Hyper-logical dreams are scary
Med switch! Now I’m hardly sleeping at all and, when I do, my dreams read like an instruction book. Like last night I dreamt about whether or not to buy a KitchenAid mixer in a very factual manner. It was…weird.
Haha, sorry, it’s just that my dreams are usually fairly nonlinear and this was like a debate meet.
Blaaaaaaaaaah sorry.
Today’s song: Take Me Over by Cut Copy
HOLY LORD IT’S COLD
Today got colder than I thought it ever got in Vancouver. Here’s how my wonderful little night went:
1. Had to buy groceries at Safeway. Stood out in freezing cold (added bonus: wind chill!) still wearing exercise clothes (read: skimpy pants and shirt) and dinky coat waiting for the bus for about 20 minutes.
2. Got home and realized that my heat had, for whatever reason, failed to come on during the day.
3. Also realized that I left the window in the bedroom cracked (I need it opened when I sleep) and that the wind was blowing INTO my apartment, making it even colder than it should have been without the heat off. It was 45 degrees.
4. Curled up in blanket with space heater blasting for about twenty minutes before finding the courage to shower.
5. Surprise! No hot water.
6. Made noodles and tried not to freeze to death.
7. Remembered I had a microwave heating pad from my mom. Life got substantially better.
Today’s song: Everybody (Radio Edit) by Rudenko
I’m conflicted
I don’t know if I’ve blogged about this yet (I don’t think I have), but my dad told me a few months back that next winter (December 2011 or January 2012, assuming the solar flares don’t kill us all) he’d like to take a cruise down south to Cape Horn (southern tip of South America) and…you guessed it…Antarctica.
I was jazzed about this for about 24 hours until I realized something: how appropriate is it to allow cruise ships to sail through the already delicate ecosystem down there?
The Princess Cruise website claims: “The most isolated continent on Earth, Antarctica is home to massive icebergs, majestic mountain ranges and diverse wildlife in a wilderness setting that has a purity as inspiring as it is remote.”
Remote until you catch sight of the five other giant cruise ships muscling their way for “scenic cruising” during the two or three months it’s warm enough for them to venture so far south. It strikes me as wrong on a certain level, you know? I mean, you all know that I’d practically saw off my arm to get the opportunity to frolic around Terra Australis, but not at the expense of unnecessarily disrupting the wildlife.
So as much as it kills me, I think I might have to say no to this solely out of principle. We’ll see how things go in the coming year, but who knows. I mean, trucking a crap ton of scientists down there is one thing…letting regular people disrupt the goings on of the animals/environment for the sake of taking a pleasure cruise is another.
I’m sure if I’m destined to go there, the universe will find a way.
Today’s song: Phazing (Tiësto Remix) by Dirty South and Rudy (the opening minute of this song is EPIC)
proc blog post; run;
I finally put a damn summary/extract up for my NaNo. And I apologize for all the previous as well as all the forthcoming blogs solely about NaNoWriMo. It took me about 15 days to get into it this year, but now I actually have a plot, I like said plot, and it’s fun obsessing over something other than school/applications/the unknown future.
Also, if you’re one of my friends who is not doing NaNo, I highly recommend giving it a try next year (or trying to get the 50,000 in the 9 days remaining). It’s more fun/less stressful than I originally expected.
Woo!
Today’s song: Last Leaf by OK Go
Miscellaneous Crap from Across the Internet
God, I love Fallout.
This is the fun you can have with the Sims. It’s fantastic. “What is it with these people constantly trying to molest John McCain?”
This is a triumph. Since I’ll be back in Moscow at the end of finals/for a few days after, I suggest we have a post-semester party in my basement and make these.
And pictures:
Woo!
Today’s song: Perfect Day by Susan Boyle
Truths survey
Cause I feel like it.
-1. Last beverage: Water
-2. Last phone call: My mom
-3. Last text message sent & received: Sent to and received from Kate
-4. Last song you listened to: U + Me = by Dan Black
-5. Last time you cried: Monday
HAVE YOU EVER:
-6. Dated someone twice: Close
-7. Been cheated on: Probably
-8. Kissed someone & regretted it: Yes
-9. Lost someone special: In a way
-10. Been depressed: Welcome to junior high
-11. Liked someone you know you shouldn’t: Hahaha, story of my life
LIST THREE FAVORITE COLORS:
-12. Orange
-13. Lime green
-14. Hot pink
THIS YEAR HAVE YOU: (2010)
-15. Made a new friend: I made a new friend every time I went back to Moscow, haha
-16. Fallen in love: Nope
-17. Laughed until you cried: Haha, yup
-18. Met someone who changed you: No
-19. Found out who your true friends were: Eh
-20. Found out someone was talking about you: Not really
-21. Been lied to: Oh yes
-22. How many people on your friends list do you know in real life: Everyone, I believe
-23. How many kids do you want? ZERO
-25. Do you want to change your name: I’m cool with my name
-26. What did you do for your last birthday? Sat at home and cried. Then Aaron sent me last year’s quote book and the day suddenly improved
-28. What were you doing at midnight last night? Listening to music
-29. Name something you CANNOT wait for: Change
-30. Last time you saw your Mother: August
-31. What is one thing you wish you could change about your life: Certain issues that shall not be discussed here
-33. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom: Indeed
-34. Who is getting on your nerves now? No one
-35. Most visited webpage: WordPress nowadays
-36. Whats your real name: Steven
-37. Any nicknames? Not really. I don’t have a nickname-able name, very much
-38. Relationship Status? Blah
-39. Zodiac sign: Aquarius
-40. Male or female?: Female
-41. Best friend? All my Moscow dorks
-42. What did you do last night? Worked on stuff
-43. Who do you trust? No one
-44. Hair color: Black
-45. Long or short: Long
-46. Height: Shut up
-47. Do you have a crush on someone? Do unhealthy obsessions with dead guys count?
-48: What do you like about yourself? Pfft.
-49. Piercings: Three in right ear, one in left
-50: Tattoos: None, yet
-51. Righty or lefty: Righty
FIRSTS :
-52. First surgery: Appendix removal
-53. First piercing: Man, I can’t remember. I got my “first piercing” like five times ‘cause I kept having ear issues
-54. First best friend: Anastasia
-55. First sport you joined: T-ball, bitches!
-56. First vacation: Missouri
-58. First job: Wendy’s slave
RIGHT NOW (fill in your own):
-59. I’m having flashbacks to applying to grad school
-60. Leibniz is a sex pot
-61. Is some guy shoveling the sidewalk outside? It’s not even snowing
-62. NaNo makes me super happy
-63. I freaking want my tattoo!
YOUR FUTURE :
-64. Want kids? No
-65. Get married? No
-66. Career: Philosopher of science! SCIENCE IS POWER!
-67. Lips or eyes: Eyes
-68. Hugs or kisses? Groping
-69. Shorter or taller: Doesn’t matter
-70. Older or Younger: Doesn’t matter
-71. Romantic or spontaneous: Anything but spontaneous
-72. Nice stomach or nice arms: As long as they’re comfortable with their body, it doesn’t matter. Fat dudes rule, though
-73. Sensitive or loud: MANLY
-74. Hook-up or relationship: Relationship
HAVE YOU EVER :
-76. Kissed a stranger: Nope
-77. Drank hard liquor: Yes? Maybe?
-78. Lost glasses/contacts: Nope
-79. Hookup on first date: Nope
-80. Broken someone’s heart: Sorta
-82. Been arrested: Haha, nope
-83. Turned someone down: Sorta
-84. Cried when someone died: Yes
-85. Fallen for a friend: Hahahaha
DO YOU BELIEVE IN:
-86. Yourself: Nope
-88. Love at first sight: Sure, why not
-89. Heaven: Nah
-90. Santa Clause: Fat man!
-91. Kiss on the first date: I would be a hypocrite if I said no
-92. Angels: Only in outfields
ANSWER TRUTHFULLY:
-94. Had more than one significant other at a time: Uh…sorta?
-95. Did you sing today? Indeed
-96. Ever cheated on somebody? Unfortunately
-97. If you could go back in time, how far would you go? LEIBNIZ TIME!
-98. The moment you would choose to relive? All of it. I’d make it better this time
-99. Are you afraid of falling in love? Nah
-100. Are you afraid of posting this as 100 truths? Pfft
Today’s song: I Want It That Way by The Backstreet Boys (my brain’s on a 90s kick)
This Week’s Science Blog: Does It Smell Dark in Here?
So apparently neurobiologists have genetically altered mice to smell light (MICE CAN SMELL PHOTONS NOW BUT I’M STILL STUCK WITH NOTHING, WTF?) with the goal to better understand how olfaction really works.
The reasoning behind this is that, while odors are obviously the best means by which to study olfaction, the odors themselves are so complex that we’re usually left with more problems than answers. Light, on the other hand, makes things easier.
So these scientists “made the nose act as a retina” in order to better characterize the patterns of activation within the brains of the rodents.
What did they find out?
First off, they found out that the structural patterns of olfactory activation in the brain does not on its own describe exactly how olfaction works.
Second, apparently the timing of the “sniff” plays an important role in how odors are perceived. Weird.
Anyway. Because I’m biased I do a disproportionate number of TWSBs on smell. And solar flares.
Today’s song: Circus by Britney Spears
It’s not a Claudia plot until someone dies
So my plot, after half the month has passed, has finally come into its full form, I think. Totally out of nowhere this afternoon I let someone die, which is not that unusual for my plots (far from it; I think Prime was the only story I’ve written in like 10 years in which a major character didn’t die, but that was probably due solely to the fact that all my characters were numbers) but, like I said, came completely out of nowhere for the story that I’m currently working on.
It made the plot finally have something to say, though, and it is now out of the awkward teenager plot stage wherein it didn’t know whether to be an interesting plot or be just another “1984 crossed with Fight Club” rip-off.
Gnarly.
I think I’ll finally put a plot summary up on my NaNo profile too, haha. Oops.
Today’s song: Disturbia by Rihanna
Oh my.
We are so fucked.
Today’s song: Enjoy the Ride (feat. Judy Tzuke) by Morcheeba
Leibniz is so underrated
DAMN STRAIGHT. This man needs more credit. I know, I know, I’ve said it before, but it’s true, dammit!
Also, is it sad that this made my day?
Accidental bimodal distributions FTW.
Today’s song: Starlight by Muse
A Blog for Jim LaFortune
Mr. LaFortune was my earth science teacher in 9th grade. That was around the time when I was really into cycling and he and I always used to discuss the best places to ride around Moscow after class was over. He was a super excellent teacher, let us play a Jeopardy like game to review for the tests, and made my last class of the day something to really look forward to.
Unfortunately, he died early this morning, succumbing to brain cancer after a long fight.
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jimlafortune
The world will miss you, Mr. La.
Today’s song: Miracles by Norwegian Recycling
Maybe I don’t WANT a title, HUH, WORDPRESS?!
Remembrance Day today.
Here’s a drawing I did this afternoon. I know it sucks, but I needed to psychedelic-ize some paper. Deal with it.
Today’s song: Sleepyhead (Little Vampire Remix) by Passion Pit
My parents rule.
Here is something that I think needs to be publically stated, because it’s so very true:
I have awesome parents. Why, you ask? Because:
My father is a very strange dude who just so happens to be very strange in a lot of the ways I am very strange. We have the same sense of humor about a lot of things and we’re both ridiculously anal about time. We’d both prefer arriving at a preset location a half an hour before we’re supposed to get there as opposed to even three minutes late. He pretty much just lets me do what I want, and by this I don’t mean to say he’s awesome because he lets me get away with stuff, he’s awesome because he trusts me. If I say “dad, a bunch of my weirdo friends are coming over and we want to have a party in the basement,” he’ll say “I’ll order pizza for you guys if you let me know what you want, then I’ll leave you alone.” True story. It might be parenting laziness, but I like to think a large part of it is that he trusts me not to burn the house down/get pregnant/be a general pain in the ass when I’m allowed to do what I want. And that’s rockin’.
My mom is awesome because she and I are best friends. She gets me like no one else does. She’s very open with me and I feel like I can talk to her about just about anything which, if you know me, is a pretty big thing for me to say. I know I’m not the perfect daughter in the world (FAR FROM IT), but I know I couldn’t ask for a better mother.
Haha, it feels weird to be unable to say more about my mom regarding how awesome she is. You’ve all met her; you know she’s badass. I guess it’s hard to quantify how great she is because I’ve lived with it for 22 years…it’s just kind of there.
Love you mom!
Love you dad!
You both rule.
Today’s song: Something Else by Diamond Rings
This Week’s Science Blog: Yo Dawg, I Herd U Like Dimensions
So we put dimensions on top of your dimensions so you could extrapolate about higher dimensions while in your dimension.
(Sorry.)
Not hard science so much as math, but what’s better than math*?
Sorry, these would be longer but I’m busy.
Today’s song: Blue Suede Shoes (Viva Elvis) originally by Elvis Presley
*Leibniz is, but he also invented calculus, so I guess my argument is null.
Dear Cinnamon Toast Crunch: If I Could Have Your Babies, I Would
Okay, so this is like the fourth night in a row in which I’ve had a dream where some deep secret of the universe has been revealed to me, but I’m missing like one small connection I can’t remember upon waking up. I hate dreams like that! I think it’s the pills.
I am ridiculously excited about the giant impending musical analysis that will be occurring in approximately a month and a half. I literally have been waiting all year for it.
I also love R with all my soul.
What the hell else was I going to say?
OH YEAH.
Moscow friends: I shall be returning to Idaho from December 15th to December 20th. If you all are around, we should get naked together. I demand a Shari’s run, too, since they don’t have those up here ‘cause Canada’s dumb and doesn’t understand the importance of a pre-orgy Shari’s run.
Okay?
Cool.
PLOT MURDER
AAAHHHHH LAST TIME I PROMISE.
I’m killing my plot. Stabbing it in the back. Sorry, plot.
Now I’m writing about Google and the internet and all that good stuff. It’s like 1984 mixed with Pi. Nothing beats good old paranoia for a story, eh?
2,083 words per day is totally doable. I think at the end of November last year I was doing like 6,000 a night. I should have saved that graph, it was hilarious. Recreation:
WOO!
Today’s song: Ex Ex Ex (In Flagranti Mix) by In Flagranti
This Week’s Science Blog: What’s Better Than Robots?
Robots with croissants!!
The music makes it. Croissants are serious business.
Here’s some more footage/info on these types of robots:
The waterproof aspect is a good idea, too.
Anyway. I just thought these were cool.
Today’s song: I Like to Move It (Radio Mix) by Reel 2 Real
Things that rule:
Muse. This video is surreal.
Half-Life. Even when condensed to 60 seconds.
Fallout 3. Because you should have just given him the sweet roll (probably only funny ‘cause I played it, but whatev).
Sorry. Not feeling very well and am also in a gaming mood.
Today’s song: My Humps by The Black Eyed Peas (shut up.)
BLAAHHHHHHHHH
I love how “may cause drowsiness” on medicines translates to “you won’t be able to stay awake for more than half an hour” for me. Same as “may cause dyskenesia” translates to “good luck sitting still for more than five minutes.” I guess passing out to sleep every hour or so is better than being too jittery to sit through class.
Anyway.
NaNo.
YES I KNOW I’m already behind. Read the first paragraph of this blog again and you’ll find one of the main reasons why. However, I’m super glad I impulse-bought that iPod Touch, because it’s been a godsend on the bus rides. I don’t have room enough to pull out a pen and notebook, so I just type on the iPod until I get to wherever I’m going. Snazzy.
My plot so far consists of ye olde science vs. religion issue, but not in a traditional way. I guess I decided to try and challenge myself by trying to write in one of my least favorite genres (science fiction), so who knows how that’s going to go. Hopefully soon I’ll get used to the meds and stop feeling like I got hit by a bus so I can actually concentrate.
Blaaaaaah.
Today’s song: When You Close Your Eyes by Night Ranger
I’m procrastinating like hell right now
Flapflapflapsurvey!
How have you felt today?
Peh.
Who are you talking to right now?
My mom over Skype.
Do you think that you’re a good person?
I try to be. Could always be better, though.
Who was the last person you talked to on the phone?
Uh…the receptionist?
What was on your mind mostly today?
Stats. Grad school applications.
What are you listening to?
Nothing, surprisingly.
Doyou like winter time?
I like snow. Winter sucks when there’s no snow.
Do you hate anyone?
Nope.
You kissed someone last night, didn’t you?
Shut up. I’m single in a city of 600,000 people. Don’t rub it in.
What are your plans for this Friday?
Absolutely nothing exciting. Drink metric ton of Red Bull and pretend to be cool.
Do you like the sound of pouring rain on the window, or hate it?
Used to like it, now it makes me want to stab people.
It’s two AM and your phone rings; do you answer it?
Sure, why not?
If you were paid one million dollars to spend the night in a supposed haunted house alone would you?
Durh.
Do you think you can last in a relationship for five months?
I have. Twice.
What was the first thing you thought this morning?
“FFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU…”
Can you keep a secret?
Indeed.
Are you missing someone?
I miss my dorky Moscow friends.
Has anyone ever told you that they like you more than a friend?
Hahaha, oh, college…
Do you have a secret that you’ve never told ANYONE?
ALL CAPS MAKES IT IMPORTANT!
Yes.
How do you handle stress?
Vomiting.
Kids then marriage or marriage then kids?
Neither.
What is the one thing you remember most about January of last year?
I fell down the damn deck stairs trying to brush off the satellite dish so I could watch the ball drop. 2009, you sucked.
Are you dreading tomorrow?
Yeah, I’ve got meetings and homework.
Howmany rings do you wear on a day-to-day basis?
Zero.
Did you accept or reject your last friend request?
Rejected.
When was the last time you cried?
This afternoon walking home.
When was the last time you talked to one of your best friends?
It’s been awhile.
Is there someone you just can’t imagine your life without?
Yeah.
Did you drink anything with alcohol this week?
Nope.
Who was the last person you had a fight with?
There’s no one up here to fight with.
Are you in a good mood?
I’m anxious.
Have you ever hugged someone for over a minute?
Welcome to 2/3rds of my first dates. I’m weird.
Last alcoholic beverage?
The Guinness!
You miss summer, right?
Summer owned.
Did you write diaries when you were younger?
No. But now I blog incessantly.
Do you tend to hold a grudge?
I try not to.
Who sits behind you in your math class?
You mean stats? Jasmine. She’s cool.
Do you trust all your friends?
Sure, why not.
Who is on your mind?
No one.
Have you ever kissed someone you weren’t dating?
Ahahahahaha man I suck at relationships.
Do you have any facial piercings?
Nope.
Have you ever worn the opposite sex’s clothing?
Claude and I happened to share the same body, so yes.
How many studded belts do you own?
I don’t own belts.
Do you have trust issues?
Yup.
Have you told anyone that you missed them lately?
My mom.
Today’s song: Cantique De Jean Racine sung by The Monks and Choirboys of Downside Abbey
NaNo Decision 2010
GENRE JUMP!
So I got to about 1,700 words yesterday, reread what I’d written this morning, said “screw this crap” to it, deleted it, and am starting fresh. What genre will Claudia be writing in for this year’s NaNo?
SCIENCE FICTION.
Yeah, I know, what in the hell has gotten into me, right? I’m not a big sci-fi fan. I really only like Verne, Wells, and the awesome world that is Dune. I was going to really try to challenge myself and write some fantasy, but I’m not a mental masochist. Fantasy bugs the hell out of me.
SO.
This year’s plot is something I’ve kind of had in the back of my head for a year and a half or so. It was originally for my second short story for Intermediate Fiction back in spring 2009, but a (very long) discussion in which a plausible plot was developed led me to believe that it was far too complicated to be contained in 25 pages. So I guess it’ll be my NaNo.
Random aside, University of Pittsburgh, I found out, has a class on Leibniz. A WHOLE CLASS. I almost had a heart attack.
Today’s song: Swing Bop by Der dritte Raum
The “F” Word
What “F” word, you ask?
Fat.
Last Monday Maura Kelly, a writer for Marie Claire magazine, posted this controversial blog in which she openly stated her opinion regarding fat people showing public affection (both on TV and in real life). She has since augmented the post with a somewhat lacking apology, but not before hundreds of comments were posted calling her, among other things, shallow, rude, and bigoted. There are now thousands of comments to this article, with a surprising number of individuals stating in so many words how “sizeism” like that displayed in the article should not be tolerated.
Now if you know anything about me (which you may or may not, depending on how you’ve stumbled across this particular entry), you know I have something to say about this. In brief, I like fat. I think fat is sexy. This is not to be confused with the idea that I support people getting/staying fat for cosmetic reasons. Saying to a loved one “you’d look so much better if you gained weight” is equivalently as bad as saying “you’d look so much better if you lost 5/10/25 pounds,” especially if it’s just for vanity reasons.
When I say “I like fat” I mean that if someone is overweight and they are comfortable with it (and the possible health risks associated with it), then I fully support it and have no issues with how they look.
So after hearing that, it may come as a surprise that, in a weird way, this article made me happy. I guess I was surprised at the number of people who came forward who openly admitted to being angered by Kelly’s words. It made me happy to see so many people as upset by her article as I was.
That being said, of course there was the number of posts that, while not necessarily agreeing with her, cited the ever-popular argument that “being fat is a drain on government money because of the associated health risks” and therefore being fat is bad.
Here’s where I feel I should comment. I understand this concern (and I’ll address it momentarily), but what I don’t see is why these people are making that comment on Kelly’s blog. Nowhere does she discuss the “health drain” that being fat supposedly is; she simply discusses how grossed out she gets by two heavier people making out in public. How is that related to health issues? It’s like trying to argue that because smoking causes high health costs, two smokers making out should therefore be viewed as bad.
Anyway, that was just an aside.
What I really want to address is this idea that being fat is “bad” because it causes higher health costs (at least in the States, where there is a super high percentage of overweight and obese individuals). I can understand this logic insofar as the general reasoning, but I think a lot of people who make this argument fail to see the other important sides of it.
What do I mean? Well, let’s look at it this way. In the extreme version of this argument, people “choose” to be fat by eating too much and exercising to little. Therefore, they choose to become overweight, and this choice, when chosen by a large amount of people, leads to higher healthcare costs. Let’s ignore arguments that take into account genetic contributions or other illnesses that lead to people gaining weight and just focus on this extreme version.
Obviously, such an extreme argument can be applied loosely to other choices that also can lead to higher healthcare costs. A small example: drug consumption. People “choose” to begin to consume, say, prescription drugs that they don’t need, a select number develop an addiction that is often followed by a myriad number of health conditions that, if enough people exhibit these symptoms, can raise healthcare costs.
I’m not equating obesity to prescription drug abuse (‘cause that would be dumb), but I AM trying to make the following point: people seem to place a large amount of the “this is why healthcare costs are increasing” blame on overweight and obese people while, if things were broken down a different way, I think we would see that there are enough instances of OTHER risky health-related behaviors (that are unregulated by the government) that can be seen as raising healthcare costs just as much as the obesity epidemic.
I guess what I’m trying to say is this: obesity is probably chosen as the scapegoat health issue because 1) it IS becoming an epidemic if it isn’t one already, and 2) it’s a very obvious issue, “obvious” meaning that it’s something others can simply look around themselves to see. You can’t just look around to pick out the people that may be drinking too much or abusing drugs or doing any number of other risky health-related things, but you CAN do that with obesity, and I think that’s why a lot of people are so hard on individuals who happen to be carrying extra weight.
I don’t know. This may be total BS, but that’s what Ms. Kelly’s blog reminded me of. It also got me quite upset because of the nature of her tone, but I decided not to blog about that to save my blood pressure from spiking.
Anyway.
Today’s song: Heat of the Moment by Asia
October Song Review
Happy Halloween, bitches! It’s music review time!
Graph of genres:
Mean song length: 4:01
The five star: Mediational Field by Susumu Hirasawa
Woohoo, two more months!
Today’s song: I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) by The Proclaimers
More Cheffing
I think I need to start a cooking/recipe blog separate from this, because this is turning into a near-weekly thing, and since I already have promised a science-related blog every week (or so) and I don’t want my blogs to turn into a compilation of themes, it might be necessary to do so.
Anyway.
I was screwing around with “what has been in my fridge for x weeks and is about to expire ‘cause I eat the same things everyday so why do I bother buying anything different?” ingredients and I stumbled upon a few things that make a tasty little appetizer thingy if you ever have people over or are asked to bring food to a party or whatever you social people do.
What you shall need:
- 1 can of Pillsbury Crescents (the “makes 8 crescents” size)
- 3 string cheeses
- 1 tbsp. butter
- Parsley flakes
- Garlic salt
Open the can of crescents, trying to keep them all intact. Roll out and separate the 8 triangles, then ball the triangles up. The “let’s roll this into a ball” step is solely to make the next step easier: cut the balls of dough into to equal halves.
Remove the wrappers from the string cheese and cut each string cheese into 5 pieces. You’ll note the discrepancy between the 16 half-balls of dough and 15 chunks of cheese. Since it’s not worth opening a fourth string cheese and since 15 fits best on the baking pan anyway, either eat the extra chunk of dough raw (tasty!) or just cook it regularly.
Press the cheese chunks into the balls of dough, then mold the dough around the cheese, creating a tight seal where the dough meets itself. You’re going to want a seamless little ball of dough filled with cheese.
Place these balls crease-side up (though they shouldn’t be visible) onto a baking pan. Now you’re going to make the tasty part. In a bowl (or microwave safe measuring cup, in my case), combine the butter, a good sprinkle of parsley, and a half a teaspoon of garlic salt. Microwave until the butter is totally melted, then stir to evenly distribute parsley and garlic salt. Spread this concoction liberally onto the tops of the dough balls.
Now bake according to the instructions on the crescent can (I believe it’s 10 – 12 minutes at 375°). When you take them out, you’ll notice that the crease has now reopened, leaving a nice neat little pool of cheese in the middle of a doughy bowl. Freaking tasty! They’re also good cold.
WOO COOKING!
Today’s song: I Want You to Want Me (Live) by Cheap Trick
Eigenblogger 