So the huge writing gig for Pearson officially began today. Yay! I'm checking off another item on my career bucket list: designing and writing cool educational content. And these activities will live in the student manuals as part of a massive ELL program set to roll out in China some time next year and then, eventually, to the rest of the world. Another added bonus - I'll finally collect a paycheck again.

I also signed up for NaNoWriMo because several friends threatened to "divorce" me if I didn't commit this year. By the end of the November, I may need to be committed. BUT I figured out that if I rise at 6 am instead of 7, I can sneak in a guaranteed hour of writing each day.

Now... to find that motivation. I think I saw it zipping down the street, but I'll engage my tractor beam to snare it and reinstall it in my brain.

:::waves hello:::  I am here, finally, after having established my account almost 2 months ago. That's about how my turnaround time has been, lately. I'm still posting sporadically at LiveJournal as well. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to use this site, but for now it's enough to say hi to those who already know me from LJ, FB, or RL, and to anyone new who might be reading this.

So far I really like the interface. It's clean, bright, and readable. It feels like a nice middle ground between FB and a blog platform.

OK, I'm off to read other peoples' posts now.

This is a tasty variation on something I've been pouring in the ice cream freezer for a long time. I should have tried the banana sooner.

1 frozen banana (or fresh; just takes longer)

1 generous dollop peanut butter

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1 generous shake 5-spice powder

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Mix the ingredients and pour into your beloved ice cream maker. Y'know, the compact kind with the insert you keep in the freezer until it's ready.

Serves one. But by that I mean it serves the amount you're really gonna eat. Like, about two cups.

Me and my handsome bros, from this past summer.

My wife's work sponsors a 5K every year. In years past, we've walked the 5K while pushing our son in a stroller. This year, though, since I've been running, my wife asked if I wanted to run it. And I said that would be cool. Then this morning, our son woke up with a fever, and my wife offered to stay home and snooze with him while I ran the 5K. Awesome!

This was my first time ever running in a race. When we walk the 5K, we generally finish almost entirely last, scant minutes before they deflate the finish line. One year, we were beaten by an octogenarian who was also walking. That's a very comfortable way to complete a 5K; our biggest problem has been managing a one- or two-year old who doesn't want to stay in the stroller.

This time, though, I maintained a steady 6 mph pace through the entire 5K, except when I paused to tie my shoes (forgot to double knot them, oops) and at the very end when I figured I might as well give it everything I had for the last .107 miles. And I learned that maintaining a steady pace through an entire 5K is a little depressing, because you spend most of the race passing people who started out too fast. And of course, half the people you pass immediately start running a bit faster, so now you simultaneously feel sorry for them and wish you didn't have to listen to them panting right behind you.

The official timing has me at 30:55, which is a bit shy of my goal of 30:00, but well within my secondary goal of "no more than twice as long as the first-place finisher." I also finished slightly faster than one dude who was somehow walking almost as fast as I was running, and every six-year old who competed. Two of the three seven-year olds beat me, though.

Archer's pumpkin looks on in horror as Houser's pumpkin goes "Daddy hamster" on Hunter's pumpkin.  Happy Halloween!

Yesterday was kind of epic.

Recently we spotted an H-Mart from the car while crossing back into town from Elkins Park, north of Philadelphia. I was vaguely aware it's a Korean supermarket. Our neighborhood has cheap, abundantly stocked pan-asian supermarkets, but this looked a little more upscale.

And on the way back into town, we passed through a Korean neighborhood that blends into an African-American neighborhood that blends into... and so on. But from a car, you miss a lot.

So yesterday, with the rest of my household out on their own errands, I decided to hop on my bike and pedal north... forever.

Around 0.3 forevers into this journey, I passed Fly School Circus Arts, currently located on 5th street near Cecil B. Moore. They teach you the flying trapeze. I tried it once. S'fun.

At the 0.6 forevers mark, I stumbled onto El Bloque de Oro, aka the "golden block." Actually several blocks of thriving Latino businesses and a community center.

But around 0.7 forevers, I found myself in what felt like an endless series of abandoned factories. So I changed course, rolled through the green space of Hunting Park, and worked my way north along Old York Road, which parallels Broad Street.

Old York was my ticket the rest of the way to forever: the H-Mart at Old York and Cheltenham Avenue.

I had expected a supermarket, and there is one, more of an upper middle class affair than I'm used to down in South Philly. But there is also an indoor pedestrian mall that feels more like a street market. And a vendor of Korean kitchen and bathroom fixtures. Which... are a vivid reminder that we are not the only high-tech culture on this planet that innovates in the vital arenas of consumption and elimination. But anyway.

The main score for me: red bean donuts. I hadn't experienced red bean paste desserts before, although I know they are a staple in certain cultures. These were served in a very health-label-conscious "parisian bakery" that clearly is no stranger to picky eaters, so I felt more confident than usual in ordering outside my comfort zone.

On my return home, I presented the family with freeze-dried asian pears, Korean corn chips and plum candy for dessert. The "crispy asian pears" were the clear winner; with no ingredients whatsoever other than asian pears, they scratch that "unhealthy crunchy snack" itch. I was impressed. The other two were just okay. But I get points for adventuring, yes?

I'm a big believer in leaving your backyard and exploring neighborhoods you wouldn't normally see.

I'm cognizant that in some places and times there can be risks associated with this. A tiny fraction, of course, of the risk and discomfort folks who don't happen to be white males might experience in far more places. But there are risks associated with never leaving the house, too. It also doesn't hurt that I tend to explore in broad daylight. Which is not to say that any particular places I've mentioned are less safe.

I'm here today. I'm catching up on all the posts I missed and enjoying the new "network" and "public" features. I made some of my longest-time internet friends from friending folks on LJ and I look forward to adding new biological and technological distinctiveness to my... collective. Of.. blogs. We are Blog?