Where Fingertips meet Keys.

Smoke curled up through my fingers.

2010-12-17T23:42:00.000-08:00

Back again? Perhaps. I think I should start updating one of these blogs sooner or later. How many do I have now?
. . .
maybe two or three. And when was the last time I wrote anything significant in any of them?
. . .
HA! I'm fixin to alter that trend pretty soon here.

Nate's Homeowrk

2010-04-22T16:25:00.001-07:00

    title="Wordle: spelling words">    src="http://www.wordle.net/thumb/wrdl/1938105/spelling_words"
    alt="Wordle: spelling words"
    style="padding:4px;border:1px solid #ddd">

For all the kids...

2010-02-17T07:15:00.000-08:00

What's up world. It has been a year since I last left an entry? That is gobble-di-gook! As much as I wish I could say I have been too busy, I can not! Life has been fairly slow lately. I am still going to school which is no shift in position since the last you viewed this space. However, I did shift the position of the schools from Oregon to Michigan. It was a good move... necessary. I started another blog, sircollins.tumblr.com, but I do not suspect it to gain much momentum; not yet at least. I anticipate having some more creative thoughts so check back soon as I gather more material for publishing.

Lately, I have just been really impressed with school and being involved with internet facets/opportunities. So keep an eye out. This should be fun.

I have been really into some cool podcasts, websites and such:

This Week in Law
NY Times
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube (RayWJ!)
Reuters

And that's about it for now, but you can totally check them out... it's fun. I'll see you soon, Forum.

Recipe: Beef stock.

2009-01-05T10:00:00.000-08:00

BEEF STOCK

INGREDIENTS
-4 lbs of beef with bones
-1 medium yellow onion, cut into 8 pieces
-3 celery stalks cut into 3 inch sections
-2 carrots, cut into 3 inch sections
5 garlic cloves, whole, smashed
3 whole Bay leaves, dried
5 whole peppercorns, black mostly, but medley is acceptable
4 Tablespoons Kosher salt

DIRECTIONS
Roast beef bones with meat on in 250 degree oven for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and place in 6.4 quart pot and fill with cold water until 2 1/2 inches from top. Bring to boil and insert all ingredients. Reduce heat to simmer. Keep the mixture at a simmer for 3 1/2 hours. You may stir whenever you like, but skim hot fat (it looks like oil) off the top and place in separate container. While the stock is timing out set up a station that will accept 60 ounces of stock. Include in the station a fine net strainer over the container. For the container, I have seen a 5 gallon bucket used for larger quantities, but I just use Tupperwares because of the comparatively small amount. Run the entire batch through the strainer and discard whole, solid objects. All of the veggies should be very mushy and tasteless because they shared their flavor with the stock. Allow stock to refrigerate for up 24 hours and remove the white, fat top layer that has aggregated. Now, your stock is done. If you are not using the stock immediately, you can freeze into ice cubes or whole stocks - chicken, beef, veal, lamb, etc - are used in laboratories as growth mediums because they are so nutrient rich bacteria grows very fast.

Winter starts tomorrow.

2009-01-04T19:08:00.000-08:00

Los Angeles was really fun. I spent the majority of the vacation there with Maia and Reilly. We did everything together which was surprisingly pleasant and a nice way to spend the holidays. The weather was great. 70s and sunny almost every day. We went on hikes by the coast out by Malibu. We saw the movie, "Doubt."
So tomorrow the new term starts! I am very excited about this term and the next. My Biology series is really demanding and really rewarding. I feel like since it is a great challenge I learn the most about myself along with the topic, and that seems irreplaceable. It makes me smarter and a better student. I feel great about starting term tomorrow. See you soon!

Ticks, Santa Cruz & vicinity.

2009-01-04T12:59:00.001-08:00

Santa Cruz was pretty fun if you enjoy babbling brooks, giant redwoods and deer ticks crawling all over you.
First thing I I did when I arrived was buy some delicious, highly-recommended Brazilian food with Maia. It was delicious and then it was off to the redwood forest with our host, Jessica Saatdjian, her girlfriend, Meg, brother Damien and his friend, Alicia. It was fun and we went off-trail and found a super sweet swimming hole. Then we trekked around for a little bit along the banks and rocks and headed to our new, fourth home, so far. At home, we just then began to notice little ticks scurrying around our bodies! My intention is not to lead you, the reader, to assume the we were infested. In all, we only found five ticks on our bodies cumulatively. Maia was the only one who was lucky enough to be eaten by one. It was right under the waistband on her jeans! AHHH! Oh man, so for the rest of Santa Cruz we were all scratching our necks and pits and everything and having each other do visual inspections constantly paranoid that there was a tick somewhere. Ugh. The rest of the time was really nice. Maia and I walked many miles, as usual.
I may come back and add more later, but for now this will suffice. Santa Cruz was kind of uneventful. I did have this breakfast meal, Corned beef hash and eggs w/ potatoes. It was pretty awesome and that was in downtown Santa Cruz.
Is your interest still peaked about the damn wet-suit surfing, Jas?

Count.

2009-01-02T23:46:00.000-08:00

Does this count as a blog toward my ten? If it does not, then it should. The other blogs I have written are pretty extensive, or, at least, they should be. Did I mention I love to cook? I think I may post some recipes on here when I get home. If you would like to read some of my recipes then let me know and I will, for sure, post some.

Also, check out Chuck Pahluniuk. It is good reading.

10 miles and Golden Gate Park.

2009-01-02T15:37:00.000-08:00

San Francisco was a blast. Holy-amazing-crap! How do I explain how extraordinary a feeling one becomes enveloped by when passing through the treacherous Oregon-California Pass with a 2x rear-wheel drive Nissan Xterra unscathed in December? It is truly an amazing feat. I have some pictures.

The pass I am referring to is the area above 4000 feet altitude that straddles the Oregon-California border. Through the pass you are constantly fearing for your life. The speed limit is as fast as your car can travel with chains on. You are constantly passing 60 foot semi-truck tractor trailers and/or being honked at by heavy-duty 4x4 trucks with rubber nobbies the size of my right foot on every tire. The latter of these monsters humming their way by at sixty mph. There is so much snow and mist in the air that there is no sky, only grey everywhere you look, but after a hundred miles of this shit, the first thing that happens is the clouds break. Sun blankets the winter wonderland that surrounds you, and it illuminates all of the beautiful, high-altitude Alpine wilderness. Then the snow packed roads turn to slush and gravel. This section is still a dangerous area because the rubbish that coats your windshield is essentially mud, and if you run out of wiper fluid, like I did, it becomes quite tricky. My recommended strategy is to tailgate the semis and use the water kicked up from their tires to cleanse the windshield. So life is still very difficult at this point, but fear not because soon the slush just turns to water. Here the altitude is only about 2500 feet, and from here the going gets easier because it is not long until the roads start to become more dry than anything. This area is around Mount Shasta and south. Needless to say, from here to San Francisco is an easy 250 mile trek of flat ground and many gas stations and rest areas.

Maia, Reilly and I arrive in San Francisco at around 9:35 pm. My old friend, Kelly, comes out to greet us at Pier 39 on the corner of The Embarcadero and North Point. He then takes us to his boathouse, and I can already tell it may not turn out to be so great. I have slept on a boat before, and Kelly lives on it so I know we are not going to be the ones making late night trips to the head, but Maia and Reilly are my main worries. No big deal either way though. Kelly's lodging is very appreciated after spending a couple nights on the road. None of us became sick that night, which is surprising because we ate at Joe's Crab Shack. Anyway, the next day we have all day and the forecast is sunny and sixty-five.

Start the morning at a nice cafe. I had the Huevos rancheros. It was delicious! The salsa left me a little disenchanted, but that's all. The highlight of this anecdote is the beautiful, sunny 10 mile walk through San Francisco's wealthier districts all the way to Golden Gate Park. There. I said it. Briefly now: We bought a frisbee on haight & ashbury, played with it on hippy hill and then a pit-bull ate it. With no more frisbee we took a seat and had a smoke on the hill. Yaiee! After that we headed to the museum. Then we used what was left of our energy to hail a bus, and a train, and finally ended up back at the boat at like 10 at night.

That was the highlighted section. The rest of San Francisco was kind of mundane. This blog has already taken up too much time! I have a plane to catch tomorrow. Back to Portland! So wish me safe travels and check back later to see if i made it home safe.

Perfect Weather.

2009-01-01T16:36:00.000-08:00

I have been out here in Los Angeles for quite a while now! Things have gone really well from Christmas, to the Getty museum, to the New Year's celebration, and my homemade barbecue sauce among other things.
I can feel vacation coming to a close, but I am also kind of eagerly anticipating classes to continue. This break has done me very well, but here is the deal:
I think I have to crank out a few daily blogs consecutively. So I am going to try to maintain the following course to correct my deficient blog count. In order to write four additional blogs to this one, I am going to write about San Francisco & vicinity, Santa Cruz & vicinity, sites and holidays in Los Angeles, and aspirations for this next school term. That is 1, 2, 3, and 4 that should put me at 10 blogs over this break. The remainder of this entry will contain mostly reflections.
Reflections such as the holidays and family. I could write pages about this, but I will keep it down to a couple paragraphs. Words should roll freely out of the fingertips of anyone when asked to reflect about holidays passed and the memories that accompany them. It should not be hard to imagine all of the smells, sights, tastes, and sounds that typically envelope this time of year. While I am on the topic, however, it can also be a time that can strike up memories of loneliness or desolation, but my intent here is not to induce a feeling of gloomy holidays. It is easy enough to simply state that some people just don't celebrate the season.
This year, my main memory revolves around the company. A few days ago I was struck with a feeling that left me longing for a more adventurous holiday season. Yet, upon further inspection I realized that my yearning was immature. I actually do cherish spending the holidays in the presence of family and friends. It dawned on me that I could have spent my winter break alone, but that's as far as that goes. Alone.
Sounds like a bad idea to me.
That should be good for tonight. I am pretty happy and have had a great vacation so far.

Cooking notes:
Rick Bayless, authentic Mexican food
acidiulated water

Twelve Hundred Miles.

2008-12-25T19:54:00.000-08:00

Welllcome back! A new week, new places, new tastes, old faces. What a trip!? Where do I start?

The road trip. As most planned trips go, I left Portland around noon, which was already four hours later than originally proposed. Travel was pretty brisk. Highway Eighty-four was very clear all the way south to Ashland. The road signs posted were all flashing and warning me to put my tire chains on. I finally did after much deliberation. I have been driving in snowy weather since i was twelve so I am very acclimated to the requirements of driving on slick surfaces. I finally put on my chains, after all, and hopped into a long line of tractor trailers and trucks. The line was so long, and after spending a over an hour in the slowly moving line I finally reached the police barricade and a miserable looking fellow who informed me that the highway was closed until further notice. Ground flares and flashing lights led me to southbound on ramp where I drove up and headed back to downtown Ashland. Right now, I am thinking, "Shit. The pass separating southern Oregon and Northern California can sometimes stay closed for days on end. I am supposed to be in Redding, California tonight." Needless-to-say I did not end up in Redding that night. Nor did I even make it out of Oregon. Also, as you can tell if you have been reading these chronologically, I was unable to post my Thursday blog.
Geez-oh-peets. That whole ordeal was terribly annoying. I made finally made it out of Ashland. I was in Mt Shasta the next day, as a matter of fact. Snow was still prevalent at that altitude so I decided to bypass any long hiking excursions, and headed south to San Francisco where I would meet up with buddies from a long way away.
San Francisco is one of my favorites. I am not quite sure what it is about San Francisco that always wants me to come back. I am not even entirely sure that I have a grand ole' time every time I visit. I just really appreciate the memory. I don't know. Meeting up with my buddies was fun though. The weather was nice and I was finally starting to feel the fatigue of being on the road, and I was only 700 miles complete out of 1200. One might say, ". . . but that is over half! It's downhill from here!" But HA! I disagree! it only get harder. As miles accumulate, and dollars pour forth, and tensions mount so does frustration and the friction that occurs between individuals can be likened to trying to slip & slide across sandpaper. Oh Poor Maia! Poor Reilly! my girlfriend and my dog and me were all up in kaboodles. Trite offenses were occasionally mistaken for blasphemy and heresy! It is a surprise, at some moments, that we did not all kill each other in our sleep. We're only 700 miles complete, remember? Next we head to Santa Cruz.
In Santa Cruz, we did okay. The sleeping facilities were much more cozy, but I did not like the city. Even walking the streets of San Francisco at 2 am, I did not feel as much hostility from passerby's as I did from the same individuals at 2 pm on Christmas Eve in Santa Cruz. The last day in Santa Cruz, yesterday, was the hardest day of the road trip.
As I am here writing this blog, I am not going into detail nearly as much as is required to accurately portray the characters and places as i encountered on this trip. Sorry. I will try to post some pictures.
Finally, we made it to Los Angeles. That is where I am tonight typing this. It feels great to finally have a bed and a slippers and a dresser. I am at Maia's Mom's house tonight and until January 3rd. Merry Christmas! I am pretty much done typing until next time.
While I am here in LA, I want to pick up a pair of jeans without holes in the knees; I want to purchase a nice hat to protect my balding head from the elements, e.g. cold air, snow, rain, etcetera; I want to see a couple museums (the Gettys?); I want to surf with a decent wet suit; and I want to hike some hikes in the surrounding areas. After I complete these tasks, I should be able to return to Portland with a sense of accomplishment and purpose ready to take on the next big challenge, my arch nemesis, the winter term. The dreariest months of the year are yet to come, and I want to continue my onslaught of great grades. Stay tuned!

I am a Ringworm expert.

2008-12-16T18:58:00.000-08:00

The snow arrived. That was the first thing I wanted to say. The next thing that follows would probably be what I did with the solid water. How do I tell you. . . I will interject, briefly, that conjuring the thoughts which had occurred on that night is entertaining.

The delicately descending flakes surprised me a couple nights ago, and nothing had accumulated until that point. I was pleased that the snow actually was falling because I had two pairs of snowshoes in my trunk and expected to use them the next day. Still, I did not think that snow would pile up outside my door here in Portland Proper (I might live in the Hillsdale district). I do remember that night I could not keep warm. Consequently, I slept lightly due to the light comforter I had on my bed. Sure enough though, the next morning I rolled over to look out my bedroom window and all the pine boughs bowed under the weight of the freshly arriven snow (I know, I just made that word up).

So BAM! Snow!

That morning I froze my tuckus off getting the car ready to hit the trails. I had on my snowboarding pants, long johns, heavy combat boots, two pairs of socks, mitten liners, mittens, wool hat, two shirts and a sweater on, and I was still cool. Damn, it was cold! Have you ever been snowshoeing? Oh my god it was so worth it. Once the car warmed up the cold air outside was harmless. I rolled the vehicle all the way out to Sandy where we headed up 26 past Zig Zag and past Rhododendron. I rolled the vehicle all the way up to about 4600 feet elevation where I donned the tire-chains. From there up to the trailhead, the travel was slow paced. It occurred to me that I may have not put the chains on correctly, but my paranoia was misplaced - as usual. Once we arrived at the Mirror Lake trailhead, it was time to really get going.

I had three other people with me. My 23 year old girlfriend Maia; our dog, Rielly; and two 19 year old guys, Tim Clark and Kyle Juetes. We geared up and headed upward. The trail is like 3.5 miles to the point dubbed, "Tom, Dick, and Larry." It is mostly coniferous trees and rhododendrons until the higher altitudes where it becomes mostly sparse pine trees. I wish I could identify the trees that are up there. Probably Doug Firs. That is the state tree, after all. So we are still climbing and three things are happening all at once. Well, more than three, but these three in particular: 1.) the air is getting thinner, 2.) the snow's getting deeper, and 3.) travel is becoming more difficult. They are all inter-related, but you'll have to take a Geography class to get into the nitty-gritty of those atmospheric conditions. Watching these things occur is really phenomenal, though, and I highly recommending snowshoeing at high altitudes. This isn't even that high. We are only at probably 6,000 feet right now. Skipping to the summit, the wind was very gusty and the snow was relentless. Whatever view surrounded us was veiled by the interfering conditions. I bet my life-savings that the view is spectacular. I will visit Tom, Dick and Larry again to see it, too.

Well, I am going to cut it now. I wanted to get into my birthday last Wednesday, and I also wanted to touch on my big road trip, but this post has already become too long so I'll be quick.

Maia bought me an iPod nano for my birthday. Totally awesome, but she didn't have to do that.

This is the itinerary for the West Coast road trip:
A.) Dec 18-20, Hiking Mt Shasta and surrounding areas.
B.) Dec 20-22, Visit Kelly, Mike, Matt, Chris, Kevin in San Francisco.
C.) Dec 22-24, Visit Jessica in Santa Cruz.
D.) Dec 24-Jan3, hang in Los Angeles and hike the surrounding area.

Sorry for the lame last few lines. I will be in Redding this weekend so I'll try to post an update from there. Your interest may be peaked about why the title is, "I'm a ringworm expert." So I should tell you. I was fostering some sick kittens a couple weeks ago. They were from the Vancouver Humane Society. Somehow these poor sick boogers attracted ringworm and gave it to me, Maia and Reilly. So I've been researching and battling ringworm for a couple weeks now. I'm a pro. Leave a comment, shoot me an email. I'll give you help if you need it. All I can say, for now, is Selsun Blue.

Flat Shelves.

2008-12-11T19:48:00.000-08:00

Now that I have a moment, I might be able to construct a decent post. I completed my final final examination today. So I am writing just as I promised. Principles of Biology, Bio 251 is the class. Ask me for a CRN and I will promptly tell you where to shove it.

I studied for it, but minimally. That is one of the top Ten things I want to change about me-in-school - my study habits. I know I earned the A- fair and square, but I truly feel like I should have pushed harder and attained one of the top 5 scores in the class. 73 out of 80 is 91%. I could have achieved a seventy-eight or seventy-9. Honestly, I am hoping that with perseverance, guidance and some time I can grasp that top 5 percentile like I really, really want. This trend of taking tests from the hip is a recipe for disaster, though. I am hoping that with time in grade I will gain the foresight and study skills necessary to Ace tests. That takes time though.

With this term closed out I just pretty much get to sit and wait for the final marks to be posted. This, too, can be an exhausting activity. I want to see three triangles when I open my grade envelope (AAA). Keep your fingers crossed on that one. I will be able to finish this book, "Choke", by Chuck Palahniuk. This book has been pretty dreadful. Ahh, but wait, I am trying to focus this paragraph on the productive ways I am going to spend my Winter break.

My memory just stroke up a vision of sitting by a window with a cup of hot coffee in my hands. Michigan does have great winter sights. From the comfort of home, viewing out onto the world is quite beautiful back there. All of the trees are bare sticks and they hold snow aloft until the strength of direct sunlight can melt it off their branches and down into their roots. Then They will produce leaves and begin metabolizing fresh oxygen for the spring, summer and fall months.

That is what Michigan winters remind me of. It is peaceful, but do not neglect to remember the debilitating affects snow can have on commuting. Whew! That's rough!

I am going to be found outdoors very frequently this Winter. Hiking, snowboarding, snowshoeing, and jogging. Being active is essential to not gettin lost in the doldrums of mid-winter complacency. Perhaps I will commence building a chicken coop for live chickens, or my garden coffins. I am really excited to take the weight off major, commercial agriculture to provide ME with essential life-sustaining nutrients. I should be able to do that for myself. Shouldn't I?

Begging for Finals.

2008-12-09T14:04:00.001-08:00

. . . and we're back.

It is finals week. I am a little frazzled, but that is expected. My first term is almost complete. After my Biology final Thursday morning, I am done. Then it is on to Winter Break, and the craziness that ensues.

This week is mostly a heads-down week for me because I the exams are term cumulative. I just created the phrase "term cumulative," and it means that the final examination is a test to see how well I absorbed and understood ALL of the information that was disseminated over the course of the semester. Wow. What a mouthful. Anyway, it is back to the books for me. I will try to post Thursday night after my final final to record how I did.

Just a reminder: Tonight, as the clock rolls over midnight, I will be transferring into my 27th year of life. Still don't have much to record about that, but I'm sure I will be able to at least tell the blog about what presents I get. ;-) I should include that in my Thursday evening post.

Cook Thanksgiving First, then. . .

2008-12-03T15:33:00.000-08:00

Well, I suppose you did not come to stare blankly at a screen, even though, that is a lot of what my last few days have been like. For some reason, my internet connection has been terribly slow. It is really a pain in the ass. There are so many valid influences to explain the intricacies of that conundrum that I think you would be quickly exhausted to have to ready through why my internet connection is similar to honey. It is kind of funny, in a weird youthful, naive kind of way, but, like I said, it would be dreadful to draw that picture so let's move on shall we?

I cooked my first Thanksgiving Turkey this year! Actually, I cooked all of the main course dishes. Side dishes such as a delicious cream of exotic and domestic mushroom soup, homemade cranberry sauce, the turkey(!), stuffing, and turkey gravy. The entire meal was especially challenging because the host I was cooking for is allergic to gluten and foods that contain said substance. The entire meal was my first time making any of it, and I had to make it for eight people, and I had to make it taste good. I feel very accomplished by completing this task, and I feel fulfilled because it was fun. I have really taken to cooking over the course of the last 365 daze of my life. ;-) All of the guests, my wonderful girlfriend, and the host were and are astounded at how authentic and delicious the dinner was.

My freshman year of college has been pretty exciting. Talk about wham-bam-thank-ya-ma'am! This quarter or triad or whatever has been just like a left-right-left-right combo from Muhammad Ali or something. Maybe a little more like losing control skiing and plummeting down a mountain face. As you bounce down the hillside every once in a while you'll take flight and the world will move slow enough for you to comprehend what is going on around you, but then the ground comes rushing up to meet you and it's dirt and snow and bushes and trees and basically just trying not to freak out while you proceed to crash down the mountain. Ha! It's like an avalanche of Sam! AHHHHHHH!

This will conclude my first blog, in ages. I guess you will be hearing from me soon. I have some things for us to look forward to:
1.) I plan on having enough material to demonstrate my guitar/singing skills at a "open-mic" soon.
2.) I might buy a recording device so that my friends and I can create music despite the great span of space between us.
3.) My first term at PSU is coming to a finale next Thursday, December 11th, 2008.
4.) My birthday is next week, December 10th, 2008, and I will turn 27 years old.
5.) . . . have a good day. :-)