Three Hundred

As of today, I have been using DuoLingo for 300 consecutive days to learn how to speak Korean. It's been fun all the way through so far, but I know I can do more (and better), once I can afford to have live conversations, either through Lingo Deer (156 days in on this alternate and supplemental platform) or some other service (or just travel to Boston to the Korean businesses located there). It's been a fun and productive challenge, especially the way I can make out more and more words as I watch shows such as "Running Man", "I am Solo" and its spin off, and all of the K-dramas I watch, the most recent being "Can This Love be Translated?" with the absolutely beautiful Go Youn-jung. Only 65 more days for it to have been a full year!

Udon

Today's big meal was udon noodles stir fried in sesame oil, boneless pork all soy-sauced up, sauteed mushrooms and fresh pea pods. I love udon, but cleaning the wok is such a pain in the butt that I don't cook it very often. At least not as often as ramen or rice. But sometimes it's definitely worth it.

Rice-O-Rama

Tonight's dinner: Basmati rice, with fresh broccoli steamed over it, sauteed mushrooms, and boneless pork marinated in soy sauce. Plus rehydrated seaweed on top. Always good!

Tuesday Afternoon

A nice sunny day at the lake, with very little wind and beautiful clouds. On the way down I listened to Pete Yorn's first album, "musicforthemorningafter", which turns 25 this year, and which has been in heavy rotation for most of my life since its debut. It was fantastic to listen to it as I drove down the sunny highways and roads on the way to the lake. The walk was great (SomaFM as usual), and I am glad I brought the rest of my coffee with me. I got a good first look at Sarah & Jon's new travel trailer, and they parked it in a very good spot.What a nice afternoon, with great scenery.

Cheeseburgers

I went to the lake from 5:00 - 5:30 to walk before having dinner with Dad & Ma, who made cheeseburgers! I never cook them myself at home because it's too much work for just one person to eat, so it's always appreciated when a family member cooks them for me. Also, the Red Sox lost to the Yankees (booo...). A very good day.

Language Progress

 I hit Day 282 of Duolingo today. Here are some progress badges:

Lake Monday

I went to the lake today to walk and hang out. It was in the 40's and windy, but the sun was out, the clouds were high, and it was a nice day overall. I listened to SomaFM as usual during my walk, and then to a few random Hearts2Hearts songs ("Blue Moon", "Apple Pie", etc...) as I sat in front of the water. I brought coffee from home so I stated longer than usual, a little over an hour compared to a typical 'walk day' span of 45 minutes or so.

New Fridge

The refrigerator that came with my apartment died on Wednesday after 18 years of service, to both me and the previous owner (whoever they were). A new one arrived on Friday, delivered by a super-friendly and efficient duo. It's a tiny bit wider, and several inches deeper than the old one. Also, the top shelf in the main fridge section is several inches lower than the old one, so more bending over will be required. Ah, unintentional exercise...

The best thing is the interior being pristine, so it will be a lot easier to keep clean (not that I am a slob by any stretch of the imagination when it comes to food hygiene). Also, it has a few more customization options, so I won't have any 'dead' space.

Parents Night

I went to Dad & Ma's for supper and the Red Sox game.

Ma made baked chicken with barbecue sauce, and I had my half chicken with bread & butter, and tomato & cucumber. It was VERY good. I went food shopping on the way home after the game.

EDIT: And Ma sent me coffee the next day!

 

 

Lake Time

I went to the lake today from 3:00 - 4:00 pm to walk and hang out. I listened to Groove Salad on SOMAFM, which is always a good fit. And the sunny weather was nice, if a bit windy. It was good to get out of the house, and listening to my newest music* in both directions was great too.

 

 

*New Music:

• RESCENE - "Lip Bomb" EP (Love Echo ♫)
  
• Hearts2Hearts - "FOCUS" (Blue Moon ♫)
  
• Yuna - "Ice Cream" EP (Ice Cream ♫)
  
• BTS - 'Swim'
• Hearts2Hearts - 'Rude!'
• Tini - 'El Cielo'
• i-dle - 'Mono'
• Eskadet - 'Le Cafe Abstrait'
   

Recent Food

It seems that over the last year or two the ratio of rice/noodle meals to those that featured sandwiches has shifted (shocker). Here are a couple of the more advanced dinners I have made lately.

First, rice with boneless pork, sauteed mushrooms, rehydrated seaweed, steamed broccoli and a fried egg on top. Plus fresh pea pods and iced tea.

 

And just yesterday, the very spicy seafood noodles, with rehydrated seaweed (I'll just say seaweed going forward, since I eat so much of it) and canned mackerel - very good, and not 'fishy' at all.

It always amuses me that after having been such a picky eater as a child (when it came to condiments and spices) I currently enjoy so many Asian-style spices.

Brother Visit

My youngest brother (who is 7 years younger than me) came home this weekend before spending part of the week in Boston for work.

He and his old high school friend, plus our other brother (one year younger than me) spent from 2:00 pm - 8:00 pm or so hanging out with our parents, watching golf and eating pizza from the local pizza place. I got a small pizza with anchovies and extra cheese, and it was glorious. There's just something about mom & pop pizza places that have been around for ages. The cheese is truly the star.

It was good to hang out with him for a few hours out of the blue like that, as he and his family live on the west coast. Fortunately he has a work reason (as well as the means) to travel out this way more than just once a year, so it's much easier to accept that he doesn't live 'just up the road' from me like our parents and other two siblings do (less than 30 minutes to all 3 other homes).

Food and Stuff

Today spring has officially sprung around these parts. Yesterday was sunny and in the 60's, and today it hit 78 degrees. Needless to say I had all the windows open to air out the house (both days), and it was glorious. However, this was a blip, and temperatures will be in the 40's and 50's for the next week at least. So I enjoyed it while I could.

Breakfast was sausage, a bagel and fresh broccoli. Lunch was a banana. And supper was a mission with kick. I used some ramen noodles and a spicy kimchi broth packet for the base, and added the last of the dried squid - the spicy stuff. I added fresh mushrooms and rehydrated seaweed at the end, and had snow peas and soy sauced boneless pork alongside. Such a great meal.

Last Wednesday I had something for lunch almost as labor-intensive, and just as delicious: rice with pork, seaweed and two fried eggs. SO worth it.

February Wrap Up

I'm not going to do a monthly wrap-up every thirty days, but I am doing one for the shortest month of the year, just to stop for a minute and take stock.

We have had too much snow, including 10" during Winter Storm Hernando, though the Cape got close to three FEET. However, the shoveling has been good exercise and fresh air.

I got to Dad & Ma's once (the 21st) because of the various weather events.

I began working out more regularly around mid-month (my basketball twist workout, and arms), with nine good sessions logged to date.

My DuoLingo streak is at 230 days, and my LingoDeer streak is at 80 days. And I'd say about 90% of the stuff I watch is from South Korea (Netflix, KOCOWA+, etc...). It never grows old hearing words and understanding them.

Chumble has been gone for 3½ months now, and I still miss him SO dearly. I get teary-eyed almost every day, sometimes from the littlest things, but it's getting slightly easier every day. He (just like Henry and Sabrino before him) can never be replaced, but my home without a cat is a much bleaker place.

I have been reading more again (I just began "The Hobbit" a few nights ago, and I've been rereading the "Divinity" superhero graphic novels too), but I haven't drawn anything in ages, unless you count Ai transformations of my old work (which I don't). So along with the language and work out regimens I am going to spend more time reading and drawing, and less time scrolling through social media.

I suppose that's it for a general entry. here is to more progress on all fronts...

Super Bowl XL

A very nice breakfast, the latest episode of "Chef and My Fridge", a lackluster Super Bowl (the Patriots got beaten hard by Seattle, mostly defense, 29-13), and four fantastic beers deep into the night.

Hiking Buddy IPA from Little Willow Brewing Company is the perfect mix of Citra and Mosaic hops (with Meridian thrown in for good measure). Super flavorful, hazy as a foggy seacoast, and one of my favorite scents in the world.

Two Hundred

I've officially reached a streak of 200 days of learning how to speak and read Korean. Two hundred days on Duolingo, and 56 days on Lingo Deer. They are the first thing I do when I go to bed each night, even if it's just one quick lesson to continue my streaks. It's ridiculously enjoyable, even if I can't hold real conversations yet. Recognizing words and expressions as I watch South Korean shows and listen to K-Pop is fantastic, and being able to read captions, usually only parts so far, is its own intellectual thrill. My 3-year plan is proceeding apace!

 

Civic Duty

After I cleaned off my car I dug out a path for the mailman, as the snow bank was impassible:

Winter Storm Fern

Winter Storm Fern highlights from the last two days (Sunday & Monday):

Snow accumulation yesterday:

• 3:30 pm - 4 inches.
• 7:00 pm - 10 inches.
• 10:30 pm - 13 inches.
• Bedtime (circa 1:00 am) even more.

When I got out of bed the next morning the plow had already come by, but the total depth of snow was 22 inches! And then we got another 2 or 3 inch dusting later in the afternoon today.

Yesterday I watched the Patriots beat Denver in a Mile High Stadium blizzard, 10-7. Super Bowl 60 here we come!

Today I had a satisfying early evening dinner of Ragu, angel hair pasta and ground beef. 'Dinner' around 8:00 pm was a pint of Creamy Mango Haagen Dazs ice cream (SO good).

Overall it was a pleasant blizzard, with no power or heat issues, and nowhere to be. I won't even clear off my car until tomorrow!