So, after a long semester--and I do mean long--I came home for Christmas.
A few hours ago--during the Doctor Who Christmas Special, no less--my parents decided to sort through our food storage in the family room.
Guess what I got?
Two bags of this stuff.
"But Lindsey" I hear you say "you LOVE oatmeal! How is this a problem?"
This is a problem because one cup of oatmeal makes about four servings, and I have to finish it by February.
However, oatmeal is a VERY nice, warm, filling sort of breakfast, which is quite honestly what I need if I'm to ride out the winter sickness-free, which I fully intend to do, thank you very much. It's healthy, whole-grain, and full of fiber, which will help with my one of my New Year's Resolutions {More on those next week}.
So it looks like I'm going to be posting twice a day sometimes, folks. The January 2012 oatmeal challenge will begin on the third of January {because that's when I get back to Provo}.
Much like the Mac & Cheese Challenge, it will consist of me trying to come up with different ways of serving Oatmeal. So far...I have three.
This recipe was born of the desperation that only the need to rid one's fridge of perishables during and after finals week can produce. I had the stuff, it sounded good, and it was all surprisingly filling.
Prepare mac & cheese as directed on box.
Now, add any and all real cheese you have, plus that leftover ranch dressing.
Tear up the leftover chicken you're too lazy to put into a sandwich. Stor. Now add salt & pepper to taste.
I made this during finals week so there wasn't much time for pictures. There will always be pictures from now on, I promise.
Why did I make a spicy stir-fry in the middle of a Mac & Cheese Challenge?
Because I was sick of Mac & Cheese, that's why. Oh well. I got back to it.
I called this what I did because it's spicy, pretty easy to make, and I cooked it in my electric-lime-colored sweat pants.
I had peppers and turkey and broccoli, and stir-fry sounded amazing!!
I have everything in this picture but the peppers!
So, first of all, here is a little tutorial, boys & girls, on how to roast your own peppers at home, so you don't have to buy them expensive and pre-roasted in a jar. I always think everything is better homemade, cheaper and fresh.
So you have your peppers {probably red} and you put them on a cookie sheet, or a jelly-roll pan, which are the cookie sheets with the raised edges. Technically a jelly-roll pan.
Brush them with oil, or spray them with PAM. Turn your oven to broil.
When they get black on top in places, flip them over.
When they're done, take them out and let them cool down.
They will be HOT for a long time!
MEANWHILE...if you did this at the spur of the moment, thaw that ground turkey!
{I keep like three of these in my freezer at any given time. CHEAPER THAN GROUND BEEF!!}
Once your meat is thawed, brown it in a large skillet.
So, turn this
into this
At which point, add Soy Sauce, Sriracha, Garlic, cayenne {go light!}, chili powder, rotisserie seasoning {optional}, curry powder, nutmeg, and thyme. This will make the sauce you see above.
At some point, you peppers will have cooled. Remove the skin, if possible. Slice one pepper, and put the others into a tupperware {You can use them on all sorts of things later}.
Now throw the pepper slices, seeds and all, into the skillet
Chop up your broccoli, like so:
You want small enough pieces that it can be easily eaten and stirred but large enough pieces that the broccoli retains its unique shape.
Now put it in the skillet.
And stir it around a bit
Yes I cook in sweats, I like it
{Thank you Cherie for photographing me so I don't ruin my camera}
Anyway, then you boil your pasta {or rice, I felt like angel hair pasta this night} and it comes out looking like this:
And that is how you do the Spicy No-Sweat Sweatpant Stir-fry!!
This was another idea I first thought of when this challenge occurred. I thought of using my own chili, which I had made JUST because I felt like it. But I had some Wendy's Chili lying around, so I thought I'd use that up instead.
I have to say I wish I had used my own chili--nothing against Wendy's, I just ought to have had more Chili in there.
So what you do for this one is you make the Mac & cheese, and then you want at least a cup of chili, and 1/2 C of cottage cheese. Stir and enjoy.
Sorry no photos on this one, but I made it at Cherie's house without my camera. I promise more next time!!
Also as part of the great 2011 food-storage dump, my mother gave me three jars of salsa. I learned two things from this:
1. I now understand why cheese goes so well and so often with Salsa
2. Never underestimate my ability to power through salsa. It is seriously one of my favorite snacks.
But this was one of my first ideas when I took this challenge on, and I happened to have some Gouda lying around, so I did this!!
You will need what you see here:
{Plus, of course, what it said you needed on the Blue Box}
Cook the mac & cheese as directed on the package. Now add in pieces of the Gouda, salt & pepper, 1/2c to 1 C of the Salsa, a teaspoon of the cream cheese {I used Garden vegetable} the chili powder, the cayenne pepper {go easy}, the sriracha {for gosh sakes go easy!}, the onion, and stir.
{Rather like this}
Once the cheese melts you know it's done and ready to serve.
Hello everyone!! I've been dying to do this for a very long time, and I finally have the time in which to do it. I talked about taking time every Friday to tell you about what I'm currently fascinated with.
So, here I go:
Adidas Sweat Pants: As part of a weekend adventure up to Roy, I borrowed a pair of purple sweats from Mal's younger sister (thank you, Kirsty). Oh my laws, I put off giving them back for almost a month, they are that comfortable!
{Seriously, it feels like a second skin}
Dessert of the Week: Javier's Fried Ice Cream. On the way back from our friend Natalie's wedding reception, we were hungry. The food was great, but tiny, and we hadn't had any sort of dinner. So we stopped here after I admitted I had never been here and they insisted I try the fried ice cream. I've never had fried ice cream before because it usually involves coating the ice cream in corn flakes, which I think are gross. But this was like Ice Cream and a Churro fell in love, Disney style.
{This was the closest photo I could find}
Recipe of the Week: This is hard, because I have so MANY from cooking class, and everything we eat is total bliss. But if I HAD to pick one, it would be sort of a general, all-around love for Middle eastern food from my lab. Lentil, chickpea, black bean and rice soup? YUM!
Book of the Week: The Magic Bullet. It features Sherlock Holmes, although he is not actually the main character, and takes place in WWI St. Paul, Minnesota.
So, naturally, both my Sherlockian AND my history geek sensibilities were screaming "Oooh, SHINY!!"
Shadwell Rafferty, St. Paul's resident bartender/detective--I cast him as old-man Sean Connery in my mind--works with his African-American business partner Thomas--Taye Diggs, no contest--to solve the nearly impossible murder of tycoon Artemus Dodge, even as a radical terrorist runs rampant in St. Paul.
BONUS POINTS: Isabel Diamond, the hard-as-her-last-name reporter for St. Paul's Pioneer Press, is the bomb. She was one of my favorite things about the book.
{The book cover, with the very dead Mr. Dodge}
Snack of the week: Pink Lady Apples.
Otherwise known as a preview of the fruit that grew on the Tree of Life.
I love them. Perfectly crunchy, lusciously juicy and sweet, and with just the right amount of tart flavor to balance it out.
So naturally when I found them on sale I bought a bunch...you should too!!
Song of the week: "You'll Never Walk Alone" from Carousel, performed by John Barrowman.
No matter how much inspirational I-can-do-anything girl-pop I listen to--and trust me, that is a LOT--sometimes I get a bit rundown and discouraged.
This song is perfect. I love John Barrowman's voice, and so for me, this song is like crawling into a corner and getting a big hug and the gentle reassurance that I am not alone.
Lesson of the Week: Maybe it's not a setback, maybe it's an opportunity for mandatory re-drafting, so think of it that way!
More like lesson of the year.
First an entire half of a chapter of my book, then the first draft of this post...I thought it saved, but not really.
At first I was really depressed and frustrated, but when I was re-writing the book I realized "Hey, this is SO much better than what I wrote the first time! Maybe this isn't so bad!"
I put off re-drafting that chapter for so long...but when I actually sat down and wrote, it was so much better! And, hey, anything is better than sulking, right?
So, this is Friday Fascinations! I'd really like to know what you think, ESPECIALLY any suggestions you have for "of-the-week" categories YOU'D like to see!
Also, how was your Friday? What are you fascinated with right now?
Let me know either by e-mail OR in the comments below {I love comments!}
So for the first variation on classic Mac-N-Cheese: Asian Mac.
I did this mostly because I finally bought a bottle of Sriracha Rooster Hot Sauce and wanted a chance to use it. I had put it on the Mac-N-Cheese at Noodles & Company and liked it, so I came up with Asian Mac.
During the beginning of school, I started having serious Chinese food cravings. Now, of course there is a Panda Express on the corner of Bulldog and University, but I am trying to save money this semester, so that is only an option when my roomies and I feel TRULY lazy. I came up with a pretty good imitation of Utah Noodle Parlor's Pork Noodle Soup, which was my favorite thing EVER until they stopped making their own noodles. {Uncle Leo, they did it RIGHT when you were alive, sir!!}
Then I thought "What if I did an Asian Mac-N-Cheese?"
Asian Mac:
You will need the following ingredients:
{Minus the I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, I really don't know why that was out, plus milk, margarine, and fresh cilantro}
Prepare Mac-N-Cheese as per package directions
{Frothy Bubbles!!}
{Whilst cooking}
{Drain it, and may I say I LOVE my IKEA colander?}
{In the end, it should look like this}
So, once you get to this point, add 1/2 cup of cottage cheese and enough Sriracha Hot Sauce (The one with the green lid and the rooster on the bottle) to look like this:
{That should about do it}
And, no, it cant't be Tabasco and I'll tell you why. Tabasco has no flavor for me, just pain.
The first time I tried Tabasco, I was at Village Inn for a Drama Club presidency meeting. I gave my hash browns to Jeremy Illum, watched him douse them in Tabasco, and then was stupid enough to say "Oh, I've never had that stuff before. He proceeded to take a forkful and then, with the support of everyone in the presidency, forced me to try Tabasco. It was like searing hot fire with absolutely no pleasure of hot FLAVOR.
Sriracha actually has flavor attached to the spice. So I use that.
But anyway, you mix it up together, put it into a bowl, top with fresh cilantro and sprinkle with more Sriracha sauce.
{All done!}
Mind you, you will want to have copious amounts of milk nearby. Even though Sriracha is not painful like Tabasco, this stuff is HOT!! It is tasty, but spicy. The cilantro adds to the spice, but in a fresh, green way.
I joined the Resident Housing Association council for the housing complex where I live. As a hall rep, I represent the interests and concerns of my buildings on my council. I also work on/walk by the RHA float in BYU's homecoming parade. today, in order to get my three required hours of out-of-class float work in for the grade.
It was snowing, blowing, and cold as blue blazes for those of you reading from outside of the Provo area. But I worked on--I want our float to look nice as much as anyone else!
However, while spray-painting the letters "R H A" to go on the float, I drenched my hands in blue {I believe latex} spray paint.
{Um...yeah, about like that. I'd have actual pictures of my own hands, but didn't wish to ruin my camera}
So, after a vigorous hand-washing in the bathroom of the building near the pavilion where we have the float stored, about half the paint was gone. Yes, I did use my fingernails.
All I could think was "Oh gosh how am I going to get this stuff OFF??"
I called my immediate family and other relatives. All of the removal methods seemed pretty caustic and hard on the skin.
My Father suggested I buy paint thinner and pour some on a rag, wipe the paint off, and then wash my hands thoroughly. Yeah, we aren't even allowed to OWN paint thinner here {apparently it is highly flammable}, plus NO WAY am I putting that on my hands.
I thought of nail polish remover, but I'm pretty low on that, and even it isn't wonderful on skin.
My uncle suggested dousing my hands in gasoline or turpentine.
So I figured I was on my own.
However, Brittany, my friend and student coordinator, dropped me off at my apartment before we took a housing car to get more staples for the staple-guns.
"Ok, I have, say, five minutes."
Not enough time to google, so I did the first thing I thought of.
I got the big bottle of dish soap from our kitchen, doused my hands in it, and began to scratch away under warm water.
{Basically, the Great Value brand of this stuff with a handle}
It still wasn't working, and I began to despair, when I realized: this paint is like a sticky, blue layer of extra skin. An d how do you get rid of extra skin, i.e. calluses?
You use an emery board.
So I grabbed the emery board I keep on top of my dresser {soapy hands and all} and rubbed away at the paint.
It was a miracle.
Yeah, there is still a little stuck in my cuticles and other places it was hard to reach, but I no longer look like I'm turning into Katy Perry as Smurfette.
{Both are lovely ladies, and blue is my color, but spray paint feels so gross on the skin!}
So, when I visited my mom and dad over labor day, they informed me that a large portion of our food storage was about to expire. They proceeded to remind me that there was no way they could eat it by themselves before it would all go bad.
{No spit, Sherlock! My parents eat like birds!}
"But you can," my mother said.
I chose to take that as a compliment to my cooking ingenuity rather than a "you should go to the gym and practice portion control more often" comment.
{I do need to go to the gym more, but that is beside the point}
So my car was packed with various food items, all of which I intend to transform into masterpieces. Among other things, I got five cans of stewed tomatoes, a case of oriental ramen noodles, a large can of gatorade mix, and eleven boxes of mac-n-cheese.
I really don't see what we saw, as little kids, in this stuff. Yes, it is simple and easy to prepare, but I somehow remember it cheesier than what it is now. Kraft, go back to your cheesy powder recipe from the 90's; it was SO much better!
In the meantime, I was stuck with eleven blue boxes in my pantry. I thought "What on earth am I going to do with all this mac-n-cheese?"
And then it hit me: I can blog about it.
The challenge: to turn eleven boxes of mac-n-cheese into eleven different dishes and make mac-n-cheese exciting again!
I will not, barring any nightmarish brain freezes, be doing this the way my friend Ryan does it. No. Chicken. {Frakking.} Nuggets. Or. Spam.
To start off, Mac-N-Cheese classico. Just the way the package says it. My friend and roomie Hailey thinks I'm a food nut {Ok, she thinks I'm an all-around nut} and that mac-n-cheese should be enjoyed purely as is. So that's how she prepped it one night when she was hungry and we didn't feel like driving to Wal-mart for a rotisserie chicken {but that's another story for another day}.
So, that leaves me with ten blue boxes to transform!
A year later, here I am, sitting on the top floor of the Wilk after my laptop's yearly check-up with the IT guys in the bookstore {Thank you, Stuart and Thomas}. Apparently, I have to check for security updates myself--who knew?
About a month ago I packed my little Prius full of belongings and drove down to Provo.
Let me tell you something about packing half your life up into a little red Toyota Prius: Just when you've finally convinced your Mom that you can fit it all inside, your Dad starts telling you that you're going to get a traffic ticket for obstructed view. So unless they're offering to help, you're going to have to let some things slide off you like water off a duck's back at that point.
But, in any case, I set off along the freeway the day before move-in on my way to Ikea. They had some great deals in the catalog, and this little chickie wanted to take advantage of that. Plus, they had a cafe and I was starving.
Once I was able to find the maps and make sense of the store, I found the cafe, because nobody ever made a good decision on an empty stomach. I ordered the Swedish Meatballs combo, and let me tell you, those were fantastic! Little brown meatballs in a tawny gravy with skins-in mashed potatoes, a roll, and a mixed green salad. Everything was delicious! So I picked up what I wanted, bought it, and finished driving down.
It's weird to have your heart in two places. Roy will always be home to me, but Provo is too. And it was weird because as I got off the freeway onto the parkway, I thought "I'm home!! But, I just left home...ok this is weird!"
But as I was waiting for Hailey after the IT guys helped me with my computer, I realized that I was starving. It was like that enormous plate of meatballs, mashed potatoes, and gravy just disappeared, never mind the roll and salad! And all I could think for some reason was "Want...PIZZAA!!!" It was like my mind had been taken over by the Audrey-II plant from Little Shop of Horrors and saying "FEEEEEDD MEEEE!!"
How on earth this happened when I spent almost the entire time after my meal sitting down is beyond me, but oh well. All I could do was sit there and distract myself on Pinterest until it was half-past-four.
Thank goodness Hailey had pizza to make when we got back to Orem.
I'm now happily moved in, and life is a blast...but where did those meatballs go?
Dear Muscles,
Hi there, it's me your partner, Lindsey? The person who you help to move around all day?
First of all, let me thank you for your nearly 20 years of faithful service. You are truly amazing. Today, however, actually make that lately, you've been really tense and tired.
I'm not sure what I've done to tense you up and tire you out, but whatever it is I am very sorry. I know I haven't been to faithful about working you out lately, but as soon as we get back to school and I get free gym access again, I promise to take you to the pool and on that elliptical we both love--we can even try out the new gym in the Smith Field House, wouldn't you like that?
I've been trying to sleep well, I try to eat enough protein for you, and I do try not to stress. I promise to take you to either a massage chair or a hot tub tomorrow.
In return, I need you to go back to being the dependable, strong muscles you usually are. We are doing some pretty hardcore moving this coming week, and I need you at your peak! I will try to take better care of you from now on, and I'll even give you Tylenol if it will help.
Now let's go to bed--we've both been tired since we got home from Brittney Porter Wallentine's lovely reception.
Can y'all say "midnight premiere"? Because I was there. I dragged Hailey and Cherie, two of the greatest sports in the world, along with me, and Cherie dragged her friends Mark and Joe. All in all, it was a fantastic finale to one of the most stressful semesters conceivable.
I had a countdown clock going since last year
{Sorry Folks, the cropping I just did was apparently for naught}
I've been practicing Rachel McAdams' Irene Adler Makeup, which I wore to premiere
Only to find, of course, that Irene is now sporting a slightly more minimalist look.
And I was, thank goodness, given the reward of this touching scene:
{And may I say that I "shipped" them before the movie, RIGHT after I read "A Scandal in Bohemia" for the first time, thank you very much! It was painfully obvious that here was someone he could respect enough to be attracted to and I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO THINKS SO but that's another story for another day.}
I confess, I was a trifle apprehensive when I heard that Jared Harris had been cast as Moriarty. Professor James Moriarty is so sinister, so greedy, arrogant, and evil, but he is also so easy to overplay. And, come on--the son of the original Albus Dumbeldore portraying the most arrogant, sinister, greedy, downright EVIL criminal mastermind in the literary world? I had my doubts.
He quelled them. Let's just say that I will never be able to listen to Schubert's "Fischerweise" the same way ever again. Ever. If I can listen to it at all.
{If you would like to listen to it before you see the film and so have pleasant memories of this melody, here you go. Please know that I went through a hideous case of the willies to put it here for your potential listening pleasure.If you have seen the film, I don't blame you if you can't take it.}
Of course, I was JUST as excited two years ago when the first movie came out. I knew it was coming for a long time; I was watching Regis & Kelly {as I do most summer mornings over breakfast} when Robert Downey Jr. was there promoting Iron Man 2 and announced the new Sherlock Holmes movie.
After this I was a woman possessed, or rather possessed anew.
My fascination with the greatest detective of all time came on when I was about nine years old. I was already a voracious reader, and if library cards were like credit cards my parents could be in debt by now. But when the 5 & 10 near my grandmother's house offered the cheap abridged illustrated classics, my mother was only too happy to oblige. Among the small volumes purchased that day was a small collection of the adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
{How cover art has evolved since then!}
It only contained three of the most famous cases--that of The Red-Headed League, The Speckled Band, and The Copper Beeches--but I re-read that tiny book again and again, wishing against wish that a new adventure would somehow pop up.
A few years later, I was walking around Barnes & Noble--an activity my parents soon realized could be hazardous for them and their wallets with a girl of my tastes--and spied two enormous hard-backed volumes with the same title as my own little grey book with its cheap paper. Here they were! More of these wonderful adventures, precisely as I had asked!!
But how to get them? My father has a philosophy about books: He doesn't understand why I read them more than once, being able to extract little pleasure from literature himself. And as I looked at the price tag on these exquisite volumes, I already knew his answer: Linds, you don't need those, you can read those at the library!
So when he gave that answer, that's precisely what I did.
It was in the days before I learned to drive, and by then he was accustomed to my request that he drive me to the Ogden Library, which had much more to offer than our own. He was accustomed to seeing me appear on the floor, looking up from CD's containing songs from the 1950's to see my arms straining with a stack of books. The only question was whether he would ask if I were over the limit or if he would prophecy darkly of my mother's reaction when she saw me coming home with so many books.
And one week, one of those "so many books" was a copy of the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. I ate up "A Scandal in Bohemia" and then realized that these were too good, I must save them for the end.
The end came and I had not finished the collection. I was very sad but my mother would not allow me to renew them, as it was near the end of the year and she wanted me to concentrate on school.
I meant to go back for the collection, but I have a condition I like to call literary ADD, which explains both the length of my "books to read" list and why all my writing projects sit unfinished.
Less than a year passed, and something arrived in the mail for me from my Father's winter home in Las Vegas. In a fit of generosity, he had given me both a Barnes & Noble membership and $150 dollars to inaugurate it!
I now knew my path. My path could not have been any clearer if Grandmother Willow from Pocahontas was speaking to me.
My mother said yes, once my math homework was done we could go buy something. Once it was, we got in the car, and decided we might stop at our favorite Mexican restaurant for takeout after.
Mom: Do you know what you want?
Me: Well, yeah Mom I do.
Mom: What?
Me: I've had my eye on this nice boxed set of every Sherlock Holmes story ever written for two years.
Mom: {Looks surprised at my patience} Why didn't you just ask for it for Christmas?
Me: It was fifty dollars. Dad said no.
My mother then nodded knowingly, having before {and since} witnessed my father and I arguing over discussing the worth of books over dinner. {Quite candidly, I think she is sick to death of it}
So we went to Barnes & Noble and I headed straight for the Arthur Conan-Doyle section. The fancy edition was sold out BUT I was able to purchase these:
{I couldn't actually find a picture of volume two, but I have it}
I started reading as soon as dinner was over {My Dad instituted a strict no-reading-during-dinner-rule halfway through Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire} and never looked back.
So I was SO happy, when on December 27, 2009, I looked up Guy Ritchie on imdb.com and saw, under his list of projects "UNTITLED SHERLOCK HOLMES SEQUEL (pre-production)"
{The Man Himself}
{The Perfect Partner}
{She's not Irene, but cool in her own right}
{I will besmirch neither my tongue nor my blog with what I think of you, you evil...}
Suffice it to say that I already know what I expect for my birthday this year.
PS: If anyone close to Guy Ritchie is reading this PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE one more? With Irene PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE????
I never had any assigned reading for the summer, but I always liked to read a lot in the summers anyway. The school would always send home a challenge to read 1,000 pages over the summers, and you got a prize if you did. I remember once I read a bunch of books, including two runs through Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire almost right after the other, and still worried I wouldn't have 1,000 pages. As Eames said in Inception, "Math was never my strong suit."
I have two library cards, if you don't count my student ID at the BYU library, and I will have three by this time next year. I remember summers full of mornings when I begged my Dad to take me to the Ogden library. I checked out stacks of books, and while Mary Higgins Clark and Agatha Christie eventually replaced Nancy Drew, mystery remained a favorite.
In my room there is a large bookshelf. Five shelves, each slightly more than a foot across. My Mom picked it out for me in Shopko because it was the biggest one there. And even this monster cannot hold all my books. I have several that I haven't even read yet.
There was so much that I meant to read this summer. So many high-minded works of history, philosophy, political science, regular science, the classics.
And then my dear, sweet friend Rosie lent me her collection of Meg Cabot Chick-lit. Can you say new favorite guilty pleasure? The Heather Wells series caters oh-too-well to my mystery addiction!
I was going to write this about all the wonderful things I meant to read this summer, but no. This is about all the unexpected, wonderful things I DID read.
Victor Hugo's unabridged Les Miserables: I've been working on this for awhile, it's SO good! I started it last fall, but school and my other reading got in the way. So I really wanted to just take a day or two and finish it...still working. But it is SO worth it. {Side note: Anyone else conflicted over Nick Jonas as the new Marius? Because I am. So much}
Shakespeare's Hamlet: Or at least I will have by Sunday morning. When I found out that you could watch David Tennant play Hamlet on PBS online, I was hooked. So, I am going to watch it from the beginning and follow along. {Sorry Scottish Play; You'll get your chance when I find a good version online/see it live. Can't get through it yet otherwise} Want to join me as I follow along/make goo-goo eyes at David Tennant as the Dane?
{Gosh I am obsessed. But David Tennant is freaking amazing}
The Head Trip and Insomnia (50 Essential things to do): Two very different books, but they both deal with the subconscious and sleep patterns, so I am grouping them together. Head Trip is more entertaining and up-to-date, and I am also still working on it. It's freaking huge, but it was both interesting and on the dollar table {Score for the book addict!}
The last half of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Wish I'd had the time to re-read the entire series. Maybe next summer I'll have a nostalgia high?
Meg Cabot's Heather Wells and Shadowland series: It's the literary equivalent of eating chocolate-covered-strawberry ice cream as you watch 13 Going on 30. I needed a simple, gloriously feminine pleasure like that.
What Da Vinci Didn't Know: My mother bought me this when The Da Vinci Code first came out and she thought I'd get confused and apostatize from the Church. Her fears were needless, but I read it two days ago anyway. It brings up some good points, but the author's tone is arrogant and defensive. Calm down man. Dan Brown is not at the head of a conspiracy to make Christians not believe in the Divinity of Christ. He is, like many authors, at the head of a conspiracy to entertain people for money. Still, this book does bring up some interesting points and facts, as well as give a very interesting history of all the crap/restoration done to The Last Supper.
Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage: People in my New Testament class last semester were quoting this right and left, and I felt like I wasn't part of the cool, spiritually-smart people club. So I begged my mother for a copy and am working my way through it. Amazing book; it is a spiritually academic, thoughtful look at the Savior. Beautiful, beautiful book. {PS: If anyone knows of a BYU or institute class that focuses on this book, please let me know!}
So, now that we've got through that list...I want to know what YOU all read this summer! Comment it up down there!!
Ok...I REALLY need you all to comment on this one if you have an opinion. Realize that if you don't have an opinion, or if you do but don't tell me, I'll just go ahead and do what I wanted anyway. Anyone close to me can attest to the truth of this statement.
Would you all be terribly offended if I told you about my Fascinations of the Week once a week? I got the idea from the lovely and talented Miss Brooklyn Burton (What do you mean you've never heard of her, do you live under a rock? Here...read her amazing blog), but mine would be on Fridays, because Friday is always an exciting day, so I think it would be the perfect time to talk about the little things that make me happy.
You know...like a new recipe, a new recipe, an intriguing hobby, how much I'm in love with tinted lip balm and why, little things like that which may or may not interest you.
So what do you think? {If you are a bit too bashful to post a comment on the blog, feel free to e-mail me}
I meant to write a lot of things this summer, including half of today's subject. I meant to do many things that I haven't yet: I still have so many profound books I wanted to read, I still have three shirts to tuck and dart, and I need to finish my custom shorts.
However, much of my time has been pleasantly eaten up by a relatively new obsession: Dr. Who.
{Yes, I am aware perfectly aware of how sexy these men are, thanks!}
Basically, Dr. Who is a series about the adventures of a time-(and space-)traveling humanoid alien called a Time Lord. His name is the Doctor (just The Doctor), he is the last of the Time Lords; everyone else died in the Time War, which destroyed the Time Lord planet of Gallifrey, as well as their adversaries, the Daleks and their home planet, Scaro. (WOW I sound like a nerd right now!) He can regenerate to avoid dying, which is why there have been 11 different Doctors since the show's creation in the 60's--same man, same soul, new body. He travels with humans now, saving worlds and stopping wars with his sonic screwdriver and the TARDIS.
{David Tenannt, the tenth Doctor, outside the TARDIS}
TARDIS: Time And Relative Dimensions In Space. It's the Doctor's ship, and it's bigger on the inside. The TARDIS runs on the Time Vortex, Is technically a living organism, and has a lot of fun powers that you actually have to watch the show to know all of.
{Inside the TARDIS}
I've been watching this show all summer in preparation for the return of season six (August 27th, ladies and gents, mark those calendars!)
In a way, however, it's also been a way to escape. My summer has been fun, don't get me wrong. It's been a time for me to be still and be creative. I thought it would be a nice little sabbatical from school, relaxing--just the thing to perk up my creativity.
But I forgot, I think--nothing perks up my creativity like a little adventure. So I watched Dr. Who and let my heart thrill at all the exotic, unreal places created in the show. I watched as the Doctor showed compassion, never killing unless it was, literally, the only option, even with the most evil of villains he encountered. The Doctor's worst nemesis died in his arms--and The Doctor cried.
I had to believe that the world, the universe, could be as complex as they create it; I had to believe that there was a man out there who was mortal and, yet, that compassionate. My own world had begun to seem slightly dull and flat.
I've seen the world, mind you--traveled more than many people my age in my situation, at any rate. I know how big it is...I forgot how rich it is.
Then today I was looking around facebook, and I found this on my friend Mary's wall.
Have you read it all yet? Just the slideshow will do. Oh, no, go on, I've got time. you really need to see this.
Done? Ok then. Keep it open, you'll need it again pretty soon.
I read the stories, the little details in those children's lives, the little important, ordinary things that make them who they are. And then I realized: It's all real. Life here and now is just as rich as my new favorite TV show. Our planet is as rich as one hundred galaxies they could make up--maybe even richer. We have schisms and factions and poverty all over the world, but we have such promise! Those kids are so strong--so many of them face such challenges, they have such rich and beautiful strength!
Look at Kaya's creativity--look at the scope of the little world she's created for herself at such a young age!
Look at the care in the way Bilal holds that goat. Look at the innocence and love in his eyes, and he lives in a one-room shack in a harsh part of the world.
Look at the strength and resolve--that slow, low-burning fire--look at the patience in the eyes of Indira, the seven-year-old quarry worker.
Look at the fear in Alyssa's eyes, yes; then look at what she has done to make her room beautiful--look at the flowers and the angel.
Look at the cunning in Ahkohxet's face--see how shrewd and wise she is, and yet she has probably never learned anything Google has to offer.
Look at the determination and sense of responsibility in Dong's face.
Look at the trust, the innocence, in the face of the orphan refugee from Liberia's war.
Look at the acceptance and will to survive in the face of Alex, the beggar from Rio.
Look into the piercing, professional eyes of Jaime.
Look at the warmth Delanie creates.
Look at the courage shown by Bikram, the orphan of parents killed in a civil war.
Look at Tzvika--He lives in a war-torn part of the world, yet his face shows a patient "what will be, will be" attitude.
Look at Douha--her brother is a suicide bomber, She and Tzvika are on opposite sides of a war fraught with malice, but there is no malice in her face.
Look at Ryuta's passion for life--his bio and his room show very varied interests.
Look at Li's commitment to excellence.
Look at Joey's passion for a hobby he enjoys with his father.
Look at Lamine's work ethic.
Look at Prena's love of learning.
Look at Rhiannon--she is so creative, and her whole community is the punk subculture! I think that's amazing!
Look at Nantio--her house is small, yet you can see she walks tall from her photo.
Look at Kana--she is following her dreams
Look at Risa--she has little space and privacy, but she makes what she has beautiful as she pursues her goals.
I never realized how rich and wonderful our world is...I always heard the Doctor talk (on the show, of course) about how wonderful ordinary people are, the difference they can make. Now I see it. It is the ordinary people, with all of their different dreams and passions, their experiences, their stories, their resilience, that is what really makes this world so vibrant, so beautiful.
