36. Try fifteen new recipes. (1/15) Yesterday we had a Pancake and Writing party at the apartment with some friends who are also doing NaNoWriMo.  The idea of having the party of course, was spurred on by these amazing peanut butter pancakes I had in Fernandina last week.  The pancakes we ended up making weren’t like the ones I had, and the peanut butter in the batter gave them a weird consistency so they didn’t spread like I’m used to, but were pretty good nonetheless.  Even better when you spread them with Nutella and added bananas.  Because nothing says ‘Let’s Get Published!’ like a case of diabeetus. Cook Time: :15Ingredients: 1 1/4 cups flour 2 tablespoons sugar 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 1/4 cups milk 1/3 cup peanut butter 3 tablespoons melted butter 1 egg Preparation: Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Beat the egg. Add milk and peanut butter to egg and beat until smooth. Add the dry ingredients and beat just until well moistened. Butter a pan or griddle or use non-stick cooking spray and heat on medium-high. Spoon by quarter cupfuls into your pan or griddle. Cook until brown on both sides.

36. Try fifteen new recipes. (1/15)

Yesterday we had a Pancake and Writing party at the apartment with some friends who are also doing NaNoWriMo.  The idea of having the party of course, was spurred on by these amazing peanut butter pancakes I had in Fernandina last week.  The pancakes we ended up making weren’t like the ones I had, and the peanut butter in the batter gave them a weird consistency so they didn’t spread like I’m used to, but were pretty good nonetheless.  Even better when you spread them with Nutella and added bananas.  Because nothing says ‘Let’s Get Published!’ like a case of diabeetus.

Cook Time: :15Ingredients:
  • 1 1/4 cups flour
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/4 cups milk
  • 1/3 cup peanut butter
  • 3 tablespoons melted butter
  • 1 egg
Preparation:

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

Beat the egg.

Add milk and peanut butter to egg and beat until smooth.

Add the dry ingredients and beat just until well moistened.

Butter a pan or griddle or use non-stick cooking spray and heat on medium-high.

Spoon by quarter cupfuls into your pan or griddle.

Cook until brown on both sides.

14. Give blood, if they’ll take it… I woke up this morning and called the Central Florida Blood Center.  I kind of wanted the girl on the other end to tell me that I needed an appointment, but lucky me!  You don’t!  She told me to bring friends if I had any.  I did shanghai Lisa, but she’s not eligible to give blood, so I guess that didn’t work out too well for the Blood Center. It’s been eight years since I last tried to give blood, and at the time they wouldn’t take it because my iron was too low.  That wasn’t a problem today though, so they pointed me to a chair and I sat there babbling at Lisa and tapping my finger to the beat of the shuffly machine in the corner until my phlebotomist came over.  (Seriously.  Phlebotomist.  It sounds so cool I almost want to be one.  So much snazzier than ‘editor’.) It went much more smoothly than I was envisioning.  She didn’t have any trouble finding or hooking my vein, unlike every doctor’s office I’ve ever been in in my life.  The needle going in didn’t hurt as much as the finger prick had, and I didn’t cry or anything!  Which is good, because 27 year olds who cry over needles look kind of ridiculous.  And while I’m no stranger to ridiculous, I like to be able to set my own parameters. So that’s one less thing for me to be irrationally afraid of.  I think in honor of this, I’m going to get a new tattoo and make myself ineligible as a donor for another year.

14. Give blood, if they’ll take it…

I woke up this morning and called the Central Florida Blood Center.  I kind of wanted the girl on the other end to tell me that I needed an appointment, but lucky me!  You don’t!  She told me to bring friends if I had any.  I did shanghai Lisa, but she’s not eligible to give blood, so I guess that didn’t work out too well for the Blood Center.

It’s been eight years since I last tried to give blood, and at the time they wouldn’t take it because my iron was too low.  That wasn’t a problem today though, so they pointed me to a chair and I sat there babbling at Lisa and tapping my finger to the beat of the shuffly machine in the corner until my phlebotomist came over.  (Seriously.  Phlebotomist.  It sounds so cool I almost want to be one.  So much snazzier than ‘editor’.)

It went much more smoothly than I was envisioning.  She didn’t have any trouble finding or hooking my vein, unlike every doctor’s office I’ve ever been in in my life.  The needle going in didn’t hurt as much as the finger prick had, and I didn’t cry or anything!  Which is good, because 27 year olds who cry over needles look kind of ridiculous.  And while I’m no stranger to ridiculous, I like to be able to set my own parameters.

So that’s one less thing for me to be irrationally afraid of.  I think in honor of this, I’m going to get a new tattoo and make myself ineligible as a donor for another year.

Tags | break out |
92. Go on five dates with my boyfriend. (2/5) Two weekends ago I went home to Fernandina to see the Boy.  (He moved back about a month ago, so I’ll be making that trip a lot more often for the forseeable future.)  This particular weekend was full of trips and entertainment.  Friday night we went to the Jacksonville Zoo’s Spooktacular and then to see Zombieland, which I enjoyed a great deal.  Saturday we went to the fair.  The fair!  It’s weird to be at the fair when it’s not night time and you’re not 12.  You can tell that everything is wearing around the edges, regardless of how bright it is.  We rode the ferris wheel, which I’d never done before.  I think I’m good for the next while too.  Why is it that fair rides are all designed to make you dizzy?

92. Go on five dates with my boyfriend. (2/5)

Two weekends ago I went home to Fernandina to see the Boy.  (He moved back about a month ago, so I’ll be making that trip a lot more often for the forseeable future.)  This particular weekend was full of trips and entertainment.  Friday night we went to the Jacksonville Zoo’s Spooktacular and then to see Zombieland, which I enjoyed a great deal.  Saturday we went to the fair.  The fair!  It’s weird to be at the fair when it’s not night time and you’re not 12.  You can tell that everything is wearing around the edges, regardless of how bright it is.  We rode the ferris wheel, which I’d never done before.  I think I’m good for the next while too.  Why is it that fair rides are all designed to make you dizzy?

Tags | connectivity |
41. Learn more about poetry. Write a poem that doesn’t suck. This is a progress post, not something I can consider finished.  I don’t know much about poetry, and I don’t really like it.  I like certain poems well enough, and I love anything Rumi has ever written, but I can’t pinpoint any technical reasons for why.  I just…like it.  A lot of the time if I see that something is a poem I won’t read it.  So I think it’s time to get myself some learnin’.  I asked for poets that I should check into on LJ, and I’ll ask here as well. If you’re a fan of poetry, let me know what it is you like about it.  Rec me a poet or a book.  Won’t you help me get my learn on?

41. Learn more about poetry. Write a poem that doesn’t suck.

This is a progress post, not something I can consider finished.  I don’t know much about poetry, and I don’t really like it.  I like certain poems well enough, and I love anything Rumi has ever written, but I can’t pinpoint any technical reasons for why.  I just…like it.  A lot of the time if I see that something is a poem I won’t read it.  So I think it’s time to get myself some learnin’.  I asked for poets that I should check into on LJ, and I’ll ask here as well.

If you’re a fan of poetry, let me know what it is you like about it.  Rec me a poet or a book.  Won’t you help me get my learn on?

Tags | skills |
10. Have an actual conversation with one of my idols. As in, don’t nod shyly and run away. Right, so I’m not actually counting this one completed, but I’m counting it as progress made on not making an idiot of myself in front of people I admire.  This is a picture I took this weekend of Nathaniel Johnstone (call him Nathan!) of the band Abney Park.  He plays violin and guitar, among other things. Sunday morning I ended up skipping the Children of Earth panel I’d wanted to see in favor of sleep, which meant I had a little bit of time before the next panel I was headed to.  On a whim, I decided to go down and purchase one of Abney Park’s cds.  [Because I think they’re amazing and want to support them. YOU SHOULD TOO.] As I was paying Nathan came over and asked me if I wanted it signed, so I figured ‘sure, why not?’  He and Daniel signed it, because they were the ones at the booth, and then I ended up just staying and chatting with Nathan about how I got into steampunk and them and about the scene itself and music and guitars and just random things.  I’m sure I said the word ‘awesome’ entirely too many times, but mostly, what came out of my mouth was what I wanted to say.  For twenty minutes or thereabouts.  What a feat! He was very open and warm and friendly, and it wasn’t until I was walking away that my brain caught up with ‘omg, this is a person you admire and he just took time out to talk to you and was interesting about it!’ Alli talked to him later and mentioned the steampunk novel we’re working on to him.  I believe she also told him that we were naming a town Abney as a nod to them, which she told me he thought was very cool. So yes, I’m ecstatic that I got to have that experience and I have a huge (non-creepy!) personality crush on him. (Now, to work my way up to Neil Gaiman!)

10. Have an actual conversation with one of my idols. As in, don’t nod shyly and run away.

Right, so I’m not actually counting this one completed, but I’m counting it as progress made on not making an idiot of myself in front of people I admire.  This is a picture I took this weekend of Nathaniel Johnstone (call him Nathan!) of the band Abney Park.  He plays violin and guitar, among other things.

Sunday morning I ended up skipping the Children of Earth panel I’d wanted to see in favor of sleep, which meant I had a little bit of time before the next panel I was headed to.  On a whim, I decided to go down and purchase one of Abney Park’s cds.  [Because I think they’re amazing and want to support them. YOU SHOULD TOO.]

As I was paying Nathan came over and asked me if I wanted it signed, so I figured ‘sure, why not?’  He and Daniel signed it, because they were the ones at the booth, and then I ended up just staying and chatting with Nathan about how I got into steampunk and them and about the scene itself and music and guitars and just random things.  I’m sure I said the word ‘awesome’ entirely too many times, but mostly, what came out of my mouth was what I wanted to say.  For twenty minutes or thereabouts.  What a feat!

He was very open and warm and friendly, and it wasn’t until I was walking away that my brain caught up with ‘omg, this is a person you admire and he just took time out to talk to you and was interesting about it!’

Alli talked to him later and mentioned the steampunk novel we’re working on to him.  I believe she also told him that we were naming a town Abney as a nod to them, which she told me he thought was very cool.

So yes, I’m ecstatic that I got to have that experience and I have a huge (non-creepy!) personality crush on him.

(Now, to work my way up to Neil Gaiman!)

Tags | break out |

22. Hug a Stranger

Some may claim that this doesn’t count, but I’m going to counter argue that I was awkward enough for long enough that it does.

This evening I went to a friend’s bachelorette party.  It was surprise bachelorette party, which meant we had to get there before the bride-to-be.  This is all well and fine, except I didn’t know anyone but the bride.  One person I had spoken to before showed up about thirty minutes after I did, so it became a little less awkward eventually (as she was also the only other person at the party who was not Muslim, and we could bond over our outsideness).

Through the course of the evening I was introduced to about twenty young women whose names I largely don’t remember, except one.  When she introduced herself she gave me her name, and I repeated it back, like you do.  She was surprised that I got it right on the first try, since that apparently doesn’t happen often.  We bonded over having awkward names, and then the bride-to-be showed up and she flitted off.

I was at the house for three hours and said maybe fifty words to this girl, but before she left she came to find me and tell me goodbye.  She said that I was a lot of fun, and that we needed to be friends elsewhere.  Then she hugged me.

I’m awkward at hugging, as I am at everything.  I always want to hug for real.  To pull people in and squeeze them tight, but I realize that in most social situations this isn’t the right course.  She didn’t seem to mind.

So I hugged a stranger.  I hope she doesn’t stay that way.  She seemed like an interesting person, and actually reminded me of someone I miss from my past.   (No photo with this one guys, because there were lots of girls there hoodless, and I’m not about flounting what they like to keep private all over the internet. ♥)

Tags | break out |
92. Go on five dates with my boyfriend. (1/5) Friday evening we hit the town in a high class way!  We went to Sonic for burgers and shared a peanut butter fudge sundae.  Then we went to the movies to see (500) Days of Summer. The movie itself is everything I thought it would be.  Quirky, funny, romantic without trying to be.  I had the brief thought before the movie started, that they were starting to overdo quirky movies.  But then I remembered that they’d been overdoing all sorts of types of movies for quite some time, and I’d rather see this movie remade a hundred times than have to watch the first twenty minutes of Transformers 2 again. I’ll never get tired of quirky boys, though.  I think mine is going to have to move away from me for a little bit, so I need to knock a few more dates off before that time comes, if I can.  If not, you’re all going to get regaled later with soppy stories about hometown pizza and how I miss the beach. I do.  Miss the beach.

92. Go on five dates with my boyfriend. (1/5)

Friday evening we hit the town in a high class way!  We went to Sonic for burgers and shared a peanut butter fudge sundae.  Then we went to the movies to see (500) Days of Summer. The movie itself is everything I thought it would be.  Quirky, funny, romantic without trying to be.  I had the brief thought before the movie started, that they were starting to overdo quirky movies.  But then I remembered that they’d been overdoing all sorts of types of movies for quite some time, and I’d rather see this movie remade a hundred times than have to watch the first twenty minutes of Transformers 2 again.

I’ll never get tired of quirky boys, though.  I think mine is going to have to move away from me for a little bit, so I need to knock a few more dates off before that time comes, if I can.  If not, you’re all going to get regaled later with soppy stories about hometown pizza and how I miss the beach.

I do.  Miss the beach.

Tags | connectivity |
73. Keep a paper journal of things I’m thankful for. ♫ Oh whooo is that pretentious dooo-ouche in the corner?  ♫ If you’re singing that to the tune of ‘Doggy in the Window’ you’re doing it right! I have joined the ranks of the ridiculous and acquired a moleskin.  It’s unlined on the inside, so I can write in it, or I can practice sketching horrible figures that look almost like people or cats or narwhals or whatever.  I haven’t done my first update in it, but I have a whole two hours until my laundry comes out of the dryer and I can go to bed, so I’m sure I can come up with SOMETHING I’m thankful for today in that time. The picture on the front is a reject from my first pass at testing the paint pens I’m using for another project I’m working on.  I wanted to see how well the ink would hold up on a photograph and make sure it didn’t come off on the insides of books.  SUCCESS!  However, as ‘zombie whumping!’ isn’t exactly an inspirational message, I’m keeping that one for myself.  I was going to send it to someone as a post card, and I may still when all the pages in my book are filled.  The wear will add charm to it.  Right?  Right.

73. Keep a paper journal of things I’m thankful for.


♫ Oh whooo is that pretentious dooo-ouche in the corner?  ♫ If you’re singing that to the tune of ‘Doggy in the Window’ you’re doing it right! I have joined the ranks of the ridiculous and acquired a moleskin.  It’s unlined on the inside, so I can write in it, or I can practice sketching horrible figures that look almost like people or cats or narwhals or whatever.  I haven’t done my first update in it, but I have a whole two hours until my laundry comes out of the dryer and I can go to bed, so I’m sure I can come up with SOMETHING I’m thankful for today in that time.


The picture on the front is a reject from my first pass at testing the paint pens I’m using for another project I’m working on.  I wanted to see how well the ink would hold up on a photograph and make sure it didn’t come off on the insides of books.  SUCCESS!  However, as ‘zombie whumping!’ isn’t exactly an inspirational message, I’m keeping that one for myself.  I was going to send it to someone as a post card, and I may still when all the pages in my book are filled.  The wear will add charm to it.  Right?  Right.

Tags | sanity, |
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