BenjaBlog

At the grocery store yesterday, I noticed that a new type of fish was available for sale: Basa. Curious, I checked my trusty Seafood Watch guide on my smartphone (courtesy of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, no less). Basa is rated as a “Good Alternative” which basically means that it’s safe to eat and harvested in an environmentally and ecologically sustainable manner. This species is apparently farmed in Vietnam, and fillets quite nicely.

I decided to cook it this evening, to enjoy the fillet while it was still relatively fresh (even though it did come all the way from Vietnam, I know…). So I seasoned the fillet with sea salt and cracked pepper, and pan fried it in grapeseed oil, much the same as I would cook a down-home catfish fillet. The fillet began to separate in the pan quite quickly, so I didn’t need to cook it long over medium heat.

I enjoyed this fillet over a bed of brown rice and steamed red cabbage and lacinato kale, often referred to as dinosaur kale.

Ben | BenjaBlog

Now that I’ve seen the suggestions on the linked kale page, I might just have to make some kale chips in the oven.

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I just got home from campus, and in between was one of the more appalling rides I’ve taken on the Orbit, Tempe’s free local shuttle service.

I boarded the shuttle, and proceeded directly to the back to sit in one of the forward facing seats, since they are easier on the back and neck (today is a recovery day, for goodness sakes). The woman sitting next to me is hunched against the wall of the bus, talking quietly on her cell phone to a friend.

Woman (to friend): “So I brushed against this guy’s foot as I got on the bus, and he called me a bitch.”

I returned my attention to my own thoughts, figuring that the conversation would go no further. Soon, however, I realized that the person serving as the object of the conversation was still on the bus, sitting just ahead and to my left, facing myself and the woman. Once he picked up on the fact that she was talking on the phone to her friend about him, he piped in…

Guy (angrily, to woman): “You don’t know me. You don’t have any right to touch me!”

Woman (to guy): “I said I was sorry.”

Guy (still angry, to woman): “You need to learn how to act in public, ma’am.”

Woman (to friend): “I’m gonna have to let you go. I’ll call you later.”

She got rather upset at this point, on the verge of tears. She began apologizing profusely to the guy, and telling him that he had his feet out in the aisle, etc. She also insisted that she knows how to act in public, and that he was being rude.

At some point during her tears, the guy piped in again…

Guy (coldly, to woman): “You’re not gonna forget this one, are you?”

I wholeheartedly agree with the woman concerning the guy’s rudeness. Even if you take issue with someone accidentally bumping into you — especially when you’re slouching and blocking a large portion of the walkway through the bus — that’s no reason to call that person derogatory and/or hurtful things.

So, the time came for me to get off the shuttle. I made a point to place my backpack down on the floor in front of my legs (from its previous perch on my lap) without actually touching the guy’s legs, but coming as close as possible. The bus came to a stop, and I just looked him in the eye as I stood up, shooting daggers of shame into his brain. Without a word, he quickly moved his feet out of the way to clear the path for me.

I exited the bus, thanking the driver as I stepped onto the curb.

I can only hope that the right person learned from his mistake today.

Tags: people | Category: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Yesterday, I advertised a list of items from my current household inventory (i.e., furniture, electronics, roller skates) that I wish to remove from my possession before leaving for California. Having just spent the last five years of my life as an indentured serv…er, grad student, I thought it would be best to offer the inventory to other graduate students at ASU, considering the general lack of income that said population typically experiences.

While I expected a hefty response to my advertisement, I did not expect to receive well over 100 emails between 6:30 and 10:30 this morning. All items were on a first come, first served basis, so sadly most of the inquiries were to no avail. However, I have already managed to offload one of my items to its new owner, and most of the rest of the inventory has already been scheduled for pickup over the next few days. Success!

This first item to change hands (quite literally) is a particularly good story, I think. I gave my long-used but dependable digital drawing tablet to a man, Remy, that is doing neurological research with epileptic patients. He is attempting to create a mobile laboratory that allows him to measure motor-control skills in these patients’ hands. Remy informed me that such a tablet could possibly be a perfect solution to his problem. Apparently he has quite a programming background, and he insisted that even if the tablet didn’t work as it was originally advertised by Wacom (back in this tablet’s heyday of the early 2000s), he was confident that he could build his own I/O processing interface. That, to me at least, is quite impressive.

Long story short, he contacted me soon after picking up the tablet today to let me know that it works like a dream. I’m happy that it will be put to such good use. I asked Remy to keep me posted about the outcomes of his pursuits, so we’ll see what happens.

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Today I’ve been putting together my syllabus for the first undergraduate course I’ll be teaching at CSUMB. Thanks to Kevin, the previous instructor, for sending me his old syllabus. Most of mine is a direct port of his from previous semesters….I’m sure I’ll tweak it several times over before I put the final version online…but it’s nice to have a solid foundation to begin with.

The name of the course is CST201: Media Tools, and the course description is as follows:
CST201, Media Tools, is designed to give students an introduction to the computer applications and design techniques necessary to produce interactive media. In addition, it serves as an introduction to the design and management processes necessary to develop computer-based, interactive multimedia. Students will complete assignments covering the creation, acquisition, editing and production of digital images, animation, audio, video and text and their application to multimedia authoring. Students will work in collaborative cohorts, modeling client and designer interaction to produce real-world multimedia solutions.

I’ve got to say I’m pretty excited about this course. I have missed teaching at the undergraduate level (basically on hiatus since my days at UNC-Asheville 2003-2005). It’s going to be great to see what the students produce throughout this course!

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Looks like there’s another Cali race on the same weekend, and this one is even closer…at UC-Santa Cruz.

http://velopromo.com/univ-ent.htm

Double bonus, I get to see a neighboring campus, and get my ass handed to me, California-style, twice in one weekend.

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Went to the Phoenix Zoo today. Not bad, I must say. There was a lot of construction going on, but still plenty of great exhibits to enjoy. Unfortunately many of the animals looked pretty miserable in the heat.

Did see a pretty cool icon painted on a fake street scene somewhere on the back side of the zoo…

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This is most likely the first race I’ll be doing once I move to California in August:
The San Ardo Road Race

http://www.velopromo.com/sard-ent.htm

It’s 63 miles, sounds like it’s pretty flat, and, of course, the 8:15 start time sounds pretty nice.
Only a 1.5hr drive from where I’ll be living, too. Excellent.

Close

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