Archive for March, 2010

Grumpy Grumpy Grumpy!

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

I am SO grumpy today!  Even as I type this I can tell I am super grumpy because I am pounding the keys harder than usual.  I don’t know why I am grumpy.  I will assume for now that it is some chemical imbalance.

I get this way sometimes.  I slip into a mood or phase or some other category yet to be defined and like Snow White’s kiss, only one particular trigger will snap me out of it.. the problem?  I don’t know what that trigger is.

I think what bugs me the most is that I have everything to be happy for and nothing to be grumpy for. Ok so I know I have a bad habit (unconscious) where I tend to absorb the moods of those around me.. but to my knowledge no one around me is overly grumpy today.  Who knows.. maybe I am channeling someone from a floor below me ;)

I am changing jobs soon.  I have a new role that really suits me better than my current one.  I have an amazing boyfriend whom I love immensely and I have a wonderful family.  I am surrounded by all good things.. and yet here I am… practically sitting in a slump with my arms crossed and a scowl on my face that would scare small children.

I fake a smile as people pass me in the hallways and I am pretty good at responding “good thanks!” when people ask how I am.  Seriously, who wants to sit there and here me basically recite this blog about how I am grumpy and how maybe it is PMS or maybe its just that I am channeling the mood of the guy next door.. oh and by the way, I am just grumpy enough to tell you that I really don’t enjoy idle chit chat and would rather you not ask how I am..

I am sure that would go over well.

So here I am.. I had some sushi in an attempt to cheer me up.  It always seems to help when I am sick.. but then again its not great Kinjo sushi so I am not thrilled.  I also had some noodles.. forgoing my home made dinner from last night’s roast beef.  As delicious as last night’s dinner was, it wasn’t satisfying that need I have.. that little thing behind my right ear grumbling about how annoyed and irritated and bitchy I am and how I should try and fix it by employing every vice available… mmmm caffeine, mmmmm magazines, mmmm sushi, mmmmm noodles… hmmmmmmmmm car wash…

Yes, I did say car wash.  Its a valid vice!  Its pleasant and makes me feel like I have accomplished something, even if it only lasts 3 or 7 minutes or however long it takes… But there is something about going in dirty and coming out clean that is so satisfying…

Wow.. that actually cheered me up!  Thinking about a car wash actually just made the muscles in my face lift.. hmmmmmm…  I think its time to take Mizu in for a wash!

So here I am… a little less grumpy… about to run out and grab some form of caffeine or maybe just something carbonated but in general, annoyingly cranky for no reason whatsoever.. and that gets me even more annoyed!

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Writing, speech and education…

Monday, March 8th, 2010
Another day recently… I was in the elevator and I was witness to this comment…
 
“I haven’t been sleeping well lately.. I don’t know if it’s something in the air….??”
 
Seriously, What?  What is in the air? What IN THE AIR is making people not sleep???
 
As a technical writer I laugh at these comments people make because we’re all guilty of it… figure of speech… slang…
 
I have a good friend named Connie who is Chinese so English is her second language.  What happened with her is a constant reminder stuck in my head about why figure of speech and slang are useless in communication…

We were discussing location of the buildings we worked in and I explained to her that my building was kitty-corner from hers.  She looked at me completely puzzled and said, “what is kitty corner????”.  I said.. ” diagonally”.  She then responded (in a very matter of fact tone), “then why didn’t you just say diagonally??”.

So true.  Why didn’t I?  I have no idea.  I (until now) never knew the actual origin of the phrase and still used it freely.  I assumed my use of it was correct (which it technically was) but that doesn’t make me using it right.

I have posted the origin of kitty-corner to the bottom of  this blog for your general information…

I have been thinking a lot about language recently.  Realizing I don’t know a fraction of what I should for a writer.  I also don’t write nearly enough to be confident boasting about being a writer.  I think about writing additional poems or short stories… I think back to the few novels I have begun but never finished.. and I think about the various authors out there (like Neil) who don’t write for a living but still get published constantly.  Such a wierd dynamic!

I recently went to a meeting for the Alberta chapter of the Society for Technical Communication (I am a Senior Member – FYI). Being in a room full of people who are also members and probably doing far more “writing” than I do, really makes me feel inadequate.  So this year, I plan to write more.  Anything.. even if it just means this blog becomes plump with text…

This brings me to the next chapter in my life…

In an effort to broaden my horizons and skills (and resume), I have begun taking the Business Analysis Certificate program at Mount Royal University.  Some classes are2-3 day  in-person courses which seem to be painless and over in a weekend.  Where I have failed to register in time for an in-person course, I am subjected to the online version.

Ok so before I begin complaining about the online course, I will say that the online version seems far more thorough and complete and I tend to absorb more in the process… As a matter of fact, I tend to finish early (when I can) which I think we should be allowed to do since the in-person course is over in 2 days.. why should I be forced to drag the online course out for 4 weeks???

Throughout this process of learning, I have learned a lot about myself as well.  I realize that I am not patient when it comes to choosing my pace.  I have a semi-short attention span and I like to be a keener.  I would prefer getting everything done in a couple days than dabble in the assignments over a long period of time… I get bored.  I am sorry, but I do.

So right now, I have 2 online courses on the go with one more set to begin/and another end, next week. I am ahead of the class in pace in both courses and am screeching to a halt because some genius decided it was better for everyone to do things at the same time.. isn’t the purpose of online courses to work at our own pace?? That is my opinion anyway.  I need to find a happy medium between the two… more thorough than the in-person class but paced at my own rate.

Once I finish this semester, I can write the Final Assessment Paper.  Its something I know I will do well at but I also have to really concentrate to get it done which is a struggle for me.  Also, I have to choose a topic which is really difficult because it has to be complicated enough to allow me to cover all the components required for the paper but not too complicated that it makes me go over the 20 page limit…

Anyway, I know it will all work out but I realize that I really do like to be in complete control… especially when it involves my brain…

The best definition of kitty-corner is posted below:

The first part comes from the French word quatre, four. It’s actually quite an old expression that first appeared in English as the name for the four in dice, soon Anglicised to cater. The standard placement of the four dots at the corners of a square almost certainly introduced the idea of diagonals. From this came a verb cater, to place something diagonally opposite another or to move diagonally, which can be found in the sixteenth century. Some English dialects had it as an adverb in compounds such as caterways or caterwise. By the early years of the nineteenth century it was beginning to be recorded in the USA in the compound form of cater-cornered. It had by then lost any link with the French word; people invented spellings in attempts to make sense of it, often thinking it had something to do with cats, which is why we have forms like kitty-corner.” – Taken from http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-kit1.htm)

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Annual Cook-off 2010! Feb 14, 2010

Monday, March 8th, 2010

Instead of a sappy Valentines Day filled with commercialism and spending money at an overpriced and crowded restaurant Lauren, Neil and I decided to do a cook-off!  

In advance, we each chose 10 “mystery” ingredients and we entered them into a database.. we then took turns drawing a total of 4 numbers which corresponded to a secret mystery ingredient. Additionally, we had to select one secret pantry ingredient…

The rules were pretty simple and not that strict… We had to use the 4 ingredients and 1 secret pantry ingredient in the dish of our choosing.  We could prepare as far in advance as necessary but the main cooking was to take place on Feb 14th!   Aside from that, we also had to nicely share the kitchen, cookware and dishes…

For the ingredient list, we ended up choosing the following:

Neil chose:

  • Shrimp
  • Pita Bread
  • Chicken thighs
  • Shallots
  • Croutons (secret pantry item)

Lauren chose:

  • Peppers
  • Crab meat
  • Bok Choy
  • Cabbage
  • Melba toast (secret pantry item)

I chose:

  • Fresh Tuna
  • Chicken Stock
  • Ginger
  • Corn
  • Acini de pepe pasta (secret pantry ingredient)

Now let me first begin by telling you all who didn’t win… and that would be me… I will explain later.  Actually we didn’t choose a “winner”.  It was more of an event to have fun and in the absence of un-biased judges, we were happy with just eating the food.

The cook-off was a blast but utterly exhausting!!!  Neil and I were preparing things the night before.  I made homemade chicken stock and he marinated  meats.  On the day, Lauren started cooking early as she had a ju-jitsu class to attend and Neil and I started cooking around 3pm! We finally sat down to eat at 10pm!!!

I think the biggest challenge we were faced with was that we underestimated the amount of time to prep everything.  Mis en place et al.. I don’t think we realized that on Iron Chef, they have sous chefs and a pantry with unlimited items.  They also have several cooking vessels/methods available.

The actual cooking part was fun!  Most of my food was a last minute assembly sort of thing so I offered to help Neil and Lauren out with their chopping/prep.  Don’t get me wrong, my dishes took a long time as well but during my downtime, they gained a sous chef! :)

So here are the menu descriptions that we all came up with:

Neil:

  • Valentines Day Salad – baby spinach, shallots, beets, cucumbers and tomatoes in a beet vinagrette.
  • Chicken and shrimp international skewers - chicken, shrimp, peppers, mushrooms and shallots done 3 ways in tzaziki, sweet and sour & tikka masala marinades.
  • Pita chips, crouton crumb crusted shallot rings with tzaziki, sweet and sour & tikka masala dips.

Lauren:

  • Crab and cabbage wontons two ways - crab, diced cabbage, roasted red peppers and melba toast. Served with roasted red pepper ponzu sauce.
  • Crab stir fry - fresh crab, bok choy, peppers, oyster mushrooms and shallots with ponzu and hoisin sauces.

Me:

  • Ahi Tuna Tartare – Fresh Ahi tuna, avocado, black sesame seeds, tomato, green onion and nori in a sweet soy vinagrette.
  • Chicken consumme with mushrooms – chicken stock, enoki, oyster and dried chanterelle mushrooms
  • Mushroom pate with crispy corn chips – enoki, oyster and dried chanterelle mushrooms blended with butter and chicken stock
  • Vodka corn shooter – fresh corn puree, vodka
  • Ginger-ale Jelly with candied ginger

The reason for my failure??  I forgot the acini-de-pepe in my dish.  It was supposed to be in my consumme.  Argh!!!

The food was amazing!  Very tasty and creative.  The photos and plating took so long that a lot of it was cold by the time we got to eat but in general, it was a lot of fun.  We were really exhausted at the end of it all and I can guarantee we won’t want to do this more often than annually but we will definitely do it again.  I think we have all agreed to some additional rules…

  1. maybe get judges to not only decide on a winner but to also help eat all the food
  2. make portions smaller or focus on one main dish
  3. fewer secret ingredients
  4. perhaps span it all over several days with each of us cooking on a day so we can get more done in less time

I am often told that I am a good cook and should cater or become a chef etc.. and the bottom line is, its too much work…  I think I will stick to entertaining my friends and family.

The one thing I take away from this experience is that cooking with fresh ingredients is really important. Although we all took very different approaches and it seemed to take forever, we all used very fresh ingredients.  The food tasted healthy and delicious and I loved it all!

I invite both Lauren and Neil to post their comments to this blog.  Even though we had a big discussion about the cook-off while we were eating, I think that it would be nice to capture it all here.

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Catching up.. birthdays, art, puzzles and more!!!

Monday, March 8th, 2010

I would normally post a whole bunch of blogs in a row to catch up but for the sake of actually getting it done, I am going to post several topics in each blog (grouped by the appropriate category…)

So it was my birthday a month ago… almost to the day…  I organized a bowling/dinner event and shared the day with two very close friends of mine who are fellow Aquarians and were born very close to when I was. 

Everyone met at the bowling alley (lanes were rented by the hour) and the four lanes were filled with people bowling. Now I don’t know how I always end up in this situation and you think I would/should have learned by now but we pre-paid for the lanes at $35/hour (2 hours and 4 lanes) which was well over $200 for the day.  That included shoe rental.  Well somehow we ended up eating about half the cost because people who RSVP’d as a yes and even got their shoe rental didn’t “feel like” bowling.  Then, they left to hit the casino (half way through the event) So as a result, I spent the first half of my birthday evening frustrated and feeling annoyed that I allowed myself to be put in that situation.

The evening ended up being better…  even though we had issues with food service.  We got reservations for 20 people at the Brewsters in the Foothills Industrial Park. I like Brewsters a lot and even though I had spent the entire week leading up to my birthday sick and absent from work, I was excited to go.  I was the designated driver since my antibiotics prevented me from drinking but I think that worked out for the best!

Dinner was great.  I was able to spend time with everyone that was there and made the rounds trying to talk to everyone.  As much as I enjoyed it though, in light of the overall situation, I decided that next year, my birthday will be very different…

So as I mentioned, I spent the beginning part of February very sick.  I am well over it now and feeling great but I still need to get my mind back into the swing of things at home.  When I am sick, I tend to not feeling like doing anything and as a result, NOTHING gets done.. It sucks!

On a positive note, Neil urged me to start working on a project that I have been wanting to do.. another paper mosaic.  I will post the pics of past projects later on.

Even though I haven’t worked on it in a week or so (I am also taking several classes through Mount Royal University – see future post about that) I am excited about getting it done. 

I am also trying to work up my motivation to get my website built.  It is terrible, I feel like a 6 year old child when it comes to this but I really just want it done.. no hassles, no fuss… I just want to wake up one morning and see this really pretty, useful and complete website.  Is that too much to ask??

I’ve also become really interested in puzzles!  While I was in England, Neil’s sister had a Gordian Knot.  It was a really fun puzzle. I managed to take it apart without help but couldn’t get it back together without the help of YouTube. ;)

Now, I own a new Rubiks Cube (vintage style), a Rubik’s 360, Perplexus and 4 Cast puzzles (Nut Case, Laby, The Ring II and NEWS).  I have also improved my collection of board games.  Yes it seems like I have regressed in age but I am learning that I really enjoy them and really, life is too short to not do what you love to do. I admit though, I use the Internet when I get frustrated.  YouTube is my friend! :P

So on to other things…
I was walking through the +15’s one day looking for something appealing for lunch (I settled on Wendy’s)…
 
I saw someone I used to see at choir a long time ago and it got me thinking.. I mean really thinking.  I had this insane dialogue in my head…
 
 
I was thinking about all of the people I pass by on a daily basis in the +15  – which, by the way reminds me of a network of blood vessels connecting all of the major arteries.. each of us blood cells or in some cases, viruses… ;) Anyway.. I got to thinking about how I occasionally see someone I recognize.. I started to think about the categories of the people I pass by… there are those I: 
  1. have never met 
  2. have met but don’t remember/recognize 
  3. recognize but can’t remember by name 
  4. recognize & remember by name but don’t care to talk to  and finally,
  5. those I would consider a friend or acquaintance I know well enough to stop in the middle of the stream of people to say hi.
On my way back from grabbing my lunch, I actually did have the opportunity to stop and chat with the girl I knew from choir.  She barely recognized me which I expected (because of the weight loss), but she called me by name so I know she wasn’t just being polite. ;)
Sometimes I have these encounters and I get a shiver down my spine because of just how connected we all are. 
Forget the Kevin Bacon 6 degrees of separation stuff, it is just creepy sometimes how connected people are!
Anyway, on to more updates and more blogs…

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