Tuesday, October 7, 2003

I have a mini-article ready, but I think I’d better explain my short absence from this journal. I forgot to update on Friday, then seasonal allergies flared up on Monday, which kept me in bed until noon and home all day. Today, I’m operating at about 70%.

I’m continuing to chug through my weekly list-of-stuff-to-do. I need another couple of weeks to be able to accurately gauge its effectiveness, but it’s going well thus far. For example, I practiced my violin for the first time on Saturday. And I don’t sound all that bad.

I’m always nervous about violin practice, as there’s a cultural memory of the horrible sound of a novice practicing the violin. Nobody likes listening to a dying cat.

If I’m honest with myself, I know that my violin practice doesn’t sound like a dying cat. But it is like Tom Green: loud and repetitive. So, I usually only practice for a few minutes, then hurriedly put everything away.

I’m getting used to the preparation of steaks. I’ve been surprised at how difficult it is to get the steak done just right (I like them done medium). I’m still fiddling with the amount of heat needed to cook ’em all the way through without turning the skin into charcoal. As it stands, there’s a distressing amount of pink in the center of the steaks I’ve made so far.