I have weird friends.

I am screeching in with thirty-five minutes to go in order to keep my "I'm going to blog every day this week" resolution (we're not counting Memorial Day, obviously). My excuse is that I keep odd hours anyways, so blogging at 11:25 is normal and therefore totally counts.


Yes.

Last night Ricky and I both went to bed at the same time and at a reasonably decent hour, which is an extremely rare occasion in our household. The victory was short-lived, however, when we were awoken abruptly by the sound of someone shooting a gun into our bedroom window. And by "shooting a gun" I mean "throwing eggs really hard". However, in my groggy state all I could discern was "I think I just heard a loud noise and WHAT THE HELL RICKY JUST DOVE ONTO THE GROUND OH MY GOD I SHOULD DO THAT TOO OH MY GOD OH MY GOD WE ARE GOING TO DIE.

I poked my head up two seconds later, cowering on the floor on my side of the bed, to find Ricky yelling out the window to our dear, laughing friends, Jo and Chris.

They look really innocent here, but you shouldn't be fooled.

Anyways, we let them in. They brought us beer. And we proceeded to, at three in the morning, stay up talking about nothing and everything (mostly in reference to pooping). 

It's times like this that I'm glad I'm young and free of major responsibilities and living in the city.

I'm happy.

I'm not happy I have egg to clean off of our windows.

Things on my mind

Today I bought new shoes for work. I've developed an extremely painful bunion on my right foot that is starting to make dancing very ouchy (which, as you may have guessed, is a big problem). Also, it has become apparent to me that both of my big toenails are going to fall off in the near future. Not a joke. So.....you know. Anyways, after months of just dealing with it (read: being to lazy to actually go and hunt down good work heels) I finally went out and shelled out money for some quality shoes. They were a tad pricey, but I did my research and they have received nothing but good reviews. Also, they are cute and vintage and kicky. I like cute and vintage and kicky.

In other news; I am currently painting my finger nails a lovely pale pink.

Also, can we talk about how I really suck at blogging lately? I have a "Young People Kicking Ass" post I need to type up and I just keep getting distracted by my life. So my goal, in addition to getting that post up, is to blog every single day for the coming week. Prepare yourself for some serious mindless rambling.

A Girl With a Master Plan

I have had a small case of writers block lately. And it unfortunately has extended to realms outside of this blog, including, but not limited to, my facebook stati, twitter, tumblr, and the occasional text. So in an effort to combat this obviously very serious and crippling problem, I am going to write a little bit about the first ten things to pop into my head.

Okay. Here we go.

1. On Being a Misinformed Child: I've broached this topic before, but when I was little I thought that any song sung by a man that referred to a woman as "little" or "baby" were songs sung by dads about their little girls. For example, the 1961 hit "My Little Runaway" by Del Shannon was clearly about a little girl who ran away and her dad was very sad. Simple times.

2. Cheese is a really important part of my life.

3. I'm trying to buy a car right now. And by "trying to buy a car" I mean "Sometimes I think about how I really need to get a car, but the process is really intimidating and I almost bought one and then it tried to kill me and then I went to some car dealerships with my family and all the cars seemed nice enough but my dad did not seem to keen on them so I don't trust my own sense of what a quality car even is so I just procrastinate and hope a car will magically show up."

4.  Tony award-winning Broadway star Alice Ripley "liked" a facebook comment I made on a friends profile picture he had taken with her when he went to see "Next to Normal". Alice Ripley thinks I'm funny.

5. I think she's funny.






6.  I am irritated by people who say "sissy" when referring to their sister, old ladies at work who say "You look nice" every single time I bring them a drink - but never tip, anti-abortionists (anti-woman's reproductive rights in general), the Pope, ill-fitting clothing, weather that changes abruptly (unless it changes in a positive direction), and the fact that I will never tan.

7. I do like my hair though.

8. Ricky and I watched "Exit Through the Gift Shop" last night and it was RULLY RULLY GOOD. Even if you don't like documentaries (iluvdocumentaries) you should watch it. That Banksy, he's so funny.

9. I wish I was a street artist.

10.  I will probably never own a dog.

This just in

Sometimes it takes something like an impromptu picture at a coffee house to make you realize that your hair has gotten really freaking long.

In other news, nothing happened today.

Awesome

For those who were at all worried or concerned, I have managed to figure out a way to successfully manage stomach scootering. That show is tonight at 8pm, and two shows tomorrow (Sunday) at 2pm and 8pm. You can buy tickets here if you are in the Seattle area and would like to come see this madness in action!

Also, I have something really cool to tell you guys. Today I performed in a promo video shoot with Quark Contemporary Dance Theater for the Northwest New Works Festival which we will be performing at in June at On the Boards Theater. I keep telling people about this festival and how awesome it is and how really exciting it is for me to be performing at On the Boards but no one (aside from those in the dance community) seem to grasp truly how exciting this is. Even my own parents seem to be no more excited about this than they are about the other stuff I normally do.

This picture is featured on the poster. I can't find the actual poster on the interwebs, so please imagine words and such and you'll get the gist of it.

So, to explain once and for all why this is so cool, let me lay it out for you. On the Boards is partnered with The Joyce Theater in New York City to bring exceptional artists from all over the world to Seattle and other parts of the U.S. AND if that fact weren't enough, the festival I'm performing in was just written about in The New York Times, which you can go read right here. AND ALSO in the article, they called On the Boards "one of America’s best theaters for contemporary performance".  SO YES THIS IS REALLY COOL.

Also, since this post is apparently going to be just me bragging, I finally bought a new computer yesterday! It's a macbook pro and it's beautiful and I just know it's going to improve my blogging and help me be more productive and force me to be a better person and generally complete my life.

Bathroom Madness

My project today (and kind of yesterday) was to do a tiny bathroom make-over.

Look what I maaaaade!

I have dubbed this "mushy heart". It began as ugly peeled away paint on the wall in the shower and is now ugly peeled away paint with the top of a heart kind of around it. It certainly gives the shower more character.

And love.

Value Village frames with hand-drawn diagrams featuring the many ways to make coffee and the recipe for a lemon drop, both printed on pages taken out of a 1953 copy of the Encyclopedia Britannica. The "H" book, to be specific, which Ricky found in the lost and found at school. The drawings are oddly his and hers.

His.
This diagram (and actually this whole idea) is blatantly stolen for the Etsy shop girls can tell. In the name of giving credit where credit is due, I would like to announce that this design is not my own. However, I have a plethora of old books and drawing skills serviceable enough to suit my needs, so I didn't really see the need to shell out hard earned dough when I could just make one for my very own. Also, the shop is closed until June, so I couldn't buy a copy even if I wanted to. #justification

Printed on the "Hay-fever" page

Hers. An original design. I unfortunately am not as pleased with this one as I am the other drawing. I think I may percolate on something else I like to make into a diagram, but for now I'm keeping this one up for the sake of symmetry. I made a really cool one for my mom featuring a tea pot diagram, but tea is not really my thing. Maybe if I had drawn them side by side instead of on top of each other I would like it more? Hm...

Printed on the "Heresy" page.

So, that's it. I'm pretty pleased with the productiveness of this day. Side note: I put on Gangs of New York on netflix while I worked. I paid absolutely no attention. It's still playing and all I can tell you about it is that there is blood and Irish accents.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I am going to have a brownie in a mug!

Contemplative and brownies.

Sometimes I wake up in my apartment with the hardwood floors in my full-size bed with the white and baby blue floral print bedspread and wonder -

"How did I get here?"

Sun shining through the big windows I love so very much.

When did I stop being a teenager sleeping in the sleigh bed I'd had since childhood, spending all my money on clothes and movies with friends and become an adult who willingly cleans the bathroom on a regular basis? And when did I acquire enough items to fill a household all by my lonesome? How did I come up with lamps, and picture frames, and a basket of cleaning supplies, and a food processor? Whenever did I become a person who would walk into Anthropologie and buy a butter dish instead of a dress? A blue butter dish that matches the red and yellow ones my mother has, no less.

It also matches the singular crazy blue wall in the kitchen.

Adulthood has crept up on me quickly and stealthily. And though I generally feel exactly the same as I did at eighteen, I can't deny that I've most definitely gotten older. I bounce back and forth on how okay I am with this fact, and usually settle somewhere in the middle with one side of me being desperately sad that I'm not twelve and can no longer spend a solid afternoon reading in my room and happy that I'm independent and carefree and young enough to still convincingly play a high school student in a movie. 

It's a give and take. 

Subject change. I haven't been on the internet for any measurable amount of time in the last few days because I, believe it or not, have been reading a book (maybe my twelve-year-old self is not so lost after all). I have found that lately I've been spending way, way too much time mindlessly surfing the internet so I made a conscious effort to only use the internet to send the required e-mail and such, and spend the rest of my time doing productive, positive things. I made a birthday present for my mom, did lots of cleaning, and spent an inordinate amount of time re-reading The Poisonwood Bible. It was even better than I remember it being in high school. 

I leave you now with this video of something you should go make right now. Ricky found this yesterday and we immediately tried it. It takes less than three minutes to whip up from start to finish and is way too delicious to be real life. Great for those times when you want a treat in the here and now, but don't want the responsibility of having to consume a whole batch of cookies, or a pie, or what-have-you all by yourself. In the (very distant) future, when I have kids, this will surely be one of those things that will elevate me to super-mom status in the after-school-snack department.

I just read the comment section of this video and apparently this concept is old as the hills and therefore not worth anyones time (foodie snobs, ugh). So, I apologize if you are bored by my discovery. However, if you, like me, aren't hip to this brownie in a mug concoction, please feel free to share in my extreme enthusiasm. I promise I won't tell anyone. 

In which I am a failure

BLAARHGHJKAHSKHDAS.

So you may recall more than one previous post recounting my many troubles getting scheduling all sorted out between my job and rehearsals for the dance company I'm in. Turns out I foolishly wrote things down wrong and now I have this Friday off in order to attend a rehearsal that I was never supposed to be at in the first place and I am scheduled to work this Sunday when I actually really need to be at a very important rehearsal. SO. Despite the many weeks of calls to work and fighting with online scheduling forms, and tears and the many exasperated looks and sighs of frustration from various managers, I have still been deemed an irresponsible loser. Which, yes, is my fault, BUT IT WAS NOT FOR LACK OF TRYING.

Harumph.

Also. You know when you're supposed to do a dance in which you roll around on your stomach on a scooter, which you think you would be really great at, but it turns out stomach scootering is really not your forte? And because it is not your forte, you are so concerned with trying not to fall off said scooter that you never grasp the timing of the choreography? Because of the trying really hard to fall off? And you feel like an absolute failure of a dancer because you can't remember incredibly simple choreography but then you realize that it's not so much dancing as it is gliding into a face plant while wearing a unitard? But that still doesn't really make you feel better because there is someone in the room who actually really rocks at stomach scootering and that makes you feel all the more embarrassed?

Yeah. I know you've all been there.

Hiding in shame.

Anyways, we all know how much that sucks, so I won't elaborate any further. Also, I baked cookies last night from a recipe I got off my cooking-bible-blog, Smitten Kitchen using kind of expensive chocolate chunks and I totally killed them. Like, flat, greasy, melded-together-and-burnt-to-a-crisp killed them. I think the dough may have been too warm? Or something? And I just happened to pull them out of the oven at the same time I received  an e-mail on my phone detailing my afore mentioned failures.

Suffice to say, last night was a complete crash and burn.

(However, it is a slight comfort to know that my very serious life problems right now concern my ineptness at stomach-scootering while wearing a unitard and cookie baking.

It's all about perspective.)

Show and Tell

Helllllllo friends and foes! Happy Tuesday, May 10 2011. It's sure to be a lovely day.

I have three things I want to share with you right now. The first is the the official music video for the band Grand Hallway for their song "fourths", featuring the beautiful, extremely talented, and all around joy of a person, Devin McDermott. I danced with Devin at UW, and am so excited to see her doing such incredibly awesome work.

So check it out! It's short and sweet and visually stunning. Also, it's very representative of Spring in Seattle (which is cold and grey, in case you were wondering.)

But oh so pretty.


grand hallway - "fourths" from deep dasgupta on Vimeo.

And while we are sharing videos, check out this song my sister Maggie made for my mommy on Mother's Day. I teared up. You might too.



For my third and final show and tell project of today, I beseech you to check out Lindsay of Scenic Glory and her little featurette of me and my tattoo story. I absolutely am obsessed with this project she has going on and am enamored with all the lovely tattoo stories told so far. Although I have to admit I had a moment of sheer and utter confusion when I logged onto blogger this morning and saw a picture of Ansley in my blog roll because WHO IS WRITING ABOUT MY SISTER WHAT IS THIS I DON'T EVEN.

But then I remembered, oh right that was me. I submitted my tattoo story a few weeks ago and totally forgot about it. Whoops.

A Tattoo Story - Feature with Kate of Blatheration

SO, go check that out please please please! And if you are visiting Blatheration right now because you saw my tattoo story on Scenic Glory and decided to come over here and see what's up, then thank you and welcome and please excuse the crazy.

That time I was a model.

Remember those last few days? Say Thursday through Sunday? Those ones?

They were ridiculous.

I am currently writing this as I lay in bed, wallowing in the first time I've had since last Wednesday to do anything remotely relaxing. Sleep has been haggard at best and eating has been purely optional.

But (and there is most definitely a "but") those days were fun. 

You'll have to excuse the shoddy phone pictures are about to overwhelm this post. It was all I had.

I wish I could tell you guys that I played it cool, that I acted I went to professional modeling shoots all the time, and that I was a pro at having super long rainbow eyelashes glued to the middle of my eyelids and having my face and neck completely covered in goopy zombie clay. I really wish I could.

But lets be real. I don't go to professional modeling shoots every day. So, despite my best efforts to convince the photographers and crew that I was just as professional as them, I think all the darting around and trying to inconspicuously take pictures of the snack table may have given me away. Maybe.

The craziest part, at least for me, was the fact that although I was clearly a noob, everyone else there was totally legit. Like, the-lighting-guy-was-named-Kristoff-and-was-from-France legit. And the make-up artist had done make-up for actual world famous super models. And the make-up artists assistant was a professional model herself, and intimidatingly pretty. Suffice to say, I felt a teen, tiny bit out of my depth. 

Fortunately, the awesomeness of the whole experience significantly outweighed the slight intimidation I felt. There were catered lunches and a kajabillion costumes and hours spent in a make-up chair feeling pretty. There were intense wigs and flashing lights. There were moments when I was standing in full make-up and heels, towering over the gaggle of women who were simultaneously fixing my make-up, primping my hair, and adjusting my costume, and I got the smallest taste of what it might be like to do this for real. 

And you can bet your ass that when October rolls around, I will be stalking my local Value Village, taking cheesy touristy pictures of myself standing next to posters of myself. Because how often do you get to do that in your life?

Not often.

Sometimes I just can't believe my luck.

Spring Photo Booth

Happy Spring to my twenty-one official followers and the rest of you scum-bags who continue to silently stalk me despite my stern reprimandations. All is forgiven, because it is finally sunny and springy and the flowers are blooming all over the place. 

Today I'm cooking baked potato soup, sour cream and cayenne cornbread, and shaved asparagus salad for dinner. I'm getting my eyebrows waxed. I'm hanging out with/interviewing the lovely Monique Courcy for an upcoming post. And I'm gathering supplies for my big Value Village photo shoot, which is happening tomorrow and Friday! I'm super excited (mostly because my many looks are going to include Natalie Portman in Black Swan and Smurfette, among others). Unfortunately, for both this blog and my body, my call is at 7:45 in the morning and my modeling day stretches right until I have to leave for work. Which I will do until midnight, speed home, get as much sleep as possible, and then get up and do it all again. So I'm going to be kind of MIA until probably Sunday. 

But, when exciting things happen, sometimes we have to make sacrifices. Like not sleeping as much or not taking as many gratuitous pictures of ourselves with giant sunglasses. 

I'm going to avoid thinking about all these horrible sacrifices and go enjoy this springy weather. 

Ciao!

Chicken A La King

This may be a little bit of a departure from my normal posts, at least as far as content goes. However, I decided that I wanted to shift this blog a teeny tiny bit into being a little bit less of me rambling about nothing and little bit more of a general lifestyle blog. That said, I think the rambling is entirely unavoidable so it will probably be more of a rambling blog with some of my interests squished in all caddywompus.

And one of my (very favorite) interests happens to be cooking.

I decided to start with Chicken A La King for three reasons.

1. It is really delicious.

2. It is the dish I use to prove to people I can cook. It was a favorite of mine growing up, and it became a favorite of my roommates when I cooked it in my first shared apartment. I swayed Kristine, Ricky's sister into becoming an A La King fanatic, and now, dear reader, I am going to sway you.

3. I made it the other night and remembered to take a picture of it. So, you know, convenience.

But you guys, it's really good. Like buttery, creamy, chickeny good.

Chicken A La King
*Adapted loosely from the original Betty Crocker Cookbook


As indicated above, I have altered the recipe to be a little more health-conscious. Basically less butter, more fresh vegetables.

Ingredients
4 Tbsp. Butter
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
6 Tbsp. Flour
1 tsp. Salt
1/8 tsp. Pepper
1 1/2 cups Chicken Broth
1 cup Milk
1 cup cut up cooked chicken breast (I like little more chicken, so I use two chicken breasts.)
1 cup Mushrooms*
1 cup chopped Green Bell Peppers
1/4 cup chopped Pimentos

* I used portobellos this time around because they were on sale. They were divine, but you could use any type you want.

Side Note: I have the original 1950 publication which is constant source of amusement for me. For example, Betty advises in this recipe that "Southerners substitute cooked ham for half the chicken". Obviously because Southerners need more pork than the rest of us. So if you are living below the Mason-Dixie Line, please proceed with as much ham as you deem necessary. (I think this sounds gross).

Instructions:
1. Grab a large pot, fill it with enough water to cover the uncooked chicken and set the heat on high. Once the water is boiling, throw in the chicken and leave it alone while it cooks.

2. While chicken is cooking, melt butter and olive oil together over medium heat in medium sized pot. Toss in the mushrooms and green peppers and sauté.

3. After about five minutes, turn heat to low and blend in the four, salt, and pepper into the butter and veggie mix. Things will be kind of chunky and gritty, but don't fret. Continue to cook over low heat until bubbly.

4. Stir in the milk and chicken broth. Bring mixture to boil and let boil for one minute, stirring constantly. Things should be creamy.

5. Cut up the now cooked chicken and add to contents of pot. This also is the point you should add the pimentos, if using. ( I normally do, but for some reason couldn't find them at the store when I went this time and I actually didn't miss them that much. I also think you could add the same amount of  regular red bell peppers and it would be just as, if not more, delicious.)

6. Stir together and serve immediately over brown rice as I do, or over biscuits, pastry shells, or what have you.

Betty says this serves six. I don't know what kind of anorexic 1950's fantasy world she lives in, but I would say it serves more like four. Or if you're really hungry like we were, two and a half.

Enjoy!

A post in which I discuss nothing and also I am hungry.

I'm feeling kind of blah and unmotivated today. It's not my favorite feeling.

Ten tidbits:

1. I spent all of my tip money for the last two days at J. Crew. Whoops.

2. I locked myself out of our apartment yesterday and consequently spent about 15 minutes breaking into the bedroom window. Which is about six feet off the ground. In a grubby alley. While wearing an audition dress and heels. I was a sight.

3. Have you heard of Marjoe Gortner? Because, if you haven't, you should totally look up the documentary "Marjoe" on youtube. I spent an hour of my life watching it yesterday and, like, whoa.

4. I may not have posted an actual entry in a few days, but I did do some site maintenance. So you can go check that stuff out (the little tool bar under the banner thing). Be sure and read the "About Me" section, because you probably don't know enough about me yet. (Sarcasm)

5.  I'm hungry.

6. THIS PICTURE.

I totally forgot this even happened. Sometimes I miss college.

7. If I were granted the ability to change one physical feature on myself, I would give myself skin that could be in the sun and not explode into a festive Ode to Lobsters.

8. I have never had a cavity or a bloody nose. I may be an alien.

9. When I was little I thought The Beatles were a children's band that sang lullabies. This is because my parents used to put on a Beatles tape for me and my sister to listen to when they tucked us in for bed. A reasonable conclusion to make, if I do say so myself.

10. Oh my gosh, I'm really hungry.