Friday - after work, Allison and I took my parents out to dinner at Copper for my mom's birthday. Since they recently 'discovered' Indian food it was good that they see what's possible with it - Indian ingredients, modern presentations - they had a positive opinion of the place. Afterwards Allison and I went to the Lotus concert - which gets more impressive the more I hear from them - even if they have somewhat abandoned the chill-jamband sound in favor of a funk-rock-electronic sound - still - it moves people - and sounds great at way too loud volumes.
Saturday - Errands, yardwork, cooked for Allison and Marcus/Claudia - well, I won't take credit for the sauce beyond the conceptual level, but it worked overall.
Sunday - Installed a programmable thermostat - the ultimate obsessive piece of household electronics - you get 4 time blocks per day, with each day of the week having a separate program - and it's all digital. So it can be 73 degrees from midnight to 6am, then 75 degrees from 6am to 8am, then 80 degrees to save energy when I'm not home from 8am to 6pm, then 74 degrees from 6pm to midnight. Then entirely different tuesday if I want. This kind of precise detailing/customization makes me happy.
Then there were some more errands, and dinner at the Philosopher's Stone with Allison and Daniel - mainly chosen for the fried zucchini sticks and the excellent patio. Live music, perfect weather, good beer and food - what more could you possibly want out of a dining experience.
This week - my new watch is here to be picked up tomorrow - it's entirely mechanical - and Russian - the engineering nerd in me is excited: old swiss engineering using a more affordable manufacturing model. (i.e. - sweep second hand, day and date, using a hand-wound mechanism - all for one tenth the price of an equivalent swiss made brand) Hope it lives up to the concept.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Thursday, April 19, 2007
New website
I have finally found time to set up a webserver (using parts salvaged from the basement of ![[info]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_tB0W52VtOAD_EMSz3Nq482o_PWRX_u2VALyafV03rEy7kfFkiO6oftChafZuHy7bYoVZWf2PQXVSgSF4SvTFN2HbPkRyn67oCxy7pZwM0h=s0-d)
entropysquared ) and register it to www.maslows.net
It seems that other Maslow, the one that wrote some psychology books, has claimed all the maslow.* URLs
Basically it will be a photo repository (all the places I've been with a digital camera) and will probably be used for some house projects as well.
A more normal looking front page and gallery format should be uploaded tonight. What's there right now is exceedingly basic/ugly.
For the nerds that might care, it is Apache. And a dual Pentium 3 with 768MB RAM is surprisingly responsive under Ubuntu.
Back to work time - two research papers to finish by next week, then one exam.
entropysquared ) and register it to www.maslows.net It seems that other Maslow, the one that wrote some psychology books, has claimed all the maslow.* URLs
Basically it will be a photo repository (all the places I've been with a digital camera) and will probably be used for some house projects as well.
A more normal looking front page and gallery format should be uploaded tonight. What's there right now is exceedingly basic/ugly.
For the nerds that might care, it is Apache. And a dual Pentium 3 with 768MB RAM is surprisingly responsive under Ubuntu.
Back to work time - two research papers to finish by next week, then one exam.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Bling
So, the ring.
In the last two weeks I've temporarily misplaced it once, forgotten to wear it out of the house a few times, already put some decent scuff marks on it.
It catches threads in my pockets, reduces the coefficient of friction on steering wheels, makes rather loud sounds when I contact any hard surface.
I'm not sure how people rationalize wearing jewelry, beyond a watch, which I can understand because it performs a function - tells time.
It does however act as a barometer of how stressed or physically exerted I am. If I can take the ring off easily, I'm generally fine. After a day of supporting buggy hardware or running up more than about 4 floors worth of stairs, the blood pressure is elevated enough to make getting the ring off a bit of a chore. At least I think that's the correlation. All the more reason to not stress.
------------
On a different note - it is a really nice day outside. If I hadn't been on call I would have biked into the office, though that takes about twice as long as it does on the scooter, which provides a similar experience, just with a larger helmet. Perhaps next week, after both projects are turned in, I can take the time to get some exercise on the commute.
In the last two weeks I've temporarily misplaced it once, forgotten to wear it out of the house a few times, already put some decent scuff marks on it.
It catches threads in my pockets, reduces the coefficient of friction on steering wheels, makes rather loud sounds when I contact any hard surface.
I'm not sure how people rationalize wearing jewelry, beyond a watch, which I can understand because it performs a function - tells time.
It does however act as a barometer of how stressed or physically exerted I am. If I can take the ring off easily, I'm generally fine. After a day of supporting buggy hardware or running up more than about 4 floors worth of stairs, the blood pressure is elevated enough to make getting the ring off a bit of a chore. At least I think that's the correlation. All the more reason to not stress.
------------
On a different note - it is a really nice day outside. If I hadn't been on call I would have biked into the office, though that takes about twice as long as it does on the scooter, which provides a similar experience, just with a larger helmet. Perhaps next week, after both projects are turned in, I can take the time to get some exercise on the commute.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Vacation Pics and Professional Wedding Pics
http://uncc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2076965&l=e4357&id=36620541
Each should have a short description next to the pic.
The facebook galleries are a bit of a placeholder until I get the webserver set up at the house - then higher res will be available.
Oh, and I have added some of the professional pics to the wedding album as well. I'm even properly smiling in a few of them!
http://uncc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2075386&l=612a1&id=36620541
Only the formal ones are up for now - I'll add some of the more fun ones tomorrow.
Each should have a short description next to the pic.
The facebook galleries are a bit of a placeholder until I get the webserver set up at the house - then higher res will be available.
Oh, and I have added some of the professional pics to the wedding album as well. I'm even properly smiling in a few of them!
http://uncc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2075386&l=612a1&id=36620541
Only the formal ones are up for now - I'll add some of the more fun ones tomorrow.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
The other coast, and the French Laundry Experience
Pics will be posted with shorter descriptions in a following post:
I'll get the car discussion out of the way first - the rental was a Pontiac G5 GT coupe - it's a 2 door Chevy Cobalt with more bling. If the car had been built with more attention to detail, I would have liked it (same as my evaluation of the Ford Focus for that matter) - it was decently quiet, had a firm ride, steering and handling, and the engine revved to 6k without complaint. On the inside the seats were comfortable, the dash and dash lighting were good looking and XM radio is pretty cool. However, the fake carbon fiber trim didn't line up, the gaps were notably uneven, and the sunroof switch flexed the roof headliner around it when used. Also, the armrest interfered with the parking brake handle, and only one of the two windows had one touch down operation (honestly, how much would it have cost to make them both operate the same way - an extra $2, if that, given the volume) and there was a rattle in the dash, with only 1030 miles on the car.
On to the vacation.
First day - flew into LA - picked up the car, and immediately headed to an In-n-Out Burger for lunch (burger 2 of 4 on the week) it's a good hamburger - thin, but flavorful with good fresh veggies - fries were a bit disappointing - not much texture. I'll still vote Five Guys for the best fast food hamburger. On to Griffith Park - took a short hike for the requisite picture of the Hollywood sign - then had some fun along Mulholland Drive - a bit of an appetizer for the Pacific Coast Highway - twisty road, views of the LA haze and all the rich person mansions in the hills. Dinner (grilled fish tacos and a Sierra Nevada IPA) and the hotel were in Malibu, right on the beach. A great way to vacation, but I wouldn't want to live in LA or Malibu - it's too big, too expensive, too polluted, too many cars, too much of everything.
Second day - headed up the coast - where along the Pacific Coast Highway every turn makes you want to stop and take a picture - it's indescribably dramatic and beautiful - quick lunch in Morro Bay (cool place, huge rock right off shore) then on to San Simeon and the Hearst Castle - the ultimate example of too much of everything - though quite interesting to tour for a couple hours - the dude picked a great location to be crazy rich - sitting on the top of a hill overlooking the ocean on one side and the mountains on the other.
On to Big Sur and what is probably the most philosophically indulgent meal I've ever had. Nepenthe restaurant. The restaurant and patio part of the building were designed by a student of Frank Lloyd Wright. It sits on a cliff over 800ft above the ocean, with a view miles down the coast... and home to the best hamburger I have ever experienced (Number 3 of 4 on the week). Ground local organically raised sirloin with cheddar on a soft french bread. That's it. But damn was it good. (Allison had some smoked salmon crostini that were excellent as well) and they stocked Brundlmayer Gruner Veltliner, one of my favorite wines, period. Yes, there is better food and there are better restaurants, but there are very few better meal experiences than this place can provide.
After relaxing in Big Sur for a couple days, on to San Francisco - very cool city - they seem to have an aversion to tearing anything down - kinda like a half scale New York and the polar opposite of Charlotte - I generally like the place - though am somewhat annoyed the the public transportation isn't better, and that anytime it's cloudy and foggy, I know the weather is perfectly brilliant an hour away in the Napa Valley.
Speaking of Napa - probably the main reason for going - lunch at the French Laundry.
The two ideas that summarize every course are freshness and balance. Each course was basically a distillation of three ingredients along those ideas. Foie gras, kumquat, celery for one dish. Rhubarb, asparagus, sweet onion for another. Green tea, passion fruit, white chocolate for one of the desserts... no flavor overwhelmed, each ingredient on its own was intense and fresh and prepared to just the right texture to complement the others.
Particularly notable was the lamb - seasoned with a small amount of salt and pepper, where the crystals/pieces remained in just a large enough quantity to give a little texture to each bite - and the meat itself was more tender than you could ever imagine and very flavorful. Served over a dense eggplant puree on a lightly fried potato pancake. Perfect came to mind with that course (only about 5 bites of food per course), and perfect again came to mind with those listed previously.
However,
Perfect is a nearly impossible concept to define when it comes to food - and value harder - what could $641 ($45 of which was a bottle of wine) worth of ingredients look like - the possibilities are infinite. But after experiencing the French Laundry's philosophy about food :a completely extravagant meal that was essentially devoid of excess, I think it can be summarized as I started with above. Freshness and balance.
As someone that cooks passably and is still figuring out how food works, the French Laundry was more a learning experience than a meal, showing what is possible with food given the ideal ingredients and flawless technique. As such it was entirely worth it.
The rest of the time in SF was spent wandering the city - the Saturday market down at the docks - tons of great looking organic produce and fresh breads. And Valrhona chocolate gelato. mmmm.
It will be a busy few weeks upon the return, so I probably won't post much after the pictures for a while, but that's a summary of vacation, Nick style: food driving food food food.
I'll get the car discussion out of the way first - the rental was a Pontiac G5 GT coupe - it's a 2 door Chevy Cobalt with more bling. If the car had been built with more attention to detail, I would have liked it (same as my evaluation of the Ford Focus for that matter) - it was decently quiet, had a firm ride, steering and handling, and the engine revved to 6k without complaint. On the inside the seats were comfortable, the dash and dash lighting were good looking and XM radio is pretty cool. However, the fake carbon fiber trim didn't line up, the gaps were notably uneven, and the sunroof switch flexed the roof headliner around it when used. Also, the armrest interfered with the parking brake handle, and only one of the two windows had one touch down operation (honestly, how much would it have cost to make them both operate the same way - an extra $2, if that, given the volume) and there was a rattle in the dash, with only 1030 miles on the car.
On to the vacation.
First day - flew into LA - picked up the car, and immediately headed to an In-n-Out Burger for lunch (burger 2 of 4 on the week) it's a good hamburger - thin, but flavorful with good fresh veggies - fries were a bit disappointing - not much texture. I'll still vote Five Guys for the best fast food hamburger. On to Griffith Park - took a short hike for the requisite picture of the Hollywood sign - then had some fun along Mulholland Drive - a bit of an appetizer for the Pacific Coast Highway - twisty road, views of the LA haze and all the rich person mansions in the hills. Dinner (grilled fish tacos and a Sierra Nevada IPA) and the hotel were in Malibu, right on the beach. A great way to vacation, but I wouldn't want to live in LA or Malibu - it's too big, too expensive, too polluted, too many cars, too much of everything.
Second day - headed up the coast - where along the Pacific Coast Highway every turn makes you want to stop and take a picture - it's indescribably dramatic and beautiful - quick lunch in Morro Bay (cool place, huge rock right off shore) then on to San Simeon and the Hearst Castle - the ultimate example of too much of everything - though quite interesting to tour for a couple hours - the dude picked a great location to be crazy rich - sitting on the top of a hill overlooking the ocean on one side and the mountains on the other.
On to Big Sur and what is probably the most philosophically indulgent meal I've ever had. Nepenthe restaurant. The restaurant and patio part of the building were designed by a student of Frank Lloyd Wright. It sits on a cliff over 800ft above the ocean, with a view miles down the coast... and home to the best hamburger I have ever experienced (Number 3 of 4 on the week). Ground local organically raised sirloin with cheddar on a soft french bread. That's it. But damn was it good. (Allison had some smoked salmon crostini that were excellent as well) and they stocked Brundlmayer Gruner Veltliner, one of my favorite wines, period. Yes, there is better food and there are better restaurants, but there are very few better meal experiences than this place can provide.
After relaxing in Big Sur for a couple days, on to San Francisco - very cool city - they seem to have an aversion to tearing anything down - kinda like a half scale New York and the polar opposite of Charlotte - I generally like the place - though am somewhat annoyed the the public transportation isn't better, and that anytime it's cloudy and foggy, I know the weather is perfectly brilliant an hour away in the Napa Valley.
Speaking of Napa - probably the main reason for going - lunch at the French Laundry.
The two ideas that summarize every course are freshness and balance. Each course was basically a distillation of three ingredients along those ideas. Foie gras, kumquat, celery for one dish. Rhubarb, asparagus, sweet onion for another. Green tea, passion fruit, white chocolate for one of the desserts... no flavor overwhelmed, each ingredient on its own was intense and fresh and prepared to just the right texture to complement the others.
Particularly notable was the lamb - seasoned with a small amount of salt and pepper, where the crystals/pieces remained in just a large enough quantity to give a little texture to each bite - and the meat itself was more tender than you could ever imagine and very flavorful. Served over a dense eggplant puree on a lightly fried potato pancake. Perfect came to mind with that course (only about 5 bites of food per course), and perfect again came to mind with those listed previously.
However,
Perfect is a nearly impossible concept to define when it comes to food - and value harder - what could $641 ($45 of which was a bottle of wine) worth of ingredients look like - the possibilities are infinite. But after experiencing the French Laundry's philosophy about food :a completely extravagant meal that was essentially devoid of excess, I think it can be summarized as I started with above. Freshness and balance.
As someone that cooks passably and is still figuring out how food works, the French Laundry was more a learning experience than a meal, showing what is possible with food given the ideal ingredients and flawless technique. As such it was entirely worth it.
The rest of the time in SF was spent wandering the city - the Saturday market down at the docks - tons of great looking organic produce and fresh breads. And Valrhona chocolate gelato. mmmm.
It will be a busy few weeks upon the return, so I probably won't post much after the pictures for a while, but that's a summary of vacation, Nick style: food driving food food food.
Monday, April 9, 2007
The wedding: tons of people and lots to do
For part one of two on the history of the past two weeks according to Nick: the wedding. (Official pics will be posted as they arrive, maybe tomorrow evening)
Due to my exceedingly large extended family, the wedding party basically began on Thursday, when the family members started to arrive, with lunch at Five Guys and dinner at the parents' house. (Which would be hamburger 1 of 4 in that following week - ah health food) As more people arrived on Friday I spent most of the day cleaning the house and fixing last minute things before all of the 'official' stuff happened.
The rehearsal and dinner on Friday went much more smoothly than I was expecting, given the varied tastes and cultures of the people attending. It appears enough good German beer and wine fixes anything. The last of the family members arrived in time for dinner, and we were able to invite a few local friends as well to fill the extra seats. Gifts and ties were distributed, a good time was had by all. Afterward the wedding party and friends went out to Cans to continue to the party - and everyone stayed up way too late and had a hard time waking up in time for lunch the next day. At least it wasn't just me.
Saturday involved lunch at the parents, then heading over to the Van Landingham to get suited up. Lots of pictures were taken, I may have smiled in a few of them. Hopefully. My generally content expression doesn't really show externally, so I have to make an effort to translate that. Everyone arrived, I greeted people, then got ready to walk down the aisle and say some things and exchange rings and such (I'm still not getting this whole ring thing - the only 'jewelry' I've ever worn is a watch, and that is functional, not just a shiny thing that gets in the way - oh well - it is all part of the experience)
The reception was nice - though more people stayed inside than I was expecting, especially given the brilliant weather - food was good, the cake was excellent. Was nice to talk to people that I hadn't seen in a while for a few minutes here and there - between pictures and toasts and such.
Sunday - the house survived the many people that showed up - much pizza was eaten, though there is a lot of beer and cake remaining to be eaten - Charlotte people - we need help with this.
Monday - the vacation started - second post to follow.
Due to my exceedingly large extended family, the wedding party basically began on Thursday, when the family members started to arrive, with lunch at Five Guys and dinner at the parents' house. (Which would be hamburger 1 of 4 in that following week - ah health food) As more people arrived on Friday I spent most of the day cleaning the house and fixing last minute things before all of the 'official' stuff happened.
The rehearsal and dinner on Friday went much more smoothly than I was expecting, given the varied tastes and cultures of the people attending. It appears enough good German beer and wine fixes anything. The last of the family members arrived in time for dinner, and we were able to invite a few local friends as well to fill the extra seats. Gifts and ties were distributed, a good time was had by all. Afterward the wedding party and friends went out to Cans to continue to the party - and everyone stayed up way too late and had a hard time waking up in time for lunch the next day. At least it wasn't just me.
Saturday involved lunch at the parents, then heading over to the Van Landingham to get suited up. Lots of pictures were taken, I may have smiled in a few of them. Hopefully. My generally content expression doesn't really show externally, so I have to make an effort to translate that. Everyone arrived, I greeted people, then got ready to walk down the aisle and say some things and exchange rings and such (I'm still not getting this whole ring thing - the only 'jewelry' I've ever worn is a watch, and that is functional, not just a shiny thing that gets in the way - oh well - it is all part of the experience)
The reception was nice - though more people stayed inside than I was expecting, especially given the brilliant weather - food was good, the cake was excellent. Was nice to talk to people that I hadn't seen in a while for a few minutes here and there - between pictures and toasts and such.
Sunday - the house survived the many people that showed up - much pizza was eaten, though there is a lot of beer and cake remaining to be eaten - Charlotte people - we need help with this.
Monday - the vacation started - second post to follow.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
And the results are in
Some initial wedding photos are here: http://uncc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2075386&l=612a1&id=36620541
I think this will work. Description and stories to be posted after the vacation.
I think this will work. Description and stories to be posted after the vacation.
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