2012 Day #2: Reflecting on the new year...

I decided to do a retrospect of the new year so far...

     After the indulgence that was New Year's Eve 2011...I began the new year yesterday with a clean slate and full of great expectations & good intentions. I had a fairly indulgent breakfast with eggnog panettone french toast, bacon & eggs, however I did offset it with fresh fruit and a southern traditional new year's dish of black-eyed-peas and collard greens  and I went jogging out on my favorite trail. I did some cleaning/organizing, and I did some loafing around and goofing off. In other words, it was a well balanced day. I even blogged, did a writing exercise for fun, read, and had a day well spent.

   

The only down side is the cold I managed to pick up somewhere along the way. This morning, after a satisfying breakfast of baby quiches, fruit and a caramel macchiato, I began a downward spiral which started with sneezing, morphing quickly into a runny nose, which is causing a furious sore throat. Booo! Feeling under the weather has put a cramp in my plans to make today productive.
 
  Now I only managed to confirm my spring enrollment and finish some blogs...oh and begin watching the new BBC Sherlock...which is quite awesome, I must say, for bookish anglophiles like myself. It's a very modern adaptation, but the two leads are nerdishly charming in that British way. I'm going to have to get back to that now as I am losing the energy required to type or even sit in front of a computer screen.

 Happy New Year 2012!
Cheers (and sniffles)!

The Year Is 2012!!!!

     Welcome to the year two thousand and twelve. It sounds like the future and yet, in terms of this century we are still taking baby steps. Travelling back in time, to the turn-of-the-last-century, in 1912, the first of the World Wars had not yet happened, America was still a bright young upstart, (not at all the fully realized superpower it was later to become, at best it was more like a social ingenue) the flappers, the bootleggers nor the Great Depression had happened, and only the very rich (and progressive) had electricity in their homes. I can hardly imagine what they would think of our modern day working poor all using smartphones.The defining event of 1912 was the sinking of the "unsinkable" mighty Titanic.


     It's hard to know where we are in on the timeline right now, and without a time machine (TARDIS or DeLorean) all we can do is work with the limited viewpoint we have. It's impossible to know if we have hit rock bottom, where the only place left to go is up; or if all of our troubles are only beginning and the worst is yet to come. I suppose the nation could be headed in one direction, but that doesn't mean that the individual could not go in the exact opposite.


     This year we have the added drama of the apocalyptic predictions for the end of the year. Since the Mayan calendar ends in December 2012, we may have reached the last epoch of our age. I can't pretend I have complete faith in scholars to read the calendars of dead civilizations perfectly so I must say, I expect it could end early...or possibly later than predicted. It's so hard to pinpoint the exact day or hour...I suppose Jesus did try to tell us that ("But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone."), I mean, HE didn't even know. I know I think I'm pretty smart, but I don't think I'm smarter than Jesus and ALL the angels of heaven! So...yeah...just always be ready, I guess.


     For myself I am going to take this New Year's restart and begin with letting go of dramas and disappointments of the past year...or lifetime...and pick up with a brand new day. If you notice small children, they don't carry a lot over from day-to-day let alone year-to-year. Each day is brand new in and of itself, full of possibility and opportunity. They don't have a lot negativity or doubt, and they're pretty successful in everything they do...eventually. So I'm going to try that approach this year and focus on adding good things to my life instead of focusing on eliminating the bad. I just don't really want to give the bad things much attention or energy. I think adding all the good stuff in will leave very little room for any lingering negativity. I'm going to make some NY Resolutions and maybe do a Q & A as well this week.


Thanks for reading and Happy New Year 2012!

     Cheers!

The End Is Near...2011

There are less than 3 magical days of holiday wonder left of 2011 and I am definitely feeling the urge to tie off the loose ends of this year, banish those things that didn't really nurture my soul and begin the preparations for exciting fresh starts. Few things in the world make me as giddy as new beginnings, and that is probably why New Year's Day is one of my most treasured holidays. 


Whatever happens on New Year's Eve is irrelevant (unless I was seeing Guns n' Roses play at The Joint in Las Vegas), but as the glitter covered revelers count down the seconds, the reset-button of life gets a champagne soaked push at midnight, and once again the first day of the new year is that all-American open road I keep meaning to take (preferably in a vintage 1966 Mustang convertible) for an exhilarating drive across this sexy country. This year we turn 2012 and some say it may be our last year on this planet, at least on this realm anyway. I hope I live this year as though it were our last year our planet had left to live, taking the big risks like there's nothing to lose. 


My plan is to make this the most heavily documented year of my life so far. I plan on using blogs, social networks, photographs, sketches and songs to accompany the journey. I wish everyone love and luck in all of their endeavors this year!


Ciao, Rockers!
K.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt Sings! And well!

New Discovery

     Yes, just like Erik The Red discovered our continent in the year 900 or so, heralding in new tidings, of good, bad, and wasteful, so have I discovered a new internet continent giving me more control and organization than Tumblr and more creativity than Facebook.
      It's essentially one gigantic internet inspiration board, made up of millions of smaller inspiration boards, that you can share and subscribe to and get loads of inspiration and ideas from without wading through how badly someone needs coffee (guilty!) or how they wish it was Friday.
     Best part is how the "pins" will link to the original source so I have already found several new blogs I love as well as found 365 new things to make in my crock pot. I'm pretty much hooked!

National Novel Writing Month!

"Not knowing where to begin is a common form of paralysis. Begin anywhere." ~Bruce Mau

It's here! The first day of NaNoWriMo and I couldn't be more excited about it. The idea is to finish writing a full length novel from start to finish in 30 days. People do it every year so it's proven possible. Just last year my sister completed her first novel ever and now she's shopping it to literary agents. This year I, too, shall join their ranks. I don't have a title or a plot for my novel yet but I have a willingness to attempt this and see it through. Wish me luck!

To follow along with me on my endeavor, here is my NaNo page:

http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/participants/karisabee

Food Network's Candy Corn Cordial!

Ingredients

For the infused vodka:

• 1/2 cup candy corn
• 1 1/2 cups vodka

For the cordials:

• 2 ounces orange liqueur
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 large egg white
• Candy corn, for garnish

Directions

Infuse the vodka: Combine the candy corn and vodka in an airtight container; set aside for at least 3 hours, then strain.

Make the cordials: Add 4 ounces of the candy corn vodka, the orange liqueur, lemon juice and egg white to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously for at least 30 seconds. Strain into 2 chilled martini glasses and garnish with candy corn.

Candy Corn Cordials on the Food Network

Happy Halloween!

...So this is my last minute costume. I threw it together in about 20 minutes and it was just enough to take some cute new profile pictures which was all I needed it for, since I don't have any parties to attend. I love Halloween, but I am unorganized so I'm rarely prepared for it when it arrives. I love the whole month of October for it's ghouls and spiderwebs (aesthetic ones NOT the real kind *shudders*) and all the crisp air and apples, cider and pumpkins...and lets not forget the scary movies and my annual screening of Sleepy Hollow. Glorious!
...At the same time it's time for me to mourn the death of...well, death, just in time to enter the month of gratitude. I suppose it's enough to be grateful for surviving all the creeps and freaks of the October and time to get all bundled, cozy, and thankful. :-)
...Tomorrow, on November 1st, it's all about the NaNoWriMo launch and getting ready for the holiday season, but more on that in tomorrow's blog.

Halloween Spirit!

A Halloween Cocktail That Will Spirit You Away

A Scary-Good Drink Recipe

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Halloween or not, there’s no disguising your love of a good drink. 

The Great White PumpkinServes one

Ingredients1½ oz. dark rum
½ oz. pumpkin puree
½ oz. Cointreau
¼ oz. lime juice
2 oz. heavy cream
½ oz. simple syrup
Fresh nutmeg

1. In a cocktail shaker, combine rum, pumpkin, Cointreau, and lime. Shake well and strain into a martini glass.

2. Shake heavy cream and simple syrup separately until thickened and layer on top.

3. Garnish with freshly grated nutmeg.

From Daily Candy http://dailycandy.com/all-cities/article/91016/Halloween-Cocktail-Recipes-Drinks-for-Halloween

Jane's Addiction & Studying

     Jane's Addiction are blowing my mind right now with their spectacular new album The Great Escape Artist. Pretty sure I'll be playing this every day for awhile. I'm listening to it on Spotify, which is where I've been testing and trendspotting all my new music lately. This one's good enough for a download purchase though. It's kind of dreamy and ethereal. I admit, my experience with this band ended with "Been Caught Stealing" back in the 90s, so I have no clue as to whether or not this album is a departure or in sync with their usual stuff. I get really excited when I get excellent new albums from actual rock stars.


     I realize I need to get serious about my class work. My attention is divided into so many factions right now, and I tend to compartmentalize or I wont ever get anything finished. I have already wasted so much time today on random web surfing and following various bunny-trails but I tell you: I must study!


     Okay, got that off my chest, and now I will get some lunch and settle down to study all about Martin Luther's Revolt.
Ciao!