random stuff
- I saw a young girl with really long braids, the tips brushing the backs of her knees. I had to wonder how she manages to hold her head up on hair-washing days. And whether she washes her hair everyday.
- A young woman came into the office the other day wondering if there were a closet or someplace she could leave her luggage during her meeting with the head of the PhD program. (Black outfit, bright yellow blazer, cloud of perfume. A tourist visiting the campus while on vacation from New York.) I told her she could leave her bags here if she wanted and she did. As she walked away it occurred to me that was awfully trusting on her part.
She came to pick them up an hour later. And an hour or so after that, they were found in our auditorium, by an event organizer who wanted them removed pronto. The custodians, recognizing these as the same bags that had been in our office earlier, brought them back. Then it occurred to me to wonder who was trusting whom [or whom was trusting who?]. ROG and I sat silent for a moment to see if we could hear any ticking.
Several hours later, she returned to the auditorium and was directed to my office, and thus we met again and she was reunited with her belongings. I think she'll make a perfect candidate.
- I'd say the vegan mayo cupcakes were a success taste-wise. This morning, I tried out orange cupcakes with orange buttercream, a recipe borrowed from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World (and shared on vegancooking ).
Oy. Dad likes them, but he almost always says that.
I do like how the buttercream turned out. I ran out of oranges, so used orange blossom water instead. Somehow it tastes like tea to me, maybe because it's slightly perfume-y. (Perfume seems to be the theme of the week. A different young woman with an aura of perfume also stopped by my desk earlier this week to ask a question. I'd thought the tourist's perfume application was unusual but, based on the other girl's aura of scent, maybe not. Still, I didn't think one would wear quite that much perfume to work these days. On the other hand, she's an intern.)
Filling the cupcakes didn't quite work out, so I have to figure out what I did wrong. Perhaps I simply need one of the smaller tips, #1 or #230. The glaze also didn't work out as I expected. Next time, I'll follow the recipe more closely. (Because subbing cocoa butter for baker's chocolate was perhaps not the smart way to go.)
The orange cupcakes are very moist (or sticky). I didn't mind it, but I'm sure it won't be to everyone's taste. In any case, I'm pretty sure I didn't mix them correctly. So, will have to give them another shot.
I'm thinking it may also be a good idea to get an oven thermometer, just to be sure.
- Cousin C is feeling very down about his work situation, among other things. (Hates his supervisor but won't be transferred to another section anytime soon because it would reflect poorly on his supervisor. In the meantime, he has to jump through hoops to make his supervisor look good and when he's done that sufficiently well, then he can be transferred. He's thinking he has a lower tolerance for this sort of thing now than he used to because he's on a much lower dose of anti-depressants than he used to be.) I have nothing to offer but a listening ear and baked goods, so that's what he's getting.
- A young woman came into the office the other day wondering if there were a closet or someplace she could leave her luggage during her meeting with the head of the PhD program. (Black outfit, bright yellow blazer, cloud of perfume. A tourist visiting the campus while on vacation from New York.) I told her she could leave her bags here if she wanted and she did. As she walked away it occurred to me that was awfully trusting on her part.
She came to pick them up an hour later. And an hour or so after that, they were found in our auditorium, by an event organizer who wanted them removed pronto. The custodians, recognizing these as the same bags that had been in our office earlier, brought them back. Then it occurred to me to wonder who was trusting whom [or whom was trusting who?]. ROG and I sat silent for a moment to see if we could hear any ticking.
Several hours later, she returned to the auditorium and was directed to my office, and thus we met again and she was reunited with her belongings. I think she'll make a perfect candidate.
- I'd say the vegan mayo cupcakes were a success taste-wise. This morning, I tried out orange cupcakes with orange buttercream, a recipe borrowed from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World (and shared on vegancooking ).
Oy. Dad likes them, but he almost always says that.
I do like how the buttercream turned out. I ran out of oranges, so used orange blossom water instead. Somehow it tastes like tea to me, maybe because it's slightly perfume-y. (Perfume seems to be the theme of the week. A different young woman with an aura of perfume also stopped by my desk earlier this week to ask a question. I'd thought the tourist's perfume application was unusual but, based on the other girl's aura of scent, maybe not. Still, I didn't think one would wear quite that much perfume to work these days. On the other hand, she's an intern.)
Filling the cupcakes didn't quite work out, so I have to figure out what I did wrong. Perhaps I simply need one of the smaller tips, #1 or #230. The glaze also didn't work out as I expected. Next time, I'll follow the recipe more closely. (Because subbing cocoa butter for baker's chocolate was perhaps not the smart way to go.)
The orange cupcakes are very moist (or sticky). I didn't mind it, but I'm sure it won't be to everyone's taste. In any case, I'm pretty sure I didn't mix them correctly. So, will have to give them another shot.
I'm thinking it may also be a good idea to get an oven thermometer, just to be sure.
- Cousin C is feeling very down about his work situation, among other things. (Hates his supervisor but won't be transferred to another section anytime soon because it would reflect poorly on his supervisor. In the meantime, he has to jump through hoops to make his supervisor look good and when he's done that sufficiently well, then he can be transferred. He's thinking he has a lower tolerance for this sort of thing now than he used to because he's on a much lower dose of anti-depressants than he used to be.) I have nothing to offer but a listening ear and baked goods, so that's what he's getting.