The World According to Garp

I chose this John Irving book because I recognized the name. Because of my selection method, it is a book of which I had no particular expectations. It was a strangely enjoyable read full of comic and outlandish moments. The author employed clever misdirection and interesting motivations. I never quite knew what to expect but gladly went along. I often found myself liking the main characters no matter what ridiculous behavior they engaged in.



Here is a picture of the strawberry freezer jam I made a week or so ago. I also cleaned the oven before my Washington D.C. trip! When I made this jam, my comment was "This is my childhood in a jar!" Indeed a silly comment, but home made jam was something that I grew up with and have missed during the last several years. My only complaint is that I used a lower sugar recipe (and the proper fruit pectin for this modification) and unlike normal freezer jam, this batch is more or less a solid in the freezer. With the amount of sugar in traditional freezer jam, it remains a liquid in the freezer. Sigh...

While in D.C., I was lucky enough to visit the Woodrow Wilson house in the DuPont Circle neighborhood. As with every visit to a Presidential Historic Site, I was incredibly impressed with the knowledge I gained from the tour guide and the home itself. It was the home he and his second wife chose to live in after Wilson's presidency ended.

What a life I lead! I'm off to bake some bread and do some gardening.

The Garden

It is forty degrees and raining today. I have been anxiously waiting to plant until it has been warm enough, dry enough, AND I have had time. I certainly could have planted cool weather tolerant vegetables by now if I had gotten the fence up sooner. Next year...

In the mean time, here are some pics from a few weeks ago when I dug out the garden and fenced it. Yes, I removed the grass w/ an edging tool and pulled out every piece of sod by hand. It was a lot of work, but it was the good kind.

Backyard Adventures

This is my second year of herb gardening. Last year I acquired pots, soil, and a rabbit fence in addition to the plants. It was a fairly simple process which ended with abundant results. This year I'm working on a garden, but between finals, travel, and rain I have done very little planting so far.

Since last year I have learned that I should aggressively use my herbs rather than attempt to save them for one big harvest. I will be much better off using them more frequently. I intend to apply this lesson to my garden and eat every little vegetable I can as soon as I can.

I also planted some lettuce that I plan to transplant to my garden soon. I decided that I spend enough money on greens that I really ought to be growing my own. I shoved all six of the poor little lettuce plants into one pot and I feel a bit bad for them every time I water them. They really need some space to grow before I devour them.

A rare insomniac moment

I used to struggle to sleep through the night. I come from a family of insomniacs, so I was not surprised by this at the time. Looking back, I would like to blame the over-consumption of caffeine. I've been drinking (relatively) large quantities of coffee recently as I work my way through final exams, and here I am awake at 3:00 in the morning. The heat and a noisy puppy are also factors in this situation.

Praise google. I used their map editor to trace my jogging route. It is 1.3 miles. I ran it the other day at what felt like a faster time. I will remember to time myself later this morning.

One book down...

I recently finished reading The News From Paraguay by Lily Tuck. This novel won the 2004 National Book Award in fiction. I have committed to reading 10 from this list of books.

I am not entirely sure what to feel about this work of historical fiction. It has a strange and often horrifying humor, an episodic style, and shallow main characters. This requires an different reading style, not so much of enjoyment, but rather hunting beyond the face value offered. It isn't a book that I would recommend to someone looking for a good read. I learned to read it looking for connections and motivations. This made it feel worthwhile and I am certainly curious to know more about the real history behind this story.

In other news, I made a batch of freezer jam over the weekend. After completing the rabbit fence, I am one step closer to starting my garden. Hooray!

A Rainy Saturday Morning

Like for many people, Saturday mornings are special. They represent my time to do just whatever it is that strikes my fancy. Instead of taking Odie for our usual half asleep walk before heading off to school, I got to take her for a run. This is a privilege for several reasons:

1) I was ambitious enough to put on my running clothes and go before breakfast.
2) It is actually warm enough to get outside without a coat.
3) It is actually cool enough to run comfortably.
4) Odie, who I affectionately call "my little anchor" was quite agreeable during our mile-long run. Normally she won't run or she will run just a little too fast and throw off my pace. This leaves me gasping for breath much sooner than I would like.

So there it is, a little progress in the fitness department and some quality time with my little beast. Happy Saturday! I'm off to make freezer jam, clean the bathroom, install a fence around my garden patch, learn some Statistical Mechanics, and well, happily do whatever else I want.

A list for all the world to see.

When I began this blog last year, I intended to use it to teach myself a few basics of programming and have a little fun. Beyond that, I had little use for a blog. While I love reading food blogs, they are a dime a dozen these days.

I have decided that I have a much better use for this space. I plan to regularly post my progress as I work through a list of personal goals I developed recently. I feel that I waste much of my time in front of the television and the computer. Most items are not all that difficult, but each of them will require a little extra push on my part. All of them will contribute to my efforts to become a neater, healthier, more adventurous person.

When I made this list of last month, I kept it to myself. I often feel that I do not push myself hard enough unless I publicly declare my intentions. I tend to keep my efforts a secret until I know that I have a very good chance of finishing my new project. I also know that writing down my goals has always been a strong motivational tool.

So with less than 1000 days left, I will regularly post my personal progress toward finishing this eclectic list. As of this morning, I can officially cross off #54. I ate delicious pizza last night at 50 Stop. I also watched the sun set behind Lake Michigan and light up the distant towers of downtown Chicago.

A progress report

I ran about 1.5 miles in 13 minutes this afternoon. My running goals seems a bit daunting, but also very important. They are among the hardest on the list and I will definitely continue to post my times and distance here.

I am eating dinner at Stop 50 Wood Fired Pizzeria tonight. I have been wanting to eat at this restaurant for over a year now. While it seems like a simple goal, this list is about enjoying my life as a graduate student. It is just as easy to ignore the little things as avoid the big ones.

My little beast of a dog Odie is consistently sitting and staying at doorways. I won't mark it off the list yet, but I think it will be one of my first.

I have baked approximately 4 loaves of yeast bread in the last month, but I'll have to stay with it a little longer before I call it a habit. I'm reading the grocery circulars and occasionally using a coupon. I have plans to complete many of the items sooner than later... more on those later.

101 Things in 1001 Days

101 Things in 1001 Days

Goals Set: 3/14/2010
Completion Date: 12/9/2012

Academic/Knowledge
1) Earn a Masters Degree
2) Work through a first year Chemistry Text
3) Write and maintain a website
4) Learn to implement code using a header file
5) Compile code w/ a make file
6) Use multiple source code files compiled through a make file
7) Use a header to input source code from one file to another
8) Read and understand a complete work (of any length) by Faulkner
9) Read 10 of the National Book Award winners in fiction (0/10)
10) Read 10 of the Pulitzer Prize winners in fiction (0/10)
11) Read 10 of the Modern Library’s 100 Best Nonfiction (0/10)
12) Have a conversation in Portuguese
13) Be able to name all of the U.S. Presidents in order
14) Become an architecture geek
15) T.A. a graduate level class
16) Take a language class
17) Present at an academic conference

Diet/Food
18) Make a batch of freezer jam
19) Make Fried Green Tomatoes
20) Make a habit of using coupons and planning meals w/ grocery circulars
21) Make crackers (via a Mark Bittman recipe)
22) Eat a completely vegan diet for one week
23) Make baking bread a habit
24) Stay on calorie budget during one of the BF's trips
25) Eat a meal made entirely of things grown in my own garden

Exercise
26) Take a yoga class
27) Take an advanced pilates class
28) Run a 5K
29) Run a faster 5K
30) Run a 10K
31) Run a faster 10K
32) Master a tri-cep push-up
33) Go hiking in the North Cascades
34) Work down to 20% body fat (and maintain it for long enough to see if you like it)
35) Return from a vacation thinner than you left
36) Climb the ND library stairs

Travel
37) Visit Glacier National Park
38) Visit the Devil’s Tower in Wyoming
39) Visit Yellowstone National Park
40) Visit the U.P. of Michigan
41) Travel to Iowa
42) Visit the Field Museum
43) Visit the Art Institute of Chicago
44) Attend a Shakespeare production in Chicago
45) Visit the Smoky Mountains
46) Visit three East Coast States
47) Sleep in a tent
48) Visit a country whose primary language is not English
49) Attend a baseball game at Wrigley Field
50) Travel to Ohio
51) Visit a Mound site
52) Visit 10 Presidential Historic Sites
53) Go on vacation without a car

Community
54) Visit the Pizza restaurant near Lake Michigan
55) Visit the Snite Museum
56) Canoe the St. Joseph River (starting from St. Patrick’s Park)
57) Cross Country Ski the ND golf course
58) Take a local cooking class
59) Bike to and around Saint Mary’s College
60) Volunteer for a South Bend community program
61) Volunteer for the ND Physics Department
62) Visit a local winery
63) Visit Benton Harbor and Traverse City
64) Make a point to use the local libraries
65) Judge a science fair
66) Visit Amish Country
67) Visit Fernwood Botanical Garden

Household
68) Paint the bathroom
69) Develop a successful composting system
70) Clean the oven twice (0/2)
71) Grow a crop of corn
72) Buy a cactus or other succulent to raise in the house
73) Clean and organize the contents of both desks
74) Maintain organization of the desks
75) Develop and maintain organization systems for all messy zones
76) Replace expensive cleaning products with homemade versions
77) Put in a path and stone patio
78) Buy a piece of art for the house
79) Decorate the living room

Financial
80) Pay off student loans
81) Pay off my car loan
82) Organize and fully document my financial information
83) Have an emergency fund of at least two months wages ($3000)
84) Donate money to WWU

Odie
85) Train Odie to come when called
86) Train Odie to look
87) Train Odie to stay at doorways
88) Take Odie to 90% of the pet-friendly parks in the county
89) Teach Odie to behave well at outdoor restaurants
90) Take Odie on a vacation

Personal Challenges
91) Spend a week without the internet
92) Watch no television for one month
93) Drive in downtown Chicago

Miscellaneous
94) Celebrate 3 holidays I have never heard of
95) Gather all possessions still at my parents homes
96) Cook dinner for Randy and Peggy
97) Have pants tailored
98) Reconnect w/ an old friend
99) Have wisdom tooth removed
100) Give a thoughtful and random gift to a friend (5 times)
101) Do not allow yourself to complain of boredom

things i miss

1) surprises and random adventures
2) walking around barefoot
3) family volleyball and grandma sundays
4) wild blackberries
5) mountains to be out
6) a job to feel passionate about
7) espresso
8) fellow vegetarians
9) hiking