Project 365 | Feb. 8
Tonight I was told to leave work a few minutes early because of another snow storm heading our way, and before we even made it to Murfreesboro big fat, white, fluffy flakes were clogging up the windshield.
I made these stuffed shells for dinner tonight. I don’t cook too often (Ian is the chef in our house, and I happily eat his meals and then clean up), but when I do it’s generally some sort of pasta.
These were spinach-stuffed shells with parmesan cheese, basil and garlic. Despite needing a bit less pepper next time, I think the recipe’s a keeper.
I exercised for an hour and didn’t die
After we finally cleaned out the second bedroom (or “the office,” as we call it, even though work rarely gets done in there) last weekend, I hooked up the Wii to the TV in there under the guise of wanting to start using the Wii Fit we bought the day it came out but hadn’t used in… well, since about a week after it came out.
But it turns out it might not be a guise—I used it a couple of times last week and tonight… oh, tonight. I spent an ENTIRE HOUR on it. Aerobics, strength training, yoga, balance—I did it all. For those of you who work out on a regular basis you’re probably laughing at me, but you have to realize I’m someone who’s reveled in laziness and relied on a fast metabolism my entire life.
And I’m not really trying to lose weight now, I’m just getting old and creaky and realizing that hey, if my body hurts and I feel slothful, maybe, just maybe, getting up off my ass and moving my limbs around could be a good thing for me.
I’ve already started eating healthier when I became a vegetarian last summer, so maybe the next step in taking better care of my body is exercising it.
Project 365 | Feb. 3
We won $60 in last night’s trivia game, overcoming several teams of cheaters (even after they were called out for using KGB) and a new host who obviously didn’t know what was going on.
Oh, and at the end when we were announced as the overall winners? We were booed. BOOED. FOR BEING SMART. Booed by a room of cheating college kids.
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, as in the beginning when our team name was announced during team introductions someone yelled “SHOW US YOUR BOOBS” at me.
(FYI: I got the name from this article, shared with me yesterday by my co-worker Bill.)
Project 365 | Jan. 31
The silence of the snow is fading in today’s sunlight, but the trees still glisten
I’m going to be sad when it’s gone. I miss the way that the world goes silent when the snow falls around you, and the crunch the next day as we try to unearth ourselves from it.
As much as I need spring to announce itself, I’m also wary of what it brings.
Project 365 | Jan. 30
Our cars are still covered, but we don’t need to go anywhere.
A lot of people have been talking about getting cabin fever after just two days of snow. But I love it. I could stay inside for weeks and not feel walled-off or alone or stifled.
I think part of it comes from being able to entertain myself pretty well, but most of it is probably my hermit-like tendencies.
It doesn’t hurt that we’ve made a lot of improvements to our house lately, too, and it’s become a rather cozy little hermitage.
Project 365 | Jan. 29
Ian and I left work Thursday knowing there was a good chance we would be working from home Friday. A snow storm was coming.
People make fun of the south a lot for closing schools and clamoring to the grocery stores the few times a weatherman might predict snow here, and I’ll admit I used to scoff, too, when I first lived here. But then I experienced my first southern snow storm.
It ain’t like it was back home, folks.
You see, in the south, we get ice. Our entire roads turn to sheets of ice, and then the snow falls, lightly, covering the ice. Salt is only effective to a certain temperature, and in the south the temperature drops quickly.
And I don’t care who you are, where you’re from, how many feet of snow you walked to school in when you were a kid — up a hill both ways, of course — nobody can drive on ice. Nobody.
Also? We have hills around here. Big, winding, dramatic hills that don’t think twice about throwing you over the side even when the weather is gorgeous. So schools are closed because it’s not worth tossing a bussload of kids off the side of one of those hills.
I can’t explain the grocery store runs, though. Sure, I can understand why you would want to stock up on food, seeing as how we really don’t have many plows around here (and why should we — it only shows enough to use them maybe once every couple years). But why, if you think you’re going to be trapped in your house for days, do you insist on buying milk, bread and eggs — the most perishable items in the store?
And this picture? It’s from when Ian and I took a lunch break to walk down the block to a local hotdog place to grab lunch. We’re one of the few who don’t make the last-minute dash to the grocery store when we hear snow is coming: We live less than a block from a gas station, a grocery store, a hotdog restaurant and a liquor store.
I’d say as long as we can get out the front door, we’ll be just fine.
Apple introduces the iPad, Twitter explodes with lame menstrual jokes
So, today Apple announced the much-anticipated, much-rumored iPad, a device somewhere in between an iPhone/iPod Touch and a Macbook.
I think it’s brilliant. (But you’re not surprised, I know.)
It’s not a tablet, it’s not a netbook, it’s not an iPod. So what is it?
Essentially, it’s what you’d get if a Kindle, a netbook and an iPod Touch had a threeway, the iPod Touch got pregnant and then God intervened and, in his mock-turtlenecked wisdom, made the bastard child way more fucking awesome.
So, for those of you who weren’t hanging on every word of the announcement today, here are some of the highlights of the iPad:
- The ability to view full web pages, as it has a 9.7-inch display.
- Only half an inch thick and 1.5 pounds heavy.
- Besides the expected iTunes/iPod, Safari and Mail, YouTube is now HD and it will run iWork.
- Oh, and it’s going to beat the shizz out of the Kindle as far as eBook-reading goes.
- Transfer your already-bought apps from your iPhone or iPod Touch. And I can’t wait to see what apps developers come up with just for the iPad.
The entire time I was watching the liveblog feed from Engadget, I was biting my lip waiting for the price. And when they announced the pricing structure, I about pissed my pants. $499 for 16GB? Yes, please.
Now, initially I thought I would want the 3G-enabled version, which at $629 is a bit of a kick in the pants. But I’m not sure. Will I really be using it so often when I’m not within range of a wireless station? Probably not. But if my habits ever change, it would be nice to be able to sign up for the 3G service (from AT&T again, of course). Especially since, contrary to most wireless company’s data plans, no contract is required. And $14.99/month for 250GB of data (or $29.99/unlimited) is unprecedented. And very reasonable.
But I’ve got some time to decide. I don’t exactly have $500 or $600 just laying around, and I’m not entirely sure I want to get in on the first version of this product. I’ve learned from experience that when buying a new, revolutionary product, it’s generally best to wait for version 2.0 (unless you have the cash to burn, of course). When the iPhone was first announced, despite having dreamt of it for years and years, I knew that the second version would be much improved. So I waited, and was not disappointed.
I guess I’ll give it some time and see what kind of apps are developed, and pay attention to how I think I would use it to better determine if it’s worth the extra $130 for the 3G capabilities (I’m already leaning toward yes, though).
Oh, and the name? Give it a rest, people. Yes, period jokes, iTampon is next, blah blah. Someone already said what you’re about to tweet there, guy. And really, what did you expect it to be called? It fits with the iPod name and accurately describes what it is. As my friend Jamie asked, “Do you snicker when someone says ‘notepad’?”
Bottom line: No matter what you call it, it’s a game-changer.
It’s January, and I’m restless again
It happens every year: the uneasiness, the uncertainty about what I should be doing in a moment, the feeling that I’m wasting time but lacking the motivation to do anything productive. To do anything.
I know I’m not unique in this, but the thought of thousands of other people feeling a little bit lost, too, isn’t exactly a comfort.
All of our habits begin and end in the dark.
It’s winter, and I’m missing my muse again.
My days are filled with ideas of projects and stories and website redesigns, but my evenings find me loitering on the couch, paralyzed and unused.
I could sit at this computer all night, tranquilized by the sensation of fingers hitting keys, soothed by the tactile repetition, but the words wouldn’t come out right.
Project 365 | Jan. 25
New bookshelf!
We decided not to replace the bar stools that we got rid of after putting in the new floor (too pointy/scratchy), and instead got a bookshelf to hold more of our DVDs and our growing collection of cookbooks.
Cementing my status as a treehugger
On Saturday, Feb. 27, I’ll be joining some of my fellow Nashville bloggers to plant some trees in Bells Bend Park with the folks from Soundforest.org.
I’ve always had a strange fascination with trees, in a communal kind of sense. They relax me and when I’m surrounded by them, in the quiet they bring, I feel as close to spiritual as I’m able.
I’m excited to be a part of bringing more to the area.
