Friday, August 21, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Self Sorting
I know I need to read that book, The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America Is Tearing Us Apart, but I have to mention that I was taking an online quiz, the type that's supposed to shed light on your mind in a way you've never thought of before but as a hyper-analytical person is ALWAYS disappointing, and I found myself thinking, "no one would ever answer that way, " over and over again. So I clicked on another one and another one and realized that I'm not just isolated from "differently minded persons", I have ceased to believe they exist.
When I attended school (particularly public school) and, to a certain extent, church, I was around people whose minds functioned differently from mine. There is some obvious self-sorting (or parental-sorting) when you attend a fundamentalist, literal, evangelical branch of Christianity church / private school. There were students who's nit-witted parents saw a cheap private school and thought *score* rather than a *big red flag*, but not that many.
As an adult my friends almost all fall into a broad category that I dare not define for fear of offending, but that leans dangerously toward music, books, politics, the social sciences, etc. I just hope I'm not missing out on tons of potentially bad-ass financial adviser, police officer, and number-cruncher friends out there.
When I attended school (particularly public school) and, to a certain extent, church, I was around people whose minds functioned differently from mine. There is some obvious self-sorting (or parental-sorting) when you attend a fundamentalist, literal, evangelical branch of Christianity church / private school. There were students who's nit-witted parents saw a cheap private school and thought *score* rather than a *big red flag*, but not that many.
As an adult my friends almost all fall into a broad category that I dare not define for fear of offending, but that leans dangerously toward music, books, politics, the social sciences, etc. I just hope I'm not missing out on tons of potentially bad-ass financial adviser, police officer, and number-cruncher friends out there.
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(10)Monday, June 1, 2009
Monday, June 1st
Heading out to a put luck at Colin's friend Sarah's place. They pot luck every Monday at their great, old house in East Austin. It's the kind of place the cool, older kids had back in the 90's. You expect to see a Pulp or Smiths poster on the wall, but it's nowadays - so no.
JJ and I have been inspired to jazz up the place lately. We've been shopping a bit, looking for inspiration. LOTS of brainstorming. I definitely want some yellow polka-dots on the wall and maybe some stained glass and a bunch of plants. We're also thinking of coating the wall above the record holder with records - too 90's?
I got 2 pair of jeans today. Woo hoh!
JJ and I have been inspired to jazz up the place lately. We've been shopping a bit, looking for inspiration. LOTS of brainstorming. I definitely want some yellow polka-dots on the wall and maybe some stained glass and a bunch of plants. We're also thinking of coating the wall above the record holder with records - too 90's?
I got 2 pair of jeans today. Woo hoh!
BurningMan satellite event - Flipside
Flipside, a regional version of Burning Man, takes place every year in the Texas Hill Country, about 45 minutes West of Austin. The rugged terrain is transformed into a community campers, grouped into theme camps varying from "Camp Smack That Ass" where visitors are gifted with a firm walloping of the buttocks and a souvenir paddle to the "Snuggledome" where intimacy is cultivated but no sex allowed.
Flipside adheres to the Burning Man tradition of a gift-only economy. If you need something just ask, but bring something to offer! Theme camps pool their efforts to offer a gift to the community. Many have full bars or breakfast cereals, some offer homebrew, domes filled with balloons, or costumes.
First-time attendees frequently camp solo and contribute in varied ways like supplying iced coffee, leading outdoor yoga, offering personalized tours of the night sky, and creating art.
Days are spent in the clothing-optional swimming hole or "sleeping it off", nights in varied revelry. Raves, live bands, drum circles, and conversation by the fire with no bedtime tempt the dawn.
Flipside adheres to the Burning Man tradition of a gift-only economy. If you need something just ask, but bring something to offer! Theme camps pool their efforts to offer a gift to the community. Many have full bars or breakfast cereals, some offer homebrew, domes filled with balloons, or costumes.
First-time attendees frequently camp solo and contribute in varied ways like supplying iced coffee, leading outdoor yoga, offering personalized tours of the night sky, and creating art.
Days are spent in the clothing-optional swimming hole or "sleeping it off", nights in varied revelry. Raves, live bands, drum circles, and conversation by the fire with no bedtime tempt the dawn.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Animals
Jared and my friend's band, Monarch Box, made a video and cast their friends. It was truly fun! I especially liked the kissing under the confetti.
Monday, February 16, 2009
CHIPOLTE'S CARNITAS
1 pork shoulder roast, boneless (5-6 pounds, marinate if you like)
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
4 medium tomatoes (peeled, if desired)
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon cumin powder
2-4 sprigs fresh oregano (or 1/2 teaspoon crushed or powdered)
2 whole cloves
2 bay leaves
2 dried chipotle chilies
3/4 cup water or meat stock
Salt/pepper to taste
Salt and pepper the pork shoulder; allow the meat come to room
temperature, about 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Add olive oil to a large ovenproof pan. Sear the pork over medium-high
heat until very brown on all sides. Remove pork from the pan; let rest
on a platter for 10 to 15 minutes.
Leaving an even coating, drain excess oil from the pan. Add onions;
sweat over low heat until translucent. Return pork to the pan; add
remaining ingredients. Cover pan, place in the oven and cook for 2 to
3 hours or until the internal temperature reaches 140 to 150 degrees
F. Let pork rest 10 to 15 minutes before slicing
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
4 medium tomatoes (peeled, if desired)
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon cumin powder
2-4 sprigs fresh oregano (or 1/2 teaspoon crushed or powdered)
2 whole cloves
2 bay leaves
2 dried chipotle chilies
3/4 cup water or meat stock
Salt/pepper to taste
Salt and pepper the pork shoulder; allow the meat come to room
temperature, about 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Add olive oil to a large ovenproof pan. Sear the pork over medium-high
heat until very brown on all sides. Remove pork from the pan; let rest
on a platter for 10 to 15 minutes.
Leaving an even coating, drain excess oil from the pan. Add onions;
sweat over low heat until translucent. Return pork to the pan; add
remaining ingredients. Cover pan, place in the oven and cook for 2 to
3 hours or until the internal temperature reaches 140 to 150 degrees
F. Let pork rest 10 to 15 minutes before slicing
Thursday, February 12, 2009
To do list: Read the 100 best books of the 20th century
To be updated very, very slowly.
1. 1922 Ulysses James Joyce
2. 1925 The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald (read)
3. 1916 A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man James Joyce(read)
4. 1955 Lolita Vladimir Nabokov
5. 1932 Brave New World Aldous Huxley (read)
6. 1929 The Sound and the Fury William Faulkner
7. 1961 Catch-22 Joseph Heller (read...mostly)
8. 1940 Darkness at Noon Arthur Koestler
9. 1913 Sons and Lovers D. H. Lawrence
10. 1939 The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck (read)
11. 1947 Under the Volcano Malcolm Lowry
12. 1903 The Way of All Flesh Samuel Butler
13. 1949 Nineteen Eighty-Four George Orwell (read)
14. 1934 I, Claudius Robert Graves
15. 1927 To the Lighthouse Virginia Woolf
16. 1925 An American Tragedy Theodore Dreiser
17. 1940 The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter Carson McCullers (read)
18. 1969 Slaughterhouse-Five Kurt Vonnegut
19. 1952 Invisible Man Ralph Ellison
20. 1940 Native Son Richard Wright
21. 1959 Henderson the Rain King Saul Bellow
22. 1934 Appointment in Samarra John O'Hara
23. 1938 U.S.A. (trilogy) John Dos Passos
24. 1919 Winesburg, Ohio Sherwood Anderson
25. 1924 A Passage to India E. M. Forster
26. 1902 The Wings of the Dove Henry James
27. 1903 The Ambassadors Henry James
28. 1934 Tender Is the Night F. Scott Fitzgerald
29. 1935 Studs Lonigan (trilogy) James T. Farrell
30. 1915 The Good Soldier Ford Madox Ford
31. 1945 Animal Farm George Orwell (read)
32. 1904 The Golden Bowl Henry James
33. 1900 Sister Carrie Theodore Dreiser
34. 1934 A Handful of Dust Evelyn Waugh
35. 1930 As I Lay Dying William Faulkner(read)
36. 1946 All the King's Men Robert Penn Warren
37. 1927 The Bridge of San Luis Rey Thornton Wilder
38. 1910 Howards End E. M. Forster
39. 1953 Go Tell It on the Mountain James Baldwin
40. 1948 The Heart of the Matter Graham Greene
41. 1954 Lord of the Flies William Golding (read)
42. 1970 Deliverance James Dickey
43. 1975 A Dance to the Music of Time (series) Anthony Powell
44. 1928 Point Counter Point Aldous Huxley
45. 1926 The Sun Also Rises Ernest Hemingway
46. 1907 The Secret Agent Joseph Conrad
47. 1904 Nostromo Joseph Conrad
48. 1915 The Rainbow D. H. Lawrence
49. 1920 Women in Love D. H. Lawrence
50. 1934 Tropic of Cancer Henry Miller
51. 1948 The Naked and the Dead Norman Mailer
52. 1969 Portnoy's Complaint Philip Roth
53. 1962 Pale Fire Vladimir Nabokov
54. 1932 Light in August William Faulkner
55. 1957 On the Road Jack Kerouac (read)Fas
56. 1930 The Maltese Falcon Dashiell Hammett
57. 1928 Parade's End Ford Madox Ford
58. 1920 The Age of Innocence Edith Wharton (read)
59. 1911 Zuleika Dobson Max Beerbohm
60. 1961 The Moviegoer Walker Percy
61. 1927 Death Comes for the Archbishop Willa Cather
62. 1951 From Here to Eternity James Jones
63. 1957 The Wapshot Chronicle John Cheever
64. 1951 The Catcher in the Rye J. D. Salinger (read)
65. 1962 A Clockwork Orange Anthony Burgess
66. 1915 Of Human Bondage W. Somerset Maugham
67. 1902 Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad
68. 1920 Main Street Sinclair Lewis
69. 1905 The House of Mirth Edith Wharton
70. 1960 The Alexandria Quartet Lawrence Durrell
71. 1929 A High Wind in Jamaica Richard Hughes
72. 1961 A House for Mr Biswas V. S. Naipaul
73. 1939 The Day of the Locust Nathanael West
74. 1929 A Farewell to Arms Ernest Hemingway
75. 1938 Scoop Evelyn Waugh
76. 1962 The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Muriel Spark
77. 1939 Finnegans Wake James Joyce
78. 1901 Kim Rudyard Kipling
79. 1908 A Room with a View E. M. Forster
80. 1945 Brideshead Revisited Evelyn Waugh
81. 1953 The Adventures of Augie March Saul Bellow
82. 1971 Angle of Repose Wallace Stegner
83. 1979 A Bend in the River V. S. Naipaul
84. 1938 The Death of the Heart Elizabeth Bowen
85. 1900 Lord Jim Joseph Conrad
86. 1975 Ragtime E. L. Doctorow
87. 1908 The Old Wives' Tale Arnold Bennett
88. 1903 The Call of the Wild Jack London (read)
89. 1945 Loving Henry Green
90. 1980 Midnight's Children Salman Rushdie
91. 1932 Tobacco Road Erskine Caldwell
92. 1983 Ironweed William Kennedy (read)
93. 1965 The Magus John Fowles
94. 1966 Wide Sargasso Sea Jean Rhys
95. 1954 Under the Net Iris Murdoch
96. 1979 Sophie's Choice William Styron
97. 1949 The Sheltering Sky Paul Bowles
98. 1934 The Postman Always Rings Twice James M. Cain
99. 1955 The Ginger Man J. P. Donleavy
100. 1918 The Magnificent Ambersons Booth Tarkington
1. 1922 Ulysses James Joyce
2. 1925 The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald (read)
3. 1916 A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man James Joyce(read)
4. 1955 Lolita Vladimir Nabokov
5. 1932 Brave New World Aldous Huxley (read)
6. 1929 The Sound and the Fury William Faulkner
7. 1961 Catch-22 Joseph Heller (read...mostly)
8. 1940 Darkness at Noon Arthur Koestler
9. 1913 Sons and Lovers D. H. Lawrence
10. 1939 The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck (read)
11. 1947 Under the Volcano Malcolm Lowry
12. 1903 The Way of All Flesh Samuel Butler
13. 1949 Nineteen Eighty-Four George Orwell (read)
14. 1934 I, Claudius Robert Graves
15. 1927 To the Lighthouse Virginia Woolf
16. 1925 An American Tragedy Theodore Dreiser
17. 1940 The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter Carson McCullers (read)
18. 1969 Slaughterhouse-Five Kurt Vonnegut
19. 1952 Invisible Man Ralph Ellison
20. 1940 Native Son Richard Wright
21. 1959 Henderson the Rain King Saul Bellow
22. 1934 Appointment in Samarra John O'Hara
23. 1938 U.S.A. (trilogy) John Dos Passos
24. 1919 Winesburg, Ohio Sherwood Anderson
25. 1924 A Passage to India E. M. Forster
26. 1902 The Wings of the Dove Henry James
27. 1903 The Ambassadors Henry James
28. 1934 Tender Is the Night F. Scott Fitzgerald
29. 1935 Studs Lonigan (trilogy) James T. Farrell
30. 1915 The Good Soldier Ford Madox Ford
31. 1945 Animal Farm George Orwell (read)
32. 1904 The Golden Bowl Henry James
33. 1900 Sister Carrie Theodore Dreiser
34. 1934 A Handful of Dust Evelyn Waugh
35. 1930 As I Lay Dying William Faulkner(read)
36. 1946 All the King's Men Robert Penn Warren
37. 1927 The Bridge of San Luis Rey Thornton Wilder
38. 1910 Howards End E. M. Forster
39. 1953 Go Tell It on the Mountain James Baldwin
40. 1948 The Heart of the Matter Graham Greene
41. 1954 Lord of the Flies William Golding (read)
42. 1970 Deliverance James Dickey
43. 1975 A Dance to the Music of Time (series) Anthony Powell
44. 1928 Point Counter Point Aldous Huxley
45. 1926 The Sun Also Rises Ernest Hemingway
46. 1907 The Secret Agent Joseph Conrad
47. 1904 Nostromo Joseph Conrad
48. 1915 The Rainbow D. H. Lawrence
49. 1920 Women in Love D. H. Lawrence
50. 1934 Tropic of Cancer Henry Miller
51. 1948 The Naked and the Dead Norman Mailer
52. 1969 Portnoy's Complaint Philip Roth
53. 1962 Pale Fire Vladimir Nabokov
54. 1932 Light in August William Faulkner
55. 1957 On the Road Jack Kerouac (read)Fas
56. 1930 The Maltese Falcon Dashiell Hammett
57. 1928 Parade's End Ford Madox Ford
58. 1920 The Age of Innocence Edith Wharton (read)
59. 1911 Zuleika Dobson Max Beerbohm
60. 1961 The Moviegoer Walker Percy
61. 1927 Death Comes for the Archbishop Willa Cather
62. 1951 From Here to Eternity James Jones
63. 1957 The Wapshot Chronicle John Cheever
64. 1951 The Catcher in the Rye J. D. Salinger (read)
65. 1962 A Clockwork Orange Anthony Burgess
66. 1915 Of Human Bondage W. Somerset Maugham
67. 1902 Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad
68. 1920 Main Street Sinclair Lewis
69. 1905 The House of Mirth Edith Wharton
70. 1960 The Alexandria Quartet Lawrence Durrell
71. 1929 A High Wind in Jamaica Richard Hughes
72. 1961 A House for Mr Biswas V. S. Naipaul
73. 1939 The Day of the Locust Nathanael West
74. 1929 A Farewell to Arms Ernest Hemingway
75. 1938 Scoop Evelyn Waugh
76. 1962 The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Muriel Spark
77. 1939 Finnegans Wake James Joyce
78. 1901 Kim Rudyard Kipling
79. 1908 A Room with a View E. M. Forster
80. 1945 Brideshead Revisited Evelyn Waugh
81. 1953 The Adventures of Augie March Saul Bellow
82. 1971 Angle of Repose Wallace Stegner
83. 1979 A Bend in the River V. S. Naipaul
84. 1938 The Death of the Heart Elizabeth Bowen
85. 1900 Lord Jim Joseph Conrad
86. 1975 Ragtime E. L. Doctorow
87. 1908 The Old Wives' Tale Arnold Bennett
88. 1903 The Call of the Wild Jack London (read)
89. 1945 Loving Henry Green
90. 1980 Midnight's Children Salman Rushdie
91. 1932 Tobacco Road Erskine Caldwell
92. 1983 Ironweed William Kennedy (read)
93. 1965 The Magus John Fowles
94. 1966 Wide Sargasso Sea Jean Rhys
95. 1954 Under the Net Iris Murdoch
96. 1979 Sophie's Choice William Styron
97. 1949 The Sheltering Sky Paul Bowles
98. 1934 The Postman Always Rings Twice James M. Cain
99. 1955 The Ginger Man J. P. Donleavy
100. 1918 The Magnificent Ambersons Booth Tarkington
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Today I Love
my freshly mowed and weeded lawn
Alias
box wine
aioli sauce
my dog sunggling me
sarcasm]
commiseration
Alias
box wine
aioli sauce
my dog sunggling me
sarcasm]
commiseration
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
My Favorite Podcasts
American Public Media's: Sound Opinions
Big Ideas
Dan Carlin's Hardcore History
Engines of our Ingenuity
Fordham Conversations
Ockham's Razor (Australian)
One Minute How-To
Philosopher's Zone
Point of Inquiry
Selected Shorts
PRI: The Sound of Young America
SALT- Seminars About Long-Term Thinking
Science Talk
Skeptoid: Critical Analysis
Slate Magazine
Stuff You Should Know
The Economist
the Skeptic's Guide tot he Universe
The Thomas Jefferson Hour
this American Life
WFMT: Critical Thinking
WNYC's Lenord Lopate Show
Big Ideas
Dan Carlin's Hardcore History
Engines of our Ingenuity
Fordham Conversations
Ockham's Razor (Australian)
One Minute How-To
Philosopher's Zone
Point of Inquiry
Selected Shorts
PRI: The Sound of Young America
SALT- Seminars About Long-Term Thinking
Science Talk
Skeptoid: Critical Analysis
Slate Magazine
Stuff You Should Know
The Economist
the Skeptic's Guide tot he Universe
The Thomas Jefferson Hour
this American Life
WFMT: Critical Thinking
WNYC's Lenord Lopate Show
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