Woody at the Weenie Races!

Here is Woodstock's professional racing debut :) I'll let you see how he did...

...It was such a fun event; a bunch of friends came to cheer Woody on and help him run! We'll definitely come back next year :)

Just so you know, I'm basically trying to skip a level of Spanish over the summer. I took an accelerated 101/102 hybrid class this semester and normally should enroll in Spanish 201 in the fall. However, if I take 202 in the fall, I can audit the Spanish conversation/composition classes in the spring and be considered "proficient" in a third language by the time I complete my Master's!

That said, with the help of some of my favorite linguaphiles, I've begun another blog. Each day (or semi-regularly), I'm researching 12 words in at least three different languages: 12 Daily Words

Check it out, tell your friends. And if you know any of the languages, please leave comments or suggestions for some of the vocab lists!

Baseball and Writing

Baseball and Writing
by Marianne Moore
(Suggested by post-game broadcasts) Fanaticism?  No.  Writing is exciting and baseball is like writing.    You can never tell with either       how it will go       or what you will do;    generating excitement--    a fever in the victim--    pitcher, catcher, fielder, batter. Victim in what category? Owlman watching from the press box? To whom does it apply? Who is excited?  Might it be I? It's a pitcher's battle all the way--a duel-- a catcher's, as, with cruel    puma paw, Elston Howard lumbers lightly       back to plate.  (His spring        de-winged a bat swing.)    They have that killer instinct;    yet Elston--whose catching    arm has hurt them all with the bat-- when questioned, says, unenviously,    "I'm very satisfied.  We won." Shorn of the batting crown, says, "We"; robbed by a technicality. When three players on a side play three positions and modify conditions,    the massive run need not be everything.       "Going, going . . . "  Is       it?  Roger Maris    has it, running fast.  You will    never see a finer catch.  Well . . .    "Mickey, leaping like the devil"--why gild it, although deer sounds better-- snares what was speeding towards its treetop nest, one-handing the souvenir-to-be meant to be caught by you or me. Assign Yogi Berra to Cape Canaveral; he could handle any missile.    He is no feather.  "Strike! . . . Strike two!"       Fouled back.  A blur.       It's gone.  You would infer    that the bat had eyes.    He put the wood to that one. Praised, Skowron says, "Thanks, Mel.    I think I helped a little bit." All business, each, and modesty.         Blanchard, Richardson, Kubek, Boyer. In that galaxy of nine, say which won the pennant?  Each.  It was he. Those two magnificent saves from the knee-throws by Boyer, finesses in twos--    like Whitey's three kinds of pitch and pre-       diagnosis       with pick-off psychosis.    Pitching is a large subject.    Your arm, too true at first, can learn to    catch your corners--even trouble Mickey Mantle.  ("Grazed a Yankee! My baby pitcher, Montejo!" With some pedagogy, you'll be tough, premature prodigy.) They crowd him and curve him and aim for the knees.  Trying indeed!  The secret implying:    "I can stand here, bat held steady."       One may suit him;        none has hit him.    Imponderables smite him.    Muscle kinks, infections, spike wounds    require food, rest, respite from ruffians.  (Drat it! Celebrity costs privacy!) Cow's milk, "tiger's milk," soy milk, carrot juice, brewer's yeast (high-potency-- concentrates presage victory sped by Luis Arroyo, Hector Lopez-- deadly in a pinch.  And "Yes,    it's work; I want you to bear down,       but enjoy it       while you're doing it."    Mr. Houk and Mr. Sain,    if you have a rummage sale,    don't sell Roland Sheldon or Tom Tresh. Studded with stars in belt and crown, the Stadium is an adastrium. O flashing Orion, your stars are muscled like the lion.

(I just had my LAST class today, and I forgot to ever mention that we read this a few months ago in my  Modern American Poetry class)

Summer (2012) is here!

...almost.

Only one more paper stands between me and summer break! Although, it already feels like summer in Arizona, since it was 105 today (!!!!). I'm not ready for this. But I am ready for my summer break. This has been once of the busiest 9-month periods of my entire life. Grad school, teaching undergrad classes, plus two other jobs and I'm auditing Spanish classes in order to pass proficiency levels in a third language at the end of my master's program.

How am I doing all this?! Alcohol, coffee and sodas are not the answer. I've cut waaaaay back. Adrenaline perhaps?

In lieu of writing my final 8-10 page paper (I'm at a 6-page "English" outline), I'm going to talk about my first experience eating Chilean food. Today we had "completos italianos" a Chilean dish so named because all three toppings are in order of the Italian flag: tomatoes, mayo and guacamole. However, I opted for spicy mustard instead of the mayo and plopped it all inside a whole wheat bun.

Oh yeah, it was also my first time cooking/eating a tofu dog.... and it tasted pretty much like any other hot dog I've ever had before! Being semi-vegetarian/pescetarian has really opened my eyes to a lot of new flavors and products over the past five months. 

COMPLETOS ITALIANOS (DE SOYA)

• tofu dogs
• whole wheat buns
• 1 tomato
• 1 avocado
• mustard/mayonnaise

Grill the tofu dogs and season with salt and pepper, they will cook on the stove in less than two minutes. Toast buns and chop veggies in small, bite-sized pieces. Mash up the avocados. The correct serving order goes as follows: spread mayo/mustard on the bun before placing the hot dog inside. Then top the dog with guac, mayo/mustard spread and finish with the diced tomatoes. 

Bon appétit.

I guess I should get to my final French paper, shouldn't I...

I can't keep a secret

Excuse the absence, it's been so hectic for me teaching undergrads and working on a master's lit degree at the same time. I feel like I've been doing nothing but that since August (which is mostly true). But now that only 17 days stand between me and the end of my first year, I'm hardcore putting off writing my final French papers (three to be exact). I'll spare you the gory details about the comparisons I'm researching between French Symbolist poets and their American avant-garde counterparts. 

So in the meantime, I have to let you in on a little secret. I want to move... back to Europe. So I'm looking at applications for the 2013-14 academic year. Number one on my list is currently teaching at a university in Bruxelles (où on parle français, parmi d'autres langues), and then next I guess would be teaching English in France, again. Whether or not I get in, and if so, whether or not I accept, it doesn't hurt to dream. I've never been to the Kingdom of Belgium before, and I'd like to visit, soon!

...P.S. this is in no way an April Fool's joke. Nor are these:

I'm getting very anxious awaiting the arrival of my birthday present, pink Vibrams!! Running is sort of back in my life again, I'd like for us to be friends once more :)

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day... wieners need love, too :)

Hope it was a good one! I'm 1/3 of the way through my second semester, after taking two three-hour exams the past few nights. Yay, grad school :)

Night xx

I'll be home for Christmas

After two days of driving (logging a total of 13 hours in the car) I've safely returned to California! It's funny, I've done the Arizona-California drive about five times now and it seems to be less and less of a bother each time. God, I hope I'm not becoming one of those people who enjoys long car rides...

What I did enjoy, however, was the opportunity to bond with my sleepy little dog and break up the trip at my old stomping ground -- Santa Barbara. A few good friends still live near the beach so I stopped in for some time at the harbor, dinner, a late-night dip in the sap, brunch and serious time catching up with old friends! It was also Woody's first beach trip!

While I busy myself today with laundry, lounging and finishing up my remaining Christmas purchases, I leave you to enjoy various pictures I took from my short stay in Santa Barbara. College seemed like ages ago -- I would give anything to be able to live there again. Future PhD prospect, perhaps?! :)

P.S. I took all of these photos from my iPhone on DECEMBER 20!!! The weather was gorgeous, much nicer than Arizona's current temperatures, and it made me long to be back in California. At least I have until January 1 in my former home state! That should tide me over until my next holiday break.

 

Soft Spiced Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

It looks like all this "free" time over the holidays is lending itself to baking! I've been working collegiate basketball games, dedicating time to language-learning, reading and of course, playing piano.

The most recent recipe I stumbled across was for soft and chewy pumpkin cookies! I know it's the wrong season for pumpkin now, but after Thanksgiving I purchased a reduced-price can of pumpkin purée and this week, it finally occurred to me what to do with it.

Soft Spiced Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 2 1/2 c flour
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 t baking powder
• 1 t cinnamon
• 1/2 t nutmeg
• 1/2 t salt 
• 1 1/2 c granulated sugar
• 1/2 c butter, softened
• 1 c canned pumpkin
• 1 large egg
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 1/2 c chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in medium bowl. Beat sugar and butter in large mixer bowl until well blended. Beat in pumpkin, egg and vanilla extract until smooth. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Fold in chocolate chips

Drop by rounded tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until edges are firm. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes.

~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~ 

The recipe yielded around 20 massively large cookies. I was using a table spoon to shape my cookies, like suggested in the recipe, but eventually switched to the teaspoon because they were so huge! The cookies never became crunchy, since this is a soft cookie recipe, but more retained the texture of something akin to pumpkin bread. Perfection :)

So who cares if it's not pumpkin season anymore... dig in and enjoy some delicious pumpkin chocolate chip cookies!

I'm learning...

Remember earlier this year, as part of my 52 new weekly resolutions, how I tried to teach myself guitar? I was doing alright, but massively struggling. Before I really started to get the hang of things, I snapped a few of the strings and they've been collecting dust ever since.

But now I have lots of access to pianos, and for the heck of it, have been tinkering around. I'm not going to go so far as to say I'm learning how to play piano, because I'm not. But I am getting super frustrated playing around with them, and am such a perfectionist at everything I do that I continue trying each day.

When I go home for Christmas next week that will stop. There are no pianos to be found near my parents' house. But there is my old clarinet I haven't played since the end of middle school or beginning of high school. Who knows, maybe I'll pick that up again... just like riding a bike.

I highly doubt it, seeing as how the hardest part about playing piano right now is reading sheet music. I used to be REALLY good at that back in the day and am pretty bummed I let that skill fade into the oblivion.

Here's to trying! And here's an embarrassingly terrible video of me "playing" piano :) This wasn't off sheet music or anything, I just kind of thought of it and put it together -- more like the song was stuck in my head all day so I had to try it out. If we're being honest, you should just skip the first minute. I'm pretty bad. But can only get better, right?? :)

P.S. Apologies for the French radio station playing in the background!

Vanilla Candy Cane Cupcakes

Now that it's Christmas, I'm back to my old baking ways. Or maybe that can be attributed to my lack of motivation to study for finals.

Either way, I am DONE with grad school for the semester and have an entire month to do nothing create my lesson plans for the spring semester. We have a party in both my classes today, since it's the last day of class before finals week. 

My contribution to the class party was not related to international languages or studies, as we are a multitude of international and foreign students. Instead, I had to go with the Christmas theme :)

Remember those mint chocolate chip cupcakes I made inspired by my favorite ice cream flavor? Well let's just say the only thing I love more is PEPPERMINT ICE CREAM. It's a tragedy such a flavor only exists from November to January. Try it if you haven't yet, you'll thank me later.

This ice cream essentially inspired my in-class treats this time around (I feel like I'm in elementary school again baking goodies for class parties, NOT grad school).

Vanilla Candy Cane Cupcakes (semi-homemade)

• 1 box of white cupcake mix
• 1 T vanilla extract
• 1.5 T peppermint extract
• oil, eggs and water as stated on package directions
• vanilla frosting
• 5 candy canes, crushed

Essentially, I just made regular boxed cupcakes (lazy, I know, but it's finals week!) and then added my own vanilla and peppermint extract. Cook according to package directions. When they cooled, I frosted the cupcakes and then garnished with crushed candy canes.

I can't wait for the class party to try these little guys. I've been so good -- for once! ...Is it 3:00 yet!?!?!

P.S..... Based on my limited income and cholesterol/blood sugar related levels, I am seriously considering following a vegetarian or pescatarian diet as soon as I finish all the meat in my fridge. AKA when I return from Christmas break. How's that for dropping a bomb at the end of a post?! :)