I know. It's been a long while. I made a new blog. Don't hurt me.
But I'm here again.
And more than that, I'm here again. In this place where I have to write, but don't want to.
In looking over my posts for the past... oh wow. the past years - almost all the years of my college life (and only almost 'cause I'm not done yet) - I notice that there's a definite spike in blogposts during finals week. That and November. Go figure. I have no idea why November, but there it is.
I know why. I know the process. I'm frustrated by papers I don't want to write, school and I get into a fight, and I come to my blog to let off steam. I'm sure it makes for boring reading. Heck, this post contains the word "I" 15 times already. Probably 'cause it's so dang annoying not to be able to write papers in the 1st person. Or maybe not. Who knows.
Tonight, however, I'm facing the most pressure I've ever faced (if my memory isn't failing me - which it probably is, 'cause memories are never accurate. hear that? NEVER. memorize that fact. anyway...)
This semester, all my finals were papers. They all required 8 pages of me. The first one I turned in was exactly 8. The second was 13, but with corrections will probably end up being 15. The third currently is exactly 3/4 of a page. And it's due tomorrow at 4:30. I've never had this bad of a time-crunch.
So, why are you in this predicament, you ask. Well... because I intentionally left all of my writing until finals week. Yeah, yeah, I know, bad strategy. But I did most of the background work before finals. It was just the actual writing that had to be done, and my semesters have been getting progressively more demanding of my time. So I thought hey, it'll be fine, just leave the paper-writing for the week where all you have to do is write papers. Square peg, square hole, everyone can go home happy.
But here I sit, after 5 and a half days of intense synthesizing, outlining, reviewing, researching, and writing... and I'm bushed. I feel, as one friend so eloquently put it, like I'm on mile 22 of a marathon. It's 9pm. I was supposed to have at least 4 pages by now.... maybe I'll be there by 11. Maybe if I put my pedal to the metal and grit my teeth and crank it out, I'll have 4 pages by 11.
Here's hoping. I'm putting on my game face (more like rummaging around in the back of my mind's dusty attic, trying to remember where I put it) and- ahem! putting on my game face and writing.
okay. ready? GO!
(if you're still reading this, you must be suuuper bored (or avoiding other stuff you have to do, like me), so here's something else to keep you busy: go back through the archives and see how many times I've written a post just like this one. I bet it's at least 3. Bonne chance!)
______________________
Well, it is now 11 and I have 3 pages, and I'm getting into the flow of it. Things are looking up (slash looking possible). w00t!
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
Yoghurt
In the realm of the completely random and quite mundane:
Okay, so... you know how plain yoghurt gets that nasty weird greeny/yellow liquid in it if you eat half the container and then leave it in the fridge for a couple days?
Well, the other day I thought about eating some, so I stirred it up, but then it was SO liquidy that I decided I didn't want it. So like the lazy bum that I am, I left it in the fridge for the next several days... and today, while rummaging around trying to find a good mayonnaise substitute, I reach for the yoghurt, only to find that it has more than doubled in volume! It is the same one, because we haven't bought any more yoghurt, and it's not all gel-like like the new stuff is (you know what I'm talking about, don't pretend).
So, long story short... my yoghurt is sorta freaking me out a little. I know there's a live culture in there, but in chem they really hammered "preservation of mass" into my head. And, while there may or may not be more mass (I didn't weigh the thing) there is WAY more volume.
And I was remembering friends telling me that their mothers had made their own yoghurt by getting whole milk and some left over yoghurt and letting them sit for a while... is that possible with my poor little week-old tub of freshly-stirred yoghurt?
Only the internet can tell me. xD But I'm a little intimidated by the idea of searching in forums.
So I'm gonna just assume it's perfectly natural and safe to eat. O.O
Talk about bizarre foods.
peace.
PP.
Okay, so... you know how plain yoghurt gets that nasty weird greeny/yellow liquid in it if you eat half the container and then leave it in the fridge for a couple days?
Well, the other day I thought about eating some, so I stirred it up, but then it was SO liquidy that I decided I didn't want it. So like the lazy bum that I am, I left it in the fridge for the next several days... and today, while rummaging around trying to find a good mayonnaise substitute, I reach for the yoghurt, only to find that it has more than doubled in volume! It is the same one, because we haven't bought any more yoghurt, and it's not all gel-like like the new stuff is (you know what I'm talking about, don't pretend).
So, long story short... my yoghurt is sorta freaking me out a little. I know there's a live culture in there, but in chem they really hammered "preservation of mass" into my head. And, while there may or may not be more mass (I didn't weigh the thing) there is WAY more volume.
And I was remembering friends telling me that their mothers had made their own yoghurt by getting whole milk and some left over yoghurt and letting them sit for a while... is that possible with my poor little week-old tub of freshly-stirred yoghurt?
Only the internet can tell me. xD But I'm a little intimidated by the idea of searching in forums.
So I'm gonna just assume it's perfectly natural and safe to eat. O.O
Talk about bizarre foods.
peace.
PP.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Today I went to the pool, with my (pretty!) new bathing suit and swam until I was tired of it.
And let me tell you, it's really good to feel that ache that lets you know you've been moving.
Getting your heart rate up reminds you that you're alive, makes you feel limber.
You get to rejoice because the tiredness you feel at the end of the day isn't just a mental need for sleep; it's the tiredness of a body well-exerted.
And do you know what? I'm SO doing that again. I want physical exertion to be as much a part of my day as eating. After all, if we were meant to only be mentally engaged all the time, why would we have these amazing things called bodies?
*steps down from the soapbox*
*wonders if the boxes people stood on to speak really were soapboxes*
*tries to imagine boxes in which soap was kept*
*realizes they must have been wood, b/c cardboard wouldn't hold up*
*is impressed by the amount of time, history, and pure quirkiness behind that silly little phrase*
*laughs at herself by typing up the whole thought process*
and THAT is what we call postmodernism.
PEACE
PP.
And let me tell you, it's really good to feel that ache that lets you know you've been moving.
Getting your heart rate up reminds you that you're alive, makes you feel limber.
You get to rejoice because the tiredness you feel at the end of the day isn't just a mental need for sleep; it's the tiredness of a body well-exerted.
And do you know what? I'm SO doing that again. I want physical exertion to be as much a part of my day as eating. After all, if we were meant to only be mentally engaged all the time, why would we have these amazing things called bodies?
*steps down from the soapbox*
*wonders if the boxes people stood on to speak really were soapboxes*
*tries to imagine boxes in which soap was kept*
*realizes they must have been wood, b/c cardboard wouldn't hold up*
*is impressed by the amount of time, history, and pure quirkiness behind that silly little phrase*
*laughs at herself by typing up the whole thought process*
and THAT is what we call postmodernism.
PEACE
PP.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Keeping Score
Weddings
Melody & Joe
Delice & Jonas
A-P & T
John & Carolyn
Merritt & Christine
Stephanie & Eddie
Babies
Kyran - Merritt & Christine - 2010
Elijah - Delice & Jonas - April 1, 2011
Isaac - Josiah & Erin - April 2, 2011
Josiah - Amber & Josh - May 29, 2011
Life's getting crazier by the minute, y'all.
Melody & Joe
Delice & Jonas
A-P & T
John & Carolyn
Merritt & Christine
Stephanie & Eddie
Babies
Kyran - Merritt & Christine - 2010
Elijah - Delice & Jonas - April 1, 2011
Isaac - Josiah & Erin - April 2, 2011
Josiah - Amber & Josh - May 29, 2011
Life's getting crazier by the minute, y'all.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
On becoming a Foodie
Latest cooking exploits include:
Whole-wheat muffins with jam/cream cheese in the middle.
Vegetarian Lasagna
Next up:
Battenburg cake. Just for the heck of it.
Other exploits from this summer include:
Orange sorbet
Marinating chicken (an art all its own... yikes!)
Pesto from scratch (w/o a blender. again, yikes!)
Frozen mango
Pizza - incl. marinara sauce and crust (still no blender)
Baking things w/whole wheat white flour (cookies, mostly)
Egg salad
Tabbouleh
Experiments w/rye berries
Spinach salads
Friday, July 8, 2011
Two words: Credit Cards
Let us all pause for a moment and consider the imbecility of credit cards.
Have you considered it? Or are you just wondering what I mean? Because what I mean is that, quite simply, the system is silly. Bonkers. Off its rocker.
How credit works:
1. I have money in my bank account.
2. I get a card with a company that has no connection whatsoever to my bank or my money. This company allows me to spend their money.
3. I then pay the company with money out of my bank account.
This process, and the faithfulness with which I repay the company its mini-loan, is supposed to establish for the general fiscal community my trustworthiness.
If you simply want to buy things with money that you have, this is a dumb idea; too many unnecessary steps. However, as lots of us want to buy very expensive things with money that we don't have (say an education, for instance, or a car, or a house), the idea of establishing trustworthiness makes a little more sense. As an aside, I would like to point out that, in my opinion, those things are not worth their "market value" - when you translate it into loans and work and stress and hassle and years. However, let's get along with the whole proving-you're-reliable business.
There are a lot of corrupt things about the credit industry, of which I'm only vaguely aware and so not ready to discuss here. What concerns me at the moment is that this system is painfully difficult to break into. Because of course, the company that is lending you their money wants to know that you'll be faithful to pay it back. After all, they can hound you for more and more money, claiming that you owe them, but in the end, if its not there, all they really get for their trouble is a lot of hassle and the satisfaction of making you miserable - neither of which line their pockets. So its a closed system. If you don't have a history of "good credit" then you're on the same level as someone who has a history of "bad credit".
What I get from all this is that we have gone to a lot of trouble to make an already complex human interaction (negotiation for something of value) infinitely more complicated by trying to sort it out with red tape.
Am I surprised by this? No. No, it is reflected anywhere a system has been set up and then let loose. I am, however, hurt and annoyed by the whole process. Because you see, while I don't mind setting out to prove that I am fiscally trustworthy, it annoys the hell out of me to have to deal with all the complication, dissembling, and straight up corruption of the business.
I cannot help but admire those who are able to understand and cope with the business world, because the more I see of it, the more nauseated I become.
Have you considered it? Or are you just wondering what I mean? Because what I mean is that, quite simply, the system is silly. Bonkers. Off its rocker.
How credit works:
1. I have money in my bank account.
2. I get a card with a company that has no connection whatsoever to my bank or my money. This company allows me to spend their money.
3. I then pay the company with money out of my bank account.
This process, and the faithfulness with which I repay the company its mini-loan, is supposed to establish for the general fiscal community my trustworthiness.
If you simply want to buy things with money that you have, this is a dumb idea; too many unnecessary steps. However, as lots of us want to buy very expensive things with money that we don't have (say an education, for instance, or a car, or a house), the idea of establishing trustworthiness makes a little more sense. As an aside, I would like to point out that, in my opinion, those things are not worth their "market value" - when you translate it into loans and work and stress and hassle and years. However, let's get along with the whole proving-you're-reliable business.
There are a lot of corrupt things about the credit industry, of which I'm only vaguely aware and so not ready to discuss here. What concerns me at the moment is that this system is painfully difficult to break into. Because of course, the company that is lending you their money wants to know that you'll be faithful to pay it back. After all, they can hound you for more and more money, claiming that you owe them, but in the end, if its not there, all they really get for their trouble is a lot of hassle and the satisfaction of making you miserable - neither of which line their pockets. So its a closed system. If you don't have a history of "good credit" then you're on the same level as someone who has a history of "bad credit".
What I get from all this is that we have gone to a lot of trouble to make an already complex human interaction (negotiation for something of value) infinitely more complicated by trying to sort it out with red tape.
Am I surprised by this? No. No, it is reflected anywhere a system has been set up and then let loose. I am, however, hurt and annoyed by the whole process. Because you see, while I don't mind setting out to prove that I am fiscally trustworthy, it annoys the hell out of me to have to deal with all the complication, dissembling, and straight up corruption of the business.
I cannot help but admire those who are able to understand and cope with the business world, because the more I see of it, the more nauseated I become.
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