Friday, October 29, 2010

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Monday, October 25, 2010

Friday, October 22, 2010

Thursday, October 21, 2010

365 Photos, Day 294: HVZ

I was zombified within 10 minutes of being down on campus.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

365 Photos, Day 293: Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Twas quite yummy. And I say "twas" because there's a third of the loaf left.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Coffeehouse Blues

Friday night,
Sitting in the Undergrounds.

It feels like a coffeehouse
With the dim lighting
And the snack bar in the corner.
I'm nursing my hot cuppa
Earl Grey,
Steeped by myself
With a makeshift tea bag
Made from a coffee filter.
My friend Ben opened
And did quite well

With songs that were both

Heartfelt and packed with emotion ...
And rambling/Tom Milsom-y lyrics at times.
Johanna from Sticklips was quite good.
And Madeline and her bandmate Jacob
Did quite well, too.

I'm still nursing my tea

With two packets of Equal
Wishing she could be here.
She would love it,
Both the live music,
As well as my company.
And I would love hers.

365 Photos, Day 290: Woolly Caterpillar

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Thursday, October 07, 2010

Wednesday, October 06, 2010

365 Photos, Day 279: Smiles

Dream Journal #6: Dorms, Doctor Who, Danielle, and Radio

The first thing I remember was being moved out of the apartment to another dorm for some reason, perhaps because there was room in another apartment-style living community. The move went smoothly and the new roommate seemed nice.
I was then on the Peace Quad with a piece of chalk, writing "The angels have it" on the walkway outside the Union, it being the TARDIS. I started walking down the path parallel to the Union. Danielle caught up with me and we walked into the Union, near the package pick-up and we found ourselves in the radio station, holding hands and saying hi to everyone. I looked at the clock and realized that it was Friday and past 1 in the afternoon and I had missed my show. I rushed back towards the control room and started blubbering to the GM and the head of Public Affairs about how I was in the middle of moving and totally didn't realize that it was Friday. They just looked at me, laughed, and went back to sorting files or whatever it was they were doing.

Monday, October 04, 2010

365 Photos, Day 277: Shopping Run

Dream Journal #5: Evelyn Evelyn Concert and Neil Gaiman in my Bathroom?!

Hrm ... I haven't done one of these in a while. ANYWAY ...
***
The dream started with me sitting on the side of the stage of a large concert hall with Evelyn Evelyn performing "My Space" on the stage. The keyboard was right beside me and the twins separated to play the song ... or so I can recall. It was a tad weird. But I was basically on the edge of the stage and my friend Sam was sitting in the front row on the far left.
The concert ended and the concert hall cleared. Sam and I were still hanging around near the stage. I learned that earlier in the evening, Neil. Yes, that Neil. Neil Gaiman ... duh. What other Neil would take part in an Evelyn Evelyn concert? Sam was flipping through Stories, I believe, when I asked him what Neil had read a bit from. I thought it might've been some of "The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains".  According to Sam, he had read an excerpt from a short story about ... a coffee shop, I think? I'm a little unsure.
The next thing I know, Neil is in the main hallway of my house with two female fans who are getting scribbles. After they are done, I asked Neil if he could sign my copy of Sandman: Dream Hunters, along with the two Batman comics he did. He did and proceeded to write a little note of some sort.
I'm then out on the little front porch we (my family and I) have, removing a small hanging planter of roses that wilt as they get closer to the concrete floor of the porch.
***
Notes:
- "My Space" by Evelyn Evelyn played in full on my iPod before I woke up to "I Live With You" by Grizzly Bear. And Evelyn Evelyn was playing "My Space" in my dream. ... I should get a totem.
- This post was written while listening to the new Belle and Sebastian album streaming on NPR. You should check it out.

Saturday, October 02, 2010

On Crepes

Mind you that I have never made crepes prior to this. I've only eaten them ... a few times. And these were made on September 17th.
I picked up some Nutella from Walmart on my first weekend back when my parents and I went on a shopping run. I hadn't had in a long while and saw a large display of it ... so I just had to pick up a small container of it. It remained untouched until I decided "Hey, I want to make some crepes with Nutella filling!" ... And that's most likely because Morgan returned to making cooking videos and I decided to look up some Alton Brown stuff on Youtube ... and crepes looked easy enough. So I made crepes.

Dessert Crepes, a la Good Eats
The first crepe.
Ingredients
2 large eggs
3/4 cup of milk
1/2 cup of water
1 cup flour
3 tbls melted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
2.5 tbls sugar

The finished products ... with Nutella at the ready.
Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor on high for seven to ten seconds, sos not to let the water and flour start to combine and form gluten (Thank you, Alton.). Place in fridge to cool for an hour or longer to get the air bubbles out. Lubricate a 7 or so inch pan with butter on medium heat. Ladle in a quarter cup of batter and keep it moving in the pan to set it in the pan. As the batter starts to curl in around the edges, flip the crepe. Let it sit for ten seconds to set the other side.
Makes 12 to 16 crepes.

1 Nutella crepe coming up!
YUUUUUUM!
The first crepe turned out alright. Flipping each crepe got progressively trickier, as they started sticking and I had to employ a spatula to free them from the clutches of the pan.

And the cooking ended with a visit from Brandon, my roomie from last year. His "psychic" senses lead him to me ... and the crepes (He actually swung by as he was up at the apartments. The crepes were a pleasant surprise.) And he liked them! ... But he left after leaving a parting message.

Until next recipe! Allons-y!

Friday, Or What To Do Instead of Seeing Drake

Last night, Drake performed on campus. Drake? The name doesn't sound familiar? Aubrey Drake Graham, most well known for his part as Jimmy Brooks in the recent rebook of Degrassi? This guy.
Well, he played campus last night, and as I'm not the biggest fan of Degrassi (haven't even watched it) nor am I the biggest fan of rap/hip-hop, I avoided the concert. Instead, after rehearsal (I'm assistant directing a production of Harvey on campus), I ate dinner and mulled over whether or not to catch a shuttle back up to the apartment to drop of my bag, which I had been carrying around all day. I decided that I wouldn't because of time logistics. Instead, I headed down to the Lecture Hall to catch a screening of Oliver Stone's Wall Street, the first of a handful of films being presented by the Cinema Department this semester as part of a film club thing.
***
The film was an interesting character study, but I probably would've had a better grasp on the plot if I knew more about economics. Yeah ... 7th and 8th grade Home Ec classes went out the window a while ago ... and I probably would've been a bit more interested if I wasn't dozy during the first half hour-ish of the movie.
The screening was followed by a walk over to the Fine Arts building to see a long form improv troupe (a few friends are members) in one of the small performance studios. The group warmed up with Hot Stop and launched into a series of character sketches that relied on word suggestions from the audience with some interesting situations (orgies, thieves of baked goods, lesbians who can't cook quiches ...). They ended with Showdown, during which they asked for audience participation. It was rather amusing dying twice. And I've made it my goal to get involved at the workshops.
***
After the performance was over, I walked back up with Eliana (the pianist ... remember her? Yeah, she was at the improv performance) and some of her friends to her place and I headed over to the nearest shuttle stop and caught the bus up to the apartment, unpacked, and unwound with Danielle on Skype ... until the early hours of the morning. It happens

Until next time. Allons-y!

365 Photos, Day 275: Falls