Hard to believe...

This time last year, I was sitting in a rather cramped plane, beyond grateful that I'd managed to make it onto the plane with all of my doodads, and starting to get really excited that the adventure I'd spent the better part of the year planning had actually begun.

Now, as I look over my posting lists, at all the half-written posts and unposted photos, I realize I really need to get a bit of a move-on with the write-ups. In my ever-shifting deadline target, I really want to get the photos up before the anniversary of the day I left. Some of them are done already: Amsterdam, my first week in Paris, Chartres, Mont St-Michel, Venice, and part of Provence. I'm finding my Paris museum week a bit... daunting. It's a lot of photos to label and then comment on. And marks are due next week!

I also have a quite few photos I've taken in Toronto as part of my being a tourist in Toronto scheme. The nice thing about being a tourist in your own city is that you have rather a lot of time to go places and see things. Once again, however, a lot of the posts are half-written and the photos need to be labelled, sorted, and commented before I will upload them.

However, I'm really going to push to get the Europe photos done by the target deadline, as well as trying to stay on more or less top of the new photos. Maybe I will reward myself with some macarons when I get the Paris photos finished...

Then I can get started finishing all the blog posts. Oy.

Suddenly, that big pile of labs I have to mark seems rather inviting...

I can quit anytime...

On the Cupcake Ride Saturday, we ended up at Bobbette & Belle, where (along with cupcakes and other yummy treats), they have macarons. Freshly baked macarons. I was on a bit of a sugar high after the cupcakes and hot chocolate, so I had to wait to try them. It was hard, but I did it.

They packed them in this cute box, but I was concerned that they might not survive the journey home intact.

Result? When I opened the box, one side had crumbled off each of the pistachio and raspberry macarons. About the flavours: the vanilla didn't taste like anything at all. It was much too bland, while the chocolate ganache was too intense and heavy for the texture. The raspberry was too delicate; I actually couldn't tell if it was raspberry or strawberry. The cassis was also delicate, but in a good way; it was a bit crunchy, though, which makes me wonder how fresh it, the raspberry, and pistachio macarons were. The pistachio, despite having lost some of the cookie texture, was nearly perfect. The hazelnut and chocolate had hazelnut meringues and chocolate ganache; it was the perfect intensity for the lightness of the cookie. And the salted caramel was just perfect. Mmmm.

I'm coming to realize that when it comes to macarons, I usually like anything with nuts and flowers (mmmm, rose petal). And salted caramel; it has to be salted because caramel by itself is too sweet. Chocolate and coffee flavours are fine as long as they're only in either the meringue or the filling; both on the same macaron is too intense. Delicate is fine for fruit flavours, but they can't be too delicate.

Holy cow, I'm picky.

Of course, I'm not so picky that I won't eat just about any macaron you put in front of me and think it's one of the best things ever.

In which PhysicsGirl rides a bike and eats cupcakes...

I don't intend for this to become a blog about me and my bike (because so many others do it better), but I'm a little obsessed right now. The Opus is so very pretty and such a lovely ride after the Tank; I think that if I had to get back on the Tank right now, I might cry.

I want to recap my first week with the Opus in my usual rambling style. Scroll down to see some pictures of the Cupcake Ride if you bore easily. Or even not-so-easily.

It turns out, after all that rejoicing in the built-in rack, that the tubes on it are too large to take my pannier. There is a briefcase clip, but it won't work with an overfull bag of marking. Fortunately I now have a nice large basket in front. It's shallow, so items tend to bounce out a wee bit more easily, but that's what bungee cords are for. Also, MEC sells oversize pannier clips, so I'll be good to go once I buy and install some.

In which PhysicsGirl celebrates spring...

Today is the first day of Spring, and by no doubt sheer coincidence, it is also Macaron Day in Paris and New York. Sadly, I am in neither of those places, for I love macarons. Fortunately Nadège Patisserie on Queen West was celebrating with many macarons. No free samples, but all profits went to the Red Cross to aid Japan.

Naturally, I had to sample a few. I thought it would also be a good inaugural ride for the Opus. A pretty bike collecting pretty things.

Plus? It makes me think of penguins and periwinkle

I am a bit of an impulsive creature. No sooner had I decided that maybe I should lose the Tank at the end of the summer than I started looking at new bikes and fell for the Opus bikes. I thought I could wait it out, but as each day passed, I grew more dissatisfied with the Tank, what with the wonky brakes, the arbitrarily shifting gears, the warped crankset and basket, the rattling rack, and oh have I mentioned that it weighs about a million kilograms? The mere idea of buying a new bike swiftly became an actual plan, and I decided to buy sooner rather than later.

What sealed the deal was that, one day on my way home from the grocery store, I passed my local bike shop, Hoopdriver Bicycles. There, in the window, was the Ivanna. It's a very pretty bike. I may have licked the window.

Because pi r squared!

Today is Pi Day. I'm on break, so I don't get to make many punny jokes at school, which is fairly disappointing -- although I already used my one pi joke at Thanksgiving: What do you get when you take the circumference of a pumpkin and divide it by its diameter?

Anyway, enjoy this picture of a square pie from Martha Stewart.

Why square, I hear you ask? Read the post title again.

So maybe that's not my only pi joke.

Also? Not happy with this stupid base-60 time thing we deal with. It's messing up my fun posting.