23
December
2009
I made a delicious pea soup for dinner yesterday night. (Sorry for the bad pic taken on my phone!)
I found the recipe in a cookbook (so I won’t publish it on the blog), but I’m sure it was the same as any old recipe you could find anywhere. What made it special was the garnish, which contained sour cream, parmesan cheese, and white pepper. I also made some croutons to go on top. It was delicious. Now that I have some extra time on my hands, I plan on trying out some new recipes.
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23
December
2009
I just got back from a glorious run! When I have school/work, the only time I can run is early in the morning or late at night – and since it has been so cold lately, I haven’t been able to run outside for about a month. Instead, I’ve been running on the treadmill at the gym, which I absolutely despise. For some reason I think it’s harder to run on the treadmill, despite everyone saying that it’s easier. I struggle a lot more on the treadmill. I think it’s mostly because I love running outside. I love feeling the nice cool breeze on my face. Also, I find it a lot harder to clear my mind on the treadmill. So yes, I was very excited today to be able to run outside in the afternoon when it’s not so cold out. And guess what? I shaved three minutes off of my best four mile time! So apparently the treadmill has helped me to improve my speed and stamina – so I can’t talk too much shit about it.
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14
December
2009
Well, it’s official. And this mug proves it!
Haha. I have never been one for school spirit – I’ve never attended any sort of sporting event or anything like that, so I don’t have any CSUS paraphernalia. While I am not particularly proud of my Alma Mater, I am happy with my experience in the English graduate program, so I thought I should commemorate my experience with a trinket. And I couldn’t think of anything more symbolic of my experience in college than a coffee mug. I wonder how many cups of coffee I have consumed as a student? I have developed quite the habit! It’s not even the caffeine I crave – it’s more that reassuring feeling of having a warm beverage in my hand. Nothing calms the nerves more than a warm cup of coffee. Eek, I really do sound like an addict. I’m not addicted to heroin – I just like the feeling of a needle in my arm!
I can’t believe all of the crazy shit I’ve learned about in school, especially grad school. Yet, I still feel like I have so much more to learn. But I’m confident that I’ll continue learning, just in new settings and in new positions. Turning in my thesis was a lot harder on me than I expected. It was as though I was turning in a big part of myself, and I was left feeling a bit empty. But I’m already filling up that empty space with other stuff.
Here’s what I have to look forward to:
- Interning in a first-year composition class
- Taking conversational Italian with Kyle at the Davis Adult School
- Going to Italy in May (!)
- Possibly becoming a substitute teacher
I know that I can prevent getting anxious about graduating by keeping busy. So, the plan is to keep busy, yet still enjoy my new freedom. I can’t even imagine what weekends are going to be like without having hours upon hours of homework. I would imagine they would be pretty freaking awesome.
My graduation ceremony is on Friday, and then the next day we’re going to San Francisco for a couple of nights! We’re going to AsiaSF (I apparently inherited my Grandma’s fondness of drag queens…), and maybe the Great Dickens Christmas Fair. We’ve also talking about going to Tahoe for Christmas. So yes, lots to look forward to.
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28
November
2009
Kyle and I had a nice relaxing Thanksgiving at home this year. We were both recovering from the flu, so we really just wanted to stay home. Plus, my thesis is due next week, so I really wanted to stay home and focus over the long weekend.
Staying home didn’t prevent us from eating some delicious food:
This was actually my first year cooking Thanksgiving dinner. I made yams, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, brussels sprouts and and a Tofurky (I didn’t actually make the Tofurky, I sort of just threw it in the oven… Although, Kyle did baste it, which was a nice addition). The Torfurky came stuffed with a wild rice stuffing, which I thought looked a bit dubious, but it was actually delicious! Everything turned out really great. We also had some unpictured homemade pumpkin pie. We ate way too much and were full for several hours – even after we took a long walk. Good thing Thanksgiving only comes once a year!
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12
October
2009
Since the weather has cooled down quite a bit, I thought some potato soup was in order. My Grandmother always made this for us as soon as it started to get chilly out. I used to “help” her by eating little pieces of potato and getting in her way. This was actually one of the first recipes she taught me how to cook. While the recipe is based on my Grandma’s, I have also made it my own by tweaking a few things.
Grammy’s Potato Soup
3-4 Russet potatoes
1 white onion
3-4 celery stocks
One quart organic milk
1 tablespoon garlic
2-3 tablespoon flour
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Saute garlic and onions until translucent. Add celery and potatoes, and cook until the potatoes are soft. Add milk and bring to a simmer. Mix flour with a few tablespoons of warm water in a mug. Stir flour mixture into the soup. Garnish with green onions, cheddar cheese, and facon.
My Grandma put bacon in her soup, but once I became veg she made a separate pot for me, and she made sure she used separate spoons when she stirred. We had some facon hanging out in the freezer, so I decided to try it out as a garnish on top. It was quite tasty. The green onions are also my addition. This recipe is so simple and cheap to make, and so good! It’s definitely comfort in a bowl.
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24
September
2009
There is a Run to Feed the Hungry every Thanksgiving in Sacramento. My old bosses used to participate in it every year, and I always thought it sounded like so much fun. What a great way to start off a day that has become a day centered around indulgence. Sure, we’re supposed to give proper thanks for what we have (I usually give thanks that I am not a turkey), but I’m confident that most people skip over that part and focus primarily on the all day feast-fest. Okay, to be fair, there might be a few people out there that give a half-hearted thanks for having cable television and a TiVo to distract them from their daily lives. Ooh! I’m starting to sound like Henry Rollins! Alright, alright, I’m sure there are people who genuinely take the time to stop and reflect on the things that they are thankful for. All I’m saying is that “Thanksgiving” is a bit of a misnomer. Perhaps a more appropriate name would be “Foodeating,” or “Mouthstuffing.”
Anyway, I do think that, despite all of the crap that’s going on right now in the world, most of us truly have things to be thankful for. I know I do. And what better way is there to show that you are thankful than by giving back? Oh, listen to me. I already think I’m better than you! (Not really.) This year I will be giving (quite possibly) my blood, (certainly) my sweat, and (hopefully not) my tears. That’s right! I signed up to run the 5k! And since I know my couch-loving boyfriend will not do this with me, my best Peep Ashley volunteered to run it with me! It should be interesting! And all that running will make up for the feast that will follow, right?
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22
September
2009
John Keats can sum up my feelings about autumn much better than I can…
Ode to Autumn
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness!
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;
To bend with apples the mossed cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o’erbrimmed their clammy cells.
Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reaped furrow sound asleep,
Drowsed with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers;
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
Steady thy laden head across a brook;
Or by a cider-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings, hours by hours.
Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too, -
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing, and now with treble soft
The redbreast whistles from a garden-croft;
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.
-John Keats
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18
September
2009
Good ole SJ turns 300 today!
(photo cred)
“Such is the emptiness of human enjoyment, that we are always impatient of the present.” -Rambler 207
“Thus it comes to pass, that our desires always increase with our possessions; the knowledge that something remains yet unenjoyed, impairs our enjoyment of the good before us.” -Adventurer 67
“To strive with difficulties, and to conquer them, is the highest human felicity; the next, is to strive, and deserve to conquer: but he whose life has passed without a contest, and who can boast neither success nor merit, can survey himself only as a useless filler of existence; and if he is content with his own character, must owe his satisfaction to insensibility.” -Adventurer 67
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25
August
2009
I had every intention of seeing District 9 with Kyle over the weekend, but something came our way that was impossible to pass up. Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds came out! We had been wanting to see it, but we sort of forgot that it was coming out so soon. Needless to say (it’s funny how some people hate that expression – I kinda like it), when I was looking up times for District 9 and saw that Inglourious Basterds was out, Kyle and I decided right away that we’d rather see it. So hahaha! Another weekend goes by without me having to see the alien movie!
Inglourious Basterds was classic Tarantino. I loved every single second of it. I could go back and watch it again right now. In fact, I wish I could. What is it about Tarantino’s films that makes you want to watch them over and over again? His films always make me wish that I was a bigger badass than I am too. Brad Pitt was just awesome – everything he said was memorable. Kyle and I walked out of the theater quoting everything he said while laughing our asses off. I’m giggling just thinking about it. But it definitely wasn’t just Pitt that made the movie good – like I said, I loved everything about it. Although, I was a little bit worried when we left the theater and I overheard someone say, “That can’t be true though, because Hitler didn’t die that way.” OH MAN! You’re totally missing the point!!!
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30
April
2009
My Grandma left this world on April 9th, 2009. Among the things she left me was a wonderful contrast of old and new: her decades old adjustable bed and her brand new mattress. Kyle was very skeptical when he found out that we were taking the bed. He was surprisingly okay taking a mattress that my dead Grandma slept on, but for some reason he was hesitant about taking the adjustable bed. A couple of times he tried to talk me out of it by insisting that it was a fire hazard (this thing is seriously old), that it was too heavy, etc., etc. He caved once he realized I was adamant about keeping it.
Now, it might seem odd that a 20 something would want a bed that apparently is designed for and marketed to those over the age of 65. The reasons I want it are really two-fold. First of all, the bed brings back wonderful memories of my childhood when we lived with my Grandma and I slept with her at night. She would be reading her trashy magazines (i.e. Star, Enquirer, etc.) sitting upright in her bed, and then she would lower the bed when I came in to go to sleep. She would always let my brother and I play on it. My brother would have me sit on the foot of the bed, and then using the controller, he would make the foot go up and down. To us, the bed was an incredible robot bed from the future. I also have fond memories of doing my brother’s hair* while watching Guns N Roses music videos on MTV** on that bed.
All nostalgia aside, I also wanted the bed because, let’s face it – it’s freaking awesome. Yesterday I went to our room equipped with Life of Johnson and my laptop. I moved that bad boy to an upright position, and did my homework in blissful comfort. This bed really needs to be marketed to students who are tired of reading in uncomfortable positions all day. So basically, I get to enjoy the comforts of the bed while doing homework, as well as remember how much I love and miss my Grandma at the same time. It’s a pretty good package if you ask me. And by the way, Kyle is thrilled with the bed as well.
* Yes, you read that right. My brother used to let me put clips and other hair accessories in his hair when we were little. I think I even had a squirt bottle filled with water that I used before I combed his hair. Actually, come to think of it, my brother is almost seven years older than me, so he couldn’t have been THAT young. HAHA!
** Yes, you read that right. MTV actually used to play music videos.
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