The Great Egg Experiment

For a long while I've been on a mission to make the perfect hard boiled egg. Up to this point, all efforts have failed. But now I'm on Spring Break with time on my hands, and I'm trying the scientific method on this beast. I have a dozen eggs and an electric vegetable steamer. I'm trying one egg at a time and adjusting variables such as cooking time and amount of water in the basket. Stay tuned to find out how each trial goes.

Trial 1: Bottom reservoir of steamer full. 1 egg in dry basket. Time: 30 minutes. Immerse in ice water for 10 minutes after cooking.

Observations: Eggselent. The shell peeled right off, and there was no green ring around the yolk. Yum.

Trial 2: Turns out there's actually divots made for eggs in the steamer basket. Trying that for 30 minutes.

Observations: 30 minutes was too long using this method. One egg cracked open and leaked, the others just cracked. Taste was good and shell removal was easy.

Conclusions: I will continue using the basket with a 30 minute cooking time and ice bath. Hopefully having eggs around will help me to curb some of my snacking urges and lead to generally healthier living for me.

The Super Skilled Girl’s Guide to Brewing Your Own Beer

Step 1: Have a homebrew. If you’re all out, or just starting your first batch, have a microbrew. Or a glass of wine. But drink something, to remind yourself why you’re going through all this trouble.

Step 2: Eat some dinner. It will make you far less crabby than trying to brew on an empty stomach.

Step 3: Find something for your roommate, husband, dog, etc to do. Preferably out of the house. Working on your own is a little more hassle, but it’s worth it not to have to explain all of the messes you’re making.

Step 4: Find LOTS of towels. I can’t stress this part enough. LOTS of towels.

Step 5: Buy a cheap pair of yellow rubber gloves. It will help to protect the pretty manicure you just got.

Step 6: Read some books to be sure you know what you’re doing. I recommend The Complete Joy of Homebrewing, or the Alaskan Bootlegger’s Bible. Consult them frequently.

Step 7: Choose your work area. Avoid lifting or carrying as much as possible by working near the ground. Cover said work space with the aforementioned towels.

Step 8: Sanitize your equipment. Make sure to wear the gloves, as the solution that takes the gunk off of your bottles also takes the pretty polish off of your nails. Also, be sure you have all of your equipment before starting, so that you’re not calling the room mate in the middle of your process to find out where your automatic bottler is.

Step 9: Whether you’re at the brewing stage, racking stage, or bottling stage, don’t panic! Drink your homebrew. DO NOT give in and call someone for help. You can do this, all on your own.

Step 10: When finished, clean up all of the evidence of the huge mess you just made. Again, TOWELS. Then, have another homebrew, and make a cake. It will remind you that you’re a woman, and not only can you brew your own alcohol to make your friends drunk, you can bake, to make them fat!

Enjoy!

My Reaction to The Internet

I recently stumbled upon "Greg Rutter's Definitive List of The 99 Things You Should Have Already Experienced On The Internet Unless You're a Loser or Old or Something." Apparently I'm a loser or old or something, because I had only ever seen or heard of about 10 of the items. So I made it my mission to sit down and actually watch/ read every single item on the list that I've been missing.

My Thoughts:

1. 1. Can't believe that was televised.
2. 2. Kids make great videos.
3. 3. Lame
4. 4. Seen it
5. 5. Seen it
6. 6. Did someone slip me acid? This video is the trippiest thing I've ever seen in my life. And I watched Smurfs growing up.
7. 7. Neat
8. 8. Fat guys lip syncing also make great videos.
9. 9. Seen it
10. 10. Lame
11. 11. Good for my self esteem, but crashed my browser.
12. 12. Wtf?
13. 13. Shrug.
14. 14. Shrug.
15. 15. Cute parody.
16. 16. Looked more like a hamster.
17. 17. Seen it
18. 18. Not much for the f word, never got into GI Joe.
19. 19. Reminded me of the Darwin awards.
20. 20. Awesome. I wish I a) owned a bulldog, and b) could teach him to board like that. I'd be popular.
21. 21. Seen it
22. 22. Again with overuse of the f word. Why is this funny?
23. 23. Literally shaking with laughter. Second most trippy thing Ive seen. Rest of the site sucks, though.
24. 24. So that's what lol cats are.
    
25. 25. Shrug
26. 26. Shrug
27. 27. Kind of liked it, actually. It's bookmarked for when I have a bad day.
28. 28. I've been Rickrolled many a time.
29. 29. Shrug
30. 30. Drunk kids make for funny videos. Child protection, anyone?
31. 31. Shrug. F word. But I did like the bit about 400 babies.
32. 32. Heard of this one. Did what it was supposed to. Laughing and crying at the same time.
33. 33. Shrug
34. 34. Wtf?
35. 35. Really?
36. 36. This reminded me of a cross between the video they show before Nexus, and my buddy Brandon's push up pictures. Got boring at the end, but generally neat.
37. 37. Seen it. Awkward.
38. 38. More child exploitation. Too long.
39. 39. Shrug.
40. 40. See #8. 2.7 million people like to see big women falling.
41. 41. Shrug.
42. 42. News anchors being dumb make good videos.
43. 43. Why did 6 million people watch that? Oh, right, because it's on the Internet.
44. 44. This is why i don't have guest speakers in my classroom.
45. 45. Nerds make for funny videos. And we all know that big guys make for funny videos (see #8, #40). Combine the two, gave me a chuckle.
46. 46. Well.
    
47. 47. Reminded me of the falling over/ laughing baby. See #2.
48. 48. F word. And more.
49. 49. Gave me a chuckle. Only because I like accents.
50. 50. Omg. Pop up videos on crack.
    

This will be a good place to pause, maybe take a nap, maybe find a snack. I think I'm starting to get a wee bit cynical. More this afternoon.

Scrubs Season 8

I love Scrubs. It's just good TV. So when I found out that ABC would be airing all new episodes, I got so excited i might have wet myself a little (false).

Unfortunately, I have a regular commitment on Tuesday nights, so I'm forced to wait for Mike's DVR to tape episodes for me. Until... I discovered Hulu yesterday. Now I can catch up whenever I want to curl up on the couch with a bottle of cheap wine and a bag of chips.

So far, not bad. Courtney Cox as the new Chief of Medicine is a little awkward, but the character interaction is all that I hoped for and more. Laughs that made stuff come out of my nose, punctuated by some nice, quiet, contemplating-death moments.

I feel warm on the inside.

TV I Can Get Into

In the past week, nothing has helped me decompress after the ridiculous stress of a new job more than some good new tv.

Seinfeld, Scrubs, and Office reruns have all been getting old and 24 has sucked in recent seasons.

Which has caused a revival of Netflix Instant viewing.

For Couple Quality Time: Weeds. Hilarious, yet serious, bringing up some serious family and political issues. Plus, the half hour segments are perfect for that time when dinner is in the oven.

For "I have a migraine" Friday nights with the roomie: Heroes. I can see why people are so into this show. We watched 6 episodes tonight, and I plan on watching at least that many more before the weekend is over. I just can't believe it's a network show, with all the sex and violence.

What's With All The Ladybugs??

I mean seriously? Aren't they supposed to be hibernating, not landing in my hair? Where are they coming from?!

Current kill count in the past 5 minutes - 3.

New Facination: Kottke.org

All kinds of useful news in my Google Reader. And they even linked to McSweeneys today!

Oh, Google, How I Love Thee

There's no more satisfying use of a morning, in my opinion, than clearing out my Gmail inbox. I hadn't archived or sorted in weeks, and there were about 75 messages in there. Now it's empty. Everything filed away, nice and neat, just the way I like it. Now I can go to work happy.

Three Love Songs?

When my iTunes is showing all of my music in alphabetical order, three unlikely songs are played one after another: My Heart is Broken (Ryan Adams and the Cardinals), My Heart is Filled (Elmbrook Worship), and My Heart Will Go On (Celine Dion).

The artists should get together and counsel each other.

20 Things That Make Me Happy

These might make you happy. They might make you angry. Either way, if you know it, clap your hands.

1. Chacos
2. Harleys
3. Chapstick
4. Photos
5. Rain
6. New things
7. Sunsets
8. Favorite songs on the radio, or at church
9. Acoustic guitars
10. Scratchy voices
11. Clean things
12. Time
13. Trees
14. Puppies
15. Lists
16. Swings
17. Crayons
18. Hugs
19. Innocence
20. Sundays
    

On Friendship

I've been thinking a lot on the the nature of friendship lately. I'm very fortunate to have a few very close friends, and I think it's good to occasionally examine those relationships, just to see why things are so great, and what could be more great. Jesus told his disciples, "This is my commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:12-13)

Really, what better litmus test is there, Christian or not? I hope I can be the kind of friend that would lay down my life for a good buddy, and put him or her before my selfish needs and desires. But is there more to it?

Neglected

Two very nice pieces for a not so nice day. I really haven't put as much thought as I should have into either of these. Pick them up. Enjoy.

"Here At The Right Time" by Josh Ritter, on The Animal Years.

Redi Whip, on a spoon, because straight out of the can is uncivilized.

By The Way

Oh, and did I mention that, after kicking Eric's butt my first time playing Wii Bowling (136!), I WANT A Wii!!!!!??

I see how all of you out there are addicted.

Blogger Help?

How do I change my links on the side that show my previous posts? I only want 5 "What you've missed" links, but I can't figure out how that particular html works.

Josh Gets Beat Up By A Girl...

...and other stories.

Pete Yorn rocked. A little more rocking than I really like, though. We were standing so close to him, and it would have been great if he had sung some nice slow soft songs like Just Another or A Girl Like You, or even Lose You. Alas, he played none of the above. But he did play The Man, and Bandstand in the Sky, which were on my list of songs I really wanted to hear. Crowd sing-alongs sounded good in the space, and Martyr's was quite nice, with lots of standing room and good beer. I look forward to hearing the recording of the show when it becomes available.

Spending an evening with Josh and Eric was also really rewarding. Cracker Barrel, nice car, Pete Yorn, and a Big Bowl of Corn. What more could a person ask for?