April 2009
2 tags
April 30
There’s a huge jacaranda tree just off of the interstate that I pass every day. After work, I decided to stop and snap a few pictures. I chose this one with my car in the background since the 30th marked its seventh birthday.
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sneakers on a telephone wire
i’ll be with you like keys and locks, like heads and hats and feet and socks. i’ll be with you near and far, like groucho goes with his cigar. i’ll be with you like hot and fire, like sneakers hang on a telephone wire… (leo kottke + mike gordon, “with”)
1 tag
twenty-five things
Toto and I spotted this ‘gator, too, during our walk. I’ve got a little preoccupation with alligators. I never did the “twenty-five things” facebook thing, but I did actually write one (pen-and-paper style) during the ride from Portland to Vancouver. I’ve sat on it for a while, but I figure I may as well share it, since my alligator phobia is number two on the list:...
4 tags
April 29
Took Toto for a walk through a nearby park lined with oak trees. We’re just getting fall here; it’s fun to crunch through the leaves.
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April 28
Rick Steves’ Eastern Europe finally arrived from Amazon! I’ve been using a copy from the library for the past several weeks, but I’m excited to have my own. I can’t believe that I leave in just over a month. Tentative list of cities I’m visiting: Dublin, Prague, Cesky Krumlov, Vienna, Klagenfurt, Bled, Ljubljana, Budapest, Eger, Krakow, and Olomouc. !
1 tag
(soy)milk and homemade cookies
the best mid-day snack. yum.
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jacarandas in bloom
I barely spotted them peaking through from behind rooftops and telephone wires. I love this time of year when everything’s in bloom, but my joy is tempered by the realization that the season will soon end.
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April 27
Went to a new (to me) Indian cafe with a co-worker. It was really different than most Indian food I’ve had, but very tasty. I think Indian food is one of my favorite things in the whole world.
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April 26
I was up early enough to see the sun streaming through the doors, and the lovely shadows they cast on the wood floors.
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ray lamontagne
I need to never drink coffee. I had a cup of Nicaraguan this morning, and now, twelve hours later, I’ve no interest in going to bed. Instead I’m sitting up cultivating an appreciation for a new favorite musician, Ray Lamontagne. He’s playing at Tampa Theatre next week, and after reading a few articles about him this morning-and before hearing any of his music, I knew I’d...
2 tags
April 25
Pei Wei for dinner! Yum.
popping corn
I always hated popcorn as a kid, and usually only ate it every once in a while at the movies. I’m totally obsessed now, though. I came home from work starving, made a huge pot of popcorn, and demolished it in about five minutes.
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April 24
I had a fight with a co-worker and had to cry a little in the car before driving home. I spent the better part of the summer in hysterics because things hadn’t turned out as I had hoped, but haven’t cried much lately. In a way, it was a little bit nice as a cathartic release. I can’t stay mad at people so we made up the next day. It’s a testament to my devotion, readers,...
Hopefully no news really is good news.
1 tag
Baseball, outside
I love love love the Trop and all of its idiosyncrasies, but there’s something magical about a baseball game in an open air stadium. (The Rays are still slumping, by the way, but I haven’t and won’t lose faith.)
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April 23
I never usually shop with a cart, but we got thirty percent off (as opposed to the usual twenty) today and I stocked up on nut butters, non-dairy milks, and meat analogues like it was going out of style.
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Hotel Floridan
I’ve always loved this landmark building in downtown Tampa, and finally got a chance to take a quick shot. It didn’t make the cut as an official project 365 photo, but I still wanted to share it.
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April 22
I had planned not to drive on Earth Day, maybe bike for lunch or a coffee, but I had an appointment on the other side of town and so I spent the day going here and there. (It was lovely.) I took a new-to-me route that took me by this church, among other neat sights.
1 tag
April 21
Fifty cent iced coffee day at Dunkin Donuts. I don’t have much occasion to go there, but I love a good deal. I had to BYOsoymilk, and walking in with a jam jar filled with milk made me feel a little neurotic. (But what’s new.)
2 tags
April 20
I had a long, lazy morning. I did some research for my trip (!), read the news, and watched television. I felt a little lethargic, and after reading some of the archives of Orangette, my latest obsession, I had to get into the kitchen. I made Jelly Donut Cupcakes from Veganomicon. I loved how the jelly looked as it settled into the batter. (I used mostly grape, but also some cherry and peach....
2 tags
April 19
Watching the Amazing Race each Sunday is one of my favorite things. We made Chinese for dinner because the teams were traveling to China. This is my General Tso’s Tofu. (Chicken for everyone else.)
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April 18
I’ve been trying to meet my favorite ray, Dioner Navarro, since last season. I always feel pretty lame hanging by the bullpen before the game with all of the little kids, but I’m determined. Navi signed for a ton of people before the game, but skipped over me. At least R shot this photo of me towering over all of the children and standing right in front of my hero. (We lost.)
2 tags
April 17
My first Rays game of the season. We won, coming back from behind after a grand slam by Ben Zobrist, an underrated player who spent last season shuttling between six different positions. As we walked back to the car, one fan was screaming, “Ben Zobrist for President!” over and over.
I loved this article in the St. Pete Times today about an elderly woman who’s been watching Guiding Light since the show started. There’s even some not-so-subtle double entendre. (Has anyone else noticed how frisky older people are?) Charlotte just turned 88. She got addicted to Guiding Light when it was still a half-hour radio show, back in 1952. Her mother made her listen with her...
1 tag
April 16
Traffic was bad enough on the way home that I could kinda-sorta grab a shot of one of my favorite Tampa landmarks. I really shouldn’t take pictures in the car.
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falling in love at a coffee shop
‘ I absolutely love this AT&T commercial. Is it awful to hope that my own summer backpacking trip might end up in the same way? (Except that I’d be totally unable to figure out the texting and picture-retrieving.) The whole song, by Landon Pigg, is great. (Okay, and he’s cute, too.) I’m done for the night, I swear.
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we lost 3-4, but at least there was eye candy
And so concludes this edition of Boys I Love. (By the way, it’s really difficult to find a not-creepy photo of a pitcher.)
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Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist
Marry me, Michael Cera.
from my backyard to yours
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April 15
I had to go to our local wholesale market to pick up soymilk today. That’s about all we get there, other than maybe hummus, but I always roam through the aisles for a bit and gawk at the mass quantities of food people buy. And what the hell is a manwich?
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looking out
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on grieving
I suppose everyone has a difficult time coping with the death of one that they love. I think that it must be one of life’s toughest challenges. I don’t really believe in heaven, but dealing with death makes me wish that I did. I don’t really expect that anyone will be waiting for me, or that I’ll be headed to another plane of existence when I pass. And so the prospect of...
2 tags
April 14
It rained all day, but I had to work so my rainboots, sadly, stayed at home.
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April 13
Home opener. Sadly, I watched from home and not at the Trop, but beating the Yankees fifteen to five was still really fun.
1 tag
April 12
Uncharacteristically, R and I went to play tennis. It was fun, for a little while.
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April 11
I’m a firm believer in dressing up to make a day more fun. (Although admittedly I really feel awkward about compliments that I’m dressed cutely or whatever.) I inadvertently dressed super-Easter-y, but it mostly felt fun and springy.
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April 10
Today I found a penny from 1907. I will keep it forever and ever.
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riding the rails
The train from Portland to Vancouver (actually a train from Portland to Seattle, and then a bus to Vancouver) was an interesting experience. There was an air of old-time glamour that I loved, and the train itself was surprisingly comfortable. Left to right: The lobby at Portland’s train station, Pacific Central in Vancouver, the train stopped at the platform in Seattle, King Street station...
2 tags
April 9
After months of deliberating, I finally bought my plane ticket to Europe. I’m very happy, but honestly after such a huge week (visiting Emory, deciding to attend, and leasing an apartment), I don’t have a major sense of surging excitement.
2 tags
April 8
Toto has been the forgotten man around the house for many, many years. Sweetie bullied him a bit, stealing his treats and his toys, and she earned most of our affection. Toto is a bit more independent, although he always follows my mom through the house. I’m trying to build a stronger relationship with Totes, who’s never particularly liked me. I’ve been good about taking him for...
3 tags
Granville Island Public Market
I walked into Granville Island Public Market on the morning of my second full day in Vancouver. Until then, I hadn’t felt much enamored of the city and was mostly wishing that I was still in Portland. There’s not much I love more than a market full of produce and soups and cakes and tea, so I grabbed a few snacks and snapped some photos before sitting to watch the rain fall while I...
2 tags
April 7
My mom made the now-traditional chicken marbella for Passover this year. I’d never actually gotten to eat the dish, so I decided to make a tofu version. We pan-fried the tofu and then left it in the marinade (olive oil, vinegar, capers, green olives, dried apricots and plums, garlic, and oregano) overnight. The next day, we put it in a baking dish with white wine and brown sugar and baked...
2 tags
vancouver: sights
Left to right, top to bottom: Buildings in Yaletown on my walk from the train station; the Inukshuk on English Bay Beach; dragon in Stanley Park; two of clubs on Burnaby; English Bay Beach from the Burrard St Bridge; flower shop in kits; Vancouver from the Granville Bridge; clock in Queen Elizabeth Park; the pendulum in the HSBC building on Georgia; another building on Georgia; birds in a tree...
2 tags
portland: sights
Things that caught my eye in pdx: Portlandia atop The Portland Building; Chinatown gate at Fourth and Burnside; Reynolds Optical on Alder; Stumptown Coffee on Third; old stuff in the Pearl; pretty flowers against a marble building on Glisan in NW Portland; view from the Paramount; Theater Theatre in Belmont; taps at Rogue.
3 tags
April 6
After about ten months of studying for the LSAT, taking the LSAT, applying to law schools, hearing back, and visiting, the ultimate decision seemed almost anti-climactic. I’m totally stoked about Emory, though.
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march mosaic
Here’s March’s photos.
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April 5
We were exhausted when we finally got home around eight o’clock, but my mom and I sat down to watch Rachel Getting Married at about nine-thirty, expecting to watch the beginning and finish the movie the next day. I don’t know if this is exactly praise, but we sat through the whole thing, barely able to move. It was a strange movie, Anne Hathaway was good, and I totally want to have...
2 tags
April 4
I came back from the visiting day at Emory with plenty of free stuff. (Water bottle not pictured.) There’s not much better than a gratis tee.
1 tag
April 3
This is how I felt after a long day of driving (and sitting in heinous southern Georgia traffic) and fun, but taxing mingling, when I realized that I had left my camera at home. Thankfully I figured out how to send a photo from my phone to my e-mail so I guess I don’t totally suck at cell phone technology.
2 tags
April 2
I think the best thing about taking a year off between college and law school is that doing homework is fun again. (Reading my first case for Emory admitted students day.)
