Blog Action Day: Go GREEN!

In an attempt to spread awareness on going green, I was supposed to participate in Blog Action Day today. However, I'm a bit tired and don't really know what to post about. All I can say is that everyone should just make a bit more of an effort to be a little bit nicer to our environment. Even though it might not seem that the little you do will make a big difference, you will be setting an example to those around you. And a lot of people doing a little bit will create a big effect. Some ways to start:

• Turn off the lights when you leave a room.
• Turn off your car when idling for more than a minute.
• Take shorter showers.
• Bring your own reusable grocery bags to the market (I use Envirosax).
• Bring Your Own reusable utensils/mugs, rather than using disposable ones.
• Recycle!

Oh.. and check out the Green Daily - a blog about going green, and all the wonderfully green things out there.

And one more thing... on keeping with the green theme.. my last day in DC was spent out on the National Mall at the Solar Decathlon. It was awesome, and now I totally want to build a house incorporating all the renewable energy/materials/resources and environmentally friendly products they've used in their homes. Check it out at: http://www.solardecathlon.org/

GO GREEN!

Love,
Tran

tah - rah - RAH!

Today was a perfect day for apple-picking. So, what do Karen and I decide to do? Well, go apple-picking, of course. We headed out to this Virginia winery out near Leesburg called Tarara, which has wine tasting and seasonal fruit-picking. Unfortunately, when we arrived there, we saw signs telling us that there was no fruit to pick. The trees were BARE! Oh noes!

Actually, the trees weren't bare, but there weren't enough good apples left on the trees for people to want to go pick them (plus, you'd need a small ladder). Luckily for us, the nice lady who worked there said that we were welcome to walk around the orchard and pick whatever apples we wanted (for FREE!) so long as we didn't damage the branches. So, after wine tasting (for only $5) and a brief tour of their wine "cave", we walked around a bit and picked some apples. There were actually a lot of apples still left on the trees, but they were all small, and many of them were not good anymore. We brought home about ten or so. I ate one, and it tasted like an apple (surprise, surprise!). The wine that we had from Tarara was good, and the Lucille (the lady in charge of our wine tasting) gave us a good tip on how to make awesome brownies. Just replace the water in the recipe with a good dessert wine (Wild River Red, from their winery) when mixing the batter. The alcohol will cook off in the oven, and you're left with these amazing brownies. Definitely something that Karen and I are going to try. Soon. Before I leave for CA on Monday.

We got a nice buzz from the wine tasting. Now, we await a big pile of meat from Cafe Divan, and then off to Dr. Dremo's. Oh, Dr. Dremo's, you better not disappoint me. This is the last time I'll ever grace your doors.

Love,
Tran

you may call me.. MASTER!

The long awaited day has finally come.. I PASSED! Of course, officially I won't actually have my master's degree until January 31, 2008. But, it's good to know that I passed my defense and have only a couple small edits to make to my thesis before I'm completely done with all my master's work. YAY!!!

The defense went smoothly. I was super nervous the last few days, since I wasn't really sure what to expect. I did blank out a few times in my first meeting (a dry run of the presentation with my advisor and one committee member), but the actual defense went well. I think I may have rushed through it a bit, since I was done with the presentation in about 30 minutes, but everyone in attendance said that I did a good job. It's so relieving to finally be done. Now, the next relief would come from finding a job.

Wish me luck!

Love,
Tran

it's not me, NYC; it's so all totally you...

Or, perhaps, I'm just not giving New York the chance it deserves. Having only been up to the city that never sleeps twice (as an adult), it could hardly know it enough to make a final decision, right? Maybe, but I don't think any future visits will change my mind. In any case, here's the recap of NYC with Karen.

Saturday

6:30 am: Get up and get ready so we can catch the 7:30 am Vamoose bus to NYC.
around 1:00pm: Arrive at Vi's (Karen's brother) apartment. Leave stuff. Hop on Subway.
Afternoon: Get lamb gyros from street vendor. Walk to Central Park. Sit. Sit. People watch.
5:30 pm: Attend evening mass at Saint Patrick's Cathedral. Afterwards, head over to H&M.
7:00 pm: Eat dinner at a diner we found passing on the street. Afterwards, head over to Liz's apartment to just hang for a little while.
8:00 pm ish: Take the tram to Roosevelt Island to see the Encampment. Get thoroughly depressed by the Encampment. Leave to hopefully get a pick-me-up at Bamn! the Automat.
later that night: Become thoroughly disappointed with the small size of Bamn! and it's small selection. Go home.
even later that night: Decide to stay in (because we're exhausted from being up at 6:30 am). Watch TV. Go to bed.

Sunday

10:30 am: Dim Sum Go Go!
most of the day: Spent walking around Chinatown, the West Village, and Soho. Shopping. Present searching. People watching at Washington Square. Coffee at Joe's.
7:15 pm: Dinner at Perilla.
night time: Home. Catch up on Gossip Girl and the Next Iron Chef (which we DVR'd). Sleep.

Monday

lunch: Grand Central Terminal.
2:00 pm: Catch the Vamoose bus home.

Perhaps it's the fact that NYC is so freakin' huge, and a little bit because we didn't go out at all. But aside from that, something in my nature is just not completely comfortable in a city like NYC. It's all just too much. Too big. Too fast. Too dirty. Too intense. Just.. too much.

Now, focusing on the details of the trip... The Encampment was definitely not what I was expecting after reading about it online. And, it's probably my own fault, because I didn't read the articles thoroughly enough to actually know what the whole exhibit was about. Instead of being a fanciful art exhibit, which is what I was expecting, it was a number of small installations focusing on the history of the patient's of an old smallpox hospital (now known as Renwick Ruin) that is located on the island. Not only was it a hospital, but it was also a lunatic asylum and penitentiary. All the tents had stories about suicides, murders, people dying, etc etc. It was all very very depressing. And to top it off, they had people around the exhibit, playing depressing music on trumpets, singing creepy lullabies, adding to the depressing atmosphere of it all. If I had known, I would have never gone to see it. Made me want to slit my wrists.

On an up note, dinner at Perilla was AWESOME! Not the best meal I've ever had, but it was still delicious. We even had a brief siting of Harold Dieterle (winner of Top Chef Season 1 - Perilla is the restaurant he opened as a result of his winning) - or at least the back of his head and a bit of his glasses. The entire experience was wonderful.

Maybe someday, I'll return to New York, and do it the way it's supposed to be done (out till 4am, sleep till past noon), but I get the feeling New York doesn't like me either. Only time can tell, I suppose.

Love,
Tran