Cupcake desperado! January 16, 2012

Do you remember how I got two cupcake carriers for Christmas? I have already had a few occasions to use them and, believe you me, they make it a heck of a lot easier to transport cupcakes.

The first time I got to use them was for my friend’s birthday a few days after Christmas. The cupcakes themselves were pretty uninspired–German chocolate cake from a mix with store-bought frosting. In fact, the cupcakes were positively gross (I thought).

The frosting was positively mucoid.

I felt bad about these cupcakes (my friends said they were good, for what it’s worth), but I felt great about my cupcake carriers!  In fact, I kind of felt like a bit of a bad ass.  It actually reminded me of the movie Desperado, which came out in 1995 and starred Antonio Banderas, who was a super bad ass. I believe I saw Desperado once, over ten years ago, so I don’t remember much about the plot.

See, Antonio Banderas is a bad ass. I suspect Salma Hayek might be one, too. (Photo credit: soundonsight.org)

(When I did a search for “Desperado pictures,” this one also came up.  I’m pretty sure it has nothing to do with the movie…

Definitely NOT a bad ass.

Now, returning to our regularly scheduled crummy blog post…)

The main–if tenuous–reason the cupcake carriers reminded me of Desperado is that several of the bad asses in the movie carry guitar cases that actually hide some pretty impressive weaponry.

Here, one of the bad asses shoots a rocket from his guitar case. Pretty cool, huh? (Photo credit: annawebber.com)

Okay, so, as I write this, I’m realizing that the whole comparison between cupcake carriers and Desperado, with its guitar cases-cum-weaponry, doesn’t make any sense.  All I can say is, I felt pretty cool toting the cupcakes around in something other than a shoebox or a huge Tupperware container.

Pretty cool, huh? The cupcake carriers, I mean. The cupcakes still look disgusting.

(Flaneur Vric’s Mom, if you’re reading this, sorry for using the a-word so frequently.)

Books I Read in 2011 January 13, 2012

Well, dear reader, we’re a bit overdue for my list of books I read in 2011, but, really, who cares (other than me)? I’ve been keeping track of the books I’ve read since May 1999. The lists have been lost and restarted, but somewhere I have recorded every book I’ve read for the past 12 years. If I really cared to, and I don’t, I could compile them all into one massive list. That would make for an even more boring post than this one (if you can imagine).

This year (“this year” being 2011, actually) my reading was largely comprised of books by Michael Connelly, books I stumbled upon at the Durham Public Library, and Amazon’s various Books of the Month lists (many of the latter selections are on my kindle).

My (completely arbitrary) goal for the year was to read 45 books. That was one of the few resolutions I actually kept–and then some. My final tally of books read in 2011 is 123, which has to be the most I’ve ever read in one calendar year (I could verify this by checking those lists back to May 1999, but, like I said, I don’t really care).

(I probably owe this blog a post about how I did on my other 2011 resolutions. I also intend a few posts dedicated to the few resolutions I’ve come up with for 2012. I’m hoping to get to one of those soon.)

Here are the 123 books I managed to read in 2011:

1. The Best American Nonrequired Reading, 2010 ed.
2. Let the Great World Spin (Colum McCann)
3. A Saint on Death Row: The Story of Dominique Green (Thomas Cahill)
4. This Side of Brightness (Colum McCann)
5. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven (Sherman Alexie)
6. The White Tiger (Aravind Adiga)
7. How Much is Enough? (Arthur Simon)
8. Dancer (Colum McCann)
9. Compassion (Nouwen, McNeill, and Morrison)
10. The Metamorphosis and Other Stories (Franz Kafka)
11. Racial Justice and the Catholic Church (Bryan N. Massingale)
12. Solidarity will Transform the World (Jeffry Odell Korgan)
13. Spooner (Pete Dexter)
14. Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip with David Foster Wallace (David Lipsky)
15. The Mysteries of Pittsburgh (Michael Chabon)
16. The Broom of the System (David Foster Wallace)
17. This Our Exile (James Martin, SJ)
18. A supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again (David Foster Wallace)
19. Jesus and Nonviolence: A Third Way (Walter Wink)
20. The Autobiography of St. Ignatius
21. A Piece of Cake (Cupcake Brown)
22. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
23. Remember Me? (Sophie Kinsella)
24. Twenties Girl (Sophie Kinsella)
25. Mini Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
26. Exodus from Hunger (David Beckmann)
27. The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right (Atul Gawande)
28. Great Room (Nicole Krauss)
29. A Visit from the Goon Squad (Jennifer Egan)
30. Let Your Life Speak (Parker J. Palmer)
31. The Lonely Polygamist (Brady Udall)
32. When You Are Engulfed in Flames (David Sedaris)
33. mennonite in a little black dress (Rhoda Janzen)
34. Bright Lights, Big Ass (Jen Lancaster)
35. Bitter is the New Black (Jen Lancaster)
36. Why We Suck (Denis Leary)
37. How to Be Alone (Jonathan Franzen)
38. In the Woods (Tana French)
39. Pretty in Plaid (Jen Lancaster)
40. Born Standing Up (Steve Martin)
41. Bedside Manners (David Watts)
42. Faithful Place (Tana French)
43. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (Rebecca Skloot)
44. Packing for Mars (Mary Roach)
45. The Tennis Partner (Abraham Verghese)
46. Sons and Lovers (D.H. Lawrence)
47. Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends (William Guarnere and Edward Heffron)
48. The Keep (Jennifer Egan)
49. Shopaholic Ties the Knot (Sophie Kinsella)
50. The Greatest Generation (Tom Brokaw)
51. Helmet for My Pillow: From Parris Island to the Pacific (Robert Leckie)
52. Lady Chatterly’s Lover (D.H. Lawrence)
53. Lost in Shangri-La (Mitch Zuckoff)
54. I’m a Stranger Here Myself (Bill Bryson)
55. The Likeness (Tana French)
56. Death Comes for the Archbishop (Willa Cather)
57. The Other Wes Moore (Wes Moore)
58. A Walk in the Woods (Bill Bryson)
59. The Sealed Letter (Emma Donoghue)
60. Routine Miracles (Conrad Fischer)
61. Maisie Dobbs (Jacqueline Winspear)
62. In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin (Erik Larson)
63. The Lincoln Lawyer (Michael Connelly)
64. The Imperfectionists (Tom Rachman)
65. The Overlook (Michael Connelly)
66. The Reversal (Michael Connelly)
67. Room (Emma Donoghue)
68. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (J.K. Rowling)
68. The Brass Verdict (Michael Connelly)
69. Nine Dragons (Michael Connelly)
70. Echo Park (Michael Connelly)
71. The Concrete Blonde (Michael Connelly)
72. The President Is a Sick Man (Matthew Algeo)
73. The Poet (Michael Connelly)
74. The Scarecrow (Michael Connelly)
75. Black Echo (Michael Connelly)
76. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (Sherman Alexie)
77. The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Milan Kundera)
78. The Last Coyote (Michael Connelly)
79. My Thoughts Be Bloody (Nora Titone)
80. Kitchen Confidential (Anthony Bourdain)
81. A First-Rate Madness (Nassir Ghaemi)
82. Trunk Music (Michael Connelly)
83. The Magicians (Lev Grossman)
84. Heaven is for Real (Todd Burpo & Lynn Vincent)
85. The Sisters Brothers (Patrick DeWitt)
86. The Fang Family (Kevin Wilson)
87. The Last Talk with Lola Faye (Thomas Cook)
88. The Leftovers (Tom Perrotta)
89. The Autobiography of an Execution (David R. Dow)
90. The Magician King (Lev Grossman)
91. State of Wonder (Ann Patchett)
92. Outliers (Malcolm Gladwell)
93. The Undomestic Goddess (Sophie Kinsella)
94. Something Borrowed (Emily Giffin)
95. The Tipping Point (Malcolm Gladwell)
96. The Closers (Michael Connelly)
97. Snuff (Chuck Palahniuk)
98. What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures (Malcolm Gladwell)
99. The Invisible Gorilla (Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons)
100. The Psychopath Test (Jon Ronson)
101. Pulphead (John Jeremiah Sullivan)
102. The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2011
103. Letting Loose the Hounds (Brady Udall)
104. The Best American Essays 2011
105. Waiting (Ha Jin)
106. Between Heaven and Mirth: Why Joy, Humor, and Laughter Are at the Heart of the Spiritual Life (James Martin, SJ)
107. In the Land of Invisible Women (Qanta Ahmed)
108. The House of Mirth (Edith Wharton)
109. Bonk (Mary Roach)
110. The Last Werewolf (Glen Duncan)
111. Leche (R. Zamora Linmark)
112. The Graveyard Book (Neil Gaiman)
113. Blink (Malcolm Gladwell)
114. 420 Characters (Lou Beach)
115. I, Lucifer: Finally, the Other Side of the Story (Glen Duncan)
116. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) (Mindy Kaling)
117. Bossypants (Tina Fey)
118. One Day I Will Write About This Place (Binyavanga Wainaina)
119. Cain (Jose Saramago)
120. Something Blue (Emily Giffin)
121. The Poisoner’s Handbook (Deborah Blum)
122. Who’s Afraid of Post-Blackness? (Toure)
123. Then Came You (Jennifer Weiner)

Are you there, blog? It’s me, Flaneur Vric December 25, 2011

Let me start this post by wishing you and your loved ones a merry Christmas, if you are inclined to celebrate it!  Excellent Good Okay Catholic that I am, this is an important day for me, and Christians everywhere.

This post’s title is clearly intended to evoke Are You There, God?  It’s Me, Margaret.  It’s a cheap reference, as Are You There, God? is about a girl’s experience of going through puberty, and I used a similar-sounding title here because “God” kind of sounds like “Blog” and this title seems kind of appropriate since it’s been so long since I posted.

I have a few friends who blog who have taken extended absences from their blogs this year, too.  That said, while they are posting less frequently than they have in the past, their posts are still more regular than mine.  I am certainly the worst among us, but, as always, for me, it boils down to wondering if I have anything worth saying.  I’m still not sure about that.

If you are reading this, thank you.

So, since it has been months since my last real post, I thought I’d take this occasion to highlight a few of the things I’ve been doing instead of blogging.  As I write this, I’m even planning to upload some pictures!  For this post!  So you’ll believe that I’ve been doing what I claim to have been doing!

1) I’ve been working.  You’ll have to take my word on this, without any pictures.  (Pictures of me working would basically have me sitting in various locales writing frantically and, generally, grimacing.)  I have been working a lot, it seems.  Work is stressful.  I keep hoping things will get better, but they haven’t, really.  A lot of the competent, nice people I work with are moving onto other jobs; fortunately, there are still some competent, nice people around.

2) I’ve been traveling.  Do you remember that one of my “resolutions” for the year was to get out of the country at least once? I managed to do this not once, not twice, but THREE whole times! All in the last third of the year! There was, in September 2011, a trip to London with two college friends:

Millennium Bridge, in London

In November, Purple Lightning and I went to Stockholm along with our mom, who was teaching  a class there…

This is a view from Djurgarden Island. Of course, this picture looks significantly nicer in my computer's iPhoto than it will on your computer. Sorry.

In Stockholm, I was amused by a bunch of signs containing “fart”…

This means "entrance," in Swedish.

Finally, Purple Lightning, Blanket and I went to Iceland this month.

The highlight of the trip for me was when we got to walk on a glacier. We were given crampons to wear over our boots; these were literally life-savers.

The winds on the glacier were crazy, and, as you might imagine, the glacier was slippery, particularly where the snow had been blown away and the ice was exposed.  Thank God for those crampons.

(I will be milking these trips, I’m sure, for future blog posts.)

3.  I’ve been reading.  If you’ve been following along in the text box in the right column of this blog, I’ve been doing a good deal of reading.  My goal was to read 45 books this year; I’m happy to say that, unlike most of my other “resolutions,” that is one I’ve actually met.  I read 2.5 books yesterday (meaning I finished one I was about half-way through and read two others in their entirety).

4.  I’ve been baking.  I think I will probably try to milk this for another post, but I’ve been doing a lot of baking.  I now own four muffin tins and received two cupcake carriers for Christmas.

Seriously! Cupcake carriers!

I have been baking so many cupcakes for the folks at work that more than a few people told me on Friday they were surprised I didn’t bring any baked goods to celebrate Christmas.  Oops.

Here’s a picture from one batch of chocolate cupcakes with chocolate-cream-cheese frosting cupcakes I made for work:

THESE ARE SO FREAKING DELICIOUS, YOU GUYS. Too bad this is a lame picture I took with my cell phone.

I’m hoping to get a few more posts up in the coming week or two.  To end on a festive note, here is a picture I drew of an elephant for my friend today (she lent me her favorite book, which happens to be about an elephant):

Yes, I drew this, on my 'puter with the free Mac MSPaint-esque program I downloaded a few years ago.

Merry Christmas, all!

Greetings from DCA! November 27, 2011

Well, dear reader, I currently find myself at Gate 23 of Reagan National Airport.  My hour-long flight to DC to celebrate Thanksgiving was delayed over an hour; I naively hoped my return trip today would avoid a similar fate.  We boarded on time and sat on the plane for 35 minutes before we were advised to de-plane, with all our crap, so a strut could be repaired, work that we were told would take at least an hour.

Yes, rationally, I am glad this repair is being made before something bad might befall us.  On a less rational level, though, I am frustrated with another delay.  And I wish I’d made the cheaper–and, this weekend, at least–quicker decision to drive (usually a four-hour trip).

At least this delay can serve the function of getting me back to blogging (which my phone’s autocorrect changes to “flogging”…I’m in no hurry to get back to that).  Maybe I’ll get another post with more (or some) substance up here in the near future.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the picture (above) of the sign for the men’s bathroom at my church.  Catholics sure can be funny!

In the meantime, I’m going to treat myself to a coffee and hope that our flight gets to Durham before I have to be to work tomorrow

Two things I’m proud of July 20, 2011

To start, let me mention one thing I’m not proud of: that my negative post about Fecalith has been left for so long as the first thing anyone sees if they happen to check this blog.

There are two things I’m proud of myself for right now:

1) As of now, I’ve read 60 books thus far in 2011. I haven’t read too many books in July, but I’ve already exceeded my goal of reading 45 this year.  I haven’t made much progress on most of my other goals for the year, but it’s nice to have one in the bag.

2) Today, for the first time since my senior year of high school (1997), I ran for over 20 minutes straight. If you’re at all familiar with the content of this blog, you’ll know that I enjoy walking.  A LOT. I’ve found it more difficult to carve out time for long (7-8 mile) walks recently, as we have been relatively short-staffed at work. It’s also very, very hot here (currently 96 F, but “feels like” over 100 F), so I’m not often up for walking outside.

I have never enjoyed running, though I was in pretty good shape in high school from the team sports I was involved in. Since I stopped running after high school, for no reason other than laziness, I have always hated the idea of it, but, at the same time, considered the ability to run for even a few miles at a time the pinnacle of fitness, at least for me. So, in the intervening years, even though I can walk 12-13 miles without getting tired, I have always felt like I’m not “in shape.”

I’m still not “in shape.”

But I’m working on it!

A few weeks ago, I decided to start the Couch to 5K program. Basically, the program is designed to help people move from sedentary lifestyles (as couch potatoes) to being able to run 5K. I wasn’t quite a couch potato at the start, so the first workouts were pretty easy for me. I downloaded an app for my phone that keeps track of time and has each of the programmed workouts spelled out. I did my first few workouts outside, spending the whole time cursing the weather and trying not to die.

Then, a revelation of sorts:

There is a treadmill staff can use at work. Its setup leaves much to be desired–the front end is about two feet from a white wall, decorated only with a mirror. So, there isn’t much to look at, other than my reflection in the mirror as I run (not good), my feet (not good, but sometimes necessary to ensure I’m running straight), or the time/distance screen, which just makes me obsess over how slowly things are going. Still, the treadmill has the ultimate benefit of being in a cool place.

So, over the past few weeks, I’ve been gradually increasing the proportion of time I run to time I walk in a 30-35 minute workout. Before today, the most I had run continuously was five minutes. (In yesterday’s workout, for example, I warmed up, ran five minutes, walked three, ran five, walked three, ran five, then did a cool-down). I was set to do a 20-minute run on Thursday (I’m doing a workout a day, if I didn’t mention that yet), and I was petrified about being able to do it.

I decided to try it today. And I did it! And I could have kept going! (Couch to 5K is over when I can run thirty minutes straight).

I am really proud of myself.

Sorry for writing so much about this, but it’s gotta be better than another post about work!

Confusing May 27, 2011

There are lots of recycling bins at work; unfortunately, they all suffer from this confusing signage.  This bin is only for aluminum and it is only for plastic.  Confusing, huh?  I put cans AND bottles in these bins, hoping for the best.

I have had what is probably my worst week yet at work.  I’ve had a lot more work to do than usual.  Also, things came to a head between me and a coworker I’ll dub Fecalith, because I don’t want to stoop to calling him a bad word, but he is vile enough that a word meaning a hardened lump of poop seems to be a perfect nickname.  I think there is an end in sight, though. Things have to get better…eventually.

Jesus Class is winding down May 16, 2011

The thirty-week program for my Jesus Class is just about up.  Tomorrow will actually be our final weekly meeting.  As part of its conclusion, we had our end-of-experience retreat Friday night at the Avila Retreat Center, which isn’t too far from where I live.

The facilities were beautiful! It was amazing how isolated we felt considering that we were just a mile or so removed from a major Durham thoroughfare. The grounds were designed to facilitate contemplation, with plenty of benches and secret nooks and crannies for medication.

I like benches...and trees.

There was a gorgeous pieta we could sit and ponder.

I stumbled upon this scene as my time there was winding down:

This reminded me, somehow, of Nanny:

We have different aesthetics.

It definitely felt like a hallowed space/ground.  I was lucky to share the experience with some wonderful friends from my Jesus class.  There is truly something special about our spiritual community and the bonds we share.  I think many of us have felt like outsiders at various points in our parish; it is nice that we have found each other.

The hardest part of the weekend for me was when we were told to write affirmations for each of the other people present.  It was an easy exercise for me to do in terms of articulating what I love, admire, and appreciate about my friends, but it was extremely hard to be on the receiving end of their generosity.  I tried to pretend their praise was even somewhat merited (one lady wrote that I would be the President or Vice President of the United States someday!), but really, feeling that I had somehow deceived them (why would they praise me?), I felt sad.

I got over it pretty quickly, though.  It was an awesome weekend.

SOMEONE at work has a sense of humor May 12, 2011

This is totally something I would do, if I weren’t extremely afraid that I’d get in trouble for it.

THE LIBRARY CHALLENGE! May 5, 2011

Hello, dear reader! I was inspired to post today about my experience at the Durham Public Library (specifically, the South Regional branch) yesterday.  The library is pretty close to where I live and–oh, boy–is it nice!  I first got a library card a few years ago, but the local branch at that time left much to be desired.  I recall going in one day after work and spending the better part of an hour trying to find books that looked remotely interesting.

I guess this new branch opened up sometime since my last contact with the Durham Public Library.  It is really, really nice–it has most of the books I’ve looked for, even relatively obscure titles.  I made my first trip about a month ago and checked out four easy reads.  The library allows patrons to check out books for three weeks, so four books seemed like a reasonable amount.

Yesterday, I checked out eight!  Woo hoo!

I have been buying books for my Kindle at a pretty frenetic pace, though I am (fortunately) limited to only being able to buy books when I have internet access (basically only when I’m at my parents’ house).  I have always been pretty impulsive with book buying.  I’ll go into a bookstore, often with a book or two I’m looking for, but always with the sense that the world is my oyster.  I’ll often leave with several unexpected purchases; it’s my way.  I’ve realized, though, in my desperate need to take advantage of my parents’ internet access by downloading whatever worthwhile books I can find, that there are plenty of books I’d probably like to read, but that aren’t worth $10 to me.

Enter the awesome Durham Public Library.

I bought one of Jen Lancaster’s books a few years ago and enjoyed it.  Not enough to spend >$10 on each of her other books, but enough that I’d like to read more books by her.  It occurred to me that I could see if her books were available at the library.  (In the very off chance that she ever winds up here, I’d like to let Ms. Lancaster know that it’s nothing personal.  She’s a fun writer, for sure.)

She’s kind of become representative, for me, of fine authors whose works I enjoy, but don’t want to pay for.  Patricia Cornwall and John Grisham might be others.  And, in my defense, I’ve spent money on books by all three of those writers in the past, so I’m not totally short-changing them.

Anyway, while I was in the section of the library that housed Jen Lancaster’s books, I found a few others that looked interesting.  I’m also trying to branch out and get outside of fiction.  I wound up picking up 8 books, like I said, that I now have 3 weeks to read.

The lucky eight (though I’m sure no one out there cares) are:

1.  mennonite in a little black dress by Rhoda Janzen
2.  Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Life by Steve Martin
3.  Pretty in Plaid by Jen Lancaster
4.  Bright Lights, Big Ass by Jen Lancaster
5.  [Some other book by Jen Lancaster I can't make out in the picture above]
6.  Why We Suck by Denis Leary
7.  How to Be Alone by Jonathan Franzen
8.  In the Woods by Tana French

Phew.  I should be reading right now, not posting to this crummy blog…

UPDATE: If I can remember, I’ll cross out books above as I read them.

UPDATE #2: Success!

A superhero (or supervillian) at the gas station May 4, 2011

If you happened to be in the Durham area last night and see a lady taking pictures of a sign at a gas station, it was probably me.  I have often been amused by the signage at gas stations, replete as it usually is with myriad things you can do to cause yourself grave harm while pumping gas.  Add in the difficult task of generating clear images to accompany the text, images that should effectively communicate that certain activities are prohibited while pumping gas.  Take, for instance, this sign:

You can clearly see that smoking is prohibited.  You’re not supposed to use your cell phone, says the third image from the top.  The one that really interested me is this:

He has lightning coming from his hand!

Can you appreciate the difficulty the icon-designer faced in creating an icon to show static electricity being discharged?  I think I should first acknowledge that difficulty.  I do wonder, though, at choosing to portray a lightning beam originating from the person’s hand.  I’d actually consider two alternative interpretations of this image: 1) it appears the lightning could actually be striking the person’s hand, not emanating from it; 2) it kind of looks like the person is holding hands with a being made of lightning.  So, if you misread this image, you might think either that it is good to get struck by lightning (on the hand, at least) or that it is safe to enter into relationships with beings made of lightning or electricity.  Neither of those is okay!  Also, if you do decide to date someone made of electricity or lightning, you probably don’t want to take them to a gas station, given the risk of fire.  (Yes, I realize it is this risk that prompted the warning to discharge one’s static electricity before using the pump.)

This image first made me think of Ando, from NBC’s “Heroes,” who acquired the ability to shoot red lightning from his hands.  (I am pretty primed for “Heroes” associations after watching all four seasons over a few months earlier this year.)

Ando looks angry here, if you can make his expression out at all (it's not the clearest picture, but beggars can't be choosers). (Image from Wikipedia)

I then thought that this could be a good icon for a certain sister of mine…

Purple Lightning!