Today I worked on the journal article for my undergrad advisor (deadline is Monday, which is good, since classes start Tuesday). Then I watched Amelie and had a good cry. It's a beautiful movie. I had been hoping to work more on my fuzzy bucket-o-chic hat, but I realized that I can't knit and read subtitles at the same time. Oh well.

I'm making mushroom and broccoli quiche right now (easy, cheap, and a good way to use up random stuff in the fridge). Plus I have leftover sweet potatoes to eat, which turned out to taste better the day after they're made. I miss Patrick the most on weekends, I think.

I wasn't going to say anything about the space shuttle tragedy, because what could I say that others haven't, but it's still sad. Sad because people died, and sobering because we put so much trust in technology working correctly. It's a shock when something routine goes wrong. Technology is fallible, but at the same time, it's pretty amazing how often everything works as it's supposed to.

I don't know what my point is. I'm sad about it, obviously. After seeing stories about people dying on the news day after day, it's strange that I can still be upset about it. I'm glad I haven't been desensitized. I'm glad I'm still human. News of tragedy makes me appreciate being alive and lucky enough to have such a good life. And I can't imagine what it would be like to have known any of the astronauts who died today. I'm lucky enough not to have lost anybody close to me yet.

This hat used Bonne Marie's bucket-o-chic pattern. I liked the white fuzzy version she made, so I chose to use some of that Pomegranate Unger Utopia from my failed Angell St. sweater plus some black Gedifra Technohair. So soft! And lots of attitude--I'm not sure if I'm stylin enought to wear it.

Me trying to be stylish in my hat and sunglasses

The hat under bright light--you can see the red yarn in there

The sides of the hat, before brim or top

The yarn I used

So I happened to turn on the TV today (what a shock!), and our local public TV station was having a pledge drive. They had a local chef on, and apparently, earlier today, they had Joanne Chang, the owner of flour, on. I was sad to have missed her, since her bakery is at the top of my list of places I'd theoretically work part time. Oh well. So anyway, the pledge lady mentioned that the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts was helping out at the drive. Yeah, Cambridge has its own cooking school!

So I was thinking of taking a class there, to see what it's like (although their continuing education classes are probably way different from being immersed in the degree program). The most likely candidate is a bread baking class (quoted from their online course catalog):

All You Knead
Sunday March 9, 2003 10:00am-2:00pm
Learn the basic techniques of bread making: kneading, proofing, and baking. Some recipes include: Grissini, Rosemary Olive Bread, Cinnamon Raisin Bread, and more! What else could you knead? You’ll find out. (Price: $65.00)

So there are only 11 spots left--if I want to sign up, I should do it soon. Now I just need to decide if it's worth $65 for me to try out cooking school. I mean, I know how to make basic bread already, but maybe they have some secret techniques that I could learn. Any thoughts on whether I should take it or not?

On the knitting front, I'm almost done with the fuzzy hat. I'll post pictures when it's done. So far, I can say that my hat has attitude!

And MIT registration is tomorrow; classes start Tuesday. My schedule is still a little up in the air, what with my recent decision to focus on getting a Masters (which means no more PhD core classes). I think I'll take that biomaterials class I was already signed up for, plus a class about fluid behavior in biological systems (very relevant to my research, and hopefully interesting as well). I'll probably also sit in on an undergrad polymer physics class (not for credit), since that's stuff I should already know. I've only gotten bits and pieces of it from my research with Prof. Baker, so it'd be good to learn it for real.

The hat is all done (I don't have an iron any more so I skipped the blocking steps, yielding a ruffly brim). Click it to see a picture of me trying to look fashionable. It's too silly for me to put it on my main page!