http://blog.derekawesome.com A bioinformatics student in Amsterdam, Richmond, and NYC Thu, 24 Jul 2008 20:47:09 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en My mom and I just made up this reasonably low-carb, high-protein cookie recipe. The cookies are a bit gooey inside and delicious! 1 cup coconut flour 3/4 cup agave nectar 1/4 cup sliced almonds 1/4 cup ground flax 3/8 cup cocoa powder 1/2 cup butter, melted 1/4 cup cottage cheese 1/2 cup erythritol 2 eggs 1+ tsp vanilla 1/2 tsp ... http://blog.derekawesome.com/recipes/chocolate-coconut-almond-cookies-gluten-free/ I've done a lot of amazing things while living in Europe, and I feel that I've matured emotionally and grown as a person. I've already written about how to volunteer in Amsterdam, but I haven't discussed what may be my favorite study abroad experience. With the school year ... http://blog.derekawesome.com/misc/volunteering-at-guus-kieft-school/ Read and view these in order: Why's (Poignant) Guide to Ruby a very readable webcomic that teaches & is totally free (Attribution-ShareAlike) Programming Ruby - The Pragmatic Programmer's Guide This will take you from newbie to expert Ruby programmer Getting Real by 37 Signals This is a fantastic free-to-read-online book about design principles of web development ... http://blog.derekawesome.com/how-to/how-to-learn-ruby-on-rails-in-one-week/ I wrote this to a friend -- it's mental vomit of the best things to do in two days in Amsterdam. FYI for anyone who might ever be attending the VU!! And I apologize for the spelling mistakes and writing style. I call this "don't worry, everyone ... http://blog.derekawesome.com/misc/dereks-stream-of-consciousness-guide-to-amsterdam/ Queen's Day is my new favorite holiday. Taking place annually on April 30, everyone in the Netherlands parties outside to celebrate the Queen's birthday. In a typically Dutch twist, they actually celebrate on the old Queen's birthday since it generally has wonderful weather. To celebrate the House of Orange, ... http://blog.derekawesome.com/misc/koninginnedag-2008-queens-day/ I've recently been amazed by the incredible differences between urban sprawl outside of Richmond, VA (i.e. in suburbs like those I am from) and outside of Amsterdam. Compare these two maps, both about 10km away from the downtowns of their respective cities: 10km south of Amsterdam, in Amstelveen View Larger Map 10km ... http://blog.derekawesome.com/misc/suburbia-in-the-us-and-the-netherlands/ I like living in the Guesthouse. Sure, the bathrooms smell like piss, it's apparently more expensive than comparable rooms for Dutch people, and I'm living in Amstelveen with a view of a giant, empty field. But other than that, I like living among only international students -- who ... http://blog.derekawesome.com/misc/2nd-floor-chili-cook-off/ If the days weren't 13 hours long, I wouldn't believe it was spring here. I see the sun trying its best to peak out from behind the clouds, and meanwhile the weather down here stays cold and windy. While tropical fruits are always expensive in cold countries, it is very ... http://blog.derekawesome.com/recipes/a-taste-of-french-spring-in-the-netherlands-pan-seared-sweet-tuna-recipe/ It was a nice Saturday, warm with fleeting glimpses of the sun. A friend and I were hurrying -- unnecessarily quickly -- from our dormitory to Centraal Station to meet up with a group of two dozen members of the Erasmus Student Network. A few hours of waiting ... http://blog.derekawesome.com/video_blogs/esn-trip-to-volendam/ Happy Easter!  It is now Easter Monday (1ste & 2de paasdag in Dutch) so I'm writing my weekly blog.  Next week I'll write about how my bike was stolen and I had to get a new one -- how Dutch -- but this week I have a video celebrating the ... http://blog.derekawesome.com/video_blogs/im-starting-to-like-amstelveen/