Nightcrawler

Nightcrawler

Originally uploaded by Wandering Eyre

I thought that, after all that mouth flapping about that awesome computer Ries has been building, you might like to see it in all its glory.

Bask in the glory.

Monkey See, Monkey Boss Me Around When I Deviate From the System

Gideon thinks he is the boss of everyone.

In the morning, I usually do my Bible study while Gideon and I eat breakfast. I have experimented with different times for my quiet time, but there is not another consistent time that I can spend studying. Getting up before Gideon is not an option because he already gets up at 5:15 or 5:30 and that is early enough for me.

Sometimes, Gideon finishes his breakfast before I finish my study. When this happens, he gets to watch Animal Atlas. That gives me time to finish up.

This evening, I told Gideon that he could watch Animal Atlas if he wanted. I turned on the TV and sat down beside him on the couch. He pointed to the table and said “Bible.” I was not sure I heard right. “Bible?” I said. He shook his head yes. Then it dawned on me.

“You want me to do my Bible study?”

Yes, Gideon answered.

I guess he really is watching everything I do. He is too smart for his own good. I explained to him that I already did my study today. He obviously did not want my company for Animal Atlas, so I got out my laptop instead.

Pirates Get Tired Too

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Originally uploaded by Wandering Eyre

From our trip to the Texas RenFest, it was Pirate Weekend. Arg!

Recipe: Garlic and Citrus Chicken

Giada De Laurentiis is easily my favorite chef personality. If I was a professional chef, I would want to be like Giada, cooking unpretentious, family favorites that are delicious and easy. Her recipes rarely call for random things and almost never take longer than a normal person has to spend on a meal, plus they are fabulous.

At a conference once, some librarian friends and I had a discussion, over beer of course, about who would win in a fight Giada or Rachel Ray. I voted for Giada though admitted that Rachel would have the scrappy advantage (aka be a dirty fighter).

My sister gave me Giada’s Family Dinners for my birthday and this recipe is lifted directly from that. Where applicable, I added my comments in (parenthesis).

Garlic and Citrus Chicken

1 (5 to 6-pound) whole roasting chicken, neck and giblets discarded
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 orange, quartered
1 lemon, quartered
1 head garlic, halved crosswise, plus 3 garlic cloves, chopped (I was feeling lazy and used powder in the sauce)
2 (14-ounce) cans reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed (we were out of orange so I used apple)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano leaves (I used dried)

Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F.

Pat the chicken dry and sprinkle the cavity with salt and pepper. Stuff the cavity with the orange, lemon, and garlic halves. Tie the chicken legs together with kitchen string to help hold its shape. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper.

Place a rack in a large roasting pan. (My roasting pan does not have a rack. I omitted this..) Place the chicken, breast side up, on the rack in the pan. (I cooked mine breast side down to keep it moist.) Roast the chicken for 1 hour, basting occasionally and adding some chicken broth to the pan, if necessary, to prevent the pan drippings from burning. Whisk the orange juice, lemon juice, oil, oregano, and chopped garlic in a medium bowl to blend. Brush some of the juice mixture over the chicken, after it has baked 1 hour. Continue roasting the chicken until an instant-read meat thermometer inserted into the innermost part of the thigh registers 170 degrees F, basting occasionally with the juice mixture and adding broth to the pan, about 45 minutes longer. (My chicken was small and only took about 1.5 hours) Transfer the chicken to a platter. Tent with foil while making the sauce; do not clean the pan.

Place the same roasting pan over medium-low heat. Whisk in any remaining broth and simmer until the sauce is reduced to 1 cup, stirring often, about 3 minutes. Strain into a 2-cup glass measuring cup and discard the solids. Spoon the fat from the top of the sauce. Serve the chicken with the pan sauce.

(I wanted to make the sauce, but it was a very long day here at the Smith house, so we did not have the sauce. The chicken was still great without it.)

Homebrew Inventory

There is no recipe up yet today because I have not yet decided what to post.

We have been doing a lot of brewing lately so I thought I would share with you what we have here at the Smith Homebrewery.

Ready to serve: Pumpkin Ale. It does not taste like pumpkin, sadly, but it is tasty. It has the fruity flavor of a Trappist Ale but maybe we think that because we just finished off the last of our Trappist Ale. I think this ended up around 5% ABV.

Aging in the Bottle: We bottled a Malted Apple Cider last night and I tasted a bit. It is more sour than sweet with a touch of malt. It should age very well. This was made using English Cider Yeast and it definitely tastes more like an English brew which is just what I was wanting. It is about 7% ABV. I think it should be ready to drink around Christmas. It should age longer but I doubt I will be able to wait much longer than a couple months.

In primary fermentation: Friday, we brewed a batch of Holiday Ale. We will rack it this weekend (move it to a secondary fermenter) and then bottle after a week. We are going to label these and give them to deserving parties for Christmas. Are you on the Nice list?

In our dreams: Because we are going to give away or share most of our current batches, we were thinking we should brew one just for us as well. We have a yeast colony from a wheat beer that I would like to try using before it gets to old from languishing in our fridge. If we do brew, it will be soon, so we have some on hand for Christmas and New Year’s.

Dragon Age is an Awesome Time Suck

Ries is right, I have been spending all of my free time the last week or so playing Dragon Age, which I can safely say is the very best game I have ever played. The graphics are astonishing and the plot is nuanced and intriguing. Sadly, unlike Clara, I am not ok with baby-gating in the kid while I play (though I have considered it briefly).

If anyone cares (and why wouldn’t you?!), I am playing a rogue elf from the city caste named Lady. She aspires to be an assassin, is witty, smart, and of course, a serpent in sheep’s clothing.

I have my computer up and running Ubuntu. After a few minor hiccups (the wireless was wonky and I forgot I HATE coding, but luckily with Ubuntu I do not have muck in the innards much), Ubuntu has been fabulous. I will have to give a full accounting of it later. For now, I think I will use nap time to do some library ranting (link up after I write post it).

–Michelle, just wants to play Dragon Age

Update on New Computer: Validated Windows 7

First off, I want to say, that I am an idiot, but I will get to that later.

I described in an earlier post about how I was having trouble putting Windows 7 on my computer.  I bought Windows 7 Ultimate for $20 through UH, since I am a student there.  However, the disk was only an upgrade version and this was a brand spanking new computer with no operating system ever installed.  Therfore, I went ahead and ordered an OEM (Original Equipment Manufactur, basically it is for computer system builders like Dell, HP, smaller boutiques and others but you can buy it from some e-tailers) version of Windows 7 Home Premium for $110.  That was significantly more than I wanted to spend.

But I did some research.  I found this site, which gave great advice on how to use upgrade disks to do a clean install.  But here was the problem.  You always had to use a product key to validate the software and the disk said on the front “Requires Product Key”.  So, I didn’t have one.  I assumed that meant that if you were updating a version of Windows then you had to use the key from the Windows that you were upgrading.  Makes sense to me.  Since we were wiping Michelle’s computer and putting Ubuntu Linux on it (I’ll let Michelle write a future post on her Linux experience)  I figured it was legal to use that Windows XP key.  It would be like I removed it from there and installed on mine and then upgraded it to Windows 7.  I just skipped the part where I installed the XP on my machine since it would be a pointless step.  All sounds good and legal.  However, the key did not work.  I thought I might have to waste my OEM home edition version to get that key and I hope it didn’t downgrade my version.

So, I called Microsoft.  I hate calling people but I wasn’t giving up so easy.  They said that every Windows 7 has to have its own key and that the XP one would not work.  If I got it through my school then I need to contact them about getting a key.  If I still had problems call them back.  They were actually a pretty good support.  I was afraid they were going to try and accuse me of piracy.

If you have read this far, this is the point where Michelle wanted me to blog because she likes to laugh at me.  Remember how I said I was an idiot?  So I called up the UH software store, Cougar Byte, and told them I bought Windows 7 from them but I didn’t get a product key.  I had the disk with me and my receipt and I was prepared for a possible battle but expected it to be pretty easy.  They would just say, “Oh, here it is…”  But here’s how it really played out.  He asks me, “do you still have the sleeve the disk came in?”  I said, “Yes.”  I already know where this is going, he is going to ask me to look on the sleeve for the product key, but I am thinking okay I’ll humor you with this step because of course I looked on the sleeve.  That is where I would expect it to be, right on the back.  After all, I had just installed Office 2007 with software from them and that is exactly where the key was and exactly where I looked.  So he says to me, “Turn it over.”  I’m like, okay, whatever.   “Holy crap!”  I exclaimed on the phone.  There it was!  Plain as day, a bright yellow sticker on a black background with the product key.  He laughed.  I apologized for being an idiot.  He tried to comfort me by telling me it happens a lot.  I felt like the guy who was told to take his computer back to the store by a support tech because he was too dumb to own a computer when he called asking why his desktop wouldn’t turn on during a power outtage (I think the tech was right).

So, in the end, I had a valid key, I used method #2 described in the link above to get my Windows 7 Ultimate working, and I spent $110 on a copy of Windows that I didn’t need (by the way, since I bought the cheaper OEM version instead of the retail version I can not return it either).

–Ries, all that’s left is to overclock this bad boy!  (Idiot, idiot!)

Dragon Age – It’s The Awesome!

New Computer – Check!

Now I need a new game to play on this computer.  Out comes Dragon Age, by Bioware.  I have been tracking progress on this game since it was first announced something like 4 years ago.  I love all things Bioware.  The love affair started with Baldur’s Gate.  Then came  Neverwinter Nights and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.  I loved those games so I was excited about the new Dragon Age.  They were working in it but couldn’t get a publisher or something along those lines so it wasn’t being pushed.  Then all of a sudden Bioware came out with Mass Effect.  That game was awesome too, but I have still been waiting for Dragon Age.  But now it’s out!  Convenient timing that I just finished building a new computer isn’t it? ;)

I really do enjoy video games.  I would take a month off of work and play video games from wake to sleep every day if I could.  I am always looking to get Michelle to play some games too.  Every once in a while she shows an inkling but her patience / dedication always seem to falter.  I think, subconsciously, the reason I try to get her to play is so that I don’t feel guilty for wanting to play so often.  I am now learning that getting Michelle to play also has its downside.  I got her to create a character and start up in Dragon Age.  It’s all over.  She’s hooked.  Now I have to actually share time playing with her.  That is not easy to do when I have no time as there is.  Not to mention when I have to do actual homework on my computer, then none of us can play.  Plus, who watches that boy of ours when we both want to get sucked into the game.  The dog?  When’s he going to start pulling his weight?  Michelle would probably be blogging about the game herself, if she wasn’t so distracted by playing it.  I’m not even sure that when I leave for work during the day that she doesn’t just lock the boy up and start playing.

So, anyways, I’m not really going to review the game or anything here.  There are plenty of places for that.  Let me just say that so far, it is living up to its hype and I haven’t even really gotten into the heavy plot aspects and I can already see myself playing it over a couple times.  Bioware simply makes the best storied games out there, hands down.

–Ries, can feel myself being sucked in, even from a distance.

Recipe: Pasta with Broccoli, Anchovies, and Chile

This recipe is from a pregnancy cookbook my mom gave me when I was pregnant with Gideon. Ries loves anchovies, but I never really knew what to do with them, other than slapping them on pizza. This recipe manages to be light and delicious, without the anchovies overpowering everything. The anchovies add just the right amount of zing.

This dish sits well and can be served hot or at room temperature.

Penne with Broccoli, Anchovies, and Chile
modified from The Healthy Pregnancy Cookbook

one bunch of broccoli or 2 broccoli crowns
7 oz of pasta, penne or other shape
3 tablespoons olive oil
7 cloves of garlic, minced
dash of red pepper flakes
1 can anchovies, chopped
1 large can of sliced black olives, about a 1/2 cup
2 c. Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Trim broccoli and cut it into “trees.” Steam the broccoli until it is tender, then drain.

While the broccoli is steaming, put the water on to boil for the pasta. Cook the pasta until it is just done and not too soft. Al Dente. Reserve a bit of the water from the pasta.

While the pasta and broccoli are cooking, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat, add the garlic and pepper flakes. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until garlic starts to smell. Add the anchovies, stirring, and cook until they start to break up in the oil. Add the broccoli and 1 tbls of the water from the pasta to the skillet. Stir until the broccoli starts to break up and the water evaporates. Add the olives to the broccoli mixture and stir. Turn the heat off of the burner.

Drain the pasta and add it to the mixture in the skillet with the parmesan cheese. If your skillet is too small to stir everything well, transfer everything into a large bowl to add the pasta. If the pasta was done before you needed it, drain it and stir a couple tbls of olive oil over it to keep it from getting sticky.

Serve immediately.

They Do Not Appear In Nature

Every day, I think Gideon learns 5 new words. He is constantly saying things I did not know he knew. This morning he busted out with the word “eggs.” As I was scooping dog food, he counted the scoops before I did, “One. Two. Three. Fhdjsfh.” He just makes this noise for four and if we count above three or four, he just starts over at two or three.

I was going to let him watch Sesame Street this morning, instead of more Animal Atlas, and all went well for a couple minutes… Until Cookie Monster showed up to eat all the oatmeal cookies. Gideon did not like him! Then Elmo and some other puppet thing showed up. Gideon kept shaking his head saying, “No. No.” with a worried look on his face. Even after the “monsters” were gone, he did not want to watch Sesame Street anymore.

It was funny. Ries said it was because he knows those things do not appear in nature and are thus not natural.

We went back to Animal Atlas.

Happy Fall

IMG_1006

Originally uploaded by Wandering Eyre

Pullo and Gideon pose with the pumpkin my Grammy gave Gideon. It is small enough for him to carry, so yesterday he dragged it everywhere while saying “Punky! Punky!”

It was adorable.

Recipe: Pumpkin Spice Muffins

It is finally “cold” here in Houston. I am using quotes because cold here is 60 degrees. People start busting out sweaters and scarves at any temperature below 70 degrees. The arrival of Fall, finally, inspired me to to bake these muffins, a coffee cake, and some bread today. Well, the weather and the fact that my Bible study class is in charge of breakfast for the entire group tomorrow. Still…

These are like little spice cakes, delicious, and perfect with coffee or tea in the morning. Slap a little cream cheese frosting on these babies and they could do double duty as desert.

Pumpkin Spice Muffins
modified from Cooking Light 2007

2 1/4 c. unbleached flour
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. raisins
1 c. packed brown sugar
1 c. canned pumpkin
1/3 c. yogurt
1/3 c. oil (vegetable, olive, or whatever you normally use)
1/4 c. molasses
1 tsp. vanilla
2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 400.

Combine flour and next 6 ingredients in a medium or large bowl. Add raisins, stir, and make a well in the center.

In another medium bowl, combine brown sugar and the next 6 ingredients. Stir until well combined.

Pour the brown sugar mixture into the flour mixture. Stir until just moist.

Spoon batter into greased or lined muffin tins. Fill 3/4 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Baking time will vary depending on muffin size. This batter will make 24 mini muffins and 6 regular sized muffins.

New Computer – OS?

Sorry for boring you with posts about my new computer.  This will probably be the last for a while.  I may do another one when I get around to overclocking it.  But that will be a first for me so I may put it off for a bit.

Today I will just mention my fun (frustrations) with Microsoft’s certification process.  If you don’t know already, Microsoft just officially released their new operating system yesterday.  Windows 7.  Luckily, since I am a student at UH right now, I can get a copy of it for just $20.  Unfortunately, I found out at the time of purchase that it was only an Upgrade version, meaning I had to have a valid activated Windows OS already installed on my computer.

I had a plan to get around this snag.  Michelle has plans to wipe her laptop clean and install Linux on it.  I encourage the idea and am excited to watch / help Michelle move into the world of open source.  Anyways, I figured that I could use the product key of her Windows XP system when I install Windows 7.  After all, it is as if we are removing the Windows XP from her computer and installing it on mine, then upgrading it.  We just skipped the step of actually installing the XP on my computer, which is not needed anyways since you have to do a clean install over XP anyways.  I don’t think there is anything illegal about that and it seems like a reasonable action.  However, at the end (note I said end) of the Windows 7 installation, when it asked for the product key and I entered her XP key, it told me that it was an invalid key and to reenter.  That’s it.  I was stuck with nothing else to do.

So, I still have no operating system on my new computer and it lies there dormant just waiting to be utilized.  I finally gave in and purchased an OEM version of Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) on New Egg for $109.99.  I am dissapointed because that is a lot of money and I would install Linux on it myself if I didn’t want to game on this machine.  For those of you who don’t want to do the math, that brings the total price of my computer, including monitor and operating system, to $1,490.74.  I’d say that’s pretty good since I bought my Alienware (w/o monitor) back in 2002 for $3,000 at the same relative level of performance for the times.

–Ries, unsuccessful at working the system

Botched Seams

A post in which I attempt to sew a few things.

I should start out by saying that I do know how to sew. I have, in the past, successfully sewn many things. Today, though…

Yesterday, I cut two yards of fabric into the parts for two pairs of pajama pants for Gideon. One print was a nice dog print and the other had frogs and lizards. Today, after Gideon went to sleep, I set up the sewing machine and sat down. It was then that I realized I had cut the panels on both yards wrong. If I were to sew them together, one side of the pants would be printed and the other side would be the unprinted underside. There is no way to salvage that, really, so that is two yards in the scrap pile.

I called my Mom to confirm my mistake.

Next I cut the fabric I bought to make Gideon some pants for his pirate costume. This time, I cut them correctly. Whew. I put the backs together and the fronts, respectively and sewed the inside seam together, which I vaguely recalled as being the next step.

Wrong. By sewing up the inside seam, and the ahrder to ri I sewed up what should have been two legs. I also used small straight stiches, the better to hold and the harder to rip out as well. I put those aside to rip the seams out later. At least those are salvageable.

Since I had botched all the pants, I decided to a try the vest next. This was to be an easy affair, with very little seams because I want it to look raggedy. I was only going to sew the sides and shoulders, leaving the arm holes and bottom unhemmed. I cut the vest using a shirt as a pattern. I think it turned out well. I proudly sewed up the sides and turned it right side in to admire my handiwork.

At this point I realized I had sewn the arm holes closed.

*headdesk*

I cut behind the seams and made arm holes. I reinforced the seams so they would not come undone. Gideon, by this time, had woken from his regrettably short nap. I had him try on the vest. Made some adjustments and I think it looks pretty good.

While Gideon ate lunch, I ripped the seams from the sad pirate pants. I will attempt to sew those tonight after Gideon goes to bed. Hopefully, this time I will not make such a mess of it.

The worst part of this is that I feel, not mad or frustrated, but tired and defeated. I used very precious nap time resources on a mostly, useless endeavor.

Animal Atlas is over, and thus my computer time is as well.

New Computer – Hardware / Price

Without further ado, here are the components inside my new computer and how much I paid for them.

• Processor:  Intel Core i5 750 – $199.99
• Motherboard:  Asus P7P55D Pro – $169.99
• Memory:  Crucial 2x 2GB DDR3 1333 – $74.99
• Video Card:  Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 1GB – $154.99
• Hard Drive:  2x 1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3 – 2 x $79.99
• Optical Drive:  Lite-On 24x DVD +/-RW w/ LightScribe – $30.99
• Case:  Antec 1200 – $119.99
• Power Supply:  Corsair TX750 – $119.99
• CPU Cooler:  Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus – $37.55
• Keyboard:  Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000 – $22.94
• Mouse:  iHome USB Wired Red Laser Mouse – $22.97
• Monitor:  LG 23″ Widescreen LCD Monitor w/ TV Tuner – $264.74

With the exception of the Monitor (Fry’s) and the Optical Drive I got everything from New Egg.  The prices listed include tax and shipping charges but not mail-in rebates.  I did send in for a $20 one for the power supply.

Guts of the new computer

I put these all together without any issue.  It took me about 6 hours but I took my time, watched TV, and spent time with my wife during the process.  Unfortunately, I don’t yet have an Operating System for it.  I found out the student version of Windows 7 that I planned to use was only an upgrade option.  Now I have to find a solution.  I will probably write another post when it is complete.

New Computer – History

The first computer I ever bought was a cheap Compaq, during a 1998 day-after-Thanksgiving sale. That computer quickly outgrew it’s usefulness and 2 years later I decided I would try to build my own computer.

Building a computer seemed fairly easy, and generally it was, but there was some frustration along the way. At the end, I probably didn’t get exactly the computer I wanted but I did learn a lot. However, the next computer I bought was from Alienware.

Alienware is a little overpriced but I feel that they do provide a great product (I’d rather overpay for an Alienware than for a Mac).  That computer has lasted me 7+ years without problems. However, it was a poorly timed purchase because it was just before PCI-Express ports came out for using graphics cards so it uses an AGP port and it uses RDRAM, which for simplicity terms was a losing RAM memory format.  As a result, I have not been able to upgrade that computer in any meaningful way.  The only problem this creates is that I have not been able to install any new games in the last couple years.  Civilization IV and Guild Wars were the last new games I installed.

That has been okay because I convinced my wife a while ago that I needed an Xbox 360 and a Playstation 3.  So far, I can’t even find the time to play the games I do have on those systems as well as the other ones I want to get.  However, I have been jonesin for a new computer for a long time and I think I have done a fairly good job of being patient.  Especially since before this stretch, I was getting a new computer every 2 years.

In anticipation of a new computer I went ahead and bought the case that I wanted over a year ago. I have been checking prices and reading articles now for probably 2 years and keeping spreadsheets on what parts I want to buy and how much they cost.  Of course, given with the way the market changes so quickly that spreadsheet has evolved plenty over time. As a matter of fact the day I finally made the majority of my purchase I changed my mind on motherboard at the last minute.

So finally, at the beginning of this month I have saved enough money (after relinquishing enough to buy my wife a Kindle) to buy the computer I want.  Tomorrow, I will post the details of the hardware components.

–Ries, finally getting his fix

Pumpkin Ale

IMG_0883

Originally uploaded by Wandering Eyre

This will be ready in time for Thanksgiving. It is in the brewing fridge, aging, and keeping the cider company.

Training Parents

Gideon is getting bossy for one with so few years, but occasionally, his bossiness is appreciated.

Last night, Gideon and I had finished dinner and I was sitting on the couch. It was about 7:15. He came over, patted my arm, and pointed to his room. I asked him to, “Show me.”

He led me down the hall, pointing. Gideon walked right up to the rocking chair and pointed again.

I asked him, “Are you tired?”
“Yes,” he answered, nodding and smiling.
“Do you want milkies?”
Again, he nodded and smiled.
“You can go to bed if you want.”

At that he walked into the hall, where he could see Ries, who was still eating, and said, “Bye-Bye,” and walked back to me.

I fed him and he was asleep by 7:35.

I think he has us trained.