Kitchcraft

It’s been a while since I made a real post, but I’ve finally got something to blog about!

I have a new commute, Yay! It’s The Capital Crescent Trail. I live in Rossyln, Virginia, and work in Silver Spring, Maryland. Those of you familiar with the DC metro area realize that these places arent *that* far apart. If you could take a straight line from my house to work, it would probaby be a 10-mile line. However, with the lay of the land and rodes, any way you do it, it’s going to run you 12-13+ miles. And that, includes this very trail that I mention above. So I can choose to use the Metrorail (45 mins), drive my car (1 hour), or ride my bike (1 hour 15 mins) to work. Oh, and because of the 500ft gradient, I can actually get home in 45 minutes by bike.

So it’s spring-like out here, and I finally made it my priority to hit the rode, and I discovered that I effing love it. I might be a crazy biker person, not sure yet. I mean, I don’t see myself ever leaving the trails. I *hate* *hate* *hate* riding in traffic. You really shouldn’t trust people in cars, at least that’s my philosophy. Anyway, it started raining on the way home, and I just stuck with it, and didn’t wimp off to the metro. I’m in it to win it, people. There’s definitely the possibility of joining the CC trail group, maybe lending some web design to them or other crap.

More to come!

So after today and tonight (in the rain and mud even) I’m totally sold on this method of transport to work. Especially since its going to give me Buns of Steel.

I love this trail.

I’d like to try this: http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/29/Cookies_and_Cream_Cake18124.shtml

Cookies and Cream Cake Recipe
Ingredients:
1 package (18-1/4 ounces) white cake mix
1 1/4 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 egg whites
1 cup coarsely crushed cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies
***FROSTING***
4 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Additional cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies, halved and/or crushed, optional

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine mix, water, oil and egg whites. Beat on low speed until moistened; beat on high for 2 minutes. Gently fold in crushed cookies. Pour into two greased and floured 8-in. round pans.
Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire rack to cool completely. In a mixing bowl, beat sugar, shortening, milk and vanilla until smooth.

Frost cake. If desired, decorate the top with cookie halves and the sides with crushed cookies.

So I’ve been using Firebug for about 6 months steady now. It’s changed my life for sure, and I was thinking that I should finally mention it somewhere public. I recently found Joe Hewitt’s (creator of Firefox and Firebug) blog, and it will be going on my blogroll shortly. I’m just so impressed by this guy. Anyway, every time I try to get my friends and colleagues to pick it up, I am met with resistance. This baffles me. People jump on extension band-wagons all the time, apparently just not the one I’m driving. But why?

Everyone downloaded the Web Developer Toolbar when it came out, and that thing is nothing compared to Firebug. It has it’s useful qualities, but seriously, its so “cheap” in comparison.

Back to Firebug, when I was first introduced to it by Nick Carter I did whine a little, as I always do, but the second I saw something on the page change live before my eyes, it was like “What??” You show it to people and their eyes light up like a whole new world has just been offered to them that they never had imagined would be possible. But they never pursue it after that. I’ve been told to do my Firebug thing for people, and they act like it’s some skill. If you’re developing or designing or both, for heck’s sake, do yourself a favor, and get this thing.

Last week was a very eventful one. The site redesign for Petfinder.com launched and I got mugged. Not sure which was more stressful, just kidding.

The thing you can’t let go of after you’re held up is the fact that you’re okay, if you are okay. So I’m trying to hold on to that and work through whatever I need to work through.

My bosses, petfinder.com founders, Betsy and Jared Saul convinced me to leave DC and stay with them at their farm in New Jersey for the rest of the week. I’m really glad I did. Betsy made me feel better instantly by telling me how assertive I sounded when I told the muggers, “Just take it!”

The farm was very healing. I got to pet and feed 3 goats (I so want one), 1 sheep, 3 horses, 3 doggies, a cat, and a couple of alpaca’s from next door. It was basically the Sound of Music with animals

Betsy and Jared take in the strays, and I was one lucky dog!

I just wish I had a camera. Next time…

I work downtown right next to the National Geographic building, so when my co-worker, Rebecca Orris, asked me if I’d like to usher at a National Geographic Live! event, my first thought was “Well, of course, I just have to walk across the street.” Then she read me the title of the program, “FIRST PERSON: Stories from the Edge of the World.” Nice. I’ve been feeling quite on the edge of my own world, so I was interested right away.

The program was magnificent. It featured a collection of writings from people who had set out on adventure, what they experience and how those experiences changed them. Neal Conan, from NPR wrote and narrated the program along with Liane Hansen and Bill Pullman. Beautiful slides from National Geographic and the folk-group, Galilel, accompanied the stories.

The selections from Darwin’s journals “I Never Was Intended for a Traveler” were full of humor and humanity. Ms. Hansen read the entries to the audience letting us know what to expect with her tone. The audience loved the passionate descriptions of sea-sickness and the obvious change in his spirits once his “wanderlust” had gone sour. Truly some laugh-out loud moments. I really connected with one part where Darwin had overwhelming feelings of homesickness but he knew that he should be grateful and enjoying his adventure. You haven’t lived, if you haven’t had one of those moments.

I have to say that the other segment of the program that really had an effect on me was “A New Realm of Life”. It was written by some of the first deep-sea explorers who went down to the bottom of the ocean expecting a desert and found life. That seemed like a moment that really changed the people who were involved. It gives me faith that there are still surprises in store for us. I like that.
I could go on and on about every aspect of the program, but I’ll just keep this short and hope that all of you get to see it someday or somewhere. I would definitely see this program again. Maybe they could get it on PBS or online somewhere. So yeah, surprise ushering opportunities are always welcome!

So I went rock-scrambling this weekend at Great Falls park with Tom Leoni. I get in the car and he says, “hey, look at my high-tech camera!” and pulls out the sweetest looking old camera in a leather case that probably from the 50’s I’m guessing. Tom’s gear is all like that: top of the line and OLD. I don’t even want to know how much he spends on getting this stuff, because I’m pretty sure its a lot.

I had a great time listening to his stories about Italy and all of his other travels and his insistence on using the old-school stuff. I think I quelled any fears he may have had about me being to girlie for the adventure by taking on what he called a Class 4 descent without ropes. Woohoo! It was quite a rush doing that, but while I can do it, I think I want to try the ropes kind next time.

I’m really glad that I got to get outside for Earth Day, mostly because if anyone asks me what I did for it, I have something to say. Just kidding. Yes, Great falls, you rule. And everybody knows it. I will write more about it when I can come up with something more coherent to say. Yes, an analylsis of the two sides, Maryland and Virginia will be coming soon.

Bah! and my camera isn’t working to upload pix, those will be on here shortly, sorry.

So Nick called me “MacGuyver” today. It was a very proud moment for me. The act from which I earned my temporary nickname was basically putting my computer on ice.

I decided to do this once I diagnosed my computer’s crashing problem as an overheating one. The fans weren’t turning on and the machine would work only after long periods of rest.

First thing I decided to do was put it in the freezer. A laptop looks really funny in there, by the way. I took it out because I realized that the plastic casing was going to get cooled before anything else was.

So I did want any normal person would do and took out a bag of ice, put it in a shallow bowl and rested the laptop on it. Sure enough I’ve been working all day, no crashing. It took about an hour for the machine to totally cool down.

Yeah, I’ve go the country wisdom to keep stuff going. There’s actually duct tape holding the harddrive in, but I don’t even think about that anymore, until someone says, “You know there’s duct tape on your laptop.”

Of course there is.

I’m back in DC now, but I need to write up an entry about the rest of my California trip.Thursday Julie had to work, so I decided to rent a car and be a daredevil. I drove up to the San Qu..something Wilderness area that is North East of LA. It was incredible. The mountains were huge and the wind was high. I got out of the car and got a pebble blasting like no other. I kept driving into the wilderness and finally found what I was looking for, the solar observation area. Unfortunately that was pretty much closed on weekdays. It was really creepy. I kept expecting a scary mountain man or a bear to surprise me.

Friday, Julie worked again, so I took the car up to the Getty Center which is this crazy cool museum just at the beginning of the mountains that cradle LA. You park at the bottom of the hill/mountain in my opinion, and you can either walk up or ride the tram. There were probably over 10,000 people that day. But the place is huge and can acomodate.

Once you get up you’re like in this heavenly world where everything is framed by marble, mountains and foutains. I really think its worth the trip if you’re in LA. If you live there and haven’t done it yet, *clears throat*, get on it right away, you will not regret. Oh, and did I mention its this huge art museum as well. I didn’t get to see as much of the art as I would have liked, time constraints. But yeah, it was very peaceful and really made LA look beautiful from above.

After that I tried to get a little more sun in at Santa Monica pier where they were absoutely not selling funnel cakes, Boooooo! Julie works in Santa Monica so I went over there to meet her co-workers and hang out until the place closed. We spent the rest of the lovely evening at home talking and scheming up ideas for the future.

Saturday morning I had to leave, sniff sniff. It felt too short even though it was 7 glorious days. Until next time. I’ll leave you with a song:

California…know’s how to party…California…knows how to partay… In the citaaay, the city of Compton, We keep it rockin! We keep it rockin!

Yesterday was Julie’s 28th birthday, so we decided to celebrate it with the animals at the San Diego zoo. We spent the night at the Best Western in Old Town. The whole area is covered in Spanish tile, very cool. We ate at a mexican restaurant called simply, “Fred’s” where we ate awesome fish tacos and drank super cheap Margaritas.

Today we spent the day at La Jolla, which neither of us expected to be as cool as it was. The waves were literally breath-taking, like oh my god, is that a Tsunami? We played on the rocks in the tide-pools and watched the Sea Lions.

(whoops!) Julie’s roomate just walked in and told us that people were going missing from the waves all down the coast today because they’re abnormally large. Mom, Don’t read that.

After that we went to see this place where they have fields and fields of flowers. So we smelled the roses and the flowers, and I think Spectacular sums the past two days up pretty well.

Rest of the Pictures are on Flickr here:
W.Y’all.W.H.

Love, Karen

The new job starts on April 17, so I decided to give myself a vacation to Kalifornia. There are so many songs that feature California, and they all get in your head when you’re traveling there:

California - Tupac Shakur “Duh, nuh huh nuh nuh, Dun, nuh huh nuh nuh”
California - Joni Mitchell “I’m gonna see the folks I did, I’ll eve kiss the Sunset Pig, Californiiiia I’m coming Hoome!!”
California - Phantom Planet “Calfornia, Here we coooooooome!”

Yeah, I really like it out here. I always get giddy when I fly over, because it seems so incredible that I can get here in less than a week (I have driven out a few times) Not thatt I don’t love the drive. I adore the drive. It’s my favorite in the whole world.

We did an awesome Hike in Malibu yesterday. The mountains are so much larger than I remembered. We took Turbo (who is a very good hiking dog). Quote of the week,

Karen: “I feel like I’m on the first day of ‘The Biggest Loser’”

Yep. I’m out of shape, but by the end of the week it will be all good.

Must get Julie up soon and see what adventures we have. Loooooving the weather. AAAAAAAAA!!! Wish you were here!

Many more pictures of yesterday’s hike here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/76501528@N00/tags/malibu/