#1 Soy Boy

It's late, so this is hysterical.

Oh, wait. It's just hysterical in general.

You make souffle sound like no big deal.

This is my new favorite website: Cooking For Engineers.

I love the way they break it down, the fact that every step includes pictures, and that they make their recipes conversational, the way I would get them from my dad, if he was patient enough to actually tell me how to make anything instead of just grumbling when I don't get it right.

You would like that having a Culinary Institute trained chef as a father would mean that I have the knowledge of how to cook deep in my bones. But that's not the case - I'm basically self-taught. I learned how to chop things, and stir pots, and do dishes, but that's about it. By the time I was old enough to really learn, my dad had quit the restaurant business and was working as a handyman. I learned to lay tile, nail shingles, and paint walls. My dad only ever cooked on special occasions. My mom taught me most of the basic kitchen stuff, like how to boil water.

But once I reached an age where they considered me old enough to operate the stove myself, there was an attitude of DIY that pervaded the food culture of my house. We didn't eat out very often and the idea was that there were always enough ingredients in the pantry for us to figure out something. My cooking skills evolved slowly and out of necessity. I found beginner's recipe books in the library and read them until I understood enough to access the ones mouldering in the basement.

I mean, sure, I got lazy and ate a lot of tuna salad, but my tuna salad spiraled out in crazy directions - I went through my curry phase, and my mirepoix phase, and my balsamic vinegar phase - god, the balsamic vinegar phase. I wouldn't be surprised if I still reeked of the stuff sometimes, years later.

But I've always, really, truly wanted to learn how to cook, from someone who really knows. And those are the days when I look over at my dad, and sigh, and go back to watching the Food Network.

And next time I go home for the weekend, I'll help my mom make dinner, and learn something new that will make her widen her eyes and say, "You didn't know how to do that?"

Dreams that tell you to wake up.

I found this song as a Florence + The Machine cover. Ordinarily, I'm such a Florence fan that it would be a no-brainer which one to post. But I think the original song, and the video, are sublime.

Cold War Kids, "Hospital Beds."

"Like trying to reheat tater tots in the microwave. It doesn't work."

Something odd happened today. I hit the wall with Chaucer.

I love The Canterbury Tales. A lot. But today's reading was the Monk's Tale, and I pulled a total "tl:dr." That stands for "too long: didn't read," and is used in chat forums during debates and heated discussions. A person will post what's known as a "wall of text," maybe a very well-reasoned response, and someone will respond with, "tl:dr." It's a really snippy way of saying, "Bored now. Shut up. I don't care if you're right (and I pulled this move because you probably are)."

The Monk's Tale hits you will this Wall of Text about how the mighty fall. It's well-written and I understand the point, I think, which is that God - it's always God in Medieval Literature - has set up the Rules of The Game so that everything is fair, and that means that bad things happen to good people sometimes.

But seventeen examples was a bit too much for my brain. When I skipped to the end and saw that the Knight - the noblest and therefore most proper person in the party - interrupts him with a, "For the love of all things, please just stop it," I felt vindicated.

This is Goldfrapp, off of their third album and the third single from that album. It's my favorite Goldfrapp song. I thought of it because sometimes I think Goldfrapp goes on a bit too long, even though they're very good.

Tuesday Morning Philosophy

"You gotta roll with what you got. I'm 5'7". I'm never gonna play NBA basketball. So I'm here, and I gotta make a dessert with hotdogs. You gotta roll with what you got."

-Chef Adam, Chopped

Put aside your initial dread, here.

I know. I gagged at it, too. It's a gut response against the poppy, saccharine little boys we remember shoving "mmmBOP" into all the tiny little recesses of our brains until we had no choice but to hate it for being so very, very catchy.

But I stumbled upon this video by accident, and I didn't recognize them until it was halfway over. And by then, I had given it enough of a chance to admit that I liked it. It's a good song, and a cute video, and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

Here's Hanson, with "Give A Little," the second release off their latest album, Shout It Out.

You gotta trust me sometimes. Worst comes to worst, you get to see an adorable little boy with a fauxhawk breakdancing.

March Recap

Running:

Distance: I ran 207 miles in March, 47 miles a week except for last week when I only had 44. I don't feel bad about the low week for two reasons. One, I cut those miles on Tuesday because my leg didn't feel right, and I'm pretty sure I would have injured it if I had run track as planned. And two, my long run on Saturday was the fastest I've ever run that distance.

Speed: I'm still having trouble with pacing. When I'm running with a partner, I'm consistently between an 8:05 and an 8:15, but by myself I'm between an 8:30 and a 9:00. I did 4 miles at or below an 8:00 on the treadmill at the gym without much trouble, so I know that I can run fast. I just need to figure out how to set and maintain that kind of pace on my own.

Goals: I'd like to start running more races of varying lengths, to set some PRs if nothing else. The only formal race I've ever run was a half marathon. I'm not speedy enough to really slay a 5k or anything, but I'd like to have that PR set so that when I do start getting faster, I'll have something to compare to. I'll be signing up for the Richmond Marathon in November as soon as I have the money.

Other: March was injury and illness free, and for the most part I felt okay. I was really down on myself for a couple of weeks and that affected my perception of my running, but retrospectively I think I did all right.

School:

I rolled out of bed at 12:15AM this morning and snagged the two summer classes I needed, ASL 3 and Geosystems Science/Lab. I was tempted to just stay in bed, and try to register in the morning, but my body clock woke me up at 12:14. I'm glad I did, now - it's a huge weight off my shoulders that I got these courses and can get the schedule I want for Fall. I have to drop off my Financial Aid forms today or tomorrow and hopefully they won't be too busy, so I can ask them if everything is OK.

Work:

I sort of have a job, but it's on an event-by-event basis and it's working with charities, which means that most of the work will happen in the Fall, and not now, when I need the money. But I'm sure that I'll need the money in the Fall, too, and there will be a couple of events over the summer. It's a really cool gig - it's like a combination of tech support with a catering job. Tech support on the go.

I'm still looking for more regular work. I'll be checking out one really cool opportunity today that I hope I get, but I've got a lot of feelers out and I'll keep putting more until I get something.

Overall:

I'm fine. Really.