Now that she's back in the atmosphere...

Well, I'm back. And boy, what a trip...

It was an adventure. I relaxed. I ran around. Had some nice late night talks curled up at the kitchen table with a mug of tea. Had some crazy days spent hurrying here and there, never staying in the same place for more than a couple hours. I hung out with old friends, feeling like family. I met crazy awesome new people. I spent about 50 hours of my life on a train and am now pretty familiar with Amtrak...there and back I had a lay over in Chicago, and so was privileged to roam around the beautiful Windy City with 3 amazing dudes.

I left with little expectations, hoping to maybe just quiet my soul, listen to God, and visit my friends...and if God happened to nudge me in any direction, that would be awesome too.
I returned with a lot to think about.
While I was there opportunities arose. Internships came up. Chances to shadow at salons. As well as missions opportunities.

And ever since I got back a feeling has been growing in me...something that's always been there that now is spreading. I've never really been able to describe it, and it's frustrating. But the other night I was having a conversation with one of my best friends. One of those conversations that fall under the "If I don't get out of here soon I'll be stuck here for the rest of my life, that I don't know what I'm doing with anyways" category...I'm sure you have those all the time...

We talked about jobs. We talked about monotonous life. We talked about restlessness...We talked about senioritis.


Finally I tried to put this feeling that I had into words and it came out like this:

"...Do you ever get that feeling like...let's see if I can describe it - 

like, you were made for something more? That growing up, finishing school and getting a job and routine just wasn't what was intended for you? That you were created, not for something mundane and monotonous, but for something truly breathtaking and extraordinary? Cause...that seems to be how I feel. And like that desire for the extraordinary is trying to claw it's way out...like it's suffocating at the thought of never getting to see the sun...or maybe I just have to much of an imagination...?"

So...yep. That's where I'm at right now...perhaps this was a nudge in a direction...guess we'll see. 

The Bean*

*(I have now seen The Bean, one of Chicago's great works of modern architecture I am told...but secretly I'm pretty sure it's an idol to the Americans love of coffee...see for yourself. ;) )

Hello, my name is Emily, and I'm an addict.

"And on the eighth  day, God created coffee."

Ok,  I'm not a crazy addict. I just have a bit of a caffeine problem... When I was little, I adored the scent of my mother's steaming morning coffee and would always try a sip, only to crinkle my nose and pretend that it tasted good. She drank it black, no sugar. And to a four year old, that's an intense way to be introduced to the stuff. As I got older, and persevered through the bitterness, I started to acquire a taste for the dark liquid. I started drinking it because I liked it. And now....without a couple cups in the a.m. I go through the day in a fog, feeling like a zombie with eyes on fire. It's been years since I've experienced a caffeine buzz, or remember what it's like. Now, I drink it to feel more human, without it I am grumpy, tired, and walk around squinting my eyes because they feel like they are going to burn out of my head...and because it still tastes so good!

And now, I am going to be an enabler. Forgive me.
 I have a recipe to share with all of my caffeine dependent, bloggy friends, I found it in the food section of my local newspaper. Super easy, reasonably cheap. Serves about four.

Winter Spice cafe' latte

• 3/4 cup of ground coffee
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon (or more, depending on your taste)
• 3 cups cold water
• 1 can (14 oz.) Sweetened condensed milk
• whipped cream

Mix the cinnamon and the ground coffee together. Brew coffee as usual - I use a french press most of the time, but the brewing method isn't specific.

Pour sweetened condensed milk into a large coffee pot or a 1 1/2 quart pitcher. Add freshly brewed coffee and stir until thoroughly blended.

Pour into eclectic cafe' mugs and top with whipped cream. Sprinkle some extra cinnamon on top if you feel really fancy. Serve immediately.

I suppose you could also turn this into a frappacino-like drink if you were to let the brew cool then add to a blender filled with around 2c. ice cubes and a splash of milk or cream. Then top it with whatever decadence you desire.

I made this last night and it tasted like a coffee house concoction. That is to say, pretty darn good. REALLY rich though, and VERY sweet. Definitely a dessert type of drink. Feel free to play around with coffee::sweetened milk ratios, as well as different spices like nutmegs or cloves. I  think I'd use more coffee and less milk next time.

Let me know if you try it!

Call me crazy, I'll say ambitious

Yesterday I took a trip to the Library with my mother and sister. I had no plans to borrow any books. After all, I was in the middle of two, and have one on loan from a friend of mine that I haven't cracked open yet! It was gonna be a quick in and out returning job.....or so I thought.

We got in there, I placed my two returns on the desk, and then I looked around me. I am fascinated by libraries. Their nooks and crannies, rows upon rows of shelves crammed with books, the smell of dust, love, and old paper. Sometimes I imagine what it would be like to live there. To be locked away at night, everything is quiet, the building empty, the lights glow softly, and you are alone with millions upon millions of books.

What would you do? Roam the isles aimlessly? Start from one end of the library and make your way to the other, reading every single book that lay between? Find secret rooms and passages that are hidden deep in the belly of the building(I'm sure they're there....but maybe not, if your libraries aren't as old as mine). Make a fort out of books. Stand on the balcony overlooking the entrance hall and recite Shakespeare at the top of your lungs, with all the emotion you could muster. Sing....I'm sure the acoustics are great in there ;) Slide back and forth on the ladders on wheels like it was a ride at the amusement park(You know you've always wanted to do that, don't even lie to me!)

As you can see, I've given this a lot of thought and imagination. When I have my own place, there WILL be a room fully devoted to books. I promise you. (Actually...that's what my room is starting to look like now....)

Anyways, I dropped my books off and started looking around. I couldn't help it. The books were calling to me, how could I not answer? It's like a game of hide and seek. You have to keep going until you find that one story that is calling for you. My sister grabbed my hand and we headed for the children's section, one of my favorite rooms. I came out of there with at least three books, two children's horror stories(E.A.Poe style) and one that seemed to be about an evil, mind controlling puppeteer....

Next, I moved to the teen section, a place I tend to stay away from cause I feel the quality is a little less....something. It's hard to find a good story in there, I think. They're all mostly brainless young adult romance novels seemingly to consist of lots of drama, sex, drugs, or vampires(among other supernatural creatures) They have their place, and can be fun to read, but I need something with substance. Something that I can devour and feel full, not inhale and afterwords wonder, "What did I just read?" So, I hunted until I found four other books. Just as I was starting to lose feeling in my arms from my massive load of literature, I ventured out into the main hall where I found my mother and sister browsing among he 'new summer reads' display. There I found my very last one....OK. I was really done now. Really. I mean, I only have 3 weeks to start and finish most of these, and then maybe another 3 if I don't get exhausted of what's left and feel like renewing any of them.

I decided that I would read one with my coffee and breakfast in the morning, bring another one to work with me(hoping that I would really be too busy and not have time to read), and pour over a third one before bed. So...three a day...I'm not even gonna bother pretending that I have an estimated end date on any of them....All I aim for is to finish one, and start the next.

8 books, 3 weeks, no time....We'll see how this goes.

You may call me crazy....But I'd prefer to label myself as ambitiously-out-of-my-mind. Besides, sane people never have much fun anyways. So, I intend to constantly be hopping out of my world and into 3 others everyday at various times :) I think it'll be refreshing, escaping from my reality. And maybe inspire me to start writing my little stories again.

Books I borrowed(In case you were wondering):

• Puppet Master - by Joanne Owen
• Uncle Monague's Tales of Terror - by Chris Priestley
• Tales of Terror from the Black Ship - by Chris Priestley
• Beauty - by Robin McKinley
• A Kiss in Time - by Alex Flinn
• Stardust - by Neil Gaiman
• Freaks - by Annette Curtis Klause
• Clockwork Angel - by Cassandra Clare

I've found that I gravitate towards books on Carnivals, Pirates, retellings of fairy tales, sci-fi stories set in 1800's England, and over all whimsical books with darker themes....do the books you read tell anything about your personality? I don't even know what these say about mine....

HAPPY READING!

Visitor Rebuilt Goes Acoustic

Thursday, December 2, 2010.

Cornerstone Christian School held a benefit concert to raise support for the Senior Class Trip this coming spring. Paint the Shore, Lost Radio, Visitor Rebuilt and a couple others graced us with their presence and good music. I went to support the my very talented friends and my brother who is a senior at CCS.

Leave it to James to find not only a Santa hat, but a plethora of other floppy-eared hats as well.

Fan Posters...

**********

The bassist - Harrison - wasn't present as he had his own concert at UConn to attend, so the guys went acoustic. It sounded amazing! And when they've got their own full length album I would love it if they had some of their acoustic stuff on there. :)

*************

There was a strange rabbit that showed up and hung out on stage with the guys for a while. I don't know if I've ever seen anything creepier.

I have a video of the guys playing while the bunny sat there creepily, but my computer and my phone are just not cooperating with each other and it won't load, I'll keep trying.

*************

Afterwords, Nathan, Jimmy, and James were playing around(they secretly are creed...?)



Of course as soon as I start recording they decide to stop.

reflection on updos

I love hair. Obviously. I don't think there are many aspects of hair that I don't like. So much creativity goes into everything that is done. One of my favorite ways of expressing creativity - apart from color - is updos...(updo-ing?)

Thursday was my sister's birthday, as well as my service day. We decided to go out to see Jason Castro at Mohegan Sun that night to celebrate. He's really awesome, by the way, but that's another blog post for another day. Anyways...because it was my service day, and because we were going out to a concert, I decided it would be cool to get a funky updo. So after lunch I asked Morgan, a highly gifted individual, if she would do something cool with my quirky locks, and this is what she came up with. Freakin. Awesome.

Sorry if all the pics seem to be from one angle/side...I had a fascination with the braids. :)

Having lots of different tones in my hair, as well as really randomly placed, chunky blond bits made for a fun canvas to work with. I was totally psyched with the results.

On Wednesday we had a halloween updo competition. Now, I really don't know what a 'halloween-updo' looks like, and honestly, I didn't really care. I did, however, have an updo in mind. There had been an idea - a vision, if you will - rolling around in my brain for a couple of days so I decided to play around with that idea instead of doing...holloweeny stuff...

And here we have my dear Barbara Blonde, modelling this trial-run updo.

Trippy Hippies

If you know me, then you know that along with my love of pirates I also have a love and fascination with hippies and gypsies. I can try to explain, but I really don't know if I can, why this is so cool to me.

Let's start with road trips.
I love them. Since I was in the womb we would be making long trips to see family, starting out in CT and ending in PA, VA, OH, or NY.
Most of the time it was Pennsylvania we were heading for,[photo sent to me by Bella, was hanging on the wall of a little joint called "the cosmic omelet]

a little town located deep in the woods, in the middle of nowhere, called Wellsboro where we'd meet up with my mom's family who also came from miles around to hang out in this cool, round house in a clearing. We'd have huge family dinners while, like, 20 grand kids ran around in the clearing and in the woods, with 'swords and guns', swimming in the lake and camping out in Hillscreek state park, or taking a walk up the dirt road to...well, nowhere imparticular.


Next we can move to cars.
I like cars. They're fun to drive, they get you places, they get you away from places, they present you with a cozy place to hang out with your friends for an hour or so on your way to the beach and back, and most of them have a stereo to blast music with. Since I was little I've always admired the way classic cars look. Now, I can't tell you what on earth is under the hood and all the hoosie-what's-its that make it work, but I appreciate the way they look...
Someday, I want this to be my car.



[This photo belongs to
mPascalj's photostream (2,321) ]

And sure, why not, I'll live at the beach on the weekends. Totally fine with that ;) Yup, a classy VW camper van. I'll drive across the country, and stop along the way to visit relatives and their showers...perhaps I'll be a traveling hairdresser? ;) But in all seriousness, I do dream of someday traveling europe and doing hair for something. Whether it be avant garde fashion shows, or theatre groups or whatever.

Then we get to music, cause you can't live your life and not have music.
Music makes me happy, pretty much no matter what genre it is. Variety is probably the best one word to sum it all up in. Classic to contemporary, acoustic to metal, trippy to worship....yeah. But as much as I love some of the more contemporary bands that I grew up with, I have a special place in my heart for some not-so-contemporary bands that I grew up listening to, courtesy of mi papa.
Bands like The Beatles, Eric Clapton, Don McLean, Simon and Garfunkel...and along came ACDC, Queen, Thin Lizzy, Guns and Roses...you get the picture. I definitely inherited my love of music(and the benefits of liking a large variety) from my dad. The only time I can crank the volume and rock out, is either when I'm home/driving alone, or with him. He's pretty awesome that way. One of the permanent fixtures in my van is going to be an acoustic guitar - maybe I can hook up an amp or something in the van and I can bring my electric too. But what fun would it be to have a big van, some rocking tunes, and an instrument or two and be all by yourself? So, somewhere along the way I'll have to convince my friends to come along with me sometimes :)

Yup. So that's a little bit about me and my fascination for *trippy hippie life. Emily Michael, gypsypiratehippiechick.

*DISCLAIMER - As far as the Trippy factor goes, I so do not endorse drug use. The only drugs I encourage are COFFEE, life, music, and creativity, four of God's greatest gifts to man. I've got a good enough imagination to go through life and enjoy it to the wackiest, and fullest extent without shoving crap up my nose and stabbing needles in my arms. Thanks very much.

paper bag skits

Saturday, September 25, 2010...Cape Cod.

On the last night of our YG's fall retreat to Cape Cod we do something called "Paper Bag Skits" where we are given a genre, a list of props that MUST be used, and are set free into small groups to see what sort of theatrical creativeness we can jam into 5 minutes or less. Mostly we find a basic plot line, and improv the rest...we're pretty big on improv.

Normally I load all these on FB, but it is giving me grief today, so I thought I'd share a little of our fun with you her in the land of Blogs... enjoy :)

The Adventures of Emikel and J-ro (and Oli)

Circa. Sept. 28, '09

Cape Cod! Many memories here. On our most recent Fall retreat with SNAC someone remarked to me that any pictures I take with my brother are mostly awkward looking. So what did we do? We deliberately made an awkward pose.

And of course Bella jumped in. Why not? So this is our awkward family portrait...just one of many :)

fun&games

Monday night a group of the coolest people I know gathered at the Goodale homestead to play a mysterious game. A while ago Harrison told us all of this magnificent game called: Quelf.

When I asked him what it was like he answered "It's kinda like The Game of 1,000 Cards...only different." Ok....that clears things up ???? Later we all got the notice that he had ordered the game and it had come in and we were all to gather and play, so we did.

LOOK! here are some of those cool people now!

And let me tell you... it. was. RIDICULOUS!!!!! Yeah. Pretty much the best game I've ever played. We laughed and laughed and did fantastically absurd 'stunts' including playing hide and seek, dancing and singing like a mournful weeping willow tree, licking someones elbows(if you could not lick your own) and awarding meaningless points to everyone after their turns.

After yelling and signing "QUELF IN THE LAND OF THE FARM!" a gazillion and three times we finished the game and headed outside. I played hairdresser and there was bubble blowing and and picture taking and such.

Then we ordered pizza and took a trip through the scarily skinny back roads of Coventry to find Papa T's pizza. Good pizza, good friends, good game, great night.

one of the many reasons...

I decided to become a hairdresser.

The Adventures of Emikel and Jro...and Oli.

A long time ago, in a state not quite so far away, three young teenagers were being driven to Rochester, New York for a Onething Conference. The result of having imaginations and a whole lot of free time resulted in parody song writing, and sing-a-long videos, such as this one.