I had strange dreams last night that I actually remembered upon awaking. It happens less and less often these days, remembering. It’s like losing a very valuable part of myself.
The dream started off with me residing in some kind of high-fantasy world of magic and mystery. It was almost as if my family and friends and coworkers had been transported into the world inhabited by my novel. I was somehow both character and creator; I took a meta-step back at one point and completely re-oriented the world map by ninety degrees, after which I manifested griffin wings on my back and flew away.
My dream then changed, I was visiting Venice with my husband. I’ve been to Venice, so I know what it looks like, but the hotel and the river below looked nothing like Venice, and I keep dreaming about this exact same location repeatedly, a bridge and barrier and cobblestones and side streets and tall buildings of quaint design that obscure the sky. I’ve been dreaming about this place since #summersixteen, again and again. Last night it was Venice. Some nights it’s Toronto, or Boston, or Chicago.
I wonder if anyone else also dreams of an unfamiliar place over and over again.
Feb 7, 2017
Family Funtime Feedbag
It’s time for a post about food.
I have been married for not even two years but due to circumstances (namely, being the household's primary chef), my cooking skills have advanced by quite a bit. Would it be weird to say that I’d like to thank Instagram for motivating me to keep up with my domestically talented friends?
Not only do I have a number of dishes I can whip up with tasty accuracy in less than an hour of prep, I have also triumphed over one-time creations that fill me with pride. I still can’t get over the strawberry shortcake I baked this past summer. I made it as per the request of my mother, served it at a family BBQ to compliments all around. There were gingerbread and triple chocolate chip cookies a couple Christmases ago. I’ve made fudgesicles from scratch. Apple pie croissants and chocolate chip croissants. Southwestern burrito bowls and taco skillet spaghetti are regular features at home. I make cupcakes galore, beef lasagna and pierogi casserole, butter chicken and haleem.
None of this would be possible without the aid of all the kitchen appliances I’ve acquired in the past couple years. Life in the kitchen is infinitely more reasonable when you have high quality knives & mixing bowls, a stand-mixer, a four quart crockpot, a high power blender, silicone baking sheets and utensils, and fancy tips for piping icing.
The fact that I cook for two greatly helps with grocery shopping and cooking as well. Stuff goes bad less often because it's consumed that much faster.
I actually have a task list for 2017 that includes dishes I want to make, either for the first time or as a 2nd time repeat. That's how much things have changed, from "fuck this shit" to "#goals".
It's no coincidence, then, that I am waaaaay fatter than I used to be haha. I hear that married life does that to a girl.
I have been married for not even two years but due to circumstances (namely, being the household's primary chef), my cooking skills have advanced by quite a bit. Would it be weird to say that I’d like to thank Instagram for motivating me to keep up with my domestically talented friends?
Not only do I have a number of dishes I can whip up with tasty accuracy in less than an hour of prep, I have also triumphed over one-time creations that fill me with pride. I still can’t get over the strawberry shortcake I baked this past summer. I made it as per the request of my mother, served it at a family BBQ to compliments all around. There were gingerbread and triple chocolate chip cookies a couple Christmases ago. I’ve made fudgesicles from scratch. Apple pie croissants and chocolate chip croissants. Southwestern burrito bowls and taco skillet spaghetti are regular features at home. I make cupcakes galore, beef lasagna and pierogi casserole, butter chicken and haleem.
None of this would be possible without the aid of all the kitchen appliances I’ve acquired in the past couple years. Life in the kitchen is infinitely more reasonable when you have high quality knives & mixing bowls, a stand-mixer, a four quart crockpot, a high power blender, silicone baking sheets and utensils, and fancy tips for piping icing.
The fact that I cook for two greatly helps with grocery shopping and cooking as well. Stuff goes bad less often because it's consumed that much faster.
I actually have a task list for 2017 that includes dishes I want to make, either for the first time or as a 2nd time repeat. That's how much things have changed, from "fuck this shit" to "#goals".
It's no coincidence, then, that I am waaaaay fatter than I used to be haha. I hear that married life does that to a girl.
Feb 6, 2017
Got Me A Pretty New Thing
Big news: I bought a brand new smartphone this weekend! Yes, this is Big News. I’ve been complaining about my old phone for years, so this replacement has been a long time coming and was much anticipated. Another reason it’s big news: it was goddamn expensive. I’ve had mortgage payments that were less than half of the up-front payment of this phone. When the retailer told me the cost and passed the debit machine to me, I could feel my skin crawling. And I was getting a DEAL on this thing too. It’s unbelievable how expensive smartphones are, it really is a massive class privilege to buy a brand new one.
The model I got was the LG V20. My heart had been set on the new Pixel, but my phone company doesn’t carry it. The V20’s interface is pretty similar my old phone (Nexus 5) but there are a few features that I miss not having. Even so, I’m happy with the purchase. No regrets. I even have a fancy new case for it, the kind that opens like a book and you can slip your bank cards and cash inside the front flap.
I was reading comparison reviews after I brought the phone home (I know, counter-productive) and the V20 isn't actually rated all that highly. Competitors like the Pixel XL, the OnePlus 3, and the Galaxy 7 Edge are touted as much better alternatives. Only the 7 Edge was a potential option for me, and I deeply dislike that curved screen. Also, it would have been almost $300 more wtf. The V20 was ~on sale~ and therefore a steal, making it the same price as the LG G5.
There's so much customization and tweaking still to be done, so happy with my shiny new toy. ;D
The model I got was the LG V20. My heart had been set on the new Pixel, but my phone company doesn’t carry it. The V20’s interface is pretty similar my old phone (Nexus 5) but there are a few features that I miss not having. Even so, I’m happy with the purchase. No regrets. I even have a fancy new case for it, the kind that opens like a book and you can slip your bank cards and cash inside the front flap.
I was reading comparison reviews after I brought the phone home (I know, counter-productive) and the V20 isn't actually rated all that highly. Competitors like the Pixel XL, the OnePlus 3, and the Galaxy 7 Edge are touted as much better alternatives. Only the 7 Edge was a potential option for me, and I deeply dislike that curved screen. Also, it would have been almost $300 more wtf. The V20 was ~on sale~ and therefore a steal, making it the same price as the LG G5.
There's so much customization and tweaking still to be done, so happy with my shiny new toy. ;D
Feb 1, 2017
Edge of Reality
Today is one of those days where I don’t know where I am.
I drove to work and as the sun came up to my right, the clouds started to glow red and pink and purple, texturized with airplane contrails. I stared at the colours and thought, we were meant to be free, we were meant to fly. But I was surrounded by hundreds of others like me, trapped in small metal boxes, on our way to even bigger boxes of glass and wood and steel.
I drove by a plain sign that said Toronto Warehouse Outlet and grew confused for a moment. I’m in Toronto? Yes, I’m in Toronto. This is not New York or Vancouver or London or Reykjavik. Something so familiar to me was, for a second, wholly unfamiliar. Where is my mind going? What other lands has it been travelling to?
I thought, I need more coffee. I took a big swig from my travel mug.
I’m now old enough that I can look back at the breadth of my life and see an almost infinite amount of decisions and choices that were made. I see an infinite number of parallel universes, all the roads not travelled. Then I spend my spare time wandering other roads I can never travel, the ones that involve spaceships and ancient magic and flying like a bird. At night, my mind fuses the two together. I’m living in Accra as a writer and a part time real-estate agent, when suddenly espers emerge from the ground and wage war on humankind.
I’ve been obsessed with the end of the world lately. It started in such a silly way. I was watching an LP for Final Fantasy XIII-2 months ago and I found myself weirdly & excitedly haunted when Serah visited Noel’s world, its grey dunes and roving monsters and dying sun. Imagine being the last person alive. Imagine living on the dead husk of a planet with only shadows and memories to keep you company.
There is a hairline fracture that separates us from the fantastical. Those early morning hours, when my mind hasn’t quite locked onto reality, I peer through a cloudy film and squint at the layers of the world. We are somebody else’s storybook. The storybook is one stroke away from coming to life. Who am I? Where is my mind going?
I drove to work and as the sun came up to my right, the clouds started to glow red and pink and purple, texturized with airplane contrails. I stared at the colours and thought, we were meant to be free, we were meant to fly. But I was surrounded by hundreds of others like me, trapped in small metal boxes, on our way to even bigger boxes of glass and wood and steel.
I drove by a plain sign that said Toronto Warehouse Outlet and grew confused for a moment. I’m in Toronto? Yes, I’m in Toronto. This is not New York or Vancouver or London or Reykjavik. Something so familiar to me was, for a second, wholly unfamiliar. Where is my mind going? What other lands has it been travelling to?
I thought, I need more coffee. I took a big swig from my travel mug.
I’m now old enough that I can look back at the breadth of my life and see an almost infinite amount of decisions and choices that were made. I see an infinite number of parallel universes, all the roads not travelled. Then I spend my spare time wandering other roads I can never travel, the ones that involve spaceships and ancient magic and flying like a bird. At night, my mind fuses the two together. I’m living in Accra as a writer and a part time real-estate agent, when suddenly espers emerge from the ground and wage war on humankind.
I’ve been obsessed with the end of the world lately. It started in such a silly way. I was watching an LP for Final Fantasy XIII-2 months ago and I found myself weirdly & excitedly haunted when Serah visited Noel’s world, its grey dunes and roving monsters and dying sun. Imagine being the last person alive. Imagine living on the dead husk of a planet with only shadows and memories to keep you company.
There is a hairline fracture that separates us from the fantastical. Those early morning hours, when my mind hasn’t quite locked onto reality, I peer through a cloudy film and squint at the layers of the world. We are somebody else’s storybook. The storybook is one stroke away from coming to life. Who am I? Where is my mind going?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)