Friday, August 31, 2007

I say "Tomato" you say "Tomato"

My dad and I have a vegetable garden outside. He grows lettuce, radishes, zucchini, potatoes, and big red tomatoes. I grow jalapenos, cilantro, onions, and roma tomatoes. His veggies are just for miscellaneous enjoyment; mine are part of a salsa recipe that I've been dying to make from my own ingredients. As a matter of fact, I tried it the other day ... but I had a few problems:

  1. My cilantro went to seed, so it tasted funny. I had to buy more at the store.
  2. I used WAY too much jalapeno. My mouth was on fire for the better part of an hour and my hands were burning all day from making the stuff.

But in all, the salsa turned out OK. I learned my lesson with the jalapeno and will only use 1/4 of a pepper next time. (The recipe called for 4; I only used one and a half and it was STILL hot!)

We also sliced up some tomatoes to make BLTs the other day. They were spectacular! Besides that, my mom's been frying the zucchini and we've been slicing the tomatoes for pizza. The rest of the veggies have had their run (no more potatoes, lettuce, or radishes) but we're optimistic for next year.

I wanted to show you the fruits of our labor, so I took a photo with my cell phone before slicing a few tomatoes for pizza. I'm very proud of my romas. I started them from seeds on my window sill a few months ago and now have 3-4 ripe tomatoes a day!

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Old Poetry

I was rummaging around on one of my old web servers today and I found an interesting poem that I wrote. I remember writing it for some kind of scholarship (that I didn't win). I read back through it and still think it's pretty good. Let me know what you think. The title is "Amazing, isn't it?"

Read More...

Friday, August 24, 2007

So long!

I had to say goodbye to Suzie last night. She's my girlfriend's cat and it was time to send her off to New York. I set up a reservation with Delta Airlines and started getting everything ready. This involved a trip to the veterinarian to certify that she was in good health and to get her up-to-date on all the necessary vaccination. Veterinarians are expensive, by the way, I might be in the wrong line of work.

After that, I took her to the airport (keep in mind I'm compressing a week of work and worrying about paperwork and procedure into the words "after that.") and set her up withe Delta Air Logistics. We were early for her check in, so we sat on the hood of my car and watched airplanes take off and land for a bit. It was fun.

Read More...

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Eeeew!

In a previous post, I talked about my dog and my girlfriend's cat. Well, there's more news for the both of them: fleas. The dog has never had fleas and the cat has never been outside to contract them. The problem is, combining the two animals made for a perfect petrie dish for the disgusting insects. We think the dog brought in one or two and they used the cat to increase their numbers.

The puppy has really thin fur and goes swimming often, making her useless for an incubator. The cat, on the other hand, has thick, dark fur that makes her an ideal nesting ground. We've sprayed, powdered, bathed, and otherwise tried to rid ourselves of the nuisances so far, but with little success. Up til now, though, we thought the cat was relatively flea-free.

Read More...

Friday, August 10, 2007

Graduation

Well, I'm all done and graduated. Here are some photos from the ceremony:

Read More...

Graduation Day

Today is graduation. I'm excited, and still a bit scared. I have yet to find a job with my new degree and credentials, and the prospect of having to take something less that what I can do frightens me. Today should be fun, though. If any of you want to come, graduation starts at 6pm at the Pittock Mansion. It should take about an hour and a half, and then we have a small catered thing in the building afterwards.

Read More...

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Up, up, and away!

My mom bought me a gift certificate for an Airplane Demo Flight at Hillsboro Aviation. I used it today, and it was INCREDIBLE!!! Here are some photos from the trip:

Read More...