Random Thoughts Part I

So not really in the mood to type a "well-constructed" (or as well-constructed as they come in Elaine's world)/thesis-driven post at the moment, but am strangely in the mood to blog something. So here goes the 1st edition of a segment we shall be calling "random thoughts." (I have a feeling this will turn out to be quite a common segment for this blog considering how 79.3% of what I think everyday is pretty much random)


-The current blog background I have of dandelion seeds blowing in the wind always reminds me of that one scene from Beauty and the Beast (one of my all-time favorite Disney movies!) where she's singing after her distinctly unpleasant "proposal" experience with Gaston and watching a trail of dandelion seeds float away in the breeze. (This also happens to be a scene I was always trying to recreate throughout my childhood every time I saw a dandelion puff ... and even now =P) I think the reason why I like this particular scene so much is because I've always felt a special connection to  the lyrics that Belle sings at that point of the movie: "I want adventure in the great wide somewhere/I want it more than I can tell/And for once it might be grand/To have someone understand/ I want so much more than they've got planned ..." - (and because I'v always had an odd affinity for dandelions, even though many people in the U.S. don't seem to be too fond of them.)

-I solemnly swear that gas prices are the closet thing to "playing the stock market" I'll ever do in this lifetime. (Call me old-fashioned or what-have-you but the idea of earning money based off of how highly other people are valuing/devaluing a certain company has always sounded a bit shady to me ...) Perhaps someone who actually knows stuff about business will be able to enlighten me more on matters such as the stock market one of these days.

-October days have been gloriously colorful and tinglingly beautiful thus far - (there's nothing quite like the delicious crunching sound of fallen leaves.) Indeed, I like the sound so much that I make it a game to try and bike over as many crunchy-looking leaves as possible and get a bit sad every time I miss a particularly crispy one. (The "Midwest" in me will always crave the presence of four distinct seasons <3)

-Went to V. Picasso for the first time after "meaning to go" for the past year or so. Found the atmosphere to be very lovely and am hoping to go again on one of their proper salsa nights  - (last night was devoted to some other sort of special event but I'm not sure what exactly ...) Added Chocolate Martini & "Sex in Barcelona" (some sort of sangria with tangerine, pomegranate, and red wine overtones to it, if I remember correctly) to the list of cocktails I've tried. ^.^ (Both are delicious, in case anyone was wondering)

-I really want to finish reading Blink by Malcolm Gladwell, and start reading The Exiled Queen by Cinda Williams Chima - (so excited that it came out!)

-Learned how to cut a bagel into a 2-sided mobius strip today! ^.^ Must admit, I'm very proud. http://www.georgehart.com/bagel/bagel.html (I found this guy to be absolutely adorable. A fine example of a person who has followed his passions/interests in life and turned it into an awesome career.)

-Finally cooked a proper meal after going 8 weeks into the semester. (Don't bother asking me what I was eating before because you probably don't want to know .... =P) Made an interpretation of a risotto I suppose which consisted of arborio rice, potatoes, shrooms, frozen peas, carrots, & corn, shredded mozzarella, potato soup mix, garlic powder, butter, salt, and more than half a gallon of milk. Wish I could give a more precise version of a recipe, but I apparently find matters of measurements and such to be too trivial to bother with. I suppose a good rule of thumb I go by when cooking would be "if it smells good, then the taste probably won't be too far off.

-Had some delightfully scrumptious homemade peanut-butter-biscotti-chocolate-cake with pink icing, courtesy of my wonderful friend Martha <3

-I have a bad spending problem when it comes to grocery shopping. It's starting to get a bit out of hand   =/

-I have decided to start a wine bottle collection - (I figure if I ever end up running out of space for this collection, I'll at least have a lot of fun smashing it. =D)

-If I were a car, my fuel efficiency rating would be in the negative range. It literally takes me an hour or more just to get myself amped/psyched up enough to do 5 minutes of legitimate work. >.<

-Apparently a frog goes "Ricket, ricket." (Kids say the cutest things. ^.^)

-In case you haven't noticed, I like to use emoticons a LOT. (Get used to it ^.~)

-P.S. Am loving this blogger feature of being able to edit a post anytime! Am afraid I have been exploiting it quite shamelessly =P