Holidays, Road Trips, and New York City.

Hey everybody,

I hope you all had a refreshing Christmas. The new year is fast approaching. A friend and I had an idea to drive to New York City to celebrate New Years Eve and watch the ball drop in Times Square. A quick Google Maps search later...

Yes, about 3,000 miles and 2 days of driving. My friend owns a Prius and with gas prices as low as they are ($2.50 here) it would only cost around $200 in gas round trip. It's pretty neat how we could take I-80 the entire way.


Too much travel time. Instead we'll have to settle for something close to home – Seattle, San Francisco, or Las Vegas to celebrate New Years Eve. Not bad.

Speaking of road trips, spring break is approaching. My roommate's aunt owns a timeshare in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The idea of warm beaches and tropical weather has tempted us over the years, but we gave in. This year has to be different. If no one is willing to step up and lead our band of hooligans on international road trips, I'll gladly wield the hammer, or whip, or whatever medieval weapons needed to kick some asses into gear.  

At the very least, I'll settle for Vegas. But until then, Mexico it is.

Crock Pot Bean Recipe

Being the fiscally conservative college student that I am, I often find myself on the hunt for cheap foods that are nutritious and easy to make. This recipe may not be the best for someone watching their calories, but for a fast-metabolizing young adult like myself it's great.

Slow Cooked Pinto Beans (Prep: 10 minutes, Cook: 8 hours)
Ingredients:
1 Cup dry pinto beans
1 lb bacon strips
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic powder (optional)
1 1/2 cup water

Directions:
This recipe works best as a dinner recipe. Begin preparing in the morning. To begin, pour the beans and water into the Crock Pot. Next, cook yourself up some delicious bacon (~4-5 strips) for breakfast. Cook until it is semi-crispy. Set the bacon aside and pour the bacon grease into your crock pot. Set the crock pot to low heat, and eat your bacon. You earned it. Now go ahead and live your life as lazy or productive as you feel like, your Crock Pot has your back.

8 hours later you've got some nice beans. Season with some salt, cumin, and garlic powder. Enjoy!

If you guys like this I'll post my Spanish Rice recipe!

Long Hiatus

Hello my fellow bloggers,
Your king returns! My hiatus is over.
I switched my major from nuclear engineering to economics.
I also began getting higher grades. (Who knew less math and physics could lead to easier classes?!)
This term I took WR 323 – English Composition. We studied how to write concise prose, wrote persuasive essays including one satire, and had helpful peer review sessions with the class. Our professor taught us that peer review is more about learning by critiquing others than learning from getting your own work critiqued. It goes with the saying, "the strongest way to learn something is to teach it to someone else."

When I think about writing skills, I am reminded of running, in a weird way.
I used to run cross country in high school. My coach told me that I could lose months of physical training if I was inactive for just two weeks.
I think writing is similar in that regard. That's what brought me back to blogging; to stay in shape. I'll admit the first time around I had a poor focus – generating ad revenue. This time around I will focus on writing to improve my skill, inform, and entertain.

I'd like to employ the skills I learned in school to improve my writing. Perhaps even write some satire – the Onion and The Daily Show won't have shit on me. But seriously, I don't plan on becoming a preachy social justice warrior, I just want to have a bit of fun. As far as content goes, it will continue to be flexible. A little bit of personal life, and a little bit current events, and my stance in political debates.

I'm just another unfortunate college student paying my way through school, drowning in a sea of debt, majoring in the non-specific field of economics, without a clue where I'm going after I graduate. But one things certain – I enjoy writing and want to increase my writing ability. Join me on the way, followers. You won't be disappointed. (And if you are, let me know! I could use the feedback.)