Added Projects/Furnishings

I just added a page under the Projects called Furninshings. In it, I've finally posted documentation of some of the things I've done with my last two apartments.

Two Years of TCHOW (financials)

In this post, I'm going to describe the financial plan for my next two years. In short, I plan to live off of my savings while writing video games, and this article describes how I think the spending of said savings is going to break down. I've tried to allocate a reasonable amount of money -- and keep some flexibility for various additional expenses -- without being too optimistic or pessimistic.

Overall Allocation

Broadly, I've planned for $4k for moving expenses, $24k/year in Pittsburgh, and an "exit cushion" of $15k. The $4k looks like it should cover (with a bit of headroom) the moving company I've arranged, so I shall speak no more about it. I chose $24k/year because $2k/month is a nice round number -- and it seems to slightly over-estimate my monthly breakdown. As to the exit cushion, I basically pulled the $15k figure out of a hat -- though, in a pinch, it means I could cover my Pittsburgh rent and minimal foodstuffs for up to a year while looking for a real job.

This sums to the not-quite-round figure of $67k; which -- despite being more than a third of my net worth -- was pretty darn effortless to save over my two years at Adobe (thanks to industry pay rates and my frugal(-ish) lifestyle).

Up until the beginning of this year, a fair chunk of these savings was in various stocks. However, I'm not one to gamble over-much on something like this so now $35k of the total is parked with my parents (I wanted to make absolutely sure it was out of my reach, and it helps them avoid dipping into their retirement portfolio when the market is down), and $32k is in my bank account.

As an aside, it's strange how one's perception of money changes. Living around Boston, I'm now used to lunch costing about $10, and dinner $20, just about anywhere. Yet, in Pittsburgh one can get a decent lunch for $6 and a dinner for $10. (Similarly, my rent in Somerville is $1075/month, while my rent in Pittsburgh is $700/month.)

When I was in high school, my bank account probably had at most ~$100 in it. When I was an undergrad, I maybe had ~$1000 at particularly rich times (privilege alert: my parents + scholarships paid for my [in-state] tuition at UMich). Once I became financially independent (grad school), I had maybe $5k kicking around. With a real job, I generally have $10k-$20k sloshing (slushing?) 'round. I wonder, if I were to continue on this course of gainful employment, would there be a time when I'd have $100k or more floating unallocated?

The Monthly Breakdown

Here's how I break down my $2k/month budget.

Monthly Costs

• $700/month Rent (includes heat, water); I have a two-year lease so I shouldn't have to worry about increases.
• $50/month electric; this is an estimate based on my usage last time I lived in Pittsburgh.
• $60.06/month health insurance.
• $40/month internet; estimate based on splitting with neighboring apartments.
• $70/month cell phone; though I'm considering going cheaper.
• $10/month laundry.
• $10/month spotify; optional expense, but I enjoy it.
• $5/month tchow.com VPS; digital ocean is cheap!
• $20/day pocket money; this includes food.

This comes to just under $1570/month .

I went with the $20/day figure for pocket money because it makes it really easy to budget. My notion is that I can keep a pile of twenties on my desk, and slip a fresh one into my wallet every morning. That's all I get to spend each day, and any change rolls over to the next day. Based on my current food costs, slightly over $10/day is more reasonable, but this is one of the areas where I built in slack for overages.

Yearly Costs

• $375/year climbing gym membership; already paid, might increase to $400 for the second year if I don't catch it on special again.
• $200/year clothing; no idea how accurate this is -- I basically buy clothing when my old stuff begins to develop holes.
• $800/year travel to visit friends and family; this at least covers a midwinter visit to my parents.
• $2000/year conferences (GDC?); I think I can do this on budget if I'm frugal.
• $300/year skiing; this is 3-4 local trips.
• $100/year renter’s insurance; estimate based on asking friends in PGH.
• $200/year dentist appointments.
• $100/year bike stuff.

However, summing and dividing by twelve I arrive at just about $340/month, which brings the monthly total to $1920. To be honest, this is closer than I'd like to $2k/month, so I'm going to be watching my expenses closely. If I do extract some shortfall, I expect I can easily spend more on travel, or maybe I'll end up wanting a new computer.

Going Forward

This is a topic I expect to revisit in future posts, once TCHOW kicks off in October. I'm looking forward to finding out how comfortable (or frugal) a life this budget allows, how much I end up under- or over-spending, and how I need to adapt so I can still hit my yearly targets.

The Last Suppers #4 (perfection)

I just had a very enjoyable meal at Journeyman. Part of it was the food, as always, but part of it was that I finally cracked open my copy of the Acme Novelty Library #20, by Chris Ware.

As the first course served, a boy was born. Between each course, he grew and changed. There were happy moments and regrets; marriages and childbirth; contemplation and time passing silently; memories and premonitions. Rusty Brown appeared for about two panels. By dessert, the man who was born on the first page slipped back into the unconsciousness of death. A whole life lived over seven courses.

The food was consistently good; briefly:

Amuse was crab + nasturtium, as it has been for a while now. And I'm glad of that, because the spiciness of the soup continues to pair nicely with the crab.

The Tomato course was similarly excellent to previous iterations, and was visually tip-top today; the heirloom slices had wonderful color patterns and interesting internal structure.

The Zucchini Soup continues to be excellent. This time the pickled rind was cut differently (and maybe was a milder pickle than before) and the count of blueberries had risen from two to four. This gave me more of a chance to appreciate how the blueberries pair with the soup flavor. Everything in this dish works together.

The Cod, which was watery and really not good last time I had it, has become most excellent with the addition of a bit of salt. Also, this version included some sauteed mushrooms that played nicely with the overall flavor profile. I think Tse Wei might have been over-compensating after our pre-meal conversation because this version was just on the edge of too salty. Basically, if you squinted at the comment card enough in my last post to read anything about the cod, well, it's all been revised and the dish is now pretty much just excellent.

The Whipped Egg came in a glass over large hominy, topped with a pepper foam and garnished with chives. This is a most excellent revision of the whipped egg over mushrooms that used to be on the menu. Such a warm and rich dish, and filled with mystery as well (the egg obscures all within it). Fun to eat and good tasting.

I had Carrot with hazelnut at this point in the menu, even though it's generally a third course. This has had great flavor every time, and this time was no exception.

For the main, I had the Steak again, because I hadn't had it in a while. To be honest, I think I prefer the eggplant main very slightly, though the presentation and garnish on the steak is wonderful. (Indeed, both have improved since my last time with the Steak main.)

I skipped the cheese today. It just didn't feel like a cheese-having kind of night.

The Black Locust Sorbet with chokecherry and oxsalis continues to appear as the pallet cleanser, and I continue to love it. The portion keeps getting smaller, which makes me fear that it may not have much longer on the menu.

Dessert was that old friend Roast Peach, paired up with shiso ice cream and a whipped ricotta cream, surrounded by crispy cobbler-crust-y crumbles, and sauced with a sesame and a raspberry sauce.

After dessert the standard collection of bits and bobs appeared. Tomato pate de fruit has returned, though without basil sugar. The caramel is back to a traditional caramel (it's been white chocolate for a while). The macarons are still lacking a bit of the chew I like in the meringue, but I saw a new batch coming out today so I have hopes for the future.

Overall, it was a very pleasurable meal -- artistic and culinary stimulation interleaved.

The Last Suppers #3 (comment cards)

As I mentioned in my first post about Journeyman, I've been writing them rather long comment cards; I guess because it's fun, or because it's good to write longhand once in a while, or because it's good to articulate thoughts about something that isn't computer-related or -mediated. Today, when I stopped in for dinner, Catherine spent a bit of time rummaging and recovered a few of the cards I'd written over past visits.

Keep in mind that these aren't all the comment cards I've written (by far). Indeed, historical research (i.e. mint.com) indicates I've had 14 of these last suppers so far; and I recall writing comments for all but three or four of them.

Regardless, here are the comment cards I saw again today. (In case you are wondering: yes, they do have formal comment cards. They've been bringing me old menus because I tend to run out of space.)

The Smallest Card

This is back when the spring salad was still on the menu, and it had the wonderful corn mousse and a smoked cherry tomato. The current tomato salad is better, but the spring salad was also quite good.

I reference "fluke two ways" which was on the menu for a very short time before being replaced with the "fluke." (Which is finally off the menu, as of this week.) I thought the two-ways version was a bit confused.

Both the foie gras (with currants and duck) and the rabbit course were fabulous during this period. I think this was an early plating of the foie gras + duck, when there were still lots of currants on the plate. The acidity cut the fattiness of the foir gras wonderfully. The rabbit was served done two or three ways, all good.

The dessert at the time was a marshmallow dish which was kitchen-torched before being served. Wonderful toasted-marshmallow flavor, but the plating always looked like it had fallen over.

Fall Arrives Early

I had a meal that really reminded me of fall. Lots of warm, bold flavors. Odd, because Journeyman is generally about delicate flavors. Not that I objected in the least!

One of the stars of the menu at this time was the spicy eggplant with poached (braised? sous-vide'd?) egg. Particularly the little ginger and (scallion?) spears it was garnished with. A dish that was deceptively simple, but warm and generous and beautiful and interesting.

A Graph

Yes, I drew a graph. Mainly to point out that I didn't like the fluke. But also because with that many courses it's actually kind of interesting to see how things trend. And, yes, there's no reason to connect those points with a line, obviously the meal isn't continuous, but gimme a little slack here. Lines made it look cool, and I wasn't being rigorous anyway.

First appearance of the current peach dessert; plating was different (bolder saucing).

Unused Space

The comment card from last weekend. This much unused space is really rare.

And, Today

The cod replaced the fluke. But I didn't like the cod. However, I think I might like the cod if it had enough salt/acid/seasoning to not taste watery. So maybe I'll come to appreciate it over time. Particularly, the plum sauce is really interesting on there.

Tse Wei prepared some duck breast in as close to a traditional Singapore presentation as he could manage with the ingredients he had on hand. It was fantastic. Salty, spicy, simple.

It would even fit in on the menu, simply because it's so conventional for Journeyman to be unconventional that to have a conventional course would be unconventional.

And I think I'll leave it at that.

Two years of TCHOW (intro)

One of the reasons I redid my web page design recently is that I intend to use it to document the upcoming two years, which may end up being interesting. Let me tell you more about why.

The Idea

I've often spent my spare time working on games and art projects. It's been a hobby; a useful distraction; and an outlet for [and generator of] structured procrastination. It's something that I wanted to do as I was growing up, and never really stopped wanting to do. Yet somehow I got a PhD, got a research job, and find myself doing that now.

It's probably because research is really fun.

But what if I were to leave my research job, and just work on games full-time? Work on my own games, with complete artistic control and design freedom?

Well, over the next two years, that's exactly what I'm going to try.

More Concretely

On September 28th, I leave my (great) job at Adobe. On September 29th, I leave my (nice) apartment in Union Sq.

After a short flight, I arrive in Pittsburgh. I have the savings required to live comfortably (like a poor grad student) there for the next two years. And that is exactly what I plan to do. Live frugally, write good code, make the games I want to make, and see what comes of it.

My overall goal isn't to "start a game company" (though 'TCHOW' is a registered fictitious name for my sole proprietorship in PA). Rather, I want to complete projects and get them out for other people to purchase and play. Best case, I enjoy writing games full time and make enough money so that it becomes self-sustaining. More likely, I enjoy writing games full time but have to get a real job again in two years.

I guess we'll see what happens.

The Last Suppers #2 (with pictures)

Boredom is a dangerous thing. Isn't it said that idle hands often turn to the devil's work? Isn't it said that boredom is the mother of invention? (Actually, maybe only I say that second one.)
Regardless, today I'd had just about enough of staring at the walls of my apartment (...and the furniture, of which I'm building 3D models in some hope it will somehow help with arranging my new apartment). And, recalling that the menu at Journeyman was pretty good last time -- and that (when I ran into him yesterday) Tse Wei told me that they were changing out two dishes, the pig and the fluke -- I decided to head over despite it being a bit sooner than my customary week-ish between visits.
As I suspected based on his stricken look when I came in today, though, the fluke hasn't been changed out yet. Not that that matters, with the carrot dish being as good as it is.

So what did I have today?

First soda - apricot, ginger, fenugreek. The apricot shrub is so good, and the ginger keeps it interesting. I have no idea what the fenugreek adds.

Amuse - nasturtium soup with crab. Very good, I like the crab here better than the watermelon in the vegetarian version.

Tomato - see last post for a description; always good. I recalled today that it maybe used to have a smoked cherry tomato in it, and that it no longer does. (Perhaps that was only in the spring salad? Hmm. So many good dishes.)

Soup - see last post for a description. Then imagine that, but even better. This soup stood without the watermelon rind. The portion of corn flan was reduced, which also helped to focus on the soup's excellent flavor.

Carrot and hazelnut - one of my new favorite flavors. This version had a cute little "yoghurt cup" made from the carrot ribbon. This brought more yoghurt onto the plate, and into the overall flavor (and was nice looking, too). A good dish that was even better this time.

Second Soda - coffee, blackberry, (...many more ingredients...), bitters. Many visits ago, Andrew prepared for me a soda that included coffee. I decided to ask Catherine to revisit that (terrible) decision and give it a try. What she came up with tastes like the best cup of coffee you've ever had. All those complexities (fruity notes, interesting body, good finish)? Turns out you can fake those by just adding stuff from your collection of shrubs and syrups. Was it a good soda? Hard to say. Was it an interesting experience? Definitely.

Oysters and clams - this dish is great, with a clever plating. One oyster sits atop a sheet of gel, surrounded by watermelon chunks that have been lightly kitchen torched. Below the gel lurks another oyster and several clams. The oysters are unseasoned, the clams are dressed with citrus. The watermelon chunks have dill flowers atop them.
Everything in this dish tastes spectacular. I used to say that I hadn't met an oyster I didn't like. I can't say that any more, but these oysters weren't involved in that experience. The citrus on the clams is a great flavor, possibly my favorite preparation of clam.
And everything is working together. The sweetness of the watermelon plays with the acidity from the clam and the salt from the oyster. But the single most interesting thing in this dish is how the watermelon plays off the flavor of the dill flower. It's a really good, totally unexpected flavor combination.

Duck breast - I asked for a variant preparation of duck breast or cucumber (their call). The duck breast is normally served over mole and surrounded with sliced raw and whole cooked radishes. I ended up with duck breast surrounded with mezcal-soaked watermelon and a little bit of ground-cherry compote.

Steak - correctly cooked, good meat, with excellent accompaniments: tomatoes with mustard seed, zucchini cooked just right (not limp, not raw), green beans. And beautifully presented -- little cubes of meat atop the zuchini, beans arching overhead like some architect's form-over-function daydream, tomatoes and their clusters of mustard seeds outside in the courtyard; inevitable public art.

Cheese - nice soft cheese. The bread today was English muffins, so much of the finely crystallized wildflower honey that came with the cheese got loaded onto those. As did some of the cheese.

Cleanse - same chokecherry/black locust sorbet/oxsalis as last time. So well balanced, I really hope this sticks around for a while.

Dessert - same roasted peach as last time. There was a whipped-cream-like preparation of ricotta which I think was new. Added some nice lightness and textural balance to the dish.

With the check - tomato pate de fruit has run out, unfortunately (raspberry instead). The caramel was shiro plum flavored. This batch of macarons has not been as good as some of the previous batches.

Imported Old News

I've moved all the sequential content from the main tchow.com page over to news.tchow.com -- this blogger-hosted sequential content repository. These old posts are tagged 'legacy' and may contain broken links or certain other oddities (one I've noticed is that the sentences have been glued together tightly). I will try to correct these problems as I notice them.

I'm still in the middle of actually resolving all the links and so on properly. But, hey, at least I've got a few posts on here now.