The Space Between

You're probably thinking "Oh hey, nice title, this is probably going to be an interesting read and/or deep and thoughtful". Alas, I'm talking about the literal space that lies between the internet router in my parent's house and my own computer. It is a bit too far.

TL;DR (but really. come on.) - I don't have internet on my Mac and I hate using my parent's PC, which is what I'm on now. Which is why y'all don't get pictures of some of the delicious food I made this past week and a half.

SPEAKING OF FOOD, I have been eating well. Veggies and fruits, sugar free things, etc. I do love to bake though, but thank goodness making that slightly healthier has proved to be rather easy. I made strawberry muffins and zucchini bread recently, and the two biggest changes I made were switching unsweetened applesauce for the oil and simply using Splenda instead of sugar. If you do that, though, be sure to put a wee bit less than what it calls for, as Splenda is actually sweeter, so you really don't need to use quite as much.

Another yummy treat I've just tried is "vegan ice cream", which is literally mashed up frozen bananas. I mixed mine with strawberries and blueberries, but apparently it's good with peanut butter and a little cocoa powder as well. Really healthy, really good. And it stores nicely, just like a firm sorbet. My favorite thing I've made so far is probably the roasted cauliflower soup from a few days ago. Roasted in the oven with olive oil and salt and pepper, thrown together with sauteed garlic, onions, and mushrooms in a blender, add milk and cheddar cheese: BOOM. So good.

Let me know if you've got any good, healthy meal or treat ideas! I'm always looking for new things to try.


Music right now: I've revisited Ellie Goulding, which isn't hard, considering her wide array of vocal work with other artists, her covers of great songs, and her own work. Then you've got the remixes of all those. She's definitely grown to be one of my favorites, which is a word I throw around a lot when I talk about music. But then again, what's the problem with having so many favorites?! I'd recommend everything she has ever contributed to, and, as always, have linked you to some examples.
Where bells are concerned, I've been hearing many in the last week, via Sleigh Bells and Broken Bells. Sleigh Bells recently put out Reign of Terror, and it's fabulous. Also? Available to stream on the web site. I've been listening to both their albums on repeat, though they are definitely a band you've got to be in the mood for, I think. They are...unique, to say the least.
Before now, I had only heard about three Broken Bells tracks, but I was calling them amazing. I may have jumped the gun a bit on that assumption, but rightly so. This week I've expanded those three songs to everything else they've ever released, thanks to Spotify (which you need to get if you're in the US). They have a "new" EP out, that has been out for a while, but still worth a listen.

Speaking of James Mercer (vocals for Broken Bells and The Shins), two of my most anticipated album releases coming up are The Shins with "Port of Morrow" coming out on the 20th of March, and Sucre, coming out with their album, "A Minor Bird" on the 10th of April. The Shins haven't put out anything new for over five years, so it's about time! And Sucre is the exciting new band formed by Stacy King (vocals in Eisley), Darren King (drummer in MuteMath), and Jeremy Larson.
I also just got my vinyl and CD of Threads from Now, Now in the mail, so I've been continuing to love that with all my heart.

Movies right now: I'm not sure why I had never seen Dazed and Confused before now, but I hadn't. Thanks to Netflix, I got the chance to last week. Hilarious and great cast. I love movies like that. I've always said it, and I always will: good casting is everything. Speaking of, The Avengers is due to premiere next month, and I'm still bummed about Ed Norton not being re-cast as Bruce Banner. I thought I would be over it by now, but nope. I'll probably continue to be bitter about it for a while.

Also, HUNGER GAMES. Firstly, if you haven't read the first Hunger Games book, don't you dare go see the movie until you've done so. It's an easy, entertaining read, but the book is always going to be better. The only two book-to-screen movies I have ever seen that even come close to being almost the same as the book are both YA novels, but still, the books are better. Oh. Those are Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson and Holes by Louis Sachar. For the record.

Books right now: I'm not reading anything at the moment, but that is probably because Game of Thrones has been staring intimidatingly at me for the past two weeks. It's so big. Until, I get it done, though, I'd rather not start anything else. Unless it's Lies That Chelsea Handler Told Me, which I've yet to obtain.

My younger brother (Michael, 18) read The Fault in Our Stars all in one sitting a few days ago, and when I asked him what he thought of it, he answered, "It's depressing". OBVIOUSLY IT'S DEPRESSING IT'S ABOUT KIDS WITH CANCER. BUT IS THAT SERIOUSLY ALL YOU GOT OUT OF IT. Because it is so much more than that. And really, if you dig deeper and understand it's full meaning, you understand that it's not actually that depressing, all things considered.
And he didn't exactly do that, which is one reason I'm thankful that I read so slowly; I seem to take more in because I constantly think about what I've just read. I give it time, granted, not intentionally.

TV right now: HIMYM and Battlestar Galactica. You most likely wont hear from me again until those are done with. Give me a few weeks. Ha, who are we kidding. Give me five days.
But seriously, with my lack of internet, BG over Netlix has been put on hold until further notice, but I've got the first five seasons of How I Met Your Mother, so all is well on that front.


In other news, I'm about half way through the most recent season (four) of Sons of Anarchy. Let's be real, that show is basically Gossip Girl via motorcycle gangs. Or perhaps 90210, since it's in California. So good.



I hate typing on a PC.

Get Cultured: My most recent musings in music, books, & moving pictures

Music right now: I've been listening to one of my favorite bands, Now, Now, all day long, mostly because they just put out a new album, Threads, a few days ago, but also because it's Sunday, and I like to have calm and easy going Sundays. They set a great tone for the that. (for the record, my favorite songs from Threads are "School Friends", "But I Do", and "Separate Rooms".)

Thanks to Spotify, I've just renewed my love for the band Broken Bells, which is basically a perfect mix of the best bits of The Shins and Gnarles Barkley. As in the singer from The Shins and the guy who isn't C Lo Green made a band and it's amazing.

I almost forgot: Western Walk. Just discovered these guys last week and they're the bomb, yo. You can download most of their stuff for free on their bandcamp which I have most conveniently linked for you.

Movies and TV right now: Last night I discovered that Netflix has Phineas and Ferb. Other than that, I've been into The Secret Circle lately, despite the melodrama and borderline-decent acting. As far as movies go, My top 3 faves (so far!) from 2011 are: The Debt, Win Win, and Crazy Stupid Love. For this year, there are going to be a lot of really awesome looking super hero/comic movies, and one of the films I'm most anticipating is Moonrise Kingdom. I still have a good amount left from 2011 on my "to watch" list. Let me know if you've got any recommendations, I'm always looking!

If you are one of those who has been blessed with the awesome that is Netflix, I highly recommend you watch what will always arguably be my favorite Joss Whedon series to date, Firefly. Only one season was made, unfortunately, but the show has a great fandom following. But the good news is that after the show was canceled, the cast and the fans loved it so much that a movie was made to tie up all loose ends, thus Serenity, which also happens to be the name of the very first episode in the season, so don't get them mixed or you'll be über confused.

Books right now: I haven't been reading a lot lately, which is lame. I love reading. I think I've just realized more lately how long it takes me to read a book. Having ADD, I've found that it is hard to keep focused even when the reading is good, so it takes a while. I've just finished John Green's newest novel, The Fault in Our Stars, and highly recommend it to anyone between the ages of 13 and 107.

In an ongoing process, I've been reading Jane Eyre, but I'm not even half way through after several months of going back to it. I like it, I really do, and I wish people still wrote like they did back then. I'll finish it eventually, and when I do, you'll be the first to know.

The other day I flipped through and read what I'd call a picture book for adults, about modernism illustrator Norman Rockwell. It had a good amount of biographical writing in it, but my favorite bits were the paintings and drawings, and what Rockwell himself commented about them. This was first published back in the 40s when Rockwell was still alive, but it was a nice read nonetheless.

Yesterday I bought a paperback copy of the first Game of Thrones book for 5 bucks, in hopes that I'd finish it and the second one in the series before the second season of the show portrayal airs on HBO in April. I have a feeling it's not going to happen considering my reading pace in comparison to the number of pages in each of Martin's books.

Make sure to read my first entry!