Baking: My Anti-Drug

“Aw man, there’s sweetened condensed milk on the sleeve of my cardigan,” I whined in my head.

It was one of those days that only baking could fix. I had concentrated on the idea of gooey cheddar cheese inside an herb tortilla dripping in hot sauce. I made it the whole cramped, bumpy metro ride home without wanting to end it all. Today even my delicious dinner wasn’t enough.

I wouldn’t say I’m a stress eater. When I’m really stressed I usually just pound caffeine until the shakiness of my hands because distracting. On the other hand when I feel helpless and anxious I usually reach for the cook book and sugar canister. I don’t even need to eat the finished product; it’s the process that calms me.

I know why people are slow foodies. You can enjoy everything more when it was crafted with a loving, human hand. It goes for food, drinks, furniture and whatever else people made hundreds of years ago.

I happen to get the most joy out of quality time spent with my oven. Maybe it’s secretly all the science behind cooking that I ponder but never explore too far. Whatever it is I feel best with my apron tied behind my waist and a big sticky bowl full of batter by my side.

Show Off Your Nerd

I was a party talking about music with some guy and when I threw out an obscure cover of a song, he said “You must read music blogs.” Should I have been offended? No. He knew another music nerd when he saw one. Here’s how to stay up with what the cool kids are listening to.

Get Hyped

I used to try to regularly check the music blogs I stumbled upon. Then I graduated to google reader to manage them all in the same place (more on that later). I was still bogged down with posts of music festival and artists I’ll never get into. Don’t follow this evolution. Make your life easier – use hype machine.

What’s great: You’ll be in tune to the latest singles released from your favorite artists, new artists that are blowing up, and rare/live/remixed original tracks and covers. One day the tracks will be on a music blog for you to download at your leisure and the next they will be archived history. The top music blogs post several entries a day, but this way you can browse the masses.

One day I went through a “Bring On Home To Me” phase…now I have something like 5 versions of it, simply by searching that track in the database of music blogs. The accessibility is crazy. I saw Where The Wild Things Are and was able to come home and download “All Is Love” from a dozen blogs. I feel like I should hold two thumbs up and say, thanks hype machine!

Scrobble, Scrobble

I’ve been singing the praises of Last.fm since I signed up a few years ago. It’s another great place to find new music and engage with other fans. You can tag songs you like in the last.fm scrobbler – a silly name for a great application that tracks the songs you listen to and provides a bio on the artist.

What’s great: You can also create playlists, listen to recommended tracks, stream radio stations and post on friend’s walls. I love the stats the best. You choose the range of time (last 7 days, last 3 months,  etc.) and they will display your top listened tracks and artists. One thing that scared me was the fact I couldn’t hide the embarrassing tracks I listened to, but you learn to embrace it (or just disable scrobbling.) It also will download played tracks from your iPod if you select that option.

Google Even Reads For You

Google reader is a compilation of RSS feeds. If you don’t know what those are, you really better learn. Feeds are just a way of saying the latest information uploaded to a website. They are the quickest way to get this information from a big bulky website such as the New York Times. NYT has several feeds based on your preference. If you only wanted to read their political sections, for instance, you could decide on that option. You’ll usually see an orange icon like the one below on websites that want you to subscribe to their feed.

What’s great: I love the mix I can read. I skim through the national news headlines, an environmental consumer blog (seems like an oxymoron, I know), my brother’s personal blog, Postsecret postcards, a photoblog, etc. It allows so much variety and a lot less clicking and navigating. It can be frustrating to wait for things to load, but overall you can get through much more. You can then share items with your google contacts.

Go play! The internet is your playground and it’s full of free mp3s and information!

Crafting in my generation

This weekend I went to Crafty Bastards, a huge craft show in Adams Morgan. I told myself I wasn’t going to buy anything. HA! As if I have self-control when it comes to kitschy jewelry. I purchased one necklace and got lots of compliments, plus I justify it by saying I’m being a patron of the arts.

Blades of Grass necklace by Brookadelphia

Being around all these crafty hipsters gave me hope for our generation. I think we envy the ability of our grandparents to create things with their own hands. Whether it’s an apple pie from scratch, a rocking chair, or a quilt, we realize the extra dose of love can’t be found in mass-produced goods. There’s just no comparison to homemade. We get sick of the whole web 2.0 world we live in that is so “connected” but ultimately disconnected from personal contact.

Buying a good directly from a person (or via Etsy) is a pretty intimate connection. The whole craft came out of their brain into blood, sweat, tears plus their medium of choice. Sure, I was raised by art lovers, but I think the winds are changing and us kids want to reclaim some craft. I bought nearly all of my gifts from Etsy last Christmas. One seller wrote me to double check my address that was listed differently on my paypal account. It warmed my heart to get a message saying something like: “Hey Kolleen, I’m mailing your purchase today. Enjoy!” because I knew the artist wrote it and not some customer service bot. You think gap.com would do that for you? No way, pal.

So Saturday after I left the craft show, I pulled out my knitting needles and yarn and started on that project. I also finished another project I bought supplies for but hadn’t had energy to start. Let’s just say it involved paint and wood products. Sure, we can’t all be artists, but we can dig deep into our elementary school art class days and get a little paint on our hands. I love the little painted project I made, but I can’t say more because it’s a surprise gift. Can’t wait until the recipient gets it!

Get crafting, kids.

Wine not? It’s officially fall

Last Tuesday marked one of my favorite days – the first day of autumn. My life has been crazy in all directions lately, but I’m trying to slow down and crunch the leaves. Here’s ode to autumn things, number two.

First, nail polish.

I bought this burgundy shade on sale this summer and now it is appropriate and not goth to wear. Also, the name is a great pun and might be my new motto in life. Wine not?

Sally Hansen Salon in Wine Not?

Second, my new favorite wine.

My aunt got me this treasure at Trader Joe’s. It’s a organic, sulfite-free red wine that gives a shout out to book lovers. Are you reading my mind, TJ?

Third, a silly accessory.

I always had a beef with Hollywood’s portrayal of fall and the quaint way us Midwesterners layer things in cold weather. They are like, “oh, how cute, it gets cold and you wear fuzzy things.” In other words they put an actor in a thin, fashionable coat and a pair of mittens and pretend like that’s winterizing a wardrobe. Pshaw. Yet I find myself buying these fashion-y fall accessories that someone in L.A. most likely designed.

Thus, I bought this floral hat. I thought I could wear it on Saturdays and Sundays when bright sunlight isn’t my friend and my hair is only 30% clean and 70% beer-scented. I pray it doesn’t turn me into an Olsen twin.

Fedora from Le Target

Next autumn post will be baking themed. Yay for pumpkin everything!

Bibbidi Bobbidi Blog

I have some ethical issue with Disney, but I can’t deny Alan Menken and Tim Rice are geniuses. No matter what I think of the messages embedded in Disney’s movies, I can’t help but sing along to their dang catchy songs.

Top 5 Songs From My Favorite Disney Films

1. Part of Your World – The Little Mermaid

Up where they walk, up where they run, up where they stay all day in the sun. She knows gadgets and gizmos just aren’t enough; she needs feet to win her man. She should know that they do reprimand their daughters out of the sea, though. We’re not lawless people, Ari.

2. A Whole New World – Aladdin

Tell me, Princess, just when did you last let your heart decide? I want a personal genie who does a Jack Nicholson impression. Ok it’s schmaltzy, but wouldn’t a shining, shimmering, splendid magic carpet ride by the Sphinx win you over too?

3. Belle- Beauty and the Beast

Little town full of little people waking up to say…Bonjour! Poor girl is misunderstood for being a bookworm! Of course I empathized with her poor, provincial life.

4. Just Around the Riverbend- Pocohontas

What I love most about rivers is you can’t step in the same river twice. I love a girl who can really paddle her way through some rapids. Sure, she’s worried about being set up with some boring chief. I kind of thought Pokes (nickname?) was being a little picky. Kocoum has cheekbones that could cut glass. Swoon.

5. Circle of Life – The Lion King

It’s the circle of life and it moves us all through despair and hope through faith and love. I remember seeing the trailer for this movie. The drum beat at the end of the song was epic. I knew this movie would be spiritual since Africa is the motherland. I don’t care that I have European roots. Also Rafiki is probably the best primate witch doctor you could hope for.

Sorry for the lack of image- I hear Disney takes infants to court for copyright infringement.

Well Seasoned

I’m seasonally obsessed.  As in, I am captivated by seasons. I can’t imagine places that have one type of weather all year. You know what place has the same kind of weather all year? Hell! (That just goes to show.)

Autumn is my favorite time of the year. I don’t want it to feel like autumn all year because that would be boring. The joy of seasons is the change. Namely, the change of footwear I get to purchase. Ok, the natural changes are really what attracts me, but I like the wardrobe mix up too. So below is ode number one to fall ‘09. Won’t be the last.

I want these:

And I want this:

I’m told I will not get the latter. Phooey.

But I love crabcakes!

You know you want me

I find myself teetering on the brink of vegetarianism these days. It’s been an odd transformation from my bacon and sausage loving little self. Elementary school era Kolleen loved pork tenderloin, bratwurst (hello, midwest!), hot dogs, Italian beef sandwiches and burgers. Now typing that list enduces a bit of nausea. My tastes have grown.

The most freakish change would be my recent love of breakfast. I couldn’t eat anything before say 11 a.m. from childhood all through high school. My mom tried everything, but she ended up throwing out a lot of oatmeal, toast and eggs. In college I found myself waking up with an appetite and looking forward to omlettes, french toast, orange juice or at least a solid bowl of cereal. It was as though I suddenly grew a normal stomach. I still can’t guzzle a lot of coffee early in the morning, but I can have a cup and eat something. That’s fabulous progress.

I can’t quite remember when I started getting really turned off by meat. It was gradual but definite. I decided it was ok to go with my feeling and just stop trying to like it again. I suppose I was a bit put off because I’ve gotten more into gourmet and adventurous eating. I didn’t want to become an eat-to-live person. No! Anything but that! I love food to an embarrassing degree.

Not eating meat makes a lot of sense. You can research the billion individual reasons people don’t eat it. First for me is the easiest. I don’t enjoy it. Second the impact of raising cattle is having serious effects on our planet.

But I don’t think I’ll ever be a full vegetarian. I love seafood and I love chicken. So I don’t know where that leaves me. It’s certainly odd. Today when asked if I’d eat a pulled pork sandwich, I answered…well, yes. Even if only as a vehicle for lots and lots of barbecue sauce. Now I sound really wishy-washy. I guess my life is about 75% vegetarian, also known as a flexitarian….in other words a vegetarian with commitment issues…a.k.a. super lame.*

*Going vegetarian even once a week still lowers your carbon footprint.

And now an episode in hair dying

I learned the trials of dying hair at home from my mother. When I was growing up my mom easily could have paid for a nice dye from the family salon we all frequented. But I guess she figured, why? For 6-10 dollars you can do a darn good job yourself. She would tell tales of co-workers who would have to return to their hoity-toity salons several times because the colorist did such a slapdash job and it took a long process of stripping and lowlights and highlights to turn it into an acceptable look. I remember when the large chunk highlights became popular. My friends referred to it as “the zebra” because girls with dark hair would have large swatches dyed platinum. It was an unnatural, awful trend. A variation was the “Kelly Clarkson,” which I dubbed after the singer who wore her hair with bright red AND blonde highlights.

I’m worried that this is from ‘09

Oh Kells, you are still cute.

My first personal experience with hair dye came when I was home from middle school for some reason and decided I wanted highlights. I figured it was like dipping your toe into the ammonia-drenched world of hair color. My mom decided it was a nice enough day that we could sit on the deck as she worked on the monotonous task of pulling strands of hair through a plastic cap. This is the DIY method of choice if you don’t want to take the tube of dye and comb route. Getting purposefully placed highlights with a large comb seems to me like drawing architectural plans with an industrial size sharpie. But I digress…back to the pubescent dying exposure.

As my mom continued to pull strands through the cap (with a sort of tiny crochet hook) she noticed the strands were damp. Before she asked aloud why this would be, she realized I was sweating profusely from the direct sun underneath this swimmer-like dye cap. We took the process inside. When we were all finished, I was pleased that the highlights were natural and understated. I received compliments from girls, but boys didn’t notice. That is how you know you’ve achieved a moderate look. In high school I grew bored of the conventional colors. I went for fuschia. I was then told the pleasing and vague phrase that follows me to this day: “you can pull it off.” There is a specific window of time when Crayola colors look cute but edgy in your hair. I think I got right in that bracket at age 16. The first attempt at hot pink highlights didn’t go so smoothly. Note: don’t let your friends be unbiased when working on a beauty project. For instance when I pull my hair half up and say I don’t want the top layers to show any pink, make sure I actually pull up all the top layers. You can guess what happened. I had to dye my hair brown and start over.

My mom would constantly dye her hair in the laundry sink of our basement. My stepdad and I would hear wails coming from downstairs, “ughhh, it’s so red!” or “I look so pasty! It’s too dark!”  or “shoot, I need to wash out the color now!” and on and on. She would spill dye. She wouldn’t set a timer. She would stain her neck. I would try to dab at it with a damp cloth, but so often she did the task rushed on a weeknight when I was gone. There was no finesse in her technique, yet it was always a good job despite the sometimes misguided color choice.

Then I started dying my hair fairly regularly and realized the guess work involved. Always be conservative in your color choice. I’ve thought before, “oh a nice dark brown” and had to live with raven vampire hair with my pale, freckled complexion…in winter. When my mom moved into her new house she decided to dye her hair in the spare bathroom (mine) and managed to splatter dye all over the white linoleum floor. The travesty is that she didn’t clean it up in time and now the floor is mottled with brown long after the so-called permanent dye in her hair has faded and grown out. I tried to be sympathetic. It is not a process for the faint of heart. I firmly believe in the buddy system, a great deal of undivided attention, old towels, and a bathroom you don’t mind potentially dying the same shade as your hair.

Friday I dyed my hair a medium golden brown to cover up old highlights, which comes with the territory of colors getting dull and growing out. There was no one there to laugh at me when I got dye all over my forehead and almost missed entire sections. There was also no one to make sure I got every strand saturated and hand me the conditioner when my head was dripping under the showerhead. It was sad. Dying your hair is best done with pals, and like everything else, with wine.

“I didn’t know I’m not invincible”

I chose purple. Big surprise there.

1. I’m in love with my new agate slice necklace. I would consider starting up my rock collection again, but my mother has enough rocks and shells in her house to sink a dinghy. I’m sure she could part with a few bottles of them.

2. I was away from home all weekend. So Monday I glanced over at the plant in my room and became alarmed. I even said out loud, “oh my baby, I’m sorry! You must be thirsty.” Then proceeded to water it profusely. I wonder how long before I’m a 10 on the crazy scale. I seem to be creeping closer every day based on my urge to talk to plants. At least they are actually living things.

3. Even though I took a 10-mile bike ride this morning and walked to the library (about 9 blocks each way), I’m not tired at all. I’m like a character straight out of Fahreinheit 451 – take work from me and I’m a huge mess and feel worthless in society.

4. So what if I’m already making an autumn playlist. Something about the cycle of deciduous trees calms me. I’ve heard all the bragging about East Coast color so I have to see it with my own eyes now. Winter never has to come this year. That’s fine by me, yet anticipating autumn is joyous.

5. Right now you should listen to: Blind Pilot*, JayMay, Jenny Owen Youngs, Meiko and Brooke Waggoner. But only if like music so pretty and unassuming that gradually will sneak up from behind and bowl you over with its greatness.

*The title of the post comes from their song Oveido.

“You know that I’ve got what you want.”
(Start your homework by listening to Fuck Was I by Jenny Owen Youngs.)

Whiff List

I was eating lunch outside today and pretending it was pleasant. In fact it was 90 degrees and extremely humid, but I can’t complain. I would be happy to stretch out summer. Autumn comes and I realize I’ve been playing and I need to accomplish goals. The point is I smelled so many things and was very appreciative that the sense has returned to me. My recent bout with allergy problems has made smelling a labored task. Thanks to drugs I can inhale deeply and try to place the scents in their context. So I got to thinking about my top smells. The list is in no particular order.

T0p 10 Smells

1. pine needles – particularly a pile on the ground baking in the hot sun. It smells like Minnesota/Wisconsin which to me means vacation and simple, summer pleasures. (Paired favorite sound: driving down a gravel road)

2. lilac – also my favorite color. I’m not a fan of flowery perfumes or candles, but the real thing is heaven.

3. new paperback books – It’s embarrassing when I open new books and smell them at the bookstore. Yet I did this a few days ago and will continue to do so.

4. wet concrete – I know it’s an odd choice. I love the dirty, damp scent after or during a rain.

5. lemon – I enjoy way most fruits smell, but something about the sharp zest in these yellow beauties gets me every time.

6. coffee – You either love or hate this aroma. To me it signifies the only thing worth getting out of bed for on some mornings.

7. sawdust/cut wood – most likely increased by having a stepdad who is a carpenter. I enjoy the sweet, organic attributes.

8. pencils – sharpened, of course. I’m a total nerd for office supplies. Also school supply shopping thrilled me tremendously. It’s number 7 plus graphite and rubbery eraser.

9. straw – Despite growing up in Illinois, I didn’t spend much time on farms. We always visited nearby apple orchards in the fall though. When I get a sniff of straw I want to go pick apples and get pulled around in a wagon. I’m completely split between loving the city and the country.

10. babies – Now I’m officially a creep, but a clean baby smells like talcum powder, fresh-laundered onesies and the goodness that comes from not making any mistakes yet. So really I just like the scents of baby oil and shampoo and Johnson’s Baby Bedtime Bath, lavender and chamomile.

I could have listed the smell of baking cookies, cinnamon, clean sheets, shampooed hair when you let it down at the end of the day… but it would get out of control. This is the simple list.