So at Kevin’s behest, I have migrated to WordPress. Apparently, my non-titled posts, when imported, were given numerical titles. I am too lazy to go back and change them, so ignore them. I still have a few things to figure out, but I guess I can understand Kevin’s attraction to this format.
115014986231749293 June 12, 2006
Well this weekend was busy! At least in a stay-at-home and have fun kind of way… I ordered an ice cream maker because of my fascination with making things that are really easy to just buy. So on Friday, I made my first batch of raspberry sorbet. I think the recipe I used had way too much sugar, but it still tasted good. Just too sweet for my taste. Yesterday, I also made a batch of cake batter ice cream, like Better Batter from Maggie Moo’s. I used full fat cream and everything, so this one will have to be a by the spoonful kind of treat. I also finally decided what to do with that gigantic block of cheese, or at least part of it. I made a couple of loaves of jalapeno cheese bread; however, they burned in the oven because the recipe called for too much baking time. I should have known better. I cut off the burnt crust, but you can’t give that kind of thing away. I guess Brad will have his fill of bread for the next couple of days.
To continue my trend of making things, I finally finished the apron I started a while back. I hung it in the window in its intended position as curtain, but it is too small by itself. I think I will just make another and drape them over each other. I hope this one doesn’t take as long to finish.
Today is also the day I begin my next marathon training schedule. Six miles this evening… I intended to get up early and run to avoid the heat, but being that I am lazy about waking up, that didn’t happen. So, I am off to run in the oppressive heat of the South.
114938092081296072 June 3, 2006
My landlady gave me a gigantic block o’ cheese. Cheddar to be exact… Now, those who know me know I don’t eat cheese (except accidentally), but I didn’t want to be rude and tell her I wouldn’t accept such a nice gift. So the question remains… What do I do with said block of cheese? I could have a cheese party for friends, but that would require buying more cheese for the sake of variety. I could make a fondue out of it, but then, I would either have to buy a fondue pot or make my friends stand around the stove over a double boiler. So, suggestions? Chop it up into smaller blocks and give it away…?
114848613244937475 May 24, 2006
Oh what a dilemma… Do I stay, or do I go? The subject to which I am referring, for those who can’t read minds, is the roller derby thing. I have been enjoying the practices and meeting new girls; however, I am very afraid of injuring myself permanently. I will start training for another marathon in a couple weeks, and I don’t want to risk major bodily damage in such a full contact sport. We haven’t even had a practice bout, yet I continually injure myself at practice. Most of the damage is from practicing falls, which I assume we won’t do forever, but there is also the issue that the league is getting more serious, as in charging us monthly dues and taking attendance at practice. I just don’t think that I will be able to keep up with the practice schedule and keep to a running schedule at the same time.
I guess I have made up my mind that roller derby, as in an actual bout, isn’t for me. I must admit that I am too afraid of injuring my body which I have just recently come to accept. I have intentions of continuing to go to practices until they force us to pay money, or I get hurt too much to run.
114746525530493203 May 12, 2006
A story that caught my attention today was titled “Grizzly-polar bear hybrid found“. The basics of the story are that a man on a very expensive guided hunting tour shot and killed the very first hybrid grizzly-polar bear known to have been born outside of captivity. He was originally intending to hunt polar bears. All I have to say is… Congratulations, Mr. Martell! That’s quite the trophy animal head you will have to your collection of god knows what else.
Can you seriously be proud of yourself for, first, being guided to a hunting area by a tracker because you are too dumb to find the animal yourself? Then, you proceed to kill the world’s first, perhaps only, wild-born hybrid grizzly-polar bear. What kind of person does this and is proud of it?
114684278907077765 May 5, 2006
Mmmm… Cookies… I have to toot my own horn and that of my new vegan cookbook on this one. I made the most delicious chocolate chip cookies I have ever eaten the other day. Not most delicious vegan cookies… The most delicious chocolate chip cookies that just also happened to be vegan! I have had nothing but good results from the recipes I have tried in the Vegan with a Vengeance cookbook. My favorite recipes from the book so far are the cookies, of course, the spinach and chickpea curry, and the “sausage” gravy made with homemade tempeh “sausage”.
In other news, I will be getting a fancy pants haircut today. I hope that it turns out well. I have such bad luck with haircuts. Last year I went to get a nice cut at a salon in Albuquerque, and I ended up paying $60 for a haircut that reminded me of a mullet (i.e. long layers gone bad). Needless to say, I chopped my hair off and just lived with short hair last summer. I have high hopes for this cut though. This salon is the one that the celebs in this town frequent.
Skates! April 23, 2006
I just got back from my first official Nashville roller girls practice. Up until now, we have been skating at a nearby roller rink which sucks because of all the tiny children I am afraid of killing. The league is brand new as of January, so everyone, except for the coach and a few others, is pretty much on the same page. I am surprised at how fast skating has come back to me. I am even better when I wear padding. Who cares if you fall then! The best part of roller derby is meeting all of these cool girls I would never have met otherwise. A nice break from the male-centric engineering world…
Anyway, now I need a name. I was thinking Professor Pain because of my last name and all (and maybe one day that Ph.D. thing). But I don’t think that I exude the image of asskicker… Maybe something somewhat “sweeter”, like Deadly Dahlia. I’m new to this creative thinking thing. Anybody have a suggestion? There doesn’t necessarily have to be alliteration. Just something clever…
114494528141502668 April 13, 2006
There are a surprising number of options for sending a package to El Salvador. Cary needed some sunscreen so I mailed a couple of bottles to her today. I could send the package by airmail for about $20. That option would take about a week or two to get there. There was some middle option for $15. I don’t remember how long that would take. Cary told me to mail the package “by boat” because that would be cheapest. So, that is what I did. This method is called “economy” at the post office. When I told the guy I wanted to send it economy, he looked at me skeptically and told me it would take a month or two to deliver. That’s what the girl said she wanted. But a month or two? It seems like it would take extraordinary effort to make a delivery take that long. You could probably walk it down to El Salvador in that period. Where does a package sit while it waits for its months long journey? Seems like an easy way to lose a package…
In other news, I finally bought the pink wig I have been lusting after since last summer. I saw this wig in a costume shop in Albuquerque while Katie was visiting me. I didn’t even know I wanted a wig, much less a pink one. But I knew when I saw it that I had to have it… I have no idea why it took me nearly a year to decide that $20 spent on a frivolous purchase would be acceptable. I spend $20 regularly on other things. Shirts that I decide I don’t like after one wearing, race entry fees, food, and whatnot… Why not a pink wig? Even if I only wear it once, not that big of a deal… So, now, where do I wear it?
114462262801724301 April 9, 2006
I did it! Not that I thought I couldn’t or wouldn’t, but I crossed the finish line in my very first marathon today! I had a dissapointing time of 4:55, but ces’t la vie. Next time, right? So my new goal, because I am incapable of existing without some sort of goal, is an actual 4:20 marathon. I am just saying that to be realistic because I really want a 4:00 marathon, but saying that you are going to shave an entire hour off of a marathon sounds crazy. Maybe saying you are going to willingly run another qualifies as crazy. Hmmm…
Well, highlights of the marathon included running toward the St. Louis arch multiple times at dawn, seeing the Clydesdales as we ran through the Budweiser brewing facility, and the water stops that seemed to be placed every half mile, oh yeah, and my blueberry bagel at the end. Lowlights, my newly acquired ankle pain at mile 19, and realizing that I ran the second half a lot slower than the first… All in all, a great first marathon experience… Hey. I finished!
114375661922234928 March 30, 2006
I’m going to make cupcakes! Now that I have finally moved and put most of my stuff in its place, I have been considering baking again. It has been too long since I have been able to bake something. I think I am going to make vegan cupcakes. White cake with raspberry “buttercream”… I feel guilty that I want to make cupcakes though. I don’t even enjoy frosting. But you can’t have a cupcake without frosting, and part of the fun of making cupcakes is decorating them and taking photos of the pretty creation. That, and I will force myself to give away most of them because I couldn’t possibily eat a dozen or more cupcakes. Maybe I should halve recipes to make only a half-dozen…
I think I will also make an apron to use as a curtain in my new kitchen. I have to find some really girly vintage-ish fabric first though. Something pink and yellow, sure to annoy Brad…
