Fruit Loops and Zombies
Posted by Sarah in miscellany on Nov 20, 2011 | 0 commentsTwo great tastes that taste great together.
Actually, this is mostly a post to test a couple of new plug-ins but it would be boring if I just came right and said that.
Thanksgiving prep
Posted by Sarah in cooking, food on Nov 12, 2011 | 0 commentsI could have sworn I posted my Cranberry Sauce recipe last year but I can’t find it. And then, whilst trolling the internet, I found a NEW recipe that I may have to make instead (or possibly in addition to).
Spicy Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
- 3 to 4 jalapenos, finely chopped
- 8 cups cranberries
- 2 limes, zested and juiced
- 2 oranges, zested and juiced
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup water
- Salt and fresh ground black pepper
Directions
Put all of the ingredients in sauce pot and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat and simmer until desired consistency, about 40 to 50 minutes.
It’s cynical, but…
Posted by Sarah in miscellany on Nov 10, 2011 | 1 commentMy conversations about Penn State today were probably a little different from that of most people. One of my vendors is from State College and grew up down the street from Joe Pa – trick or treated at his house, knew the family well enough to be conversational. He also went to high school with another person involved in this clusterfuck and has passing familiarity with some others. He was hoping that the people he knew had done what they thought was right and had just put their trust in the wrong people.
My response: “So, if it was HIS kid do you think he’d have done the same thing?” The answer was obvious – no.
“And if he’d KNOWN the kid, do you think he’d have done the same thing?” Probably not.
So I call bullshit. Period. There’s nothing about this situation that was right or okay.
That said, we shouldn’t be all that surprised.
Colleges, especially those with Division I sports teams, have a SHIT TON tied up in those sports teams. Gawker asked “What if the guy had been black?” As I told a friend today, his color would have a lot less to do with this than whether or not it was a winning program. He scoffed and I explained.
D1 schools use their sports teams as a number one marketing/recruiting tool. While it’s foreign to me, apparently a lot of people choose their college based on the sports teams. Not only that, the sports programs bring in scads of cash which leads to (a LOT of times) head coaches in successful and lucrative D1 teams making as much if not more than the president of the university.
In my personal experience, I’ve seen coaches that embezzled cash and blatantly broken NCAA rules not even get a slap on the wrist. Most of them won’t get shown the door and on the off chance they DO, it’s with a golden parachute. It’s not that far of a stretch to think that, in order to protect the reputation of a winning program, much worse things would be swept under the rug. Color is less important than The Program.
The politics of college sports is preposterous and I know it’s cynical but I wasn’t all that surprised to hear how this shook out. A grad assistant hoping to keep his or her job doesn’t rat out someone in the Program unless they want to find THEMSELVES out of work, sans aforementioned parachute. So yeah, they do the minimum and try to stay under the radar. I’m not saying it’s RIGHT, but college sports is one of the few places where the Old Boy’s network is alive, well and the only path to success for a stupidly large number of wildly underpaid people. The culture of that society can be intense.
What’s terrible is the extent of the damage that the accused has caused. The kids involved, the families and the entire community will be affected, outside of the college itself. Maybe now is the time we re-evaluate how our culture treats sports? I doubt it.
I’m glad the coach got fired. I’m more glad the president got fired. I’m sorry it didn’t happen years sooner.
What is making me happy
Posted by Sarah in miscellany, reviews, tv, yoga on Nov 8, 2011 | 0 comments1. I’m about to cut two hours of commute out of every workday. I get to wake up when it’s not dark. I’ll have time to WORK OUT before I leave for my job and a whole extra hour after work. I’m giddy with the potential in those two hours.
2. Books. I’m almost done with my 55 books I’m willing to talk about (my best estimate is that I’ve read about 100 books so far this year total) and I’ve found some that I thoroughly enjoyed and have recommended to others.
3. Yoga! I’ve got fun new yoga stuff around the corner.
4. Guitar! My class is almost over and I’ve learned A TON. I also picked up the free tabs app from Amazon the other day so I’ve got guitar notes for some of my all time favorite songs.
5. Google Plus. With the change away from Reader’s share function and the addition of business pages, I’ve got a lot more activity in my stream that is exactly the kind of stuff I want to read.
6. @ellenbarkin on twitter
7. The Walking Dead continues to kick ass, but I’m practically jumping OUT OF MY SKIN about tonight’s Sons of Anarchy.
8. Last night’s Castle was as Castle ever is – cheeky, clever fun. I can’t wait until I start my new job so that I can watch all of prime time TV during, you know, PRIME TIME.
9. Homeland is epic. Not only are Damien Lewis and Claire Danes amazing, the writing is tight and the storytelling is intense. I am loving this show.
10. Fairy tale TV. I was a huge fan of Grimm’s and Hans Christian Andersen growing up so both Grimm and Once Upon a Time are hitting all the right notes, albeit in very different ways. I found myself *looking forward* to OUaT this week. That hasn’t happened with a network show in a while.
Googlecentric
Posted by Sarah in internet, miscellany on Nov 5, 2011 | 0 commentsI guess most of the internet is pissed off about the changes with Google Reader, Gmail, Reader app and the Google Plus app. Surprisingly (?) I’m the minority.
I haven’t had any problems with the new GReader app, other than adapting to the lack of arrow navigation. It’s not like sweeping is revolutionary though, so that’s not really a thing. They saved the ability to share function and my DroidX lets me choose where to share it (email, Plus, Tweetdeck, etc.). Since I had a pretty small Reader community, the share to Plus is what I was hoping for and I’m happy with the functionality.
As to the changes to Reader and Gmail… from what I can see they’re largely cosmetic. None of the changes fundamentally impact how I use the tools so I’m kind of at a loss over the hullabaloo.
My only bitch about the Plus app is that my widget function is gone. Truthfully though, that’s not a huge loss since the app has one button functionality as well. No steps really lost. *shrug*
Possibly because I live so much in the Googleverse I’m just not fazed since I use their products ALL THE TIME. The changes have been largely intuitive to adapt and haven’t created any inconvenience. All told, I’m still happy with my Google experience.
Techpocalypse Now
Posted by Sarah in miscellany on Oct 27, 2011 | 2 commentsI know the fiction, film and tv world are chock full of zombie apocalypse these days but this week I had a random conversation with a coworker. Said coworker is not especially chatty, so I was surprised when he hit me up in the break room. I was MORE surprised when the conversation somehow went from football to porn to legal prostitution and then to techpocalypse. When I play it back in my head now, it STILL doesn’t make much sense.
At any rate, he was all lamenting that people these days wouldn’t be able to take care of themselves if all the tech vanished, yadda yadda. I was all, DUDE. PEOPLE MY AGE DON’T EVEN KNOW HOW TO COOK, this problem is OLD. So he goes on a fantasyland trip about ‘If there were no limits, in what time and place would you want to live?’
His vote: 1400s North America so he could “live off the land with the natives.”
Me: 21st century.
Him: WHA?
Me: Yeah, when you give me that choice, I’m pretty much ALWAYS going to choose the time when women stop being chattel. So I’m choosing the future EVERY TIME.
Him. WHOA. I never even THOUGHT of that.
Me: Yeah. That’s because you’re a white dude. It never needed to cross your mind. I’m all about not being property just because of my genitalia.
Both of us: Marvel at the back of his head on the floor since I BLEW HIS MIND.
Sometimes shit really just makes me go WHAT THE FUCK.
Because I love you (NSFW language)
Posted by Sarah in entertainment, miscellany on Oct 20, 2011 | 0 commentsThis chick cracks my shit up.
Jenna Marbles- Lessons form Disney
Cheese dip for your sandwich
Posted by Sarah in cooking, food on Oct 10, 2011 | 0 commentsA couple weeks ago I made some amazing Paula Deen chipotle cheese dip. This week I found a way to make it amazing on sandwiches.
8 oz lt cream cheese
2 chipotle chili peppers in adobo sauce
Juice of one lime
1/2 c low fat mayo
Blend in food processor
Without the mayo it’s got a thicker texture which is great for crackers. With the mayo, it’s spreadable and AMAZING with lunchmeat. I had it with roast beast yesterday and turkey today.It may be my new favorite thing ever.
Sunday update
Posted by Sarah in cooking, food, movies, reviews, television, tv on Oct 2, 2011 | 0 commentsWatching SNL’s weekend update and the Tyler Perry portion is reminding me of conversations with my friend Fatima. Funny.
I’m making chili today because it’s a perfect day for chili, football and beer. One of our friends is going to join us so I’m making an effort to get some homework done. We attended a beer tasting last night and let me say there are worse things to do on your weekend. In fact I may have to make a run to pick up some 1554.
We took a slight roadtrip to get lunch yesterday and I stumbled into an excellent hair cut. A lovely woman named Beverly gave me a spectacular cut for the rock-bottom price of $15. I may have found a new favorite place. Also, it doesn’t hurt to have an excuse to visit BV once a month for lunch with some friends. Accidental awesome is some of the best kind. She was also tickled to find out someone had left her a nice review on the internet so I made sure to leave her another on both Yelp and Google Places.
In TV news, I saw the Haven finale and HOLY SHIT that show impressed me ALL SEASON. It doesn’t hurt to have smoking hot leads but the writing has been tight and is continuing to make the overarcing mystery interesting rather than tired or played out. It’s one of my summer surprise favorites. If you want info on where to catch the episodes online, leave me a comment.
Sons of Anarchy is also kicking a lot of ass, as expected. It’s making me even more eager for the return of Justified and what I can only hope will be a season 2 marathon (as I haven’t seen it) before the Season 3 premier.
I’m stoked, by the way, that my Defying Gravity love posts inspired my friend mesoterica to check it out and that she loves it too. I may have to rewatch them AGAIN this week. Never have I been so tempted to write fanfic.
Books: The Night Circus is great so far and while I’ve stalled a bit on Wildwood, I have been enjoying it.
In movie news, watched Hanna and fucking loved it. Loved it. Eric Bana is incredible and the whole movie is far better than the trailer.
Yoga Journal Conference – Estes Park 2011
Posted by Sarah in asana, classes, health, philosophy, teaching, travel, yoga on Sep 23, 2011 | 1 commentThis is the view from our room at one of the YMCA lodges. Go look. It’s worth it.
Melissa and I got to Estes Park later on Thursday than hoped – we’d planned to be here by 6 but a wrong turn, dinner and loss of cell signal delayed us a bit. We missed the keynote speech but had plenty of time to settle in and prepare for Friday’s classes. As luck had it, we were in two of three sessions together (first and last) and it was a nice way to re-acclimate (me) and intro (Melissa) to the yoga conference culture.
There is definite verbiage associated with a yoga conference. Things like “the Divine,” loops, spirals, grounding, “hugging in”, melting and “bringing it in” are referenced ALL THE TIME. If you are not down for a little yoga woo-woo, a conference is probably not for you.
Anyone who knows me will tell you I’m not a woo-woo fan, but I love this opportunity to study with teachers I’d otherwise never see and experiment with styles otherwise unavailable to me in person. Also, a little woo-woo does a body good.
This morning I started with an Anusara inversion class. As is typically my experience, I enjoyed the class and I actually like their little opening mantra. My only frustration with Anusara is their default to woo-woo words in a lot of places where anatomical direction would be a lot clearer but they’re not egregious about it. There IS however a tendency (not just Anusara) to talk about how inversions allow blood to pool in the now upside down extremities/reverse/move from the feet and other variations of that ABSOLUTE BULLSHIT which makes me insane. You are talking about anatomical parts and you have missed that the heart is a PUMP. Unless your pump is NOT WORKING, you continue to have blood EVERYWHERE IN YOUR BODY – EVEN WHEN UPSIDE DOWN.
End rant. Sorry about that. It’s shit like that that convinces people yoga is nonsense because it’s just a stupid thing to say. It’s that sort of thing that makes people who’d benefit from it dismiss it out of hand. All in all I enjoyed the inversion class, which I followed up with “Toning Your Butt Can Be Spiritual.” It’s safe to say I wasn’t there for the spirituality, of which there wasn’t REALLY all that much because when it comes to butts, it turns out no one cares about spirituality and everyone cares about toning. It was a fun (and funny) class.
Last session was with Gary Kraftsow who kind of changed my life (and definitely changed my teaching) when I saw him first at a yoga conference in Toronto pretty early in my teaching career. Today’s class was a focus on therapeutics for neck and shoulders and it was just as incredible and helpful as I remember that first session being. When I eventually take on more training, it will likely be with him.
Tomorrow I’ll hate my life a little because at 8 am I’ve got a 2 hour Baptiste session (thanks to a great Baptiste instructor I had in Michigan) and I’m going to be HELLA sore from today’s adventures.
Thus far it’s been the experience I was hoping for when I signed up and it makes me think I should be looking ahead to additional conferences or retreats. Work did not cross my mind for a single second today. There has been good food, beautiful weather, great views, excellent instruction and good company so the conference is a win no matter what.
Rants and (Potential) Raves – Fall TV
Posted by Sarah in entertainment, recommendations, reviews, television, tv on Sep 19, 2011 | 0 commentsThis is apropos of my setting up the DVR last night. Given my disappointment with some returning favorites this summer, it should probably not come as a surprise that I’m less than thrilled with the new fall TV lineup. This is good because I DO NOT NEED TO WATCH MORE TV.
Returning shows I won’t be watching:
Gray’s Anatomy. Really I’m not sure how I managed to gut it out this long but the honest to goodness dealbreaker was this chucked in at the end of the season plotline with Christina getting pregnant on accident AGAIN and the impending relationship fallout, with a side of Meredith’s general incompetence and her husband’s douchebaggery. I just… I can’t even.
I’m also pretty sure I’m done with Supernatural. They should have ended with their fifth season, as was the original plan. Don’t get me wrong, I think the fifth season was the weakest of the series but THAT’S why they should have ended it. A last minute tacking on of another season can only mean DISASTER. I’m not sure I’ve got the patience for it.
House. I’m totally over the cranky doctor porn.
Keepers:
Castle. I’ve loved this show since it started and it hasn’t lost a thing. Clever, funny and great chemistry.
Criminal Minds. So. Good.
Modern Family. Hilarious. One of the funniest shows on TV.
NBC’s Thursday lineup (except Whitney) Got to get your laughs somewhere!
Justified. Yeah it’s not likely to start until the new year but DAMN this is a great show. I devoured season 1 on DVD and will be impatiently awaiting season 2. So fucking good it makes my head hurt.
The Mentalist – Straight up fun to watch. Patrick Jane is helping the police so that he can gleefully torture/murder the guy who killed his family and has admitted it to his boss. You have got to love a show that embraces a funny and clever guy who’s doing good so he can kill someone – and still make it FUN to watch.
On the fence:
NCIS. Here’s the thing. I LOVE so many of the actors on this show but last season just fell flat. It’s also reaching Law and Order saturation level with reruns.
Glee. I did not love most of last season. I LIKED it but I’m not sure that’s enough when there is truly great entertainment out there.
Chuck. I sort of wished they would have ended this with last season, though having heard Zachary Levi talk about it means it’ll probably get a 3 episode grace period.
New blood:
Unforgettable – I kind of dig Poppy Montgomery and I’m a sucker for crime procedurals
Ringer – Sarah Michelle Gellar, lots of actors I love with a caveat of CW. This could be brilliant or fucking terrible and will no likely languish in the middleground.
Revenge - The Count of Monte Cristo is my favorite book, therefore this should require no explanation
Prime Suspect – I am awaiting with equal parts excitement and trepidation. The original BBC production is amazing. I love Maria Bello. On the other hand, this is an American remake which could mean utter shit.
Once Upon a Time – Doesn’t premiere until October but I am REALLY hoping it doesn’t suck.
The Vampire Diaries – Not technically new as I’ve been watching it online but I’m adding it to my DVR. Pure pulpy horror goodness.
End result: I am still watching WAY too much TV. In my defense- I’m also working full time, going to school and reading books for fun so fuck it.
Week ending (books, tv, food)
Posted by Sarah in books, cooking, food, recommendations, reviews, tv on Sep 17, 2011 | 0 commentsThis morning we started the day by watching the Food Network, which is never a good idea. Why? Because instead of relaxing at home, practicing guitar, doing homework or washing the dishes, you’re suddenly at the grocery store to buy ingredients for whatever was just on Paula Deen’s Best Dishes.
We had the Turkey Black Bean Burgers with Corn Salsa for lunch, accompanied by Lemony Slaw and with Chocolate Milkshakes for dessert. It was all delicious and all DIRECTLY from the tv show.
I finished The Very Thought of You the other day and I’ve been wrestling with how to talk about it. The cover is what first caught my attention and I was heartened by the description on Amazon (though I will admit to not reading the reviews) and I believe that I heard something about it on Books on the Nightstand. Then when the price dropped to $9.99, I bought it. I loved the book, even if I wouldn’t necessarily classify it as my typical fare. It’s a contemplative read, which doesn’t mean boring so much as nuanced, and an amazing story about love and complicated relationships in difficult times. It doesn’t have a barnburning pace but I found I had a hard time putting it down because I wanted to know where it went (which was, incidentally, thoroughly satisfying). My mission is now to find other people who have read it.
Speaking of love: I spent yesterday and today re-watching Defying Gravity which was a purchase with birthday money. It’s maybe the best series to never get a full first season in television and seeing it again just made me sad that shit like the Charlie’s Angels reboot is going to air and probably be wildly successful. I’m hoping that Ringer is going to satisfy my interesting/smart tv niche for the fall but it’s on the CW so my hope is limited. Defying Gravity was great because it was smart and touching and challenging about topics that make me unsurprised that it didn’t get picked up but is just so goddamn good that I bought the DVDs. It’s the kind of fiction I love.
State of Wonder and Supergods are both topping my wishlist currently but my $10 ceiling prohibits them. I’m going to settle for digging into Wildwood. If you want to see what else I’m interested in, the list is here. It’s not entirely up to date as I’ve taken to sending samples of the books I’m interested to my Kindle and using that as a list of sorts.
Today’s mistake
Posted by Sarah in entertainment, internet, media, television, tv on Sep 15, 2011 | 0 commentsI’ve got several hours between work and my guitar class and, for the second week in a row, I have planned badly.
I should have brought my netbook (which shall evermore be known as ‘nanook’ thanks to my Droid’s autocorrect) but it would have meant a second trip back to the bedroom and I was running late. Instead I have lurked around town, listening to podcasts and reading a bit. This is important only because I especially appreciate how This American Life covered 9/11 and the reasons they have for doing so. It was exactly what I had hoped to see on television and hadn’t.
In tangentially related news, I called both of my favorite tech podcasts yesterday and got my voicemails played on both. I’m the neediest person you’ve never heard of.
In TV news, I watched Ringer. I kind of love all the actors and the general premise, but the execution is going to be key. I’m willing to wait and see.
Today
Posted by Sarah in miscellany on Sep 11, 2011 | 0 commentsI did virtually nothing I had planned.
What I DID do:
Go out for breakfast with my awesome husband
Catch up on some Dr. Who episodes (I’m in season 3)
Have drinks and conversation with a good friend who’s becoming a great friend
All in all it feels like a well-spent day, plans bedamned.
Yoga travel
Posted by Sarah in miscellany, travel, yoga on Sep 9, 2011 | 0 commentsI’m currently loading a metric asston of my favorite music onto my phone with its shiny new microSD card, so I figured I’d answer a question from Melissa about traveling with a yoga mat.
There are a lot of ways you can go with this, all of which will depend on what kind of yoga and how much of it you’re going to do while traveling.
For example, when we went to India we had a limited amount of luggage and I wasn’t sure how much room I’d have to spread out – not to mention the space a yoga mat would fill could hold a lot of souvenirs. I went with some yoga paws, which are gloves and almost-footies that have contact points made of the same material as an inexpensive ($10-15) yoga mat. They take up almost no space and are good for yoga on the move, but not for a lot of seated or kneeling poses.
There are also travel mats, designed to be folded, which I haven’t personally used.
What I’ve done for almost all my travel is carry my mat on with me. I’ve got a nice little bag which is mat-shaped with an extra pocked on the inside and outside. It provides great protection for the mat (rain or shine) and has just enough space for keys/i.d./towel/small stuff that would be useful in a studio. I use that as one of my personal items and then usually carry a regular carry-on bag rather than checking luggage. Et voila – two bags, no baggage claim.
The reason I carry on my mat is because I’ve got a Jade Harmony mat worth every bit of the $50ish I paid for it. It’s a natural rubber and no matter how much I sweat (I’m looking at you Forrest Hip Hop Yoga class in Boston and Urban Yoga Spa in Seattle) I do. not. slip. Since I sweat like a center for the Detroit Lions, it’s a huge bonus to have my own mat with me unless the circumstances require otherwise (see: 14 hour flight, foreign country).
