Owl City

I was in the office this morning entering tickets for our Sunday matinee and decided to play through all of Owl City's albums on Spotify for fun. While doing so I came to the realization that Owl City (electronica artist Adam Young) is definitively my favorite musical artist (John Mayer would probably be second followed by Sting/The Police). Normally were someone to ask me what my favorite thing was in a given genre I'd probably hem and haw over a couple different choices. But it this case it's very cut and dry.

There's no other artist out there whose music can consistently cheer me up like Owl City does, and the lyrics always have some meat to them. Most of his songs are upbeat in both tempo and message, though there are some nice, more melancholy options for when the mood hits me. As mentioned above, all his music is electronica, so it may not be everyone's cup of tea but I think he's definitely worth checking out.

Owl City hit it big with the mainstream audience back in 2009 with his hit "Fireflies", though he had been playing around with electronica since 2007. More recently, "Good Time" with Carly Rae Jepsen has been getting a lot of airtime, though I personally prefer more of his songs that haven't been playing on the radio. If you've already got Spotify installed I'd go ahead and just listen to the three albums they've got up there. Otherwise, go install Spotify. It's free and a great way to discover new music without having to constrain yourself to what the radio plays.











Image source: 1

What I'm Cooking - Tomato Soup

Fall is here, and with it comes the triumphant return of soup in all its many forms. One of the easiest and most delicious options out there is tomato soup, and the Garden Fresh Tomato Soup recipe from AllRecipes.com has been my go-to choice for years now. This version incorporates the changes that one of the AR users suggested, and I think it makes the soup so much better.

Tomato Soup (recipe doubled)

8	cups chopped fresh tomatoes
	(or [2] 28oz cans and [1] 16oz can of whole peeled tomatoes)
2	large onions, chopped
8	cloves of garlic, chopped
4	cups of chicken or vegetable broth
4	tablespoons of butter
4	tablespoons of all-purpose flour
2	teaspoons of salt
½	teaspoon of sugar
2	tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
⅛	teaspoon cayenne pepper
3	tablespoons of fresh basil, torn
1	cup of heavy cream

1. In a large stock pot or dutch oven throw a few tablespoons of olive oil over medium-low heat until shimmering. Add the onions and cook for 5-7 minutes until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another minute until fragrent.



2. Add tomatoes and bring to a boil. Then and the broth, reduce to a simmer, and cover and cook for 20 minutes.

3. Add basil and then puree, using either an immersion blender (the greatest thing ever invented for soups) or by transferring it in batches to a blender. Once done, transfer soup to a separate container.



4. In your now empty pot, add the butter over medium heat and let melt. Then add the flour and stir continuously until a roux is formed. Once this is achieved, start adding to soup back into the pot in small amounts to make sure not lumps appear in the roux. Once you've added a few cups in go and pour in the rest.



5. At this point add all the other ingredients, as well as salt and pepper to taste. Depending on how much texture you like in your soup you can either give it another go with the immersion blender or strain the soup through a fine sieve. Personally I like the texture, but either way it's going to be delicious.

If I can't sleep, I'll make Excel charts instead.

I ran across another post on sleep habits the other day entitled "How I Cured My Chronic Insomnia" and thought it was worth passing along. In the article, the author offers up nine suggestions on how to combat insomnia:

1. Get on a consistent sleeping schedule.
2. No interactive screen time 1 hour before bed.
3. Don’t eat too late.
4. Exercise daily.
5. No caffeine after 1pm.
6. Use a white noise machine.
7. Black out shades or sleep mask.
8. Don’t drink too much alcohol.
9. Practice mindfulness (i.e., meditation).

I've managed to do most of those things at one point or another, and even managed to do some of them at the same time, but I don't think I've successfully done them all consistently. 1 and 4 are probably my worst offenders, though there wasn't a noticeable change in sleep habits when I was doing them both consistently the last time I tracked my sleep. That said, I've no idea how long good habits take to kick in, and three weeks may not have been long enough to notice a change. So let's have another go at it, shall we?

I doubt a consistent sleep schedule is going to happen but with my job switching back to a 9-5 for a few months, now is as good a time as any to attempt it. I'm going to aim for an 11pm (or possibly 11:30pm) bedtime, which means cutting off the computer and other electronic devices by 10 or 10:30pm. *sad trombone* I'm not entirely sure what "late" refers to in terms of dinner time but I figure no later than 8pm would still be fine. Daily exercise isn't going to happen, but I'd be happy just to get back to going to the gym three times a week. Maybe I can also throw in a brief walk every night, which is something I've tried repeatedly to do without success.

No caffeine is doable though will probably suck when my friends want to stay up late and party. I've already got an air purifier that acts like a white noise machine, and it might even be worth getting new filters for it. California is a super dusty place and I wouldn't be surprised if that was contributing to me waking up in the middle of the night. I've only got one set of black out shades but they're already on the window facing East, so that's as good as it's going to get. I don't really drink alcohol to begin with so that shouldn't be a big problem, and I've never really tried meditation, but it's worth looking into.

So now all that's left to do is to create a nifty little chart in Excel and I'm on my way! Scientific results, here I come!

Corgi of the Day

What I'm Cooking - Cornbread

Cornbread is something I've rarely dabbled with in the past, in part because my results usually ended up subpar. Thankfully, Cooks' Illustrated decided to tackle this troublesome side dish in a recent issue (July & August 2013) and I am very pleased with the results.

Fresh Corn Bread

1 ⅓	cups (6 ⅔ ounces) stone-ground cornmeal
1	cup (5 ounces) all-purpose flour
2	tablespoons sugar
1 ½	teaspoons baking powder
¼	teaspoon baking soda
1 ¼	teaspoons salt
3	ears corn, kernels cut from cobs (2 ¼ cups)
6	tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces
1	cup buttermilk
2	large eggs plus 1 large yolk

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Whisk the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking power, baking soda, and the salt together in a large bowl and set aside.



2. Throw your kernels into a blender and let it run on high for about 2 minutes until very smooth. If your blender is old like mine, you might also want to invest in a pair of earmuffs.



3. Transfer the puree to a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly (seriously, it'll clump and burn otherwise), until very thick and deep yellow, 5-8 minutes. I could only find white corn when I went shopping so stick with the time range if you're unsure if it's done or not.

4. Remove the pan from heat and add 5 (NOT 6) tablespoons of butter and whisk until melted. Then add the buttermilk and whisk again. Finally add in the eggs and whisk one more time. Once everything is fully incorporated, transfer the corn mixture to the bowl with the dry goods and fold together with a spatula until just combined.

5. Melt the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter into a 10-inch iron skillet over medium heat. Pour in the batter and level out before placing in the oven for about 23-28 minutes. Check it with a toothpick to confirm it is done and then remove it and let it cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Then remove the cornbread from the skillet and let cool for an additional 20 minutes before grabbing giant handfuls, slathering it in butter, and then cramming it into your mouth as fast as humanly possible.

Watch this. NOW.

A great weekend that I'd like to repeat.

I had a great weekend on Monday and Tuesday, and it was the first time in a while that I felt both rested and productive over the break. I finally got back to the gym again and managed not to seriously injure myself, though my legs and lower back weren't terribly pleased with me when I was finished. It was also the first time I made the trip out by foot, a roughly two-mile roundtrip which went by swiftly as I listened to podcasts of The Moth.

Having started the weekend off on such good footing, I decided to continue the trend on Tuesday and went hiking for the first time ever at Runyon Canyon, a very popular destination in downtown Hollywood. I didn't do the full circuit, but it was an exhausting work out that rewarded me with some great views of the city.

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As a further reward to myself, I decided to make chili for dinner and paired it with a Cooks' Illustrated recipe for cornbread which I will share later (it was REALLY good). The chili was okay but nothing special, a recipe that I had randomly pulled from one of the food blogs I follow. That said, it's hard to make chili that isn't good, so I've been happily been eating it for lunch all week.



I've also gotten on another Bioshock 2 tear, and I'm very close to finishing the game (only three years behind schedule!). I always marvel at the art design of the series, and I'd love to see a movie made out of it, just so I could see the tableaus on a larger scale. Or hell, make a theme park attraction out of it. That would easily be enough to get me to shell out whatever exorbitant prices theme parks are charging these days.

[Source]

Only two more days until my triumphant return to The Pokemusical and I'm super excited to be going back. It's been extended for the third time, and I'll be performing in five of the twelve extra production. Thankfully there's only one midnight performance (this Saturday), but copious amounts of caffeine should carry me through. :D

I've also got my first big rental next week, a musical fundraiser which has me fluctuating between excitement and terror. After numerous calls this week I think everything is going to go off without a hitch, but I'm super nervous about getting it right. My company has done rentals with these folks before and everyone seems to think they're super high maintenance, but the woman I met with the other day seems fairly level-headed.

The Power of Music

So yesterday ended up being a rough day, which turned into a really rough night, which turned into an absolutely miserable morning. And as I had no interest in spending another day wallowing in misery I decided I needed a pick-me up, and fast. And what better way to brighten the mood than listening to some upbeat, cheery music?

Of course, my musical knowledge is pretty limited so I jumped on Facebook and asked my friends for suggestions. And lo, pay dirt was struck! And because they worked so well for me I thought I'd pass some of them along. Enjoy!

Belle and Sebastian - "We Are the Sleepyheads"

Ben Lee - "Catch My Disease"

Capital Cities - "Chartreuse" (my personal favorite)

Fitz and The Tantrums - "MoneyGrabber"

Phoenix - "Lasso"

Spoon - "Finer Feelings"

Bloc Party - "Rachet" (both the song and video are sweet)

HAIM - "Forever"

Tally Hall - "The Whole World And You"

Roosevelt Radio - "Turn Out the Lights"

TV On The Radio - "Second Song"

Two Door Cinema Club - "What You Know" (also really good)

It's been a quiet week in Lake Woebegon...

To my embarrassment, while I knew the stories Garrison Keillor told about Lake Woebegon were clearly false, or at least embellishing on some truth, I didn't realize until my late twenties that Lake Woebegon didn't actually exist. Nor did I get the play on words that the name entailed.

Anyways, much like in Lake Woebegon, it's been pretty quiet here in my home town, thus the lack of recent posts. Our current production just got extended by two weeks which everyone is thrilled about, and I'm currently prepping for what will likely be a crazy night of ticket sales tonight. One of the grants that my theatre has received is to help fund a single night of theatre for folks who normally can't afford to go. So tonight we are offering $5 tickets, limit two per person, with no pre-sales, and on a first come first serve basis. As of 5:45pm we already had two people in line for the 8pm show. MADNESS.

The third extension of The Pokemusical has also been announced and I'll be coming back for five of the twelve extra shows they'll be putting up. There are a number of new cast members involved and I'm looking forward to working with them all. It was a fun show the first time around and I can't imagine that will change.

And that's pretty much it for me the last few weeks. I'm still trying (and failing) to get back into my normal routines and I'm still spending more time than I should hermit-ed away at home in front of my computer. On the upside, it's given me lots of time to watch more West Wing, so it hasn't been a total loss. :D

And now, time for something completely different (from Reddit):