Gretch-a-sketch (old)

For your viewing pleasure: The visual aids for my addiction presentation in neuroscience today.
A+? Or A++?



I was always the Jessie of the group.



The ironic thing about this video is that the words they use to diss dope at the beginning are also pretty good descriptors of their character.

(I also plan on using Michael Scott's line about more people using cocaine than reading a book to their children during my portion on addiction statistics.)

I’m going to break the cardinal rule of Wordless Wednesday right now and use words. Le shocker! This was another $.66 buy at the dollar store—awesome. Also, you know you spend too much time blogging when you see it and think, “This is just like those soup bowls Dooce posted about last winter that she uses for her jewelry! Must have!” Man, I can’t wait to move back to Utah so I can start stalking Heather. I will have a picture taken with her before the year’s end.

So...anyone else make cheese this weekend? Just me, then? Okay.
I whipped up a batch of paneer, which in the past I'd always confused with the Panera Bread Cafe. I've heard good things about both and they're both food related, so it's understandable.
Coconut & Lime gave a recipe a couple weeks ago and I was intruiged. It didn't seem too hard. The ingredients are basically whole milk and lemon. Simple, right? It did require an adventure through the aisles of Albertson's, which I like to call The Epic Quest for Cheese Cloth.

Here are my thoughts:

1. Once milk heats up, it froths up very fast. There was some spillage onto the super hot burner and now we have this burn mark that we can't get off of our stove. Oops.
2. It's because of this that I don't think it got quite as hot as it needed to be. I still added the lemon juice anyhow and let it curdle, which is a pretty cool process to watch.
3. The draining took longer than I thought and was quite messy.
4. The yield was much less than I anticipated--that was a bummer. I only got about 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup, when the recipe said I'd get 1 1/2 to 2 cups.
5. The texture is similar to mascarpone and it tastes a bit like unsalted ricotta.
6. So far, I've tried it with rice and cinnamon and vanilla--that was tasty. Even better was Sunday dinner. We made sausage marinara sauce and mixed a bit of the paneer in with that. Yum. Next time I make it, I want to try Saag Paneer.


Fun fact: I bought the plate with three other vintage poster style dessert plates on Saturday at the dollar store of all places. Better yet, they were only sixty-six cents because the store's going out of business. They're enough to keep me satisfied and smiling until I can afford these.

P.S. I went this whole post without making a "That's so cheesy!" joke. You should be proud.

Dear Firefox,

I'll admit. At first, I was apprehensive. You were unfamiliar and difficult to navigate. Everyone swore that I would love you and I just wasn't sure. You temporarily messed up my g-chat, but I was able to fix it with a quick cache clearing. My bookmarks did indeed transfer over, but it took a few clicks to restore them to the proper folders. The fonts changed, as did the appearance of my school e-mail account.

Firefox, I'm sorry for doubting you. Everyone has their faults and you more than make up for them. There's twitterfox, Foxytunes, and so many more. I'd heard of the joys of automatic spell check and I'm amazed! No more pop-ups? Hallelujah! You also allow me to update my facebook status as "Gretchen is firefoxy."

Plus, just look at how cute you are in stuffed animal form. {Image courtesy of qwantz.com}


I do believe this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Yours forever,
Gretchen

Dear Internet Explorer,

It's not me, it's you.

-Gretchen

-I faithfully downloaded Firefox 3, but I'm reluctant to switch over, since Internet Explorer is the browser I know. Plus, I'll have to redo my enormous amount of bookmarks and folders. Is it really worth it? What add-ons do I need?

-Threadless must have changed the shirts they print on, because the medium I'm wearing right now is noticeably wider and longer than the other mediums I own. I also have a couple of the old smalls and those are a tad snug. So next time do I buy the new small size, in hopes that'll fit me better? Not knowing the exact sizes and outrageous shipping prices are the only downsides to online shopping.

-I really, really, really like T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock."

-I'd like new music and a bigger iPod. Not necessarily in that order.

-I spent yesterday afternoon re-reading River Secrets. That was good for my soul.

-This helped me realize I need to remove myself my computer more often. (And yet...here I am.)

-Otter pops are at their best when they're still a mite slushy. Also, if you freeze otter pops vertically, then your scissors won't get sticky because there's a small amount of air at the top. That's probably the most useful thing I've ever said on this blog.

-I have to teach two classes next Monday (Behavioral Neurobiology and Intro to Psych), since the professor will be out. I'm flattered he asked me, but also deathly afraid of screwing up. Intro to Psych has 106 kids in the class. Eek!

-I'm pretty bummed out there's no new Harry Potter book coming out this summer. I mean, I know we get the HBP movie (Part Uno) (srah corrected me--it's DH that's in two parts) this fall, but I've always associated reading Harry Potter with the most sweltering parts of summer.

-I'm going to make paneer this weekend. Hopefully I'll remember to take pictures before eating it all.

-4 weeks until graduation!

-Some friends and I do a GRE Prep class every Thursday night. There's already a high level of nerdiness, given that it's strictly student-run and we make analogy jokes and stuff. Somehow, I have been branded as the geeky one. I'm not sure how I feel about this, but mostly proud.

-I've been debating about this post I wrote a while back. It's not really controversial, it's just a big step for me to actually put it out there. Maybe next week? We'll see.

-I've been playing around with new blog ideas. Wordpress vs. blogger? Do I dare to make the switch?

I love my camera phone because it's there if I need to capture something that instant. Heck, even National Geographic published a book centered around how to take great camera phone pictures. Because, you know, if I'm ever in the Amazon and this rainbow macaw comes flying by, I am going to whip out my Samsung Stripe and get some great shots courtesy of NG.

1. I went to the new Asian Market with my family on Friday. Those places rock. I saw everything from Tofu Jerky to "Cutted Pork Foot." They even had a whole section for Oriental Kitsch. This was one of my favorite finds:

It's a Pearl Soybean drink in Mung Bean flavor. As Creed Bratton will tell you, "I sprout mung beans on a damp paper towel in my desk drawer. Very nutritious, but they smell like death." Ah, Old Man Smell in a can!

2. This sign is in the hallway at our university library. I kind of wanted to take it down and hang it in my room, because I'm just that much of a nerd.

3. Without getting into the various rules my uber-conservative school enforces , let's look closely at the wording on the sign. "Leggings may only to be worn with modest knee-length clothing covering them." My favorite part's the person who crossed out the "to" and wrote next to it, "Proofread, stupid!" EDITING FAIL.

I won the lovely CityStream's fabulous giveaway! It's mostly because I shared a rather mortifying story that will not be repeated here, but the point is, it worked. I took my $40 gift card to Wal-mart last week and went ka-razy. I was overdue for some pampering and here's what I picked up. Oh, and the adorable tote bag is from Target. I bought that with the gift card I got ages ago from Jenn's hilarious paint contest.

There was also a Peach Mango Fuze, but I drank it already. I'm proud of the fact that I'm the kind of girl who can buy the movie Airplane! and the latest Vogue without blinking an eye. Also, if you want to see something really funny, compare my haul to Seven's. She won the second place prize and we're clearly on the same wavelength when it comes to shopping sprees.

I'm not done spending it yet, but it's probably going towards stuff like bread and milk, because I'm still a poor college kid who needs her cereal in the morning. Thanks again, CityStreams!

Okay, you want to hear something else awesome? One of tumblr's best music sites is Tuneage. They held a contest to come up with the next theme for their podcast a while ago with some severely sweet prizes. I submitted something along the lines of "You guys should do a podcast about the songs that first got you interested in music. You know, the albums that changed your life, when you knew you'd never go back to just being a casual music fan." I knew it was a good theme, I just didn't think it was first-place good. But I guess it is. So I get a 1GB Product Red iPod Shuffle and the following, courtesy of Asthmatic Kitty:

My Brightest Diamond’s album Bring Me The Workhorse Castanets album In The Vines
Castanets DVD Tendrils
Half-handed Cloud’s album Halos & Lassos
Sufjan Stevens’ album Illinoise
Shannon Stephens’ self-titled album
Encyclopedia Asthmatica DVD
Asthmatic Kitty T-shirt

HOLY SMOKES. The music junkie in me is freaking out.

In honor of this, I made a mixwit of my own personal 'Heart Songs.' (Holla, Weezer!) Well, I thought I made a mixwit, but it didn't save it or something. Grrrr... I'll try and re-do it later.

I'm going home for the weekend to spend some quality time with my pops and meet some amazing teen bloggers, so it should be fun.

I cannot get enough of watching this, even though the guy on the left reminds me of the guys I automatically despise. You know, the kind that think they're the funniest person on earth.



Happy Friday the 13th (spooky!), Happy Useless Holiday Day tomorrow, and Happy Father's Day on Sunday!

1. Bob Jackson Super Vigorelli Track: 001, 2. Elbows with Homemade Low Fat Spinach Alfredo Sauce, Chicken, and Diced Tomatoes, 3. Jordan: Senior 2008 - Flare!, 4. Parasol, 5. Lee Pace Comic Con 07, 6. ginger ale, 7. Milan Train Station at Midnight, 8. green tea, 9. Madame de Remusat by Paul Delaroche, 10. The Old Library, 11. Cute cat alert!, 12. Walking Ginger

Note: There was this really awesome and disgusting picture of a gutted chicken I thought about putting for #2, but it just didn't jive with the rest of it. Otherwise, I'm pleased with how it turned out.