Pinned together, falling apart...
My hands are cold as I stir the uneaten, lukewarm mushroom soup in the bowl next to me. Considering the position of the desk at which I study at - right underneath a large window, behind which the wind blows and snow falls - icy limbs are an inevitability. Underneath my chair, the dog curls up, paws cupped in a sleepy, canine prayer. I stare straight forward, and the sky is a very dark powder blue as it casts shadows into my room. The clock announces that it's two hours before I rest, nestled in too many blankets and sheets. Tomorrow, new meaning, clean crisp pages to document on.
Posted by Julia at 4:45 PM
Keep your distance, sugar pill...
The Five Stages of Baking for a Bake Exchange:Excitement. During this stage, you scour the
internet researching the perfect recipe - one containing just the right mix of original ingredients and simplicity. You can't wait to take this opportunity to try out your new set of brushed stainless steel bowls.
Apprehension. You've already started the baking process. It's 7pm, and you had no idea the dough needed to be refrigerated for
two hours before being flattened and cut into festive holiday shapes. You wonder if the recipe you've chosen is any good? What if the end result doesn't satisfy?
Ambition. It's 10pm, you've only plated a dozen cookies, but shit, you're going to finish the full ten-dozen set by the end of tonight if it kills you. You're listening to upbeat music and bobbing a little as you work the rolling pin.
Denial. It's taking much longer than you thought, and you wonder if you can back out at the last minute without raising too many eyebrows. You waste half an hour brainstorming clever ways to avoid spending a second longer in the kitchen.
Anger. You can't believe you committed to making so many fucking cookies. You don't even like cookies. Your feet hurt, and you can feel your varicose veins popping out underneath your flour-caked sweats. How could you have forgotten that you
hate baking? You've taste-tested too much dough and the sugar is making you sick. The mirror denies any evidence, but you're convinced you've gained weight in the past few hours. You're too damn fat. No one will ever love you.
Acceptance. Grudgingly, you finish the job. But you are never. Ever. Going to touch a cookie. Again.
On iTunes: Piece of Me - Britney Spears
Posted by Julia at 11:40 PM
After the curtain, the lust of the libertines...
I rarely watch television. When I do, the Food Network and
HGTV take precedence over everything else, and I take great care to avoid stopping on any sort of news broadcast during channel surfing. Tonight, though, during a late-night workout, I opted to trade in the usual music for the tube.
I'm not sure why I decided to watch a celebrity gossip channel followed by almost thirty minutes of Nancy Grace.
First, Alec Baldwin is voted runner-up as the most controversial male awesome-pants of the year for leaving a voice mail on his 11-year old daughter's phone, calling her a "thoughtless little pig". Then, aforementioned justice-themed show host interrupts her way through her guests experts' opinions while debating about the criminal charges being laid upon an 18-year old college student who had suffocated her kid shortly after giving birth.
The verdict: a double case of trash television with a heaping side of who the fuck cares. I realize that the media's role is to handpick topics for shock factor and sensationalize them with heated discussions involving ten layperson panels. For some late Saturday night TV viewers, this is quality programming. And it is, by some standards. It keeps people welded to their couches and the ratings up. This is good news for CBS, Fox, and that channel with the colourful peacock logo. It's a form of escapism for many, but for me, it's more of a poisonous cocktail for brains. If I'm not watching a carefully selected feature film, wildlife documentary, or fast-paced cooking competition, my sexy mass of grey matter gets up and leaves.
I suggest you start training yours to do the same.
On iTunes: Hard Sun - Eddie Vedder
Posted by Julia at 1:32 AM
I bet you look good on the dance floor, riot van...
When I was a tad younger than my current twenty-three, I'd often join my man-friends in long rounds of weekend bar hopping, stumbling from pitcher to pitcher on the town's main hip drag while getting my non-
exposéd lady lumps
accidentally grabbed by strangers like
Pumpy et al. Despite one of my dearest guy friend's protests, I'd always attempt to dress less provocatively than the average bar ho. I was convinced that attention detracted from tits and ass would undoubtedly fall on my brain.
Retrospectively, I should have just stayed in the fucking library. Prospectively, though, I'm ready to use my new-found wisdom and start going a little crazy again. My cleavage, still showing mild remnants of the Croatian vacation of the long-gone summer, will crush leering college boys like frail paper cups.
Damn, it is good to be a woman sometimes.
On iTunes: Windowlicker - Aphex Twin
Posted by Julia at 1:10 PM
Lift her pull her, femme d'argent...
My blue mittens mysteriously infused with the scent of his cologne, I wander outside, holding my little dog's leash. The air is balmy - I have an easy time breathing. Snow packing under my boots, I wade through the nearby park listening to ice bits falling from pine trees. Tea with milk, vitamins, an open window. An email from my best friend. It's a great day.
On iTunes: On & On - Erykah Badu
Posted by Julia at 10:40 AM
Love it or leave it alone, young urban...
I'm young, fabulous, and broke. Here, with a large cup of unsweetened tea, I compile ideas into plans - arranging, paving, waiting for the glue to set. Everything is invigorating: this list I'm making, the music flowing through my speakers, the crispy weather outside. Tonight, a better sleep than before.
On iTunes: Glamorous - Fergie
Posted by Julia at 10:29 PM
Clap your hands, midnight marauders...
It's too late at night to be fruitful. My contacts sting. I'm thinking about penguins.
On iTunes: Like It Like That - A Tribe Called Quest
Posted by Julia at 12:44 AM
