Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Next stop: Marrakesh!

Good morning!  I've got some boring shite to deal out later but for now - exciting news!  I'm going to Morocco!


I'd originally planned to spend the delightful week of nothing between my last deadline and when my family arrives doing absolutely nothing.  Not true; nothing I really have to do at least.  I actually have a lovely note hear entitled "Things to do w my time off" which includes working on my other blog, tagging and parsing my corpus and memorizing the logical fallacies.  Thankfully I've been spared from my complete lack of sanity by a luck airfare search.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Just a quick one.

A number of things have gone wrong today.  At this moment it is only 12:12pm local time.  First, I slept in (booooo) but I'm two for three in getting up early.  Second, I have not had breakfast yet and I've been up for more than an hour.  Third, and most importantly, I allowed myself to descend into the comments section of a glazey-eyed banal post on 20 things you learn while travelling around the world.  Not how I like to start my day.  Anyways, this (like most of my posts) is pretty banal itself and I'm getting hungry.  On with the day!

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Favourite Things: Part I

I really don't want to get into this, so I won't any further than to say I really, really don't like Oprah.  A particularly irritating segment of her consortium of contemptibility is, of course, her Favourite Things.  Favourite things should be along the lines of how dark your toast is, or a flavour of tea or a seat in the library - not a 52" plasma screen TV.  (Although, if I had one I'd probably like it a lot.)  So since I'm clearly not getting any work done, here are three of my favourite things, all within reach at this particular moment.

Brass tacks.

For anyone who knows me (which would, presumably, be anyone who reads this), you know how I'm getting around this time of the year.  My cooking is going to get more elaborate, my room is going to get cleaner, and my hair will probably look like I put some effort into it.  Or, more simply, the procrastination train has reached full speed.  Suffice to say, it's taking all my willpower and a promise to a third party that I will not go near any wool shop (online or otherwise).

Solution?  Some concrete, in-print commitments.  And a formula for productivity.


Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Well now, I suppose it's about time.

Long overdue post today!  Things you can look forward to:

  1. Terrible photos of the big Pagan fire fest that happened on Halloween (had some trouble finding an appropriate setting for most of it).
  2. New hobbies!
  3. Family time.
  4. Procrastination (yes, it's not just blogging that keeps me preoccupied).
Do read on.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

A quick bit about chicken dilruba ...

Midway through my attempt at making this tasty curry (which I've had only one time - at Haveli in Ottawa, a truly excellent restaurant) I realized:

Oh hey!  I totally forgot to document this.  Oh well, I'm sure I'll make it again - next time!

Psht.  So glad I didn't waste my time.  It did not turn out at all like I was expecting and was certainly nothing you'd want to see a photo of.  I ground the nuts by hand and I'm not sure I cooked it properly (the recipe was a little vague) so it wound up lumpy, pasty and dry rather than creamy and rich like the one at Haveli.  So sad.  Tasted all right, if completely different than chicken dilruba, so the leftovers will still be eaten.

Thoughts for next time:
  • Verify that I was using Punjabi garam masala ... seems odd to specify Punjabi if there's not some other variety that shouldn't be used
  • Swap yogurt or milk for cream or coconut milk ... I think it could be creamier and I've always liked everything I've used coconut milk in
  • Get a bit more generous with the saffron (again, the recipe was a bit vague)
  • Buy properly ground nuts or find a way to powder them myself
Hopefully I get a chance to iron out the kinks and try this again soon.  The original was definitely worth a bit of fiddling around to be able to make myself!

Monday, October 25, 2010

Food Blog: Pasta and meatballs.

I've been itching to make myself something home-cooked, cheap and cheerful for a week or so now.  I've also been reading a number of food blogs, including my friend Gord's site, which has got me somewhat inspired.  Since I've been enjoying photo-documenting my other adventures, I'd thought I'd give it a go with a culinary adventure.

My choice of recipe: a very straightforward meatball and tomato sauce recipe borrowed from Jamie Oliver (with a few adaptations for those of us not feeling like the walk to the good supermarket).  The meatball recipe is almost identical to a burger recipe of his I was a big fan of two summers ago (not that I hated it this summer, I just lacked a grill) so when I saw an idiot-proof 8-minute clip of this recipe my mind was made up.  At a little over £2 a serving and about 30 minutes cook time, the dish certainly makes for a sensible and tasty mid-week meal.
While usually I enjoy a challenge in the kitchen, I prefer taking them on when I'm at my mom's where I've got a full kitchen of equipment and a better stocked pantry at my disposal.  Here in Scotland, I'm trying to avoid accruing excess gear so I liked the idea of ten pretty standard and versatile ingredients (plus olive oil and salt, which I always have around).  


The meatballs turned out really well and were a breeze to make.  No hiccups on the first round is an A+ for any recipe as far as I'm concerned.  I'd recommend them to both seasoned cooks looking for a quick one-off after class as well as anyone who's a bit scared of anything involving more than heating and stirring.  The sauce tastes as simple as it looks, and is a healthy two-minute miracle when you don't have anything on hand.


This would work well when having guests, too; it's so foolproof that it'll turn out great and won't keep you tied up in your cooking.  Hit the jump for a walk through of my experience, I'll pop a short breakdown at the end to summarize.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

The Edinburgh Zoo.

What better way to avoid the depressing list of to-do's that inevitably makes up a university student's late October weekend than with a trip to the zoo?  I certainly can't think of one!  Who has time to worry about overdue readings, overdue library books and quickly coming-due papers when watching animals frolic in their not-so-natural environments?


This marvelous opportunity arose thanks to America making the suggestion.  She's only here for the semester, which is both kind of sad and also very handy.  It's handy in that she's got a lot more drive to go see and do things around town, and usually asks for company (and we all know I work best when forced to by others).  Daylight is in short supply already, and the zoo takes note of that in November by closing earlier so no better time than the present to see what it's about!  As usual, I was very pleased for the invitation to a day out.  Hit the jump for a bit of photo-blogging, a link to the album and some commentary.  To come: observations on living six degrees below the arctic circle and the sunless state it puts you in.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

London calling.

Having fully embraced Picasa and all the wonderful things it can do, I suppose it's high time I filled the internet void in on my recent travels to London. Game plan: day by day breakdown, possible photo accompaniments, and of course a link to my photo album from the adventure. Expect a lot of over-enthusiasm for contrast and colour adjustments - hopefully I get the hang of tasteful editing as this year goes on. But first, a quick weather update: The days are getting shorter (and I mean shorter) and there's a constant and noticeable chill. I'm determined not to turn on my heater yet, but I have broken out the woolly jumper May knitted me.
On to London!



Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Coming soon ...

I promise I'll have a nice long and (hopefully) entertaining update on my weekend of adventures in foggy Londontown. Well, actually it was quite sunny. Oddly sunny. But regardless, details are on their way! Get excited folks!

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Three days to deadline

This is a very normal time for me to start working, so I'm not panicking. Nope, not at all. Well, not about this assignment, certainly. Things that are more likely to strike panic in my heart (well, until tomorrow night, when I will, in fact, start panicking about this assignment) might include:

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Yogurt and an update on my weekend

Greetings! UK supermarkets are home to a multitude of unique and sometimes worrisome food items which include but are not limited to:

Fridge Raiders - "Our deliciously meaty Fridge Raiders come in bags, full of irresistible flavours" ... they are chunks of chicken in a bag. Surprisingly tasty.
Innocent Veg Pot - assorted vegetarian meals in resealable plastic pots. But if the vegetables are innocent too ...
And of course,
Muller Yogurt Corner - The most delicious thing you've ever had.

That final item happens to make up 80% of my fridge contents, by unit (the other two items are a bottle of wine and a single bottle of beer). Be proud! I'm eating healthy!

As for my weekend ...

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

The importance of being earnest

Third year is now in full swing and I'm starting to realize that I actually care about my degree. More clearly put, I've always cared about my degree in that I've always cared about having some new credentials after showing up and jumping through hoops for four years. Now I'm really starting to love what I'm studying.

For instance: I'm far more engaged in what I'm reading, I follow up on suggested background reading; I even took out a book that was mentioned in the most recent chapter of my textbook. Considering I've coasted for the better part of the past 14 years of my education, this is quite something. It's refreshing and it's created a drive like I haven't had since the last time I left a project until 24h before the deadline (a frequent occurrence). Motivation is certainly something I've been missing out on.

On a far less lame note, I've picked up a few linguistics-related blogs which I'm quite enjoying and tonight I'm stopping by the Linguistics Society meeting to see what that's all about. Looking forward to my first ever attempt at extra-curricular involvement. It's at a bar, which helps the fact that was actually on a far more lame note. I'm catching up on some reading they're discussing as we speak; I'll probably not contribute much as most of these people probably do a lot more extra-curricular reading than I do. Hopefully it's as not-dry as the email led me to believe it would be ... some Facebook stalking suggests fellow members are socially competent and fun.

Well isn't today just a day full of goals being set (and, shockingly, met) and terrible food. Regardless of that second item, this is promising! Follow the jump for an entirely unrelated quip.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Onto another year of lackluster involvement.

Or so I thought! Thankfully, I scored a EUSA Societies' Guide (I'm as unsure about that apostrophe as you may be, rest assured, but it's on the cover) and have managed to find a number of things that look interesting. Anything with meeting schedules posted, I've plunked into my Google calendar and will hopefully make myself go to them. All others have received a brief and surely awkward email poking around for more info as to how to get involved.  More on this after the jump.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Things you will be pleased to hear about:

Well, you being pleased about these things assumes that you are actually me and your week seems to have taken a delightful turn for the better with (in some cases) lasting results. Or that you are looking for a great latte.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

And so it begins...

First day of class today (for me at least). And oh, what a day it was. Started out innocently enough with my alarm at 7:30, getting up at 7:50, showering, making coffee, getting (more or less) pretty for the day and running to class at 8:51. Thankfully it is under 6 minutes to the building I was looking for. End summer vacation.

First class was two hours of corpus linguistics, which is something I have looked at for all of 45 minutes in fall semester last year. It was horribly presented, poorly explained, and altogether miserable. This was excellent though. The prof is Irish and went on to describe the common collocation of the intensifier "fucking" and kept saying "cunning linguists" and chuckling to herself. But really knows her stuff and is quite accomplished at it too, which is reassuring. It's a lab class, and we are graded on two assignments, worth 40% and 60%. Wonderful.

Break for lunch, a quick clean up, failure to open a bank account and some textbook shopping. Then it's off to Syntactical Theory and English Syntax. Which just so happens to be taught by the guy who basically invented syntax as far as the English-speaking world is concerned. His CV is 19 pages long and can be found here: I have too much time on my hands. He would be much easier to resent if he wasn't actually very funny. But he is. Nerds. Anyways, he sort of jumped into the whole subject balls deep, instructing us to read about a hundred extra pages in this book or that if we're feeling lost. (Lost, me? Pssshht...) And of course he wrote the textbook. Not in that "Oh buy my book" way, but in that "Oh every reliable book on the subject was written by me" way. Eff.

SO. Looks like I'll be reading a bit tonight. No matter, there's free wifi and two-pound pints next door. Happy days!

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Weekend!

This is unofficially my first weekend in Edinburgh (it's unofficial because Operation Get Friends is still in the planning stages so I'd like the official first weekend to involve someone other than blood relations - no offense, Wilma). That being said, I have had a wonderful time with Wilma and Ricky these past few days and I'm really excited to get to spend time with the famjam here in Scotland. Fabby!

As promised, I will give the low-down on my flat. It's university accommodations, and it looks it. Very residence-y: tiny boxy rooms and generic functional sort of furniture. But I quite like it. It's very bright, so far quite warm, and it's also pretty quiet (no friends is handy for that) except at night since the window must be plastic wrap or something and I can here the frosh being froshy on the street. But that's what earplugs are for. Wilma took me round to IKEA and set me up with a bright magenta sheet set and some other things I needed (dishes, etc) so now it's looking much less like a hospital. The shower is electric heated so always warm, and I've got my own radiator and controls in my bedroom. Best of all, there's a wine shop two doors down. Happy days! (to quote Wilma)

Flatmates seem nice. One girl is from Japan and so far completely invisible. Another is Scottish and I have now spoken to her on three one-minute occassions. And the last is from the states and probably very nice. Scotland is the only fresher, the rest are on exchange like me.

Back to the weekend!

Plan today is do a bit of shopping on the high street. I need jeans, but I might see something cute too (highly likely, I'll be going to TopShop). Also needed: flatiron and mirror. The first is cheaper to buy new than to get a voltage converter for (over a hundred pounds!) and the second is only available in the WC and shower and I don't want to be a bathroom hog. Might go see the castle, too. Wilma said she'd ring me and take me around later on, so that'll be nice. Tomorrow is completely open, so I'll see what happens!

Weather is lovely and cool and sunny yet again, so I'm off to enjoy that while it lasts.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Change!

Good morning!

I have just been thoroughly cheered up by CHANGE for the first time (aside for the 41p I had previously). Do you know how hard it is to get change when tax is included? Americans can shove it about how much change they get from us, the Brits have even more coins. Lovely. Also kilt sighting #1. Just grabbing a coffee before IKEA with my aunt Wilma, will update on my flat and all that soon!


UPDATE: This place had toasted avocado and tomato sandwiches for £2.50. Just saying.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye!

For starters, it would really be polite to say welcome, welcome, welcome. Not only would it be polite, but it would be a nice change of pace from all the goodbyes I've been doing over the past few weeks. But quickly, an introduction: You already know who I am, which also means you know what I'm up to. My plane leaves around 7:30 on Wednesday night and as of 7:00 local time Thursday morning, I will be on Day 1 of my year abroad in Edinburgh, Scotland. As for this blog, it's mainly a space for me to keep track of my travels and keep everyone I'm in touch with in the loop when I get too caught up to do it myself. Hopefully I manage to keep up my end of the bargain here (no promises, but I'll try). That is all, so on with it -

To all my lovely friends, thank you again for the warm send-offs! I have made my final goodbyes in Ottawa, packed my bags, and I'm looking forward to seeing the city and its delightful inhabitants (as well as the less delightful ones that linger around Rideau) again this time next year. But for now, goodbye National Capitol Region! It's been a great summer of knowledge-dropping, trinket-mongering and sweltering heat but sadly I've got to get this show on the road. My mom picked me and my numerous trunks up today and I waved goodbye to dear old Ottawa.

Now I'm in Bancroft for some minimalistic packing and down time at home. The day or two of moderate laziness will be well appreciated, if a bit lonely. Game plan: laundry, hacking down wardrobe, banking, making many to-do lists, walking the dog. Should be fun. Then a pit stop in Ajax/Toronto, a short transatlantic flight, and I'm on my merry way! No more texting until I make some friends, no more gravy on fries (which I don't really like in the first place), no more choking humidity or changing leaves ... but plenty to keep me busy and excited in old country. I have no idea what to expect, so this is going to be a blast. But don't be surprised to see this followed by an anxiety-filled pre-flight post before the fun begins.

Wish me luck!