Welcome to My Cottage!

The Cottage is where I will introduce you to some of the things I do for fun. Here you will find information about my hobbies and interests. I added a book list to the interests portion of this page.

Hobbies

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Biking - I love biking; it's great exercise, it's fun, and I get to experience the adrenaline rush of zooming down a hill at top speed. To date, I've taken it out for nice casual rides through Ann Arbor, abused it in the woods of the public parks, fell off of it, and used it as transportation to many different points in Ann Arbor.

Bowling - I just recently started up with bowling this past year (2004). I actually bowled on a league and I have to confess, it was a LOT of fun! My average isn't that great, but it's getting there...hopefully I will be a coveted team member.

Blading - Several years ago, I got it into my head that I should give rollerblading a try. Not a sport for the faint of heart (or those with poor balance), I figured this would be a good way to add variety to my exercise as well as enjoy the various parks I frequented.

Looking for a great place to blade? Try Kensington Metro Park. It has an 8-mile paved loop and has enough challenge for all skill levels. I can't tell you how many times I've wheezed, huffed, and puffed my way up some of the hills there, but I made it every time! Generally, there is fairly good people-watching available there too.

Cooking - For as long as I can remember, I've always loved to cook. In general, I've always enjoyed food, its preparation, its presentation, and especially the cultural implications of different dishes.

When you think about it, you can learn a great deal about a person, their background, their geographical area, etc. from what they eat and how the prepare it. The culinary world is a relatively simple way of experiencing cultures from all over the world without traveling everywhere (and you generally get to avoid most illnesses, customs hassles, and jet lag!). I don't really have one particular interest, from a culinary stand-point. I do, however tend to avoid most seafood. I'll eat it, and I'll generally enjoy it, but it's not typically my first choice (The only exception to this rule is salmon, tuna, or swordfish steaks).

I do not ascribe to any particular dietary regimen, although many people would consider me to be a "part-time vegetarian". Personally, I'm not really into categorizing my eating habits, as I'm really not that picky.

Recently, I've become enamored with Irish cooking as it pertains to my "part-time vegetarian" sensibilities. That is, I have no interest in trying dishes like drisheen, tripe, pig's head (or feet), or other recipes where one of the main ingredients is blood...ewwww! I am more interested in the breads, vegetable dishes, side dishes, soups and stews, and other such recipes that I have discovered were simple, tasty, and fun to make.

One of my favorite authors in this world of Irish cooking is Darina Allen. She has many books published, but I think my favorite is her collection called Irish Traditional Cooking. It is her attempt to preserve Ireland's traditional culinary methods and customs - she made herself an Irish culinary archivist!

Computer Stuff - This part should be kind of obvious, given my web page, so I will not spend too much time on it. Historically, I've been interested in the technology side of computing. While that is still interesting to me, I am more interested in the appropriate use of technology to enhance our lives.

Too many people think that if we throw technology at a problem, things will get better and be easier to manage. The fact is that this is not always the case. How you determine where to appropriately use technology just fascinates me.

Interests

Music - I've got a pretty eclectic taste in music. Below is a sampling of CD's I own and listen to frequently. In general, I enjoy: classical, Irish music, Celtic music, alternative, rock, blues, jazz, and some new-age stuff. Click the title names to go to the Amazon.com site where you can browse their listings for that artist, listen to some of the music, and purchase your own copy if you like it.

Artists:

• Sarah McLachlan
• The Corrs
• Natalie Merchant
• Matchbox Twenty
• Live - Throwing Copper
• Enya
• Clannad
• Hootie and the Blowfish
• Tons of Mozart recordings - Mozart for your Mind
• Wagner
• Handel
• B. B. King
• Deep Forest - Deep Forest, Boheme, Comparsa
• Baka Beyond: This is very interesting collection based on Cameroon pygmy music. There are two selections here that I recommend: Spirit of the Forest and Heart of the Forest. Heart of the Forest is a "raw" version of the pygmy music. It's a very interesting sound. Take a moment to listen to the Water Drums on Amazon.com; you've probably never heard anything like it.

Theater - I love to watch operas, but I'm particular to those done by Mozart. I've seen The Magic Flute performed twice at U of M and I've seen Don Giovanni performed at the Masonic Temple. All of the performances were fantastic and I had a blast attending them!

I enjoy plays too. I appreciate Shakespeare's works; I've seen Hamlet, Taming of the Shrew, and A Mid-Summer Night's Dream.

I've even attended some ballet and musical performances: Cats (of course), Giselle (sp?), Godspell, and some others. I enjoy these performances too, but ballets and musicals are not generally the first thing I see. I haven't figured out why this is yet, but when I do, I'll be sure to post it.

Literature

One of my friends, Angélique Jamail, recently published a collection of poetry called Gypsies. I think it's a wonderful collection. Since it's a small book, it's a fairly quick read. You can buy a copy of her book from Amazon.com by clicking the title of her book. If you read it, please take a few minutes to write a review. Angélique loves to hear feedback from her readers. From her book: "Angélique Jamail lives and writes in Houston, Texas, most of the year. She has a degree in English - Creative Writing from the University of Houston. This is her first major published work. Gypsies is a loosely plot driven collection of poems about jumping off from traditional toeholds and clinging to the air around you until you find a new niche." Contact her by e-mail: ajamail@pdq.net (photo and book cover reproduced with Angélique's permission.)

I also read science fiction when I have the time. I like Bradbury and I even think William Shatner (Captain Kirk) has written a few good stories.

Recently, I've been reading a lot more of the stuff I read for school, since I found it so interesting. These books mainly have to do with usability, web design, and human-computer interaction (HCI). There is a great list of book on this subject posted on the MOCHI web site.

Book List

	Are you Really Going to Eat That? by Robb Walsh	What a really great book! Thanks, Cory! :-) I loved reading these culinary adventures. I learned a lot about how to find out where the best restaurants are in an area. I also learned quite a bit about goat...something I hadn't expected.
	Wine and War by Donald Kladstrup, et al	I really enjoyed reading this work. I learned a lot about WWII and how the closely tied the French culture is to the wine they produce. Thanks for loaning me the book, Joe!
	The Good Brother by Chris Offutt	This book wasn't the best I've read. It was a simple read, fairly well written, but I just didn't get much into the story. Oh well, it was still a good experience to read it.
	Barrel Fever: Stories and Essays by David Sedaris	You know...I've hear David talk on NPR many times and I've always found him rather funny and insightful. However, I only enjoyed certain pieces from this book. At least half I found just a bit too weird.
	Sellevision by Augusten Burroughs	This book was a very quick read. I enjoyed it so much I didn't really put it down too often. After reading such heavier books (see below), I found it refreshing to read this book.
	The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design by Richard Dawkins	I'm actually still reading this book, but I've read enough of it to know that it's a wonderful book about evolution that really opens your eyes and forces you to think about the development of organisms more deeply. Certainly not light reading, though.
	What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained by Robert L. Wolke, Marlene Parrish	This was a very informative and enjoyable book about kitchen chemistry. It covered a very wide range of topics and answered a lot of questions I had about some cooking myths and some of the chemical processes that occur when one cooks. I think this is a fantastic book for everyone!
	What Do You Care What Other People Think?: Further Adventures of a Curious Character by Ralph Leighton (Contributor), Richard Phillips Feynman	What a great book! This was a wonderful read. I would definately recommend this book to anyone who is interested in non-fiction.
	The Soul of a Chef: The Journey Toward Perfection by: Michael Ruhlman	I loved this book! It offered me quite a bit of insight about what it means to be a chef. I learned a lot about the process of becoming a chef and even how to recognize good cooking. I think this is a great read for anyone interested in understanding what makes chefs tick.
	Chemistry in Context: Applying Chemistry to Society A Project of the American Chemical Society	I have only one thing to say about this book. It's pretty impressive when you WANT to read a chemistry textbook! My thanks to the American Chemical Society for putting it together and the publisher for sending me a review copy.
	Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time by Michael Shermer and Stephen Jay Gould	I really liked this book. It was well written, funny, and thought provoking. Those of you who like to read more new-age type books, please read this one to help balance things out.