Saturday, June 21, 2008
Wordled essays
In case you were wondering what I was doing at uni… Here are the two essays that I just wrote (both about Xinjiang in north-west China):
This blog
Psychodougie pointed me towards Wordle. I tested it out by pasting in all the text from this blog. Well, I did cheat a little by getting rid of "comments" and "categories" (and adding "Katrina" since she was sitting next to me as I did it). Fun?
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Celebrating our undecimensary
Katrina made lovely eggs benedict and banana smoothies. I tried using the coffee machine for the first time (I need more practice). And it was a lovely sunny morning for sitting outside.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Tea and coffee experiences
What I've been noticing about the tea and coffee I drink…
When we buy tea we tend to get something different each time, within three categories: a plain tea for breakfast (e.g Earl Grey); a flavoured tea for other times (e.g. Stockholm Blend); and, to try to train ourselves in the pure tea experience, a fancy tea with no additives (i.e. ones with lots of letters in their gradings).
Here are some recent teas we have tried:
Earl Grey Special - nice but not as nice as the original (it's a bit too lemongrassy for me).
Tea for Sunday - the vanilla pieces actually make it taste a bit odd; it needs a bit of sugar. Not as nice as:
Vanilla - with vanilla bean pieces.
Ritz Carlton - with Vanilla and a bunch of flavourings. Quite pleasant.
Poobong FTGFOP (Darjeeling first flush) - really lovely, delicate and, if brewed just right, actually sweet.
Makaibari FTGFOP (Darjeeling Autumn) - a good normal tea. Quite nice but I like the Poobong better. I'm still interested in trying other Darjeelings (such as second flush).
When I started drinking tea I didn't mind whether or not I had milk in it. As I got used to the taste of tea (as you should know, tea, like coffee, is an acquired taste) I found that I preferred tea without milk. Now I will only drink tea black. (I know there are schools of thought about whether tea is better with milk or without. I have two tea snob friends who fall into both sides. I understand that there are some teas that are better with milk (English Breakfast) and some that are better without (Poobong) and some that can go either way (Earl Grey). I just don't like milk in my tea so I won't drink teas that require it.)
As a parallel, I have recently started to notice that I am starting to like my coffee with less milk. I started off with lattes, often with caramel flavouring/sweetening. I found that I no longer required it to be sweetened. I started ordering cappuccinos when I went out for coffee because they have a bit less milk in them than lattes or flat whites. Then I discovered the piccolo latte (like a normal latte but with less milk). I had a great one this morning with breakfast. Should have taken a photo…
When we buy tea we tend to get something different each time, within three categories: a plain tea for breakfast (e.g Earl Grey); a flavoured tea for other times (e.g. Stockholm Blend); and, to try to train ourselves in the pure tea experience, a fancy tea with no additives (i.e. ones with lots of letters in their gradings).
Here are some recent teas we have tried:
Earl Grey Special - nice but not as nice as the original (it's a bit too lemongrassy for me).
Tea for Sunday - the vanilla pieces actually make it taste a bit odd; it needs a bit of sugar. Not as nice as:
Vanilla - with vanilla bean pieces.
Ritz Carlton - with Vanilla and a bunch of flavourings. Quite pleasant.
Poobong FTGFOP (Darjeeling first flush) - really lovely, delicate and, if brewed just right, actually sweet.
Makaibari FTGFOP (Darjeeling Autumn) - a good normal tea. Quite nice but I like the Poobong better. I'm still interested in trying other Darjeelings (such as second flush).
When I started drinking tea I didn't mind whether or not I had milk in it. As I got used to the taste of tea (as you should know, tea, like coffee, is an acquired taste) I found that I preferred tea without milk. Now I will only drink tea black. (I know there are schools of thought about whether tea is better with milk or without. I have two tea snob friends who fall into both sides. I understand that there are some teas that are better with milk (English Breakfast) and some that are better without (Poobong) and some that can go either way (Earl Grey). I just don't like milk in my tea so I won't drink teas that require it.)
As a parallel, I have recently started to notice that I am starting to like my coffee with less milk. I started off with lattes, often with caramel flavouring/sweetening. I found that I no longer required it to be sweetened. I started ordering cappuccinos when I went out for coffee because they have a bit less milk in them than lattes or flat whites. Then I discovered the piccolo latte (like a normal latte but with less milk). I had a great one this morning with breakfast. Should have taken a photo…
Thursday, May 15, 2008
One of the best sound experiences you could ever have…
One of the best sound experiences you could ever have will be seeing Sigur Ros live in concert. I saw them two years ago at the Enmore where they were utterly amazing and I have been eagerly awaiting their return.
They will be playing at the Horden Pavillion on Sat 2 August. Tickets go on sale Fri 23 May.
I'll be booking tickets as soon as possible. Does anyone want to join me? I guarantee it will be worth whatever they are charging (assuming you can cope with something beyond the Top 30).
(There's also a new album due to be released next month which I'm looking forward to.)
They will be playing at the Horden Pavillion on Sat 2 August. Tickets go on sale Fri 23 May.
I'll be booking tickets as soon as possible. Does anyone want to join me? I guarantee it will be worth whatever they are charging (assuming you can cope with something beyond the Top 30).
(There's also a new album due to be released next month which I'm looking forward to.)
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Uninformed and arrogant vs intelligent but unsure…
The context is a bit too nerdy for me, but I liked this thought:
(You can see the source article here if you like.)
Am I in the "unintelligent or uninformed and arrogantly confident" camp? If so why and how can I get humble? Am I part of the "intelligent and well informed but unsure and apprehensive" group? If so why and what can I do increase my tolerance for risk and decrease my fear of being wrong?
(You can see the source article here if you like.)
Friday, April 25, 2008
We got a new outdoor table…
… just before 13 days in a row of rain. (I think I heard that the record for Sydney was 16 days.)
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Futurama!
I'll be getting the new Futurama DVD for my birthday (in the unlikely event that no one gets it for me, I'll buy it myself). So, I am looking for Futurama fans to share it with. If that's you, let me know and I'll invite you over…
Hopefully the viewing will happen in the weekend after Easter.
For those of you who don't know:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0471711/
Hopefully the viewing will happen in the weekend after Easter.
For those of you who don't know:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0471711/
Saturday, January 26, 2008
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