First Published: 2018 December 22
Today, I tried the recipe again. It came out more solid, though less strong flavored, and with a texture described as “grainy.” All in all, I’d say it’s marginally better.
First Published: 2018 December 21
As I mentioned before, in a few weeks I’ll be competing in a baking competition. So, today I tried making the recipe for the first time. Reviews were generally positive, though many commented that the flavor was almost too strong. Given that I remember the recipe having a strong chocolate flavor before browning the butter and adding coffee, that would make sense. So, next time I make it, I’ll have to also try adding on the whipped cream and strawberries.
Right now, I need to think of a way to lighten the dish, as most reviewers found it too strong. I hope that adding the whipped cream will be enough to lighten it. Tomorrow should tell me.
First Published: 2018 December 20
As in one of my first posts, I’m using this as a space to reflect on my time back home. Not much has changed at Grinnell, other than some new faces showing up and some old faces not being there. The codes to some doors I need to use have changed, others have stayed the same. All in all, these first few hours back in Grinnell are far less shocking than the same in London.
First Published: 2018 December 19
I made it home! That’s about all I have the energy to say right now
First Published: 2018 December 18
Prereading note: If you look at the html, you may notice that this is labeled “2.” There is a first essay about this, but it’s nearly 2000 words and needs some cleaning. It’ll be good for a day I don’t feel like writing
Yesterday, my brother and I were eating together. While doing so, I flipped through my notebook, because he and I were bored. I saw that I had made a map of all 24 major and minor chords, connected by the movements of a single note in a triad.1 I was wondering if there was a better way to represent it than the interlocking circle I’d made. While the answer appears to be no,2 it still sparked an idea.
Today, we3 made a program to auto-generate a chord progression that moves along the three valid Neo-Riemannian steps, P,R, and L. As is often the case, none of the code in the initial working model ended up in the final. Using the input of the beginning chord and desired number of changes, it pseudo4-randomly5 generates a progression. One example that I just generated, using 25 chords from CM is: CM->Cm->EbM->Cm->CM->Am->CM->Am->CM->Am->CM->Cm->AbM->Abm->AbM->Abm->AbM->Abm/G#m->EM->Em->GM->Gm->EbM->Ebm->EbM. If you’d like to hear what that sounds like as generated by a midi keyboard, or if you’d like to try the program yourself, feel free to mail me at .
First Published: 2018 December 17
Today I had the wonderful opportunity to tour the old Jameson Distillery in Dublin. Our tour guide was wonderful and knowledgeable.1 I learned a lot about how whiskey, and particularly Jameson, is made
including knowing Iowa’s State capitol, bird, flag, and a few other things↩︎
First Published: 2018 December 16
Zephaniah 3:17 “The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior; He will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love, He will sing joyfully because of you,”
Today, we hear the prophet Zephaniah speak about the coming of the Lord. Obviously, since we are in Advent, the Gospel does as well. However, while John’s call to the people is focused on the glory and fear the Lord will bring when he descends, the first reading focuses on the positive aspects. The people are told to “shout for joy!” and “sing joyfully.”1 We hear that the coming of the Lord will bring joy and salvation.
This is really the part of the Word I feel we don’t talk about enough. Yes, there are rules we are to follow. Yes, we are called to take up our crosses. Yes, we are to love as Jesus loved.
But, the Lord also forgives us. He brings us safety. And, in these cold days while we await the coming Lord, the joy of his love should keep us warm.
Zephaniah 3:14a↩︎
First Published: 2018 December 15
Today, I had the wonderful opportunity to experience the Guinness Brewery Tour. As it was self-guided, it felt more like a museum than a tour, but that’s not too important. It was really fun, and I’m very glad I did it.
First Published: 2018 December 14
As you might know, I started this blog in part because of assignments and people wondering what I was doing while abroad. Now, abroad is over. The assignment is also concluded. Should I stop writing daily?
I think I won’t, if only because I enjoy the idea of knowing that I’ve written something each day. Likewise, I’ll also continue my list of 5 things each day that were nice and out of the ordinary
First Published: 2018 December 13
For those of you who are unaware, last spring Grinnell College’s Collegium Musicum1 performed a piece entitled “The Cries of London.” As the piece comes to a close, each of the independent parts begins singing “and so we make an end,” until the entire group is singing it, and then the piece ends. Only partially because of the title, I’m feeling that song as extremely relevant to me right now.
Last night at diving, I had to say goodbye to the wonderful and amazing people I’ve met at diving this semester. They expressed sadness that I would be gone, and assured me I’d be back soon.2 A couple of them shared contact information with me, so maybe we’ll stay in touch.
Today, I took my final at Queen Mary. It was3 worth all of my grade in the class, so I hope I did well.
Today, I also had my last class of the semester. And, as I write this document, I’ve just finished packing4 my stuff into its suitcase. Oddly, other than the pile of books I’m going to have to fit into my backpack, I don’t appear to have gained many things. It’s also odd because it only took around 45 minutes to pack all of my belongings. In contrast, it took around 3 hours to pack and remove all of the items from my room last semester. But, my semester here is coming to an end. Potentially never again will I be in London, and almost certainly never again will I be living here. I’m excited to be home, if only so that the next phase of my life begins.
As this page in my5 journal turns over, I begin a new one. In fact, I’m going to look at my first few posts, to see if there’s anything that I thought about then that I’m thinking about now.
In my journal, I mentioned that I would miss seeing some friends.6 I’m certainly excited to see them, especially since some of them will be abroad in the spring.
On my first post, I said that I would be sharing “updates about travel, my life abroad, and whatever else happens to be on my mind when I sit down to write.” I certainly did some of those, whether the reviews of shows that I saw, the places I went to,7 or the random things I wrote about.
In my second post, I said that “London feels a lot like Grinnell so far,” and that’s still certainly true. Of the six points mentioned, the first is still somewhat true, though I’ve learned how to use Google Maps without data, the second I’ve managed to avoid doing again. I’ve still only heard bagpipes twice and only seen them once. London weather is now8 far warmer than Grinnell, so I debate wearing a jacket some days. I was able to find a Catholic church.9 Finally, underground is still easy, buses are still magic that takes you from a-b.
My third post10 deals with street music, and I’ve lately seen far more accordions. I take that as a sign that I’m really supposed to learn them next semester. Also, tonight as I left the end of semester dinner, there were two guys walking around playing Christmas carols on the alto saxophone, which was nice. I was a public musician once, which was when we were on a train coming home and had a long stop at a station. Some train employees came and listened and said they appreciated it when I finished, which was nice.
Finally, my fourth post deals with how I thought I would journal. I said I’d be on social media a lot, which was true. I stopped updating Facebook about this, mostly because I stopped being proud of what I’d written. I managed to11 do this daily. And, I did continue the hybrid journal. As a printed document, the digital portion was around 100 double sided pages, and the analog one is currently around 120 pages. So, that’s nice to know. I also continued to have more free time than I wanted, which was kind of nice. I needed time to destress and decompress, if only from city life, and had that chance. That meant that I may not have made it to every single concert or museum that I could’ve gone to, but I’m ok with that, especially since I’ve never really loved museums.12
So yeah, while I’m not headed home just yet,13 I am done with the Grinnell in London program, and that feels nice.
early music group↩︎
one of them commented that they’ve felt much more comfortable wiping out since I showed up which was a little less nice but↩︎
is↩︎
most of↩︎
both metaphorical and literal↩︎
and obviously my family↩︎
sometimes↩︎
apparently↩︎
well, two churches↩︎
yes I intentionally hrefed them all differently↩︎
with one exception↩︎
I could write about that sometime↩︎
my amazing older brother came to visit and we’re going exploring!↩︎