The Tuesdays on a Wednesday!

Yup I knew I'd forget. Anyway, I've remembered now, so here's the update. First, the recipe:

Creamy Spinach and Artichoke Soup

1 can Campbell's cream of chicken soup
1 box frozen spinach
1 can artichoke hearts (whatever size can you want, mine was a similar size to the soup can)
1 can chopped potatoes (again, however much you want. I think mine was around 16oz)
1 cup milk
2-3 tsp chopped garlic (I use it from the little jars, prechopped. I'd say a tsp is about a clove)
2-3 tbsp lemon juice (artichokes + lemon juice = amazing)
Pepper to taste

Basically, just stick it all in a pot and bring it up to a simmer. Let it simmer for about 15 minutes and enjoy. I actually liked it better reheated. Also, I put the spinach in still frozen solid and it, of course, just thawed as the soup was warming. Finally, I didn't add any extra salt because the condensed cream of chicken soup already has a ton of salt in it, so it gets pretty well balanced with all of the other stuff you add.


Second, the short arts and crafts section. I've been collecting pictures that I like online and saving them in a folder on my computer so I can use them as references for drawing practice. I got an art tablet for my computer for Christmas so now I really don't have any excuse for not doing it (other than games just being more appealing =D). Also, I learned to knit and crochet a while back and I found a thread on a webcomic forum devoted to it that made me want to try again. Maybe this time I'll get good enough at it that I won't have to concentrate and stress over it!

Third, the short website section. I've been building a website for my parents for a Buddhist theology (dharma) group they're part of (that's kind of an approximate definition, but oh well). I've learned a great many things over the course of this project, which I started right before Christmas break and I'm still not finished with. I've got it up and running and fully functional, I just have to be the one to edit everything and I want to change that, as well as some of the graphic parts of is. Most of these things that I've learned relate to how to build a successful, useful, and visually appealing website.
Not among these is the fact that trying to get a group of grown-up hippies to make a decision about anything is one of the most difficult things you will ever do. Apparently my dad got the go ahead to get a new website designed, which was when I started it, but now that there's an alternative no one really feels motivated to decide whether they want to change it or keep the 6 month out of date one. Needless to say, I've shifted over from "doing this for my parents" to "doing this for myself and to finish a project in to which I've put a lot of time" regardless of whether it's going to be used!

Finally, we're going to mostly skip the short games bit because there's really not much new to report. I've been playing World of Warcraft and my main character's up to level 77 for those of you that know what that means. Really I just have far too many hours of games to play and far too few hours in a day, even if I didn't have to work or go to classes. Oh well, at least I'm still doing the labwork and class work and the games haven't taken over non-free time.

All righty. As for general updates, I start my final lab rotation next week and I met with one of the guys I'll be working with while I'm in the lab today. It seems like it'll be a good place to work and it might end up being tough deciding where to do my dissertation research!