Writing and stuff.

Wow. I was just reading Arts, Briefly (I only have time for brief things these days), and noticed that my first creative writing teacher at Cornell had won a Writing Prize. I should write him and congratulate him. I wonder if he remembers me. If not, I recall that he took a picture of the class in order to have a memento, as he said he'd done with all the classes he taught, so I can tell him I'm that short Asian kid in his Fall 1998 Creative Writing class. I was the only one.

Note: Holy crap, that class was ten years ago.

Pizzas

If you notice up there, the subheader of this blog says "reading, writing, and pizza-making." Admittedly, this is a bit of an exaggeration. I don't write nearly enough, and read even less. But I do make pizza. The best pizza in Seattle, as I like to say. I really need to open a pizzeria...

I made four pizzas last night. There were only three of us: me, Erin, and my roommate Kris. But we were able to finish it all mostly because my roommate is the most voracious person I know. (He routinely eats two Chipotle burritos for lunch!)

First up was a margherita:



Next a potato pizza:



The main event was the Obama (Victory) Pie (Arugula, gruyere, caramelized onions, prosciutto, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, parmesan):





And finally, another basic margherita, except with ricotta and tomatoes this time.



Yep. I'm hungry again...

Cookie #1.

I saw the The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companionon sale last week and picked it up because The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companionis one of my favorite cookbooks.

This weekend, I got started on my plan to make every cookie in the book. My roommate was going to Costco, so I tagged along and bought a really large sack of flour. I think you cross some sort of threshold when you buy a "sack" of flour rather than a bag or a box or a cup or a teaspoon, because I felt like a real baker, not a wussie fake one.

We got home and I could barely lift the 50 pound thing, so I let my roommate carry it into the kitchen for me. I rolled up my sleeve and made: Magic-in-the-Middle Cookies, or chocolate cookies with peanut butter in the middle. They look like this:




And everyone likes them. Tada.


Which reminds me, I really need a nice cookie jar. Also a cake stand. I feel like my sad cake-baking rate is undoubtedly due to my lack of a cake stand.

A kind of great possibility.

I thought of a kind of great jersey recently. Here's a mockup I spent the last hour doing instead of working:



Both McCain and Obama supporters can enjoy it alike: McCain fans are all, Yeah! He is a Maverick! and Obama supporters can snicker. Everybody wins!

taking city hall

Apparently, "town hall" meetings are really popular everywhere in the country except the places I've lived. I mean, this is how to really speak with the people; the town hall style is the preferred format of the masses. I don't think I've ever even been to a town hall. It is no wonder I am so out of touch with America.

Also, I have an ant problem in my home. What to do?

law enforcement

You may not register to vote if you are:

* Presently denied your civil rights due to a felony conviction.
* Judicially declared mentally incompetent and ineligible to vote.

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It sure seems like a large number of people slip right past that second rule...