…today’s white elephant is often tomorrow’s beloved landmark.

— Blair Kamin, Chicago Tribune

New Year’s Revolutions - Status and Update

It is that time of year again - a time for my new year’s revolutions.  For me, they are essentially new year’s resolutions, but the word revolution carries more weight in my mind.

In 2009

I made only one new year’s resolution in 2009: to read 52 non-work related books last year.  Sadly, I only made it halfway.  In retrospect, this goal was a bit ambitious considering my status as a Ph.D student.

For 2010

1. I’ll be reading the Bible in a year.  I’ve done this twice before since entering college in 2004, and I want to do it again.  This time I’m reading it in the New Living Translation for a different, more story-telling feel (previously I read the NIV and ESV).  However, I’m reading it in a book which contains 4 parallel versions of the Bible, so I can easily jump translations.
2. I intend to read 18 books for fun.
3. Every month I will cook with one type of produce (fresh plant, meat or cheese) that I have never used previously in my own cooking.
4. I intend to do one photo shoot for fun per month.

These goals will keep me from becoming becoming a dull boy via the “all work no play” principle.  And I love to have goals.

2009 - A Year in Review - The Jarbees

If my life were to be reduced to the basics of an athletic franchise (a sports team), then what would be in my end-of-year report?

Team Record:

Wins: Getting Married, Honeymooning in Southern California, Visiting my Uncle’s Cabin…

…visiting my sister and brother in law, Getting lots of opportunities to cook!

Losses: Less travel than in previous years. Being a poor graduate student…

Considering the fact that life cannot be perfect, the win-loss record demonstrates a championship caliber team.  I cannot help but be incredibly thankful for everything I have!

Acquisitions and Trades:

Gained:

A Wonderful Wife

A New Church

Traded Away: Two Quality Roommates

An old church

Overall, management is extremely happy with this year’s roster moves.  Churches were a geographic necessity.  And while it was tough to let go of the two elite up-and-coming players, the move to a proven MVP like a wife was in the best interest of the team.

Stadium Update:

The team started the year playing ball downtown in Stadium 217.

While spacious and conveniently located above a Trader Joe’s, bedbugs, lack of charm and a change of roommates necessitated the move to the new Stadium, known simply as “The Jenk.”

Fans of all ages and walks of life have delighted in the charm, size and character of The Jenk.  It also is on a residential street (as opposed to across the street from a strip club).  As a result, we may charge higher ticket prices.

2009 Executive Summary:

2009 was an excellent year for the Jarbees. While there were drastic changes to the team roster, the return on investment of a young, growing marriage creates an environment conducive to success in both immediate and long-term qualities of life.

2010 Roster Scouting Report:

There are many reasons to anticipate the coming year! Plans are forming for an inexpensive yet traveliscious vacation for the wife and myself.  For certain there will be a camping road trip out to a summertime wedding in western Wisconsin.  By the end of next year I hope to have more than 2/3 of all the components of my Ph.D completed.

The Christmas Spirit

A teenage homemaker and older priest inspired the following block of words:

My deepest thoughts uplift Your name

My inner heart breathes the life of my Savior

For You remembered me!

You thought to rectify my pitiful state.

And now I am called a part of Your Kingdom

now I am a part of the nations under Abraham.

By a power only held by the Sovereign

By a perfection only known by the Lord of All.

And here Your kingdom remains a terrestrial mystery

This kingdom raises the loser

This kingdom honors the failures

This kingdom empowers the weakened

The power to the slave, the mercy to the unlovely,

The wisdom to the feebleminded, the glory to the lowly.

Praise be to God, for His kingdom, His righteous One, is upon us.

Culinary Experimentations with JC - Jerk Sausage Supreme Linguine

Tonight creation was one of the more strange, unique creations to come across my table.  Without my wife around, I took experimentation to another level.  I’d call it caribbean fusion, but fission is probably a more accurate descriptor.

My intent was to use some recently acquired allspice to create a Jamaican inspired jerk.  It turned into something very different, however.  First, I placed olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, allspice, dried minced onion, a jalapeño pepper, ceyenne pepper, thyme and brown sugar into a bowl and heated it up.

I then took some sausage which had been sliced into little slices…

…and threw it into the mix!  Then I added a lime and let the sausage cook in the simmering liquids.

Then I added in corn, and let it simmer until it thickened.  I served it over linguine with some good stinky cheese and more thyme.

The end result was a pleasant surprise, despite the general lack of color.  The sausage carried a lighter flavor, while the sauce packs a moderate punch of jerky-ness on the back end, which is offset by the cheese and pasta.  So, despite the utterly odd amalgam of flavor, I fell upon a moderately successful dish.

My personal tip: don’t try this at home, or when people are visiting.  While the dish works, it is not a normal combination of flavors.  It combines two dishes into one.

Variety: The Spice of Life

From now on, I’ll be making seasonal banners and tweaking other parts of the blog for my own amusement.  Sometimes it may look cool, sometimes it may just look weird.  Right now, it screams Christmas.

The banner above is comprised of 3,000 Christmas-related images I have taken over the past 3 years.  Merry Christmas!

Consumerism in the Information Age

I ran across three articles today on the same study from UC -San Diego.  It states that human consumption of information has increased dramatically over the past few decades.  The study broke up this information into various areas:

Does this research really mean anything?  It certainly doesn’t reflect my pie chart of information consumption.  But it did make it to two highly popular technology websites, not to mention the New York Times (those are the media outlets where I encountered this study).  According to the report we consume ~100,000 words per day, or 34 gigabytes a day (thus in a month we fill a decently sized hard drive).  Instead of reading the NYT article, though, I will only provide the link to the actual document, which is publically available: http://hmi.ucsd.edu/howmuchinfo_research_report_consum.php.

Such research is always provocative - that is, it calls us to actively question our environment and information rich world.  But here is my question, my current brain drool:

It appears that we “consume” significantly more information than we have in the past, but how often do we bother to chew any of it?

Indian Chicken

I must admit that I got the majority of yesterday’s culinary inspiration from a recipe from Adam Robert’s (a food blogger I follow) Food2 (Food Network 2) show.  I am not a food blogger, but the results of my efforts were certainly something to write home about.  Thus, I am writing to most of you back home!

See below…a most tasty paste of water, chili pepper, garlic, ginger, paprika, turmeric, garam masala, and ceyenne pepper.  I used a hand blender to mix the chunky stuff before putting in the powdery spices.

Followed by some salted chicken…

Followed by sauteed onions (done until they start to get brown)…

Thrown all together and simmered for ~30 minutes…

And voila!  Add some rice, tomatoes and orange slices for squeezing, and you have a most delightful meal.