If you watch just one video about neon salmon signs with moving mouthparts, let it be this one.
That noise is from a passing motorcycle, but I think it would be really awesome if it came from the fish.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Making Myself Type Something
So I haven't felt much like blogging lately. I've been generally suffering from a bout of inexplicable laziness/insomnia/fatigue. I'm starting to think it's not Seattle's lack of sunlight doing this to me (plenty of sun lately) but the wild swings in daylight hours. I can't properly sleep when the sun is up, or for at least a few hours after it goes down. Lately I've been wearing one of those primadonna sleep masks. It helps me "sleep in" until about 6:30 on sunny days, so that's nice.
I'm really busy at work and feeling lucky to have a job at all. There have been six layoffs in our library so far. The university is in bad, bad shape. The library where I worked in Ohio actually closed down last Friday, so it seems I am dodging bullets left and right.
Well, isn't this a happy post so far! Let's see... I got to go to Honolulu a few weeks ago for a conference. It was tropical and lovely. It was also a conference. I really loved the warm ocean breezes and being able to wear flip flops all the time. Photos from our one non-work day are here.
I tried to read Michener's Hawaii in preparation for this trip, but I'm still only about 1/3 of the way through it because it is insanely long. It's really interesting, though. I've never read any Michener. I know it's just a novel, but it's easy to imagine that the way Michener describes things is the way they really went down. Take, for example, when the first human inhabitants of Hawaii sailed from Bora Bora on their canoe. They crossed the equator, and all of a sudden all the stars were different, and DUDE, that one star wasn't moving! Trippy. A sign from the gods. The section about Abner Hale (not a real guy) and the Christian missionaries was fascinating, too.
So yeah, Hawaii, and I was in Montana last week, too. Bozeman is a fun place. Going to Missoula in August... or was it October? Or was it Billings? I don't remember. I just go where they send me. I'm getting really good at putting myself back together after clearing airport security. Portland's coming up, too, and I'll be in Ohio for the week around July 4.
My trusty digital converter box provided me with several new TV channels to check out this weekend. I have one called RTV: Retro TV. This afternoon I watched a show called The Bold Ones: The New Doctors which, according to Wikipedia, originally aired from 1969-1973. It was like an early version of House from the days when a cancer diagnosis was automatically a death sentence. The radical thing the House character did was to convince patients they weren't necessarily going to die immediately, then proceed to pump them full of chemotherapy drugs. There were women patients who weren't told they had cancer because their doctors and husbands "didn't think they could handle it." During the closing credits, there was a message about how the treatments presented during the show were "based on real developments from the cutting edge of medicine." My, how far we've come. Now if we could just get those 50 million people insured...
I'll try not to write such a bummer of a post next time! Oh, and Frank, I owe you a vegetarian chili recipe.
I'm really busy at work and feeling lucky to have a job at all. There have been six layoffs in our library so far. The university is in bad, bad shape. The library where I worked in Ohio actually closed down last Friday, so it seems I am dodging bullets left and right.
Well, isn't this a happy post so far! Let's see... I got to go to Honolulu a few weeks ago for a conference. It was tropical and lovely. It was also a conference. I really loved the warm ocean breezes and being able to wear flip flops all the time. Photos from our one non-work day are here.
I tried to read Michener's Hawaii in preparation for this trip, but I'm still only about 1/3 of the way through it because it is insanely long. It's really interesting, though. I've never read any Michener. I know it's just a novel, but it's easy to imagine that the way Michener describes things is the way they really went down. Take, for example, when the first human inhabitants of Hawaii sailed from Bora Bora on their canoe. They crossed the equator, and all of a sudden all the stars were different, and DUDE, that one star wasn't moving! Trippy. A sign from the gods. The section about Abner Hale (not a real guy) and the Christian missionaries was fascinating, too.
So yeah, Hawaii, and I was in Montana last week, too. Bozeman is a fun place. Going to Missoula in August... or was it October? Or was it Billings? I don't remember. I just go where they send me. I'm getting really good at putting myself back together after clearing airport security. Portland's coming up, too, and I'll be in Ohio for the week around July 4.
My trusty digital converter box provided me with several new TV channels to check out this weekend. I have one called RTV: Retro TV. This afternoon I watched a show called The Bold Ones: The New Doctors which, according to Wikipedia, originally aired from 1969-1973. It was like an early version of House from the days when a cancer diagnosis was automatically a death sentence. The radical thing the House character did was to convince patients they weren't necessarily going to die immediately, then proceed to pump them full of chemotherapy drugs. There were women patients who weren't told they had cancer because their doctors and husbands "didn't think they could handle it." During the closing credits, there was a message about how the treatments presented during the show were "based on real developments from the cutting edge of medicine." My, how far we've come. Now if we could just get those 50 million people insured...
I'll try not to write such a bummer of a post next time! Oh, and Frank, I owe you a vegetarian chili recipe.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Five Capos
Tonight at church we were treated to the guitar stylings of visiting musician Trace Bundy. This guy does really creative things with capos. He modifies them (cuts holes in them) and uses five at once, moving them around all the time. Check it out.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Cranberry Chicken Salad
This recipe comes from the back of a bag of Mariani sweetened dried cranberries.
3 cups cooked chicken
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup chopped toasted walnuts
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
dash of lemon juice
mayonnaise to taste
Mix all ingredients, chill and serve.
To cook the chicken, I threw a package of bone-in chicken breasts in the crock pot with a can of chicken broth. I left it on high for about 2 hours to get it up to a safe temperature, then turned it down to low. Then I fell asleep on the couch and forgot about it until the next morning. Oops.
The recipe said to cube the chicken, but after 11 hours cooking, there was no way that chicken was going to cube. It shredded, and when mixed with mayonnaise it formed a chickeny paste. Very spreadable! Great for sandwiches!
3 cups cooked chicken
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup chopped toasted walnuts
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
dash of lemon juice
mayonnaise to taste
Mix all ingredients, chill and serve.
To cook the chicken, I threw a package of bone-in chicken breasts in the crock pot with a can of chicken broth. I left it on high for about 2 hours to get it up to a safe temperature, then turned it down to low. Then I fell asleep on the couch and forgot about it until the next morning. Oops.
The recipe said to cube the chicken, but after 11 hours cooking, there was no way that chicken was going to cube. It shredded, and when mixed with mayonnaise it formed a chickeny paste. Very spreadable! Great for sandwiches!
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Gallery
I bought some picture frames at Ikea about a year ago. If you have visited my apartment, you probably noticed these frames hanging picture-less on the wall with the generic Ikea labels still inside them. Some of you were so polite as to comment that you thought I was going for some kind of modern art installation effect. Actually I was just lazy.
Last week I finally got around to putting some photos into the frames. These are the ones I chose. They were all taken during my first year in Seattle.
Golden Gardens, January
Center for Wooden Boats, July
Lime Kiln Point State Park, San Juan Island, May
Discovery Park, October
Pike Place Market, late November
Magnolia Bluff, August
Last week I finally got around to putting some photos into the frames. These are the ones I chose. They were all taken during my first year in Seattle.
Golden Gardens, January
Center for Wooden Boats, July
Lime Kiln Point State Park, San Juan Island, May
Discovery Park, October
Pike Place Market, late November
Magnolia Bluff, August
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Soundtrack to Life
I'm stealing this meme from Diane and moving it from Facebook over here to the blogosphere. These are the rules:
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc).
2. Put it on shuffle.
3. Press play.
4. For every question, type the song that's playing.
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button.
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool.
So mine is:
Opening Credits:
Someone Keeps Moving My Chair (They Might Be Giants)
Yep, story of my life.
Waking Up:
U Plavu Zoru (Pink Martini)
Google Translate tells me this is Serbian for "in the blue dawn."
First Day of School:
Mountains (Andy Kohler)
Hey, how about that! Although, if I were cheating, I might have picked Some Mornings are Good for this category.
Falling in Love:
I Live My Life (Firehouse)
Cheesy '80's ballad destined for a Time Life anthology of some sort.
Fight Song:
Everybody Has the Blues (James Taylor)
Go team! Get over it!
Breaking Up:
Do It This Way (Squirrel Nut Zippers)
Whoa, this really is a breakup song, albeit a very strange one.
Prom:
The Wanderer (U2 with Johnny Cash?)
I don't know what to make of this one, but I never went to prom, so there you have it.
Life's Just OK:
I Do But I Don't (Tim McGraw)
Good old country wishy washiness.
Mental Breakdown:
Can't Find My Way Home (Eric Clapton)
Aha! Very appropriate.
Driving:
America (Simon & Garfunkel)
Why yes, it did take me four days to hitchhike from Saginaw...
Flashback:
Outbound Plane (Suzy Boggus)
Hindsight is 20/20.
Getting Back Together:
How Sweet it is (To Be Loved By You) (James Taylor)
Awww... James redeems himself for that lame fight song earlier.
Birth of Child:
Spider Fingers (Bruce Hornsby)
If someone were to play this while I was in labor, I just might kick that person in the teeth.
Wedding:
How to Disappear Completely (Radiohead)
LOL
Final Battle:
Chariot (Gavin DeGraw)
Evidently I need to expand my collection of fight songs.
Death Scene:
Come Running (Van Morrison)
Death by tripping? Yeah, that could be me.
Ending Credits:
Playing to the Firmament (Dar Williams)
Turns out I was only playing to the firmament this whole time.
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc).
2. Put it on shuffle.
3. Press play.
4. For every question, type the song that's playing.
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button.
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool.
So mine is:
Opening Credits:
Someone Keeps Moving My Chair (They Might Be Giants)
Yep, story of my life.
Waking Up:
U Plavu Zoru (Pink Martini)
Google Translate tells me this is Serbian for "in the blue dawn."
First Day of School:
Mountains (Andy Kohler)
Hey, how about that! Although, if I were cheating, I might have picked Some Mornings are Good for this category.
Falling in Love:
I Live My Life (Firehouse)
Cheesy '80's ballad destined for a Time Life anthology of some sort.
Fight Song:
Everybody Has the Blues (James Taylor)
Go team! Get over it!
Breaking Up:
Do It This Way (Squirrel Nut Zippers)
Whoa, this really is a breakup song, albeit a very strange one.
Prom:
The Wanderer (U2 with Johnny Cash?)
I don't know what to make of this one, but I never went to prom, so there you have it.
Life's Just OK:
I Do But I Don't (Tim McGraw)
Good old country wishy washiness.
Mental Breakdown:
Can't Find My Way Home (Eric Clapton)
Aha! Very appropriate.
Driving:
America (Simon & Garfunkel)
Why yes, it did take me four days to hitchhike from Saginaw...
Flashback:
Outbound Plane (Suzy Boggus)
Hindsight is 20/20.
Getting Back Together:
How Sweet it is (To Be Loved By You) (James Taylor)
Awww... James redeems himself for that lame fight song earlier.
Birth of Child:
Spider Fingers (Bruce Hornsby)
If someone were to play this while I was in labor, I just might kick that person in the teeth.
Wedding:
How to Disappear Completely (Radiohead)
LOL
Final Battle:
Chariot (Gavin DeGraw)
Evidently I need to expand my collection of fight songs.
Death Scene:
Come Running (Van Morrison)
Death by tripping? Yeah, that could be me.
Ending Credits:
Playing to the Firmament (Dar Williams)
Turns out I was only playing to the firmament this whole time.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
White Winter Hymnal
The Fleet Foxes are (is? are?) my favorite Seattle band, although I suppose it is no longer cool to like them since they were on SNL last night. Oh, well. Call me mainstream.
Enjoy this video. I especially like the claymation mushrooms and the image of a guy methodically cranking away at a wheel that turns night into day back into night again.
Enjoy this video. I especially like the claymation mushrooms and the image of a guy methodically cranking away at a wheel that turns night into day back into night again.
Monday, January 5, 2009
French Onion Soup: It's Contagious
When I visited the Harts of Ada last week, the intoxicating aroma of simmering onions greeted me at the door. Janelle and Chris had enjoyed The Best French Onion Soup In The World* at the Lock Sixteen restaurant in Lima a few days earlier and Janelle was attempting to figure out the recipe at home. She was using homemade beef stock. I am not going to make fun of the fact that she makes her own beef stock. And jam. And noodles.
It was an excellent soup. That broth was really top-notch, but for me, French Onion Soup is all about the bread and the cheese. I decided to try my hand at French Onion Soup once I returned to Seattle.
This morning I busted out my trusty crock pot and set some onions to cooking. I got to smell them all day while I worked from home. The resulting soup was kind of a disappointment, but I think this recipe from Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook has potential. Below is what I should have done, and will do next time:
6 large yellow onions, sliced thin (fewer tears if you peel the onions and put them in the freezer for a few minutes before slicing them)
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 cans beef broth
2 tablespoons wine
4 to 6 1-inch thick slices French bread
8 oz. Gruyere cheese
Toss the onions in the oil. Cook in the crock pot on high for 9 to 10 hours. The ones on the bottom will get all crispy and dark.
Add the broths and wine and continue to cook on high until hot. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Toast bread slices in the oven at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes.
Ladle soup into ovenproof soup bowls and put the bowls on a baking sheet. Top each bowl with a slice of bread and cover with a slice of cheese. Put the bowls under the broiler and broil until melted and bubbly.
--
The original recipe called for half beef broth, half chicken broth, and no other seasonings. It explicitly says not to add salt, but I thought the soup was kind of bland. I also threw in an extra onion this time, and that was a mistake. It was like eating a bowl of onions and bread. There wasn't enough broth to soak into the bread properly. I used mozzarella instead of Gruyere because I shop at the ghetto Albertson's that doesn't carry Gruyere. Despite being from Ohio, I successfully reasoned that mozzarella would be better than Velveeta.
I hope for better luck next time, or perhaps I will try to modify the leftovers tomorrow.
*I later received a conflicting report that The Best French Onion Soup in the World comes from Cal's Restaurant in Garrettsville. Take that, France.
It was an excellent soup. That broth was really top-notch, but for me, French Onion Soup is all about the bread and the cheese. I decided to try my hand at French Onion Soup once I returned to Seattle.
This morning I busted out my trusty crock pot and set some onions to cooking. I got to smell them all day while I worked from home. The resulting soup was kind of a disappointment, but I think this recipe from Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook has potential. Below is what I should have done, and will do next time:
6 large yellow onions, sliced thin (fewer tears if you peel the onions and put them in the freezer for a few minutes before slicing them)
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 cans beef broth
2 tablespoons wine
4 to 6 1-inch thick slices French bread
8 oz. Gruyere cheese
Toss the onions in the oil. Cook in the crock pot on high for 9 to 10 hours. The ones on the bottom will get all crispy and dark.
Add the broths and wine and continue to cook on high until hot. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Toast bread slices in the oven at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes.
Ladle soup into ovenproof soup bowls and put the bowls on a baking sheet. Top each bowl with a slice of bread and cover with a slice of cheese. Put the bowls under the broiler and broil until melted and bubbly.
--
The original recipe called for half beef broth, half chicken broth, and no other seasonings. It explicitly says not to add salt, but I thought the soup was kind of bland. I also threw in an extra onion this time, and that was a mistake. It was like eating a bowl of onions and bread. There wasn't enough broth to soak into the bread properly. I used mozzarella instead of Gruyere because I shop at the ghetto Albertson's that doesn't carry Gruyere. Despite being from Ohio, I successfully reasoned that mozzarella would be better than Velveeta.
I hope for better luck next time, or perhaps I will try to modify the leftovers tomorrow.
*I later received a conflicting report that The Best French Onion Soup in the World comes from Cal's Restaurant in Garrettsville. Take that, France.
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