Likes His Writing to be Boring February 29, 2008
Posted by KG in Blog, Running, fitness.add a comment
Over the course of the last month I’ve been assiduously chronicling my running efforts and, occassionally, posting route maps onto my flickr account to create the most boring photo batch ever. I’ve also taken to keeping a paper journal of my workouts with relative consistency, an equally boring task. Well, boring to you, maybe. For some reason this is a habit I’ve really come to enjoy. As a journaling-type project, keeping these maps and logs provides a clarity of purpose that keeping a blog simply doesn’t. There’s no pressure to be creative or to entertain. It’s simple: this is how far I went, how long it took, how much I lifted, how many times I did it. Maybe some commentary on how it felt, and the occasional self-deprecating “bad strategy!” or “weak sauce.”
The downside to the clarity of purpose is that there are times when I’ve been hit with inspiration while writing something fitness related in my paper journal (this is clearly not a result of one of those times). I’ve thus far largely kept my fitness journal free of flights-of-fancy, blog type writing, to keep it focused on what it is. Which brings up the conundrum of whether or not I start to keep a proper journal as well. That would mean, most likely, a two-week long string of keeping my ideas on paper, followed by intermittent bursts a few weeks to months later, followed by nothing.
When it comes to my body, or the corporeal in general, I’m good at patience, consistency, and the long view. Sadly, the contradiction between that aspect and my inner life is evident; it’s impossible to take the same care with my mind. Dogged persistence when it comes to thought has not, typically, been my strong suit. Clearly, this is something that needs improving.
Two Pot Soup February 21, 2008
Posted by KG in Food.add a comment
Last Saturday a craving for non-sushi Japanese took hold of me and wouldn’t let go. Given where I was at the time, my options were slim, so I decided to be creative and make my own. Now, I’ve never cooked Japanese, not even your basic teriyaki. One of the many gaps in my knowledge is how to prepare lighter, less Chinese influenced East Asian food. This was a welcome chance to branch out of my spicy/salty routine and try my hand at something a bit more gentle. Whole Foods provided a number of ingredients I figured (based on watching Iron Chef) would work, like bonito flakes and soba noodles. A forewarning: this recipe is based on little research, so the ”authenticity” is questionable. But it’s a quick and easy soup for a chilly night, with the added benefit of being very satisfying and easily scaled. The numbers reflect a single serving.
On reading this recipe it may seem like you may need four pots. But if planned well, cleaning as you go, this soup only requires two (hence my title). Judicious washing on-the-go is your friend. Embrace it!
8 medium shrimp, raw, shell on
1 skinless chicken thigh
2 cups bonito flakes
1 tablespoon miso powder
1 tablespoon fish sauce
Green onions, to garnish
Gently boil the chicken thigh, whole, and the shrimp, unshelled, in three cups of water until the shrimp is just past translucent. This should take no more than four to five minutes and will not fully cook the chicken, just firm up the meat to make it easy for de-boning. Strain the water into a second pot and keep at a simmer.
Shell the shrimp, debone the chicken thigh, and add the shells and bone to the water along with the bonito, miso powder, and fish sauce. Simmer for 10 minutes. The broth should start to smell rich and, well, umami-y. While the broth simmers, cook a batch of Japanese style noodles, enough for one serving. I used Eden Foods mugwort soba noodles, which were perfect. Strain the noodles and place in a large soup bowl.
Strain the broth into a pot, keeping at a simmer. Discard the bonito, shells, bone, etc. Roughly chop the chicken and return to the broth. Cook at a simmer for 5-7 minutes, until the chicken is just cooked through. Throw the shrimp in the broth, simmer for a moment, and pour the broth, meat, and shrimp over the noodles. Garnish with diced green onions and enjoy.
My Poor Neck February 20, 2008
Posted by KG in Etc., fitness.add a comment
Fully cognizant that the number of blog readers I have who know the answer to this question approaches zero: does anyone have advice on how to avoid clavicle pain when performing front squats? The major limit I hit yesterday was not in how much I could squat, but how much pain my poor bones could take. Tips and suggestions are appreciated.
Someone Find Me a Quince February 13, 2008
Posted by KG in Etc., Food.add a comment
Kumquats. They were prominently displayed at Whole Foods for $2 a box. And of all the fruits and vegetables in the produce section, they were one of the few I had not eaten before. Honestly, who can resist that sort of temptation? Not me.
The only thing I knew about kumquats was that they were some sort of fruit with a funny sounding name that could score you 72 possible points in Scrabble. And that’s about all there is to know until you eat one. Then, if you’re as strange as I am, you become utterly captivated by a peculiar fruit that doesn’t seem to make any sense. For one: they look like teeny little oranges. And yet you eat them whole, rind and all. The flesh? Ridiculously tart, while the rind (which I thought would be bitter) is almost too sweet. That makes the experience of eating a kumquat rather different then other fruits, a progression from a quick hit of sweetness to overwhelming sourness and then, just when your lips are pursed from the citric acid, back to sweet.
I’ve been through the entire container of kumquats at this point, popping them one at a time randomly (having too many at one time ruins the fun). And of course I went on a furious Googling spree to come up with other ways to serve them, like pickling. That led to the inevitable side roads, where I learned that along with ketchup, kumquat is one of the few loan words to English from Cantonese (who knew?).
Produce: fascinating if you let it be.
On the News Front February 5, 2008
Posted by KG in FS Life, Wife.2 comments
For that 1-2% of you who for some reason read this blog and don’t know, I have a wife. She’s a pretty great wife, all things considered. All things such as the fact that she lives in Seoul and I live in Washington D.C. We’re pretty used to that arrangement, though not fond of it.
The wife also keeps a blog, one that’s a lot less about pop culture and and a lot more about foreign cultures. But you knew that, right?
Anyway: as the wife has already written, we’re nearing the end of our separation. I’ve been more or less silent about my emotions during the post wedding limbo period. To break that stoicism for a moment: I was almost… no, I was absolutely elated when I heard that the pieces are moving and that we’ll see each other soon — and, for the first time in our married life, not be rudely separated after a few weeks of togetherness. Blah blah learning to live together blah blah change in routine blah blah adjusting blah blah blah. I won’t have to say goodbye this time.
That said, I am a bit troubled by how I received the good news (”Wow, so soon. Better start doing more situps.”).
U2 3D GR8 February 4, 2008
Posted by KG in Etc., Music.add a comment
It must be incredibly difficult to not think of oneself in messianic terms when day after day, night after night, thousands of screaming fans who may or may not speak the same language as you sing along to your songs.
That’s probably one of the more clichéd ledes for anything written about Bono (a Google search of “Bono messianic” comes up with 22,000+ hits — and how’s using Google search stats for cliché!), but the thing about it is that it’s true. Take U2 3D. Even better, take how I felt before, during, and after watching U2 3D. It’s been about 14 years since I first bought Zooropa, but songs like “Pride (In the Name of Love)” and “Bullet in the Blue Sky” (!!) still make my inner adolescent pop out, ready to spout bumper sticker epithets about becoming the change and so on. That welling up of idealistic emotion probably hits a select segment of the population; what is startling is how large, heterogenous, and fervent that swathe of people can be. Even more surprising is the fact that I’m only slightly embarassed to admit that my dormant fanboyishness is alive and well. (After seeing U2 3D on Saturday, I loaded most of The Joshua Tree and War onto my shuffle.)
The best part of seeing U2 on an IMAX screen is that you get most of the fun of the concert experience at near-perfect sound quality and without the $100 price tag. Of course, the IMAX experience also magnified the drawbacks of the concert film medium: you get to *see* an amazing concert, but the 3D photography amplifies your separation from the chanting Argentinians who watched Bono do his best Pavarotti impression during ”Miss Sarajevo” (!!). “Amplify your separation” is just my artsy-fartsy way of saying “I felt jealous.” It takes quite a lot for me to desire standing in an enormous stadium, sweaty and sore, singing at the top of my lungs. In fact, I doubt I’d want to do that for any band currently active — with the exception of U2. Not that I’m a superfan, but the IMAX film shows you that unlike many stadium bands, U2 makes the unpleasantness of the experience worth it.
The Natural History Museum isn’t the best place in the world to see U2 3D, but it is the only place in town. I would advise buying tickets in advance online and showing up early for a good seat. The chattering museum-goers, expecially those of the younger than Zoo TV variety, may get on your nerves, but this weekend they were quick to quiet down by the first bars of “New Years Day.” That leaves you about 73 minutes of U2 wowing what looked like 80,000 Argentinians. And you wishing you were there with them.
