Wednesday, June 6, 2012

"but on earth, we are indeed wandering..."

Much on earth is concealed from us, but in place of it we have been granted a secret, mysterious sense of our living bond with the other world, with the higher heavenly world, and the roots of our thoughts and feelings are not here but in other worlds. That is why philosophers say it is impossible on earth to conceive of the essence of things. God took seeds from other worlds and sowed them on this earth, and raised up his garden; and everything that could sprout sprouted, but it lives and grows only through its sense of being in touch with other mysterious worlds; if this sense is weakened or destroyed in you, that which has grown up in you dies. Then you become indifferent to life, and even come to hate it. So I think.
-Zosima, The Brothers Karamazov

Monday, June 4, 2012

101 in 1001- May update

9) Attain a Master's Degree.
I GRADUATED.You can now call me Master. Or Mistress.
The ceremony (we only did the graduate school ceremony and skipped Unified Commencement) was really nice and the reception afterward was also really great (Tulane reminds you of why you pay so much in tuition when they have a reception featuring champagne, piles of smoked salmon, carving stations, and other bombastic food tables) and my grandma got loaded. I ended up drinking the entire day, starting with champagne at the reception, mint juleps at Pat Os, wine at Wave Goodbye (a little party Tulane throws for graduates), gingeritas and photos in full regalia with Alyson at Pals, beers at Mid City Yacht Club, and finally a bottle of wine at 2am with Richie at home. You can maybe see why I skipped unified. Alex graduated from high school two days my graduation, so we had a lot to celebrate :)
High school graduation! I'm wearing 3.5" heels here. Big little brother.




















Chich & me


Mignon Faget jewels from my parents















Lovely lady friends





Fambly :)



19) Read 1 unassigned book per month.
May '12- Susan Orlean The Orchid Thief
I saw Adaptation before I read this and while I knew the basic premise behind Adapation (that it was Charlie Kaufman's fictionalized attempt to adapt The Orchid Thief into a movie), I didn't quite realize how different the stories were. I went into this book expecting something very different, but I really enjoyed the book. It reads, in turns, as a history of orchid hunting, the state of Florida, the life of John Larouche, and the Seminole Indian tribe. It doesn't really read like a novel as much as a very long journalism piece, which makes sense, as the book was born of a New Yorker piece Susan Orlean did on John Larouche. I recommend it. 

24) Learn 1 new word a week.
(I admit, I didn't learn each of these each week, but these words are brought to you by the Scribbs National Spelling Bee)  
Ingluvies- The crop, or craw, of birds  
Foulard- A lightweight twill or plain-woven fabric of silk or silk and cotton, usually having a small printed design  
Soubrette- A saucy, coquettish, intriguing maidservant in comedies or comic opera  
Ursprache- any hypothetical extinct and unrecorded language reconstructed from groups of related recorded languages. For example, Germanic is an Ursprache reconstructed by comparison of English, Dutch, German, the Scandinavian languages, and Gothic; Indo-European is an Ursprache reconstructed by comparison of the Germanic group, Latin, Sanskrit, etc.  

57) Make 3 food items I'd normally buy ready-made.
Yogurt!
I found this recipe for making yogurt in your slow cooker. I tried it with skim milk and nonfat yogurt (with some powdered milk added in for thickness) and while it was a bit runny, it's worked beautifully in smoothies and I think with some full fat stuff, it'd be great on a spoon with some fruit.

81) Write down all purchases for 1 month and look at where I can cut expenses.
So, uh, this was a sobering experience.
A few things to note- I had graduation money to play with here, so I spent more than I normally would have...but the things I spent more money on are still the things I tend to spend money on. Also, there are only two items under clothes & shoes: a bridesmaid dress and graduation shoes that I was reimbursed for. Nevertheless, I wanted to be honest.

That said...damn. I spend WAY too much on eating out. I need to do smarter grocery shopping, instead of planning a meal on a whim that doesn't involve anything i already have in my pantry. I need to find a place with cheaper rent.

In view of these results, I'm using June to cross off another item on the list--100) Don't eat out for 1 month. I probably should have started another list to track the amount of money I (hopefully!) save, but I didn't think about it and I've already forgotten some of my weekend purchases. It's also kind of a bitch to write down every bit of money you spend when you carry cash and hate keeping receipts.

96) Attend 10 cultural events.
8) "A Brief and Sensational history of 'The Mascot,' Notorious Newspaper of New Orleans' Gilded Age"
This was an hour-long lecture on a New Orleans tabloid that ran from 1882-1896 and prompted duels, murders, numerous libel trials, all manner of marital woes and even some social progress. It was a really fascinating and hilarious lecture and I'm glad I made it. I went with Matt and we almost missed it because I mistakenly thought it was at City Park instead of at The Cabildo.Speaking of The Cabildo...I was tempted to add it to my list of historical New Orleans places I've visited, but since I just ran up the stairs and sat in one room, I feel like it wasn't explored enough for me to add it...yet.

Full list here.