weary as water

Book 5: The Inheritance of Loss

Book #5 was “The Inheritance of Loss” by Kiran Desai. I should have known by the title that this book was going to be utterly depressing, but I had high expectations anyway. The book follows a few key characters and the stories of their past and present (and by assumption, they all have quite bleak futures ahead of them). The writing is very descriptive and lovely at times, but mostly just depressing.

384 pages / 2.5 out of 5

Book 4: Push by Sapphire

This book was very hard to read. The descriptions of abuse were vivid and graphic. A heartwrenching story – but not for the faint of heart or spirit. A great example of character development and “voice”.

making my own soymilk

The other day I ran across a recipe from kissmyspatula for making homemade soymilk. I’m a little lactose intolerant, but soymilk from the store always tastes chalky to me, so I was excited about trying to make my own. (Plus, the recipe is ridiculously easy.)

I bought my soybeans from the whole foods bulk section for about $1.50/pound, and used tap water. If you try this for yourself (and I hope you do!), be aware that soy milk foams like crazy when it’s being heated…so use a big stockpot to make it. My verdict – homemade soymilk is really simple and delicious. It doesn’t have any of that chalky taste (or aftertaste) that I hate, and I drank an entire glass of it hot off the stove.

I’m still trying to figure out what to do with the okara (soybean solids that remain after straining the soymilk) – they tasted kinda nutty but mostly bland. I might have to try them in oatmeal.

So, here’s the recipe which I have Lacinda-fied. Originally from Kiss My Spatula’s version of her childhood soy milk, yields about 5 cups

* 1/2 cup dried organic yellow soy beans
* 1/8 tsp salt
* 1/8 cup granulated sugar, plus more to taste (I used 1.5 Tbps. of agave nectar, and thought it was perfect).

Rinse & drain soybeans. Soak in cold water overnight. Rinse & drain again.

Put soybeans and 2.5 cups of water in your blender. Puree until smooth. Dump puree in LARGE stock pot and add 3 cups of water. (A large stockpot is absolutely necessary! It will get super foamy as the temperature approaches the boiling point.)

Bring mix to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Then simmer over low heat for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Strain milk through cheesecloth. Squeeze every last drop of soymilk out. Stir in salt and sugar. That’s it! You’re done!

I got 99 problems…

It’s been really freaking cold here in the DeepSouth, and I’ve been trying to warm myself up by listening to music I like (and yeah, buying too many records. Mostly so I’ll have cardboard liners to burn for heat). Today I got my copy of Jaydiohead (JayZ “black album” rap + radiohead samples) on vinyl – didn’t realize it was a bootleg copy until I started poking around the internet. Anyway, it sounds good on vinyl. I like it better than DangerMouse’s “grey album” (jayz “black album” rap + beatles “white album” samples).

Also – I know I didn’t put up a “best of 2009″ music list – but I think The Antlers “Hospice” was a brilliant album that didn’t get the attention it deserved. It’s not an easy album to listen to. You have been warned – it is downright wrenching at times – but it is intimate and powerful and emotional and I love it.

Book #3: How To Disappear Completely by David Bowick

I found this book via aldiko while sitting at the tattoo shop, waiting for Emily to get her “get out of nursing school” celebratory tat. (And I used aldiko to download it from feedbooks).

The book was a fast read from a new author; not bad but not terribly catchy. Honestly I downloaded it because it shares a name with a Radiohead song from KidA listen on lala. I’m sure the Radiohead song was inspiration – it seems to fit the book perfectly. “I’m not here / this isn’t happening / I’m not here / I know what I’ve seen / You throw me out then send me back again / In a little while I’ll be gone”.

(122 pages)

Book #2: Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

I’ve been a big fan of BoingBoing for a while, and I’ve put off reading Cory Doctorow’s “Little Brother” for no good reason. The other day I found a great ebook reader (aldiko) for my android phone, and decided to download Little Brother to try it out (for free, completely legally, because that’s how Cory Doctorow rolls).

Little Brother is set in the not-too-distant future, and focuses on a teenage hacker kid who sets out to stop the government from being draconian after a terrorist attack in San Francisco leaves the masses yearning for security. (Aim low, right?). He encounters various aspects of the security-conscious state – “random” security checkpoints, illegal wiretaps, rfid-tracking, and the reasons of those who fight back when their rights are infringed upon.

The book is definitely a young adult novel – but the thing I liked about it was that it explained complex technical concepts very clearly. Encryption techniques play a key role in the book – and the way encryption and the use of public/private keys are explained in the book is wonderful. Definitely a good book to give to a kid who is interested in hacking or a budding free thinker.

Also, I really liked reading books on my phone using aldiko. So much so, that I am looking into getting an e-reader for my upcoming long-ass flight to Japan. Right now the Barnes&Noble Nook is looking pretty good – it is based on the android platform, and allows book lending. (And – most importantly – the battery life lasts for days – unlike my phone).

(380 pages)

Book #1: The Horizontal World: Growing Up Wild in the Middle of Nowhere

Book 1 is “The Horizontal World: Growing Up Wild in the Middle of Nowhere” by Debra Marquart. I put this book on my wishlist after hearing an interview with the author on NPR, and my friend Lisa was good enough to get it for me as a Christmas present. (Thanks, Lisa!).

I, too, Grew Up In The Middle of Nowhere (southeastern Montana – Miles City even gets a shoutout in this book), and although I didn’t have a genuine farm girl experience her stories are very familiar to me. While I grew up a few hours away from where my dad grew up, with aunts and uncles who lived on a real ranch, my experience with ranching was confined to keeping a small herd of sheep one summer, and baling a few acres of alfalfa hay twice (or, if we were lucky, three times) a summer. Some of my most memorable moments came during those times, though. Being knocked down by my VeryFavoriteSheep one morning when I was late with the feed. Finding out that the roast we had just eaten was my VeryFavoriteSheep. Walking behind the ancient hay baler, making sure the square bales were tied properly with twine (and yelping if they weren’t). The first and only time I cursed at my dad (and then hiding down by the river for hours, trying to decide if it was safe to go home). The ground cracking during the drought of 88, and the red sky that came with the smoke from the Yellowstone fires. Wishing that we could have a normal vacation to Hawaii or Florida instead of always baling hay. Many hours spent reading in my basement room, dreaming of getting Out, going Somewhere, doing Things.

This book is full of stories very similar to those I remember in my childhood – and those I swear someone who grew up in my hometown could tell. This book made me laugh out loud – and also get a little teary eyed. This isn’t a book about growing up and leaving the middle of nowhere – it’s about coming back to the place you grew up to find that piece of your soul that aches for home.

(264 pages)

52 in 52 – book challenge

This year’s challenge is to read 52 books in 52 weeks. Reading is one of those things that I really enjoy, but don’t often take the time to do. I hope to change that this year.

Sending Outlook Calendar Reminders as Emails

Someone at work just asked me if they could get email reminders of Birthday calendar events, and I found this Microsoft KB article about writing VB code to accomplish this. I tweaked the code a little bit, but it seems to be working find so far. Note – Outlook must remain open for the reminder emails to be sent.


Private Sub Application_Reminder(ByVal Item As Object)
If Item.Sensitivity <> olConfidential Then
If InStr(1, Item.Subject, "birthday", vbTextCompare) > 0 Then
If TypeOf Item Is AppointmentItem Then SendApptReminder Item
End If
End If
End Sub

Private Sub SendApptReminder(ByRef Item As AppointmentItem)
SendPage Item.Subject & " Reminder", Item.Subject & " - " & FormatDateTime(Item.Start, vbGeneralDate) & vbCrLf & _
Item.Location
End Sub

Private Sub SendPage(ByRef Subject As String, ByRef Body As String)
Dim oEmail As Object
Set oEmail = Application.CreateItem(olMailItem)
oEmail.Subject = Subject
oEmail.Body = Body
oEmail.Recipients.Add "Contact For Reminders"
oEmail.Send
End Sub


so…

P1010349

Yesterday I started the day buying cigarettes for a homeless guy. Ended the day by going to the bar with a couple people from work, walked home tipsy at 7:30pm. Watched the end of the football game, and caught up on the Office, fell asleep at 10.

I’ve spent most of my awake time uploading pictures from this year to flickr today. Some of them don’t suck.

I’ve been on a vinyl buying spree this month. The worst part of that is I’m spending all of my cash on vinyl. The best part of that is that I’ve been listening to some really fucking great music. Mostly old jazz and blues.

I’ve had a hard time dealing with the fact that T. is in jail, and he keeps calling me, and I keep not answering. I told his gf that he can write me letters, but I don’t want to talk with him. I don’t want anything bad to happen to him, but he needs to start taking responsibility for his actions (and getting caught doesn’t count). I know life has handed him a bowl of shit, but you don’t get a lifetime free pass just because you got an unfair deal from life’s deck of cards. I have tried for so long to help him get his shit straight and now that it has all caught up with him there is nothing I can do.

On a much happier note, I’ve had about four cups of tea today. And I’m trying to figure out where I can have a makeshift darkroom, because I’ve fallen in love with pinhole cameras (and I’d rather use photo paper than hassle with film).