cravings much?

I usually don't (a) have strong cravings or (b) interrupt valuable sleep time to fill such cravings, but last night was an anomaly that way. I had an exceptionally strong desire to eat pistachio gelato, maybe combined with chocolate gelato.

Where to get good gelato in Provo? The only place that I even know of that sells gelato is Gloria's Little Italy. We tried there, but unfortunately it closes at 9, which is almost exactly when we were searching for it. I texted ChaCha, and ChaCha didn't really have anything for me. ChaCha suggested Spin Cafe in HEBER CITY. First of all, I don't want to drive 30 minutes for gelato, or I would go to Salt Lake where I know some places. Second of all, it was closed even before Gloria's was closed. Lame. I also texted Google, which suggested Maestro's, which is currently closed.

We went home, me feeling defeated. Then later, I made us leave again (wow) in search of ice cream of the pistachio and chocolate varieties. It was like 11 by that time, which is way past bedtime, and it was ridiculous, but also wonderful that we were doing this. We went to Smith's, which didn't really put out either, then drove all the way to WinCo and finally had success.

I'm enjoying some pistachio and chocolate ice cream now.

calculus

So I have several boxes that were in perpetual storage that I've been going through lately. Call it a summer project. There were a lot more boxes than I remembered, and I don't think I missed many of the things in the boxes in the years that I didn't have them. There are a few things that are fun to see and remember, but the vast majority of that stuff is garbage—including many of my copious high school journal-writings, which is kind of sad to say, but true. (I didn't throw my journals away, though, because interspersed through the garbage might be something of value, and they represent more than the other useless things I kept. Maybe?)

Tim was helping me sort the garbage into recycling piles (my past is now giving back!) and I went through my AP calculus binder, where I had all of my notes and assignments and all of that. And do you know what I was thinking? I was thinking that I haven't really done any math since that class (over six years ago), and I don't think I would have any idea how to do it these days. I have forgotten it all. I have never used what I learned in calculus. So what was the point of all of that? I want to know. Apparently I thought it might someday come in handy, because I kept it all for so long. Now with the benefit I have of retrospect, I see that it never, ever was.

Funny, though, because back then, I kind of liked it. Isn't that sick?

the new technological world

I wouldn't say this blog has a particularly pensive character, but this post is in that vein. I've been thinking a lot about this subject today for a few reasons (this, this, this) and wanted to express some of my thoughts related to it. Bear with me. (Or don't. Up to you.)

The article in New York Times called "Your Brain on Computers" was interesting, and the interactive features were entertaining (test your focus and your task-juggling skills). It was also scary. Research has found out a lot about how the brain changes in response to technology use, and some of these changes seem positive; others, not as positive. It seems like a couple of things happen when we are bombarded so heavily with information (and with instant access to it). For one thing, we lose our ability to discern what information is valuable or even true. Why? Our brain automatically responds to new information, and with so many stimuli, we can miss important things because we don't have any hierarchical criteria for classifying this new information. So we try to pay attention to everything.

Another thing that's scary about this phenomenon is that we lose our ability to be real. Again, from the article:

Mr. Nass at Stanford thinks the ultimate risk of heavy technology use is that it diminishes empathy by limiting how much people engage with one another, even in the same room. “The way we become more human is by paying attention to each other,” he said. “It shows how much you care.” That empathy, Mr. Nass said, is essential to the human condition. “We are at an inflection point,” he said. “A significant fraction of people’s experiences are now fragmented.”

For many of us, it is so much easier to interact with a lot people electronically, and I think part of that is purely due to physical distance. It's less powerful than communicating face-to-face. If you're writing an e-mail or a chat, you hardly even have to think about the other person, because that person is only an electronic presence.

And I'm not interested in delving into the vast problem of pornography in this post, but I think it could be said that this form of media dehumanizes relationships in similar ways.

On a similar note, Tim and I were discussing another interesting phenomenon: road rage. I told him about feeling irritated at having to slow down to avoid a pedestrian. Would I actually rather endanger another human in order to not be inconvenienced in my commute? No, I really don't think I would. But it's interesting how much anger I can feel toward this completely innocent person. Why is that so easy? This person can't hear me. And I'm alone in my car. So it seems like it's pretty harmless to shout "You idiot!" and get all worked up over it. And yet, is it harmless?

Online relationships seem to be the same. Because of the distance (emotional, physical, whatever), my interaction with other people when I'm communicating (or not communicating at all--just Facebook-stalking) is so limited that I don't even attempt to control my reaction to their behavior. Things are black and white, with no gray area. Someone is brilliant or daft, but usually daft.

i'm into this too

Something about blogging about the things I'm excited about makes me more excited about them. And it's even better when you have a nice little camera to render their beauty more strikingly. (I just need to learn how to use a DSLR, now that I have one.)

I forgot to tell y'all about the other culinary loves I have of late. I realized that I haven't been acknowledging the potential of my food processor, which is really quite limitless. I've been using it a lot lately, and I've tried a few new things in there, and I've discovered that it is so great.

Recently, I have made pie crust (which I had never made, and which is really not that hard), and homemade peanut butter (also amazingly simple and delicious). Hummus, of course. (That's not new. We love hummus.)

And currently, I adore the food processor for bread dough.

what i'm into lately

One of my favorite things to do lately is this:

(1) Go to Costco and buy a rotisserie chicken for $5.

(2) Come home and separate the meat from the chicken bones, skin, and fat. (Perhaps not for the faint of heart, but I don't mind it.)

(3) Peel some carrots and onion; cut them along with some celery for a little mirepoix.



(4) Throw in the chicken rubbish with the veggie rubbish (carrot shavings, less-savory onion peelings, and the part of the celery that you don't eat [base and leaves]); cover with water; bring to boil; simmer for 4 hours. Drain.

(5) Make chicken pot pie or chicken noodle soup with the stock (from the chicken and veggie rubbish), meat (from the chicken), more-savory veggies, and other things.

(6) Enjoy.

It just feels so good to use the whole bird and all parts of the veggies!

about that, herb

I find myself wanting to explain my herbal situation further. That's not weird, is it?

My mom gave me an herb garden kit. One of the better gifts from my mom (no offense, Mom, if you even read this). Maybe it was a little something like this, if you want a picture in your head:
Basically, it's a box, with some seeds. (And a humidity dome. It's so technical I can hardly handle it.) You provide the dirt and water, and voila, herbs! I really love that.

Except I had a problem: I didn't have any dirt.

And you might think that this is a dumb question, but I was thinking, where was I gonna find DIRT? So Tim comes home one day (like the classic knight in shining armor figure) with a cute little plastic bag full of what else but dirt, sitting on the kitchen table. After expressing due gratitude (duh), I asked him where it came from. He told me he BOUGHT it. On campus! Apparently he waltzed into Campus Craft and Floral (the university flower/craft shop) and asked for dirt, and they said, "Sure, we sell it by the scoopful." And by the way, it cost him $1, which seems like a major rip-off for dirt, but hey, whatevs.

So I put the dirt in the little bucket thing, got it extra wet, poked some holes in it, dumped the seeds in there, and then I watered faithfully. And now some sprouts have started to appear, and something about this whole thing is inordinately exciting to me. The packet had four different types of seeds in there, and I know one was basil (I've always wanted a basil plant, really, my whole life, and yes, of course I'm being hyperbolic here), but I forget what the others were, which is too bad. I guess we'll have to find out.

The end.

plant

I am very excited about the kitchen herbs I'm growing right now. Someday I want to have a garden.

Also, starting next month, we'll be getting weekly installments of fresh produce from Jacob's Cove! I am quite anticipating the lovely produce. Weekly! Seriously, so excited.

While at WinCo (love) on Saturday, my brother and I saw some "organic" seeds. He thought that organic food was the way food was grown, not the seeds themselves. So while organic is referring to the method (and non-use of yucky stuff like pesticides, etc.) also, it also refers to the seeds that come from the organically grown produce. Go figure. (Obviously I'm displaying the fact that I know nothing about agriculture here. I have no idea if my herb seeds are organic.) I thought the reasons against organic seed here were interesting, though, if you're into that sort of thing.

Bump it up!

While shopping at Target for a wrist brace (and yes, maybe some chocolate ice cream, which was just the culmination of a very vicious cycle that started with organic milk, which led to the purchase and production of a brownie mix, then, when the milk was gone, the purchase and speedy consumption of chocolate ice cream with remaining brownies), because I might have carpal tunnel and wearing a wrist brace 24/7 for a week is what the doctor ordered . . .

Whew! Let's catch our breath and then start over.

While shopping at Target, Husband and I saw this really incredible As Seen on TV product. It was all kinds of amazing. And finding this on the shelves of the Target in Orem, Utah, seemed so apropos.

My question is simple:

Why?

The pigs are out to get us.

So says Alex.

I may or may not have swine flu right now. It may or may not be a seasonal flu strain. It may be a severe cold. Who knows. What I do know is that I have flu-like symptoms. And, it's not that severe. Yesterday I took a sick day, and stayed in bed all day, and had a fever, and felt unwell. And today Tim thought I should go to the doctor.

So, kind husband that he is, he looked up doctors that are providers on my insurance. And made the choice from the several listed based on the one that sounded Mexican. Fernandez (I think). So we went into a predominantly Hispanic clinic to be given some anti-congestion prescriptions. The clinic was ghetto, and while Tim accused me of being racist, I told him that I'd like to go to a doctor that can speak my native language and where the lobby is not like an ER and doesn't smell like smoke. That's all.

I also told him that, really, I didn't need to go to the doctor. The truth is, if you have mild sickness (me), even if it is H1N1, then you don't really need medical care. (I don't plan on filling my prescriptions.) I looked it up here.

But maybe I should see a doctor about this partial loss of feeling in my left hand that has been numb for 8 days.

I'm just planning on sleeping a lot, because I'm experiencing the following:

• fatigue
• sore throat
• runny or stuffy nose
• body aches
• headache
• chills

Austen

Tim has to read Pride and Prejudice for a class of his, so I have decided to read it with him, as I periodically do. (Like when I read Cat's Cradle--the entire book--out loud to him in the course of our drive to and from Boise over Thanksgiving weekend. This was a new experience for me.) This will be my second time reading the novel, I believe. I haven't studied a lot of Jane Austen, and so I hesitate to be a literary critic and publish my thoughts on my blog . . . but whatever, I will anyway.

I can't deal with the ridiculousness of Austen's novels, though intentional, at times. I read Sense and Sensibility not long ago and was frustrated by the lack of depth in characterization and lack of development of the relationships of the characters.

Pride and Prejudice is one of her better novels for this reason, in my opinion. The relationships that end in marriage (as they always must in Austen) are actually developed more, it seems, and the characters themselves are more believable and likable to me. Emma was so annoying to me when I read it like four years ago because I just hated Emma's character and didn't think she deserved anything, but I quite enjoyed the recent BBC film adaptation currently airing on PBS (which was introduced to me through another blog, and which we watched in ten-minute installments here). (And so did Tim.)

Anyway, here's a quote from Pride and Prejudice that I just read and sort of find to be apt, or at least partially true (but with its limitations of course):

"I wish Jane success with all my heart; and if she were married to him tomorrow, I should think she had as good a chance of happiness as if she were studying his character for a twelve-month. Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance. If the dispositions of the parties are ever so well known to each other, or ever so similar beforehand, it does not advance their felicity in the least. They always continue to grow sufficiently unlike afterwards to have their share of vexation, and it is better to know as little as possible of the defects of the person with whom you are to pass your life."
(Vol.1, Chapter 6)