So behind!

So many things to talk about...

First off, the newest addition to my lovely shoe family: rock climbing shoes! I got them 2 weeks ago and I love them. They're an incentive to do more climbing, which is always a good thing. They are bright green, a little too small (but I'm making them work), and awesome. My arms are definitely sore from climbing yesterday afternoon...

Next: this week's cheese class!

We tasted an assortment of delicious Western European cheeses! Tasting notes are as follows in the approximate order that we tasted in:

Mozzarella: made by stretching and kneading the curds, eaten fresh and unaged, can be made with cow's or water buffalo's milk. Sweet, grassy in taste.

French Comté: raw cow's milk, aged, nutty.

Swiss Gruyère: aged in caves (or cave-like atmosphere), high humidity and "warmer" temperature, cow's milk, more intense in flavor and smell than Comté, more salty

Spanish Manchego: sheep's milk, interesting pattern on rind used to be from the woven mats they wrapped around the cheese (now printed/molded on the rind), salty, acidic(?)

French Camembert: from Normandy, the cheese starts out hard(!), then a solution of bacteria is sprayed onto the wheels, which causes the creamy interior and the bloomy rind. I love bacteria. Stinkier and more flavorful than brie, just as creamy.

Petit Billy goat cheese: fresh goat, creamy, salty, lots of protein!

Dutch Aged Gouda: the less it's aged, the smoother and creamier the cheeses is

Dutch Aged Gouda, 5+ years: crumbly and darker in color, crystallizations galore (my favorite)

Roquefort: stinky, blue, super moldy, delicious.

Other than that, yesterday was the big bro's birthday. To commemorate said birthday, he posted this picture:

AMAZINGGGGG

So, the brosky wasn't quite as Mr. Grumpy-pants as this guy above; he quite enjoyed his birthday. With his friends in tow, we headed to dinner at La Mar in San Francisco, a Peruvian restaurant. First off, the decor was great. Bright blue lighting at the bar, hanging mocha-colored glass orbs for lighting. The 7 of us shared all the platters: cebiches sampler, empanadas sampler, grilled octopus, causas sampler... incredible. Really, really, fresh seafood in the cebiche (which is ceviche) in delicious variations on leche de tigre, which is apparently a great hangover cure: lime juice and peppers. I only tasted a chicken and a beef empanada but they were both delicious; the meat very tender and juicy, the outside nice and crispy and fried, not too oily. The grilled octopus was my favorite, and I think the favorite of everyone there. The marinade/sauce was somewhat reminiscent of a Korean marinade: sweet and spicy red paste. The meat was not at all chewy in the way it can be when you boil octopus; it was very dense. I also had one of the best cocktails ever: El Diablito. Pisco acholado, ginger syrup, crème de cassis, ginger beer. Spicy and sweet, it went well with what we ate. It wasn't too over the top to distract, which is impressive considering the strong flavors in it.

Finally, it's the weekend!

On tap:

Special dinner, studying for my LAST MIDTERM (AHH), thesisizing, sleeping, enjoying the beautiful weather...

3rd time's a charm

Within the course of about an hour and a half, it is already not a good day.

1) Making a delicious bagel. Cream cheese, capers, cucumbers, lox. And I drop one of the halves. Luckily, I suppose, it drops face up, so it's not the end of the world. But, I still have to remake one of them.

2) On my way to class, I stop in time to avoid getting into a bike accident. But it was a close call.

3) Also on my way to class, a bird poops on me. In my hair, on my backpack, on my bike. Delicious.

No more, please.

Update@12:49pm: and, when I got back from class, there were no chicken skewers left. Of course, the one day that is my favorite lunch, I don't sign up for a late plate. There were extras next door, so crisis averted.

I need a nap. And a shower.

OMG ITS ME IN AN ICANHASCHEEZBURGER

Eye candy

Every once in a while, I'll rediscover the Lens Blog (NY Times).

Some great pictures to look at, and some slideshows of note:

Tibetan Nomads, Remote in a Remote Land

Quiet Sites Where Battles Once Raged

Other than that, it's midterm season; just 2 for me.

It's supposed to rain tomorrow and possibly until the end of the week. I've been really liking the beautiful weather, so I'm surprisingly not looking forward to more rain, but perhaps it'll help me with getting work done... Nice weather is too conducive to frolicking... such dilemmas of life.

Also, seen on El Camino: baby for sale. Sigh, grammar, we can't all win.

(I apologize for the poor resolution, but you'll have to take my word for it... bottom right corner says "Furniture, Baby etc")

Also, got my senior formal ticket today. And RSVPed for senior dinner on the Quad. SO NOT READY FOR THIS.

I just remembered:

Partout où il n'y aura rien, lisez que je vous aime.

-Diderot

La lettre entière

It must be spring.

Outside my room, I am disturbed by the twittering of birds. I look out, and there has to be at least 20 birds picking at the little red berries on the tree outside. Flitting from branch to branch and swaying as they sit, their fat bodies weight down the branch. They perform acrobatics, hanging upside down on the edge of berry clusters, picking away to fill their tummies. They look like little bandits, not only in their acts, but also in their dress. They are a smooth tan in coloration, with a crest of feathers at the top and a black stripe over the eye, indeed like a robber hoping to hide his identity. Some of them have bright red stripes near the tips of their wing feathers, perhaps those are the males. Their tails are tipped in yellow, and their bellies have a beautiful gradient from tan to yellow, as the eye progresses from neck to breast to feet. Occasionally, they pause long enough for a picture. If they stay still long enough, it's hard to find out where they are, but the occasional flutter of wings gives them away.

Like a cat.

Sitting on my bed next to the heater.

But cats don't use computers.

Nor do they have theses to write.

Not so much like a cat.

Cats sleep much more than I.

New favorite snack:

Butter top white bread, toasted to perfection, with a light glaze of nectarine jam.

Which also reminds me of one of my pet peeves: soggy toast. When you put freshly toasted bread on a plate, condensation forms because it's warm. As a result, it makes the bread soggy. Which is the opposite of what I desire, considering I put it in the toaster to make it crunchy in the first place. (Solution: turn the toast over and over until it's not hot enough to cause sogginess)

That is all.

Back to thesisizing.

Quote:

"How are y'all's theses?"

Lily: "They're like feces!"

YAY I LOVE RHYMES!!!

Thesis party!!

And by thesis party, I mean thesis writing. And by thesis writing, I mean thesis thinking. And by thesis thinking, I mean so many many many fish.

I'm hungry.

Can you tell?...

I want to go to Paris.

Items of note:

halved fingerling potatoes tossed in a foamy vinaigrette cushioned with cubes of foie gras

whole-wheat tart crust spread with blood-orange paste and covered with tangy Fourme d’Ambert, a blue cheese, tucked among watermelon radishes and greens

rustic salad of caramelized roast pears, earthy lardo, walnuts and salty pecorino di Fossa

14 euro prix-fixe pour le dejeuner? 35 euro prix-fixe pour le dîner?? OUI, POUR MOI, SVP!

NBA PLAYOFFS ARE THE GREATEST, LOVE THE LAKERS

Amir: are you going to include your thoughts on the nba playoffs in your blog?

esp since you're a huge lakers fan and all

Sent at 9:28 PM on Sunday

me: hahahaaaaa

no

Amir:

oh well

i can only do so much

Sent at 9:53 PM on Sunday

Amir: (bribe http://static.open.salon.com/files/cheeseburger1255033633.jpg)

The picture:

Confession:

Rock Band may be one of my favorite games ever.

BEST.

From Dean: KITTEH ROULETTE!!!

Thanks Dean for giving me more reasons to waste my life on cute cat videos.

Cheese Class!

Today I taught my first cheese class with Claire! The first official class was two weeks ago, but I was unable to attend... good thing considering we tried all of the "cheeses": Cheez Whiz, American cheese, Laughing Cow with Real Swiss Flavor, Easy Cheese... Yuck.

Today's theme was "East of the Alps." While there is no official designation for such a region of cheesemaking, we wanted to emphasize that there is cheese from Asia and Eastern Europe!

We had (in this order):

Paneer

Russian farmer's cheese

Kashkaval

Greek feta

Bulgarian feta

Various tasting notes in case you are curious--

Paneer: tastes like milk. And that's it. Can be considered vegetarian considering that it doesn't use rennet. Curdling achieved by using some sort of acidic solution + milk. Sweet, firm, tofu-like.

Russian farmer's cheese: definitely polarized the class. Sweet and salty. Consistency of ricotta, more flavorful, like yogurt. Smells like it too. Fresh cheese.

Kashkaval: hard-er cheese, from Bulgaria. Considered to be Bulgarian cheddar. Salty, sharp.

Greek feta: salty (makes sense considering it's brined). Crumbly (makes sense considering it dries out when removed from the brine solution). Acidic (makes mouth water after you eat it).

Bulgarian feta (aka. sirene): SUPER salty, SUPER acidic. Moister than the Greek feta. Lemony.

For house meeting tonight, fresh baked cookies (courtesy of Pillsbury hah).

Also, revelation: I think Motown music might be one of my favorite genres. Aside from classical. It's always music you can sing along to, and it makes me feel so cheery :) {ex: Ain't no mountain high enough; Ain't too proud to beg}

Creepy...

There's a book with my name:

Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood

Inside jacket cover:

"Watch out, Lauren Wood. Things are about to get bitchy."

First sentence of the book:

"Last night I dreamed I dissected Lauren Wood in Earth Sciences class."

Eek.

(Thanks Marc!)

Happy time is nappy time

Stanford >> Harvard. But we already knew that. Confirmation here.

In other news, I'm prepping for a nap. I fell onto my bed and buried my face in Cedric and laughed. Life is good.

I'm back!

And so it is, I'm back. More or less intact. I've survived the weekend: a barrage of questions, a slew of pot luck foods, the steam bath of Bootie, and the onslaught of rain.

Now what to do? Revel in last-quarter-seniorhood? Doubtful. (Not yet, anyway.) It's thesis time! I have a spreadsheet in front of me with a dizzying amount of numbers. No joke; I look at it for too long, my head spins. 3 weeks until thesis is due.

Other than that:

Keep an eye on my cholesterol.

Try to avoid being a total soggy doggy.

Avoid things trying to prematurely end my life (like falling light fixtures, standardized tests, red meats, cheeses...).

Refocus and balance.

Enjoy.

Update @1:22pm-- Italy, anyone?

DEFIED.

I defied death (exagg to the max, but I'll continue).

A light cover fell from the ceiling, and I dodged it. It was actually quite heavy and it hit my hand. It broke. The fixture, not my hand. (Whether it was from my ninja skills or from hitting some piece of furniture next to me, I'm not certain.)

But don't you worry your pretty little heads 'cause mine is fine.

Ohbutwhynot is missing...

...from this article. But maybe it's a good thing, since pathological is bad.

"Food is love"

and,

How to take pictures of food!

Good timing, NYTimes!

Good stuff

T -4 days.

And, I have significant data!!!

ATTENTION ATTENTION----

When I get a dog (or perhaps a cat, but I feel it vibes more with a dog), I will name it...

Mochi

The rain in (not Spain)

It is pouring. And it reminded me of a time sophomore year when I borrowed my roommate's rain boots and galavanted about. I've got an urge to do that now... but I don't have rain boots, and I do have about 300 more pages to go.

In a couple of days' time, it will be bright, and sunny, and dress weather. For that, I am prepared, but I am sad to see this wonderful weather leave us. Until fall (or even winter), rain clouds!

Right now, I'm drinking gross hot chocolate, made better only by giant marshmallows melted in it. They've become foamy and stick to the sides of the glass as I drink the mix down. I'm also now at the point where the liquid is super concentrated with the residual powder that didn't fully dissolve.

In other news, I'm doing this post from Picasa (like iPhoto, but it's by Google and 20493908098 times better). If you've got a Mac, get Picasa!! It's so much faster than iPhoto, and you can email pictures using your Gmail (and not necessarily through the Mail program, although you can do that too), and the interface is so much easier to use.

Back to work...

Puppies behind bars

A program aimed at getting dogs trained by inmates to PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) war veterans, so they can better cope with their disorder. I remember first listening to a NPR Fresh Air podcast about it over the summer (you can hear it here), and I was reminded of it by an article that just came out in the NYTimes, here. The audio slide show is definitely worth watching, especially for the picture of the puppy with the dish in its mouth.

So pretty

Sometimes, my room is so beautiful that I think it should be featured in Architectural Digest, or Sunset, or some magazine like that. I can see it now: "Dorm room special!-- See the awesomest rooms." Mine would be the best, featured front page, of course.

I want to reorganize my room... Maybe put the bed by the closet, the couch back towards the street, the desk shifted to the other side... I don't know. My mind is restless, my eye is a-wandering.

Mmm. Paper.

I'm doing a problem set on blank sheets of printer paper. I saw Lily doing it yesterday and got inspiration from that. And it makes it so much more enjoyable. I can write as largely as I want, and there are no lines to get in the way. It looks so much cleaner.

Now that I've finished writing on the front side... do I write on the back of the same page, or move on to the next???

This will make my research so much easier!

I can understand animals!!

Also, new favorite blog: The Catorialist