DIY: Sourdough starter (attempt #2)

The concept of the sourdough starter is to cultivate and use the wild yeast around us to make bread. (Though what I kind of don't understand is why are the little flour-eating yeasty guys floating around in the air in my apartment. I mean what are they doing? Hoping to find someone making a starter?) Humans have been selecting and cultivating yeast for forever in order to make bread. It's not quite an exact science. Everyone's experience will be a little different since our air and water and flour combinations are all different.

I decided to make the starter in the morning so it will have a whole day in the warm room before it cools off dramatically at night, giving the little guys (wild yeast) as much of a head start as possible.

Starting materials:
1 cup of drinking water ~70-80 degrees Fahrenheit
1 cup of unbleached all-purpose flour*
1.5 qt bowl**
plastic spoon***

*According to the websites I read, the less processed the flour the better since they are supposed to have wild yeast in them. However, the unbleached (Gold Medal. $1.50 for 5lb at Wal-Mart) is the best I can do at this moment, so I'll see if it works.

**The one in the picture is smaller than 1.5 qt. I forgot I need a bigger bowl to give it room to rise.

***Some websites said that metal is not good, including utensils used for stirring. So I used my cute little plastic Yogurtland yogurt spoon. I love those spoons. So handy. (The only thing that worries me about them is that they are supposed to be biodegradable. I don't understand degradable plastic. All plastic degrades, with time. Is something supposed to eat and digest it??)
Process:
+ flour into bowl
+ water into bowl
Stir

Note: The mixture will be a little lumpy. Don't worry too much. From my experience, with time, the flour will soak up the moisture and mellow itself out. Scrape down the sides a bit to avoid dried crust streaking the sides of the bowl.

<-- That's the top view. Many more lumps hidden underneath. A few air bubbles from stirring. Nothing going on.

<--Side view. Note the level of the mixture.

To finish:
Cover loosely with lid, towel, or plastic wrap and place in a warm place.

Every 24 hours, discard 1/2 of the mixture. + 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup flour.

Starter is successful when it has a sour smell and is bubbly.  (I've never reached that stage yet, so I'll be posting my progress.)

Note: since it's winter here, I'm guessing the ambient temperature in my living room is between 70-80. That should keep it happy.

To be honest, I don't even really like sourdough bread. I think this is much more of a science experiment to me. What? Cultivating wild yeast in our air that eats flour and poops CO2? I'm in! It just so happens though that L and others like sourdough bread. Maybe I'll learn to like it. Certainly saves me from buying yeast all the time. Also, have you seen the bread prices recently?

Oh, one more thing. I forgot to wash the measuring cup after using it to measure vodka for yesterday's vanilla extract. Since the vodka is 80 proof, I guess it should have evaporated. Maybe there's some residue essence of vodka in there. Who knows? It will be interesting to see if that helps or not with the starter.