Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Soulful Bangs

Drastic times call for drastic measures. In the last several months I have redefined the very essence of what I consider my purpose in life. So, to commemorate it, I got my hair cut.

Ok in all seriousness I'm not quite that shallow but both statements hold true. I have been reconsidering a lot of things lately. And I did get my hair cut. I've made some serious steps towards a real career as a writer, I've reevaluated some things with my current romantic fascination, and taken on several new spiritual projects. I felt like my hair could use something new. However when I say "spiritual" I mean it in the most loosely defined sense possible. For example, I consider revamping the music on my ipod with exotic new harmonies to be rather spiritual. To some extent I identify bits of myself with the music I choose to listen to and in many ways I make sense of people by looking at the music they listen to. And the food they eat. And how they cut their hair. Maybe that's why, when I make a big change with the intangible dimensions of my life, it feels good to make a physical change to parallel it. Besides - new haircuts are fun. New people are fun too - they are little puzzles to figure out; little pieces of thoughts and ideas, drink preferences and bad facial hair choices. That's what makes life interesting. So I change my hair, change my routine, and open my life up to new possibilities. And there you have it: haircut = spiritual. I took two inches off and I got bangs. Go me.

In other news I've made wonderful friends at work. My coworkers are not only friendly but knowledgeable and intriguing. You never know what kind of people you'll meet. Even more interesting though are some of the customers that come in. I've learned a few lessons from meeting so many people in such condensed periods of time. I've overheard a lot of inspiring conversations and come to realize that the old adage "You can't judge a book by its cover" still holds true. I place no stock in stereotypes and have found that some of the sweetest souls are housed in unconventional lodgings. I urge everyone to look beyond the surfaces we see upon each other. There are amazing qualities within each of us. Also I've been given wonderful gardening advice from a large variety of sources. Can't ask for much more than that can you?

More on its way!

Lizzy

P.S. Spring is on its way too!

Monday, March 24, 2008

Organic Thoughts

Wow - So sorry for the time away. Pretty crazy week what with Easter and all. I actually ended up going to a pretty ritzy place for brunch. Can't complain about that. However instead of giving you a long drawn out update on the minute details of my week I think, instead, I'll let you in on something I've been considering.

I loathe - with the deepest loathing possible - all varieties of "fat-free", "sugar-free", "carb-free", and essentially "food-free" food. Seriously, if you find yourself victim to the sadistic notions that depriving yourself of the necessary nutrients in food will allow you to eat more of it without gaining weight you have been strongly misled. It does not matter how few or how many calories that triple glazed, cream filled, sprinkle-heaven doughnut of yours has. It's still a doughnut. If you eat 47 of them you will get fat. That's right I said it. You will get fat. Life's a bitch that way - and she wont put up with any of our nifty little chemical/enzyme tricks. Go right ahead and take all the diet pills you want - whatever pounds you drop will be replaced with water weight and eventually long term fat. F A T. Fat.

Now I don't mean to be a downer about all of this - I just cant help but be amazed at the ignorance of some people over the matter. For example: those who think drinking diet soda (as opposed to non-diet soda) will do much good. Here's a thought - drink some water. Hell - drink flavored water if you must. The fake sweeteners and chemical additives in diet soda are far more harmful than the sugar in regular soda. So Ha.

Also - "I Cant Believe It's Not Butter". Great. So what exactly is it? No one knows....and that's how they like it. Truth be told if the large majority of society knew what was in their food - and the proven side effects of such additives - there would be a mass reverting to home grown vegetables.

Speaking of vegetables I have added considerably to what I plan to plant in my garden and am eagerly awaiting the last frost date (apparently somewhere near April 26th in my area) so that I can start sowing seeds!

Organic all the way.

More soon.

Lizzy

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Trial and Error

I have decided to start a garden. Yes that's right. Me - the poster child for a complete lack of homemaking ability - has decided to start a garden.

I can tell you right now that this is a really really really bad idea. It shouldn't be that complicated right? But I was blessed with the remarkable ability to over complicate the simplest of things. The purist in me wants to say -

"Hey its really not a big deal. Get some seeds, some potting soil, some coffee grounds from work, and a book on gardening. What could go wrong?"

But of course that sarcastic little voice that comes out at the worse (and best) of times likes to respond:

"Everything..."

Well pooh on you little voice. I'm starting my garden with or without your approval.
I've already gone and borrowed far too many books on gardening from the library and today I went and picked up some packets of seeds. Here's what I got:

Summer Squash
Zucchini (It's actually labeled as squash but it still looks like zucchini)
Onions
Carrots
Snap Peas

Plus I got two varieties of flowers (Phlox and Snapdragons) with which I plan to line the edges of my soon to be beautiful and prosperous garden. I think I may be going a bit overboard.

I suppose that's a rather ambitions little crop I have planned but I've decided that this year will be the one where my garden works out. The last two tries were not as well planned which I believe (along with their location and the lack of funding) ultimately led to the downfall of each. The first time I was about 10 and I decided that I was going to have an indoor garden. I had three pots, each with about a 6 inch diameter, and I proceeded to use about 4 packets worth of different vegetable seeds in each. Needless to say, my garden quickly found suicide to be its ideal option. A few years later, on another gardening kick, I decided that this time I would try my plans outdoors. I began to work away at the 2 x 4 bit of soil I had in front of my bedroom window (we were living in a meager apartment complex at the time) and after reaching the concrete that was 3 inches below the surface, quickly gave up.

The greatest success I've had so far has been with my houseplants. I have three. Two bamboo and a jade. I've only had them about 6 months or so but they all seem to be doing well. I've made sure they get their recommended amount of water and sunlight and occasionally I sing to them. The bamboo seems to prefer ballads.

I think its safe to say that I've had my fair share of trial and error when it comes to gardening. Hopefully I'll have better luck this year.

I'll let you know!

Lizzy

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

A Need To Know Basis

I happen to be particularly fond of the word blog. However that is not the reason that I decided to start writing one. I'm also rather attached to the word Ugg but you wont find me sleeping in their boots. Blogs have sprung up as a new phenomenon overnight and I've decided to put out my two cents (which isn't worth much these days) and become a part of the club. I wish we had hats. Honestly, what kind of club doesn't have hats?

Maybe you deserve to know a little bit about me. If I weren't me I'd be at least vaguely interested and even as me I'm still curious (one never really knows oneself) so please bear with me while I get this autobiographical stuff out of the way. It wont last long (I'm a fairly recent addition to this world) and after it's all good and done we can move onto the really interesting bits of conversation, like why I cant seem to keep my goldfish alive and how slinkies may be the most amazing invention this world has seen.

I was born in Utah. Now lets stop right there and clear up a few things. First of all I'm not Mormon (or LDS if you prefer). Also none of us have tails or horns (except this one guy I saw at the dollar theatre the other night who had quite literally plastic surgaried himself into looking like a bald goat - I couldn't stop staring). Also I'm only seventeen. Now there are quite a few negative connotations that trail along with telling people that. First of all the large majority of my time is not spent on Myspace, Facebook, or with my ear glued to my cell phone. Secondly, I don't subside on daddy's plastic nor do I condone the outrageous amount of debt that my generation is quickly racking up. I guess you could say I'm a little negative about my age group. Almost everyone I've ever met has told me that I'm extremely mature for my age but when you think like a 30 year old (and have the legal restrictions of a minor) things can get a little frustrating. Still, I have a lot of fun shocking the people who ask how old I am. I've taken to saying that I'm "new enough". People like that for some reason. I'm of the firm belief that age is irrelevant (on both sides of the spectrum) and this is more than likely going to be the only mention of mine that you'll ever be seeing. So really now - lets try and be "adults" shall we?

Aside from where I live there are only a few more things that I think you need to know about me. I say need because I believe that you cant really have an accurate view of a writer, or the merit of what she's written, without a little background info. You should probably know that I work at a little coffee shop and that I'm currently trying to figure out what I'm going to be doing career-wise. Also I need to buy a car. Which isn't a very thrilling concept in lieu of recent gas prices. I have an addiction to houseplants (I'm constantly buying new ones) and I tend to get too excited when I find something I like on eBay. I'm currently living with some friends and my parents have been divorced and remarried (to other people) 3 times. Each. I find it particularly entertaining.

I think that's plenty for my first little introduction here but I promise more is soon to follow.

Lizzy

P.S. Lizzy is just a nickname so if you live in Utah please don't go harassing all the coffee vending Elizabeth's you know.