Brilliant Idea

It's amazing what you can think up whilst in the throes of ennui. The other day, I was driving with my mom and we had a lengthy conversation about various types of miscellanea. In the midst of this, I hit upon said "brilliant idea". It occured to me that IF milk can be produced into cheese that it would be possible to turn coconut milk into coconut cheese. You could possibly make a sweet soft cheese or maybe a more acidic hard cheese. I wasn't quite sure if bacteria or mold would need to be involved, as is often the case with cow's milk cheese. My mind thus began racing. I could introduce my new food invention into Latin American countries and call it CoQueso (which is the marriage of the words "coconut" and "queso" [Spanish for "cheese"]). And if it was popular there, I could bring it to the US as an alternate cheese for vegans or a great product for coconut afficianados. There could be coconut cheesecake, coconut cheese frosting for cakes, amongst various other desserts.

It wouldn't make my millions off of coconut cheese, but if it was successful it would be a nice venture. So why am I divulging my brilliant idea for CoQueso (patent pending)? Because 10 years earlier someone had already thought up the idea. Ahh well!

http://www.unido.org/userfiles/PuffK/ISED_R85.pdf

On the way to class...

I don't know how it happened, but when I started by current lit class for graduate school I was what you could consider a "non-writer". Sure I barely keep up this blog and I write e-mails and some papers for school, but I don't really do any creative writing. Now, with only a couple of weeks left for class I will come out of this course a bonafide "writer". And its not even a writing class. But the course is taught by a published writer, most of the students in class are Creative Writing majors and the atmosphere and dynamic of the class just encourages writing. We wrote responses to everything we read, and were encouraged to read as writers and to look for what the author was trying to accomplish and how he/she carried it through. We read our writing out loud, which, over time, became a performance that influenced our written responses. And our mid-term and final papers involved mimicking other writers in sytle and form to fully understand their methods and learn things for our own writing. And I wrote a non-fiction essay about a seeing-eye dog and by some miracle it came out very well and I got an A! Now, I can't stop thinking of things to write about. Each night I think of story ideas and scenes until I fall asleep. Then the next day my fingers are itching to get at the computer to tap away at the keyboard with the new tale. What happened? Where is the Raquelle who found writing so painful and difficult? Who is this new Raquelle who actually likes to, wants to, needs to write?

It's all very strange, but I'm very grateful.

26 Year Marker

On the 25th of November, I turned 26. I turned 26 on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. This day is in commemoration of the brutal Trujillo-sanctioned murders of the Mirabal sisters, Patria, Minerva and Maria who protested Trujillo's dictatorship. Trujillo and the Mirabals were from the Dominican Republic. My mom is Dominican and one of the many godchildren of Trujillo (he baptized kids like crazy).

So there is historical and ancestral reasoning behind my hatred for my birthday. This is a very good cover up for the fact that I just don't like getting older. On my birthday, I always think about what I've accomplished and its never enough. I'm a late bloomer in many ways and I get supremely jealous seeing other people younger than myself accomplishing goals that I still have on my "to-accomplish-list". Plus I'm starting to get pressure to get married and have children from family members. I was spared of this until recently.

So now I'm old, errr. Older. I found a grey hair. I plucked it. Now I just have to appreciate my 26th year and make of it what I can before I turn 27 ::shudder::.

If you want to buy me a present...

If you are ever so inclined to purchase me a present for ::insert gift-giving occasion here::, then this is your guide to what my greedy soul wants. Otherwise, take inspiration from this list for your own materialism! Do I sound bitter? Mayhaps. I am broke. So right now, these things are pipe dreams until I get a fat juicy bonus in the New Year ::fingers crossed::.

~ Alfred Hitchcock: The Master of Suspense, Pop-Up Book ~ Each spread is a different Hitchcock movie. Genius!
~TiVo ~ So instead of watching junk I don't want to see on TV because I'm bored, I can't watch junk that I DO want to see on TV when I'm bored. Cheers!
~ Coach KATY Travel Tote ~ I'm spoiled. I only crave Coach bags now. I'll have to wait until this is out of season to get it.
~ Kitchen Aid Mixer in Empire Red ~ Sexiest piece of kitchen equipment there is. You know you are a true chef when you have one of these sitting in your kitchen just waiting to go into action.
~ Laptop ~ Any. As long as it has MS Word and doesn't weigh 15 pounds like my current one.
~ Subscription to the New York Times-Sunday Edition ~ Its the only newspaper worth reading these days. And the added bonus is The Book Review!!
~ BOSE Wave Radio ~ So I can listen to NPR in any part of my apartment.
~ Digital Cable ~ So I can watch Turner Classic Movies. ::sniffle::
~ One Year Subscription to Real Simple ~ It's the NYT-Sunday Edition of the magazine world. I've been collecting them since 2003.
~ Vacation to France or Ireland or even Maine ~ I just want to get away!
~ iTunes Gift Card ~ Self-explanatory.

More Time Please...

Now, more so than ever, I am feeling a major time crunch. I feel as though there are not enough hours in the day to do all the things I need to do. And because of this I charge up a debt which carries over to the next day, then the next and then the next and I feel that I can only (barely) catch up on the weekends. In fact, I had to re-arrange my weekend plans just to clean and do homework. How depressing...

Right now I'm sitting at my computer, typing this entry and procrastinating on writing my 7 pages on 7 essays (1 page for each essay read) for class on Monday. I really do not want to do this. This weekly homework used to be an ok task until our professor started making us read them aloud in class. ::cringe:: Now there is the added pressure of making them worthy of other people's eardrums. Those other people just happen to be a group of writers. (kill me now!)

But all is not lost on the time issue. I feel that instead of looking for more time to do more things, I really need to give myself fewer things to do so that I can do everything else at a reasonable pace. I also need to become more organized with my time so that I don't waste precious minutes and hours having mini-nervous breakdowns. How do I do all this? I'm not quite sure. But I'm working on it. Wish me luck!

Cosmos are good for killing spiders

Who knew this women's magazine was a stealth arachnid killing weapon?!

Nothing expresses my status as a single girly girl who lives alone than my recent encounter with a spider. For anyone who has had the pleasure uhmmm... displeasure of watching Psycho (1960) , knows the tremendous feeling of vulnerability when your taking a shower. So when a spider decided to crawl in through the bathroom window whilst I was showering and park itself in a spot on the ceiling right above my head, I completely freaked out. I knew that the arachnid had to go. So I stepped out of the shower and dripping went tip-toeing into my bedroom to grab any available weapon I could. The closest thing I could find was the last issue of Cosmo on my nightstand. So I grabbed it and dripped my way back to the shower. I made a comical effort to kill the spider by throwing up the Cosmo at the ceiling and running away quickly, lots of girly shrieks ensuing. Now normally I'm not scared of spiders but being in this vulnerable position, especially living alone, I panicked. And what's most embarassing and what shames me tremendously is that I crossed the threshold over to impossibly girly when I grabbed the girliest magazine in the WORLD to kill this spider. Shame! Shame! The tomboy of my youth would be so disappointed. ::sigh::

Linkage

After finding my blog linked at an apartment site for "old-fashioned London apartments" (don't they call them flats over there?) I thought it would be interesting to list how some people have found my little nook in the world wide web. This is not a novel idea of mine, it's shamelessly stolen by the great bookyeti.

Keywords:

1. hearts cristiano ~ I hear ya! I don't care what the Brits think, he's a okay in my book.
2. boruc handsome ~ why yes he is! huhmanah huhmanah!
3. grown men don't cry music video code ~ I'm still trying to figure this one out.
4. old fashion high society names ~ Like Willoughby van Dyne IV?
5. beginnings are hard, endings are sad ~ It's the middle that counts!

Chocolate-Covered Raisins

Its been eons since I've had the pleasure of eating these little morsels. I grabbed a little bag of these from our office stockpile of chocolate and slowly picked at them one by one as I responded to some e-mails. These sure take me back. I remember the days when I was a little girl, my mom used to buy me a big bag of Raisinets to keep me occupied on our bus trips to New York. Such a strange little treat. The way the chocolate hugs around the raisin, with cute little dimples here and there. I love how the chocolate cracks and crumbles when you bite into one. I could wax poetic about how they shine and how they feel as I roll them around in my hand. I think its more about the happy memories and comfort they bring rather than their taste. I always find it amazing how smells and sensations transport us back to another place and time. Especially, when they bring you back to a happy time in your life. And chocolate-covered raisins definitely do that for me.

Sanctuary

For the past few months, I've struggled to find sanctuary in my new little nest. I am by nature someone who needs a little cove of comfort. It's where the participation in my favorite activities is enhanced by the overall feeling of happiness. It is not only a happy place in the physical sense, but also in the emotional sense. That joy comes solely from within but if I don't feel a sense of comfort in where I am, it is hard to connect with those feelings. They end up buried somewhere not wanting to come out. Over time, I find myself more and more accustomed to my apartment, but I'm not quite there yet. I feel I have a ways to go. I still wander back to my parent's home ever so often to nest. If I had moved further away or perhaps had a significant other to move in with, my new place might have already reached the status of sanctuary. I think the loneliness and the easy access to close family make it the most difficult. I also believe that the size of my living room doesn't help either. It's very long and dark. I find it too brooding and ominous for my taste. I've been trying to make it seem cosier and to add more light to the room. On the contrary, the bedroom is just the right size and very sunny. I've filled the room with creams, blues and browns (just like home) and its so easy to fall asleep there.
Maybe I'm picky or just plain eccentric, but home is so important to me. I need to feel like there is somewhere I can escape to and find my inner sense of peace. But for now, my little nest is a work in progress.

Shakira

I was a big Shakira fan back in high school. I loved her music and had much respect for her. I'm not really impressed by her now (in fact I'm kind of disappointed), but I found this video online and it was a great blast from the past. I used to listen to this song over and over again on my CD walkman (remember walkmans?!) while waiting for my bus in the mornings. Ahh memories. Enjoy!

Music Video:"ESTOY AQUí" (by Shakira)

Music Video Code provided by VideoCodeZone.Com

Ambulance

When I woke up this morning, I didn't realize that in a few hours I would be taking my very first ride in an ambulance. I have been very sick for the past week. I got, what I thought was, a really nasty bacterial infection in my throat which affected my ears and then went on to give me the worst sinus pressure imaginable. The pain was unbearable. I had gone to the doctor before the symptoms got really bad and was immediately put on penicillin. I had been a good patient taking the pills 4 X a day. They didn't seem to be doing much since the symptoms kept getting worse as the days went on. Finally, yesterday I started feeling better. My sinuses were clearing up, my sore throat and ear pain were gone and I was getting my energy back. But I still had to continue on the medicine for a few days until I finished all of the pills.

This morning, after taking my second dose of the day, I felt like something was trapped in my throat. I thought that the pill was somehow lodged in my esophagus and I drank some water to see if I could flush it down. Three bottles of Dasani later, I tried honey and a salt water gargle. As the hours past, the pain progressed and I started to get short of breath. Then came the hyperventilating and panic. I called my parents numerous times, but they were far away and couldn't help. I was frantic and in tears and called 911. Within 5 minutes, there were 10 men in my apartment asking me questions, taking my pulse and checking my blood pressure. Shorty afterwards, I was whisked away into an ambulance and strapped into a stretche. Luckily, I was being consoled by a very handsome firefighter who had gone to extra effort to make me feel comfortable. (I wanted to kiss him right then and there!!!)

I arrived at the local hospital, went through all the motions. Registration, more registration, waiting, X-ray (of my throat), waiting, examination, more waiting and another examination. Luckily, there was nothing lodged in my throat, but it is very possible that I developed an allergy to penicillin. The medicine caused my throat to close up (thus the pain and the shortness of breath) and it also caused acid reflux which I'm sure did wonders to the lining of my esophagus. And what makes me the most upset about this, the doctor who examined me said that I shouldn't have been on penicillin in the first place because the infection I had was probably viral and not bacterial! Since penicillin only works against bacteria, I might as well have not been taking any medicine at all. Grrr!!

My parents had driven all the way up to come pick me up at the hospital (bless their hearts!). And for the next couple of days, I'm on a liquid/soft food diet and will take it easy. I knew that once I became independent and had my own place that I would have some adventures. But this wasn't the kind of adventure I was looking for.

Simple Pleasures

I took some getting used to, but my apartment is starting to feel like home. My level of stress has gone down, especially since I'm away from my parents, so there is less bickering and my commute is down to 10 minutes from 2 hour + daily. I feel more independent and more responsible. The best thing of all is that I have the time to take pleasure in simple things. Here are some new rituals and some small things I get pleasure from:

• Taking long evening walks
• Reading the Sunday New York Times at a cafe
• Watching people walk their dogs
• Seeing the Prudential Tower from my bedroom window
• Trying out new restaurants
• Grocery shopping on Sunday afternoons (lot of local single guys do the same)
• Silence. Enough to be able to sit down and truly enjoy a good book or magazine
• Watching the sun set over the nearby pond

I plan to increase this list considerably! I just have to get used to the town and the area. I'm looking for new and fun things to do and places to meet people. Meeting people is the most difficult thing. Luckily, I have school coming up. I promised myself not to say no to any school or work-related gatherings! I couldn't say yes all that often before because of my commute. Now I have no excuse! Let the good times begin!

New Beginning

Hope Floats is not one of my favorite movies, but there is a quote from the film that I will carry with my for the rest of my life. "Beginnings are hard, endings are sad, but its the middle that counts." It was a reflection on life in general, but I think it can be specifically applied to any major change in ones life. I'm sad to leave my parents, who I love dearly. I find myself going back "home" to find solace, intermittently while I'm adjusting to my new apartment, which has yet to become my new "home" in the emotional sense. I'm waiting for that in-between period to come. One in which I'm comfortable with my new-found independence and do not rely on my parents for emotional support. I think it will take a while -- a long while. I'm very behind at being an adult. But I'll get through it somehow. I just have to.

So Tired...

I'm exhausted. On Saturday, I moved some things into my apartment and got my new sofa. On Sunday, I loaded up a U-Haul truck and moved a whole lot more. On Monday and Tuesday, I moved even more things and started setting up so that the apartment could be somewhat liveable. I assembled a coffee table, two side chairs, a dining table and after 5 hours of blood, sweat and tears I gave birth to an entertainment center. I can't believe how much work this is and how quickly I get tired and have to stop. This definitely shows that I need to be more active!

Gonna take a short hiatus as I'll be internet-less for a few days and will need to keep working on my apartment. Pictures to come! Woohoo! And also, the finals of the World Cup are this weekend so I'll be too busy having minor heart attacks to do anything at all productive. Bon journee!

Go Portugal!!!!!

Portugal kicked England's b-u-t-t today. This game was pure torture. No goals for 90 minutes, then no goals for 30 more minutes. Then Cristiano Ronaldo (shown above) sealed Portugal's victory with a third successful penalty kick. It was beautiful, but good grief I almost had a heart attack! The excitement was too stressful.

Grown Men Crying

I love watching the World Cup, but boy is it stressful. I don't think I could ever become a full-time devoted fan of football (soccer). I wouldn't have enough energy to deal with real-life emotions because all my stress, anxiety, heart-break and happiness, joy and elation would all be funnelled into games. What gets to me is the major disappointment when one team loses. Today Argentina lost to Germany in penalty kicks. Argentina managed to only get 2 in while Germany got 4. That last missed penalty kick by Argentina sealed Germany's victory. That poor guy Cambiasso who lost that one goal was crying! Even though I was beside myself with joy that Germany won (I think they are incredible), watching a grown man crying depresses me to no end. And then to see a whole team crying and leagues of fans cry, I can't take it! I even fell to pieces when I saw Cristiano Ronaldo cry after his leg injury prevented him from finishing the game. The highs are so high and the lows are so low, that I guess no matter how much I'd like to become full-time fan, I can only take football in small doses. Lets hope there is not a lot of crying this afternoon when Ukraine goes versus the blood-thirsty, elbow-throwing Italians.

Go Portugal!!!

Portugal (1) ~ Netherlands (0)

My apologies to the Dutch!

Anything to get out of doing my mid-term and packing up for my move!

Everytime I watch a match of the World Cup the announcers always bombard the viewers with random facts and statistics that to me, as an amateur football fan, seem way out of left field. I decided, out of pure frustration with these silly scenarios that the sportcasters create, that I would write some wacked-out statistics of my own.

1) Germany has never advanced to the final four, on non-European soil and when cheap American Budweisers are downed by their team's rival's fan's mothers-in-law's cousins during teatime in London.

2) Mexico has only ever scored 2 goals in the second stage of the World Cup, except that time when 50% of the other team had serious constipation.

3) Its the first time in 40 years, Portugal has advanced to the second stage of the World Cup in which one of their team members is a young, hot, Prince-William look-a-like, not from the mainland.

4) Ecuador has lost everytime that the majority of their fans do NOT participate in the wave, sing the national anthem and buy expensive FIFA merchandise.

5) The longest distance a player has ever slid across the grass while other team members were celebrating the wrong goal in their second game, was 5 feet.

6) The Brazil vs. The African Brazil (Ghana) game will be the first time a South-American team has played against an African team which, within their own continent, is considered to be equal of the other team in that other continent.

Retribution At Last!

This has been a really bad year for me, and yesterday I said to myself, "for all of the bad things that have happened to me, there must be some retribution coming soon. There is always a light at the end of the tunnel, I must be at least close!" Well, retribution is coming in the form of a bigger apartment! The tenant of the original apartment just wouldn't quit, so my realtors (God bless them) worked their magic and got me an apartment, on the same floor of the same building, with a bigger lay-out, better views and the same original price. I was blown away! Basically, I just got an upgrade. Now I can resume packing with the knowledge that I actually have an apartment (an even nicer one to boot) to move into! Thank you kharma!

My World Comes Crashing Down

This is a really bad day.
 
For one, my beloved uncle died this morning at noon.
 
Secondly, the tenant of the apartment I was going to move into July 1st now doesn't want to move out. So I'm apartment-less.

To add to that, its crisis after crisis at work and I can't seem to catch up. And I have a midterm exam this week and a final exam next week.
 
::sigh::