i am the sound of rain on the roof

Summer Pastas - Episode 2

2010-08-01T14:19:00.001-07:00

I love brussels sprouts. They have a bad reputation as a kind of stinky, cabbagey vegetable, and most kids would turn their noses up at them. But to me, they are delicious little buttery bites of healthy happiness.

I have three favorite ways of cooking sprouts; one is to steam them and then mix them up with cooked sausage (recipe here), another way is to steam them and then cover them with caramelized onions and blue cheese (arguably not healthy at all), and the third is to saute them and add a shot of balsamic vinegar at the end.

So, the other night I was really craving the balsamic sprouts, but I did not want to deal with cleaning the pan when I was done. When you add the balsamic, a syrupy coating from the vinegar can harden onto the bottom of the pan, and it's very difficult to get off. So, I thought, why not try steaming the sprouts WITH balsamic vinegar on them? And that's exactly what I did. Added a little broccoli, pasta, and cheese, and I had myself a light pasta dinner with minimal cleaning up to do.

Method for these sprouts (and broccoli):

*Peal the outer leaves off the sprouts and cut off the hard stems.
*Fill a large pot about 1/4 full of water, and put a couple garlic cloves in the water.
*Place the sprouts in a steaming basket above the water, and season them with salt (not pepper), olive oil, and a generous splash of vinegar. (Generous because some of it will drip down through the holes of the basket, and you want enough to stay on your veggies.)
*Cover and steam for about 15 minutes from the time you turn the stove on, or until the sprouts are easily pierced with a fork.
*Serve over pasta with a teensy bit (or a lot) more olive oil, garnish with parmesan cheese, and enjoy!

This recipe is incredibly adaptable. You could easily do it with zucchini, carrots, broccoli, or any vegetable that you like to steam. The balsamic vinegar adds a flavor that is not too strong, and very pleasant.

Let me know what you think about this and other posts on my facebook page!

Summer Pastas - Episode 1

2010-07-28T17:30:00.000-07:00

Some people might say that pasta is not a summer food, but I disagree. I think pasta is an all year food, and it's one of my favorites at that. But in the summer I never really crave heavy sauces. No meat, no thick, garlic-filled tomato sauce. I like my summer pasta simple: usually with just olive oil, salt, pepper, and cheese. Always with cheese.

My garden is growing very nicely, and it makes me really happy to see it filling out again with healthy growth. One of the rose bushes has a bloom on it, and my basil is shooting right up to the sky. Last week I picked some basil leaves for the first time, and combined them with a sprig of Greek oregano (which I grow indoors), some garlic cloves, and some vine-ripened tomatoes.

Here is the official recipe:
*First, boil the pasta. Keep a little water in it, then set aside.

*In the pot that you boiled the pasta in (no use getting two pans dirty!), heat a generous pour of olive oil.

*While the oil is heating, cut a couple tomatoes into large-ish chunks.

*Drop your peeled garlic into the oil to get it nice and aromatic. You might want to chop up your garlic ahead of time, if you like to eat the garlic in the end product. Personally, I put the whole clove in the oil because I prefer to take it out before I eat the finished product. It's up to you!

*Turn the heat down and add the tomatoes. Let them simmer until they start to dissolve.

*Add your herbs last and let them wilt a little.

*Add the cooked pasta back to this mixture and mix everything together.

*Salt & pepper, to taste.

The finished product is light and fresh - perfect for summer!

learning to rest in the pose

2010-07-21T18:43:00.001-07:00

Here is another instance of yoga practice being applied to real life. I have been reading "Meditations from the Mat" by Rolf Gates. I pick it up periodically and read a passage or two, usually in the mornings before I meditate (I have to admit that this is still an infrequent practice, but I'm working on it!). The passage I read yesterday was about learning how to make restful periods a part of your yoga practice. Instead of adopting a "no pain, no gain" attitude towards your body and yoga, give yourself permission to rest, and make resting an active part of your practice. He says:

"We enter a posture, the heat builds, and before long we want to get the heck out of Dodge. That is one option - retreat. But another option is to just back off a little within the posture, rest for a breath or two, and then see if you can deepen the pose."

Reading this passage was not super meaningful to me yesterday morning when I was groggy and struggling to just clear my mind for 5 minutes before work. But today, I found that it resonated in my mind quite a bit.

My living situation has been up in the air for months. And really, I have not felt settled anywhere since I graduated college 3 years ago. Over the weekend I found an apartment that I really fell in love with, and it seems as though everything is going to work out for me to move there. But today I learned that I'm not the only person applying for the place, and just that little nugget of information caused me to panic a tiny bit, and feel like my expectations were caving in and that I would probably never find a place to live, ever.

But then I took a deep breath, and then a few more, and I remembered what I had read yesterday morning. This is a difficult situation to be in, but can I find rest within it? Can I take a step back from my panic and stay grounded during this turbulence? The answer is yes, I can. Even though this is really challenging, and I feel scared and unsure about what my future holds, I can continue to breathe and make decisions that are right for me, without retreating.

So, here we go.

Summer Salads

2010-07-18T13:51:00.001-07:00

While it is blisteringly hot outside, I find that eating a nice, refreshing salad is ideal. And while I love my old standby of basic romaine, tomato, pepper salad, I have lately been taken with eating a tomato and mozzarella salad almost every day for lunch. My garden basil is not ready for me to start picking leaves off it yet, but I do have a small oregano plant in my kitchen, and its leaves add a nice peppery taste to my caprese salad.

So, here's the recipe:

Vine tomatoes (or heirloom, which I hear are sublime)
Mozzarella (you might be a wiz and make your own, or you might buy it like me)
salt and pepper
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
basil and/or oregano leaves, to taste

Just slice up your tomatoes and cheese and mix them together in a bowl. Be generous with your oil and vinegar (then you can sop it up with some crusty bread!) and add your spices to taste. Easy!

Cultivating a Green Thumb

2010-07-09T12:02:00.001-07:00

I am not very good with plants. I'm amazed by my friends and family members who have the knowledge and finesse to grow things, whether inside or out. In my new neighborhood in Washington, DC, many many neighbors have beautiful, luscious gardens, and so since I moved here last month I've wanted to help our tiny sad garden become beautiful again. So, since today is my last day of unemployment, and since the heatwave has broken somewhat, I decided to try and make something happen!

Here is what our garden looked like before I started:

It was intimidating. Jungly, thorny, dry, rocky. I wasn't sure if I would be able to make anything out of it. But thanks to the internet and my mom and dear friend Kate, I gained a tiny bit of knowledge and felt confident in pruning the rose bushes, pulling up all the weeds, adding some healthy soil, and planting some new plants. So, I went to the hardware store and got started.

The guy who checked me out at the hardware store LOVED the fact that I was buying manure. He could not say do-do enough times. Anyway.

So I came home and pruned, dug, airated, mixed, watered, and planted. Et voila! The garden looks like a place where life can happen! I also said a little prayer for the plants to not die. Not sure if it will help, but with my reputation for killing plants, I figured it was worth a shot.

Here is my after shot:

Basil:

Mint:

And a peony!

I feel like this was a success, and my first step towards becoming a competent gardener. It was sweaty and dirty and exhausting, but I'm pretty excited to watch my garden grow.

A Smattering of Thoughts

2010-04-26T07:41:00.000-07:00

Coffee update: I have not had any coffee since I last wrote. I've been sticking with black and green tea and it's going great! One thing I didn't mention before is that part of the reason I really want to quit caffeine is because I've started a meditation practice in addition to yoga. And meditating when your brain is ping-ponging around on a caffeine high is unpleasant.

So yesterday I went on a meditation retreat. It began at 9 a.m. with yoga, then we switched between sitting and walking meditation until 3:30, with lunch in the middle. Then I did another yoga class from 4-6. It was a long day, but I'm glad I did it.

Meditating has been a challenging thing to do, because it's hard for me to sit quietly with my mind for 30-40 minutes, or even for 10 minutes. Part of what I find challenging is that I'm self conscious about it. I often feel like I'm not doing it "right" because I'm not seeing immediate results. One thing I've been learning, though, is that all you have to do is sit, and over time you will see the benefits. There is no end to the practice--you never reach a final point and then say, "my meditation practice is complete." Even if you reach enlightenment, or nirvana, or you leave your physical body for a few seconds, you always come back to Earth, and then you try again, and so on. This has been a hard concept for me to grasp, and so it's hard for me to write down, but I hope it makes sense. To quote Hey Arnold, the journey is the destination.

I keep thinking of something that my clarinet teacher Rick Faria said to me once. At the time it meant a lot to my clarinet practice, and now I'm finding that it's really relevant to most areas of my life. He said to me that even though it feels like your playing is having all these dramatic peaks and valleys - one day you're playing something perfectly, and the next you're squeaking all over the place - your general ability is progressing, and that's what really matters. So when you think you are in a rut (or harder: when you're flying high), just proceed as usual and know that you're heading in the right direction, as long as you're moving forward.

So I'm learning that each moment is brand new, and the moments that came before don't dictate the moments that will come later. And knowing this, my mind and heart are slowly opening more and more. It's pretty neat.

Caffeine Chronicles: Prologue

2010-04-23T07:38:00.000-07:00

Hello there. It's been so long since I've posted, I can hardly believe you're even reading this right now. Have you been waiting since January, checking my blog each day, thinking to yourself "maybe today..." and then letting out a long sigh when you find that my blog's latest post is still the one about some book? Well, today you will sigh a sigh of relief, because I'm back! And I'm here to write about coffee.

I have been addicted to caffeine for a long time. I don't remember when it started, but it was somewhere between high school and college. It flared during the summer after my senior year, when I was watching Gilmore Girls excessively while house sitting. The gilmore girls are hopelessly addicted to coffee, and they speak about coffee every 5 seconds. All that mention of coffee, combined with boredom and the novelty of being in someone else's house, I started drinking coffee about 3 times a day.

Four months later and I was living in New York City, working two jobs, one of which was the closing shift at Starbucks. Working at Starbucks fanned the flame, to say the least, and before I knew it I was drinking a venti iced red-eye on the way to work in the mornings. (A red-eye is coffee with a shot of espresso in it.) My addiction continued unchecked for another year, give or take a couple months.

Last winter, I vowed to make over my life. I had started doing yoga, and I wanted to begin a macrobiotic diet. Macrobiotics doesn't allow caffeine (or meat, dairy, tomatoes, or alcohol), so I tried to quit cold turkey. I have to say it was extremely difficult to cut off all vices in one fell swoop, and all of them slowly crept back into my life. But I did manage to stop drinking coffee and switched to black tea. I stayed with black tea until very recently, when coffee slowly came back into my life, and now I am a lunatic for the stuff again.

Now, you might say, black tea has almost as much caffeine as coffee, so what's the big deal? The big deal is that I can function in the mornings before I have tea. I don't have dramatic ups and downs in energy level. I don't turn into a huge b-i-t-c-h or fall asleep at my desk if I don't have a cup of tea in the afternoon. Coffee, though, has a vice-like grip on my brain, and it makes me nuts.

So, I'm going to start over. I know what's coming: blinding headaches for a couple days, irritability. But I know that it's worth it, and I think it will help to write about this endeavor in this here blog, and I hope you'll bear with me. I'm going to take a step-down approach, switching to black tea first, and then down to green tea.

The sad irony is that what fuels my determination to quit coffee is, in fact, a giant cup of coffee.

Chronic City

2010-01-27T06:21:00.000-08:00

Well, I have just been tantalized by the deliciousness over at my friends' blog "Tea and Limpets," and am now moved to contribute something to the blogosphere as well. While I didn't bake any bread or create a dessert of mini brownie pie shells filled with mousse, I have been reading a pretty great book. In my last post I talked about how excellent characters can override my experience of reading a terribly written piece of literature. Now, though, I am soothed by the deliciously long sentences of Jonathan Lethem.

"Chronic City" is Lethem's most recent novel, and so far I think it is his best. I read "Fortress of Solitude" and "Motherless Brooklyn" in college, and I loved both of them. Both FOS and MB play with different narrative styles: FOS is in 3 sections: the first from the point of view of a little boy living in Brooklyn, the second an extended fictional liner note written by the same boy, and the third from the point of view of the boy many years later as an adult. "Motherless Brooklyn" is narrated by an autistic man. In "Chronic City," the narrative easily moves between first and third person, but always stays true to itself, and is not as self-conscious as either of his two earlier books. (He has written many other novels and short stories, but I haven't read them all.)

When I was living in New York I actually met Jonathan Lethem twice. The first time was at the Cooper Union (location of the Lincoln-Douglas debates), where he was discussing the work of a science fiction writer whose name escapes me. At that meeting I was overcome with excitement at meeting my then-favorite author, and I could barely speak as I asked him to sign my copy of Fortress of Solitude. The second time was at a bookstore on Prince Street called McNally Jackson. This time he was with a musician named Paul D. Miller, discussing a book called "Sound Unbound: Sampling Digital Music and Culture." The book seemed incredibly interesting, and the audience was very engaged in the discussion of sampling and ownership of music in this digital age. After the presentation, I went up to meet him again, and when I offered my hand for him to shake, he just didn't shake it. Maybe he was sick, but I think probably he is an eccentric person. But I still like him!

So with that, I want to share with you a sentence in "Chronic City" that practically made my eyes pop out of my skull and my heart leap with delight, especially after enduring the short, stiff prose of Twilight:

"To live in Manhattan is to be persistently amazed at the worlds squirreled inside one another, the chaotic intricacy with which realms interleave, like those lines of television cable and fresh water steam heat and outgoing sewage and telephone wire and whatever else which cohabit in the same intestinal holes that pavement-demolishing workmen periodically wrench open to the daylight and to our passing, disturbed glances. We only pretend we live on something as orderly as a grid."

Bonus interesting factoid: Lethem splits his time between New York and Maine now, and I like to think he wrote his twisty descriptions of underground Manhattan from the comfort of a wide living room with windows facing a lake surrounded by dense forests, far from the noise of the city.

You should know I'm not immune to the vampire craze.

2010-01-20T12:44:00.000-08:00

Seeing as the title of my blog comes from a Billy Collins poem, you may guess that I am an appreciator of the written word. Some might call me a bibliophile, and they'd be right. I love reading, and I like to think I have good taste in books. I majored in English, after all. There is just one thing that I can't really explain. I love the Twilight books.

Still reading? Thank you. Now, I say I can't really explain it, but I am going to make an effort. The Twilight series has universal appeal because it is a love story, and I think that most people enjoy love stories - especially those with happy endings. The series has the added interest factor for me of being about different kinds of love: romantic, friendly, familial. So that is the reason I like them. But, there are also reasons why I think they are terrible.

Aside from the basics - namely, the fact that the vampires in these books COMPLETELY depart from historical vampire lore, combined with the old-fashioned-bordering-on-pre-women's-lib values that the characters adhere to - the books are not well written. Stephenie Meyer's prose style is halted, overly descriptive, and lacking in a very robust vocabulary. In the fourth book she misuses the word "ironic" more times than I could count.

What I think has carried these books to the level of international phenomenon is that the characters are strong and memorable. When you read the books you really feel like you are in the narrator (Bella)'s head, feeling everything she feels, and wanting everything she wants. There is a juicy level of temptation and longing in the first two books that keeps the pages turning.

Also, I mentioned the old-fashioned values. Twilight has been criticized for being anti-feminist, but I don't think that's entirely true. The book has a simple hook for young women: girl meets boy, he loves her back, everything works out. She doesn't start a career and have blazing success in the business world, she doesn't go on a quest for self discovery. She falls in love, and that gives her life meaning. Now, of course I know that this is not something that fits into the realm of feminism, but I think that the reason it has such appeal for young girls is precisely BECAUSE it is old-fashioned. I think that feminism has pushed this ideal independence so far that young women are longing to go back to a simpler time. For a better written and more cohesive take on this argument, please read this article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/15/AR2008081503099_pf.html

So there you have my thoughts on Twilight. Even though the terrible writing drives me absolutely insane, there is something about these books that keeps me coming back for more. My advice is: don't start reading them.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T06:55:00.000-08:00

I am so grateful for health, happiness, and the wonderful people in my life. I wish you, faithful blog readers, a happy Thanksgiving full of love and peace.

happy friday

2009-11-13T05:33:00.000-08:00

I can't believe my last post was only on Monday - this week has gone by so slowly, and Monday feels like ages ago. This has been a big week for me with a lot of ups and downs, and I'm glad it's coming to an end. This weekend should be good - yoga tonight followed by dinner and rock band at the neighbors', yoga Saturday, movie with friends, then I'm running a 5k (???) Sunday morning and will hopefully have enough energy for my 4:00 yoga class.

This past Wednesday I played a concert with the Orlando Concert Band at the Winter Park Raquet Club for Veteran's Day. It was a weird concert because I wasn't really prepared at all, and it was our new conductor's first show with us. The audience seemed to love it, so that is what really matters, but I felt kind of ambivalent about it. However last night at rehearsal we got a bunch of new music, and the next concert should be really great. We're playing Candide, an excerpt from Appalachian Spring, "Typewriter" by Leroy Anderson, and "The Cowboys" by John Williams. Should be fun!

This week I also got my first writing assignment from my new freelance employer. This is the first time ever I'll be paid to write something, and I'm so excited and terrified! I'll try to keep the juices flowing on my blog - just look at me already, 2 posts in one week! haha

So this post was all about me, so thank you for reading it. I must now go back to my cup of coffee and my desk job aka "reality" (c:

P.S. Here's a recommendation: Pomplamoose! Check them out on youtube - especially their version of "Single Ladies". Is it weird that I really can't get enough of that song?

oh oh oh

some things i like right now

2009-11-09T13:16:00.000-08:00

1. Matt Nathanson. I was mocked for quoting his song "Come on, Get Higher" in my gchat status, but my love is not diminished. The song is sweet, catchy, and just generally nice. I downloaded his album "Some Mad Hope" and have no regrets.

2. Fall in Florida. I've talked about this before, but I just have to say it again. This weekend it was sunny, 78 degrees, and I went to two art festivals outdoors. The sky was blue and expansive, and the clouds were puffy and nice.

3. Empanadas. At the two art festivals, Lindzee and I got empanadas that were amazing and delicious.

4. Carrot chips. They're carrots cut like ruffles, basically, and kind of make me feel like I'm eating waffle-cut cheetos. Mmm.

5. Steve Ross. He's a yoga teacher and author of the book "Happy Yoga." Every time my teacher reads a passage from this book I feel hope and love just flooding into my heart. It's really amazing. One of these days I'll talk more about him, but for today I just wanted to update, since I'm trying to get in the habit of writing in my blog.

peace and love

darkness and light

2009-10-30T05:40:00.000-07:00

I just read these two articles from the New York Times' "Happy Days" blog:

Number 1
Number 2

They both discuss despair as a vital aspect of happiness - the idea that without darkness we cannot experience light. I think this is a very interesting idea, but I believe that it's a philosophy more applicable to literature, art, and/or music than to life itself. It's true that we can appreciate happiness more when we have experienced despair or depression, but I don't believe that we need to cultivate suffering to heighten our experience of joy.

I think that what both these articles get at is this idea that a person has to go inward and discover their truest self, and accept that self, in order to be happy. The first article states that "despair is marked by a desire to get rid of the self, an unwillingness to become who you fundamentally are." In renaissance literature, if a character stated that they were in despair, it always meant that that character was going to commit suicide: the ultimate ridding of the self. What I conclude from the quoted statement above is that to end despair we must know and accept who we are. Only when we have taken this journey inward, really confronting our darkness and understanding it, can we come back into the light and experience compassion, sympathy, and empathy for our fellow humans.

The second author uses Coleridge rather than Kirkegaard to back up his point, which is that despair begets joy, and that experiencing intense longing is to be "suffused with love." I disagree, however. I think that to truly experience love and happiness is to be rid of longing. When we can let go and move through life with open hearts and open minds is when we can truly experience happiness. Although it is romantic to pine and be consumed with desire, it is not really the best way to live day-to-day. How exhausting to be constantly wanting! One of the noble truths of Buddhism is that to eliminate suffering, we have to let go of desires, and then we can experience peace. So, rather than cultivate or wallow in longing and despair, we can acknowledge those feelings, understand that they are transient, and move on. But once again there is this idea that we have to travel inward in order to experience happiness or peace: we're all going to experience despair, but rather than ignoring those feelings or identifying with them, we can accept them, release them, and move forward. It's this constant balance between darkness and light.

While reading and thinking about both of these articles, in the back of my mind is Karen Armstrong, whose work I've been reading and listening to on TED.com. She talks a lot about compassion, and acknowledging that we humans are all connected. Also on my mind has been the writing of Rolf Gates, who says that in order to have compassion for our fellow man (an outward experience), we have to first travel inward. To truly love others, we first have to find love within.

VegFest and Yoga

2009-10-28T13:24:00.000-07:00

It's been a super long time since I've posted, and I apologize for that. I have been keeping busy with work, bands, yoga, friends, etc., and life is pretty good right now. This weekend was the Central Florida VegFest, and I went with my dad and friend Lindzee, and met up with some friends from the yoga studio as well.

VegFest brought forth the large and mysterious hipster population of Orlando. I have never seen so many plaid shirts and skinny jeans in one place on a day where the temperature was pushing 90. But there they were in all their glory, beards on the men and feathered headbands on the girls (disclaimer: I almost bought a feathered headband). All judgment aside though, I was happy to see so many peace-loving, like-minded people in Orlando. It was a relief to be surrounded by vegetarian food booths and guys playing acoustic guitars under trees. Even though we only stayed for 2 hours, I was really happy to be there.

I have been doing yoga 3-4 times a week at least for these past few weeks, and it has been one of the main things on my mind. I just really love it - it is helping me get in touch with God and spirituality in a new way. I keep surprising myself in class, whether it be by doing a full back-bend, a headstand without wall support, or just being able to breathe so deeply. I think it's really important to be reminded sometimes that we're all capable of more than we think.

Well that is all for now. Thanks for coming back even though I post so sporadically!

p & l

2009-10-09T09:53:00.001-07:00

Have a good weekend, everyone.

With love,
Miranda

maybe it's the sugar talking...

2009-10-07T12:11:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking a lot of deep thoughts lately: contemplative, confused, alliterative thoughts. And I've been trying to figure out what to write about in the old blog, and how to get all my thoughts out and worded correctly. But just now, I had a delicious snack, and decided to write about that instead.

Every day I eat yogurt - it was the hardest thing to give up during my brief foray into veganism. Lately I've been bringing a cup of Fage Greek yogurt to work, with honey and pecans to stir in. It's really good. I also always bring oatmeal to work, with a little baggie of fixins: brown sugar, cinnamon, raisins. WELL. Today, I didn't eat my breakfast, so when I was eating my yogurt, my little bag of sugar and raisins was sitting seductively on my desk, and I thought, "hey... that could work." So along with the honey and nuts I mixed in delicious brown sugar, raisins and cinnamon. I was hesitant at first - would it overpower the yogurt? Would I regret this decision to mar my healthy snack with extra sugar?

Turns out it was a whole lot of crap to put into a tiny cup of yogurt, but ultimately I'm glad I dove in and tried it. In short: carpe diem, my friends! Put too much stuff in your yogurt! It might be delicious.

Fall in Florida

2009-09-24T12:49:00.001-07:00

If you know me, you know that I love Fall. I love the way the air gets crispy, and I love crunching leaves under my feet, and putting on a sweater for the first time. After spending the last 14 years in the northeast, I am looking around for signs of Fall here in the beachy south.

Some things remain the same: Starbucks unveils their myriad pumpkin products, kids go back to school, Halloween costume shops open. But of course the leaves here don't change color (or haven't yet), and the only time I need a sweater is indoors, because air-conditioning temperatures remain arctic. The thing that has been a pleasant surprise to me, though, is that I can really feel a difference in the air. It is noticeably less humid, easier to breathe. And in the afternoons, when I look out the office windows, the light is like pure crystal. The other day it was almost pinkish, and the clouds were less puffy and just a touch more wispy.

I can't wait to start cooking squash and other Fall veggies, and I really can't wait to put on some boots and walk around, looking for a magnolia leaf to crunch.

some new recommendations

2009-09-03T07:44:00.000-07:00

Hello faithful blog audience. I don't know how many of you are left, but if you're reading this - Thank you! I have been following the blog 1000awesomethings.com and it has inspired me to think about all the little things in life that I love. So, in that spirit I wanted to share some things I've been into lately.

1. The song "East" by The Weather Station. This band is from Toronto, and has intensified my love for Canada. I heard it on All Songs Considered (here) while driving to work one morning, and it was the first time a song made me cry just out of appreciation for its beauty. Also, the singer taught herself how to play the banjo, which is really awesome.

2. Kashi Pumpkin Pie granola bars. Sweet, spicy, soft, crunchy, these things are weird at first but amazing later. Perfect mid-morning snack.

3. The song "Will You Return" by the Avett Brothers, especially the music video. I would link to it, but YouTube is blocked at work. Google it though, seriously. Also playing this song on guitar is super fun.

4. Eating potato chips after you've just been swimming, especially if you stay in the pool and eat them poolside. Your fingers are still a little wet, so the salt sticks to them and is more fun to lick off. There is just something luxurious about eating and drinking poolside, even more so if someone brings you the potato chips and/or drink. Mmmm.

5. Neil Gaiman. This guy is really a great writer. He wrote Coraline, and Neverwhere, which I'm currently reading. Both books have themes of an "other" world, and he creates these whole parallel universes without being hokey or gimmicky. He reminds me of Philip Pullman, another semi-geeky-but-pretty-profound sci-fi writer.

Okay that is all for now! I am going to try to update more consistently with lists like this. BONUS RECOMMENDATION: making lists of things you like. It's pretty uplifting!

peace, love, happiness.

sweet potato fries and other things

2009-08-25T10:41:00.000-07:00

Well, I used to use this blog as a place to put recipes, and it's been a long while since I've done that. But, this weekend I tried a super easy and delicious Rachel Ray recipe that I would recommend to you, faithful blog audience. Simply cut 4 large sweet potatoes into about 10 slices from each potato. In a bowl, pour olive oil on them, add salt & pepper, and mix them up so they're coated thoroughly. Then pour them out onto a baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes at 425 degrees, flipping occasionally and voila! A healthy, delicious side dish.

Tonight I start playing with the Rollins Wind Ensemble, which should be a fun thing. I'm really glad to be getting more involved with music-related things - it's great to stay in touch with the music world without being a competitive participant in it.

Anyway, I don't have much else to say, but just wanted to update. Florida is good, although hurricane season is upon us.

where am i, and how did i get here?

2009-08-17T08:47:00.000-07:00

My life lately has been in a state of upheaval, and it’s made me think about a lot of things. With many of my friends I’ve had conversations about faith and God and happiness, and I’ve always been open minded about different people’s opinions. But I realize that I don’t really have a solid opinion on the matter myself. I dabbled in atheism, but believing in nothing is crushingly lonely for me. I believe in a higher power, but organized religion, going to church, etc. doesn’t really work for me. I do believe that we humans are all connected to each other and to something greater than us. But the thing that I’ve been wondering about today is whether or not that higher power is something that guides us. When I’ve gone through hard times in the past I’ve relied on this mantra: everything is unfolding perfectly. In the past, it’s helped me remain optimistic. It’s reminded me to learn from difficult situations, and find peace within myself when there is none around me. But lately I’m just starting to wonder what that really means.

I’ve made a huge life change by moving to Florida. I left the northeast – my familiar, warm bubble – where my closest friends are. I truly felt that moving to Florida was the “right” thing to do. When I moved here everything happened really easily – I found great friends, a job, a band. The contrast between how difficult it was to establish a life in New York and establish one here is startling. And I guess the fact that it was so easy to get started here has made me feel impatient for more things to happen, but I have to remember that I’ve only been here 2.5 months. So, is everything unfolding perfectly? The thing is that I don’t feel satisfied, and some of the things I have are things that I don’t really want, and I’m plagued by this fear that I will succumb to complacency with my job the way I did in NYC and 2 years will go by, hardly noticed, and I’ll be in the same cubicle, still pining for something more. I wish I knew where I was going, and what exactly IS unfolding, if in fact it is unfolding perfectly. I don’t feel like I’m being guided by anything larger than me, and often I feel completely lost and uncertain.

Today I was reading an old friend’s blog, and he was writing about his life, and he had this period of time where several areas of his life bloomed simultaneously. He got engaged, found a perfect job in a city where he wants to live, and discovered that his fiancé could be employed by the same school. That to me is everything unfolding perfectly. It gives me hope that that all happened to him. That he struggled, and was uncertain, but that there was this final release where everything just fell into place. I know that’s not the end of the story, but I still sometimes wish for my own happily ever after.

pontificate

2009-07-14T14:43:00.000-07:00

Lately I have been into reading these sites, fmylife.com, mylifeisaverage.com, and mylifeisg.com, all of which feature short, 2-3 sentence stories about various daily events. And after spending so many hours a day reading these things, I find that it's harder for my brain to think in long, compound sentences. And that is something that I find kind of scary.

What has happened to the long-winded letter? Some of my favorite things in the book Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood are the chapters that are letters from one character to another. The letters are long, artful, well thought-out, and personal. But now, I feel like daily communication has been chopped up, shortened, amputated, injured. Now we communicate (and sometimes I even think!) in acronyms: FML, OMG, WTF, BFF.

Don't get me wrong, I love how easy it has become to communicate with people. My small circle of friends is so spread out that it would be impossible to write letters to each of them, filling them in on various life events. And I think that a certain sense of intimacy can be felt when you can text your friend 1,000 miles away to say, "hey i got to this movie super early, aren't i an idiot," rather than wait until something big happens for which a letter would be appropriate. So I like quick, rapid-fire communication, but I just wish there was someway to balance that with the art of writing a beautiful letter.

I guess until I figure out how to write an artful text message, my little blog will suffice. Long live English!

rain, rain... i like you

2009-06-29T10:43:00.001-07:00

The weather in Florida has a reputation for being great. Sunny all the time, hot, etc. Of course the humidity is formidable, and most people know that, but one thing that I didn't know about was the dependable, ferocious afternoon rainstorms in the summer.

I really like rain. And the rain in the sunshine state is the most serious rain I've ever seen. My favorite thing about it is its suddenness. Your day will be going along just fine, sun shining, puffy clouds, and then all of a sudden the sky will rip open and buckets and buckets of rain will pound down. The storms can last anywhere from 3 minutes to 3 hours, and you pretty much have to stop whatever you're doing if you happen to be outside in it.

In other news: two addictions have been rekindled in my life. Coffee and twitter. The two somehow go hand in hand, no? I'm going to try to ratchet myself back to tea drinking, because that at least doesn't incapacitate my brain as much as coffee does. And maybe once that calms down, twitter won't hold any appeal.

the first in a (likely) series of posts about florida

2009-06-22T13:49:00.001-07:00

Ah, Florida. The first time I lived here lasted for about 3 months, and I hated it with intensity. I worked at Albertson's, the southern grocery store chain, where my supervisors thought I would be brilliant in the floral department because I accidentally told them that I took Floral Design in high school (I didn't mention that I got a C in it - my lowest grade ever in high school). So I worked at the floral counter, scrubbing moldy flower buckets and making small overpriced arrangements. I came home, practiced clarinet, went on IM, and went to bed under my too-hot-for-florida down comforter. I remember staring up at the ceiling fan, sweating, seething, thinking that my life was over (I was 18). In actuality it was pretty great: no expenses, no responsibilities, and I didn't have to sit in a fluorescent cubicle for 9 hours a day. Plus I love playing with flowers.

So now I am here again in a more permanent situation, but this time I love it. Everything is green or blue or brown, and the sun shines 90% of the time. Living in the north and in a city, I forgot how good it feels to have sunlight touch your skin every day. And I am still in awe at how nice everyone is here. People at supermarkets offer to help with your groceries (and don't steal them!), and people at cafes will make polite conversation with no hint of creepiness. It's quiet at night except for the frogs. It's just lovely.

coming soon

2009-06-17T11:55:00.000-07:00

a new post, with all-new and exciting details on my life in the sunshine state!

hold tight, kiddos.

things that are cool about nyc

2009-04-28T11:41:00.000-07:00

Well now here we are, mostly all the way through April. Time is moving so quickly! Lately I have really been hating on New York, so I wanted to relieve some of my irritation by writing about things that I like about it and will probably miss when I live elsewhere. So, here we go:

1. Yesterday when I was leaving work, a "Nuts 4 Nuts" vendor was trying to push his cart onto the sidewalk, but couldn't pull it over the apron. As I walked by he said "help! help!" so I pushed the cart up while he pulled it. It was funny, and it probably doesn't happen often in other cities.

2. The Brooklyn Bridge. I've walked over it twice, and even though it was crawling with tourists both times, I still loved it. It is the coolest bridge, and the best walk I've gone on in the city. And you can't beat the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory on the other side. Something about sitting on a pier and eating ice cream after a long-ish walk. Yum.

3. The Chrysler Building. It's so pretty, how can you not love it?

4. Extreme proximity of everything. While I sometimes find this overwhelming, it is really convenient. Need some gochujang? Got it. PG Tips Decaf? Also got it. Need a freaky costume when it isn't Halloween season? Check. However, if you need to buy shampoo and cereal in the same store, you're SOL (but that's for another list...)

5. The history. New York is old. Washington Square Park used to be where people were hanged for various treasons and then buried right there in the ground. Also Wall Street used to be an actual wall! Crazy. There is a lot to learn about this place, and I don't think I've even scratched the surface.

6. Public transportation. It is mostly nice.

7. The Met Opera. I have to say I am really bummed that I won't be here when they do Carmen. But maybe I'll come back for that!

Okay, that is all I can think of right now. 7 Things That are Cool About NYC (That I Will Probably Miss). There you have it! If it's another month before I post, I will be oh so close to leaving this town. And I have to say another nice thing about New York: it is really easy to leave.

what happened to march?

2009-03-27T04:33:00.000-07:00

Well my friends, it seems that March has come and gone. I hardly noticed it, and I really can't believe how quickly time is flying. March was a busy and fun month for me - I had 2 band concerts, and I went to Maine to visit one Ms. Kate! Maine was so beautiful, full of snow and pine trees, and I really loved spending time with Kate and her boyfriend Ryan. They made delicious food for me, and apparently homemade ravioli, bread, waffles are all a normal thing for them!

This month I also made a speech in Toastmasters which was modeled after my last blog post. It was my third speech, and I thought it went really well considering that it was our membership drive and there were 50+ people in the room including some well-seasoned toastmasters! I have never been that nervous standing in front of a group of people.

Last weekend I went back to Hackettstown to visit Paris, Natalie and Abbie, and I have to say it was absolutely WONDERFUL. It made me so thankful that we have remained friends for so long, despite periods of time where we might have lost touch.

Well, I am excited for the weeks ahead, as my time in New York winds down. April and May are really nice months in the city, as you begin to see signs of life in the warmer weather.

2009-02-24T13:28:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I went on a trip to Ithaca to see friends, hear music, and eat delicious food. It was a lovely trip, and although the weather was unbearably cold, I had a great time and was granted with a greater appreciation for the balmy NYC temperatures. On Saturday morning I had coffee with Chris, my unusually tall friend, and we had a conversation about how we each feel about Ithaca, now that we've moved on and started to carve out lives for ourselves. We agreed that, although we both love Ithaca (and probably always will), neither of us felt like it was home anymore.

At various times in the past 6 years I've thought of Ithaca as an answer to something. Before I was a student I was sure it would be the place where I would "find myself." It's been a refuge, a home, a place I wanted to get out of... but I guess that is the way with any place you live for an extended period of time. The last time I visited post-graduation it felt alive with memories. Anyway, the conversation with Chris reminded me that you can't go home again.

And it's true: you can't go home again. I have always found this phrase immensely depressing. I used to hate any reminder of the general impermanence of things in life, but this time I found the phrase comforting. Knowing that I can't go home again helps me resist the temptation to pine for that ever elusive and beautiful ghost: the past. Ithaca is not my home anymore, but I can enjoy it now with fresh eyes and a sense of possibility.

to tweet no more

2009-02-19T07:26:00.000-08:00

I left twitter. It was too weird.

The main reason is that I didn't like the false sense of community that it provided. I get enough false community from Facebook, thankyouverymuch. For instance, I have a friend who lives 135 miles away, who I talk to often, but rarely see. But, through twitter, I knew what he was doing every day, so I felt like I didn't need to talk to him, because I already knew what he was doing. And so rather than feeling closer to him, I felt further away. Anyway, it was too weird and distracting, so I quit.

In other news, I saw The Bridge Project's "The Winter's Tale" last night at BAM. I had never read it before, and didn't know much about it, but I thought it was really beautiful. I'm still processing it, so I don't have much to say about it other than that.

Yet another news item: going to Ithaca this weekend! I haven't been back since December of 2007, so I think it will be a nice treat to see it once more. I can't wait to eat at CTB and Viva, and see old friends and professors! Yay.

Ok friends it is back to work for me. Farewell.

delicious

2009-02-05T08:12:00.000-08:00

Since Kate is off in the mountains today, I have no one to talk about food with. So I decided to share this recipe with you all, and you can try it if you wish! It is simple, and you can really do lots of different things with it.

This is a kind of variation on the Korean bibimbap, and kind of a regular stir-fry.

Ingredients:
red chard (or any swiss chard)
carrots, sliced thinly
scallions
mushrooms, sliced
garlic
ginger (optional)
brown rice
firm tofu (or beef if that's your thang)
one egg (optional)
sesame oil
rice vinegar
soy sauce

First, start your rice cooker because brown rice takes a loooong time to cook. If you don't have a rice cooker, I would make the rice before you start any of the sauteing. Also if you don't have a rice cooker, you should get one because they are awesome.

If you are making this dish with ground beef, you will want to cook it before you do the vegetables. Cook it up in a frying pan until it is almost done - medium rare - because you will cook it more later.

Heat a couple tablespoons of sesame oil in a large frying pan or wok. When hot, add diced garlic (or a whole clove if you just want the flavor without eating the actual garlic) and ginger and heat until you hear it sizzling. Then add the carrots, mushrooms, and scallions (and whatever veggies you like!) and saute for about 5-7 minutes, until the carrots soften a little. Then add the firm tofu, crumbled (or beef), and saute for a minute or two longer. Finally, add the swiss chard and saute until the leaves are wilted, but not mushy. Then add a splash of rice vinegar, mix it up, and add a splash of soy sauce.

When the rice is done, add it to your frying pan and mix everything together. Crack an egg in the frying pan and stir until egg is cooked. If you have Korean chili paste, or any hot sauce you like, add it now. It's delicious!

Well this was my first try at writing out a recipe that I semi-made up. I hope it works if you try it. You will be in for a treat!

tweet tweet

2009-02-02T19:33:00.001-08:00

Today I joined twitter, despite my skepticism about ambient awareness. But I think it's kind of cool to see little random updates from my friends throughout the day. Even though it is cyber, it still makes me feel connected to people. Technology is weird.

Also, today is Groundhog Day! Apparently Phil saw his shadow so we are in for six more weeks of winter, which stinks. All day I was thinking about the movie Groundhog Day, and everything I did I thought, "would I do this again if this day kept repeating itself?" Most of the time the answer was no. If this day repeats itself tomorrow, I think I will get up and make my oatmeal and tea the same way, but then I would go outside and bask in the 50 degree weather. I would not go to midtown, or to my office. I'd go to a museum and walk around the city for a while, during the day when it is relatively empty. I would rent a boat and paddle on Central Park Lake. I would also plan for what I would do the next day, and the next, and the next...

So happy Groundhog Day, my fair readers. I hope the next 6 weeks of winter are a little warmer than the last.

Pancakes and some music

2009-01-31T07:12:00.001-08:00

For the last 2 weeks I've been adhering to a new diet called Macrobiotics. It is pretty complicated, so for simplicity's sake I will say that it is basically like being vegan, except you eat sea vegetables a lot, and you can eat fish. It's also about balance, so it's not super restrictive and there is no holier-than-thou attitude about it. Anyway this morning I made amazing vegan pancakes that I found at vegweb.com. It's a very simple recipe:

1 c. plus 2 tbsp whole wheat flour
1 tbsp brown sugar (I used dark brown)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp applesauce
1 c. plus 2 tbsp water or soy milk (I used vanilla soy milk - it added a nice extra bit of sweetness)

Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Then add the applesauce and water/soy milk and stir well, until batter drips from a spoon but is not runny. Heat the griddle or frying pan and spray with olive oil or cooking spray. When the pan is hot, ladle the batter onto it. Flip the pancakes over when they bubble a little bit on the edges. Keep them warm in the oven or microwave while you cook the rest of them. This recipe makes 8 medium-sized pancakes. They are delicious plain or even with a tiny bit of Peanut Butter & Co. peanut butter spread on them.

I enjoyed my pancakes with some Iron and Wine too, who I've been obsessed with for the past week or so. I even learned 2 songs on the guitar, and am trying to work my way up to the finger picking - although it is hard to know where to start with that. I guess it'll be best to just dive right in! I've also been listening a lot lately to Neko Case and The New Pornographers, and I highly recommend TNP's album Twin Cinema and Neko Case's album Fox Confessor Brings the Flood.

So there you go - a new recipe and some music recommendations! How do you like that.

Also, happy new era with President Obama.

syntax: challenge!

2009-01-13T14:55:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine mentioned this exercise on his website (www.derekorth.com) and I thought I'd try it in the waning minutes of my Tuesday. Basically, you take a couple sentences you've written recently (I used the beginning of my last blog post), and then you mix up all the words and add new punctuation. It's an exercise that challenges syntax, and ultimately challenges you to see outside the box. Here is what I got:

Day here: the impending woo in I flew my Thursday out of last Chicago. Early night I to heard midway—about on Thursday a flight was of the ones. Leave snowstorm airport! Am apparently night; Florida I on Well when one?

My favorite is the last line. It seems to me like I subconsciously asked Florida if I should move there.

If you partake in the challenge, please post your exercises as comments. How fascinating!

2008-12-21T07:20:00.000-08:00

Well here I am in Florida. I flew out of Chicago a day early when I heard about the impending snowstorm on Thursday night. Apparently my flight was one of the last ones to leave Midway airport on Thursday night--woo!

So now I'm here in the land of palm trees and sunshine, and things are great! Thanks for reading, and happy holidays and all that.

And on the 6th day...

2008-12-16T08:58:00.000-08:00

Well, as you can see, there is not much to do in this town. But on the bright side - I am updating my blog more often! So everyone who always clamored for more, more, you got it!

Today I decided not to venture outside again, since yesterday I finally learned why they call it BRR Ridge. Ha. Anyway now I'm in the hotel room, and somehow there is a breeze in here. I don't know how to make it stop! So I am just sitting here with 2 sweaters on, and my slippers. It's nice, though.

This morning I ate breakfast in the hotel restaurant, which was pleasant. I was pondering eating alone in general, and I was surprised at how much easier it is to eat alone in a public place when said public place is empty. I was the only one in the restaurant, and I wasn't gripped by intense self-consciousness or the obssessive need to occupy myself somehow. Maybe it's because when no one is around, you don't worry about what other people are *thinking.*

Yesterday I tortured myself by looking at the weather in Orlando. Here in Burr Ridge the highs hover around 27, and in Florida it is a balmy 80 degrees!! Thank god I will be there soon. Phew!

Burr Ridge, day 5

2008-12-15T09:48:00.000-08:00

Today is day 5 in Illinois (yes, Ernest, Illinois (c:). I am back in my new favorite starbucks, where they have the ever elusive maple scone (it's a Christmas miracle!!), so I have been happily munching that and sipping my Christmas blend. The "town" of Burr Ridge is an interesting place. On the way in my lost cab driver drove us through developments with gigantic houses, so it is clearly a rich area. The hotel and my office are across the street from each other in this business park, which is also where the starbucks is. There is a "village" also in the business park, which is the cookie-cutter suburban deal where you have a yankee candle, a banana republic, and of course a starbucks. And of course there is Christmas music pumping from hidden speakers in the well-planned landscaping. Not that I'm judging...

Yesterday I went to the city of Chicago, which was great! I met Melissa and Becca there--two of my friends from Ithaca. I was so happy that Melissa contacted me because I had not realized how close she is to Chicago. It was great to see familiar faces so far from home. We went to see the Bean in Millenium park, and then went to Giordano's for pizza. The famous Chicago style pizza was so delicious! It lived up to all my expectations. I wish I could have more time to spend in the city itself, because I really liked what I saw. There is so much interesting architecture there! Melissa and I also stumbled across a mini German festival where amazing smells wafted from the booths, and there were tiny hand-crafted wooden ornaments everywhere. I had a really good time, and hopefully someday I'll get to come back in the summer time for a real vacation.

Work has been really tiring mentally, but I have been able to have excessively slow, lazy mornings, which I have been drinking up, needless to say. Today there is a layer of ice covering every surface, and the wind is brutal. But at least the sun is shining, and there is an ever-familiar Starbucks in which to take refuge.

2008-12-12T11:23:00.000-08:00

Hello readers. I'm sitting in a Starbucks in lovely Burr Ridge, Illinois. I am here for work, and my shift is 2 PM to 11 PM CST. So I have been enjoying the freedom of this long, long morning.

It is very cold here, everything is covered in a thin layer of snow. The receptionist at the hotel warned me about going out in the cold. I scoffed at her inwardly thinking that this day is tame compared with winters I used to spend in Ithaca. Buuuut it has been a long time since I lived in Ithaca, and I have to say I am not used to this anymore.

Anyway, I don't have a ton to say, just a quick update on my location. I'm flying to Orlando in one short week!

Hope everyone is doing well.

2008-11-08T06:50:00.000-08:00

Well, the last two weeks have certainly been amazing, haven't they?? I am very happy and relieved about President-Elect Obama, and I subscribed to the New York Times yesterday so that I can follow every step of the way! However, what I really want to write about is what I did yesterday. (And please be aware that the rest of this post is me nerding out about opera, so. You've been warned)

I woke up to the strains of the "Menuet des Follets" from Berlioz's Damnation de Faust, and I remembered that last night was its opening night. My interest in seeing Faust at the Met was sparked by reading the program notes for Doctor Atomic: John Adams said that his opera was commissioned to be a modern American Faust story. So, since I loved Doctor Atomic, I thought it would be really neat to see Faust to compare.

The new production at the Met is directed by Robert Lepage, who did a Cirque de Soleil show in Las Vegas recently. I knew this before going into the opera, and I wonder if I would have had the same reaction had I not known. I thought that the opera was a little circusy--there were acrobats suspended on wires doing flips in almost every major dance. Marguerite's Act 2 aria, "D'amour l'ardente flamme," started out very simplistically, but as the music swelled a giant image of the soprano was projected on the large screens behind her. The projected image was not only the height and width of the stage--the image was also burning (in case you needed a visual for love's FLAME?). I thought that all the larger-than-life staging took away somewhat from Berlioz's music. Although, in the middle of Act 1, when Faust is having the vision of Marguerite, the dance is made to look like it's under water. I loved that--partly because it really seemed magical (is it a tank of water, or just a visual trick??), and partly because of the symbolic weight of Faust falling through water, drowning as he is coming under the spell of Mephistopheles. It was beautiful and unique.

The singers were fantastic--Marcello Giordani, John Relyea, Patrick Carfizzi, and Susan Graham. I can't imagine the vocal stamina it must take to play Faust; he sings almost constantly for the entire opera. And Susan Graham's D'amour l'ardente flamme was so beautiful, even with her own giant burning head behind her. The ensemble was huge, and all of the choral numbers were really gorgeous. It was also really cool to see James Levine conducting! I have seen his name and image so many times on CDs, text books, etc., and to finally see his little head bopping over the edge of the pit was so neat. I wished that I had been able to take a crash course on Berlioz opera with my favorite music professor Dr. Swenson, as I'm sure he could have provided me with some great insight.

I also have to mention my seat, or lack thereof. I actually thought it was really neat to be in the standing room orchestra section--even though you can't really see the top half of the stage, I don't know that anything was really lost. Being in standing room is neat because you know that the people standing with you are really there because they love opera. It's a necessarily intimate setting, because the translation screens are so close together, that you kind of have to huddle next to the people around you. It felt like reading a book with someone--both bent over the same story and experiencing the same excitement over it. A couple of women walked by at one point and one said, "Standing room?" to which the other replied, "I guess if you REALLY want to see it..."

You say potato, I say Turkeyfoot

2008-10-24T12:38:00.000-07:00

This weekend I am going to Lower Turkeyfoot, Pennsylvania, to find three graves of my ancestors.

It all started with an email from my Aunt, who wondered innocently how often I go to PA, and escalated into a fantastic trip that I am taking with Laura E. Tonight I go to Philadelphia, and we will buy provisions for the road ahead. Saturday morning we are leaving for Mill Run, PA (20 miles outside of Turkeyfoot) where we are going to see Falling Water, the Frank Lloyd Wright house. I’ve always wanted to see a FLW house—sometimes the partial rooms in museums just don’t cut it.

Then Sunday we are going down to Addison to find a church where my great-great-great-grandfather was a Methodist preacher! I am most excited about this part of the trip. I’m sentimental for churches that my dad’s family had preached in, because my parents got married in a church where my great-grandparents preached. I guess knowing that there is a tradition like that in my family makes me feel connected to something. Continuity feels good.

Sunday afternoon we are going to rent bikes and ride the Allegheny Rail trail. Hopefully the weather will stay cheerful for us, and we get to see some beautiful Laurel Highlands-style fall foliage!

Pictures to follow…

recap

2008-10-12T06:46:00.000-07:00

Wow, it has been over a month since I've posted! I cannot believe it. I guess the reason I haven't written a lot is because what has really been on my mind is something that I can't write about in a public forum. Was that too mysterious for you? It's really not that exciting.

Anyway last month was great--I saw Godfather parts 1 and 2 at Film Forum on 2 different weekends. I still like part 1 better. It's possible that my first failed attempt at seeing part 2 (not having seen the first one yet, I fell asleep 20 minutes in, and woke up at the very end.) has marred the movie for me in some way. I do see that it is a great movie though. I just love Marlon Brando and James Caan, and I love seeing the Family intact. If you're in New York they are playing until Tuesday, so go see them!

Last month I also went to Washington DC for one Billy Fettweis's birthday extravaganza! It was a lot of fun--spending time with Randolphians always is. It was kind of a whirlwind trip, 5 hours on the bus each way and 24 hours in DC, including sleeping. My favorite part was the big delicious breakfast we all cooked up and ate together. Unfortunately I did not take any pictures, but luckily Billy took about one hundred and ninety.

Yesterday the Grand Street Community Band played at Pumpkin Day in McCarren Park in Brooklyn, and it was so much fun! We played under a giant sycamore tree, and there were tons of little kids there with their parents. The weather was perfect, and after the show we ate lunch on a rooftop. Then when I got home I made pumpkin soup that was delicious. Yay fall!

And, next weekend I'm going to New Jersey to have a fall/nature weekend with Laura. I can't wait to go hiking in the Delaware Water Gap again, it should be lots of fun!

Time always moves very fast in the fall, maybe it's because the days get shorter. I hope you are enjoying the cool air, temperate breezes, and sunny days while they last. I promise to write again before the election.

ambient awareness

2008-09-07T07:06:00.000-07:00

New York Times Magazine Article:
I'm so totally, digitally close to you

I'm aware of the irony of posting this article to my blog, and sharing it with you in a virtual medium. But reading this article nearly made my head explode, and I had to do something about it. In case you don't feel like reading it, the article is about our constant contact with people in an online world. Facebook, twitter, flikr, these are words that didn't even exist 6 years ago (besides twitter, but you get what I'm saying). The relation we have to the people who we read about on our Facebook news feeds is now being called "ambient awareness." It's this idea that we don't have to devote a lot of attention to people in order to maintain a relationship with them. I am certainly guilty of this, as I'm sure you are too (you're reading my blog, aren't you? why don't you just call me?).

In the back of my mind while reading this piece, I was thinking of a line from the movie Before Sunset, when Celine is talking about time she spent in Warsaw as a teenager and she is cut off from her habits. She says:

My brain felt like it was at rest, free from the consuming frenzy. And I have to say, it was almost like a natural high. I felt so peaceful inside, no strange urge to be somewhere else, to shop... Maybe it could have seemed like boredom at first, but it quickly became very, very soulful. It's interesting, you know?

I have to say I am longing for my brain to be at rest. While reading the article, I seriously thought about leaving facebook (gasp!) but decided against it because I don't want to lose touch with a lot of people who I wouldn't have any contact with if it weren't for facebook. But at the same time, I constantly feel the "urge to be somewhere else," and I mean constantly. The "somewhere else" changes on nearly a daily basis, but the feeling is always there. And I think that shedding all my digital crutches would certainly be helpful in resting my brain and being at peace with where I am. But, as the article points out, it is nearly impossible now to be an integrated part of society and not be part of some form of social networking. Although I certainly don't feel more connected to my friends since I joined facebook--if anything, I feel more disconnected from people in general. More solitary, but with an excess of this ambient awareness.

One thing that has been a real eye (and ear) opener recently was losing my iPod. Sure it was a tragic accident, but now when I ride the subway, I do not have one entire sense shut down. I can hear people's conversations, their breathing. I have also become much more aware of how 95% of the people who ride the subway do have headphones in their ears. What did people do before iPods? Talk? Heaven forbid.

Anyway I am curbing my desire to rant here, because I don't want this post to get absurdly long. Also there are just too many thoughts bouncing around in my head. I will just say one more thing: establishing a human connection in a natural way--meeting on a train, or striking up a conversation over a common interest--is one of the most fulfilling things I've ever experienced. And attempting to establish a relationship of any kind in a digital arena has always left me feeling unsatisfied and lonely. But in a world dominated by digital communication, how do we find other people looking to establish friendships the old fashioned way?

some pretty photos from the beach

2008-08-25T17:48:00.000-07:00

I spent this weekend at the Jersey Shore with a group of people who I've been friends with for so many years... and somehow they still like me! It was a wonderful weekend.

The umbrellas we lazed under

On Sera's boat... Sera, Laura, me, Billy, and Katie

The sunset

future album cover?

challah at your girl

2008-08-21T06:28:00.000-07:00

This week I thought about writing to tell the tale of my tragic/freak accident involving my iPod, but I don’t like to dwell on the negative. Plus I’ve told the story about a million times already, so.

Last weekend I found myself once again on the fair shores of Philadelphia. It was a great trip—my dear friend had a party that was super fun, and the next day we all went out for breakfast at a place called Honey’s. The restaurant specializes in Jewish and Southern cuisine, so I had grits and challah with my eggs. It was excellent! We spent the rest of the day lazing, and in the afternoon founded a spontaneous band, “interior design,” comprised of guitar, accordion, harmonica, plastic recorder, and toy piano. Look for us soon on YouTube, and then, inevitably, Radio City Music Hall.

Tomorrow I am jetting (via bus) to the Jersey Shore, to spend the second-to-last weekend of summer with some of the best people I’ve known in my life. Needless to say, I am excited.

I’ve still been listening to Blood on the Tracks a whole lot, and even learned “Tangled up in Blue” on guitar. And if my last post didn’t convince you to listen to Bob Dylan, maybe this one will? Just do it, you know you want to.

jumbled pile of person

2008-08-12T14:39:00.000-07:00

...is how I've been feeling lately. Has it really been 12 days since I've posted?

Anyway, things are kind of strange right now. It seems like a lot of things are changing really rapidly, and yet it feels like each hour drips by like so much molasses. Maybe that is just adulthood?

I have itchy feet lately too--I think it has something to do with the time of year, as I've spent the last 17 Augusts of my life getting ready for a new school year or a new apartment. So I've come up with various schemes to get moving. One is that I will move to Seattle in a year. I'll spend the next 12 months saving money, planning, etc, and then next summer get the hell over to the west coast and stay there. I'll have a room with a view of the mountains and ocean, and a garden with basil, and a cat.

Another plan has been getting an MBA, which I must admit is less picturesque, but will allow me to fund my new life on the west coast. Plus how cool would it be to get into Harvard business school?

In other news I have been listening to Madeleine Leyroux lately and would highly recommend Careless Love to anyone with ears. Even though there is a song on the album called "Careless Love," I like to think she named the album after the lyric in the Dylan song of track 4:

Dragon clouds so high above
I've only known careless love-
it's always hit me from below

Oh, bob.

Man on Wire

2008-08-01T13:48:00.000-07:00

Last week I went to see the above movie, about Pierre Petit: the man who walked a tightrope between the twin towers in 1974. The movie was really quite arresting. The shots of New York City in the 70s, of all the men who worked on the towers and their progress. It was amazing to see them as skeletons before they were completed.

Anyway, Pierre first had the dream of walking between the towers when he saw a picture of them in a Paris newspaper - before they were built. He practiced for years and planned his secret feat down to the inch. before he walked between the towers, Pierre had also wire-walked between the towers of Notre Dame and over a bridge in the Sydney Harbor. He practiced walking the distance between the towers in his french countryside backyard, and had his friends shake the wire back and forth so he could prepare for the wind that would be blowing a mile up in the air.

The most amazing thing about the movie, I thought, was how much of it was comprised of historical footage and photographs. The view from the top of those towers was breathtaking, and made New York City look like a tame wilderness. In some of the shots all you can see is sky, and you can't help but think how beautiful it is how a preposterous dream can become a reality.

Jerusalem Hot Pita

2008-07-22T18:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I tried the above restaurant in my neighborhood. People have been telling me since I moved here, "Oh, Astoria? Good Greek food." Well A-MEN brothers and sisters. I went into Jerusalem Hot Pita (the unassuming awning reads Pita Hot) looking only for some falafel. Little did I know that I was about to taste the best falafel. Ever. The man behind the counter is a true artist: he carefully constructed my falafel sandwich with the focus of someone who really cares about providing a good sandwich. For three dollars and fifty cents I got a sandwich that did not fall apart or dissolve as I ate it. It held together for every satisfying, delicious, chick pea filled bite.

The ambiance did not even leave anything to be desired. Putamayo Cairo mix playing, post-cards covering the walls, and a hookah in the windowsill. Tonight I went back for the hummus-falafel combo. Please, how could one ask for more?

they say i need a post

2008-07-21T14:00:00.000-07:00

I had this whole thing written up about the state of American education, but it was rambling and pointless, so I just deleted the whole thing.

Last week I rang in my 24th year with a bang--a few bangs, actually. I experienced many of New York City's outdoor pleasures: movie in the park, concert in the park. I went to the famous Beergarden of Astoria and I had a lovely dinner at Bar Americain.

I haven't reflected too much on my birthday, but I do hope that this year will be even better than the last. I am in a brand new place physically, and that is certainly a good start for turning over a new leaf.

new places and faces

2008-07-15T12:27:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody. This is my new blog. If you pine for my witticisms past, you can still find them at miranda233.vox.com.

Happy reading!