Lots of people seem eager to bid 2010 adieu, but I don't know, it hasn't been the worst year for me. It's been a weird year. I published two papers, wrote a dissertation, got a job, lost a grandparent, graduated, reached a point where I finally felt at home and secure in a routine and group of friends in Birmingham...and then moved 1100 miles away by myself with two cats in a Uhaul. I did a lot of things I've never done before (see: dissertation, uhaul), which makes me feel like 2010 made me braver and stronger. It was maybe a more deeply felt year than most-more sweetly happy times, more intensely sad times, longer stretches of nearly unbearable stress. At any rate: for me, 2010 was one for the books, and soon it will be done. Bring it, 2011.
PS: new year's eve in a new city with no friends or acquaintances or even a TV=drinking a little bottle of champagne by myself (with the cats? does that count as not drinking alone? The cats don't get champagne, though. They have not been good today/ever in their lives and I don't think wine is good for cats anyways), reading The Blind Assassin and going to bed at 11! This somehow makes me nostalgic for my early teen years, when I spent NYE drinking white grape diet rite soda in a champagne glass, watching Dick Clark and trying hard to stay up until midnight while my mom and dad dozed off on the couch.
31 December 2010
30 December 2010
Holidays
Back in Providence after a long Christmas with my family in Ohio. There was snow and wine and food and family and friends, a good time was had by all.
In my family, many of our holiday traditions revolve around food. My parents are among the last of a kind of solid midwestern type- a generation away from a factory or family farm, with hobbies that include saving money, sticking to a low-cholesterol diet, and paying their bills on time. Christmas has always been a time to let loose, at least in the solid midwestern sense of the word. For us, that means a parade of indulgent food that we only eat once a year. My mom makes six kinds of cookies (a total of 25 dozen), including sugar cookies which we frost as garishly as possible. The highlight is the angel of death, my dad's annual masterpiece
Christmas Eve is Carolina BBQ Pork, Hush Puppies and Coleslaw, followed by church then basically another dinner.
That's Trail Bologna (a local "delicacy"), cheese, apples, pears, crackers, almond cake with cherry filling, and a new addition, gelled cosmopolitans. We tried to make the cosmos in festive holiday molds, but when that failed we put it in a bowl and cut it into wedges. Because we are classy.
Christmas morning involves getting showered and dressed before anyone touches presents. We have fruit salad, Stollen (a german cake-bread thing) and Peach Fizzy, which is actually a recipe for a Bellini with Ginger Ale instead of Champagne. I was about 24 when I figured this out. This year's stollen was a little less bread-like and more sheetcake-like due to my dear sister forgetting to add 1/2 the flour. oops!
To work off all these extra calories, or at least atone for them, Dad and I went on a little hike at a nearby park. It was lovely, and cold.
Even the taxidermied coyotes got in on the holiday spirit.
All in all, a nice restful break. I'm glad to be back in my new home with a few days to organize my life, and excited to start my new job on monday!
In my family, many of our holiday traditions revolve around food. My parents are among the last of a kind of solid midwestern type- a generation away from a factory or family farm, with hobbies that include saving money, sticking to a low-cholesterol diet, and paying their bills on time. Christmas has always been a time to let loose, at least in the solid midwestern sense of the word. For us, that means a parade of indulgent food that we only eat once a year. My mom makes six kinds of cookies (a total of 25 dozen), including sugar cookies which we frost as garishly as possible. The highlight is the angel of death, my dad's annual masterpiece
Christmas Eve is Carolina BBQ Pork, Hush Puppies and Coleslaw, followed by church then basically another dinner.
Christmas morning involves getting showered and dressed before anyone touches presents. We have fruit salad, Stollen (a german cake-bread thing) and Peach Fizzy, which is actually a recipe for a Bellini with Ginger Ale instead of Champagne. I was about 24 when I figured this out. This year's stollen was a little less bread-like and more sheetcake-like due to my dear sister forgetting to add 1/2 the flour. oops!
Even the taxidermied coyotes got in on the holiday spirit.
All in all, a nice restful break. I'm glad to be back in my new home with a few days to organize my life, and excited to start my new job on monday!
16 December 2010
Providence
SO. I moved to Rhode Island! After 5 and a half years in Alabama, I am now calling chilly New England my home.
The trip was...what to say about the trip. It was long. It is 1,100 miles from Birmingham AL to Providence RI. Because I am slightly insane and melt down a little when I don't have control over situations, I made this journey in a Uhaul, towing my car. On the shorter, inland route that had fewer major cities but way more mountains. By myself. Well, not by myself entirely, because I had with me as companions my two cats. Knowing that the going would be slow and that I ( and the cats) could only take so much in a single day (and again, see earlier re:insane and needing control), I broke the trip up into three 375ish mile segments and one 90 mile segment. Then I went to get my truck, and surprise, instead of 10 feet+honda civic, it was 17 feet+honda civic. Fun!
As far as four day, 1100 mile journeys across the Appalachians in a Uhaul towing a car with two cats go, it was pretty much ideal. Driving the truck was actually not difficult. I got slightly stuck the first time I got gas, but thanks to some super-helpful truckers (I am guessing they had not so much as seen a lady in several weeks), I not only got out of my jam but also got a lesson on maneuvering a longer vehicle. I could even back it up semi-competently by the end of the trip. The cats were ok. One cat (the simple one) took about 45 minutes to forget she had ever lived anywhere other than a small crate inside a Uhaul and did fantastic the rest of the trip. The other cat (ie helper cat) did not quite thrive. Howling and Wailing, usually calming down only at about the fourth hour of driving. I covered the crate with a blanket and told her it was nighttime which helped a little, if only in muffling the crying.
The drive was pretty-Tennessee and Southern Virginia were all sparkling rivers and snow covered hillsides. Even the less picturesque regions of Appalachia had something lovely about their bleakness. The rolling farmland of Maryland and Pennsylvania reminded me of where I grew up, even though the farms were never quite so pastoral in my little section of Ohio and are long gone anyways. And Oh, once I hit New England...there is something in me that feels so at home in northern rocky woods. The streams and ponds, bare misty trees, dark rocks, winding roads that come around a curve to reveal a cold stony shore. It's so beautiful to me, way more so than a tropical beach.
And now I am here. The movers brought in my things, i'm slowly unpacking. I've been to several grocery stores, found the nearest Wal-mart, Target, and mall, gotten a library card, tried and failed to get a drivers license, made vegetable stock and 3 kinds of soup. My apartment is great although sort of empty at the moment while I save for some real furniture. My two fears-that no one would be nice and that everything would cost an arm and a leg-appear to be unfounded. Everyone I've met has been kind and welcoming-not necessarily the surface friendliness of the south (which I frankly always found kind of fake) or the earnest openness of the midwest, but nice nonetheless. And while gas and rent are more expensive here, produce (my big grocery expense)is cheaper than in B'ham, even without taking the 10% sales tax on groceries in Alabama. The cold is cold, but bearable. The only bad thing so far is the drivers! I swear I have a near-death experience everytime I go out on the road!
All in all, I think I'm going to like it here.
The trip was...what to say about the trip. It was long. It is 1,100 miles from Birmingham AL to Providence RI. Because I am slightly insane and melt down a little when I don't have control over situations, I made this journey in a Uhaul, towing my car. On the shorter, inland route that had fewer major cities but way more mountains. By myself. Well, not by myself entirely, because I had with me as companions my two cats. Knowing that the going would be slow and that I ( and the cats) could only take so much in a single day (and again, see earlier re:insane and needing control), I broke the trip up into three 375ish mile segments and one 90 mile segment. Then I went to get my truck, and surprise, instead of 10 feet+honda civic, it was 17 feet+honda civic. Fun!
As far as four day, 1100 mile journeys across the Appalachians in a Uhaul towing a car with two cats go, it was pretty much ideal. Driving the truck was actually not difficult. I got slightly stuck the first time I got gas, but thanks to some super-helpful truckers (I am guessing they had not so much as seen a lady in several weeks), I not only got out of my jam but also got a lesson on maneuvering a longer vehicle. I could even back it up semi-competently by the end of the trip. The cats were ok. One cat (the simple one) took about 45 minutes to forget she had ever lived anywhere other than a small crate inside a Uhaul and did fantastic the rest of the trip. The other cat (ie helper cat) did not quite thrive. Howling and Wailing, usually calming down only at about the fourth hour of driving. I covered the crate with a blanket and told her it was nighttime which helped a little, if only in muffling the crying.
The drive was pretty-Tennessee and Southern Virginia were all sparkling rivers and snow covered hillsides. Even the less picturesque regions of Appalachia had something lovely about their bleakness. The rolling farmland of Maryland and Pennsylvania reminded me of where I grew up, even though the farms were never quite so pastoral in my little section of Ohio and are long gone anyways. And Oh, once I hit New England...there is something in me that feels so at home in northern rocky woods. The streams and ponds, bare misty trees, dark rocks, winding roads that come around a curve to reveal a cold stony shore. It's so beautiful to me, way more so than a tropical beach.
And now I am here. The movers brought in my things, i'm slowly unpacking. I've been to several grocery stores, found the nearest Wal-mart, Target, and mall, gotten a library card, tried and failed to get a drivers license, made vegetable stock and 3 kinds of soup. My apartment is great although sort of empty at the moment while I save for some real furniture. My two fears-that no one would be nice and that everything would cost an arm and a leg-appear to be unfounded. Everyone I've met has been kind and welcoming-not necessarily the surface friendliness of the south (which I frankly always found kind of fake) or the earnest openness of the midwest, but nice nonetheless. And while gas and rent are more expensive here, produce (my big grocery expense)is cheaper than in B'ham, even without taking the 10% sales tax on groceries in Alabama. The cold is cold, but bearable. The only bad thing so far is the drivers! I swear I have a near-death experience everytime I go out on the road!
All in all, I think I'm going to like it here.
20 November 2010
Ben Fold's Genius
I've loved Ben from way back when. This song is one more. Making Levi Johnston's myspace profile into a lovely song takes true talent.
09 November 2010
Dr. Busy Bee
In the 30 days since my last update I have:
1. Finished and turned in my (250 page!) dissertation to my committee
2. Made a powerpoint condensing five and half years of work into 50 minutes
3. Successfully defended my dissertation!
4. Went on a whirlwind weekend with my parents-we went hiking at Guntersville State Park, explored huntsville, and got in time for Barbecue on their last-ever trip to Alabama.
5. Made a poster for the upcoming SFN meeting
6. Edited and finalized my (251 page!) dissertation
In the next 6 or so weeks I have to:
1. Go to San Diego for six days for a conference
2. Teach first year students about something science related (next friday? i should figure this out)
3. Run a few last experiments and finalize two manuscripts for submission
4. Go to Providence and find an apartment
5. Pack all my stuff
6. Drive to Rhode Island. With my cats. not looking forward to that.
Not to mention trying to squeeze in as much time as possible with my favorites here in birmingham! It's going to be a crazy few months.
In honor of this, a cat busy bee. Watch the whole thing, the end makes up for the early annoying cat-talk.
1. Finished and turned in my (250 page!) dissertation to my committee
2. Made a powerpoint condensing five and half years of work into 50 minutes
3. Successfully defended my dissertation!
4. Went on a whirlwind weekend with my parents-we went hiking at Guntersville State Park, explored huntsville, and got in time for Barbecue on their last-ever trip to Alabama.
5. Made a poster for the upcoming SFN meeting
6. Edited and finalized my (251 page!) dissertation
In the next 6 or so weeks I have to:
1. Go to San Diego for six days for a conference
2. Teach first year students about something science related (next friday? i should figure this out)
3. Run a few last experiments and finalize two manuscripts for submission
4. Go to Providence and find an apartment
5. Pack all my stuff
6. Drive to Rhode Island. With my cats. not looking forward to that.
Not to mention trying to squeeze in as much time as possible with my favorites here in birmingham! It's going to be a crazy few months.
In honor of this, a cat busy bee. Watch the whole thing, the end makes up for the early annoying cat-talk.
09 October 2010
Breaktime
So. I have to turn in my dissertation on thursday. A little less than a week. I'm almost done with the writing-just a little bit more of the conclusions, an abstract, and some serious editing to go. 220 pages so far, more than 50,000 words. It feel like a lot, and then I remember that this is five and a half years of my life and it feels like a little less.
I am endlessly tired. You have to understand, I am a girl who considers making it all the way through the daily show staying up "late". And I'm in the Central Time Zone, so that's in bed by 10:30, pretty much every night. And yet, the last three weeks I don't think I've gone to bed before midnight once. I'm adjusting, slowly, with the help of excessive amounts of caffeine. But I forgot how draining losing a half hour or hour or two hours of sleep is, especially when it happens every day for a month. Plus, writing full time plus is not exciting. I mean, if it were just normal hours, or if I got to do other things intermixed throughout the day, it would be fine and I would even like it,, I think. But right now I spend 12 hours a day sitting in my little chair. Maybe I mix it up and spend six hours in the chair and six in a coffee shop. But it's the same, all day, and it is mind-numbingly dull. Add that to a bipolar diet of crappy "writing food" (yes I think I will eat this bag of doritos for today) mixed with anxious and distracted lack of significant meals it makes for a jittery distracted tired weepy girl.
I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel though. For better or worse, this will be out of my hands by Thursday. I will have done my part. I will of course need to defend, but I'm a pretty good speaker, I know my field well, and I'm excellent at thinking on my feet/BS. I'm not terribly worried about that part. And the nice thing is, that once done I will never, ever have to do this again. I will be done with getting a PhD, forever.
Still, I have about a week to go, and I have to give it my all the whole time. It's twelve thirty, and I have one last section to finish before bed.
I am endlessly tired. You have to understand, I am a girl who considers making it all the way through the daily show staying up "late". And I'm in the Central Time Zone, so that's in bed by 10:30, pretty much every night. And yet, the last three weeks I don't think I've gone to bed before midnight once. I'm adjusting, slowly, with the help of excessive amounts of caffeine. But I forgot how draining losing a half hour or hour or two hours of sleep is, especially when it happens every day for a month. Plus, writing full time plus is not exciting. I mean, if it were just normal hours, or if I got to do other things intermixed throughout the day, it would be fine and I would even like it,, I think. But right now I spend 12 hours a day sitting in my little chair. Maybe I mix it up and spend six hours in the chair and six in a coffee shop. But it's the same, all day, and it is mind-numbingly dull. Add that to a bipolar diet of crappy "writing food" (yes I think I will eat this bag of doritos for today) mixed with anxious and distracted lack of significant meals it makes for a jittery distracted tired weepy girl.
I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel though. For better or worse, this will be out of my hands by Thursday. I will have done my part. I will of course need to defend, but I'm a pretty good speaker, I know my field well, and I'm excellent at thinking on my feet/BS. I'm not terribly worried about that part. And the nice thing is, that once done I will never, ever have to do this again. I will be done with getting a PhD, forever.
Still, I have about a week to go, and I have to give it my all the whole time. It's twelve thirty, and I have one last section to finish before bed.
26 September 2010
Pear soup!
I am (obviously) on a soup kick lately. No lamenting lack of pictures for this one, because it is nothing exceptional looking...it is, however exceptional tasting. I was inspired by a soup I had as an amuse-bouche at a restaurant near my parent's house when I was home in April. They bring out a little shot glass full of soup and a little spoon, and it wasn't nearly enough. I tried to recreate it from memory-not entirely the same, but still good enough to share.
Parsnip-Pear Soup
1 medium sweet onion, peeled and quartered
2 large shallots, peeled and halved
3 cloves of garlic, unpeeled
2 lbs parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks
4 medium ripe pears, peeled and cut into chunks
~4 cups vegetable stock* (chicken is fine if you want a richer soup)
1 small spring rosemary
1/4-1/2 cup whole milk or heavy cream
olive oil
salt and pepper
1/4 tsp cardamom
fresh nutmeg
Preheat oven to 375 F. Toss Onion, shallots, garlic, and parsnips in olive oil to coat and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spread on a cookie sheet and roast for 35-40 minutes, until vegetables are soft and browned. Remove from oven, and let cool enough to handle. Peel garlic, and chop other vegetables into small pieces. Place vegetables in a pot with chopped pears, and cover with broth. Add rosemary sprig and bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until pears and parsnips are very tender. Remove rosemary,and puree soup with an immersion mixer or in batches in a blender. Add more veggie stock if neccesary to thin soup to desired consistency. Stir in milk or cream and cardamom. add fresh-grated nutmeg to taste.
* Don't buy vegetable stock from the store! It is so easy to make on your own, and makes a HUGE difference in the taste of soups-much more so than canned vs homemade chicken or beef stock. Just save all your vegetable leftovers-carrot peels, the tops and leaves of celery, leftover onion and garlic, broccoli stalks, outside leaves of brussels sprouts, etc-pretty much everything except tomatoes-in a gallon ziploc bag in the freezer. When it is full, toss it in a big pot, add an onion cut into quarters, maybe some shallots or leeks, and a couple cloves of garlic. cover with water, shake in a bunch of salt and ground pepper, add 3-4 bay leaves, a couple sprigs of rosemary, several shakes of dried thyme and tarragon. Bring it to a boil, cover, and simmer for a few hours. Add salt and pepper to taste, let it cool, strain, and you have fresh homemade veggie stock! Use right away or freeze.
Parsnip-Pear Soup
1 medium sweet onion, peeled and quartered
2 large shallots, peeled and halved
3 cloves of garlic, unpeeled
2 lbs parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks
4 medium ripe pears, peeled and cut into chunks
~4 cups vegetable stock* (chicken is fine if you want a richer soup)
1 small spring rosemary
1/4-1/2 cup whole milk or heavy cream
olive oil
salt and pepper
1/4 tsp cardamom
fresh nutmeg
Preheat oven to 375 F. Toss Onion, shallots, garlic, and parsnips in olive oil to coat and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spread on a cookie sheet and roast for 35-40 minutes, until vegetables are soft and browned. Remove from oven, and let cool enough to handle. Peel garlic, and chop other vegetables into small pieces. Place vegetables in a pot with chopped pears, and cover with broth. Add rosemary sprig and bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until pears and parsnips are very tender. Remove rosemary,and puree soup with an immersion mixer or in batches in a blender. Add more veggie stock if neccesary to thin soup to desired consistency. Stir in milk or cream and cardamom. add fresh-grated nutmeg to taste.
* Don't buy vegetable stock from the store! It is so easy to make on your own, and makes a HUGE difference in the taste of soups-much more so than canned vs homemade chicken or beef stock. Just save all your vegetable leftovers-carrot peels, the tops and leaves of celery, leftover onion and garlic, broccoli stalks, outside leaves of brussels sprouts, etc-pretty much everything except tomatoes-in a gallon ziploc bag in the freezer. When it is full, toss it in a big pot, add an onion cut into quarters, maybe some shallots or leeks, and a couple cloves of garlic. cover with water, shake in a bunch of salt and ground pepper, add 3-4 bay leaves, a couple sprigs of rosemary, several shakes of dried thyme and tarragon. Bring it to a boil, cover, and simmer for a few hours. Add salt and pepper to taste, let it cool, strain, and you have fresh homemade veggie stock! Use right away or freeze.
12 September 2010
I wish I had a better camera
So I could take pictures of this delicious and beautiful soup! I followed the recipe pretty closely (for once), adding an extra jalepeno, using regular soy sauce and a splash of fish sauce instead of tamari, an extra teaspoon of curry paste and an extra sprinkle of garam masala. It's super tasty, a little sweet from the squash, creamy from the coconut milk, and has lip-tingling spice offset by cilantro-mint pesto.
It's also the prettiest shade of light orange, with little beads of red from the curry paste and a dark green swirl of pesto. If I only had a camera other than my 3 MP piece of crap from 2003, I would share with the internet. For graduation I am buying myself a new camera.
For tonight, I am eating my soup!
It's also the prettiest shade of light orange, with little beads of red from the curry paste and a dark green swirl of pesto. If I only had a camera other than my 3 MP piece of crap from 2003, I would share with the internet. For graduation I am buying myself a new camera.
For tonight, I am eating my soup!
19 August 2010
sisters discuss drugs and science writing
me: I am such a bad writer
Elizabeth: I'm sorry
Elizabeth: maybe you should take some cocaine*.
it helped lewis carroll
me: I'd probably be a better writer if I had a smidge of LSD
"yes the third chapter of my thesis is narrarated by a talking mushroom WHAT OF IT?"
Elizabeth: hahahaha
that would be so happy
there is not nearly enough batshit crazy imagery in science writing
also, use cocaine when you meet with XL to discuss this.
science writing is the coolest
* she means LSD. We come from a small town and are also the only two children to ever be influenced enough by the DARE program to be completely terrified and ignorant of drugs well into our twenties. I am a completely lame person. My friends and I went to a concert (Matchbox20 and Train, rock and roll!) when we were seventeen and vaguely considered trying to find some alcohol, decided we had no idea how to do that(note to my teenaged self: all you need to do to get get alcohol when you are a busty seventeen year old at a concert is walk your jailbait self to the nearest pack of college-aged guys where you will promptly be offered alcohol), responsibly remembered that we had to drive home (we carpooled. only one person had to drive home) and split a giant cup of diet pepsi. lame, I tell you.
Elizabeth: I'm sorry
Elizabeth: maybe you should take some cocaine*.
it helped lewis carroll
me: I'd probably be a better writer if I had a smidge of LSD
"yes the third chapter of my thesis is narrarated by a talking mushroom WHAT OF IT?"
Elizabeth: hahahaha
that would be so happy
there is not nearly enough batshit crazy imagery in science writing
also, use cocaine when you meet with XL to discuss this.
science writing is the coolest
* she means LSD. We come from a small town and are also the only two children to ever be influenced enough by the DARE program to be completely terrified and ignorant of drugs well into our twenties. I am a completely lame person. My friends and I went to a concert (Matchbox20 and Train, rock and roll!) when we were seventeen and vaguely considered trying to find some alcohol, decided we had no idea how to do that(note to my teenaged self: all you need to do to get get alcohol when you are a busty seventeen year old at a concert is walk your jailbait self to the nearest pack of college-aged guys where you will promptly be offered alcohol), responsibly remembered that we had to drive home (we carpooled. only one person had to drive home) and split a giant cup of diet pepsi. lame, I tell you.
08 August 2010
I like:
1. This list, a crowd-sourced compendium of the best of magazine writing. I think magazine pieces are the perfect form for non-fiction for me. I really like learning new things, but rarely have the patience to sit through a whole book of facts.
2. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I am two years behind the cool kids on this one, but the YYYs have really grown o me. They struck me as a little weird at first (kinda shouty, they're headlined by a tiny korean girl who looks like Johnny Weir and styles herself like Michael Jackson), but I am loving their music the more I listen to it.
3. Blood Bank by Bon Iver. I'm in awe of this guy's ability to write lyrics-they're so strange and sweet and evocative.
4. fresh sweet cherries, candied in whiskey and a little vanilla and a dash of cardamom, about to go over ice cream while I watch mad men:)
2. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I am two years behind the cool kids on this one, but the YYYs have really grown o me. They struck me as a little weird at first (kinda shouty, they're headlined by a tiny korean girl who looks like Johnny Weir and styles herself like Michael Jackson), but I am loving their music the more I listen to it.
3. Blood Bank by Bon Iver. I'm in awe of this guy's ability to write lyrics-they're so strange and sweet and evocative.
4. fresh sweet cherries, candied in whiskey and a little vanilla and a dash of cardamom, about to go over ice cream while I watch mad men:)
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