Week in Review

Snow! Finally, we have a substantial two feet of snow, so we’ve been frolicking and shoveling several times a day for a week. Minneapolis plows bike paths before streets, so the only linear neighborhood skiing left is along the railroad, in the “no trespassing” zone. My friend Michal and I deemed it worthwhile to break the law for a good ski, and I to break my ski pants jumping the fence to get there.

Food! Our block club held its annual progressive dinner during one of the snow storms. Our next-door neighbors and we hosted dessert at our house, after having appetizers, salad, and dinner at three previous stops. I can’t decide which is best: the food or the excuse to see the interiors of neighbors’ houses. Both were good this time around.

Squash! Max has a new passion: squash. He has daily reports of his escapades, which I didn’t understand…until now. The U is hosting the state squash championships this weekend, which means I am temporarily not banned from the members-only rec center and have watched and learned about this fascinating game.

Ira Glass! We saw him. It’s wrong, I know, but This American Life came to Minneapolis as part of its promotional tour, and we went. The show was what you’d expect: thought-provoking, challenging, and enlightening…a thorough and typical public radio seduction of the mind. I left feeling inspired, but also humble and ordinary. I thought I had original thoughts and perspectives, but Ira and his crew called me out on every one of them, forcing me into the now familiar routine that involves a personal reassessment of complex issues I’ve simplified. It was an amazing show and experience, and I no longer vilify them for deciding to try TV. The promotional tour (and Terry Gross interview) worked on me. Sigh. Check out their TV trailer: http://www.thislife.org/

See snow and food photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ccharp3r/tags/snow2007/

On the Cold and Windy Prairie

Last night I went to the coldest, windiest, most progressive small town I’ve ever visited: Milan, MN. This community of 350 uses geothermal energy to heat their bank and church, they have signed onto the Kyoto Treaty, and through one citizen’s Peace Corps work have recently welcomed over forty immigrant residents from Micronesia.

You ask why I was 150 miles west of the Twin Cities on a Monday night, struggling to keep the car from blowing off the road, eating takeout pizza in the car with my boss at midnight? Minnesota Design Team! (MDT – see previous post.) I am co-leading a visit in late March, and this was our first preparation meeting. I am encouraged by the spirit and concern these people have for their community’s future, and I look forward to the positive stress I’ll experience throughout this process. There are some tough issues to address and much preparation work to do, but I love participating in a volunteer effort I believe in so strongly. Hooray!

Notes on a Friend

I don’t know why I feel compelled to post on this topic, but I suspect it is in the interest of supporting the power of blogs to connect and relate people, stories, and ideas.  I think it is also because I want our readers to think of my friend, and in honor of his family to reflect on the meaning and value of your own companionships and families.

The 27-year-old wife of my high school swimming teammate (and driver of our team toiletpapering van), Chris Ireland, is near the end of her struggle with cancer.  They have two young daughters. For the past year, Chris has blogged about their experience from our hometown of Blue Springs, Missouri, giving the world a view into their private experience.  http://www.jenniferireland.blogs.com/

More Pizza Makers Born

Shilad and Katy have purchased a stone. We, along with Dan and Melissa, welcomed it into the world with six tasty pizzas. Photos are here.

World Tour Continued: Las Vegas

Las Vegas, NV (visit: Anna Webber’s place, Dec 15-17) This town is like the moon: beige, dusty, and vaguely familiar…but also suspiciously mystifying. Every normal situation turned bizarre, which introduced fascinating conversational pauses and puzzled looks between Anna and me. I feel relieved that at least one place in the U.S. is still unmistakably itself–not a chance you’d think you were in Minnesota, even as you drive past the Target-Best Buy super strips. I dare you to ask me about the Cultural Corridor.

Highlights: 1) Cultural Corridor, 2) neon sign boneyard, 3) Anna’s top-level-top-view parking strategies, 4) weekend of culinary firsts–oysters, foie gras, $100+ meal, and 5) on-site urban design and casino design discussions, which involved ubiquitous exterior walls, dense sprawl, and multi-million dollar gaming industry architecture facts.

Photos are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ccharp3r/tags/lasvegas2006/

Pizza Dough Recipe

This recipe makes enough dough for 3-4 thin crust pizzas or 2-3 traditional or deep dish pizzas. I always make this much and freeze the dough I don’t use[1].

Mix in large bowl:

• 2 cups warm (not scalding) water
• 1 packet/~1 tablespoon yeast
• 1 tablespoon sugar [2]

Add:

• 5 cups flour
• ~.5 tablespoon kosher salt
• ~.125-.25 cups olive oil

Mix, and add flour as needed to create a moist, but not sticky dough [3]. Knead for 5-10 minutes, depending on your energy level and how much you’ve had to drink. People say more kneading is better; it’s very hard to over-knead.

Form dough into a ball.  Oil a large bowl with olive oil, insert ball, and cover bowl with plastic or a towel.  Let rise for about an hour.  Rising takes longer when cold (e.g. it can rise in a refrigerator overnight).

Remove from bowl and divide on a floured surface (you need about a baseball-sized ball for one thin pizza).  Form the dough you don’t want to use that day into balls, put into plastic bags, and toss in freezer.

Flatten the dough, top with tasty stuff, bake in a hot oven.  I bake 7-8 minutes on a 450 F oven on a stone.  Any hotter, and I set off the fire alarms every time.

—

[1] To use frozen dough, you can (a) put it in the fridge 12-24 hours before use, then remove from fridge about 1 hour before use, or (b) take out of the freezer about 3 hours before use, or (c) as a last resort, try to thaw a bit in the microwave using the soften icecream settings.

[2] At this point, the recipes tell you to let it sit for 5-10 minutes until it’s bubbly, but you don’t actually need to do this unless you’re unsure if the yeast is still good.

[3]  I think using stickier dough is an advanced technique – it makes for better crust, but it’s harder to manage.

Fall World Tour Retrospective: November

Blue Springs, MO (Thanksgiving: Craig family house, Nov 23-26) It was a pleasing holiday combination of active time with extended family and relaxed time with Mom, Dad, and Becky.

Highlights: 1) long walks in warm weather, 2) traditional holiday food, 3) entire days wearing pajamas and drinking coffee, 4) instructive skin care techniques demonstrated by Aunt Mary K., and 5) intense Hive games with Becky.

Los Angeles, CA (wedding: Steve & Kristie, Nov 10-13) Our trip shattered my previous opinions about LA, at least from an urban design perspective. Sprawling, yes, but dense; auto-centric, yes, but pedestrian-friendly; polluted, yes, but beautiful…and so on. The water problem persists, but the place is still much more appealing in person than it was from the academic armchair and design studio. Of course, real life differs from tourist experience, but I’m pleased to reinforce for myself the importance of visiting a place. More travels ahead!

Highlights: 1) grounds and buildings (oh, and art) of the Getty Museum, 2) vacation time with Jesse and Meg, who chauffeured us about in their rented convertible, 3) public beach access walks through dense, lush neighborhoods, 4) Hollywood celebrity sightings: Slash and Barney, 5) Venice Beach denizens, visitors, and palm tree graffiti, 6) coffee on Redondo Beach Pier, and 7) wedding festivities and conversations with Steve.

Getty Museum photos are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ccharp3r/tags/gettymuseum/

A few others from Los Angeles, including Barney and Jesse and Meg, are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ccharp3r/tags/randomlosangeles/

Fall World Tour Retrospective: October

Maple Plain, MN (volunteer project: Minnesota Design Team, Oct 26-29) I was a participant in this volunteer effort to assist the town of Maple Plain with their design challenges. Our team of 20 spent three days learning about, touring, brainstorming, and responding to design and development issues in the area. I’ve found the perfect volunteering fit for myself in this organization and will be part of another visit to Milan, MN, in March.

Highlights: 1) home stay with host family Gene and Mary Couser, 2) new friendships with other Minnesota designers, 3) frenetic drawing experience in Saturday design charrette, 4) potluck dinner with local kids, complete with volunteer fire department’s dramatic exit in response to emergency bell, and 5) special connection formed with people and place from being warmly welcomed for an intense few days. I still can’t believe how much effort the people of this town put forth for our visit.

Denver, CO (wedding: Allison & John, Oct 20-22) This was my second and Max’s first return to Denver since we left in 2003. We walked among familiar, former haunts, taking inventory of what was still there, what wasn’t, and what never had been.

Highlights: 1) Denver Zoo visit to see my former workmates and tour completed projects that were only drawings when I worked there, 2) coffee with my inspirational friend Mary, 3) breakfast at Mercury Cafe with Jeff and Ellen, 4) a walk through my first built project: the learning landscape schoolyard at Mitchell Elementary School–I felt like I was walking through my drawings, which finally rendered those excessive hours in AutoCAD worthwhile–and 5) time with Allison, my best friend from grad school, without whom that intense experience would have been much less meaningful and significant.

Photos of Mitchell playground – old and new – are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ccharp3r/tags/mitchellplayground/

M.S.: Check

So, I managed to get my master’s degree yesterday. I gave a talk on research that I did last winter on “automated icebreakers” to stimulate conversations in online communities. It was a closed talk – just two profs from the CS department (Joe and Carlis) and a prof from the school of management (Mani) were there to listen and assign a boolean rating to my performance. They had interesting comments and questions, so I only made it through about half of my talk in the allotted time. Carlis swung by today to tell me: “that’s a good thing – that means your work is interesting”. But he also told me “make sure you get through your talk in oral prelims” (the next of many hurdles in the path to a PhD).

Done: classes, TAing, written prelims, M.S.
Todo: teach a class, internship (?), oral prelims, final defense, find a job

I’m not getting a cape and gown or attending the graduation ceremony. However, all parties are welcome to purchase beer or pizza for me in celebration.

Max

¡The Salsa Police!

While Max engaged in comparative pizza analysis at home, I showcased my unquestionably rusty and somewhat antiquated ultimate Frisbee skills (apparently throws to no one are out these days) on the road with some of the classiest players I’ve known.  Our team of Carleton alums and students gathered in Naperville, IL, for Central Mixed Regionals, where we went 6-2 to secure a back-door bid to Nationals.  How fun!

Team photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/maxharp3r/tags/salsapolice/ and http://sixfoottwoinches.com/photos/2006-Regionals (thanks to Josh Wilhelm)

Highlights:

• playing with my talented sister for the first time
• previewing Syzygy 2007: these ladies have speed, smarts, and spirit that will dominate the college scene this spring
• feeling grateful-yet again-to Eric and Allon for the introduction to cleats, discs, and WhupAss back in 1995