May 23rd, 2012 | Comments Off on bake bake bake

So many things to bake, so little time.

Work birthday cake: Four-layer EXTREME CHOCOLATE CAKE
Co-worker’s going away: Matcha something. Probably cake.
Random how could this go wrong project: Domo-kun cake pops
Summer’s here cake: Strawberry coffee cake
I owe Mom big time treats: Almond cookies

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May 22nd, 2012 | Comments Off on only the kind you won’t miss

kto ci powiedział, że wolno ci się przyzwyczajać?
kto ci powiedział, że cokolwiek jest na zawsze?
czy nikt ci nie powiedział, że nie będziesz nigdy
w świecie
czuł się jak u siebie w domu?

–Stanisław Barańczak

who told you that you were permitted to settle in?
who told you that this or that would last forever?
did no one ever tell you that you will never
in the world
feel at home in the world?
(trans. Frank Kujawinski)

Feelin’ restless. I tell myself it’s because I’ve been cooped up writing my thesis, but I wonder if it’s not because I feel cooped up by something else, something that’s been going on longer than this thesis push.

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May 9th, 2012 | Comments Off on View from the outside

Due to an injury I had suffered the previous day 1I slipped on the ice while curling, hurting my head and my hip. I sat in the coach boat watching my team paddle.

It was kind of painful. It was a tough practice, that’s for sure–but our timing was absolutely awful. Blades not synchronised at all. The back blades leading, rather than the front. I don’t know how many times I called them on their timing. I felt bad about it, too, since I know we can do better.

I wasn’t expecting the coach boat to be so cold, but that thing moves fast, and on top of that you can’t keep warm since you’re not paddling. My teammates were probably jealous, though 😛 One of them said that since my hair was blowing in the wind, I looked like a model on the boat.

A very, very cold model. 😛

I really hope I recover enough to paddle tomorrow night. My hip is fine now, but I’m a little lightheaded still, and my neck’s a little stiff. Probably some ibuprofen and rest will do the trick 🙂

References
1 I slipped on the ice while curling, hurting my head and my hip.
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May 5th, 2012 | Comments Off on unbandage my eyes, uncover my ears

Would you rather be blind or deaf? It’s one of those trite “would you rather” questions that comes up once in a while, but I think I’ve got my answer: I’d rather be blind.

I’ve got two main reasons for this. The first is conversation. A blind person can still converse somewhat normally (although obviously missing visual cues like facial expressions and hand gestures), but a deaf person depends on sign language. It’s much more difficult to just strike up a conversation with a deaf person.

Second, there’s music. I get pretty emotional sometimes when it comes to music, and I can’t imagine losing that. It’s much more rare for a visual to affect me as much; I’m not really sure why. My world, if I were deaf, would feel much more muffled and muted – as if I were an arm’s length from everything. Sound has an immediacy that visuals lack.

There’s more to it, I’m sure, but that’s what’s off the top of my head. I hope I never have to find out.

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May 4th, 2012 | Comments Off on paddle paddle paddle

My dragonboat team does a lot of visualization before we do a race. My first festival was last weekend and I’m still feeling the effects: everytime I close my eyes I hear my coach calling, “Paddlers ready… Attention please… GO!”

This is also accompanied by random “Ready, reach, NOW” throughout the day.

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