I really enjoyed this film. I watched it in 3d and was blown away by the alternate world James Cameron created. The flora was so imaginative. From the flowers that disappeared with one touch to the mental connection between the na'vi and their animals everything was a feast for the eyes. The bright vivid colors of Pandora made me think of a paintball experiment gone wild. Every color that you secretly loved in the 80's were on display in amazing hues. I highly recommend this film. It is not merely the story of good versus evil but more seeing the value in another culture-not how you can exploit it. It warmed my inner Eco warrior's heart. All that being connected to the earth and to each other. Loved it.

Princess and the Frog

I loved it! It was so cute and the music is on point. Tiana is dreaming about her own restaurant and the music puts you in the mind of a cab calloway number. I love the artistry in the film. If you've ever wanted to dress like a femme fatale in the 1940's this movie showcases that perfectly. I went and saw it with my girlfriends both of whom have young daughters. It's a typical Disney movie with lessons about love,determination and not forgetting what's important. I'm so glad that I saw it.

Des

Queen of Hearts

I've been knitting while I've been getting well. Finished this last night.




Soon to come Game day Leg warmers and maybe an adult scarf bonnet combo!

everything but the kitchen sink!

As most of you know I've been under the weather for the past couple of days. i've been trying to get well and I'm on the mend as the britt's would say. After a particularly difficult worship team session ending with me praying for the prayer to be short so I could blow my nose. I decided I needed some TLC you know maybe some chicken soup. I thought about getting a can of campbell's chicken noodle soup. Then I thought about how much sodium was in a can of soup-yes I know I've turned into an AARP rep championing low sodium broth. So how was I going to get the nourishment that I needed? So what follows is my quick and easy approach to homemade-chock full of vitamins and assorted other flavors soup.

First pick up some lovely items from you local grocery store



As you can see from the picture I've picked up to bags of mixed vegetables. Why two I'm glad you asked. One bag didn't have all the vegetables I wanted so I combined two. The chicken was $4.99 fully cooked. I pulled the skin from the bird and diced the chicken. The bag makes a lovely trash bag.The other items I already had on hand. The only item not pictured here are the two potatoes I peeled and diced.

Secondly heat 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat.
Add your diced garlic,onions,and celery to the pan. Season the vegetables with italian seasoning,chives,and basil. Saute these vegetables until they become slightly translucent.




Thirdly add 8 cups of water to the pot. Throw in your frozen vegetables,diced potatoes,and diced chicken. Boil your soup until the vegetables and potatoes become tender. Add your spinach now. The spinach will wilt but still remain a lovely bright green. Season with salt to your taste.



Ladle into the bowl of your choice and enjoy

On the 12th day of christmas....

I've done a lot of cooking in the last few days. My mom had a pre-christmas party and I helped out. I made....
3 sweet potato pies
chocolate chip-walnut squares
apple pie
peanut butter pie
peanut butter pudding desert
mini sweet potato pie
sugar cookies
jelly cookies
chocolate cake
pulled pork
mashed potatoes
whew!
The funny thing is I had more fun making the food. I love it when dough comes together well. I think I was to tired to actually want to eat it. It's more fun to watch other people enjoy it. The best part of course was fun with the family. Now I'm officially done making desserts. For the next two weeks it will be knitting,dancing and reading for me.

Des

Tea, Tea and more Tea.

Everything seems to collide at once. I finished my last paper!(yip, yip, hooray!),did my best ever roasted applesauce ever made better with apple cider from mansfield's own apple hill orchard,did the holiday hop and then.... The wall of sniffles,throat tickles that were not amusing, and delicate stomachs and voice changes. Yep I got sick. I Never get sick, well almost ever. How clever is it that my cold coincided with my vaction? Yep so I'm trying to get rid of uncle sniffle and aunt congestina in time for my mother's party this weekend. I think I've got it pretty well beaten. With the help of all the tea in my house,lovingly share with me by ms. C(Thanks ever so much)i've been doing much better. I have drank

Lotus blossom Green Tea: Pretty good as an ice tea. Smells wonderful and taste lovely if you like flowery teas.


Pomegranate White Tea: Lovely truely lovely flavors. A little tart because of the rosehips.


Bluberry Green Tea: By far my favorite because I love blueberries.


Cucumber White Tea: Smells so good when it's steeping.


Pineapple Ginger Green Tea: Taste kind of weird but not bad. I just wonder how they got the pineapple flavor in a tea bag?


Organic Throat Coat:interesting I usually abhor licorice but in this instance I don't mind it. It's actually quite sweet. I haven't taken sugar in my tea for a while now and I find it's a pleasant sweetness.


I'm definitely not dehydrated.

Des

I Heart Tom Petty

What can I say about Tom. He's a brilliant lyricist. He's honest and real in a way that's not hokey. His songs about the human condition resonate with me. A Tom Petty song will make you think and relax. Right now I'm immersing myself in Tom Petty and the Heart breakers cd's. I picked up two from my handy dandy library.





"Two gunslingers" is a song about taking control of your life and not being entertainment for masses of board people. . Of course I liked "Into the great wide open" but I love "In the dark of the sun" and "Built to last". Both songs speak of being connected to a person,of finding your way down life's winding road with said person I just love it. Then I checked out "Wildflowers" which of course had tracks like "It's good to be King","You don't know how it feels" etc. But it's the title track that's got me hooked. Freedom in love and loving someone else enough to want that for them. Yes I am a woman so lyrics like "You deserve the deepest of colors,you belong in that home by and by. far away from your trouble and worry, you belong somewhere you feel free" totally and completely melt me. Guys, try a little tenderness. "Kings Highway" from "Into the great wide open" is also one of my favorite followed closely by learning to fly. I hear this music and want to go on a road trip immediately. I just picture myself under wide open sky, drinking Pepsi and singing loudly. You know the good life! What's in your player?

Des

Last hike for the Fall

I went on a hike in Mohican last week. I figured I'd get in my last trek while the weather was still moderately warm. It was a wonderful hike the only problem was the amount of people on the trail with me. I guess everyone had the same idea that I had. Mohican is beautiful in the fall. There's something about the smell of leaves in the fall that makes me think of log cabins and fireplaces. I brought my camera along for the ride and took some pictures using different color schemes. Check out my flickr page for more pictures.

Oh the places Desi will go!

Hey guys,

I've been on a full tilt school schedule lately. I feel like I should really make a good faith effort to try to be all that I can be(in the navy...Just kidding). So I've been writing papers,revising them,having closed door meetings with writing center executives,and doing a little dirty dancing on the side. I absolutely love my social dance class-I know I've said it before but really it's awesome. I went salsa dancing by myself last Friday. Let me just say I love a man who can lead well. I never thought I'd say that but really if they know what they're doing you get to shine. I love being brought in close and then spinning out before you get pulled back in,it so rocks! So that night I learned to salsa and merengue. The music was of the chain. I can still here it. If you would like to go salsa dancing here is the link http://www.ritmoproductions.com/rubio/. It's $10 for a 2 hour lesson and then you get to dance afterwards showing off your new skills. I'm going to get a group together and go dancing. In my dance class I learned the tango-love it! and the sweetheart move in the tango so cool! I think I just found my new exercise. Other than that I've been trying some experiments in the kitchen. Stay tuned for the results!!! One more thing,can I just say that I love the closet kitchen blog? I have made pumpkin butter,roasted applesauce with my Asian bark cinnamon,and I'll be making apple butter with Ohio apples today. He just blows my mind with his creativity. Check out his link on my blog.

TTFN
(ta-ta for now)

Des

At last....... My paper is complete(insert evil laugh)

Hey guys,

I've been burning the candle at both ends a lot lately. I absolutely adore my dancing class. I'm having so much fun. I learned how to waltz and salsa Monday night. We also did the polka which was hilarious. It was a work out in itself. I have finally finished writing my first paper in 10 years(applause! applause!). I'm taking it to the experts tomorrow to see how close it is to being cohesive. Because after working on a paper every waking moment,gathering information,biting all your nails off,you need someone to validate your neurosis. I have a new artist I've been listening to.



She's got a great mix of hip-hop beats and smooth r&b lyrics. I just love her right now. What you listening to?

des

Talkin' About a Revolution

I've been making the most of every opportunity I've gotten lately. My English professor invited our class to a showing of Art 21 at the Wexner center. I really enjoyed it. I learned about some artists that I didn't know. Carrie Mae Weems really intrigued me. She took famous photographs from the past and reconstructed them with students from her class. I think that's an excellent way of really connecting with history. I can read facts about a particular event in history from a text book. Her artistry puts you right there in the mix. History was made real to her students in a way they hadn't expected. She kind of inspired me to do a little reconstruction of my own. What you have below is another slide show I did. I picked pictures that evoked a certain theme of crisis and need. I feel our health care system is in crisis mode. We simply have to do something about it.

I was debating which Tracy Chapman Song to use. Here's the youtube version of my other choice.


Des

School's back in session!

Well I've had my first two classes. My English class focuses on the works of Hemingway,Faulkner,and Zora Neale Hurston. I find that I'm enjoying the reading and the discussions that I get to take part in. I'm reading "The Sun also rises" by Hemingway. It's a pretty quick read and it's funny and awful at the same time. I was a little afraid that it would be hard to jump back into school. I'm getting a little better feel of what's expected. What's weird is my second class which is social dance. Now if you know me I love to dance. So I went into the class thinking it would be a piece of cake. Why did I end up getting paired with the one guy who brought his own dance shoes to class. Yep he had the stance and everything down pat. I wish I could say the same. I quickly learned that I was a novice at ballroom dancing. While I'm sure I'll get better with practice(plus I really want to learn how to do it well) it was awkward at first. We had to pair up (which is as much fun as being picked last for kick ball). The only good thing is we switched partners so you got to dance with a lot of different people. I learned the foxtrot and swing. I hope to become less stiff and more at ease as I practice. I also hope to stop looking at my partner's feet.
While I'm not quite ready for dancing with the stars-I'm getting more appreciation for the craft. You may wonder why social dance? Well it put me at 6 credit hours-which gives me financial aid and it fit in with my work schedule. So hopefully both classes will boost my GPA and move me that much closer to graduation!

Picture of the Week

My blog will suffer a slow down so the post will be infrequent. I've just started at OSU again and I'm trying to put forward my best foot. So I've tried to pack as much fun as I can into this weekend.

On Saturday I went to my first ever Columbus Crew game. I had so much fun. We ended up sitting right in the crew's cheering section. I couldn't make out any of the chants. The Columbus Crew shut out the LA Galaxy 2-0. I didn't get to see beckam play-he wasn't there that night. I will definitely go to another game.


On Sunday, I went to Malabar farm. They were having a fall festival. I got to see where Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart were married. I also got to look inside the hostel at Malabar Farm. I really enjoyed myself. I'll post more pictures later.

Until we meet again.

des

Breakfast of Champions

Sometimes you want more than oatmeal and tea for breakfast. I've been a very good girl all week. I've eaten my allotment of fiber and my leafy greens. I've also drank green and white tea along with plain old H2O. Today however was my day off and I wanted something to excite my senses for breakfast. I reached into the Frigidaire and found green olives,capers,roasted red peppers and just the tiniest amount of mozzarella cheese. I paired these items with some pepperoncini that the lovely Mrs. G gave me(thanks carol!) and made this omelet.


I took two eggs added salt and pepper and a little light cream. I beat them like they stole something. That incorporated lots of air in to my eggs and made them light and fluffy


I then put some olive oil in the pan add sauteed all my vegetable except of course the cheese.



I removed them from the pan after cooking them thoroughly. I cleaned the pan and placed more olive oil in the pan. Then I put the eggs in the pan. I slowly moved the egg batter around until it was almost completely cooked


I then placed my sauteed vegetables on one side of the omelet.


Flip it add some juice,tea and a biscuit and you have? A breakfast fit for a queen!



Happy cooking,

Des

ZombieLand

I got free tickets to "Zombieland". I figured it's got to be funny because Woody Harrelson is in it. He's freaking hilarious in this movie. He's a gun toting,wisecracking,twinkie loving zombie killer.

You have to see this movie. Even the gory bits weren't too bad. The main character survived so far because he's a bit neurotic loner. He opens the movie by explaining his simple list of rules to stay alive in zombie land.

1. Cardio- If your heavy,you'll be the first choice for zombies.


2. Beware of Bathrooms




3. Buckle up for Safety


If you have seen "shaun of the dead" you'll like zombieland. You can watch the full trailer by pasting this link into your web broswer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-cIjPOJdFM

What I've been doing

As promised here are some pictures of the projects that I have finished in recent weeks.

Here is the cable baby sweater I knitted from a pattern book I got at knitters mercantile. I loved the yarn and the button's were a steal at .25 cents for two of them. I love knitting cables and this one was a challenge


The next pictures are a weird combo. I took three patterns from different books and came up with this wrist warmer. Originally it was an arm band from Knockdown Knits,Skull pattern from Son of Stitch and Bitch,and Double knitting. I love to see what I can come up with when I tweak patterns.




The next one is a cable hat from Stitch and Bitch Nation-see a pattern here?




This argyle purse is a double knit pattern of course from Son of Stitch and Bitch. Originally it's meant to be a scarf. I kind of got tired of knitting the pattern so I decided to try making it into a purse. I'm pretty happy with the results.



I've finally given into my creative side and decided to let it have free reign. Who knows what will show up on the blog next.

Des

I finally figured out how post my little movies. I just found these photos on the internet.
Enjoy

Des

We want Health Care !

We as a nation need affordable health care. Health care is the biggest quality of life issue there is! How much more stressful is a serious diagnosis when coupled with the possibility of losing your home,or all of your savings? I was listening to a report on NPR about people being comfortable with their current rate of insurance. Most of the people surveyed had health insurance through their job. They found that people who are relatively healthy and rarely use their insurance were happy with the coverage. But when you start talking to people who have had serious health issues the image changes. Then a more clear picture can be seen. People burned through most of,if not all of their savings when dealing with serious health issues. President Obama spoke to America tonight.

What I like about the emerging plan.

This ones personal. My grandmother's health insurance dropped her in the midst of her battle with cancer.

What this plan will do is to make the insurance you have work better for you. Under this plan, it will be against the law for insurance companies to deny you coverage because of a pre-existing condition. As soon as I sign this bill, it will be against the law for insurance companies to drop your coverage when you get sick or water it down when you need it most. They will no longer be able to place some arbitrary cap on the amount of coverage you can receive in a given year or a lifetime. We will place a limit on how much you can be charged for out-of-pocket expenses, because in the United States of America, no one should go broke because they get sick.


I also love that provisions will be made for every American. My friends that are currently uninsured would rest easier. My friend just found out that COBRA would offer her health insurance at the jaw dropping rate of $800 a month(can someone say mortgage?). Sometimes all you need is someone to nudge the brass ring closer to you.

That's why under my plan, individuals will be required to carry basic health insurance just as most states require you to carry auto insurance. Likewise, businesses will be required to either offer their workers health care, or chip in to help cover the cost of their workers. There will be a hardship waiver for those individuals who still cannot afford coverage, and 95 percent of all small businesses, because of their size and narrow profit margin, would be exempt from these requirements. But we cannot have large businesses and individuals who can afford coverage game the system by avoiding responsibility to themselves or their employees. Improving our health care system only works if everybody does their part.

Come on America! I know you can do it! Don't listen to those who have no vested interest in you being healthy,wealthy,and wise! Support President Obama's health care plan.

Des

picture of the week

Hey guys,

I've been playing around on the computer again. I was looking for a program that would allow me to make slide show movies. I tried windows media movie maker. The program hates my computer. So I decided to try Animoto. I made a movie but it had to choose music from their list. You're supposed to be able to add your own music-again my computer said no. So I decided to visit an old friend. I went to slide.com and made this movie. It's a kind of fix it and forget it format. Slide gives you a lot more flexibility,or, you can remain hands off. I'll warn you it's a really long epic slide show. But I like the end results.

Des

UGHHHH!

I haven't been able to post for a while. It's not that there hasn't been anything going on-it that too much has been going on. Why do you have to make all of your really important decisions in 2.5 seconds? Now I'm figuring out school,housing,and trying to get my financial house in order. I've at least done the financial house thing. I learned from my financial advisor that I need to have 159,000 dollars to retire. How am I going to get there? Well I guess I'll be looking into multiple streams of income and the like. Talk about being fiscally responsible always makes me feel antsy. Thoughts of traveling,cooking,and having my own business start to percolate in my brain. I really want some room to grow and stretch my creative muscle. I'm tired applying snatch minutes of creativity to the fabric of my dreams. Last night I made pumpkin butter for the first time. I haven't tried it on bread yet but so far it's grand!. I hope to soon post some pictures of the knitted items that I've been working on. Gotta go back and finish my work day.

Des

Photo of the Week

Just a little humor for the early monday morning blahhhs!

Des

Did you go to the Ohio State fair,funnel cakes,cheeseburgers and Fries!

Hey guys,

I do so love Simon and Garfunkel! Well it's officially over! I made it through my craft show at the Ohio State Fair. The lovely Ms. L invited me to shared a booth with her. Her dog sweaters are too cute! We generated a lot of interest and lots of people took our business cards. The cool thing about our booth was the live music stage right in front of us. So we got a birds eye view of Belly Dancers




I loved the fact that they all looked like real women. That's incredibly ballsy to get up in your i dream of genie outfit and dance in front of people. I also loved the veils-I think I'll check out the classes!

The Band Couch Forts


A guitar,violin,and banjo-lovely music.

And also


I can't remember the name of the band but they are blue grass. I loved the harmony of the mandolin with the guitar and upright bass. Their voices were also blended well.

After that Ms. L and I packed up our gear and tucked it away in my car. Then we came back for the real fun. We went to the nature reserve-a part of the fair I was unfamiliar with and took some crazy pictures

We went and visited the chickens. Doesn't this one look like an orchestra conductor? I just loved his hair



next we pretended that we were fisher women


but really their was a weird alien dancing around our craft show.




All in All I had a Ball. I forgot how fun the state fair is!