This week I decided to get an Education (well, more of one, anyway)...

     When I started this blog, one of the things I really wanted to do was to take a class in something I knew nothing about.  Well it just so happens, that last week the AACC course catalog book came and gave me lots of ideas.  So instead of taking 1 class, I'm taking 3!  As some of you know, I've been pondering a career change (for about forever!).  And lately I've gotten really interested in Non-profit organizations.  My goal was to always have a job that helped people.  In my current situation, (when I'm actually working) I don't feel that I do much more than make them money.  Don't get me wrong, Money is a GOOD thing! (coming from someone who likes to shop as much as I do : ) But I'm not making a difference.  So I started looking into Non-profits which I always knew about, but I never knew about the opportunities that were available with them.  And I really like what I see!  So when I received the course catalog, I couldn't resist the course called "Careers with Nonprofits".  This is supposed to be a panel discussion on "the various careers available in nonprofit organizations".  I'm hoping that someone with a Nonprofit currently, will meet me and decide that I am the perfect person to hire right there on the spot! But if that doesn't happen, at least I'll know what I'm looking for. And the really cool thing is that in looking at the courses AACC offers, I realized that they also have a certificate program in Nonprofit leadership.  So if I do like what I see, I might be able to go into the certificate program, which should really help my chances.
     The next 2 classes I decided to take were purely for fun.  However, they are still in subjects I know nothing about.  The first one is "Secrets of Better Photography". I like taking pictures (just ask my friends, they kinda hate me sometimes : ) but I know nothing about taking a proper photograph.  This class was partially a fun thing for me to take and partially a way to get into the class I really want to take. (It's a pre-requisite for "Travel Photography").  The last class is "Travel Writing".  So I fgure this class paired with the Travel Photos class will get me that "Bourdain-esque" job with the Travel channel and allow me to travel around the world eating amazing food on someone else's dime : ) (That is if the Nonprofit class doesn't get me an amazing job first ; )  The classes don't start until February and March so I can't share how they were until then.  But when I start them I promise to give updates on how they are going. 
     This week I also took the chance to actually read a "Classic" for actual fun (instead of perusing it for a class).  I may be a little odd but I have a fascination with a British author/commentator/actor/comedian/all around good person Stephen Fry.  (He also has a job that allows him to travel around the world on someone else's dime so you can see why I like him : ) He's spoken a great deal about his love of words.  That love of words drew him to Oscar Wilde so I decided if it was good enough for him, it was good enough for me.  So I'm currently reading "The Importance of Being Earnest".  And it's actually quite funny.  Not nearly as hard to read as other "classics" I've attempted to read (Chaucer I'm looking at you ; ).  I haven't finished it yet but I'm looking forward to doing so. Can't wait to see how it ends.  If anyone else has any classics  that they think I'd like let me know.  I'm always looking for a good book to read.  However, next up on my reading list is apparently "A Thousand Splendid Suns", courtesy of Jen, who I believe is using this new adventure of mine to torture me every chance she gets!

Happy Thanksgiving! 

This week I was slightly boring...

When I started this, I wanted to do something new and scary every week.  However, I have found that scary things take lots of planning (at least they do in my world) so this week I've settled for a few little new things.  They are slightly boring but they were new so I figured they'd apply to the blog.

The first thing I did was to watch Toy Story 3.  Yes in my world this is a new and (kinda) scary thing.  For those of you who don't know, I HATE sad movies.  If I think there will be a sad part in a movie, I avoid it at all costs. A list of the movies I've never seen: "Titanic", "Beaches",  Any movie ever made from a Nicholas Sparks book, I've never even read a Nicholas Sparks book for the same reason, and "Fried Green Tomatoes".  All classics, all apt to make me cry like a baby, so all avoided.  I've been dying to see "Up" for the last year, but I heard that the first 10 minutes could reduce you to a blubbering mess, so I've avoided it ever since.  That would be the case with "Toy Story 3".  I had heard that it's sad and I had heard that friends had cried during certain parts, not just one part but multiple parts. (This is just not acceptable in the Kristen Rules of Movie Watching)  Of course it's a Pixar movie, so I assumed that it wouldn't be TOO sad but even so, I wasn't going to see it.
But...I have a friend that decided that it was about the best thing ever! (She literally ooh'ed and ahh'ed throughout the movie, which is quite out of character : ) So she decided that she was going to force me to watch it, which is what she did.  I thought that I had an out when I remembered that my DVD player didn't really work but (how lucky!) she had brought her laptop for this very reason.

I must admit, being the person that I am (I can cry at the drop of a hat: a Hallmark commercial can make me tear up), I was impressed by the movie, and (miracle of miracles) I didn't cry.  It was a little sad towards the end (I promised myself I wouldn't ruin the ending for anyone who didn't have Jen to force them to watch it : ) but I resisted the urge to cry and actually enjoyed it!  It was quite cute, but of course, all Pixar movies are. (Except "Cars", I just don't get "Cars")  The best part of seeing the movie was that I have now earned the right to force my dear friend to watch any movie I so choose. "Gnomeo and Juliet" here we come! If you haven't heard of this movie yet, it's a modern retelling of (you guessed it!) Romeo and Juliet as performed by (Right, again!) CGI gnomes.  It's sure to make my English teacher friend faint of heart.  So, of course, it is the perfect revenge for making me break my cardinal rule of movie-dom! : )

After the movie, I did what I had planned on doing this week as well.  I like to think of myself as a crafty kind of person.  I like all things scrapbooking, as well as all kinds of DIY projects.  One of my "bibles" when it comes to these projects is "Scrapbooks, Etc." It's a magazine about all things paper crafting. (Obviously!)  Well, I read on Facebook this week that they were looking for submissions of holiday cards for their website.  So I decided to send one of mine in.  Here is what I sent:

The great thing about this was that I got to have my artwork where others would see and if I win the contest, I could win $100 worth of scrapbooking goodies.  (Which is always a good thing!)

Lastly, it wasn't planned, and it certainly wasn't my doing but I also got to try liver this week, thanks to my liver loving mother...All I can say is, YUCK! Why anyone would choose to eat liver is completely and utterly beyond me!  But I did it and it was DEFINITELY scary, so I thought I'd include it : )

Well that was the extent of my adventure for the week.  Like I said it was quite boring, but it was something new, so that felt good!  If you'd like to read about more exciting adventures next week, please oh please, give me some ideas in the comments.  It's quite sad but I've sort of hit a road block...It could be the mounds of Christmas projects that I'm working on but my creativity well has run dry!  So please, give me a hand, and I promise to live a more exciting life next week : )

This week I conquered my Inner Bourdain...

Before you ask I didn't eat the insides of any rare animal on the streets of Tokyo, as Tony would.  Nope, I went much smaller than that.  I finally tried Sushi after years of saying I wouldn't.  Let me just say that I am not a fish person.  At the risk of sounding like an idiot, fish is just TOO fishy!  If it tastes like fish, I want nothing to do with it.  I'm going to go out on a limb and even say that I'm not even too fond of Crabs (which, as a Marylander, is sacreligous).  But I vowed to do something scary and unexpected, so that's what I did.  I have friends that like it so I relied on them to steer me in the right direction.  I had absolutely no idea about sushi and had no idea what to expect.  But lucky for me, others have a more refined palate than I do so I had an in : )

As you can see there are two pictures of the sushi that I tried.  I decided to approach this scientifically and actually tried it at two different restaurants (Actually I just had 2 friends that wanted to try something scary with me so that's what I did : )  As a newbie to sushi I was told I was to try "Maki" first which apparently means that the fish (or seafood in this case) is not raw.  It's actually cooked.  In a complete coincidence, both friends chose the exact same 2 maki rolls for me to try so it all worked out quite scientifically, if I do say so myself)  The first I tried was the Classic California Roll.  It contained imitation crabmeat, avocado, cucumber, rice and seaweed.  Second was the Tempura Shrimp Roll.  This contained tempura shrimp (obviously : ) seaweed, rice and I believe something else but I'm blanking on what.  Also on each plate, there was pickled ginger, and wasabi.  I chose not even to attempt either of these things, because: a: I had already conquered my scary thing for the week (sushi) and b: As a foodie I stil have no idea what "wasabi" is or what would would possess someone to pickle ginger!

I must admit that as a Chinese food fan, I'm completely clueless as how to use chopsticks.  This was a problem seeing as you're not supposed to use a fork or your fingers with sushi.  I will not go so far as to say that after this experience I am "chopstick fluent" but I did get by which is more than I've ever done before).

Conclusions:

After my intial reactions ("Wow, that shrimp still has it's tail on!"), we began to dig in.  I learned that the protocol for eating sushi is to pick it up with the chopsticks (easier said than done), dip it into soy sauce and pop the whole thing in your mouth in one fell swoop (contrary to all rules of etiquette that I've ever learned, but that's beisde the point : ) I started with the California Roll.  The imitation crabmeat made it quite salty so dipping it into the soy sauce made it overly salty.  But it wasn't bad.  I chose to finish eating it with no soy sauce, contray to the rules.  Then I tried the Tempura Shrimp roll. This one was quite good.  The shrimp wasn't salty, so the soy added the perfect amount of flavor.  It was quite larger than the other roll, so it's quite a bit harder to pop the whole thing in your mouth , but I got by.  All in all, it wasn't a bad introduction to sushi.  I came to the conclusion that it was good and not nearly as scary as I thought it was going to be.  However, I ate quite tame things so I may not have been as happy if my friends had chosen octopus and sea urchin for me.  I still don't quite understand how it's eaten as a full meal.  When we had polished it off, I was ready for some friend rice or at the very least; dessert.  All in all, if you were to ask me out for sushi tomorrow, I'd be sure to verify that the restaurant had other food too, so I didn't go hungry : ) but I'd still eat some, just to be sociable.

Next up:  Who knows?