I just baked a Pear Upside-Down Cake.

Yeah, those are little tendrils of steam coming off the top.

Just take a moment and let this sink in.


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OK. So, very hypothetically, if I were to go someplace warm and cheap (aka Mexico/Central America...) for two weeks in January and possibly take Spanish classes, where would I go? Anyone know of a cheap language school down there? (Anyone want to come?)

It's October 10, and upon waking up this morning I find a light dusting of snow on the cars and the grass out the window. I find this highly disturbing.

What's been going on this past month, other than cooking a lot, hosting various guests, going to aikido, and reading? Wait... I might've just summed it up. Graduate school has been more of a ( Read more... )

So... only a little over a year after having its wheels stolen, my bike just appeared with a missing seat. WTF? Now I have to go get a new seat! (Which I will now keep permanently locked to the frame!) I am disappointed in the world.

The results of my two days of hard culinary labor: 

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What I did today, on a beautiful Saturday: Woke up. Needed more sleep. Woke up again. Went to energetic and tiring aikido class. Tried (failed) to do handstands. Bought groceries. Went home and cooked:

Potato Button Soup (aka, potato-onion soup with tasty little dough balls in it)
Macadamia-encrusted Goat Cheese with Spinach salad
Fantastically ( ( Read more... )

What I did today, on a rainy Friday when I had no classes: Made marinated carrots and salad dressing. Read 200 pages of Jane Eyre (not leisure reading, it's for a class) while petting the cat. Watched the most recent "Top Chef." Starting re-learning a Bach piece for potential (informal) performance opportunity in November. Baked two different kinds ( Read more... )

This might be obvious. HOWEVER, only three days after asking about this ridiculous $907 health fee, and finding out it was mistaken and I should get a waiver for it, I discover a beautiful credit of $907, practically glowing on my student account page. Three days! I could kiss the U for being so on top of things.... after screwing up.

Just finished ~30 mile bike ride around Saint Louis Park, through downtown Minneapolis, all the way around the city and south along the river, then west along Minnehaha Parkway and past Lake Harriet.

Why?

Maybe because there are no endless metro lines to follow?

Sometimes I don't understand why I do things.

Everything (despite the title of this post) is actually going totally great. I'm enjoying my classes, even though they are disgustingly much more work than Carleton - I think that might actually be the reason I like them. (Is it weird that there's something perversely satisfying about reading 150 pages of semiotic analysis of theater, largely in ( Read more... )