Blog Posts

Day 0 - Travel to Europe

europe-2025

Eric Kraus
travel
06 Jun, 2025

Trip ProgressFlights MSP BOS (layover 1:20) LHR Minneapolis, MN (USA) The trip started with a smooth arrival to the airport, a quick meal, conference call, and we boarded the plane for our first flight.

Sourdough Starter

Eric Kraus
personal
27 Mar, 2024

Introduction Let me first say, I am by no means an expert. However, the one thing I am is persistent. Like me, you will probably fail at this a few times. Like many things in life, enjoy the process, learn from these mistakes, and keep going - it's worth it! This guide organizes all my research and is geared towards someone who knows very little about sourdough or making a starter. The good news here is the co

Green Cheese

Eric Kraus
personal
29 Feb, 2020

What is Green Cheese? It's a fast-paced (by up north standards) radio trivia show run outta KAXE in Grand Rapids, MN. Prit'near all the callers are camping, fishing or at the cabin, don't ya know.How did Green Cheese get its name? Read more here: The Green Cheese LegendMore info: [Green Cheese on KAXE](https://www.ka

100 Books in a Year (Reflection)

Eric Kraus
learning
09 Apr, 2019

I've received a lot of questions about my 2018 New Year's Resolution goal of reading 100 books, so thought I would pull some of the frequent questions together in a single place with answers. Frequently Asked Questions How did you create the time to read all of these books? First, it came with a commitment towards the goal, followed by a break down of measurable outcomes. Doing the math, I knew I needed to read (avg) 2 books per week an

Learning Chinese - Week 12

Eric Kraus
learning
19 Mar, 2019

I am starting week 12 of my New Year's Resolution to learn Mandarin Chinese and a lot has changed over the last 10 weeks since my last post. Update Quick update on current status:currently studying lesson 10 (the last lesson) in the Integrated Chinese Level 1 book. I have been pacing at about 1 lesson per week which was aggressive, but comfortable given my time investment. by the end of lesson 10, I will know and be able to recognize o

Learning Chinese - Week 2 (Reflection)

Eric Kraus
learning
12 Jan, 2019

Quick update as I'm wrapping up my 2nd week of formal Chinese study. Technology As I mentioned, I drastically narrowed the mobile apps I'm using to the following: -Pleco - dictionary, stroke order, Live OCR add-on -Translator app: Google Translate or Microsoft Translate -Anki - spaced repetition, flash cards If you don't have a tutor or course book, I would highly recommend both first. YouTube and "Learn Chinese" mobile apps are fun and ent