Thursday, April 16, 2009

Bits and bobs, once again

In the blink of an eye, my horizons have expanded. The catalyst for this change? My new laptop battery. I can now SIT ON THE COUCH and check my email. Or go the the coffee shop (which has no outlets) and work on a paper. Or, as the picture last weekend shows, sit outside and write. (Although the truth is that I used to do that before, using a very long extension cord.) This feels like a little gift to me as my year of heavy-duty writing begins. (And thanks go to my advisor who bankrolled this wonderous piece of technology.)
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This semester I am enrolled in my very last required class. I am heady with the thought that from now on I will only need to learn things when I want to. (Which will be often, presumably, because that's what academia is all about, but now no one can make me do it.) The course I'm taking is on the philosophy of quantum mechanics. I easily sped through the first half of the semester because it was mainly about quantum mechanics. I can tell we've now hit the philosophy part, because I'm fairly lost. It's quite interesting to be immersed in a different academic culture - they structure papers differently, they argue in different ways, and they focus on ideas and perspectives that physicists just don't consider, even though it's supposedly our field. And I enjoy that part, but the required paper is looming and I'm nervous. I have to write a philosophy paper, not a physics paper, and I just don't speak the language. Four months is just not enough time to learn a new language, even if the two languages both use English words.
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A good friend has recently discovered asparagus. He's mainly been eating it boiled, then tossed with a little olive oil and salt. One of my favorite ways is roasted with olive oil (about 15 minutes at 400 degrees), and then topped with vinaigrette. I also recommended boiled and topped with fresh-squeezed lemon juice and salt. Since cheap asparagus is everywhere right now, let me pose the question: how do you like to eat asparagus? Bonus points for preparation suggestions that are quick.

6 comments:

unclem-nm said...

Come on - you're an ex-liberal arts person. Get five Cliff's Notes on various significant philosophers and you will refresh you memory and wiz through the paper.

astrobassist said...

Put asparagus into a ziplock bag...add enough E.V.O.O. to coat, then salt and pepper to taste. Bake at 450 until your fork goes easily through them. It takes 12 minutes tops!

I never thought I would be posting instructions on cooking asparagus. Perhaps my wave function collapsed into a parallel quantum world...

Anonymous said...

RM - this might be the first time in history somebody blogs about me, sort of...
I've never thought I would like asparagus, but one never knows.
Cheers,
Rolando

Anonymous said...

Good luck on your paper..

-tim

stef said...

It's not that quick- but we are big fans of asparagus risotto here. You can make it with barley for extra healthyness

Matty Lau said...

Does Mr. Astrobassist put the ziplock bag into the oven _with_ the asparagus.
I like to put lemon and E.V.O.O. on mine sometimes (along with a light sprinkling of lemon zest).
Also, if I am lazy about doing dishes, microwaving them works great too. Sometimes the edges might dry out and char a bit too (just like in the oven).