Spring Reading

Been awhile since I updated my books.  I liked just reporting my favs so here they are, from Feb on:

Brandon Sanderson's Hero of Ages (Mistborn Series #3):  Great finish!!  Very sad Felicia Day was not a fan.  But then again she likes that harlequin stuff.  I guess she can't be perfect.

  White Tiger by Avravind Adiga.  Writer completely immerses himself (and by extension you) into character.  Pretty amazing.

  Yellow Blue Tibia by Adam Roberts.  One shot sci-fi with more historical fiction elements that science fiction elements.  Still good.  Laugh out loud writing.

The Immortal LIfe of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.  HeLa Cells...and their story.  Well written - especially in translating the information to nonscientific audience.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest  by Stieg Larson.  Goodbye Lisbeth Salander!  I will miss you.  I blame Stieg, for dying.  And yes, I blame robert jordan too.

Meatless Mondays

Johns Hopkins is starting a campaign for people to reduce eating meat on Mondays. I like the idea because it makes you feel like you are doing something without the pressure of going completely vegetarian. If you do not eat meat on Mondays you will reduce your meat intake by 14% - pretty significant if you think about it. You might not care at all about what you eat which is fine. If you do though, Meatless Monday is a great way to contribute without the full on commitment.

In order to add my measley support to this initiative I have decided to share a veggie recipe on Mondays.

 AJ’s Tabouleh (Hind Matthews/Ina Garten)

This is my Nana’s recipe (ingredients). Nana was born in Iraq and lived in Lebanon, Egypt, and Turkey (among other places) before settling down in Pennsylvania. I’d love to tell you this particular combo of Tabouleh is from a specific region of the middle east but frankly I have no idea and I doubt Nana would either – I think it’s a combination from several regions.

It’s important to note that I am using Ina Garten’s method for cooking Bulgur Wheat. Must give that fabulous cook her due.

In the summer I always have tabouleh in the fridge. It’s my go to snack. It’s a refreshing salad but it’s delicious if you throw some hummus in a pita and stuff it with tabouleh. It can also be wrapped in grape leaves.

1 c. bulgur (you can find near the dried beans or in the organic section)

¼ c. olive oil

2 ½ tsps salt (kosher sea salt is best)

1 ½ c. boiling water

2-3 green onions, minced (you can use other types of onion but I don’t recommend it. Use the green!)

1-2 tomatoes (more if you like them)

3 TBS chopped fresh parsley (I eyeball this but I’d say 3 tbs)

2-3 TBS chopped fresh mint (I eyeball this, go a little lighter on mint than parsley)

Juice from 1 or 2 fresh lemons

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  Put bulgur in bowl with olive oil, salt and pour boiling water over it. Mix and let stand 1 hour.
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  After 1 hour mix the rest of the ingredients together.

I’d recommend chilling it before serving. Making the night before works best as the flavors really meld over night in the fridge. Keeps great!

You can also add cucumbers, black pepper, allspice and cinnamon if it strikes your fancy.

Bulgar Wheat nutritional info:

1 cup of unprepared bulgur contains approximately:

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  Energy: 1500 kJ (360 kcal)
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  Dietary fiber: 8 g
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  Protein: 12.5 g
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  Carbohydrate: 69 g whereof 0.8 g sugars
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  Fat: 1.75 g whereof 0.2 g saturated fat
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  Potassium: 410mg ^[4]

Eye Candy

The only thing worse than being a female gamer and being forced to play a male avatar is having to play an ugly male avatar.

 This angers me considering how much hot female ass I have to watch through multiple cut scenes.  Do they make men ugly b/c they want male gamers to associate with them more?  Really, I have to wonder.  Maybe it’s the designers; look guys, it might be hilarious in the studio but it’s not cool or even fun to put your f’d up nose on the guy.  

Enzio from AC2 (that’s Assassin’s Creed 2, not Asheron’s Call 2) is butt ugly.  Luckily I only have to look at the hooded back of head most of the time.  Niko from GTA4 was stocky and busted (and frankly reminded me of Ahmadinejad).  And don’t get me started on Alan Wake – although to be fair his wife is pretty ugly in that game too.

                                                        Niko or Iranian Prez?

Even Bioware, my favorite company in the world has given me shit options for male romance in the past several games.  Let’s see, I get Zevran the gay elf or Alistar the crybaby warrior.  Oh wait, there is Leilana.  She’s a girl which means I get to go lesbo.  Awesome.  Again, designers, might be fun in the studio, not so much in the home.

Meanwhile I get to watch slow moving cam shots of Gloria’s thighs as she takes out multiple hordes of demons in DevilMayCry4.  I’ll give them a pass though since Nero is pretty hot – probably the hottest guy in video games.  But it still would have been much cooler to play a girl. 

Gloria, butt-kicking.  Literally.  DMC4

ME2 makes me cry with joy and then pass out with exhaustion

 I can't say enough good things about Mass Effect 2.  So I'll stop there on the positives b/c they would just go on forever.  But trust me, if you game, you really need to play this game.  If you like sci-fi you really need to play this game.  If you get enjoyment out of tabletop rpg's that let you explore character motivations and personality you really need to play this game.  If you like shooter/adventure games you really need to play this game.

Visually stunning, conceptionally innovation and with absolute perfect storytelling I cannot rave more about this franchise.  Mass Effect 1 is necessary to play 2 (you import your character and all your decisions into the 2nd one and it DOES make a difference) and that was one of my all time top 5 video games so it's not like you need to trudge along and play ME1 - that game is phenomenal all by itself.  But ME2 - it just adds something to the industry that I cannot put into words.

I started this game on Sunday night.  I had been playing dragon age, beaten it, but due to an xbox glitch with downloading my gamertag to a new xbox machine i lost like, 300 gamer points.  So I was all set to restart the game and replay it to get my points back.  I told this to my online gamer friends who all immediately replied, "Dude, seriously, dragon age was a great game but everyone i talk to who replayed it was like, 'i'm gonna beat it before i play me2' and then they played me 2 and they were like, 'why the f did i wait so long to play me2?'" so based on this riveting and completely strong argument I popped in ME2 last sunday night.  Even though I said, "i don't necessarily want to play me2 right away because after playing me1 i was so sad that I would have to wait years to play me2."  And they said, nooo don't worry, it's worth it.

Those fuckers are probably working for Bioware.

4 days and 34 hours later I had beaten the game.  And now all i can think about is the DLC just waiting for me (that's downloadable content for you gamer newbs).

Screenshot of Mass Effect 2 male shepard.

Mass Effect 2 DLC (which I'll be buying tomorrow, damnit!!)

New blog, same addy

So I am supposed to be driving to rochester at the moment and true to form my procrastination has instead led me to the computer where I obviously need to update my blog that has been neglected for over 2 months before I take off.

I'm here again b/c most people say, "how was india?" and it's not really an easy question to answer in the space of a 5-10 minute conversation.  But usually what I find myself inserting into my now rehearsed and shortened reply is that the biggest thing for me is "the reconcilliation of my views after returning from a completely different culture."  Here then is a good place for me to put those thoughts down.  As well as rant about anything else I feel like it.  Like Twitter.  I want to just shut down my twitter.  I'm hesitating though because Jeremy Scahill, my celebrity crush, follows me on twitter and it's not like I can send him a note saying - here's my email!  Well, Maybe I can.  I don't know.  Anyway, due to my indecision, passivity, and procrastination, I'm now, as those kids say, "blogging."

I've been home for almost 3 months.  In that time I've gone to a few bbq's, started normal work again, kept with my strange diet of pescatarian w/ bacon, had a few guests stop by, visited Maine several times as well as Williamsport & Chicago, read a few books (mostly sitting in the chair attached), beat a few video games (most recently dragon age), cooked a few horrible indian meals, made some decent ones, went golfing for the first time, attended a gaming convention.  But back to Dragon Age.  What a great game.  HOwever Bioware forums completely blow.  I can't upload my screenshot of my hottie mage (or my even hotter rogue which I just had to start and the rogue is so much more fun than the mage.  I realize this makes me predictable for anyone who has ever gamed with me).  I can't even register my games on the site.  Why Bioware must you make life so difficult??

To blog or not to blog

So I've decided to give up on twitter b/c as Jeremy Scahill so eloquently put it, it's a lot of "blahblahblah."  I also feel too much on "the grid" with the thing.  I'll probably still check it for news updates, etc while I'm traveling but I already feel an unleashed burden by just saying "screw you twitter!"

Blogging is a stranger more abstract tie in and one I am considering now that my India adventure is over.  Blogging can be a great reflective area but also one ripe with landmines.  There is an excitement there as well as a deep level of wariness of who could possibly stumble upon your page.

What are your thoughts?  Why do you blog?

And does google have a quiz maker for their blogger?  That would be fun.  I love quizzes.

 

Home again

Hello!  I've been meaning to write up this post but to no avail, time and life are once again in crazy full swing now that I'm back in the USA.  That's a great segway to inform you that I do in fact miss a lot of India - mostly the quiet times (errr. loud enviornment) but also my alone time.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE seeing people again, and I hope to do it every day onward but life without plans and agendas is pretty darn sweet.

Since I've been back I've barely finished a 300 page book (normally a 2 day reading affair for me in India).  I've eaten Indian food about 10 times and I have  realized just how great a cook Anand was.  I've also done my laundry and cleaned which totally sucks.  And of course Nitin the chai guy is sorely missed.

Culturally I'm still going through a process of reintegration.  I'm not like, really reintegrating but what I mean is that in a very personal and internal sense I have a lot of reconciliation to do.  I'm adjusting to different stimulus, ways of thinking and perceptions and trying to make sense of all my new found information in a world that is so familiar but is also being seen in a brand new way. I suddenly realize what people mean when they say we are "wealthy."  We are so wealthy it's actually gross.  Space and size seem overdone and egregious.  People's problems (as a society) with government and lifestyle seem indulgent and frivolous. 

But I'm glad to be back with my friends, with my familiar, and the day to day things that make me smile- I find that I missed a lot more than I realized.  I am glad I got to experience my heritage and see how "my peeps" live but I'm also glad to be back to my life.

Thanks for following me on my adventures.  Your comments and your support have meant more than you know.