December 01, 2005

Thanksgiving

Last weekend Emily flew down for Thanksgiving. It was the first time she has been able to make it to San Francisco since this summer, and it was really nice having her around again. I also got to cook for her again. Cooking is a fun hobby, but it's always extra special when you can share the results with someone.

Carmen did her big Thanksgiving dinner, having each of her guests bring a dish. Emily and I were asked to bring a potato and a vegetable dish, so we made garlic mashed potatoes and a zucchini/squash dish. It was a lot of fun, although the turkey ended up being done a bit late. (It was on the large side, so it took longer than expected.)

I cooked for Emily three more times over the extended weekend and ended up using fresh basil in each dish. :) I've got a little basil plant growing at home, and I like to make use of it where appropriate.

On Friday, I made chicken in panang curry for dinner. It was decent, but I think it could use some tweaking.

On Saturday we cooked some salmon fillets and served it with farfalle in a mornay sauce.

Sunday, we made pizza margherita for lunch - I was feeling lazy, so we tried to buy a crust, but they were out. I ended up throwing one together from scratch, and it turned out to be one of the better crusts I've made.

More updates on house progress later.

November 27, 2005

Christmas List


Dear Santa,
I'm doing well this year, skip me and give my stuff to someone who needs it. All I want for christmas is a ticket back home to see friends and family, and I got impatient and bought it for myself. :)

Steve


Ok, I have an amazon wishlist, but I figured I'd augment and comment on it here for friends and family. I will probably update this entry a couple of times. I'll start with the usual, "don't spend much, if you must get me something." I've been blessed with pretty much all I need.

A general gift giving guide (I do get to pontificate, this is a blog), I tend to go for:

  • Something people would enjoy, but wouldn't buy themselves. (Sadly, for me, that is something like socks.)
  • Something from their list that is both fun or interesting.
  • non-durable goods - Things that get used up make nice gifts too. (Socks again, chocolate, balsamic vinegar, cheap plastic cutting boards.)


I've put some cooking supplies on the list. One missing item is a Flavour Shaker. I'd like one of these, but they're not available in this country. (They won't even ship them here.) Maybe next year.

Update: Apparently, proleno.com ships the Flavour Shaker to the US - but it looks like it might be pricey.

November 17, 2005

Quick Update

Our contractor says he's worked out a satisfactory solution with the inspector which shouldn't be as bad as I thought, we'll see how things progress. (And no curry paste tonight - I forgot to get cilantro, it was a new recipe and I was shopping from memory.) I did have leftover larb gai for dinner, though.

Notice of Violation

The final rough inspection did not go well at all. We got a different inspector from the one who originally did the foundation, and he didn't really seem to like much of anything. We have to get Engineer/Architect redraw everything (IMHO, he's a bit of a hack and didn't do a decent job in the first place) and get a revised permit, before embarking on the expensive process of fixing things.

The only good point is that he did sign off on the upstairs and said we could close things up in the bathroom. That will at least move along the process of Dan, Carmen, and I moving into the upper unit. But it'll be a bit cramped until we get the lower finished (three people, two apartments worth of stuff).

Tonight I think I'll try my hand at making some panaeng curry paste from scratch. I'm out of the imported, store-bought stuff and really should be making my own so I can control the ingredients.

November 15, 2005

Weekend Update

Before working on the house, my brother and I went to a neighborhood meeting at Juri park on Saturday. We ended up getting pulled into a park cleanup project for most of the morning. It was fun, but we had planned on working on the house and that killed a good chunk of the day. We ended up just shoring up the bathroom wall after lunch at Papalote.

Our open wall inspection is scheduled for thursday. If it goes well, we'll be ready to dry wall and finish the bathroom. It'll be nice to see some progress again. Things should start to pick up now, unless holidays and contractor's schedules get in the way.

November 10, 2005

Yay Electrical

Our electrical inspection passed today. Only glitch was that the contractor needed to pull a second permit, because the first one was completed, but that will be taken care of on Monday. Now we need to get a general inspection, so we can close up the walls, and we'll be good to finish work on the bathroom and walls. (After that, we do the flooring and kitchen, and then we can move into my unit.)

I tried out the Flock browser today. It's interesting. It's basically just a modified version of Firefox, with some integration with del.icio.us, various blogging sites, RSS feeds, and flickr. It's just a beta version, so it's not quite ready for general use, but seems fairly polished. The del.icio.us support is the most interesting to me - it'd let me synchronize all of my bookmarks, and it integrates the bookmarks with the little search widget. The blogging functionality isn't spectacular, stuff like X-Journal do the same basic thing and grok more of livejournal's features. (Blog this page and Blog this picture are the only real integration, but I wouldn't use it.)

The RSS reader isn't too bad, it looks like it was copied from Safari. I wanted something similar for Firefox at one point, but I'm using Google Reader now. The key benefit for me is that it keeps track of what I've read and I can use it from multiple machines.

So the jury is still out on that one, we'll see how it develops. I can run piggy bank in both flock and firefox, so either is fine for now. (More on Piggy Bank and RDF later.)

October 19, 2005

New Book

lj-mood: happy

I got back to the office this morning and found that the book I'd ordered, Jamie's Italy, had arrived. I've only had time to briefly skim it, but it looks really good and is recipe- and picture-dense. I look forward to reading it, and trying out some of the recipes. It looks like it was worth having it shipped from Europe.

Conference Reports

lj-mood: awake

I spent the last week or so at the Ruby Conference and OOPSLA Conference in San Diego. The Ruby conference had a more grass-roots feel and only one lecture track. Overall it was quite interesting, especially the Rails stuff and the ad-hoc domain specific language stuff. It was also good to see that work was progressing on a byte code compiler for the language, although it's not rocket science and should have been done long ago. I dunno why nobody has bothered yet. (A speaker at OOPSLA pointed out that it's the slowest dynamic language, with a naive implementation, yet people still find it valuable.)

OOPSLA was much more academic. I came away with the vague feeling that it people were a little stuck on the OO stuff and should move on, but there were also a few talks to that effect, so maybe people already know this. The workshop I attended on domain specific modeling was a good experience, although a solid day of academic stuff can be wearying. Sussman's talk and Dave Thomas' talk were both good, too. I think Java Frameworks and over-enginering of tools and libraries has sucked some of the joy out of coding, hopefully we find our way back soon. I think I should skim SICP again sometime soon.

October 17, 2005

Conference

It's late monday. I'm in San Diego for the OOPSLA conference. I snuck
into the domain specific modeling conference with a coworker, which
was a lot of fun, the talks were mostly interesting, and the
discussions afterwards were fun. It's been a long day, though, and I
was too worn out to really read any of the posters at the reception in
the evening. They we went back to my bosses room for a brainstorming
session (which was productive, but tiring).

I'll give a little more context in the next entry, going to bed for now.

September 29, 2005

untitled

lj-mood: chipper

I've put off updating because too much stuff has passed by and I never had a big block of time to sit down and document it all. So I'll just forget it. :)

I'm going to Phoenix to see Emily this weekend. It's been a month and a half - too long, but we've both been busy.


The house is coming along, the plumbing is done except for a couple of gas details. I'll include a picture of the shower rough-in, not particularly exciting, though. The kitchen cabinets arrived, but I'll have to wait patiently for all the prerequisite work to be completed before I can put them in.

And now I'm off to work.

June 19, 2005

House Update

It's been quite a while since the last update, I've been rather busy lately.

The house is coming along well, the tenants will be out by 7/4, at which time I'll need to squeeze in the critical updates and repairs before moving in. I hope to move within a month. Outstanding issues:


  • Refinish wood floors.
  • Add wood floors to the kitchen
  • Redo electrical, fix up plumbing, convert at least one bathroom to a full bath.
  • Replace/repair a bunch of windows.
  • Redo the kitchen cabinets/appliances


And that's for my unit. Downstairs will be moving some walls around, putting new wood floors in (they have no floors at the moment), upgrading electrical, adding central heating, and updating plumbing. (Gotta get stuff done while the floor is open.)

For the whole house we're finishing the foundation now, we'll have to replace a section of broken, clay sewer pipe and fix up part of the back wall.

May 06, 2005

The Book Thing

From Emily's page:



Bold the ones you've read, and italicize the ones that you started but never finished. (Much easier if you use rich text mode.)





001. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien


002. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen


003. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman


004. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams


005. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling


006. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee


007. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne


008. 1984, George Orwell


009. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis


010. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte


011. Catch-22, Joseph Heller


012. Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte


013. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks


014. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier


015. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger


016. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame


017. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens


018. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott


019. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres


020. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy


021. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell


022. Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone, JK Rowling


023. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling


024. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling


025. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien


026. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy


027. Middlemarch, George Eliot


028. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving


029. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck


030. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll


031. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson


032. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez


033. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett


034. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens


035. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl


036. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson


037. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute


038. Persuasion, Jane Austen


039. Dune, Frank Herbert


040. Emma, Jane Austen


041. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery


042. Watership Down, Richard Adams


043. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald


044. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas


045. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh


046. Animal Farm, George Orwell


047. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens


048. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy


049. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian


050. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher


051. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett


052. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck


053. The Stand, Stephen King


054. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy


055. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth


056. The BFG, Roald Dahl


057. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome


058. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell


059. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer


060. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky


061. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman


062. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden


063. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens


064. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough


065. Mort, Terry Pratchett


066. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton


067. The Magus, John Fowles


068. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman


069. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett


070. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding


071. Perfume, Patrick Susskind


072. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell


073. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett


074. Matilda, Roald Dahl


075. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding


076. The Secret History, Donna Tartt


077. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins


078. Ulysses, James Joyce


079. Bleak House, Charles Dickens


080. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson


081. The Twits, Roald Dahl


082. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith


083. Holes, Louis Sachar


084. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake


085. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy


086. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson


087. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley


088. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons


089. Magician, Raymond E Feist


090. On The Road, Jack Kerouac


091. The Godfather, Mario Puzo


092. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel


093. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett


094. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho


095. Katherine, Anya Seton


096. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer


097. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez


098. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson


099. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot


100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie


101. Three Men In A Boat, Jerome K. Jerome


102. Small Gods, Terry Pratchett


103. The Beach, Alex Garland


104. Dracula, Bram Stoker


105. Point Blanc, Anthony Horowitz


106. The Pickwick Papers, Charles Dickens


107. Stormbreaker, Anthony Horowitz


108. The Wasp Factory, Iain Banks


109. The Day Of The Jackal, Frederick Forsyth


110. The Illustrated Mum, Jacqueline Wilson


111. Jude The Obscure, Thomas Hardy


112. The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole Aged 13 1/2, Sue Townsend


113. The Cruel Sea, Nicholas Monsarrat


114. Les Miserables, Victor Hugo


115. The Mayor Of Casterbridge, Thomas Hardy


116. The Dare Game, Jacqueline Wilson


117. Bad Girls, Jacqueline Wilson


118. The Picture Of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde


119. Shogun, James Clavell


120. The Day Of The Triffids, John Wyndham


121. Lola Rose, Jacqueline Wilson


122. Vanity Fair, William Makepeace Thackeray


123. The Forsyte Saga, John Galsworthy


124. House Of Leaves, Mark Z. Danielewski


125. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver


126. Reaper Man, Terry Pratchett


127. Angus, Thongs And Full-Frontal Snogging, Louise Rennison


128. The Hound Of The Baskervilles, Arthur Conan Doyle


129. Possession, A. S. Byatt


130. The Master And Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov


131. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood


132. Danny The Champion Of The World, Roald Dahl


133. East Of Eden, John Steinbeck


134. George's Marvellous Medicine, Roald Dahl


135. Wyrd Sisters, Terry Pratchett


136. The Color Purple, Alice Walker


137. Hogfather, Terry Pratchett


138. The Thirty-Nine Steps, John Buchan


139. Girls In Tears, Jacqueline Wilson


140. Sleepovers, Jacqueline Wilson


141. All Quiet On The Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque


142. Behind The Scenes At The Museum, Kate Atkinson


143. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby


144. It, Stephen King


145. James And The Giant Peach, Roald Dahl


146. The Green Mile, Stephen King


147. Papillon, Henri Charriere


148. Men At Arms, Terry Pratchett


149. Master And Commander, Patrick O'Brian


150. Skeleton Key, Anthony Horowitz


151. Soul Music, Terry Pratchett


152. Thief Of Time, Terry Pratchett


153. The Fifth Elephant, Terry Pratchett


154. Atonement, Ian McEwan


155. Secrets, Jacqueline Wilson


156. The Silver Sword, Ian Serraillier


157. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey


158. Heart Of Darkness, Joseph Conrad


159. Kim, Rudyard Kipling


160. Cross Stitch, Diana Gabaldon


161. Moby Dick, Herman Melville


162. River God, Wilbur Smith


163. Sunset Song, Lewis Grassic Gibbon


164. The Shipping News, Annie Proulx


165. The World According To Garp, John Irving


166. Lorna Doone, R. D. Blackmore


167. Girls Out Late, Jacqueline Wilson


168. The Far Pavilions, M. M. Kaye


169. The Witches, Roald Dahl


170. Charlotte's Web, E. B. White


171. Frankenstein, Mary Shelley


172. They Used To Play On Grass, Terry Venables and Gordon Williams


173. The Old Man And The Sea, Ernest Hemingway


174. The Name Of The Rose, Umberto Eco


175. Sophie's World, Jostein Gaarder


176. Dustbin Baby, Jacqueline Wilson


177. Fantastic Mr. Fox, Roald Dahl


178. Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov


179. Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Richard Bach


180. The Little Prince, Antoine De Saint-Exupery


181. The Suitcase Kid, Jacqueline Wilson


182. Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens


183. The Power Of One, Bryce Courtenay


184. Silas Marner, George Eliot


185. American Psycho, Bret Easton Ellis


186. The Diary Of A Nobody, George and Weedon Gross-mith


187. Trainspotting, Irvine Welsh


188. Goosebumps, R. L. Stine


189. Heidi, Johanna Spyri


190. Sons And Lovers, D. H. Lawrence


191. The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera


192. Man And Boy, Tony Parsons


193. The Truth, Terry Pratchett


194. The War Of The Worlds, H. G. Wells


195. The Horse Whisperer, Nicholas Evans


196. A Fine Balance, Rohinton Mistry


197. Witches Abroad, Terry Pratchett


198. The Once And Future King, T. H. White


199. The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eric Carle


200. Flowers In The Attic, Virginia Andrews


201. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien


202. The Eye of the World, Robert Jordan


203. The Great Hunt, Robert Jordan


204. The Dragon Reborn, Robert Jordan


205. Fires of Heaven, Robert Jordan


206. Lord of Chaos, Robert Jordan


207. Winter's Heart, Robert Jordan


208. A Crown of Swords, Robert Jordan


209. Crossroads of Twilight, Robert Jordan


210. A Path of Daggers, Robert Jordan


211. As Nature Made Him, John Colapinto


212. Microserfs, Douglas Coupland


213. The Married Man, Edmund White


214. Winter's Tale, Mark Helprin


215. The History of Sexuality, Michel Foucault


216. Cry to Heaven, Anne Rice


217. Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe, John Boswell


218. Equus, Peter Shaffer


219. The Man Who Ate Everything, Jeffrey Steingarten


220. Letters To A Young Poet, Rainer Maria Rilke


221. Ella Minnow Pea, Mark Dunn


222. The Vampire Lestat, Anne Rice


223. Anthem, Ayn Rand


224. The Bridge To Terabithia, Katherine Paterson


225. Tartuffe, Moliere


226. The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka


227. The Crucible, Arthur Miller


228. The Trial, Franz Kafka


229. Oedipus Rex, Sophocles


230. Oedipus at Colonus, Sophocles


231. Death Be Not Proud, John Gunther


232. A Doll's House, Henrik Ibsen


233. Hedda Gabler, Henrik Ibsen


234. Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton


235. A Raisin In The Sun, Lorraine Hansberry


236. ALIVE!, Piers Paul Read


237. Grapefruit, Yoko Ono


238. Trickster Makes This World, Lewis Hyde


240. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley


241. Chronicles of Thomas Convenant, Unbeliever, Stephen Donaldson


242. Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny


242. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon


243. Summerland, Michael Chabon


244. A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole


245. Candide, Voltaire


246. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More, Roald Dahl


247. Ringworld, Larry Niven


248. The King Must Die, Mary Renault


249. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert Heinlein


250. A Wrinkle in Time, Madeline L'Engle


251. The Eyre Affair, Jasper Fforde


252. The House Of The Seven Gables, Nathaniel Hawthorne


253. The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne


254. The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan


255. The Great Gilly Hopkins, Katherine Paterson


256. Chocolate Fever, Robert Kimmel Smith


257. Xanth: The Quest for Magic, Piers Anthony


258. The Lost Princess of Oz, L. Frank Baum


259. Wonder Boys, Michael Chabon


260. Lost In A Good Book, Jasper Fforde


261. Well Of Lost Plots, Jasper Fforde


261. Life Of Pi, Yann Martel


263. The Bean Trees, Barbara Kingsolver


264. A Yellow Raft In Blue Water, Michael Dorris


265. Little House on the Prairie, Laura Ingalls Wilder


267. Where The Red Fern Grows, Wilson Rawls


268. Griffin & Sabine, Nick Bantock


269. Witch of Black Bird Pond, Elizabeth George Speare


270. Mrs. Frisby And The Rats Of NIMH, Robert C. O'Brien


271. Tuck Everlasting, Natalie Babbitt


272. The Cay, Theodore Taylor


273. From The Mixed-Up Files Of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, E.L. Konigsburg


274. The Phantom Tollbooth, Norton Jester


275. The Westing Game, Ellen Raskin


276. The Kitchen God's Wife, Amy Tan


277. The Bone Setter's Daughter, Amy Tan


278. Relic, Duglas Preston & Lincolon Child


279. Wicked, Gregory Maguire


280. American Gods, Neil Gaiman


281. Misty of Chincoteague, Marguerite Henry


282. The Girl Next Door, Jack Ketchum


283. Haunted, Judith St. George


284. Singularity, William Sleator


285. A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson


286. Different Seasons, Stephen King


287. Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk


288. About a Boy, Nick Hornby


289. The Bookman's Wake, John Dunning


290. The Church of Dead Girls, Stephen Dobyns


291. Illusions, Richard Bach


292. Magic's Pawn, Mercedes Lackey


293. Magic's Promise, Mercedes Lackey


294. Magic's Price, Mercedes Lackey


295. The Dancing Wu Li Masters, Gary Zukav


296. Spirits of Flux and Anchor, Jack L. Chalker


297. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice


298. The Encyclopedia of Unusual Sex Practices, Brenda Love


299. Infinite Jest, David Foster Wallace


300. The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison


301. The Cider House Rules, John Irving


302. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card


303. Girlfriend in a Coma, Douglas Coupland


304. The Lion's Game, Nelson Demille


305. The Sun, The Moon, and the Stars, Stephen Brust


306. Cyteen, C. J. Cherryh


307. Foucault's Pendulum, Umberto Eco


308. Cryptonomicon, Neal Stephenson


309. Invisible Monsters, Chuck Palahniuk


310. Camber of Culdi, Kathryn Kurtz


311. The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand


312. War and Rememberance, Herman Wouk


313. The Art of War, Sun Tzu


314. The Giver, Lois Lowry


315. The Telling, Ursula Le Guin


316. Xenogenesis (or Lilith's Brood), Octavia Butler (Dawn, Adulthood Rites, Imago)


317. A Civil Campaign, Lois McMaster Bujold


318. The Curse of Chalion, Lois McMaster Bujold


319. The Aeneid, Publius Vergilius Maro


320. Hanta Yo, Ruth Beebe Hill


321. The Princess Bride, S. Morganstern (or William Goldman)


322. Beowulf, Anonymous


323. The Sparrow, Maria Doria Russell


324. Deerskin, Robin McKinley


325. Dragonsong, Anne McCaffrey


326. Passage, Connie Willis


327. Otherland, Tad Williams


328. Tigana, Guy Gavriel Kay


329. Number the Stars, Lois Lowry


330. Beloved, Toni Morrison


331. Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal, Christopher Moore


332. The mysterious disappearance of Leon, I mean Noel, Ellen Raskin


333. Summer Sisters, Judy Blume


334. The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Victor Hugo


335. The Island on Bird Street, Uri Orlev


336. Midnight in the Dollhouse, Marjorie Filley Stover


337. The Miracle Worker, William Gibson


338. The Genesis Code, John Case


339. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevensen


340. Paradise Lost, John Milton


341. Phantom, Susan Kay


342. The Mummy or Ramses the Damned, Anne Rice


343. Anno Dracula, Kim Newman


344. The Dresden Files: Grave Peril, Jim Butcher


345. Tokyo Suckerpunch, Issac Adamson


346. The Winter of Magic's Return, Pamela Service


347. The Oddkins, Dean R. Koontz


348. My Name is Asher Lev, Chaim Potok


349. The Last Goodbye, Raymond Chandler


350. At Swim, Two Boys, Jaime O'Neill


351. Othello, by William Shakespeare


352. The Collected Poems of Dylan Thomas


353. The Collected Poems of William Butler Yeats


354. Sati, Christopher Pike


355. The Divine Comedy, Dante


356. The Apology, Plato


357. The Small Rain, Madeline L'Engle


358. The Man Who Tasted Shapes, Richard E Cytowick


359. 5 Novels, Daniel Pinkwater


360. The Sevenwaters Trilogy, Juliet Marillier


361. Girl with a Pearl Earring, Tracy Chevalier


362. To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf


363. Our Town, Thorton Wilder


364. Green Grass Running Water, Thomas King


335. The Interpreter, Suzanne Glass


336. The Moor's Last Sigh, Salman Rushdie


337. The Mother Tongue, Bill Bryson


338. A Passage to India, E.M. Forster


339. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky


340. The Phantom of the Opera, Gaston Leroux


341. Pages for You, Sylvia Brownrigg


342. The Changeover, Margaret Mahy


343. Howl's Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones


344. Angels and Demons, Dan Brown


345. Johnny Got His Gun, Dalton Trumbo


346. Shosha, Isaac Bashevis Singer


347. Travels With Charley, John Steinbeck (my cat peed on this book.)


348. The Diving-bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby


349. The Lunatic at Large by J. Storer Clouston


350. Time for bed by David Baddiel


351. Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold


352. Quite Ugly One Morning by Christopher Brookmyre


353. The Bloody Sun by Marion Zimmer Bradley


354. Sewer, Gas, and Electric by Matt Ruff


355. Jhereg by Steven Brust


356. So You Want To Be A Wizard by Diane Duane


357. Perdido Street Station, China Mieville


358. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Anne Bronte


359. Road-side Dog, Czeslaw Milosz


360. The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje


361. Neuromancer, William Gibson


362. The Epistemology of the Closet, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick


363. A Canticle for Liebowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr


364. The Mask of Apollo, Mary Renault


365. The Gunslinger, Stephen King


366. Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare


367. Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke


368. A Season of Mists, Neil Gaiman


369. Ivanhoe, Walter Scott


370. The God Boy, Ian Cross


371. The Beekeeper's Apprentice, Laurie R. King


372. Finn Family Moomintroll, Tove Jansson


373. Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock


374. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Philip K. Dick


375. Assassin's Apprentice, Robin Hobb


376. number9dream, David Mitchell


377. A Game of Thrones, George R. R. Martin


378. Five Quarters of the Orange, Joanne Harris


379. Darkness at Noon, Arthur Koestler


380. Einstein's Dreams, Alan Lightman


381. Dance On My Grave, Aidan Chambers


382. Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula Leguin


383. Hyperion, Dan Simmons


384. Martian Chronicles, Ray Bradbury


385. Checkmate, Dorothy Dunnett


386. To Say Nothing of the Dog, Connie Willis


387. A Clash of Kings, George RR Martin


388. The Egyptian, Mika Waltari


389. Moab Is My Washpot, Stephen Fry


390. Contact, Carl Sagan


391. Mythago Wood, Robert Holdstock


392. Feersum Endjinn, Iain M. Banks


393. The Golden, Lucius Shepard


394. Decamerone, Boccaccio


395. Birdy, William Wharton


396. The Red Tent, Anita Diaman


397. The Foundation, Isaac Asimov


398. Il Principe, Machiavelli


399. Post Office, Charles Bukowski


400. Macht und Rebel, Abu Rasul


401. Grass, Sheri S. Tepper


402. The Long Walk, Richard Bachman


403. Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman


404. The Joy Of Work, Scott Adams


405. Romeo, Elise Title


406. The Ninth Gate, Arturo Perez-Reverte


407. Memnoch the Devil, Anne Rice


408. Dead Famous, Ben Elton


409. Scarlett, Alexandra Ripley


410. Dead Souls, Nikolai Gogol


411. Look to Windward, Iain M. Banks


412. The Colossus of Maroussi, Henry Miller


413. Branded, Alissa Quart


414. The Idiot, Fyodor Dostoyevsky


415. Dharma Bums, Jack Kerouac


416. White teeth, Zadie Smith


417. The bell jar, Sylvia Plath


418. The little prince of Belleville, Calixthe Beyala


419. Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert


420. A King Lear of the Steppes, Ivan Turgenev


421. The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoyevsky


422. Memoirs of a Revolutionist, Peter Kropotkin


423. Hija de la Fortuna, Isabel Allende


424. Retrato en Sepia, Isabel Allende


425. Villette, Charlotte Brontë


426. Steppenwolf, Herman Hesse


427. Ubik, Philip K. Dick


428. Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler


429. Solaris, Stanislaw Lem


430. The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway


431. Nausea, Jean Paul Sartre


432. The Island of the Day Before, Umberto Eco


433. The Elementary Particles, Michel Houellebecq


434. The Angel Of The West Window, Gustav Meyrink


435. A Farewell To Arms, Ernest Hemingway


436. Naked Lunch, William S. Burroughs


437. Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut


438. In the Eyes of Mr. Fury, Philip Ridley


439. Consider Phlebas, Iain M. Banks


440. Into the Forest, Jean Hegland


441. Middlesex ,Jeffrey Eugenides


442. The Giving Tree -Shel Silverstein


443. Go Ask Alice -Anonymous


444. Waiting For Godot, Samuel Beckett


445. Blankets, Craig Thompson


446. The Girls' Guide To Hunting And Fishing, Melissa Banks


447. Voice of the Fire, Alan Moore


448. The Geography of Nowhere, James Howard Kunstler


449. Coraline, Neil Gaiman


450. The Circus of Dr. Lao, Charles G. Finney


451. Jitterbug Perfume, Tom Robbins


452. John Lennon: The Lost Weekend, by May Pang and Henry Edwards


453. A Long Fatal Love Chase, Lousia May Alcott


454. Pygmalion, Bernard Shaw


455. Breakfast at Tiffany's, Trumate Capote


456. Skinny Legs And All, Tom Robbins


457. Written On The Body, Jeanette Winterson


458. An Equal Music, Vikram Seth


459. A Widow for One Year, John Irving


460. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Rebecca Wells


461. Reservation Blues, Sherman Alexie


462. Hidden Power, Kati Marton


463. Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier


464. Macbeth, William Shakespeare


465. The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer


466. The Iliad, Homer


467. Common Sense, Thomas Paine


468. A Midsummer Night's Dream, William Shakespeare


469. The Odyssey, Homer


470. Personal History, Biography by Katherine Graham


471. Mansfield Park, Jane Austen


472. Truman, David McCullough


473. One for the Money, Janet Evanovich


474. Blue Dahlia, Nora Roberts


475. Little Altars Everywhere, Rebecca Wells


476. Guilty Pleasures, Laurell K. Hamilton


477. Kiss of Shadows, Laurell K. Hamilton


478. Whispers of the Dead, V. Artemis Reyd


479. The Stranger, Albert Camus


480. Women, Charles Bukowski


481. The Firebird Poems, Gerald Locklin


482. Cannery Row, John Steinbeck


483. The Good Earth, Pearl S. Buck


484. Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams, Sylvia Plath




It's a long list, I transformed it into a spreadsheet and back to edit. See also my own list of hugo winners that I've read and not read.

May 03, 2005

Update

lj-mood: tired

It's been a few weeks, I haven't gotten around to updating.

I had a nice weekend in Phoenix a week and a half ago. I got to see the opening night of "Anything Goes" that Emily has been working so hard on. It was a lot of fun. I look forward to seeing her again in a few weeks.

I went out and bought a Mac mini. Interesting toy, not sure if it will become a server or if I can use it as a desktop. I'll give it a bit more time. I have been spending too much time playing with it when I should be cleaning the apartment, sleeping, etc.

The house thing is still coming along well. We have a bid on the work that needed to be done, it came in a bit lower than the initial estimate, which is a bit of a relief. I'm anxious to get everything started - it seems like it'll be a long road before we can actually move in, but it'd be nice to have things underway.

April 18, 2005

Another update

lj-mood: anxious

It's been a few weeks, I suppose I should update. (Does anyone actually read this thing?) We've got a signed deal on the house. It'll be a lot of work and expense getting it into shape. Hopefully we can start soon.

I miss Emily, she's been so busy that we haven't really gotten a chance to talk much. It sucks for both of us that her schedule is that crowded, but I guess that's the way school goes - I don't know if I could do school again. Fortunately, I get to see her and the show she's been working on this weekend. (And I think things will let up a little bit for her, schedule-wise.)

Finally made Lamb Vindaloo last weekend, after owning the domain name for years. :) It turned out fairly well, but was too sweet. (I switched recipes in the middle of it, I think I may keep the tamarind, but use a lot less next time.) The original recipe called for marinating the meat, the one I ended up with just used it as-is (and browned it). So I skipped the browning, and used the marinade in place of similar ingredients. It was good, but the sweetness kinda reminded me of Koresht Fesenjan. I'll have leftovers later this week. I like the idea of making up more vindaloo and freezing it, to be used as the mood strikes me. Also, while frying the onions, I was reminded that I wanted to try my hand at french onion soup sometime.

March 30, 2005

Easter

Last Sunday, we got together at Dan and Carmen's place for easter. I made my chile verde and some guacamole. We went with a mexican theme because I'd already gotten the ingredients. Dan made some chicken fajitas and mexican rice. The chile verde went over really well. I don't have my recipes up on my server at the moment, so I'll just put it here for your reading enjoyment:


  • 1.5-2lbs stewing pork, cut into 1/2"-1" cubes
  • 1 onion, thinly sliced into little half-circles, chopped, or whatever.
  • 2 cloves of garlic, finely diced
  • 5-6 tomatillos, diced
  • 1 tomato, seeded and diced
  • 5 Fresh anaheim chiles
  • 1 jalapeno (if you want some more spice)
  • 2 cups of chicken broth/stock
  • flour, salt, pepper


Roast the chilis in a broiler or over an open flame, put in a paper bag for 5 minutes or so, peel, seed, and slice into inch long strips. Prep all the ingredients. Put some oil in a dutch oven. Coat the meat in flour (mix in some salt and pepper) and brown in the oven and set aside. (Work in batches.) Cook the onions and garlic. (At least get the onions translucent, doesn't hurt to brown them a little.) Add the tomatoes, tomatillos, and chilis. Add the meat. Add chicken broth to cover. Put a lid on the pan and simmer for about 2 hours. Uncover, reduce to desired consistency, and adjust seasonings. (Add salt and pepper to taste, I like a good dose of black pepper in this dish.)

Serve with tortillas, mexican rice, and beans. (Make little tacos with the tortillas, or just eat it with a fork.) This should taste even better the second day, if you save some and reheat it.

March 24, 2005

New York

I'm back from our New York vacation. I had a good time, but it was a bit cold and windy, and it seemed to be a bit busy/hectic. On sunday, we got to see one of my friends (Rich Kaszeta) and a few of Emily's friends, who were quite fun to hang out with. We saw five shows: Avenue Q, Phantom, Wicked, Spamalot, and Altar Boyz. Emily showed me here old hang outs, and we went to a few museums and stores. (The Met, Radio & TV museum, and the MOMA.)

 

The city was interesting. The subway system is much more extensive than BART, neither as nice nor as smooth, though. I also noticed that the pedestrians behave a bit differently. (They don't have the entitlement that the pedestrians in SF have, but everything seems to run more smoothly because of it.) The city seemed rather hectic - there wern't a lot of places or opportunities to sit and relax. Maybe that was just our schedule and the weather, though. I also noticed that it was much harder to find decent beer than in San Francisco. In the end, I much prefer San Francisco.

Dan, Carmen, and I put a bid in on a house today, , we'll see if the seller accepts our terms. It's quite charming, and in a good location, but needs some work done on it. The picture makes it look a little small, because it's wedge (flatiron?) shaped, but it has two 2 bdrm, 1 bath units in it for a total of 2820 square feet.

February 26, 2005

Houseless

lj-mood: relaxed

I sold my house yesterday. Or, at least, I signed and returned the paperwork. It should close on monday. Amazing how easy it was - sign some papers, drop them in the mail, wait for the deposit in my bank account.

This weekend I'm in SF alone - Emily is visiting her sister in Salt Lake City. I could have used the time to go looking for furniture or explore the city, but I've settled for staying home and organizing stuff. So, I did the dishes this morning, then my new passport arrived, I had lunch, hung out with Dan for a little bit, unpacked some boxes, throwing out lots of old junk I've collected, and played with the computer a bit. (Also cleaning up old junk.)

February 21, 2005

Hoppy Thoughts

Emily visited again last weekend. Despite the constant rainfall, we had a good time. This was our weekend to hang out with other people more; but between cancellations, rain, and time constraints, it ended up being a weekend together. We went out to eat, watched movies in my apartment, and listened to the rain fall. We did take a brief trip downtown, to print her boarding pass and see my work, but we still haven't seen much of San Francisco.

It's been tough only seeing each other for a couple of days at a time - and only one full day. Perhaps it makes the time together intense, but it also feels a bit rushed. I look forward to some more relaxed time together in New York. She won't be able to make it to SF again for a while, but perhaps she'll find a summer position in the area so we can explore the city and its surrounds together.

In other news, I applied for a new passport last week, so I'll have another picture id while I'm replacing my driver's license. (It's hard to survive without one in this age.) Also, I'm currently cooking for my first time in the new place. I'm making Rogan Josh. I managed to get some lamb from the grocery market, so I'm making it in the proper manner this time.

February 15, 2005

Birthday

lj-mood: chipper

I keep thinking I've updated my journal, but it appears to have been two weeks. Today is my birthday. I'm now 32 years old. It seems like just yesterday that seemed like a really old age. I celebrated my birthday last sunday with Emily, Dan, and Carmen. We had lunch at the Slanted Door, a vietnamese place that serves small-plate dishes, and then went back to Dan's place for some cake and presents. (Dan and Carmen surprised me with a nice cake from Citizen Cake.) We had a good time, but we had to cut it a little short to get Emily back to the airport.

Last weekend Emily visited, it was her first time in SF. The weather was decent. I showed her my neighborhood, noe valley, and the inner sunset. And we went to Twin Peaks and Golden Gate Park. We had dinner at Zuni and filled the rest of the time talking and watching movies. On sunday, as I mentioned, we celebrated my birthday at the Slanted Door, saw the new ferry building, and hung out at Dan's place.

During the previous week, I finished unpacking. I still have to organize the kitchen and pick up some furniture for the kitchen, but it's basically done. I'm not cooking yet, for lack of counter space, but I'll start again soon.

And the weekend before that I visited Emily in Phoenix. We had a great time, it went much better than the first visit to Phoenix. (No cars broken into or anything.) We had dinner at a fondue place on saturday, hung out in the Tempe area, saw some movies, and I joined her when she was practicing the piano.

On the downside, I found out today that CA will take up to 60 days to give me a driver's license and will take my old one from me. So I'd have no photo id for two months. It's difficult to survive without one, so I will do an expedited renewal of my passport before taking care of the car stuff.

February 02, 2005

Almost there

lj-music: birds and street sounds

I'm mostly moved in now. It's been interesting. My stuff arrives any time now, hopefully it's in good shape. After that I will need a couple pieces of furniture, and I'll have to figure out how to fit everything in here. This is my big chance to simplify my life. :)

I don't know how I feel about this. Still getting used to feeling like this is my place, I still have an unrooted feeling. I also don't know about parking. It seems ok for now, but I'm not as used to parallel parking as I was. If necessary, I'll get a garage. The place feels small, and a little run down. I'm going to need to make some counter space in the kitchen, maybe the table will suffice; otherwise, I'll get some kind of side tables. I've eyed a few in the past, but avoided them because I had too much space in the last place.

I've started the DSL process, we'll see how long it takes. I'm guessing 10-15 business days - with the phone company being the longest part. In the meanwhile, I have a dialup connection and work.

Work has begun. I've spent some time setting up my machines the last couple of days and got the software that I'll be working on installed yesterday. I've got to learn a lot of new systems (Zope, Z4I, etc), which may take some spare time. Along with moving details (unpacking, decorating) and Emily, I'll be a busy guy. But that'll help pass the time between weekends. (For me at least.)

My weekends are pretty much booked up, so I'll get stuff done during the week. My life is fairly exciting at the moment, and it's good for me to shake things up a bit.

January 28, 2005

Friday

lj-mood: bored

Just a couple of days before I drive to San Francisco. I'm excited, happy, and bored at the same time. Today was a good day. The consignment people finally picked up the table and chairs, and I got the title to my car in the mail.

I am now a patron of the arts. (Or member of two musuems, at least.) I joined SFMOMA and FAMSF yesterday. I've liked the exhibits that I've gone to at both places in the past, and it's nice to be able to support the arts. Gotta blend in with the SF crowd anyway. :)

January 27, 2005

House for sale...

My realtor called today. The buyers of my house are in negotiations - it looks like the deal will go through. Only issue is that it's contigent on another house that closes on the 25th, which is contingent on a third house that closes on the 20th. (That's 4 houses involved, including mine, if you're keeping score.)

I think I've managed to get rid of the extra bed. Either the church of a guy at work will take it as a donation, or a coworker wants it. (The same church got my '95 saturn last year and gave it to a needy family.) Now I just have to figure out that table - that consignment place seems to suck. I may give up and donate that too, we'll see. I did manage to get rid of almost all my trash this morning, just have some bottles to recycle, and the misc garage stuff that I want to give away, if possible. Last night David, from work, picked up the futon frame, and offered to take a few other pieces later (ladder, futon mattress, shelving). It's good to see that stuff go to good use.

I have lunch and dinner with various coworkers today, and maybe lunch on saturday. It'll be nice to see them again, I didn't get a chance to properly say goodbye to some of them last week.

It does suck to not have all of my stuff here. Most of my cooking stuff is packed away. I manage a digiornos pizza yesterday, using a knife and paper plate to chop the garlic and get it in and out of the oven. I can't even buy wine for lack of a corkscrew.

January 25, 2005

Moving

lj-mood: content

Friday the 21st was my last day of work. It was an interesting week, wrapping things up at work, dealing with apartment stuff, coordinating moving, and anticipating Emily's visit.



The weekend was a lot of fun. I got to cook for us twice. Made the rigatoni dish saturday and the indian dish on sunday.



On Friday, we went to Il Fornaio in Green Valley Ranch. It's a nice little Italian place. Afterward, I showed her my house, and we saw the Triplets of Bellville.



On Saturday, I made my rigatoni dish for lunch. We watched A Mighty Wind. For our big evening out, we had a nice steak dinner at "Joe's Prime Steak and stone crab" in caesars before going the Cirque du Soleil's "O" show. We both got a nice petit Filet Mignon. And we both got it medium rare - she knows how to eat beef, it was excellent steak. The show was also very impressive, although I'm not sure if I like "O" or Mystère better. I guess they're just different.



On Sunday, I tried to take her to Panevino, but they were closed so we went to a mexican place where I frequently had lunch with coworkers, SuperMex. Despite the name, they have an excellent Chile Verde. We picked up "Waiting for Guffman" on the way home and watched that. For dinner I made (with my lovely sous chef) Rogan Josh - an Indian stew. We made it with beef, although lamb is more traditional. We also watched most of the Dark Crystal, but had to stop to take her to the airport. It's hard to say goodbye...



On Monday the movers came and picked up all the stuff I want in San Francisco. Now I just have to get rid of the rest. I only took one of the beds, and I'm putting my dining table up on consignment. I'll also ditch the futon and a few ghetto (e.g. Kmart) pieces of furniture. For now the house is empty, and I have a bunch of trash that needs to go out.



I'll drive up to SF this Sunday and start work tuesday.



Movie reviews:



The Triplets of Bellville is a french animated film with some fun characters and almost no spoken dialog. It's put together really well, and you don't even notice that there is no dialog. It almost beat out Finding Nemo for best animated film, but I don't know if awards really mean anything.



A Mighty Wind is a mockumentary about folk singers done by the same guy that did best in show. Entertaining, but I preferred Waiting for Guffman. (Emily prefers A Mighty Wind.)



Waiting for Guffman is another mockumentary by Christopher Guest. This one is about a small town putting on a theatrical production for their sesquicentenial, with hopes of hitting broadway.

January 20, 2005

Penultimate day

It's been too long since my last entry. I'm now an IBM employee, as of a couple of weeks ago. They bought the company that I previously worked for, a startup called SRD. I had already put in my notice that January 21st was my last day, so I'll be an IBM employee for about two weeks (ending tomorrow).


The weekend of the 8th, a few days afterwards, I visited Emily. Unfortunately, her car was broken into the first night, but we managed to enjoy ourselves nontheless.


Shortly afterward she started to have some doubts about breaking up with Mic. I suggested she take a few days away from us to decide. She ended up deciding that it wasn't going to work out with him, and we'd see how things go with us.


The weekend of the 15th, I flew to San Francisco to find an apartment. I went with one in mind and ended up getting a different one, which I found the last day I was there. It doesn't have a garage, but it's a very charming SF apartment in a great neighborhood. (Noe Valley.)


This weekend, Emily is visiting Vegas. I wanted her to check out my house and see the city while we still have the chance. We'll see "O", have dinner, and hang out. Should be a lot of fun.


Next week, I get to move. Should be interesting. Still negotiating things with the movers. I'll have an extra bed, futon, and a couple of tables to get rid of or store, because they won't fit in the apartment.

January 01, 2005

the day after

So I ended up going to the party. I had a fun time, but stayed up way too late. I went with the wife of a coworker who refuses to go to parties. The had plenty of the promised sushi, which was of acceptable quality. Also had decent appetizers going around. There was a bit of a line for the food at first and for the bathrooms throughout the night. I only got one drink at one of the bars and didn't really check out the liquor, but I didn't see any decent beer. There was also a decent source of cafe drinks in front of the house (next to the hookah lounge).

There was a black lit room, with markers to write on people and mirrors, a cigar lounge, and a chocolate fountain. And the kitchen has a very nice Viking range - I want one. :)

The fire breather was entertaining, and there were a few cirque mimes and a guy on stilts mingling with the guests. And, of course, there were go-go dancers on pedestals, 4 at a time, rotated throughout the night. (The fire-breather has his own two girls who essentially were dancers with flaming devices in their hands.)

Met some coworkers, had a bit of a cigar (not a big cigar guy, but I'm willing to try a decent one occasionally). Oh and I danced, albeit badly - Brian's wife likes to dance and didn't seem to mind me not knowing what I'm doing.

The show before the new years moment was put on by guy named a Moebius 8 - kind of a laser/music/projection screen thing. It seemed cheesy to me, but to each his own.

During the day yesterday, I made the Rigatoni con Salsiccia again. It's a simple but tasty dish. Over christmas break I taught my mom to make it. It's nice to see her branching out to new dishes.

I think I'll do the Chile Verde today and have left-over rigatoni for lunch.