Thursday, August 27, 2009
Who'd I Marry?
A few nights ago, I had a dream in which I could not remember or figure out whom I had married. It had the quality of one of those dreams in which you have a big exam or paper due soon and you are stressed out about it but are completely unable to focus on it. The "thought process" went something like, "Ok, it can't be her. I think it must be her instead. But, wait. I would have married her then, and I'm pretty sure I slept with her more recently, so that doesn't seem right..." Much like the exam dreams, I was quite relieved when it dissolved upon waking. I could remember only a couple of the possible "candidates" and neither was anyone I would have remotely considered marrying. I told L about it, and she said she had had the same dream a couple months ago.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
brief coffee updates
1. slightly simplified french press method:
Get another small, preferably thin, cup. When you've pre-heated your press and plunger, pour the water into the thin cup and put the plunger in to keep it warm.
Pour all the water in onto the grounds in one pour, in a thin smooth stream. Wait one minute, and begin the tapping. When the tapping is done (30 - 60 seconds later), put in the plunger and use it to press the floating grounds a small ways into the liquid.
Total steep time: 4 minutes.
2. Four Barrel's roasting style strikes me as somewhere between Blue Bottle's and Ritual's. They still keep a lot of the bright acids, as Ritual does, but also bring out more of the coffee richness, as Blue Bottle does. And they have selection of beans I find most interesting these days.
Get another small, preferably thin, cup. When you've pre-heated your press and plunger, pour the water into the thin cup and put the plunger in to keep it warm.
Pour all the water in onto the grounds in one pour, in a thin smooth stream. Wait one minute, and begin the tapping. When the tapping is done (30 - 60 seconds later), put in the plunger and use it to press the floating grounds a small ways into the liquid.
Total steep time: 4 minutes.
2. Four Barrel's roasting style strikes me as somewhere between Blue Bottle's and Ritual's. They still keep a lot of the bright acids, as Ritual does, but also bring out more of the coffee richness, as Blue Bottle does. And they have selection of beans I find most interesting these days.
I like the worm (not about tequila)
At that weekend wedding in Point Reyes, a lot of the apples we picked had been invaded by worms. However, since the worms had just eaten the seeds and then left, this worked out fine. I just cut out the usual core, and J and I ate the rest.
In one apple we did finally find a worm. (I think it was not really a worm, but a caterpillar or a maggot.) It was a pretty pink color and was mostly intact. J noticed that it was missing one end, though, and said something to me about my having cut its head or tail, and asked why. I told him I had accidentally cut it off when I was opening the apple. He said, "I don't wan do that again. I like the worm."
In one apple we did finally find a worm. (I think it was not really a worm, but a caterpillar or a maggot.) It was a pretty pink color and was mostly intact. J noticed that it was missing one end, though, and said something to me about my having cut its head or tail, and asked why. I told him I had accidentally cut it off when I was opening the apple. He said, "I don't wan do that again. I like the worm."
Returning from an unplanned detour (long)
On the last day in July, L, J and I went up to friends' weekend wedding in Point Reyes. The surroundings were beautiful and we were glad for a weekend away from the city. There was a small creek behind the hotel which J loved. And I could pick fresh apples and blackberries from the plants on which they actually grow. (Picking and eating fruit -- tropical and NE US -- is something that was a big part of my childhood, but which J doesn't see very often.)
However, that night J woke up around 11pm with a high fever and was up most of the night. We gave him some ibuprofen and he (and we) were able to get some sleep before the ceremony early Saturday afternoon. The rest of the weekend went pretty well considering how it had started.
When we got home to the city, J's breath started stinking and his gums were red and swollen. His pediatrician identified the illness as the initial infection with Herpes simplex, and gave us a over-the-counter remedy for a topical oral anesthetic for when the sores started. He stayed with me instead of going to day care, and for an uncomfortable two-year old, he did pretty well. His appetite and energy started recovering by the end of that week, and he went back to day care the next Monday (earlier this week). The only remaining problem seemed to be that being catered to all week had spoiled him a bit. He was being quite a brat.
But now I had a problem in that I had come down with it. I had assumed that, since I've had cold sores before, that at most I'd get a cold sore. Over the week, often finishing food J didn't want, I got myself quite an exposure, so who knows what happened. Anyway, last Friday, I came down with a high fever and chills which stayed for three days, making me unable to move very much. I am now also recovering energy and appetite, and have been able to play with Jasper more.
Last night, after J said he wanted to play with blocks, he dumped them out of the bag into his dump truck, and dumped them from there on to the floor. But then he said he didn't want to play with them anymore and walked away. I dragged him back and held him screaming trying to get him to put them away. L came by and reinforced the message and tried to get him into family block-putting-away. Beyond telling him he couldn't play us against each other, this seemed to only make it worse, so she left. A few minutes later, he was happily helping me put the blocks away, insisting on putting the last several blocks in the bag himself.
My interpretation is that he was being such a brat not because he was spoiled while he was sick, but because he was acting out in hopes of drawing me off the sick bed. I often play the role of stern enforcer of discipline for him, and I think he was worried about my sudden withdrawal from family life. He didn't really seem to understand that it was completely due to illness, even though he had just recovered from it. So being bratty was the expression of his anxiety about my illness.
Thankfully, those two weeks, of nursing J's illness and then my own, seem to be nearly over.
However, that night J woke up around 11pm with a high fever and was up most of the night. We gave him some ibuprofen and he (and we) were able to get some sleep before the ceremony early Saturday afternoon. The rest of the weekend went pretty well considering how it had started.
When we got home to the city, J's breath started stinking and his gums were red and swollen. His pediatrician identified the illness as the initial infection with Herpes simplex, and gave us a over-the-counter remedy for a topical oral anesthetic for when the sores started. He stayed with me instead of going to day care, and for an uncomfortable two-year old, he did pretty well. His appetite and energy started recovering by the end of that week, and he went back to day care the next Monday (earlier this week). The only remaining problem seemed to be that being catered to all week had spoiled him a bit. He was being quite a brat.
But now I had a problem in that I had come down with it. I had assumed that, since I've had cold sores before, that at most I'd get a cold sore. Over the week, often finishing food J didn't want, I got myself quite an exposure, so who knows what happened. Anyway, last Friday, I came down with a high fever and chills which stayed for three days, making me unable to move very much. I am now also recovering energy and appetite, and have been able to play with Jasper more.
Last night, after J said he wanted to play with blocks, he dumped them out of the bag into his dump truck, and dumped them from there on to the floor. But then he said he didn't want to play with them anymore and walked away. I dragged him back and held him screaming trying to get him to put them away. L came by and reinforced the message and tried to get him into family block-putting-away. Beyond telling him he couldn't play us against each other, this seemed to only make it worse, so she left. A few minutes later, he was happily helping me put the blocks away, insisting on putting the last several blocks in the bag himself.
My interpretation is that he was being such a brat not because he was spoiled while he was sick, but because he was acting out in hopes of drawing me off the sick bed. I often play the role of stern enforcer of discipline for him, and I think he was worried about my sudden withdrawal from family life. He didn't really seem to understand that it was completely due to illness, even though he had just recovered from it. So being bratty was the expression of his anxiety about my illness.
Thankfully, those two weeks, of nursing J's illness and then my own, seem to be nearly over.
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