Adventures in the Colonial 'burg: May 2008

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Scary

Well, I've finished my talk. I didn't start writing it until yesterday, so I was a little worried, but despite a few typos here and there, it went over fairly well. Now the rest of my time here will be spent doing normal work, talking with people and enjoying Germany.

One thing I find funny and rather creepy, although I suppose it comes with the modern world's utilization of computers and the internet, is how well the computer knows about where I am. I know it's just a matter of the websites I go to (such as Blogger itself) reading my IP address and determining that I'm in Germany right now not in the US, but it is a little disconcerting. I open up Yahoo, and I get German ads for German products that I do not plan to use, and often don't know what they are for, considering I don't know the language (yes, I'm an ignorant American who knows just English, and that I don't even know very well in all honesty). It may not be Big Brother, but sometimes I long for the old days, without the internet, cell phones, and especially without caller ID. Once upon a time we didn't need these things, and if only we could live without them still.

Of course, I would be the first to admit that I in fact do not wish to revert to those times, but nonetheless...

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Mainz

I'm here at the University in Mainz right now, just idling away my time. One of the main things I want to get done I cannot until a certain person responds to an email. As such, I'm not really in the mood to do anything, even though there are plenty of things to get done. Alas.

My trip out of the 'burg was without event, which is good. The flight to Frankfurt was of course long, but not the longest flight I've been on, and I did get a little bit of sleep on the plane. I'm mostly recovered from any sort of jetlag, but my body still is not used to the new clock. I can tell because it takes me a while to fully "wake up." Luckily I'm staying in an apartment for the two weeks I'm here, so I have a coffeepot and can make as much coffee as I want for relatively little cost (there is a grocery store right near by that I stopped at to get the essentials: Milk, coffee, butter, bread, meats & cheeses, paprika-flavored chips, and chocolate). I do think the time here will fly by, even though it feels like I'll be here for ages.

It is always nice to make it back to Germany, though, so one really cannot complain.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

RIC

I am in the Richmond airport now, awaiting my flight to DC, then to Frankfurt. I'm posting this from my ipod, and my thumbs are too big to make this easy. Sigh...

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Friends Lunch

I was going to run and grab a quick lunch to bring back to my office and eat, and I hadn't been to Friend's Cafe in a while, so I decided to walk over there. (I often don't go there because although it's not that far of a walk, it's farther than I'm generally interested in going if it's just to bring a lunch back to the office. The difference? Since it's an interim campus break, none of the bad on-campus sites are open.)

I walk into the restaurant, and I see Chris and Kostas finishing up their lunch. This was a little surprising, as I didn't expect to run into anyone, but there you go. Of course I sat with them while waiting for my food (mind you, I was still planning on just heading back to the office), and tagged along with them to Aroma's to get coffee (not yet having eaten). It was a little odd, and I did survive my starvation since it took almost an hour to get there, get coffee, then walk back and actually eat. There also was, incidentally, another professor from the department who walked in and sat with us while he waited.

I need to find out-of-the-way places if I plan to eat alone!

Monday, May 19, 2008

From the Gaol to freedom

Good weekend here in the 'burg. We started Saturday with a trip to the gaol (Colonial spelling for jail) and the Capitol buiding. The gaol was kind of cool, and the cells had a rustic "coziness" to them. Except for the lack of indoor plumbing and the likelihood of being put to death upon being released (this was that gaol for felonies, where the only punishment at the time was death by hanging), not a bad place to be.

That night we brought Dante over the S&C's house, to meet their dogs, Ramona and Jake. The initial greeting was rather fierce (with Dante being frightened as he often is of other dogs), but they were fine afterwards. I think Ramona and Jake were pissed to see a new dog on their turf, but realized that Dante is a big sissy and just wanted to be left alone to wander alone in the woods. Incidentally, there was a point where we couldn't find Dante and he wouldn't come when called, just cementing my belief that he would disappear never to return again if left to his own devices outdoors.

C and I were treated dinner, and C had brought a dessert from Colonial times (made on Saturday, not in the 18th century), called a Queen's cake. It was tasty, although a tad dry (most likely because the oven I have tends to run a little hot, which we verified Sunday after getting an oven thermometer). All in all, it was a great night, with lots of good food and liquor and conversation.

And again, I apologize for Dante declaring ownership of the grill, guys.

Sunday was a lazy day, with a brief jaunt of shopping. Picking up very exciting things like groceries, bookends (needed for a long time), an oven thermometer (see above), and random other items. It ended with some delicious homemade cookies I made, using a recipe of Alton Brown's. To help us behave, I only made a third of the batch, but we are almost out, so I might have to bake another dozen tonight. Yum!

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Sorry Sonya & Chris

I have to apologize to our dear friends here. Corbett and I went to Ichiban for dinner last night, and didn't call them. The reason though, was that we had decided to go out to eat at 7:30, and that's past their dinnertime. So it's not entirely my fault. (Nothing ever is.) Plus, Ichiban was a last-minute decision—we left the house not certain where we'd end up. We had the most adorable waitress ever, and the dinner was definitely delish.

Not much else to report in the 'burg as of late, though. Just a lot of working and lounging about. Dante is continuously obsessed with the balcony window. That's nothing new, but I think it's getting worse. He is excited when we wake up, and when we get home, but all that excitement wanes once he realizes he's not been looking outside for five minutes. This morning, he has been staring at a squirrel, and everytime we let him out on the balcony, the squirrel runs off. Then Dante stares intently at the spot the squirrel was, and waits for it to return. The squirrel does, and we repeat this joyful event.

This is fun with squirrels, where Dante is silent. With cats, it is also enjoyable, because Dante whimpers a lot, but doesn't make too much noise. With dogs or kids, it's miserable, because he barks loudly and endlessly until the evil creatures are out of sight. Go figure.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Fraggle Rock Movie...

I'll have to see it, but I'm not sure if it'll be good, compared with the show itself which is spectacular!:

Fraggle Rock Movie

Monday, May 12, 2008

Man of Iron

We went to the Colonial Movie Theater this weekend (well, okay, there is nothing colonial about it, but we do have one, and it has 12 whole screens in an area called "Newtown," to distinguish it from the historic part of the 'burg), and saw Iron Man. I have to say, I was very iffy about going to see this, but for the most part, I go to every superhero movie there is. (Not the really bad ones like Ghost Rider or Elektra, though.) Plus I am not a huge Iron Man fan, but the movie got good reviews, so...

Was I ever surprised. On the whole I must say it was a great movie. Not once was I bored, and it wasn't a generic "ten minutes of intro to the new superhero and now two hours of fighting." There was a lot of build up during the whole movie, with Mr. Stark building the suit (well, suits, as he had to build a crappy one to escape the "bad guys" in Afghanistan). If there was any major criticism it was that there was still the "look at the bad guys that aren't American, they are EVIL!" idea all over the place, but being that this is a superhero movie, I can overlook it.

I think Marvel has made up for the train wreck that was Spider-Man 3, and hopefully they can continue with this quality.

Friday, May 9, 2008

Chocolate

A professor here in the department is very much into making his own chocolate, and has sparked my jealousy. (Note, this is the same professor who told us of the colonial chocolate-making demonstration from a few weeks ago.) The instructions are all laid out on a website called Chocolate Alchemy, although there are a few (expensive) pieces of equipment that are required to do this at home. It will be a while before I am able to take part in this endeavour, so I have to be satisfied with what he brings into the office.

He is not a fan of milk chocolate (while I am), but he recently made a batch that he's sharing, and gave me two bars just now. I am, I must say, in heaven. I think it's sugar rush time here in the 'burg...

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Persona

I often find myself very aware of my outward persona. Not necessarily in a self-conscious way, but still, the awareness is there. I feel as though various types of people are required to portray themselves with a certain air about them, and wonder if I portray myself correctly.

For example, there is the first year undergraduate student, during the first couple of weeks of class. This student has an air of excitement, due to the new college experience, and yet also, an air of confusion. All of the new things surrounding this student is baffling and exhilerating all at once. I have not had this for 13 years now.

The more advanced undergrad has a fatigue about him/herself. Still, there is some hope for the future, and things are still relatively new, but this student is seasoned, and has the wisdom of multiple college years, but there is not much in the way of cynicism. This student can still change the world.

Then there are the post-college years. Graduate students have an initial sense of hope, but this is usually completely crushed by the end of their time at whatever institution he/she chooses. This is a result both of endless hours of research and lack of sleep, and also a realization that there is futility in what is done. "How does this research help anyone?" It doesn't. Still, though, while many then leave the academic world, there are plenty who realize that there is some usefulness to the work, no matter how far it may reach in the "real world."

Then there are the post-docs. This is where I fall. I'm too old to be considered one of the graduate students, but too young (academically) be one of the professors. To further confuse the situation, I also teach, which in my field is not common among post-docs. Being a temporary fixture here at the College, I'm deemed somewhat irrelevant. "He's going to leave any day now so we really don't have to worry too much about him." While this does bother me to some extent, I don't hold on to it much because many people do not let this irksome fact cause any major issues.

The question though, is how do I portray myself? I walk through the halls with the confidence of someone who knows where he is, and what is in store for him. This is different than the undergrads, they really aren't sure what's happening. This is a good thing for them, because it allows them to enjoy their time. For the graduate students, they walk around with some confidence but also there is the fatigue and eventually the cynicism.

I have that cynicism now, and I often feel as though it's getting worse. Or rather, it comes and goes like the tides. Some days I think that the world is my oyster, and others I remember that I do not like oysters. Overall though, I would say I am happy, and I wonder if that makes it out there for others to see. I don't think so. I feel as though I wear my cynicism on my face, and the smiling only happens internally.

I should work on that.

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Cruisin'

This was an exciting weekend in the 'burg. Let's go through it step by step.

Friday night: Drove to Newport News (okay, that's not in the 'burg, but it's in the area) to try to fulfill my desire to fill the empty void that I felt by shopping. We left Border's with a bargain cookbook for the slow cooker. Um, score. We had dinner down there at a random tavern, and the food was pretty good. Came back ASAP to fill the other void in my soul by watching BSG. That worked pretty well.

Saturday: Off to the C-'burg to see some more Colonial-era goodies. This time it was an hour-long tour of the [Peyton] Randolph house, which was rather cool (better than the Governor's palace). We all got identities and Corebett was a slave, Great Aggie, and I was Sam, "her" son. A random elderly man was Mr. Randolph himself, and his real-life wife had the role of Mr. Randolph's man servant, Johnny. We didn't have any lines, but the more important characters (read: not me or Corbett) were placed in various positions throughout the tour. (This sounds more creepy and bizarre than it was in real life.) This was, if anyone had seen it (I hadn't), the house in which the Dinner: Impossible guy (who had lied on his resume and subsequently fired from the Food Network) had six hours to make a colonial dinner in a colonial (and still working) kitchen. Good times. After Mr. Randolph's house, we saw the bricklayer briefly before venturing back into the modern world (in other words, grocery shopping).

Saturday night was filled with us making rice pudding in the slow cooker (and a LOT of it), and watching Terminator 2. Good flick.

Today was a day of work: Me, grading (although I really just spent time writing up all the solutions and wasting time by looking at shiny objects surrounding me at the Coffee Beanery), and Corbett working on his Diss. That, plus cooking Coq au vin in the slow cooker (delish!), and watching American Dad, which I still think is one of the funniest cartoons currently airing on television.

I still haven't filled that shopping void. Maybe I'll have to order something on Amazon, and then have the joyful anticipation of waiting for it in the mail.

Friday, May 2, 2008

Recycling

I have finally gotten my act in gear to try some new steps to bettering how I treat the environment we live in.

First of all, I have finally gotten off my colonial butt to bring tote bags with me to the grocery store. I only have three, but have used those twice now. I will need to get more soon, especially since we've not yet done a full grocery trip in a couple of weeks. Conveniently, Farm Fresh (as well as most grocery stores here) carries a whole stock of relatively inexpensive bags.

Next step, which I am currently working on, although I might have to speed things up a bit, is getting rid of all plastic bags from the house. These are doggie remains collectors, but I will start purchasing them from Petsmart, those that can actually biodegrade. We run out of these bags quickly, but I may just have to return the rest of what we have to the recycling bin at the grocery store or to the place for them at the recycling center, just to get a jump on this portion. Perhaps buying the bags at the store before I run out is a way to get me moving. We'll see.

Corbett and I have to get another bike, so that I can now also ride to campus instead of always driving. The problem is the cost, of course, and currently I don't drive far to campus, it's just over three miles each way. That's barely a full gallon of gas a week. Really, the gas guzzling part of my life is going to the Lab (down in Newport News) and running other errands. I am being better about trying to arrange my trips down there with Kostas, so we can save on that.

These are all very little things. I have to start small, because well, it is just too convenient to do things that are not good. Like WalMart, for example (recently mentioned by Drueke). I went constantly in Dallas, then when I moved to St. Louis, it was farther to get to than other places like K-Mart or Target, so I went less. Then I realized that it was not the place I wanted to spend my money, so the last two years of grad school I stopped going (as a side note, I also went on a kick of only spending money at stores in the city limits of St. Louis, not the county, as best I could because it needed all the help it could get). Moving to NY was the best thing to promote this little boycott, as the city refuses to allow one within city limits.

Now here in the 'burg, the WalMart is completely off limits to me. There is one right near JLab, and one but 10 minutes from here. I have not gone, and refuse to go, but what's the point? For that, it took a lack of convenience to get me to stop going, even though my reasons for not shopping there became more substantial. Now, I am working at making things less convenient but more "right." Whatever that ultimately means.