Showing posts with label Personal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Personal. Show all posts

Monday, January 27, 2014

Adventures in Sleeplessness: A Personal Tale

I attempted to go to bed at 10:30 pm on January 27. It is now the morning of the 28th at 2:15 am and I am and have been nowhere sleep. I moved to the couch around 11:30 so as not to disturb my boyfriend with my huffs and sighs of frustration (like he'd notice anyway, he sleeps like a rock). I've noted some pros and cons of sleeping on my futon couch.

Pros: ultimate kitty snuggle time, way more comfortable than my bed (surprisingly?), no snoring boyfriend, able to move around without accidentally punching boyfriend in the face, quiet trips to the bathroom (I trip on the edge of the bed a lot...a lot)

Cons: too many ultimate kitty snuggles hinder my would-be sleep, lights from the lamp posts shine too brightly into the un-draped window, kitty makes too much noise scratching at stuff and throwing his toys around, car lights also shine in the window

...at least I have ear plugs to block most kitty noises. 

Still the problem bugs me...how the hell do I get to sleep? Do I even have a pineal gland? Does it understand what a sleep-wake cycle is? I take a prescribed sleep aid, but it's been failing me for the past two weeks or so. I could take a higher dosage, but then I'd be groggy and zombie-like the next day. I think my body is sabotaging me - why would you do this to me?!

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Let's get to know each other over dinner

Thanks for coming by.  I'm making spaghetti carbonara.  My recipe and some pics will be at the end of this post.  First things first, let me introduce myself:  I'm Kristin.  I was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on April 6, 1988, but despite loving my city as much as a person can, I moved to Charleston, South Carolina because my body rebels against me when the weather turns cold.  My friends here in Charleston get pretty annoyed with how much I talk about Pittsburgh.  Have you ever met a fangirl over a city (who didn't just base her love on sports)?  Well, I think you just have. 

My parents brought me up on Marvel Comics, Star Wars, Star Trek, other science fiction movies like Stargate, fantasy movies like Willow, and my brother gave me his hand-me-down memories (and toys) from growing up in the early 80s, so He-Man and Rainbow Brite were bffs.  My parents never really supervised the television and movies I watched, so my first introduction to rated R movies included the Alien series, the Terminator movies, and plenty of other not-for-six-year-olds films.  They knew I fell in love with movies at an early age when I wouldn't stop quoting The Princess Bride and Mortal Kombat (which is something I geek out over the hardest...Christopher Lambert!).  Eventually, sometime in elementary school when I was pretending to be an immortal witch with glowing green eyes and superpowers (I was a little drama queen), I learned that film, writing, and nerdery were my passions. 

I started writing poems and stories in elementary school, but they were terrible. Once I started reading books not recommended for my age group (we're talking Stephen King), I learned how to form a compelling story.  The more movies and television shows I watched, and the more books I read, I started to draw inspiration for more writing projects.  I'd write a lot of romantic poems, angsty poems, depressed poems (ah, puberty).  I also wrote a lot of science fiction with myself as the protagonist.  Nothing ever came of my writing until I made it to high school.  I took two creative writing classes, one that was offered at the school as an elective, and one at the local community college.  Some of my short stories or essays made it into the high school literary magazine, and one ended up on the internet, though that website has since been shut down.

I stopped writing for a while because I lost my passion for it and picked up the passion for film as a replacement.  I've taken film classes, both in film making and film analysis.  My first blog (which I unfortunately neglect) focuses on film analysis and critique, but it's mostly just an amateur's opinion.  I see my future taking place in the film world, whether it be screen writing, adaptation, acting, critique, or just being a grip.  My boyfriend is a DOP and my best friends here in Charleston are also in the film business.

If you continue reading my blog, you'll find out more about other things I love.  Stick around and I promise not to bore you.  Anyway, didn't you come here for food?  Here's what you need:
Spaghetti noodles
Four eggs
Bacon
1/4 cup grated Romano cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Parsley
Salt & Pepper


Boil some water! Sprinkle some sea salt or garlic salt in there to spruce up your noodles.


Place your four eggs in some warm water so the sauce comes together more easily when you mix everything together. 

 

Grab a pack of bacon and leave it as it was packaged.  Cut the slab in lines so you'll have little chopped cubey bacony things.

 Break those eggs into a mixing bowl and whisk the hell out of those little buggers.


Mix the Romano and Parmesan cheeses in a 1/2 measuring cup.  You can add more cheese if you want later.


Sorry for the picture quality, I had a cat using me as a scratching post.   This picture is supposed to show the shredded cheeses mixed with the eggs.  I also added some black pepper to add more flavor.


When your bacon is nice and crispy (feel free to take a sample just to make sure it tastes okay), let 'em hang out on a paper towel to de-grease until you need them (which will be soon!)

 god that looks good
While your spaghetti is still hot (right out of the boiling water, or having had hot water running on it), plop the noodz into the egg-and-cheese mixture, along with your bacon and some chopped up parsley.  Use salad tongs to mix it all up.  Look at those glistening noodles!  If you want, sprinkle some more cheese on top and zap it in the microwave for 30 seconds to ensure better meltage.



NOW EAT.

Thanks for listening to be ramble on about myself.  If you took anything away from this one-sided conversation, let it be the carbonara recipe.  If you take more with you, then I hope to see you back here soon.