So Excited For This Movie

I can't wait to see this! I am considering staying in America just to see this!

http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20419951_20540883,00.html

Playlist October

Here's what's playing in my car right now

Phantom Limb The Shins
After Midnight Blink-182
Release Me Jack's Mannequin
Slow Your Breath Down Future of Forestry
Always Love Nada Surf
Up All Night Blink-182
Keep You Right Blind Pilot
Ill With Want The Avett Brothers
Ten Years Older Jarrod Gorbel
A Guardian of Sorts (To Catch You) Dashboard Confessional
Helena Beat Foster the People
Mercy Matt Nathanson
Young Blood The Naked and Famous
Concrete Bed Nada Surf

Hold the phones... I've been running

So, for those of you who know me, I hate to run. I used to hide in the bathrooms at volleyball practice just to get out of our daily warm-up. But I am a Burkhalter, and if you have met any of us, you will soon see that running is not our thing, though, on occasion, we do if only to keep in shape.

Well, it was time. I have been so stagnant for so long at this point, just the thought of exercise is exhausting. My dieting method of "Eating for One," while effective, was really no fun and was something that I can never stick to for more than a few months. I hate it, but I think that I am addicted to processed foods and being full! Thank you United States, my kids are never having anything that is wrapped in cardboard and bigger than a fist.

Anyway, so the point is, I have spent the last four years packing on the pounds, it was delicious thank you, and now is time to get real. That and for me just to get off the couch for water left me breathless. So, Brandon came and slapped me into shape. It was like Barry's Bootcamp but Brandon style. All in all, while he was here, I think that I got more exercise, more sleep, and lost more weight than I had in all my time at college.

But then he left, and my inner sloth returned. For a sloth, he sure is aggressive. But then (again), by the grace of God, my sister decided to join the paddling team.

Now, for those of you who don't know, I think that paddling is probably one of the toughest sports, conditioning wise. It is one of those things like dance, or cheerleading, where you think the people are stupid when actually they could kill you with just one of their ripped muscles. But in order to become one the gods of the ocean, she had to start running, and she has been inviting me to join. So nice of her!

I have been running three times this week. First two times, made the mile, but with a break. Yesterday, I hit a new level, seriously, and made it to about a mile and half. What will this upcoming week hold? Hopefully more running because my clothes are going to look awesome and I will be eating whatever I want! Ahh, the small price to pay for gluttony!

That plus I love wearing my ankle high Vans socks with my bright yellow West Virginia shorts.... I look so cool!

Nothing Today

Tried again today, but nothing to say.

To make a mountain of your life

Is just a choice

But I never learned enough

To listen to the voice that told me

Always love, Hate will get you every time

Always love, Don't wait til the finish line

Ouch!

I think that I sprained my middle right finger. Typing is killer. Oops

All your life you are told the things you cannot do. All your life they will say you're not good enough or strong enough or talented enough; they will say you're the wrong height or the wrong weight or the wrong type to play this or be this or achieve this. THEY WILL TELL YOU NO, a thousand times no, until all the no's become meaningless. All your life they will tell you no, quite firmly and very quickly.

AND YOU WILL TELL THEM YES.

Hopefully this applies to typing.

I am so bored lately, I have literally nothing to say. I think about blogging all the time. I don't do it, I don't really have much to say. So let's raise a glass to next week, with the hope that that promise of inspiration will strike!

I'm Back

That's right people! I am back in the blog world. To be honest, I even don't know where I have been. You would think that when one makes a promise and public as this one, to write, each and every day, that she would at least follow through for a little while. Well, obviously I didn't. And it wasn't because I wasn't writing. I just wasn't writing to you, mostly to me. So there.

But yes, for all of those keeping me in check, probably just myself, I have been writing, frequently. Not everyday, but frequently. But lately, it's been so abstract, not really anything tangible to share, that posting it here would have just been some sad attempt at me writing something that tries to have meaning, but really doesn't. Welcome to the blogosphere world of the 21st century.

I am trying to stay away from that. Here, at brittanyburkhalter.com you get the cold hard facts. I bring to you the coolest points of the days happenings! Who am I kidding. Once in a great while i'll come up with something cool that I saw or found, or maybe i'll write something that on some level is interesting to the general public... but no guarantees. That's why I write here, and not for something else, right?

So get ready, I am back in full force to share my mediocrity with you all. And please, don't feel bad for me, calling myself mediocre and all. Because honestly, that's where I am right now. I'll be beyond mediocre soon, maybe even great, but right now, I am learning and honing, and taking it all in. Everyone has to hit the middle before the top!

Alright, to wrap this up and not make it all about me.... I just finished reading the three books that make up The Hunger Games trilogy. If you are a girl, or maybe even a boy, but probably you should be a girl, go get a hold of these right now. I don't care if you don't like to read or you don't have time. These books will solve both of these problems. I posted them on the books tab so no excuses. These are like the best things that I have ever read. (Don't take that too literally.) Read them, read them, read them.... Read them now!!!

B

Each Day

Romans 12:9-21

Strive for this!

Nothing I do makes me better than anyone else.

Harry Potter

I used to think that my life right now is too boring to blog about, but who am I kidding, I have tons of great stuff.

Fun fact...I have been reading Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone all summer. And I just can't seem to get into it. I am trying, but really all that it is doing right now is backlogging all the books that I have that I do want to read. I have about 20 books waiting for their covers to be cracked. Books that should be read in the summer when the weather is all hot, that alas, may have to wait for next year.

So, Harry Potter, please help me finish you. I am trying, really. And this is just the first one!

Courage!

Exercise?

I have restarted my exercise regimen this week. For those of you who don't know, I loathe working out. Going to the gym, or worse, running... makes me want to die. I mean, there are few things that I hate more than running. When I run, all that I can think about is how much I hate it.

So, here beings my battle.... again. Still trying to get down to smaller size since my last "going out with a bang" semester of college where I took The Freshman 15 to a whole new level, The Senior 20. I think that I can credit it all to that large bowl of Moe's queso and three bags of chips at three in the morning. Yeah, that was it.

Running, I hate it. Actually, I was running the day before yesterday, and I saw this girl in a blue (plastic) soccer jersey, and immediately, I was transported back to my own soccer practice, which in that moment, I could feel exactly what I felt all those years ago - how much I hate to run.

Twice this week I have been running. I take my dog, which is cardio keeping her up with me in itself, (not because I am fast, actually I am incredibly slow, all my running buddies have ditched me), and I run, usually for at a max for ten minutes. Then I get tired, and use her need to go to the bathroom as an excuse to all of those people who are watching me, for me to in fact, stop running.

I've been doing some reading on the subject actually. John Krasinski says that I should run for about 20 minutes a day to stay in shape. Jenna Fischer says 30 minutes of cardio and 30 minutes of weight training. I think that my answer lies somewhere in the middle.

I am going to start as slow as I want, and work up to as high as I can go. How is that for a goal. Today, I did some jumping jacks, 3 sets of 15 sit-ups, and then ran for the duration of Waka Waka, and then sprinted/walked/job to In the Ayer. Not bad for a days work.

Hoping tomorrow to go buy a jump rope and to keep the cardio up. I'll keep you posted, but really please feel free to pass and ideas my way... that includes words of encouragement :)

This is Random

Here begins an adventure, which really began yesterday, but that writing was bad and arrogant and pretty offensive so I will keep the file, but for you all, I am posting this today. My fresh start and clean slate to blog everyday. Yes, this might get boring, but it might also be great. See vignette on good music, which I have yet to post. Look for that in days to come. But in short, you have to sort through the crap to find something that is actually good.

So here I will be, laying out all my junk, in hopes of occasionally writing something that will be good and thought provoking and maybe even interesting.

Wow, does this sound dramatic….

As for today, August 3, 2011. It is Brandon Deckman’s birthday and I discovered The Ring Game, which is also known as the best game ever. More on that to come later too. I need to be keeping a list of all of these, “things that are to come later.”

I am really tired and I want to go to sleep, but I can’t because I have to write something down, and I want to watch The Office, and possibly One Tree Hill, but I can’t bring myself to justify either.

Word for this….. I don’t think that even procrastination will suffice. Maybe just plain stupidity.

My English teachers spent years trying to get my writing to not be wordy, but there is such a fine line between wordy and artful detail, will I ever be able to make the distinction…. I hope that I am somewhat close.

I need to commit to something. Need to pick a direction.

Something upbeat? I need an upbeat song. Ideas?

That’s it, I need a goal. A blogging goal, a topic. What am I reaching for? Need an assignment.

I am really tired and look I almost have a page. If this doesn’t strike you as random, I don’t know what will. What a bummer that this is what I am submitting for my first day of my blogging everyday goal. But I guess that it is good to start at the bottom, from here it can only go up.

Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does. – William James

What!!!

What!! What! I got a comment! That was cool. Very cool.

On another note. I have been up to virtually nothing these days. I need a job.... anyone hiring? But really, recently my days consists of cleaning my room, watching The Office, cooking dinner, and the occasional run.Which is fine, but I think that I'll burn through the excitement that those things have to offer pretty quickly.

So to go along with my random life, here are a few of the random life lessons that I am currently learning.

1. I got glasses and who knew, leaves actually have trees. That and I have also discovered the reason why I make so many typos!!!

2. The top 5 Office episodes that I have been watching and that no one should miss are:
      1. Fun Run
      2. The Delivery Part 1 but mostly Part 2
      3. Casino Night
      4. The Dinner Party
      5. The Injury

3. Don't go see:
      1. Cowboys and Aliens....... Unless you are a guy, then go now
      2. Crazy Stupid Love...... It was a Crazy Stupid Movie

4. Kings Of Leon just cancelled their North American tour. The reasons they gave for the cancellation were vague and bogus, but I am hoping for a juicy story. And Caleb just got married, his poor wife. Mostly I feel bad for Band of Horses who they were touring with. What a waste!

5. I am trying to be more positive. Suggestions?

Three Cool Things

First, Happy 4th of July. It sometimes seems that we forget what independence really means in and for this country so hopefully this holiday can be a reminder.

So, to go along with the 4th of July festivities....3 cool things.

1. Factropolis.com

2. http://us.akinator.com

3. brittanyburkhalter.com

Don't Lie To Me

Don't lie to me. Always tell the truth. Lying breaks the trust that already took so long to build and that will take and even longer to reform.

Cold War Kids - Skip The Charades

2:37 am

"Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark in the hopeless swaps of the not-quite, the not-yet, and the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish in lonely frustration for the life you deserved and have never been able to reach. The world you desire can be won. It exists.. it is real.. it is possible.. it's yours."
— Ayn Rand (Atlas Shrugged)

The not-quite, the not-yet, and the not-at all. I was thinking about this quote and I am not sure if I am just completely wrapped up in the beautiful complexity of its writing, or if it actually means something? If nothing else Ann Rand always had a lot to say, just look at the size of her books.... but she she does hold her position in literature for a reason.

These past few weeks I have been running around, with not much going on. In fact, I can't think of any other time in my life when I have had this little to do. I spent last week laying on a wicker chair on a screened in porch, reading. The humidity was thick, but the characters in my story spent most of their time complaining about the summer heat, so really all the temperature did was draw me deeper into my book. That and make me refill my glass every 20 minutes. Did anyone know that ice could melt so fast?

But the reading really got to me. The way that words on paper can truly change how you feel or look at something. The book I was reading turned out to have a terrible ending, however, at the end, I was still completely in love with it. Half because the story was so good, but the other half because the language was just so darn beautiful. Descriptive and pretty, and wordy yes, but with a bit of persistence on my part to get used to the style, I was transported to a world that didn't require a limitation of what my eyes could see, but instead allowed my imagination to create a vast picture of whatever I wanted the story to look like.

And as I sat there on the patio, reading... I knew that at some point in the next few months, my life has to begin. As much as I love it, I can't stay out on the patio reading all day. My back begins to hurt from lying down and I have to get a real job.

So that is where I am now. What do I want in my life? It sometimes feels like all of those things that I used to want, I might still, but I am not quite sure.

Enter this idea: "The thing is there is never a time when you will be more honest, and your convictions will be more stronger, and your motives will be more pure than they are right now. Which means chase
whatever excites you." Now, this can be horrible advice if you are chasing something bad... but on the contrary, if you are chasing something positive, I see no reason for it not to be true.

You can't let yourself be discouraged by the missed attempts and the failures and the uncertainties of different ideas and dreams. If you want something, do it. What you want can exist and the only think keeping us from reaching these far off worlds of success is the lack of belief in what we think that we can do. Sure this sounds a bit new age, but by if we can just stop for a minute and think of all the things that could go right if we follow what we want to do, rather than breaking ourselves down piece by piece, or in her words, spark by spark, until there is nothing left, we can be building a fire towards our dreams rather and putting them out.

Just a thought.

Sunshiney Day

Still dealing with the header! Arg! Maybe tomorrow will be the day of artistic inspiration.


Summer has started and so has the continuation of my blogging. Yesterday, was busy. But first, right now I am listening to a great song. Really great, more on that later. Here in Northern Virginia, it's HOT! Really hot and really humid, actually it's just like South Florida in the summertime.... Thick.

Anyway, yesterday left me with four new skills that I think are interesting enough to share.

1. I went on a walk. In nature. In the woods. In humidity. Near standing water. There were a lot of bugs. We barely survived, Claire and I. Get it?

2. Rock Band 3. So I have been in Europe for the last three weeks, and just because Iceland's volcanoes weren't spewing this week didn't mean that that continent was in the clear. No, in fact this week, the cucumbers were attacking. Everywhere I went, the news or the papers were spreading propaganda about les Concombres Toxiques, or the Toxic Cucumbers. Immediately, I thought to myself, "What an excellent band name!" Convienently, after returning to the states, a primo oppourtunity presented itself. Yesterday, Claire's sister bought Rock Band 3 -- we needed new songs after playing too much Rock Band 2. After firing it up, we of course needed a rockin' name for our new band -- and voila, I spoke, and the Toxic Cucumbers became real. That game is pretty fun, that and Just Like Heaven by The Cure is on it. Got 100% on that song, thank you... singing.

Also, it was found out that it wasn't the cucumbers that were toxic, it was bean sprouts, which I hadn't been avoiding.

3. This one is actually useful information. Last night I saw the new Woody Allen flick, Midnight in Paris. It was great! The shots of Paris were stunning, and the movie is a must see for anyone who loves classic literature and art. The movie follows a man who is visiting Paris with his wife, but everynight after midnight, he is transported back to Paris in the 1920's and become part of the social scene with all the artists and authors who were living in Paris at that time. So cool. However, half of the movie is in French, so bring someone with you to translate if you don't speak French!

4. Almost forgot! Made dinner with ingredients from Whole (Paycheck) Foods yesterday. We made flank steak and risotto. The marinate on the flank stake was killer!!!!!! Killer!!!!! Also, the risotto was inspiring.We made regualar risotto with asparagus, and then added gruyere, from France might i add, and marscapone cheese. Let's just say, it was rivaling the four cheese risotto that I had in Bordeaux last week! So amazing!! I should write that recipe down! Maybe I will.

Going to the National Mall today with Claire. The weather is stunning!!!!
Enjoy summertime!

“Sun is shining. Weather is sweet. Make you wanna move your dancing feet.”  - Bob Marley

Hello!

Not really digging the new background or the header, but for now, it will have to do.

I have given up on writing the code for my own blog, and realized this morning that blogger has tabs to add new pages... so.... voila.... I can have basically the same site here on blogger without all of the confusion of coding when i barely know what I am doing.

So now for some real information:

Currently, I am a vagrant. I have no job, no place to be, and basically no responsibilities. That sounds like an enticing work ethic for future employers doesn't it? Well, with the exception of putting this small piece of information on my blog (joke), I am not spreading that news around. I already bounced it off one arrogant man and got insulted. However, I think that the insult was on him... he made fun of my degree, communication, and then in turn, ;i used my communication skills to back his sorry arrogant cancer lobbyist end all be all attitude into the corner of the champagne tasting room that we were in. I think he might still be reeling from confusion... do you think that he has figured out that he was insulted or what a rotationplasty is?

I just got back from my AMAZING three week trip to France. The details could be published in to a short story, so to make it even shorter, it was so great. If you want more details, give me a call and i'll give you a short vignette, otherwise, it looks like you'll be waiting for the published version, and i am not sure when that will make it to the shelves, but keep and eye out.

So, I've made some changes to my blog, hopefully, over the next few days, I can get things squared away around here. I still have some stories that I haven't put up and so other things that are kind of cool. For now, check out that article that i posted before this one on Eco-Terrorism..... a very important issue facing society today... to turn or not to turn off the lightbulb.... that is the question.

For now, here's a quote: "Don't write anything you can phone. Don't phone anything you can talk. Don't talk anything you can whisper. Don't whisper anything you can smile. Don't smile anything you can nod. Don't nod anything you can wink."

B

Eco-terrorist?

So, I read this article the other day and i liked it. I am an eco-terrorist, but i try and improve myself everyday. Enjoy....


So, here's where I stand on the whole "Save the Planet" thing. I'm far from being a hippie. I don't shop with canvas bags, although I genuinely would like to remember that they are in the trunk of my car EVERY time I go to the grocery store. When I thaw meat, I leave it in a bowl of running water for about an hour (and feel guilty about it). When I take a shower, I enjoy it for however long I like (and don't feel guilty about it). I use disposable diapers from Seventh Generation (also no guilt there). One of our cars is not a hybrid and I drive it everywhere, usually without carpooling. I don't unplug my computer or toaster daily-- okay, EVER... and I still throw away many plastic bags (yes, I said it, so all of you who are also too busy to remember when recycling day is-- or worse, who have to go take your recycling to the Recycling Center-- can join me in my shame).



That being said, I don't buy soda or plastic water bottles, and I don't litter or spit my gum out anywhere but in a garbage. I try to get paper instead of plastic at the store and reuse the bags often, and I drink everything from a glass or reusable bottle. I wait until the dishwasher and washer/dryer are full before doing loads, I like to turn out lights when i leave a room, and I immediately fix all dripping faucets. We support a local farm share, I recycle all old electronics, I trained myself to turn off the water while brushing my teeth, and I have a compost bucket in the kitchen. I rarely use plasticware, and I NEVER use styrofoam. I don't even like ordering takeout from restaurants that use it for packaging and I think it should be illegal.



So, why the sudden confession? Well, honestly I feel a little bombarded with the current media obsession over GREEN. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE this beautiful planet. I get pissed when I see a car spewing black smoke or someone littering on the street. It's obvious that over the last fifty years we have not been kind to this earth, which is truly a gift. However, I think there needs to be a healthy dose of reality added to the Green agenda. From what I've seen, the Green movement has prioritized the environment & animals over the condition of the human heart and the condition of our freedoms. There are holocausts occurring in the world! There are children and babies being sold for sex and drug trafficking! There are people starving everywhere. There are little boys being trained for guerrilla militia daily. Innocence is being robbed EVERYWHERE. Thirty million Americans are functionally illiterate. Women are still devastatingly oppressed all over the world... The list goes on and on.



But above all this -- your neighbor is sick and can't afford his medical bills. The elderly are often cast aside as useless and sometimes discarded into poorly cared for facilities. Pornography is still tearing apart marriages, and someone you know is being sexually abused. Racism is not yet a thing of the past, and people still spend energy hating others over things like sexual preference and religious preference...

"But," some might say, "without the planet, we won't even exist to fight those issues in the first place!"

Really? You want to wait until the planet and the tigers are saved before you start combatting the darkness in your own backyard? If your children are being abused in your home but you're upside-down on your mortgage, would you focus on paying the bills, saying, "Without a house, we won't even have a place to live in while we stop the abuse!?" Of course not!

Look, here's the meat and potatoes of what I'm trying to say...

If you feel a strong calling-- a connection to the environment or certain animals in danger, I would never say to ignore that calling. If you feel your destiny is with Greenpeace, by all means, give Greenpeace hell! Perhaps you are meant to make a great difference in the lives of the people you encounter while on this charge--perhaps they in yours. But it IS the PEOPLE who are most important here. I would challenge you all to revisit your position on this. Yes, do what you can within reason to respect the earth we've been given -- recycle when you can, turn off lights and don't litter. Yes, toss a quarter or dollar into the cup with the picture of the malnourished horse at the checkout counter. But please don't stop there! You are meant to make a significant contribution to the people in this world, no matter how small. Sure, it's easier to just throw money or support at any random organization that seems worthy, just as it is easier to maintain surface friendships -- intentionality is HARD WORK! But we are designed for it. We are fulfilled in the pursuing of relationship more than activity...

So, carry on! Enjoy completing your civil and environmental duties, but don't forget to be intentional with the relationships around you! And remember that your philanthropic cause is not more or as important as the person with whom you are crusading.

Band Of Horses - No One's Gonna Love You (OFFICIAL VIDEO)

Pen

My pen is the barrel of a gun, which side are you on?

Right now it’s a Pilot G-2 05, and in the past few days it’s been too mighty for its own good. Twice now in the last week, I haven’t been able to publish a few of my masterpieces for fear of losing a so called friend, getting someone else fired from their job, or getting myself in more trouble than I care to get out of. Either way, trace all of these written mistakes or moments of sheer genius back to the beginning, and the blame can be nicely put on the pen.

The words that the pen writes may be done through some sort of abstract mental inspiration, but as soon as the actual ink that hits the paper, it becomes pure concrete fact. And that’s why, too many times now, the pen has gotten people into trouble.

In fact, the pen has been attacking people for years. Its defense isn’t too bad either. The power of the pen to express the written word has created a power far greater than any weapon we’ve ever imagined. As the saying goes, the pen is mightier than the sword. Follow that out a bit further, and you get the idea of living and dying by the sword. So why not the pen too?
Could the inventors of the first official writing tool have ever imagined that a swift mark of some black ink, or any color for that matter, from a quill, ballpoint, or felt tip pen, could have been so powerful?

Probably not… But writing something down can change your life. And not just your own, but anyone’s really. With the creation of the pen also came a set of problems and solutions that forever changed how we as people would go about our daily lives. Maybe that’s why the Indians stuck with an oral society.

The pen is far more accurate and precise than any oral tradition of story recounting, or bow and arrow, or musket ball ever was. This gives new meaning to a ball point pen.

But as time passes and things evolve, some creations get better, and others worse, but the pen stays the same. In fact, it has changed little over its lifetime.

Pens have been around since almost the beginning. Hieroglyphics, cave paintings, and even finger painting are all examples of early uses of pens. Pens as we know it, with ink, surprisingly were not perfected until the late 19th century.

These days pens are everywhere in every form… a stick, a piece of metal, your finger. In fact, the word pen is defined as the instrument of writing or authorship. That is definitely true. And even with all the technology that is lying around these days, all that typed work and buttons pressed, and kindles sold, at one point or another, came down to a red pen mark. Some may even argue that the pen is boundless.

Stop! So there is one limit. Pens have class. No, not class as in the high waisted dresses, cocktail hour every afternoon at five o’clock kind of way, but class as in there is a hierarchy of pens. That’s right, a class system: upper, middle, lower, some are better than others—hierarchy.

Take my G-2 for example. It’s a pretty good pen. Black. Refillable. It gets the job done as far as writing is concerned, but as frequent pen users, we all know that some pens are superior to others.

Exhibit A: Pen Envy. Pen envy is a real thing, and we all have had it at one time or another.

It’s like when you borrow a pen from someone, use it, and then say, “Wow, this is a really nice pen!” And they agree because they know it’s a good pen, and they know that you’re jealous and that you are doing one of two things. The first, thinking of a way to steal their pen, or hopefully the second, carefully reading that rubbed down writing on the side of the it in hopes of being able to approach the massive pen wall at Walmart to find the exact same one.

Pens can also be expensive gifts. Like when your grandparents give you an expensive pen for graduation or your birthday. Hopefully, you wrote the thank you card, maybe with the pen even, but have you ever used it again? Probably not. It’s one of those gifts that you say, “Thanks grandma, I haven’t ever got one of these before.” Maybe not the best gift you have ever gotten, but remember, it’s the thought that counts.

A pen can be your best friend or it can be your worst enemy. Most people see a pen as a writing implement, device, appliance, if you will. And it is, but it is also a lot of other things too.
A pen can: open the plastic on a new pack of notebook paper, make a temporary tattoo, draw a picture, break a friendship, start a war, officiate a marriage, give you a good name, give you a bad name, buy you dinner (the credit card bill of course), ruin your new favorite shirt….

Don’t believe that these reasons equal pen power. Keep reading.

On a scale from one to pen….err….ten, the pen is at the top of the power scale. Everything goes back to it. Take a problem or a solution, and you can trace the line all the way back to some document that was filled out and signed….. with a pen.

Some things that are signed with a pen: The Declaration of Independence, a birth certificate, your reading log in the 5th grade, report cards, diplomas… If you want credibility baby, you need a pen.

Speaking of birth certificates, the very pen starts our life by inking our names on a piece of paper and then again finishes our time here by marking down the instant of our last breath. The pen does all this, and everything in between.

Pens know no boundaries. They speak every language, know every history, the truths and the fallacies. They come in any color, can be used by any color, by any age, boy or girl, it doesn’t matter. The pen sees no lines except for the ones that it draws itself.

I say all of this to say, a pen is a small thing. You never think about it, you just use it. But the pen that is lodged under the seat in your car, or is in the black hole bottom of your purse, or maybe that is neatly tucked into your right shirt pocket ready for use, is the same pen that will change your life. Every action you do, every new thing that happens, can go back to something that was written down with a pen.

Can a pen change your life?

Yes, yes I do believe it can.

Newman's Finest

The game is MASH. Ever played it? Mansion, apartment, shack, or house. For some, it’s just a game. For others, it is the promise of a better tomorrow. Maybe it’s a bit farfetched, but wouldn’t it be cool.

Brandon Deckman plays. In fact, he lives his life by it. It was that fateful MASH that led Deckman to frame the back of the napkin and hang it high over his bed to read every morning and night, a reminder of his future to come.

MASH: Apartment

Setting: New York City

Job: New York Public Library

Wife: Miranda Kerr

Salary: $19,000 (she makes the big bucks)

Car: Porsche Carrera

Color: Black

Pet: Dog

That’s the goal.

But for now, Deckman is still working his way up to the top. And he has chosen to start in a
very reasonable place. He works at the circulation desk at the Virginia Tech Library. And while the highlight of his day may as well be checking the entrance gates each hour for how many people come in and out, and how many times the alarm has gone off since the last check…thrilling… to him, all this is a means to an end.

Deckman is smart; on and off the books. It’s this combination of street smarts and book smarts, not to mention good looks, that put him a pull above the rest when it comes to library employees.

For him, it’s not unusual to see A’s on research papers. Papers which were based on books that he has yet to read, papers that he usually began at midnight the night before they were due. But with a knowledge base the size of the third floor stacks, creepily persuasive writing skills, and a smile, what else can you do but give the kid an A.

These papers might also be a contributing factor to the reason why he can usually be seen coming in to work a few minutes after his noon start time. But not even the late hours can stop his awesomeness. Guaranteed, he can make it to the library in less than seven minutes, from his bed to the circulation desk, and he doesn’t live all that close.

How many people do you know who can write coherently and without mistakes during the hours after midnight and still make it to work under 10 minutes? Not many.

The library and all that is in it should bow to Deckman’s superior knowledge. After all, last week, his supervisor mentioned that she would discuss a raise with the powers that be.

If given the chance, I am without a doubt that he could reform the library catalogue system from the inside out. And it would probably be better than it is now. Just like how we’ve moved from cards to computers to find books, that Dewey system should be outdated by now, right? They
should just call it the Deckman Decimal System.

But until that time, he is content at the front desk, sitting at the highest chair, with Angela and David at his mighty left and right hands. If you’re looking for a friendly face, ask him, or the guy at the reference desk, he’s really nice too. But Deckman can give you more than just the location of book that you need to check out for class, but won’t really ever read. He’s got secrets, and here he spills….

Step 1: How to get an A on a paper, without really reading the book.
Most teachers assign that you buy a book for the class. In Deckman’s case, he was told to buy three on Karl Marx. Instead of spending the cash, he hit the books, at his home base, the library. There, he can check out the book, that in reality his professor probably used several years before; how often do the books on Karl Marx actually get checked out? From there, he cracks the cover and is fortunate to find pencil marks everywhere, underlined quotes, the good stuff. Because, “the only people who check out these books and write in them are the smart people,” and more than likely was his professor.

Step 2: How to hear semi new music.
Got a hankering for some tunes? On vinyl? Ask Deckman. He will tell you “the library has over 6,000 records in a ‘secret’ warehouse by the Tech airport.” Cd’s your thing? Make that 5,000. Go have a listen.

Step 3: How to find you how much your teacher makes.
Available for check out, “the Virginia Tech Salary Listings can tell you exactly how much your teacher made last year.” Now you can have proof behind your judgment that that professor who wastes your time and is more making you pay for your degree than earn it, is making too much, and the other guy who actually know what he is talking about, is not making enough.

Step 4: How to avoid library fines.
Fines have their consequences, but there are secrets here too. Now this is a big secret. No one is supposed to know, but…. Secrets can always find their way out. Ever checked in a book and not get charged your fine right away? “That’s because there is a three day grace period.” But be careful, if you don’t pay after three days, you will get fined, and if you don’t pay those fines, they won’t let you graduate.

Step 5: How to use the library to your advantage.
The library is way cooler than you would ever expect, at least, that is what the guys say. “To the surprise of many, you can check out magazines from the library.” To the shock of many, you can check out Playboy. Why? How? No idea, but that is enough detail.
To those that work there, the library, and working in a library in general, is to be part of a club. Those on staff, at any library, seem to have connections that go deeper than just checking in and out books.

His belief; connections are very important in the library. It’s not about what you know, but who you know around here.

Hopefully, that attitude will take him to his next goal, Miranda Kerr. But until then, it looks like the chair at the front desk will have to suffice.

P.S.
Those gates you walk through when you enter the 2nd floor. They tell you they are there for security. In fact, they have also been equipped with special Miranda Kerr sensors that Deckman himself secretly installed….. when she walks through those doors, his future will have begun.

Wakey!Wakey! - Twenty-Two

Where have I been?

Wow, it's been forever since I have written anything! I have been so busy, stick spring break in the middle of that, one with no internet or tv, and then come back to school, and BAM! This is the perfect formula for Brittany is really, really busy.

But so much for my complaining.

I had an amazing awesome spring break, so many great highlights, but one big theme was.... shocker..... eating. I ate so much, and not because I have some weird glutinous obsession, but because the food was amazing this week, and as we all know, it's all about the food. So, let's talk about it.

I started my trip hitting some local hotspots.... not really, actually, this was a place that Brandon randomly chose on his phone.

Motor Supply Co Bistro
Columbia, SC
http://www.motorsupplycobistro.com/pages/menu.html

This place was amazing. I had a take on shrimp and grits. Basically, it was shrimp in a salsa verde with butter risotto...... YUM! Menus are handwritten here, and are changed everyday. The waitress was even nice enough to let us keep one.

Great, great, great..... go here! The staff was really friendly, told us what "not" to order, and even gave us a suggestions for later that day as we continued south.

Speaking of south, next stop on our train was Savannah, GA. Okay, if you have never been to Savannah, go. Go right now! This place is so fantastic! I had heard that it was pretty but i was so impressed. People are friendly, the town is so beautiful you feel like you are in a movie set, there are restaurants everywhere, and every street is covered with tress and spanish moss. It took everything I had to leave that next morning. Thank God it was raining, otherwise I would probably still be there.

In Savannah, and as poor college students, we couldn't maintain our lunch budget, so we hit up a Scottish pub that had been recommended by the bistro.

Molly MacPhersons Pub was great, (really great).

Savannah, GA
http://www.macphersonspub.com/Main/Home.aspx

I shared the meatload with Claire, and although the waitress was exceptionally rude, she would be one of two on our trip, honestly the food was probably the best pup food I have ever had the priviledge of eating. The potato scones with raspberry sauce were to die for.

After the night in Savannah, we left..... so sad.

Finally, hours later, we hit Florida. After a sketchy stop in Lake City, which was followed by Chik-fil-A in Gainesville, we made it to Sarasota.

Sarasota adventure to come..... gotta go to class. Get excited, this part is good too!

Two of a Kind

Two of a Kind

There are two types of people in the world, the dish do-ers, and the dish avoiders.

I am sure that you have experienced them first hand. You know, those people who mysteriously disappear after the last bites have been taken and everyone else stands and heads to the kitchen to face the daunting task of cleaning up.

I am not sure where they go, limbo, to take a nap, to do “something”… the bathroom… but, somehow they always manage to miraculously leave/disappear and then return just as the last dish is being dried.

It seems that there is nothing you can do about these people except for love them, although, as a dish do-er myself, it is a little annoying. I have found a way to mask this annoyance by calling it an “endearing quality.” It helps me love others better.

However, what these dish avoiders don’t realize is what they are missing. Good conversations, funny mishaps, secrets told, the small things that makes life, well, life.

This principle is not limited to dish do-ers and dish avoiders. In fact, I believe that in everything, the two of a kind rule applies. Vanilla or chocolate? Coke or Pepsi? Lyrics or music?

Even traveling takes sides.

Just the word makes one person smile and other cringe. For some, it brings back overwhelming memories of a rich experience that can never be duplicated, and for the others, it brings back the horror of being crammed into a coach middle seat for 12 hours.

That’s actually a perfect example. Here, the travel lover would see this as an experience, something to laugh about later; the travel loather would call this hell.

For me, travel is good. Traveling is better. But being a traveler is the best. That’s what I like to call myself, a traveler. I am not someone who travels through time, sadly, but through space yes. I am at the beginning of my journey, but to be honest, I have done my fair share of traveling. And I, along with all travel lovers, am faced with task of introducing the loathers to our love affair, or in most cases, dragging them along.

I think that we all pretend to like to travel. It’s very trendy these days. We all get in the car, or on the plane, ready for an adventure. But quickly, the test of lover or loather comes, and who passes and who fails becomes very obvious very quickly.

How many times have we, either the lover or the loather, found ourselves reading the inflight magazine on a plane about a place that barely exists? A lover knows to avoid this common trap and use it as a stepping stone, whereas the loather actually goes there and ends up hating his or her life because, in actuality, and to no surprise to the lover, the job of the travel writer is to make a place look way more desirable than it actually is.

Perfect example.

My mom sent me a magazine article about this wonderful and quaint, a must see in fact, gourmet grocery store and bakery in Crozet, Virginia. I thought to myself, “Perfect! I need to go here!” So I planned it out, decided to make a day of it. I invited a friend and we set off on my road trip to what turned out to be… nowhere.

We arrived at a log cabin… cute, but not old and not too much charm. Went inside to find that yes, they did have a fine and ample selection of sandwiches, as well as an assortment of cheese and pantry items, but that was about it.

I would hardly call this a find! This was more a waste of time, and the longer that I stood there pondering why such an astute travel magazine would take this many hours off my life on purpose, the travel lover in me began to emerge.

My friend, who would call herself a lover as well, but really, to be honest, has not made the -ther to -ver ending jump yet, was just plain disappointed. To her, we had driven three hours, spent precious college money on gas, and now were eating overpriced, but still delicious sandwiches in an run down log cabin.

But to me, to me this was possibility. Crozet, Virignia, where the hell is that? I had just followed the GPS. But now it was time to get into the nitty gritty. Time to pull out the old paper map… my fave.

And you know what? The map did the trick. We had a wonderful afternoon. That trusty ole AAA map took us to apple orchards, on stunning back roads, and to the location of one of the best things that I have ever eaten (Fried Green Tomato Salad at Miller’s Bar, Charlottesville, VA). A travel lover can turn a place that barely exists into an oasis of adventure, or they can at least find that oasis from the middle of nowhere.

The map brings up a good point.

Now, I can read a map. Any respectable lover should be able to. Maps are nostalgic and surprisingly don’t need batteries, so their usage life tends to be pretty long. At least until a drive-through cup of slusho gets spilled on it, someone gets car sick, or you spend too many years not heeding Rabbit’s advice of rolling maps instead of folding them.

Twice in the last year, I have been on a road trip and the GPS, for some reason or another, has gone out of commission. The battery died, it couldn’t connect to the satellite, somehow my car had been transformed into Faraday’s Cage. I have no idea, but the GPS was a no go. And, for that very reason, we had to pull out the map.

I’ve found that loathers are scared of those things…maps I mean. In fact, I didn’t know this, but many haven’t ever used one before.

What! What? My childhood was filled with my father handing me a map in the backseat, attempting to point out where we were while driving at the same time, and then asking me where we should be going and on what road. Normally, a father wouldn’t put the fate of his family in the hands of his 10-year-old, but in these cases, it was okay.

Because only two things could happen. We would make the destination, or we wouldn’t. And both to the travel lover are okay. Because that is all part of the journey.

Traveling is a skill that must be learned. You can’t just read about travel, you must experience it! It takes years, and places, and yes, some money, and experiences and thousands of awkward moments to become a traveler. But the result, the result cannot be duplicated.

If you do it right, traveling touches your soul in ways you can’t even describe. It makes you do things that you would never do, and it lets you be someone who’s cool and adventurous and who tries new things, tastes new foods. It can be indescribable.

But maybe that’s why people don’t like to travel. Because the trips are so great, but they always eventually come to an end. And that is hard, to leave something, an emotion or experience or place that you fell in love with, behind. It’s almost like leaving a piece of your soul in another place. But someone once told me this, and it helps. “Every song has an end, but is that any reason not to enjoy the music?"

It's been a few days....

It's been a few days since I last wrote! Wow, gotta stay on this for all my loyal followers.

Not much to say so i'll just share some cool things.....

Did you know that the Lifehouse song, "Hanging by a Momemt" was originally meant to be a Christian song? I mean it is, but it was just released secularly.

If you are ever in Nice, France, you should eat at Le Maison de la Marie. It's amazingly delicious and so cute.

I am at Starbucks and the people sitting next to me are SO LOUD! I can hear them through my headphones and I am listening to Switchfoot. Really! People! C'mon! (I think that they are elementary school teaches, so maybe they only have two levels, off and LOUD)

Cool quote that I put on my Facebook last week that people liked: "Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle."

This may not the be the nicest thing, but People of Walmart (.com) is a must stop on the interweb.

Song of today is Don't Wait by Dashboard Confessional.

Also this one




Tomorrows update will be so much better!

Made chicken for some peeps last night. So good and so easy! Here's the link!

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Greek-Chicken-and-Potatoes-1725

Dashboard Confessional - Stolen

Hungry?

Get up in the morning, get dressed, go to work, eat lunch, drive home.

Now let’s take a closer look.

Every morning you wake up. You get dressed in a freshly pressed cotton shirt. You make your way down to the kitchen where you quickly slap together a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. You pop your sunglasses on your face, hop in the car, and make your way to work.

Let’s take an even closer look.

The cotton gin, the sewing machine, peanut butter, sunglasses, the assembly line… all things that you probably used this morning. But what do all of these things have in common?

America.

My friend once told me that you can never go wrong writing about America. What teacher would not give you a good grade for writing about the greatest country in the world? Wouldn’t you think a country that invented all of these things, things that are becoming essential in our everyday life, would be on top of the world right now? Not down in the dumps in debt.

It’s a conundrum to me, really. How can the country who created the light bulb, the airplane, the computer and the internet for heaven’s sake, be in debt? We should be richer than Dubai!

So what’s the problem? I say it’s simple.

Vending machines, yet another American invention.

With the creation of the vending machine, as well as many other inventions after, we at the same time created a monster of a trend.

The vending machine, while ingenious in its own right, also perfectly displays the ideology of Americans while simultaneously setting them on a crash course for the future. The combination of American problem solving mixed with the poison of instant gratification was born, and this time it was neatly packaged in preservative-laced, trans fat filled, partially hydrogenated health bars. Yum!

While it may not be fair to argue that the vending machine is the root of all our problems, it does provide an excellent example.

People love what they love, and when they want something, they want it now. The difference is Americans, in their nature, have found a way to satisfy that need. But greed has made us stupid. Yes, we can get what we want anytime, almost instantly, thank you iTunes, you are single handedly taking down the music industry, but at least my CD’s from eBay are cheaper, but what is the real cost?

I think the real cost is all the waste it creates. The U.S. had become a throwaway society. We are inefficient. Millions of dollars are lost or tied up in red tape. Our society is sick, our economy is sick, and our country is sick (from all the trans fat) but somehow, we have managed to keep our heads above water. But how long can that last?

If it were possible, and our nation could sit down and get its act together, start making decisions based on what is best for people, and not what works best to instantly gratify them, things may really start to turn around.

Because that is all that instant gratification is: a quick fix. A temporary patch. Great ideas take time. You can’t just create a masterpiece overnight.

Take an author. That book he just published did not just get down on paper the first go round. There was a first draft. And it was horrible, but it was that first draft that created an idea for the second draft. And then came the third, and the fourth, and the fifth. And eventually, after work, and time, and love even, the words on the paper can become meaningful and epic. There is no immediacy (instantity) in that.

Dubai has vending machines that vend gold bars. We, the U.S. can’t even think about gold bars much less if we need to get rid of our dog because we can no longer afford to pay for dog food.

My mantra, if you can’t afford it, don’t buy it. Sure, I want a new car, a lot of people do, but just because I can get it, doesn’t mean that I should get it. Same goes for the house. Living within our means is something that our country has forgotten after marching downs the gratification trail for so many years.

Look where that has gotten us. Something has got to change. But will we as a people ever take that initiative? Is it possible, or is it too late?

So do I think that one can blame all of America’s failures on the vending machine? No, but you have to have someone (or something) to blame it on, right?

Britt

What New With You

Hey!

So instead of doing the tons of work that I have to do today, I instead messed around with the layout of my blog. Not really sure that I love what I have done with the place, but maybe in the next few weeks it will start to look better. I like the old background, but it was really busy and dark, and dark, with the exception of my clothes, is definitely not me.

So for the apple pie. That was not the worlds greatest recipe. The best part of that pie was the crust, and that was store bought. The pie itself came out too runny, so the crust wasn't crisp, and there was way, way too much lemon. It wasn't bad, just not a recipe to keep, or to rave about.

Just got my webcam fixed on my computer today so I think that it would be cool if I did a video blog, i'll keep thinking about that one. Hopefully nothing else will get screwed up this machine.

This week I started ordering cd's off ebay again. I used to do this all the time in high school. They are dirt cheap, like 3 bucks, shipping included, you get a hard copy, and you can also put it on your computer. Love it. Just got one for 99 cents and $1.99 shipping. Not a bad deal for 13 tracks. Cheaper than itunes if you ask me.

By the way, if you don't, I basically hate itunes. It's great for listening/discovering/organizing new music, and yes I use it daily (call me a hypocrite). But it kills good songs. It stops you from buying the whole album and working towards liking other songs on that record, and it kills the hard copy industry... no me gusta.

Right now I am listening to Something Cooperate. Love it.

Oh, saw this today, its really cool.

This man paints himself into scenery, so well you almost can even tell that he is there! His name is Lui Bolin and his amazing.

 

Here's the link.There's a bunch more pictures of his stuff. So cool!
http://www.bellasugar.com/Chinese-Artist-Liu-Bolin-Creates-Real-Life-Wheres-Waldo-Scenes-13668502

One last thing. Word.

verdant

   \ VUR-dnt \  , adjective;

1.

Green with vegetation; covered with green growth.

2.

Green.

3.

Lacking experience or sophistication; naive

Go be cool.

Britt

Some Cool Things

Some cool things....

First, my friend's band just released their album on itunes! Check them out, they are great. They are called Sea Fever and their album is called Go Find Your Love. You can also check out their myspace page. http://www.myspace.com/weareseafever

Next, is another band I found called Castle Lights. They have a five song EP out right now and I can't wait for more. My favorite song of theirs is called Maze of Love. So great, you should definitely check it out as well.

Yesterday, I went to Bubblecakes in Roanoke. It's another one of those trendy cupcake places that sells overpriced cupcakes that aren't very good. At least that is what I was expecting. Instead, I found something completely different. The place is so cute, but most important, the cupcakes they sell are to die for! They are amazingly delicious. I had the Tiffany cupcake which is vanilla cake with almond icing and a Brownie Souffle, which is basically a cupcake brownie....yum. Need I say more. So if you are ever in Roanoke, check it out.
http://bubblecake.com/

Now, I am going to make an apple pie. Still have yet to find an amazing recipe for that. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know.

The one I am trying today uses these ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds Granny Smith apples (about 3 medium)
2 pounds McIntosh apples (about 4 large)
1 tablespoon juice and 1 teaspoon zest from 1 lemon
3/4 cups (5.25 ounces) plus 1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 egg white, beaten lightly


You'll find out how this went next time!

A cool gift idea. I am obsessed with this. I hope that my dad and my brother don't read my blog because I want to get this for them. I saw this and thought it was so cool and its great because you can just buy a ton of them and give them to every guy that you know. It's called, "The Beer Stick."

http://www.thebeerstick.com/



Lastly, but not least(y), a cool picture.


A picture of Christians protecting Muslims during their prayers. 


Britt

Taking the Time

Check this out!

“I don’t have time to read.” You can hear that anywhere. Right now I am hearing it as I sit in my law class. Funny, because at the same time, I am reading on article on college students claiming they just don’t have time to pick up a book.

“Why read when I can go on my computer?” That’s the one that I get from my 15 year old sister.

It seems these days, whether it be for fun or for an assignment that reading for pleasure is a dying out.

Who actually reads anymore? If it’s not students and it’s not kids, and it’s basically no one in our generation except our mothers and our fathers, and maybe our grandparents, if they are still with us or even if they still can, and then not counting those few weird kids, then who is it?

Who is still reading?

Kindles are trendy, another computer or gadget or whatever. But even those have Wi-Fi.

What’s that other thing?

A nook?

What about a book? You know, real paper and a slightly enticing cover.

Reading is a dying art. Sure, we are still a literate nation. But we are also a nation on the verge of losing its passion for a form of expression that we call literature.

Some excuses.

No one has time to read anymore. I don’t have time. The stories end too quickly. The books are too long. Reading is boring. The list could go on and on.

So why read?

Maybe all we need is a reminder. Reading can be beautiful. Reading can be nostalgic. Reading can make you patient, it can make you think. Reading makes you smarter, reading makes you wiser, reading gives you a colossal vocabulary…if you let it.

It may take something from you to get the book started, but it always gives you back at least double what you put in. It’s amazing, actually and funny too. You read, and then suddenly you find yourself speaking more articulately, with bigger words, and better flow to your speech than you ever knew that you possessed. Even your writing gets better.

Reading can change you.

So why don’t people read anymore? The answer is I don’t know. But I do have my opinions.

I think that people have fallen out of love with the written word and have fallen into something else. Our minds are on speed…all the time. The LSD of this generation now comes in LCD form. That acronym is close enough for me.

How often do we find ourselves watching TV, on our laptops, music playing, all the while multitasking on Facebook chat and text messaging on our smartphones? We seem to always have time for that.

This cannot be a healthy habit and in the race between books and new technologies, it’s the new stuff that’s winning.

When the U.S. promoted competition, I don’t think that this is what they had in mind, or to this extent. But in any case, technology is killing anything that existed before 1988.

The whole world is wrapped up in health these days but we seem to be missing what is directly in front of us. We are addicted to technology. We are slaves to our laptops and our phones and anything else with a screen. We are so caught up in the instant gratification of our time that actually making time for something that doesn’t have a clock built in becomes difficult.

Now can you see how the beauty of the book can get lost in this mess of invisible signals floating through the air?

I am an old soul. I go home and knit. I watch Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune. I like to walk to the grocery store when I can.

But my favorite time, my absolute favorite time of day, is coming home, turning off my computer, and the TV and putting my phone on the table… can’t let that get too far, right?

And going over to my receiver, flipping the switch, hearing the slight buzz as it warms up. Pushing down the button on the turntable and then watching the arm go up and over, and finally resting on some carefully chosen black vinyl, crackling. And finally sitting down on my couch, and getting to read.

I’ve waited all day for this…I hope it’s a good one….a book that is. 

Usual Goings On

Life in Blacksburg has been slow as of late, but that should be no surprise. The weather is not too bad, but it is still cold. I am having a hard time jumping back into the school zone, but hopefully when tests start to kick in next  week I will be on top of things.

For those of you who are interested, my computer broke again. This is the third time in two weeks. It's the webcam this time. I tried to skype my cousin in Spain this morning and only half of my face was showing. Wish a had a screen capture, but you will just have to take my word for it.

So here's something cool.

We who are
your closest friends
feel the time
has come to tell you
that every Thursday
we have been meeting,
as a group,
to devise ways
to keep you
in perpetual uncertainty
frustration
discontent and
torture
by neither loving you
as much as you want
nor cutting you adrift.
Your analyst is
in on it,
plus your boyfriend
and your ex-husband;
and we have pledged
to disappoint you
as long as you need us.
In announcing our
association
we realize we have
placed in your hands
a possible antidote
against uncertainty
indeed against ourselves.
But since our Thursday nights
have brought us
to a community
of purpose
rare in itself
with you as
the natural center,
we feel hopeful you
will continue to make unreasonable
demands for affection
if not as a consequence
of your disastrous personality
then for the good of the collective

Phillip Lopate




Britt

Ouch!

Alright, so as I sit here, speaking with my roommates, Meagan and Stefanie, in a country accent, and I am trying to find some things interesting enough to blog about.

I have been trying to refrain from talking about myself, even my Magazine Writing teacher tells me that you shouldn't do that, and instead I would rather tell you about a funny story or a cool fact that I found throughout the day. But, as I have nothing, you are getting a story about me.

Perhaps you all may know, I like to cook. And with that comes many triumphs, and many failures.... but hopefully more successes right.

On success, could be the discovery of, "The Chicken."

Every Tuesday and Thursday, my teacher, Carlos, asks anyone if they have any chicken recipes. Every time, I want to yell, YES! but still have yet to do so.

The Chicken, recipe was discovered about two years ago and has never failed to please a crowd. It's my go to meal when I have nothing else to make, or, when I went to eat something delicious. :)

I think that maybe next week I will share my super secret chicken recipe.

Carlos, this is probably the best chicken dish that I make, and I make a lot of chicken. Look for my chicken recipe to come soon..... remember, it's secret!


Anyway, so enought about a success, everyone secretly love a good failure. They happen to me, occasionally, and sometimes, more often than I would like. This week was definitely more than I would like.

I am sad to admit, but I have had two, count them, TWO! grease fires this week!

Yes, I am fairly embarrassed, but it happens.....right?

The first almost caused the casualty of Brandon's new wok. Luckily, after two foot high flames, a bit of burnt arm hair, people running out of the kitchen screaming, a dish towel, not water in the wok, and later a reset fire alarm, we were able to save both the wok and the dinner.

Thank God, because it was delicious!

Round two, searing my fillet mignon from dinner last night. Any hopes that I had had of not making my roommates jealous of my late night dinner were immediately smothered with the second flame up. This time, I tried to close the doors to the kitchen to keep the smoke inside, however, the only success there was successfully suffocating myself.

A burned finger later, I made a shallot, mushroom, and Beaujolais pan sauce, and ate my dinner.

It was fabulous.


I think that I made need to move a fan into the kitchen for any further flame ups. Or maybe a fire extinguisher, we'll see.

Go eat something delicious tonight!

Britt

P.S. about to make myself a tea latte. I heat a mug filled with equal parts milk and water in the microwave. Add a tea bag, some sugar, a dash of vanilla, stir, and enjoy!!!

Oh Hawaii

Neil Abercrombie... excuse me, Governor Neil Abercrombie announced today that he would not continue to push for the release of Barack Obama's birth certificate. 

Now, I am not writing this because I am one of those people who is just positive that he is not American, not that I really consider "Hawaii" America at all, but, really. 

I just don't understand why we can't see the freaking piece of paper.... what's the big deal? Why does it have to be so secretive? Is that normal? What do you think?

Here's an article about it.

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20110122_Governor_halts_Obama-birth_effort.html

Update

So my computer broke today. Right now, as I type, there are two one inch lines, one black and one white, going straight down the center of my computer from top to bottom. They have successfully turned my 13in widescreen into a six inch narrow screen, well two I guess. To see this glass half full, let's just say that now I have two small like monitors rather than one large one. I just got this computer in September.

But that isn't very interesting.

Currently I am reading "Bird by Bird" by Ann Lamont. Review to come later. This is book one in the Lauren and Brittany Book Club. In addition to our life long friendship, we have formed a life long book club. We'll by reading different books and posting our thoughts. I hope that we will find some good ones to share.

Song that I am obsessed with this week, "The World Spins Madly On" by The Weepies. I love it, it's so addicting. Actually, I am beginning to think that I like it so much because it is such and easy song to sings, and me being near next to tone deaf, loves anything that is within my two note range.

Other than that, didn't do any homework for tomorrow yet.... not good.

I am liking putting these pictures up too. Anyway, hopefully some exciting stuff will happen this weekend, or at least something overly interesting.

Until then,

Britt

I am trying to check for typos but I only get half way across the page! :)

AHHH

Ignore this, I beat blogger!


Just wrote a whole post and it deleted!!! It was good too!

Here's the gist...

Computer is busted.

The Weepies, The World Spins Madly On

Reading Bird by Bird for Book Club


Man I am bummed that didn't save!

Britt

Caught Red Handed, I Am Guilty

In seventh grade, I changed schools. On one of my first days in class, my silent sustained reading class, we took a survey. One of the questions asked, "How many books do you own?"

At the time, I was completely engrossed in my "Sammy Keys and the Hotel Thief" novel, very cool book cover by the way. I remember that question so distinctly because honestly, I had no idea how many books I had. I was an obsessive reader. I think that I answered 300 and that probably was an understatement.

I loved to read. Commonly, I would take out books and return them next day. It took the librarian only a few times to realize that I was finishing the books, and not just returning them because they were bad.

But the point of all of this was that I loved to read. I was addicted to reading. The Christmas before that year, I believe that I received 40 books, and it was great! Reading was my life.

And then seventh grade started..... and the reading stopped.

And thinking about that makes me very sad. I don't love to read anymore. I have tried over and over again to find that love for reading, but it is hidden somewhere far far away.

Sure, I read occasionally, but nothing serious, not like before. But I know that it's still out there, and I know that I can find it.

So I am going to begin the journey again. I am going to find my passion for the written word. It may be a long and hard journey, but I know when I find it, this will be great again.

Maybe I just need to reread Sammy Keys.

So, if any of you have been wanting to pick up a book again, but just can't seem to find the time because you are glued to your computer screen. This is your chance. Shut the lip and open up a book.

Good Luck!!!
Britt