finally finished sherlock holmes! only 2000 pages and 7 months later... (and i didn't even read most of the annotations and notes!) i also enjoyed every minute of them. they are great reading and a lot of fun :)
also, sorry i have not posted any images or anything attractive recently. our new house is overwhelming us with too much to do--floodings, painting, etc. :( also, our computer at home has died, and while we did get a new netbook almost immediately, our front room/library has been in a shambles with bed-building and other activities so i cannot hook it up to our external hard-drive to remove pictures from our camera! so, hopefully soon i will have pictures from our trip to vermont for lee's birthday--which was almost a month ago!
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
two more books!
this is not the year of fast reading for me! man, i haven't really finished many books, yet i'm always reading!
two more for the completed list, though: a walk in the woods by bill bryson and in the beginning about the king james bible.
if you haven't read a walk in the woods and you like outdoors-y books, this is funny :) lee and i started reading it together while we were hiking the appalachian trail and had a great time reading it. however, the chapter on bears scared lee a little bit. oh, and then we ran into a couple of bears so that didn't help! but it's a fun and funny book. some chapters get a little eco-preachy, but not in a bad way, just in a way that you wonder how it fits in with the book. but we enjoyed it. if you ever go camping or hiking, you'll likely enjoy it :)
in the beginning is something i read for work. next year is the 400th anniversary of the king james bible. the kjv is popular with christian scientists, and most of mary baker eddy's bible quotes come from that translation of the bible. i'll be doing a mini kjv exhibit in my space at the library at the turn of the year. i will also be writing up an "object of the month" for our regular rotating online exhibit. you should check it out--they are pretty interesting. i've written 2 so far: one on a book called gems for you with poetry from new hampshire authors, including mary baker eddy (who was originally from new hampshire), sarah josepha hale, and others; and also a book called chafing dish possibilities by fannie farmer. so you can look for an early kjv there sometime next year. (if you go to the bottom of the page on horses, you can click to all the others there--we have small thumbnails of each object we've done so far.)
anyway, i'm not able to speed read like i've done in the past. sherlock holmes is still occupying a lot of my time. but hey, the collected works i'm reading are 2000 pages! i've got to cut myself some slack here... and also, today i begin reading the actual kjv itself... yup. cover to cover.
two more for the completed list, though: a walk in the woods by bill bryson and in the beginning about the king james bible.
if you haven't read a walk in the woods and you like outdoors-y books, this is funny :) lee and i started reading it together while we were hiking the appalachian trail and had a great time reading it. however, the chapter on bears scared lee a little bit. oh, and then we ran into a couple of bears so that didn't help! but it's a fun and funny book. some chapters get a little eco-preachy, but not in a bad way, just in a way that you wonder how it fits in with the book. but we enjoyed it. if you ever go camping or hiking, you'll likely enjoy it :)
in the beginning is something i read for work. next year is the 400th anniversary of the king james bible. the kjv is popular with christian scientists, and most of mary baker eddy's bible quotes come from that translation of the bible. i'll be doing a mini kjv exhibit in my space at the library at the turn of the year. i will also be writing up an "object of the month" for our regular rotating online exhibit. you should check it out--they are pretty interesting. i've written 2 so far: one on a book called gems for you with poetry from new hampshire authors, including mary baker eddy (who was originally from new hampshire), sarah josepha hale, and others; and also a book called chafing dish possibilities by fannie farmer. so you can look for an early kjv there sometime next year. (if you go to the bottom of the page on horses, you can click to all the others there--we have small thumbnails of each object we've done so far.)
anyway, i'm not able to speed read like i've done in the past. sherlock holmes is still occupying a lot of my time. but hey, the collected works i'm reading are 2000 pages! i've got to cut myself some slack here... and also, today i begin reading the actual kjv itself... yup. cover to cover.
Monday, August 16, 2010
interesting fruit...
i just wanted to share this fruit that i bought at russo's market (a place that is like heaven!) about 2 weeks ago. it's called monstera deliciosa.
i bought it because the tag at the market said it tasted like a combination of banana, pineapple and mango. well, i like all those things! however, it didn't say how long it would take to ripen, or anything like that--just something like "eat when the green tiles come off easily with a fork." what it didn't say is that it is one of 2 natural sources of oxalic acid, which is very poisonous to you, and you should only eat it if it's very ripe. so after a couple of days, lee and i were able to pull off a couple of the tiles and ate some of this weird plant. it immediately made my mouth itch and burn, and the back of my throat swelled a bit. no serious problems, but i looked it up right away and wikipedia told me this vital information. lee also had a reaction, though not as severe as me. i had sores on my tongue for 3 days!
so another site also said to wrap the fruit in plastic wrap to encourage it to ripen faster. i did this and then it was fine. lee and i tried it again a week later with much better results. however, i won't be eating it again. it did in fact taste kind of like banana, pineapple and mango all together, but it was "too much." and the texture was soft like a banana, so it was a little weird. it was very perfumy, which was a turn-off for me. but it was an interesting experience!
i bought it because the tag at the market said it tasted like a combination of banana, pineapple and mango. well, i like all those things! however, it didn't say how long it would take to ripen, or anything like that--just something like "eat when the green tiles come off easily with a fork." what it didn't say is that it is one of 2 natural sources of oxalic acid, which is very poisonous to you, and you should only eat it if it's very ripe. so after a couple of days, lee and i were able to pull off a couple of the tiles and ate some of this weird plant. it immediately made my mouth itch and burn, and the back of my throat swelled a bit. no serious problems, but i looked it up right away and wikipedia told me this vital information. lee also had a reaction, though not as severe as me. i had sores on my tongue for 3 days!
so another site also said to wrap the fruit in plastic wrap to encourage it to ripen faster. i did this and then it was fine. lee and i tried it again a week later with much better results. however, i won't be eating it again. it did in fact taste kind of like banana, pineapple and mango all together, but it was "too much." and the texture was soft like a banana, so it was a little weird. it was very perfumy, which was a turn-off for me. but it was an interesting experience!
Friday, July 30, 2010
general tso's tofu
has anyone out there read the fortune cookie chronicles by jennifer 8. lee? well, in it, along with trying to find the origin of the fortune cookie, she seeks out general tso's chicken all over the world in an effort to understand chinese cuisine in the diaspora. it has nothing to do with this recipe, but making it made me think of the book--which i read a while ago and thoroughly enjoyed. i would recommend it to anyone who is interested in food history/culture books :)
anyway, this was SO delicious--and the leftovers were fantastic the next day (just not as crispy). and then i even wanted it again. oh, and i notoriously hate chinese food. but i was looking for a new tofu recipe and this struck my fancy. below is a conglomeration of several recipes i looked up.
general tso's tofu
1 lb. extra firm tofu
~ 1/2c cornstarch
vegetable oil for frying
3 chopped green onions
1 tbsp minced ginger
2 cloves garlic
2/3c vegetable broth
2 tbsp wheat-free tamari
4 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 1/2 tsp gluten free hoisin sauce
1/2-3/4 tsp red pepper flakes
sesame seeds
1. press and drain tofu. pat dry and cut into 1/2" chunks. toss tofu in a bowl with the cornstarch (reserve some cornstarch to thicken the sauce at the end--just set aside in a separate bowl about 1 1/2 tbsps).
2. heat oil in a non-stick skillet and shallow fry. i really sauteed until nice and crispy on about four sides. that seemed to cook all the cornstarch and make it nice and crunchy. it may take 2 batches--then remove and drain on paper towels
3. heat a small amount of oil in the pan. add green onions, ginger, and garlic. cook until fragrant--DO NOT BURN GARLIC.
4. in a separate bowl, whisk together broth, tamari, sugar, vinegar, hoisin and red pepper. remove a couple of tbsps and mix with reserved cornstarch. add liquid mix to pan--do not add cornstarch mixture until the rest is warm.
5. mix cornstarch mixture into pan, stirring constantly until thickened.
6. add tofu and coat evenly.
7. serve with broccoli over brown rice. garnish with sesame seeds.
anyway, this was SO delicious--and the leftovers were fantastic the next day (just not as crispy). and then i even wanted it again. oh, and i notoriously hate chinese food. but i was looking for a new tofu recipe and this struck my fancy. below is a conglomeration of several recipes i looked up.
general tso's tofu
1 lb. extra firm tofu
~ 1/2c cornstarch
vegetable oil for frying
3 chopped green onions
1 tbsp minced ginger
2 cloves garlic
2/3c vegetable broth
2 tbsp wheat-free tamari
4 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 1/2 tsp gluten free hoisin sauce
1/2-3/4 tsp red pepper flakes
sesame seeds
1. press and drain tofu. pat dry and cut into 1/2" chunks. toss tofu in a bowl with the cornstarch (reserve some cornstarch to thicken the sauce at the end--just set aside in a separate bowl about 1 1/2 tbsps).
2. heat oil in a non-stick skillet and shallow fry. i really sauteed until nice and crispy on about four sides. that seemed to cook all the cornstarch and make it nice and crunchy. it may take 2 batches--then remove and drain on paper towels
3. heat a small amount of oil in the pan. add green onions, ginger, and garlic. cook until fragrant--DO NOT BURN GARLIC.
4. in a separate bowl, whisk together broth, tamari, sugar, vinegar, hoisin and red pepper. remove a couple of tbsps and mix with reserved cornstarch. add liquid mix to pan--do not add cornstarch mixture until the rest is warm.
5. mix cornstarch mixture into pan, stirring constantly until thickened.
6. add tofu and coat evenly.
7. serve with broccoli over brown rice. garnish with sesame seeds.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
no judgment please :)
i went to see bon jovi, in concert, at gillette stadium in foxborough--and i had a great time! i was a HUGE bon jovi fan back in the day. slippery when wet was the first cassette i ever bought for myself--probably with the little pocket money i would get from my grammy or grampy (thanks guys!). but i was in love, and tunes like "you give love a bad name" just took my breath away and made me dance in that crazy way that 7-year-olds dance. let's not forget, too, that jon bon jovi himself was quite attractive in the hair band circuit, and is still quite attractive!
anyway, i bought all his other cassettes as a child--went back to runaway and then the self-titled bon jovi and then moved on to new jersey, which i have since lost to deterioration (i still have both bon jovi and slippery when wet on cassette and listen to them every once in a while! they're not sounding their best...). then he went solo, then back to the band, and then songs like "bed of roses" came out that made me cringe and long for the old bon jovi. but by the time one wild night came out, i was a fan again. so now that they're back on another stadium tour, i had to go. the current album is called the circle and it was pretty good. but of course, a lot of old favorites were played!
from the 80s: "you give love a bad name," "dead or alive," "livin' on a prayer," "bad medicine," "i'll be there for you"
from the 90s: "keep the faith," "someday i'll be saturday night"
and some new greats from the 00s: my favorite is "it's my life"
so don't judge me for my love of rock and roll (or pop music or anything else that make lee and beth say that i must hate music). it's just another stop in my eclectic music tastes! :)
oh, and check out the article from boston.com on the concert. i agree with what they say, for the most part--the "circle" of the stage was little used, and kid rock just sang a bunch of covers with a couple of his songs--though he had pyrotechnics and bon jovi didn't. except kid rock also gave me horrifying images of pam anderson in my head which took some time to subside... but i do still say--a fun show :)
Monday, July 26, 2010
spying moms, sherlock holmes and the KJV
what do these all have in common? nothing, except that i'm reading them...
spying moms:
so i read a book called spymom by val agosta. i was drawn to it because the back cover said something about this woman being a big fan of nancy drew, and when she was diagnosed and then recovered from breast cancer, she decided that she would live the life she wanted. so she wanted to become a private investigator. this book is a true story and i won't reveal too much, but some of it is pretty funny! some of it is also disappointing because val felt that because she had cancer she deserved special treatment. while some may think that also, it's sad because her two p.i. partners, first her sister and then a woman named mollie, either had cancer or other chronic illnesses themselves. val put her illness up front and center, even when mollie complained because mollie also felt ill--val's excuse was that cancer got them information. anyway, it's a small thing but it just got annoying throughout the story. it is an inspirational story, not my normal kind of book--very christian and a little preachy--but entertaining. and just about anything with a nancy drew link will draw me in :)
sherlock holmes:
well, i'm still reading the 2nd volume of the large annotated edition i checked out. we're on month 7 of reading sherlock holmes this year! i'll finish them all by december 31, i will...
kjv:
i'm reading 3 books on the kjv and the kjv itself, partly for an exhibit to go in my space at work at the end of the year and partly for a challenge. the 3 books on the kjv are for the exhibit--i have to research and come up with some ideas for a small exhibit to go in my library by the end of the year for the 400th anniversary of the kjv. the bible itself? well, i've never read the kjv, it was so influential in the evolution of the english language, the founding of america, and english language history in general. it also happens to be the bible that christian scientists use most frequently so this is also relevant to work. but i'm reading it out of sheer interest, pleasure and of course, intellectual pursuit. i was a religion major in college, took many religion classes and read many parts and many versions of the bible, but not the kjv. my time has come.
spying moms:
so i read a book called spymom by val agosta. i was drawn to it because the back cover said something about this woman being a big fan of nancy drew, and when she was diagnosed and then recovered from breast cancer, she decided that she would live the life she wanted. so she wanted to become a private investigator. this book is a true story and i won't reveal too much, but some of it is pretty funny! some of it is also disappointing because val felt that because she had cancer she deserved special treatment. while some may think that also, it's sad because her two p.i. partners, first her sister and then a woman named mollie, either had cancer or other chronic illnesses themselves. val put her illness up front and center, even when mollie complained because mollie also felt ill--val's excuse was that cancer got them information. anyway, it's a small thing but it just got annoying throughout the story. it is an inspirational story, not my normal kind of book--very christian and a little preachy--but entertaining. and just about anything with a nancy drew link will draw me in :)
sherlock holmes:
well, i'm still reading the 2nd volume of the large annotated edition i checked out. we're on month 7 of reading sherlock holmes this year! i'll finish them all by december 31, i will...
kjv:
i'm reading 3 books on the kjv and the kjv itself, partly for an exhibit to go in my space at work at the end of the year and partly for a challenge. the 3 books on the kjv are for the exhibit--i have to research and come up with some ideas for a small exhibit to go in my library by the end of the year for the 400th anniversary of the kjv. the bible itself? well, i've never read the kjv, it was so influential in the evolution of the english language, the founding of america, and english language history in general. it also happens to be the bible that christian scientists use most frequently so this is also relevant to work. but i'm reading it out of sheer interest, pleasure and of course, intellectual pursuit. i was a religion major in college, took many religion classes and read many parts and many versions of the bible, but not the kjv. my time has come.
Monday, July 19, 2010
my new home
here is our new home in somerville. enjoy!hallway:
front room (we will use as our library eventually):
kitchen:
we repainted this room, what we are using as our living room, but the previous owners had as a dining room. we like it this way! before...
and after!
bedroom:
and finally bathroom. the might just be the smallest bathroom i've ever lived with. the toilet is behind the door:
we also have 1/3 of the basement, but i didn't take pictures. it's not that glamorous. but here is our little backyard and patio :) we share these with the upstairs neighbors, as well.
fyi: we will actually be repainting the entire place eventually. the old owners tended toward very dark and brown-ish colors (except the bedroom). it's not really that we don't like the colors (except the bedroom), but they don't match with our stuff, style, anything really. so we will slowly but surely replace them. the bedroom is next, but there will be some closet renovations happening first. i'll post when that happens!
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