around this time last year, a friend and i went on a little trip up a canyon near where i live. we lit a fire and roasted hot dogs and had a fantastic time. it was an awesome night, and one that i'll remember for a long, long time. as i was lugging a cord of wood from his car to our campsite, which was about a hundred million miles away, a thought occurred to me. since then, this thought has popped up again and again, usually when i'm having a crappy day and nothing seems to be going right.
with more than six and a half billion people living on the earth right now, chances are good that at this moment-- this one you're in right now as you're reading this-- at least one of those people is having one of the happiest moments of their lives. not just a good moment, but a perfect moment-- something deep and warm and glowing that they will never ever forget.
isn't that a beautiful thought? someone is absolutely radiating happiness right this very second. and if i stop and think about it, i can share in that happiness. i can be happy just because they are happy. and maybe when my perfect moment comes, someone else out there in this big crazy world might catch a bit of it and smile for no particular reason.
10.6.10
top fiveish: top (bottom?) five least favorite words
5. anything "ista": ugh, the trend that needs to die. it started with "fashionista," and then everyone started picking it up and doing obnoxious things with it.
4. topping: this was a recent discovery. i don't mind reading this word, but i can't stand actually hearing it or saying it. i don't know what it is, exactly, but there's just something about it that makes me vaguely nauseated.
3. guesstimate: oh my gosh. this is not a word. it has no business being a word. wherever people use the word "guesstimate," they could be more accurate using either "guess" or "estimate." but no. they put in this mutated monstrosity instead. it makes me twitch a little. (and while we're at it, let's eliminate the indecisive use of and/or. sometimes, in legal contexts, it is necessary. i understand this. but outside of legal contexts, please just be decisive. please, don't mash things together. pick one and go with it.)
2. cupcake: this has old roots, going back to the first grade. every day, we would gather on the carpet in the corner of the classroom where there was a letter chart and my teacher would point to a letter. (this was done with along stick with a pencil eraser on the end. i don't know why i remember that.) we would all say the sound of the letter she pointed to. whenever she headed in the direction of the K, i would cringe. the sound she made for K... it was something sticky and cloying and just... ugh. no. nonono. so although i love cupcakes themselves, i loathe word for its overabundance of K sounds.
1. blurb: this word sounds obscene to me. it's just... gastric. gastric is the right word, i think. it sounds like the sound your stomach makes when you've eaten something awful and are about to bow down before the porcelain throne and give up your offering. "blurb!" ew. it's a word i've run into a lot at work, and i'm diligently working to have it obliterated. i've started referring to the things that were previously called "blurbs" as "bites," and at least one of the new hires has started doing the same, so my plan appears to be working. mwah ha. MWAHAHAHAHA.
4. topping: this was a recent discovery. i don't mind reading this word, but i can't stand actually hearing it or saying it. i don't know what it is, exactly, but there's just something about it that makes me vaguely nauseated.
3. guesstimate: oh my gosh. this is not a word. it has no business being a word. wherever people use the word "guesstimate," they could be more accurate using either "guess" or "estimate." but no. they put in this mutated monstrosity instead. it makes me twitch a little. (and while we're at it, let's eliminate the indecisive use of and/or. sometimes, in legal contexts, it is necessary. i understand this. but outside of legal contexts, please just be decisive. please, don't mash things together. pick one and go with it.)
2. cupcake: this has old roots, going back to the first grade. every day, we would gather on the carpet in the corner of the classroom where there was a letter chart and my teacher would point to a letter. (this was done with along stick with a pencil eraser on the end. i don't know why i remember that.) we would all say the sound of the letter she pointed to. whenever she headed in the direction of the K, i would cringe. the sound she made for K... it was something sticky and cloying and just... ugh. no. nonono. so although i love cupcakes themselves, i loathe word for its overabundance of K sounds.
1. blurb: this word sounds obscene to me. it's just... gastric. gastric is the right word, i think. it sounds like the sound your stomach makes when you've eaten something awful and are about to bow down before the porcelain throne and give up your offering. "blurb!" ew. it's a word i've run into a lot at work, and i'm diligently working to have it obliterated. i've started referring to the things that were previously called "blurbs" as "bites," and at least one of the new hires has started doing the same, so my plan appears to be working. mwah ha. MWAHAHAHAHA.
9.6.10
in the kitchen: fresh tomato tart in parmesan shortbread
i brought this to work for my friend's birthday picnic, and it was a huge hit! i didn't take any pictures. alas. i need to remember to do that. just trust me, it's beautiful and tasty and everyone will be impressed.
fresh tomato tart in parmesan shortbread
1. in a large bowl, mix flours and parmesan. quickly work in the butter until the mixture is sandy with pea-sized pieces of butter. (you can do this in several different ways. i did mine by hand, just rubbing the butter and flour in my palms until it was put together. you can also cut it in with a pastry cutter or with knives. or, if you're fancy, you can do it with a few quick pulses of a food processor.) mix in the ice-cold water. you should be able to pinch pieces of the dough and it will stick together. press it evenly into a tart pan. (presumably you could use a baking dish as well, but i'm not sure.) prick the crust all over with a fork. put the crust in the fridge to rest for 15 minutes. preheat the oven to 350 degrees F while the crust is resting.
2. remove the crust from the fridge. put a piece of tin foil over the crust and fill the crust with pie weights, dried beans, or dried peas. bake in the oven for fifteen minutes. gently remove the pie weights and foil, then bake for another ten minutes. remove crust from the oven and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.
3. in a medium bowl, mix the halved (or sliced) tomatoes with the olive oil. add salt and pepper and stir until evenly coated. add 2 Tbs of slivered basil and stir again. pour the tomatoes into the crust over the mozzarella cheese and arrange them in an even layer. bake at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes or until the crust is toasty along the edges and the tomatoes have softened. remove from oven and sprinkle with remaining basil. serve warm.
fresh tomato tart in parmesan shortbread
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 4 oz parmesan cheese, grated (about 2 cups)
- 6 Tbs unsalted butter (NOT margarine), well chilled, cubed
- 2 Tbs ice cold water
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 10 oz grape tomatoes, halved (you could also use cherry tomatoes or just sliced tomatoes, but make sure they're very red, fresh, and sweet)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 to 2 tbs olive oil
- 2 Tbs + 2 Tbs slivered basil
1. in a large bowl, mix flours and parmesan. quickly work in the butter until the mixture is sandy with pea-sized pieces of butter. (you can do this in several different ways. i did mine by hand, just rubbing the butter and flour in my palms until it was put together. you can also cut it in with a pastry cutter or with knives. or, if you're fancy, you can do it with a few quick pulses of a food processor.) mix in the ice-cold water. you should be able to pinch pieces of the dough and it will stick together. press it evenly into a tart pan. (presumably you could use a baking dish as well, but i'm not sure.) prick the crust all over with a fork. put the crust in the fridge to rest for 15 minutes. preheat the oven to 350 degrees F while the crust is resting.
2. remove the crust from the fridge. put a piece of tin foil over the crust and fill the crust with pie weights, dried beans, or dried peas. bake in the oven for fifteen minutes. gently remove the pie weights and foil, then bake for another ten minutes. remove crust from the oven and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.
3. in a medium bowl, mix the halved (or sliced) tomatoes with the olive oil. add salt and pepper and stir until evenly coated. add 2 Tbs of slivered basil and stir again. pour the tomatoes into the crust over the mozzarella cheese and arrange them in an even layer. bake at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes or until the crust is toasty along the edges and the tomatoes have softened. remove from oven and sprinkle with remaining basil. serve warm.
8.6.10
photos: new tacoma cemetery
more pictures from the cemetery, including shrines to the free masons, strange symbols, mysterious beverages, and generally pretty or interesting pictures.
photos: trip to washington
here are a few pictures from my trip to washington! oddly enough, i didn't take any pictures of my grandmother or her house. i could kick myself for it, but i think it was because i just never thought of it. i was content to sit and watch her play card games on the computer and tease her about being "steely stell the card shark." and for some reason i just never thought to pick up my camera. sigh. that just means i'll have to go back soon. pictures below the cut!
the seattle skyline from I-5.
update: i'm still alive, i promise!
fear not, gentle readers, i'm still alive! things have been a little crazy over the past few weeks, but they've settled in again and i seem to be getting my groove back.
the first several months of this year have been filled with frantic projects at work. i work for an amazing company called imagine learning, which provides English language and literacy software to kids all across the world. (blog plug! check out our company blog here.) at the beginning of this year, i started turning in applications for my company to provide supplemental educational services (or SES) in a whole bunch of states. SES is after school tutoring provided to struggling low-income students at no cost to their parents. in order to be approved, the company has to go through a rather rigorous application process. i actually had a dream once that the application process was the same for every state in the US. unfortunately, it was only a dream. every state is different, and i have only run into one (one!) state who hasn't had something new on their application that i hadn't seen anywhere else. in all, i have written eighteen applications since the beginning of this year. two of those were reapplications that were approved and seven were brand spankin' new applications that were approved. the others are still pending, which means that so far none of my applications have been denied. (knock on wood!) i'm pretty darn pleased with that, i've gotta say.
in other news, i just returned from a trip to visit my grandmother in the tacoma area up in washington state. i haven't seen here in about five years, and it was wonderful to see her again. she's doing well and is still wonderfully sharp and fun to talk to. i've always had a particularly special connection to this grandma. we came from the exact same mold, i think. i look just like her (i mean... just like her to the point that it confused my grandfather when he was getting older). while i was up there, she had me go through her closet and take some of the old vintage clothes she wore way back when, when my mother was even younger than i am now. i nearly died, because vintage plus-sized clothes are basically impossible to find. i know this because i have looked. so i'd put on an outfit and come spinning into her room and pose for her. she said it was a huge flashback, since i look so much like her-- except she says i look better in her clothes than she ever did. (i doubt this very much, since she, in my mind, has always been an ultimate icon of beauty and class.) in addition to looking like her, i also seem to think an awful lot like her. we talked about some of the things we've both been through and whenever i said something she would give this slow, emphatic nod. yes, i understand completely. she shared some poetry that she'd written when she was younger, and it felt like it had been plucked from my own brain and put onto a page.
she said to me once, the last time i saw her, that even though i hadn't grown up near her and there were a lot of reasons for her to not know me very well, she did know me. she could look into me, and she understood every little thought i had and every part of me. that is something that i will carry with me forever. whenever i feel a little lost or like i'm crazy or that no one around me seems to understand what i'm feeling, i know that it's alright. this wonderful woman understands me. she's been there, and she's felt the same way. and she turned out pretty amazing, so i've gotta believe that i will, too.
this week's goals-- keep the apartment tidy, finish reading my latest literary conquest, keep this blog up to date, and try, desperately, not to spend money i don't have on groceries. (after spending time at pike place market in seattle eating delicious food and staring at delicious produce, reading recipes in real simple, and working my way through italy chapters of eat pray love, i want nothing more than to fill my house with delicious fresh food. and flowers. lots of flowers. sigh!)
the first several months of this year have been filled with frantic projects at work. i work for an amazing company called imagine learning, which provides English language and literacy software to kids all across the world. (blog plug! check out our company blog here.) at the beginning of this year, i started turning in applications for my company to provide supplemental educational services (or SES) in a whole bunch of states. SES is after school tutoring provided to struggling low-income students at no cost to their parents. in order to be approved, the company has to go through a rather rigorous application process. i actually had a dream once that the application process was the same for every state in the US. unfortunately, it was only a dream. every state is different, and i have only run into one (one!) state who hasn't had something new on their application that i hadn't seen anywhere else. in all, i have written eighteen applications since the beginning of this year. two of those were reapplications that were approved and seven were brand spankin' new applications that were approved. the others are still pending, which means that so far none of my applications have been denied. (knock on wood!) i'm pretty darn pleased with that, i've gotta say.
in other news, i just returned from a trip to visit my grandmother in the tacoma area up in washington state. i haven't seen here in about five years, and it was wonderful to see her again. she's doing well and is still wonderfully sharp and fun to talk to. i've always had a particularly special connection to this grandma. we came from the exact same mold, i think. i look just like her (i mean... just like her to the point that it confused my grandfather when he was getting older). while i was up there, she had me go through her closet and take some of the old vintage clothes she wore way back when, when my mother was even younger than i am now. i nearly died, because vintage plus-sized clothes are basically impossible to find. i know this because i have looked. so i'd put on an outfit and come spinning into her room and pose for her. she said it was a huge flashback, since i look so much like her-- except she says i look better in her clothes than she ever did. (i doubt this very much, since she, in my mind, has always been an ultimate icon of beauty and class.) in addition to looking like her, i also seem to think an awful lot like her. we talked about some of the things we've both been through and whenever i said something she would give this slow, emphatic nod. yes, i understand completely. she shared some poetry that she'd written when she was younger, and it felt like it had been plucked from my own brain and put onto a page.
she said to me once, the last time i saw her, that even though i hadn't grown up near her and there were a lot of reasons for her to not know me very well, she did know me. she could look into me, and she understood every little thought i had and every part of me. that is something that i will carry with me forever. whenever i feel a little lost or like i'm crazy or that no one around me seems to understand what i'm feeling, i know that it's alright. this wonderful woman understands me. she's been there, and she's felt the same way. and she turned out pretty amazing, so i've gotta believe that i will, too.
this week's goals-- keep the apartment tidy, finish reading my latest literary conquest, keep this blog up to date, and try, desperately, not to spend money i don't have on groceries. (after spending time at pike place market in seattle eating delicious food and staring at delicious produce, reading recipes in real simple, and working my way through italy chapters of eat pray love, i want nothing more than to fill my house with delicious fresh food. and flowers. lots of flowers. sigh!)
7.6.10
woah, hello.
remember that time i disappeared off the face of the earth? i remember that. sorry about that, gentle readers. the past couple of weeks have been kind of emotionally and physically taxing for various reasons, but i'm still here and still kickin'! i'm a little brainless today, but i promise to get started tomorrow with exciting new updates, recipes and movie reviews! yaay!
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