My kitchen smells like fish, but for the sake of art… and good food… and a good deal, who cares?
Lately, I’ve been obsessed with Gyotaku, so when these two whole medium-sized rainbow trout showed up in the store for less-than-half-price, it seemed like a great place to start! And, most importantly, after the fun was had, we filleted and sautéed them in lemon, salt, thyme, and oregano for dinner. No dye in sight! Mmm-mm!!
I read an entire book by Seth Godin last night. 
It’s called The Dip, and it’s truly an eye-opener. It’s all about learning stick to something (through “the Dip”) when it matters, and quit something cold turkey when it doesn’t.
Just two weeks ago, I quit a six-year relationship with Facebook because I had come to my own conclusion that it was no longer servicing my life in a productive way. After I got over the withdrawals (actually, I’m not 100% there yet!) I realized that I was starting to think for myself again. I am no longer thinking about myself in the third person perspective, or watching an hour or more slip by without my conscious consent every day. Let me tell you: It feels Amazing.
What’s your Dip, Cul-De-Sac, or Cliff?
Read The Dip then you’ll understand what I mean.
Tonight was my first chance to shop since returning to England on Tuesday! I had eaten at school the previous day, and borrowed a pepper and some pasta from my friends the day before. Needless to say, I was very excited to get back on track with cooking!
My Bulgarian housemate, Dessi, and I went to the store and picked up fixings for something delicious. We each made pasta, mine with tortellini and hers with rice and shared some soup and salad as well.
I baked my chicken (thighs) with pesto under the skin for moisture. Highly recommended!
Also, As you’ll see in the photos, it’s definitely possible to eat well in college if you put in the effort, but having a matching dining set is another story!!
Mixed salad with mixed pesto and cumin dressing.
Carrot and Coriander Soup with parsley garnish.
Pesto’ed chicken with thyme and basil seasoning.
Ricotta and herb tortellini with herb/mushroom sauce.
I just made the first working draft of my “DreamLife” list… whew!
It contains 100+ things that I really would like to do before I die.
Take a minute to think about your far-out dreams? Could you write down 100 things that you absolutely want to do before you die? It’s waaay harder than it sounds!!
I certainly learned a few things about myself in the three hours that it took me to filter so many of my “one day” dreams onto paper… heck, my brain even came up with a few new ones! (I want to shear a sheep at some point?? Okay… good to know!)
What really astonished me, however, was visiting a website called bucketlist.org after I finished. I deliberately didn’t give you a direct link, because, assuming you haven’t already or would like to do it again, I strongly encourage you to get out a pen and write your own list before getting ideas from everyone else! It’s a great exercise, and, when you do look at some others, you will be astonished just how similar a lot of people’s dreams are. …I feel like there should be a travel agency dedicated to bucket lists… oh wait, there is!
Anyway, have fun writing your list, and trust yourself!
When you finish, go check out mine!
Photo credit http://merseawildlife.blogspot.com/
At some point last year, I took my friend’s lovely horse Rishona out for a ride on some ancient, but new (to me) hedgerow bridleways.
In general, I tend to put a lot of trust my sense of direction, so I enjoyed wandering with my steed for a few miles under the beautifully arched trees and along the perimeters of several fields.
However, while looking around, I realized that it would actually be so much easier to get lost in this flat, open, and endless patchwork of fields and hedges rather than in the twists and valleys of my native mountains.
Where the land is smooth, there are no landmarks to see from a distance, or high places to gain a vantage point. Conversely, there are also no low points in which to feel sheltered or hidden.
To be very metaphorical, I think that life is much same. It’s so tempting to choose the road
Image Credit http://www.j2f.com/
that gently winds through a flat and trustworthy existence. But if you always think you know where you’re going, won’t your mind run away from of the monotony of it all and leave you lost in the process?
Optimistically, I like to think that it is near impossible to get lost on a true adventure, because adventures are all about surprise and flowing with the go. Learning from and living in the present of the journey is the fun part!
I dare you to take an unscheduled detour and go find a mind-mountain… That missing part of you might just be on the other side.
After all, Life is the ultimate adventure no?
You know what’s odd? This seemingly strange universal rule where you have an idea and then shortly thereafter, you see “your” idea as a finished and completed project by someone else… maybe even multiple times (!). That just happened to me… again. At first it was a little discouraging.
But then I gently reminded my bruised ego that the only reason I paid attention to this other person’s work was because it reminded me of my own idea. Otherwise I would have breezed by on the information superhighway like a driver who refuses to ask for directions when there are no more exits for 30 miles.
I guarantee you that no matter how similar your idea is to someone else’s, you came upon it, and thought about it in a different way. Therefore, if you just keep unfolding it, you will come up with something new. Originality is originality whether it’s been done a thousand times or not. YOU are original because you are unique. You just suddenly have the gift of a thousand exits in front of you to stop, ask for directions, and then make your own choices.
THE HYBRID EXISTENCE 