This Morning

This has been a great day so far. Amanda and I spent the morning together, just talking, listening to music and chilling out. We went to a breakfast held by our faculty in residence, talked to some people, read some news, and enjoyed coffee we didn't have to make OR pay for. Glorious.  I've been working on school work, all of which is interesting. I also had a bowl of the chicken soup I made last night. It's so good. Not to brag, but it's quite enjoyable. I see why my mom cooks without a recipe sometimes/most of the time. It can turn out well! I'll post pictures of what I've been cooking in a while.

Italian Sausage Pasta Casserole

 Casserole
So, I made this the other night, with a few slight modifications. I used Ragu tomato sauce, and skipped the whole can of tomato sauce + a ton of basil part. I figured Ragu could do it better than me. I also used rice pasta instead of the normal kind. I also used an unknown amount of mozzarella cheese - the recipe called for using 3/4 of 1.5 cups, which works out to 8/9 of a cup. I eyeballed it, and it tasted fine.

Books!

Sep 7 @ 7:36 pm : Books!
So, I finally had time to read this summer and in the past two weeks, I have certainly taken advantage of it. I’ve read four books since living in this lovely space:
Normal by Amy Bloom

It’s about gender fluidity. It’s divided into three sections; one on the ‘phenomenon’ of intersex children, one on transsexual people, and one on cross-dressers. It’s impeccably written and researched. Her stories were engaging, and she managed to paint a portrait accounting for the many faces of gender ambiguity, whether it be by choice, birth or relation.

Napalm and Silly Putty by George Carlin

Well, much less serious. This is just humor, social commentary and slightly offensive observations thrown hodge-podge into a book that I used (with much success) as comic relief.

We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families by Phillip Gourevitch

This is about the Rwandan Genocide, narrated by a New York journalist who took an interest and pursued the truth in Rwanda and the surrounding nations. His story takes the reader through the stories of families, killers and people simply caught in the crossfire of an international crisis that was intentionally ignored by the most influential global organizations. It is a gripping and disheartening story, but one that deserves, more than any other of our generation, perhaps, to be read.

How Doctors Think by Jerome Groopman

(This was actually for a class, but I read it early) How Doctors Think takes on the challenge of explaining what many physicians themselves have come to disregard. Dr. Groopman interviews doctors and patients in an attempt to unravel the cognitive errors that most often result in misdiagnoses. The outcome is a well-organized, anecdotal and informational piece of literature that is useful for the common layperson and manages to offer insights to other physicians. A fast and engaging read, due mostly to the imperceptible blending of analysis and parable.

Sporcle

Sporcle!

This is such a fun site. I’ve spent a lot of time memorizing all of the countries in the world, but there is sooo much more stuff on here. Most of it is useless trivia, but some of it is pretty cool, and (dare I say) informative. Like the Countries of the World game…now I can name all 195…kinda cool, huh?

Mmmm!!

 

Salmon, mixed vegetables and cajun rice, with mug of milk. I’ve actually been really good about cooking, and not burning the place down. I’ve also made bbq chicken…and lots of scrambled eggs. It all tastes good, though. :)

WSP

 

This is looking down 5th Ave through the Arch in Washington Square Park.

View from my window

 

This is looking eastward on 14th Street. Awesome :)