Seeking inspiration

[by naveen]

I haven't posted for a while, since nothing that I did seemed blog-worthy at the time. However, looking back, many of my activities are part of a quest for gastronomically-inspiring experiences:
1) For my computer science class about data visualization, I'm working on a method to easy compare different review sources (e.g. Boston Magazine vs. Boston Globe). My inspiration was this article about the Top 50 Restaurants.
2) Flatbread: I was inspired by Mark Bittman's recent video, so I used a spare hour this morning to try out his recipe. Despite having only four ingredients (flour, olive oil, salt, water), I managed to mess it up. I mixed the oil directly into the batter, resulting in a thin pancake-like product that was crisp on the outside and very moist on the inside (cooking at 450 F instead of 400 didn't help).
3) No coffee for two weeks has surprisingly little effect on my circadian rhythm. I really enjoy the taste of coffee, the experience of hanging out at a cafe or chatting with lab-mates during a coffee break, yet the caffeine seems to do nothing for me. My office-mate, on the other hand, can't sleep at night if she has coffee in the morning.
4) Tacos de rajas y papas with one of my dorm-mates. Roasted poblanos are now my favorite food of the moment and I'm on the lookout for good mexican food. My experiences at Boloco and Felipe's did not satisfy this need.
5) The Microbial Appreciation Society at Harvard is planning an event to promote the positive aspects of bacteria (e.g. bread, yogurt, wine, beer) at the end of May and I'm certainly going to help out. I'll post details once I know more.

Any recommendations for future culinary adventures?