penn

On time

It is a common experience that a problem difficult at night is resolved in the morning after the committee of sleep has worked on it.

- John Steinbeck

as seen at a blog around the clock

Mr. Steinbeck, I completely agree. In addition to being one of my favorite authors, you are also full of wisdom.

Is it a date?

I've had one tab open in my browser for half a month, and I've been meaning to write about it the whole time. A bit ago, the Seattle Times wrote an article entitled Is It a Date?

A month ago, I was going to agree with what I've seen in many modern day etiquette posts: the man should pay for the first date (or, at least, someone should pay for the first date -- maybe the person who did the asking?). That way, it's definitely clear that the encounter is a date, and it's clear in an unspoken "the first rule about dating is we don't talk about dating" kind of way.

Now, after a month of meeting new people via "internet dating," I'd say that clear communication is key. Interestingly, that's mentioned in the article -- but not quite in the way I intend.

Dating coach Evan Marc Katz, co-author of "Why You're Still Single," attributes part of the confusion to men and women not expressing their intentions. He says dating should be a simple matter: a social meeting between a man and woman, paid for by the man. If this evening goes well, there is an understanding that it can lead to a second date and is possibly a prelude to a long-term relationship, he says.

But Katz says nothing about expressly asking "is this a date?" And why not ask and clarify? Nothing ventured; nothing gained seems to be a good rule of thumb. If the person says "no," then the expectations for the event are clearly outlined. If the person says "yes, of course," then, again, the expectations are outlined. I've definitely clarified before meeting for coffee that "this is for hanging out -- let's see how being friends goes" or "this is a date in my mind." I've also had times where I didn't clarify, and I found myself maddeningly nervous when I didn't know what to expect or how to act.

And speaking of expectations, I found an interesting article about having a coffee date. Again, the article suggests that the man should foot the bill for the first date, even if the woman did the asking. A bit archaic, I think. I like Margaret Berry's approach:

If the date was your idea, it is also your financial responsibility. Ladies, I don’t care what your mother told you about it being the man’s job to pay. She also told you that you were never supposed to ask a man out, so you do the math.

All this comes back to the need for clear communication. Is it a date? Is it not? Ask and find out. Once you know it's a date, then you can play the "who will pay" game (me? I like to cook dinner for people. No worries about payment there, and you can get reciprocal treatment in the form of a home cooked dinner made especially for you).

I think the bottom line is this: dating is nerve wracking. None of us know what we're doing. We all make big schlubs of ourselves a lot of the time. At least if you communicate and know what's going on, you end up being a little schlubby in an informed way.

Zoo Pictures

I had a fun time visiting the Toledo Zoo yesterday. Thankfully, I went with someone else who also has zoo stamina. The only thing we missed were the polar bears (I think they have a new baby? There was a really long line to see them). Good time was had by all, and I thought I'd share some of the better pictures I took. Apologies -- there are no pics of me or my friend. Sometimes, I forget to do the people pictures.

On the use of energy

Last night, I was listening to a BBC program on NPR (I often listen to the BBC -- NPR here runs BBC shows from 11ish on, and I drive out to the field site way too late some nights). In the show, they interviewed someone who had done studies about when people are more likely to personally conserve.

The conservation issue is tricky. A lot of people think "man, I would have to do *a lot* of work to conserve stuff, and would my one part really make a difference?" I certainly feel that way sometimes. In the show, the interviewee said his studies conclusively show that people are not more likely to conserve because of the environment, or because of political reasons, or even because of the added cost (really, how many people started driving significantly less because of the gas price hikes? Not many, I'm willing to bet. They just kvetch more).

Apparently, people are more willing to conserve when the people around them are conserving. Therefore, if you have lots of neighbors who have gone push mower, you're more likely to do the same. Ditto with turning off lights (maybe roommates influence this more? I wish I had that kind of influence on my roommates), saving water, and buying less stuff.

Aspiring gourmet

Or maybe just spending a little too much time enjoying the kitchen :-)

It's been a good week for me, food wise. I've had people over for dinner recently, so I've been cooking more than my standard "must get food in me" fare.

On Saturday, I made salsa chicken (partially cook chicken, then smother in salsa and let slow cook until done) with sauteed asparagus and wild rice. My friend made mangoes con leche for dessert, and it was pretty snazzy. My friend also brought over this truly amazing Vidal Blanc from Thirsty Owl Winery that I would recommend to anyone.

On Monday, I made the apricot glazed salmon again. I know; it's getting to be a date standby. I've actually cooked it for other people too. It's just nice for dates because it's impressive and oh so delicious. I pretty much followed everything on the linked page: salmon, steamed green beans tossed with toasted garlic and lemon juice, wild rice, and baked pears. We had a dry Riesling that went well with the meal.

On Tuesday, I had a bunch of leftover rice from Monday's meal. I also had uncooked chicken from Saturday. This, I think, was my most brilliant dish. I decided to combine the leftovers. I poached the chicken in chicken broth and then shredded it up as best I could. I sauteed garlic and onion together with green beans, and then I dumped in the rice with a little olive oil to counteract the dryness (somehow, my leftover rice gets quite dry. I think the humidity in my fridge must be low). I cracked in an egg too, for good measure. Ended up with a fabulous fried rice that I've been eating for lunch for the past several days. It was so wonderful that I made my roommates all try it too.

Last night, I was treated to a yummy dinner by a friend. He made this really amazing bruschetta with fresh basil from his garden, and we also had spinach sausage soup and pasta. It was tons of food, so I feel bad for not really finishing everything even though it was all good. For dessert, I made a sour cream and amaretto sauce, and we dipped whole cherries in the sauce and then dipped them in powdered sugar/chopped almonds. It was pretty good -- the cherries were great -- but I'm mulling over modifications in my mind.

Overall, I'm excited by the overall level of my foodiness recently. It's been nice to cook for other people, and I'm finding that those people in turn now want to cook for me. The friend I made the salmon for is making something (stuffed peppers? I forget) for me tomorrow night.

Me? I'm trying to figure out what recipe I want to tackle next. Tonight, I was thinking that a nice grilled salmon Caesar salad would be nice, so now I've got to figure out how to get the grill working. Or maybe you can do salmon on a George Forman grill? I've also been wanting some beef stroganoff, and I think that would be good for using up some of the red I bought. And after that, something else great. Much culinary excitement abounds.

About the red I bought, and about wine in general. I bought six bottles of wine the other day, since the grocery store gives a 10% discount on the purchase of six bottles or greater. I think I've really decided that I much prefer white wine to red, but I still have two more bottles of red to get through (a Shiraz and a Pinot Noir, I think; we drank the cab sav with the pasta). I've been enjoying the whites much better. I wonder if I can get away with pairing white wine to almost everything?

Photo tip

I've one word for the amateur photographers of the world:

VERTICAL.

Seriously. Take your camera, and rotate it 90 degrees (either direction will work -- chose direction as you see fit based on mechanics and comfort). Marvel as an entirely new world of photo taking becomes available to you.

This week is Art Fair in Ann Arbor, and massive crowds of people have descended upon our city. The fair itself is cool, and I wish I had enough time to take off an entire day for wandering around. I also wish I had enough money to buy myself some artwork, but it's not feasible right now.

Anyway, because of the tourists, I see a lot of people taking photos. And I see a lot of people taking crummy photos because they don't realize that they should be rotating their camera. In my mind, the biggest problem with the construction of cameras is that they've been built in a horizontal orientation. If I were a camera maker, I would seriously market a vertical camera with the marketing premise of "better photos -- instantly."

I thought maybe the photo problem would lessen because of the LCDs on digital cameras. I mean, you don't have the excuse with film ("I can't see the picture!" -- crappy excuse anyway, because the viewfinder is the picture). People can literally see their crummy photo on screen, yet that doesn't improve the composition.

Furthermore, I'm frustrated that even people with nice cameras haven't all figured out composition. When I went to the Tiger's game a few weeks back, my friend and I had a guy with a really fancy camera take a picture of us underneath a huge, snarling tiger statue. When I looked at the picture later . . . horizontal picture, you can see that my friend and I are in there (full body, so no good closeup), and you can see a tiger paw but no snarling face. At least I have the satisfaction of knowing that I took a great picture of him and his wife.

So, in conclusion: turn your camera vertical, and look at the picture. Looks nice, no? Feel free to break the rule for a fun photo, but at least give the vertical a try. Perhaps later on this week, I'll try and post more of a tutorial with actual pictures of when to follow the rule and when to break.

Still alive, but very very very busy with fieldwork. Just thought I'd let everyone know :-)

Are you sure?

"Leah, I don't think that the internet is responsible for the decline of water polo." - Mike (fellow cohort member in my program)

We were discussing the fact that student unions used to have cool stuff like pools in the basement, and I mentioned that water polo used to be huge. Then, there was much lamentation about the fact that people just don't get out of the house and hang out as much anymore. I can't even imagine how much society has likely changed in the past 50 years or so.

I then blamed the internet for people not leaving the house, and the above quote was born.

More pictures from my life

I'm processing through a backlog of photos that I've been meaning to post.

Pictures!

Some fieldwork pictures. I took them all on my cell phone :-)