Day 250: 5/18/12 - "Even If It Breaks Your Heart"

"Some dreams stay with you forever

Drag you round and bring you back to where you were

Some dreams keep on getting better

Gotta keep believing if you wanna know for sure...

Keep on dreaming even if it breaks your heart..."

-"Even if it Breaks Your Heart" by the Eli Young Band

Pay for What You Get: I stopped by a hair salon today to have the edges in the back of my hair removed.  They don't look bad but they do look a little ragged if I pull my hair up.  As the woman was working on my hair I warned her to be careful and not cut up too far.  She said "I didn't - just taking off the back."  As I was leaving she waved off payment - said it wasn't worth her time (I'm guessing she meant that it didn't cost her any time) since it only took her a minute.  Everything seemed fine until I started untangling my hair to wash it and low and behold to long locks came out in my hands!  She had cut off two of my twists!  I was so mad, but what can you do?  She hadn't charged me so I paid for what I got, which was a slight butchering.  At least I have so much hair that it isn't noticeable.  Of course, I know about it so it will drive me crazy.  And as my hair grows back out I will have uneven hair in the back no matter what I do since the hair she cut will grow more quickly and lengthen more than the edges that I cut on occasion.  I won't be going back there, which is sad since it is where I also went the first time and the other woman did a great job.  I will at least contact them and let her know that she should be more careful, whether she is charging someone or not!

Wordle is Fun!  Check out my Wordle created from a 3 page paper I just completed.  I forgot how much fun it was to put together Wordles.  They show you so much about the words you used and can really let you know by the size of the words you used most frequently whether you stayed on topic as you had hoped to.

Day 175: 3/4/12 - "Dreaming with a Broken Heart"

"When you're dreaming with a broken heart
The waking up is the hardest part
You roll outta bed and down on your knees
And for the moment you can hardly breathe"

-"Dreaming with a Broken Heart" by John Mayer

When Lyrics Attack...Sometimes songs just hit you where it hurts the most.  That is what happened to be twice last night and Dreaming with a Broken Heart is the one that brought tears to my eyes as I was out walking.  As I've mentioned before, it's not always the entire song that catches me.  It's often just a line or two that resonate with me.  How true it is when you wake up and you literally feel as if you can't breathe for those first few moments.  The rest of the day tends to drag along after that.

Hair Today...I'm again contemplating cutting my hair.  After trying to finish cleaning up the apartment, I also realized that I needed to wash my hair...and I knew I didn't have the time to not only wash it, but also put it back up.  So I ended up delaying the washing until tomorrow since I only had the energy to braid it up quickly.  Some hair days are scarier than others!

Day 138: 1/27/12 - "3 A.M."

"It's 3 A.M.

I'm awake and my heart is still dreaming

It's 3 A.M.

And outside I hear the souls still screaming..."

-"3 A.M." by Edwin McCain 

ESP: I don't think I actually have ESP, but I will admit that at times there are coincidences that I find odd and a little scary.  Like when I'm listening to the radio and as one song ends I'll start thinking of another song and it will come on the radio.  this has happened a few times to me while driving.  I can likely chock it up to popular songs or overplay on the radio, but still odd.  Then take my choice of songs for the day.  I heard 3 A.M. this morning and chose it as my song...I didn't expect to still be awake at 3:00 A.M., but here I am, only 52 minutes away and not a bit tired!

Tough Decisions: I have to make a tough decision over the next day or so...I have to cut my hair again.  Those who know me know that even though I was used to having it short once it was cut, I still wanted it back.  But now it is damaged and breaking off...to the point of creating bald spots in the front.  It is time to start over again, I think.  I might even put a little color on it..though I have to be careful since my hair is obviously damaged.  I'll miss it, but it only takes a year for it to grow, and this time, if I take better care of it, I might be able to get it to grow even faster!  I'll post pictures once I make the big cut...I might even cut it myself (yes, I know that could be dangerous!).

Day 84: 12/04/11 - "Almost Doesn't Count"

"But everybody knows
Almost doesn't count"

-"Almost Doesn't Count" by Brandy

Baking up a Frenzy: Today I made both chocolate chip cookies and vegan lemon poppy seed muffins (one of my students is a vegan and I don't want her not to have something to eat during our finals prep party on Tuesday.  The cookies came out cute and tasty (as usual).  No need to post a recipe since it is just the one off of the toll house morsels bag.  But the vegan lemon poppy seed muffins deserve a recipe post (though I haven't tried one yet, so I don't know what they taste like).

Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
 
1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup organic sugar (I used Florida Crystals brand)
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cup soy milk
6 oz soy yogurt (I used vanilla but you could also use lemon)
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp grated lemon zest
1 tbsp poppy seeds

Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.  Combine the wet ingredients in small bowl and combine.  Mix the wet and the dry together, adding the poppy seeds about 1/2 way through the mixing process.  Don't over mix, combine just until moist.  Pour batter into prepared pans (or cups) and bake for 20 - 25 minutes at 400 degrees.

Though I haven't eaten one yet they definitely smelled nice and the batter tasted nice.  I'll tr one tomorrow and post what they taste like.

Hair Raising: I decided to twist my hair up, partly out of boredom and partly because of the temperature drop (I can't get a hat on my hair in its natural state).  Even I didn't realize how much it has grown in just the last month.  I tend to twist it up at least once a month just for a change, but it has gotten almost as long as it was before I had it cut off in Paris.  And yes, it is getting hard to twist up (takes longer).  But I realized how much I missed this look.  Twists are me...not the straight hair...not the natural fro...twists.  Others don't seem to like it but I'm at the point where I can say I don't give a shit what they like.  It's my hair not there's. 

Day 28: 10/9/11 - "Precious Pain"

"Everybody's got a hunger

No matter where they are.

Everybody clings to their own fear

Everybody hides some scar..."

-"Precious Pain" by Melissa Etheridge

Creatively Lacking in Creativity: So here I will post my efforts at being creative in the last week or so.  Most people will likely agree when I say that these efforts are fairly anemic.  I'm not sure where to place the blame for this.  Is it more of the medicine keeping me from being creativity?  Or have I simply lost the spark?

Clothing Design:  When I was in high school I actually spent part of one semester drawing either prom dresses or wedding dresses for my classmates.  I was either a Freshman or a Sophomore because I remember still being in band.  I wish now that I had kept them all because I'd like to see whether I had an eye for design or not.  The point of that little trip down memory lane is that the other night I had one of those overly detailed dreams where I was working in a night club (yeah, right!) and I was wearing this great outfit (not one I would be able to wear in real life).  The outfit was so real to me that I had to draw it when I woke up.  I only wish I knew how to sew because I would love to make it for someone.

Of course, once I drew this outfit, I had the urge to draw the wedding dress that I created for a character in one of my books (you know, one of those things I'll never finish).  The dress is actually designed to be made from 3 pieces of cloth and 2 decorative clasps, but realistically it could be created as a one piece dress.

Not that I'll ever need a wedding dress, but again, I'd love to make this some day.  The bottom layer is actually designed to be sheer.  The other two pieces provide the coverage needed to make the dress-wearer stay decent.  The bottom piece covers your butt in the back and the clasp and gathering of the fabric in the front cover the rest.  The top part is a mirror image but in the opposite direction, also creating the train of the dress.

I think someone would have to be daring to wear this dress in the first place but if they had the right body, they could likely pull it off!


Baking: I finally decided to give my S'mores cupcake a shot.  I can say that it did not turn out as expected but I actually like my first try at combining the graham crackers and the chocolate cake.  I tried 3 different variations:

1. I lined only the bottom and about 1/4 inch up the sides of a ramekin with graham cracker mix.
2. I lined the bottom and sides of a ramekin with graham cracker mix.
3. I placed some of the graham cracker mixture in the bottom of a cupcake liner.

partial graham cracker layer

I poured the chocolate cake mix into all 3 and put them in the oven.  They took a little longer to bake up but they were super moist and the bottom graham layer actually stayed soft in the ramekin versions.  I don't know yet about the cupcake liner versions. 

full graham cracker cup for cupcake

I tried the one on the left and found them to be tasty even without the marshmallow icing that I was supposed to make.  I'll have to wait to do that next time since I want to work on the graham cracker crust a bit more.  I can't wait to try the full graham crack crust version as I think it will be the most interesting one to eat.

Hair Twisting:  I actually took the time to twist my hair up today.  I wasn't going to but with the rain this morning and my desire to wash my hair, I went ahead and took care of it.  Not sure about how it looks but it feels great!  It's been a while sense I've felt good about my hair and I need that right about now.