Super Bad

Yeah, I know... I've been EXTREMELY bad. For some reason I thought I "took a vacation" from blogging in late November, but now I discover it's been since October! I'm so sorry... my life really isn't that boring. Sometimes you just kind of don't feel like updating this thing. I will try to do better, but we really all know that in 6 months or so I'll take another "break." Such is life. Love it or hate it, nuthin' I can do.

Anyhoo... I've officially entered the iPod age, as of last night. I received an iPod Shuffle from the parentals for Christmas. However, with a 6-year-old computer and an internet connection slower than a fat man on a water slide, I couldn't really do much with it. In the last couple of weeks, however, I have acquired the following: A brand-new swanky HP Pavilion laptop, a wireless Internet connection, Windows Vista, Skype access, and a web cam. I won't say I'm up to 2007 standards, but I've definitely reached 2005 standards. I've become an iTunes aficionado, happily downloading music and (most amusingly) TV shows. Now I don't have to watch TV anymore, I can just buy what I need. I've also discovered that all of the major networks now stream most of their shows FOR FREE on their web sites, beginning the day after they air. So, because I watch 24 on Monday nights, I can catch up on Heroes during my lunch break on Tuesdays just by visiting nbc.com. Sweet! And now I walk around and ride the Metro oblivious to all sights and sounds because I'm listening to Fall Out Boy, Gnarls Barkley and (the shame!) Madonna on my iPod. Ahhh... the isolation technology brings. It brings a tear to my eye.

What would an Asgeir blog update be without a food section? Over the weekend, I finally dug out an Icelandic leg of lamb that had been taking up space in my freezer. I squeezed garlic cloves into the meat and roasted the whole thing for 2 hours. Delicious. Now I can use the leftovers to make a Tuscan white bean and lamb soup tomorrow. And, just because I felt like it, I made steak au poivre out of pork loin last night. You just cut it into beef-like medallions, crust it with pepper and salt, sear it on a pan, and throw it in the oven to finish. Just to be decadent, I topped each medallion with gorgonzola and broiled it to perfection. Sides: creamed spinach and ginger carrots. Not bad for a Monday, eh?

Book update: I don't have space to list all the books I've read since August (nor could I remember all of them!) but I'm currently reading E.L. Doctorow's The March. As I started reading it, I realized I'd never read any of his books before, even though he wrote classics like Ragtime and Billy Bathgate. So far I'm thoroughly engrossed. Other recent books: Hampton Sides' Blood and Thunder, Frederick Jackson Turner's The Frontier in American History, Paul Schneider's Brutal Journey, Kent Nerburn's Chief Joseph and the Flight of the Nez Perce, David McCullough's The Johnstown Flood, and - of course - Lemony Snicket's The End, in which the Baudelaire siblings come to the end of their 13-book journey. Upcoming books include Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals, Michael Oren's Power, Faith and Fantasy, and David McCullough's 1776. What can I say? Me likey read-y.

I recently came to the realization that this spring marks my 10-year high school reunion. Yikes. How did I get to be (almost 30)? Sure, I've got some gray hair, but how did this happen? I can barely take care of my plants, let alone a pet or a child. How did my friends decide that it was the right time to produce offspring - in some cases, two of them already? I will refuse to believe that 10 years have passed until the inevitable reunion party where everyone has to leave early to take care of the kids. Sigh... old age looms ominously...

Anyway - here's how I'm feeling this morning: