april dinner = winner!

g and i hosted our second dinner at the studio last saturday. you can read all about it here

dilemma

i'm caught in this dilemma: to start a compost or not? ideally, it shouldn't be a dilemma at all - use your tossed-out scraps and with a little nurturing, bring to life a rich product. i mean, it makes sense for someone like me, with a near-complete diet of fresh produce, to extract every last bit of nutrients from what i eat. but it's a bit more complicated that that.

living in a shoebox of a studio with no yard, i have limited space to store a compost. and even with the square-foot of a space i considered, my studio would be inundated with the malodor of fermenting fruit leftovers every time i open the window. then there's the question of what to do with the finished product. i don't have a garden to spread this love-child, and i am at a loss of what else to do with it.

so that's where i am. caught in a battle between the carbon footprint and these stupid ol' logistics. HELP!

all i really want to do

after a conversation with a dear friend this morning (combined with yesterday's dreadful day at work and topped off with my current read on being an introvert in an extrovert society), i realized all i really want to do is be a baker. and i don't mean the dessert-type baker, but instead, the bread-type baker.

imagine: starting the day at 3 am, when life is still. tranquil. a kitchen warmed by ovens, a workplace free of distractions. and the work itself - mixing, kneading, rolling...repeat. a type of work in which precision is key, in which it's okay to take my time and calculate.

after nurturing this bread of mine, it goes into the oven where it begins its lengthy, yet remarkable, transformation. rising. goldening. cracking ever so slightly. and then there's satisfied me, welcoming dawn, steadying myself into a lovesick stupor as i inhale the goodness of my baking bread. in this kitchen, i see - and taste - results. i leave with the day ahead, feeling proud of my work, eager to share the final product with others. and through it all, i don't have to compromise who i am, how i work, or what i believe. it all just seems to fit.

but for the sake of my parents' sanity and the fact that i actually do like my job (minus the discouraging days like yesterday), i can say that this baker dream is just that. or who knows...life is just beginning, as far as i'm concerned.

mud

we did it. we woke up at 4:30 am, donned our running bibs, and got down and dirty.

yesterday morning, g and i raced in the down and dirty mud run. mama, dear sweet mama, even came to chronicle our adventure.

when we arrived, it was a whopping 38 degrees outside. at that time, the last thing we wanted to do was run...in mud.

but as the start time neared, we couldn't help but feel the energy and get excited. especially, as the sun came up. 

the race itself was more challenging than i had expected. although it was shorter than a half-marathon, the course gave our bodies quite a workout. with 19 obstacles, muddy terrain, and more than a handful of steep hills, we definitely felt the burn. 

the military men and women at the obstacles added to the challenge by ensuring we didn't skimp on the exercise. if we had to crawl, we had to do it on our bellies. if we had to pull ourselves up a wall, we couldn't use our knees. yeah, we felt thrashed. my hand bled, arms and knees got scratched, and at one point, g decided to finish the race barefoot since his feet were already abused. it was intense.

but we finished. and we finished together. mama was there to cheer us on as we took our final crawl through the mud pit. we were exhausted, bruised, filthy, and so so grateful for the military men and women who actually train and fight in worse conditions. it was a very humbling experience. 

a special thanks to mama, who woke up before dawn, waited for us in the cold, and supported us in the end. we love you!

here we go again

it's that time of year again. the buds are blossoming, the birds are chirping, and i have to get another pap smear. if you recall from my first experience last year, you might understand why this is a big deal. so big, in fact, i feel compelled to share my anxiety. dread. sheer fear.


the mere thought of that metal apparatus sends shooting chills down my spine. legs wide open, bare for all to see. blinded by the fluorescent light above - oh, if only it was the light signaling my death. and then the speculum exam. the swab. the fingers. Lord, give me strength.

trust you me, i have considered every excuse to omit this part of the check-up (i.e. Mother Nature has opened the flood gates; sorry, there's no time...i have to get back to work, etc). but of course, my moral compass points to Reason and Rationality. i have to go through with it. it's healthy, important, and recommended by national health organizations, for goodness' sakes! oh yeah, and it's part of being a woman.

so lady friends of mine, keep me in your thoughts tomorrow around 10:50 am, and thank your lucky stars that your intimate goods aren't being probed in a doctor's office.

it just doesn't make sense

may i preface with an apology to any hunger games enthusiasts out there: i'm sorry, but i just don't get it.

can someone please explain to me how there can be so much controversy over bully - the documentary chronicling the escalating bullying among youth - while here you have a blockbuster hit making a spectacle of child sacrifices? it just doesn't make sense.

kids and teens eagerly awaiting the live version of the novel they just finished reading. the anticipation. the excitement to see their heroin fight for survival. but what about the graphic first scenes of these "hunger games?" the twisting of necks, the butchering of bodies? and then the resulting animal instinct-like thrill that naturally brews within us...find them! run! kill!


quite frankly, i could hardly stomach this parade.

what about bully? what about the reality of today's youth driving themselves to suicide because they were shunned, called names, or worse, left on their own because peers feared telling authority? this is what kids should be standing in line for. in my opinion, the bad language - over which this controversy stems - is pennies and nickels compared to what is seen in the hunger games. and, yet, look at what is making millions.

perhaps there is a grander meaning behind the hunger games, and maybe i was wearing my black-and-white lens while watching it. but regardless if i walked away with an understanding of the symbolism or not, it just doesn't make sense that we wouldn't encourage more viewings of a documentary that sheds light on a real problem. why wouldn't we teach our youth about bulling, its consequences, and how to seek help? probably because we are blinded by the lights of hollywood.

and, still, it just doesn't make sense.

dinner, accomplished

pardon me for waiting until now to mention anything about our first official dinner party, which happened 4 days ago. time has just been flying by with this spring weather luring us outdoors. so if you'd like to see how our first monthly dinner turned out, check out our post at the dinner studio

in the meantime, i shall be back shortly!