kcw | journal | 2004 << Previous Page | Next Page >>
I spent most of today moving the bookcases from the game room to my bedroom. And then I filled them with the current games that I have cataloged in my current web site, leaving extra space for future expansion because all the bookcases were getting stuffed. Of course that means I won't have enough bookcase space later on but I can get more bookcases.

It's kind of nice having all my books around me. Cozy too. And I still have quite a bit of wall space for more bookcases. I shouldn't be surprised, but now my room is quite a bit darker. White walls reflect light quite a bit better than dark books and dark bookcases. I might need to get another lamp.

So far I have it set up so that if there is a big earthquake the bookcases won't fall on me as I'm sleeping. Once the room is lined with bookcases I'll have to move my bed a bit and it'll be quite cramped in my bedroom. It'll be like living in a studio apartment. Come to think of it, if the bookcases fall they'll fall on my PowerBook. I may to rethink where I put my "desk" (it's just an old dining room table that barely fits four people, I really should get some kind of real desk).

It's really nice, like a fresh start. After a while you build up stuff and it's all dusty and sort of sloppy. Moving the bookcases and books cleans them up a bit and everything is ordered and neat. It's the same effect as wiping out my hard drive and reinstalling the system software. It's like I bought it all again.

I bought this vegetable soup mix from Trader Joe's. Made some today and it reminded me that it's amazingly good. Water, soup mix, whatever extras you want to add (I use a chopped up onion), a bunch of salt and simmer for an hour or two. I thought the split pea soup was good but this is so much better. I think it's the barley and alphabet pasta. Gives it a better consistency and flavor.

So I make all this soup, like a whole pot. And I'm eating it all day, like five bowls already and it's about 2/3rds done. I'm not one to leave leftovers so when I make a lot of food I tend to eat it as much as I can to finish it. But even with this good a soup I want something more solid for dinner so I'll cook a steak with rice (I wanted mashed potatoes but my one pot has soup in it, though I guess there's not much soup left so I could put it in a bowl. I'll go see.)

Ok, that's done. I forgot that the vegetable soup does not cook evenly, so if you're not stirring it frequently it gets burned on the bottom. Lots of heavy bits in it. The split pea soup doesn't have this problem. Since the stove is downstairs I keep forgetting to go downstairs to stir so it does get a bit burned.

Anyways, mashed potatoes are incredibly easy to make. Boiling water, potatoes, 30-40 minutes until the potatoes start falling apart (but not too much). Strain the water out, add milk and butter and mash it with a masher. I have no idea why my dad keeps saying it's hard. I mean it's a bit more work than making rice but it's still fairly easy with a masher. Strangely mashed potatoes don't seem as much compared to whole potatoes. I eat like twice as many potatoes when they're all mashed up. Probably because they're compressed.
Copyright (c) 2004 Kevin C. Wong
Page Created: November 7, 2004
Page Last Updated: November 7, 2004