Random update bits
Jul. 16th, 2009 04:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magidLooking back at this month's posts, it's been mostly food, food, and more food. Which is yummy and all, but somehow not quite the whole story :-). I'm not sure why I haven't been in the mood to share other stuff, so a bit of non-food stuff.
I went up to VT for the Fourth of July weekend, for Firefly. Given the weather we'd had through June and the forecast for the weekend, the rain boots I finally got around to buying were pretty much the best thing I could have brought. Plus, they're black and silver zebra stripes! I had a good time, though it was interesting to see how different it was this year: the location was different (closer to Boston), the geography was different (more sloping, and closer together, mostly off one main path), and the dynamic felt rather different, too, camping in a larger group rather than a neighborhood of smaller clusters. I saw lots of Fireflies, some fireflies, and some wonderful performances: aerial silks, fire spinning, and dancing, mostly. I'm really glad I went, though it left me a total zombie the next day.
I ended up at the new Transformers movie (don't ask). No thumbs up from me: plot holes, assumptions about back story being known (I didn't, having seen nothing of this franchise before), way much time taken up with sound effects and shiny metal, plus geographical confusion. Also, I expected a silly movie like that to be perhaps 90 minutes, not 150.
I've got the stress that comes from having a somewhat disordered house. I look around, see stuff everywhere, and can't seem to manage to do anything about it. I'm hoping that having invited people over for Shabbat will give me impetus.
I won a free Early Reviewers book from LibraryThing. Unfortunately, I'm not sure why I'd signed up for something that was so obviously going to be a reasonably predictable summer read. Ah, well.
On the plus side, my mom lent me her copy of Three Cups of Tea, which is excellent. It's about Greg Mortenson and how he started CAI, the Central Asia Institute, which builds schools (especially for girls) in the backwoods (back deserts? back mountains?) of Pakistan and Afghanistan. He does amazing work, and it's a fascinating, informative read.
I borrowed the book this past weekend: I was at my parents' for Shabbat, in honor of my dad's *mumbletieth* birthday. I took advantage of going out to Worcester to make a stop at the Paper and Provisions out there. It was only to pick up a big roll of aluminum foil, but somehow all these other things got bought too... Most noticeably, a new 7-lb container of marzipan: I can make more vegan truffles now. Or almond bread pudding. Or many other things. If you have a favorite use for marzipan, let me know!
I let myself be lazy this week, looking out at the bright sunlight and staying in, not wanting to deal with what my mind kept saying would be extreme heat and humidity. Except that, well, not. Yesterday I finally got out on my bike (thanks, Bitty, for giving me the excuse), and it felt good to be moving, and sad what shape I'm in. I went into Boston, then took a long way home, exploring a bit of the numbered and lettered neighborhood near Castle Island by accident. Not a long ride, but enough to let me feel I'd done some reasonable exercise. Really, I think some of the problem is that were I now have the computer there isn't much of a breeze, so it always seems the weather must be too warm, when it's only this little corner. I should change this.
I need to rearrange things on the porch. I had planted some things, but not used all the planters, and never got around to making the porch an organized place for the summer. At least the plants I put in are doing well (though two of the tomato plants fell over a bit before turning skyward again), especially those I put the first week's fish skeleton bits into.
I went up to VT for the Fourth of July weekend, for Firefly. Given the weather we'd had through June and the forecast for the weekend, the rain boots I finally got around to buying were pretty much the best thing I could have brought. Plus, they're black and silver zebra stripes! I had a good time, though it was interesting to see how different it was this year: the location was different (closer to Boston), the geography was different (more sloping, and closer together, mostly off one main path), and the dynamic felt rather different, too, camping in a larger group rather than a neighborhood of smaller clusters. I saw lots of Fireflies, some fireflies, and some wonderful performances: aerial silks, fire spinning, and dancing, mostly. I'm really glad I went, though it left me a total zombie the next day.
I ended up at the new Transformers movie (don't ask). No thumbs up from me: plot holes, assumptions about back story being known (I didn't, having seen nothing of this franchise before), way much time taken up with sound effects and shiny metal, plus geographical confusion. Also, I expected a silly movie like that to be perhaps 90 minutes, not 150.
I've got the stress that comes from having a somewhat disordered house. I look around, see stuff everywhere, and can't seem to manage to do anything about it. I'm hoping that having invited people over for Shabbat will give me impetus.
I won a free Early Reviewers book from LibraryThing. Unfortunately, I'm not sure why I'd signed up for something that was so obviously going to be a reasonably predictable summer read. Ah, well.
On the plus side, my mom lent me her copy of Three Cups of Tea, which is excellent. It's about Greg Mortenson and how he started CAI, the Central Asia Institute, which builds schools (especially for girls) in the backwoods (back deserts? back mountains?) of Pakistan and Afghanistan. He does amazing work, and it's a fascinating, informative read.
I borrowed the book this past weekend: I was at my parents' for Shabbat, in honor of my dad's *mumbletieth* birthday. I took advantage of going out to Worcester to make a stop at the Paper and Provisions out there. It was only to pick up a big roll of aluminum foil, but somehow all these other things got bought too... Most noticeably, a new 7-lb container of marzipan: I can make more vegan truffles now. Or almond bread pudding. Or many other things. If you have a favorite use for marzipan, let me know!
I let myself be lazy this week, looking out at the bright sunlight and staying in, not wanting to deal with what my mind kept saying would be extreme heat and humidity. Except that, well, not. Yesterday I finally got out on my bike (thanks, Bitty, for giving me the excuse), and it felt good to be moving, and sad what shape I'm in. I went into Boston, then took a long way home, exploring a bit of the numbered and lettered neighborhood near Castle Island by accident. Not a long ride, but enough to let me feel I'd done some reasonable exercise. Really, I think some of the problem is that were I now have the computer there isn't much of a breeze, so it always seems the weather must be too warm, when it's only this little corner. I should change this.
I need to rearrange things on the porch. I had planted some things, but not used all the planters, and never got around to making the porch an organized place for the summer. At least the plants I put in are doing well (though two of the tomato plants fell over a bit before turning skyward again), especially those I put the first week's fish skeleton bits into.
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no subject
Date: 2009-07-16 08:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-16 09:20 pm (UTC)Small enough to not be anatomically correct, I assume?
no subject
Date: 2009-07-16 09:24 pm (UTC)The only anatomically-correct limb-severed confection I eat is a cake for Dia de los muertos, and I haven't had one of those since I left Texas.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-16 08:47 pm (UTC)there is no good use for marzipan.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-16 09:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-17 12:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-17 04:11 am (UTC)If you still have cherries, maybe marzipan can serve as the almonds for the cherry-almond pairing.
If it lasts until Sukkot, you could use the marzipan in what I think of as the classic use, making little fruits.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-17 06:21 pm (UTC)And it likely will last until Sukkot, but my artistry is not towards sculpture, unfortunately (nor do I want to use most food colorings).