I'm Free! I'm Free!

The play closed last night and the last issue of the newspaper hits the stands tomorrow! I can have a life!(I'm already bored)

Something

It's 2:15 in the morning and I'm wide awake so I guess I'll write something.

It's production week for us theatre people out here, that means weird hours and the bizarre form of silliness which comes with the obligatory messed up sleep schedule. I'm the assistant stage manager and prop master for our production and, despite the random bits of stress, am enjoying it greatly. This semester's production is My Fair Lady, which means that we're at the end of those few months out of every two years that the theatre and music people put aside whatever differences they might have and try to put on a worthy show.

Since this production requires an orchestra and our theatre on campus isn't built to accommodate that we're using a historic theatre in town. I'm really enjoying using a real theatre with it's amazing lighting, 30-fly stage and cushioned wood floor.

Considering we're opening on Thursday night, I think it's coming along quite nicely. We had our first dress rehearsal last night and everything ran smoothly; there we're no prop problems and everyone hit their cues spot-on.

I may, however, be forced to offer our timpanist as a sacrifice to the theatre gods. In the middle of one of the musical numbers that he wasn't playing for last evening a timpani roll occurred. Not because he read his music wrong and jumped the gun or any such excusable mishap such as that. No, he and one of the other percussionists were tossing m&ms to each other and he missed catching one and it landed on the timpani. Suffice to say, the conductor wasn't all that happy with him.

Sweet!

I just found a website that has the Liturgy of the Hours! Admittedly, it's not that amazing, but it is rather cool. Universalis.

Another One of Those Music Things

Instructions: Go to your music player of choice and put it on shuffle. Say the following questions aloud, and press play. Use the song title as the answer to the question. NO CHEATING.

How does the world see you?
Surfin' USA- The Beach Boys

Will I have a happy life?
Aqua Boogie(A Pyschoalphadiscobetabioaquadooloop)-Parliament

What do my friends really think of me?
Laura-Flogging Molly

What do people secretly think of me?
Tequila-Brian Setzer Orchestra

How can I make myself happy?
When I See You Smile-Bad English

What should I do with my life?
The Scientist-Coldplay

Will I ever have children?
The Shadow Proves The Sunshine-Switchfoot

What is some good advice for me?
Slide-Goo Goo Dolls

How will I be remembered?
Get Your Hands Off My Woman-The Darkness

What is my signature dancing song?
Devil's Dance Floor-Flogging Molly

What do I think my current theme song is?
In The Mood-Glenn Miller Orchestra

What does everyone else think my current theme song is?
Never You Mind-Semisonic

What song will play at my funeral?
Down to My Last-Alter Bridge

What type of men/women do you like?
Take Me As I Am-Tonic

What is my day going to be like?
Iris-Goo Goo Dolls/You Wanted More-Tonic (It tried to play Iris first, there was something wrong with the file tag.)

Data. Your friends will always be there to look

out for you when you're unaware of certain

things, but keep in mind, you're going to

outlive all of them ;)


Which Star Trek Character Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

The Liberal Baby Bust

"In Seattle, there are nearly 45% more dogs than children."

"Meanwhile, single-child families are prone to extinction. A single child replaces one of his or her parents, but not both. Consequently, a segment of society in which single-child families are the norm will decline in population by at least 50% per generation and quite quickly disappear. In the USA, the 17.4% of baby boomer women who had one child account for a mere 9.2% of kids produced by their generation. But among children of the baby boom, nearly a quarter descend from the mere 10% of baby boomer women who had four or more kids."

Full text here.

(Thanks to Mom.)

Happy Pi Day!

Yes, it's that time of year again. The day where we all sit back and enjoy the glory that is pi.

3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209749445923
078164062862089986280348253421170679821480865132823066470938446095
505822317253594081284811174502841027019385211055596446229489549303
819644288109756659334461284756482337867831652712019091456485669234
603486104543266482133936072602491412737245870066063155881748815209
209628292540917153643678925903600113305305488204665213841469519415
11609...

Or maybe that's just me...

More Food

This is how the Riesling ice cream is supposed to be served.

Anise Cookie Baskets with Riesling Ice Cream and Fresh Fruit

Ice Cream
1 1/2 cups cream
1/2 cup half and half
2/3 cup sugar
4 large egg yolks
1 cup late harvest Riesling wine

Cookies
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon finely chopped aniseed
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon grated orange peel
3 tablespoons egg whites
1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 1-pint basket strawberries, stemmed, quartered
1 cup small pineapple wedges
1 kiwi fruit, peeled, cut into wedges
Fresh mint leaves

For ice cream:
Bring 1/2 cup cream and 1/2 cup half and half to simmer in heavy medium saucepan. Whisk sugar and yolks in medium bowl to blend. Whisk in hot cream mixture. Return mixture to saucepan; stir over medium-low heat until custard thickens and leaves path on back of spoon when finger is drawn across, about 4 minutes, do not boil. Strain into bowl. Mix in wine and 1 cup cream. Chill custard until cold.

Process custard in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Transfer to covered container (ice cream will be soft) and freeze. (Can be prepared 1 week ahead.)

For cookies:
Preheat oven to 325°F. Lightly butter and flour heavy large nonstick baking sheet. Whisk first 6 ingredients in medium bowl. Whisk in egg whites and flour.

Drop slightly rounded tablespoon of batter onto center of half of prepared baking sheet. Drop another slightly rounded tablespoon of batter onto center of second half of prepared baking sheet. Using back of spoon, spread each mound of batter to 6-inch round. Bake cookies until brown on edges (centers will be slightly pale), about 8 minutes.

Working quickly and using metal spatula, lift 1 cookie off sheet. Immediately turn cookie over onto inverted custard cup. Gently flatten cookie on cup bottom; crimp sides of cookie. Repeat with second cookie. Remove cookies from cups. Rinse baking sheet under cold water; wipe sheet dry. Repeat process with remaining batter, first rinsing and drying, then buttering and flouring baking sheet between batches. (Cookies can be prepared 3 days ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature.)

Place cookie baskets on plates. Fill each with 3 small scoops of ice cream.

Top with fruit and mint leaves.

Something Slightly More Normal Than Last Time

Riesling Ice Cream
1 1/2 cups cream
1/2 cup half and half
2/3 cup sugar
4 large egg yolks
1 cup late harvest Riesling wine

Bring 1/2 cup cream and 1/2 cup half and half to simmer in heavy medium saucepan. Whisk sugar and yolks in medium bowl to blend. Whisk in hot cream mixture. Return mixture to saucepan; stir over medium-low heat until custard thickens and leaves path on back of spoon when finger is drawn across, about 4 minutes, do not boil. Strain into bowl. Mix in wine and 1 cup cream. Chill custard until cold. Process custard in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Transfer to covered container (ice cream will be soft) and freeze.

Prune and Caraway Ice Cream

6 cups half-and-half (48 fl oz)
2 tablespoons caraway seeds, toasted
3/4 lb dried pitted prunes (dried plums; 2 cups)
1 cup vodka (8 fl oz)
1 1/2 cups sugar
8 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla

Bring half-and-half with caraway seeds just to a boil in a 3-quart heavy saucepan, then remove from heat and let steep, uncovered, 30 minutes.

While caraway seeds steep, simmer prunes, vodka, and 1/2 cup sugar in a 1-quart heavy saucepan, partially covered, until prunes are tender, about 15 minutes. Cool slightly, then purée mixture in a blender, scraping down sides occasionally (use caution when blending hot liquids), until smooth.

Whisk together yolks and remaining cup sugar in a bowl, then add half-and-half (do not strain) in a stream, whisking. Pour custard into 3-quart saucepan and cook over moderately low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until it registers 170°F on thermometer, about 8 minutes. Immediately pour custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a metal bowl and whisk in prune purée and vanilla. Chill, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes.

Freeze custard in ice cream maker (in batches if necessary), then transfer to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden, about 12 hours.

I Know What I'm Watching Tomorrow

PBS is running a series of Monty Python's Personal Best. There will be six episodes, one for each cast member. They begin airing tonight with Eric Idle and Graham Chapman, at 8:00 pm CST.

I Have Met Mine Foe and His Name is O Chem

You Are an Espresso

At your best, you are: straight shooting, ambitious, and energetic At your worst, you are: anxious and high strung You drink coffee when: anytime you're not sleeping Your caffeine addiction level: high

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

I really don't think I'm ever anxious and high strung; I might be twitchy at times maybe...

Happy Birthday to Matt!

Happy birthday to Matt over at The Shrine!

The June 2006 Conference Lineup

As usual the University of St. Thomas in MN will be playing host to two of the greatest Catholic conferences of the summer.

The Eighth-Annual Minnesota Catholic Home Education Conference and Curriculum Fair
The conference will be held on June 2-3 and this year's theme will be "The Ministry of Education". We'll have a great set of speakers including Kimberly Hahn, the amazing Dr. Ted Sri and a host of others. There will also be the usual fieldhouse full of vendors (the used book sellers are the best!). And best of all, you'll get to see me there!

The 25th annual G.K. Chesterton Conference
Themed "The Best of All Impossible Worlds", it will be held June 15-17. Their lineup of speakers includes Carl Olson and Joseph Pierce, and shall have talks such as "Chesterton and Dickens" and "Chesterton and CSI". Registration begins in April, I plan on attending this year.

I made the first step in giving the blog here a facelift. The sidebar has been updated(and there was much rejoycing. Yay!). I got rid of the tagboard because I just couldn't stand the popups anymore; the links list has been updated and resorted; lastly I added the link to my Facebook page so y'all can go see that.

So Much For a Simple Project

Not that I'm really surprised. I got the kink worked out of the hose over the weekend and I just knew that it was too easy of a fix to the car up and running. Andy went to go try running some water through the system to see if it would work and to test for leaks. There's a rather large hole of some sort or another in the bottom of the radiator.
On the plus side one of the salvage yards in town is pretty sure they have all of the parts I need to fix it all up again.

I Have No Idea How I Got This Answer

How evil are you?

Hat Tip: The Whapsters

You scored as Chemistry. You should be a Chemistry major! As if that isnt clear enough, you are deeply passionate about Chemistry, and every single chemical reaction and concept fascinates you. Pursue that! Chemistry 100% Mathematics 92% Psychology 83% English 83% Engineering 83% Philosophy 75% Biology 75% Dance 67% Linguistics 67% Journalism 50% Anthropology 42% Theater 42% Sociology 33% Art 25% What is your Perfect Major? (PLEASE RATE ME!!<3) created with QuizFarm.com

Just a Little Weekend Project

Yeah. So one of my freshmen hit a deer the other night on her way back to campus. She was of course going 55 mph when she hit it and it took her a couple hundred yards to realize that she'd hit something(older car, no airbags and such). Being as I'm apparently the only person around here who knows anything about cars(thanks Dad!), I get first shot at working on it.