Day 115: Signs of Spring

A friend in London recently sent pictures of her baby crawling threw the grass in lush parks. She said that spring has been so lovely that they have been strolling in the neighborhood and rolling in the grass for weeks already. We don’t even have leaves on the trees yet! But the trees are indeed budding and it was an encouraging sign.

Day 113: Spring Sale

It was April 23rd and the first hot sunny day of the season in Chicago. My friends preparing a move to Korea couldn’t have had a better day for their yard sale, most of the neighborhood walked by.

Day 91: Can you find me?

I was exploring the neighborhood with a friend and wandered into a secondhand shop that I had thought was a store selling repurposed construction material. Anyway i had fun taking some interesting photos.

Day 80: Quick oats

I've been making steel cut oatmeal for breakfast for the last few months. I usually make 3 or 4 portions and save them in individual containers for the coming days so that I don't have to spend 30+ minutes making breakfast everyday. Here I found a quick version and gave it a try. Worked out fine.

Photographing food is a real challenge. I'm surprised how many of my new things have been food related.

Day 79: Local Brew

Visiting my hometown of Cleveland I usually like to enjoy Great Lakes Brewing Co. Beers. Maybe because St Paddy’s Day just passed but I found a new Great Lakes ale on the shelves in the store called Conway’s Irish Ale and I had to give it a try. It was hearty and tasty and I enjoyed it completely.

Day 78: Staples can be an interesting finishing touch

My mom got 2 new knees at once. Anyone who knows her wouldn’t expect anything less. She’s extra productive and efficient like that.

Day 75: Liquid beta-carotene

I have a new juicer and made some fresh carrot juice laced with ginger to drink and also made some more carrot juice to use as a base for a veggie soup.

Day 70: Flowering tea

Today's new thing is trying a flowering tea in a class teapot I was given as a gift.

I also got caught up on my posts! I have been selecting a new thing each day and keeping a list of notes but I found that once my actually posting was a few days behind, I never thought I had time to do fill in the unposted days. I will try hard to never to fall so far behind again! I'm also catching up on watching episodes of the Bachelor. I guess I'm procrastinating on my studies (exams next week & a big paper to write) by catching up on other things.

Day 69: Whoopie Pie

I tried a whoopie pie for the first time today. It was very yummy and hit the spot that my recently developed sweet tooth was craving.

Since I've been in research mode and since I found it odd that I've never tried a whoopie pie before, I looked it up on wikipedia. If I found one in my lunchbox, i also may have exclaimed "Whoopie!" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whoopie_pie

Day 68: Enviromental health news

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

It was my turn to present an environmental health in the news story in class tonight. I talked about how the FDA pulled unapproved prescription drugs for colds & allergies from the market last week.

I quoted info from an FDA site: http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/EnforcementActivitiesbyFDA/SelectedEnforcementActionsonUnapprovedDrugs/ucm118990.htm


And the photo & more info from http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/03/03/134199320/fda-lowers-boom-on-unapproved-cold-medicines

Day 67: Time warp

I overheard a new person at the office say "Cool Beans" and I was transported back to the 80's when I'd say that to my BBF all the time. So I picked up my phone and sent her a txt to say hello & cool beans and that made us both smile.

Check out the Urban Dictionary entries for "cool beans" http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=cool%20beans

Day 66: Presentation animations

I gave my presentation in class and while it was a little long, I think I got it done within the time limit. I thought it was to be 15 - 20 minutes and it ends up it had to be closer to 10 minutes. I don't know if the rotating hotdog was a good idea but at least it offered a second of entertainment in a long night of student presentations. A few of the students had put together really good little movies using powerpoint animations. When I got home I started exploring further and i figured out how to animate text and set it as timed animations so that one thing happens as soon as the other finishes - so it plays itself. (I still need to figure out how to load it as a movie, because even my test run is still a powerpoint presentation)

Day 65: Food Safety project

Sunday March 6, 2011

I have been working for days on a big project (research, presentation, video for a campaign and eventually a long paper) on food safety. I've researched FDA regulation, the Food Safety Modernization Act that passed in early January, details on food borne illnesses, as well as materials for teaching food safety to consumers. I procrastinated on the project while brushing up on fancy animations in powerpoint. I have not yet figured out how to imovie my animations so I can't now post my front page with the rotating hotdog. I also made some collages with dozens of images off of google...

To avoid getting sick make sure to Wash your hands, keep food separate, cook meat thoroughly and store food in the fridge.

Day 64: Afternoon tea

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Here is the photo of the day...

Day 63: Movie night

Friday, March 4, 2011
We have been out of the habit recently but the ladies of my family who live in Chicago sometimes get out for a movie night. Tonight we say The King's Speech and ran through the rain to a winebar called Ropa around the corner. The place has potential, the atmosphere was nice and the food was ok.

It was a dark rainy night, so it looked and felt very different.

Day 62: New Brakes

Thursday, March 3, 2011

I took my car in this morning for new brakes that the dealer has been saying I need for about a year. I dropped the car off and took the train back home before starting work and then went back to pick it up in the evening. They called to say they think I also need a completely new set of tires. Since I haven't been driving much I think that can wait until the fall.

Day 61: The Story of Stuff

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

In case you were worried, I feel i should note that I retested my tap water and the lead levels aren't so bad. it ends up that I messed up the test because I didn't know how to use a pipet and i used the wrong amount of solutions in the test. So half of my results tonight and my test last week were faulty!

In class tonight we ended with a fun little video that is definitely worth watching. If you haven't yet seen the Story of Stuff videos check them out.

Here is the story of electronics we watched in class:



Here is the story of Bottled Water:

Day 60: 50th Anniversary of Peace Corps

Here is a really cool video a fellow RPCV made. She also served as a business development volunteer in Cameroon but she was there after I'd finished up and come home. Nonetheless, it's a great view to cameroon and life as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Enjoy!

Day 59: Pizza cracker

Monday, FEBRUARY 28, 2011

I came home from class hungry and motivated to figure out how to convert powerpoint files into imovie so that I can create a cool campaign for my final project. In the mood for pizza but needing something quick, I made some pizza crackers. The photo is as sloppy as the meal itself but it was good enough that I'd have the snack again.

Day 58: nano hexbugs

It was my nephew's birthday yesterday so after the seminar finished I stopped at target to get a gift and went over to my brother's for dinner. I ended up getting several nano Hexbugs and a fighting bridge. The bugs are a bit creepy because they move and flip over like cockroaches. I thought they were cooler than I'd anticipated and my nephew seemed excited.

Day 57: Day 2 of the training

Saturday, FEBRUARY 26, 2011

Another dozen pages of notes on types of invasive & degenerative diseases, the burdens and benefits of illness, medications, radiations, surgeries, and family circles. It is fascinating and I'll process it all eventually and put some or all of it to use in one way or another at some place & time... I'm headed out dancing.

Day 56: Healing Chronic illness

Friday, FEBRUARY 25, 2011

I started a 3 day class on Hawaiian healing approaches to Chronic and Catastrophic illness. I learned a lot today about the body, the energetic body and traditional beliefs on how it's all connected.

Day 55: Gym Bag

Thursday, FEBRUARY 24, 2011

I took my workout clothes to work so I could stop at the gym on the way home and do Week 2 Day 1 of Coach to 5K. I felt very organized.

Day 54: What's in my water?

Tuesday, FEBRUARY 23, 2011

In class today I got to test my home tap water for lead. I took a sample of the first hot running water in the morning from my kitchen faucet. AN acceptable level of lead (I think by Chicago City standards) is .015. My test came out super high at .49 and so I will take a few more samples this week including a sample from my faucet after running cold water and a sample from my Britta filter. I'd like to redo the first test because I don't think a sample of one is very reliable but I've been instructed to test the cold water and Britta filtered next.

Day 53: Equal vote for 3 new things

Tuesday, FEBRUARY 22, 2011

This is the key day I was too busy to post and that got me weeks behind! I worked from home, voted for Alderman & Mayor of Chicago for the first time ever. (All the big cats won.)

On my way to the gym I stopped by Metropolis coffee and I tried a green tea latte. (I announced this on 4sq but didn't take a picture.)

But what has turned out to be the most significant new thing of the day was that I discovered DaPaul's online library with IM services. I started an instant message conversation with a librarian and she or he quickly helped me navigate tons of online journals and find exactly what I was looking for. My oh my times have changed since I was in undergraduate school wonder the stacks to find a paragraph on my topic.

Day 52: Time machine

I used time machine on my computer for the first time. It was cool because it was really easy to use and very satisfying to recove a document I'd saved over.

Day 51: Date

There are no fancy or clever visuals and I will not give any lengthy personal descriptions but I went out on my first official date in 8 years if you don't count my whole marriage. Maybe I should just say that I finally went on my first date since I got divorced. It was blind, not too scary, relatively enjoyable. It will probably not lead to another marriage but at least has pushed me further along the path away from the failed attempt at marriage.

Day 50: Dance Shoes

I bought my first pair of dance shoes today so that I can learn to Tango with the proper footwear. I'm headed off to an informal class to break them in.

(I won't quit my day job to become a product photographer.)

Day 49: C25K

I joined the gym. I waited the enough days so that I could be fashionably late and not be considered part of the New Years Resolution fad crowd. Since I want my resolutions to wait throughout the year I had to wait until after Valentines day to make sure it sticks. My first workout at the gym was the first day of the Coach to 5K App that a friend turned me onto. It consists of 3 workouts doing intervals of walking and running a week for 9 weeks and it promises to have me running 30 minutes straight without rest or walking at the end of 9 weeks. I did the first workout of the App without a problem today and I can feel in my body that I worked out. It may be the perfect program for me to follow to ease myself back into shape.

Day 48: Stack it tall

When it doubt or lacking a good idea for something new for the day, I can turn to the "365 Daily Creativity Journal" by an old friend, Noah Scalin, for an idea for the day.

Day 48 is a challenge: How tall can you make something that stands up on it's own? Since I used things with legs, I got all the way up to the ceiling.

Day 47: Meat

Three times a year we have an All Staff Quarterly meeting when everyone has to be in the office for two days and we share ideas, review the state of the union and have social lunches and sometimes a special dinner out. Tonight we went to Brazza, a Brazilian Steak house and truly feasted on a lot of delicious food. The "salad bar" includes tasty vegetables like asparagus & broccoli as well as smoked salmon and brazed ahi tuna and creamy, super yummy mushroom risotto. On top of that they come around with a huge assortment of delicious meats. It was a delightful evening with my co-workers.

Day 46: Skipped school for work

A few colleagues came to town a night early for our quarterly staff meeting so there'd be a bit more time to catch up. By bad luck I've had class every night there's a work related event in the evening. So I skipped class to greet my colleagues and have dinner with them. I have to do the same tomorrow night for the more formal gathering. I can make up the missed class work.

Day 45: Spring crush & The Squids

I started the day composing poetry about how the neighborhood is melting and Spring is whispering to us… but I never really captured those fleeting lines of poetry, as wonderful as they sounded to me at the time.

So instead, I offer an old Punk Band that is new to me today: The Squids

Day 44: Anti Caner soup

Most of my day has been consumed with writing a paper for class but as it has been my habit to cook a large meal for the week on Sundays, I tried a new recipe today: Anti Cancer soup. It involved fresh juice from my new juicer (which I'm rushing past but should be highlighting as a super cool new thing). The main ingredients are pulverized zucchini (one of my favorite veggies) onions, leeks, kale and fresh carrot and celery juice. The soup turned out well and is super yummy. I am definitely anti-cancer so I'm happy to brew up a batch of anti-cancer soup.

This shot isn't in focus but I selected it because it looks like the bowl is teetering on the edge of the counter and I know that'd make some people nervous.

Day 43: On stage

Chicago runs a bunch of cool programs including "Winter Dance" where there are free dance classes for the public and then open dancing to live music. The winter classes are on stage at the Pritzker APavilion in Millenium park. It was super cool to be dancing onstage and look out at the snow covered field. Today was tango and my neighbor was teaching. They got a stage full of several hundred people, almost all beginners, moving in the same direction in the same step.

Day 42: Recharged Car

Just after the storm last week I found that my car battery was too weak once again to start the car. I haven't really needed my car, in fact I've left it dead so that I could focus on my mid-term and not get distracted with errands and different events. It was time finally to get my car battery replaced. I found a body shop around the corner able to replace my battery. I brushed off all the snow, scraped some of the ice, found someone to give me a jump and drove it halfway around the block to a local body shop. I probably didn't get the best possible deal but I got it done quickly and I supported a local small business.

Day 41: Banana Cream tart

I had dinner with a good friend I hadn't seen in awhile tonight. She met me at m.henrietta and we had a really tasty wholesome meal that was all new and all good. I had a banana cream tart for dessert, which is not something I'd usually order. It was mostly cream. Delicious but I didn't really need it and I'm not so sure it was worth it.

Day 40: Midterm

I had a midterm exam in my Environmental Health class. It was easier than I could have imagined. I guess if actually prepared and after really studying all the material the test should feel easy. It was easier than that. At least I find the material really interesting. I have learned a lot so far this term about vector borne diseases, zoonotic diseases, pathogens, toxins and heavy metals.

Day 39: Bad eggs

I got a craving for something sweet and I decided to make some cookies.  The eggs I have in the fridge have been there long enough that I don't remember buying them.  I think I may have bought them just after the egg recall in August.  I've heard before that bad eggs float.  So I filled a glass with water and I dropped one in after the other and I found I have half a dozen bad eggs.  I'm going to try to blow them out and save the shells to paint for Easter.

Bad eggs didn't deter my craving for cookies.  I found an eggless peanut butter cookie recipe on cooks.com http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1616,148191-241205,00.html and I made half a batch.  They ran into each other and look kinda funny but they tasted fabulous.  I've over dosed on sugar.

Day 38: New Sandwich

It had been a long time since I'd eaten at Hannah's Bretzel and I found new things on the menu.  I tried the Param ham & goat cheese on fresh soft pretzel bread.  The asparagus really made the sandwich.  Definitely worth checking it out!

Day 37: The Guy’s fries

On the way home from a study session at school I stopped to get a burger and fries at 5 Guys.   The burger was delicious and the fires looked like they should be the best fires ever but the felt and tasted like they just weren’t quite cooked.  I brought my leftovers home and recooked the Guy's fries.  I pre-heated the oven really hot, sprayed a baking sheet with PAM and stuck them in the oven for 20 minutes.  A few of them were better but I basically charred ‘em.

Day 36: Silent study

I didn’t talk to anyone today. I may have spoken a few words aloud to myself at some point during the day but I didn’t see anyone else and I did not talk on the phone. I got out of bed and opened my textbook. Between reading and note taking I got up to get more coffee and to heat up leftovers from the fridge. I basically spent 12 hours in the same seat reading & studying 6 chapters. Saturday Feb. 5, 2011


Yesterday's post went up without a title:

Day 35: Stars in construction

It was a work-study day where I worked from home and then when I closed out of my documents and e-mail, I moved to the coach and opened the books to start studying for my mid-term next week. I took a little creative break and cut out a bunch of stars using the decorative star candleholder that should have been stored away with the x-mas decorations, as a pattern. Friday Feb. 4, 2011

Day 34: Snow Sculpture

I don’t think that I’m especially good at creating creatures but I gave it a try with chunks of snow. I created a mini-snowman. Night had fallen so the lighting is a little low and the images a bit blurry so here are pictures of the creature in early development. Thursday Feb. 3, 2011

Day 33: Snowpocalypse continues

One of the draw backs of being able to work from home is that when the city is shut down and everyone is snowed in, I can continue to do my work uninterrupted. Honestly, I felt bad for businesses that had to be closed and felt grateful for the technology that let's me work uninterrupted from home.

I did walk around the block morning noon & night and enjoyed the adventure of navigating through the massive snow drifts and the incredible work some folks put into shoveling walkways and alleys and blocked in cars.

My favorite photos today are of Lake Michigan.

My street also looked rather peaceful and amazing before it got plowed.

And a few other for good measure...