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.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
where am i, and how did i get here?
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.
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.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
pontificate
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!
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!
Monday, June 29, 2009
rain, rain... i like you
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.
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.
Monday, June 22, 2009
the first in a (likely) series of posts about florida
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.
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.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
coming soon
a new post, with all-new and exciting details on my life in the sunshine state!
hold tight, kiddos.
hold tight, kiddos.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
things that are cool about nyc
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.
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.
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