Tango dancing is lots of fun... and inspired me to get some real dance shoes that should be good for tango, swing, and other such fun activities.
The Morris Arboretum in Philadelphia is absolutely beautiful and one of my new favorite places.
Bittersweet chocolate and spicy cinnamon gelatto are delicious, especially together.
DDR continues to delight me, as I venture into Expert land.
I'm 30% done with work for the summer.
I get to go to the Ingrid Michaelson concert in 4 days!
We've had some beautiful (and a little scary) lightning displays recently.
Getting caught in a downpour is a rather fun, but also rather wet :).
I can finally get good gluten-free crackers in the States again! And a gluten-free baguette! Useful for things like sub sandwiches and garlic bread.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Home
I decided to come home for a weekend, and I'm so glad I did. When I got off the plane, I was greeted by the very familiar warm, humid nights of Columbia. As I'm sitting at the desk, a refreshing cool breeze brings with it a scent of honeysuckle that reminds me of warm summer days of my childhood. Tomorrow, I get to see my brother and two girls who I haven't seen in a long time and have missed. Plus, I get to go to the beach, one of my real homes, and then back to greet my Baha'i family. A busy day, but a refreshing and refilling one.
The smell of honeysuckle will always remind me of home...
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Cinnamon Bun adventure
Today, I woke up wanting some soft, sweet, and tasty for breakfast. I got it in my head that I wanted a muffin or a cinnamon bun, so I tried the America's Test Kitchen recipe for quick cinnamon buns. I must say, it didn't turn out all that well. They definitely don't look so pretty, and they don't taste fantastic either. They taste better than any other gluten-free cinnamon bun I've had before, but I can do better. I learned some things about kneading gluten-free dough, the amount of flour needed, rolling dough out and then making it into log requires a certain amount of thickness. But now my apartment smells like cinnamon goodness, a good way to wrap up my take home exam!
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Thoughts while working on a take home
"There are so many p's everywhere. I need another letter. There are too many letters on the page, I'm running out of them!"
"Exercise really does help the brain."
"What am I trying to show? It's good to know what you're trying to do before doing it."
"Exercise really does help the brain."
"What am I trying to show? It's good to know what you're trying to do before doing it."
Saturday, May 03, 2008
The end and the beginning
Today was Slope Day, aka the last day of class. I had 5 whole students show up today, which was exciting. I just have a take home final and a final to proctor before I'm done. May 12, I will be done.
The other night when reading a Tablet by Baha'u'llah, I realized just how much it read like a mathematical proof. That was really cool, I'd never had that happen before.
I ran across this old post of Erin's, and it made me happy and miss Columbia at the same time. It was from Ridvan two years ago, and it seems so much longer than that.
Ridvan ended today. A new Universal House of Justice has been elected. The pictures are incredibly moving. I got home on Tuesday after a rather difficult day at the office and started reading the articles about the International Baha'i Convention in Haifa. My life suddenly had a new perspective, and things were okay again.
I'm sick again, surprise surprise. I've decided to ignore it the best I can. I've been eating lots and lots of mango wraps, since it's the only thing I feel like eating. I haven't even gotten to eat much of the delicious peanut butter cheesecake with chocolate topping that I made!
I have discovered a new favorite past time. It's called Dance Dance Revolution. Yes, I know I'm incredibly behind the times, but I only just discovered it last weekend. We had a dance party then, and another one tonight. I laughed so much I cried, got a good work-out, and had a great time with friends. I do have a couple annoying songs stuck in my head, but that's a small price to pay for a really fun evening. It didn't do great for my feeling ill though :-p.
My mom came to Ithaca to visit, and we had so much fun together. It was great to be able to show her around now that I know where everything is, to have a sleepover in my apartment, to have someone take care of me a little bit :) (the dishes were just magically washed, it was a wonderful break!), and to enjoy the fabulous spring weather that we had for a while. Everything has finally turned green and is in bloom.
The other night when reading a Tablet by Baha'u'llah, I realized just how much it read like a mathematical proof. That was really cool, I'd never had that happen before.
I ran across this old post of Erin's, and it made me happy and miss Columbia at the same time. It was from Ridvan two years ago, and it seems so much longer than that.
Ridvan ended today. A new Universal House of Justice has been elected. The pictures are incredibly moving. I got home on Tuesday after a rather difficult day at the office and started reading the articles about the International Baha'i Convention in Haifa. My life suddenly had a new perspective, and things were okay again.
I'm sick again, surprise surprise. I've decided to ignore it the best I can. I've been eating lots and lots of mango wraps, since it's the only thing I feel like eating. I haven't even gotten to eat much of the delicious peanut butter cheesecake with chocolate topping that I made!
I have discovered a new favorite past time. It's called Dance Dance Revolution. Yes, I know I'm incredibly behind the times, but I only just discovered it last weekend. We had a dance party then, and another one tonight. I laughed so much I cried, got a good work-out, and had a great time with friends. I do have a couple annoying songs stuck in my head, but that's a small price to pay for a really fun evening. It didn't do great for my feeling ill though :-p.
My mom came to Ithaca to visit, and we had so much fun together. It was great to be able to show her around now that I know where everything is, to have a sleepover in my apartment, to have someone take care of me a little bit :) (the dishes were just magically washed, it was a wonderful break!), and to enjoy the fabulous spring weather that we had for a while. Everything has finally turned green and is in bloom.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
West Wing makes me smile
I was relaxing and watching an episode of the West Wing tonight, and there were several lines I just enjoyed. I'm writing them here so you can enjoy them too, and also so I can remember them for later!
"Is he still holding you responsible for the fall of the Roman Empire?"
"Oh yes."
"Welcome to my world."
"Sweden has a 100% literacy rate, 100%! How do they do that?"
"Well, maybe they don't and they also can't count."
"Two thousand environmentalists are going to try to kill me tomorrow night... They're going to come at me with vegan food and pitchforks!"
"That doesn't seem like something people do, Mr. President."
"Still, I'd like you to get between me and any boiled seafood that might be coming my way."
(a few comments later)
"Vegan food, coming at my all night long."
It's April, there are 3 weeks left of classes, 9 more classes to teach, 12 more classes to attend, an oral exam, a take home final, and a good bit of grading left. Hopefully, there will be fewer days in the next 3 weeks that I'll be sick than in the past 3 weeks.
Snow is predicted for tonight. Hopefully, it will be the last snow for the year. I'm really eager for spring and nice weather.
Rice Chex are now gluten-free! It's so exciting that I get to have cheaper cereal that tastes close to my favorite cereal of all time, Corn Chex. I've also had tasty Thai food this weekend.
My mom is an incredible woman. She took her licensing exam this morning, and jumped right back to work an hour later.
Life in Ithaca continues to surprise me and challenge me and teach me.
"Is he still holding you responsible for the fall of the Roman Empire?"
"Oh yes."
"Welcome to my world."
"Sweden has a 100% literacy rate, 100%! How do they do that?"
"Well, maybe they don't and they also can't count."
"Two thousand environmentalists are going to try to kill me tomorrow night... They're going to come at me with vegan food and pitchforks!"
"That doesn't seem like something people do, Mr. President."
"Still, I'd like you to get between me and any boiled seafood that might be coming my way."
(a few comments later)
"Vegan food, coming at my all night long."
It's April, there are 3 weeks left of classes, 9 more classes to teach, 12 more classes to attend, an oral exam, a take home final, and a good bit of grading left. Hopefully, there will be fewer days in the next 3 weeks that I'll be sick than in the past 3 weeks.
Snow is predicted for tonight. Hopefully, it will be the last snow for the year. I'm really eager for spring and nice weather.
Rice Chex are now gluten-free! It's so exciting that I get to have cheaper cereal that tastes close to my favorite cereal of all time, Corn Chex. I've also had tasty Thai food this weekend.
My mom is an incredible woman. She took her licensing exam this morning, and jumped right back to work an hour later.
Life in Ithaca continues to surprise me and challenge me and teach me.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Recent successes
Over this spring break, I have accomplished so much, relaxed so much, and had so much fun. It's been a wonderful week.
Most recently... today I made gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, with delicious cookie dough and cookies, thanks to GingerLemonGirl, whose blog has inspired me to do so much more GF baking and sharing (the recipe is called the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies, though I found it needed a little more flour and xanthan gum).
I ate too much dough and too many cookies, but followed it up with pulled pork barbecue over rice and broccoli, so I hope that evened it out!
Then, after our Naw Ruz celebration this afternoon which was lovely, I came home and made.............. (drumroll here)............ gluten-free onion rings and chicken fingers!!!!!!!!!! For those of you who know me, you know that I've been talking about these for over three years. Two lovely friends bought me a deep fryer for my birthday 2 1/2 years ago because I talked about it so much, and the deep fryer has sat on my shelf since then, calling out and saying: "When are you going to use me??" Today, I pulled it out, wiped off the dust and put it to use. The result? Deliciousness. The onion rings were much more of a challenge, but eating onion rings fresh out of the fryer, after wanting them for 3 1/2 years, was worth it.
Then came the chicken fingers, which are also extremely tasty. Plus, they were relatively easy and could definitely be repeated, with more adventurous flavors. The thing that worked the least well this week was, ironically enough, the homemade honey mustard sauce. It's the simplest, straight out of a cookbook, but I didn't realize how spicy Dijon mustard is! Have no fear, I fixed it, and it's now delicious.
In addition to cookies, onion rings, chicken fingers, and pulled pork barbecue, I have also made mango wraps, pesto, and buttermilk pancakes this week. I assisted in the making of leek/zucchini/cheese frittata and espresso chocolate mousse.
I've also purchased ballet attire and attended my first two ballet classes in ten years (extremely sore after the first). I love it, and I will continue. I can't stop smiling in the evenings after class, I just enjoy it so much.
In addition to all this deliciousness and joy, I've spent good, fun time with math people and non-math people alike, caught up with friends, played many many games, wrote a talk, caught up on homework, did some spring cleaning, and relaxed. I must say this was one of the best balanced breaks I've had in a long time! And there's still another day left!
Most recently... today I made gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, with delicious cookie dough and cookies, thanks to GingerLemonGirl, whose blog has inspired me to do so much more GF baking and sharing (the recipe is called the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies, though I found it needed a little more flour and xanthan gum).
I ate too much dough and too many cookies, but followed it up with pulled pork barbecue over rice and broccoli, so I hope that evened it out!Then, after our Naw Ruz celebration this afternoon which was lovely, I came home and made.............. (drumroll here)............ gluten-free onion rings and chicken fingers!!!!!!!!!! For those of you who know me, you know that I've been talking about these for over three years. Two lovely friends bought me a deep fryer for my birthday 2 1/2 years ago because I talked about it so much, and the deep fryer has sat on my shelf since then, calling out and saying: "When are you going to use me??" Today, I pulled it out, wiped off the dust and put it to use. The result? Deliciousness. The onion rings were much more of a challenge, but eating onion rings fresh out of the fryer, after wanting them for 3 1/2 years, was worth it.
Then came the chicken fingers, which are also extremely tasty. Plus, they were relatively easy and could definitely be repeated, with more adventurous flavors. The thing that worked the least well this week was, ironically enough, the homemade honey mustard sauce. It's the simplest, straight out of a cookbook, but I didn't realize how spicy Dijon mustard is! Have no fear, I fixed it, and it's now delicious.
In addition to cookies, onion rings, chicken fingers, and pulled pork barbecue, I have also made mango wraps, pesto, and buttermilk pancakes this week. I assisted in the making of leek/zucchini/cheese frittata and espresso chocolate mousse.
I've also purchased ballet attire and attended my first two ballet classes in ten years (extremely sore after the first). I love it, and I will continue. I can't stop smiling in the evenings after class, I just enjoy it so much.
In addition to all this deliciousness and joy, I've spent good, fun time with math people and non-math people alike, caught up with friends, played many many games, wrote a talk, caught up on homework, did some spring cleaning, and relaxed. I must say this was one of the best balanced breaks I've had in a long time! And there's still another day left!
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Spring Break is a-comin'...
Well, people have already left. People are getting ready to leave. It's funny how Spring Break starts earlier and earlier each year... people can't actually wait for the break to begin to leave.
I took the night off to have some fun. It was quite enjoyable :). Saw "Definitely, Maybe...". It was enjoyable, but I walked away thinking, "That was a bit strange." Nothing particularly strange about it, but that's what I was thinking. It felt kind of like I watched it with a huge group of
friends, mostly because there was a rather large group of friends sitting behind my friend and I talking/commenting throughout the movie. Not obnoxiously, sometimes humorously, but still it was there.
On the drive home, I had the very deep thought of... "Shoes, they're strange. Well, they're just shoes."
Tomorrow, I have a feeling I will be teaching to a very small group of people. It might be fun to have just a small group and get back to more individual interaction with students.
I'm looking forward to not travelling this Spring Break. I've done enough travelling over the past few months. I'm going to cook, take a ballet class, clean and play my french horn, play with people, sleep some, read a lot, write a talk, do a little bit of homework, and just enjoy myself. Live in the moment. Practice Anna's presentation. Take long walks. I'm looking forward to it.
I'm reading Geography of Bliss right now and enjoying it. I'm enjoying taking little sips at a time. I've realized that I don't like speeding through books. While I was sick, I read two whole books, each in a day. I felt like they had sped by, and I had missed out on something. The characters came and left my life too quickly. I wanted them to hang around, to really enjoy their story. I'm just going to take books slow, so I can really enjoy them and get as much out of them as I can.
I took the night off to have some fun. It was quite enjoyable :). Saw "Definitely, Maybe...". It was enjoyable, but I walked away thinking, "That was a bit strange." Nothing particularly strange about it, but that's what I was thinking. It felt kind of like I watched it with a huge group of
friends, mostly because there was a rather large group of friends sitting behind my friend and I talking/commenting throughout the movie. Not obnoxiously, sometimes humorously, but still it was there.On the drive home, I had the very deep thought of... "Shoes, they're strange. Well, they're just shoes."
Tomorrow, I have a feeling I will be teaching to a very small group of people. It might be fun to have just a small group and get back to more individual interaction with students.
I'm looking forward to not travelling this Spring Break. I've done enough travelling over the past few months. I'm going to cook, take a ballet class, clean and play my french horn, play with people, sleep some, read a lot, write a talk, do a little bit of homework, and just enjoy myself. Live in the moment. Practice Anna's presentation. Take long walks. I'm looking forward to it.
I'm reading Geography of Bliss right now and enjoying it. I'm enjoying taking little sips at a time. I've realized that I don't like speeding through books. While I was sick, I read two whole books, each in a day. I felt like they had sped by, and I had missed out on something. The characters came and left my life too quickly. I wanted them to hang around, to really enjoy their story. I'm just going to take books slow, so I can really enjoy them and get as much out of them as I can.
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