Back to Business

My last few posts have basically been "filler" to clog my blog up with something mainly to keep myself in some, although sporadic, rhythm of posting. Because let's face it -- my head has not been set on actively blogging. So much for taking the summer to beef this blogging project up. Oh well. I am finding a trend in my blogging; despite being wrapped up in grad school and all the ridic that it entails, I blog more when I am in the mindset of reading, writing, thinking critically, etc. Not only did I physically take a vacation this summer, my brain, while not taking what I'd call a full vacation for there was no numbing or hard drugs involved, and my knowledge-building energy went to a different, not-so-academic place. Granted my thesis and all things M.I.A. were not far from my mind (hell, she "retired"!), I found myself retreating and gravitating towards books that allowed me to build upon aspects of personal growth that aren't as easily, or at all, tapped into while in grad school. While this past school year I found myself forming so many new ideas that not only made "the personal political" regarding my own identity politics, I leapt and bounded ahead towards an academic career and community, that I could not be more excited to pursue. That being said, this semester I am tapping into a new, yet not completely foreign area of study that has always been on my "to do" or "to read" lists. To further expand upon and perhaps in a sense remedy my immature ideas on feminism, feminist aesthetics, and my self-identification as a strong woman, I am enrolled in two courses (the only courses I am taking this semester) addressing these issues. And, truly, what an exciting time to do it! Hold your breath. I am not going to slide into a rant on Sarah Palin ( but, god, do I want to!!!!). There are multiple reasons I am leaving this ordeal to continue to fester in my brain. So, I can't make any promises regarding future posts. But to squash the ability for thIS post to easily turn in a diatribe on Palin's and McCain's disgusting display of pseudo-feminism and the mainstream media's coverage of it, I am stopping here, for I need to read before my TA class in 30 mins. However, I will leave you all with the notes and letters of other women addressing these oh-so-prevalent issues being discussed: http://womenagainstsarahpalin.blogspot.com/

Karaoke, Baked Goods, and Thunderstorms

...in the words of Rufus Wainwright, "these are just a couple of my cravings". Baked goods cravings? Undeniable. Karaoke cravings? Inevitable (especially for me)! But thunderstorm cravings? Perhaps, this is questionable. Nonetheless, these three things have consumed much of my summer life to date.

Let's start with karaoke. I've done karaoke three times since I turned in my papers, and I have come to one major conclusion...karaoke is always better when done with a medium to small- sized group. This way you get to sing more. And anyone who has experienced the vocal stylings of Candice Haddad would agree that this is a good thing... not really. I actually am not that good, but honestly this is why smaller groups are better. Someone in your group always has to go, and if you go with nice people who also suck they don't care that you keep getting up there ruining anything from The Pixies to Queen to Whitney Houston. Don't get me completely wrong, I have experienced the large group dynamics of some karaoke bars to be a lot of fun. But I will say that the experience I had at Metro (a gay bar in Indy) a couple years ago kinda turned me off. The evening involved some pitchers of beer, a guy talking about his physic powers, and me waiting till the end of the night (thus, intaking much of that beer...eh) to sing "Bitch" by Meredith Brooks. Let's just say the only people clapping at the end were the two people I went with and me, but only bc I was still "keeping the beat" and didn't realize "Bitch" had ended. Oh, boy! Did it end. We left soon after I got off the stage...

Enough about my traumatic karaoke past, let's move on to baked goods -- specifically CUPCAKES! I have made three batches of cupcakes in the past month or so. And here they are:


Coconut Lime Cupcakes!


Vanilla Cupcakes with Blackberry and Raspberry toppings


Pineapple Right-Side Up Cupcakes

(Yes, each batch had a mini photo shoot. It's summer vaca! What else do you think I'm doing?)

Thanks to Caitlin, I was inspired to buy this vegan cupcake recipe book she flashed in front of my face over a month ago. A couple weeks later I bought it. And as I am sure you can tell, they have indeed taken over my world. The authors note that one of the reasons you should bake these vegan cupcakes is because they are blogworthy-- particularly more blogworthy than ranting about your love life. And I couldn't agree more! As you can see, I have not made any of the chocolate ones yet... who wants cupcakes?!?!

The last thing I want to mention about my summer life thus far is... you've guessed it! Thunderstorms! This shit has been crazy up here in Indiana, and I'm saying this even after the ridiculous hail storms that have been going on in Austin. Many parts of Indiana have experienced a ton of flooding. One of my most favorite places, Bloomington, was hit with major flooding:



And this is one of my favorite corners in Bloomington...the intersection of Kirkwood and Dunn! So crazy!

Another crazy picture I have is of the orange sky that appeared in the middle of one of the first storms that occurred a day or two after I came into town. Grover, the pug, was hesitant to go out...



I freaking love this stuff. It sucks when devastating things happen to communities, but monsoon rain, orange skies, crazy winds, and freakish lightening are so mesmerizing! It used to scare me shitless when I was young. If I had a quarter for every time my family mentions my Weather Channel addiction in elementary school, I wouldn't have any student loans to pay off (ha! right...). Seriously though, I want to be a tornado chaser when I grow up...

Prepare to Read the Ramblings of a Burnout, Scattered Brain:

I love my computer. I love being geeky on my computer. And I love writing. But not this past week--hence, the lack of blog postings. Don't be alarmed (this is almost a moment of talking to myself). I will continue to post. This blog will not go down the gutter like all my past blogs. My brain has just taken a vacation this week. After staring at Microsoft Word nonstop for at least a week and pumping out close to 60 pages of mad, sweet, critical, thought-provoking (arguably) media studies goodness, I have been able to justify doing a lot of nothing. And I say nothing very loosely, bc extending your arm and putting it towards your mouth counts as something...and while doing this movement repeatedly I should not disregard the many interesting things I have added to my list of to-dos this summer. A list includes, but definitely is not limited to:

1) change my cell phone plan to add more texts, 2) go see more live music, 3) learn new recipes-- particularly those using tofu, 4) start running, 5) watch a lot of HBO, 6) see the new Sex and the City movie, 7) go to NYC and Chicago, 8) go to the top of the Empire State Building, 9) find a new drink to replace my go-to vodka tonic, 10) watch Golden Girls reruns, 11) do a lot of karaoke, 12) take my little sister to King's Island, 13) avoid catching Amos's flower bouquet like the plague, 14) sit on Brent's parents couch for at least a 10-hour period w/o moving (unless for food, drink, or restroom break, of course), 15) make my blog spiffier!, 16) see bands I both love and have never heard of at Pitchfork, 17) read a shit-ton, 18) find new restaurants in Austin, 19) find new restaurants in Indianapolis, 20) meet new people, 21) spend time with my "old" people, 22) figure out what PhD programs Im going to apply to, 23) take my dogs on walks, 24) go camping, 25) get a new tattoo, 26) watch a lot of Netflixs, 27)GO PICK UP MY FRIENDS AT THE AIRPORT! YAY!