After a generally lethargic day, I decided that decent food was in order. Since returning from Australia and California I’ve eaten at home very little, and I think it was beginning to take it’s toll. The meal I made was simple: chicken sausages from Trader Joe’s, with sautéed apple, chard/silverbeet, and beet(root) greens (the chard and beet greens were both from the Union Square farmers’ market) but it was just what I needed. Afterwards I taught Rachel about the magic of chocolate self-saucing pudding. Yum! I actually think I’d put it on my list of favorite comfort foods. The added benefit of all this cooking is the left-overs: my lunches may be a little more nutritious. Since then, I’ve made my first roast chicken without parental supervision (courtesy of bills food – I can’t tell you how much the missing apostrophe bothers me) and a berry and peach crumble (the key here is frozen fruit: no coring, no peeling, no washing – hooray!). Home-cooked food is definitely worth the effort.
For some time now I’ve wanted to be able to synchronize my iCal calendar at home with my Sunbird calendar at work. To make matters more complicated, I wanted to be able to edit entries, regardless of which computer they were created on, I wanted to synchronize my to-do list as well as my calendar, and I wanted to do it for free. For some time now, I’ve synchronized my two address books using Plaxo, but Plaxo’s calendar synchronization isn’t set up for Mozilla. After a late night of searching, I can report that there is a free solution that works reasonably well: The Chandler Project. So far as I can tell there’s just one bug: if you include a list of attendees for an event it becomes impossible to edit that even in iCal. This, however, is a bug I’m willing to live with.
Rachel convinced me to buy a student season subscription to the Huntington Theater Company (this turns out to be very reasonably priced. To be honest, Rachel didn’t have to do much convincing), and our first play for the season, How Shakespeare Won the West, was this past Saturday. Sadly, I wasn’t particular impressed. The acting was fine, it was the play itself that disappointed me. Despite being just an hour and a half long, it dragged several times, and felt directionless. There were some very funny parts (and it is supposed to be a comedy), and I thought the staging and costuming was excellent, but that wasn’t enough for me to really enjoy the performance. I’m a little concerned about what I’ve got myself into. Corry, Josh, and Rachel all assure me that the plays were generally much better last year (when they also subscribed), so I’m feeling optimistic. In other subscription news, I recently bought a BSO College Card – an amazing $25 for up to 25 performances! I’m looking forward to the start of the BSO season.
I watched Once recently, with a mixed reaction. Basic background: Set it Dublin. Street busker (guy) meets Czech immigrant (girl) who happens to play the piano. They hit it off – she supplements his songs with keyboard and vocals, completes lyrics to pieces he’s written, etc., etc. The inevitable happens (ie. they are attracted to each other). The movie is full of cliché (although not at the end), and if the busker guy had said “Cool” one more time in the movie, I might have attacked the screen in an effort to strangle him, but I enjoyed it anyway, I think because I liked the movie (sort of soft pop, but that’s OK), which really was central to the film. No big name stars, no flashy effects. Also in Once’s favor: unusual enough to keep it interesting. I don’t think it breaks any barriers or sets any new standards, but it’s a fun film.
