Large Hadron Collider Rap
I *REALLY* ENJOYED THIS.
Yes, I am a dork.
Link thanks to Transmogriflaw
September 13, 2008
Almost time for bed
I got home about an hour ago.
I've been powering through an in-person negotiation for a relatively big deal for one of my clients over the last few days and putting everything else in my life on hold.
This means working 'til 1 Am on Wednesday and getting up at 5:30 for a 6 AM call to start Thursday. Sending a redline at 8:15. Trying to cram in a full day's work in 3 hours. Going in person to negotiate from noon 'til 1 AM and making E call a cab to take him to the airport for a 10:50 flight, because I just couldn't get home to take him in time.
When I finally did come home, I was welcomed by visiting friends who had to let themselves in via hide-a-key. I said hello briefly and then sent a few work emails.
I slept briefly, but on edge. And then I woke. Energized and over-stimulated.
I wondered in amazement at the perfect timing of guests -- they eat breakfast, and brought doughnuts! Ordinarily, I don't eat 'til lunch, but given that I kind of skipped the food at the negotiation, and the lack of sleep... yeah. Thanks R!
Today was more of the same. After less than 5 hours sleep, wake to try to finish another day's worth of work in 3 hours. A pre-negotiation conference call. Negotiations on-site for 13.5 hours. And finally, we have the final document. We toast with bourbon (Yuck!) and the parties shake hands. We'll see if the boards actually approve it...
Finally, I'm home. Tired. But still needing to wind down (and hence blogging).
I don't have spells like this very often. But, when I do, I'm amazed at my lack of need for sleep in the face of the adrenaline. I really do love my job. I love being trusted with so much power (even though half of the time the companies I represent don't realize just how much I could do to help or hurt them).
It doesn't hurt that E is gone this weekend. So, I get the best of both worlds -- Tons of distraction from E's absence by work that I enjoy, which when he's home, I often resent because it takes me from him.
I suspect that when the buzz of the fun in-person negotiations to help a small company close (I hope!) an important deal wears off, I'll be less thrilled about the remaining hours of make-up work I have this weekend.
But, right now, at 4:20 AM on a Saturday (which means I worked straight through Friday night). I'm very happy with my career choice and I like my job. Like I said, I don't have to do this that often. But, when I do, I learn a ton, I feel very useful, and I enjoy myself.
I think that says quite a bit about both me, and the type of person who would be happy in my job.
All you potential transactional attorneys -- take note!
I got home about an hour ago.
I've been powering through an in-person negotiation for a relatively big deal for one of my clients over the last few days and putting everything else in my life on hold.
This means working 'til 1 Am on Wednesday and getting up at 5:30 for a 6 AM call to start Thursday. Sending a redline at 8:15. Trying to cram in a full day's work in 3 hours. Going in person to negotiate from noon 'til 1 AM and making E call a cab to take him to the airport for a 10:50 flight, because I just couldn't get home to take him in time.
When I finally did come home, I was welcomed by visiting friends who had to let themselves in via hide-a-key. I said hello briefly and then sent a few work emails.
I slept briefly, but on edge. And then I woke. Energized and over-stimulated.
I wondered in amazement at the perfect timing of guests -- they eat breakfast, and brought doughnuts! Ordinarily, I don't eat 'til lunch, but given that I kind of skipped the food at the negotiation, and the lack of sleep... yeah. Thanks R!
Today was more of the same. After less than 5 hours sleep, wake to try to finish another day's worth of work in 3 hours. A pre-negotiation conference call. Negotiations on-site for 13.5 hours. And finally, we have the final document. We toast with bourbon (Yuck!) and the parties shake hands. We'll see if the boards actually approve it...
Finally, I'm home. Tired. But still needing to wind down (and hence blogging).
I don't have spells like this very often. But, when I do, I'm amazed at my lack of need for sleep in the face of the adrenaline. I really do love my job. I love being trusted with so much power (even though half of the time the companies I represent don't realize just how much I could do to help or hurt them).
It doesn't hurt that E is gone this weekend. So, I get the best of both worlds -- Tons of distraction from E's absence by work that I enjoy, which when he's home, I often resent because it takes me from him.
I suspect that when the buzz of the fun in-person negotiations to help a small company close (I hope!) an important deal wears off, I'll be less thrilled about the remaining hours of make-up work I have this weekend.
But, right now, at 4:20 AM on a Saturday (which means I worked straight through Friday night). I'm very happy with my career choice and I like my job. Like I said, I don't have to do this that often. But, when I do, I learn a ton, I feel very useful, and I enjoy myself.
I think that says quite a bit about both me, and the type of person who would be happy in my job.
All you potential transactional attorneys -- take note!
September 7, 2008
Light Summer Risotto
Risotto, 'round our house, is a treat. This means, if I'm going to go through the motions of making it, I'm usually throwing in the indulgence ingredients (bacon, prosciutto, butter, cheese, beef-broth-braised-mushrooms, etc.).
So, tonight, was a new treat for us. I modified a recipe from Vegetarian Times Cooks Mediterranean to make a basil-lemon-feta risotto. Of course, the recipe was all off from my final concoction -- it called for home-made vegetarian broth (Puh-leeze! I use chicken broth in boxes from Safeway. It's good. Salty and good!). It did, however, call for carrots in the vegetarian broth, and I thought -- mmm... carrots! In the risotto! Let's do it. It also called for ricotta salata. I had Bulgarian Feta. Close enough.
So, in short, I improvised, modernized, and edited this recipe to make it my own and both E and I were wonderfully surprised with how flavorful, healthy, and *light* this summer risotto ended up being! It's a new favorite of ours and very different than most of the risottos I make -- lighter, more fun!
Enjoy!
Lemon-Basil-Feta Risotto
-1 T peppercorns
-1/4 lemon rind, grated
-1 cup arborio rice
-2 T butter
-1 yellow onion, diced
-1 handfull baby carrots, diced
-1/2 cup gin (I had no appropriate white wine, and this substitution actually worked well!)
-1/2 cup basil, trimmed from the herb-box, chopped finely
-3/4 cup bulgarian feta, chopped finely
-1/2 box chicken broth
1. melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat
2. sautée carrots and onion in pan 'til onions are clear (5-7 minutes)
3. Add rice and peppercorns, stir to coat with butter 'til shiny.
4. Add Gin. Boil off alcohol and ignore the wacky smell.
5. Add enough broth to coat the whole thing, stir over medium heat until evaporated.
6. repeat #5.
7. repeat #6 until the rice is al dente.
8. Stir in chopped basil, feta, and lemon rind and allow to sit and set for 10 minutes.
9. Serve immediately. Enjoy.
Risotto, 'round our house, is a treat. This means, if I'm going to go through the motions of making it, I'm usually throwing in the indulgence ingredients (bacon, prosciutto, butter, cheese, beef-broth-braised-mushrooms, etc.).
So, tonight, was a new treat for us. I modified a recipe from Vegetarian Times Cooks Mediterranean to make a basil-lemon-feta risotto. Of course, the recipe was all off from my final concoction -- it called for home-made vegetarian broth (Puh-leeze! I use chicken broth in boxes from Safeway. It's good. Salty and good!). It did, however, call for carrots in the vegetarian broth, and I thought -- mmm... carrots! In the risotto! Let's do it. It also called for ricotta salata. I had Bulgarian Feta. Close enough.
So, in short, I improvised, modernized, and edited this recipe to make it my own and both E and I were wonderfully surprised with how flavorful, healthy, and *light* this summer risotto ended up being! It's a new favorite of ours and very different than most of the risottos I make -- lighter, more fun!
Enjoy!
Lemon-Basil-Feta Risotto
-1 T peppercorns
-1/4 lemon rind, grated
-1 cup arborio rice
-2 T butter
-1 yellow onion, diced
-1 handfull baby carrots, diced
-1/2 cup gin (I had no appropriate white wine, and this substitution actually worked well!)
-1/2 cup basil, trimmed from the herb-box, chopped finely
-3/4 cup bulgarian feta, chopped finely
-1/2 box chicken broth
1. melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat
2. sautée carrots and onion in pan 'til onions are clear (5-7 minutes)
3. Add rice and peppercorns, stir to coat with butter 'til shiny.
4. Add Gin. Boil off alcohol and ignore the wacky smell.
5. Add enough broth to coat the whole thing, stir over medium heat until evaporated.
6. repeat #5.
7. repeat #6 until the rice is al dente.
8. Stir in chopped basil, feta, and lemon rind and allow to sit and set for 10 minutes.
9. Serve immediately. Enjoy.
September 5, 2008
Why it's always hard for me to vote
I think tax policy is one of the most important issues that politicians address. Unfortunately, I'm more or less alone. Tax is boring. It's not sensational enough to be interesting to the entertain-me-or-at-least-shock-me mindset of the majority of the voting public unless you can point to the rich getting much, much richer or the poor getting much, much poorer. However, boring as it is, the positions we, as a society, take on the types of economic activity that we reward really do shape not just the economy but also the types of activity that will occur within that economy.
First of all, the current U.S. tax system is very convoluted and stupid in many places.
One example is the marriage penalty (and the most recent fixes that reward low-income married couples). The country should not provide economic penalties or rewards to people who decide to enter into a legal union, and certainly not both at the same time depending on the tax bracket they are in. Right now, financially, lower-income couples are incented to be married to save taxes and higher income couples are incented not to be married to save taxes. This will revert to penalizing everyone who is married in 2011 unless it is changed. Of course, this is a long-standing problem and not too many people are fired up about it -- very few people decide not to get married for tax reasons, so neither of the candidates address it in depth (e.g. Obama tweaks with it, but neither has come out and admitted that it is stupid and married folks should pay the exact same as they would pay if they were single).
The AMT is stupid, too. It was passed in 1969 to target high earners with too many deductions, but wasn't pegged to inflation. The politicians have to pretend that they are going to apply it to all who would be hit to make the budget look better, but then, every year around December 31, they get together and admit that, oh shit, what was a high-earner in 1969 is actually middle class now. We probably shouldn't tax them all under the AMT 'cause then they may not vote for us, how 'bout just some of 'em? A few more than last year, but not all of 'em. So, you never know how badly you will be hit with the AMT 'til the last second. Ridiculous! How 'bout picking a number and sticking with it? How 'bout pegging it to inflation to adjust annually? It's not rocket science.
Regardless of the current mess of the U.S. tax system, I think it is important to consider how it may change with the new president, and whether, we as a country want to be encouraging and discouraging the types of behaviors that their tax plans will incentivize.
I've read enough about Obama's tax policy to know that I do not agree with several of his plans and think they will be bad for the economy. First, and foremost, I think increasing capital gains tax to 25 percent (from its current max level of 15) is likely to freeze up capital and decrease liquidity in the markets. And given the lack of debt that is currently being made available as the banks and lenders sort through the subprime mortgage mess, we really need liquidity.
It is harder for companies to get the debt they need to do deals these days, which means it is more likely that good companies in a strategically disadvantaged positions will lay people off or shut down rather than getting acquired. It is harder for individuals to get the debt they need to buy homes right now, which means the housing slump will continue because people who would be good buyers and pay their bills are unable to buy homes that are sitting on the market (often in the hands of folks who couldn't afford their mortgages in the first place and now find their home-values plummeting). Anecdotally, I have even heard that it is even harder for individuals to get consumer credit these days. All of these changes mean less money flowing through the economy, which, of course, contributes to a recession. I think a low tax rate that rewards capital investment by taxing it at a lower rate than other forms of income makes sense -- it encourages the exact type of behavior that we, as an economy, need to be encouraging. Now, and, in general.
McCain plans to leave capital gains rates at the current levels. But his plan isn't exactly my favorite either. He wants to cap the estate tax with a $5 Million exemption and a max rate of 15. Obama wants to cap it with a $3.5 Million exemption and a max rate of 45. Here, I think Obama's policy makes more sense, although 45 may be a bit too high. Regardless, from a policy perspective, wealth transfer by inheritance is not the type of economic transactions we should treat favorably (and thus, encourage). Inheritance requires no innovation, labor, creation of efficiency, or any of the things that are good for our economy. In what world does it make sense to say that people who invest wisely, save, and then sell their investments to either make other investments or spend it in the economy should pay the same tax rate on the wealth they generated by making wise and disciplined investments as those who happen to win the sperm lottery?
In my opinion, the biggest difference between the two plans lies with McCain's proposal to decrease the corporate tax rate to 25%. I know, I know, it looks like I'm taking the side of big corporations here. But, what I'm really doing is looking at the international world and acknowledging that we are out of sync. Microsoft now runs the majority of its revenue through its Ireland headquarters, as opposed to running it through Redmond. Why? The same reason many major companies have relocated fiscal operations there -- its very favorable corporate tax rate of 12.5%. Ireland moved from one of the worst economies in Europe (18% unemployment, close-to-third-world-country infrastructure) to one of the best, and most experts largely credit these changes to their change in corporate tax rate.
In fact, when you include the double taxation regime of state corporate tax on top of federal corporate tax, in many states, the combined US corporate tax rate is higher than Japan, the country with the supposed *highest* corporate tax rate.
What types of companies leave high-corporate-tax ratet countries in search of better corporate tax rates? Profitable ones. The types of companies that have many employees. The types of companies creating innovative products that sell well.
In short, I agree with McCain's policy on this issue and think that targeting a level of 25% is reasonable, pragmatic, and necessary to be somewhat competitive in the world economy. I think a federal level of 25% addresses the reality of the issue, but still leaves the U.S. in the high end of the tax rates paid across the world. In fact, France, currently #5 in the world at 34.4% is discussing lowering its rate to 20%, which, if it went through and McCain's suggestion went through would leave the US comfortably in 4th-20th place worldwide, depending on the state.
Finally, as for the only tax issue that most people care about -- personal income tax and its effects on those in various brackets -- the Candidates' plans follow the party lines. Obama is a democrat. He's for more government-sponsored social services, decreasing taxes on those in lower income tax brackets and increasing taxes on those in higher income tax brackets. Predictably, his plans target the top 1% of earners very heavily and the top 0.1% of earners the most. McCain is a republican. He's for decreasing taxes overall, decreasing government sponsored social services, and, of course, his plan results in tax decreases that are higher for the highest income tax brackets and lower, proportionately, on the lower income tax brackets.
Neither of the candidates' plans in this area will really affect my life. The Tax Policy Center at the Brookings Institute estimates that we'd pay approximately 2% more of our earnings in federal taxes than we currently do under Obama's plan and approximately 3% less under McCain's plan. Those variations are too minor to matter when compared to the uncertainty in the economy (and thus our earnings in general) and the uncertainty in our current tax regime (all of the Bush tax cuts are scheduled to expire in 2011 -- no one even knows what we'd pay after that, the AMT is retroactively patched every year, but if they decided not to do that we'd be hit with way more than a 2% increase, etc.).
So, the personal income tax issues, while complicated, often stupid, and not well thought out, are not a hot-button issue for me. Neither of the candidates are addressing the personal income tax system as a whole. Neither of them are addressing the issue of the budget deficit.
And, on the issues I really care about, each of them has taken at least one position I support and at least one position I oppose. On balance, I think McCain's plan makes more sense for the economy, but I'm not in love with it. I fear Obama's combination of capital gains increases with a refusal to lower the corporate income tax rate could have very negative effects on the economy.
Of course, U.S. presidents do all sorts of important things in addition to approving tax plans, not the least of which is appointing Supreme Court Justices, so I'll have to balance those issues against the economic issues as well. Seeing as how I'm a mixture of a libertarian, a social progressive, a believer in meritocracy and a fiscal conservative, you can imagine how difficult it always is for me to vote...
I think tax policy is one of the most important issues that politicians address. Unfortunately, I'm more or less alone. Tax is boring. It's not sensational enough to be interesting to the entertain-me-or-at-least-shock-me mindset of the majority of the voting public unless you can point to the rich getting much, much richer or the poor getting much, much poorer. However, boring as it is, the positions we, as a society, take on the types of economic activity that we reward really do shape not just the economy but also the types of activity that will occur within that economy.
First of all, the current U.S. tax system is very convoluted and stupid in many places.
One example is the marriage penalty (and the most recent fixes that reward low-income married couples). The country should not provide economic penalties or rewards to people who decide to enter into a legal union, and certainly not both at the same time depending on the tax bracket they are in. Right now, financially, lower-income couples are incented to be married to save taxes and higher income couples are incented not to be married to save taxes. This will revert to penalizing everyone who is married in 2011 unless it is changed. Of course, this is a long-standing problem and not too many people are fired up about it -- very few people decide not to get married for tax reasons, so neither of the candidates address it in depth (e.g. Obama tweaks with it, but neither has come out and admitted that it is stupid and married folks should pay the exact same as they would pay if they were single).
The AMT is stupid, too. It was passed in 1969 to target high earners with too many deductions, but wasn't pegged to inflation. The politicians have to pretend that they are going to apply it to all who would be hit to make the budget look better, but then, every year around December 31, they get together and admit that, oh shit, what was a high-earner in 1969 is actually middle class now. We probably shouldn't tax them all under the AMT 'cause then they may not vote for us, how 'bout just some of 'em? A few more than last year, but not all of 'em. So, you never know how badly you will be hit with the AMT 'til the last second. Ridiculous! How 'bout picking a number and sticking with it? How 'bout pegging it to inflation to adjust annually? It's not rocket science.
Regardless of the current mess of the U.S. tax system, I think it is important to consider how it may change with the new president, and whether, we as a country want to be encouraging and discouraging the types of behaviors that their tax plans will incentivize.
I've read enough about Obama's tax policy to know that I do not agree with several of his plans and think they will be bad for the economy. First, and foremost, I think increasing capital gains tax to 25 percent (from its current max level of 15) is likely to freeze up capital and decrease liquidity in the markets. And given the lack of debt that is currently being made available as the banks and lenders sort through the subprime mortgage mess, we really need liquidity.
It is harder for companies to get the debt they need to do deals these days, which means it is more likely that good companies in a strategically disadvantaged positions will lay people off or shut down rather than getting acquired. It is harder for individuals to get the debt they need to buy homes right now, which means the housing slump will continue because people who would be good buyers and pay their bills are unable to buy homes that are sitting on the market (often in the hands of folks who couldn't afford their mortgages in the first place and now find their home-values plummeting). Anecdotally, I have even heard that it is even harder for individuals to get consumer credit these days. All of these changes mean less money flowing through the economy, which, of course, contributes to a recession. I think a low tax rate that rewards capital investment by taxing it at a lower rate than other forms of income makes sense -- it encourages the exact type of behavior that we, as an economy, need to be encouraging. Now, and, in general.
McCain plans to leave capital gains rates at the current levels. But his plan isn't exactly my favorite either. He wants to cap the estate tax with a $5 Million exemption and a max rate of 15. Obama wants to cap it with a $3.5 Million exemption and a max rate of 45. Here, I think Obama's policy makes more sense, although 45 may be a bit too high. Regardless, from a policy perspective, wealth transfer by inheritance is not the type of economic transactions we should treat favorably (and thus, encourage). Inheritance requires no innovation, labor, creation of efficiency, or any of the things that are good for our economy. In what world does it make sense to say that people who invest wisely, save, and then sell their investments to either make other investments or spend it in the economy should pay the same tax rate on the wealth they generated by making wise and disciplined investments as those who happen to win the sperm lottery?
In my opinion, the biggest difference between the two plans lies with McCain's proposal to decrease the corporate tax rate to 25%. I know, I know, it looks like I'm taking the side of big corporations here. But, what I'm really doing is looking at the international world and acknowledging that we are out of sync. Microsoft now runs the majority of its revenue through its Ireland headquarters, as opposed to running it through Redmond. Why? The same reason many major companies have relocated fiscal operations there -- its very favorable corporate tax rate of 12.5%. Ireland moved from one of the worst economies in Europe (18% unemployment, close-to-third-world-country infrastructure) to one of the best, and most experts largely credit these changes to their change in corporate tax rate.
In fact, when you include the double taxation regime of state corporate tax on top of federal corporate tax, in many states, the combined US corporate tax rate is higher than Japan, the country with the supposed *highest* corporate tax rate.
What types of companies leave high-corporate-tax ratet countries in search of better corporate tax rates? Profitable ones. The types of companies that have many employees. The types of companies creating innovative products that sell well.
In short, I agree with McCain's policy on this issue and think that targeting a level of 25% is reasonable, pragmatic, and necessary to be somewhat competitive in the world economy. I think a federal level of 25% addresses the reality of the issue, but still leaves the U.S. in the high end of the tax rates paid across the world. In fact, France, currently #5 in the world at 34.4% is discussing lowering its rate to 20%, which, if it went through and McCain's suggestion went through would leave the US comfortably in 4th-20th place worldwide, depending on the state.
Finally, as for the only tax issue that most people care about -- personal income tax and its effects on those in various brackets -- the Candidates' plans follow the party lines. Obama is a democrat. He's for more government-sponsored social services, decreasing taxes on those in lower income tax brackets and increasing taxes on those in higher income tax brackets. Predictably, his plans target the top 1% of earners very heavily and the top 0.1% of earners the most. McCain is a republican. He's for decreasing taxes overall, decreasing government sponsored social services, and, of course, his plan results in tax decreases that are higher for the highest income tax brackets and lower, proportionately, on the lower income tax brackets.
Neither of the candidates' plans in this area will really affect my life. The Tax Policy Center at the Brookings Institute estimates that we'd pay approximately 2% more of our earnings in federal taxes than we currently do under Obama's plan and approximately 3% less under McCain's plan. Those variations are too minor to matter when compared to the uncertainty in the economy (and thus our earnings in general) and the uncertainty in our current tax regime (all of the Bush tax cuts are scheduled to expire in 2011 -- no one even knows what we'd pay after that, the AMT is retroactively patched every year, but if they decided not to do that we'd be hit with way more than a 2% increase, etc.).
So, the personal income tax issues, while complicated, often stupid, and not well thought out, are not a hot-button issue for me. Neither of the candidates are addressing the personal income tax system as a whole. Neither of them are addressing the issue of the budget deficit.
And, on the issues I really care about, each of them has taken at least one position I support and at least one position I oppose. On balance, I think McCain's plan makes more sense for the economy, but I'm not in love with it. I fear Obama's combination of capital gains increases with a refusal to lower the corporate income tax rate could have very negative effects on the economy.
Of course, U.S. presidents do all sorts of important things in addition to approving tax plans, not the least of which is appointing Supreme Court Justices, so I'll have to balance those issues against the economic issues as well. Seeing as how I'm a mixture of a libertarian, a social progressive, a believer in meritocracy and a fiscal conservative, you can imagine how difficult it always is for me to vote...
September 4, 2008
Short weeks are awesome
Take Tuesday off after the Monday holiday and you've got a 3-day work week. Brilliant!
To celebrate, I offer the best picture from the fireworks this weekend:
Also, I present the dinner I fed to my sister and E last night:
Okra Tomato Eggplant Casserole
- 1 large eggplant, sliced into 1/2 inch X 1/2 inch strips that are the width of the eggplant
- 1 pound okra, sliced into 1 cm rounds
- 3 heirloom tomatoes, diced
- 1/4 cup fontina, 0.5 cm cubed
- 1/4 cup aged goat cheese, 0.5 cm cubed
- 1/2 cup grated dry aged cow's milk cheese (I used Grano Padano)
- 1 red onion, diced
- olive oil
1. Pre-heat oven to 400F
2. Salt eggplant in a bowl and let sweat while you prep the other ingredients
2. Rinse eggplant and combine all ingredients except the cheese and tomatoes in a baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil and mix until everything is coated.
3. Bake at 400F for 25 minutes
4. Add tomatoes to the top, bake for 10 minutes
5. Increase oven temp to 500F, cover with the cheeses and bake until browned.
Enjoy!
Take Tuesday off after the Monday holiday and you've got a 3-day work week. Brilliant!
To celebrate, I offer the best picture from the fireworks this weekend:
Also, I present the dinner I fed to my sister and E last night:
Okra Tomato Eggplant Casserole
- 1 large eggplant, sliced into 1/2 inch X 1/2 inch strips that are the width of the eggplant
- 1 pound okra, sliced into 1 cm rounds
- 3 heirloom tomatoes, diced
- 1/4 cup fontina, 0.5 cm cubed
- 1/4 cup aged goat cheese, 0.5 cm cubed
- 1/2 cup grated dry aged cow's milk cheese (I used Grano Padano)
- 1 red onion, diced
- olive oil
1. Pre-heat oven to 400F
2. Salt eggplant in a bowl and let sweat while you prep the other ingredients
2. Rinse eggplant and combine all ingredients except the cheese and tomatoes in a baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil and mix until everything is coated.
3. Bake at 400F for 25 minutes
4. Add tomatoes to the top, bake for 10 minutes
5. Increase oven temp to 500F, cover with the cheeses and bake until browned.
Enjoy!
September 2, 2008
Southern Vacation
Per the usual, we spent a long labor day weekend with E's family in the South.
We leave the big city and head up to the northern hills, where we enjoy waffle house, barbeque (the noun of the South, not to be confused with our weekly summertime verb of California), sleep, the languid pace of life that the southerners do better than anyone (other than the Italians), relaxation by a lake, trips on the pontoon boat and deep breaths in the face of the heavy green mountains surrounding the lake and capped by a light blue sky, and, of course, fireworks, but more about that later.
In short, after close to a decade of visits, I look forward to this weekend as a guaranteed respite of heavenly relaxation and reading each year. This time, I finished a gift from Arvay, If you lived here, I'd know your name. I suspect she had ulterior motives. I'm in love with the Alaskan mindset now. I want to visit. I think I may even want to stay. How awesome is it when a book can make you feel like that?
But, I digress. The weekend...
E, of course, also looks forward to this weekend each year. We get to see his family and his best man and his wife. They cook southern food for us (Yes! Bacon!), take us to his favorite restaurants, and often, they take us on some southern adventure -- for example, this year, we rafted the Natahala.
All of these things are fun for me and I always enjoy them (although, for the most part, my joy pales in comparison to the Southern boy's), but rather than try to explain, in words, why this weekend was so great, I will instead post some photos which do a much better job than I could describing the highlights from E's most recent firey reunion with his best man:
FIREWORKS!
E's best man bought fireworks in Florida and brought them up for the weekend.
The fireworks in Mexico were more dangerous but less awe-inspiring than this display.
Part of me wants to say that Fireworks shouldn't be this cool. The pictures certainly only look... interesting.
But, how can you argue with the amount of fun the boys had?
Fireworks are cool! Enough said.
Also, I barely did any work this weekend in lieu of the running, yoga on the boathouse, sleep, boat rides, food, and fireworks.
Happy Labor Day!
Per the usual, we spent a long labor day weekend with E's family in the South.
We leave the big city and head up to the northern hills, where we enjoy waffle house, barbeque (the noun of the South, not to be confused with our weekly summertime verb of California), sleep, the languid pace of life that the southerners do better than anyone (other than the Italians), relaxation by a lake, trips on the pontoon boat and deep breaths in the face of the heavy green mountains surrounding the lake and capped by a light blue sky, and, of course, fireworks, but more about that later.
In short, after close to a decade of visits, I look forward to this weekend as a guaranteed respite of heavenly relaxation and reading each year. This time, I finished a gift from Arvay, If you lived here, I'd know your name. I suspect she had ulterior motives. I'm in love with the Alaskan mindset now. I want to visit. I think I may even want to stay. How awesome is it when a book can make you feel like that?
But, I digress. The weekend...
E, of course, also looks forward to this weekend each year. We get to see his family and his best man and his wife. They cook southern food for us (Yes! Bacon!), take us to his favorite restaurants, and often, they take us on some southern adventure -- for example, this year, we rafted the Natahala.
All of these things are fun for me and I always enjoy them (although, for the most part, my joy pales in comparison to the Southern boy's), but rather than try to explain, in words, why this weekend was so great, I will instead post some photos which do a much better job than I could describing the highlights from E's most recent firey reunion with his best man:
FIREWORKS!
E's best man bought fireworks in Florida and brought them up for the weekend.
The fireworks in Mexico were more dangerous but less awe-inspiring than this display.
Part of me wants to say that Fireworks shouldn't be this cool. The pictures certainly only look... interesting.
But, how can you argue with the amount of fun the boys had?
Fireworks are cool! Enough said.
Also, I barely did any work this weekend in lieu of the running, yoga on the boathouse, sleep, boat rides, food, and fireworks.
Happy Labor Day!
August 27, 2008
Work Insomnia
Despite less than 3 hours of sleep last night (which I realize is nothing compared to what those with newborns get), and over 13 billable hours yesterday, which helped me finally get close to in the clear, I woke with insomnia just now, amped about work.
Overall, I'm much better about leaving work at work this year. But clearly, subconsciously, I've got a ways to go.
I can't wait for this morning's run to get out the jitters (I had to skip yesterday's due to too much on my plate)... if only I could just go do it now.
Despite less than 3 hours of sleep last night (which I realize is nothing compared to what those with newborns get), and over 13 billable hours yesterday, which helped me finally get close to in the clear, I woke with insomnia just now, amped about work.
Overall, I'm much better about leaving work at work this year. But clearly, subconsciously, I've got a ways to go.
I can't wait for this morning's run to get out the jitters (I had to skip yesterday's due to too much on my plate)... if only I could just go do it now.
August 23, 2008
A Perfect Saturday
E and I are evaluating whether to remodel our house or buy a new one and move. It's a big decision, and either way, it means we will have to cut back on our disposable spending, which, for us, primarily means reigning in the spending on restaurants and travel. I think I'm ready to make the switch, but, seeing how much joy I get from those two activities, I've been somewhat sad about the new world order, if, indeed, we do decide to go down one of these routes. But, I'm getting super-excited about the prospect of a gas stove and a better kitchen, where I can derive more joy from cooking, especially, the things we grow in our garden (and, of course, my favorite part of the garden, the tomatoes).
This morning, I got up to take advantage of a local race and fundraiser. I knew it was sponsored by a local Indian charity, and expected it to be a cultural experience, but it was even more so than I expected. B (of law school fame), my across the street neighbor, her sister and I all showed up about half an hour before the race to register. We heard the announcements that thanks to all the participants and their race fees and fundraising, at least 200 surgeries in India would be funded to save 200 from curable blindness. Man, that really helped to reinforce my recent feeling that I should be spending less of my disposable income on selfish pleasures.
At least 90% of the participants appeared to be of Indian descent. This made the race very different from all of the races I've done in many ways. The start time was merely a suggestion, and I think the true start time was at least half an hour later. Before our race, the emcee led much of the group through 20 minutes of music-inspired calisthenics. It was a sight -- B and I were chatting and then we looked over to see at least 1,000 folks, the majority of whom looked Indian (and thus much more visually homogeneous than I'm used to seeing in a crowd that large) jogging in place, lunging, swinging their arms and basically looking like my high-school Phys-Ed warmups. This was not your typical bay-area race. Folks were friendly, significantly less focused on running or the organization of the event than I am used to and more focused on socializing. As an added bonus, the post-race treats included a full plate of Indian food. All for 2/3 of what I generally expect to pay for an organized race. B and I left full, amused that we wouldn't have to go out for a post-race meal and wondering what the most-delicious of the mushy treats we were served with Idli was called.
I arrived home thankful that I live in such a culturally mixed place that I can take part in an event that clearly brings foreign cultures to me and welcomes my participation. Perhaps I don't need to travel as much as I thought...
Also, I was pleased to see that my recent re-commitment to speed training had paid off and I wasn't as slow as I expected -- I ran the 10K at close to boston qualifying pace -- but, predictably, B easily kicked my ass, because it turns out, she's on track to qualify for Boston in November, and if you want to be ready to qualify for Boston, you need to be able to run shorter races at a MUCH FASTER pace. Today made me happy with my overall fitness, but glad that I decided that if I was going to try to qualify, the race I would choose to do so would be next March.
Once home, relaxed and cleaned up from the race, E, brother, and I headed to downtown for lunch and then we looked at some houses. And, when we returned home, we did our Saturday harvest ritual and I found myself elated with the glorious fruits of our labor:
This picture actually does the garden justice. I am thrilled to be home to enjoy the glory of what a once-weekly harvest can be! It goes to show that 7 medium-healthy tomato plants produce a gift-giving amount of fruit in our neck-of-the-woods in August. Plus, the okra, the new growth from the treated and (hopefully) recovering crook-neck squash plant, and, of course, the herb box mean that I don't need to acquire that much at tomorrow's farmer's market (not that it will stop me). Clearly, next year we need more tomato plants, okra in the ground instead of pots, 1/2 the basil plants, more dill plants, chives in a bigger pot, we should ditch cilantro altogether, one sage plant and one Italian oregano plant is just about right, and one marjoram plant produces entirely too much for one family to consume.
After we worked in our garden for an hour or so, I was torn between doing absolutely nothing or combining chores with decadence. I called the dry-cleaners and they were about to close but would stay open 'til I got there, so my course was decided -- from there, I could head to the salon and get a pedicure.
Upon arrival at the dry cleaners, I was asked,
Do you have some time to help me?
Of course. (One of the great things of this stay-at-home-non-going-out-or-traveling-on-the-weekends lifestyle is I'm not too pressed for time, and since I stayed up late to finish much of my weekend work late last night, I really wasn't too busy at all.)
Turns out, our local dry cleaner, good old Sam, is the president elect for the Northern California Korean Dry Cleaner's Association. He's giving a speech tomorrow. It had been translated for him from Korean, into English, but he needed help with the pronunciation and grammar. So, I spent a gleeful half an hour working with Sam on his speech. For those of you who know me well, you know this is the type of thing that I absolutely adore about life. Language. Culture. Cadence of speech. Figurative speech gone adorably wrong and then explained and fixed. I was in heaven.
I left the dry-cleaners with a discount and even more convinced that I did not need to give up on my love of foreign language or culture in order to attain our financial goals. It's here. That's why we love it here. Perhaps if we stop leaving so much, I'll be able to enjoy it even more than if I traveled. What an amazing realization!
From there, I headed to the salon, where, predictably, my race-sore feet were soaked, primped, massaged, and painted a beautiful shade of purple. All the while, the massage chair kneaded my back and I listened to the melodic under-conversations in vietnamese.
I mean, really? What, exactly, do I think I'm going to be missing if I give up the opportunity to travel for a few years in order to attain E's and my financial goals?
Certainly not food -- more time at home means time to grow and/or cook great food ourselves (did I mention that we recently took delivery on some grass fed beef that's looking to be cooked?).
And, clearly, today shows that by staying home I don't have to miss out on cultural experiences, friendly folks with different life and national experiences, or exposure to foreign languages.
So, here I am, relaxed, happy, and fairly convinced that our next big move won't really even require the big sacrifices I thought it would.
Like the title says, this really was the perfect Saturday.
What a great day!
E and I are evaluating whether to remodel our house or buy a new one and move. It's a big decision, and either way, it means we will have to cut back on our disposable spending, which, for us, primarily means reigning in the spending on restaurants and travel. I think I'm ready to make the switch, but, seeing how much joy I get from those two activities, I've been somewhat sad about the new world order, if, indeed, we do decide to go down one of these routes. But, I'm getting super-excited about the prospect of a gas stove and a better kitchen, where I can derive more joy from cooking, especially, the things we grow in our garden (and, of course, my favorite part of the garden, the tomatoes).
This morning, I got up to take advantage of a local race and fundraiser. I knew it was sponsored by a local Indian charity, and expected it to be a cultural experience, but it was even more so than I expected. B (of law school fame), my across the street neighbor, her sister and I all showed up about half an hour before the race to register. We heard the announcements that thanks to all the participants and their race fees and fundraising, at least 200 surgeries in India would be funded to save 200 from curable blindness. Man, that really helped to reinforce my recent feeling that I should be spending less of my disposable income on selfish pleasures.
At least 90% of the participants appeared to be of Indian descent. This made the race very different from all of the races I've done in many ways. The start time was merely a suggestion, and I think the true start time was at least half an hour later. Before our race, the emcee led much of the group through 20 minutes of music-inspired calisthenics. It was a sight -- B and I were chatting and then we looked over to see at least 1,000 folks, the majority of whom looked Indian (and thus much more visually homogeneous than I'm used to seeing in a crowd that large) jogging in place, lunging, swinging their arms and basically looking like my high-school Phys-Ed warmups. This was not your typical bay-area race. Folks were friendly, significantly less focused on running or the organization of the event than I am used to and more focused on socializing. As an added bonus, the post-race treats included a full plate of Indian food. All for 2/3 of what I generally expect to pay for an organized race. B and I left full, amused that we wouldn't have to go out for a post-race meal and wondering what the most-delicious of the mushy treats we were served with Idli was called.
I arrived home thankful that I live in such a culturally mixed place that I can take part in an event that clearly brings foreign cultures to me and welcomes my participation. Perhaps I don't need to travel as much as I thought...
Also, I was pleased to see that my recent re-commitment to speed training had paid off and I wasn't as slow as I expected -- I ran the 10K at close to boston qualifying pace -- but, predictably, B easily kicked my ass, because it turns out, she's on track to qualify for Boston in November, and if you want to be ready to qualify for Boston, you need to be able to run shorter races at a MUCH FASTER pace. Today made me happy with my overall fitness, but glad that I decided that if I was going to try to qualify, the race I would choose to do so would be next March.
Once home, relaxed and cleaned up from the race, E, brother, and I headed to downtown for lunch and then we looked at some houses. And, when we returned home, we did our Saturday harvest ritual and I found myself elated with the glorious fruits of our labor:
This picture actually does the garden justice. I am thrilled to be home to enjoy the glory of what a once-weekly harvest can be! It goes to show that 7 medium-healthy tomato plants produce a gift-giving amount of fruit in our neck-of-the-woods in August. Plus, the okra, the new growth from the treated and (hopefully) recovering crook-neck squash plant, and, of course, the herb box mean that I don't need to acquire that much at tomorrow's farmer's market (not that it will stop me). Clearly, next year we need more tomato plants, okra in the ground instead of pots, 1/2 the basil plants, more dill plants, chives in a bigger pot, we should ditch cilantro altogether, one sage plant and one Italian oregano plant is just about right, and one marjoram plant produces entirely too much for one family to consume.
After we worked in our garden for an hour or so, I was torn between doing absolutely nothing or combining chores with decadence. I called the dry-cleaners and they were about to close but would stay open 'til I got there, so my course was decided -- from there, I could head to the salon and get a pedicure.
Upon arrival at the dry cleaners, I was asked,
Do you have some time to help me?
Of course. (One of the great things of this stay-at-home-non-going-out-or-traveling-on-the-weekends lifestyle is I'm not too pressed for time, and since I stayed up late to finish much of my weekend work late last night, I really wasn't too busy at all.)
Turns out, our local dry cleaner, good old Sam, is the president elect for the Northern California Korean Dry Cleaner's Association. He's giving a speech tomorrow. It had been translated for him from Korean, into English, but he needed help with the pronunciation and grammar. So, I spent a gleeful half an hour working with Sam on his speech. For those of you who know me well, you know this is the type of thing that I absolutely adore about life. Language. Culture. Cadence of speech. Figurative speech gone adorably wrong and then explained and fixed. I was in heaven.
I left the dry-cleaners with a discount and even more convinced that I did not need to give up on my love of foreign language or culture in order to attain our financial goals. It's here. That's why we love it here. Perhaps if we stop leaving so much, I'll be able to enjoy it even more than if I traveled. What an amazing realization!
From there, I headed to the salon, where, predictably, my race-sore feet were soaked, primped, massaged, and painted a beautiful shade of purple. All the while, the massage chair kneaded my back and I listened to the melodic under-conversations in vietnamese.
I mean, really? What, exactly, do I think I'm going to be missing if I give up the opportunity to travel for a few years in order to attain E's and my financial goals?
Certainly not food -- more time at home means time to grow and/or cook great food ourselves (did I mention that we recently took delivery on some grass fed beef that's looking to be cooked?).
And, clearly, today shows that by staying home I don't have to miss out on cultural experiences, friendly folks with different life and national experiences, or exposure to foreign languages.
So, here I am, relaxed, happy, and fairly convinced that our next big move won't really even require the big sacrifices I thought it would.
Like the title says, this really was the perfect Saturday.
What a great day!
August 21, 2008
August 17, 2008
My Food Life Through the Lens
Here are some of the cookies I used to make the crust in the Dingo Dave inspired peanut-butter-cheesecake-on-a-chocolate-chip-cookie-crust:
Unlike Dingo Dave, whose crust appears to be crummy, mine turned out more brownie-like in texture. I think it is because I used fresh-baked cookies from the grocery store deli, I pureed a wee bit too much, and once that was done, I figured I might as well skip the butter (no need to use it to hold the stuff together) and only used a touch of half-and-half.
The final result (plus the cheese, fruit & wine we had before it) can be seen over at 2 minutes for roughing.
In garden news, all of our tomato plants seem to be producing fruit and most have new foliage after we trimmed and treated them for the fungus (but they do look sparse). The weekly harvest for the last several weeks has looked like this:
The cucumber plan has been a consistent producer for quite some time. We've had 1-3 large, long cucumbers per week, which means at least once, if not twice a week, we end up with a summer dinner or lunch from our garden that is one of my favorite meals, and looks roughly like this:
Unfortunately, the cucumber plant now looks like it has one last cuke to go -- it has stopped flowering and appears to have gotten some sort of dry white powdery fungus on the leaves, but we're hoping that if we treat it and cut it back today it may come back for a resurgence.
The squash went into a miniature fruit production phase and is covered with aphids, so we'll try to spray it with soapy water to see if it that will help it to produce some bigger fruit.
The okra produced enough fruit that I was able to make fried okra last week (which made E say, this is why I married you) and each plant is still kicking out 1-2 fruits a week.
And, of course, the herbs, in true form, are wonderfully consistent and the source of much happiness.
Here are some of the cookies I used to make the crust in the Dingo Dave inspired peanut-butter-cheesecake-on-a-chocolate-chip-cookie-crust:
Unlike Dingo Dave, whose crust appears to be crummy, mine turned out more brownie-like in texture. I think it is because I used fresh-baked cookies from the grocery store deli, I pureed a wee bit too much, and once that was done, I figured I might as well skip the butter (no need to use it to hold the stuff together) and only used a touch of half-and-half.
The final result (plus the cheese, fruit & wine we had before it) can be seen over at 2 minutes for roughing.
In garden news, all of our tomato plants seem to be producing fruit and most have new foliage after we trimmed and treated them for the fungus (but they do look sparse). The weekly harvest for the last several weeks has looked like this:
The cucumber plan has been a consistent producer for quite some time. We've had 1-3 large, long cucumbers per week, which means at least once, if not twice a week, we end up with a summer dinner or lunch from our garden that is one of my favorite meals, and looks roughly like this:
Unfortunately, the cucumber plant now looks like it has one last cuke to go -- it has stopped flowering and appears to have gotten some sort of dry white powdery fungus on the leaves, but we're hoping that if we treat it and cut it back today it may come back for a resurgence.
The squash went into a miniature fruit production phase and is covered with aphids, so we'll try to spray it with soapy water to see if it that will help it to produce some bigger fruit.
The okra produced enough fruit that I was able to make fried okra last week (which made E say, this is why I married you) and each plant is still kicking out 1-2 fruits a week.
And, of course, the herbs, in true form, are wonderfully consistent and the source of much happiness.
August 16, 2008
Back in the Swing
July and even the first week of August were relatively slow at work, for me. I got into the habit of working very little on the weekends and blowing off the work I brought home at night, because, hey, it was very likely that I could finish it the next day -- all my clients seemed sleepy and well-behaved.
I kept this attitude about work all the way through last weekend, when I brought a bunch of work home but didn't do any of it. Unfortunately, work had actually picked back up to a normal pace and I was not responding appropriately.
This week, I was scrambling. I worked 'til 11 PM on Monday, 10 PM on Tuesday, and Wednesday, after an appointment with our realtor, phone calls to family & friends, and dinner to discuss our housing options, I still had a minor edits to one of my contracts. Ordinarily, I would have finished those edits before the phone calls, but I just hadn't gotten back into the groove...
Thursday afternoon I skipped lunch with my group to finish some work and I missed an internal deadline by an hour. Friday, I got the missed-deadline contract back from my supervising partner and I was embarrassed. I had missed several changes. I had made errors that showed I was rushed. It did not look like my work.
Thankfully, I work for wonderful partners (seriously), and this one took the blame for my shoddy work upon himself saying that we should have a more open dialog about my workload so that we could make determinations about whether the deadlines should slip or I should turn in rushed work.
This is a solid management technique. I already had realized I wasn't managing my workflow as well as I had in the past and needed to get in gear and I felt badly. I apologized when I saw his mark-up to my draft, but when my partner accepted the blame for what I knew to be my mistake, it made me even more motivated not to make it in the future.
And this, my friends, would explain the lack of blog posts this week, and how I found myself in a relatively empty office at 7 PM on a Friday, and why I'm up, at my computer, and ready to crank out some work this morning. I'm back in the groove -- my priority lists are updated. I actually know what needs to be done and I'm not fooling myself into thinking I can squeeze it in later. I need to work this weekend. That's part of the gig I signed up for.
When I explained to one of my other partners what had happened with the missed-deadline-contract, he laughed and said,
Don't worry, you just got out of shape. This job is much like sports in that way, when you've been training and you're in good shape, it's much easier to get it done right. But when you take some time off or things get slow, it takes a while to get back into the swing of things.
And on that note, I am happy to announce that I'm also getting back into the swing of running after the marathon. Last night E2 and I joined a small group of local runners for a full-moon frolic. It was beautiful, with hills and sand running by the crashing surf for an even paced 6 miles that made me feel like I was fully recovered.
July and even the first week of August were relatively slow at work, for me. I got into the habit of working very little on the weekends and blowing off the work I brought home at night, because, hey, it was very likely that I could finish it the next day -- all my clients seemed sleepy and well-behaved.
I kept this attitude about work all the way through last weekend, when I brought a bunch of work home but didn't do any of it. Unfortunately, work had actually picked back up to a normal pace and I was not responding appropriately.
This week, I was scrambling. I worked 'til 11 PM on Monday, 10 PM on Tuesday, and Wednesday, after an appointment with our realtor, phone calls to family & friends, and dinner to discuss our housing options, I still had a minor edits to one of my contracts. Ordinarily, I would have finished those edits before the phone calls, but I just hadn't gotten back into the groove...
Thursday afternoon I skipped lunch with my group to finish some work and I missed an internal deadline by an hour. Friday, I got the missed-deadline contract back from my supervising partner and I was embarrassed. I had missed several changes. I had made errors that showed I was rushed. It did not look like my work.
Thankfully, I work for wonderful partners (seriously), and this one took the blame for my shoddy work upon himself saying that we should have a more open dialog about my workload so that we could make determinations about whether the deadlines should slip or I should turn in rushed work.
This is a solid management technique. I already had realized I wasn't managing my workflow as well as I had in the past and needed to get in gear and I felt badly. I apologized when I saw his mark-up to my draft, but when my partner accepted the blame for what I knew to be my mistake, it made me even more motivated not to make it in the future.
And this, my friends, would explain the lack of blog posts this week, and how I found myself in a relatively empty office at 7 PM on a Friday, and why I'm up, at my computer, and ready to crank out some work this morning. I'm back in the groove -- my priority lists are updated. I actually know what needs to be done and I'm not fooling myself into thinking I can squeeze it in later. I need to work this weekend. That's part of the gig I signed up for.
When I explained to one of my other partners what had happened with the missed-deadline-contract, he laughed and said,
Don't worry, you just got out of shape. This job is much like sports in that way, when you've been training and you're in good shape, it's much easier to get it done right. But when you take some time off or things get slow, it takes a while to get back into the swing of things.
And on that note, I am happy to announce that I'm also getting back into the swing of running after the marathon. Last night E2 and I joined a small group of local runners for a full-moon frolic. It was beautiful, with hills and sand running by the crashing surf for an even paced 6 miles that made me feel like I was fully recovered.
August 8, 2008
Best Creamy Salad Dressing on a Home Grown Salad Ever
So, yeah, creamy salad dressing is one of the greatest things about life. It took me quite a while to come to this conclusion, what with my fear of white creamy foods and all... but let me assure you -- it's true.
I'm sure you agree with this, or at least admit it might be true, because, really, I'm so boring, that there's really no other reason to read this blog unless you subscribe to my particular food opinions, in some form or another.
It's convenient really, because I don't even feel guilty... So, annyways...
Tonight, we had a meeting with a friend of a friend who needs some pro-bono help on his charitable organization -- and, conveniently, they need legal help I'm actually somewhat qualified to provide. What a great feeling!
As he told us all about his efforts, I slowly chopped my way to the homemade and home-grown dinner, because, technically, he was a dinner guest, even though he just ate good cheese and left before we devoured everything else.
So, as he described his project, I chopped our latest huge harvested japanese cucumber. We've finally learned that the stem-ends are bitter. VERY BITTER. Think Lye. So, after many slices and tastes, it turns out, you need to throw out (or at least into the compost) at least 1.5 inches from the stem for an 18 inch Japanese cucumber. Finally. Done.
As he described his project, I chopped 7-8 middle-sized home grown tomatoes from our plants. We've gotten in the habit of harvesting red/orange/yellow and letting them shelf-ripen 'til soft. Amazing. To date, the 7 tomato plants we've been caring for have been one of the greatest efforts of my life. I'm SO PROUD! Particularly of the huge black krim fruits, which are all so green, but huge and waiting for ripening, after the great fungal infection, pruning, treating, and medicinal treatment from earlier this summer.
He kept talking. 5 cloves of garlic: ends and skins removed. 1 cup of basil, harvested 4 days prior and wilting in the fridge. I avocado, sliced, and removed from the skins. I took these 3 prior ingredients and put them in the cuisinart. I added olive oil around the dish a few times. I added rice vinegar around the dish a few times. I added floral honey from baja, at least a minute of pouring. I added red pepper flakes and sea salt. And then, I pulsed. I pulsed again. I pushed down with the spoon, and then I puréed.
And all of a sudden, the pro-bono client left. And we were left with the best creamy salad dressing ever: a combo of vinegar, olive oil, avocado, red pepper flakes, vinegar, garlic, artisanal honey, and sea salt.
If you can toss it over your home-grown tomatoes and cucumbers, all the better. And now, my friends, we're full!
Enjoy!
So, yeah, creamy salad dressing is one of the greatest things about life. It took me quite a while to come to this conclusion, what with my fear of white creamy foods and all... but let me assure you -- it's true.
I'm sure you agree with this, or at least admit it might be true, because, really, I'm so boring, that there's really no other reason to read this blog unless you subscribe to my particular food opinions, in some form or another.
It's convenient really, because I don't even feel guilty... So, annyways...
Tonight, we had a meeting with a friend of a friend who needs some pro-bono help on his charitable organization -- and, conveniently, they need legal help I'm actually somewhat qualified to provide. What a great feeling!
As he told us all about his efforts, I slowly chopped my way to the homemade and home-grown dinner, because, technically, he was a dinner guest, even though he just ate good cheese and left before we devoured everything else.
So, as he described his project, I chopped our latest huge harvested japanese cucumber. We've finally learned that the stem-ends are bitter. VERY BITTER. Think Lye. So, after many slices and tastes, it turns out, you need to throw out (or at least into the compost) at least 1.5 inches from the stem for an 18 inch Japanese cucumber. Finally. Done.
As he described his project, I chopped 7-8 middle-sized home grown tomatoes from our plants. We've gotten in the habit of harvesting red/orange/yellow and letting them shelf-ripen 'til soft. Amazing. To date, the 7 tomato plants we've been caring for have been one of the greatest efforts of my life. I'm SO PROUD! Particularly of the huge black krim fruits, which are all so green, but huge and waiting for ripening, after the great fungal infection, pruning, treating, and medicinal treatment from earlier this summer.
He kept talking. 5 cloves of garlic: ends and skins removed. 1 cup of basil, harvested 4 days prior and wilting in the fridge. I avocado, sliced, and removed from the skins. I took these 3 prior ingredients and put them in the cuisinart. I added olive oil around the dish a few times. I added rice vinegar around the dish a few times. I added floral honey from baja, at least a minute of pouring. I added red pepper flakes and sea salt. And then, I pulsed. I pulsed again. I pushed down with the spoon, and then I puréed.
And all of a sudden, the pro-bono client left. And we were left with the best creamy salad dressing ever: a combo of vinegar, olive oil, avocado, red pepper flakes, vinegar, garlic, artisanal honey, and sea salt.
If you can toss it over your home-grown tomatoes and cucumbers, all the better. And now, my friends, we're full!
Enjoy!
August 6, 2008
On Privacy
Today, I attended a 3/4 day long conference on internet privacy. That wasn't how they billed it, but that's how it ended up playing out.
Many very smart people said many smart things, and most of them have my brain spinning and thinking and evolving. Perhaps if I collect my thoughts I'll post something useful. Probably not, though.
Acknowledging that I probably won't think, write, and post or be anything close to useful in that manner, I feel I should offer something. So, here it is:
Today, as counsel to many small cutting edge companies who struggle with many of the issues that were discussed, the most striking comment, to my ears, came from Lauren Gelman. She said (according to my notes),
Now, anyone can speak to the world about whatever they want -- but our stories aren't just about ourselves, they affect third parties.
I think, from the first person publisher privacy standpoint, that summarizes the whole ball of wax. Sure, you've always been free to tell your story from the street corner, but it used to require so much more effort. Now, it's easy. And you can bring along your acquaintances' reputations for the ride.
This is not to say that there isn't a huge discussion to be had regarding the entities who are collecting data, combining it with other data, mining it, and introspecting into our lives. That is a different and immense issue.
This is just to say that on the harms we can do to one another by exercising this new and ridiculously free, unprecedented power to publish to anyone in the world without a governmentally imposed filter -- I think Lauren's got it.
We've never been so free to permanently speak to millions about our neighbors, acquaintances, exes, and so forth.
It's a brave new world y'all...
Today, I attended a 3/4 day long conference on internet privacy. That wasn't how they billed it, but that's how it ended up playing out.
Many very smart people said many smart things, and most of them have my brain spinning and thinking and evolving. Perhaps if I collect my thoughts I'll post something useful. Probably not, though.
Acknowledging that I probably won't think, write, and post or be anything close to useful in that manner, I feel I should offer something. So, here it is:
Today, as counsel to many small cutting edge companies who struggle with many of the issues that were discussed, the most striking comment, to my ears, came from Lauren Gelman. She said (according to my notes),
Now, anyone can speak to the world about whatever they want -- but our stories aren't just about ourselves, they affect third parties.
I think, from the first person publisher privacy standpoint, that summarizes the whole ball of wax. Sure, you've always been free to tell your story from the street corner, but it used to require so much more effort. Now, it's easy. And you can bring along your acquaintances' reputations for the ride.
This is not to say that there isn't a huge discussion to be had regarding the entities who are collecting data, combining it with other data, mining it, and introspecting into our lives. That is a different and immense issue.
This is just to say that on the harms we can do to one another by exercising this new and ridiculously free, unprecedented power to publish to anyone in the world without a governmentally imposed filter -- I think Lauren's got it.
We've never been so free to permanently speak to millions about our neighbors, acquaintances, exes, and so forth.
It's a brave new world y'all...
August 5, 2008
Still Sore
E2 is not the least bit sore from the marathon. I, on the other hand, am still cringing with each step that I must take up and down the stairs at work.
So much for being the supportive friend with an easy run... [grin]
In other news, in case you hadn't seen the pics yet, It's truly a Party of 3 for lucky_girl and M. Go check the little dude out.
E2 is not the least bit sore from the marathon. I, on the other hand, am still cringing with each step that I must take up and down the stairs at work.
So much for being the supportive friend with an easy run... [grin]
In other news, in case you hadn't seen the pics yet, It's truly a Party of 3 for lucky_girl and M. Go check the little dude out.
August 4, 2008
Quotes from the weekend
The leaders are on their way back across the golden gate bridge
-The announcer, before they started our wave of runners at the San Francisco Marathon.
That was the easiest half marathon I've ever done in my life
-E2, impressively strong and disciplined at the halfway point on her first marathon
I'm TOTALLY IN SHAPE!!!! I can't believe I just ran 23 miles!!!
-A girl E2 and I passed at mile 23, she sounded very surprised at herself and very proud as she screamed and laughed with her friend.
Yes, this is easier than the long training runs, but I don't have much left in me
-E2, at mile 24 or so, immediately before she picked up the pace to force me to run the two fastest finishing miles I've ever run at a marathon.
This is *awesome*. I could live here, just like I could live at Costco.
-A kid, looking down on the atrium of the San Francisco Hyatt Regency from the glass elevators as we rode up them to our hotel room for a post-race shower.
I don't even go to the halfs anymore
-E, at lunch with E2's parents and J. When we discussed that this was my 4th marathon and I've got a 5th planned for December. I don't really remember when I decided to become a *marathon* runner. But I guess it happened.
The leaders are on their way back across the golden gate bridge
-The announcer, before they started our wave of runners at the San Francisco Marathon.
That was the easiest half marathon I've ever done in my life
-E2, impressively strong and disciplined at the halfway point on her first marathon
I'm TOTALLY IN SHAPE!!!! I can't believe I just ran 23 miles!!!
-A girl E2 and I passed at mile 23, she sounded very surprised at herself and very proud as she screamed and laughed with her friend.
Yes, this is easier than the long training runs, but I don't have much left in me
-E2, at mile 24 or so, immediately before she picked up the pace to force me to run the two fastest finishing miles I've ever run at a marathon.
This is *awesome*. I could live here, just like I could live at Costco.
-A kid, looking down on the atrium of the San Francisco Hyatt Regency from the glass elevators as we rode up them to our hotel room for a post-race shower.
I don't even go to the halfs anymore
-E, at lunch with E2's parents and J. When we discussed that this was my 4th marathon and I've got a 5th planned for December. I don't really remember when I decided to become a *marathon* runner. But I guess it happened.
July 29, 2008
That's what you get
Of course, two days after I post about my newfound zen-like take on the world I get another bout of insomnia powered by anxious thoughts and feelings to show that I'm not really rolling with the punches so much as taking body blows and suffering the associated after-effects.
The flavor I suffer wakes me up at 3:30 or 4 AM and my racing mutinous brain won't let my body go back to sleep, if at all, 'til after 6 AM.
Awesome.
Of course, two days after I post about my newfound zen-like take on the world I get another bout of insomnia powered by anxious thoughts and feelings to show that I'm not really rolling with the punches so much as taking body blows and suffering the associated after-effects.
The flavor I suffer wakes me up at 3:30 or 4 AM and my racing mutinous brain won't let my body go back to sleep, if at all, 'til after 6 AM.
Awesome.
July 27, 2008
Elusive Beauty
Sometimes, life throws more than what seems to be your fair share of shit at you. All in one week, or month, or whatever. I'm not in that spot right now, but I'm playing a supporting role to a few people in my life who are and I can't help but feel for them and also wish them well in getting through their obstacles. As Daddy always said,
Life's not fair kid. Get used to it.
My New Year's resolution this year was to roll with the punches and be more relaxed.
The first half of the year I didn't do an awesome job of keeping my New Year's Resolution. But I tried. And ever since Japan, I'm shocked to find that I have more perspective. I'm getting better at letting things go (Which means I'm still way behind the average mature adult. Think indignant high schooler).
I've been an intellectual studier of Zen Buddhism for at least 14 years now. This means I read Zen books and try to apply the principles to my life without meditation, koans, or sesshins. The closest I ever get to those is yoga, running, progressive relaxation, attempted mindful breath-awareness in moments of stress, and brief tourist meditation at some temples in Asia.
Clearly, my Zen practice is not what any Dharma master would recommend.
Rather than join a local Zen center (and there are a few, so I really have no excuse) and have a practice focused by one teacher, I have chosen to meander my way through some of the classic Zen texts (or rather, some of the ones available in English).
But, it wasn't until I started reading books by
Charlotte Joko Beck that Zen really started to make sense in my daily life. I turned the pages of Everyday Zen: Love and Work for at least 3 successive readings straight through. I'd pick it up before bed on days when I needed some calm and read my way through a short vignette/lecture which often made me think long and hard about my life and how I saw things.
Recently, I started making my way through Nothing Special: Living Zen and I'm so pleased to find that I'm in a place where the first time I read her short lectures I understand and relate to her words much more easily than I once did.
I have to assume that this easier understanding of the Zen way of life is connected to how I seem to be doing a better job of rolling with the punches and accepting life for what it is. And, so, in celebration of that, I present to you Okra flowers:
Several weeks ago, E called me to tell me that there was an okra flower and it was gorgeous. By the time I arrived home, it had wilted. Again, a few days later, we went through the same paces. Eventually, we realized that these bursts of color (which must die for the fruit to form) bloom quickly after I leave for work, and lead a short 5-6 hour life in full bloom before retreating to a closed and quickly wilting form before I arrive home.
Finally, after several weeks of work and weekend travel, this weekend, we were home, and I was able to witness them. I think I must have enjoyed my first sighting significantly more than E enjoyed his.
I can't help but suspect there is some sort of Zen lesson to be learned from this.
Sometimes, life throws more than what seems to be your fair share of shit at you. All in one week, or month, or whatever. I'm not in that spot right now, but I'm playing a supporting role to a few people in my life who are and I can't help but feel for them and also wish them well in getting through their obstacles. As Daddy always said,
Life's not fair kid. Get used to it.
My New Year's resolution this year was to roll with the punches and be more relaxed.
The first half of the year I didn't do an awesome job of keeping my New Year's Resolution. But I tried. And ever since Japan, I'm shocked to find that I have more perspective. I'm getting better at letting things go (Which means I'm still way behind the average mature adult. Think indignant high schooler).
I've been an intellectual studier of Zen Buddhism for at least 14 years now. This means I read Zen books and try to apply the principles to my life without meditation, koans, or sesshins. The closest I ever get to those is yoga, running, progressive relaxation, attempted mindful breath-awareness in moments of stress, and brief tourist meditation at some temples in Asia.
Clearly, my Zen practice is not what any Dharma master would recommend.
Rather than join a local Zen center (and there are a few, so I really have no excuse) and have a practice focused by one teacher, I have chosen to meander my way through some of the classic Zen texts (or rather, some of the ones available in English).
But, it wasn't until I started reading books by
Charlotte Joko Beck that Zen really started to make sense in my daily life. I turned the pages of Everyday Zen: Love and Work for at least 3 successive readings straight through. I'd pick it up before bed on days when I needed some calm and read my way through a short vignette/lecture which often made me think long and hard about my life and how I saw things.
Recently, I started making my way through Nothing Special: Living Zen and I'm so pleased to find that I'm in a place where the first time I read her short lectures I understand and relate to her words much more easily than I once did.
I have to assume that this easier understanding of the Zen way of life is connected to how I seem to be doing a better job of rolling with the punches and accepting life for what it is. And, so, in celebration of that, I present to you Okra flowers:
Several weeks ago, E called me to tell me that there was an okra flower and it was gorgeous. By the time I arrived home, it had wilted. Again, a few days later, we went through the same paces. Eventually, we realized that these bursts of color (which must die for the fruit to form) bloom quickly after I leave for work, and lead a short 5-6 hour life in full bloom before retreating to a closed and quickly wilting form before I arrive home.
Finally, after several weeks of work and weekend travel, this weekend, we were home, and I was able to witness them. I think I must have enjoyed my first sighting significantly more than E enjoyed his.
I can't help but suspect there is some sort of Zen lesson to be learned from this.
July 23, 2008
Summer Girl
Summer has always been my favorite season.
I love the sun. The late bedtimes. The feeling that it's always almost time to relax and have a barbeque. But, I must say, tomatoes have become one of my favorite things about summer:
All but the three huge professional-looking heirlooms came from our garden. I am SO proud.
Also, the one lonely okra on the left is to show that our okra from seeds experiment was successful. We managed to grow at least one, and if the buds are to be believed, several more are in the wings.
Foodwise, I may love autumn harvest more than summer foods, but seasonally speaking -- I love the heat, the sun and the tomatoes. And, in the midst of family drama, work drama, and all of that jazz, the calm and slowly evolving life of our garden (especially the tomatoes) brings me more joy this summer than I could have imagined.
Summer has always been my favorite season.
I love the sun. The late bedtimes. The feeling that it's always almost time to relax and have a barbeque. But, I must say, tomatoes have become one of my favorite things about summer:
All but the three huge professional-looking heirlooms came from our garden. I am SO proud.
Also, the one lonely okra on the left is to show that our okra from seeds experiment was successful. We managed to grow at least one, and if the buds are to be believed, several more are in the wings.
Foodwise, I may love autumn harvest more than summer foods, but seasonally speaking -- I love the heat, the sun and the tomatoes. And, in the midst of family drama, work drama, and all of that jazz, the calm and slowly evolving life of our garden (especially the tomatoes) brings me more joy this summer than I could have imagined.
July 18, 2008
Cultural Surprise
Tonight, in Washington DC, E and I went to the rehearsal dinner for a longtime childhood friend of his.
Historically, the south has felt glutinous, but not like home.
E always said I was raised to be a southerner's wife. And, I never knew what he meant. But tonight, I got it. Everything felt comfortable.
The strangers (and long-time between last visit people), they followed polite patterns that put me at ease (which involved presenting their names in case I had forgotten them, which, of *course* I had, if I had even had the pleasure of meeting them, previously).
Everyone agreed upon topics of conversation and the sarcasm was limited to a point where you could count upon the people with whom you were interacting to be either (i) sincere; (ii) slightly, cleverly, and amusingly sardonic; or (iii) obviously out for something like blood that had nothing to do with you that you could sidestep.
I liked the categorical distinctions. I knew where I belonged. Oddly, I found myself feeling more at home in this huge social event full of strangers than I had 3 nights prior at a law-firm summer associate dinner at a partner's house, where the rules were not so rigid, I was surrounded by my coworkers and should have been comfortable. There, based on social cues, I couldn't always guess where people were coming from or headed.
Now there's nothing left but tons of leftover work, a somewhat formal wedding ceremony in a big catholic church (which, also, oddly, is likely to make me feel comfortable, due to my Lutheran upbringing), and of course, interacting with a bunch of people I don't know in the high temperatures while E's family waits in the wings for some time with us.
There is no reason I can think of that explains why I should feel comfortable here. And yet, finally, after years of feeling lost when we visit the South, I do. I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I am grateful for E's mom's appreciation and social graces towards us today. We started planning a big international vacation with E's sister this afternoon, so obviously, it's amazing to see her.
After all the struggle and frustration about how much the California girl didn't fit in the South, it finally plays out that, at least this time, she fits here, among strangers, better than she does at home. Who knew?
Tonight, in Washington DC, E and I went to the rehearsal dinner for a longtime childhood friend of his.
Historically, the south has felt glutinous, but not like home.
E always said I was raised to be a southerner's wife. And, I never knew what he meant. But tonight, I got it. Everything felt comfortable.
The strangers (and long-time between last visit people), they followed polite patterns that put me at ease (which involved presenting their names in case I had forgotten them, which, of *course* I had, if I had even had the pleasure of meeting them, previously).
Everyone agreed upon topics of conversation and the sarcasm was limited to a point where you could count upon the people with whom you were interacting to be either (i) sincere; (ii) slightly, cleverly, and amusingly sardonic; or (iii) obviously out for something like blood that had nothing to do with you that you could sidestep.
I liked the categorical distinctions. I knew where I belonged. Oddly, I found myself feeling more at home in this huge social event full of strangers than I had 3 nights prior at a law-firm summer associate dinner at a partner's house, where the rules were not so rigid, I was surrounded by my coworkers and should have been comfortable. There, based on social cues, I couldn't always guess where people were coming from or headed.
Now there's nothing left but tons of leftover work, a somewhat formal wedding ceremony in a big catholic church (which, also, oddly, is likely to make me feel comfortable, due to my Lutheran upbringing), and of course, interacting with a bunch of people I don't know in the high temperatures while E's family waits in the wings for some time with us.
There is no reason I can think of that explains why I should feel comfortable here. And yet, finally, after years of feeling lost when we visit the South, I do. I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I am grateful for E's mom's appreciation and social graces towards us today. We started planning a big international vacation with E's sister this afternoon, so obviously, it's amazing to see her.
After all the struggle and frustration about how much the California girl didn't fit in the South, it finally plays out that, at least this time, she fits here, among strangers, better than she does at home. Who knew?
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