Animals and Chapters

I am eating a donut that I picked up at the 7-11 a few minutes ago, and wishing that I had a microwave, so I could have picked up a burrito or some sort of biscuit with egg and sausage instead. It's a little after 2 am, and while the donut was good, I just don't think it's doing the trick. And no, I am not drunk, just tired and hungry since I just walked in the door.

I spend almost my entire Saturday surrounded by thoughts of animals. From animal themed baby parties to seeing a band named Animal Collective. Maybe it's some sort of signal to me that I'd better get used to the thought of thinking about animals a lot more than I usually do since I'll be coming into close contact with them before too long.

I went to a concert tonight that was a total waste of four hours of my life. The opening band seemed to just sort of howl into the microphones and play simplistic chords on their guitars. It kind of made me feel like I was in the jungle or something. Then came the headliners, Animal Collective, which provided one of the most boring shows that I've seen in a long while. I believe I spent 95% of the time with my arms crossed and just wanting to leave. I would safely bet that three songs into it, I was ready to go, but alas, my friends were enjoying it. At times I felt like I was at a Science Museum and was pretending to explore Mars. Let me just say that it was a bunch of noise, and not in the good way. Needless to say, I am writing off Animal Collective as something to never waste my time with again.

I am three days away from beginning a new chapter in my life. As of March 1st, I will be unemployed, with aspirations of farming and travel. I must say that I am having some "scared" feelings, due to the unknown of what my situation will be while I'm away, as well as when I return to the U.S. And for some reason, I spent the past week doing a lot of thinking of how nice it would be to settle down somewhere. It's just that for the past five years, I have had to pack up all of my belongings and move them somewhere else, whether it be across town or across a couple of states. I really would like to find an apartment that I know I can stay in for more than a year when I'm looking a few months down the road. It would just be nice to be in one place for more than a year, and I suspect that I won't be having any of those "settled" or "permanent" feelings any time soon. But then again, I think it's the "unknown" that is charging towards me that has me thinking about these things.

I need some sleep, and I'm still hungry.

Yogurt Cake with Blueberries

Well, the Christmas tree is still standing, and I am still hiding a body under my pile of laundry, BUT the dishes have been washed only to make way for a whole new batch.

I made the beef stew yesterday (silly me made it with filet mignon meat, as opposed to the usual stewing meat. I didn't have a choice, and if you call me and ask, I'll tell you why), as well as the blueberry yogurt cake. The recipe came from Clotilde, who runs a very fine blog about food, aptly named Chocolate & Zucchini. It turned out wonderfully, as you can see from the above pictures. I haven't tried a piece today, but yesterday when it was about 30 minutes out of the oven, it was great, especially since the outside had a nice crisp crust and crunch to it. Yum! I used fresh blueberries, although the recipe calls for frozen. I think both will work, and a hint to keep your blueberries from "bleeding" into the batter after they've thawed: toss them in a bit of flour before adding.

I had a wonderful brunch this morning/afternoon at the Four Seasons. I don't think I've seen a buffet full of such fine quality food before. It was a lot larger than I expected, not quite as big as a buffet that you would find in Las Vegas, but definitely more than enough choices. We stuffed ourselves silly, and I ended up with a plate of about five desserts all with only a bite or two taken and the rest to go to waste because I just couldn't take anymore. I came home, put my pajamas back on and proceeded to take a two hour nap to recover!

This weekend was a great one for relaxing, probably one of the last that I have left for quite some time. I definitely don't see myself able to lie around on the couch in front of the TV and napping the day away while I'm in Ireland! I'm glad I was able to make the most of it this weekend.

Off to wash the dishes for the second consecutive day, I don't think I've done this since I was a teenager.

What has my life become?

What has my life become? A big mess, that's what. As I have documented above and below, I have some work to do.

First off, it's February 18th, and my Christmas tree is still standing with all of its decorations. Why you ask? Well, I guess that putting up and taking down the tree is the least fun part of Christmas, and being the person that I am, I didn't really want to deal with a real tree that will drop needles everywhere, so I opted for the fake tree a few years back, and those can be left standing forever. At this point, I could leave it up all year and people would look at me just the same as they would if they walked in the door today. But, this guy, he's a whole different bird, and actually CELEBRATES Christmas every day of the year! I heard about him on Canadian Public Radio, aka CBC, a few months ago, and have never forgotten him. At this point, I'm just waiting to pack up the rest of my belongings when I move to take down the tree. Notice the errant sock lying on the floor? That's been there for a week now, but yet, I haven't felt the need to pick it up. It doesn't have a match. Oh yeah, and does the tree seem a little crooked? I believe that's a result of me sitting in a "dip" in my floor when I snapped the image rather than the tree itself.

Photo #1: A sink and counter full of dirty dishes. I don't remember the last time that I washed the dishes, it must have been a little more than two weeks ago. How did I get away with it? Well, all of the week before this last one (that would be Week #1), I wasn't really home at night, thanks to my wild and crazy lifestyle, and therefore, did not dirty any dishes until probably Saturday. It's been a downhill battle ever since, especially since I really hate washing dishes. I've gotten to the point where I don't have any spoons left, and I'm running low on knives and glasses. I think I could go at least another day before I wash them, but I won't because I'm running out of room to make more food... I actually have big cooking plans today, I'm going to make beef stew and a blueberry yogurt cake. Yum! I'll probably at least get the stew going before I wash the dishes, but we'll see if I have any cutting boards left to chop the veggies.

Exhibit #2: The pile of dirty laundry sitting next to a basket of clean clothes. I think I did my laundry three weeks ago, but yet, haven't put everything away, hence the reason why there are clean clothes in the basket and a mix of dirty and clean on the floor surrounding it. Judging from the depth of the pile, I could probably hide a dead body under there, oh wait, my suitcase is hiding underneath (still not fully unpacked from two weeks ago) adding to the bulk. Actually, I have a feeling that there's a lot of clothes in that pile that could be worn at least one more time before I had to wash them, but instead, they're just lying there, getting wrinkled and waiting for me to put them away. Poor things. I was planning to wash the laundry today, but listen up folks, it's currently 6 degrees below zero, and for all of you centigrade reading folks, that would be twenty degress below zero. Pretty cold, wouldn't you say? This is apparently the coldes that it has gotten in two years, according to the weatherman. Definitely not good motivation for packing up the laundry and walking up and down the stairway outside a few times over to get it done. Maybe tomorrow...

All in all, I have become a lazy slob apparently. No man will want to marry me now! Who will pick up all of their messes if I can't pick up my own?

Rocks, Manure, and Carrots - Here I Come!

Well, I finally had a turn of good luck today, and after making multiple phone calls and emails to Ireland, I have secured a farm for me and my brother to work on. I was starting to get a little worried there and had to come up with a Plan B and Plan C in case things didn't work out. I still wouldn't mind finding a couple more farms to work on in April and May, but if this first one works out, the guy said that we could stay there for as long as we'd like. Let's see, what will I be doing? They have horses, sheep, cats, dogs, bees, woodworking, knitting, and a garden. In our spare time, we can enjoy bike rides, walks, caving, and music. Sounds like a deal to me. It's in a part of the country that is known for its scenery, starvation walls, and poor soil quality, otherwise known as The Burren. Are you ready? I know that I am! Only 28 days to go!

Oh yeah, and I just happened upon a live performance of Athlete at Virgin Records this evening, which was highly enjoyable, and Supergrass is my Valentine's Day date tomorrow.