Proximity to time zone borders affects the composition of daylight hours.

INTRODUCTION: As a relatively recent transplant to Chicago, IL from Pittsburgh, PA (and before that Rochester, NY), it seemed as though adjusting to Central Standard Time (CST) would be relatively simple.  Aside from being mindful of late night telephone calls to friends and family on Eastern Standard Time (EST), and watching primetime television shows an hour earlier than normal, it seemed as though there was no significant difference between CST and EST.  However, as I became more attuned to my surroundings, I noticed that the long summer evenings and short winter days seemed… shorter.  At first, I dismissed this idea as simply a nostalgic recollection of my childhood, when summer days lasted forever and I was finished with school at 2:30PM instead of walking out of work at 5:00PM.  However, while driving from Rochester, NY to Chicago, IL and watching the clock on my phone change from one time to an hour earlier in the span of a mile, I began to formulate another theory.  In fact, it seemed that because Chicago was so close to the EST border, what was evening darkness in Indiana became late afternoon darkness in Chicago.  What follows is my scientific exploration into this theory.

HYPOTHESIS: Due to its proximity to the eastern border of the CST, Chicago has longer morning daylight hours and shorter evening daylight hours than cities in close proximity to the western border of the EST.

METHOD: Using the google search engine, I recorded the sunrise and sunset times for Chicago, IL and South Bend, IN on December 6th, 2012 and June 6th, 2012.  South Bend was chosen for its close proximity to the western border of the EST.

RESULTS:

Table 1		Sunrise	Sunset
	06-06-2012
Chicago, IL		5:16AM CST	8:22PM CST
South Bend, IN		6:11AM EST	9:16PM CST
	12-06-2012
Chicago, IL		7:05AM CST	4:19PM CST
South Bend, IN		7:58AM EST	5:14PM EST

Table 1 clearly demonstrates that the sun consistently rises and sets earlier in Chicago, IL compared to South Bend, IN (based on the local time in each location).

CONCLUSION: There are many factors that people consider when determining where to live, including cost of living, job market, proximity to family, transportation system, arts and culture, and weather.  It is my recommendation that proximity to a time zone border be a part of this equation.  Early risers may favor locations close to the eastern border of a time zone, while night owls may prefer locations close to the western border of a time zone to maximize exposure to daylight hours.

My less objective conclusion is that I really wish they could move the CST border so that Chicago was in EST because longer summer nights are obviously better than full daylight at 6:00AM and the sun really set at 4:19PM today?  That is absurd.

roll it up.

My new favorite way to use up those odds and ends from the vegetable drawer is making spring rolls.  I (well Caelyn, the boyfriend, and I) first made them as part of the spread for my Olympics-themed birthday party.  They were fresh, crunchy, and delicious, so I decided to recreate them using what I had on hand a few weeks later.

You can customize them however you’d like.  This time, I used baby spinach, cucumbers, carrots, red pepper, scallions, and apple, along with some basil, mint, and cilantro.  You could also add cooked meat or seafood, vermicelli noodles, sprouts, avocado, mango, or whatever else you fancy.  I think it could also be fun to create seasonal versions in the upcoming months.  Just make sure whatever you’re using is julienned or cut into bite-sized pieces for easy eating.  Putting them together does take a bit of practice, but it’s a fun way to spend a bit of time with a guaranteed delicious result.

It works best for me to get all my ingredients ready and then set everything I need up before starting.

After that, it’s basically like assembling a burrito.

Step 1: Soak your spring roll wrappers in warm water for 15-30 seconds.  They’ll be brittle when you take them out of the package, with a subtle pattern that you may be able to make out in the photo above.  A quick soak in warm water and they’ll be pliable and ready for filling!

Step 2: Carefully lay the spring roll wrapper on a clean kitchen towel.  It might stick to itself a bit or have a few wrinkles, but as long as you can generally lay it out flat, it’ll be fine.  It also may tear a little, but unless it’s a large tear, you can still use it.  Add a leafy base to the bottom third of the circle.  I used baby spinach, but you can use any kind of lettuce or greens.

Step 3: Layer on herbs.  Be generous; fresh herbs add lots of flavor.

Step 4: Add the vegetables.  I find it easiest if I lay them horizontally, which will make it easier to roll.  If you use cooked meat or seafood, add that as well.

Step 5: Now begins the rolling.  It’s the same as a burrito- first, fold over each side.

Step 6: Next, tuck the bottom strip over the filling, tucking it as tightly as possible.  This is the part that I find most difficult, but after the first few my technique generally gets better.

Step 7: Finally, just roll it up.  The wrapper will stick to itself and create a seal, so you don’t need to worry about it unrolling.

Step 8: Enjoy!  You can slice them in half or leave them whole.  They are definitely best with a dipping sauce- this time I used hoisin, but I also enjoyed this dipping sauce last time.  Or create your own.  The best part about these are that they’re completely adaptable to your tastes.  So next time you’re at the grocery store, pick up a package of spring roll wrappers and you’ll be ready to go when the mood strikes, or you have to create a meal out of some refrigerator scraps.

Hi there!

I’ve just returned to Chicago after a blissful few weeks away watching wonderful people get married, sleeping in my childhood bedroom, remembering the awesomeness that is a suburban craft store, trying out new water sports, seeing old friends, and spending time with my family, plus a beach vacation thrown in for extra-good measure.  I still need to tend to an unpacked suitcase, a bare fridge, and the new IKEA catalog (a girl has to have priorities), but I wanted to share this awesome video I found via Apartment Therapy.  I’ve been toying with the idea of buying my very own bicycle, which will open up a cheap, efficient, and healthy way for me to get around the city and ride around with my bicycle-fiend of a boyfriend.  One thing I’m not looking forward to is wearing a helmet (hello, helmet hair).  Enter: The Invisible Bike Helmet.

 

So many good things to say about this, but the best part?  You get to feel the wind in your hair AND you’re biking smart.

Breakfast at Jackie's

This photo does not capture the true cuteness of Jackie’s apartment.

Addendum to that last thing I wrote

 

Because I know you all you mysterious ‘followers’ are dying to know, the headliners for awesome show I’m seeing on Wednesday in Chicago are The Overmen, who just released their first album Defiant Despites.

Thank you, and goodnight!

Exodus.

It’s been hot in New York too. This is a photo that my phone spontaneously freaked out and took of itself as I walked around one day last week. It was 95 degrees out.

On June 19, I celebrated my two year anniversary of living in New York. Well, more specifically, two years of commuting at least 30 minutes to be in New York.

I feel like I’ve becomes a real New Yorker in several important ways. First of all, I live in Brooklyn and still call myself a “New Yorker.” I see random dudes standing in the street yelling and just keep walking. I’ve spoken of the ninety-minute commute from my apartment to my boyfriend’s in Astoria as a chance to “get some reading done” (this one was pointed out to me.) But most importantly, perhaps, I am spending my entire summer trying to get out of the city. This is aided by a lovely publishing tradition called Summer Fridays, where you get a specified number of Fridays off between Labor Day and Memorial Day off work for free. This is undoubtedly a holdover from when anyone who was anyone is publishing summered in the Hamptons. I am not going to the Hamptons–though that would be fun, I’d probably have to sleep on the beach.

sweet relief

I spent the majority of the last week confined to the apartment due to almost four days of 100+ degree weather here in Chicago.  And I try not to be a complainer, but IT WAS SO HOT.  Miserable, sticky, melt-your-brain hot.  There were few moments of relief, aside from a late-night swim in Lake Michigan, homemade popsicles, and icy cold showers.

Hello, opportunity.

No more papers to write.  No more papers to read.  No more commuting every day.  No more meetings, no more schedules, no more business casual.  I may have the degree, but I don’t have a job.  Therefore, my current job is to find one.  However, there are only so many hours in a day I can search the same job boards and re-write cover letters and switch around my resume.  And I’ve found that if I spend too much time looking at said job boards, I begin to get this sense of dread I will never actually find employment.  If I only look every few days, there are more new opportunities for me to look into and I feel a little better about my future.  So, that’s a long-winded way of saying that I have long stretches of free time like I haven’t in a long time.  Time to do all those things that I have wanted to do the past few years, but have put aside.  And it’s summer (Oh boy, is it summer.  These past few weeks in Chicago I was almost wishing for some snowfall and sub-zero temperatures.  Almost.).  Clearly, I should be taking advantage of these converging factors.