This is honestly the longest time I've gone without posting in awhile...

But I have a very good reason- watch and see!



More soon!

Poll!

I added poll- tell me what you think! :D

When the hurly-burly’s done, when the battle’s lost and won, ‘ere will be the set of sun.

[This post is long overdue, I realize. But I've been so busy lately!]

I hate to say that this has been an unnaturally good experience, because every show or production should (in my opinion) aspire to run as smoothly as this production of Macbeth has. But the facts are that we started out doing a production of Macbeth, which should doom you there and then. But instead of prickling thumbs and danger around every corner, the biggest drama was in fact not on stage, and had to do with some idiotic production students who happened to decide that they wouldn’t show up for tech rehearsal. Said students were quickly replaced, and the production proceeded smoothly. Nobody was injured that I was aware of, there was one case of swine flu, which the actor recovered from in two days- and this was still in the rehearsal stage! There were no real fights, and the entire cast got along well. I had an amazing experience, and hope to work with the same group again sometime. :)

Curling up with mom, a cup of peppermint espresso, and the movie White Christmas. :)

Timeless Thursday

I know that I did music last week, but this week is worth it just as much! Simon and Garfunkel are hands down fabulous. Not terribly unlike The Beatles, they have paved the way for music makers around the world. Here is one of my favorites of their songs, (mentioned in my novel, actually) called The Sound of Silence. Ignore the Portuguese.

Writing.

NaNoWriMo is an amazing goal for any writer who wishes to one day write a novel. That novel may be something that they write and then put away in some folder to stumble upon in a few years, or it may be something that they will continue to write, edit, and eventually publish. I hope that my novel will be more of the latter. That being said, I have learned so much from NaNoWriMo about the REAL novel writing process, and this is very limited knowledge, from only one month of real hard core writing... Take it from me, the process is not glamorous or sweepingly romantic- there are moments of course, but those occur on the inspiration roller coaster high, most of the time when you’re sitting in a cozy cafe, coffee in hand and Frank Sinatra softly playing in the background. That’s about the time that you blink, and see that your hair is frizzy, you smell like something slightly burnt, and notice that you have a fantastic 154 words, with only 99,846 words left. You are small, and trying to achieve a goal that many others have tried and failed ahead of you. On the good days you sometimes hear the ghosts of authors past cheering you on, “What’s that Tolkien? Lewis? Austen?” and then other times you just hear the washing machine and the car alarm going off in your neighbor’s driveway.
I learned that writing is largely a process, and less of an inspiration explosion going off inside your head, trickling out through your fingertips. It often times means sitting down somewhere relatively comfortable (or uncomfortable, whichever you might prefer) and writing about your character’s irritation with Zombies (oh, you had better believe I did) or maybe perhaps coming up with a model of your character’s bedroom, which will allow you to accurately describe every detail as it’s right in front of you, but not accomplish any real purpose at all. (Oh yes, I had a productive month!)
It’s hard, and sometimes really, really sucky, and you will absolutely NOT want to write any more.
The process is also REALLY REALLY LONG. Yes, I wrote the bulk of a novel in 30 days, but I still have tens of thousands of words to write before I even complete the first draft.
In movie terms, (who doesn’t love movies?) the first draft is the equivalent of some dude (or dudette) thinking, “hmm. I like this idea that just popped into my mind!” and then scribbling that idea on a napkin, or whatever is handy. The information written on the napkin is changed, edited, unused, tossed away, before it becomes a usable building block. That is the first draft. From that napkin scribble, plot, characters, and a story need to develop; this is REALLY where you no longer recognize the brief note that you wrote down some time before. There is then the arduous process of pre-production, producing the napkin scribble for the screen, finding directors and producers, and people to play your napkin scribble characters, shooting the film, and editing, and... it’s a lot.
The biggest question I seem to be getting lately is “when can I read it?” (it being my novel) My response is to laugh, look down at my napkin, and laugh some more.

Formspring!

Hey everyone- I now have a formspring! What is a formspring? It's a question box which allows you to ask me anything.... Literally. :) Check it out at http://www.formspring.me/theknittingnerd

Timeless Thursday! ABBA edition!

Here is your Timeless Thursday post, even though it's appearing on Friday... :)

ABBA!

I'm slightly preoccupied, so Timeless Thursday will be posted on Friday.

The Sound of Silence

SO. I finished my novel. ... ... ... It's kind of funny to me how I can write 50,000 words about something relatively specific, and yet here I am with an entire blog at my disposal, the world simply at my fingertips, and I can't think of much to say. I have a lot of school obligations, so please forgive my lack of posting- I should be back to full strength by the holidays. Happy December!

At the TGIO party! :)

The second batch of info!

Here are some other facts that you might enjoy!

There are six guys mentioned in my novel by name, four of them have a name that starts with the letter 'J'. I only recently realized this, and it was not intentional.

The official "final" scene that I wrote yesterday (the scene that put me over my 50,000 word goal) involved Chinese food, tubes of cookie dough, and the movies Pretty in Pink, starring Molly Ringwald, Breakfast at Tiffany's, with Audrey Hepburn, Sleepless in Seattle, with Meg Ryan, Vertigo, with Grace Kelley, and While You Were Sleeping, with Sandra Bullock- the scene is only about 200 words long, and is towards the beginning of the book. I actually wrote the ending of the novel, or what I think is the end of the novel, early on in the process, within the first or second week of NaNoWriMo.

My novel is comprised of two dream sequences which make absolutely no sense, a road trip to the beach, a bus ride to Washington, DC, countless emails, it mentions football more than I'm quite comfortable with, and a portion of the book is set about five miles from my house.

One of my dogs is also thrown into the novel exactly as she is, simply renamed.

Roughly 166,700 people signed up for NaNoWriMo this year, and a whopping 32,000 people won, roughly 19% of all participants, a NaNoWriMo all time high!

*collapses*

So, I did it. You cannot imagine the relief and sheer joy that I felt when I looked at my word count and saw my total of 50,011 words, which came out to be 268,544 characters. I also have some other statistics that my readers, who or whomever you/they may be might enjoy.
March was written in three states. I began in Virginia, wrote some in South Carolina, but the bulk in North Carolina where I also technically finished the novel for NaNoWriMo.
There are at least seven more scenes in my head that need to be written down that I ran out of time for tonight. There are some not TOO gaping plot holes, but I definitely have more to do!
I wrote March on my iPod Touch, my Cell Phone, and my laptop. Very little of it was written on paper, I think I type faster than I write, but as a whole, writing it out took too much time to type up later, thus the cell phone and iPod.
I have gained more than 30 twitter followers from NaNoWriMo participation, and finally for tonight,
I have thoughts of a sequel. :)

I wrote 50,011 words in 30 days, with more to come. I also happen to be completely exhausted, but it is SO worth it. :) #nanowrimo

I WON!!!!

Three hours, 2,500 words to go! :)

Has four shots of espresso pulsing through my veins, and 4500 words left. I WILL WIN.

Going to bed- word count of 41,181. That's just under 9 thousand tomorrow- VERY do-able! :)

At 37k- at the rate I'm going, I will be well into the fourty thousands by tonight, with just enough time to finish up tomorrow. YEAH!!

Just watch. :)

This really is what it means to be a writer.

What December 1st will be like for me:



I find myself awake at *glances at clock* 6:03- wait 6:04 am.
"Why Molly, why on earth would YOU, YOU who is KNOWN for liking this whole sleep principle, why did you wake up at six in the morning?!" You may find yourself wondering. I tell you, dear readers. I did not get up. I never went to bed. (it's 6:05!) you also might be asking, "Why on earth didn't you go to bed! Sleep is good! Yay sleep!" I say,
"NaNoWriMo trumps sleep right now! Not that I've gotten TOO terribly much written, but I have stayed up with at least the INTENTION to write! Anywhoo, I need more coffee and AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!


Later. :)

You know you're a writer when you bring your laptop to a restaurant, and write while you're waiting for a table. Thank you #nanowrimo!

Soooooooooo.

Not much writing today. I'm tired, and a bit overdone.. I've written thousands of words daily as of late. Tomorrow though, after mom and I come back from our unnaturally early, coffee-enhanced black friday shopping, I will most likely be awake and type happy.

New Series!

I have decided to start a new series on this blog, called Timeless Thursdays. Timeless Thursday is a new regular post which will have a classic and timeless clips posted for the world to watch and enjoy- get your culture for the week in ONE video! So first up, the ULTIMATE Timeless Clip, I would like to introduce you all to a friend of mine, Lucy! (just a note- the clip may take awhile to load)

I'm tired. More tomorrow.

The nice people in the NaNoWriMo chat room told me that I should probably sleep, and then most likely the idea of writing more tomorrow would not be on my list right next to eating mushrooms and having an impromptu lobotomy. It will also probably make me not so terribly inclined to laugh at the cleverness of that last sentence, like I just did a moment ago. Happy Turkey Day lovelies!

Final Word Count of the Day: 32,216 words, 17,784 words left to write in five days, a very achievable goal!

Finally Finally, I leave you with this video, one that has been sustaining me these past two days.

31,099 words! :-D

In the car on our way. I sure hope my cat isn't inside.

Closing out the night with 29,580 words. Sleep well, world! :)

Truly recognizing the value of a "first draft" basically, they are almost NOTHING like the final product.

Writing and Such

As I sit here, absolutely father along in my novel than I was, say two hours ago, I think to myself (no, not "what a wonderful world...") about what I have actually accomplished this fiiine month of November. (pronounced Novembuhhhh) I have written what could very well turn out to be a novel. (insert a DUH here) At this point in time, I only have (I love how I'm now practically sneezing at these numbers) 28,500 something or other words, leaving 21,500 something or other words to write over my next six days. This may sound challenging, but equals out to say, 5000 words per day. You may remember that two Saturdays ago, I was able to survive writing 8,000 words in one day, and I actually procrastinated quite a bit that afternoon! Tomorrow, I will be in the car for five and a half hours, blocking out a decent amout of writing time then and there, PLUS, that 5.5 hour drive is taking me to the beach, one of my favorite places in the world, largely due to the fact that it is quiet, and relaxing, and I have no structue outside of spending my hours writing and dring copious amounts of coffee. Whee! While I'm thinking, I'm also randomly browsing the blogs of published authors who I find myself aspiring to one day follow -follow in their published footsteps, follow in the tradition in that they sat down at some time or another and managed to cough up a few sentences, and with those few sentences, lots of coffee and several dozen other people, eventually formed a novel. I'm halfway there already.

Presents, gifts, prizes for the starving author/writer/blogger would be appreciated on an incredible scale, and I will see you dear blog readers, whomever you may be, sometime ideally tomorrow. Any other news or major word count milestones will be posted throughout the night in brief, short posts. Oh, and by the way, comments are FREE to the author, and appreciated ALMOST as much as chocolate!

I hit 25 THOUSAND! :)

MacBeth is done! Not entirely sure how to feel...

Turning in with 22,777 words. Good night!

Hey Twitterers! (Tweeps just seems rude.)

Did you know that anyone, and I mean ANYONE who is on Twitter OR Facebook can vote on Mashable's 2009 Open Web Awards? The preliminary voting rounds have already ended, and now the real voting begins. I am writing this post, avoiding homework and writing my NaNoWriMo novel, to beg for your vote for the ever-fabulous, trapeze-conquering authoress, Maureen Johnson! Not only should you follow @maureenjohnson on Twitter, but vote for her (@maureenjohnson) in the categories of "Most Interesting Twitter User To Follow" AND "Funniest Person to Follow " Time is running out! Go vote- NOW!

(Please?)

Just totally cheated on my NaNo.

Editing a pre-Twilight vampire novel for my friend Megan. :)

Final word count of the night coming in at 20,024 words!

This puts me NINETY TWO words away from a 20k goal of mine!

Wrote 1,188 words in 40 minutes. If there is any moment between now and December that I can really be proud of myself, this would be it.

Wrote 317 words in ten minutes. :)

Going on a ten minute writing marathon at 12:30.

Had one of the most pain-free (on my part) tech rehearsals of my theater life. I was there for a whole TWO hours. Oh yeah! Writing time!

Final statistics- I am now 36% into my novel, finishing up the day with 18,189 words, having written around 8,300 in one day. :) #nanowrimo

Must turn in- didn't reach 20k, but I can't write another 1900 words when I'm going to be getting a whole four hours of sleep if I'm lucky.

Had at absolute eureka moment at 3:30 in the morning- a plot line just popped up which will take up thousands of words. Yay 3 am! #nanowrimo

Still writing. 20k or die!

Favorite line of the day- unwritten, but thought of. "Can someone name me a typewriter?"

Not going to hit 17,000 tonight- I'm going for 20,000. *gulp* wish me luck!

It would be super cool if everyone could go follow @Oliviachet and @youlovelucytoo on twitter. They're my characters. :)

Hello 15,174. You're my new best friend. :P

I think that my goal will be to reach 17,000 words by tonight... But hey, the more the merrier!

Word count at 14,023! :)

Currently running at 13,125 words- 26% in! #nanowrimo

Break's over, back to writing!

Twitter and WC "news"

I am absolutely a "diehard" but I still have some time before I have to FINISH my novel, 16 days to be exact, and so there will not be another word count update until 3pm, as I'm not being hardcore and actually eating something not really writing friendly. In Twitter news, anyone reading this is encouraged to follow "youlovelucytoo" - a Twtter account for my main character. Thanksya all, and back to writing I go!

*insert trumpet sound here* word count at 12,148! #nanowrimo

11,402 words. Oh yeah!

Updated word count! 10,586! :)

Good mid-morning! It's writing day here at Espresso Studios. Coffee is on and writing is about to begin. Starting word count: 9,964 #NaNo

Sorry all of my twitter followers- I was going for an ARC of a @MaureenJohnson book... Where all the spam came from. No, I didn't win. :-\

I have learned two things.

1. Debbie Ridpath Ohi / InkyElbows / InkyGirl is fantastically hilarious. She knows me. I'm sure.




2. The NaNo forums can either inspire you, when you notice that you have more words than LOTS of people, or it can absolutely terrify you when you notice someone with nearly 80,000 words on the TENTH day of NaNoWriMo.

This is going to be an interesting month.

I love my Hazelnut lattes! :)

Blogging from my phone...Meh, blogging from my iTouch- that's style!

Hello blogosphere! 

I just finished my Environmental Bio class for today- we had a test, and I mixed up thermo and trophosphere I'm sure. I decided to go all wild and crazy and leave Kennedy (my MacBook child) at home, and only bring my iPod touch to school with me today. Many people may be suspicious of my loverly little device, doubting that it can really scratch a full computer itch. It can't, but sure has the capability of coming close! Again, as I mentioned before, I'm actually blogging from this handy-dandy do dad. I have also written over 700 words of my NaNoWriMo project, March on it's touchscreen keyboard and updated my word count in a web browser. Alright, enough Apple pushing. The book is going well, I'm still a bit behind my word count schedule, but I have a free Saturday without a customary play practice, and plan on using the time to write as much as I humanly can- I can get through a good 1,000 words+ in a relatively busy, low caffeinated hour... It makes me absolutely giddy at the thought of a free day to simply let the words take over! I'll have another update soon, sometime, later, whenever... Nanoers, keep writing, readers, PLEASE keep reading, and you with the Chinese food? Gimme some!  

At 9004 words, will definitely be breaking 10k today... 18% in! :)

I'm finishing out the night 16% into my novel, with 8,058 words, and one scene ITCHING to be written. I'm almost back on schedule!

According to WriMo Demon, 15% into my novel! :)

7,580 words, and I'm still enjoying the process... For now, anyway. :)

6,542 words!

5,577 words officially written in the document, but more on my iPod, and in my head. :)

Scrivener has me down for having 4,306 words written. BUT, I have a whole scene trapped on my iPod touch that I'll have to email tomorrow. I'm going to try to reach 5,000 before calling it a night.

House passed healthcare reform bill. Well there goes all of our good doctors! Nice to have you while we did!

From the...living room.

I'm still working on mobile blogging, such as setting blog post titles, etc. I know that I can send short updates and update them with a title at a later time, but it's not as instantaneous as I would like. I did get a healthy about of writing done today, not near my necessary quota, but I was re-inspired by my best friend with a couple of new ideas which twist a few minor plots around JUST enough to give the story another possible ending, and a much happier one at that. :) SO, thank you Bella! I'm just over 3000 words, not due to lack of inspiration, but lack of usable time. (She she writes, while updating her BLOG from her phone) Ah well, I suppose I should go write, shouldn't I? (forget studying!)

Working on my NaNo novel while waiting for Jennifer to come back and tell me what else to do. I just finished painting the stage. :)

Holding a six week old baby at MOPS. :)

I am off to write.. and do Algebra.

My word count is frighteningly low, something that I plan on fixing as soon as possible. Yesterday bothers me, as it was a complete bust... I got absolutely NO writing done at all, only sleeping. I suppose that's what coffee is for! Today looks pretty sketchy too, I must say... Lots of school to catch up on, a science test TOMORROW, and a pre-production show tonight at my local theater. Oh the drama!

Has the coolest parents ever. :)

I slept. A LOT.

Yesterday was an absolute mess... Let me tell you why!

Tuesday afternoon, we were informed that the College Republicans (group who had been riding the bus with us on the way up)wanted/needed to get back to school, and their classes. SO, that called for their bus to pick the poor unfortunate homeschoolers (actually, we were ALL awake, so scratch out the poor and unfortunate part) at 3.AM. We all get situated on the bus, sidestepping the happy-drunk-but-passed-out-at-the-moment college students and found our own seats. Somebody tried to play cello music, and I'm not entirely sure why... Anyway, from that point it was a relatively smooth ride; I slept from about Four to Seven, when I realized that we had stopped. On the side of the highway. The bus driver went outside to check the engine, and sure enough, something was overheated, and some engine part was broken, or..something. Thankfully enough, we were RIGHT near an exit that had a Waffle House and McDonald's within decent walking distance, so I hiked away. Got some coffee from McDonalds and walked back to the bus, just in time to hear the bus driver say that he had good news! We all waited in anticipation, a dea of bed-headded heads popping up to listen.

"I just spoke to the bus company, and they told me that another bus should be here in about two hours!"

I absolutely understand how it's difficult to simply snap your fingers and voila! A bus! But two hours just seemed like a LOT. We then tried to watch a movie, but at eight in the morning, District 9 was just too violent especially given our circumstances. That was about the time when my phone died! Well, long story short, at 9:30 am another bus pulled in and we were driven to the apartments where my parents were waiting, and several other students got off. We drove home, and I promptly went into my room and fell asleep- I completely missed my Shakespeare class, and woke up only for dinner, then went back to bed. What, may you ask is the upside of the story?

Bob MacDonnel, Bill Bollings and Ken Cuccinelli all won Governor, Lt. Governor and Attorney General of Virginia, respectively. Chris Christie won the Gubernatorial race in New Jersey, and in New York, the conservative candidate lost by a margin of FOUR points, which is saying a LOT as he was running on a third ticket. My team personally campaigned for all of these men, and are excited to see the positive implications surely to come with these strong men in charge.

That's all for now, I'll be posting a NaNo update (haven't written a whole lot yet, unfortunately) as well as pictures from my trip in the coming hours/days. Thanks for reading! :)

Off to try and add to the whole 2 1/2 I've had since yesterday. :)

I'm home! :)

Watching District 9 on our broken down bus sitting on the side of the highway.

Our bus broke down 8 miles from the SC border, an hour plus to get another bus. Joy.

Oh yes, the final update for the uh.. Period of time between now and later, is that I currently have 2,525 words in my novel so far. :)

Good night, Virginia. :)

On our bus... Away we go with about 20 slightly drunk or passed out college students. It's a happy bus tonight! :)

Still waiting for the bus. :)

Looks like our ticket has a good lead- We're all off to a victory party! :)

Calling for NJ in these last few minutes. :)

Ah correction- Salem is NOT flat, as pointed out to me by the hill I find myself climbing.

We like Salem. Salem is flat. Flat is good for walking.

Just met two six year old boys who were curious about all that politics stuff. :)

Did you know that in Iraq, 75% of the registered voters went out to vote under threat of death, and in our country, many times less than 40% of those who are able to, vote? I urge you today to get out and make a difference in your community.

Made 305 calls in one night! :)

My team won the books today!!!

We finished SEVEN campaign books! :)

Just left the rally- pictures soon; lit drops and phone calls for the remaining time. 25 hours until the polls close! :)

At the airport rally. :)

Mmm lit drops! We have an airport rally this afternoon... Anyone in the Roanoke area should come out! :)

Ah our first day of what looks to be constant sunshine! :)

Turning in for tonight with 1,801 words written in one day with a maddeningly busy schedule.

Finished my daily word count! :)

Calling now- writing later! :)

I've had a longgg day- 1,323 words written so far- turning in! :) More tomorrow.

1000 words out in less than an hour. Here we go! :)

At 762 words! :)

200 words in already. :)

Have Twizzlers, coffee, and cold pizza, Kennedy is set up, and my countdown begins. Full report of day one and pictures tomorrow! :)

Writing begins in 17 minutes! :)

Just made 232 calls! :)

I see a miniature pony! :)

Just finished lunch- back out to campaign! :)

Just stopped by the Cullen residence. Yes, I'm serious. :)

Campaigning today- The beginning of my NaNo novel tonight!! Happy Halloween! :)

Good morning world! Bagels and coffee for breakfast, then off to do lit drops!

I have my own room!!!

They have a new phone system- It's AWESOME! :)

Phone banking... There's a Starbucks in the LOBBY! :)

I see the hotel! :)

All the guys are hooked on 27 Dresses... It's hilarious. :)

Happy Halloween Eve! :)

Watching 27 Dresses. :)

Ah sorry, Shrek 2. :)

Watching Shrek on the bus. :)

Mmm Twizzlers! :)

They just gave us all 25 buck prepaid visa cards! :)

The bus is here! There's only a few high schoolers though...mainly college students. Whee! Making calls on the bus... :)

Just called the bus captain, they're running late... Now to find the other student on the team with me. That should be amusing.

We're here! Now just to find the team... :)

Up up and away! WAIT! COFFEE STOP!

Like a clover.

My life is gloriously crazy, and I love it! Usually while I'm working on a campaign, I set up a separate blog aside from the main "project" that I'm working on at the moment. This year, though, I will not ONLY be working on a campaign (for Virginia's Governor, Lt. Governor or Attorney General, not quite sure who yet) but participating in NaNoWriMo (as mentioned previously) If anyone knows me personally, they know that I have enough fun keeping up ONE blog... let alone three. So, like a clover, I will be writing three blogs in one! Be prepared for campaign pictures, NaNo writing snippets, nutso ramblings, and, of COURSE lots of coffee. I'm halfway packed, (read: have a list written down) and am off to buy a jar of Nutella for the bus ride tomorrow morning. So long for now!

NaNoWrimo & March

Tonight I was able to go to a NaNoWriMo kickoff meeting for my region. (Asheville, NC) It was so much fun! There were about 25 people who came throughout the night, all discussing plots and characters, and writing strategies... I'm not going to be able to go to the midnight party (I'll be in Virginia on another SAT,) but look forward to meeting up later in the month. Also, I have a header for my NaNo novel, March. Here it is!



I'll try to update soon- there's still some housekeeping to do, I know. :)

NaNoWriMo, college, and all that jazz!

*drdrdrdrrrrrr!* Big announcement written here LAST. I am going to be re-opening this blog to serve as my main internet home. In case you didn't find it on your own, my summer was spent in Seattle, WA chronicled at Seattle For the Summer. My updated life: Not only am I taking 6 (yes, SIX) classes this semester,(yes, I'm still in High School) two of which are at my local community college, but happen to be in a production of MacBeth (Witch #2) and will be participating in NaNoWriMo SO, until the month of November is out, be prepared for LOTS of writing posts. I seriously mean a LOT.

Molly

WELL.

I'm moving. So this blog is officially on hold until I settle down... in August. I'll try an post a link to the new blog about my summer plans when I can. :)

The Breastfeeding Beyond Borders.

It may be a strange topic for me to write about, but just the same, breastfeeding and feminism go hand in hand. Let me start off by saying that breastfeeding has never "died," but the culture we are presented with here in the US has made the topic of breastfeeding nearly taboo, or at least oversexualized. There has been a constant battle between "the public" and breastfeeding moms, sometimes the battle is over "decent exposure," what is acceptable for a public place, and what is not. The war has spanned over Facebook, and even Denny's! The latest addition has been a video of Salma Hayek acting (no pun intended) as a wet nurse to a baby overseas. The question is, what is decent when it comes to something so biologically natural? Where is the line, what IS the line, and should there even BE a line?

Make your own Frappuccino!

Alright, I love coffee. I love Starbucks, and I ESPECIALLY love my LCS (Local Coffee Shop.) BUT, I have a completely packed schedule, and very little money (between bills and library fines...Late DVDs are KILLERS!) Anyway, I decided one day, that I would make my own blended coffee drink, without the powders or ice cream other recipes call for. While I was still in the planning stages, I originally added milk, sugar and coffee to ice- blend and voila! The result? A weak, watery, not sweet enough combination that melted and was never a good thick consistency. Then one day, I had inspiration. The idea, was to forgo ice cubes, and instead, blend frozen espresso! Through minimal trial and error, the following recipe was born.

Ingredients:

1 cup espresso, cooled
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. chocolate syrup (optional)
1 cup milk
2 Ice cubes
whipped cream (optional)

Directions:

1. Mix the espresso and sugar, and pour into an ice cube tray (or plastic bag, or container...Anything that will freeze the espresso in a layer or smaller amount, so that it will freeze all the way through.) Freeze overnight, or until completely frozen.

2. In a blender, put in the two ice cubes, syrup, the frozen espresso/sugar mixture, and 3/4ths cup of the milk; blend, and if you need more liquid, add the remaining 1/4th cup of milk. (I usually need more)

3. Top with whipped cream. (It wouldn't be a real recipe if I didn't add an obvious, unneeded step!)

There you go! Like I said, it's not exactly Starbucks, but it hits the spot, especially when you're low on cash. You could probably substitute the espresso for regular coffee if you wanted, but it wouldn't be as strong, and probably wouldn't taste as good. Another option would be to use flavored syrup instead of sugar- you could probably use other sweeteners as well. Enjoy!

Ugh. It's grating!

Created by Train Horn

With a team like this, bragging rights are built in.

Okay, I have to have a crazy boastful post over last night's UNC/Duke game.

YEAHHRGHAHHH!

Okay, back to normal composure. We beat Duke! At Cameron! 101-87! One of my dear *coughbrainwashedcough* friends who supports the Blue Devils (I'm capitalizing their name why?!) had only this to say. "TH=pansy" And honestly, I have no idea where she gets this. I mean, this is Tyler Hansbrough we're talking about... They don't call him "Psycho T" for nothing! He is aggressive towards the ball, and determined to get the shot in the midst of being fouled and double teamed by the opponent. Pansy? I think not.

I vanish like magic!

Where have I been, (You lone reader) may ask? I love lists, and REALLY love commentary. So a commentated list I shall commence! (I also love big words. I’m a homeschooler. Can you tell?)

1. Psychology Class. I’ve been learning about people’s brains, and why some people choose to be Duke fans, for example when they KNOW that Carolina is by far the superior team.

2. Constitutional Law Class. It’s so weird to see the culture shift between what the constitution says, and how we (many times incorrectly) interpret it today.

3. American Lit Class. Huckleberry Finn. Need I say more?

4. Algebra 1 Class E(V)x E(I)x E(l) is the same as EVIL. Nah, It’s not TOO terrible, I suppose.

5. Dramadramadrama! I’ve recently re-jumped into the dizzying world of theater. Okay, I’ve dipped my toes in. But I’m still a little “dramalogged” and don’t really care to fully immerse myself again... just yet.

6. The Leadership Institute Youth Leadership Training School. Two SUPER intense, packed days of Political Technology training, along with a nice workout for my brain… Did YOU know that the best place to put a bumper sticker is the on the front. left (drivers side) of the car?!

And that’s pretty much it. Looking back, I look pretty dang not-busy and oddly deprived... But I really DO have a full schedule. Promise!

I'm still kickin!

There has been SO much to do over the Holidays, and I've been especially swamped. But I'm back now! In fact, one of my resolutions was to go and blog more...write about things that are important to me. So off I go!