Thursday, December 27, 2012

take a book, its in a book


Warm clothes and hot drinks...

winter break to me was always sacred. they were times where I got to sit on the counter top and watch and sometimes help my mom make spritzer cookies like a good little German or sled-riding in the neighbors field and eating popcicles with a runny nose after being so cold for so long or waiting for my sister to come home from college while drinking hot chocolate that slowly progressed into coffee.

warm drinks

each winter I came up with something to occupy my time, I am good at that, if nothing else. I am the queen of hobbies, jack of all trades, master of none.. or mediocre master of all. I seem to love everything and dabble in most activities, rock climbing to harmonica, knitting to baking, sewing to photography, painting to lifting weights, yoga to poetry, hiking to scrapbooking, singing to writing. but there is the problem, I can never focus on just one thing. and maybe that is good (I can always seem to offer something to every conversation I am in) but I am constantly searching for something, something that 'clicks' and I know that that thing is what I want to pursue for the rest of my life.

Serve Hot Spiced Cider in adorable apple mugs for a cute warming drink! More apple cider recipes: www.bhg.com/recipes/drinks/cider-recipes/?socsrc=bhgpin101812hotspicedcider#page=10

but I am at a stand still as to what to try next, and I thought to myself, maybe slowing down and going back to basics would be best for me this winter break. maybe I was too busy 'doing' and less busy 'learning.' (a humble thing for a future teacher to admit) so I am reaching out to books. lots of books, and I have a list.

cozy  sweater  coffee  lazy

so grab your coffee and blanket and goodwill sweater and snug up on a chair or a couch and enjoy...

  1. the bell jar- sylvia plath
    the poet "victoria lucas'" one and only novel before shutting her head in the oven. a trippy book about mental illness and well, Im not sure, thats why I want to read it. 
  2. the bhagava gita
    700 verse scripture from Hindu tradition. I just wanna get my philosophy on.
  3. where things come back- john corey whaley
    my guilty pleasure of john green(ish) novels and teenage angst, getting second chances and sarcasm.
  4. the life of pi- yann martel
    my friend Kami's favorite book. Its about a tiger and they made into a movie ive never seen. 
  5. the chronicals of chrestomancy- diana wayne jones 
    I love fantasy novels, no shame at all. dragons and magic and warlocks and solid writing.

    #book portal
  6. the tortilla curtain- t c boyle 
    I like the title and it has something to do with Mexico and Spanish. I just ordered this from amazon for one cent. it should be here in January
  7. travel writing- peter ferry 
    a book I found for $2 at a Walden books liquidation. It had travel on the cover and a typewritter. sold. It dances around the themes of reality and fiction and how often that distinction is irrelevant. 
  8. a room with a view- e m forester
    a romantic and emotional and optimistic book, unlike a passage to India, which I loved but saddened me. or maybe that was my 25page research paper I wrote about that novel. 
  9. snows of kilimanjaro- ernest hemingway
    I love mountains, I want to climb Kilimanjaro and I love hemingway's simple syntax. 
  10. driving to the end of the world- mark mcmahon
    ordered impulsively off of amazon, it is about a man in a minimidlifecrisis and drives from New Mexico to Patagonia, Chile (or Argentina) 
  11. a cook's tour- anthony bourdain
    Tony's first novel about his first tv show was it was syndicated from the foodnetwork. I love seeing his early perspective. plus No Reservations had its final episode and Im already suffering. 
  12. herzog- saul bellow
    a classic about writing letters to everyone, living and dead who can inspire you to start your life again.
  13. innocence abroad- mark twain*
    more on this one later, it is part of a book club I am in. 
good book
everyone likes books 
enjoy the winter,

rach 

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

wall(paperback writer)

Wallpaper is underrated. It is overlooked because it often has the cliche of being outdated and how many other compound words can I use in this sentence?  Old wallpaper used to be hand painted or woodcut block prints and then slowly progressed to screen printing on silk when it made its way to France from England. Wallpaper often rivals the woven tapestries from Asia and Africa but it makes it easier to display and more accessible because it can be purchased rather inexpensively.

Adding wallpaper to your life is easy. Sometimes you can even score free large book samples from paint stores. You can cover entire walls to overthrow the monotony of bold "unique" paint that seems to be everywhere now. Or you can use wallpaper to make dividers on walls in small rooms and not overpower the room. Be careful if you intend to hang in bathrooms, the steam can take the paper glue off.

Here I am sharing some of my favorite wallpaper prints (mostly found from pintrist)

metallic stag wallpaper #anthropologie

peacock wallpaper
wallpaper + sofawallpaper
Small world wallpaperWallpaper beautiful stripes
De Gournay, handpainted wallpaperFacial wallpaper. Nice.



Wallpaper design
Soprano Wallpaper - Gold


Porter's Paints Beetle wallpaper

Some of the best are large prints of insects or abnormal animals, but if you are more classic, stay with simple colors and just rock some texture. Just remember to be playful and be bold. Patters often match with other patterns and people always stray away from that. Metallics are also neutrals. Helpful hints. 

Sunday, December 23, 2012

I'm feeling a little 'LOST'

The indieattic has always taken a blasé if not slightly hostile stance toward the television, but I am here to spoil our angelic appearance of anti-tv activists. We actually watch a lot of TV shows. And by a lot, I mean, Kelcey, Meg and Teresa are so in love with Grey's Anatomy, that they refer to it simply as "Grey's." Hillary can tell you that your 'favorite' tv show is actually a remake from either Great Britannia or the 80s and introduced me to Psych. Not to mention she (the exception of Todd Corey) is the only other person who watches Community. And let us not forget how many blogposts I have written about Anthony Bourdain (but he is more of a life style choice, arguably)









So, now that you know my favorites, you will get to hear about my all time favorite tv show. I can say with pride and some shame that I saw every single episode of this six season series in real time... aka: I NEVER MISSED AN EPISODE! Wednesday nights, I would plan everything around them. I needed to be home by 9:00pm to watch, you better believe it, LOST


Now I know, the finale came out in May of 2010, this is sooo old news. But after doing my routine indieattictivities, I took a world religions class and started to think about LOST more. There were always little things in the show that struck me as odd for popular tv: naming the characters after famous philosophers, having a tv show that sold for its intelligent plots, and the most noticeable was the religious connotations woven into every episode. 

So lets start with some simple things: 
  1. There was a plane crash 
  2. Everyone on cast is attractive 
  3. The episode's were so confusing they forced you to use the terrible pun, "I just got lost"
  4. If you skipped even one episode you were so lost (see what I mean?) 
  5. No one liked the Series Finale
this is just funny. and more dramatic than the finale.

With those in mind, let us discuss the religious elements that are my favorite to think about:
  1. The Wheel of Dharma- other than the obvious connection to the Dharma Initiative on the Island, the wheel that Ben and then Locke and then Hurley turn to move the Island represents the Wheel of Dharma in Buddhism. A simple history of the wheel, it can be turned in either direction, either toward or away from enlightenment. It also travels through three rotations, the way it is turned depends on the actions during the life it is spinning in. The three rotations can be seen as (if we treat the island as religion itself) life going to the island, life not going to the island and (flash sideways) life if the island did not exist
     
  2. There are so many references to Christianity (mainly Catholocism) but the naming of Christian Shepard (Jack's dad) and the fact that Jack took on a very Jesus role on the island, ulitmatly making a lasting sacrifice (while he was afflicted with cross like wounds) while sharing water (communion) with Hurley in the last episodes to bless him. 
  3. The Dharma logo is stolen directly from the Taoist tenent of duality, leading to the themes of judtaposed elements, black and white, good and evil, heaven and hell, etc. 
  4. The Purge- a reverse colonization with religious tones. The natives overthrowing the Dharma team with poisonous gas, killing almost everyone. but my thought keeps going back to, who were the natives? where did they come from? and who/what do they represent in the island that is not heaven, hell or purgatory??
  5. But the best reference to religion is when Ben tells Locke, "God doesn't know how long we've been here, John. He can't see this island any better than the rest of the world can."
go think, read some religious text, or just go watch tv, 
rach

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

a poem

Fourteen


Fourteen lying on
The sidewalk waiting
the exact metro station where I wrote this poem
Stopping for everyone
Except himself
Alone in a crowd
And happy with
The gain of money
But it is not the
Glint of a coin or
The power obtained
It is the privilege
Of being free
Those with the liberty
Of money are able to
Be free with ease
It is hard to feel
At ease with the world
When your stomach
Is empty
And your body
Is broken
Much like your spirit
So stop and think
Fourteen is your
Ticket to freedom

to the fourteen, 
rach

a thought with some pictures

I have been explaining the educational system/riot in Chile lately to a lot of people here in the States. 
The question keeps coming up, is education a right or a privilege? 
A popular area has been, that of the economy (but seriously, who isn't talking about the economy?) 
Does this life really owe you anything? 
Interesting question. 

But why do we have a government in the first place if they don't do anything for us? 
Should a country in so much debt dish out money they don't have for poor children to go to school? 
I am sure you have your own opinion on this subject. 
And if you don't, I think it would be really cool if you formulated one. 
But hey, all I can really do is talk about my opinion, so here it goes. 

Education is a right. 


The Convention prohibits any ‘discrimination’ or any 
distinction, exclusion, limitation or preference,  “based on race, 
color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national 
or social origin, economic condition or birth”. (UNESCO) 



Everyone should be given the opportunity to emancipate themselves from ignorance. 


This poster is a beautiful representation of how Literacy impacts every facet of life. 


An educated society is a stronger society. 
Education is a prime determinant of a person's ability to earn a living 
and the generations that follow that person.  
A well educated population raises the overall standard of living


education is love, 
rach 


Sunday, December 16, 2012

basic portuguese (2)


Is anything cuter than a little kid who can speak multiple languages? Maybe, I guess there are a lot of cute things in the world, like kittens, Jason Gordon Levitt or even better, Jason Gordon Levitt AND kittens...





(I must say, when I typed "jason gordon levitt +kitten" into google, I was not expecting this...)

Anyway, we know there are a lot of cute things in the world, but I still think this video of MariaJose, first language being Spanish, singing the color song she learned in preschool. And note the slight British accent she has. Precious.

So anyway, Portuguese lesson 2, the colors. I have been practicing the pronunciation in my mirror not looking or sounding nearly as cute as all of the above. But oh well.

Color- pronunciation
Vermelho - ver mellow
Azul- (just like Spanish A zoo l) but a softer almost slient L
Amarelo- ama relo (throw a bit of an Italian twist to it)
Roxo- ho show (attention! this one is quite different)
Laranja- la ran jah (italianish again)
Verde- (Attention! not like Spanish at all) veh hey jey
Branco- brranco (roll the Rs)
Preto- prreto (roll Rs)
Cinza (cin zah)
Marrom- mah home (get your black lady on and say "my home")

Boa sorte-
raquel

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Basic Portuguese Lesson

I miss learning, yes I only finished my semester maybe 2 weeks ago, but I miss learning. Education nerd problems. 

And if that is not enough, you are probably thinking, Rachael, I thought you spoke Spanish... Well I do. Now comes the confession...

I miss Chile so much I am avoiding talking about it. 

I never thought that would happen, and I am sure it will wear off quickly, but it is strange to feel so passionately about something that you get choked up when you hear Spanish. This is really material for another blog post so I will gloss over that as of right now and welcome you into my new passion.

Learning Portuguese! 
or maybe French!
or American Sign Language!
or Italian!

but for now... Portuguese! (I have commitment issues. I am working on it) 


So why Portuguese? 
listen to her!! 
  1. The language is beautiful
  2. The music is beautiful
  3. The people are beautiful (duh)
  4. My high school friend studied abroad there and introduced me to everything about it
  5. They are really nice (met some Brazilian guys in Argentina) 
  6. I love the colors of their flag
  7. Carnival 
  8. Céu (the musician, also the word for sky) 
  9. Have you seen pictures from all over the country?
  10. I don't need a reason!! 

Eu- me
like you just ate something nasty, eww
Vosê- you
vo say 
Voses- plural you (lots of yous!)
vo say s
Nós- us/we
nau ss, nau like the beginning of nautilus 
Oi- Hi
oye! or if you speak Spanish, hoy, same pronunciation 

Mini Conversation:
Tudo Bem- How are you?
bem obrigado/a- fine, thank you
e voce- and you?

até breve,
raquel