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Saturday, October 13, 2007
cupcakes
I love the fog
I've been waking up pretty early (for me), and it of course carries over to weekends. This is somewhat fabulous, because waking up early on the weekends means I have time to read/work while Evan is asleep (which means I don't miss out on quality time while he's awake). This morning I went out to walk to the mail drop box to send off another batch of wedding thank you's. Look how fabulously foggy it was! The best thing was that all the spider webs (and believe me, there are many) were lined in beads of dew, and each one was absolutely breath taking!
I took this foggy opportunity to head out to my favorite neighborhood coffeeshop Seven (right around the corner from my favorite neighborhood brunch place, Pete's Eggnest). The "Chocolate" Man (i.e., maker of all things chocolate in Seven) makes chocolate delicacies on the weekend mornings. Today I had a grilled chocolate sandwich with pepperjack cheese. Sounds like a bit of an odd combo, right? Well, it was scrumptious! The bread was buttered and browned on a pan, leaving the sides rich and a little salty. This contrasted nicely with the rich Belgian chocolate he placed inside and melted against the cheese. The cheese was surprisingly not disturbing in conjunction with the chocolate. It added a nice texture and savory quality to the whole experience. He finished off the sandwich by chopping it into four cute triangles and dusting it with powdered sugar. Yumm-O!
I love the feel of Seattle neighborhood (of course, I'm specifically inclined to love MY Seattle neighborhood, Phinney Ridge/Greenwood). While I was in there, the people of Greenwood neighborhood came in and out. George (of next-door restaurant's Gorgeous George's fame) came in and brought the Chocolate Man some bagels for his special grilled chocolate sandwiches. When asked if he made the bagels, George replied, "No, I got them at Safeway. I am a normal person." I suppose it's very random conversation, but there's something really wonderful about sitting in your neighborhood coffeeshop with so many happy caffeinating neighbors surrounding you. Many of them this morning were shaking their heads at the front window of Seven which had recently been tagged (aka, someone scratched their name across the glass of the front window). Apparently, (according to the baristas), the tagging community normally doesn't hit small business owners. So they supposed this was some teenager (who didn't get the tagging community's memo on the ethics of tagging).
Monday, October 08, 2007
ACK!
Everyone around me is sick!!
gotta gobble up my vitamin C
Is it time to get a flu shot? Do I even have time to get a flu shot?
yikes.
gotta gobble up my vitamin C
Is it time to get a flu shot? Do I even have time to get a flu shot?
yikes.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
I blame evan
I blame evan for all the cheesy hippie use of 'Zen' in the last post. He kept talking about my terrarium building as similar to doing a Zen garden, and I think it was the only adjective floating around my brain....
classes start tomorrow...
classes start tomorrow...
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Alternate realities
I've discovered a totally Zen past-time. Friday night, I ended up waking up at 4 am with an intense urge to plant (I'm such a weirdo). So I repotted two plants that needed to move to larger pots, and then (still feeling the gardening urge) I picked up my book on houseplants that I'd gotten at the used book store down the street.
At around 6am, I'd gotten to the part where the author was talking about bottle gardening! Planting a whole little garden inside of a bottle! The concept is like building a ship in a bottle, except with plants (hence making it much more Zen and much cooler).
"Bottle Gardening" as a Google search didn't turn up a ton of results, but "terrarium" did. Ooh ooh! A new hobby!
Lemme show you some neat ones I found on the web. (some by Ann Wood, Hello Yarn, and Paula Hayes)
The best part of making terrariums is collecting the moss from the neighborhood. I collected some off the stones from outside my front door. There was a huge blanket of moss around the telephone poll across the street. It's so cool to get it, because it comes off in one big sheet! It's like a rug! I took it home and put it in a tupperware with warm water to get rid of ahttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifny buggies. It looks fabulous in my terrariums. I now keep a little plastic bag with me so I can keep an eye out for cool things to put in my terrariums.
Composing little scenes is incredibly soothing. And I can't stop looking at these little worlds. Supposedly, once you get an enclosed terrarium stable, it can sustain itself for a good while without additional water, fertilizer, etc. As soon as I make sure I am okay at sustaining them, I want to try doing this with small necked bottles so I can finally make my bottle garden!
Make some too!
To make your own terrariums you need some kind of clear glass vessel. Goodwill is fabulous for this, but I also have some extra quart size canning jars that I thought would fit the bill.
Pour in a bottom layer of pea sized gravel (this will help with the drainage and provide a good reservoir for the water your little world.
Pour another small layer of activated charcoal over that. (both of these items can be found at a garden center near you). It's recommended that you put a layer of moss over this so that your soil doesn't wash into your gravel layers (but I skipped that step).
Add a small layer of dirt. Plop in any cool stones or wood and then start laying down your moss and putting in your plants in cool arrangements.
Buy some cute inhabitants for your world. Position them in your new mini-garden and add your lids. Voila!
At around 6am, I'd gotten to the part where the author was talking about bottle gardening! Planting a whole little garden inside of a bottle! The concept is like building a ship in a bottle, except with plants (hence making it much more Zen and much cooler).
"Bottle Gardening" as a Google search didn't turn up a ton of results, but "terrarium" did. Ooh ooh! A new hobby!
Lemme show you some neat ones I found on the web. (some by Ann Wood, Hello Yarn, and Paula Hayes)
The best part of making terrariums is collecting the moss from the neighborhood. I collected some off the stones from outside my front door. There was a huge blanket of moss around the telephone poll across the street. It's so cool to get it, because it comes off in one big sheet! It's like a rug! I took it home and put it in a tupperware with warm water to get rid of ahttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifny buggies. It looks fabulous in my terrariums. I now keep a little plastic bag with me so I can keep an eye out for cool things to put in my terrariums.
Composing little scenes is incredibly soothing. And I can't stop looking at these little worlds. Supposedly, once you get an enclosed terrarium stable, it can sustain itself for a good while without additional water, fertilizer, etc. As soon as I make sure I am okay at sustaining them, I want to try doing this with small necked bottles so I can finally make my bottle garden!
Make some too!
To make your own terrariums you need some kind of clear glass vessel. Goodwill is fabulous for this, but I also have some extra quart size canning jars that I thought would fit the bill.
Pour in a bottom layer of pea sized gravel (this will help with the drainage and provide a good reservoir for the water your little world.
Pour another small layer of activated charcoal over that. (both of these items can be found at a garden center near you). It's recommended that you put a layer of moss over this so that your soil doesn't wash into your gravel layers (but I skipped that step).
Add a small layer of dirt. Plop in any cool stones or wood and then start laying down your moss and putting in your plants in cool arrangements.
Buy some cute inhabitants for your world. Position them in your new mini-garden and add your lids. Voila!
 |
| Lori's terrarium web album |
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Power thoughts
I was scanning google news for the headlines and read a bit about this student that was tasered at a university Q&A with John Kerry. The news sources seemed to cover the scene objectively, but I then watched the this video of the student asking his questions and the ensuing police ordeal.
I have to admit, I think the police way over reacted in this case. It's a university forum afterall. Shouldn't students be able to ask questions like these without being pounced on? And honestly, I know that the Darley and Latane studies all showed that diffusion of responsibility, but it's freaky, really truly freaky to watch that video of this guy being dragged by the police, screaming for help with a full auditorium of students not budging to intervene or even pay attention to him! I can't completely blame them. They were probably afraid of the police given that the treatment of the questioner. But it's scary what will happen when people aren't willing to object when another person is being mistreated before their eyes.
Yesterday, I was listening to Marketplace's radio piece on the RIAA's sometimes mistaken lawsuits. Like the video of the tasering, this also frightened me. That a group with so much power/money can completely wreck people's lives--incorrectly or not--without conscience seems utterly senseless to me. Even when wrongly accused, people are told they should settle and declare bankruptcy! I know the world is not just and fair, but I still can't help being outraged by this. I hope that the class action suit against the RIAA gains speed on this, because it's damn scary that a group like this isn't kept in check.
I have to admit, I think the police way over reacted in this case. It's a university forum afterall. Shouldn't students be able to ask questions like these without being pounced on? And honestly, I know that the Darley and Latane studies all showed that diffusion of responsibility, but it's freaky, really truly freaky to watch that video of this guy being dragged by the police, screaming for help with a full auditorium of students not budging to intervene or even pay attention to him! I can't completely blame them. They were probably afraid of the police given that the treatment of the questioner. But it's scary what will happen when people aren't willing to object when another person is being mistreated before their eyes.
Yesterday, I was listening to Marketplace's radio piece on the RIAA's sometimes mistaken lawsuits. Like the video of the tasering, this also frightened me. That a group with so much power/money can completely wreck people's lives--incorrectly or not--without conscience seems utterly senseless to me. Even when wrongly accused, people are told they should settle and declare bankruptcy! I know the world is not just and fair, but I still can't help being outraged by this. I hope that the class action suit against the RIAA gains speed on this, because it's damn scary that a group like this isn't kept in check.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Squirreled away
Last week we had a squirrel incident. I would walk outside, and suddenly I had a squirrel hopping next to me, barking and wagging its tail. Honestly, I didn't know what was up its butt, although it reminded a lot of the angry squirrels at Stanford (except less black).
Watching the squirrel, I noticed that it ran up and down the ladder my neighbor had placed up against his house. It wasn't until later that night when Evan came home, did we notice why. By the evening there were shrill shrieks coming from the rooftop of our neighbor's house. Apparently, the squirrel had made a nest in the attic of the house next door. Our neighbor had fenced off the opening with chicken wire so that the mommy squirrel couldn't get back in....BUT there were two baby squirrel trapped in the attic!
We went next door to tell our neighbor about the babies--i mean surely no one would want the babies to die up there! But in actuality, he did know the babies were trapped up there. He apparently had some traumatic rodent incident as a child that rendered him non-sympathetic to any creature of that category. But, at our (and his children's) request, he removed the wire. One of the babies jetted out and down our driveway (away from the direction of its mother who was shouting at us from somewhere in a chestnut tree in the backyard). I have never seen such a small squirrel! It was immediately followed by the neighbor's dog and cat. Yikes! I'm not really sure what happened to this one.
The mother squirrel didn't return until the next morning where I saw her reunite with the last baby squirrel in the attic. The baby crawled over the mother and they bounded away from the house...so at least i know one of the babies survived!
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
look new glasses!
Woohoo! I look kinda emo now. They're prodesian, and they're the first glasses i've gotten in five years! I had to wear them today, because yesterday i chopped some peppers from the farmer's market. My hand burned all night! And when i tried to put my contacts in this morning, it was seriously burning! So i figured i'd better wait for this pepper stuff to wear off.
Monday, September 10, 2007
W(h)ining and dining
The erv and his mummy at our rehearsal dinner.
The M's are in town!
I really like my in-laws, and I know I'm definitely lucky in that respect. They've been in town for the past few days which has given us a wonderful excuse to go out and have good food and drink good wine! We did go out to Woodinville for wine tasting, and I have to say, Woodinville wineries sux0r compared to Sonoma wineries. First of all, they charge you for a tasting so it can get expensive to try a bunch of wines. Secondly, even though we were paying for tastings, they poured barely enough wine for two sips! How am I supposed to taste the wine if I can barely freakin' moisten my lips with it? And I should mention, it's not like the erv and I are trying to get drunk off the tastings, but we are looking for tasty bottles to buy. I left Woodinville extremely disappointed.
We did try a great wine the other day at dinner by Cadence winery in Washington. We had their 2005 Coda. I thought it was a delicious drinking wine on its own. It didn't stand up well to the food we got (I had a wild boar dish with gorgonzola), but I'm still very interested in trying some of their other wines!
I'd rather be playing bocce
There's just something so wonderfully simple and fun about tossing colorful balls and walking upon green crunchy grass under a warm sun with friends. It just reeks of a great summer day.
I love the sharp shadows across the grass! Everyone has their own 'technique.' Some people look like they're dancing, while others look like children just learning how to bowl.
I can't believe classes/the academic year start again in two weeks! I'm not ready, I'm not ready! I still have too many research projects to read up on, plan, and finish. A recent visit to my advisor's office led to some gentle-ish nudging to get my projects finished up and ready...things I have been trying to do! sigh
Still, I want to enjoy my summer a bit more still. Anyone up for bocce?
Thursday, September 06, 2007
I declare
I am alive....
I'm just stuck in a stale-aired-windowless office, reading another manuscript draft.
I'm just stuck in a stale-aired-windowless office, reading another manuscript draft.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
more coffee... SO MUCH MORE COFFEE! WHEEEE....
haha, that's my caffeine high starting in, right?
Wednesdays I don't have class on campus, so I sought out a new coffee house to study at. I ended up at Green Bean (down the street from me). I loved loved loved the feel of the place. It was very bright and very flea market finds type of decor. The chairs were of all shapes and sizes, the tables had that shabby chic sort of feel, and there were lots of reclaimed windows and frames that had bright happy messages written in them, like "fresh baked goodies!" "Tis all fair trade!"
In fact, the people there are also extremely happy... like happy to a point that had me wondering whether it was chemically induced happiness. I'm not just talking about the woman behind the counter with the infectious bubbly laughing. The CUSTOMERS were happy people (granted it was a sunnyish day in Seattle, which makes most Seattlites happier). It was a place where women came for late afternoon get togethers to chat and smile. The people behind me happily plunked down with coffee, conversation, and dominoes! It was actually not very effective for working, as there was so much happy chatter and domino clinking. But while I sat there grumpily reading some journal articles, it occurred to me that perhaps just being around such effusive happiness could make me happier. Yup, well, unfortunately, the drip coffee was just so-so, and the croissant was downright awful (tasted artifically made, no flaky crust and a sickly sweet raspberry jammy interior. It basically tasted like it came out of a package). So it's probably unlikely I'll head back there unless I'm desparately seeking a dose of happy.
Today, I'm at Wayward Coffeehouse, also in my hood. The coffee was good, and the chocolate croissant was ok (essential baking co, but it tasted kind of stale). But it's too DARK! It's a really large warehousey type place with windows at the front and back, but it's too big and not enough light!
It is open late though, and has live music on the weekends, so who knows? Maybe I'll be back here sometime when I'm not light starved...
So at some point, I will find the best coffee house for me, but the search must go on...
Wednesdays I don't have class on campus, so I sought out a new coffee house to study at. I ended up at Green Bean (down the street from me). I loved loved loved the feel of the place. It was very bright and very flea market finds type of decor. The chairs were of all shapes and sizes, the tables had that shabby chic sort of feel, and there were lots of reclaimed windows and frames that had bright happy messages written in them, like "fresh baked goodies!" "Tis all fair trade!"
In fact, the people there are also extremely happy... like happy to a point that had me wondering whether it was chemically induced happiness. I'm not just talking about the woman behind the counter with the infectious bubbly laughing. The CUSTOMERS were happy people (granted it was a sunnyish day in Seattle, which makes most Seattlites happier). It was a place where women came for late afternoon get togethers to chat and smile. The people behind me happily plunked down with coffee, conversation, and dominoes! It was actually not very effective for working, as there was so much happy chatter and domino clinking. But while I sat there grumpily reading some journal articles, it occurred to me that perhaps just being around such effusive happiness could make me happier. Yup, well, unfortunately, the drip coffee was just so-so, and the croissant was downright awful (tasted artifically made, no flaky crust and a sickly sweet raspberry jammy interior. It basically tasted like it came out of a package). So it's probably unlikely I'll head back there unless I'm desparately seeking a dose of happy.
Today, I'm at Wayward Coffeehouse, also in my hood. The coffee was good, and the chocolate croissant was ok (essential baking co, but it tasted kind of stale). But it's too DARK! It's a really large warehousey type place with windows at the front and back, but it's too big and not enough light!
It is open late though, and has live music on the weekends, so who knows? Maybe I'll be back here sometime when I'm not light starved...
So at some point, I will find the best coffee house for me, but the search must go on...
Monday, March 26, 2007
Craving the sweet things in life
It's the first day of Spring quarter, and since I was sick most of
break, I figured I would skip going home right after school and head
over to Ballard. I decided to go to Cupcake Royale for some sugar
and caffeine--a graduate student's two best friends. They serve Verite
coffee, which I have to say was quite delicious. They were brewing
Ethiopia Happy Valley today on drip, and it had a lovely earthiness to
go with my sweet red velvet cupcake. I didn't think to blog until
after I ate my cupcake, but the proof is there in the overly dyed
wrapper, eh? The cupcake itself wasn't that extraordinary beyond the
red dye. It was a little dry actually, but it still made me happy just
to have a pretty confection.
I like the vibe of this place. They already cycled through a Mates of
States CD making me extremely happy. The music selection has been
quite good in general after that too. It's a very laid back, Seattle
coffee shop with lots of pink cupcake boxes and globe lanterns.
There's of course free wifi (but there's rarely a coffee place here
without that), and there's a magnificent metallic cupcake right above
the doorway when you come in.
I have to say it's extremely delightful to sit here and watch children
come by with their parents and grandparents, so excited for a sugary
cupcake! Otherwise, the clientele are very unordinary Seattle people,
almost all of whom are on Mac computers (myself included).
Yikes! I think you can still see the Winter quarter blues on my face.
Overall, this is a great place to chill and pretend I have a life
outside of graduate school. You can take the 44 bus straight from UW
campus into Ballard and hit this joint on the way.
Cupcake Royale
Ballard 2052 NW Market St 206.782.9557
They have some cute cupcake shirts to check out too.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
slippery white stuff
I still can't believe I live here.
I almost did the splits today walking from my house to the bus stop (the snow was powdery but slippery at the same time!) Of course I left the house at 7:30am to get to work for my meeting at 9:30a because I just assumed the buses would be out of whack. And really it did take me about 1.25 hrs to get to work. The buses were soooo full, we couldn't pick people up at all the stops.
While I'm actually blogging, I want to say that I love the cookbook ervy got me for christmas.
It has a lot of neat anecdotes about the time period and rations. Most of the recipes call for very few ingredients and are low in sugar and butter (since those were rationed heavily). I recently made Apple Butter Pudding with the Apple Butter I made and canned during the fall. It was amazing! It wasn't overly sweet and had a subtle flavor of apples and spices. I can't wait to bake more from this!
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Crush Restaurant -Modern American Cuisine
Crush Restaurant ~ Modern American Cuisine
Last night, mom and pop M (i.e., the in-laws-to-be) wanted to treat the ervy and me to a nice dinner in Seattle. It was the first time they'd seen us since we have gotten engaged (that totally slipped my mind, otherwise I would have cleaned the ring a bit...) so it was a celebratory affair.
We ended up going to the much hyped and super trendy Seattle restaurant Crush. The atmosphere reminded me a bit of Bay Wolf in Oakland in that the restaurant had taken over a house in the middle of the city. I should mention that the clientele did seem to be very pretty people better dressed (or just more dressed up) than I would normally expect. The decor was very trendy, very modern and architectural. All the glasses were Reidel (my first time drinking out of a Reidel water glass... it was nice, but admittedly, I was really worried about dropping it for some reason. I guess I'm too used to those clunky, thick water cups you get everywhere else). The plateware was all really neat. It was typical white, but everything was a bit off-balance, nothing symmetrical. Mom M's soup bowl leaned such that it presented her with a really neat thin layer of Red Kuri Squash soup facing and leaning toward her.
Wow, it's amazing what google images is good for! This is actually the very table we sat at... the lighting is alot dimmer at night or while serving though. It was too dark for me to take my own pictures with my camera phone.
On FOOD: I had a wonderful fresh (and local) chicory greens salad with roasted pumpkin pieces (which were so scrumptious!). Evan had some yummy sweatbreads which I actually thoroughly enjoyed (they tasted very chinese reminiscent, although I don't think they cooked it in a chinese style). Pop M had a neat looking dungeonous (sp?) crab cake thing.
I have to say, I think my main course rocked the hizzy. I had Alaskan Black cod with pork belly and spinach in a syrah sauce.... OMG... The fish was perfect and delicious. The whole thing was so rich and perfect that I really really REALLY wanted to lick my plate clean. It was absolutely one of the best fish dishes I've had ever.
The one thing I was disappointed in at Crush were the desserts. They were very inventive, but they didn't come together well. Erv had an apple tart with Amish blue cheese ice cream and a bacon cookie. (I tried this, and really, I felt like I should be eating a cobb salad... it was interesting, but didn't belong on the dessert menu... they should have had it as an appetizer!). Mom M had a molten chocolate cake thing with local huckleberries... I was actually surprised that I didn't like this. I normally love molten chocolate cakes, and I didn't expect to dislike this one as much as I did. It was overpowered by the huckleberries and fruity sauce. My dessert was the Warm Gingerbread cake with Chevre Ice Cream and figs in a pomegranite sauce. It just didn't really go together. I liked the Chevre ice cream. But I didn't really enjoy the cake or the fruit (much to my surprise).
If you go to Crush, which you should, have delicious appetizers, dinner, and wine (we had two bottles of Syrah, the $80 bottle was actually distinctly a lot better than the $40 bottle, I probably could have skipped the cheaper one without regret. I didn't pick out the wine, so I actually can't remember the names... too much cognitive load while trying to keep up
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Yay photos
Here's Clara and me at the office. You can see one of my big Ikea flower stickers on the wall. They REALLY help brighten up the windowless office fare.
Again I don't have too much time (why do I never have time anymore?) I wanted to post these cell phone pics of my friend Nicole and me from the end of the summer. We had lunch at Cactus in Seattle. It was soooo yummy! It was southwest type food.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
cooking rice
I've introduced my friend Clara to a rice cooker (bought at Goodwill for 6 bucks). I hope it changes her life! I am always amazed when people don't own rice cookers. Coming from a Chinese family, it just seems like everyone ought to have one (at least if you eat rice enough).
C called me last night very happy with her purchase, as her rice had come out quite well in her new cooker.
So for all of y'all that are resisting this very necessary appliance, please go out and get one. It doesn't need to be expensive or huge. I got mine for $7 new at an evil large retail store about 3 years ago, and it's still going strong. :)
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Rainboots and bars
I've been going through orientation almost non-stop! I've been to 3 happy hours (including a cockroach incident). I've been to a minority grad student potluck. I've learned that crazy things can happen when you teach in classrooms (an example given by our teacher: someone in her class interrupted her lecture by standing up and screaming, "YOU WILL NOT TAKE THE LORD'S NAME IN VAIN!"). I've learned I really really like the 16 other people in my psychology cohort.
I've also learned that I really really need some waterproof shoes and cute jackets to help me pass the winter away. I say this now, even though this past weekend was GORGEOUS. Earlier in the week, we got a taste of gloomy, wet, Seattle. All the Seattlites said, "that's it! No more sun. The rain has started." It freaked Clara (my new best friend, and fellow bay area gal) and me out. So tell me folks, which rain boot do you like?
$20 at target
I like the red one
$38 Overstock
I need cute happy clothes to keep me going this winter. Clara already suited up and donned this cute pair earlier this week!
from target
I tried going to Ross, but alas, I didn't find anything I liked!
I ended up coming home and buying this coat in teal:
I'm not sure how I feel about the buttons though.
Classes start on Wednesday! I'm still trying to comprehend that I'm entering graduate school--that I'll be here for at least another 5 years of my life! Man!
I've also learned that I really really need some waterproof shoes and cute jackets to help me pass the winter away. I say this now, even though this past weekend was GORGEOUS. Earlier in the week, we got a taste of gloomy, wet, Seattle. All the Seattlites said, "that's it! No more sun. The rain has started." It freaked Clara (my new best friend, and fellow bay area gal) and me out. So tell me folks, which rain boot do you like?
$20 at target
I like the red one
$38 Overstock
I need cute happy clothes to keep me going this winter. Clara already suited up and donned this cute pair earlier this week!
from targetI tried going to Ross, but alas, I didn't find anything I liked!
I ended up coming home and buying this coat in teal:
I'm not sure how I feel about the buttons though.
Classes start on Wednesday! I'm still trying to comprehend that I'm entering graduate school--that I'll be here for at least another 5 years of my life! Man!
Thursday, September 07, 2006
kitty update
My house is a kitty pharmacy.
Nikko is has two antibiotics, nose drops, and an anti-inflammatory.
Asha has eye drops and some sort of supplement.
I'm going slightly insane trying to keep all the medicine bottles on the counter straight for them.
So, Nikko's scope procedure went 'ok.' They didn't find any foreign object. It took the full 30 min so it cost about $600. They did find a huge hard plug of mucus which they have now biopsied. Yup, they were able to grow some things. They now think that he has something that sounds like a rhinocerous... I think it's rhinosinosomethingorother. Apparently most kitties get feline herpes as kittens, and some cats it affects the mucus lining/membrane stuff more than others. So he'll be more prone to URIs, etc. They're seeing if they can aggressively treat it over the next six weeks (hence nikko's kitty medicine cabinet).
Asha apparently wanted to join in the fun. I came home a couple days ago and her right eye was shut. I finally got sick of ervy calling her 'pirate kitty' and shouting 'Aaargggh' at her when he looked at her. So I took her into the vet with Nikko. The doc checked out her eye and didn't see anything under any of the lids. He then added that flouresence to her eye, and we took her to a dark room. There you could see this 8mm diameter spot on her cornea. It probably is also feline herpes related (although apparently not from nikko because they're not transmittable that way?). Anyhow, since there are no blood vessels to the cornea, it wouldn't heal on its own. So we have to keep her eye dialated, and a bit numb. She also has to wear one of those neck collars so she doesn't rub her eye. She is one unhappy kitty right now.
I guess the move really did put some stress on the kitties. It probably made them more susceptable to herpes flare-ups.
Oh, did I mention I also have been sick the past week? It's really fun having sinus pressure and not being able to hear out of both ears :(
Anyhow, I can't remember if I've posted this pic before, but I like it anyway. So I'll post it :P
As requested, here are some pics of my apartment before we brought our mess in :) Someday I'll clean up and you can see how we set it up.
notice the big double doored fridge! Our freezer is sooo big and empty! Behind the counter (near the chair) is our nice gas stove and above it is a nice vent hood! Adam if you come here, you can sit at the counter/bar, and we can make mac and cheese and pass it to you RIGHT THERE.
Living room/dining room
I don't have pictures of either bedrooms yet. I'll wait till I clear up.
Nikko is has two antibiotics, nose drops, and an anti-inflammatory.
Asha has eye drops and some sort of supplement.
I'm going slightly insane trying to keep all the medicine bottles on the counter straight for them.
So, Nikko's scope procedure went 'ok.' They didn't find any foreign object. It took the full 30 min so it cost about $600. They did find a huge hard plug of mucus which they have now biopsied. Yup, they were able to grow some things. They now think that he has something that sounds like a rhinocerous... I think it's rhinosinosomethingorother. Apparently most kitties get feline herpes as kittens, and some cats it affects the mucus lining/membrane stuff more than others. So he'll be more prone to URIs, etc. They're seeing if they can aggressively treat it over the next six weeks (hence nikko's kitty medicine cabinet).
Asha apparently wanted to join in the fun. I came home a couple days ago and her right eye was shut. I finally got sick of ervy calling her 'pirate kitty' and shouting 'Aaargggh' at her when he looked at her. So I took her into the vet with Nikko. The doc checked out her eye and didn't see anything under any of the lids. He then added that flouresence to her eye, and we took her to a dark room. There you could see this 8mm diameter spot on her cornea. It probably is also feline herpes related (although apparently not from nikko because they're not transmittable that way?). Anyhow, since there are no blood vessels to the cornea, it wouldn't heal on its own. So we have to keep her eye dialated, and a bit numb. She also has to wear one of those neck collars so she doesn't rub her eye. She is one unhappy kitty right now.
I guess the move really did put some stress on the kitties. It probably made them more susceptable to herpes flare-ups.
Oh, did I mention I also have been sick the past week? It's really fun having sinus pressure and not being able to hear out of both ears :(
Anyhow, I can't remember if I've posted this pic before, but I like it anyway. So I'll post it :P
As requested, here are some pics of my apartment before we brought our mess in :) Someday I'll clean up and you can see how we set it up.
notice the big double doored fridge! Our freezer is sooo big and empty! Behind the counter (near the chair) is our nice gas stove and above it is a nice vent hood! Adam if you come here, you can sit at the counter/bar, and we can make mac and cheese and pass it to you RIGHT THERE.
Living room/dining room
I don't have pictures of either bedrooms yet. I'll wait till I clear up.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
cross your fingers for him
I just came back from the vet. Nikko has been making weird choking noises every once and a while the past few days, so we figured he'd swallowed something. Today I brought him to the Cat Clinic of Seattle. They think he has some sort of grass caught up behind his soft palate. Some cats have that problem when eating grass.
It's my fault. We have a yard out back of our new place, and I have taken him for walks there and let him eat the grass. He really seemed to enjoy it. *sigh* Now he has to be in the hospital and go under anesthetics tomorrow so they can try to get it out. Hopefully, it will all be ok.
Cross your fingers everything goes smoothly for him folks!
They're hot, sweet, and sticky...
They're cinnamon rolls!
I was stressing Monday when I was going through my human subjects application. I've always found that baking really helps me destress. Plus, I've been wanting to make these suckers for a while now.
I found this recipe on allrecipes.com
I made the full recipe of dough, and rolled them all up into rolls and made the 'slices' with dental floss. I ended up letting one batch rise as usual, and the other half I froze for cinnamon rolls at a later date.
These were best out of the oven, steaming and nutty. What I liked best about these is that the dough was not overly saturated with stickiness. Of course the frosting was sweet and sticky, but the actual rolls still had that nice pastry/breadiness. And the chopped walnuts REALLY stood out in a delicious way against the browned dough. I would definitely do this again.
Cinnamon Rolls
for dough
* 1 cup milk
* 1 cup water
* 1/4 cup butter
* 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
* 6 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast
* 1/2 cup white sugar
* 2 eggs
for filling:
* 1/3 cup butter, softened
* 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 3/4 cup white sugar
* 3/4 cup raisins (optional)
* 3/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
for icing:
* 2 cups confectioners' sugar
* 3 tablespoons butter, melted
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 3 tablespoons milk
DIRECTIONS:
1. heat 1 cup milk, water, and 1/4 cup butter until very warm (butter doesn't need to be completely melted). (I microwaved it all for 40-50 sec). Place milk mixture, salt, flour, yeast, sugar, and eggs in the pan of the bread machine in the order suggested by the manufacturer. Select the Dough cycle. Press Start. (or use your kitchen aid with the dough hook attachment).
2. Once Dough cycle is complete, remove the dough from the bread machine. Punch down, and divide into 2 parts. On a floured surface, roll each part into a large rectangle. (I think I rolled until it was about 1/2" thick, but it certainly doesn't have to be precise). Smear each rectangle with the softened butter. Combine the cinnamon and 3/4 cup sugar. Sprinkle over the rectangles. Generously sprinkle the raisins and/or chopped nuts over the top.
3. Roll the dough up into two logs starting at the long side. Cut each log into 12 slices. (here is where you can use dental floss or thread to make the slices. Slide the thread under the log, wrap around the log, and pull ends past each other). Place the rolls cut side down into two 9x13 inch greased baking pans (or silicone sheet). Cover, and let rise in a warm place until almost doubled (about 30 minutes).
4. Bake in a preheated 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) oven for 18 to 20 minutes, or until golden. Combine the confectioners' sugar, 3 tablespoons melted butter, vanilla, and 3 tablespoons milk. Frosting should be thick. Spread over baked rolls and enjoy.
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Back from the dead, now coming to you live from Seattle!
Yup. I've now been in Seattle about 3 weeks! The first 2 weeks were spent with me madly unpacking. Since then, it's me throwing myself into research. See look, I'm throwing myselft at it...WHEEEeeeee!
*note to self, don't blog while in the middle of writing up research proposals*
I want to send out a BIG thank you to my colorswap partners for July and August.
My July partner, Cecily, sent me a fabulous purple package! Look at all the goodies. My favorite thing has to be the purple silicone spatula. Awesome. And the yarn is seriously scrumptious--the kind that makes you want to rub your face in it (er, not that I did that or anything). I actually received this package the day before I left California. I took a quick happy peek at it, and then sealed it up and didn't open it again until this week. It was like a new gift all over again. And I'm super excited about the purple nail polish. I'm definitely going to start the fall quarter with purpley toe nails.
Thanks Cecily!
My August colorswap partner is the lovely Erin of The Bookish Knitter. She also recently moved, so both of us had a nice "I'm changing my address!" moment. She also just got a new puppy and you can see cute pics of it on her bloggy. Erin sent me some yummy ginger and peach black tea that I'm drinking as I type. The tea and the pretty new mug she sent me are going to definitely go with me to my office at school. That way I can stress/destress in style while I'm analyzing data or meeting with RAs. Erin, you are a girl after my own heart. I love that you sent me food goodies. Mmm... cookies, caramel corn and nuts! Man, I'm going to be snacking up a storm :) Thanks Erin!
Seattle
I love Seattle.
Don't get me wrong. I miss California. I keep referring to how things are 'back home' which makes me feel a little bit country. But seriously, the Seattle summer weather can be gorgeous. And all the water is just breathtaking. I took a walk around Green Lake (near my house!), and it's seriously an enjoyable view. Plus, Greenlake has BUNNIES. There are like 40 of them! People feed them and picnic among them. It's very odd--like someone let their pets loose there and they just multiplied and stayed tame and oh-so-cute.
Everyone has a dog here. Some neighbors told me it was standard issue once you move into the neighborhood. Nikko has now met two doggies, 1) at the place he stayed while we moved (btw, I highly recommend Tenny Bug Pet Sitting if you're looking for pet sitters in the Seattle Area) and 2) our next door neighbor's big boxer, Bella.
Anyway, I'm learning the bus lines, making friends on Yelp (the Seattle yelp community is smaller, but seems closer knit than SF's Yelp). I better get back to work. Here's a preview for my next post:
hmm... what could those be?
*note to self, don't blog while in the middle of writing up research proposals*
I want to send out a BIG thank you to my colorswap partners for July and August.
My July partner, Cecily, sent me a fabulous purple package! Look at all the goodies. My favorite thing has to be the purple silicone spatula. Awesome. And the yarn is seriously scrumptious--the kind that makes you want to rub your face in it (er, not that I did that or anything). I actually received this package the day before I left California. I took a quick happy peek at it, and then sealed it up and didn't open it again until this week. It was like a new gift all over again. And I'm super excited about the purple nail polish. I'm definitely going to start the fall quarter with purpley toe nails.
Thanks Cecily!
My August colorswap partner is the lovely Erin of The Bookish Knitter. She also recently moved, so both of us had a nice "I'm changing my address!" moment. She also just got a new puppy and you can see cute pics of it on her bloggy. Erin sent me some yummy ginger and peach black tea that I'm drinking as I type. The tea and the pretty new mug she sent me are going to definitely go with me to my office at school. That way I can stress/destress in style while I'm analyzing data or meeting with RAs. Erin, you are a girl after my own heart. I love that you sent me food goodies. Mmm... cookies, caramel corn and nuts! Man, I'm going to be snacking up a storm :) Thanks Erin!
Seattle
I love Seattle.
Don't get me wrong. I miss California. I keep referring to how things are 'back home' which makes me feel a little bit country. But seriously, the Seattle summer weather can be gorgeous. And all the water is just breathtaking. I took a walk around Green Lake (near my house!), and it's seriously an enjoyable view. Plus, Greenlake has BUNNIES. There are like 40 of them! People feed them and picnic among them. It's very odd--like someone let their pets loose there and they just multiplied and stayed tame and oh-so-cute.
Everyone has a dog here. Some neighbors told me it was standard issue once you move into the neighborhood. Nikko has now met two doggies, 1) at the place he stayed while we moved (btw, I highly recommend Tenny Bug Pet Sitting if you're looking for pet sitters in the Seattle Area) and 2) our next door neighbor's big boxer, Bella.
Anyway, I'm learning the bus lines, making friends on Yelp (the Seattle yelp community is smaller, but seems closer knit than SF's Yelp). I better get back to work. Here's a preview for my next post:
hmm... what could those be?
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