A Tale of Two Reading Challenges

Early in the year, I came across an interesting reading challenge. It looked fun, but it also looked difficult and I've been on the fence about whether to do it ever since. The original is posted here, but this is the quick rundown:

January: A book published the year you were born
February: a book recommended on a blog
March: a book that has been made into a movie
April: a book from your childhood
May: a book from another country
June: a classic you never got around to
July: a book you found on a social-networking book site
August: a genre or format you don't usually read
September: a book from an opposing point of view
October: a book being read by a local book club
November: an award winner
December: someone else's favorite book

There are a few things here that I think are interesting and that line up pretty well with things I've been wanting to read. It turns out that the first novel in the Vorkosigan Saga was published in 1986, which gives me a good excuse to start that series. June may be just the push I need to finally finish Treasure Island. And the May challenge lines up nicely with my honeymoon, so it would be really easy to find and read a book published in a foreign country.

Then again, there are things on this list I'm less excited about. Finding new recommendations from blogs or the internet in general is not something I need to do. My to-read list is long enough as it is, just from me hearing about new and interesting books in the course of my daily life. The last thing I need to do is actively seek out more books. I'm also somewhat less excited about September, partly because I don't know what to read, and partly because I think life is too short to read things I dislike. If I disagree with a book strongly enough, I probably won't finish it. Though I suppose it depends on the topic and how much I'm willing to tolerate another point of view.

Anyway, I'm definitely torn about this challenge. And seeing as January is almost over and I haven't started yet...well we'll see if I end up attempting it at all. Maybe I can do part of it.

Once I joined Goodreads, I learned about another challenge, that seems a bit more up my alley. It's called the Monopoly Genre Challenge. The idea is that each "monopoly" represents a different genre and each property is a specific sub genre. To earn a monopoly, you read a book from each sub-genre. The goal is to collect as many monopolies as possible by the end of the year. Here's the challenge, along with my progress and plans:

Monopoly Challenge Genres: purple are completed books, red are planned books

As you can see, I've already made some headway here. The fact that I had one complete monopoly already definitely push me over the edge on attempting to complete this challenge. Then I realized that my current to-read list actually matches up with this challenge pretty well. Throw in a couple of Kevin's books that I wasn't necessarily planning to read, but that I have easy access to, and this one seemed like a no-brainer.

I read a lot of fantasy and science-fiction, but I like to branch out beyond those categories, too. This gives me a good excuse to read some non-fiction and test out some genres I usually stay away from. It also gives me an excuse to re-read Clan of the Cave Bear, which I've wanted to revisit since high school but can never seem to make time for.

There are a couple of genres that I'm completely stumped on. I haven't got the slightest idea where to begin with romance. But I have enough of a plan to get started, and I can keep my eyes open for interesting books over the course of the year.

There are also a few books I've been wanting to read (Beloved, The Blind Assassin, Time Enough for Love), that don't seem to fit anywhere in these two challenges. But given the rate at which I read, I should have time for them this year anyway. Especially with two transatlantic flights in my near future.

I'll try to remember to keep you all updated on my progress, at least on the monopoly challenge. The first challenge I may treat as more of a guideline than something I really want to finish. We'll see how it all goes. In the meantime, I'm excited to break out of fantasy a bit and explore some more of what's out there.

Casserole!

After the last soup, I am officially over soup. I made too much of it for too long, and now it's time to start cooking things that are more solid. And to use recipes that make fewer servings. How convenient that we just got a nice new casserole dish! And casseroles are super easy.

Chicken:

Mushrooms:

Spaghetti:

White sauce:

Throw it all together to bake:

Mmmmm.

Ok, it's maybe a bit more complicated than that. Especially the sauce. But whatever. It was delicious.

Wicked Weekend

Kevin and I went up to Boston over Martin Luther King, Jr Weekend. The main purpose of the trip was to visit his family, who we hadn't been able to see over the holidays. But we ended up spending time with a whole bunch of Mudders, too.

We flew up Friday after work and got into the city a bit late. After renting a car we found our way to the friends we were staying with. It turns out that GPS is less than useful in Boston thanks to the Big Dig, but I was smart enough to pull up directions before we went underground. Once we'd dropped off our stuff we walked over to a delicious BBQ place for drinks and dinner.

Saturday was a day of drinking and board games. We went to a delicious brunch place with the largest mimosas I've ever seen. Sadly it was drizzling on the walk over which had turned into a heavy rain/snow for the walk back. I hadn't been anticipating this weather and ended up trudging along in my soaked sneakers, which may well be ruined. Then we lost Pandemic a bunch of times and watched Lilo and Stitch, because I still hadn't seen it yet. That night we went out for delicious burgers, then played Cards Against Humanity and Beer-Jenga.

Sunday was the family day, so we drove out to the suburbs for Chinese food and football. Kevin's family are all Patriots fans, so they were pretty disappointed by the outcome of the game. But our hosts are both Broncos fans, so they were really happy when we got back to their place. We watched the end of the Seahawks/Niners game back in the city and then accidentally watched The Following because no one turned the TV off after the game was over.

It was a pretty quick trip. I'm surprised at how many people we were actually able to visit with. It helps that everyone who lives in Boston seems to live within a mile of each other, so no one had to travel too far. Now we just need to get back there when it's a bit warmer so we can enjoy the city some more.

A Virtual Library

By now you've probably noticed the new widget on the side of my blog that indicates I've joined Goodreads. This was going to happen eventually. I mean, a social networking site built around books? I'm surprised I resisted for as long as I did. But I finally bit the bullet and joined. Mostly because I wanted an easier way to track how many books I was reading in a year. Yeah, I could go through my blog and count, but this does it all automatically.

I imported all of the books I've reviewed in my blog into my goodreads bookshelf, and gave them stars based on my memories. It was fun to go through and remember little things associated with the books. I was occasionally surprised by what memories they triggered. I was also surprised by the books that haven't made it onto my blog yet. I thought I'd read The Hunger Games more recently than I did. And it's been a while since I re-read Harry Potter. But that just means that I still have a few old books that I can revisit and talk about on the blog.

Goodreads lets you review things through their site, but I think I'm going to keep everything on my blog for now. It feels a bit more personal. I can go off on tangents and talk about other things and not feel bad because it's my space. In an actual review, I'd probably feel the need to be a bit more formal. And concise.

I mostly signed up for the site for this challenge. Fifty-two books a year isn't exactly a stretch for me. It's essentially the rate I read at anyway, and you can see from that widget that I'm pretty far ahead of schedule. This is mostly because I haven't read any particularly long books yet this year. I've read two graphic novels, which don't take very long at all, and several YA novels. But there are some longer things sitting on my shelf. I also tend to slow way down in the summer. Mostly I'm just curious to see what the numbers tell me throughout the year. And maybe next year I'll try an actual challenge. Or maybe not. I enjoy books less when I don't take time to savor them.

If you have a Goodreads account, feel free to friend me over there. I'd like to see how some of the social interactions work on that site. But mostly, I'm in it for the organization and number crunching. I'm just a nerd at heart.

This and That

We're making headway on a bunch of things related to the wedding planning. Over the weekend Kevin and Zach went to pick out their tuxedos. Kevin bought his, and the rest of the guys will be renting. I can't wait to see them!

We've also figured out the bridesmaid and groomsmen gifts, though we're holding off on ordering them until next month. We've mostly figured out the wedding favors, too. I'm really excited about what we picked, and I hope everyone else likes it.

On the food front, the cake has been ordered, and a catering appointment has been set up. Scheduling the meeting with the caterer was a little tough. He usually does appointments on weekday afternoons (between 11 and 3), but Kevin and I both work full time. We were able to get something set up for a Saturday, though. I can't wait to taste all the food and pick out the meals.

Since we had to print out the invitations before we finalized the menu, the options on the invitations are pretty vague. As soon as we have everything set, I'll put the menu up on the wedding website. That way people won't have to pick their meals blindly. Though that could also be interesting.

The invitations themselves are addressed and in the mail. Writing out the addresses wasn't nearly as painful as I was warned about. Though I supposed that doing it together while watching How I Met Your Mother helped a lot with that.

Our to-do list is getting smaller and smaller. At this point I'm just waiting for my dress to come in so I can start the fittings (next month, probably). I still need to make an appointment for my hair and buy my shoes. And we need to put together a playlist. But I believe everything else is basically taken care of. As much as it can be at this point, anyway.

Next up: Bachelor/ette parties! So exciting!

SHIELD: Seeds

One of the first rules you learn about writing is "Show, Don't Tell". Don't say that a couple fell in love, show it happening. Don't say that someone learned a lesson, show the consequences of their actions and the steps they took in wake of them. Don't talk about a pivotal character moment, show the revelation happening.

At the end of this episode, Coulson gives a big speech about how to react when life hands you a shit sandwich. Thematically, it all works. It ties together his misgivings about his resurrection, Skye's reaction to learning about her past, and the birth of a new super villain. But parts of it would have worked so much better in Skye's voice. I don't want to hear that she looked past her revolving door experience of the foster care system to see the protection of SHIELD while she looks mournfully at a memorial. I wanted to see and hear her reach that conclusion. Her character arc would have worked so much better if it hadn't been delivered by a third party.

The show, is of course, trying to make this all about Coulson. But why couldn't that have been a conversation between the two of them?

The whole speech at the end reminded me strongly of the second season finale of Buffy. The episode handles these themes, the ultimate message, and even the cheesy voice over so much better. Because we aren't told that Buffy made the hard choice in the end. We get to see her whole journey and are able to understand fully both why she made that choice and how much it cost her. We barely get a glimpse of Skye after she gets handed a bag of lemons until we hear that she's decided to make lemonade.

I don't want this show to be a second-rate retread of a show I've already seen. A show that this one can't even hold a candle to in terms of character development, season-long arcs, and thematic tie-ins.

SHIELD is trying. It's getting better. But I still just barely care about these characters. And I need to care about them to stay invested in their journeys. To keep watching the show.

Earlier this week, the episode of Sleepy Hollow brought me to tears. It's cheesy and over the top, but it still manages to hit all the emotional beats that it needs to. Now I cry easily, especially at TV, movies, even commercials. And this episode should have brought me to tears. Happy tears, but tears none the less. Instead it made me groan and roll my eyes and wish that I was watching a show that aired 15 years ago.

Still, seeds have been planted, and some of them look interesting. Hopefully this show can still pull it together in the back half of the season. At least all the bad guys are starting to coalesce into one shady agency.

Forever Friends

One of my favorite things about where I went to college is the way the friendships have lasted. I think it comes from the fact that we all lived in the dorms together for the entire four years we attended Harvey Mudd. The communities that built up in those dorms have proven to be long-lasting. I got a glimpse of this when I was still volunteering as a tour guide at Mudd. Dorm pride was always on full display in any parents who attended Mudd. But beyond that, the connections I made in those dorms are lifelong.

This is most apparent with the people I see rarely. We have a core group of friends that we make an effort to see a few times a year. Fourth of July was a tradition until the weddings took over. I'm looking forward to that coming back after everyone has finished getting married. We also keep Halloweiner alive for people on the East Coast. And we've begun to attend the Beer, Bourbon, and BBQ fest every year. (Note that these events largely take place in DC. This is all part of our master plan to convince everyone to move out here.)

There are other friends, too. Friends that I don't get to see every year, because life gets busy and we live too far away. But on the rare occasions we get together, it's always impressive how much we still have in common. How easy it is to slide back into the good old days when we saw each other constantly.

We got to see one such friend on Saturday, because she was in town for a conference. We all gathered in Dupont and went to three (or four?) different bars over the course of the evening, which may be a record for me. We played Cards Against Humanity (always a winner), ate delicious empanadas, and drank a whole bunch of beer. The evening was a ton of fun, and it makes me wish that we all lived a lot closer to each other.

Soup 6: Flu Chaser

As soon as I saw is recipe, which calls for twenty cloves of garlic, I knew I would have to make it sooner rather than later. Then when Kevin got sick last week, and I woke up feeling less than great, I decided it was definitely time. This soup has all sort of goodness that's supposed to chase away colds and flus. Plus it looks delicious.

The recipe makes a ton, but after we went through the turkey soup in less than a week, I was pretty sure we could handle eating this. We'll probably get tired of soup before too much longer, though. But that just means I'll have to branch out with new recipes.

The first order of business is to peel all of the garlic. Then cover it with olive oil and bake for 45 minutes

When the garlic is getting close, start getting the rest of the soup ready. Chop up the onion, carrots, and celery and row them in your pot with the chicken. The recipe called for a whole chicken, but I couldn't find a pre-butchered one at the store. I ended up buying some breasts, thighs, and drumsticks separately.

Pour in a whole bunch of chicken stock and bring it all to a boil.

This is about the point where you once again realize that the pot you chose was too small. So transfer to the big pot. Maybe I should have cut this recipe in half...

While that's coming to a boil, strain the garlic

And measure out the spices and squeeze the lemons. I ended up having to supplement the fresh lemon juice with some bottled stuff in our fridge. It turns out that two lemons have nowhere near 3/4 cup of juice between them.

I also substituted fresh mint for dry mint because I couldn't find dried mint at the store. And fresh is probably better anyway. When the soup is boiling, throw all of this in and let it simmer for 2 1/2 hours.

Well the recipe said 2 1/2 hours or until the chicken is very tender. After a little more than an hour, the chicken was literally falling off the bone. I figured it was done. At this point, start cooking some rice and pull all of the chicken out.

Use a couple of forks to pull the chicken off the bone and shred it.

Toss the shredded chicken and the cooked rice back into the pot and bring it all back to a boil. Salt to taste and serve!

I switched back to the other pot when I pulled the chicken out. This was mostly to make sure I had gotten all the bones and skin out. But it's also easier to store the soup in this pot, since it fits in the fridge.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

I've finally gotten back to going to the gym regularly after my injury. To be honest, the holidays delayed this more than anything else. With all the build up to Christmas, the travel, and celebrating the new year in the middle of the week, it took a while to get back to a normal schedule. But things are finally leveling out.

I went to the gym three times this week. Each time I walked on the treadmill at an incline for the duration of a Friday Night Lights episode. I've done away with the idea of intervals now, instead keeping the incline at about 3, then increasing it every ten minutes until it's time to cool down. This helped me reestablish my routine without putting too much strain on my knee.

Today I decided it was probably time to start lifting again. I decided to take it really slow for the sake of me knee. So even though I can lift over 100 pounds on the leg extension and similar machines, I dropped the weights way down, to 30 or 40 pounds. Then I went slow, focusing on my form, and held the various positions for counts of 3 or 5. It still felt like I was working out, but it definitely wasn't as much as I had been doing. It's really hard to balance the fear of hurting myself with wanting to lift more and get stronger. And, to be honest, to get skinnier faster. Hopefully walking uphill so much will help with that.

I was also frustrated to discover that, after two months away from the gym, pushups have gotten a lot harder. I struggled to do five in a row today. Though that could also be because I was going slower and lowering myself all the way to the floor. Yeah. That's what I'll go with.

I'm restarting my sessions with my personal trainer this week. Actually, I'm starting with a new trainer. And since I only have three sessions left on the contract, I dom't really know how this will work out. At this point my only goal is to not injure myself before the wedding. I'd hate to spend the honeymoon hobbling around.

And maybe I can get a flatter stomach by then, too.

Wish me luck.

Mixing the Old and New

Four years ago I got my first smartphone. Over the weekend, I downgraded back to a basic phone. And I'm not looking back.

When cell phones first came out, I remember all the comparisons to Star Trek. A device you could carry around with you anywhere and use it to talk to virtually anyone? We were definitely living in the future. Then, as technology advanced and phones become fancier, people started laughing at the Star Trek technology. Kirk's communicator couldn't take pictures or receive written communications. It seemed like we were quickly passing this future technology by.

But with the advent of tablets, Star Trek is starting to look a little more realistic again. Why confine yourself to that small screen for email and internet browsing, when you can carry something more appropriately sized? Why not have specialized tools for communicating, exploring, and analyzing data?

It helps that I carry a purse, so it's as easy for me to carry a tablet around as a phone. But I love having two devices for different purposes. The phone has better call quality, and easier to navigate contact list, and fantastic battery life. The tablet has a great screen for reading articles on the internet, playing games, and watching TV. And my monthly bill is the same as it was with one device, since I just split my plan across the two devices.

On Saturday I re-entered all of my contacts into my new phone. This gave me a chance to consolidate information, which my android phone never handled very well. If I had two phone numbers, an email address, and a facebook link for someone, I ended up with four separate contacts in my phone which was a pain to navigate. Now I've eschewed a lot of that information, and can still have a single entry for people who still maintain a land line and a cell phone.

I also switched tablets. I still have my iPad Mini from work, but that's basically been relegated to a way for me to stay connected to the office when I'm home. I no longer carry it around with me. Instead I have a shiny, new Nexus 7 because I found a Verizon associate who was able to help me set it up, despite Verizon not officially supporting it.

The Nexus makes me so much happier than the iPad did. I love being back on an Android system where I can put widgets and to do lists right on my screen. I don't have to open apps to quickly check information.

It's also worth noting that the tablet has almost entirely replaced my computer. The only thing I really need my computer for anymore is formatting blog posts. And while the bigger monitor is nice for watching Netflix, I find I often get distracted by the internet when I try to watch TV on my computer. Better to just sit on the couch with my tablet where there are fewer distractions and I can cuddle with the animals. At this point I'm actually considering not buying a new computer when my current one breaks. I'll have to see if I still feel the same way a few years from now.

I'm really happy with my decision to ditch the smart phone in favor of a basic phone + tablet setup. I'd definitely recommend it anyone who's even the least bit interested.

SHIELD: The Magical Place

I kind of stopped writing about SHIELD toward the end of last year. I mostly blame the holidays. Everything gets ridiculous and busy in December. But I'd be remiss if I didn't also say that there just didn't seem to be much to talk about. Instead of the deep, smart, layered show I was expecting last summer, I got something way more generic and it's hard to spit out words about that every week. And since I don't get paid to do so, there was really no motivation to keep going.

But it's a new year and I have a self-imposed quota to meet, so these are coming back. I'm trying to remind myself that Whedon's shows always take a while to get going The first five episodes of Dollhouse were bland and generic. Same with almost the entire first season of Angel. Buffy's first season is practically unwatchable, except from a nostalgia point of view. So there's precedent for things to get better. Even if Joss isn't nearly as involved in this show as he was in the first three. Regardless, I hope that SHIELD manages to pull itself together by the end of this season. If only because I can imagine, despite the lackluster "crossover" with Thor, a great setup for the next Captain America movie. Assuming that's what they're going for.

So. Tahiti. The Magical Place. Turns out this is a call and response that's been programmed into Coulson's brain, and he finally realized. The hint from a few episodes back that Coulson was a doll ("Did I fall asleep?") wasn't too far off the mark. We still don't know how they brought him back to life, but we know that they did some pretty serious messing with his brain. There's a Wolfram and Hart vibe going on with S.H.I.E.L.D. now, in that Coulson's contract appears to extend beyond his natural death. And Director Fury definitely looks like the bad guy.

But let's forget about that, since this episode raised more questions than it answered, and look at everything else. I really liked this episode. I don't know if it was actually better than the episodes from last year, or if the hiatus allowed me to adjust my expectations, but I had a bunch of fun. Seeing Skye off on her own and in her element being proactive and solving problems was great. Watching Coulson bounce off Raina, who really helped his doubts to flourish, was also fun. And the other characters were there, too.

I still groaned at some things (like when the plane turned around), but mostly I'm along for the ride now. The action scene at the beginning felt right, Mae's false betrayal to get Skye outside the system. And if the previews for next week are any indication, Coulson appears to be done keeping secrets. So more answers are on the way. I hope they end up being worth the wait.

This isn't even close to my favorite show on television right now (in fact, it's probably the most likely to get dropped if I find myself short on time), but it's entertaining. And I guess that's all I really need it be.

Cake Tasting

On Sunday, Kevin and I drove out to Middleburg to pick our wedding cake. We had set up the appointment back in November, at which point we had selected three cake flavors to try. The chef told us that there would probably be 3-5 flavors available in addition to what we chose, and I assumed that would include some chocolate. So for our three we picked one chocolate and two non-chocolate flavors.

It turns out that every group coming in gets to pick 3 flavors, and then everyone is able to taste all of the flavors that everyone else picked. And of the nine cakes we were able to sample, the only chocolate was the one I'd chosen. Since I basically knew what I wanted, it was good that Kevin had so many options to choose from.

As he was serving us the cakes, the chef warned me that I'd picked the richest chocolate cake on the menu and there were plenty of ways to lighten it up. As if I hadn't picked it on purpose.

We settled on a second flavor and then went through all the options of designing the cake. It turns out there's a whole lot that goes into this: frosting flavors, tier shapes, decorations, real or sugar flowers, colors. We figured it all out, though, so that's one more thing to check off the list. Plus, we now have a bunch of leftover cake samples to enjoy.

Soup 5: Turkey Soup From Scratch

Since Kevin cooked an entire turkey last week I decided to take the opportunity to make turkey soup from scratch. First up, the stock.

Break up the carcass and stuff it in the pot.

Turkey carcasses are really big, and this one was hard to break up since it was cold from sitting in the fridge all week. Next time I'll have to time this better. Cover the carcass with cold water and add the drippings and giblets.

Our drippings sort of solidified from sitting in the fridge. I hope this turns out okay.

Then throw in some celery and carrots and realize that the pot you chose is way too small.

So throw everything in a bigger pot. We're lucky Kevin's mom decided to just leave this at our house.

Then add the onions

Now throw in a bunch of spices and bring the whole thing to a boil.

Then reduce the heat to a simmer and let it cook uncovered for four hours. After four hours a lot of the water has boiled off and everything is nice and concentrated.

Pull out the bones and veggies as much as you can. Then pour the rest through a strainer into another pot. And then you get a nice big pot of turkey stock. Now it's time to cut up some fresh veggies for the soup. Throw them all in the broth with some garlic, sage, and whatever else you want and let it cook for a while.

When the veggies have cooked for a while, add a bag of egg noodles. Then chop a bunch of turkey and throw that in as well. Cook until it's all warm, then serve. Mmmmmm.

I don't really know who's going to eat all this soup, though

New Year, New...Something

This year, as we have for several years now, we rang in the New Year at Zach and Sarah's house. This was the first time all four of us were living in (practically) the same city, so it was really easy. I even had dreams of going home after the party to sleep in my own bed. This was mostly because I wanted to do things on New Year's Day and I knew it would be easier to accomplish those things if I woke up in my own bed. But then I fell asleep sometime between the pouring of the champagne and the drinking of the champagne and those hopes were dashed. My massive hangover, compounded by riding the train early in the morning, did nothing to help my productivity. Instead of shopping, doing laundry, and making turkey stock, I sat on the couch and dozed my way through many hours of TV.

All in all it wasn't a very auspicious start to the new year. But it's not like that actually means anything beyond the fact that two games of Rage Cage in a single night is too much.

This is the part where I'm supposed to make a New Year's Resolution in order to better myself. But honestly? I'm in a really good place. This time last year I felt like I was in limbo, but now my life is pretty stable. I'm having fun learning to cook and cooking more often. I've been decent about going to the gym (well, until I hurt my knee). Work is good and I'm planning a wedding.

I guess that in the new year, I just want to continue doing these things. Keep cooking and cleaning and going to the gym. Keep reading and watching TV and hanging out with Kevin. More of a continuation than a resolution, I suppose. Life is pretty good right now, and this year is shaping up to be every bit as awesome as the last year was. Here's to 2014.

Jewelry

One of the benefits of having a rich grandmother who liked jewelry is that it's pretty easy to come up with something old, something borrowed, and something blue to wear for the wedding. I spent some time on Christmas morning going through her jewelry with my mom and settled on a necklace and a ring to wear in April. I'll pair them with the earrings my dad gave me for my 18th birthday and be good to go on the jewelry front.