ohmywordohmywordohmyword!

Guess what?!?!?!? we have a coffee roaster!!! I took a few grainy pictures, but still haven't woken up my computer from its 3-week sleep, so won't be loading them today. Here is a link to it, though: http://www.sweetmarias.com/sweetmarias/coffee-roasters/drum-roasters/gene-cafe-roaster-black.html
The best part, other than the amazing roaster :), is the accompanying 8-pound coffee sampler! 8 ziplocs full of sweet green coffee beans, with labels detailing the flavor/aroma notes we should look for. Assuming we don't burn the heck out of 'em :) So excited! Today, we are going to our storage space to retrieve my book on home coffee roasting by Kenneth Davids--better review so we have some idea of what to do!

In other news, we are going to print shops today to find out what they can do as far as printing wedding invitations, because April sent us her designs and we love them! After printing, it will be time to work on handwriting legibility and addressing!

Well, Daniel is here now for our morning cup o' coffee, so it is away from the computer I go. Fare thee well!

Wedding Weekend Recap!

had a wonderful weekend back in Tulsa for not one, but Two, weddings! which meant seeing lots of friends, yay!, and eating lots of good food...especially CAKE! and...incidentally, for you readers in the Tulsa area, you should totally choose The Coffee House on Cherry Street for all your custom-cake needs! They provided a beautiful 4-layer art-deco-themed cake for the first wedding, and every layer was A DIFFERENT DELICIOUS FLAVOR! orange cream (eaten by me), mocha, and...either hazelnut or amaretto, i forget. absolutely perfect! (i have a picture, but will have to include it later, once i'm back on my computer, which is taking a hiatus)

another fun part of the weekend was seeing Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows, which was great! not perfect, if you want to get all snobberish, but i was completely satisfied :) did have to close my eyes at one scene that involved a nasty type of torture, but...it all ended up okay. *whew* see it!

and, amazingness-of-amazingness, Christmas presents! i got from Christi a yummy breakfast keychain!! which turned out to be a smiling egg, so cute! and a "Soft Kitty" shirt from Big Bang Theory. i will always think of Christi and, of course, miss izzy and the trubs when i wear it. and from Bobby, a Wii!! complete with Just Dance 3! i thought my wii-dancing days were OVER, but lo-and-behold! i Will beat daniel someday, that is a promise ;)

finally, WE ORDERED A COFFEE ROASTER! not a commercial one, but a nice drum roaster that can do 1/2 a pound at a time. it comes with 8 pounds of free green coffee too! :) so excited!! a huge step up from a stovetop popcorn maker....we are going to try to start selling coffee to friends and family members, and eventually hopefully turn this into a real business! but if that doesn't pan out, at least i'll be roasting coffee!!! <3

so, back home now and hearing an obnoxious beep...like the batteries in the smoke detector are going out. really?!?! must investigate. ciao!

More Sea Songs!

Good dreary afternoon!
yesterday, i wrote two more sea tunes...and then may or may not have forgotten the actual tunes, whoops...anyway, here are the lyrics! if you have any ideas of how to turn these sea songs into a musical, let me know :) since they all have to do with different animals, i think that's already a bit much, but...who knows! Alright, nap time!

Drop in the Water (lullabye feel)

Ch:
In the Sea you'd like to be
More than just one
Drop of water
Lost in it all
In the sea you'd like to be
A force, a personality
That swims against the tide
To change it all

I. When did it dissolve?
Your drive and your resolve?
When did the storm start brewing?
The waves grew dark and tall,
You fled before the squll
You might live but you'll still be losing. (Ch.)

II. When a ray of light
Breaks through the stone-faced sky
I will call you, darling.
But you will answer nothing,
Just one sparkling drop on the water.



Blue-Whale Blues

I. I could never frolic like a fish in the sea,
Turnin' tricks, blowin' bubbles, I'm just not carefree,
'Cause I measure a mountain from my mouth to my tail,
And I weigh sev'ral tons, Oh I'm a big blue whale.

Ch. And I want
Happy...Dainty...Winsome...Weighty? NO!
I just want to frolic in the sea and be in love.

II. I'm the hind-end of al the clown-fish's jokes,
And it appears I've got blubber quite amusing to poke,
Tried to friend all the fishies but you know that I failed,
So I weep and I wail, I'm such a blue blue whale! (Ch.)

III. Why am I here? I never knew till today
When another blue whale asked me over to play,
She was lovely and sweet, and my heart set sail,
I feel light as a seagull though I am a blue whale!

Ch. Now I am
Happy...dainty...winsome...weighty, Yes!
But I still frolic in the sea 'cause I'm in love.

Two in a Row!

Good morning--my second-to-last morning as a Tulsa resident! (this time around, at least :)--started it off with eggnog french toast, which is an excellent invention and...too much sugar! ugh. coffee later, thank goodness!

here is a random magician/friendship-themed poem. i'm out of practice, but...without further ado:

Sleight of hand and disappearing acts
Are fun-and-games until you’re limbo-lost,
Unseen, unfriended, waking to the cost
Of shallow showmanship: you can’t come back

Because you don’t know how: you disappeared
To prove you could—but should? You never asked.
Of course you could! (complete the smaller half
Of tricks that hang suspended, need you here)

Which doesn’t seem too likely—after years,
Your memory and mine are fading fast,
And magic but the ghost of friendship past,
Forsaken when you failed to appear

That’s when I felt my bones go draughty-cold,
‘Cause magic is for children. I’ve grown old.

Long Time No Write

Greetings!
Sorry it has been...sooo....looooong......
Here are my excuses:
1. Moving in TWO DAYS!!! EEKS!!! lots of time spent packing/cleaning.
2. (The Biggie) Getting sucked into a new series--literary, not movietary--devouring one page-turning book after the other ohmyword--i'm talking about Laruie R. King's Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series. it's been like a week and a half and i'm on book...five? yep, five. In-credible.
Like the Maisie Dobbs series, they are also set in post-WWI England. The focus is not so much on the 'psychology' of the period, though...but it is amazing how much research King must have done for the writing of these books! The fourth book, The Moor, takes place in the same setting as "The Hound of the Baskervilles"--but Russell and Holmes' host is a very historical figure, Sabine Baring-Gould--who lived, loved, and wrote (copiously) about the area (and Were-Wolves, and other things)--and, interestingly, wrote "Onward Christian Soldiers." Here's the crazy thing: Sabine Baring-Gould wrote at least 1240 publications (read his wiki article here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabine_Baring-Gould) and it's obvious that King must have read several of the important ones, in order to bring his character to life, and indeed, as it turns out, to create the case that must be solved. he's a man i'd never even heard of--but now i have, and greatfully so. anyway, read these books. and a special thanks again to christi flagg who has introduced me to so much enjoyable and incredible literature these past two years!

so, the two pictures:
1. Daniel and one of our favorite dogs, Max, at Pottery!
2. FUN SODAS! from Ida Red in tulsa, left-to-right: Manhattan Special's Espresso Coffee Soda (verdict: so much better than the coffee beer we tried, blech!); Always Ask for Avery's Pumpkin Pie Soda (verdict: woo-hoo!); Cooper's Cave's ButterBeer (get to drink delicious soda AND feel like your in Harry Potter land?? YES YES YES!); Bawls...something-or-other...classic super-caffeinated soda for nerds :) didn't try it, just let Daniel take it home :( i'm sure it was lovely...; oh, and, not pictured: Birch Beer by Sioux City! gift from my sister Jenny, so good! thank you!

that is all for now...no time to write, must read! must read!

a poetical response to joan of arcadia :)

What we spent
Was wasted--never.
What we lost--
Was gold.
Moving forward,
Feeling nowhere,
Flaming rage--
And cold.
Cold because
I'm cultivating
Icy, frozen smiles.
Rage because a
Passion-killing
Takes a painful while...

Just long enough to melt the ice,
Make way to be renewed.
A balancing, a mellowing,
A hope--true Love is true.

A silly sea poem

i've got a new diseases: Potter's Lung. aka, my throat's been hurting ever since pottery class on monday. may actually be sickness and not just dry dustiness...hopefully not. :(

anyway, here's a goofy rhymey poem:

Charted waters hide their beasts
As well as seas unseen--
The terrors twenty thousand deep
Are the same from green to green.

And hurricanes are comin', come,
To blow your boat of-course:
You mapped with all the might you have--
But it fled at Triton's force.

You know just where you want to go,
And how to read the sky,
But travel long enough, and you'll
Be-wildered by and by.

Widget and Gadget

Greetings! it is a rainy fall afternoon here! came home from work and immediately sat down with a nice hot cup of ovaltine...followed immediately by a hot cup of mint tea :) and a couple no-bakes. yay!!
so, pictures 1 and 2 relate to the poem following. pictures 3 and 4 are more wrecky cakes from our friendly neighborhood grocery store (someday i'll quit being lazy and actually send them to cakewrecks, where you will be able to view them with clever captions, etc. but for now, here they are, unadorned :) and picture 5 is me with a zucchini baby! didn't grow this personally :( not by a long shot, but a friend of daniel's did and we were the lucky recipients! double yay!
a poem, about just about giving up on ever finding the right love for you (oh, and may i just say that in The Night Circus, there are twins nicknamed Poppet and Widget, which is just wonderful:) :

A winsome widget puzzled over this:
If I'm unique, who can I hope to kiss?
Impractically scatter-brained but sweet
Could cancel out. But there's no one to meet!
I may as well be locked up in a tower,
Growing grayer, lonelier, tear-free and sour.
Bring on the dragons! There's no prince for me
However guarded, or however free.
But as Widget whiled away her time in groans,
A gallant Gadget heard her mournful tones
And, coming closer, fell so quick in love
His first words were, "Hello! My turtledove!"
And Widget, overwhelmed with gratitude,
O'er looked his hasty fall--for she fell, too.

Finished Unfinished Sonnet

good late-evening (and 5 minutes before i am in bed, ready for sweet sleep, yay!)

so i thought i'd written a sonnet earlier, but cheated it out of four lines (messy handwriting, whoops)...making it a...Sonnetette? it's about seasons of depression, sorrow, etc.

Uncovering the rhythmic undertow
The seasons change again--and this you know--
But deeper down, beneath the drying leaves,
Unfolding hibernations, hidden griefs
That surface--though remaining unperceived--
In disappearing acts and taking-leave,
No reason given, vanished like a thief--
These times of solitude distrust relief.

I've sensed eternal winter (rarely spring)
Yet, after all, found life where death had been.

Response to Ecclesiastes

Happy Halloween!
this poem is not actually meant to slam poetry, just pride. :) i read a couple chapters in ecclesiastes this morning.

What is vanity, if not a word
Stuck flat to paper, neither seen nor heard?
Unbreathed, thus lifeless. Drifting disconnect--
Can't move nor move. What else did you expect?
Oh poet, loving sounds more than the voice
Of someone speaking all you planned to write,
Got garbled up by jealousy. Your choice:
To listen, let each syllable ignite
The dead-wood, brittle pride that stamps and swears
You are alone, unique, in all your cares,
That what you feel, adorned in metaphor
More wise, more beautiful--well, simply, more--
Or live in vain, self-soothing sentiment
Unknown to all but you, your audience.

Pizza and Palabras

tonight's activities centered around making eggplant/mushroom pizza (from-scratch crust, woot!) and watching joan of arcadia...the beginning of season two, whoops. once you start, you just HAVE to know what's going to happen next!!! because the characters are so sweet and sometimes just need hugs!! i won't say more, you should watch it.
anyway, afterwards, and a particularly touching scene that pretty much made me cry, here is a song. it started off as a response to joan, though, and then morphed into something about pride again...so it probably doesn't work at all, but i'm trying to convince myself that it does...because ultimately, it's about relationships deepening (another Joan theme)--and what happens when you start getting close to someone. coming up against fear and pride, of course, learning how to be honest...so...maybe it works:

I. You told me your secret. Now
You say you regret it. How?
Cause I--I can't forget it, and
I just want to hold you. Now...

II. There are things that I've not told you
Even now I'm afraid that you
Will discover I'm not what you need or want
And I'm living a lie but I don't trust what is true.

CH. Do you remember that day
When love was less about loving than play?
When we thought we were the only two
And I loved me and you loved you

III. You have a past and I've got my own
And everyone feels that they're all alone
And it's every man for his wounded self
But I long to be free to love someone else
but me.

IV. There are aspects of me you will never need
Like my anger, bitterness, pride, and greed
I'm broken and I may not ever mend
But I promise I'll love you until the end.

Ch. I've heard the poets all say
That love is a gift that will never decay
I pray, and I hope, and I know it's true
Cause you love me and I love you.

Pride, and not the Leonine Kind

i was mean today, and have so much pride to repent of. (of which to repent, right, i know, grammar-police! ;)
step one: admit that i'm not that great at 'Just Dance,' but love it anyway.
step two: learn to really believe that i'm not better than others just because i (imagine that i) work harder. [it's sooooo difficult!!!] there are other priorities. like kindness. and, duh, humility.
step three: quit making mean faces in response to hearing certain people's names, no matter how much i don't like them. what if they find out?!?!? it doesn't matter if they wouldn't care!!
step four: learn to realize it's not okay to indulge in dislike of someone, if that dislike comes with a healthy side of pride.

i don't really know what i'm saying. except, i'm a pride-addict, and here is a poem about it:

Fits of frantic anarchy
Or razor-sharp control,
A bout of bargain comedy,
A terror of the soul.
You cheap-and-cheerful chatterbox,
You Silent-as-the-Grave,
You both, you boast, you justify
'Cause you are all you crave.

For every two lacks one, for three,
But fantasize they're four--
As I imagine empires (mine)
In virtue. Truth, I'm poor--
And lonely at the top of what
I now know as below,
Napoleon of Nada but
The pride that makes me crow.
Yes, that's another emperor:
The man become a beast,
Ten thousand leaves of grass consumed
Before he was released.
But we learn nothing, hazard-hap,
Have hardly history.
The next false king to fertilize
That field may be me.

Beware corruption (it's too late)
We're mired, moired, mud--
And chewing our achievements
As a cow (you guessed it) cud.

But listen--there was always hope,
And hope will ever be.
First, count yourselves as nothing.
Then count sparrows.
One...two...three...

The Past. A River. A Metaphor.

Good afternoon!
ooh, guess what?! i've got FINGERNAILS! for about two more days, until i bite 'em all off again. sigh. sorry, just noticed that, and got excited! ;)

here is a poem...about life getting away from you/chaotic, if you don't take the time to look back--because maybe there are things you don't want to deal with. mainly, i was just having more fun with alliteration :)

A stronger pause,
A periodical suspension,
A superior perusal
Of a snaking past

--That winding river,
Raging waters,
White-tipped, restless,
Rash. Worn. Wild.--

Wield your will and
Drain-or-dam it,
Calm it, can't speed on
Forever.
Gather gray-heads all
Together,
Trace it. Tame your
Time-starved past.

Permit a peace
At last, let go.
Breathe light. Breathe life.
Breathe deep.
Breathe slow.

Seagull Say I Do--melancholily

One more down for the Maritime Romance Album! this song ended up saddish, cause i felt like using a minor chord (b minor, to be exact) :) the second verse, and probably the chorus as well, comes from my reading of the first chapter of the book Men and Women by Dr. Larry Crabb. He was writing about how humans "are committed, first of all, to themselves," and how relational problems flow out of our self-centeredness. If that is a controversial statement, please read the book...i'm not going into any more depth here, right now. plus, i've only read the first chapter anyway :)

Seagull Say I Do

I. Once-white feathers
In the sky
Wandering restless,
Wondering why
Flight's come more than
Metaphor
Fleeing, leaving,
Wanting more

Ch. Do you know he loves you still?
Will come toward you if you will?
Let the voice of love speak through
Seagull say I do

II. Noise unceasing
Seeking peace
Should-haves, could-nots,
Crumpled dreams.
Wanting just to
Find oneself.
What's it costing
Someone else?

Ch.

III. Gliding on a
Gust long-dead
Find your wings and
Lose your dread.
Cherished are the
Stars alight,
Though they hang there
Every night

Ch.

Songs!!

Alright!
i actually wrote two more maritime romance songs! here are the lyrics :)

Nowhere Narwhal

I. Narwhal going no where and
No one there to love
Swimmin so deep down he cannot
See the sun above
Narwhal where you goin?
Goin no where fast
Drifting indecision
Nearly too much time has passed.

II. Narwhal isn't no one but
Narwhal don't know who
Or where is heart is leading as
He navigates the blue.
Where is love awaiting?
or has she lost hope and gone?
Narwhal hesitating
Narwhal breathing, moving on

III. Narwhal nears an ending
To all his solo swims
He swims up to the surface
And he leaves behind the grim
Narwhal never doubt your worth
And narwhal never fear
You thought you were headed nowhere
But, narwhal, you are here

And so is she...

8-Legged Love

I. I've got 8 arms to love you,
Embracing all your charms
I've got 8 arms to comfort you
And keep you safe fro harm.
I may not know karate
But, darling, don't you think
Bad guys will run quite rapidly
If I squirt their eyes with ink?

Ch. I've got 8 legs for lovin' you
The apple of my eye
You sweet, you darling, lovely
Picture-perfect octopi

II. I've got 8 legs to walk your way
But I've got no legs to go
I've got 8 legs to dance with you
Especially if it's slow.
I may have more than two left limbs
That never find the beat--
But, darling, let me dance with you
Till we're both swept off our feet.

Ch.

III. I've got 8 legs to welcome you
But none to wave goodbye.
8 arms means 8 clean tissues
To hand you when you cry.
I don't remember if we've got
The types of nose that blows
But, darling, this is really
all you'll ever need to know...

Ch.

My Maritime Romance

Good evening!

So, my current imaginary project is an album entitled "My Maritime Romance: The History." The tracks so far run as follows:
1. My Seahorse Husband (an actual song that exists now! but needs work)
2. Eight-Legged Love
3. Seagull Say I Do
4. Nowhere Narwhal
5. A Pirate's Wife for Me (???)
um...and one more secret bonus track whose title amuses me but is a pun on a dirty word so i couldn't include it here.

Today's ice cream recommendation: Banana Pudding by Blue Bell! YES PLEASE! i was sad because looking at the carton i didn't think it was going to have vanilla wafers, but OH YES IT DID! a new favorite. get it before it's too cold and the very thought of ice cream gives you brain freeze!

speaking of which, it's time for my 3rd cup of tea today.

thank goodness for roommates who share their electric blankets! :)

currently watching: Joan of Arcadia, which Christi promises is the last show she'll try to get me hooked on :) and yes, it is great so far!

is all for now--have a great evening!

A Classic (Fictitious) Tale of Sibling Rivalry

Good afternoon!
I'd like a nap, please.
No, NOW, please!

oh, right...i'm blogging and attempting productivity!! woohoo!

Today's photos: 1. Trouble and Izzy have taken over my bed! oh the cat hair! oh the laziness of the Katzens. (that's what i call them, when i want to sound fakely german) 2. me in front of our fall party food extravaganza, wearing christi's Daria lenses of Death! (apparently they make you really sweat! weird...) 3. new potteries! (3 out of like, 1,000,000. didn't want to post them all. daniel got some back as well and they look awesome possum!) 4. the sweet, adorable 'message doll' april gave me for my birthday! (along with some yummy-scented lemon verbena soap!) and 5. the latest batch of random shirts from woot--christi included! yay!

in other news: i netti-potted for the first time yesterday! don't know how badly i need to, but it can't hurt, right? and there are sniffly, icky days.
Wedding planning is going well! got our registries pretty much taken care of, which was a ton of fun! ;) daniel was very helpful and it was a nice thing to do together! and finally, trail-running again on turkey mountain. with the faster-than-slow group, which was...a leetle bit too fast. but. we SURVIVED!

and finally, today's poem:

Susie said "I'm sorry."
But her brother asked, "What for?"
"For wrapping you in dirty socks
And rolling you out the door.
For forcing you to smell a plate
Of moldy steak and beans,
And writing "I love ponies!"
On your brand-new pair of jeans.
For dumping bags of garbage
On the floor behind your bed,
And removing all the final scenes
From books you haven't read.
For..." Here her brother stopped her. "Sis,
You've done an awful lot!
And I'd be FURIOUS, except...
There's something you've forgot:
Precisely, that one day on which
I stole your favorite doll,
And stuffed her in the toilet,
Feeling no remorse at all.
The time I told your nasty friends
You pick your nose and snore...
And replaced the posters in your room
With images of gore.
Or..." Susie struck her brother, falling,
Fighting, to the ground.
Their sins and wrongs are even now,
But...who will win this round?

Eldermaya Ennyone

Picture 1: my submission to CakeWrecks :) (which i haven't actually submitted yet...) it's a skeleton body with a giant plastic skeleton head stuck in its chest! what?!?
Picture 2: Just one example of the fabulous food Daniel cooks, and how spoiled i am :)
Picture 3: Tara auditioning for the Cover of Downward Dog Magazine! (thanks, p90x)--on her new Super-Squishy yoga mat from Christi!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!
Picture 4: a feltie GIR--gave it to Daniel in exchange for 4 mini white chocolate-macadamia nut Luna bars, yum! (actually, we just happened to give each other those items at the same time...)

In other news, i actually wrote a poem today! woot! and speaking of 'woot,' you can buy a Flip camcorder on woot today for just 39.99! a brand new, 1 hour version. Also, i finished Veronica Mars. The ending will break your HEART, if you're hooked...because it is NOT REALLY EVEN AN ENDING AT ALL AND THERE IS NOTHING SATISFYINGLY TIED UP ABOUT IT! BOO TO GOOD SHOWS GETTING CANCELLED TOO SOON! STOP IT!!!!! *pant pant* rant over. :) The poem:

Eldermaya Ennyone
Looks normal as can be--
The trouble is, that often means
She looks like you or me.
She changes shape and height and hair
In order to blend in--
Which can really get confusing when
I think she's my best friend.
The trouble is, that underneath
Her human-seeming face,
She's faintly green, with laser eyes,
And comes from outer space.
And, other than the copy-catting,
She's quite nice to know--
Especially cause she gives us rides
To school in her UFO!

Engagement Story!

Good morning!
So, as most--all?--of you already know, Daniel and I are engaged! YAY!!! :) and this is what happened:

First of all, let me just point out that it was an incredibly busy week at work...Wed was an 11 hour day, Thursday 10, and Friday was pretty much 6 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., waking up again on Saturday at 4:30 for a Farmer's Market shift (the busiest ones!). so i was EXHAUSTED! [the busy-ness was the result of volunteering to take part in Wine and Roses, an event to benefit the Tulsa Garden Society that took place in the rose garden at woodward park--probably about 50 tents for restaurants, and nearly that many for wine vendors. people pay to get in, then mill around to the different tables, eating whatever catches their eye/nose. it ended up being super fun, and i'm glad we did it. people LOVED us!! being one of the only dessert tents ;) ]
Anyway. Daniel worked till 5 on saturday, and a race party to go to at 6 (which i was bowing out of, being so tired...) but he rode over here in order to cook us dinner--amazing dinner!--of crab-stuffed flounder, mushrooms/green pepper sauteed in balsamic vinegar and red wine, and spaghetti noodles. Note the spaghetti noodles. They play a major role in this story. ;)
It was DELICIOUS, Christi was there, i was wearing pajamas.
In the course of eating, i was talking to daniel about family things, basically assuming him as part of the family. and he said, joking, "well, I'd have to marry you first!" At which point I turned to him, noodles hanging out of my mouth in the most unromantic way, and wailed (also in a joking way), "Please marry me!"
Daniel's response: "Well, then, I guess I'd better give you this!" and he pulled out the ring and --ta-da!! we are engaged! and for the rest of our lives, when telling our engagement story, i get to re-enact the wailing noodle mouth. :) it was just mean. but quite fitting :)

happinesses :)

Good evening!
Some enjoyable things from today, in no particular order :) :

1. Going to Petty's Fine Foods (small, independent...um overpriced...grocery store in town. super fun) and buying an impulse "truffle pig" chocolate at the check-out--only to find, on getting home, that it was hazelnut-flavored and SHAPED LIKE A PIG!!! so cute and yummy! get yourself a truffle pig :)
2. Also at Petty's: perusing the fish; salmon-stuffed flounder catch Daniel's eye, but there are only 4 fillets left--and he wants three. worries about leaving a lonely flounder--only to be given the fourth for free because, the fish-man said, it was "falling apart." fine food and great value! :) so looking forward to this!
3. home-cooked lunch from Daniel: mushroom/potato/asparagus in a wine/balsamic vinegar reduction, served with a tomato-and-asiago cheese topped wheat english muffin. AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i am pretty much dating a professional chef, and so spoiled :) <3 <3
4. feltie-ing Blue-Footed Boobys! per Mums' suggestion
5. running 4.5 miles on turkey mountain!! owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww :( but HARD CORE!!!!!!!!!! ;)
6. finishing erin morgenstern's The Night Circus...which was very enjoyable! read it :)

Dreams of Stars

Hello--
After a wonderful anniversary (the REAL one--one year!) dinner with Daniel at The Palace Cafe (lobster ravioli <3 and a shared two glasses of totally different, deliciously interesting red wines)--i went home, to sleep, and had this dream:

After a high-speed (for some reason, in the dream context, 'high speed' was anything over 45 mph. oh wait, that's true in my real brain, too.) car chase from California to Seattle, I signed up for a cooking class, not realizing the teacher was Angelina Jolie. Someone had to tell me. *blush* Anyway, Daniel gave her some food that he had cooked, and she just LOVED it, and wanted to hire him right away as her personal chef. at some point, Brad Pitt walked up, but left pretty quickly. A few minutes later, i had whipped up some GF vanilla cupcakes. Some cranky girl in the class took a bite and said, blandly, "they're pretty good." but then Angelina tried them and gushed, "They're DELICIOUS!" and wanted to hire me as her personal baker. Hooray!! so, daniel and i clearly have some new career paths laid out. :)

There was more, but that was the best part.
Everyone have a wonderful day!

p.s. i wanted to point out: there is nothing like a combination of 1) an impending move 2) reading about missions in the 3rd world and 3) learning how to make your own pottery--that gives you the power to overcome a pointless love for and desire to hoard 'cute' mugs. and other assorted items. Goodwill, I am COMING TO YOU with a car-full!!!

Halloween and Toffee Bars!!

Hello! It's Tuesday, and Daniel had the day off, which meant...a post-Sam's run to Target, where i zealously squealed over (and consequently purchased) much of their Halloweenie items :) eeeeeks! so cute!! in preparation for our Daria/Fall/Halloween/Birthday party coming up in a couple weeks! (do i feel guilty for purchasing fall-colored funfetti cupcake mix, instead of baking my own? NO!!!!! because EVERYONE LOVES FUNFETTI!)

after which, we ran to the neighboring liquor store (MidTown) and bought "Frozen Ghost" vodka (spooky and delicious! and...burn-y) as well as a bag of EcoVino wine, a company based in oklahoma. people swear it does not give you hangovers, thanks to the organic grapes/no preservatives. and the bag has an adorable old-timey photo of a man on a pedalcopter.

i wanted to share a recipe from Patricia Helding's cookbook Fat Witch Brownies (a collection of recipes from her Fat Witch Bakery in Manhattan. This is a wonderful book, because everything is made in a 9x9 pan, which means...fewer ingredients=cheaper/easier! very rush-and-budget friendly. and yummy! toffee happens to be one of my FAVORITE foods, so i made these Toffee Bars the other day:

1. Oven at 350. Grease and flour 9x9 pan.
2. To make crust, cream together 1 stick butter and 1/2 c brown sugar. Add and mix in 1 c flour. Add, 1 T at a time, 3 T sweetened condensed milk, and mix until blended. Press dough into baking pan and bake 14 min.
3. After the crust is finished, Cream together 1 c brown sugar, 2 eggs, and 1 tsp vanilla.. Add and stir in 2 T flour, 1 tsp baking powder, and 1/4 tsp salt. Pour on top of crust, and bake 25 min or until done. Remove and let cool. Enjoy. YAY!

More pots! (or rather, mugs and bowls)

Hello!
Picture one is what i come home to, most days: a cat butt sticking out from my curtains :) sleepy trouble loves lying in the window!
Picture two: you have my Mums to thank for these Lowly Worm felties :) you can't tell, but they are smiling. cute little guy!
Picture 3-5: yay i have more finished pottery!! lots of mistakes, both in glazing and forming, but i'm still a proud ceramics-mama :) so fun!

no poem today, got a podcast playing and wouldn't be able to concentrate. in other news, christi and i are giving up all "fluffy" books and television for the next month. *gasp* *cough* *moan* ;) wish us luck!

Blackmail Bad!

Happy Tuesday afternoon...whoops, still morning, never mind!
Anyway.
One thing that i've been thinking about posting for the past week or so is this:
Don't Give In To Blackmail.
Why? probably because of veronica mars, in which one nasty man is able to blackmail another man into doing his dirty work because the second guy had a huge gambling debt to the nasty. and because of madeline l'engle's Dragons in the Water, in which one man makes a clean breast of his past gambling problems, because he is determined to Not be blackmailed by someone who would sully his reputation. yay! just be honest! it can't be worse than allowing someone to have that kind of control over you, right?!
you should read any madeline l'engle book you get your hands on (a possible exception being one of her earliest titled, if i remember correctly, "Small Rain". I just didn't enjoy it enough to finish or keep it.) she is amazing! i'm including a photo of the ones i have--note the cheesy covers? ignore them, learn to love them, whatever you do, DON'T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER! just read 'em! alot of them are about young children growing up, and learning about the 'darker side' of life--and how to process that.
in other news, my computer tried to off itself last week...erased All my pictures and documents...thankfully, christi's friend Bobby was able to do IT magic and they are all recovered/saved on an external source.
and, today's poem, about coming home after a long absence, prodigal-son style:

Hesitant
Heading
Home-
Shame
Prolonging
Loss-
Run
Prodigal!
Run
How could you think
He'd turn his back
Reject
Repentance?
He
Your Father
Loves.

A Hen named...Henrietta, duh!

OOOOOHHHHH i love this weather! then why am i inside?!? time for a cross-breeze, at least!
today, i am trying out a new bread recipe, courtesy of the SoNo baking company (thanks to D for giving me their cookbook!)...just waiting for the oven to heat up, then in the ol' loaf goes, and then in an hour or so, into my stomach she goes! interestingly, it uses all-purpose flour rather than bread flour. for some reason i didn't know that was possible, but apparently it is!

today's chicken poem is inspired by both those long-legged chicken felties and the pumpkin felties (fall! autumn! go! rock!) :) the other pictures are of: colleen's incredible ginger-bird-men, and a cake by whole foods. i keep looking for really awful cakes whenever i go into reasors or sams (or w.f.), in order to send photos to cakewrecks.com, one of the websites i check daily. but i haven't found anything truly memorably hideous yet. getting closer, though, i can tell.

alright, enjoy the weather, and here's the poem:

Chicken-scratch and chicken-feed
And chicken-by-the-pound
"It tastes like chick..." "Don't call me chicken!"
Chicken all-around.
So that's why Henrietta's head
Swelled thrice its natural size--
And now she wears a pumpkin shell
To keep herself disguised.
Oh, vanity! It saved her life
When Butcher came to call--
Cause he just saw a vegetable,
And no white meat at all.

sasparilla floats!

Happy September!! YAY!!!!!!
this is admiral ackbar (sp?) drinking a sasparilla float with homemade amaretto ice cream!! he is lovin' it. he told me so :) i know i sure did!

whenever i sit down to pray lately, it all turns into poetry or a song...is that wrong, think you? or just a different way to worship? i have trouble concentrating if i'm just trying to write out a prayer...but that could be because i keep putting it off--or getting distracted--and feel guilty. hmmm...

Here is what my prayer turned into today:

Unravelling is tough--
What went before,
And why,
How,
Who am I?

A child on periphery,
A portrait of insanity,
An image of an ancestry,
A Mirror
Mocking
Mimicry...

Powered by
A broken, healing heart
That leaves itself
To dwell on

Who you are.

approaching halloween!

Good lazy-Tuesday afternoon!
thanks to a mention (and subsequent purchase) of candy corn, reading My Paper Crane blog and seeing some of her adorable Halloween creations, and...the oh-so-imminent arrival of September(!), daniel and i are having a halloween-themed day, listening to The Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack, a ghoul-y musician called Voltaire, crafting ghostie felties, and reading through my favorite halloween cookbook, Ghoulish Goodies by Sharon Bowers.

in other news, today was breakfast-for-lunch and homemade amaretto ice cream! there are pictures above from pottery class yesterday--look at all those amazing mug shapes daniel made, and this was only his 3rd time!! the only thing i heard him get corrected on was the fact that the "lips" of his mugs were too thin, needed to be thicker/rounder. Jeff, our teacher, was kind enough to 'bring it home' with this example: "would you kiss tara if she had razors for lips?"

and colleen at work designed and 'executed' these incredible "old-timey" gingerbread people. there were lots more, all unique. i love them!

and here is a stupid poem:

"It's just around the corner,
Though the corner isn't round.
It's square, as corners ought to be,"
Sid told me with a frown.
"Yes, sir."--no creature dares correct
Sid's cherished point-of-view--
I've seen a round edge square itself
To keep the peace--it's true!