Toning

I’ve never been one for resolutions, so I don’t make them. However, I don’t mind occasionally trying to change my life. If it happens around the New Year, so be it. This year I decided to get into better shape again. I was in decent shape before I left for the Peace Corps, I biked every day and I lifted weights a few times a week. However, since coming to Ukraine I’m lost nearly all … Continue reading

Growing Up

While I was home back in September, I was supposed to smoke a cigar with a couple of my friends. Due to time constraints, we were unable to so I was handed the cigar and we decided we’d figure it out later. This past weekend, we figured it out with the help of Google+ Hangouts (video chat supporting up to ten users at a time). Since it’s the middle of winter, I set up my … Continue reading

Science Fun

Science tip of the day: When home-brewing root beer using yeast and sugar to make carbonation. Do not decide that you want the drink to be sweeter after you add the yeast and let it sit for a day. You will have a fountain of root beer to deal with. I would know.

Sharing Peanut Butter Culture

A while back, I bought myself a food processor because I wanted to make myself some homemade peanut butter. I have a problem where I want all the peanut butter I can have and this seemed like a practical solution. The peanut butter I made turned out quite well considering I hadn’t made it before and I was using the cheapest food processor on the shelf at the local Foxtrot. During one of my peanut … Continue reading

That Yearly Thing

I meant to write this post every day for the past two weeks. I have excuses, but I won’t bother writing them. 2011 is over and 2012 is here. I’m not going to suggest that this is the last year we’ll be alive because all that fuss about the Mayans is misinterpreted. They didn’t predict that the world would end, they predicted that a new era will begin. That’s how I’m going to look at … Continue reading

Hoi Polloi

I guess I can be considered Hoi Polloi (noun: the common people; the masses (often preceded by the )). Can you find me on Tarasloane.com? I met Tara back at the end of October. She was on a trip to find herself and to transition between lives. She and Jeramie were good friends back in high school and they decided to catch up in Ukraine. We had a good time together, despite Tara being a Gopher.