Taste tripping on miracle fruit

Last May there was an article on the Miracle Fruit in the NYT. This fruit blocks your sour taste buds making sour things taste sweet. You can purchase Miracle Fruit tablets on thinkgeek.

So back to why 11 people (+2 virtual ones) were in my apartment... we had a taste tripping party. Basically what happens is you let a tablet dissolve in your mouth and then eat a weird combination of foods. Here's what we tried:

• Lemons, limes - by far the best, however this time around I paced myself so afterward I didn't feel like a ate a bunch of citrus.
• Vinegar - go ahead, drink a cap-full! [Note, J disagrees with me on this, when he'd tried vinegar he thought it just tasted like vinegar.]
• Pickles - interesting.
• Yellow mustard - eh, but thanks SB for squirting half the bottle into my mouth! :)
• Tobasco - ummm, still tastes like Tobasco. Check what you write in your articles NYT!
• Goat cheese - tastes a little less sour, but NOT like cheesecake.
  
• Sour apples - ok, nothing crazy.
  
• 'Sour patch kids' - meh, just tastes like sweet candy. Not worth it.
  

It's a fun experience, especially with a bunch of friends. Feels like you should be tripping, but you're totally sober.

Never Have I Ever...

Thought "a lunatic ninja was coming through [my] window".

Also, there are not enough haikus in my life. (Finally a solid xkcd!)

Not myself

What's less like me swing dancing or bench pressing?

FYI: 55lbs baby!

For comparison, this is very typical of me (or maybe this is typical of Jan and I):

I just came back from brushing my teeth...
me: Is it inappropriate that we're on video Skype, while you're in the office and I'm at home in a bathrobe?
Jan: Yes.
me: Well at least I put the robe over my PJs.
Jan: Now I want to see your PJs.
me: Not unless you get a [conference] room.
Jan: I think they're all taken. :(

Good night and sweet dreams at a much more reasonable time of 2:36am!

Help find an idiom

I was asked for a translation for a Russian saying/idiom: "подводный камень", which literally means "underwater stone". Admittedly I first had to ask what it means. So what's an English saying for "unforeseen challenges" or "hidden dangers". For inspiration (thank you Chrysalis):


Suggestions so far:

Pretty close:

Chrysalis: Bumps in the road
me: That's close but not really unforeseen, I don't think.
Chrysalis: Unforeseen bumps in the road?

Also from my conversation with Chrysalis:

Getting thrown a curve ball.

And ever helpful:

Well, landmines are sort of that... -Tommy C

Fun in the Ith

I had Thai for dinner with a friend last night and my obsession with Thai Iced Tea continues. Though, now I have two strong associations with Thai Iced Tea:

1. The summer in Thailand, obviously, where getting Thai Iced Tea was the only sure way of getting a sweet drink since half the time if you got a juice it ended up being salty! Yuck!
2. The Thai food stands at the street fairs in the summer in NYC. So refreshing... can't wait.

Dinner was followed by some BSG watching and Rock Band at C's. Only 3 hours of BSG left. Ah! I feel a marathon of all the season 4.5 episodes coming on before the finale...

And what better wat to finish off a week at home than getting D P Dough calzones at 3am. (Is there even anything else besides grocery stores open in Ithaca at such times?) Deliciously cheesy!

In conclusion when going around the block at 3am while waiting for your food to be made the optimal (and loudest) mode of transportation is a grocery cart!

More on my weird schedule

My schedule has gone from mildly insane to certifiably so. Case and point: Thursday. Got up at 2pm and worked for 2 hours. Had drinks with a friend at 4:30pm. Sitting at the tables outside CTB having sangria and enjoying the nice weather :). Though being surrounded by college students again was disconcerting. Then dinner with Uriah at 5:30pm - yay burgers! Then a would be one hour nap that lasted from 8pm to 11pm. Then work until 5am. Phew! Need to reach normality soon.

A glimpse of the past

I went to BOOM today followed by a dinner with some faculty and students for Google. Walking around Cornell campus was very weird. A sense of familiarity and belonging thrown off balance by subtle changes that indicate the time that has passed. Tons of memories of JOK and JOk in the Duffield atrium working hard ... on crossword puzzles :). I really do miss that!

Ok, there was one not so subtle change.

[If you're my mother or want to skip this digression stop reading now.]

The girls bathroom in Upson was always my favorite, because no one ever goes in there like most other girls bathrooms in the engineering buildings. There was a baby seat in the handicap stall where I would always put my bag. So I'm walking in there today, following my old footsteps - total force of habit. I open the door, walk in and realize I'm in a completely different place. It was totally renovated! Brand new! All blue! With twice as many stalls... not sure why that's needed. Complete clash with the old, worn down Upson hallways.

[Recommence reading.]

And it's only been a year in a half.

Nice to see familiar face both faculty and staff. I'm still in complete awe (and fear) of Prof. Bobby Kleinberg. Met some new minions of the 312 course staff. Apparently Ed is now called "The Olga" as Dan (aka Prof. Huttenlocher) explained to me. Also, Tyler's left a legacy as the course staff still orders from "Taste of Thai". Dan's making come to the grading session tomorrow under the condition that I have to grade to eat.

Home

Photo courtesy of Chrysalis

Good:

• WEGMAN'S!!!
  
• Jina coincidentally being home as well

Evil:

• Why is there still snow? March 1st should mean spring!
• Having food in the fridge (and 5 different kinds of cheese) -> me eating at 3am -> EVIL
• The only place I have phone service is on my night stand.
  

Retaliation against my mom

My mom scolded me for writing about the copious amount of alcohol Uriah and I consumed last time I was here. Now it's time to get her back.

We went to CT last weekend for a family friend's 50th. We arrived at 3pm and were greeted with hot bowls of steamy borscht (mmmm home made soup!). All that needs to be said is that I was the only one not taking vodka shots at 3 in the afternoon! :)

In case you were curious

If you've ever wondered how many people can fit into my small apartment, the answer is at least 11 real life people and 2 virtual people (we video chatted in MT who was sick at home and Janani from India).