Archive for the ‘Random’ Category

Least Literate English Major In The History Of English Majors

20 October 2008

Modern Library’s 100 Best Novels (Board’s List)… A Decade Later

Let’s just say that I fare much better with the Reader’s List, as opposed to the stodgy Editors’ Board picks.  Honestly, how much Theodore Dreiser do I really need to read?  Then again, what kind of “Readers” select Ayn Rand and L. Ron Hubbard as the paragons of English literature?

Want to play along?
1. Copy the list on your blog.
2. Read through the list and mark the books you’ve read in bold.
3. Italicize any you started, but didn’t finish.
4. Underline the ones you loved.

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I’m Glad They Didn’t Save This Single For Halloween, Even Though The Video Has Nothing To Do With July

29 July 2008

I have Rihanna’s “Disturbia”–both the song and the video–stuck firmly in my head.  I don’t actually mind all that much, either.

I Have Glimpsed My True Inner Soul, And It Looked Back At Me Like An Angry T-Rex

7 July 2008

I just learned that one of my close friends gets the exact opposite result that I do after taking the Myers-Briggs analysis.  There is a different and specific relationship between each personality type, and I couldn’t remember how they described the phenomenon of opposites, so naturally I turned to the internet for the forgotten answer.  En route to confirming that Jamie is my Anima (not enema), I got distracted and found a list of Adjectives That Describe INTJs… and we all know how much I love lists.  This one is pretty bang-on, and I found myself nodding in agreement after pretty much every comma (except “does not think they are weird but others do,” since I know full well that I am a Special Person, and “familiar with darkside,” because I am not a Sith lord.  Yet.)

loner, more interested in intellectual pursuits than relationships or family, not very altruistic, not very complimentary, would rather be friendless than jobless, observer, values solitude, perfectionist, detached, private, not much fun, hidden, skeptical, does not tend to like most people, socially uncomfortable, not physically affectionate, unhappy, does not talk about feelings, hard to impress, analytical, likes esoteric things, tends to be pessimistic, not spontaneous, prone to discontentment, guarded, does not think they are weird but others do, responsible, can be insensitive or ambivalent to the misfortunes of others, orderly, clean, organized, familiar with darkside, tends not to value organized religion, suspicious of others, can be lonely, rarely shows anger, punctual, finisher, prepared

And now, after that mess of lowercase and commas, a sentence with Capital Letters and a full stop.

New Year’s Resolutions? Oh, Yeah, Those…

17 June 2008

It’s been nearly six months since New Year’s… and in typical INTJ fashion, I have not forgotten about those pesky Resolutions.

  1. Lose inches
    Since committing to a strict diet about a month ago, I have already lost about 10 pounds, and continue to shed weight by the week.  I can finally fit back into the clothes I wore when I first interviewed in the big city; in fact, they’re actually a bit large now.  Logging everything I eat in a public online profile has made me accountable for my nutrition decisions; knowing that anyone and everyone will know that I had six Oreos for dinner makes me think twice about eating garbage.

    I’m most proud of how I’ve stepped up my fitness routine, however.  Realizing that I averaged just two taekwondo classes per week during my first year and a half with my school, I made a vow in February to start attending every class I could, only skipping when I absolutely had to work late and couldn’t make it back home in time.  As part of that, I even go to class on Saturdays now.  The extra practice is paying off: at the last promotion test, Master Song commented that I had improved since the last time he saw me!  Last but not least, joining the New York Road Runners made my goal of running the NYC Marathon a lot more tangible and real, and incorporating running into my life has probably been my favorite accomplishment so far this year.

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I Am, Like, So Totally California

9 June 2008

Disclaimer: I STILL have never been to California.  (This may be remedied as soon as July or August, when I am tentatively planning a trip out to the Left Coast.  In my dreams, I fly out to Seattle to visit Jess #1, and then spend an awesome week on a rented motorcycle, driving down the coast towards LA–via Portland and the Northern California redwood forests and the San Francisco Zoo–to visit Jess #2.)  In any case, though, you came here for a quality story based on actual real-life events, not a list of my vague summer plans.  So, onward.

I first read about the existence of date shakes in National Geographic.  They had an illustrated sidebar about regional American food specialties, and I noticed that in addition to a variety of foodstuffs I was intimately familiar with (Beef on Weck, Coffeemilk, Kringle), there were some peculiar delights I had not tried.  One of those was a California treat, the date shake.

I’m not really sure what else besides sitting in front of this pinned-up article for more than eight hours a day inspired me to actually make my own date shake this week, but I decided I had a craving for one.  In fact, I’d never actually eaten a date prior to this week.  Mom would occasionally bake date bread for Grandpa on Father’s Day or his birthday, but I am pretty sure I never ate any of that.*

Based on some half-hearted Googling and a quick search on Seamless Web, I determined that there were really no reliable date shake vendors in NYC (kind of surprising, actually, given how many other California trends seem to get imported).  Instead, the minute I finished up at work, I booked it to Whole Foods to pick up vanilla protein powder (thick and frothy without the saturated fat of ice cream) and dates, which were not available fresh, to my chagrin.  (Not that I would really appreciate the difference at this point… I just heard the fresh ones were good.)  I settled for the dried, pitted variety, billed on the plastic container as “Nature’s Candy.”  This was a promising slogan.

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Now Hiring Editors: The United Sates Treasury Department

21 April 2008

Best thing about getting my federal tax return this year?  Learning, via the back of the envelope, about the availability of “United Sates” $1 coins.  This fine currency is part of the new, limited-edition Great Puns of America Series (satisfaction guaranteed).

Dining Out In Queens Is Educational

26 January 2008

Spanish Word of the Daypulpo (octopus)

I Wash My Face With Rosemary More Often Than I Cook With It

13 January 2008

Lush had a sale today.  Sara likes Lush sales.  Sometimes they are strange (impossible combinations of limited edition items that the staff can hardly keep straight), gross (you must buy at least one patchouli-based item), or lame (free leftover bath bomb with $75 purchase), but today’s was good.  Essentially, most everything in the store was buy-one-get-one-free or buy-one-get-TWO-free.  Much was purchased.  Plus, I finally remembered to bring in my empty packaging, and got additional free bath bombs for each container I turned in.  Excellent. 

It dawned on me later this evening while taking a bath with one of my newly-acquired French Kiss bombs that I use more rosemary (and herbs in general) in my bath and face care products than I ever have on my food.  Not that this is consequential… just wanted to share a random fact.

Also, after a very successful practice run with Kevin about a week ago, today I made as many dumplings as I could squeeze out of a pound and a half of ground pork.  The recipe is simple and very satisfying: blend ground pork with chopped fresh ginger, sesame oil, green onions and sugar (all to taste, but I will recommend that use don’t skimp too much on the fresh ginger–you’ll enjoy it in end).  In the process of crimping and folding the rice flour dumpling skins around small portions of meat, I figured out how to fold them the “real” way, and turned out several dozen very authentic-looking gyoza.  I’m saving the prettiest ones for when I have company later this month.  ;)

It Boots Faster Than I Expected And It Also Helps If I Wipe Down My Monitor Screen With A Microfiber Cloth

12 December 2007

Maybe I like Vista a little bit more today.

Halt! Partyzeit!

8 December 2007

Alles gut zum Geburtstag zu meinem Lieblingsstatistiker!