All posts by Jonathan

Grandma Bloy’s pfeffernüsse

There are two things I always think about on the Winter Solstice (which is today). First, I am thankful the hours of daylight will start to get longer after today. Secondly, I always think of my Grandmother, Clara Bloy. December 21 was her birthday. This time of the year never went by without her making Pfeffernüsse Cookies. When my family went to visit Grandma Bloy for Christmas, we always got to take a big batch of those crunchy, spicy delights back home with us. That’s probably one of the strongest memories I have of Grandma Bloy. She passed away 24 years ago and I’m not sure I ever told her how much I liked those cookies. I’ve bought pfeffernüsse cookies from bakeries, but they’re never the same as my grandmother’s — I need to get her recipe from my mother.

Thanks Grandma — for the cookies and that wonderful memory.

Update, December 24, 2007
I just posted Grandma Bloy’s recipe for pfeffernüsse. Use that if you want the authentic Bloy version.

The reason for coming to work

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Working with the public as I do at the library can be a little stressful at times. There are days when it’s hard not to let the people who are rude and impatient get to you. The other day I was experiencing a pretty hectic afternoon when a college student who was trying to find some articles on an obscure topic asked me for help. After spending a few minutes asking about her topic and refining her search, I was able to locate some relevant articles. Later, after she browsed through the articles and printed a few, she stopped by the desk and said “Thank you so much! Those were exactly what I was looking for. You know, I was at my college library and the librarian there couldn’t find anything at all. Thanks again!”

As she walked away I thought about the stressful afternoon I was having and decided that she was the reason I came to work that day.

The best thing

What’s the best thing that happened to you this year?

That was one of the topics of discussion at the Thanksgiving dinner table last Thursday. It turned into a very philosophical thought for me. When I first heard the question I realized there were quite a few things that could have been the best thing that happened to me this year. Sometimes it’s easy to let negative things overshadow positive ones. But having to consider one event being the best makes me realize just how many positive things have happened to me this past year.

So, what did I choose as the best? I’m still thinking about that.

Dark skies at night

The cold, crisp air and the dusting of snow on the ground really made it feel like winter to me today. One thing I like about winter — the night skies are a lot more clear which makes stargazing a little easier. I’ve noticed the sky is a little darker outside my condo compared to where I used to live (I’m a little farther away from the city lights of Milwaukee). Last night when I got home about 9pm I looked up and saw the the Pleiades star cluster. That’s a constellation I don’t ever remember being able to see from my home before.

Check out the International Dark-Sky Association to learn more about light pollution and keeping our night skies dark.

Visions of Leonids

Did you see the Leonid Meteor Shower last night? Since the peak was early this morning, I decided to set my alarm for 4:45am. After checking out the window that that sky was clear, I got dressed and headed outside. I spent about 15 minutes with my head turned skyward and saw a total of 18 meteorites. That’s pretty good when you consider the moon was almost full and I was watching the night sky in the middle of a metropolitan area. Imagine the visions of Leonids dancing before my eyes if I were out on a moonless night in the country.

Ouch! Hurry up and wait

Thanks to me rushing to get a home improvement project done and a little accident involving my left thumb and my drill, I had a fun filled trip to the emergency room last night. After my thumb was stitched up, I had spent a total of three and a half hours there. Weeeee! Needless to say, I probably won’t be doing any home improvement projects until I get this big purple bandage off of my thumb. Yes, I have a purple bandage. It’s actually quite fashionable and a better choice over the hot pink gauze they also had in the cabinet.

One week and lots of home improving

Yes, I am now thirty years in debt. It sure beats paying rent to the landlord though. I’ve been in my condo for almost a week now and I like it a lot. Now, if I could just get the guy that unpacks all the boxes to work a little faster it would be even better.

Anyone interested in buying stock I would advice investing in home improvement stores. Since I moved I’ve already visited three different home improvement stores five times and let me tell you, there seems to be a lot of home improving going on around here. Each time I go the parking lots are packed and the lines at the registers are long.

Memories can’t wait

So there I was going through some stuff as I was packing yesterday and I came across my high school yearbooks. I couldn’t resist opening the first one and browsing through it. It’ll just take a few minutes, I said to myself. After I had finished looking through all three an hour had passed and a rush of memories were flooding my brain. Sometimes I wish I could go back to high school with the knowledge of life that I now have. I also wish I could go back and visit those good friends I had that I lost touch with so long ago. Here’s to my classmates. I hope you’re doing well.

Eight year old junk

Just two more weeks until I’m thirty years in debt. My apartment is beginning to resemble a warehouse with all the boxes I’ve got laying about. You don’t realize how much junk you’ve got until you start handling everything you own piece by piece. While going through a closet this weekend I discovered a bunch of junk that I haven’t touched since I put it in the closet eight years ago when I moved in. If anyone can tell me why I was keeping this stuff, they’ll win the grand prize for the week.*

*The grand prize for this week is a box full of junk that hasn’t been used for eight years.

Googlefight for Governor

Tonight I tuned in to watch the debate between the candidates for Wisconsin Governor on TV. Either the debate wasn’t all that exciting or I was pretty tired from a hard day’s work. I saw the first two questions, responses and rebuttals, and the next thing I remember was waking up 15 minutes after the debate was over. So, I turn to Google Fight for enlightenment. Enter Scott McCallum versus Jim Doyle and Doyle wins by over 200,000 Google entries. It’s official — I’m voting for Doyle. (It’s okay, I wasn’t going to vote for a conservative Republican no matter how many Google entries he had).

Condo news: My loan has been approved! In just another 24 days I will be thirty years in debt. Now, who wants to come over and help me pack?