Better Apartments and House Plants

So as a college student I have very limited space and very limited resources. I remember that growing up my mom had dozens of cook books from "Better Homes and Gardens" to "Cooking with Mickey". My mom is a fantastic cook and an even better baker, so you can easily see how moving out on my own and cooking for myself is almost a depressing venture. Every one of my mom's recipes that I tried to replicate just wasn't the same. I think there is something magical about a mother's cooking. But anyways one of the things that happened when I came to college is that I sudden;y had to feed myself but didn't know exactly what to feed myself.

When I asked my mom for certain recipes instead of just telling me what they were or spelling them out in email for me she often gave me the line "Look it up on google." She would tell me what cookbook it was often found in and the the title of the recipe if she could remember. The exciting thing is that after my mom made me work for recipes by sifting through the internet I began to search for new things I hadn't tried before. For example, in Winter semester of my freshman year I bought a 10lbs bag of chocolate chips and was determined to find ways to use them all. Fudge, Tortes, cakes, Mousse... I only ever made it half way through that bag before the semester was out, but that was a feat all on its own.

Today I get most of my recipes from the internet. I just search something I want to learn how to make and see what happens. Yesterday for dinner I made Pecan Crusted Tilapia with Honey Glaze and it was lovely. The other day for my friend's birthday I made a Spanish orange and almond cake which is essentially a tea cake. It's very moist and almond based with a rich decadent flavor, and for all those gluten and dairy free people out there it is both. The internet has given me great successes such as these but I have also come up short a couple times, those, however, I will not mention.

Les Mis

Woah so ok who else is extremely excited about the Les Mis film coming out in December? It's quite possible that I have never been so excited for a film. I'm a big musical fan, but Les Mis is overall my favorite by a long shot. The story line itself based on Victor Hugo's novel is unbelievably profound, but the music adds so many rich layers to this already decadent cake of deliciousness. I have seen the musical itself twice in London on the West End (Once with Alfie Boe, who was phenomenal). I'm so excited to see Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean, and a little worried about Russell Crowe playing Javert, but who knows maybe he'll surprise me. Really though I have extremely high expecations for this movie, and am just so very excited. For those of you who haven't seen the new behind the scenes clip for this flick check it out.

Jumping on the ipad Bandwagon

So in May my parents told me that for my birthday they were going to send me one of their old ipads. You see the thing is, they had three. There are only two of them, and they had three ipads. I thought this was a little excessive. In fact I thought just one was excessive. In my mind the ipad is a computer and ipod touch thrown in all together in a less convenient form than either one of them. You can probably guess my reaction to my parents sending me something that I didn't feel I needed. Having heard that my sister really wanted one I told my parents to send the old one to her. She wanted one, I didn't, and it seemed only logical. Besides, I prefer birthday presents to take a little more thought and perhaps be a little more surprising.

Though my parents were a little upset that I didn't accept their offer they conceded in not giving me the ipad. Though, they never gave it to my sister either. Fast forward to August. My parents still have three ipads for the two of them, and my mom only uses the extra to play more games of Words with Friends. Despite my previous statements I felt like I could at least use it more in proficient ways than that. So I told my parents that if the offer was still up that they should send the ipad my way. I thought maybe I could use it for class notes or something instead of having to lug my laptop around everywhere.

Now September just two days ago I received the ipad in the mail. I can already sense the overall distraction it will cause in my life. I might as well start counting up the APR of time wasted for this year (I'm predicting a high rate of 5.6%). I never thought I would be one of those people with Macbook, an ipod touch, and ipad. I might as well just order my iphone now to continue the ridiculousness. Now don't get me wrong I'm a big Apple fan, and there are a lot of conveniences to all of these things... but I wonder if in the end those conveniences outweigh the costs.

My Life's Dependence on Chargers

I have been a proud owner of a macbook (one of the old classic white ones) for over 3 years. And today my charger stopped working. As I looked at the whole 42 minutes left of the time my computer had I considered how much I rely on my computer on daily basis. Just the amount of time I panicked at the idea of my charger not working should be an indication of that. My computer gives me this whole sense of independence that I never had before. I can do a bagillion things from my very own home without having to bother anyone but me. I can rent movies, buy clothes, write papers, listen and record music, stay in touch with friends and family, set appointments, inform people of parties and events, upload and edit pictures... seriously I feel like most of the worthwhile things I do anymore are in one way or another connected to my computer, and my computer becomes insignificant without a charger. Once that little blue light on the bottom turns off it becomes nothing more than a 3-year-old block of white. However this, got me thinking about all the other things in my life that rely on chargers. Like my cell phone, my camera, and my toothbrush even. It's funny how many things that I say make me independent in fact turn out to make me incredibly dependent upon them. People survived long before laptops, cellphones, and really efficient dental care, but my life would certainly be a ton more complicated without them... and their chargers.

25 minutes left of computer time...  the search is on for a new charger.

Music in Stages

Yesterday I was walking home from school listening to my ipod and a song came on that gave me this acute nostalgia for my teenage years. It's like ,when you hear NSYNC, the Backstreet Boys, or the Spice Girls and you automatically are brought back to your childhood, or least that’s where I’m brought back to. Well, when I was in my mid-teens I had my rebellious phase. And really all that meant was that instead of continuing to listen to the broadway music I grew up on (Yes, when I was 12 and people asked me what my favorite music to listen to was I said broadway), I got into Alternative rock. I know, pretty edgy. So on came Evanescence, with not even their most popular song, and I was brought back to this time of my life that I thought had escaped me. Music just has so much power to transport you, and isn’t funny that we can describe certain segments of our lives by the music we listen to? I guess right now I’m in the folk/acoustic/americana segment. Most of my teenagers years were defined by Alternative and Classic Rock, my childhood by strictly broadway, and I think I had a small stint somewhere in there with pop. For your enjoyment I’ll attach the song that came on today.

Skype Dates

     Skype is a marvelous thing. With family all over the world, literally, it’s nice to be able to communicate in a more semi-intimate way. I mean I can see them... on my computer screen, but still, I can see them. I can see the picture my nephew Ben drew for me all the way over in San Antonio. I can see the facial expressions my sister gives me while lecturing me on dating while she’s in Seattle. I can see my Dad’s goofy grin that he gets to share with everyone over in London. I get to see the chaos that ensues over in brother’s house in Abu Dhabi. And if my brother Michael would skype me I would get to see a glimpse of my home land of Nova Scotia, but hopefully that will happen eventually. 

     Something like Skype is such an amazing blessing, how we are able to communicate world wide so effortlessly is unbelievable. I can carry on conversations thousands of miles of way. I can joke and giggle, and people in response can laugh at how funny I think I am. I once played a game of apples to apples over skype with some friends all the way over in Arizona, AMAZING. In just the last hundred years alone we have come so far with communication. Next up holograms, and after that teleportation. Really though in all seriousness it makes me incredibly happy to stay in touch with friends and family from all the places I’ve been. For a moment I can set up a skype date and be a part of their lives again. It keeps us connected, and that surely that is a blessing.

Rated R Movies

I’ve had the desire to watch very few rated R movies, but this is one where if I ever find an edited version I would love to see it.

     When I was about 15 I had a friend who consistently tried to persuade me to watch an assortment of rated R movies. He said that some PG-13 movies were worse than some of the great rated R movies. He told me that some were life changing and I needed to watch them. He told me dozens of things to convince to watch at least one, such as: “it’s just a movie.” I said that if it was just a movie than it didn’t matter if I watched it. For me, it wasn’t worth it.

Though I can’t say that I have never watched a rated R movie (My Dad introduced me to the terminator movies after all, and some others unknowingly have sneaked through the cracks in my defense) I can say that I’m proud to live by a rule in my life where I avoid them as best as I can. It’s not that I don’t hear the language in other arenas, or see the violence portrayed in some of my favorite Tv shows, or even am exposed to the amount of sex that for such a sacred thing is plastered all over screens across the world as something casual (while the word “Love” is portrayed as something “serious”, which I consider a little ridiculous). Really for me it’s all these things that combine into something truly crippling. I have never seen or even read a synopsis of a Rated R movie that for me made me feel better. Made me say “Hey, wow, that was so great. I feel inspired. Let’s go read the scriptures now.” What we purposefully consume is a choice. Watching movies that, I feel, chase away the Spirit is a choice I’d rather not make. What I’m exposed to in the world outside of that is really outside of my control, but a choice to not watch negative media is something I can control. Though the rating system may be flawed (so my friends argue) those who rate movies rate them that way for a reason. And I can tell you right now those reasons are not of God.

     The other day I was talking to a really good friend who happens to be LDS and who has very little issue with these kinds of movies. She say’s she grew up with them. She says they don’t phase her. I say that sometimes her language and her thoughts reflect what she consumes. 

     We should be doing our best to have our purest thoughts, work our finest deeds, and move constantly towards Christ. Anything that does not inspire our purest thoughts, or hinders us in progression towards God is something perhaps we should cut out of our lives. I’m far from perfect in this particular area, but I do find it funny that so many people try to defend the viewing of things that distract, distort, and diminish that which is of God for the sake of entertainment. Is it really worth it?