I attended a family wedding this past weekend. It was a good trip for the most part. Though I was under-prepared for the cooler than seasonal night up there, I managed. It was good to see many of my relatives again; I just wish I was better adapted for this sort of social environment. I don't have a physical problem with my hearing; but I don't know if it is because I'm just getting older, or because I'm too accustomed to a more introverted lifestyle: I find myself having a brain that's more diminished in capability in filtering out multiple conversations; so being in a crowded, noisy community hall is sensory overload for me.
I was also invited to another family member's wedding in Banff in late August of this year. Sadly and regretfully, I won't be able to attend that one. I do like Banff; I've been there three times already, but the last time was there was around 20 years ago. Thinking back for each of those times, it was a miracle that I've made it in and out of there with the less than road-worthy vehicles I had to use at those times. This subject, plus reviewing my last entry, prompted me to think about making road trips within this country, as some more holiday time is coming my way. As like with many Canadians, I am one who has been blissfully ignorant about just how huge our country is in comparison to others, and just how skewed our notions are about what 'big' and 'small', or 'near' and 'far', are in terms of distance and scale in relation to those preconceptions from those of other nations; and what we consider is 'normal' for our needs/challenges to travel around, even just within our respective home provinces.* I was doing this after reviewing the time, distance I covered, and the amount of fuel I used, just to go the destination of this last wedding, which was within the province. I was further sobered up to this fact upon realizing through another conversation that the province of Saskatchewan alone is about 15 times the size of Denmark. I'm imagining that the whole scene of the sparseness of our population, distances between towns, and the expense of some rail and air fares for even trips within this country that are greater than some international flights, must appear so grossly inefficient to someone from someplace within, let's say, western Europe when it comes to the subject of travel.
I'm coming around to really disliking long road trips for the sake vacationing now, especially given that the price of fuel is constantly rising. If I have to do more than six or seven hours of driving just to arrive at one destination then I'd rather just fly. It's the fact that you start off (from here) with having to go a ridiculously long way just to get out of territory and scenery that you are already familiar with. The only advantage of it is that you can drive through it relatively quickly, but it still makes for a long drive. I would dread having to live any further south of here. I'm at an age and a place where I pretty much got the general concept of what prairie looks like, and driving through it more doesn't make it look any more exciting or appealing. To put it in perspective for the benefit of my international readers: from my city, you have to drive through what amounts to half the length of England just to escape prairieland, before you just start touching the closest fringe of what is the decent natural parkland and woodland north of here. It may have been OK to do back in the days of my youth, but for me now, it just sums up to more wasted time on the road. I would probably have a different attitude altogether if I were touring another continent with a sparse population on the road, like Australia, because that would be a totally different place I've never seen before. Then again, I would tire quickly of it if it were desert land I was traversing.
I've come to realize that each day I'm allotted less and less time on this Earth, so when I am lucky enough to get time off, I want to get wherever I want to go as soon as I can, and spend less of that time staring down a highway lane and driving. I have only three days to use of my five days off**, and a drive within my six hour radius/comfort zone doesn't really bring me close to anyplace I really want to explore in depth. A sore knee, neck, and back is making tenting and sleeping on the ground up in the bush country not too appealing, as I am trying to recover again for marathon training. Like with the last stint of time off, I might have to be content with creating an adventure at home.
*- And vice versa . . . I heard more than one story of various people in this province who've had guests arriving (I've heard from Holland, Switzerland, Greece, Australia, Hong Kong, and even the United States) who landed in Toronto or Vancouver, and were expecting their friends or relatives to meet them there in something like a couple hours to greet them. Rule # 1 of travel: LEARN SOME FUCKIN' GEOGRAPHY!
**-Two claimed by other appointments.
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Vacation Day X: Brooding, Brewing, & Planning for a Better Escape Next Summer
I quit counting the days off that I've used since this past Tuesday. There has been nothing eventful since then, except for sobering issues that I had to address on Wednesday evening, all of which were work related. Other less than favourable circumstances have me restricted to being a homebody. So, I settled with converting the kitchen into a laboratory, to start brewing some beer, and then I continued to monkey around with other wildly experimental ways of cooking and food prep that just run shy of me using liquid nitrogen and explosives.
The brewing project is going well so far. The yeast culture is alive, activated, and doing what it loves to do best: making alcohol. I love hearing the initial rhythmic released bursts of CO2 escaping from the fermenter's airlock, as it matches the same cadence and frequency of a person's heartbeat at rest . . . a tell-tale sign that this life form is being well-nurtured and content. Yeah sure, I suppose that sounds a little flaky . . . but I'd rather share this little blurb with an embellishment of romanticism than describing it all with the more accurate scientific explanation of what is really going on through this process: the synchronous expulsion of gas that is an expended metabolic by-product of digestion from micro-organisms. In other words . . . a pulsating release of the collected billions of tiny yeast farts.
I had to force myself to settle down, and let my ankles and knees recover from the shock of using my toe shoes (Hobbit boots) for running again. These things are a delight to run in, but they play havoc to the leg muscles when doing any extended period of walking in them. I became so seduced by how wonderfully I was performing with them on my run that I overshot my training range by a hell of a long way, and I'm paying for it now.
My review of last entry led me to search through travel sites for getting ideas for cheap packages for next summer. I figured that I'd extend my running to hitting a race or two out of province, or even out of country. I'd be doing neither races further south of here, nor any around the great lakes region in summer*: I don't handle heat and humidity very well as it is now. I figured that I could do a marathon in Quebec, or the Maritimes, or someplace in Northern Europe which would be suit me better: maybe somewhere between the latitudes of Reykjavik and Zurich. I have more research, and whittling down of options, to do.
*- Maybe in mid or late autumn.
The brewing project is going well so far. The yeast culture is alive, activated, and doing what it loves to do best: making alcohol. I love hearing the initial rhythmic released bursts of CO2 escaping from the fermenter's airlock, as it matches the same cadence and frequency of a person's heartbeat at rest . . . a tell-tale sign that this life form is being well-nurtured and content. Yeah sure, I suppose that sounds a little flaky . . . but I'd rather share this little blurb with an embellishment of romanticism than describing it all with the more accurate scientific explanation of what is really going on through this process: the synchronous expulsion of gas that is an expended metabolic by-product of digestion from micro-organisms. In other words . . . a pulsating release of the collected billions of tiny yeast farts.
I had to force myself to settle down, and let my ankles and knees recover from the shock of using my toe shoes (Hobbit boots) for running again. These things are a delight to run in, but they play havoc to the leg muscles when doing any extended period of walking in them. I became so seduced by how wonderfully I was performing with them on my run that I overshot my training range by a hell of a long way, and I'm paying for it now.
My review of last entry led me to search through travel sites for getting ideas for cheap packages for next summer. I figured that I'd extend my running to hitting a race or two out of province, or even out of country. I'd be doing neither races further south of here, nor any around the great lakes region in summer*: I don't handle heat and humidity very well as it is now. I figured that I could do a marathon in Quebec, or the Maritimes, or someplace in Northern Europe which would be suit me better: maybe somewhere between the latitudes of Reykjavik and Zurich. I have more research, and whittling down of options, to do.
*- Maybe in mid or late autumn.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Vacation Day 6: Art Hacking
Today, the dog and I scurried out to Diefenbacher Park: to try my hand at Frisbee golf, and to let Ella snoop amidst the bushes in some of the more denser overgrown paths around the top of the river bank. As well, I found a place to forage for Saskatoon berries; Ella found herself a bunch of chipmunks to pester and chase around. We lingered around there until the mosquitoes got the best of us.
Later on, it was perhaps a lucky thing that I discovered that I had no more coffee filters left, and that I was going to be deprived of my daily morning brew at home. I use a five cup coffeemaker, and the only place I know that has the filters for it is the dollar store. So, I went there.
I love the Dollarama Store. It's a reminder to me that most of the things that give me pleasure are simple ones. The one I go to is the place where I find the German and Italian cookies I like, which cannot be found everywhere else. So, I bought some of those, along with my filters, plus a $3.00 sketch pad, for one of the biggest challenges of this week that I've given myself.
I suppose the mission of today was to knock some dust out of the right hemisphere of my brain, and test out my artistic side, or just to see if I actually have one. I'm sure as I write this that I'll be talking about my artistic ability like I was from friggin' Mars or something. I haven't tried to draw anything in a very long time. I don't even think that I drew pictures or coloured much as a kid. I'm ashamed to admit that I'm a total chicken-shit when I'm approached and asked to try to do something artistic. It was a real stretch for me to plunge into the activity of 'rock painting' a couple of weeks ago when a co-worker of mine, who is very good at crafts, invited me to join the rest doing it. At this age, it seems like when I see a blank page, I seem to be too reserved, or too weirdly fearful that I'll corrupt it somehow with some kind of ghastly indelible mark, that will be like some sort of total perversion when compared to a real masterpiece. That same anxiety sort of hit me when I placed that blank page in front of myself. Writing is comparatively easier. There are only 26 letters in the alphabet (of my language), 10 digits, and a handful of punctuation marks and symbols to use in a structured way. The most intimidating thing that strikes my analytical mind right away is that there are infinite ways to use and arrange points, lines, curves, and shades on a piece of paper to make even a simple object. Infinity is overwhelming.
I wish there was an easier way to "hack" artistic talent, or to at least be wary of and remember some things that falls somewhere along the lines of the Pareto principle applied to art: knowing how to use just the basic 20% of the skills one can tap into to create 80% of the detail in a masterfully made production. I relapsed into being total geek and researched some stuff, and I did find some useful pointers.
To not make this process too intimidating I stuck to a minimalist approach. I only used a pencil. I also found an erasure shield, something that came in a grab bag when I checked out a garage sale a few years ago, I believe the seller was a retired architect.
I thought I'd start off making a project of practical application of it too: by drawing my own 'manual' of technique hacks.
I think the most valuable one I learned is the pencil scaling trick (Hack #2), where the pencil and thumb are used as a sighting tool to gain perspective, plot marking and reference points, and to frame and align a scene by finding its particular vantage point.
Hack #3 is simply random play, and testing out refining strokes and shading.
I sure as hell won't be a Da Vinci or Rembrant, but these few little tricks I learned added exponentially to what little talent I originally thought I had.
 |
| My pad, my fresh brewed coffee, and European cookies. A simple setting for a relaxing happy place to begin. |
I love the Dollarama Store. It's a reminder to me that most of the things that give me pleasure are simple ones. The one I go to is the place where I find the German and Italian cookies I like, which cannot be found everywhere else. So, I bought some of those, along with my filters, plus a $3.00 sketch pad, for one of the biggest challenges of this week that I've given myself.
 |
| It's either a crude drawing of my hand, or else a very accurate one that shows just how ugly my hand really is. |
 |
| Hack #1: Cone, Cube, Cylinder, Sphere. All forms can be derived from some variation of these four shapes. |
To not make this process too intimidating I stuck to a minimalist approach. I only used a pencil. I also found an erasure shield, something that came in a grab bag when I checked out a garage sale a few years ago, I believe the seller was a retired architect.
I thought I'd start off making a project of practical application of it too: by drawing my own 'manual' of technique hacks.
I think the most valuable one I learned is the pencil scaling trick (Hack #2), where the pencil and thumb are used as a sighting tool to gain perspective, plot marking and reference points, and to frame and align a scene by finding its particular vantage point.
Hack #3 is simply random play, and testing out refining strokes and shading.
I sure as hell won't be a Da Vinci or Rembrant, but these few little tricks I learned added exponentially to what little talent I originally thought I had. Monday, July 15, 2013
Vacation Day 5: Thoughts On Travel
I had a bit of a road trip to the Battlefords, about 135 kilometers northwest of here: to visit my folks yesterday afternoon. I arrived home today, to an alert of a tornado warning for this area. Thankfully, it remained just a warning, which ended mid-afternoon without incident.
As I left my parents' place this morning, I did my Dad a favour, and took a parcel of his of some stuff that he needed to return to a local business here in Saskatoon. My Mom called them earlier to notify them that I was bringing it to them. When I arrived back to my city, I parked my car at home and took the package to downtown on my bike to avoid the lunch hour traffic and parking fees. When I got to the business, I entered wearing my bike helmet and backpack. I then pulled out the package, stating that I brought it to them for my Dad from North Battleford. The receptionist looked at me with astonishment, and then asked me if I actually came all the way from the Battlefords on my bike. For an instant, I didn't know whether to be shocked at her stupidity for making such an assumption, or to be flattered that she thought I really was that physically fit, and had such a superpower of being able to pedal that much distance, within two hours, on a bike.
Getting away for the day was OK, but I really need to be away from here longer, at a totally different environment than what is already familiar to me. But then, that fundamental question strikes me: that being "Why, do I need to travel? I don't know if I have a concise answer for that question, but I found some very poignant commentary surrounding that question in an entry from Tim Ferriss' blog, which makes a lot of sense.
I find it no small coincidence that the English word travel , i.e. 'going from place to place', stems from the same Latin root word that means 'to work' or 'toil', as used in the case of French and Spanish (travail and trabajo, respectively). Travel can be toil, especially if you have the wrong company. In the past, when forced to travel in groups, I got tired quickly of people who will try to drag me around to places that disinterest me, yet are too bloody lazy, ignorant or stupid to know how to compose a simple four word phrase in another language to order a drink, or give directions to a cabbie . . . that somehow always turned out to be my job. They got to satisfy their agenda, while I was stuck at that spot, deprived of making my own experience worthwhile. I make it a point to travel alone now, however, that still doesn't help things much. In my mind, for me as a single traveler, most travel agencies and tourist services even make it worse by:
I'm certainly not pooh-poohing the whole idea of traveling. The thought of having an unstamped passport makes me quite sad. I make an effort to learn languages with hopes to one day use them practically, and that's for the sake of allowing me to veer off the beaten path. I know that constantly re-visiting what I already know isn't improving me. Book learning is OK, but no substitute for hands on experience.
This recent bike misunderstanding I mentioned had prompted me to think and realize that there are a hell of a lot of countries out there that are smaller than the size of this province, or even smaller than the distance between here and my folks' place in length or breadth; and that it would be perfectly achievable to cycle across or around them in a few days or weeks for doing some low cost/less traffic hassle sightseeing. Such places I thought of off the top of my head were*:
Too much altitude and tropical heat would limit my movement, in such places with those conditions. In such environs, I'd be limiting myself to visiting places along the coastal roads. I edited this by adding more countries and regions based on the on the formula of (135 km)2 x pi to give me an area range of about 58000 sq. km or less to pedal around in. Data from the World Bank statistics and Wikipedia.
As I left my parents' place this morning, I did my Dad a favour, and took a parcel of his of some stuff that he needed to return to a local business here in Saskatoon. My Mom called them earlier to notify them that I was bringing it to them. When I arrived back to my city, I parked my car at home and took the package to downtown on my bike to avoid the lunch hour traffic and parking fees. When I got to the business, I entered wearing my bike helmet and backpack. I then pulled out the package, stating that I brought it to them for my Dad from North Battleford. The receptionist looked at me with astonishment, and then asked me if I actually came all the way from the Battlefords on my bike. For an instant, I didn't know whether to be shocked at her stupidity for making such an assumption, or to be flattered that she thought I really was that physically fit, and had such a superpower of being able to pedal that much distance, within two hours, on a bike.
Getting away for the day was OK, but I really need to be away from here longer, at a totally different environment than what is already familiar to me. But then, that fundamental question strikes me: that being "Why, do I need to travel? I don't know if I have a concise answer for that question, but I found some very poignant commentary surrounding that question in an entry from Tim Ferriss' blog, which makes a lot of sense.
I find it no small coincidence that the English word travel , i.e. 'going from place to place', stems from the same Latin root word that means 'to work' or 'toil', as used in the case of French and Spanish (travail and trabajo, respectively). Travel can be toil, especially if you have the wrong company. In the past, when forced to travel in groups, I got tired quickly of people who will try to drag me around to places that disinterest me, yet are too bloody lazy, ignorant or stupid to know how to compose a simple four word phrase in another language to order a drink, or give directions to a cabbie . . . that somehow always turned out to be my job. They got to satisfy their agenda, while I was stuck at that spot, deprived of making my own experience worthwhile. I make it a point to travel alone now, however, that still doesn't help things much. In my mind, for me as a single traveler, most travel agencies and tourist services even make it worse by:
- many rates are based on double occupancy, that can get more expensive for single occupants.
- packages are sold for resorts and tourist traps
- tourists are herded into groups and often isolated from the rest of the population
- tour groups are often put through "itinerary overload", hauled around on a bus to see a thousand points of interest in 16 hours
I'm certainly not pooh-poohing the whole idea of traveling. The thought of having an unstamped passport makes me quite sad. I make an effort to learn languages with hopes to one day use them practically, and that's for the sake of allowing me to veer off the beaten path. I know that constantly re-visiting what I already know isn't improving me. Book learning is OK, but no substitute for hands on experience.
This recent bike misunderstanding I mentioned had prompted me to think and realize that there are a hell of a lot of countries out there that are smaller than the size of this province, or even smaller than the distance between here and my folks' place in length or breadth; and that it would be perfectly achievable to cycle across or around them in a few days or weeks for doing some low cost/less traffic hassle sightseeing. Such places I thought of off the top of my head were*:
- Ireland (Northern Ireland and Eire)
- Scotland
- Southern Scandinavia, Sweden/Norway
- Denmark
- Luxembourg
- The Netherlands
- Belgium
- Fiji
- Bali
- Tasmania (Australia)
- Bermuda
- Bahamas
- Tuscany (Italy)
- North Island (New Zealand)
- Samoa
- Belize
- Cyprus
- Estonia
- Switzerland
- Singapore
- Costa Rica
- Israel
- Taiwan
- Sint Maartin (St. Martin Island)
- Portugal
- Panama
- Malta
- Catalonia (Spain)
- Britanny & Normandy (France)
- Dutch Antilles (Aruba & Bonaire; I've already been in Curacao)
Too much altitude and tropical heat would limit my movement, in such places with those conditions. In such environs, I'd be limiting myself to visiting places along the coastal roads. I edited this by adding more countries and regions based on the on the formula of (135 km)2 x pi to give me an area range of about 58000 sq. km or less to pedal around in. Data from the World Bank statistics and Wikipedia.
Sunday, July 14, 2013
The River Run Classic 2013: 10 km Results
The Night Before: I made Spaghetti alla Vongole for supper, fell asleep around midnight. It was fitful. I was awoken not by ambient noise, but by the stench of a smelly old skunk waddling somewhere around the neighbourhood close to my place. The stink remained in the air a long time after I shut the windows.
Wake up/Breakfast on Day of Race: Alarm set at 6:00, hit snooze once. Breakfast was a plain white bagel, with almond butter, and a banana.
Ten kilometer race start time: 7:30 AM, arrived 20 minutes early. Biked there, and grateful for the valet station for cycles.
Weather Conditions: It was only 7 degrees when I arrived there before the start, and it deceived me in thinking that I was hydrated enough. The temperature rose rapidly after 7:00 AM.
Weather Conditions: It was only 7 degrees when I arrived there before the start, and it deceived me in thinking that I was hydrated enough. The temperature rose rapidly after 7:00 AM.
Start Position: I was probably somewhere between the 40th and 50th person to cross the starting line.
The Goal: To try to beat my time from the Saskatchewan Marathon 10 km race from earlier this year. It would be great if I could put my time under one hour.
Most Challenging Part of the Race: Getting a strained knee after the sixth kilometer, it became tough to just charge up the inclined stretches of roadway beneath the University and Broadway bridges coming back to the timing gate. I would have done better had it not been for that stupid knee.
Things I'm Most Pleased About: I met my goals, 3 minutes and 49 seconds under an hour, and beat my time from the Saskatchewan Marathon 10 km race by 11 minutes and 44 seconds. Although it didn't feel like it during the last three kilometers, the numbers show that I'm improving. At least I wasn't last in my age/sex division.
The Goal: To try to beat my time from the Saskatchewan Marathon 10 km race from earlier this year. It would be great if I could put my time under one hour.
Most Challenging Part of the Race: Getting a strained knee after the sixth kilometer, it became tough to just charge up the inclined stretches of roadway beneath the University and Broadway bridges coming back to the timing gate. I would have done better had it not been for that stupid knee.
Things I'm Most Pleased About: I met my goals, 3 minutes and 49 seconds under an hour, and beat my time from the Saskatchewan Marathon 10 km race by 11 minutes and 44 seconds. Although it didn't feel like it during the last three kilometers, the numbers show that I'm improving. At least I wasn't last in my age/sex division.
Final Results:
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- Time: 56:11
- Rank: 83rd out of 166 racers, just within the upper 50 %
- Average Pace: 5'38"/km
- Average Heart Rate: no reading taken
- Place in my Age/Sex Division: 9/10
My reward(s): Finally taking a road trip out of town, and finally getting to test my car's performance on the highway. Getting to reunite with an old friend. Seeing how happy Ella became when visiting her Grandma and Grandpa. An afternoon nap, and having a beer with my Dad.
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Vacation Day 3: Tapering Stand Still, Race Prep
There was only one mission to complete today: collecting my race package at the Remai Centre for the River Run Classic 2013. I ended up registering for the 10 km race. My initial plan was to do the half marathon, but being that I'm nine weeks behind in this year's training, and considering that I trained better last year for that half marathon, and still ended up getting injured from that race (sciatic injury), it prompted me to think and act a little more prudently this time around. I'll keep training more after this, and continue seasoning myself up for the half-marathon race of the Mogathon in late September. I'm coming close to tallying up 4000 kilometers of recorded running distance since I started keeping track. My ambition is to reach that by this month's end. I'm undecided as to what my reward will be when I complete that, or what it will be after this upcoming race.
It rained throughout the better part of this day, from early morning until just an hour ago. It is late afternoon now, and the sun is just beginning now to struggle to poke some rays through the clouds. There is nothing much I could do with the day, or can do with the remainder of it. I'm tapering, so I didn't run. I'm trying to follow some new training advice given to me about staying off my feet the day before the race, and doing less unnecessary walking/movement, and trying to rest up as best as possible. I don't think I was too successful at this, even with being penned up much of the time inside due to the downpour. I'll have to wake up around 6:00 AM on Sunday morning, so it's pointless to begin an evening of heavy dining and drinking, or anything else really epic, if I want to have any chance of performing well tomorrow. I'm feeling stiffness in my upper torso now that I don't know how I acquired. I hope it clears itself away overnight.
It was the kind of day where all I was pretty much left to do was withdraw and dwell within my familiar little introverted mindscape: multilingual reading, programming lessons, doing a bit of armchair traveling, surfing the net, and viewing You Tube and Netflix was all I did. It's becoming a bit stale and boring.
I may leave town after tomorrow's race and make some stops to surprise some people. We will see.
It rained throughout the better part of this day, from early morning until just an hour ago. It is late afternoon now, and the sun is just beginning now to struggle to poke some rays through the clouds. There is nothing much I could do with the day, or can do with the remainder of it. I'm tapering, so I didn't run. I'm trying to follow some new training advice given to me about staying off my feet the day before the race, and doing less unnecessary walking/movement, and trying to rest up as best as possible. I don't think I was too successful at this, even with being penned up much of the time inside due to the downpour. I'll have to wake up around 6:00 AM on Sunday morning, so it's pointless to begin an evening of heavy dining and drinking, or anything else really epic, if I want to have any chance of performing well tomorrow. I'm feeling stiffness in my upper torso now that I don't know how I acquired. I hope it clears itself away overnight.
It was the kind of day where all I was pretty much left to do was withdraw and dwell within my familiar little introverted mindscape: multilingual reading, programming lessons, doing a bit of armchair traveling, surfing the net, and viewing You Tube and Netflix was all I did. It's becoming a bit stale and boring.
I may leave town after tomorrow's race and make some stops to surprise some people. We will see.
Friday, July 12, 2013
Vacation Day 2: An Iron Chef Challenge
Challenge: To find some weird and bizarre ingredient that I never cooked or ate before, and prepare it to a gourmet standard.
Decision: Frog legs! More than one person I talked to has raved about how surprisingly wonderful these things are. I rationalized that if I can eat and enjoy the flesh of mollusks such as clams, oysters, and mussels: things that at first glance look like they could have dropped out of a warthog's snout, I should be open-minded enough to sample some protein of those vertebrates higher up on the evolutionary scale found somewhere between the fish and poultry.
Ingredient Acquisition: Around Saskatoon, your best bet to find them would probably be at the Asian food stores, but I managed to find my supply at Charlie's Seafood Market. It could also be called Charlie's Swamp Food Market, because they also sell such exotic stuff like alligator meat*, catfish fillets, and crayfish. Crayfish also fit the challenge criteria, but they were also quite expensive. So I chose the frog legs; they're relatively inexpensive for an exotic food. Thus, it would be a cheaper loss if I flubbed it all up.
Good Musical Pairing while Cooking: Kiss That Frog, by Peter Gabriel, Album: Us.
Recipe: Garlic Frog Legs, from Food.com.
Result: Well . . . it wasn't utterly disgusting. The aromatics from the lemon and garlic, and the buttery texture did lots to mask anything unpleasant. There was no swampy or weedy algae aftertaste to it like I was expecting, as I noted from eating alligator meat. The freakiest part of this experience was when I accidently starting to chomp on a fragment of chopped frog pelvis bone when I peeled away a larger hunk of meat. After that happened, it automatically brought to mind that classic skit from Monty Python's Flying Circus.
My Other Learning Challenge: Making a decent loaf of sourdough rye bread.
Why? Because homemade bread is my favourite way to eat carbs (to prepare for Sunday's race). Sourdough is much healthier because it has no added sugar, and it contains lacto-bacillus bacteria culture, which aids digestion. Fresh homemade bread always tastes better than the preservative-laden crap that has been on a store's shelf for God knows how long. Bakery fresh is the next best thing, but more expensive. I trouble myself to learn how to make this because for me it is a simple luxury, and at least some part of one's vacation should be about taking time in indulging in some luxuries.
Result: I can't remember which proportions and ratios I exactly used, because I was adding gradually to produce a right texture and consistency to the dough. My sourdough dough starter (a.k.a. poolish), was about 2 parts lukewarm water, 1 part rye flour, 1 part all-purpose flour (all by volume) and about half a teaspoon of yeast was added. It was mixed to an even consistency, and then covered with a towel and left at room temperature for eight hours. I then added it to a sifted blend of 2:1 parts rye flour to all-purpose, a couple teaspoons of cocoa powder, and tablespoon of onion salt, two teaspoons of caraway seeds, a couple tablespoons of liquid honey, and some canola oil. The rest of the dough making process is lost to me for explanation. It yielded two medium sized loaves. It lacked that rick darkness that I like from the Russian style rye bread, but it was delicious all the same.
Special thanks and acknowledgements: for tips on the art and craft of bread-making - Tenzo Edward E. Brown**; for spurring on the spirit of gastronomically curious amateurs and adventuresome wannabee foodies - Tim Ferriss (author of The 4-Hour Chef); and for some wild new culinary science tricks and techniques - Nathan Myrhvold and Maxine Bilet (the authors of Modernist Cuisine at Home). Thanks for being my muses and mentors.
*- I did tried alligator once. Considering the resulting flavour by how much it cost, I remember not liking it enough to ever want to try it again. Same deal with catfish.
** - Tenzo is not a name, it's a title: for the head cook of a Zen monastery, a very venerable position. Since most of a monastery's food is acquired through donations (largely of second rate stuff) it is the imperative of the tenzo to be frugal, resourceful, and creative enough to take whatever is lacking in terms of quality and quantity, and making the most or best of it for the sake of maintaining a harmonious sanga. . It's something I can respect and relate to, since I'm often relegated to do the same thing whenever I'm fussing around in the kitchen . . . at home, or at work. Watching Tenzo Brown manage his kitchen has been very insightful for me in re-thinking the preparation of food, and to be mindful about the waste of it. It wouldn't surprise me at all if the master chefs of the original Iron Chef TV series sought the advice from the tenzos in Japan.
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| I don't know what wine to serve with this meal, but I think I found the perfect beer for it at The Saskatchewan Liquor Board Store. |
Ingredient Acquisition: Around Saskatoon, your best bet to find them would probably be at the Asian food stores, but I managed to find my supply at Charlie's Seafood Market. It could also be called Charlie's Swamp Food Market, because they also sell such exotic stuff like alligator meat*, catfish fillets, and crayfish. Crayfish also fit the challenge criteria, but they were also quite expensive. So I chose the frog legs; they're relatively inexpensive for an exotic food. Thus, it would be a cheaper loss if I flubbed it all up.
Good Musical Pairing while Cooking: Kiss That Frog, by Peter Gabriel, Album: Us.
Recipe: Garlic Frog Legs, from Food.com.
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| My four little biology lab specimens on their new cucumber adorned lily pad. I figured if I tried decorating it a bit I would be less likely to start gagging. |
My Other Learning Challenge: Making a decent loaf of sourdough rye bread.
Why? Because homemade bread is my favourite way to eat carbs (to prepare for Sunday's race). Sourdough is much healthier because it has no added sugar, and it contains lacto-bacillus bacteria culture, which aids digestion. Fresh homemade bread always tastes better than the preservative-laden crap that has been on a store's shelf for God knows how long. Bakery fresh is the next best thing, but more expensive. I trouble myself to learn how to make this because for me it is a simple luxury, and at least some part of one's vacation should be about taking time in indulging in some luxuries.
Result: I can't remember which proportions and ratios I exactly used, because I was adding gradually to produce a right texture and consistency to the dough. My sourdough dough starter (a.k.a. poolish), was about 2 parts lukewarm water, 1 part rye flour, 1 part all-purpose flour (all by volume) and about half a teaspoon of yeast was added. It was mixed to an even consistency, and then covered with a towel and left at room temperature for eight hours. I then added it to a sifted blend of 2:1 parts rye flour to all-purpose, a couple teaspoons of cocoa powder, and tablespoon of onion salt, two teaspoons of caraway seeds, a couple tablespoons of liquid honey, and some canola oil. The rest of the dough making process is lost to me for explanation. It yielded two medium sized loaves. It lacked that rick darkness that I like from the Russian style rye bread, but it was delicious all the same.
Special thanks and acknowledgements: for tips on the art and craft of bread-making - Tenzo Edward E. Brown**; for spurring on the spirit of gastronomically curious amateurs and adventuresome wannabee foodies - Tim Ferriss (author of The 4-Hour Chef); and for some wild new culinary science tricks and techniques - Nathan Myrhvold and Maxine Bilet (the authors of Modernist Cuisine at Home). Thanks for being my muses and mentors.*- I did tried alligator once. Considering the resulting flavour by how much it cost, I remember not liking it enough to ever want to try it again. Same deal with catfish.
** - Tenzo is not a name, it's a title: for the head cook of a Zen monastery, a very venerable position. Since most of a monastery's food is acquired through donations (largely of second rate stuff) it is the imperative of the tenzo to be frugal, resourceful, and creative enough to take whatever is lacking in terms of quality and quantity, and making the most or best of it for the sake of maintaining a harmonious sanga. . It's something I can respect and relate to, since I'm often relegated to do the same thing whenever I'm fussing around in the kitchen . . . at home, or at work. Watching Tenzo Brown manage his kitchen has been very insightful for me in re-thinking the preparation of food, and to be mindful about the waste of it. It wouldn't surprise me at all if the master chefs of the original Iron Chef TV series sought the advice from the tenzos in Japan.
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Vacation Day 1: Power Coma
Yesterday evening I was winding down from a day that was more physical than I realized: I used the gym after work for 45 minutes of strength training, I cycled about 30 kilometers in total during the blazing afternoon, and topped it all off with a 5.8 kilometer run in the early evening, when it was still 29 Celsius. Afterward, I shopped for some essential groceries I lacked, had a late supper, and then continued with learning programming languages. It started off as a part of a exercise to learn how to manage loops and other repetitive tasks in JavaScript.
I was directed to create five of my own statements to insert and play around with in the lines of code to use in the exercise. Since I was anticipating my first full vacation day, which started the next morning, I made some statements about what I had in store for me. I had no plan really, so I wrote these five lines centred on the theme of "Tomorrow, I have. . .", which stated:
I don't think I've ever slept for that long before at any time in my life: not even at times when I was really sick, a victim of heatstroke, jetlagged, impaired by medication, or even after some bouts of inebriation back in a more foolish past. Seeing those five lines was liberating, and perhaps shut down my mind long enough to allow my body to show me just how exhausted I've become. I probably would have slept longer too had the dog not woke me up, either because of a desperate need to relieve herself outside, or just because she was so concerned that I was in bed for that long.
So for today: the tomorrow that I was writing about yesterday, I still have no plan, I'm actually still sleepy. It will start with waking up by going out for coffee someplace, someplace new for me, and see what happens from there on in . . .
I was directed to create five of my own statements to insert and play around with in the lines of code to use in the exercise. Since I was anticipating my first full vacation day, which started the next morning, I made some statements about what I had in store for me. I had no plan really, so I wrote these five lines centred on the theme of "Tomorrow, I have. . .", which stated:
- console.log("no one else's problems or issues to deal with")
- console.log("nothing pressing or urgent to attend to")
- console.log("no agenda to satisfy, or role to play; only to seek out leisure")
- console.log("the freedom to use my energy as I see fit")
- console.log("the freedom to use that time to devote to re-inventing myself, and to become someone better, in some way")
I don't think I've ever slept for that long before at any time in my life: not even at times when I was really sick, a victim of heatstroke, jetlagged, impaired by medication, or even after some bouts of inebriation back in a more foolish past. Seeing those five lines was liberating, and perhaps shut down my mind long enough to allow my body to show me just how exhausted I've become. I probably would have slept longer too had the dog not woke me up, either because of a desperate need to relieve herself outside, or just because she was so concerned that I was in bed for that long.
So for today: the tomorrow that I was writing about yesterday, I still have no plan, I'm actually still sleepy. It will start with waking up by going out for coffee someplace, someplace new for me, and see what happens from there on in . . .
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Amusements in Logic
Starting Monday, I have about 11 hours left of short shifts to do this week before I do some holiday time. In a way that's good. I do three or four hours within three days, and I'll hopefully have enough energy and momentum to clear stuff away at home for the remainder of those days before I dive into time that's to be devoted to mostly leisure. Perhaps weaning myself away from work gradually like this is the way to go, rather than having a more radical transition.
I'm doing some more advanced programming exercises now. Messing around with the process of trial and error in correcting some missing details and other silly mistakes, is making me think that there was a time in the past when I would have been so much better able to retain the knowledge, hone my skills, and have a peak performance at doing such tasks.* Right now though, I feel as though my brain has to have a lot of rust, dust, and cobwebs brushed and knocked out of it before I can deal with anything that's purely logical.
There was a time in my life, when I had less busy days and was better able to focus, when I was becoming a real enthusiast for doing the rather esoteric hobby of solving logic puzzles. The British ones were (still are) the best. It was a way to sort of play detective. I was correctly completing ones ranked five stars in difficulty; even the ones without a logic grid, on a regular basis. I became so interested in them that I wondered if I could even create any of my own that would ever be acceptable enough for publication in any one of the puzzle magazines one finds them in. I did start a small portfolio of some that I drafted up, working at composing and editing them piecemeal. I don't remember when it started happening, but I'd guess that it was something I did as an effort to endure the coldest, darkest, loneliest days of winters past.
I'm doing some more advanced programming exercises now. Messing around with the process of trial and error in correcting some missing details and other silly mistakes, is making me think that there was a time in the past when I would have been so much better able to retain the knowledge, hone my skills, and have a peak performance at doing such tasks.* Right now though, I feel as though my brain has to have a lot of rust, dust, and cobwebs brushed and knocked out of it before I can deal with anything that's purely logical.
There was a time in my life, when I had less busy days and was better able to focus, when I was becoming a real enthusiast for doing the rather esoteric hobby of solving logic puzzles. The British ones were (still are) the best. It was a way to sort of play detective. I was correctly completing ones ranked five stars in difficulty; even the ones without a logic grid, on a regular basis. I became so interested in them that I wondered if I could even create any of my own that would ever be acceptable enough for publication in any one of the puzzle magazines one finds them in. I did start a small portfolio of some that I drafted up, working at composing and editing them piecemeal. I don't remember when it started happening, but I'd guess that it was something I did as an effort to endure the coldest, darkest, loneliest days of winters past.
I doubt if dreaming up and writing these things is something one could ever get rich at, or allow me to just quit my day job. Logic puzzles, at least non-digital ones, are a dying amusement these days, like most of the other pencil and paper puzzles; thus their creation is becoming a dying art as well. The
jest and appeal of it for me though is that I’d be creating something that
like-minded people want to approach for a bit of diversion and positive mental stimulation. Also, the thought of making even a little money from watching an idea grow and come to fruition, even if it's just a small and trivial one, is now becoming a hell of a lot more thrilling to me than that of earning comparatively more money from doing stuff that wears you down with boring routine, and constantly muddling through and dealing with others' ignorance and stupidity in the act (guise) of service.
Back when I taught English for my brief time overseas; being sent frequently without a prepared lesson plan, into a classroom full of kids often too incorrigible or indifferent to learning anything, making and presenting a logic problem was often my salvation. If the kids were disinterested in learning language directly, they were more often than not more willing to be involved with a game or puzzle based on a formula, which they had to force themselves to express in English. I wasn't any good at enforcing classroom management with structure and discipline, but I did alright with at least capturing the attention of those few students who enjoyed the challenge of doing more critical thinking.
The one thing I miss most is getting to be engaged with more people who regularly deploy logic and common sense; so that's the kind of company I should be seeking out during my holiday time. I suppose then that one of my ambitions during this vacation time will be to start probing through and editing these past works of mine, and find publishers to submit them to. If they get rejected, I'll post them here to share with other interested parties. Perhaps my followers who are logic puzzle enthusiasts, especially those from the UK** who read my blog, could help me with this project.
*- I'm referring to a time when the computer languages and technology I'm messing around with now did not yet exist.
**- The stats from my reader numbers by nation indicate that readers from the UK are only 7th in the standings. As it is currently, the rankings of my numbers of followers before that placement, by nation, rank as such: 1. Canada, 2. Russia, 3. Latvia, 4. United States of America, 5. Germany, 6. Ukraine.
Back when I taught English for my brief time overseas; being sent frequently without a prepared lesson plan, into a classroom full of kids often too incorrigible or indifferent to learning anything, making and presenting a logic problem was often my salvation. If the kids were disinterested in learning language directly, they were more often than not more willing to be involved with a game or puzzle based on a formula, which they had to force themselves to express in English. I wasn't any good at enforcing classroom management with structure and discipline, but I did alright with at least capturing the attention of those few students who enjoyed the challenge of doing more critical thinking.
The one thing I miss most is getting to be engaged with more people who regularly deploy logic and common sense; so that's the kind of company I should be seeking out during my holiday time. I suppose then that one of my ambitions during this vacation time will be to start probing through and editing these past works of mine, and find publishers to submit them to. If they get rejected, I'll post them here to share with other interested parties. Perhaps my followers who are logic puzzle enthusiasts, especially those from the UK** who read my blog, could help me with this project.
*- I'm referring to a time when the computer languages and technology I'm messing around with now did not yet exist.
**- The stats from my reader numbers by nation indicate that readers from the UK are only 7th in the standings. As it is currently, the rankings of my numbers of followers before that placement, by nation, rank as such: 1. Canada, 2. Russia, 3. Latvia, 4. United States of America, 5. Germany, 6. Ukraine.
Monday, July 1, 2013
Canada Day 2013
There's nothing monumental happening for me on today's national holiday. There is no going to the parks, no beer gardens, no barbeques, no checking out bandstands, no ogling bikini clad women. Even though I live right next to the fireworks show that will kick off tonight, I won't be spectating: the trees bordering the park obscure the view from my place, I'll just get all the noise. Instead, I'll be holed up here, avoiding the extra crowds and road traffic, and trying to comfort my dog who will be terrified once the blasting starts. I still go to work today, and I then take on some extra chores of doing some house/pet-sitting for other vacationers beginning tonight.
I started writing a reeling daily entry covering the weekend. That posting failed to upload completely and was somehow corrupted: either because it got too long, or because I got hacked, or because it was becoming so laden with negativity about the vocational and social scene around here that for all I know, I might have been outright censored. It's just as well that I voluntarily trashed it. Reflecting on, and expressing such bitterness and contempt is not the way I want to close the first half of the year. The rain has finally subsided over the weekend, and we are getting some hot days ahead. Summer has finally arrived, and I need not dwell on depressing stuff throughout it all.
The only good development I did mention was that I think I overcame some struggles with my running. I finally broke through the teens (I reached 13 kilometers on Saturday). My lungs are finally starting to function properly. I believe my troubles may have been stemming from a seasonal allergy to some kind of pollen. I hope I keep improving to get fit enough for the River Run Classic half-marathon coming up in a few days.
My actual summer holidays are coming up in about ten days from now. Other than training for this upcoming race, and getting some work lined up for fixing some stuff in my suite, I haven't the foggiest idea about what I'll be doing, or where I'll go for my leisure. I know fishing in the rivers is out of the question. The water is still high and fast, and they're still a murky mess from all the flooding from the previous weeks.
Last weekend, I made a spontaneous purchase of some disks for playing Frisbee golf: since there is a course so close to me for it in Diefenbacher Park I thought I'd capitalize. Frisbee golf is probably the equivalent of lawn bowling for hipsters. I'll find out soon enough.
I started writing a reeling daily entry covering the weekend. That posting failed to upload completely and was somehow corrupted: either because it got too long, or because I got hacked, or because it was becoming so laden with negativity about the vocational and social scene around here that for all I know, I might have been outright censored. It's just as well that I voluntarily trashed it. Reflecting on, and expressing such bitterness and contempt is not the way I want to close the first half of the year. The rain has finally subsided over the weekend, and we are getting some hot days ahead. Summer has finally arrived, and I need not dwell on depressing stuff throughout it all.
The only good development I did mention was that I think I overcame some struggles with my running. I finally broke through the teens (I reached 13 kilometers on Saturday). My lungs are finally starting to function properly. I believe my troubles may have been stemming from a seasonal allergy to some kind of pollen. I hope I keep improving to get fit enough for the River Run Classic half-marathon coming up in a few days.
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| My new set of "clubs" |
Last weekend, I made a spontaneous purchase of some disks for playing Frisbee golf: since there is a course so close to me for it in Diefenbacher Park I thought I'd capitalize. Frisbee golf is probably the equivalent of lawn bowling for hipsters. I'll find out soon enough.
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