A Funny Story about a Birthday & a Watermelon (2008)

I wrote this a while back and thinking about this story makes me giggle...okay cackle.  I still go through the photo album to relive it but it's one of those things were you HAD to know these people and you had to be there for those moments.

Formerly titled: What NOT to do if you just OFFICIALLY started your relationship Yesterday! 

Today was my neighbor's birthday. She turned 21 but she just got into a relationship (I don't know if I could even call it that!) with a my other friend Joseph.

Short version: Joe is an American boy, 20 or 21 but a bit....quirky. He's got his own sense of humor that is very...Western. Not a lot of Asians would understand anything but yeah... He's not a serious person and he's so Blase about EVERYTHING...but Smash Bothers.

Shishi is an only child, from a REALLY well to do Shanghai family and VERY Asian and to say the least, spoilt and usually gets what she wants.

Today was her birthday and her and Joseph just "Officially" said yeah, we are together. Before hand, Joe was very....weird about the whole admitting commitment and so for them to make it official was just like, FINALLY!

Well, it was ShiShi's birthday and so her party started at 7.30. People arrived around 8 but that's typical.

***GUYS: If you JUST STARTED a relationship, here's what NOT TO DO!!

So, everyone is waiting around for god knows WHAT and we come to realize that we are in a way waiting for Joe.

***JOE, came LATE, for his NEW GIRLFRIENDS BIRTHDAY: -1 point for Joe

Tuuli and I made a Wager on what time he would come. I even speculated that HE was still sleeping because after our class visited the Kyuudo Club, I was WIPED OUT! I'm so was Georgina. I just assumed that he would have been in the same state. HAHAH!

Tuuli was always optimistic and said, "Oh, I'm sure he has a good excuse for not coming"

"Pbbt! Yeah right! I bit he's asleep!"

Unfortunately we didn't bet on that as well otherwise I would have WON :P

Well we were wondering when he would come and so Tuuli being the optimistic one said, I'll say, he's going to come in a minute. I'm not as much as an optimist as a realist that sorta sees Joe as a WHATEVER kinda guy so, I said, "10:30".

It was 9:40 at the time so I was thinking that they would just rok up to the Kaikan at their normal blase time of LATE. I revised my time from 10:20-10:30 and Tuuli said from 9:40-10:19.

At one point, I had an almost scare that he came early around 9:50 but it was only David walking outside

We revised the rule that Joe had to walk INTO the Kaikan for the time to count.

LO and BEHOLD, It was 10:22 (haha, my b-day :P) and he walked in with a PAPER BAG nonchallantly as if nothing was wrong and joined us!

HA! I was ecstatic that I WON! HA!

We told Joe about it and he admitted he was ASLEEP! I would have WON again! :P

Anyhoo, he proceeded to tell us about what he did and Scott go curious as to what was in the Paper bad.

It had GHETTO writting "Happy Birthda~" and there was no "y" at the end of "day". Haha, it actually just looked like a squiggly line and when Scott looked in, he could barely contain his laughter.

"It's as watermelon"

"What?"

"Joe bought ShiShi a Watermelon"

Everyone: ....BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Granted it was a cute gesture and a lot of western girls would have been tickled by the idea but not our High Maintenance ShiShi. At least all of us that lived with her since Sept knew that. Not...Joe.

*** Joe not understanding that His situation wouldn't matter to her or actually fully comprehending what his "Girlfriend" is really like. - 1 Point for Joe

All of us knew what ShiShi was like and when Joe said he bought her a Watermelon, we all looked at each other knowingly as we knew what was to come.

Joe explained that he was out of Money and remembered that she liked Watermelon. Now, that's a sweet gesture as we American's - ESPECIALLY COLLEGE STUDENTS always like to say, it's the thought that counts. We all knew that Joe wasn't exactly made of money at the moment, especially if he comes to the Kaikan just to eat because he doesn't have food or whatnot

We understand that!

ShiShi...wouldn't and didn't.

Haha, His GHETTO wrapping in the Paper Bag was definitely an, I-JUST-bought-this-now-and-I'm-giving-it-to-her-as-IS.

She was so excited that it was huge and heavy and me and the others just LOOKED at one another as we knew that she was expecting something big and grand and expensive but....Not So.

When she opened her paper bag, her face just dropped and everyone couldn't help but laugh. Heck, i couldn't restrain myself because it was cute but she couldn't find the hilarity or the amusement in it!

Then...came Joe's Card...

Joe bought her a card and didn't know what to write. His Japanese is not bad but I guess his Japanese writing isn't the greatest. He was on the train and asked some RANDOM Japanese Business man what to write for a birthday.

That would have been a great story to tell as well but....not in ShiShi's eyes!

First off, the Japanese man write VERY formal Japanese using "Yoroshiku" rather than something more...personal. Shishi was a bit miffed at how...Teinei - Polite it was. It was almost like a stranger writing to a stranger. If you really think about it, it was.

Not only that, the guy wrote 23 years old so Joe had to later cross it out and write in 21 years old!

*** Joe got a total stranger to write a card for his girlfriend and didn't even tell the guy correctly how old she was or their relation. -2 points for Joe

Joe later told us the story that he gave the Japanese guy on the train to write with a pencil but the guy insisted that he use a pen and busted his OWN pen out to write the message.

Haha, I pointed out to Joe that it was tough luck that he didn't write with a pencil otherwise he would have been able to erase it later and write in the correct date without seeming so indifferent (which is, unfortunately, one of his traits)

Okay, back to Shishi, she's a bit...cranky about her gift and to pour MORE salt on her wounds, our close Chinese friends, Jeff and Vicky came in from Tokyo a bit late BUT they had FLOWERS with them and she received them REALLY WELL! You can't help but feel bad for Joe because those two out showed his fruit.

We were trying to make light of the situation, especially Joe, since he usually makes jokes just to relieve some stress but he was joking with us Westerners, "he's later than I am and get's a better reception than me? WHO wants flowers?"

I chimed it to lighten the situation, "that's right?! You can't even eat them"

"Yeah, that's right. What are you gonna do? Let them sit there and what? Die?"

Although he was making jokes, he was obviously unnerved.

Next was the cake cutting time. ShiShi was cutting her own cake and then the watermelon to give to everyone and when she went to rinse it off, she had that scary look she gets all the time when she's trying be joking and lighten the mood but REALLY yoU KNOW she wasn't joking!

She has this...NOH mask like face she puts on and acted like she was going to stab Joe in the stomach. Me and the others looked at each other and knew that she probably would have if there were no witnesses :P

Well, the night...didn't get any better. If you are thinking, "Shit, what more could this guy do?!" Well, let me tell ya, he did... a lot of damage.

Maybe it didn't help that we were all Laughing at their expense but Joe was okay with us laughing because it was lightening the mood where I think now Me, Georgina and Tuuli are on ShiShi's SHIT LIST because she doesn't have a funny bone in her BODY!

Anyway, Shishi was talking to Joe and when he was turning away, he accidently knocked her earring off her ear!

***Joe's physical contact that wasn't a hug or a kiss was just pissin' her off.

-1 point for Joe

Next time they were talking she was asking him who wrote her card or something along the lines because all along she thought that HE wrote the Card but she either over heard or had enough brainpower to put two and two together so.... Joe LIED and said that a friend wrote it. Now if he was REALLY paying attention, he would have known that she was leading him into a trap (one of the two sides that MOST people don't realize unless you are a girl or a foreigner). Joe....didn't know still (dense MOFO! that he is) and looked at Tuuli telling him to say, Don't Tell the truth.

He...unfortunately can't think that fast on his toes when it comes to lies so it sounds like a .... lie. I'm sure she knew it was two but he was pretty much in deep as it was.

*** Joe didn't tell his girlfriend he got help writing his card for her and was caught in his own lie AS WELL as lied to her when she questioned him. -2 points for Joe

Well, you can tell that he's sorta given up at that point. Actually he did but when ShiShi asked him if they were going to Karaoke, he said that he wasn't going to go. He hates it and probably would have gone for her if not for all the blunders but I think he was defeated at this point.

*** Joe...gave up. -1 for Joe

technically, I dont' know what I would do if I had as many blunders as he did but I guess it didn't help that we were laughing the whole time. Granted, those of us that were laughing were finding morbid pleasure not in Joe's misery but in ShiShi's because she's wronged us with her two-faced actions in the past.

Still you can't help but feel for the guy that has a -9 points against him.

We'll see what happens from there.

Copyright Information

Not sure how pertinent this is but I'm reposting it again

Haha, this topic is about Copyrights and I forget how I got this but it was in my e-mail for the longest time so hopefully it's still very relevant!  Anyway, As an artist and someone that is actually paranoid about something like this happening, I was happy to stumble upon my friends journal entry. It was a good refresher course because I've done some research on this because I wanted to register something but that way she had it set up was VERY convenient with all the steps and links in one page. So here it is:

Officially registering your copyright

Okay, so yesterday I wrote about how the latest and most disturbing trend in art theft is the fact that ad designers and magazines are starting to harvest works that they find online without asking permission and without paying you regardless how how much money they've make from the hackwork they slapped together using your art.

In that entry I talked about how to make your artwork unappealing to these lazy thieves who are searching for a shortcut to their next paycheck, but in one of the comments somebody mentioned mailing your work to yourself and keeping the envelope sealed as proof of ownership.

While this is better than nothing, a court of law can discard that as inadequate; they might not, but the fact remains that they can.

The best way to establish a record of a public claim of copyright is to actually file your copyright. Somebody asked me how you would go about that, so today I'm going to show you the procedure.

For the purposes of this journal I'll outline the United States Copyright Office registration procedure for Visual Art Works. The registration for other works is similar and mostly require different forms and slightly different information.

So you want to file a copyright on a Visual Art Work?

Step One

First you'll want to fill out Form VA

Form VA

Yes it's a four page form that reads like your tax return but it's not that difficult to fill out.

Space 1: Title

This where you put the name of your work.

If your work is or was called by another title they have a space for that and if you were published in a magazine (voluntarily mind you- not ripped off by one) you need to fill in that area too.

Space 2: Author(s)

This is information about you and anybody else who might have helped.

To simplify things write your actual name where indicated. If you routinely sign only your account name on your works you may want to write both here (example, Andy Example whose pseudonym is AndyAardvarrk).

You also must fill in your date of birth. Ignore the year of death unless you currently count yourself among the ranks of the undead.

Most likely you will answer No on the "work made for hire" question.

Give either your citizenship or the country where you are living.

Next you have to select Yes or No for both Anonymous? and Pseudonymous? questions. This is asking whether you actually put your name on the actual work, left it blank or used a fake name. If you didn't sign your work (shame shame) check Yes on Anonymous?. If you signed it with a pseudonym (like "AndyAardvarrk" for example) then check Yes for Pseudonymous?.

Lastly just check what it is you made.

If somebody helped you or collaborated then have them fill in their information also.

Space 3: Creation and Publication

This is where you give information about the day you finished the work, and the day that you published it.

Section A here is the day you finished the work. Pretty simple; just use the standard month/day/year format you use everywhere else.

Section B here is the day that you published the work, for most of you this would be the day you first placed it online where the public could see it unrestricted. This date, by the way, starts the clock ticking as far as "timely registration" which can affect certain copyright lawsuits which you might file. I won't try to explain this here.

Space 5: Previous Registration

This section should be pretty clear; most of you will be checking the No box.

Space 6: Derivative Work or Compliation

I'm going to assume that most of you are creation 100% original works and you aren't using stock resources or anything like that. If you are, then you have it easy- just skip over this part and thumb your nose at the photomanipulators and the people deliberately copying from other sources who have to list all of their resources (preexisting material), and talk about what they personally added or changed themselves.

Happy writing guys.

Space 7,8,9: Fee, Correspondence, Certification, Return Address

These sections are pretty simple also.

Most of you aren't going to be maintaining a Deposit Account with the Copyright Office so leave A section 7 blank and in b tell the kind people at the Copyright Office how to get in touch with you in the event that you confuse the hell out of them.

In section 8 you get to clearly state that what you are registering is actually your property. If you lie here your thieving ass can get chucked into jail. Make certain that you give a handwritten signature and you date it otherwise they'll reject the application.

In section 9 you give them the address of where you want your shiny new Copyright Certificate to be sent (in the event that your application isn't rejected of course).

More Space Plz

If for any reason you need more space because you write with your feet or any other reason, don't get creative in how to smoosh everything in just grab Form CON and keep writing.

Form CON

Step Two

Payment

Make out a check for (as of this writing) $45 payable to "Register of Copyrights."

Step Three

Deposit

Collect one or two prints of your work.

Make them the biggest, best examples of your work that you have available and make certain nothing is cropped out.

Step Four

Send the Package

Put everything into the same envelope or package (don't you wish those prints were smaller now?) and send the package to:

Library of Congress

Copyright Office

101 Independence Avenue, S.E.

Washington, D.C. 20559-6000

Your registration becomes effective on the day that the Copyright Office receives your application, payment, and copy(ies) in acceptable form. If your submission is in order and they don't reject it for one reason or another, you will receive a certificate of registration in approximately 4 months.

Tiramisu! TiramisuTiramisuTIRAMISU!

Gee, can you guess what is MY favorite dessert :P

Well, I promised to put this recipe on and have tried to BUT last time I did, the stupid thing got erased because I accidentally pressed the BACKSPACE and yup. I said FUCK IT!

I'm over that now and here to try again!

Georgina's Recipe she used for my Birthday!

3 Cups strong espresso coffee, cooled

1/2 cup coffee liqueur (Bailey's, Kahlua, Tia Maria)

3 egg yolk

2 Tbsp of Sugar

250g of Mascarppone

1 2/3 cup cream

about 16 savoiardi biscuits (about 1 1/2 packages)

50g dark chocolate, grated

dark cocoa

combine the coffee and liqueur and set it aside. Whisk egg yolks and sugar until thick, light and creamy. Whisk egg yolks and sugar until thick, light and cream. Fold in Marscarpone into egg yold mixture until almost smooth. Don't beat it. Whip cream until stiff peaks form. Fold a spoonful of the cream into the marscarpone mixture, then fold in remaining cream. Dip Savoiardi biscuits one at a time into coffee mixture and place a layer into the base of you selected dish. Carefully spread over half the marscarpone mixture. If your dish is deep, you might prefer to make 3 layers or if it is wider and shallow, make only 2 layers. Scatter over half the grated chocolate and sut with cocoa. Repeat, dipping remaining biscuits and placing in a layer on top. Spread over remaining cream. Scatter over remaining chocolate. Refrigerate for several hours before serving. Dust with extra cocoa if you like

Note: Can be made up to 3 ays in advance.

Georgina's friend's Tiramisu

*** If it is hard to find any of the liqueur's try a very sweet sherry

2 Tbsp Instant Coffee

1 1/4 cups (310 ml) boiling water

1 Cup (250 ml) sweet Marsala

250g packet sponge finger biscuits

1/2 (125 ML) Thickened Cream

1/3 (55g) icing sugar

2 Cup (500g) mascarpone cheese

40g dark chocolate, grated

125g blueberries

1. Dissolve coffee in water in medium bowl. Stir in 2/3 C Marsala; cool. Dip half of the biscuits, one at a time, in coffee mixture; arrange in singer layer, in 2.5 litre (10 Cup) glass dish.

2. Beat cram and sugar in small bowl until soft peaks form; fold in the marscapone and remaining marsala.

3. Spread half of the cream mixture over the biscuit in dish. Dip remaining biscuits in remaining coffee mixture; arrange on top of cream layer. Top biscuit layer with remaining cream mixture. Sprinkle with chocolate. Cover; refrigerate several hours. (can be made 2 days in advance during this stage - cover & refrigerate, store)

4. Decorate top with blueberries, just before serving

Last one with a recipe for Nut cassate:

Nut Cassata:

use 25 cm springform pan lined with foil. Can also use glass and pyrex bowl instead or anything you think would cope in a freezer

300g glace cherries

2 Tbsp brandy

2 Tbsp Caster Sugar

300 Ml thickened Cream

125g dark Chocolate

2 litres good quality vanilla Ice Cream

60g coconut biscuits

60g flaked almonds

Roughly chop Cherries and place in a bowl. Cover with brandy and allow to stand for 10 minutes

Whip Cream and Sugar until stiff, then fold in cherries and brandy (be careful not to know out too much air). Spoon mixture into springform tin, spread evenly and freeze.

In a saucepan, melt chocolate over low heat. Divide ice cream in half. Add half to the first batch of ice cream and mix. Mix the remaining batch of ice cream into the chocolate mix and evenly spread over the frozen cream inside the cake tin

In a bowl, crumble the biscuits and almonds together roughly. set aside

Ocne cassata has set, surn it out onto a flat surface and sprinkle the nut mixture on top. With a thin blade knife, cut into thick slices to serve.

VOILA

Hokkaido - 2008

Hokkaido Trip Part I

Current mood:distractable

Yeah...this is gonna be long...So I'll split it in two to three parts (and mind you, I'm practically covering one day in this entry :P)

Well, I'm here in Hakodate and It's not been quite as full as I would like but it's definitely a step in the right direction.

On Thursday, I went to Tokyo and caught the Yako Bus. I was 1.5 hours early but I waited for the bus to arrive. It was freezing and I asked anyone that looked like they worked for the bus company for directions on where the noriba or the bus stop was. I was told to go here, there and finally I had someone read the actual meeting place and they showed me in the right direct. I pretty much waited for an hour in the literally freezing weather. There were three to four other people waiting as well and when 9:40 rolled in, I noticed that they were leaving. I also noticed that there were people in the near corner and I went up to them with my schedule and asked them where to go.

Luckily, they were the right people and checked off my name, sending me down the road past two lights * shingo * and a right turn at the corner. There the Saikai bus was waiting and…I was more than anxious to get in.

At first, I was excited that there was no one there…yup, that didn't last long and not only that, the person that I was sitting next to was sick~! I need some Vit. C!

So let's just say that the first 4-5 hours were HELL! My feet were sore and my shoes were the culpret. When I finally took them off, it took an hour for it to stop throbbing! I then couldn't sleep more than 2 hours consecutively on that damn thing and would stay up for 1.5-2 hours before I exhaust myself. Not to mention the fact that the stupid toilet breaks every two! It was miserable but I guess I get what I paid for! I was so uncomfortable that I had to keep on changing positions but also the lady next to me couldn't stay still as well. Miserable! I was glad that the third or fourth stop at Morioka meant that people were getting off! Better yet, more than ¾ of the occupants were off the bus and it was nice. Still didn't quite solve all my sleeping probs but it helped heaps :D

Actually, when the sun came up, it started to snow and it was scary how fast the driver was driving! I couldn't believe it and was up for a good amount of time before I could sleep again.

After two more stops and drop offs, we finally make it to Aomori and my thought is get me off of this bus. I wrapped myself good and brave the weather.

I look for the closest Koban or Police box to ask for Directions for the Eki and, Hahah, if I had just turned around and looked behind me, I would have found it.

Lo and behold, I'm glad that I didn't because I wouldn't have met my traveling buddy from Aomori to Hakodate.

Her name was Hermione (I know what you are thinking) and we just talked while waiting for the train as well and even during the 2 to 3 hour train ride. I have plenty of pictures of our ride to Hokkaido and I enjoyed her company. It was funny because at one point, a conductor came by and asked for tickets and she didn't have a reserved seat (but really, she would have been fine because she had a pass) but I think because we were talking in English so rapidly, he kinda got scared or didn't want to deal with the foreigners :P It worked our for the best.

Hermione needed to go to the Post Office to withdraw money and so I helped her ask for directions as well as went with her because I honestly had nothing better to do. I wasn't sure what I would do in Hakodate and I forgot to confirm what time my host was going to finish work. I hung with her until her 1:29 departure and we said goodbye. I gave her my info in her book but she gave me hers on a scrap, which is not the best thing since I lose those easily (and did ?) I hope she contacts me but she'll have to in order to get the pictures that she wants of Hokkaido :P

Well, I was done in the main station of Hakodate and looked at my info folder (I have a folder with a print out of all my important info) and had to catch the train to Gyokukoen no Mae (a Park) and it had directions from there. Well, I figured that I had time to kill and so I looked around the park. It was a fort of the Shogunate and had some really nice architecture as well a good view of the tower thingy that Japan like to have in almost ever city :P

I was going to go up there but it's mainly good for the night view and not only that, I was a bit pake at that point because let me tell you, when I was in Hakodate, I looked up the prices for Sapporo and it was 8500Y or $85 dollars to get there! I was blown away because I knew that by the end of all the traveling, I would have saved not only time but LOTS of money by plane!

You Live & You LEARN!

Well, it was getting dark and I wanted to find the place I was staying at before the sun went down. It took me a few tries but the directions were really clear and I found…but no host.

I tried to contact him but I figured he was still at work. I went to a Pachinko Parlor to make a few calls but I finally just settled in the mall across the street. I wandered the shops many times that I'm sure they started to look at me funny or would get suspicious. Haha, I finally settled on the second floor there were couches for "resting" so I rested there for clost to 3 hours! Haha, I read and studied as well as worked on my goodbye speech for when I have to leave. It's got a lot of nonsense which I have to edit but at least the first draft is done and I can focus on translating it.

8:30 came by and I vacated the mall because they close at 9 but I went back to the Pachinko Parlor and waited in their lounge area. I noticed security coming around after 15 minutes and I busied myself as if I was waiting for someone inside: sitting towards the main area, being fidgety, and making really obvious glances in that direction. It seemed to work and I wasn't bothered for the rest of my wait. 9pm came around and I went back to the place that I was going to be staying and I was so relieved that he was home! I was so fammished and wanted to eat!

My host was Ben from the UK but was living in Hakodate for 4 years teaching. Telling me all the odds and ins of the place but he took me to a near by Izakaya (like a bar only not as trashy…well, this one at least. It's like going to Kims only without the karaoke.) He ran into some collegues as well and one was Canadian and the other was American. They were with their friend that is from Hakodate but I was glad to have her around as it seemed to level the playing fields :P

Ben ordered the normal things he usually likes to introduce his guests to (apparently he gets one CSer ever WEEK!): Raw Horse & Live Squid :P

I wasn't opposed to trying anything once or even twice but both were rather good. I felt a moral tug at eating the damn squid as it squirmed as I chompped down on it but I was over it. The raw horse was cut thinly and frozen (not solid but just enough so that it was a bit stiff for raw meat). Well, as soon as you eat it, it melts and has no particular flavor. It wasn't bad. Among the other things that we bought were some type of fish (really good and cooked to perfection!), spinich salad, cheese sticks, a cheesy potato, and yaki niku (meat on a stick). All Great stuff.

So we all hung out, and talked about travel as well as work and life in Japan. Afterwards, we returned to Ben's place and I took a shower. He introduced me to a game call Civilization IV and it was actually an awesome concept. It's a computer game as we were geeking out talking about different games and he told me that he was addicted to World of Warcraft and had to cut that out of his life because it was becoming too consuming. He also said that when he sold his character that he leved up and auctioned off, it went for $900.00!!!

$900.00!! Can you believe that?! Who the fuck would pay that kind of money for a character of a game but he explained that it's time consuming to build up a character so it may just be easier to buy it. But STILL REALLY?! WTF!!!

Anyhoo, I went to sleep with thoughts of what the hell am I going to do the next day to fill up my time. I told my next host that I would be there at 3 or 4 and I didn't know what I would do to fill in the gaps. Well, I'll worry about that the next day.

Sweet Tea

Sweet Tea Recipes
(borrowed from "from the Grits Kitchen")


Recipe #1 Southern Sweet Iced Tea

Ingredients
3 Family size tea bags
2 Cups of cold water
1 Cup of sugar

Directions
We in the south make the best iced tea you'll find. Maybe it's how it's done, or maybe it is the water in the south, or maybe it's just that a southern belle has put a lot of TLC into making the tea. Who knows!

We recommend Luzianne Tea Bags if available.

Place the two cups water in a pot and add the tea bags. Bring to a boil, do not continue boiling. Remove from heat and let steep. Pour warm tea into empty pitcher. Add the sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Fill remaining pitcher with cold water.

Optional - some women say they use less water and add ice to the tea.

Recipe #2 Southern Sweet Iced Tea

Ingredients:
3 Family sized tea bags
a pinch baking soda (about 1/4 teaspoon)
1 to 1 1/3 cups of sugar

Directions:
Here is my never fail sweet tea...
Everyone (even yankees) loves it.

Bring 3-4 cups of water to a boil. Add a pinch of baking soda to the water and add 3 family sized tea bags. Remove from heat and cover. Allow to sit for at least 10-15 minutes. Pour into gallon pitcher and add sugar. Then fill with cold water. Refrigerate.

*the soda takes out the bitterness and darkens the tea....this small amount doesnt change the taste.

Enjoy!!

Recipe #3 Sun Tea (no cooking!)

Ingredients:
3 Family sized tea bags
1 quart water
Glass or translucent pitcher

Directions:
Here is my easy, no work needed...Sun Tea

Put the water and tea bags in the pitcher. Put in the Sun and let sit. In about 30 minutes to an hour you have tea. Add cold water to desired strength. Refrigerate.

This recipe is great for guys who can't cook!

Note: The sun does not usually heat water up enough to kill all the bacteria, so you should take proper cleaning procedures and throw out the tea if it ends up looking weird (extra thick, has strands in it, is syrupy).

Bread Recipe

Banana Bread‎

1/2 C shortening

1 1/3 c brown sugar

2 well beaten eggs

2 c flour

1/2 tsp salt...

1/2 tsp soda

1/4 c sour milk

1 c banana pulpnuts

(optional)Cream shortening and sugar.

Add eggs and vanilla - beat until fluffy

.Add sifted dry ingredients alternately with sour milk and banana pulp - mixing well after each addition.

Bake at 350 for 50 min (sometimes longer - check after 50 minutes) in greased and floured pans.

Zucchini Bread

Zuke Bread

3 egg

s2 c sugar

1 c oil

3 tsp vanilla...

2 c zuke grated

3 c flour

1 tsp soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

3 tsp cinnamon

1/2 c chopped nuts (optional)1 tsp salt

Beat together well eggs, sugar, oil, and vanilla. Gradually add zuke. blend flour, soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Add nuts and mix well. Bake at 325 for 1 hour (slightly longer if necessary) in 2 greased single loaf pans.

Compliments of C. Tumin (Thanks Mom!)

I'm back to Ram my way through the Year!

I'm back and I'm rammin' though this year!

Hehe, get it?  "Ram"...year of the Ram on Chinese calendar...?

Yeah, bad, I know... but I had to get that out of my system.

SO, I'm gonna make my Chinese New Year Resolution!

Write more and post more!

Easier said than done, I get that but I'll make an effort, even if it's stuff involving school.

Let me just say that my year for 2014 was crap!  I can't really describe it any other way but one of these days, I'll go into more detail.  In a nutshell: My graduate school closed down on me, my dog died and my mentor left the country.

This year is promising though so I'm going to make the most of it and see where it takes me!

I've had some great opportunities present itself to me and I'm very hopeful.

I'll be in touch!

Oh, and I will be posting some older blog posts that talk about my experiences abroad.