Weblog

Wednesday, 16 May 2012

Wednesday, 09 May 2012

  • Odds and Ends: Noms Edition

    Without too much exposition, here is an entry of the kind I haven't done in a while - a bunch of links to things that I found interesting today. In the past, I've just collected whatever randomness that happened to fall my way and put it in a single entry, but today is different! I have focus!

    I have one word for you. Food. (It's one of my passions.)

    And so it begins!


    Are you a woman who finds herself traveling solo? Hate eating alone? Well, you can always invite another solo female to get a bite to eat! [http://inviteforabite.com/] (Use with caution.)

    Love fried chicken, but want to cook yourself a healthier option? Crispy Herb Fried Chicken to the rescue!

    I've never screamed for ice cream, but I have yearned for bacon. Apparently, one can get the sweet and the fatty goodness in all sorts of forms at the Baconery, a bacon-themed bakery that's making its first live debut inside a Chelsea bookstore in NYC, Books of Wonder. (One of the more redundant but still most likely super-tasty products of the former online-only bakery? Chocolate bacon with...bacon.)

    Last but not least, my wonderful cousin, Stephanie, has a fantastic food blog called Lick My Spoon. She details lots of her travels and travails in food-dom, with obligatory gorgeous pictures, mouthwatering descriptions, and bits of food knowledge sprinkled in for good measure along the way. Today's post was especially helpful since I've been hearing about juice fasts recently. A few people I know went on them, and they all concluded that while it was hard, their bodies thanked them for it. Maybe I'll get in on it sometime this summer...
    Stephanie's Juice Fast

Tuesday, 24 April 2012

  • Connect vs. Converse?

    "We think constant connection will make us feel less lonely. The opposite is true. If we are unable to be alone, we are far more likely to be lonely. If we don’t teach our children to be alone, they will know only how to be lonely."

     

    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/opinion/sunday/the-flight-from-conversation.html

     

    I found this article on Facebook - go figure? - from someone I only know peripherally, so perhaps that is indirectly proving the point of the article, but I thought it was interesting enough to share. I wanted to make more than just a one-sentence comment, which is why I put it here instead of resharing it on Facebook. The author makes a lot of points that aren't particularly new. A lot of them I agree with, as do many of the people I've talked to about this same issue, but it is worth commenting on again.

    Being alone definitely is something that is difficult for many people to do, especially among my peers, some of whom are way more connected than I will ever be or wish to be. While I have no problem living without a smartphone - or even giving up my phone, laptop, and internet connection entirely for a few days to a week to go camping/on a retreat - or constantly being on a chat client on my computer, the thought of it to some people is alien or even horrifying. Of course, I recognize that it is entirely voluntary to be either way, and some people are like that because of the nature of their work, but then I wonder how much of the reason to stay connected 24/7 is really work and how much is really voluntary. (That made much better sense in my head, but there it is.)

    I've seen how it's affected interactions with some of my friends who are constantly checking their phones when I'm with them or when in a group setting. It makes me feel a little less valued, especially if I'm talking to them, but I notice that some of them also have horrible attention spans. Perhaps they were born that way, and technology exacerbates that tendency, but it's rather amusing and also kind of annoying. The other thing I do notice, especially in one certain group of friends, is that conversation doesn't really happen unless we're eating and can't play games or look stuff up on the phone/tablet. It's kind of weird. Maybe I don't know that many good conversationalists after all? Or maybe the dependence has atrophied some people's ability to converse when it wasn't that strong to begin with?

    Don't get me wrong; I love technology. I'm just not that dependent on it.
    (However, being without a laptop at night for the last couple of days, because of an ill-timed hard drive failure and virus combo, made me rethink how much I do use it, especially when I can't sleep and don't want to do anything except surf the interwebs.)

Tuesday, 17 April 2012

  • What if...?

    What if you were guaranteed success in the next endeavour you started? What would you do?

    (There are no limits to your answer.)

    I asked that to a friend today at the last meeting of our senior small group, and he said he'd want to be married and have a family. "Just get that over with," was his answer. It sounds flippant out of context and lacking the tone of his voice, but I knew what he meant. What he wanted most out of life was a successful marriage and family life. I can dig it. He's not the first guy friend I know to tell me that same thing. Something tells me he's not the only one, either.

    Me?

    Hmm. I haven't given it much thought. To be honest, I stumbled across that question last night when going through my list of memorable quotations I keep on my computer. (I was going through my Tumblr and adding more things to the list when I got distracted by reading what I had already written down a while ago.)

    The first answer to pop into my head was to be successful and fulfilled in my career life. The next would be to secure peace and happiness. Neither of these really seems to fit as a logical answer.

Saturday, 14 April 2012

  • Tomorrow

    Tomorrow, I will...

    - practice the guitar

    - practice the piano

    - go to the gym!

    - watch movies

    - catch up on TV

    - cook casserole

    - write poetry

    - post poetry (?)

    - work on my draft post

    - look more at accounting scholarships

    - journal

    All of the above, plus go to the scooter store and ask questions. Later, there'll be fun times with friends!
    This week has been hell, but I'm looking forward to a fully creative, fun, relaxing weekend.

Sunday, 08 April 2012

Sunday, 25 March 2012

  • From 1 to 10

    Most days start out as a "10," with one point being deducted for every significant negative thing that happens throughout the day, but they are only counted if there is no resolution to the problem. (Waking up on the "wrong side of the bed" automatically makes it about a "6" day right at the start.)

    Example: Forgetting to turn in a hard copy of a graded assignment on the due date but having it accepted via email by the professor doesn't count; you've been saved by technology and someone's leniency.

    Many of my friends often say that they hate being asked about their day, but I appreciate it. Even if the question is somewhat perfunctory at times, there is at least some interest shown in my wellbeing, or so I'd like to think. Working from that assumption, then, I always try to respond with the truth. Several genuine conversations have spawned because I actually took the time to give a sincere answer instead of the usual, "Oh, I'm doing well; thanks!" (That answer is often a lie or a half-truth at best, but I've used it, of course, whether it was the truth or not, when I'm in a hurry and can't talk to someone. I do end up feeling a little guilty about it afterward, though.)

    That being said, today would be a 7 out of 10. Overall, it was a great day, as my parents are in town for the weekend. I was with them for the majority of the day - going to a museum, running errands, cleaning my apartment, planning for graduation, and eating a home-cooked meal together. There were some noticeable "downs" today, though, which is why I deducted 3 points. (It's really odd that I cry so easily when I feel like I've failed at something than when I'm feeling moved by art or music or whatever.)

    I have a feeling tomorrow might be at least an 8. Maybe a 9.

Friday, 23 March 2012

  • Dreaming

    The picture on my desktop is one of a deep red blanket spread out on an unnamed, white sand beach with a bunch of roses, a picnic basket, and a book on top of it with a small bonfire nearby. The title of this picture, which I found on tumblr, is something plain and matter-of-fact, like "A Romantic Beach Outing." I forget. Anyway, ever since I put it up a few days ago, I've stared at it while waiting for my computer to start up and imagined what it'd be like to lie on that blanket, close my eyes, and just be in the moment and feel, without thinking about what I'd have to do next. (I guess I'm describing a vacation, or what an ideal vacation should be like.)

    I just went on a trip to Italy during my Spring Break, and though it was like a vacation, despite it being for a class, there were few times where I could just sit down and be in the moment and just give myself over to my senses. Even when sitting down for dinners, I was tired out from the day's activities, so sitting quietly was a way to conserve energy and let others fill the silence. Only on a couple of long rides on the vaporetto, aka the Venetian waterbus, became moments where I treasured all I heard and saw without thinking too much.

    I guess I just want to say that I'm dreaming of another vacation on a beach. I haven't had one of those in a long time. To feel the sun above me and the gritty, cool sand beneath me...to smell the sharp, salty smell of the sea...ah.

Thursday, 01 March 2012

  • You Can Only Choose One

    Should a man see only popularity, he becomes a mirror, reflecting whatever needs to be reflected to gain acceptance. He is everyone and no one.

    Should a man see only power, he becomes a wolf — prowling, hunting and stalking the elusive game. Recognition is his prey and people are his prizes. His quest is endless. As a result, he who sees only power is degraded to an animal, an insatiable scavenger, controlled not by a will from within, but by luring from without.

    Should a man see only pleasure, he becomes a carnival thrill-seeker, alive only in bright lights, wild rides, and titillating entertainment. With lustful fever he races from ride to ride, satisfying his insatiable passion for sensations only long enough to look for another.

    Seeker of popularity, power, and pleasure. The end result is the same: painful unfulfillment.

    Only in seeking his Maker does a man truly become man. For in seeing his Creator man catches a glimpse of what he was intended to be. He who would see his God would then see the reason for death and the purpose of time. Destiny? Tomorrow? Truth? All are questions within the reach of the man who knows his source.

    -Max Lucado

    taken from the blog of Adam Young (Owl City)
    Something to think about for today.

Sunday, 19 February 2012