Hasta la vista 2013!

Here comes 2014 and a slew of new adventures!

Snooooow!!

Shebam!

And then SHEBAM, it's November! Erp, time to get better at this blog thing again (along with pen pals, sorry Emily Duma!) So, updates: New digs on Independence Avenue right by the Stadium, a job slinging frozen yogurt (as temporarily as possible), sweet new scar on the eyebrow from the shower, still undergoing my eternal quarter life crisis. What in the world am I doing? Maybe I'll find out for next blog post, but for now I'm out to apply for a big boy job (with insurance!) and feed the masses.

Peace, love, and active cultures,
Matt

P.s. When I rule the world/US, after reforming our joke of a legislative process, insurance companies will be number two on my hit list. Kick 'em all in the shins. 

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

- William Ernest Henley 

Annies

So we've been eating a lot of Annies (white cheddar) Mac N' Cheese lately. Not just a little, heaps and heaps of it. For $1.25 at your local CVS, how could you say no? (Can't quite fit Panera on a SNAP budget, but Annies sure can)

There were nicer ones... but I'm feeling a lil' crazy right now.
Thus begins the annies adventure!

So about this blogging thing

Turning 25 makes you reaaaaaally bad at it! (surprise) But errr updates coming soon?! Ok, yes, deal!

DC (and my boyz Mason and Dixon)

One very important note: I recently discovered that the Mason-Dixon line actually traverses the NORTHERN edge of Maryland, not the southern - thus breaking one of my long-standing (self) commitments to never (ever) live south of the Mason-Dixon line. Oh dear.

Geo-Education, WABAM!

For you AD fans out there

In other news... WE'RE IN DC!

HOLY GUACAMOLE, BATMAN! These first few days have been kind of willy nilly (but at the same time very relaxing as we had Paul and Barbara' house -Jen's cousins- all to ourselves). Still rocking the simultaneous job/home/bed hunt (craigslist, a squatters best friend!), hoping to be out of here in the next week or possibly two.

Mt. Pleasant (and Columbia Heights) are great neighborhoods and hanging out at the local latino grocery store seems like the cool thing to do (and we do frequently.. you can by Aloe leaves bigger than your face! What do you even do with those?!?).  But more on the area later...

For now, a city to be explored! (and sleeps to be had)

An internet adage or three. But not two.

(On liking and disliking foods)

"I heard tell of a wine expert who wanted to develop his palate, and so he would taste all kinds of things. Even dirt. Put dirt in his mouth, and see what it tastes like. Most people would be grossed out about it, but what if you just wanted to find out?"

Superior plums are ripe! Omnomnom!

(On when to travel)

"There is never a good time. So either regret going, or regret not going."

DC in 8 Days

Woah!

Wedding time

Letter sent (sorry Duma)
Finger whistle, check! (ok, kind of... 1 in 5 is legit, right?)
Let's boogie.

Whistle and Apples

Whistle Update: Not going well. Have thus far made a fool of myself 3 times in the last 2 days and achieved nothing other than a sore tongue and excessively slobbery hands.

Nothing like having both your hands jammed into your face at a stop light, puffing your cheeks out as hard as you can and looking over to see a 70 year old granny in the next car looking at you with a concerned face to make you reconsider your life choices. Ah well, I'll get it tomorrow, I'm sure.



Apples: Today I ran across an article from Genya Erling (a friend and SFUW founder!) on the preservation of the "Milwaukee Apple" from what might be the last surviving tree in Milwaukee. Cool stuff, but it really got me thinking (more) about what apple varieties are going to go into the Anderson Orchard/Vineyard Adventure and definitely wanting to keep some homegrown WI pride involved.

After spending much too much time on the internet going through horticultural magazines from 1907, below is an initial list of "heritage" (used roughly in apple growing - essentially anything around pre-1940 widespread use of refrigerated shipping cars and subsequent breeding of only certain few varieties that shipped well)

So without further ado, some apples and their origins in WI:

Gibb (crab apple) - Pewaukee, WI

Brier (Sweet Brier crab) - Baraboo, WI

Avista - West Salem, WI ( Farm of AJ Phillips)

Northwest Greening - Waupaca, WI

Eureka - West Salem, WI (Also AJ Phillips)

Hanko - Sauk County, WI

Newells Winter - (aka Orange Winter, aka Newell) - Reedsburg, WI

McMahon - (aka White McMahon) - Bloom, Richland Co., WI

Old Church - Waukesha Co., WI

Isham Sweet - Delavan, WI

Bailey Sweet - Southern, WI

Kaump (aka Harry Kaump) - ?, WI

Milwaukee - Milwaukee, WI

Patten Greening (Duchess No. 3) - Portage, WI

Peffer - Pewaukee, WI (offspring of Pewaukee apple)

Perfection - ?, WI (offspring of russian apple)

Pewaukee - Pewaukee (offspring Oldenburg x Northern Spy)

Plumb Cider - Milton, WI (original tree is in OH)

Roxanna - ?, WI

Utter (aka Utter Red) - ?, WI

Windsor (aka Windsor Chief) - ?, WI

Wolf River - Freemont, WI (near the banks of Wolf River)

Apples are the coolest!

Aw shoot, how could I forget Bonnies Best apple? From Jungs even! Also Oneida, Ashmeades Kernel, and Autumn Beauty are all Wisconsin varieties. To be discovered at a later time! 

Week One

Other endeavors this year include: 

1) Read at least one book (for pleasure) a month

2) Do Yoga once a day for two weeks (wish me luck)

3) Write a poem every day for a week

4) Read a poem every day for a week 

5) Learn to Lindy Hop

6) Start an online store

7) Try going wheat free for 20 days

8) Build a functioning aquaponics system (and feast off of the harvest)

8) ...? (suggestions for more adventures?)

Day One

Bienvenido! Welcome! Terve!  TO YEAR 25!

With a goal of breaking last years grand total of 107 posts and a new thing every week, this is going to be a rocking good time. Let's do this thing!


P.s. Don't let me get away with any of that "oh I read a new book" this week crap. Rubbish.

Beastly onion I pulled from the garden today
 (next to a fresh egg from broody mcbrooderson the peckish hen)