Deciding

So -- I have to officially decide by Friday! Until a couple of weeks ago I was 100% sure I wanted to be in Finland for a year, but now I feel very, very indecisive. If you have an opinion, please offer a suggestion. Which country should I choose: Finland, Sweden, or Iceland?

Today

Hello, and welcome to my insane weekend.

My day started at 7:00 at WMPG, where I attempted to work on my urbanization feature (which, by the way, sounds way more official and important than it actually is.) It's difficult to get anything done when you have 45 minutes to work before the studio is taken away from you, and a 55-minute interview, meaning that you don't even have time to get the audio into Protools. Therefore, I am not done, and literally the only time I can get into the studio is 6:00 am tomorrow!!

Okay, complaining mode over. After I left the station, my dad dropped me off in front of Space, where there was a huge group waiting to get in and join the madness that is a holiday Rogues Gallery sample sale. I walked to Coffee By Design, drank a small soy mocha, and returned to Space. I shopped for a bit, picked up two dresses, a t-shirt, and a men's button-down, and then moved into an extremely overwhelming line. However, I then finally saw Daniel Pepice, and was promptly moved to the front of the line, introduced to some people, and handed a huge brown paper bag! Thank you, Daniel Pepice.

Afterwards, I went for tea with Kayla at Breaking New Grounds, which has a lovely tea selection. She was at the sample sale as well, as were Matt and Heather -- it was so fun to see them. After enjoying tea for quite a while, I arrived 15 minutes late for my film class, where I am right now. So far I've had a busy but enjoyable day. And, just as Miss Gliss predicted, my interview with Mitchell was fun, I WILL finish my piece in time for Monday's show (7:30-8:30, folks. WMPG 90.9 and 104.1!) and I'm looking forward to five days in New York. This afternoon, I'm heading to Claesson's to edit Mitchell's interview. Later, perhaps I will make scones.

The Germany application is OFF!! Now all I have is regular AFS, AFX, financial aid, and possibly another application for Germany... Yikes.

The end.

What I've been doing lately

Sorry I haven't updated in a while, folks! I have been busy, and sick. (I am recovering from a sore throat, headache, and cough right now, but I am feeling better.) Also, Thursday was the culmination of our first expedition, "We Are One and We Are Changing." Even after devoting three months to it, I still don't understand how the title ties in with infectious disease and colonization, but don't tell the 10th grade team! Anyway, our presentation went pretty well, and I'm glad the expedition's over.
Yesterday Charlotte came over; we worked on our rap, danced to Mark's Christmas Mix, and watched Capote. (My mother makes fun of the number of times I've seen that movie.) It's terrific! I love it. My dad suggested that I introduce it to my crew, which is kind of a bad idea, especially considering that it's rated R and I think that's illegal, or something. Although I think my crew might benefit from an eye-opening, shocking experience... Maybe that's why I want to take my class to see the Kara Walker show at the Whitney when we're in New York.
What else have I been doing? Mostly, trying to finish up the Congress-Bundestag application. It has to be in by December 16th -- wish me luck!! If I get it, I'll get to go to Germany for a year for free!

I'm Not There (or, as we continue to refer to it, "the Bob Dylan movie")

Oh my god, it was so good! My dad and I both agree that it accomplished what Across The Universe attempted to do, or at least better fulfilled our desire for a strange, psychedelic movie. Cate Blanchett made an amazing Bob Dylan.
Oh, and the above film doesn't really have anything to do with it. I just think it's cool. I like how Allen Ginsberg is hanging out in the background. Also, my grandfather can recite/chant that entire song.

My dream

Last night I had a dream that I was traveling in Finland with Charlotte and some random guy (maybe from Project Runway? I don't really remember.) We were lost and had spent the night at an unpleasant roadside hotel, and were now looking for a sauna, something that was apparently impossible to find in Finland. We stopped at this strange roadside spa, and were delighted to hear that they had a sauna, but what they actually had were "private saunas," which meant sitting in a tiny room by yourself. We told the guy working at the spa we wanted a sauna with other people, which seemed more authentically Finnish, and he said, "Well, I guess you'll just have to look elsewhere." We never did find a sauna, sadly.

Also, at some point during the dream I realized that Daniel Tammet's name was actually Daniel Pinkwater, and vice versa, and I had gotten them confused. This was incredibly confusing and embarrassing for me.

New York! (again)

I am back from New York! Unfortunately, I was lazy and didn't take any pictures, with the small exception of a picture phone shot of Cake Shop, a weird and awesome cafe/bakery/record shop/bar. However, you are hopefully still interested in hearing about my trip even without visual aid.

Tuesday: We took the bus down to Boston, arriving at about 8. The bus trip was relatively uneventful, except that they were playing an unusually bizarre movie, even for the bus. It appeared to be a heartwarming story about a family (maybe a single mom?) meeting Jesus and takin' a ride on a modern-day Noah's ark, complete with dancing monkeys and police officers falling down in piles. Hmmm. We ate a quick dinner of delicious, moist cassoulet with Mana and Pop, and got to sleep relatively early.

Wednesday: We took a 10:00 bus to the city, which felt long, but was otherwise nice. I read A Wind in the Door and played an extreme 2 hour-long game of tetris (I got to level 24, and as a result, my phone was out of batteries for the remainder of the day.) After the bus ride, we met Lawrence at Home On 8th (an ol' favourite) and then went back to his apartment to get rid of our suitcases; he has moved out of the most awesome apartment ever (with a leaky roof and downstairs neighbors who blast Latin music all day) and now lives in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, another lovely neighborhood. After that, we went to Soho to attempt to find both Ezra and my dad a pair of jeans (we were successful,) and stopped by KIOSK, which currently has a collection of Finnish things, including a couple of sauna buckets, mustard, ceramic roosters, and licorice. For dinner, we had dosas at Hampton Chutney Co, one of my absolute favourite places to go in New York. On our way back to the subway, we stopped at world-famous Other Music!

Thursday: We started the day at our fave, 9th Street Espresso, only to find that the 13th street location has been sold, and is now Everyman's Espresso. Oh, well. The coffee was still good. We then went to the Whitney, mainly to see the Kara Walker exhibit My Complement, My Enemy, My Oppressor, My Love, which was absolutely incredible. It was extremely stirring and disturbing, and I find it amazing that such simple images can do that to you emotionally. I also enjoyed seeing a wonderful Jenny Holzer bench. (I was looking for an image of it, but alas, I cannot find one.) For lunch I had a tofu hot dog at F&B with onions, tomatoes, relish, sauerkraut, ketchup, and mustard, and afterwards I sat next to a celebrity whom I'd never heard of (Lili Taylor) on the subway. We went to the Lower East Side and walked around a bit, before stopping at Cake Shop, an awesome cafe/bakery/record shop/bar. I had a huge slice of vegan peanut butter cake - yum! We went back to Soho to continue the search for Isaac's jeans, and then had bubble tea at Saint's Alp Teahouse, my favourite bubble tea in New York. I had another celebrity sighting on the L train - Daniel V!

Friday: We had coffee at the cafe where Lawrence works (the place where all the white guys that look like Lawrence are, like, headin' towards) and then went for a quick walk in the West Village before taking the bus back to Boston. We then took another bus to Portland, arriving at about 7:30.

I know no one cares what I had for lunch, but thanks for reading this endless blog post about my lovely trip to New York!

The Devil

Ms. bus driver: Nobody in here is allowed to CALL ME THE DEVIL! It's not polite, and it's not acceptable! Whoever had the NERVE to call me the devil MAY NOT DO SO EVER AGAIN! Never call me anything you wouldn't call your own mother TO HER FACE!

Me: I don't know about you, but I call my mother "the devil" quite regularly.

Rafa: So do I.

Finnish

Hei! Olen Margot. Mitä kuuluu? Kiitos hyvää. En ole suomilainen. Olen amerikkalainen.

Joo, I am trying to learn Finnish... what a weird language. No articles, no gender, no real prepositions. I spent most of today pouring over my copy of "Teach Yourself Finnish." The above dialogue is the result.

Every Day with Rachel Ray

I think I should have a cooking show one day, and the title could rhyme with my name, because I have a last name that is quite easily rhymed with lots of words. I've seen "Every Day with Rachel Ray" just once, and it happened to be when she was cooking some delicious veganizable soup from Tuscany. Here is my veganized recipe of Rachel Ray's ribollita.

INGREDIENTS:
2 tbs of olive oil, plus more for pouring over each individual serving of soup.
4-6 pieces of veggie ham (optional; I think it's delicious, but if you don't, leave it out.)
1 medium yellow onion, diced.
2-4 cloves of garlic, depending on how garlicky you like it.
Two carrots, chopped.
1/3 cup red wine (don't get cooking wine, it's basically just vinegar.)
1 can diced tomatoes (don't drain them; I think the liquid adds to the flavor of the broth.)
6 cups veggie broth.
2 cans of white beans (don't drain these, either; put the liquid into the soup.)
half a loaf of crusty bread.
4 cups kale.
Salt and pepper
Fresh basil (if you can't find fresh basil, dried is okay, too.)
Veggie Parmesan cheese.

First, heat the 2 tbs olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Cook the veggie ham for about 4 minutes, stirring constantly to make sure it doesn't burn. Turn the heat down, add 3/4 of the diced onion, the garlic, and the chopped carrots, and cook for several more minutes. Add the wine and tomatoes and turn up the heat. When the soup boils, reduce it to a simmer and add the broth and beans, and, if you'd like, half the loaf of bread. (Personally, I prefer having bread to dip in my soup to soggy bread in the soup, but it's your choice.) Fold in the kale, and cook for 5-7 minutes, or until the soup has a nice stew-like consistency. Season heavily with salt and pepper, and serve. Top each portion of soup with a drizzle of olive oil, basil, raw onions, and veggie cheese. This serves 4 or 5 people, and there are leftovers, too.

This is definitely my new favorite soup! It's seriously indescribably good, and that's coming from someone who DOESN'T LIKE KALE, YO! Please try it.

Hey, guys!

I changed the language to Finnish! ('Cause it's fun.) Don't you love the fact that "archives" is translated to "blogiarkisto"?

Ezra's dream

We were eating ribollita for dinner, and suddenly Ezra said (out of nowhere): "Oh my God!! I dreamed the best thing ever! It has cheese in it, but it's still SO good. It was this 1000 dollar cheese. We went to this millionaire's house, and he was like, 'This is my favorite cheese; it costs 1000 dollars. You can get it at your grocery store.' And he put a piece of cheese on some bread, took a lighter out of his pocket, and he lit it on fire! And then he blew it out, and ate it."
My mom said, "Was it good?"
Ezra: "I don't know! He didn't give me any. He said, 'All for me!'"

You're a winner

Quote of the week: "You back there! With the striped shirt you couldn't button right this morning! SIT DOWN!! And you, with the Sox jersey! You think I can't see you, BUT I CAN! Nothing gets past Mama G, Pumpkin."

Yes, I love taking the bus.

My Heart is an Idiot

Hello y'all! Watch the trailer, rate it 5 stars on YouTube, and go see the movie when it comes to Portland!

I'm sorry I've been such an unreliable blogger lately! I haven't been busy, in fact, I've been doing pretty much nothing. I've been sick this weekend, so I've watched a ton of movies, including Capote, Psycho, the Simpsons, Gossip Girl (don't watch it, it's horrible) and The Darjeeling Limited (in theaters!) I also finished reading Fun Home and Things Fall Apart, which were both wonderful.
In other events, school has been sort of ho-hum lately. I don't actively dislike it, but I'm not very interested in it at the moment. Hopefully it will be more enjoyable once we really get into the expedition. But, I am really excited because I may get to go to school in another country next year!! (Assuming that we can raise 8,000+ dollars.) I haven't completely decided where yet, although right now I'm leaning towards Italy, Iceland, or somewhere in Scandinavia...

Overheard on the Bus

I don't mind taking the bus home from school, in fact, it's rather enjoyable. The people on my bus are completely insane, especially the bus driver. I think she must have had some kind of psychological trauma. She is the aunt of my dear friend Dylan, and she spends the whole bus ride screaming at him. On the first day of school, Dylan was saying, "I'm grounded now, but I hope my mom will still let me go to football practice," and the bus driver yelled, "SHUT YOUR FACE!" She also complains loudly about every other driver on the road, and screams at anyone who rolls down their window or isn't completely seated. She says thing like, "YOU THERE! With the winter hat on! Unless you're seven feet tall, you're not sitting down! Sit down, Pumpkin." In a very scary voice, as well.
The freshmen who sit behind me talk about the most pointless things. The other day they were complaining about how "all the juniors think they're seniors." "Oh my God, it's so annoying! They're all like, 'Hey, I'm better than you, I'm a senior.' I should just go up to them and say, 'If you're a senior, I'd be, like, a sophomore. I'm one year older too!'"
Yesterday someone was describing in great detail someone (or something, I'm not sure) blowing up. He was talking very loudly and enthusiastically, which was funny. Soon, the conversation moved on to "how you want to die." One kid wanted to be cremated, and then have his ashes put in cereal boxes, so "people would be, like, eating me when they ate cereal!" Someone else said, "I want my ashes to be put in an active volcano." Still another said, "I don't want to cremated, I want to be put in a cannon and blown up! Then everyone could run around looking for parts of me. They'd be like, 'I found his eye!' or 'I found his tongue!' That would be awesome!"

Love

I love Sigur Ros! If you'd like, go to YouTube and check out their many other wonderful videos.

Schooool...

For some reason, whenever I think the word "school," I think it in the tune of the word "stools" from that song from Waiting For Guffman. (You know: "Working, building, never stopping, never sleeping. Working. Making. Some for selling, some for keeping!")
Yes! So, school has started up again since I last blogged, and it's going okay. I think I have successfully skipped French 2, which is good. Also, science and math have both improved so much from last year. We're studying pandemic flu first, which I am ABSOLUTELY NOT LOOKING FORWARD TO. But after that we're doing the Holocaust, which should be really interesting. This summer, I tried to read a million books about WWII, but I think I only finished... 3 1/2? My favourite book I read this summer was absolutely Persepolis. I loved it. I have so much more respect for graphic novels after reading Persepolis and Maus.
Right now I'm in Cambridge with my mom for the day. I am generally happy, but I have an insane amount of French homework and I haven't even started on it.
I know all this stuff falls into the "no one cares what you had for lunch" category, but thanks for your patience!

The cutest thing ever

This sign was in the lobby (?) of the hostel we stayed in when we were in Quebec City. If you click on the photo, the text will be clearer.

Plagiarism

I think this proves exactly how much time I have on my hands, but it was still a fun project.
Hamlet by William Shakespeare: blue.
Howl by Allen Ginsberg: orange.

I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness,
starving hysterical naked,
screaming vomiting whispering facts and memories and anecdotes,
with the absolute heart of the poem of life butchered out of their own bodies, good to eat a thousand years.
They broke their backs lifting Moloch to Heaven! Pavements, trees, radios, tons! lifting the city to Heaven which exists and is everywhere about us!

And yet to me, what is this quintessence of dust?

I have of late -- but wherefore I know not -- lost all my mirth. This goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a sterile promontory, this most excellent canopy, the air, this brave overhanging firmament. Dreams! illuminations! religions! the whole boatload of sensitive bullshit! It appears nothing to me but a foul and pestilent congregation of vapors.
Carl Soloman! I'm with you in Rockland, where we are great writers on the same dreadful typewriter.
(You cut your wrists three times successively unsuccessfully, and were forced to open antique stores where you thought you were growing old, and cried.)
I'm with you in Rockland, where you must feel very strange.
I'm with you in Rockland, where your condition has become serious and is reported on the radio.
But who would bear the whips and scorns of time, the proud man's contumely, the pangs of disprized love, the law's delay?
To die, to sleep.
To sleep, perchance to dream -- ay, there's the rub. For in the sleep of death what dreams may come? And by a sleep to say we end the heartache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to.
Carl Soloman! I'm with you in Rockland, where you're madder than I am.
To die, to sleep! They saw it all! They bade farewell! They jumped off the roof! to solitude! waving! carrying flowers! Down to the river! into the street!
'Tis nobler to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing, end them...

The 4-hour detox and other stories (AND A RECIPE!)

Hello, folks! I am back from Quebec City, and I had a fabulous time! It was a little touristy, but still charming, and very, very European. Artemis, her mom, my mom, and I stayed in a hostel, which was so cool. (While I was there, I imagined that I was somewhere in Europe by myself.) Our room was tiny, with two squeaky bunk beds and little else. The free breakfast was very good (they had toast, cereal, bagels, tea, coffee, and juice) and it was right in Old Quebec, which is the really ancient part of the city. Mostly, we just walked around going into shops, and ate. It was fun, although I felt quite guilty about my non-vegan-ness (I ate a crepe, two almond croissants, a cafe au lait, and several cups of tea with milk. Ick.) But! if I never eat another almond croissant in my life, I will be content with the incredibly amazing pastry I had in Quebec! I mean, seriously, you have not had a croissant if you haven't had one at this cafe (which I can't remember the name of, unfortunately.) It was warm, crispy, and buttery, and there was almond filling sandwiched in between two layers of croissant.Yum....
So! after we returned, my mom and I thought, this would be the perfect time to try a detox, and get rid of all the toxins in our bodies left there by the disturbing amount of dairy products we consumed! (There was a plan for a detox in the latest issue of Natural Health, magazine that I, despite the fact that it is aimed at 40-year-olds, read religiously.) We began Wednesday morning by drinking two cups of warm water, and eating a bowl of quinoa oatmeal for breakfast. It was not good; don't try it, but I still finished it. We had to go to the Gap, in the the mall, to return some clothes that my dad bought there (he bought two job interview outfits, and kept one of them) and to Target, to get some hay for April. My mom was quite miserable, actually. She told me that one usually feels like they have the flu at the beginning of a detox. "But I am not in the mood to feel like I have the flu," she added. We both agreed to stop the detox, and on the way home, we stopped at the Udder Place and had coffee. I know, it's sort of pathetic. She felt better immediately.
For our post-detox dinner, we got out the grill for the first time in forever, and made barbecued tempeh (the recipe is also from Natural Health.) It's DELICIOUS! Try it! I am posting the recipe here so that others may enjoy grilling some tempeh before the summer ends:

TEMPEH BARBECUE SANDWICHES

Ingredients:

COLESLAW
4 cups green cabbage, finely grated
2 medium-sized carrots, finely grated
2 tablespoons finely minced onion
1/2 cup vegenaise
1/2 cup plain soy yogurt
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

SANDWICHES
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon cider or red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon minced red onion
8 ounces soy or mixed-grain tempeh
4 whole wheat Kaiser rolls, split open

1. Prepare the coleslaw: combine cabbage, carrots, onion, vegenaise, soy yogurt, vinegar, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper and toss again. Let stand at room temperature for at least 30 minutes or refrigerate for up to 4 hours.
2. Prepare a medium fire in the grill with a well-oiled vegetable-grilling rack in place.
3. To make barbecue sauce, stir together ketchup, vinegar, sugar, chili powder, soy sauce, and onion in a shallow bowl or baking dish. Taste and adjust the seasonings.
4. Cut tempeh in half horizontally to make two thin cakes. Slice cakes into 8 pieces about 1-inch wide, for a total of 16 pieces. Add tempeh strips to barbecue sauce and turn to coat with sauce.
5. Grill tempeh until heated through and crusty, 4 to 6 minutes per side. Lightly toast rolls on the grill, about 2 minutes per side.
6. Brush the inside of the rolls with remaining barbecue sauce. Place about 4 tempeh slices on each roll, and top with a generous dollop of coleslaw. Serve at once.

I am...

reading: NOTHING! I was doing so well books-wise for the first three or so weeks of the summer, and now I have sort of abandoned Schindler's List. I should be reading Brave New World for school.

eating: Many bagels. Yep, white bread, sesame seeds, and processed cream cheese substitute. They sure are healthy, those almost-vegans.

drinking: Tea and root beer floats.

watching: My computer screen and lots of Season 3 O.C. I love The O.C.! It's so comfortably stupid and soap opera-y, and I especially enjoyed the This American Life reference.

working: On nothing!! Nothing at all! (Except pianer and the soap opera and songs I am writing with Flora.) I should be doing French Rosetta Stone... oh well.

dreaming: About future vacations and art projects and band names. Last night I had a long, strange dream, which I won't bore you with the details of. I will only say that it involved dark tunnels, Dumbledore, Jonathan Safran Foer, a Harry Potter Valentine's Day disco party, and a bestselling novel.

contemplating: life, in general. Also, how to best use the remaining month of summer.

Adventures

I'm back from New Jersey, and I had a great time there as well as in Kansas!

I spent the majority of my time in Topeka with Grandma and my cousin Jena.

We went to the K State campus to see the radio station where my other cousin, James, works.

We also visited this cafe, which was quite lovely, actually.

On the fourth of July, there were many, many festivities in Topeka, including a funny parade and a big fourth of July dinner.

Uncle Sam on a tractor!

Kids on bikes.

Poor donkey.

My grandmother at the fourth of July party.

After I left Topeka, I went to Kansas City to stay with Susie and Chuck, which was so much fun! I was very busy, so I didn't get many photos. I spent a lot of time with David and Ellen, visited Lawrence and Broadway Cafe, and ate at some fantastic vegetarian restaurants.

Here is the amazing garden in Susie and Chuck's front yard.

Also...

I will post Kansas pictures as soon as I return home!

The wonders of the world wide web

Well, hello! And welcome to this blog entry! Do you like my outfit? It's very dramatic. There was a time in my career...

Y'all know the rest, so I won't continue the horrors any longer. I am currently in Kansas, the good ol' midwest, visiting my grandparents. They have dial-up (is that one word? Two? Does it have a hyphen? I don't even know) which is kind of slow, but also refreshing in a funny way. I love new things: books, films, music, culture, electronics -- newfangled tecnology, basically, and as wonderful as that is, I sometimes feel like I equire new internet services and smaller cell phones and computers with more memory, I am adjusting more and more to this new, fast-paced lifestyle. I think when things become more efficient, life goes by faster. I like taking a break from a fast-paced life, even if it's only in a really small way, like waiting for the computer to sing its little song and closing all the overwhelming pop-ups. I know this sounds kind of stupid, but I am not the only one who thinks this, correct?

I'm kind of homesick right now, but for some reason, the computer makes me feel, like, 100% better, which is kind of sad. I'm always homesick the first 2 days or so, and then I feel fine. It's strange. To cure my homesickness, I first wrote a letter, then read Harry Potter 4, and then got on the computer, which took a while, because the internet connection wasn't working, for some reason.

Kansas is pretty flat, just as it's rumoured to be, and I like all the fields and the sky, but there are a lot of cars. I love visiting here, but I don't think I could live someplace where one needs a car to get around. I think it's sad how we've become so dependent on them. Also, for some reason, I feel like going to the beach so much right now. I think I will have to make do with a pool.

In my grandparents' house, there is a clock that sings a little tune every fifteen minutes. My dad once told me that when he was a teenager and he was mad at his parents for some reason, that clock would make him angrier every time it rang. It really annoyed him.

I'm sorry to present you with such a long, boring, and rambling blog entry!

What's a Girl To Do?

I want animals on stunt bikes in my next video!

Did I Step On Your Trumpet?

Great song, so-so video.

New template

Sorry, I was tired of the old one. I also had fun picking fonts and colours for this one.

Two unrelated thoughts

1) The picture below is of two delicious vegan pumpkin-walnut muffins that Mana and I enjoyed at a really cool cafe in Davis Square. It's called Diesel, and it's one of my favourite places to go in Cambridge. It has good sandwiches, vegan baked goods, interesting art, and a pool table; also, there are always people there drawing comics, designing buildings, doing graphic design work, or doing other interesting, artistic things.

2) For lack of better things to do, I have been reading an insane amount this summer. So far (since school let out,) I have read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Persepolis, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Persepolis 2, and The Book Thief, and I have started reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Schindler's List, and Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States. Why all the Harry Potter? I haven't read these books in an incredibly long time, and so I figured maybe I should read all of them before the new one comes out. I know that's kind of dorky, but it's nice to have something easy and fun to read when you need a break from books about war and the Holocaust.

Rosetta Stone

My big project this summer is learning French, so that I can go straight into French 3 next year. We recently bought the Rosetta Stone program, and it is so much fun. My mom is practicing her French as well, and although right now it's kind of easy, we've started learning the past tense, so that should be very helpful. The only downside to the Rosetta Stone is the alarming number of images of horses being abused (people racing them, falling off of them, etc,) but other than that, it's great.

Yesterday I had another fun day. (I'm sorry to bother you with all this stuff; I've recently realized that it falls under the "no one cares what you had for lunch" category. It's mostly for me, so that I can remember all of this.) We took Lulu for a long walk in the morning, and then (after dropping her at home) we took another nice walk to the Buddhist Cultural Center for lunch, which is one of my favourite places to eat in Cambridge. The food is really simple and delicious, and it's different every day. Yesterday we had brown rice, bean curd, cabbage, zucchini, and mixed vegetabled in a light sauce. We also had a pot of jasmine tea, which was a little strong, but still good. After that, we walked to Harvard Square to see "Golden Door," which I enjoyed. At first I thought it might be a little too historical for me, because I don't love histoical movies, but it was great. Also, the photography was beautiful, Charlotte Gainsbourg was amazing, and it was mostly in Italian (all good reasons to see it.)
After that, we went to the library for a while, and I got a Harry Potter book in French, which I am enjoying very much. Then, we walked to the post office, and then Dado Tea, which is a very pleasant shop with good bubble tea. We went to the video store and rented "I'm Your Man" and "The Science of Sleep," and then had falafel sandwiches for dinner.
Last night, we watched "I'm Your Man," which I LOVED. See it! It's a great documentary.

More adventures

Today we hung around the house unitl 11, and then took the subway to Porter Square for lunch. I had a burrito, which was quite delicious. It had rice, beans, lettuce, and salsa on it. Then we walked around that cool Japanese mall and purchased some sunglasses and a book (Persepolis 2.) Sadly, I have now finished both of the books I brought with me, and am halfway through the one I purchased today. Oh, well. Then, we walked back to Harvard Square (which is a very enjoyable walk) and had jasmine lime tea at Peet's. This is the loveliest iced tea I've ever had, and would make very, very good bubble tea, because it the limeade in it makes it sweet, but it has this subtle jasmine flavour as well. After that, we went to the cinema and saw the movie "Once," which I thought was very sweet. Tomorrow, we may go to the pictures again to see "Golden Door," which has Charlotte Gainsbourg in it...

In Cambridge

I am currently in Cambridge visiting my grandparents, and I am having so much fun. I rode down on the bus this morning, and then went to the ICA, which is such an interesting building. Then we walked to South Station to take the bus back to the house, and the walk was very pretty, right by the water. We had dinner at Grasshopper, with the Boston Vegetarian Society, and ate a ton of delicious, completely vegan Vietnamese food. There was a buffet, and I sampled almost everything -- my favourites were the sweet-and-sour breaded gluten, the tofu with broccoli, and various breaded appetizers. I will try to post again soon...

This is a really fun website: www.librarything.com. It lets you keep track of all the books you read and rate them and stuff; I posted my library right under my profile, if anyone cares to see it.

Cartoon Me

This is from www.meez.com, a very riddiculous (but fun) website. it took me an embarrassingly long time to get this to work.

Today at school was "Risky Behavior Day," which does not, as implied, mean that I participated in risky behavior of any kind. Instead, I had to make a poster about nicotine. There is a lot of poster-making at my school. I had such a fabulous weekend that "Risky Behavior Day" kind of pales in comparison.

After dinner at the African restaurant, Charlotte came over for Cranium and what my dad once called "Guitar Rock."

We also filmed another fabulous music video!

By the way, Chad is not asking me to marry him.

We filmed a scene in a barren wasteland, with nine kids. It was insane, but fun.

Elephant Gun

My two new favourite albums

Recent activities

I feel like I haven't posted on my blog forever. I know I haven't been doing a fantastic job, but oh well; I've been busy. I also apologize for the fact that I just posted a web address instead of an actual YouTube video on that last update. YouTube is annoying, and it would not allow me to post a video. Anyway, here are a couple of notes on things I have been doing lately:

1) I watched the Wilco documentary I Am Trying To Break Your Heart, and I LOVED it. It was very interesting and well-made, and because of it I am now semi-obsessed with Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Listen to it. It's fantastic.

2) Today it's raining heavily and we have 40 mph winds, which have already knocked down two of our huge (100 ft tall) pine trees, and three across the street. It's sad.

3) On Saturday, I attended my friend Kayla's birthday party, which was great fun. We went contra dancing, something I had never before considered trying, but it was very, very fun. We also ate homemade falafel, which was almost as lovely.

4) Yesterday, Artemis and I took a long, lovely walk down to the Old Port in the rain. We had matching fluorescent rain jackets and ugly umbrellas, and we stopped at One City Center to go up and down in the glass elevator a few times before continuing on our way. Then, we played a nice game of Scrabble and watched My So-Called Life (good rainy day activities.)

5) We are going to New York on Wednesday!! I am so excited!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mv_jQVP58mk

LAME!

Just a quick post to complain (lamely) that I have a DURNED BIG HOLE IN THE KNEE OF MY PREMIUM JEANS! I know, you didn't think I was so materialistic as to complain about this on my blog, did you? Well, you were wrong. I ripped them while I was playing a game with two-year-old Elliot, which he calls, "Let's Go To Leander's House," and entails running around in circles and falling down, and then repeating this endlessly. (It took about ten minutes and "Monsters, Inc." to convince him to stop.) So now, since this game was, indeed, invented at Leander's house, I am going to call Leander and demand that he pay me the $175 my jeans cost.

Just kidding, of course.

This movie was absolutely adorable, and also very crafty. Lots of the scenes included things made out of paper, plastic, cloth, etc. Despite its overwhelming cuteness, I really enjoyed it. My favourite parts were definitely the scenes involving the imaginary TV show, and also the scene featuring the stuffed telephone and typewriter.




We watched An Inconvenient Truth at school yesterday, and while it is perhaps the complete opposite of The Science Of Sleep, I still loved it. I thought the way the information was presented was very effective and mater-of-fact. Also, like Rafaela, I was (pleasantly) surprised at how seriously my classmates took it.




I meant to stay up and watch This American Life last night, but I changed my mind because I thought (for some reason) that it was an hour and a half long. Instead, I watched it today after school, with my mom. My vote is: splendid. I could never prefer it to the radio show, but I enjoyed it. I thought it translated well to television, and unlike Boaz Frankel and his worst interview ever, I didn't find it weird seeing Ira Glass actually present on film. "An Animal They Loved" = sad. I wish the show was longer than half an hour, though.

A sad story

While cleaning my room this weekend, I discovered this hip, cool Keith Haring colouring book, which I recieved for my sixth birthday.

Strangely, this is the only page that I filled out:

This is funny considering that when I was little, I LOVED stickers. But I also find it funny that I recieved a colouring book with lots of pages to fill out, like "Things I found in New York City" and "Things I would like to put in a blue purse," and the only page I used was the sticker page.

Click directly on the play symbol, and it won't open a new window.

New photograph

Happy birthday to Marlowe

We celebrated Marlowe's birthday in New York, at Plump Dumpling. We sang "Older" and "O Death," as well as "Happy Birthday" in French.

Rabbit, rabbit

Did I remember? No, I did not. I never do, because I am now woken up every morning at 6:30. This is not my natural schedule.
Here are a few things on my mind:


They're cute and vegan. These shoes cost $118. Let's get 'em!


I am in the progress of working on a long-term project for school, which is becoming increasingly stressful. Most people are doing a short skit, but I have chosen to think about the assignment extremely abstractly and am instead creating a multi-media presentation on Andy Warhol's Factory.


I'm about halfway through this book and I am really enjoying it. It's the really funny blend of hilarious stories and dense history.


I have been listening to the Decemberists a lot lately, too. I love them. I think it's really wonderful how most of the songs are stories, and it keeps them really interesting. I also love the language they use. There is something very intellectual about the Decemberists, I think.


I love Marcel Dzama, too. This is one of my favourite pieces.

A quick note

Sorry about the lack of photographs below. Either my phone or my blog has been working incorrectly, I'm not sure which, because my usual method of e-mailing photos to my blog is not working. A pity.

Back to New York

Sorry, I didn't document this vacation nearly as well as the last one, however, here are a few photographs illustrating the highlights:

The Chinatown bus arrived in New York at 1:30, at which time we met David at a vegetarian dim sum restaurant. My vote is: unremarkable. It was pretty good, but Home On 8th is better, in my opinion. My favourites were the steamed buns with "pork." I took a picture of this meal, but alas, I accidentally deleted it. Here's David at the restaurant:

Next, while Dad dropped off our bags at Lawrence's apartment, David took Ezra and me to a delightful place called "Cake Shop." Here is the most amazing vegan peanut butter cake EVER:

And an earl grey tea:

It's really extremely cool. It's sort of a combination cafe and record store with a bar in the basement.

We took a lovely walk in the East Village and ended up in this park, where we played catch with a water bottle and discussed various methods of torture.

Later, we met up with our awesome friends Leander and Marlowe, and took them to our favourite spot for bubble tea: St's Alp Teahouse. Leander thinks: terrific. Marlowe: not sure.

Other highlights include 9th Street Espresso for breakfast:

...and hanging out at Lawrence's apartment in Brooklyn:

I am so sad to be back.

Video project

Despite the fact that I am currently in French 1, I am making an approximately 10-minute-long film for school. It is entirely in French and stars Ezra as Guy, Marlowe as Philippe, Leander as Andre, and Miss Gliss as Oncle Olivier. I happen to not know how to use a camera or editing software, but I still think it should come out well. We filmed all weekend.



Highlights of filming include Miss Gliss's mustache (drawn on with black pen,) Ezra and Leander's version of "That's How It Is," several fight scenes, and the line "Notre vie et bon! Nous avons notre PlayStation, des hamburgers, et rap... et les planches a roulettes," (which no one could say quite like Leander.)

Sort of a recipe, but not really.

Too bad food doesn't photograph well, because this after-school snack I prepared myself was delicious and beautiful: ginger noodles with sesame seeds and seaweed flakes. If you would like to make it, here's how:

thin rice noodles
soy sauce
orange juice
maple syrup
sesame oil or olive oil
extra-firm tofu
cashews
finely chopped fresh ginger
white pepper
dried ginger
seaweed gomasio (you can find it at Wild Oats)

First, put water into a big pot and bring it to a boil. If you use dried rice noodles in a box, then they are coiled up like brains into two coils. Remove them and separate the coils. Cook half of them noodles for about five minutes, until they are soft. You can use some of the cooked noodles and save the rest for later. Meanwhile, mix soy sauce with orange juice and maple syrup. Add a little bit of juice and syrup at a time and taste it to make sure it doesn't get too sweet. Put a little sesame or olive oil into a big frying pan and chop the tofu into thick slices, maybe two inches long. You can use as much or as little as you like. The stove should be on medium heat. Cook them until they are golden, then flip them over. When the tofu is pretty well-cooked, turn the stove down to low-medium heat and add the noodles, sauce, cashews, fresh and dried ginger, pepper, and a lot of gomasio. You can really use as much of any of these ingredients as you like. I haven't tried it, but it would be really good to add some tahini to the soy sauce mixture, to make it more sesame-y.