Saturday, November 12, 2011

Saturday Noon and Homemade Cards


After a flurry of card-making earlier in the year I fell off this wagon, mostly out of forgetfulness.  Also for some reason I have many friends with January, September and November birthdays.  Anyway, I'm back on the wagon, although for this card, I am relying less on cutting things out with bits of paper and just drawing instead. I was a little nervous about drawing straight with a pen (instead of pencil first and then tracing) but my ferret turned out quite well.  Mr. Walrus (the tiny figure on the right) looked odd, but I didn't have a good picture to rely on so sort of approximated him from memory.  In any case, the recipient was pleased, which is all I hoped for.


I never posted this one (made quite some time ago), but this was one of the best cards I ever made (I thought).  I think for the rest of the cards this year I will continue to lean more on drawing, for the simplicity of it.  But overall I'm enjoying this much more than buying cards and it is certainly very cost-effective (not that Hallmark cards were draining my bank account or anything); I also think they are appreciated far more than store-bought cards so it's all worth it.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Delicious Pan Fried Fish


During the first week or so of the family visit, I did most of the cooking since there were many things my aunt had never tried.  She took over the last few days though, and I was certainly not going to say no, because she is a very notable cook.  In addition to what is shown above, she also made a wonderfully tasty sesame ginger soup with rice wine and bits of pork.  And another night she made milkfish ball soup with bits of cilantro.  I was made to promise to never add scallions to fish ball soup because the flavors are apparently incompatible (it tastes ok to me though...).

I made a special request for whole pan-fried fish as it is not something I know how to cook myself and she gladly obliged.  We had to go to Fubonn market to acquire such fish since American grocery stores tend to only have filets, but it was well worth the trip.  I only wish we had bought more so I could have a stash in my freezer.  It turns out that frying such fish is not difficult if the fish is fairly small, as these were.  I don't know the name of this type of fish, but it had very few bones and was tender and tasty.  Once I finish the food in my fridge, I will definitely be taking another trip out there for fish.

Pan Fried Fish

1 whole cleaned fish
salt
vegetable oil

Cut two slits on each side of the fish (as shown above).  Rub a generous quantity of salt onto each side and let the fish rest for 15-30 min.  Swirl some oil into a skillet large enough to fit fish and heat with medium flame until you see wavy lines in the oil.  Quickly give the fish a few swipes with a paper towel to get rid of extra salt and to dry fish and add to the pan.  Immediately clap a lid over the pan and turn the flame down to low.  Take a peek at the fish once in a while - when the flesh in the slit have turned white, the fish is ready to flip.  Using a metal spatula, flip fish and re-cover.  Cook for a few minutes more and serve!

I apologize for the hazy directions, maybe once I've cooked this myself I can update with more exact quantities and times.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Happiness (Number Three): On Having Less Stuff

My mom and aunt ended their two week visit to Portland last night and I spent a quiet evening decluttering every room in my house after they left.  It was lovely having them here, but it also reinforced for me how much I value a life not cluttered with stuff.  My family is composed of women who simultaneously can't resist a "good deal" and also can't bear to throw away/donate anything.  My mom won't throw away 20 year old makeup that she never uses, nail polish I bought when I was 14 years old, etc.  My mom also likes to save her nicer things from regular use because she is afraid of damaging them (for example, my sister and I bought her a Le Creuset pot a few months ago for her birthday and she is afraid to use it in case the paint gets scratched.  She also has a lovely knife set someone got for her 10 years ago that she has never used) and whenever I try to get her to use these things, she counters by saying she is saving them for when I get married.  Which is completely absurd.  While they were visiting me, their favorite thing to do was shop.  They bought a whole bunch of things on sale, which wouldn't bother me except I knew that these new things were not replacements, but additions to already over-full houses. I can't change how other people live, but the thought of ever living in such an environment was enough to spark a cleaning spree.  I tend to have these fairly often anyway, but it was such a cathartic thing to do.  Here are the rules I apply to things:

Clothes - With the exception of more formal attire (should not have more than a very few of these items), everything must work for my day to day life.  I should be able to wear everything and they should all match with each other.  This actually makes shopping much easier because I then stick with a very strict color palette and can't get distracted.  I also end up gravitating toward a few basic silhouettes and that again makes future matching way easier.  This is a category I prune the most often I think, because sometimes I'll impulsively buy something that ends up not being a good idea.  But pruning these is not difficult for me at all.

Shoes - This is a total weakness.  I have 20 pairs of shoes, which I think is too much.  There are about three pairs that I rarely wear (2 for wedding-ish occasions, 1 to wear with my suit) but are functional so I have no qualms about keeping.  But there are also three pairs that I should not have bought in the first place, are completely frivolous and don't match the life I have.  I can't really part with them yet, but have been trying hard not to add to this group.  While I can't get my shoe collection down to a more comfortable number right now, I think starting now I will install a "one in one out" rule to shoes to nip any growth of this collection.

Kitchen - I'm actually ok with this category of items at the moment because I use everything I have, even though I have quite a few things.  The only thing that gives me any qualms is my bread machine, which takes up a lot of space and is seldom used (I bake a lot of bread, but not with the machine), but it was a graduation gift from two of my dearest friends so it's not something I feel ok about getting rid of.  

Bathroom - I wear very little makeup but like any other woman had somehow accumulated random piles of eye shadow and blush, etc.  I have a feeling most of these were samples gifted to me by my mom at some point, but last night I did a major weeding of my bathroom drawers and rid myself of such makeup, cheap jewelry, old nail polish, and random bits of flotsam.  I would actually like to get rid of more stuff, but at least the most obvious things are gone.

Office - I don't have a real office at all, but I do have a drawer of office supplies.  This was also scrutinized last night and many pens and again, random flotsam and jetsam were tossed.  The truth is, there is no reason for a single person to have more than 10 writing utensils in her home at any moment, especially if she can get a pen from work in the unlikely event that all her pens at home should simultaneously run dry.  In my life, I am constantly accumulating free pens from conferences and this can easily get out of hand.  In this case, even if the pens works, I don't have to keep it.  My mom would say that was wasteful, but what is more wasteful to me is maintaining 100 un-used pens all over my house until they finally run dry.

Food - I cook a lot so there are basic supplies (flour, sugar, grains, spices etc) that I have to keep on hand.  My mom and aunt took this to a whole new level.  Despite my protests, I now have 3 bottles of rice wine and a remarkable number of ramen packages.  I know I'll consume all of these things eventually, and if I had a large pantry I wouldn't be bothered, but as it is, I really do not want a 2 year supply of consumables in my house.  At the moment I also have more fruits than I desire to eat, but at least this stuff should either be eaten or spoiled in a couple of weeks and therefore off my hands.  My mom and aunt grew up very poor so I wonder if this stashing away of food is a consequence of that.  I get very stressed if I have too much perishable food in my fridge because there's such a pressure to eat it all before it goes bad.  I like to plan most of my meals for the week and only get enough for that.  Bah.

Mementos - What to do with the little gifts and cards and things that accumulate over the years?  I think the best idea is to keep it as small as you can.  Fairly generic "happy birthday!" cards I toss after about a year, while cards with more special messages I keep.  I still have the MIT stuffed beaver my sister gave me when we were both in college and a small collection of knick knacks from my best friends.  At the moment this category is well under control, but it's important to still be vigilant.  Things of sentimental value are always harder to part with, even if they don't necessarily add value to my life.  I try to remember that my memories and friendships don't rest on any physical things and that makes it easier.  Physical letters though, I always treasure.

Crafts - This is going to take a good bit of time to organize logically and efficiently.  Tackling this is a project for another day (possibly later this weekend since I'm on a roll!)

I think this is mostly everything.  Thanks to digital cameras, I don't have boxes of photos and albums thank god, and when I moved I ruthlessly pared my book collection to only beloved volumes.  Now that I have my kindle, all new books are also in digital format and clutter is automatically a non-issue.  I seldom have the urge to re-watch movies so I don't own many dvds and I expect this to also be completely digital in the future.  Technology is tops!

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Bar Method Three Months

the-bar-method-portland-01.jpg
Image from blog.oregonlive.com
I just realized that I'm a couple of weeks overdue for my three month update so here goes.  My Monday/Wednesday/Friday/Sunday routine is working extremely well; I get enough rest between classes and when I go I am not too sore or tired.  Maybe sometime I'll try five times a week again but for now I'll stick to this schedule as best as I can.

My progress since last time is small and steady, but there is still progress!  
  • One of the instructors thought I might be almost ready to stop using the strap during round back, which was very exciting to me.  I think it's due to a combination of better flexiblility and improved leg strength.  Perhaps by next month I can do away with the strap altogether.  
  • For the time being, I'm not trying as much to lift both my legs during flat back (I really hope I'm naming these exercises properly, I'm not certain), because I felt it was straining my back and neck when I did so.   Instead I just focus on exhaling as sharply as possible and hope for the best.  At the same time, I find this a pretty restful part of class so it probably means I'm not working hard enough...
  • Eventually I would like to stop doing modified pushups at the bar and do some on the floor, but maybe I'll try it out at home first and see how it goes.  
  • Tricep dips are the bane of my life.  I think I need to make stopping just non-negotiable from now on and see how that goes.  I'm too used to giving up midway during this exercise perhaps.  
  • Abs are better than previous! 
Compared to most of the other people in class (not that I'm really comparing), I'm not very strong, but I'm doing better than I was when I first started.  Of all the half-hearted attempts at exercise I've tried (jogging, yoga, gym), this is the only thing I've stuck with for so long and have seen the most improved results.  My size is the same I think, but I can see subtle changes in shape and tone, which is very encouraging.  After very little mulling, I recently signed up for the 6 month package instead of renewing for just 3 months, and am looking forward to continued improvements!