Tagged: food

Writing Advice: Write Like There’s No Tomorrow

blog dog

A piece of advice that I’ve happened upon many times in my internet searches of “how to write blog” can be summed up as “write as much as you can…don’t be afraid of failure or mistakes, otherwise you will never improve…you will never grow.”

I’ve always skimmed over this tip but never given it much thought, always writing for this blog what I thought others would surely enjoy, nothing that would be too risky.

However, I was thinking the other night, and realized this, that

If I’m ever to grow as a writer, I’ve got to embrace the concept of backlash, the prospect of defeat, and the idea of failure. Continue reading

We Live to Eat, We Don’t Eat to Live

cat color

I watch all of my TV shows online, but when I physically turn on my TV, it’s gonna be Food Network or nothing at all.

You see, like many other kids, I grew up on the Food Network, aka I adored Giada, Paula, Bobby, Rachel, and Emeril.

I wondered about cooking shows; how did they film everything? What did they do with the food after it was made picture perfect for a show?

That sort of experience shaped my approach to food and still resonates with the way I eat and cook today. Continue reading

Does This World Make Sense To You?

We don’t have to deal with reality much longer

There’s this world out there, in here that everyone knows

Yet it can be entirely ours

Untouched, crafted down to the most detailed details

 

There’s this world where we can be ourselves

And watch the food roll by in their carts

Perfectly assembled, on display for all eternity

For all to long for, for all to ogle at

 

The waves will crash in perfect rhythm

Day after day, year after year

We can ride that same swing into the sea

Time and time again

 

Everyone will have brightly knit sweaters

Perfectly pressed suits

Perfectly tied shoes

No ripped hems or frayed edges

Those don’t belong here

 

The words – encouraging and piquing

They float around in the air

For just us to see

And yet everyone has read them

At one point or another

 

They assert vague statements

This is life!

Life goes on!

Onward we march!

March 4th – the only day that is also a call to action.

 

So what do they mean?

What do we do with them?

Do we smile and look away

And the thought immediately flees our minds

Do we grimace and take it in stride

Stand up and search for its meanings?

 

The lighting – spot on, day or night

Filtered immaculately, to tickle our buds

To satisfy our criteria

Words on photos,

Photos on words.

Just words.

Just photos.

 

Here in this paradise,

We are welcomed.

We are strangers.

Yet we are all family.

Yet every day is a new revelation.

 

(Just curious, does anyone have any clue what I am writing about? Hope it’s not too obvious.)

The Pessimistic Fate of Future Generations

pessimism

In 50 years, the world will be in chaos.

The nuclear taboo will have be broken, and nuclear weapons will have destroyed the planet. We will finally have suffered the consequences of not taking nuclear threats seriously.

Countries will acquire bio weapons and wreak chemical terror on others. And if scientists are incompetent enough to not know how to create chemical weapons, cyber terrorists will hack our databases and intentionally start conflicts that escalate.

We’re going to run out of space as the population of the world outpaces the space available. It won’t be immediate, but we won’t think anything of it until disaster strikes and the damage is irreversible. By that time, we’ll have stripped all of the green off of the land, and the planet will be a mix of blue and brown. But the blue will be more abundant than the brown; our resource consumption and our CO2 emissions will finally catch up to us, and the resulting climate change will not directly cause extinction, but will cause a rise in sea levels, exacerbating the issue of overpopulation.

We’re going to run out of effective antibiotics, and all of the bacteria will become resistant, eventually allowing a deadly, widespread disease outbreak.

And the polar bears? They’re gonna die. So are all of the tigers and elephants that we’ve been poaching for generations, and overall biodiversity will plummet, and the zoos will be empty soon enough.

Not as though people will want to go to the zoo though. The skies will turn more and more gray and the gas mask industry will prosper, but the overall quality of life will go down. Air pollution won’t kill us all, but we won’t be happy. We won’t have a blue sky to gaze at, and we’ll see fewer stars to wish upon.

Technology? Well, we’re going to develop so many new types of technologies in the coming years that will eventually take over the role of humans. Vending machines replace vendors, and factories and mass production replace handmade goods. While this may be good when you initially think about it, what happens to all of those jobs? My thought is that eventually every role today that requires a person will eventually be replaced by a robot, and that the only new job will be as mechanics and engineers, to fix the robots when they fail, and to create new robots that will fix broken robots.

Increased communication through technology will cause an inability to speak to others in person without feeling extremely awkward, and eventually people will never leave their houses. I mean, why would they need to? You can shop online now. Food delivery is such a commonality, and windows and natural light is overrated anyways.

Computers will be cheaper. People will be less inclined to get out of their chairs and go outside to exercise.

The media will continue to infect our minds with arbitrary and flawed perceptions of beauty. We as a society will become more insecure, prone to suicidal thoughts and self-harm.

In 50 years, we won’t know what an apple is. Everything that we eat will come in the form of a vitamin or supplement and everything will be mass-produced and modified by science because our crops are struggling so badly. The quality of meat will decrease, animal abuse will skyrocket, and even the most exclusive and high-class restaurants will serve subpar food.

The people will revert to savagery. We won’t have anything else to do.

And all of those dreams you’ve had as a kid? They won’t exist anymore.

President? The government will revert to anarchy because they won’t be able to solve problems well enough, and the people will mutiny and overthrow the bureaucracy.

Astronaut? Well, space tourism will be such a plausible concept in the next few years that if you’ve got the money and time, you can fly to Mars or a nearby comet for fun. While the role of astronauts won’t become obsolete, the wonder and mystery and prestige that you initially thought to be associated with being an astronaut will cease to exist; you’ll just be one of those people.

And if none of these manages to throw our planet drastically off of its balance, we’ll probably face extinction from threat from a large asteroid slamming into Earth.

Enough said.

*Note: this is a creative writing prompt; I don’t necessarily agree with everything said above.

I Like This Mug Too Much

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The mug in it’s natural habitat, holding Chocolate Cheerios for me.

An ode to my mug, inspired by Daily Post. Happy Valentines’ Day, by the way.

There’s this mug that I bought fairly recently that I favor over all of my other mugs.

It’s a fat white mug with a cute Santa on the side (see above).

Whenever my cupboard is full, I will look for this pretty and simple mug to hold my water, my juice, my milk, my tea, and my coffee.

I bought it myself over winter break! It was very cheap and probably on sale and a purchase that I made on a whim.

It’s quite simple to use. You just put your food or your lotions or your knicknacks in it and it will hold it for you patiently, like the obedient little mug it is.

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Hot chocolate for when it was a chilly 45 degrees Fahrenheit outside :P

The rim is wider than most, and thus much easier to clean than other mugs. It does not give me a hard time. While most mugs have a greater height than they do a width, this mug is special. It’s fat and stout and reminds me of Santa Claus himself. This perception leads me to believe that the cup can hold much more than it actually can; it’s potential surpasses that of other common, ordinary mugs.

It’s a versatile mug, yes it is. It can hold whatever you want it to hold. Apple slices, goldfish, marshmallows, and any drink, hot or cold. It can handle anything.

At this point, it’s still new. It doesn’t matter that it’s only come into my life recently. Even though I have other mugs that I’ve had for years and years (decades even), this one stands out. When this mug chips, each exposure of the earthenware underneath will demonstrate how much it’s loved and used.

In reality though, it’s a mug. It’s a mug. IT’S A MUG. IT’S A MUG. It hasn’t changed my life. The day has not come that I wake up, glance at my mug, and decide to be a better person. I just enjoy the presence of the mug. I’ll set it on a table, and instantly the table seems more classy. I’ll feel fancy and warm and happy, holding a warm cup of who-cares.

The bigger picture is that we tend to love things that are not only useful, but something that we ourselves have selected. It makes us feel as though we’ve made the right choice for once, the indirect effects of which can be seen everyday through our serenity.

We all have that one inanimate object that for some indescribable reason sticks with us. It just seems inappropriate to give it a name, as it is not something to have a conversation with, but rather something that just stays with you and gives you silent, unspoken comfort. Like a pet. Or a plant.

Do you have something like that?

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The mug holds a DELICIOUS chocolate cake that I made in the microwave <3

(photos pulled from my instagram @catdiggedydog)