The past three days have been absolutely gorgeous, simply the best of spring that the northeast has to offer. Mid-60's to 70's, sunny, gentle breeze.....and I've been pulling 12 hour work days.
I'll be in the office all weekend too. Sometimes I wonder what would happen if I just went outside and rolled around in the grass while our data explodes.
May 30, 2008
May 29, 2008
Cookery
This past weekend, my mom handed down the recipe for her beef stew. I've decided to post it here, because Google has the entire internet saved.
Like any home cook, she uses no measurements, just experience and feel. But you can easily season this one to taste.
Ingredients:
Beef Shank (Per my mom, it MUST, MUST, MUST be shank)
Soy Sauce
Garlic
Carrots
Vodka (Pure and straight, none of that flavored crap!)
Sugar
Green Onion
Black Pepper
Steps:
1. Cut beef into cubes and add to pot
2. Fill pot with 60/40 Soy Sauce/Water (more water if you want less salty). You want enough liquid to cover all the meat, plus around 2 inches over. Start heating.
3. For each pound of meat, add 2~3 cloves of crushed garlic
4. For each pound of meat, add the WHITE root portion of around 5~6 stalks of green onion, chopped
5. Add sugar to taste (usually a spoon for each pound of meat)
6. Add black pepper to taste
7. Add enough vodka to form a 1/4 inch layer over the existing liquid (obviously, it won't stay layered, but you know what I mean)
8. Bring to boil, then let simmer until meat is tender (around 30 minutes per pound, although it varies depending on your stove)
9. While simmering, cut carrots diagonal and add to stew. Carrots soften pretty quickly, so no need to add until later in the process
Optional: you can add potatoes, onions, or green peppers around the same time you add the beef, or cauliflower at the same time you add the carrots.
Like any home cook, she uses no measurements, just experience and feel. But you can easily season this one to taste.
Ingredients:
Beef Shank (Per my mom, it MUST, MUST, MUST be shank)
Soy Sauce
Garlic
Carrots
Vodka (Pure and straight, none of that flavored crap!)
Sugar
Green Onion
Black Pepper
Steps:
1. Cut beef into cubes and add to pot
2. Fill pot with 60/40 Soy Sauce/Water (more water if you want less salty). You want enough liquid to cover all the meat, plus around 2 inches over. Start heating.
3. For each pound of meat, add 2~3 cloves of crushed garlic
4. For each pound of meat, add the WHITE root portion of around 5~6 stalks of green onion, chopped
5. Add sugar to taste (usually a spoon for each pound of meat)
6. Add black pepper to taste
7. Add enough vodka to form a 1/4 inch layer over the existing liquid (obviously, it won't stay layered, but you know what I mean)
8. Bring to boil, then let simmer until meat is tender (around 30 minutes per pound, although it varies depending on your stove)
9. While simmering, cut carrots diagonal and add to stew. Carrots soften pretty quickly, so no need to add until later in the process
Optional: you can add potatoes, onions, or green peppers around the same time you add the beef, or cauliflower at the same time you add the carrots.
May 22, 2008
Touched
Few things move me to tears, but hearing He Xiaozhu read his poem on NPR did. He was at a teahouse in Chengdu when the quake hit.
Here is the Chinese:
And the English translation:
Thousands upon thousands of anguished cries
Returning to silence and tranquillity
Heavenly acts cannot be predicted
The moon over Wenchuan
Still, a question mark
Aftershocks extend to Chengdu
Sorrow engulfs half the world
Tears turn to ice
Let candlelight melt them away
Children, climb on a dandelion
and line up for heaven
NPR's coverage in China has been extraordinary. Yet of all the reports and interviews, this little snippet has been the one that really hits home. Sometimes it just takes an artist's touch.
Here is the Chinese:
And the English translation:
Thousands upon thousands of anguished cries
Returning to silence and tranquillity
Heavenly acts cannot be predicted
The moon over Wenchuan
Still, a question mark
Aftershocks extend to Chengdu
Sorrow engulfs half the world
Tears turn to ice
Let candlelight melt them away
Children, climb on a dandelion
and line up for heaven
NPR's coverage in China has been extraordinary. Yet of all the reports and interviews, this little snippet has been the one that really hits home. Sometimes it just takes an artist's touch.
May 19, 2008
Bringing Home Bacon
The JPMorgan offer letter arrived. I officially have a job in the Investment Banking division!
*** SO MUCH RELIEF ***
Everyone in our business unit was given a chance to stay, but throughout the firm lots of hard-working smart people got shafted. Sometimes it just has nothing to do with merit and everything to do with bad timing. At least JPM is providing career services to those who got laid off. I'm really going to miss some of them.
*** SO MUCH RELIEF ***
Everyone in our business unit was given a chance to stay, but throughout the firm lots of hard-working smart people got shafted. Sometimes it just has nothing to do with merit and everything to do with bad timing. At least JPM is providing career services to those who got laid off. I'm really going to miss some of them.
May 12, 2008
Oh, Wrath
Mother nature has been on quite the bender lately...what with the tornadoes and cyclone and earthquake.
Really makes me feel lucky to live someplace stable and insured.
Really makes me feel lucky to live someplace stable and insured.
May 6, 2008
This is not your grandma's swordplay!
This past sunday at TaiChi, I took a sword to the forehead:
Head wounds bleed like a motherfuck! The sleeve of my shirt is definitely permanently stained. Thankfully, there was no concussion. Just an ugly gash that had to be sewn up with six tiny stitches.
Given my hyperactive childhood, it's amazing these are my first stitches. It wasn't pleasant, but I've felt worse. The local anesthetic hurt the most and the thread going in and out felt odd, but Vic was there to distract me so I didn't dwell on the bizarre sensation. I was quite impressed by the doctor's sewing. The thread is tiny and he was very efficient.
The stitches should be coming out tomorrow, which I've heard can be more painful than getting them put in.
Should leave a pretty awesome scar - at least I can tell people it was from a sword!
Here's a really gross but fascinating (OK, maybe just to me) close-up of the fine work:
Head wounds bleed like a motherfuck! The sleeve of my shirt is definitely permanently stained. Thankfully, there was no concussion. Just an ugly gash that had to be sewn up with six tiny stitches.
Given my hyperactive childhood, it's amazing these are my first stitches. It wasn't pleasant, but I've felt worse. The local anesthetic hurt the most and the thread going in and out felt odd, but Vic was there to distract me so I didn't dwell on the bizarre sensation. I was quite impressed by the doctor's sewing. The thread is tiny and he was very efficient.
The stitches should be coming out tomorrow, which I've heard can be more painful than getting them put in.
Should leave a pretty awesome scar - at least I can tell people it was from a sword!
Here's a really gross but fascinating (OK, maybe just to me) close-up of the fine work:
May 3, 2008
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April 25, 2008
NJ FY2009
Corzine has been getting a lot of flak for his proposed budget cuts. I must admit, it's nice to see a governor tackle the spending problem. The fact is that New Jersey doesn't have enough revenue to cover its costs, so something has to give.
Two years ago, the answer was an increase in sales tax, which was not met with the outright revolt you might have expected. This year, he's trying to avoid raising taxes, and I'm a little shocked by the resistance to this tactic. For a state that's constantly bitching about government waste, you'd think spending decreases would be most welcome. But I think there are more protests against the cuts than there were against the higher sales tax!
Here's the proposed 2009 budget.
A couple things caught my attention:
* The biggest increase is K-12 education aid. Half a billion higher than last year and 35% of the budget! This more than offsets the $190M decrease in municipal aid, so if towns need to raise taxes for services like roads and administration, that's one thing. But they shouldn't be increasing property taxes to cover school costs.
* As always, arts suffer first. I understand the logic, but it's still sad seeing hits against the NJSO, Papermill Playhouse, etc.
* $6M one-time Tamiflu cost!?!
* While K-12 got a nice boost, colleges and universities got slapped. I don't know if that's a comfortable trade-off, since higher education is so important these days.
* I don't understand the obsession with monitoring sexual offenders. The proposal indicates $1.2M more on legislation for this. Why spend extra money on sex criminals? While the prospect of a sexual offender in your neighborhood is scary, is it any worse than a convicted murderer or drug dealer? Yet we're not spending any more on tracking them!
* The new income limits on property tax rebates saves quite a bit of money! $472M total. There must be more people making over 100K than I thought.
And last but not least, looking over this proposal really drives home exactly how difficult it is to run a fiscally responsible state. I do respect Corzine for this attempt at balancing a budget without any revenue increases. At least he's got the right frame of mind.
Two years ago, the answer was an increase in sales tax, which was not met with the outright revolt you might have expected. This year, he's trying to avoid raising taxes, and I'm a little shocked by the resistance to this tactic. For a state that's constantly bitching about government waste, you'd think spending decreases would be most welcome. But I think there are more protests against the cuts than there were against the higher sales tax!
Here's the proposed 2009 budget.
A couple things caught my attention:
* The biggest increase is K-12 education aid. Half a billion higher than last year and 35% of the budget! This more than offsets the $190M decrease in municipal aid, so if towns need to raise taxes for services like roads and administration, that's one thing. But they shouldn't be increasing property taxes to cover school costs.
* As always, arts suffer first. I understand the logic, but it's still sad seeing hits against the NJSO, Papermill Playhouse, etc.
* $6M one-time Tamiflu cost!?!
* While K-12 got a nice boost, colleges and universities got slapped. I don't know if that's a comfortable trade-off, since higher education is so important these days.
* I don't understand the obsession with monitoring sexual offenders. The proposal indicates $1.2M more on legislation for this. Why spend extra money on sex criminals? While the prospect of a sexual offender in your neighborhood is scary, is it any worse than a convicted murderer or drug dealer? Yet we're not spending any more on tracking them!
* The new income limits on property tax rebates saves quite a bit of money! $472M total. There must be more people making over 100K than I thought.
And last but not least, looking over this proposal really drives home exactly how difficult it is to run a fiscally responsible state. I do respect Corzine for this attempt at balancing a budget without any revenue increases. At least he's got the right frame of mind.
April 24, 2008
Dexter
This show is exploding my brain.
Thank goodness we're getting the DVDs from Netflix one at a time. Otherwise we'd be getting no sleep. I've never seen anything quite like this. It's dark drama, noir comedy, part CSI, part Sopranos, all slick and gory and disturbing and above all, a character study that evolves and dares you to engage. I think Showtime is giving HBO a run for its money - after Weeds and this series, they're quickly becoming my favorite distributor.
Thank goodness we're getting the DVDs from Netflix one at a time. Otherwise we'd be getting no sleep. I've never seen anything quite like this. It's dark drama, noir comedy, part CSI, part Sopranos, all slick and gory and disturbing and above all, a character study that evolves and dares you to engage. I think Showtime is giving HBO a run for its money - after Weeds and this series, they're quickly becoming my favorite distributor.
April 21, 2008
NYC Comic Con!
This past weekend was the NYC Comic Con!
We've been attending this Con since the first one in 2006, and it's always a good time. This year, our main goal was original and commissioned art. Also, for the first time, we went on both Sat and Sun, which was worth it. We got our planned commissions out of the way on Sat, so the smaller Sun crowds made for nice leisure browsing. We also stayed on budget and found some sweet goodies (one of which is still being shipped -- yes, it was something we could not physically carry home on the train!).
Vic has pictures of the LOOT at keroo.
Some highlights:
* Though not initially listed on the website, Jim Butcher was signing his latest Dresden book, Small Favor. As a bonus, the hardcover was 25% off. Really nice guy, chatting with each fan and posing for pictures:
* Got to play a brief D&D 4.0 demo. Interesting to see character sheets, even pre-packaged 1st level ones. Overall impression is there are more components for everyone to track (not just wizards have paperwork!) but lower level games are much more fun. The healing surge concept is pretty nifty and appeared to mitigate the "oh noes, we have no cleric!" issue. Spellcasters are easier to play and attacks more intriguing due to saves becoming combat defenses. Not a big fan of the change in skills, which are effectively pre-filled abilities now, but judging from the 15 minutes of play I had, it was a pretty easy transition from 3.5 core.
* Thanks to T.M. Revolution, the longest line of giggly asian fangirls I have personally seen formed on the convention floor.
* David Mack remembered us!
* The Heavy Metal booth had a 50% sale on all books! So I added to my Royo collection.
Some not so highlights:
* Rob Liefeld totally did not show at his assigned artist alley booth. Boo!
* Kotobuyia did not have Shunya Yamashita artbooks on hand. Their vending space was devoted mostly to "western" products like Star Wars and Halo, so I didn't get to see some of their cooler anime pieces. Ah well.
* An awesome Hulk being assaulted by Fin Fang Foom panel by Lee Weeks was way over our budget.
* David Mack originals were way over our budget
* Hell, a ton of stuff was way over our budget!
Overall, it was really fun. The organizers finally got decent space, so the crush of bodies wasn't too bad, except for areas with lines. I prepared lunch beforehand, so we didn't have to wait 30 minutes for a $4 hotdog! And it was neat roaming artists alley to admire the sheer amount of talent. I'm glad we focused on artwork this time, at a smaller, more intimate venue. Got it out of our system, so this summer at San Diego, we won't be stuck waiting in line for artists along with thousands of others!
We've been attending this Con since the first one in 2006, and it's always a good time. This year, our main goal was original and commissioned art. Also, for the first time, we went on both Sat and Sun, which was worth it. We got our planned commissions out of the way on Sat, so the smaller Sun crowds made for nice leisure browsing. We also stayed on budget and found some sweet goodies (one of which is still being shipped -- yes, it was something we could not physically carry home on the train!).
Vic has pictures of the LOOT at keroo.
Some highlights:
* Though not initially listed on the website, Jim Butcher was signing his latest Dresden book, Small Favor. As a bonus, the hardcover was 25% off. Really nice guy, chatting with each fan and posing for pictures:
* Got to play a brief D&D 4.0 demo. Interesting to see character sheets, even pre-packaged 1st level ones. Overall impression is there are more components for everyone to track (not just wizards have paperwork!) but lower level games are much more fun. The healing surge concept is pretty nifty and appeared to mitigate the "oh noes, we have no cleric!" issue. Spellcasters are easier to play and attacks more intriguing due to saves becoming combat defenses. Not a big fan of the change in skills, which are effectively pre-filled abilities now, but judging from the 15 minutes of play I had, it was a pretty easy transition from 3.5 core.
* Thanks to T.M. Revolution, the longest line of giggly asian fangirls I have personally seen formed on the convention floor.
* David Mack remembered us!
* The Heavy Metal booth had a 50% sale on all books! So I added to my Royo collection.
Some not so highlights:
* Rob Liefeld totally did not show at his assigned artist alley booth. Boo!
* Kotobuyia did not have Shunya Yamashita artbooks on hand. Their vending space was devoted mostly to "western" products like Star Wars and Halo, so I didn't get to see some of their cooler anime pieces. Ah well.
* An awesome Hulk being assaulted by Fin Fang Foom panel by Lee Weeks was way over our budget.
* David Mack originals were way over our budget
* Hell, a ton of stuff was way over our budget!
Overall, it was really fun. The organizers finally got decent space, so the crush of bodies wasn't too bad, except for areas with lines. I prepared lunch beforehand, so we didn't have to wait 30 minutes for a $4 hotdog! And it was neat roaming artists alley to admire the sheer amount of talent. I'm glad we focused on artwork this time, at a smaller, more intimate venue. Got it out of our system, so this summer at San Diego, we won't be stuck waiting in line for artists along with thousands of others!
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