Things I keep meaning to blog about

Chocolate chip cookies:

Made the NY Times recipe that has been going around the food blogs like crazy. I shorted the butter 2 Tbs, the sugars a little bit (maybe 2 Tbs each?), used almost 4 cups of flour and shorted the baking powder and baking soda just a little to adjust for altitude. I used our ice cream scoop for measuring (awesome!) and baked for about 12 minutes (a lot less than they recommended, maybe our scoop is smaller?). I also chopped up a "pound plus" of Trader Joe's bittwersweet chocolate and added about a cup of Hershey's chips. Pretty sure that's what made the chocolate chunks so awesomely melty, but it was a pain in the butt and good chocolate chips would be a lot easier.

Verdict? Very delicious. Got RAVE reviews from the party I brought them to (saving some for ourselves, of course!). Ours probably turned out pretty different from the by-the-book cookies would, but that's the way the high-altitude cookie crumbles :-)

Scramble:

I am addicted to this game on Facebook. Apparently it is just like Boggle, only I have never played Boggle. I think I would like it very much.

Thesis:

Actual progress is being made! Very exciting on all fronts. Now that teensy steps of progress have been made, I need to pick up the pace if I am ever going to finish this marathon.

Hmm.... what else...

Belly Dance:

I have been taking a class from a new teacher. It's a limited edition, meaning that she's only doing it for a month (I missed the first month, thanks to my oh-so-lovely summer school class). It's a different style than I've done before, so it's been good to move my body in new and exciting ways, except that I look like a much more awkward and jiggly version of my teacher (and only when I can manage to get CLOSE to doing the movements she's doing). I feel like I'm starting to get the hang of it, but I would need a lot more practice to get moderately decent. Too bad this coming week is the last class :-(

Costco:

Method at Costco! When I thought about blogging about this, I realized I would have to take pictures to show the wondrous-ness that is Method-at-Costco, and thought about how much work and time it would take, and how insufficient my photos and words would be to describe it. And then I saw this video. Before you watch it, let me say that *all* of the core elements of this video were things I too did (the snuggling, caressing, and comparisons). However! (and this is clearly a big "however") I absolutely did not do any of the more... disturbing parts of this video (no fetishizing took place, only snuggly cuddling) and CERTAINLY that crazy switcheroo at the end did not occur. Other than that, yeah. I concur. Without any more extraneous ado:



So there's that.

Self-explanatory

My dad sent me this picture a while ago and it explained so much about me and my interests (namely, dance). He just scanned it and sent me a link to the photo.

My mom is in the maroon leotard. I'm the munchkin. Thank you, Mom.

Hard to say which one is better

Or the original.

Go Buffs!!!

Hooray for Jenny Barringer! She's going to the Olympics! It was so exciting to watch her qualify for the Olympics in the 3000m steeplechase in Oregon, representing CU in her Buffs uniform. So cool! Go Jenny!!!!

Pretty nice day

This morning, I went to see WALL-E with a friend. Um... can we say, awesome? I know all the reviews have said it, but this is a really great movie and definitely worth seeing in the theaters. My friend and I were debating whether or not kids would even like the movie because so much of it is very sophisticated (even though it's mostly non-verbal).

This evening, I made one of my favorite meals: braised fennel with diced vegetables (there's a French word for what this is, but I don't remember it) and a white wine sauce. It was very delicious and now the apartment smells really good.

Sure, there was a lot of school work and other less fun stuff in between, but two very nice things make apretty nice day overall.

Sweet nectar of the gods

We don't drink much soda. About a year ago, we bought eight or ten 12 packs of soda because of some sale. Last night, I got a hankering for some soda with my popcorn (precisely why I stocked up on said soda), crawled under the sink to our food-cavern only to discover all we had left was diet Canada Dry. Blech. Well, bad soda is better than none when a hankering is progress, right? Wrong. God, it was terrible. As I choked it down (why did I persist? I don't know.), I suddenly thought fondly of the only ginger ale worth drinking: Vernors. However, I've never seen it outside the Detroit/Toledo area (where I first tasted it while staying with relatives). Sadness.

So today I went to the grocery store, determined to get some kind of drinkable soda. I'm cruising the aisles, getting some root beer and grape soda (NOT a cola gal here). Out of the corner of my eye--and I think angels sang and a spotlight shone--I saw a PILE of Vernors, both regular and diet. AAAAAAAHHHHHH (angels sing in a chorus). Of course, then I have to debate with myself about spending SIX DOLLARS on 12 cans of soda. Actually, the debate was whether I should get THREE 12 packs, because they were buy 1 get 1 free, or just the one. I went with the one, but now I am second guessing myself. We'll see. The sale runs through tomorrow, so if it's everything I dreamed it to be after my first cold can, I may go back. We'll see.

PS In spite of desiring delicious soda where it does not live, I LOVE regional foods. This world would suck much more if you could get everything anywhere. Then why would a can of Vernors be anymore special than a can of Coke?

Amazing video

I don't really know why, but I laughed, cried, and did both at the same time watching this video. So, so worth the watch. An incredible video we all need to see as people living on this little blue planet.


Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Courage

One of my summer assignments is "Writer's Workshop," primarily a group for adults with aphasia (language and word-finding impairments, usually from stroke). Working with these individuals has been very inspiring, but never more than today.

Today, I shared my first prose piece with the group, a short "tour" of Reno. They were all very complimentary, but one gentleman more so than the others. He told me, in essence, that I should submit it to a magazine or some other place for publication. I brushed off his compliments, well aware of how difficult it is to make a living as a "writer."

He then shared with us some of his work from before his stroke. It was beautiful; full of descriptive language and imagery. While his poetry today is also lovely, he struggles for a very long time to put together even a simple phrase because the words come so hard won. As we were talking about his work, he said something about my writing again. He mentioned how he used to write "years ago," but "then work, and you know."

One of the other clinicians was sitting next to me, and she reframed his words for me. I wish I could remember exactly what she said, but in essence, she was telling me that he was saying that I needed to keep writing because life can so easily get in the way. We never know what could happen. There, but for the grace of God go I.

This gentleman was writer too. Then he stopped writing too. Years slipped by, and one day, he lost those words he thought he would have forever.

Wow. I think I have work to do.

OMG, Internet Part II

Woah. I just saw that George Carlin died today. Weird coincidence that I wrote about him on my blog the very same day. I'm assuming he did not read my obscure post about his appearance on Shining Time Station and have some adverse medical reaction to my writing, so I'll call it coincidence.

Very shocking news indeed.

OMG, Internet

You will not believe what I just found out. I am not crazy in one small miniscule area of my life.

So, years and years ago, I happened to catch the kids' show "Shining Time Station" on TV. I couldn't believe that my beloved Ringo Starr was on a TV show for kids playing a teeny-tiny train conductor. Then, who knows how long later, I saw it again and realized I must have been crazy because it wasn't the incredible Ringo Starr, but some OTHER guy, who appeared to be suspiciously like George Carlin (really?). So I figured I was just crazy and had a very poor memory and imagined my hero into some random TV show.

Flash forward to today, when I found through a random link that: HELLO!!! They were BOTH on the show! Ringo started the role, and then was replaced by Carlin! Oh, thank goodness, I'm not totally nuts!

(And yes, I realize what a crappy post this is to come back after a month away from updating. Apologies.)

Oh dear!

It has been QUITE a while since I last posted!

Let's see... right now I am in between a very fun (and story-filled) road trip with my brother from Austin, TX to Reading, PA and starting school again on Monday (boo to that). I also just reformatted my external hard drive, which thankfully only had two months worth of pictures that were not backed up, but it was a very, very scary time when I thought I had destroyed everything.

I've greatly enjoyed my three weeks off, but as usual, it didn't feel like that much time at all. I realized on this break exactly WHY my breaks never feel like time off. It's because I *don't* have any time actually off! I always work through, and often I have to work extra because I need to make up for time I needed for finals, etc. So yeah, I may have a day or two here and there where I have nothing specific to do, but in real life you get those EVERY WEEK. They're called "weekends."

I will post later today (hopefully) about our crazy trip through the Eastern half of the country. It was definitely an adventure, I'm glad I could help my brother out (just imagine what it would have been like WITHOUT me, Peej!) and we got to do some very fun things along the way. Right now, I am uploading all of my pics to Flickr, having learned the lesson of the deleted hard drive.

Halfway

The end of this semester marks the halfway point (sorta) of my MA program. We have this summer and next fall of classes and clinic, and then we are out on internship (which I hear is pretty much like working, without the paycheck).

I couldn't believe how quickly my first master's went by, and I feel the same about this one. Granted, we still have a ton of work ahead of us, but we're halfway there! It's incredible how much I learned this semester and I sincerely hope that feeling continues in my next two semesters. There's still SO much I don't know, but luckily, I am beginning to realize that now. I guess that's one indication of how much I have learned.

Well, back to the take-home finals!

Babies!

No, not me. One of my classmates is pregnant and I got to feel the baby kick today! It was very, very cool, especially since I am the first person to do so, even before the daddy (not for lack of trying, though. I guess I just have awesome timing). It was a little weird, though, just to realize and another tiny human's leg was just attacking me from inside another human.

Mmm... delicious

In an effort to (allegedly) make use of the 20 key limes we bought for one whole dollar at Sunflower Markets, I made key lime pie (and also managed to break up the monotony of doing 3,000 projects due tomorrow. I kid. But not much.). Not just any key lime pie! Oh no! Very complex, labor intensive MINI key lime pies. So labor intensive that at nearly every step, I thought to myself, "These can't be worth it." (Then again, I am just not used to juicing 18 tiny limes. That was really the hardest part. Basically, I thought that as I juiced every lime half.).

Were they? Oh yes, my friend. They were indeed. If only for the intensely satisfying "banging of the muffin tin" step. The most miraculous thing? It worked *perfectly* even though I was absolutely convinced I would just end up smashing my adorable little pies into the table. This was a tester run, to see if it would be worth making a second batch for our end-of-semester party. If I have time on Thursday (which I think I will), I'll do it.

Recipe here!

I hope people like pie :-)

Into the Woods

Last night we went to go see Boulder High's production of Into the Woods, the Sondheim musical. Holy Cow. Like many people, I was first introduced to this musical by the version they had on TV with Bernadette Peters. This production was so much more entertaining than even that!

The the cast was so talented that for the most part, you'd never guess they were high school students. It's an extremely challenging production on so many levels (difficult music, ensemble cast requiring a lot of talent, a lot of acting). Honestly, when I heard the high schools put it on, I couldn't even imagine how. It just takes an amazing amount of skill and hard work, I guess.

They had pyrotechnics (much better special effects than the movie version!), complicated sets with moving floors, quick costume changes... the works. Practically Broadway-quality for not-at-all Broadway prices (especially since the husband's a teacher there. It only costs us free-ninety-nine!).

Says the atheist to the Catholic

Him: I think I should learn how to use a gun.
Me: Why?
Him: To protect myself in the coming apocalypse.

Visitors

I just randomly checked my Sitemeter stats. Since I assume I have very few readers (Hi Aous! And PJ!), I assume that my two visitors a day are just those two compulsively checking in (and since I know at least one of them uses Google Reader, I know that's not really the case).

So I was shocked, shocked I say, to discover that I have had visitors from all over the world. I'm sure most of them randomly stumbled upon this blog, and left quickly thereafter, but I am intrigued as to how any of my readers get here (regardless of how long they stay). Maybe you googled "slash wedding," which is apparently a hot search, and also one I am ranked shockingly high on (to this post). Maybe you even googled "Sazzing" itself. If you are one of these clever people, I am very curious: were you looking for me? If not, what were you hoping to find? I won't be at all sad if it really was not me you were anxiously googling for.

In summary: hooray for visitors! And since people actually read this, perhaps I should try to make it a little more interesting. Sadly, I am very poor at writing scathingly funny things about people close to me (who might get wind of this blog). That would be interesting to read, I think, but you shan't find any of that here, alas.

So, tell me how you got here!

Linguists in da HOUSE!

Saving dying languages

Major kudos to these awesome linguists (check out my former teacher, Dr. Rood, in the video and story) for devoting literally decades to this important work. Hooray for good linguist publicity!

Fun ways to spend your time

Check this site out:

http://www.rap.ucar.edu/general/press/webcam/owlcam/

It's a live webcam of two great horned owls and their two babies. So far, we have been lucky enough to see the babies twice, including an evening feeding! Very cool. Here's a screenshot from this morning:

I like to just leave it on and check in from time to time. Have fun!

Studies in late night paper-writing

Pop Rocks are an '80s party in my mouth.

Also, a tasty alternative to coffee (blech) for the awakeness.