Been slacking again on the posting, meh…so sue me. I have been re-igniting a nerdy side project of mine and getting out and about to enjoy the last throes of warm weather. The snow will be here soon enough, however I vow to do more wintry activities this year. That means sliding down a hill on something, try ice skating, cross-country skiing and/or build a snowman.

Some other things:

• Went to Sandstone with some good people on Sunday for what we thought was an OktoberFest. It was more of an October Fest–in September. However it was fun to see some small-town Minnesota-style fun.
• Looking forward to going to Florida for both Thanksgiving and a good friend’s wedding. I got lucky on the ticket and it isn’t costing me an arm nor a leg.
• Another area of slacking has been the cooking. Not that I haven’t been cooking mind you, but I haven’t been adventurous and made anything new or risky. However I am excited about what will be my winter experiment (*drumroll*)……BEER! Considering Northern Brewer is right up the street from my house, it only makes sense. I’ve been saving bottles for a while so I have enough to fill, though if someone were to see it in my apartment it would look like I’m a wicked drunk. I assure you, it’s almost a year of bottles.
• In a month I’ll be 30 years old. It doesn’t have the impact on me that it does some people, but it does feel a little weird to think about. I’ll reflect on that fence when I tumble over it though.

That is all, carry on.

Been really slacking here, but man what a busy week it’s been.

Work
Friday at the Minnesota State Fair we did MPR’s first ever Photo Scavenger Hunt (the results of which are here). Considering that there were some technical issues, I would say it was pretty successful. The best part about it is that it was an idea my colleague Than and I conceived, executed and saw through to the end. I think it was probably a decent personal success for both of us.

I also had my review, I think I gets to keep my job. The upcoming year will be a year to learn more multimedia skills, possibly even doing some workshops and/or a community college class. We’ll see.

Cooking
Kind of been slacking on cooking new stuff, though this Saturday I tried my hand at my mom’s vegetable curry recipe.

Ingredients:

• Coconut milk
• Red curry paste
• Carrots
• Potatoes
• Fake chicken
• Soy sauce

Cooked it all together, served over rice. Slap it in the “win” column, it was delicious and super easy. No food pictures, as it wasn’t very photogenic.

Biking
Did a long ride on Labor Day, in fact I think I overdid it. Went from St. Paul out past St. Louis Park, milled about some trails and then made my way back. I was so out of gas on the last leg home on thought I’d have to push the damn bike home. Next week I think I’ll head east and try and find my way to Stillwater, I hear it’s nice. I really want to upgrade the bike or trade up and get a road bike. It just makes sense for the type of riding I’m doing. If anything, I’m going to switch out the handlebars, the straight bar is simply not comfortable on long rides.

That is all.

Yeah, the above photo pretty much sums up our State Fair here in Minnesota. It’s actually a lot of fun, despite some of the more nausea-inducing food choices that exist. And, full disclosure, I ate some things there that I said I would never eat and aren’t a part of my normal diet. However, as one of our producers found out, it’s not all that bad.

Kind of been slacking on the writing, and the cooking, oh and the picture taking. Work has just been busy with vacations, etc. This Friday is our big MPR Day out at the fair and my colleague and I are the overseers of the Photo Scavenger Hunt. Hopefully it goes well and we get some kudos for it. I have confidence that it will be successful enough to do next year.

I know it is the “hot topic” these days, but I’m really sick of hearing/reading/discussing health care. That’s all I really have to say about that.

More later, breakfast now.