts are centering around the theme of pizza. Apparently I can't get enough of it. Actually it makes me worry a little bit that I'm going to tire of it someday like I have of pasta and rice. However, until the most unfortunate occurs I am eating pizza like there is no tomorrow. I also am lucky (or possibly unlucky) to have about a million pizza places (or 4) within two blocks of my house.Today I sampled my third of these delightful food establishments. And it has been my favorite. I will admit that in someways my judging is a little unfair because I always seem to be getting slices of pizza at times when there isn't a chance that they are fresh (you like 2 or 3 in the afternoon). But Michael's Pizza held up well to the fact that I had to nuke it when I got home. I've eaten at Andrea's Pizza twice and while the second time the pizza seemed fresher the crust was still pretty hard. Stella's Pizza is great, and I like it, but I never was as big a fan of the thin, crispy crust as I am of not thin, crispy crusts. Of course none of these even compares to Ernesto's Pizza in the North End, but let's face it, the North End is a bit of trek. I also love how all these places are named after people. It seems somehow cooler than pizza named after kinds of buildings, or games or something.

27 September 2012

Nightmares

I was talking to one of my roommates last night about how many dystopian novels have some part of their premise focused around living your worst fear. And that got me to wondering what my worst fears are--well it got me wondering for about 5 minutes because then I went to bed and forgot about the whole conversation.

This morning I woke up at approximately 6:30 from a rather vivid dream that I was working and it was closing time and no one would leave. I'd told the patrons several times that it was time to go, and the PA announcements had happened. And I knew I wasn't handling it very well because I was starting to get very short with the patrons and turning computers off before their very eyes and such. It was dreadful. I woke up and it took me a moment to realize that it was just a dream, it hadn't happened, my problem patrons weren't being especially problematic. What a nightmare.

Apparently my dream self thinks that my biggest fear is of patrons not leaving the library at closing time...

26 September 2012

The Great Molasses Flood

How's that for the title of a great story? Maybe one that takes place in Candyland??? Or how about Boston?

The first time I heard about the Molasses Flood I thought that the person telling me was pulling my leg. I mean really? A flood of molasses? Well, it's no joke, it really happened.

In January of 1919 there was a huge tank of molasses (with something like 2.3 million gallons of molasses in it) that exploded in the North End sending a huge wave a molasses through the neighborhood and killing 21 people. The cleanup was horrible (can you imagine trying to clean up a neighborhood coated in molasses??). It's a pretty fascinating story. The molasses stored in the tank was bound for an alcohol plant in Cambridge where it was going to be used in the manufacture of Rum. Now, if you remember correctly then you'll remember that Prohibition started in 1920. You can imagine how that might make rum producers a little nervous...There was also an anarchy group that was working on Boston at this time and many people thought they had planted a bomb that blew up the molasses tank (I'm not exactly sure why an anarchy group would want to blow up molasses, but I'm sure they'd have their reasons).

So now that I've piqued your interest in one of the great forgotten tragedies of Boston's history you can read The Great Molasses Flood: Boston 1919 by Deborah Kops. It's a great, short, children's non-fiction. Kops does a good job telling the story simply and in a way that is easy for children (and adults) to understand. And then you can also feel productive because it's a pretty quick read. .


25 September 2012

Lunchbot

My lunchbot finally came! Actually it came one day last week, but today I finally washed it up and packed my first leftover pizza in it (of course pizza, what else?). I also got my new produce bags in the mail--a couple of mesh ones, the easier to see the vegetables with my dear, and a bunch of muslin ones that will be good for all kinds of things. Now all I need to do is go to the grocery store. I'm thinking maybe Friday I can hit up the market. I will keep you posted on how much I love my new lunchbot.


24 September 2012

Modern's vs. Mike's


As you may or may not remember, my class I took this summer was in the North End. And one of the many things that the North End is known for is pastry. There is a lot of discussion too among people where to get the best pastry, and more specifically the best cannolis.

Mike's Pastry seems to be the place that you hear about the most. it's a big store, with good branding and is always packed with people. But you know what? They're cannolis aren't my favorite. Sure, they're big, and they come in basically any flavor you want, but if you're getting something fancy then they aren't stuffed fresh (which is the mark of a truly great cannoli) and so they're a little soggy. And yeah they're big, but they are actually a little too big (unless you're going for something you'd have to split with someone), and they are more expensive. My personal favorite are the cannolis from Modern Pastry. It's right down the street from Mike's, it is a smaller store, and I think they only do two flavors (and really, somehow if it isn't filled with ricotta I'm not sure it's really a cannoli), but their cannolis are a little cheaper and they're also a better size for a single serving. And they are always stuffed fresh, which means that your cream is cool and creamy and the shell is always crispy.



There are lots of other places you can get cannolis too, but Modern's are my favorite. And you can get all kinds of really good other pastries at just about anywhere. I may have to head back to the North End one of these days and get some more pastry...

21 September 2012

Looking back to moving

I was flipping through some photos on my phone and realized that I don't think you ever saw the proof that my stuff all fit in my car when I moved. It's a little hard to see, but there is nothing in the front seats. And all that I had to come back for was my bed frame, oscillating fan, nightstand, and groceries.


20 September 2012

Peanut Curry Pizza!

In case you haven't figured it out yet, I think that everything tastes better when it's on a crust. I love my pizza. I think my favorite thing though is that when I order pizza I always get plain old pepperoni, but when I cook pizza I hardly ever put meat on at all. On Sunday I made a delicious Thai peanut curry that one of my former roommates taught me how to make. It's pretty delicious. She normally serves it over rice, but I'm still struggling with rice since the winter and so I've been eating it over rice noodles (because apparently my stomach thinks those are different enough). I ended up with lots of leftovers and so... peanut curry pizza! Today's pizza features:
  •  my favorite crust--I usually pre-bake it with a little olive oil and garlic
  • the peanut curry sauce--spread pretty thin
  • some leftover cooked rice stick noodles
  • chopped up steamed potatoes--I've decided that I like them best steamed (they seem to always be cooked enough that way)
  • a little bit more sauce on top
  • and some cheese to hold it all together--I just used cheddar because that's what I have.
I was a little worried about the cheese. I know it holds it all together well, but really, cheese? with curry? But I was pleasantly surprised. It worked great. Held it all together and you couldn't really taste it at all. Also, you could totally use any vegetables you normally have with curry and I think it'd be great. I mean, we already know that zucchini and broccoli are both good on crusts... Overall, I'm a fan of this pizza. Next time though, I might broil it for a minute just to brown up the potatoes a touch, they look a little anemic...


19 September 2012

Too many books? I think not.

Last week I read Janssen's post about her library books and thought it was a neat idea. And then Mel posted about her library books. Being in library school I thought "what a good idea...too bad I don't have any good variety of books checked out from the library..." I'm pretty sure I had two seasons of Friends and a couple books about the evils of plastic checked out. So I figured I'd put that thought on hold till some of my holds came in and I had a more varied collection of books. That time has come. Now you'll probably look at my stack and think that I somehow contrived it based on the above confession, but I swear it wasn't on purpose.
Anne's House of Dreams by L.M. Montgomery--Who doesn't love Anne and Gilbert?

Friends Season 3--I love that my library has full seasons of TV shows, in addition to a great selection of movies.

Plastic Ocean: How a Sea Captain's Chance Discovery Launched a Determined Quest to Save the Oceans by: Charles Moore and Cassandra Phillips--I haven't started this one yet, but I'm excited about it.

ABC for Book Collectors by: John Carter--This one is for one of my classes, but I'm nerdy and am looking forward to the readings from it.

Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale and Why We Bought It by: Elizabeth Royte--this one is actually fairly similar to the documentary Tapped, but I'm still learning new things about the battles over water, especially in Maine.

How to Be a Brit by: George Mikes--I saw this one and couldn't let it pass by. This looks hilarious.

Ernest Shackleton by: George Plimpton--So far it has been an enlightening biography.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Bike Maintenance and Repair by: Terry Meany--I decided it was time for me to learn to fix my own bike...

18 September 2012

Popcorn

A while ago Janssen posted this post about afternoon snacks. Now I being childless am not super concerned with feeding a child an afternoon snack. Nevertheless learning that you could make popcorn in a paper sack was very awesome. I now eat popcorn about everyday. And I don't feel guilty about it because I don't even always put butter on it. A little salt is good enough some days. And then even when I do put butter on it's not a ton. And I can feel good that I know what's going into my popcorn.

17 September 2012

Happiness is

Happiness is riding my bike on a crisp autumn morning.
Happiness is playing with rare books.
Happiness is bookbinding.
Happiness is having a nice meal with friends.
Happiness is going to bed early and waking up with the sun.
Happiness is watching the sun rise.
Happiness is laying in the grass reading a book on a warm sunny day.
Happiness is watching films you have to read.
Happiness is spending time at the temple.
Happiness is seeing people smile.
Happiness is when people laugh at your jokes.

What makes you happy?


















Happy Monday!

Inspired by this post.

14 September 2012

Zucchini Bisque


I also made this delicious zucchini bisque. If you can't tell, I really love creamy soups. I feel like there isn't a much better way to make a soup delicious than to add cream. But then, cream is good in just about anything. And since this soup also needed something to go with it I tried my hand at a flatbread. This one is a green onion flatbread. It was good, but had pretty much no flavor. Next time I think I'll try a different flavor (maybe garlic??).
Zucchini bisque
Green onion flatbread


13 September 2012

Wellesley College

Here are some long awaited pictures of the gorgeous campus that is Wellesley College. I couldn't tell you what any of the buildings are, but they are gorgeous. It's super easy to forget that you're on a college campus.