Facebook is the new MySpace

Why is Ashleigh Hall's story being reported only by British newspapers??
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/7398085/Ashleigh-Hall-one-mistake-cost-teenager-her-life.html

...this is why Facebook should've remained for college students only. The world wide web doesn't need another creep-invaded website

How I got over my fear of not really following the recipe

I've been thinking about making this all day long. It's been a long rainy and windy Saturday, reminiscent of October weather much more than March. Intrigued by a nostalgic mood I gathered enough motivation to make one of my favorite deserts from childhood, mom's rice pudding. It is a simple thing to make, but just for the joy of it I dusted off my older-than-I-am Romanian cookbook, opened its cracking and about-to-fall-apart crinkled covers and hoped to find the recipe I was anticipating inside.

There it was, recipe #1442, "orez cu lapte," in clear dark type on crisp beige paper and very easy to follow, with only one problem. Without a scale in my kitchen, how was I to measure 250g of rice? Or 200g of sugar? And so I went on to boil an unknown quantity of water and an unknown quantity of white rice and then later, despite whatever quantity the directions asked for, added X (who knows?) ml of milk. Sugar and butter came next, then vanilla essence, and then I stirred anxiously from time to time, waiting.

After 30 minutes or so the pudding was done and came out pretty delicious if I may say so myself! Well at least Chris though so, but of course only after teasing me for having to use a recipe book to make "such simple rice pudding" in the first place. hah! wiseguy.

mission: road trip

rent a little red convertible, put a flower in my hair and hit the road. the hum and buzz of 2,928 miles of winding open road await........ ahhhhh, one day soon

 I have just finished watching Julie & Julia, and it is brilliant, absolutely amazing!

"I don't know why we put things off, but if I had to guess, I'd have to say it has a lot to do with fear. Fear of failure, fear of rejection, sometimes the fear is just of making a decision, because what if you're wrong? What if you're making a mistake you can't undo? The early bird catches the worm. A stitch in time saves nine. He who hesitates is lost. We can't pretend we hadn't been told. We've all heard the proverbs, heard the philosophers, heard our grandparents warning us about wasted time, heard the damn poets urging us to seize the day. Still sometimes we have to see for ourselves. We have to make our own mistakes. We have to learn our own lessons. We have to sweep today's possibility under tomorrow's rug until we can't anymore. Until we finally understand for ourselves what Benjamin Franklin really meant. That knowing is better than wondering, that waking is better than sleeping, and even the biggest failure, even the worst, beat the hell out of never trying."

my day in photographs - waiting for spring in CP

   

if life could be paused, i would hold on to its moments forever

soon

Mucenici!

On the day of March 9th Romanians all over the country and world celebrate the Saints Mucenici, 40 martyr soldiers who died for their faiths many moons ago. It amazes me how some traditions are passed on from generation to generation and last hundreds of years. The tradition is to greet the day of March 9th with something sweet and delicious, called mucenici. In the part of the country I grew up mucenici are flour based and made by hand in the shape of the number 8. After the mucenici are cooked, sugar, crushed walnuts, ground cinnamon and orange or lemon grinds are added. The sweet mixture is then spiced with rum extract and becomes a deliciously scented syrup which the mucenici soak up. Yum!

And because march 9th is also the vernal equinox after the Julian calendar, this day marks the start of spring, life, new hopes and new beginnings.

mucenici are supposed to look like the ones in the picture above, but these bowties are my own version!

No wind, and not a cloud in the sky. I have a pair of running shoes which need jogging and a heart which needs mending, nowhere else i'd rather be but in CP to clear my mind

oh what a day

snow! and lots of it!! how to celebrate??

waiting for spring, but these snowy days are the best winter days yet!

 

“Sometimes our fate resembles a fruit tree in winter. Who would think that those branches would turn green again and blossom, but we hope it, we know it.“

some shovel and others take pictures (and record history)

this cute couple with the pink umbrella caught my eye

“Winter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart“

Victor Hugo

my flickr addiction

never fails to brighten my mornings

sunday morning thought

"Education is a wonderful thing, provided you always remember that nothing worth knowing can ever be taught."

oh oscar wilde, you were a genius

 If today was your last day and tomorrow was too late

 Could you say goodbye to yesterday?
 Would you live each moment like your last?
 Leave old pictures in the past?

 Donate every dime you had?

And would you call those friends you never see?
Reminisce old memories?
Would you forgive your enemies?
And would you find that one you're dreaming of?
Swear up and down to God above
That you'd finally fall in love if today was your last day?
If today was your last day...
could you say goodbye to yesterday?

 _________

I can't help but think that i've changed over the past few years.. i've put up too many walls around me, because every time i let someone in, my own vulnerability consumes me. i wish other people's opinions and actions didn't affect me so much. i remember people who have come and gone, and i wonder what has become of them... i want to be friends with those whom i've lost contact with, some have shown me how to love and to live and to be carefree. maybe if i had the chance to go back in time i would do things differently. what would've happened if i had made different choices? what if? what if i hadn't broken up with an ex boyfriend, what if i tried harder to keep that childhood best friend, what if i knew back then what i found out too late?

scenes from my city

this has been pretty much the story of my life

Kelly Clarkson - Breakaway
Grew up in a small town
And when the rain would fall down
I'd just stare out my window
Dreaming of what could be
And if I'd end up happy
I would pray


Trying hard to reach out
But when I tried to speak out
Felt like no one could hear me
Wanted to belong here
But something felt so wrong here
So I'd pray
I could break away


I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly
I'll do what it takes till I touch the sky
Make a wish, take a chance,
Make a change, and break away
Out of the darkness and into the sun
But I won't forget all the ones that I loved
I'll take a risk, take a chance,
Make a change, and break away


Wanna feel the warm breeze
Sleep under a palm tree
Feel the rush of the ocean
Get onboard a fast train
Travel on a jetplane
Far away
And break away


Buildings with a hundred floors
Swinging with revolving doors
Maybe I don’t know where they’ll take me
Gotta keep movin on movin on
Fly away
Break away


Break away
Break away

Humans, not so humane

http://abcnews.go.com/video/video?id=9671990

it's amazing that this stuff goes down on a regular basis, even at some of the most reputable farms. disturbing and extremely cruel

i think that sometimes, no matter how rational our thoughts are, we need to be reminded that we're fine just the way we are. on those days when we make all the wrong decisions and say all the wrong things, on bad hair/skin/outfit/weather/whatever days, and just plain bad days, it's easy to lose sight of ourselves and of what actually matters. so be glad for the good times and laugh off the bad times because life's sweet and the best is still yet to come

city in motion

will it ever cease to amaze? I don't think that's possible. last night I was taken aback by a bright and clear view of the Manhattan skyline from the BQE, so I just had to take a picture.. but with the car in motion and a far from perfect camera on hand, this picture is simply just a symbol

people are transient, art is timeless