the awesomeness that is my computer setup

Last week I had a problem. My (desktop) computer blacked out, and upon reset, there was no video output. Grrrrr. I checked all the cords to no avail.

But this has happened before. Except that time it was the CPU. And my bro-in-law saved me.

But this time I did it all myself. I've had to trouble shoot this computer enough (though unsuccessfully in the past) to pretend to know a thing or two.

So. I went to frys. You know. Frys. But then, before moving to CA, I did not know this thing called Frys. (Pronounced: fries. not friss. And it's like a super warehouse of electronic stuff). Frys is 4 blocks from my house. And I bought a video card, ram, and a power supply. I tested the new parts one at a time to see if it would output video. But then I realized that not all video cards have the same interface (heh). So I went back and got another video card...and swapped it..and WAS TRIUMPHANT! Now I just have to return the rest of the stuff I didn't need.

Except, I'd already given up and had ordered a laptop (my first!) during an online sale a few days earlier. I sort of needed a computer. ASAP.

So now I have put away my lovely desktop for future use. Except I hooked up my old monitor into my new laptop so now I have AWESOME dual screen action. YESSSSSSSS.

the hardest year

So far, the hardest year of my life was my first year in graduate school at Stanford. I have never felt so stupid, defeated, and stressed out. But I came away from it having learned much.

1) to run

I never studied on friday or saturday nights in high school. Nor in undergrad (except for once when I had a big math project, but that was secretly fun so it doesn't count). But that stopped in grad school. I studied. I remember one saturday night about 9 pm I got really mad--at my homework and that I was stressed enough to be studying on a saturday night. So I decided to run to let off steam. I ran the campus loop, which is 4 miles. In hindsight, I realize it was stupid to go running in the dark late at night, alone. AND stupid to run 4 miles when I hadn't run at all for at least 6 months. But it made me feel better. I kept on running the campus loop while in grad school. I love running. And it all started one saturday night.

2) to read

I read in high school in undergrad. But I didn't read all the time. And I certainly didn't read feverishly. Stanford taught me to read feverishly. The most beloved item I purchased for my room at Stanford is what I call my medusa lamp. (Below). I could twist each section to point wherever I wanted. And I put flourescent bulbs in it so it would be SUPER bright. I love lots of light to read. I read 150 books that year (which was a lot for me!). I read mostly in the middle of the night. I would do homework until I felt like stopping, and then would read until 3 am to escape. I really needed to escape. Some nights I didn't get to bed until 4 or 5 am, and I think 6 am once. And then I would sleep:)

(I've often thought that if I slept from 3 am to 9 am NOW, I'd get sick. I can't believe I managed that sleep schedule without getting sick at the time.)

3) to use itunes. And to discover Miles Davis.

I never used itunes until I moved to Stanford. I lived in a graduate apartment building on campus with everyone on the same network. Thus, I could listen to music that was shared on the network through itunes. I listened to Snow Patrol a lot, but the thing that I really loved was Miles Davis. I never listen to him now. And I never listened to him before. But for that first year at Stanford, I listened to him every night for hours and hours when I would do homework. I found it soothing, and it helped me to focus and get through many long nights. In junior high, I would listen to music while I did math (and I also used pen. As if I would need to erase:)). But in high school, math got a little more complicated and I needed all my concentration (and a pencil)--so turned the music off. But I discovered that it was just the words that were distracting. And so itunes helped me to discover Miles Davis. No words. Sort of jazzy. Good memories. Maybe someday I'll listen to Miles Davis again, but for now I prefer to think of him as a blanket that I no longer need.

fantastic fiction

This post is nothing more than a plug for one of my most favorite websites of all time. I adore it. And go there far too often.

It is fantastic fiction. Or rather, fantasticfiction.com. It is a huge database of authors and books with author bios and organized lists (and cover images) of all the books the author has written, grouped by series and listed in order of publication. It also has a "coming soon" section and a "most popular" section. Authors are also categorized into genres.

Here are my reasons for loving this site:

1) It's super-organized. And complete. So far there is only one author I've looked for that isn't on there--Sarah Jewett. But she's been dead for 100 years, and is pretty obscure.

2) There is a section at the bottom of each author's page that lists other authors also visited by people who viewed the original author's page--and sorted by frequency. (um..that was sortof confusing. In short, it links to similar author's pages.) I have discovered many authors this way.

3) In the listing of all authors on the website, my name is not there. Thus, should I turn into an amazing fantasy author my name will be unique and not confused with anyone else.

4) I can keep up on what's new and discover long forgotten authors.

5) I can amuse myself by looking in the "most popular" section. At the moment, the #1 most popular is "A Rogue of my Own", by Johanna Lindsey. Ahem. You know you want it.

a favorite snack.

My latest favorite snack is a combination of these two things:

1) Real yogurt.

and 2) Creamed honey. Mmmm.

I get a tiny bit of honey on my spoon, then get a spoonful of yogurt. Then I eat it.

Creamed honey is much tastier for spreading on breads than regular honey. The texture and taste are different. But I do use regular honey in baking.

(By the way, I ate yogurt while making this post.)

THE Ward Campout

DH and I went on the ward campout this weekend. Have you ever gone camping with a lot of native mexican and salvadorean families? Me either. And I learned some very important things:

1) Don't worry about being hungry. There is always food. Even if they tell you initially you will be on your own for breakfast, don't listen. Everybody will bring so much food that you won't even notice you forgot the pumpkin loaves and hard boiled eggs (that were supposed to be your breakfast) on the counter at home.

2) As Sarahi told me, there are no light meals in a Mexican home. All meals are big. There are no "light" breakfasts in Mexico.

3) Salsa. (or Chimol, did they call it? I googled it and it is the name for Salvadorean Salsa.) Araceli did nothing but make salsa. Always chopping, adding to the bowl. And we ate it. Yum. She cut up tomatoes, onion, jalapenos, cilantro, and squirted lime juice into it.

Then there was the other salsa. Hermana (sister) Garcia had roasted jalapenos and tomatoes at home, and brought them to camp. She also brought a very coarse mortar and pestle (very heavy). She peeled the jalapenos and tomatoes, and crushed them together. It was hot! My mom would have died coughing. Hermano (brother) Garcia claims that the salsa tastes better when crushed in the mortar, when compared to mixing or chopping in another bowl.

4) How to cut vegetables REALLY tiny. Now I am going to be the master chopper woman, after watching the pros.

5) The art of grilling. They sure can fire up a grill! At Mexican groceries, you can buy meat from the butcher sliced very thinly. It's thin enough that you can tear it apart into strips with your hands. I learned how to clean a grill too--you scrub it with an onion! Maybe everybody else knew that except me.

6) Grilled scallions (green onions). They grill them and then just chomp away at the white parts. As I was told repeatedly, onions are good for the lungs. Apparently.

7) I asked one woman if she uses tomatoes with every meal. It was met with a resounding YES! And she also uses pinto beans and perhaps (corn) tortillas with every meal too. Then I asked her if she eats the same thing every night. She laughed (of course, since it was a joke) and said no. I have yet to discover her cooking variations however. Hermana Garcia's kitchen hopefully will not be shrouded in mystery for too long.

8) They sure know how to party! DH and I were tired and dirty by the time we were done with breakfast (more like brunch). Everybody else was like, "Aw, you are going home? We were going to go party at the beach." And they were 20 years older than us!

The end.

happy birthday to me:)

I am now 26. (As of yesterday). Being an even number will put things in perspective I'm sure. Both my factors are prime too. 2*13. That's almost as good as being a real prime number.

Look at the lovely gingerbread upside down cake (made by DH!):

Notice there are only 19 candles (we ran out). I was ok turning 19 though. That year was not such a bad year. It is a prime number and everything.

Some of you may think I get too excited about the mathematical relationships of my age. Some of you might think it is nerdy and lame. But when I am 89 (and excited to be 89 because it is a prime number) you will be just plain old 89 with lots of health problems and nothing exciting going on.

So there.

the perfect bean: a journey

When it comes to burritos, I always get pinto. (You know, they always ask "black or pinto?" unless they haughtily assume you want black and don't ask). I like pinto beans. Black beans would be like invaders.

Except, there are things in which I think black beans are perfect. For example, something I have made increasingly often this summer is a black bean salad. It contains: 2-3 chopped tomatoes, a can of black beans (or 1 1/4 cup cooked black beans), 2-3 ears of corn (raw & fresh!, with the corn cut off the ear), a chopped avocado, and lots of chopped cilantro (like half cup of leaves maybe?). Reija was my inspiration on this recipe. She made a version of it for the dinner at which we met her beaux, Bob, this past summer. (And now she is engaged, how wonderful is that!)

I have all the sudden remembered I have two ears of corn in the fridge. Anyway. Back to beans. So, I decided that though 89 cents for a can of black beans is not highway robbery, much of the time I don't have a can of beans (alas, poor planning). This means I have to go to the "charming" but expensive corner store to get beans, and they charge 50 cents more for a can. So I decided my dependence on canned beans must end.

(As a side note, another reason for having black beans is because eventually I want to try to make this flourless chocolate cake that uses black beans.)

Attempt 1. Method: Soak all day, then boil.

This did not go well. The soaking went fine and I rinsed the beans afterward. Next, I boiled the beans. It took more than 2 hours of boiling for the beans to be fully cooked. They did not hold shape well either and were falling apart. This would be ok for a pureed dip, or inside a burrito (someone else's burrito perhaps), but NOT in a salad. Alas.

Attempt 2. Method: Overnight soak, then pressure cook.

See the pressure cooker. I just bought it last week. Before today, I had NEVER used a pressure cooker. (And didn't know how to use one either!)

Ok. After spending hours trying to figure out the directions (which were insufficient, and thus I turned to the web and youtube), I finally began my first use of the pressure cooker. In retrospect, I can say that I did not have the heat turned up high enough to build pressure up all the way. (The giant toggle thing in the center of the lid is supposed to shake around at the correct pressure, but there was steam coming out near the handle so I was confused!). Thus the beans weren't fully cooked after 10 minutes. (10 minutes, by the way, is what the pressure cooker directions say is necessary to cook soaked black beans. Only 10 minutes! Not 2 hours!). So I tried again, and this time waited longer, on the edge of my seat, and the pressure built up correctly. There is a little pin that pops up near the handle when it reaches pressure, I discovered. I think that also locks the lid in place so you can't open it until the pressure goes down.

So. After cooking (at correct pressure) 5 more minutes, the beans were cooked, but falling apart. The directions said for the beans to stay in tact, I should let pressure fall naturally (which is what I did) and not manually release the steam. This is what it looked like (below):

I think I added way too much water.

And this is how it looks strained and rinsed (below). The pressure cook method worked better than boiling, for sure. But I think if I'd used the pressure cooker correctly it would have turned out better. Next time, hopefully it will be perfect! (Must add salt next time too.)

P.S. There is one thing I can't figure out about my pressure cooker. There is a backup safety valve on the lid (the small attachment shown to the left on the lid in the picture). It screws on and off. Is it supposed to be screwed on tightly (or loosely)? The directions do not say...and I know not. Anyone know?