I’m on a painting binge at the moment, and suddenly motivated to finish all the rooms we haven’t done in the three years we’ve been in our house. Here’s the guest bathroom (Sherwin Williams Blonde color, Duration paint in satin finish). I almost chose this color for the foyer, but I’m glad I didn’t. I like it in the bathroom but I think it’s too yellowy for the foyer. See pics after the jump.
Hang On To Your Wigs And Keys!
November 4th, 2009 by racharak No comments »Aaaaaaaaaand we’re back! Sort of. The site was down for a few days while I switching hosting companies. It’s at least functional now, but I will be making updates here and there over the next few days, so hang on because things will look different and may move around a little.
Hawaii Wrap-Up
October 4th, 2009 by racharak No comments »Random notes from the trip.
- Don’t eat the duck and corn soufflé at Top of Waikiki restaurant. Just ask Jeff, aka the “Vomit Comet.”
- Waikiki reminded me of Singapore. The only difference between Waikiki/Honolulu and other big cities is that the people walking down the street are often carrying surfboards.
- Two words: Lava flows. That’s all I’m going to say.
- The pool at the Westin Maui is amazing. It was too windy to go to the beach some days (unless you want to feel sandblasted) but the pool was excellent so avoiding the beach wasn’t a big deal.
- The road to Hana was one of the best parts of Maui. A lot of people avoid it due to the windy, bumpy road along the coast but it had the best views of the island and some unique stops along the way.
- Someone raved about the black sand beaches of Maui, but it’s not really sand. More like black pebble beach.
- If you don’t like seafood (and I don’t like most of it) you’ll be surviving on burgers in Maui. Your choices are fresh fish (usually caught that day or the day before) and burgers. Or cheap Mexican (that was pretty excellent). A cheeseburger “island style” (with pineapple and teriyaki sauce) was one of the best things I ate.
- I didn’t know that Hawaiian shirts are called Aloha shirts in Hawaii. Our guide in the airport told us to look for the guy in the green aloha shirt, and I kept looking for a guy with the word “aloha” in big letters on his shirt.
- It is too freaking hot to run in Maui! I don’t know how the marathon runners did it. The 5K was more than enough for me.
- We didn’t get pictures of parasailing or snorkeling, but I would recommend both – especially the snorkeling. We saw a sea turtle in addition to hundreds of fish and interesting coral reefs. Beware of the blisters from the cheap rubber fins! Both feet were in pain afterwards.
- Hawaiians love spam! Burger Kings in Oahu have spam croissan’wiches.
Aloha
September 1st, 2009 by racharak No comments »Programming note: Jeff and I will be in Hawaii at the end of September for a well-deserved vacation. The next several weeks will be quiet on the site because of the Labor Day holiday, packing, work craziness, and the actual trip. You can still catch the occasional tweet on the sidebar. I promise to post lots of trip info when we return!
The Weekend In Photos
August 16th, 2009 by racharak No comments »I spend the weekend visiting my parents in North Royalton and I took the camera with me. Photos here:
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Weekend Travels
August 8th, 2009 by racharak No comments »Has it really been a month since my last post? And what have I been doing with my summer? I did nothing. I did absolutely nothing, and it was everything I thought it could be. Well, that’s not completely true. The last two weekends have been busy:
Two weeks ago Jeff and I were in Ann Arbor helping the bro-in-law move into his third floor apartment. We stopped at Zingerman’s Deli. I’ve heard amazing things about it from friends and in a case study from Strategic Leadership. After all the hype I was expecting sandwiches made out of unicorns. As it turns out, it’s just a deli. That was my impression anyway. The food was good, but ordering it was an ordeal. You have to fight through the crowds at the front to order from an employee standing near the deli counter, then turn around and wind your way through the shop to the cashier, then go to the building next door for the drinks, then back outside to sit at the table. By that time I had forgotten what I ordered.
Butler University
We spent last weekend in Indianapolis. We visited our friend Chris, who teaches classical studies at Butler University. He gave us a tour of the campus. It’s small but very nice! Chris also took us to the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Then we spent Saturday and Sunday with Jeff’s family for a wedding. It was a fun weekend but I didn’t get a lot of sleep.
Standing On An Exhibit At The IMA
So, this weekend is a chance to relax and catch up on chores around the house. Oh, and play with my new toy.
Summer Reading List
July 19th, 2009 by racharak No comments »
Wicked, Gregory Maguire
I read this several months ago but I’m throwing it in the summer reading list anyway. This is one of those rare books that I really, truly, completely hated. Cynical, pessimistic, explicit, and just generally annoying.
0 out of 5 Personal Pan Pizzas
The Reader, Bernhard Schlink
Germans, Nazi past, coming of age, themes about good and evil and morality, and oh yeah, a relationship between a 15-year-old boy and an older woman. Not bad, but there’s a lot of ambiguity in the characters. It felt like something that would be on the reading list in high school English but not something I’d read more than once.
3 out of 5 Personal Pan Pizzas
City of Thieves, David Benioff
This book was really hard to put down. It contains a good blend of adventure, humor, and tragedy. It’s about surviving WWII in Russia and follows 17-year-old Lev Beniov as he is sent on a mission to find a dozen eggs for a colonel’s daughter’s wedding cake.
4 out of 5 Personal Pan Pizzas
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
85 percent of the original text remains and zombie nonsense makes up the rest. It’s clever and has its moments but ultimately it was too uneven for me to really enjoy. I’ll stick to the original.
2 out of 5 Personal Pan Pizzas
What's In Our Netflix Queue?
July 11th, 2009 by racharak 2 comments »Since summer TV sucks, we go through a lot of movies and TV show during the summer months. As you can see from the list below, we use Netflix to catch up on shows that are on premium channels like HBO. Here are the TV shows in the queue right now:
- True Blood
- The Wire
- Extras
- Deadwood
Journey to Ian
June 14th, 2009 by racharak No comments »A quick shout out to Aunt Melinda and Uncle Matt, who are in China this week to adopt a son. You can follow their story here. Congratulations and I can’t wait to meet the newest member of the family!
New Every Two
June 3rd, 2009 by racharak 4 comments »My “new every two” deal with Verizon is up, so it’s time for a phone upgrade (I’m using an LG Chocolate today).
Here’s what I’m looking for in my new phone:
- QWERTY keyboard
- Basic Internet access
- Bigger screen
- Must fit in my pocket comfortably
- Good call quality
- Decent camera
- microSD slot
…and it has to be a Verizon phone because I don’t want to switch companies.
Let’s look at some of the options:
- Samsung Omnia: I’ve read a review that said this was a solid smart phone, but I wasn’t particularly impressed with the one I tested out in the store.
- LG enV3: Seems OK, but not all that exciting. My dad just got the enV2 and thinks it’s the BEST PHONE EVERZ.
- LG enV Touch: Wider screen than the enV3 and a touch external screen, but I haven’t tested this one out. It comes out on Friday.
- LG Versa: Nice phone, but with the keyboard attached it is FAT. Not sure it will fit in my girly pockets. Additionally, the keyboard is covered is some kind of wacky faux brown leather.
- Blackberry Storm: My experiences with various demo phones have been awful, awful, awful.
- Hold out for the Palm Pre or Storm2 which are rumored to arrive early 2010.
