Procrastination Perfection

So, little known fact, I was a brilliant poet at one point in time. I've even won awards for it before. This one is from just after my depressing emo period, where I was trying to be a "normal" high school girl. This was apparantly written under the heavy influence of Chicago and Air Supply, probably because it was after my breakup with my first boyfriend.

--

I still fell your own,

Your presence

Your fingers

Your breath

I still feel your arms,

surrounding,

embracing,

protecting.

I need you here with me.

And I know this was meant to be,

From tonight until the end of time,

You're always in my heart, in my soul.

You're in my fairy tale.

Why did you leave me?

On my own.

Just with me.

My love

Without you I'll die.

My angel

My soul mate

My friend.

I need you here with me

And I know this was meant to be

From tonight until the end of time,

You're always in my heart, in my soul,

You're in my fairy tale.

Where were you when I needed you?

When I asked did you answer?

Why should I forgive you?

Why? Why? Why?

I'll tell you why.

'Cause it's my fairy tale

And you're my Prince Charming,

My only Prince Charming.

As I'm busy packing up my room to move out for college, I keep stumbling across these random writings. Some in notebooks, some on scraps of paper, and some just scrawled across the back of an agenda from a long ago event I got to work.

These musings occured during a production of Inherit the Wind. I'm not sure where my brain was, because I was the sound designer/board operator, and was in the middle of nanowrimo.org. This proved to have very little sleep, and I was in a mood to write everything down. Too bad these musings didn't count to my total word count.

Humans were given minds that they might think.

Humans were given the right to think so that they may decide for themselves.

Humans were given the power to decide so that they can chose.

Humans were given the right to chose to let someone else chose for them.

If humans let someone else chose for them they forfit their right to chose.

If humans forfit their right to decde they forfit the right to think.

If humans forfit the right to think they forfit the indiidual mind.

If humans forfit the individual mind they forfit their humanity.

If humans forfit their humanity they are no better than the animals that roam the Earth.

If humans are no better than the animals that roam the Earth they are no longer human.

So why do we let others decide our fate?

"Lady, when you lose your power to laugh, you lose your power to think straight." Drummond, Inherit the Wind, pg 50

The right to think is on trial here, not what is being taught.

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For those who don't know, Inherit the Wind is a wonderful play. It is set in the early 1900's in a farming community. There is a trial going on about if it is right to teach evolution in schools. This provides a different look on the first ammendment and about an individual's right to chose for themselves.

--

As often occurs during productions, the director gets frustrated. If I remember right, he broke his clipboard during a rehearsal. But that may have been Once on This Island... My brain escapes me. The following are quotes from him, that he made during the production and planning of the show.

"Heck is for people who don't believe in gosh."

"The Lord gave it to you. USE IT!" This occured when one of the actor's could not project, he has since improved. Oh, he's talking aobut the diaphram. Just to clear that up.

So the story goes, that my little brother was making himself a birthday cake. Or to be more honest, he was making himself a viking longboat crewed with peeps. It is epic. I'm going to have to post a pic later.

So back to the bento thing. We had extra peeps, and I just thought it would be an amazing idea to kill a peep in the lunch. So it's the mystry of the murdered peeps. I'm blaming it on those horrid vikings. Always killing, pillaging, raping, and burning. It gets to their head, and they murder innocent little peeps.

Starting at the left: flower pick for color, octodogs on top of lemon pepper chicken, carrot sticks, flower bell peppers, plain onigiri, murdered peep, and a strawberry.

Love ya Sora!

This is my great grandma's recipe for tempura sauce. It's similar to a sweet and sour sauce, with yummy chunks in it.

Tempura Sauce:

1 14 oz can diced tomatos, petite are good but regular works

1 8 oz can of tomato paste, optional

1/2 c white vinegar

1/2 c onion, roughly chopped

1/4 tsp cayenne

1/2 c pineapple

1/2 c sugar

1/4 tsp powdered ginger

1 T soy sauce

1/2 c green pepper, roughly chopped

+/- 2 T cornstarch +cold water, made into a slurry. Add more or less depending on how thick you want it.

Add all ingredients except cornstarch to a saucepan. Cover and put over low heat. Simmer for 20 min. Add cornstarch slurry and bring back to a boil. Serve hot or cold over almost anything.

If it's made into a thick enough sauce, it works well in a bento box if surrounded by rice.

There's a ripe pineapple, and ripe mangos sitting on the counter, calling out my name. I love fruit salsa's, and the hardest part of this one is cutting everything up.

Pineapple-Mango Salsa:

2 cups pineapple, diced (about 1)

1 cup mango, diced (about 1)

2 T red or sweet onion, minced

2 green onions or scallions, chopped (about 1 T)

2 T lime or lemon juice

1 t cumin

2 t paprika

1 T chili powder, add more or less depending on how spicy you want it

1/2 t salt

Optional Ingredients:

1/2 cup diced tomatoes

diced pepper any flavor, seeded and diced (decrease chili powder)

1/2 cup diced bell pepper

1/2 cup cilantro

Mix all ingredients together, and refridgerate for at least 1 hour. Serve with chips, crackers, fish, chicken, noodles, or rice.

These are a sweet, but not too sweet cookie that works well as a gift, or to satisfy a sweet tooth without too much sugar.

Lemon Cookies

1/2 c. butter, softened

2/3 c. sugar

1 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

1 egg

2 t lemon zest

2 T lemon juice

2 1/2 c. white flour

2 T poppy seeds (optional)

1) Cream sugar and butter together.

2) Add baking powder, salt, egg, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Mix thoroughly.

3) Stir in flour and poppy seeds, if wanted.

4) Chill dough for at least 2 hours, or overnight.

5) Roll 1/2 of dough out between 2 sheets of plastic wrap to 1/4 inch thick.

6) Cut out using 2 inch cookie cutter, place 1 inch apart on greased cookie sheet.

7) Bake at 325 degrees for 8-13 minutes, until just barely browned.

Cool on rack.

Lemon Glaze

1/4 c. butter, melted

2 T lemon juice

3/4 c powdered sugar

1) Mix ingredients together.

2) coat cookies and let dry.

As finals draw nearer, and stress levels rise, I have this irrisistable urge to try candy making again. This is one of my favorite candies, and it's easy to make too.

Toffee:

1 c. butter

1 c. sugar

2 T. water

1)Melt butter in 2 quart saucepan over medium heat.

2)Reduce heat to medium low, add remaining ingredients. Stir constantly until sugar is dissolved.

3)Continue to stir over heat until temp reaches 305 degrees F on a candy thermometer, or hard crack stage with a cold water test. This is usually around 10-15 minutes, and the syrup turns a brown color.

4)Pull off the heat, as it will burn at 310 degrees, and spread in a buttered half sheet pan. Rotate the pan to spread it out evenly. Let cool. Crack apart using a butterknife, mallet, sledgehammer, or other smashing implement.

If desired, cover with chocolate chips while it's still hot, and spread out after they melt.

Today I decided to try something new, and I've been looking at a lot of super cute mininotebooks recently. This was the perfect inspiration to help in my continuing quest for more effective and creative procrastination time. My little sister has been a pain lately, so I made one for her.

Following a five yo's dictations about colors usually works well. Pink, white, and red. No other colors, so I went with it.

Here's the cover for you. I super glued on the buttons and used a heart stamp for the border.

And one of the inside pages.

For a first attempt, it didn't turn out too bad. We'll see what happens next time!