So Pedestrian

the things you find

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:34:08 -0800

A month later, we're in the final stages of moving (we hope), and, as such, have taken to following David's prescription, which is to "blitz" rooms. I'm not sure why he uses that word, but whatever, it seems to suit the action, since in blitzing we remove everything from a room. In doing so we find some interesting things, like a grocery recipt from July 13, 1989. Want to know what was purchased? Of course you do!

no need for a threatdown!

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 12:53:45 -0800

Stephen Colbert doesn't need to worry about our having been eaten by bears (if you just want to see the bear section, it starts at the 5:39 mark, although threat number four is hilarious, and the rest are pretty funny, too). And no, despite having posted from Las Vegas weeks ago, and then disappearing, we didn't lose what money we had, so we haven't been hiding in shame. Though possibly that would be better, since at the moment we're both exhausted.

never go to work

Sun, 25 May 2008 19:47:18 -0800

Some of my favorite music from long ago is by an alternative band called They Might Be Giants. It turns out that, since long ago, while I was doing foolish things like studying at school and working, They Might Be Giants kept rolling out great music. Acquainting myself with their new albums has been a joy.

mom's unstuffed cabbage

Tue, 20 May 2008 16:51:12 -0800

I'm still recovering from landing in the US and having the unsettling sensory overload of understanding the language and culture nuances of everyone around me. And, sifting through the nearly 10,000 pictures we took! (Seriously! Just consider yourself lucky we only posted a fraction on Picasa Web.) I'm also enjoying some simple things I missed while away. Here is one of them, slightly modified to remove all the fat and most (or all, depending on the egg choice) of the cholesterol:

german mothers

Sun, 11 May 2008 11:07:02 -0800

We have lots more to say about the trip, but for now this is to say we made it back for Mother's Day and celebrated with German pancakes for Sharon, David's mom. The recipe is surprisingly simple and was a big success, so naturally we had to post it.

German Pancakes

Ingredients:

1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup flour
3 eggs
1/4 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Melt butter in small saucepan. While butter is melting, combine milk, flour and eggs and mix well. (Whisking works best, I think.)
Pour melted butter into baking dish (large pie pan, 8x8x2 dish, etc.) and slosh around to coat sides. Pour mix into pan on top of butter. Put pan into center oven and bake for 20 minutes. Serve by squeezing lemon juice and sprinkling with powdered sugar.

Proof that it works

re-lax

Fri, 09 May 2008 21:09:36 -0800

And the answer to everyone's burning question: we're back.

go, go google gadget

Tue, 06 May 2008 05:30:14 -0800

For the last few weeks internet cafes have been easier to find, cheaper and faster, and I´ve spent some time scripting (writing short computer programs). I appreciate that it´s escapism, and maybe I should feel a little guilty about using vacation time this way, but I don´t.

I recently discovered some Google Gadget resources, which allow anyone with a google account to create scripts using an online tool. Since I´m sitting at a different computer from day to day, it´s perfect. Here is a screenshot of a Gadget I made, which creates an interactive map of album covers from our Picasa Web Gallery:

Leah patted me on the head and said it's pretty. Anyone else have an opinion?

thinking about stars

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 11:29:21 -0800

We haven't done too much in Mendoza over the three weeks we've been here, other than going to the zoo (where, of course, we took lots of pictures), running and spending entirely too much time watching tv. It makes me feel so decadent. Courtesy of the public library and its (rather pitiful) collection of English books, my brain also managed to not rot completely, since I finally decided to take up one of David's favorite science writers.

living in a material world

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 09:46:55 -0800

It's been a tough year in many ways. We've each sustained unexpected injuries, which, if we or the situations had been different, may have ended the trip early. But we are in astonishingly good repair compared to some of our stuff. We've lost, ruined or damaged most of our equipment and because we're about to fly back, we thought it would be fun to share the list of everything so inflicted.

feeling like meat

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 05:46:11 -0800

No, this post is not about my shoulder. Although it could be, since having an injury to such a major joint does make me sometimes feel like a sack of meat and bones. No, my shoulder is healing well, but this post is about Argentina´s staple food: meat.

picture a day: mendoza, argentina

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:30:45 -0800

Tucked into the hotel breakfast.

news

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:32:40 -0800

I shouldn't be, but I'm always amazed at how much easier it is to pay attention to what is going on in a country when we're actually there. Especially when we have access to a television and spend time using our pitiful Spanish trying to decipher the news: Buenos Aires has been covered in smoke due to farmers clearing grassland for grazing. Unrelated to the fires, but related to the strike that derailed our train journey (why yes, I am the daughter of a shameless punster), the youngest member of Cristina Fernandez´s cabinet, Argentina's first female president, is resigning. And he looks so earnest in the photo. Poor thing.

i can't wait!

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 07:46:18 -0800

We heard some very good news yesterday, from Taylor (Eleanor, to those of you who've known any of us for years) and Megan, her partner, my not-sister-in-law. I'm just so excited! Ah, to be an aunt: all the bonuses of parenthood, with none of the drawbacks.

glacial upload

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 06:35:36 -0800

You may remember the post about the scree field. Well, I haven´t had a fast enough internet connection to upload the video I took from the bottom of that valley until now:

out of place

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:39:16 -0800

I dislocated my shoulder. The morning we left for Mendoza I went running by myself. For most of the time I ran my intervals along some patches of grass near a culvert, but for the last few minutes, I was running back to the hotel on some broken sidewalk decorated with bits of trash and random debris. While dodging a crowd waiting for a bus, I tripped on a hoop of discarded wire and fell on my left wrist and shoulder. It took me a few moments to get up and look back to understand what happened. My wrist was scraped and my shoulder was clearly out of place.