Cookies 2010

It seems I have been negligent posting about my end of year cookie baking, so I'm going to catch up.

In 2010, I baked cookies with my neighbor and her youngest daughter.

"cooking" by cooling in the fridge:


The results!


The taster...


"Good!"


****************************
Cookies of the Past

2005

2007, a catch-up retrospective

2008

2009

Social Experience

I got sick of making banal status updates on Facebook over the summer.

At the same time, I received a gift in the mail of the book "This is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life." This is a transcript of the commencement speech given to the 2005 graduating class of Kenyon College by David Foster Wallace.

I thought it was entertaining, it made me laugh, and it was printed as single-page quotes.
I also like the message.
To sum it up... you have the control to chose how you think, and thereby react, to the situations of your life.

So I entered the speech on my status one day at a time.

I was surprised by who commented on the words, and what they said. I really enjoyed seeing those responses and engaging with people in a way that was more considerate than like, "LOL", and "cute dress".

A couple weeks ago, I was talking to a friend of mine about the experience, and she told me that she figured out that the words weren't mine, so looked up one phrase to find the author. She told me that he suffered his whole life from severe depression, and after weaning himself off of his medication, hit a low that led to him to commit suicide.

When I think about how thoughtful his words are in the book, and how focused they are on the individual taking charge of the thought process, I realize that only someone very concerned with the condition of allowing your "default" consciousness to control you would have composed a speech like that.

Anyway, this was an interesting exercise to use the Facebook forum in a different way, that paid off FOR ME!
and since its MY Facebook page, y'all gonna live in my world if you come over!
:-)

for the record

I am not who you say I am, nor am I who you think I am.
I am who I want to be, in this moment only.

And the reverse

Drive
Walk
Up
Up
Walk
Train
Up
Up
Walk
Walk
Fly
Up
Walk
Walk
Down
Walk
Up
Down
Train
Walk
Down
Walk
Bus
Walk
Drive

First 3 hours of Monday

Drive
Park
Walk
Bus
Walk
Up
Up
Walk
Down
Down
Train
Up
Walk
Up
Walk
Fly
Walk
Down
Train
Down
Walk
Bus
Walk
Drive

Three days later, reverse.

Another World

Today we went for a bike ride on the W&OD Trail. This is one of those rails-to-trails routes and goes across Fairfax county.
We went with friends who have a young son and another on the way. The little man sat inside one of those bike trailers and was zoned out most of the time - man, we all wished we could go in there.
We started in Vienna. Such a cute town! There was a farmer's market going on, and the little downtown was all done-up with flowers.

The trail is just GREEN. Mostly flat, with some nice hills to get you going and give you momentum. We stopped on in the middle for a break at a huge pond/lake that was fully of amazing big white and pink water lilies. It was so peaceful and magnificent.

There were probably a hundred other people out there, walking, running, riding. There is a whole etiquette and you catch on pretty quickly.

A very fun day, and so glad I have a bike!

The Death of a Craft

It is a sad day for the crafter.

It is not possible to purchase supplies to create macrame.
It's based on demand, I'm told.
Evidence indicates that if you are not into scrapbooking, you may as well watch TV.

I will not be defeated! www.google.com, here I come! I know you will provide.

The Realities of Technology

I just realized that there are six telephone numbers associated with me, but really you can only reach me of you call two of them; and then its on the same piece of equipment.

Here's what I have:

- cell phone

- work extension in Phoenix

- work extension in Alexandria

- work extension in DC

- blackberry

- aircard

My work extension in Phoenix is forwarded to my cell phone, so you call either number, you make the same phone ring.

I am only at the desks in Alexandria and DC one to two days a week each.

My Blackberry does not have a phone plan, so call that number all you want, nothing is gonna happen (actually, I have no idea what happens, I should call it and see).

Obviously, the aircard does not receive calls.

That is a LOT of numbers to keep track of! I only know the first two to give to you because in my mind, the other four are irrelevant!

This all sounds like good justification for why I don't have a house phone.

I ran 10 miles

So, I did my first road race today (well, there was that 5k for big brothers/big sisters, but I just don't think that's the same kinda thing cause it wasn't a goal, I didn't train, and I sucked).
Anyway...
It was the Baltimore 10-mile run. Remember the challenge?

Some random thoughts about running a race:

- don't SMOKE next to a running route. Step back, away from the runners.
- My quads are not built for longer than 5 miles. If it comes up again that I will be running further than 5, I will need to engage the Tour de France training scheme.
- I don't do very well in the heat. Thank God I moved.
- The fire department had a hose going at about 7 miles. I ran right through it. THANK YOU FIRE FIGHTERS!
- At about mile 7.5 I passed a dead black cat... that was horrible.
- The finish line fell on my head. It was this big inflated plastic banner and as I was getting toward it, the side supports started deflating. Some cops pushed it up and motioned for me to run under. As I did, it fell on my head.

I haven't decided yet if I'll let any photos go public.

Fifa Feva

I had an interesting thought today, one of those that makes you go "huh".

I moved to the US in 1986 which was in the middle of the world awareness about apartheid. I had some experiences those early years, as a young adult, that made me just stop telling people where I was from. I would sometimes try to hide my accent on the phone, and (from some not so positive experiences) if I was with a group of African Americans, I would guide the conversation so that it never landed on "so where are you from?"

Well, it's FIFA and everything is South Africa.
People are wearing jerseys on the metro, the games are on EVERYWHERE. They are streaming them in the conference room at work. Every morning the IT guy sends out the schedule.

I went to get a new ID for the Federal building I work in today. Of course, they need my passport, and they look me up. There is a TV in the room... showing the afternoon match, and everyone is talking about South Africa. So when they see where I'm from, all of these African Americans got all excited when they found out that it was South Africa.

After our trip back in December, I realized that I should be proud to claim that I am from a country that had major political change without a civil war. But it didn't really sink in... today I realized, I don't need to have those conditioned responded of a cringe, but instead, should claim my country of origin with pride.

I am from South Africa.

Traffic Report for my commute today

Slow down on route caused by large fluffy obstacle. Patches of high temperatures caused by sun coming in the window. Avoid stepping on cat toys. Overall, a soft peaceful journey is expected.

Windows* Software Developers, Why do you do it?

At some point in the progression of the Windows operating system life-cycle, software developers started building their applications to come to the front, or some function to become the active function in your workspace when they reached a certain point in loading or carrying out a function.

Let me see if I can explain that a different way in case I'm too brief up top.

You set something to work (your HP Solution center scanning a document) and you go back to what you were doing - typing a document in MS Word. What happens is that the scanning software gets to a certain point where it is "processing" and has a function button that says "cancel".
The Developers program this screen to come to the front of your windows and be the active screen, and since you don't realize this is happening because you are typing a sentence, you hit the space bar in your progression of composing something, which activates the "cancel", and now your HP software thinks you canceled the scan. It stops, and you have to start all over again.

Let's do another example.
You are working on a document, you click on the Outlook button to get it going. All through its opening process - who KNOWS what it's doing at that moment - it forces itself to be your active workspace, and there is nothing that it's done that needs your attention... it just wants to be in front! and so you have to keep clicking back to MS Word (or your browser, or notepad, or whatever else you were doing).

I remember when this switch happened. I was in grad school when this shift in thinking happened.

Windows gives you the option to have multiple applications working/open/active at the same time.
thanks! I like that...
but
I know you are there, scanner, because I made you work! I am ok with you finishing your job and then waiting quietly in the background until I'm ready for your product.

So why, oh why do you think you need to come to the front and remind me that you exist?
Why do you do it?
...because you think I'm stupid and need you to make decisions for me?

STOP IT!






*edited to add "Windows" because this does not happen on my Mac.

On Falling

"The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."

- Nelson Mandela


(I love Honest Tea)

Taking a Break

Just got back from two weeks in Australia with my family there. Had a couple nights at my Dad's farm outside of Sydney – very peaceful, very Folb. 

For the second week, we went up the coast to Byron Bay – the most easterly point on mainland Australia.

It’s a beautiful beach town with interesting shops, magnificent views, and enough to keep the five of us occupied for the week.

I went diving at these little islands... 

...saw couple kinds of shark (wobbegongs and leopard shark), and lots of fish.
Funny thing... there were two women in my group who were from South Africa, and two snorkelers on the boat who were also from South Africa. The seas were very choppy and the snorkelers got very seasick so spent their time puking.

Have you seen these “fotopols” before?

They are placed in strategic positions so that you can take photos like this:

(that's the view east of Australia)

My stepmother gave the trip a twist by asking that we try as many of the restaurants in The Good Food Guide as possible. This is a restaurant review list made by the Sydney Morning Herald, and there are a number of restaurants from the Central Gold Coast recommended.

We tried restaurants for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

But there is one that I would like to recommend above the others.

FatBelly Kat in Brunswick Head.

A stylized Greek restaurant run by a husband and wife team. I believe she is the chef, and he the manager. The service was impeccable, the wine the best, and the food absolutely amazing.

If you ever find yourself around these parts, give it a try.

We did.

Another restaurant I enjoyed was Harvest in Newrybar. We went here for breakfast and dinner. Even though it was not in The Good Food Guide, it was recommended by people my stepmother knows. The food was amazing and the ambiance was very well done.

The other interesting thing about the trip, was that I was the only non-Aussie Folb there. This hasn’t happened for over 20 years. Yes, I was disappointed that the rest of the gang couldn’t make it, and yes I missed them. But I tried to look on the bright side. I figured this would be a good opportunity for me to have some quality time with everyone…

And it was… I had great chats with my Dad and Stepmom, with my Dad solo, and with each of my brothers, together and one-on-one. It’s always been easy being with my brothers, even though they didn’t really grow up with me, and me them.

I feel like with this trip, I got to know who they are as men. And that made all the hours and hours of flying worth it.

I hate running...

I don’t like working out, either.

I’m a pragmatic/logical person, and with this whole MBA and all that, I understand the concept of ROI…

You can ride a bike for 2 hours

You can sit on the elliptical for 1 hour

Or you can run for 20 mins.

Since I want to be healthy and fit, with the lowest amount of time investment, running is the logical option.

I was talking to a friend of mine about this, and she challenged to me join her and her sister-in-law-to-be at a 10-mile run around the Baltimore zoo. I decided to start a training program to meet the goal well before the race because I was really worried about going from the 1 mile I was at, to the 10 miles I needed. That meant that I needed to come home from Australia at 4 miles.

I am proud to say, I made it!

I figured I’d share the runs I took ‘cause they were pretty unique – thanks to my new favorite website www.mapmyrun.com.

The first run was 2 miles at my Dad's "farm". My youngest brother did the run with me, and given that he's a super fantastic soccer player, and could have beat me running backwards, I appreciated his patience to take this run with me.

The next run was around my Dad's house, and it was beautiful!

Then we went up the coast to Byron Bay (more on that in another post), and I took another 2 mile run along the ocean road. 

I did that run a second time, and made it a little longer. 

Before we left, I took on my ambitious goal... 4 miles. 

and yikes, I picked a route with some HILLS!

you can see the profile at mapmyrun too.

Since I've been home, with my severe jetlag, I've managed a 2 and 3 miler... and this weekend, I'm taking on a 5!

Yikes!!!

Lunch

I just took a quick 2mi round-trip walk to have lunch at a unique restaurant - Sauca.

Its a sunny 65 degrees in DC, and everyone was out walking. 

I went past Banana Republic, the Navy Memorial, the old Post Office, the IRS, and stopped at the steps of the National Portrait Gallery to grab a European inspired sausage wrap here:

You find out where the Saucamobile by watching Twitter... or checking their website.

On my way back, I watched as a group of people closed off a block of street to setup the farmer's market that will be there this afternoon and evening.

I love living here.

Fact

Man, I am a lousy blogger.

Truth is, I've been spending the months figuring out what the routine of my life is... and it's getting pretty well defined.

I travel to the District most days of the week, and to my company's office once a week or so. Basically, I work in 3 places. This means I carry my "office" with me... and I don't have any filing.

I have been very good about the Pilates, and have really been enjoying the two instructors. Although one is moving to Budapest next month, so we'll see how instructor 3 is. I was thinking the other day about how many instructors I've had over the two years that I've been doing Pilates, I believe its eight so far.

A friend of mine talked me into running a 10 mile race through the Baltimore zoo in June... at the time, January, it seemed pretty do'able. I've been trying really hard to add distance to my runs, but oh my do I hate the running. It is so easy to find a reason not to. sigh. I am going to have to knuckle down now and work on it, or I will pass out from being at AT for too long!

Other than that, errands, home maintenance, pet attention, and personal experience all thrown in.

I am loving living in VA. I loved the fall, the winter, and now the spring. So many birds, so many colors. A cool breeze.

I'm taking a short break from regular life to visit my family in Australia. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone and being in their world. I will miss my family at home.

We have big plans for the summer... redo parts of the garden, build some garden furniture, take some trips around the area, kayak/canoe on a river - the Potomac preferably, and see some of the sites of "The War of Northern Aggression".

Can't wait!

I will try to be better at having a presence here too.... promise.

"A Ghost Story" (my brother at 9, installment 6)

October 10, 1980

One day in October, my dad came up with an idea. “Let’s go to Scotland”, he said. We all agreed and so the next day, Whoosh! We were off on holiday. “I’m going to the clothes shop”! said my mother. “I’m going to buy some shoes”, my sister said. We all went to the hotel next day; we all went for a walk. We walked three miles and came to a stop. “Help” my mother said, she had seen something. “It’s a monster”! my sister said. We ran home and jumped in bed. The next day we went there again. We were three meters ferther and we saw it again. I big, long, white ghost. We ran as it came after us, but it stopped when it saw the city. The next night we went again. Suddenly we heard a noise, a howl. It was like this, “Whooooo"!!!! It suddenly started to rain. We all ran into a cave. There were bones in a truck by the wall and a crocodile tied to a stake on the ground. Suddenly a man came in and said, “I have a few prisoners,” he said. “What do we do with them”? “Give them to Brutus”! he pointed at the crocodile. “Or, should I eat you”! Suddenly he turned into a ghost. “Whoooooo!!!!!!!” he cried. We didn’t stay much longer. We all ran. The ghost ran after us. Right into the city, but he lost his way. All I know is that if you go to Scotland and meet up with a ghost, run.

THE END

"The Bashful Bed" (my brother at 9, installment 5)

27 October 1980

Assignment: Imagine that you are one of three children. Write a story about the first adventure you had when you twisted the bed knob and wished:

One September day, I found myself being woken up by a tickle. I woke up and found a piece of paper on my stomach. I read it and it said:

TO MARTIN: THERE IS A MAN OUTSIDE FIDDLING IN THE LITTLE BOX.
FROM,
YOUR BED.

“From your bed”! I screamed; “Yoooou”! “Help”! I jumped out of my bed and ran to my mother. “Help”! I jumped into her bed: “mom. There is a mo mo mo moving bed in my room”! “What” she cried “It’s your imagination son, you’re just thinking it”. She got out of bed and walked down the passage. I was tip-toeing behind. She suddenly heard a sound. It went like this: zzz snore zzzz grunt zzzz snore zzz etc. “Help” she cried and fainted. (Right on me)!!
I crawled to the door and came face to face with my bed. “But I didn’t turn your knob”, I said. “I know” my bed said. “But there is a man out-side I’m scared of”. “That’s only the postman, stupid”! “I know I am shy”, said the bed. “But I’m a nice bed, I promise”. “I know, I know”. I said.

I just don't get it.

Why does Tiger Woods need to apologize to anyone other than his wife?

He is not a public official, his notoriety does not come from service he does for the public.

He has a skill, in a sport.

Is the implication that he won't win if we don't forgive him?
Is the implication that you won't watch golf or support golf if he isn't sorry?

I just don't get it.

Nor do I understand why it is news.
Why is it the top story everywhere?
Why is it the most talked about thing to have happened last week?

AMERICANS ARE WINNING THE MOST MEDALS AT THE OLYMPICS!
That's news!
That is something to which we should give our attention.

Not gossip.