Grad School

Well, I got my first application in, except for letters of recommendation, last weekend. I think I can use the same basic essays, tweaked to fit the different programs, over and over again. I took care of the GRE a while ago (September 11, for good luck), so it's nice to have that off the table.

Eleven apps left.

I did a budget for my academic expenses for the next six months, and it's a little ridiculous. Including application fees, GRE scores, transcripts, letter of recommendation service, one college visit, and flight & registration for one conference, it's over $2,000. That's half of my quarterly income.

On the bright side, I am going to a conference. I spent the summer doing research at UCLA and I submitted a poster to the Society for Research on Adolescence conference - technically two, since I'm last author on another. They were both accepted and I'll be sharing a room with my advisor here's other grad students. The potential for hijinks is high.

This quarter is killing me a little. Two research projects, a seminar, a regular class, and grad apps. And work. It's like taking six classes. Next quarter I'll be wrapping up the projects, taking a grad class and a regular class, doing grant apps, and work. I do not know when to quit. Fortunately my low-commitment social life allows for some flexibility. And grad school is a lot of work, so this is probably good preparation for it.

I really hope I get into good schools.

DAS SOUP!

I was trying to make a casserole and inadvertently discovered some amazing college student soup. (So called because it is cheap and good for lazy/busy people.)

2 cans tomatoes, undrained
2 zucchini
1 package tofu (extra firm)
basil to taste (I recommend a lot)
pepper
oregano
hot sauce to taste (I used Sriracha, AKA rooster sauce)

Turn on the oven to 350.
Oil a casserole pan. I used olive oil, which is pretty ideal because it goes into the soup.
Drain tofu and cut into centimeter-sized cubes.
Cut zucchini into two-centimeter cubes. (You don't know metric, you say? Learn I tell you! British measurement system is for imperialists.)
Bake tofu and zucchini for 20-30 minutes or until tofu is lightly brown. (Baking them before the broth goes on preserves their individual flavors, firms up the tofu, and helps soften/cook the zucchini.)
While the tofu and zucchini bake, season your cans of tomatoes. My recommended seasonings are above. If you follow them, do not add salt as the other herbs take care of it quite well. Then do some reading for class because that really shouldn't take too long.
When the tofu is golden, remove from the oven and pour your tomato mix over the top, and stir a little to mix.
Bake for another 20 minutes.
Remove from oven and ladle yourself some soup!

This is a low-broth, more-stuff-to-chew-on kinda soup , but it's got enough liquid to warm you up on a chilly autumn night. It also seems pretty flexible.
Try adding: chicken, spinach, corn, maybe beans? Maybe green beans?
Do not try adding: carrots. Trust me. They don't do well with the basil.

UPDATE:
Tried it again with tofu baking solo, then throwing a can of drained green beans in with the tomato mix to marinade while I waited to pour it over. It's okay. The green beans aren't as flavorful as the zucchini was.

Homesteading (or, This is What I Did Today)

Skyscraper Scarf Pattern

Hi all. This is for my Skyscraper Scarf project, so named because the gaps look like little windows in a taaaaaaaaaall building to me. Great with any compatible hook-yarn combo. You can also modify it to any width with a starting row of a multiple of 4 + 2.

Ch 26.
Row 1: ch2, insert hook into second stitch from hook to create dc. dc across. (26 stitches)
Row 2: ch 3 (counts as first dc), dc 1, *ch 2, skip 2 base stitches, dc 2. Continue * across until the end of the row. (14 stitches)
Row 3: ch 3, dc across. (26 stitches)
Repeat rows 2 & 3 until done.

Finishing options:
Finish on a row 3.
Finish on a row 2 and connect into first row for a Moebius scarf or cowl.

B is for Blooming (and Bullshit)

The hard-won slaughter of a week's hunting. I always seem to make the catch on Sunday.

I am, it is generally recognized, a straightforward and no-bullshit person. I am aggressive. I am focused. I can be impatient, demanding, and brusque. This presentation, this lifestyle, these choices are not always comfortable for others to experience, to understand. This is by the nature, the intention, of the beast I am. Make no mistake, I know that I am both brutal and savage.

I aim to be a challenger, not in a competitive sense but in a sense of mastery. A tenet of my belief system is that we only have one life, and it is not worthwhile to get hung up on the politics of social relations. Taboos, social expectations are constructions that do not exist so much for a purpose. Their utility is far outweighed by the damages of silence, conformity, inauthenticity. I wasn't fully - "properly" - socialized into the system. I don't see why we have to buy in if the goal is full experience of the limited resource of life. Isn't it better to work hard and endure pain so that you can grow stronger and do more? Aren't the rewards of the expansion of your potential worth the trials you choose to undertake? Isn't the view from the top of the mountain worth the struggle up?

I'm not a gamer, but...

Fable II is super fun.

Why is this surprising? Well, I'm usually a very linear player. My goal is to get to the end. Period. I only want the minimum gear I need to get there. I don't want to spend 5 hours making sure I got everything, I don't want to "explore," I don't want to run off the trail, I don't want open content. I feel a little guilty that I game at all - there are so many other things I could do with my time - so why spend time trying to be perfect at something with no tangible rewards?

For some reason, Fable is different. Customizing the character isn't tiresome. The side quests feel worthwhile. Waiting for "daytime" to come so I can go shopping isn't as much of a hassle - I usually get an in-game "job" and work until "morning".

There are a lot of factors to stay on top of - your attractiveness, your moral purity (seriously), your gold, your gear, your jobs, travel time. For some reason, it isn't intimidating. Maybe I'm becoming more of a gamer - I have had subscriptions to World of Warcraft, and I recently beat LittleBigPlanet - but even with the extensive load screens, it's been a lot of fun.

Also, you get an ADORABLE dog companion who does useful stuff. Major props to the guys and ladies who designed the movements and expressions - it's easy to get attached to/appreciate it as a sidekick. Beloved Boy's dogs (on different characters) are Buttercup and Nutmeg (or Nutters).

A hardware note: I started playing Fable on a large, dying TV. Next round was on a smaller, dying TV. Beloved Boy got a 32" HDTV for Christmas. I am NEVER going back to Fables on analog. You can read things, understand the symbols, and appreciate the gorgeous graphics. So nice.

A is for Amore

Being in love is totally punk rock.
Sure, it's soft and fluffy and snuggly, but at the same time it's kind of like a mosh pit. You plunge into this super hardcore seething mass of danger, thinking, "That. Looks. Awesome." And it FULLY IS. You've got six cubic liters of adrenaline coursing through your wildly gyrating body and you get this high like you can do anything or take on anyone. You might get the crap kicked out of you (probably will), but you don't really feel it and at the end of the night you shake hands with the guy who did it and grab a drink. It's violent; it's dangerous; it's completely worth the bruises, concussions, broken bones - because of that high. We humans are love junkies. Our brains literally release opiates when we're in love (and when we're in mosh pits). We will go through all sorts of hell for a fix. The lucky ones get it steady, like a vitamin, but some of us wear our love history like track marks. Mainlining bliss into both arms and our eyeballs all in one go, then crash until the next fix.
Consider your beloved after an absence. Consider them after sex. Consider long-distance relationships. Consider abusive relationships. Consider polyamory. Consider withdrawal. Consider the long-term health effects of being in a mosh pit.
It's such a beautiful thing.

LINKS!
Being in Love is Totally Punk Rock T-Shirt
Red and Gray Messenger Bag

Resolutions! Have Less, Do More

It's already a few days in, but I haven't finished the post because I was actually working on my resolutions. Take that, timelines!

I want 2009 to be smooooooth.

In the spirit of smoothness: Downsizing.

I'm a terrible packrat. I need to get rid of a LOT of stuff because it's not bringing me joy at this point in time. I look around my room and fuss over the amount of stuff I have, hardly seeing the "potential" uses I have saved things for. Every day since New Year's has been Cleaning Day and more stuff is going into the bag for the Switch and Stitch and Bitch next week. What's left will at least be tidy! And no new supplies until most of my existing supplies have been used. The knitting is starting to take over my room, the fabrics need to be worked with and not linger in a box, the saved clothing needs to be modified, and the "for sale" stuff needs to be put up and sold. No mercy!

The other area of this is food. Being pretty broke off and on this quarter has showed me that I can survive and even thrive on a lot less than I thought I could. Proper preparation can get me on a better track and save me money, etc. etc. I spent New Year's with an amazing woman whose figure I'd like to rival by this time next year. I get lazy, so the planning is going to be key. Constant vigilance!

In the spirit of smoothness without stagnance: Activity.

Yes, it is very easy to put something on the TV and knit for a few hours. This has gotten me a lot of stock for my shop, but the aforementioned fabric has sat around for several moves, waiting to be used. The clothes have sat on their shelf - "To Modify" - since summer. And like always, I'm behind on posting my work. I am going to focus more energy on using what I have and concentrating on crafts for the sake of themselves, not as things to occupy my hands while my brain is watching TV. Neither photography or sewing are too strenuous. I can do it!

Also, exercise & body. At the very least, no more sitting in bed to knit/TV - I have a perfectly good exercise ball and if I use it as a chair, I'll get a little toning and keep the bed from being an "awake" place in my mind. I also have five-pound weights that need to get used more. Again, vigilance!

More to come before too long - my camera cable has vanished into the ether, but stuff's been going on!

Links!
My Rocky Horror Picture Show Cast (show TONIGHT!)
Bright Colors for the New Year Recycled Yarn Scarf
Lunar New Year Necklace