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     I made it to Georgia in one piece, and I think all my stuff is still in one piece, too.  Most of my stuff will stay packed for a while, but I've been able to unpack a view things just so that I'll feel at home here in my family's house until I get my own place around here.  As it turns out, I can fit into my old room with two of my sisters, but it's taking a lot of hardcore organizing and rearranging-- constantly.  It's amazing what a difference it makes to have lots of organizing things; you really can get triple the space sometimes.      In other news, I am trying out this whole cold brew craze.  Tomorrow we'll see whether I made it right or not.      I also love Owl City's new album, Cinematic .  "Firebird," and "Lucid Dream" are my favorites, but "Fiji Water" reminds me a little of his earlier song, "Dental Care."  I am just so excited that Adam Young is still putting out songs!  (I'm h...

     It has been exactly six months since I started up this blog, and I am happy to say that it is still going!  I have posted at least three times every month since my first post-- with the exception of April, when I did not post at all.  This is the most amount of regular for-other-people-and-not-just-me writing I have done in years , so this is very exciting.      What's also exciting is that I have a new favorite game (which I did not invent): creating Hallmark movie synopses for your single friends.  Two friends of mine began this, and now I can't stop.  I just finished planning one in which my friend meets her soulmate while criticizing clothes at the mall, and then gets rescued from a tornado AND from a three-nose-ringed barista wearing moss and lichen on his face instead of a beard.  I need to write this out straight away before I forget it, actually.  All in all, I highly recommend the game.

     People like to talk about "Fast Fashion," in regards to clothing and accessories, but has anyone thought about it in relation to food?  Think about how many food fads there are: avocado, quinoa, coconut oil, fruit-infused water, etc.  Have you ever noticed that restaurants with the same price range and "target audience" all tend to copy each other?  That's not a coincidence.      People who are 30 probably cook and eat differently than people who are 50-60; and those who are 60+?  Apparently, there's such thing as "old people food."  Why is this?  Why can't it just be...... I don't know..... food?  I had some horseradish the other day at work, and I realized that I couldn't remember the last time I had eaten horseradish, or seen anyone else eat it, either.  People have been eating that stuff for hundreds of years, and they were on to something: it's really good with meat.  Why do we never eat it...

     And now for the big reveal:  I am moving back to Georgia!  I have been away for some years, and it will be good to go back for some time.  I will now have new kinds of adventures to report, and new sources of inspiration.... and new things to criticize, let's be honest.  :)

       Today my roommate asked whether I was cooking or conducting a science experiment.  It's a fair question, actually, especially if you had seen how ridiculously I was going about my culinary endeavor.      I am attempting to create a coconut and Thai basil limeade, but I'm not sure how well it's going thus far.  I'll have to wait until tomorrow to see if the coconut and Thai basil flavors have infused the limeade or not.  I feel pretty justified in my flavor combination, but I also feel like the contestants on the Great British Baking Show when they struggle to balance all the flavors in a given dish.  I would really love for this to turn out well, but we'll see.  At least I won't lose anything but a little bit of time and ingredients should I fail to achieve the perfect coconut Thai basil limeade.          I've also been listening to more random stuff on YouTube, wh...

     Sorry for the unprofessional, super-duper informal and messy format of my blog lately.  There's been a lot going on-- which at least does mean that I have a lot things to say.... (as if that's ever the real problem, haaaaaa...)      I know very little about Asian culture, but I am happy to say that I am learning more about it these days.  On a sort of related note, I have noticed that many Asian restaurants have potted plants in the dining room, but very few American restaurants do.  In fact, most American restaurants have a very warm color palette, while a lot of East Asian restaurants tend to use cooler colors in their decorating.  It's very interesting, each strategy attempts to create a pleasant and inviting atmosphere, but the approaches are slightly different.  I wish potted plants were more ubiquitous, and I plan on purchasing a parlor palm when the opportunity presents itsel...

     These are the real questions.  If you have an answer, leave it in a comment!  :) Why do men often choose to say "buddy" rather than friends, but women always use the term "friend"?  Is there a worry that "friend" sounds "too emotional" or "too intimate," and so a "tougher" word is needed?  If so, why?  (Personally, I'm not so much a fan of the term "buddy" if it is always used to replace "friend.") "Cannoli" is a plural noun in Italian.  Is there a singular?  Is the singular "cannolo"?  If so, why do we not use it? Why aren't more shows like The Great British Baking Show and Escape to the Country ? When suet is used to make desserts, do the desserts taste like meat?  Does suet count as meat on a Friday? Is it only my family, or do most American families rarely eat seafood? Why is it so expensive to rent graduation caps and gowns?  Are they rarely returned in good c...

     Hello, all!  I realize I have been absent for quite a while.  There has been a lot happening here, and I will have exciting news to share soon, but for now I have another set of quick reviews.  This time, they will be sorted out into categories. Food Uyghur food is fantastic, and I hope more such restaurants will be popping up soon in other parts of the country. Mango mead is really good, as is pineapple hard cider. If you put a little bit of rosewater into your coffee, the taste is quite pleasant.  Note, I said a LITTLE bit.  Rose-- and other florals-- can be an insanely overpowering taste if you put more than a little bit in.  Always put less than you think is enough-- you can always add more after tasting. Not Food Trays are not to be sneezed at.  There's a reason they exist.  What would you rather do, take ALL of your midnight snack up to your room one item at a time, or bring it all in one trip?  How...

     I feel like my blog post inspirations lately have all been about food.  Spices to flavor your food, the wonders of H-Mart, canned biscuits, restaurants....  Last night I dreamed about food!  For one thing, I recently realized that I'm something of a foodie.  For another thing, I am a waitress at an upscale restaurant, so since my livelihood depends on serving food, I tend to think about it all day. Here are some food topics I'd like to cover in future posts: My amazing canned biscuit hack (a game-changer) Tips on cooking for one* We don't know what our food looks like in nature (and how H-Mart is one small step to fixing that) Reasons to work at a fancy restaurant Recipes and meal ideas** Food reviews    𓅣 𓅥 𓅦 𓅓 𓅃 𓄿 𓁐 𓁈 𓀭 𓀰 𓀎 𓀃 𓀀      I would just share the biscuit hack with you now, but I'm afraid I need to take some pictures in order for that to make more sense....

     I just love spices.  Rows and rows of small glass jars, all neatly lined up (or sort-of lined up, anyway) in the pantry, each with a cool name, a great smell, and a thousand uses!      Making your own spice blends is a lot of fun, and very easy!  In cooking anything at all, you need a certain amount of skills and practice.  Making a spice blend, however, is even more fail-proof than making toast or boiling water!  You only need measuring spoons, and a clean spice jar!  Here are some easy spice blends to make: Ras El Hanout Pumpkin Pie Spice Za'atar      The first on this list, Ras El Hanout, is used in Morocco.  You can add it to tagines, meat, couscous, and all kinds of things!  I used it to make kefta, and a hot chickpea "salad," and was thrilled with the results.  The kefta recipe is below, and at some point I think I'll share my recipe for the chickpea dish.  (N...

     We all know that Mary Poppins believes that "In every job that must be done/ Is an element of fun."  I see no reason why this maxim shouldn't also apply to bathroom cleaning-- one of the less appealing chores.  We make chore charts with colorful stickers for our kids and students, so why shouldn't we do the same for ourselves?  Sometimes all it takes is a sticker and a ridiculous chart to make life just a little bit more fun.  Princess Jasmine agrees with me.  

       If I ever write any kind of autobiography, I already know the names of some of the chapters: "By the Light of the Alarm Clock," and "1001 Car Problems."    The former title will be for the chapter of my high school years, whereas the latter is both a recommendation from a friend, and not too far from the truth.      Here's where I start my "kids these days" posts.  When I was in high school, I spent hours and hours reading and writing.  If I was supposed to be in bed, but the Muse was flowing, I ended up writing by the light of my very cacophonous alarm clock, sometimes for a few hours.  That's what I was doing-- not playing the next eighteen levels of candy crush, not in an online "chat room" having hidden conversations with complete strangers, not binge-watching rated M TV shows.  I was reading that one last chapter, learning more Elvish, listing my woes in a diary, or...

     I have been doing lots and lots of purging and reorganizing of late, and it turns out that I have written so much more in the last four years than I realized.  With every box of papers that I open and every notebook I go through, I keep finding more and more bits of stuff.  I really love silly verse, and apparently I have more of it than I remembered.  In addition to creating separate word documents for the more ambitious and lengthy pieces, I also have a growing multi-page document for the small pieces and the scraps of verse that I keep finding.  For instance, this piece was written in March of 2016: An Ode to IOWA's O fair and radiant standardized test, You shine so bright, thou art the best! We are with your fair presence blest, As I chill with thee at my state's behest.          Can you guess I was working in standardized testing when I wrote this?  There is so much more where ...

     After many weeks of sadly believing this poem to be lost, I finally found it when clearing out old emails.  Hip hip hooray!  This is one of my two proudest parody-poem moments (the other being "beowulf slept in a gory meadhall").  This is modeled after the poem "Sonnet 43," by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Sonnets from the Percolator 43: O Coffee Bean How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the mill and roaster, too. My hand shall reach when morning comes anew For a mug and spoon (I'm still in a daze). I love thee as thou ridst me of morning's haze, Most wond'rous drink, celestial nectar-brew. I love thee deeply: other drinks I eschew. I love thee madly: it's more than just a craze. I love thee with or without white cow juice Or sugar cane, or sweet and tempting snack. I love thee so much more than chocolate mousse! When I've sipp'd, the aroma beckons me back. Morning, night, all the day long, I...

     This is possibly my proudest writing moment.  My friend Liz is to be given credit for the opening lines, as she said in Anglo-Saxon Lit. class one day, "Anyone lived in a gory meadhall/ with up so floating many word-hoards."  That was in the spring of 2014.  Many months later, these words came to mind and I decided to go the whole hog.  The structure and rhyme scheme are taken from E. E. Cummings' "anyone lived in a pretty how town," and the story (surprise) is Beowulf.  Enjoy! beowulf slept in a gory meadhall -- g c connolly -- beowulf slept in a gory meadhall (with up so floating many word-hoards) ring, hrothgar, monster, bone-house he swam his didn't he slew his did Wiglaf and men (both bulky and frail) sailed with beowulf, road of whale they mourned their isn't, wish't heorot freed sword, helm, torque, mead grendel gulped (but only a few and down he forgot as tempers flew geat, munching, arm, grap...

     I thought about it, and realized that maybe I should put all my poems as posts, as I have enough to crowd the page section.      Below is something I wrote in the summer last year, right around the time of the solar eclipse.  We were having some trouble with our dishwasher, which was annoying me immensely.  Naturally, my response was to write a mini-mock-epic.  (As it turns out, the last line is true: we noticed a big difference once we switched to a fancier detergent.)  I may write some more about the other episodes involving inconveniences in our home. Saga of the Dishwasher Part IV: It Had Better Work This Time... Sing O Muse of that house in the Mews And of its inhabitants, partial to cleanliness! Such lovers of crumb-lessness, and haters of messiness Did encounter a hardship with their washer of dishes. The fickleness of Maytag shall be known by all-- So listen up, all of y'all! ...

     My life has a special ebb and flow of organizational and cleaning-directed energy.  The moon has phases, and so does the state of my room.  Last summer, I embarked on a journey of cleaning, rearranging, organizing, and purging (though not in that order).  What I have learned is a very important lesson in keeping things tidy:      Buy organizing stuff.  Preferably attractive organizing stuff.  Just do it.      Over the years, I have tried various methods of containing and organizing things.  Many of these methods involved using those giant 10-reams-of-paper boxes that my workplace was constantly getting rid of, or using those plastic storage tubs.  I will not sneeze at free boxes, and the giant plastic storage bins are very useful in attics, garages, closets, and storage units, but there are some problems with using these methods as a long-term solution: 1.  They are ugl...

     I want to see something good.  I want to see a new movie-- the plot of which I don't already know-- that will be well-made, exciting, non-offensive, with likeable characters.  I do not want to see a movie that I feel like I have to fast forward multiple parts, a movie that feels like I am watching a video game, or a movie where the characters feel more paper-thin than the most overused of stock characters.      I guess I'll be waiting a really long time, then.  It doesn't look like many of those are coming any time soon.  Most of the movies that come to the theater I either don't think I'd feel good watching, or I don't think I'd enjoy watching.  They say "Don't judge a book by it's cover," but the average movie trailer isn't a cover, it's more like an interview.  It is made so that you can judge the movie.  Why would you go see a movie if you didn't judge that it was worth seeing?  Only, i...

     I remembered today a line from Cranford (a good BBC miniseries; definitely recommend) that I thought was interesting.  One of the characters describes a method of diary-keeping where you write in the morning your expectations of the day (I will hit snooze thrice, eat breakfast in the car, go to work, come home, get the mail, eat dinner, hopefully do laundry. The end.), and at night you write about your day as it happened.  I think this would be a fun way of keeping a journal, because it would show just how unexpected life is, and just how many things happen that we do not expect.  Not every day will have a crazy story, but a lot of days will have unexpected blessings and adventures.  When an old acquaintance reaches out and you guys talk for the first time in almost a year, write it down!  When your sister sends you a stick-figure drawing in the mail for no special occasion, put that one down, too!      Writi...