The Art of Describing Food

Today's school lunch:
Diced potatoes, pounded into soggy circular patties that have then been drowned in a appetizing pool of oil accompanied with cubes of bacon and fat coated in a thin film of oily perspiration.

Appetizing? Hell yes.

Fun fact for today:
I'm a huge fan of describing food! Reading about well-described food in books can mostly cause me to become insanely hungry, but sometimes it becomes my alternative to eating. Take the Harry Potter books for example. Those feasts sound absolutely marvellous, and most of the time, I actually feel a part of them while they last in the book. I even feel full sometimes! That's the beauty of adjectives. 

Although I don't have the slightest clue of what I'd like to be when I grow up, I think copywriter has always been on the list of potential jobs. Imagine that. I may never have to eat again! (Just kidding. I'm also a huge fan of food itself. There is no way that I am ever going to stop eating.)

But as you've probably figured out, I am not a fan of school food. I've always been a bit of a spoiled brat when it comes to food since my mum is a splendid chef.

Oh gosh. Now I'm hungry again. Time to raid the fridge... :)

Comforts

Somedays, you feel that life couldn't get worse.

Sometimes, you just want to know everything is going to be okay.

And there's always that weird item or smell that makes you feel a million times better.

I've finally figured out what makes me feel better:

The fragrance of freshly brewed coffee.

Walking into a coffee shop is my idea of heaven.

Eating dark chocolate.

Apparently chocolate contains some chemical that is produced when a person is in love, making them exceedingly happy.

That's probably why I have such a love affair with dark chocolate.

(This is making me sound like some depressed, hormonal teenager with a hopeless addiction to chocolate. I can assure that that is incorrect.)

The smell of new books and magazines.

I'm that weird person you see in bookshops who just stand there smelling the place. It looks bizarre, but it puts me at ease.

The smell and sight of food!

I admit that not every single type of food looks and smells utterly delicious, but most do. And coming home from a long day at school to the smell of dinner makes everything better.

Oh, and the food that smells the best, is pizza.

Now THAT is comforting.

The sea.

The fresh air, the salt, the freedom.

All the stress just disappears.

Like magic.

Storms.

When you're inside, it's cozy.

When you're outside, it makes you feel alive.

Either way, I love them.

Fires.

I sound like a pyromaniac.

But, don't worry, I only like them when they're small.

Nature in general.

The smell of it.

The sound of it.

The sight of it.

Everything.

Roadtrips.

They're cramped, yet cozy.

They're long, yet short.

There's something about them that I just love.

I just haven't figured it out yet.

And hugs.

Nothing beats the feeling of affection.

Enough said.

Another Clip about Another Love

I realize that this will be the second Youtube clip that I share today, but I figure it necessary since I remembered how great this is!

I'm a bit of a fan of sheep. They may not be the most intelligent animals on earth, but they are terribly cute and I've spent lots of time with them. Living in New Zealand where there are 10 times as many sheep as humans probably explains why it wasn't too hard to find a couple of look at.

This Youtube video is however, not from New Zealand, but it is about sheep! It's very creative and time consuming and I'm in real admiration of those who were dedicated enough to do this. All the training, all the sheep, and all the time needed must not have been easy!

And they couldn't have chosen a better soundtrack to go with the video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2FX9rviEhw

The Love of my Life

This song is my favorite at the moment.

Probably because it's about the love of my life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSfYSMz_9YE

Here is the lyrics. I think it might be incomplete, but it's pretty accurate.

Ashton Kutcher and Scout Willis – My Sober Lyrics

When I wake up in the morning
Know the first thing that I think about
I stumble down the staircase
I know that I couldn’t live a day
without you

You’re my sober when I’m wasted
You’re my courage when I got a doubt
You’re my happy when I’m grumpy
You’re my smile when I’m stuck with a pout
Can’t live without you

I’m addicted, I think it’s sickness
When you’re not here I’m always a mess
You’re the weapon ‘gainst the sandman
fills so warm in my hand
Not a woman not a man that can
live without you

From the moment that you touch my lips
feels just like I’ve been hit a thousand volt of electricity
From the diner to the bar even driving in my car
Coffee I can’t live
without you.

cappuccino, frappuccino, ice blend and mocha latte, black coffee,
double shot, italian roast, you’re the most,
venti, grande, soy milk, americano,
Coffee I can’t live without you
This song is about you
without you

Ice-Skating

The many categories one can find during a day at an ice-skating rink:

• The Amazing Asians- At the rate that some of these asians whizz about, you'd almost think they were born on the ice!
• The Super-moms on Skates- Being a mom doesn't mean you have to suck at ice-skating. These ladies reveal their hibernating ice-skating skills.
• The Suicidal, "Stop-drop-and-roll" children- The title says it all. They stop very suddenly in front of you. Then sprawl onto the ice. They then roll and slide around for a while, successfully scaring all the beginners who only just manage to leap out of the way. If you want to try to kill yourself and a little kid, just stand right behind one of the 4 year olds.
• The Pro Figure Skaters- They glide about making everything they do look graceful and simple... but after you try it yourself, you realize it wasn't as easy as it looked. 
• The Mediocres- Those who are neither beginners nor pros. Unfortunately, they tend to be victimized. 
• The Tourists- If you're in Sweden, you gotta ice skate, is what the tourists think. With their heads heavily protected with big helmets, walking like Frankenstein across the ice, things don't go too well for them. Poor things. Ice skating really isn't that easy.
• The Squealing Teenagers- When I say squeal, I mean squeal. They sound like pigs! I can't figure out whether they're acting or not, but since when was being pig-like attractive? 
• The Romantic "We're-so-in-love" Couples- The love filled looks, the smooching, and the inseparable hands. They cling on to one another as if the they would die if they didn't, so they're not hard to spot.
• The Insensitive Hockey Players- You're skating peacefully, minding your own business, and all of a sudden, WHOOSH, comes someone hurtling past you, barely two centimeters away from smashing into you. They have their hockey skating skills, so they're swift and they know it. Which explains why they're so insensitive.

However dangerous it may be, going to the ice-skating rink is terribly entertaining. All the stereotypes are there, and almost every single person can be classified under one of the categories. I can absolutely recommend the experience! :)

Would you?

Sorry,

but I would be really proud of myself

if the word ended today.

It sounds vain and overconfident, but it's true.

When I first saw this, I thought, "Hey! That is so true!"

but now that I think a second time,

I think I'm really happy with myself.

Pretty pleased.

Isn't that what happiness is?

To be pleased with yourself?

To be proud of what you're doing?

Isn't that a main point in life?

This is only my opinion, so perhaps you think differently.

What about you?

Would you be really proud of yourself?

Summer

I miss...

walks in the moonlight.

listening to the ocean and watching candles flicker.

finding strawberries that look like old men with scrunched up faces.

 building bonfires on beaches.

making s'mores with family.

flowers blooming here, there, and everywhere.

endless horizons of green and blue.

An Embarrassing Moment of Realization

The radio was turned on in the kitchen today. As usual. But today we listened to music instead of the news. I didn't really pay attention. Until suddenly, James Blunt's song, "You're beautiful" came on. 

I suddenly remembered the days when I was a tiny little 12 year old. This was probably the most played song on my iPod. It became a mantra. I listened to it countless times wondering if there would be a guy out there who thought about me in that way. 

"You're beautiful it's true." 

And what I thought then was - Could a song be any more beautiful?

So here I was, at age 16, standing in the kitchen dancing around reminiscing over my days as a "pre-teen", when suddenly, I started listening to the lyrics. 

Perhaps I should have stopped.

Run out of the kitchen.

Held my ears.

But I didn't, and for the first time, I heard what the lyrics REALLY implied. 

James Blunt talks of seeing a girl one time, then judging her by her appearance, and claiming that he'd like to be with her forever. But what if that girl, however beautiful she may have been, was the meanest person on earth? Or the blandest? Or possibly the kindest? Did he care what her personality was? Not really. He just decided that he'd like to be with this gorgeous person without even exchanging a single word with her. 

I know the world is getting strange, but that's just over the top.

I couldn't stop cringing. I can't believe how gullible I was at the time! How could I possibly think this song beautiful? It is just plain offensive and very shallow of him. 

If he'd like to mention that he thought a girl he saw in the subway was pretty, fine.

If he'd like to sing a song about a girl who he'd like to spend the rest of her life, fine. 

But combining the two is just unrealistic. 

This song is, in my opinion, offending. And it makes me realize how gullible I used to be, and how much older and wiser I've become, in a good way that is. 

Hopefully I don't get one of these embarrassing moments of realization again. 

Because I can tell you, it wasn't too comfortable. 

Friendships with Snowmen

Dear Dogs,
I understand that your relationship with snowmen have so far been a good one.
Probably good enough to say that you are friends.
When you're friends with somebody though, I highly doubt that "marking" them as your territory is the answer.
Regards,
A passerby

Beauty

What is beauty?

Beauty can be on the outside.

But I think it mostly comes from within.

Those who are beautiful on the inside,

with kind hearts and loving personalities,

are beautiful.

That sort of inner beauty radiates out

and becomes obvious to everybody.

There are people who may be beautiful on the outside

and not at all on the inside.

And it shows.

There faces are cold.

Hard.

It can become obvious too.

Places can be beautiful too.

Like New Zealand for example.

I love it there.

Life can be beautiful.

When you are content with what you have,

when you are pleased with yourself,

and when you are prepared to face the future,

then life can be beautiful.

Beauty can be the word to describe balance.

A balance of pain and of joy in life.

The word beauty is made up of opinions.

Each person has their own view on it.

That's how I perceive beauty anyway.

One Day

Title- One Day

Author- David Nicholls

Rating- 5/5

Comments- I love this book. I'm not usually a sucker for romantic stories because they always tend to be so unrealistic and things always end so happily. It's a great getaway, but I'm a realist, so romantic books aren't always my thing. This book, is definitely different from other romantic books. It doesn't just deal with love, but also with life, growing old, and friendships. "One Day" spans over a period of 20 years, with each chapter set on July the 15th, describing the two friends, Emma and Dexter's life each year. The stories begins with their meeting, which is on the day they graduate from college and continues on from there. They develop a strong friendship which is verging on the border of love. 

I found this book so great because the plot was so honest. It wasn't just about a couple of melodramatic decisions made by a band of hopeless drama queens and everything being all happy and dandy at the end. There were big mistakes and important choices made through the entire book as well as moments of realization making the whole story very believable and easy to relate to.

It isn't always a feel good book and occasionally I started shouting at the book due to some of the silly decisions made by the characters, but I think that's what makes it so great. Because their lives weren't perfect. And by the end, it felt like I knew them both as well as I know some of my closest friends. 

Out of the way cliché chick lits! This is what I call quality.

untitled.doc

I've seen too many blogs where people ramble on about EVERYTHING going on in their lives, from what they ate for breakfast to how much they hate walking their dog.
Been there. Seen that.
It seems like some variation is missing in this vast world of blogging, so here I am, starting a blog, and it is going to be about, well, everything.
That makes things sound like I'm going to talk about my grandmother Muriel and her forty cats (sadly, I don't have a grandmother Muriel, neither does my grandmother own forty cats, but you get my point!), but I have vowed that I will never write about anything of such nature.
This blog is going to be about observations in life (I hasten to add that they will be terribly unexpected and very random), book reviews (because I love books), and other interesting things I can think of.
This blog is called "untitled.doc" as in an "untitled document" which you tend to see at the top of your blank document on your computer, because the topics I intend to write about cannot really be put under any category.
This all sounds very cliché (why does everything seem to end up that way?) but I assure you, it won't be.
So if you're keen to hear about observations that are (hopefully) somewhat out of the ordinary, please do stay.
And if I start rambling on about the weather and the color of my bedroom, let me know.
Sincerely,
Japaswede