Labyrinth

Sat, 17 May 2008 03:01:08 GMT

So, two failed recipes combined into one have produced what smells like a delicious coconut-rum covered white cake, and looks kind of like a bacon crusted cake.

I tried making coconut-rum balls, but for some reason they were not sticky enough to actually clump together. So I thought to myself, FINE, I'll make a cake and put the coconut-rum stuff on top and bake it that way. But after mixing the sugar, butter, eggs, flour, baking soda, vanilla extract, and amaretto extract together, I realized I didn't have the last ingredient: milk. I didn't want to use rice milk because I'm pretty sure it's going bad, and all we have is half-and-half, so I diluted the half and half with water. Then I baked the thing for 15 minutes, covered the top in coconut-rum goo very carefully so it wouldn't collapse, then baked it for another 25 minutes. It is now filling the kitchen with the smell of deliciousness.

I... think I'm going to go taste it. It's diabetic shock just waiting to happen, but I'm curious...

Fri, 16 May 2008 17:46:16 GMT

Update on that graduation dinner on the 22nd.

We're meeting at Rula Bulas at 6pm.

My dad is paying for everything. Rula Bulas will provide us with a select menu of meals, drinks and desserts. Everyone can have whatever they want from that menu, with a maximum of 2 drinks per person. If you want anything NOT on the menu, you have to provide it yourself, but I think I've seen the select menu before and it's pretty decent.

If you plan to go, please let me know as soon as possible! My dad needs a head count.

Before I Forget:

Fri, 16 May 2008 05:00:15 GMT

My family is taking me to Rula Bulas next Thursday, the 22nd, to celebrate my graduation! My dad says I'm of course allowed to invite my friends, and, furthermore, he'll cover the cost of drinks if you pay for your own food. It'll probably be an earlier night, since my parents are old and don't want to be up late, and I expect drinking will be at a minimum, considering the group composition, heh. So if you're up for hanging out, you should be there, and if you're not in the mood for a party, you should be there! ;) Obviously Marissa and Ali can't, because you're out of town, but Smokie, Rob, Zack, Jared, Taylor, Ken, Deedra and Suzy, you should all come!!

Fri, 16 May 2008 03:23:48 GMT

I went to Whole Foods to pick up makings for dinner, and saw a couple odd things that I felt compelled to buy.

The first was a basket of little "Alien"-looking pod things. Upon a closer inspection, I realized the "pods" are paper-like leaves that curl up around a little pumpkin-orange berry. The label identifies them as "gooseberries", and they're very sweet, and semi cherry-like in flavor.

The other purchase is a bunch of pale green to yellowish tomatoes. They're supposedly sun ripened "sugar drop" tomatoes, and I thought I'd try them, since they're little and cute. The one I tried in the car wasn't completely ripe, and already it was sweeter than most tomatoes I've had, and very flavorful. I cut four or five of the riper ones up and used them in the red snapper recipe I stole off the internet.

Dinner tonight was tasty: baked red snapper with a sauce made of tomato, red bell pepper, red onion, garlic and spices, plus brussels sprouts covered in a sauce made of mustard, garlic, green onions, and fresh rosemary picked from the backyard. I have to admit, I'm still surprised every time I manage to make good food. I prepared this meal in under an hour and it involved 3 burners AND the stove all at once. Just call me Betty Crocker! (No, don't, I'm just kidding).

Malia called while I was cooking and told me about a weird experience she had today while at a photo shoot. She and the photographer were chatting as he adjusted the lighting and Malia mentioned the fact that our mother used to model when she was around our age. He asked her what kind of jobs our mom did, and Malia told him about a commercial our mother once did where she played a siren emerging from the ocean to give soda to people on the beach. When Malia told him this, the photographer said, "Wait, Tab?" Apparently he not only saw the commercial---which played some 25-30 years ago, I think---but he says he still remembers our mother's hour-glass figure and thought the commercial was hot. The idea simultaneously makes me proud and creeps me out...

In other modeling news, Malia has been getting a LOT of jobs lately. She's had 3 photo shoots since Saturday. I accompanied her to two of them, both of which were kind of interesting in their own ways. The first was fascinating because of how glamorous it WASN'T. There was much changing in the back of cars and being made up by the photographer's girlfriend. The photos were taken in a park in downtown Chandler, so there were office buildings and such in the background. However, the pictures turned out pretty well, and the photographer just shrugged about the buildings and said he'd photoshop them out.

The second shoot took place at the photographer's home in Phoenix. 90% of his tiny little house has been converted into a studio, with a costume/dressing room, makeup/bath room, and the actual studio. When we walked in apparently the photographer didn't know who the hell I was and asked me if he was taking pictures of me, too. I told him no, I'm not a model, and jabbing my finger at Malia, told him I'm her sister. Malia was given free rein to explore the costume room and choose a couple outfits she wanted to wear for the photo shoot. While her choices---a belly-dancer costume making use of antique jewelry and an outfit I can only describe as strategically placed feathers---would not have been MY picks, the resulting photos looked really good and actually weren't as revealing as I'd thought they would be. I was surprised, as I watched her move, by how GOOD at this she is. She knows precisely how to place herself so that she simultaneously looks beautiful and is covered up. Despite her fears, I did NOT disapprove of the clothing she wore, although I would not be caught dead in them myself.

The photographer had a few enlarged, framed photographs around his studio. One featured a dark haired young woman in a leotard standing on pointe and, holding her toe, stretching her back leg behind her in a sort of parallel attitude, like this, only her thigh was parallel to the ground, she looked uncomfortable, and she was slipping off her box on the base leg. While Malia was changing I asked the photographer some questions about how often he does dance shoots, whether or not the women he uses are actually dancers or models he puts in dance poses, and whether or not the women use their own pointe shoes or borrow them from him. Somehow, he misheard or reinterpreted that last question, because instead of answering he said, "You have pointe shoes?" I said I did and asked why he wanted to know, and he said he'd love to shoot me sometime, because he uses dance photography in art shows all the time. I told him again that I'm not a model, and he said if I provided the poses, he'd make the pictures work, and that I'd get studio quality photos out of the deal. I told him I have no money for photos right now, and he laughed and said he'd give them to me as payment for participating in the shoot. I pointed out that I haven't danced--really danced--since I was 17 or so. He said that for the most part, he'd have me doing easy things, like sitting down or doing simple ballet poses. So, I may be doing that on Tuesday. Weird.

Tue, 13 May 2008 17:57:20 GMT

Semester GPA: 4.07
Cumulative GPA: 3.75

0.05 away from Summa Cum Laude, but I'll accept that. ;)

Ganked from forwrathandruin & zenicurean

Mon, 12 May 2008 21:43:39 GMT

Heeeeeeey look... we're all gonna die!

Real Life: Day 1

Mon, 12 May 2008 16:48:27 GMT

7 hours of sleep and a half hour of dressing and driving delivered me rested and alert to the office this morning. Then, a mug of GOOD coffee---in one of those obnoxious American flag cups---and a conversation with Judi about what I intend to do now that I've graduated completed my transformation from lethargic to energetic.

It didn't last long.

The phone has been ringing almost nonstop this morning, as through the universe is trying to intone a thousand greetings to "the real world". Well, perhaps not a thousand, but certainly at least fifteen. And I've been here less than an hour.

Work work work.

I have no idea what I want to do about work now that I've graduated. All I know is I need to have a job and I need to do volunteer work in order to buff up my application for graduate school. There are, however, several options I can pursue as to how to go about this. I can, for instance, work part time at 419 while going about my life. Or, if Betty will hire me full time (and give me a raise), I can work full-time. Right now she has instructed me to work 25 hours a week, but I'll be talking to her later this week about my need---desire, really---for a full-time job and a better wage. If she says no, I need to decide whether to leave immediately, or whether to wait until the end of the summer before looking for another job. As things presently stand, I can afford to live on 25 hours per week, but soon my dad'll be handing car insurance and my (admittedly miniscule) phone bill over, so I'll need a little more money. Finally, I need to decide whether I want to get EMT training this fall, and whether or not I'd want to use my training to get a job as an EMT for a year and a half or work as a volunteer EMT.

Then, this summer I need to decide what volunteer work I want to devote two years of my life to. Right now, I'm planning on staying involved in the Worship Associates and getting involved with the Pastoral Care Committee at my church. As for work outside of church, I'm considering giving hospice a go; there's one place that wants singers for music therapy (no experience needed, just audition), as well as people who are willing to simply sit with, talk with, and sometimes read to people receiving hospice care. That kind of work frankly intimidates me a little, simply because I have no significant experience facing others' suffering head on, and I don't know how well suited to it I am. However, a minister needs to be able to develop a bedside manner in addition to giving sermons and performing marriage ceremonies, and I need to know now, before I go to Divinity School, whether or not I'm strong enough to be able to meet peoples' needs in that way. We'll see.

I also want to get involved with an organization that encourages young people to vote. I don't know if Rock the Vote has some kind of street team, but if they do---or if there's an organization like that around---I might jump on board. But I also want to research other options as well, and explore my choices so I can decide on a combination that best fits my schedule and interests. There are a lot of cool organizations out there; I just need to find them. ;)

Anyone able and willing to help?

Mon, 12 May 2008 00:21:07 GMT

My little sister Malia has decided to leave her boyfriend and move herself and Aspen back in with our parents. Needless to say, Zach will not be helping her move and she needs some assistance.

Our brother-in-law will be helping pack her up and move all of her stuff to our parents', and I'll be helping as well, but we need more muscle for unloading the van! Anyone who is willing to help (preferably guys!) is welcome.

The idea is to have everyone meet at my parents' house in Mesa (crossroads: Gilbert and Southern) at 5pm Wednesday night. We'll help unpack the moving truck and move her stuff into the attic apartment. Afterwards, my parents will provide pizza for everyone!

If you're willing to help, please let me know. You've got my number, or you can respond here.

Thanks!!

Sat, 10 May 2008 20:45:45 GMT

I'm going to get tea at Souvia's with Marissa and Malia today, and then afterwards I'll be accompanying Malia to her modeling gig because she's "afraid of being raped". I think it'll be kind of fun to see a shoot; the last time I had anything to do with anything like that, I was 10 years old and doing a photo shoot with John Casa-Blancas Modeling Agency in order to produce lasers which were never actually used. Obviously NOT the same thing, hehe.

Sat, 10 May 2008 07:47:37 GMT

I have been commenced and convocated!

My day began bright and early at 5:45am. I dressed up in my charcoal gray fold-down skirt and the gray brain-flower shirt Ali altered for me a few months ago, then threw on my robe and bright yellow cord. 20 minutes or so of messing with my hair proved to be virtually fruitless, so I finally gave up and drove down to campus.

Everyone met before hand in the arboretum in four long lines organized according to major. Religious Studies formed a very small group; at first, there were only five of us there, and by the time we actually went into the arena, there were perhaps fifteen, maximum. I was surprised and a little disappointed that I only recognized two of my classmates, and neither of them by name. The Religious Studies department is a very small program despite being one of the better ones in the nation, and if I recall correctly, there are only about 90 majors in the department, total. Although I frequently recognize people in my classes themselves, apparently I have had less contact than I thought with the other graduating seniors in the program, because I seriously didn't recognize the majority of the people in line with me.

The Religious Studies professor who was hanging out with our line instructed all of us to place our tassels on the left because we've already graduated. That kind of amused me, because we were consistently referred as either "graduates" or "candidates" throughout the ceremony, despite the fact that these are NOT the same things. Also... we're not actually graduates, yet, and won't be until our final grades come in and all of our information is verified. However, I guess they were referring to us as "graduates" despite our "candidate" status because the actual university commencement ceremony had already taken place...with our without our presence, heh.

I had arrived on campus and found my place in line by perhaps 7 or 7:10 in the morning. We did not file into the arena and find our seats, however, until a quarter past 8. Then we had to endure a tedious two hours of dull speeches, two nearly operatic renditions of the national anthem and the university theme song, and a lengthy, monotonous drone of names.

I'm not sure how the university commencement ceremony on Thursday managed to seat all of the graduates and their families and friends. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences very nearly filled the Wells Fargo Arena for convocation today, and although I know that we form a huge portion of the university population, still, I'm not sure how the arena could possibly have held more people.

After the announcer mispronounced both my first and last name (despite the fact that I emphasized the "s" in "Nastasha" on my info card and also provided them a phonetic spelling on the designated line), I stepped across the stage to shake hands with the Chair of my department---in his ridiculous medieval-style robe and cap, heh---and accept my empty diploma case. Then I was done.

I contemplated leaving while the rest of the names were being called, but thought it might be fun to stay until it was time to throw our caps in the air. However, the Dean or whoever he was ended up telling everyone NOT to throw our caps, because the "lights are very hot". I would have LOVED to see someone throw their cap high enough to get it even anywhere remotely near the lights, but whatever.

After the ceremony, I met up with my parents, was given a bouquet of flowers, and then we went out to lunch. That was more fun than my graduation.

Fri, 09 May 2008 06:22:16 GMT

*posts while waiting for toenail polish to dry*

I want Souvia. Marissa, Ali... you want Souvia, too? Cuz we can have Souvia on Saturday, if we want. :D

Today I went to the mall and got myself a pair of $20 Payless shoes for graduation tomorrow. If you care, they're these. Cute, simple, easy to walk in, and can be worn with a lot of stuff, so they're useful! Yay! I also picked up the third book in Robin Hobb's "Soldier Son" series, on a whim, because I have time to read again and I'm nearing the end of "Pattern Recognition". Mmm, escapism. Finally, I bought some soba at the crappy little Japanese place in the food court, which I suppose is an adequate replacement for Panda Express chow mein. Still, they better bring that restaurant back, soon, or I'll be sad.

This evening, I went to the Worship Associate meeting, where I found out doing Check In (when we all describe what's been going on in our lives recently) that I'm getting an A in Anne's class. (In case you can't tell, she's my professor as well as a member of the WA council. During her check-in, she described slaving over a stack of 15-20 page research papers, and mentioned offhand that mine was excellent and "Yes, Sasha, you're getting an A.") Woot. That is, by the way, the paper I had to redo due to its spontaneous bout of self-cannibalism, so I'm relieved.

During the meeting the council discussed our minister's up-and-coming and well-deserved sabbatical, and the parade of guest ministers we'll be welcoming on various Sundays until late November. There was some brief discussion about a certain celebrity minister, the district executive director or something like that. Apparently he's coming to give a sermon, and nobody really wants to be his WA because he's apparently very rude, self-absorbed and long-winded. I guess once he gave a 90-minute sermon and 3/4 of it was about himself. I was intrigued by the notion of this individual coming to our congregation, because many people described it as "politics" rather than a genuine desire---from either party---to have him come a-visiting.

So I volunteered to be the WA for his service. This should be interesting.

Ok, I think the toenails are probably dry now, so it's time to give Marissa's mom back her polish and go to bed. Good night!

Thu, 08 May 2008 21:15:28 GMT

Leaving work a bit early so I can run some errands---including buying new shoes!---before the Worship Associate meeting tonight.

It occurs to me to wonder whether or not Malia is available this afternoon to straighten my hair. I could do it myself if I borrowed Marissa's straightener, but Malia has all the "Product", as she calls it. "Product" makes my hair behave even AFTER sleeping on it, which is the goal here: to have nice straight, shiny, manageable hair tomorrow at graduation WITHOUT having to get up even earlier than 5:30am to mess with it.

That's right. 5:30am. Why? Well, I have to be on campus at 7:15am. I'm giving myself 45 minutes to get myself out of bed and ready, plus an hour to drive, walk and---if I have time left over (depends on where I get to park)---get coffee.

Fun times.

Wed, 07 May 2008 23:18:55 GMT

“Congratulations! As of today, you are an alumnus/a of the ASU College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. We welcome you to our alumni family.”

o.O

But... I haven't even graduated yet!!

Wed, 07 May 2008 20:24:43 GMT

"Thanks for a good semester. As a last note on writing, keep in mind that every writing situation is different and you should be considerate of why you do what you do each time. Just because something worked for one paper doesn't mean that it will work for another. Different audiences will expect different forms of evidence and the use of different tones and different examples will be successul or not situationally. As GI Joe used to say, "Now you know and knowing is half the battle." If you know why you did what you did, you will be leaps and bounds ahead of most writers."

---My Engrish professor

:/

Wed, 07 May 2008 18:56:49 GMT

Before I forget: Saturday party? Yeah.... no. Rob, Marissa and I are all kind of... not in the mood. Right now I personally would rather game, write, stare at a wall, or sleep. So the party is scratched.

Wed, 07 May 2008 09:18:23 GMT

DONE.

I'm going to celebrate now... by going to bed.

Tue, 06 May 2008 23:54:25 GMT

Ugh. Someone motivate me, please.

Tue, 06 May 2008 07:05:23 GMT

I... think... I might be able to finish everything tonight. Maybe. If I'm willing to stay up again and half-ass my sad little public policy paper. I'm averaging about 1.5 hours of sleep for the last two nights, but I'm actually not feeling too incredibly sleepy...

So yeah... do I care enough about finishing everything NOW to plow on through? If not, tomorrow is another day... hmm...

Nah. I think I'll do the two easier assignments, then go to bed and save the public policy disaster for tomorrow. I don't feel like dealing with that damn paper right now.

Tue, 06 May 2008 02:55:27 GMT

Flying fuck-monster of fucking fuck!

MY FINAL PAPER FOR PUBLIC POLICY CANNIBALIZED ITSELF!!!

One moment I had a 16-page research paper. Then POOF, it was gone. Just fucking gone. All I have left is the version I emailed to myself from work, which is 4 pages shorter than it needs to be, worded somewhat differently, organized in an almost entirely different way, and missing the goddamn works cited page. Oh, and I have an even earlier and even more useless version saved on my desktop.

I don't have time for this shit. I almost don't care. It's worth 25% of our grade but I've had straight A's so far, so.... a C isn't that bad.... But Anne was nice and gave me until "whenever" tomorrow to turn it in... so I might as well finish the goddamn thing---AGAIN!---and turn it in.

*cries*

Sun, 04 May 2008 23:22:51 GMT

Sleep didn't happen last night--vitamins?--and the church service very much DID happen this morning. I guess I somehow managed to look and sound alive, because I got a few compliments after the service about my presentation from the pulpit. Apparently several of our more elderly congregates have had trouble hearing--despite the mikes and loud speakers--because people are not very well trained at speaking slowly and loudly from the pulpit. We've tried to provide Worship Associates with training, but the habits of a lifetime die hard, I suppose. Also, I know from experience it can be difficult to slow down and project when one is nervous or distracted. Nevertheless, it's a problem... and I'm glad it's not MY problem.

Also, I got a couple compliments on the Welcome, which was a relief; I had been instructed to rewrite it, and instead I just kind of edited it to better reflect my personality. Yet I guess the minute changes were sufficient, which is good.

After the service I had to meet with Celeste about the All-Dance service on June 22. We're going to be choreographing and performing a dance drama telling the story of John Murray and Thomas Potter, the first Universalist minister in the United States and the man whose vision brought him here. There will be 5 main dances during that part of the service, including: "Adiemus" (by Adiemus), "Gravity" (by A Perfect Circle), "Mystic's Dream" (by Loreena McKennitt), and "One Love" (Bob Marley). It should be a lot of fun. Originally I wanted Kati, one of the young dancers in the congregation, to perform as Murray, but apparently she's about to graduate and doesn't want to be memorizing lots of choreography. So yours truly is playing Murray, while Celeste (who is a wonderful dancer) will be playing Potter. We'll be wearing hats so that we can better communicate "men" hehe, and although I'm a little disappointed that we won't be having Kati play Murray because we'll miss out on all the flashy choreography (I'm nowhere near her level of talent heh), I'm still kind of excited about it.

Now I'm back home, having stopped by Wildflower Bakery to pick up a roasted sweet potato sandwich. I had to cancel gaming for today, because I have to research and write one 15 page paper and edit another, plus prepare a 5-10 minute powerpoint presentation. I suppose I'll get on that homework here soon... after doing a 1/2 hour of chores and maybe taking a 1hr nap.

Oh, by the way... Rob and I were talking, and we're thinking of having the graduation party on Saturday. Those who want to attend are invited! My Dad said he and my Mom might stop by to say hi. Those of us who want to game...well...if our presence won't be greatly missed at the party, perhaps we can sneak away after an couple hours, when everyone else starts getting drunk and annoying. ;)

Jon Stewart's Commencement Address at William & Mary

Sun, 04 May 2008 00:38:54 GMT

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/jonstewartcommencementwilliam&mary.htm

Sat, 03 May 2008 21:27:54 GMT

Time to wear funny hats with Marissa and Rob to watch the Kentucky Derby.... while researching torture outsourcing. Yay torture outsourcing! Fun times, that.

I think I'm going to be the only roomie who isn't drunk while doing homework, because I don't like bourbons, Rob's the only one with Sprite in the house, and Wild Cherry Pepsi with Bourbon doesn't sound like a good idea.

Oh, and for the record? My Big Brown is better than Marissa's Big Brown, so if Big Brown wins, I win... not Marissa.

Sat, 03 May 2008 10:15:09 GMT

Sometimes...

Before starting on homework this evening, I needed to update my StumbleUpon so that Stumble would only display artwork and photography. I spent about a half hour deleting previous interests, selecting any interests which had anything to do with artwork and photography, Stumbling and hitting the "I like it" or "I don't like it" buttons, and then updating again based on what popped up on suggested topics.

Then I realized I had no idea whatsoever why the hell I was doing this. Like, I had been under the impression while doing it that I was working on some inane project or another, but either I have now forgotten what that project was, or there never really was a project. And I certainly don't want StumbleUpon to only display images.

That right there is irrationality and randomness at it's finest. W T F?!

Gah. Okay, time to get down to work.

Countdown: T-minus 8 Days

Fri, 02 May 2008 22:47:00 GMT

Only 10 pages worth of writing,
20 pages worth of editing,
10 minutes worth of final presentations,
1 exam
and 8 days between convocation and I!

TO DO
1. FRIDAY: Nap
2. FRIDAY: Game
3. SATURDAY: Write welcome and offertory words for Sunday service
3. SATURDAY: Game
4. SUNDAY: WA for service
5. SUNDAY: Game
6. SUNDAY: Research and write Public Policy paper
7. SUNDAY: Prepare Public Policy presentation
8. SUNDAY: Edit Relational BS paper
9. MONDAY: Give presentation and turn in paper
10. MONDAY: Buy cap and gown
11. MONDAY: Complete Ethics final
12. MONDAY: Edit Wiki article
13. FRIDAY: Convocation!

WHAT I'M MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO ABOUT GRADUATION:
-I'll be working enough hours to afford to take a lunch break again!
-Having time to work on writing more often. MY writing, that is, not just collaborative pieces.

LOL

Fri, 02 May 2008 01:07:11 GMT

'Spell Checker Blues'

Eye halve a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.

Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait a weigh.

As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error rite
Its rarely ever wrong.

Eye have run this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect in it's weigh
My chequer tolled me sew.

Anon