Friday, July 23, 2010
Friday, July 16, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
Friday, July 2, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
Other People's Christmas Cards
Friday, June 18, 2010
Friday, June 11, 2010
Friday, June 4, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
Other People's Christmas Cards
You know when you're traveling and you want to get that perfect shot in front of the amazing site you came to see, be it Old Faithful or the Mona Lisa, and you end up with a lovely picture of someone you don't know? Have you ever been forcibly removed from somebody's picture that they decided to shoot from 50 feet away? Have you ever unexpectedly found yourself in the middle of a tour group that is not in your language? After first becoming annoyed, and tripping on purpose a little boy who tried to run over top of me in the Grand Gallery at the Louvre (don't worry, nobody was hurt) we decided that these pictures that people were so bossy about taking must be good enough for our photo albums as well.
With full knowledge that we are guilty of the same lame poses and corny, overtaken pictures, we present some gems of photos we are taking on our travels travels. We will be posting these amazing pictures on Fridays. If you have a precious photo of someone else, we'd live to see it!
This lovely photo was taken while touring Versailles Palace on the edge of Paris, France.
With full knowledge that we are guilty of the same lame poses and corny, overtaken pictures, we present some gems of photos we are taking on our travels travels. We will be posting these amazing pictures on Fridays. If you have a precious photo of someone else, we'd live to see it!
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Pack it! Was Not in the Title
Alas, 22 days until take off and still we have not lifted another finger towards packing. There are just to many other exciting things going on!
Recently I purchased 3 new cookbooks, and quickly became obsessed with one of them. Jam it! Pickle it! Cure it! by Karen Solomon is a book filled with colorful pictures, recipes, and tips for how to make your own preserved treats. I am so excited for the coming summer when I can try my hand at canning my garden goodies! Even if you are not an aspiring cook, it is just interesting to flip through the pages and see what some of your staples are made from. For example, there is a recipe or how to make your own ketchup,mustard, and mayonnaise. I had no idea how many ingredients there were in ketchup, and how few there were in mustard.
Needless to say, when I received notice from 18Reasons that there was going to be a Jam it! Salon with Karen Solomon herself, I was giddy. Last night Boyfriend and I, along with a friend who often accompanies us on our dates (her boyfriend lives over the bridge) made our way to 18th and Guerrero with our own homemade goods in hand. People from all over the community brought in their creations to share. Among other delicious samples there was fresh baked bread, home brewed beer, kraut, sour cherries, pickled carrots, apple sauce, kombucha, crackers, and my personal favorite, lemon curd. We all ooo-ed and awww-ed and exchanged recipes and cooking tips while munching on the delicious snacks.
As we left, Boyfriend and I, along with our friend thought we were being sneaky taking last spoons of lemon curd. Apparently we were not as subtle as we thought and they offered us the rest of the jar because we had brought so many delicious treats and 'were eating it like we were orphans.' I have to say, I am willing to sacrifice class for lemon curd that delicious any day. Not embarrassed at all. Besides we are already classy for having gone to an intellectual salon a la enlightenment.
As it turns out, this was the third Jam it! Salon which made it especially fun because people were bringing back treats that had needed more fermentation at the last salon, and recipes that they had improved upon since the last round. Even the book author, Karen Solomon brought some trials for her new book. I think i am going to buy the book just for the ploughman pickle recipe.
This event was not only delicious, but brought together people of all ages and backgrounds with one thing in common, food!
Recently I purchased 3 new cookbooks, and quickly became obsessed with one of them. Jam it! Pickle it! Cure it! by Karen Solomon is a book filled with colorful pictures, recipes, and tips for how to make your own preserved treats. I am so excited for the coming summer when I can try my hand at canning my garden goodies! Even if you are not an aspiring cook, it is just interesting to flip through the pages and see what some of your staples are made from. For example, there is a recipe or how to make your own ketchup,mustard, and mayonnaise. I had no idea how many ingredients there were in ketchup, and how few there were in mustard.
Needless to say, when I received notice from 18Reasons that there was going to be a Jam it! Salon with Karen Solomon herself, I was giddy. Last night Boyfriend and I, along with a friend who often accompanies us on our dates (her boyfriend lives over the bridge) made our way to 18th and Guerrero with our own homemade goods in hand. People from all over the community brought in their creations to share. Among other delicious samples there was fresh baked bread, home brewed beer, kraut, sour cherries, pickled carrots, apple sauce, kombucha, crackers, and my personal favorite, lemon curd. We all ooo-ed and awww-ed and exchanged recipes and cooking tips while munching on the delicious snacks.
As we left, Boyfriend and I, along with our friend thought we were being sneaky taking last spoons of lemon curd. Apparently we were not as subtle as we thought and they offered us the rest of the jar because we had brought so many delicious treats and 'were eating it like we were orphans.' I have to say, I am willing to sacrifice class for lemon curd that delicious any day. Not embarrassed at all. Besides we are already classy for having gone to an intellectual salon a la enlightenment.
As it turns out, this was the third Jam it! Salon which made it especially fun because people were bringing back treats that had needed more fermentation at the last salon, and recipes that they had improved upon since the last round. Even the book author, Karen Solomon brought some trials for her new book. I think i am going to buy the book just for the ploughman pickle recipe.
This event was not only delicious, but brought together people of all ages and backgrounds with one thing in common, food!
Friday, April 23, 2010
Let's Go Far Far Away from here Honey Bee
It is officially 23 days until we leave on our adventure for Paris, and then Oregon, and we have packed approximately 4 boxes. Packing is hard! Especially during this time of year when it is staying light later and all of the good after work and weekend activities have started coming back.For example; we could have packed some more last night, but instead we went to a Kitchen Table Talk about Honey Bees. We went with some apprehension as the last lecture we attended, while interesting, was far too much like school with its power points, and we ended up leaving early. However we could tell that this one was different as soon as we walked
into Viracocha. Viracocha is on the corner of 21st and Valencia and it is somewhere between Paxton Gate, Mrs. Havashom’s house, and a thrift store. It is one of those giant warehouse type spaces with lots of wood on the floors, on the walls, and on the ceilings. There were succulents in the windows which continued inside, old clothes, books, pianos, and bathtubs among other things, all on display in unexpected ways. There was also what turned out to be a real cat, and a real person playing the piano. The actual lecture was held downstairs where there was a nice spread of snacks, local honey, and wine. One thing that made it feel less like a lecture was the way the various seats were arranged for optimal crowd watching (what up Michael Pollen! We saw you hiding in the back!).The talk started out with the movie Pollen Nation. Following
the screening Michael Thiele, Dr. Michelle Flenniken, and Cameo Wood talked about their work and personal experiences with honey bees. I appreciated German native, Michael Thiele’s passion, but was obviously most interested in Dr. Michelle Flenniken’s presentation as it included things like slides of DNA. Cameo Wood, who owns Her Majesty’s Secret Beekeeper shop in the Mission, also gave a surprisingly informative talk.Obviously packing was impossible after such a mind stimulating evening…
Picture borrowed from
Moral Behavior
Sean McCann, UF/IFAS Honey Bee Research and Extension Laboratory
6CB@NIST
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Get Ready for the Next Episode
Or perhaps I should say we are revamping our blog.
As we prepare to start the next chapter of our adventure boyfriend will be joining the blog front as 'Aspiring Mustache' (despite my attempts to get him to stick with Boyfriend as I have dubbed him).
Onward and upward!
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Geek Much? Books & Travel
Finally, I always think that reading on vacations, even adventure travel vacations, is interesting because EVERYBODY does it! On my last flight to LA the guy I was sitting next to engaged in conversation with the girl across the isle because she was reading the self help book he had just finished. Gag! But also kind of a good way to meet somebody I guess. Along the same lines as spying on people to see what they are reading on the plane, I always love looking at the book exchange shelves in the cheap hostels that I frequent when traveling. I find it fascinating to see what people have thought merited a portion of their limited backpack space.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Not Quite a Thirsty Thursday
Gone (for now) are the college days of Thirsty Thursday where we celebrated the almost weekend with weekend-like partying. Despite the early Friday wake up call, and the expectation that I be fully functioning at work, I crave a little Thursday night break. Sometimes this comes in the form of CSI and an adult beverage, or a trek to the food carts, but this week I am thinking of going to one of the many activities that seems to be popping up now that the weather is clearing and it is beginning to stay light a little bit later.
Do you need something fun to do this Thursday night to take your mind off of work? Do you love cheese? Come to 18 Reasons for the Cowgirl Creamery cheese release party! The Cowgirl Creamery, located in Point Reyes Station, will be releasing their St. Patrick’s Day cheese which is a soft, brie like cheese wrapped in local nettles from 7-9pm.18 Reasons is located at 593 Guerrero (at 18th St.). There is a $5 suggested donation for members and a $10 suggested donation for non members. Click here to learn more.
Cheese not your thing? Are you feeling a little serious? Come to Glide Memorial from 6:30-8:30 for a Slow Food Panel Discussion: How do we close the food gap?If you are not in the mood for cheese or panel discussions then you must be craving alcohol, dancing and scientific oddities. Check out the Academy of Science Nightlife this Thursday from 6-10pm with featured guest Paxton Gate. The Nightlife is for people 21+ which can be a major plus for this normally kid filled museum. Also tickets are $12 which makes it reasonable for those of us who don’t want to spend the usual $25 to see the place.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Almost Wine Tasting Weekend
This weekend two of my favorite people flew in to town from Portland, Oregon and LA, California with their husband and boyfriend respectively, for a wine tasting weekend. It was a blast!
Unfortunately I had to work on Friday, but Boyfriend had the day off so he was able to take our Portlanders, who arrived a day early, on a fabulous tour of San Francisco. I have to admit, that he gives one of the best city tours of all times. I have lived in the Bay Area my entire life and he still shows me places I have never seen. He is just a true San Franciscan. He grew up here and was taking the bus by himself before he could ride a two wheel bike. He honestly thinks that it is the greatest city in the world, and heaven help you if you try to say otherwise. At least it gives my grandpa and him something to talk about.
For this adventure he kept it simple and stuck to the basic tourist list, Union Square, The Ferry Building, and The Museum of Modern Art.
When I finally got off of work and put my CSA veggies away, my guest (and alcohol) filled weekend began. We first went to Taqueria Cancun, one of our favorite cheap eats just a couple of blocks from the 16th street BART stop. We then tried to continue our evening with class by heading to the rooftop bar at Medjool. We had a lovely and reasonably priced pitcher of sangria while huddled around one of the outdoor heaters taking in the gorgeous views. We then decided to move on to the next venue, so we asked our guests what they wanted to do/drink. The answer: take tequila shots. So we crossed the street to the nearest neon sign and had a shot. We graced that bar with our presence for only as long as the shot took and then continued on our way to the Latin America Club for pint glass margaritas, hold the margarita mix. I like this place a lot despite its lack of seating. There are creepy piñatas hanging all over the ceiling and giant portraits of unusual subjects on all of the walls. It is not too fancy, but also manages to escape the usual sleaze of a dive bar. After an extensive conversation about the best reasons to become morbidly obese and the nuances of exercise pant salesmanship we were off to the next bar. We landed at Skylark with some Juan on Juanes (a corona and a shot of patron for $11) and outdated hip hop. It was a blast. This was the only place we made it to that night that had room for dancing, and the music to dance to. Even Boyfriend tried to bust a move. We finally decided that we should head home, but first we needed to stop at the City Club. The city club is on the corner by the BART station, and in the 1+ years that I have lived nearby I have never seen anybody a) over 5’6 b) overtly female go into this bar. Boyfriend and I always say we are going to stop in, but never make it. Literally we have said this about 5 nights a week since November 2009. Well folks, on Friday night we made it. True to form, boyfriend made friends with everybody in the place and I’m pretty sure he was offered a couple of jobs. We are definitely going to have to go back.
Saturday, in fair form from our previous nights debaucheries, we drove over to Marin to meet up with our LA visitors (my sisters bff since 1st grade) and my cuñado (sisters boyfriend…sometimes Spanish is just a superior language) and after several hours of recovery for both the recently arrived friends and those of us who had gone out the evening before, we headed up to wine country to go to a few wineries before they closed at 4pm. We made it to two. That is really all I can tell you, because I was in no shape to taste wine, or enjoy the food paring, or notice which wineries we were visiting.
After a nap, and some Advil, and strong tea we met back up with everybody at Cavallo Point for drinks and food. This bar is amazing! It has incredible views of the city and the bridge, but is quiet and peaceful. Cavallo Point was built in old military buildings (plus some new ones) as an eco friendly conference center. It has a restaurant, bar, and I believe it also has a cooking school. Green businesses can use the conference rooms for free. One of my favorite things to do with visitors is take them during the afternoon for a French press coffee on the porch. The service can sometimes be questionable, but on Saturday it was exceptional. It closed at midnight, but when we strolled in at 11:30 they sat us right down and served us whatever we wanted. After leisurely drinks (milk with a straw for me please, thanks!) and snacks, we went and sat by the fire pit until we were almost too tired to make it home. I would, however suggest my tip of an afternoon coffee rather than drinks etc. because it is fairly expensive.
On Sunday our friends returned to Portland and the rest of us headed back up to wine country for some more tasting. We went to two more wineries. Acorn is one of my sister’s favorites. They have some fun wines that the other places we have tried don’t grow like sangeovese, and they have vintage vines that were planted in 1890. The little building/tent where the tastings are is snuggled next to a small hill where some of the grapes are grown. There is a little creek that runs next to the dirt road that you drive in on, and abandoned rail tracks throughout. It makes me want to quit my day job and become a wine maker, it also helped that it was one of the first gorgeous, sunny, spring days of the season. The second place we went was the Korbel winery. We tasted several kinds of champagne, and bought a bottle of a fun red champagne along with snacks from the deli. We enjoyed the rest of the sunny afternoon on the porch sipping mimosas (what? you think I go champagne tasting without a kleen kanteen full of orange juice?) and eating olives, salami, and cheese.
The Wine Road barrel tasting event is the ideal way to go wine tasting if you are on a budget. It is $30 per person for the entire 3 day weekend (Fri-Sun) and most places have little food parings to go along with their wine. Just don’t forget to designate a driver!
Unfortunately I had to work on Friday, but Boyfriend had the day off so he was able to take our Portlanders, who arrived a day early, on a fabulous tour of San Francisco. I have to admit, that he gives one of the best city tours of all times. I have lived in the Bay Area my entire life and he still shows me places I have never seen. He is just a true San Franciscan. He grew up here and was taking the bus by himself before he could ride a two wheel bike. He honestly thinks that it is the greatest city in the world, and heaven help you if you try to say otherwise. At least it gives my grandpa and him something to talk about.For this adventure he kept it simple and stuck to the basic tourist list, Union Square, The Ferry Building, and The Museum of Modern Art.
When I finally got off of work and put my CSA veggies away, my guest (and alcohol) filled weekend began. We first went to Taqueria Cancun, one of our favorite cheap eats just a couple of blocks from the 16th street BART stop. We then tried to continue our evening with class by heading to the rooftop bar at Medjool. We had a lovely and reasonably priced pitcher of sangria while huddled around one of the outdoor heaters taking in the gorgeous views. We then decided to move on to the next venue, so we asked our guests what they wanted to do/drink. The answer: take tequila shots. So we crossed the street to the nearest neon sign and had a shot. We graced that bar with our presence for only as long as the shot took and then continued on our way to the Latin America Club for pint glass margaritas, hold the margarita mix. I like this place a lot despite its lack of seating. There are creepy piñatas hanging all over the ceiling and giant portraits of unusual subjects on all of the walls. It is not too fancy, but also manages to escape the usual sleaze of a dive bar. After an extensive conversation about the best reasons to become morbidly obese and the nuances of exercise pant salesmanship we were off to the next bar. We landed at Skylark with some Juan on Juanes (a corona and a shot of patron for $11) and outdated hip hop. It was a blast. This was the only place we made it to that night that had room for dancing, and the music to dance to. Even Boyfriend tried to bust a move. We finally decided that we should head home, but first we needed to stop at the City Club. The city club is on the corner by the BART station, and in the 1+ years that I have lived nearby I have never seen anybody a) over 5’6 b) overtly female go into this bar. Boyfriend and I always say we are going to stop in, but never make it. Literally we have said this about 5 nights a week since November 2009. Well folks, on Friday night we made it. True to form, boyfriend made friends with everybody in the place and I’m pretty sure he was offered a couple of jobs. We are definitely going to have to go back.
After a nap, and some Advil, and strong tea we met back up with everybody at Cavallo Point for drinks and food. This bar is amazing! It has incredible views of the city and the bridge, but is quiet and peaceful. Cavallo Point was built in old military buildings (plus some new ones) as an eco friendly conference center. It has a restaurant, bar, and I believe it also has a cooking school. Green businesses can use the conference rooms for free. One of my favorite things to do with visitors is take them during the afternoon for a French press coffee on the porch. The service can sometimes be questionable, but on Saturday it was exceptional. It closed at midnight, but when we strolled in at 11:30 they sat us right down and served us whatever we wanted. After leisurely drinks (milk with a straw for me please, thanks!) and snacks, we went and sat by the fire pit until we were almost too tired to make it home. I would, however suggest my tip of an afternoon coffee rather than drinks etc. because it is fairly expensive.
The Wine Road barrel tasting event is the ideal way to go wine tasting if you are on a budget. It is $30 per person for the entire 3 day weekend (Fri-Sun) and most places have little food parings to go along with their wine. Just don’t forget to designate a driver!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
How Do You Stack Up?
So I admit that I got this list off of facebook, and not even legit off of facebook, but rather I stumbled across it while facebook stalking one of my college GTFs… No matter how I found it, I still found it intriguing. It was captioned at the top “The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books here. How do your reading habits stack up?” then you are supposed to count up how many of these books you read.
I thought that it was a fairly inclusive list. What do you think? What books that everybody should read are missing? How many of these have you read?
1. Pride and Prejudice
2. The Lord of the Rings
3. Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte
4. Harry Potter series JK Rowling
5. To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee
6. The Bible
7. Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte
8. Nineteen Eighty Four George Orwell
9. His Dark Materials Philip Pullman
10. Great Expectations Charles Dickens
11. Little Women Louisa M Alcott
12. Tess of the D’Urbervilles Thomas Hardy
13. Catch Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare
15. Rebecca Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit JRR Tolkien
17. Birdsong Sebastian Faulk
18. Catcher in the Rye JD Salinger
19. The Time Traveler’s Wife Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch George Eliot
21. Gone With The Wind Margaret Mitchell
22. The Great Gatsby F Scott Fitzgerald
23. Bleak House Charles Dickens
24. War and Peace Leo Tolstoy
25. The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams
26. Crime and Punishment Fyodor Dostoyevsky
27. Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck
28. Alice in Wonderland Lewis Carroll
29. The Wind in the Willows Kenneth Grahame
30. Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy
31. David Copperfield Charles Dickens
32. Chronicles of Narnia CS Lewis
33. Emma Jane Austen
34. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe CS Lewis
35. The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini
36. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin Louis De Bernieres
37. Memoirs of a Geisha Arthur Golden
38. Winnie the Pooh AA Milne
39. Animal Farm George Orwell
40. The Da Vinci Code Dan Brown
41. One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel Garcia Marquez
42. A Prayer for Owen Meaney John Irving
43. The Woman in White Wilkie Collins
44. Anne of Green Gables LM Montgomery
45. Far From The Madding Crowd Thomas Hardy
46. The Handmaid’s Tale Margaret Atwood
47. Lord of the Flies William Golding
48. Atonement Ian McEwan
49. Life of Pi Yann Martel
50. Dune Frank Herbert
51. Cold Comfort Farm Stella Gibbons
52. Sense and Sensibility Jane Austen
53. A Suitable Boy Vikram Seth
54. The Shadow of the Wind Carlos Ruiz Zafon
55. A Tale Of Two Cities Charles Dickens
56. Brave New World Aldous Huxley
57. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Mark Haddon
58. Love In The Time Of Cholera Gabriel Garcia Marquez
59. Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck
60. Lolita Vladimir Nabokov
61. The Secret History Donna Tartt
62. The Lovely Bones Alice Sebold
63. Count of Monte Cristo Alexandre Dumas
64. On The Road Jack Kerouac
65. Jude the Obscure Thomas Hardy
66. Bridget Jones’s Diary Helen Fielding
67. Midnight’s Children Salman Rushdie
68. Moby Dick Herman Melville
69. Oliver Twist Charlest Dickens
70. Dracula Bram Stoker
71. The Secret Garden Frances Hodgson Burnett
72. Notes From A Small Island Bill Bryson
73. Ulysses James Joyce
74. The Inferno – Dante
75. Swallows and Amazons Arthur Ransome
76. Germinal Emile Zola
77. Vanity Fair William Makepeace Thackeray
78. Possession AS Byatt
79. A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens
80. Cloud Atlas David Mitchell
81. The Color Purple Alice Walker
82. The Remains of the Day Kazuo Ishiguro
83. Madame Bovary Gustave Flaubert
84. A Fine Balance Rohinton Mistry
85. Charlotte’s Web EB White
86. The Five People You Meet In Heaven Mitch Albom
87. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
88. The Faraway Tree Collection Enid Blyton
89. Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad
90. The Little Prince Antoine De SaintExupery
91. The Wasp Factory Iain Banks
92. Watership Down Richard Adams
93. A Confederacy of Dunces John Kennedy Toole
94. A Town Like Alice Nevil Shute
95. The Three Musketeers Alexandre Dumas
96. Hamlet William Shakespeare
97. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
98. Les Miserables Victor Hugo
I thought that it was a fairly inclusive list. What do you think? What books that everybody should read are missing? How many of these have you read?
1. Pride and Prejudice
2. The Lord of the Rings
3. Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte
4. Harry Potter series JK Rowling
5. To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee
6. The Bible
7. Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte
8. Nineteen Eighty Four George Orwell
9. His Dark Materials Philip Pullman
10. Great Expectations Charles Dickens
11. Little Women Louisa M Alcott
12. Tess of the D’Urbervilles Thomas Hardy
13. Catch Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare
15. Rebecca Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit JRR Tolkien
17. Birdsong Sebastian Faulk
18. Catcher in the Rye JD Salinger
19. The Time Traveler’s Wife Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch George Eliot
21. Gone With The Wind Margaret Mitchell
22. The Great Gatsby F Scott Fitzgerald
23. Bleak House Charles Dickens
24. War and Peace Leo Tolstoy
25. The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams
26. Crime and Punishment Fyodor Dostoyevsky
27. Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck
28. Alice in Wonderland Lewis Carroll
29. The Wind in the Willows Kenneth Grahame
30. Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy
31. David Copperfield Charles Dickens
32. Chronicles of Narnia CS Lewis
33. Emma Jane Austen
34. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe CS Lewis
35. The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini
36. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin Louis De Bernieres
37. Memoirs of a Geisha Arthur Golden
38. Winnie the Pooh AA Milne
39. Animal Farm George Orwell
40. The Da Vinci Code Dan Brown
41. One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel Garcia Marquez
42. A Prayer for Owen Meaney John Irving
43. The Woman in White Wilkie Collins
44. Anne of Green Gables LM Montgomery
45. Far From The Madding Crowd Thomas Hardy
46. The Handmaid’s Tale Margaret Atwood
47. Lord of the Flies William Golding
48. Atonement Ian McEwan
49. Life of Pi Yann Martel
50. Dune Frank Herbert
51. Cold Comfort Farm Stella Gibbons
52. Sense and Sensibility Jane Austen
53. A Suitable Boy Vikram Seth
54. The Shadow of the Wind Carlos Ruiz Zafon
55. A Tale Of Two Cities Charles Dickens
56. Brave New World Aldous Huxley
57. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Mark Haddon
58. Love In The Time Of Cholera Gabriel Garcia Marquez
59. Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck
60. Lolita Vladimir Nabokov
61. The Secret History Donna Tartt
62. The Lovely Bones Alice Sebold
63. Count of Monte Cristo Alexandre Dumas
64. On The Road Jack Kerouac
65. Jude the Obscure Thomas Hardy
66. Bridget Jones’s Diary Helen Fielding
67. Midnight’s Children Salman Rushdie
68. Moby Dick Herman Melville
69. Oliver Twist Charlest Dickens
70. Dracula Bram Stoker
71. The Secret Garden Frances Hodgson Burnett
72. Notes From A Small Island Bill Bryson
73. Ulysses James Joyce
74. The Inferno – Dante
75. Swallows and Amazons Arthur Ransome
76. Germinal Emile Zola
77. Vanity Fair William Makepeace Thackeray
78. Possession AS Byatt
79. A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens
80. Cloud Atlas David Mitchell
81. The Color Purple Alice Walker
82. The Remains of the Day Kazuo Ishiguro
83. Madame Bovary Gustave Flaubert
84. A Fine Balance Rohinton Mistry
85. Charlotte’s Web EB White
86. The Five People You Meet In Heaven Mitch Albom
87. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
88. The Faraway Tree Collection Enid Blyton
89. Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad
90. The Little Prince Antoine De SaintExupery
91. The Wasp Factory Iain Banks
92. Watership Down Richard Adams
93. A Confederacy of Dunces John Kennedy Toole
94. A Town Like Alice Nevil Shute
95. The Three Musketeers Alexandre Dumas
96. Hamlet William Shakespeare
97. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
98. Les Miserables Victor Hugo
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
A New Direction
As I look back through my blog posts, they clearly lack direction. I originally thought that I would start this blog to talk about victory gardens and going green. My desk job is a far cry from my world saving ambitions, so I thought I would do my best to contribute through a blog. Upon starting my quest I realized that there were hundreds of people doing the same thing but with better execution. I shifted to talk about things that I found interesting, useful, and important, as well as some reviews of local places, and discussion of my travels. Overall I would give my blog the rating of boring. And how could it not be? I sit at a cubicle all day turning in applications for various grants and other awards, and then I go home and turn in my own applications to schools and for financial aid etc.
Upon my review of my blog I decide that it needs a new direction, a theme, something to get excited about. I am not sure yet what that will be but please stay tuned for my next adventure.
Upon my review of my blog I decide that it needs a new direction, a theme, something to get excited about. I am not sure yet what that will be but please stay tuned for my next adventure.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
A Lovely Long Weekend
Which is the best part of a long weekend? The long weekend or the short work week? I personally think that it is a tie.
This long weekend Boyfriend and I did nothing but enjoy each others company and the beautiful area where we live. We did the regular grocery shopping, cooked, baked, planned our next vacation, took BART downtown, tried on clothes, ate cones of cured meats at the Ferry Building, went (a couple of times) to our favorite coffee shop, started sprouts, and eventually made it over for a loop on Mt. Tamalpias followed by a Puerto Rican meal at Sol Food in San Rafael.
While I suppose that this post has no particular value for others to read, it is fun to share when things are going right.
This long weekend Boyfriend and I did nothing but enjoy each others company and the beautiful area where we live. We did the regular grocery shopping, cooked, baked, planned our next vacation, took BART downtown, tried on clothes, ate cones of cured meats at the Ferry Building, went (a couple of times) to our favorite coffee shop, started sprouts, and eventually made it over for a loop on Mt. Tamalpias followed by a Puerto Rican meal at Sol Food in San Rafael.
While I suppose that this post has no particular value for others to read, it is fun to share when things are going right.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
Winter Wine Land
Winter Wine Land is something that I attended for the first time last year. It is and affordable, all you can taste wine tasting weekend that includes hundreds of wineries all over the region. This was actually a discovery made by my sister, who has bought boyfriend and I tickets for the past 2 years as our Christmas presents.
Let me be honest, I’m not a wine connoisseur. I judge on a scale of gross to grape juice. Until I moved in with boyfriend I did not own a corkscrew and used a screw and hammer to remove corks from any bottles of wine that I ever bought that were fancy enough to have something like a cork rather than a screw top. Before last year I had never been, or really had the desire to go wine tasting despite growing up about 20 minuets from wine country.
How I was really sold on Winter Wine Land was the food pairings. Each winery has elaborate food pairing, which last year included massive amounts of paella and chocolate, and this year included various stews and comfits prepared by well known area restaurants such as Zin. The winner for this year, as far as food pairings go, were the Hog Island Oysters. They were heavenly! While I quietly poured my white wine taste into my sisters glass, snuck two raw oysters, and topped them with the signature ‘Hog Wash’ my sisters boyfriend boldly bellied up to the serving table and downed at least a half a dozen.
We visited the Russian River Valley and the Alexander Valley over the course of 2 afternoons. We went to about 5 wineries each day. I would highly recommend this event to anybody who would like to go wine tasting but has a tight budget. Tickets are about $30 if you purchase ahead of time, or $40 if you get them the day of.
Remember to designate a driver as you get pretty loaded if you are not classy enough to spit out your tastes(or far enough out of college to let good alcohol go undrunk). The DD gets a coffee mug and there are alcohol free beverages at each stop.
Let me be honest, I’m not a wine connoisseur. I judge on a scale of gross to grape juice. Until I moved in with boyfriend I did not own a corkscrew and used a screw and hammer to remove corks from any bottles of wine that I ever bought that were fancy enough to have something like a cork rather than a screw top. Before last year I had never been, or really had the desire to go wine tasting despite growing up about 20 minuets from wine country.
How I was really sold on Winter Wine Land was the food pairings. Each winery has elaborate food pairing, which last year included massive amounts of paella and chocolate, and this year included various stews and comfits prepared by well known area restaurants such as Zin. The winner for this year, as far as food pairings go, were the Hog Island Oysters. They were heavenly! While I quietly poured my white wine taste into my sisters glass, snuck two raw oysters, and topped them with the signature ‘Hog Wash’ my sisters boyfriend boldly bellied up to the serving table and downed at least a half a dozen.
We visited the Russian River Valley and the Alexander Valley over the course of 2 afternoons. We went to about 5 wineries each day. I would highly recommend this event to anybody who would like to go wine tasting but has a tight budget. Tickets are about $30 if you purchase ahead of time, or $40 if you get them the day of.
Remember to designate a driver as you get pretty loaded if you are not classy enough to spit out your tastes(or far enough out of college to let good alcohol go undrunk). The DD gets a coffee mug and there are alcohol free beverages at each stop.
Friday, January 15, 2010
I Turn in Applications Like It's My Job!
I have been submitting applications for Post-bac premed programs all over the United States. It has been about 6 years since I had to write an application essay, and although I have been dreading it, it is even worse than I remembered. How do you not sound uber boring, but still convey your maturity? I always want to give cheeky answers to show my disdain for the formulaic application process. I think it might be better if I could send pictures and audio clips, although I’m not sure how well that would do for my maturity level score…
The typical application asks for the following:
Please include your resume, and a 500 word essay that gives your academic autobiography, reasons for wanting to enter the field, reasons for choosing this school, also please be sure to infuse your personality into every word and explain away any blips on your record.
Done? Please write and essay on your most significant healthcare experience (despite this being an application to enter into a pre-med program)
Finish that? Please now write a quasi optional essay that includes anything else you would like to tell us.
Also, please track down your SAT scores by remembering the user name and password you created when you were 16. And if you could include your ACT scores which are not recorded electronically unless you took them after 2008.
Please hunt down a college professor from your 30,000+ student public university and have them write you a letter of recommendation.
Furthermore we have added more boxes to the race and ethnicity section some of which more accurately describe your race or ethnicity than the old boxes that you have been checking since your entered kindergarten. But remember, self identification is king and a change now could affect scholarship and financial aid.
The typical application asks for the following:
Please include your resume, and a 500 word essay that gives your academic autobiography, reasons for wanting to enter the field, reasons for choosing this school, also please be sure to infuse your personality into every word and explain away any blips on your record.
Done? Please write and essay on your most significant healthcare experience (despite this being an application to enter into a pre-med program)
Finish that? Please now write a quasi optional essay that includes anything else you would like to tell us.
Also, please track down your SAT scores by remembering the user name and password you created when you were 16. And if you could include your ACT scores which are not recorded electronically unless you took them after 2008.
Please hunt down a college professor from your 30,000+ student public university and have them write you a letter of recommendation.
Furthermore we have added more boxes to the race and ethnicity section some of which more accurately describe your race or ethnicity than the old boxes that you have been checking since your entered kindergarten. But remember, self identification is king and a change now could affect scholarship and financial aid.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Earthquake Relief
Please consider taking a moment to make a donation to Haitian medical relief. Two organizations accepting donations that you are probably familiar with and who have long established programs in Haiti:
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Holiday Gift Baskets
This year for Christmas I planned ahead. Unusual and uncharacteristic I know.
I made blackberry jam, apple butter, and fudge, packaged and sealed them into cute, pint sized mason jars, and printed out little labels at work. Next stop was the dollar store where I got plastic baskets that kind of look like the ones for collecting eggs. I shredded newspaper and then customized the baskets according to who I was giving them to. All of them had the three homemade goodies and then a couple of extras. For my older sister and her boyfriend we had a six pack of nice beer and a chocolate bar. For my younger sister, a bottle of Martinelli's organic sparkling cider, chocolate, and several photocopies of a particularly good Christmas card we were sent, and for our neighbors, a dozen of the eggs that the family chickens had laid. Grandma got a necklace that I bought from a street vendor, and Boyfriends mom got a scarf bought from an amazing Etsy shop
For our friends in Portland we also made fun gift baskets. We made them Bloody Mary kits with the previously described horseradish vodka. They included Worcestershire sauce, celery salt, lemons, organic tomato juice and olives stuffed with various morsels.
It was amazing and surprisingly inexpensive! The best part is I have extra goodies left over to give to people who write me letters of recommendation. I am going to have to try this planning ahead thing more often!
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