IS THERE ANYONE OUT THERE READING THIS?
Not that it really matters in the long run. This is a test for me to improve my writing and consistency, and I'll keep writing whether or not people are actually reading it...
(But it would still be nice to know.)
Love,
Chicca
19 February, 2010
16 February, 2010
Sauna Sauna Sauna Sauna Sauna
For the past three or so weeks my school has been right in the middle of a series of small blizzards. Cumulatively we've probably gotten about four feet of snow in about that much time, and it's been kind of windy so the snow is whipping around in the air and blowing into people's faces and making people generally cold to the bone. So you'd expect nothing more from me than a recount of how I've spent these past few weeks curled up in bed with a cup of hot chocolate, being warm and cozy in my duvet and watching the snow fall outside my window?
Well, you would be wrong. Because while I have been watching the snow fall outside my window, instead of curling up cozy under my duvet I have been opening my window and hoping that some of the disgustingly hot air trapped in my room will go away. I mean, yes. That's terrible for the environment and as someone who cares greatly about saving the environment I am terribly ashamed of myself and my actions, but actually there is no other way for me to survive. When I lay down to take a nap yesterday the air coming out of the heater was so hot that the tree outside looked like it was rippling-- I was seeing those crazy air ripples that you find in the summertime when you look at the pavement. Seriously? It's the middle of a snowy winter in the mid-Atlantic. This should not be happening! It's winter, for chrissake! I want to be able to cuddle up under my comforter! But instead I sleep basically naked under a sheet and still wake up sweaty and disgusting-- what's up with that??
On another note, the tree outside my window also has had something crazy stuck to one of its branches for about two weeks now. It looks kind of like a gigantic black squirrel attached itself to a branch and died, except there's no body and instead is just a lot of long black fur waving in the wind. It's pretty creepy and terribly mysterious and makes me feel a bit like Edgar Allen Poe.
Well, you would be wrong. Because while I have been watching the snow fall outside my window, instead of curling up cozy under my duvet I have been opening my window and hoping that some of the disgustingly hot air trapped in my room will go away. I mean, yes. That's terrible for the environment and as someone who cares greatly about saving the environment I am terribly ashamed of myself and my actions, but actually there is no other way for me to survive. When I lay down to take a nap yesterday the air coming out of the heater was so hot that the tree outside looked like it was rippling-- I was seeing those crazy air ripples that you find in the summertime when you look at the pavement. Seriously? It's the middle of a snowy winter in the mid-Atlantic. This should not be happening! It's winter, for chrissake! I want to be able to cuddle up under my comforter! But instead I sleep basically naked under a sheet and still wake up sweaty and disgusting-- what's up with that??
On another note, the tree outside my window also has had something crazy stuck to one of its branches for about two weeks now. It looks kind of like a gigantic black squirrel attached itself to a branch and died, except there's no body and instead is just a lot of long black fur waving in the wind. It's pretty creepy and terribly mysterious and makes me feel a bit like Edgar Allen Poe.
02 February, 2010
Don't be fooled by molasses, guys.
My parents sent me the most delicious cookie sampler for my birthday from Dancing Deer Baking Co., and as I sit here eating a molasses-clove cookie I am realizing I shouldn't have chickened out on molasses cake over winter break. I found this recipe for dark molasses gingerbread cake and immediately wanted to make it-- I mean, look at it! It just looks so gooey and rich and inviting that my taste buds simply quivered and ordered me to start baking. However, because I found it pretty late at night I figured it wouldn't be such a good idea, so instead I went to bed with my midnight snackies unsatisfied and put the cake on the back burner (ha).
My plan was to make it the next day, but as I was gathering ingredients I'd realized that I had no idea what a molasses cake tasted like. Both my dad, who was my sous chef for the day, and my mom, who was taking a break from playing with me in the kitchen, warned me that molasses was certainly not for everyone-- I already knew that my mom wasn't going to eat this cake (she really doesn't care for molasses), and so to see if I would like it my dad had me lick some off a spoon. Sounds like a good idea, right? To give me an idea of what the cake might taste like?
WRONG. MOLASSES BAKED GOODS TASTE NOTHING LIKE STRAIGHT MOLASSES FROM A SPOON. DON'T BE FOOLED, GUYS.
The molasses-from-a-spoon experience unfortunately pushed me away from baking that delicious-looking cake and I opted for a chocolate gingerbread instead. Chocolate gingerbread is a masterpiece in its own right and is actually one of my all-time favorites, but I now realize the error of my baking ways. Because when I bit into this Dancing Deer molasses-clove cookie it was moist and reminded me faintly of gingerbread, but tasted nothing like the gross, viscous, dark substance I ate from a spoon.
The moral of the story is, don't be fooled by its sticky texture, weird color, and strong smell. Molasses cookies are spectacular. So when I find ingredients and a willing oven, guess what my next project's going to be?
My plan was to make it the next day, but as I was gathering ingredients I'd realized that I had no idea what a molasses cake tasted like. Both my dad, who was my sous chef for the day, and my mom, who was taking a break from playing with me in the kitchen, warned me that molasses was certainly not for everyone-- I already knew that my mom wasn't going to eat this cake (she really doesn't care for molasses), and so to see if I would like it my dad had me lick some off a spoon. Sounds like a good idea, right? To give me an idea of what the cake might taste like?
WRONG. MOLASSES BAKED GOODS TASTE NOTHING LIKE STRAIGHT MOLASSES FROM A SPOON. DON'T BE FOOLED, GUYS.
The molasses-from-a-spoon experience unfortunately pushed me away from baking that delicious-looking cake and I opted for a chocolate gingerbread instead. Chocolate gingerbread is a masterpiece in its own right and is actually one of my all-time favorites, but I now realize the error of my baking ways. Because when I bit into this Dancing Deer molasses-clove cookie it was moist and reminded me faintly of gingerbread, but tasted nothing like the gross, viscous, dark substance I ate from a spoon.
The moral of the story is, don't be fooled by its sticky texture, weird color, and strong smell. Molasses cookies are spectacular. So when I find ingredients and a willing oven, guess what my next project's going to be?
31 January, 2010
An (incoherent?) update
Fencing season is officially making me go mildly insane!
This weekend was supposed to be a double-weekend meet, with one at Brandeis (in Boston) and the other in New Jersey at Rutgers, but the one at Rutgers today was cancelled so we came back to school instead. We got in at 2.00 this morning, which isn't terribly late for a college student on a Saturday night, but we were all exhausted from fencing and being on the bus for 6+ hours. As a result I'm a bit incoherent, but I'm way overdue for a blog post. Sorry to anyone actually reading this... =/
Anyway. My birthday was last week so my parents and Madman came to take me out for dinner, which was pretty awesome, and my mom baked my favorite birthday cake--chocolate-less chocolate cake with berries and homemade whipped cream-- which was even more awesome. And they gave me an iTouch, so now I can listen to music wherever and browse the wireless internets and it's so beautiful and shiny and stuff. I would almost say its deliciousness nears that of the birthday cake! It shows pictures really well, surprisingly enough, and so now if people ask to see my artwork for some reason I'll always have some on hand. Now, to get a case...
I owe you all a real update, promise. I will, however, wait until I've gotten more sleep.
This weekend was supposed to be a double-weekend meet, with one at Brandeis (in Boston) and the other in New Jersey at Rutgers, but the one at Rutgers today was cancelled so we came back to school instead. We got in at 2.00 this morning, which isn't terribly late for a college student on a Saturday night, but we were all exhausted from fencing and being on the bus for 6+ hours. As a result I'm a bit incoherent, but I'm way overdue for a blog post. Sorry to anyone actually reading this... =/
Anyway. My birthday was last week so my parents and Madman came to take me out for dinner, which was pretty awesome, and my mom baked my favorite birthday cake--chocolate-less chocolate cake with berries and homemade whipped cream-- which was even more awesome. And they gave me an iTouch, so now I can listen to music wherever and browse the wireless internets and it's so beautiful and shiny and stuff. I would almost say its deliciousness nears that of the birthday cake! It shows pictures really well, surprisingly enough, and so now if people ask to see my artwork for some reason I'll always have some on hand. Now, to get a case...
I owe you all a real update, promise. I will, however, wait until I've gotten more sleep.
18 January, 2010
An observation
School toilet paper sucks. If you're a tp snob like I am (Charmin 2-ply for the win), bring your own.
Yes, well.
It's been a little bit since I last wrote. I know, I know, what's up with irregular posting? But you have to trust me when I say it's been a crazy couple of weeks. After my last post I tried my hardest to enjoy my remaining time at home. I finished the beret I was working on, though I'm not positive it is actually serviceable as a hat. I also went skating on a real pond for the first time in my entire life!! Which was a spectacular experience I would recommend to everyone!!! It was infinitely better than skating on a rink-- yes, the ice is a little bit rougher, but it's hardly noticeable after the first push off, and being outside while skating is spectacular. The only thing I had trouble with were the sticks falling from a tree hanging over the ice, which my skates somehow found no matter how hard I tried to steer clear of them...
On the 11th I journeyed back to school for a fencing winter training camp, where we fenced for six hours a day. It wasn't as grueling as it sounds, really. Okay, so some of us wanted to die for a day or so, but now when I look at my (mostly not sore) muscles I really feel that I've accomplished something. Today we have no classes because of MLK Day, so I'm just fencing and relaxing and being a normal lazy college student, I guess, to save up energy for the next two months' fencing meet saga. And counting down the days till my birthday (9!).
On the 11th I journeyed back to school for a fencing winter training camp, where we fenced for six hours a day. It wasn't as grueling as it sounds, really. Okay, so some of us wanted to die for a day or so, but now when I look at my (mostly not sore) muscles I really feel that I've accomplished something. Today we have no classes because of MLK Day, so I'm just fencing and relaxing and being a normal lazy college student, I guess, to save up energy for the next two months' fencing meet saga. And counting down the days till my birthday (9!).
02 January, 2010
01022010
Happy New Year, everyone!
A cause for much excitement, besides the whole new decade thing: today's a palindrome!
According to a chain going around on facebook (reliable source, i know), "there will be 12 MM/DD/YYYY palindromes in the 21st century, 12 more in the 22nd and 12 more in the 23rd. But after that, the next such palindrome period won't happen for 711 years and a day like today won't return for millenia." Fun fact, eh? Though really the date depends on how you write the date-- today's just a normal day in Europe, where instead the date is 02012010, which is still pretty cool but not as cool. Sorry, guys. You'll just have to wait 'till 01 February.
In other news, I just found Coco Perez's 17 December entry about condom fashion-- apparently in order to raise awareness about the spread of HIV/AIDS, some company in China organized a fashion show where the clothing was made entirely of condoms. Weird, huh?
Some of the dresses were surprisingly fashionable if you ignore what they're made of, like this one below.
There were some style issues, though; can you say unnecessary close-up of unfurled, ribbed coloreds? And really, the gigantic condom lollipop was a bit much. Thankfully, no pearl necklaces were, to my knowledge, worn on the runway.
[image courtesy of Coco Perez]
A cause for much excitement, besides the whole new decade thing: today's a palindrome!
According to a chain going around on facebook (reliable source, i know), "there will be 12 MM/DD/YYYY palindromes in the 21st century, 12 more in the 22nd and 12 more in the 23rd. But after that, the next such palindrome period won't happen for 711 years and a day like today won't return for millenia." Fun fact, eh? Though really the date depends on how you write the date-- today's just a normal day in Europe, where instead the date is 02012010, which is still pretty cool but not as cool. Sorry, guys. You'll just have to wait 'till 01 February.
In other news, I just found Coco Perez's 17 December entry about condom fashion-- apparently in order to raise awareness about the spread of HIV/AIDS, some company in China organized a fashion show where the clothing was made entirely of condoms. Weird, huh?
Some of the dresses were surprisingly fashionable if you ignore what they're made of, like this one below.
There were some style issues, though; can you say unnecessary close-up of unfurled, ribbed coloreds? And really, the gigantic condom lollipop was a bit much. Thankfully, no pearl necklaces were, to my knowledge, worn on the runway.
[image courtesy of Coco Perez]
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