The Letters

I have a stack of letters.

As I recieved them, I had kept them in my piano bench. But when the letters stopped, I tied them together with a shoelace and put the stack in a shoebox which I hid away for safe-keeping. And, as awful as it sounds, that's how I handled the friendship as well...

Sometimes I open the shoebox, and admire my little stack of memories. I never open them, never even untie the shoelace, because I am afraid of the guilt that would find me there.

He used to be a good friend. More than a friend actually. For one naive and wonderful month, we experimented on what it meant to have a relationship, as it was new to him, and somewhat new to me. All my relationships before had been long distance and almost imaginary. And they all broke my heart. But this guy, he was tangible. He was more than just a phone call away. He was there.

I remember when we started to call eachother 'sweetheart'. There was something about the word that put my heart at peace and complete bliss. It was being loved. No more second place. It made me first, and special, and wanted. I wanted to hold on to it with both hands and cling to it, no matter what it took. Anything to be called 'sweetheart' one more time....

But I knew I couldn't. When I realized that I was in love with this feeling more than I was in love with him, I broke it off (my parents' disapproval played a big role in this decision also). I broke his heart.

Then came the letters.

They started out as being our secret way of communicating, to go undetected by my parents' radar. At first they were genuine. We talked about what was going on in our lives and the comic in the paper that morning that had reminded me of him. But as time went on, and as my piano bench was beginning to overflow with letters, it turned into a hiding game.

He felt uncomfortable talking to me in person, so he continued to write letters that became more and more meaningless. I always sent one back, even though we both knew our hearts weren't in it anymore.

We finally agreed to stop going through the motions. We would try to just talk in person for now on. But it never was the same as it was last October. We had both changed. And even now, I feel like I don't know him anymore. And that's my fault.

I took all the memories and all the feelings, put them in a stack, tied them together with a shoelace, and hid them away in the outermost part of my brain. Maybe one day I will be brave enough to open them up and relive them. But the fear of the guilt and the longing I will find there is almost overwhelming....

I'm sorry Batman.

Marley Isn't Going to Heaven

Marley and Me, another addition to the legacy of dog movies, was on TV tonight. So, of course we had to watch it.

Everything was going fine until it got to the part when the dog is about to die. My little brother was starting to get emotional. Finally he let it out. "Doggies don't go to Heaven!" And he was tearing up. I was finding this quite amusing. So to make it worse, I said, "Well, at least they don't go to Hell where they belong."

Poor guy was so upset. In the movie, they began to give Marley the lethal injection. My brother was crying, and I was laughing. Perhaps, I was a little too harsh? But I mean, c'mon, he's twelve years old! He should be able to handle it.

I have to admit though, I let a little tear out, too. I'm a sympathetic cryer, and Owen Wilson was really upset. I couldn't help myself.

Chocolate-covered Strawberries

Tonight, I made chocolate-covered strawberries, which I suppose you already guessed.

In a way, I feel like I cheated. I used a premade container full of chocolate that you put in the microwave and stir until it's nice and smooth. Then you dip the strawberries in it, place them on waxpaper, and chill them in the fridge for a few minutes. Voila.

It was called Dolci Frutta, and I would recommend it. It was fast, easy, and yummy So what if it's cheating? They were delicious. Maybe next time I'll do it a smidgy more fancy. I was thinking of making "tuxedo strawberries", or at least getting some white chocolate to drizzle on top next time.

The possibilities are endless.

Animal Hybrid #2

ANIMAL HYBRID MONDAY

Animal Hybrid #2: Dolphin + Deer =

Wouldn't it be fun to ride one of these, or is it just me?

Miki Falls: Spring

Today at the library I was looking for some good manga to read, when I came across a series that I hadn't seen before. It was called Miki Falls. There were four books in the series, named for each season. So, the first book was called Spring. It looked interesting, so I checked it out.

The storyline starts out pretty simple. It starts out with a girl named Miki, who has no interest in boyfriends, opposite of her boy-crazy friend. At the beginning of senior year, she becomes fascinated with the new boy in town, Hiro, who seems to have a lot of secrets to hide. He's a loner, and intentionally pushes everyone away. But Miki's curiosity gets the better of her.

After giving him a gift basket with no satisfying results, she begins to harass him with constant greetings at school, which gives his little loner status a kick in the pants. When he finally confronts her about it, he opens up a smidgy and they become friends.

However, when he begins to feel threatened that his secrets will be uncovered by Miki, he ends the friendship. But don't worry, a heated argument isn't enough to supress her curiosity. She begins to stalk him. She watches his every move, ducking behind crates whenever he glances her way.

Now is when the plot gets a little strange. Going undetected, she starts noticing that he secretly watches different people around town, with no connection to eachother whatsoever. She also notices that there is a pigeon that follows him around as he scrutinizes people and writes down notes (Hiro writes the notes, not the pigeon).

Towards the end, she breaks into his house and finds out his secret. *SPOILER ALERT*

It turns out that Hiro is part of a secret society of celestial beings on a mission to keep love from becoming extinct. I know that sounds a little wacky, but it suprised you. Right?

So, my review: I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. It was a satisfying read and the artwork was very nice. However, for a romance manga with only four books, I was suprised that the actual romance hasn't even appeared. Another thing that I didn't really like was that it wasn't written in the traditional manga style, which is when the book is read from right to left. Of course, this didn't alter the story one bit, but I wish it had been written in that format. One thing that I enjoyed about this book was that it covered fantasy, romance (a little), and a little action-adventure. Overall, it was a good story, and I can't wait to read the next book. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Animal Hybrid #1

WELCOME TO ANIMAL HYBRID MONDAY.

Every Monday, I will share with you an animal hybrid I create. AKA, two animals morphed together. This week's animal hybrid is the....

Meerkat + Alligator = MEERAGATOR!!!

I realized afterwards that I should have named it the "Allikat", because it sounds a lot like "Alley Cat". But unfotunately, the poor thing is going to stay the MEERAGATOR. Sorry..

Making Fondant

A couple months ago, I began experimenting with fondant. It is quite simple, but a good mixer i s needed. Don't even try to do it by hand. Your hand will fall off and explode into a bloody mess.

Fondant

1. In a large bowl, stir together 1 cup shortening and 1 cup light corn syrup.

2. Mix in 1/2 tsp. salt and 1 tsp clear vanilla extract (almond extract can be used instead of vanilla. It is just as delicious).

3. Gradually mix in 2 lbs confectioners' sugar (yeah, it's a lot) or until it is a stiff dough and not sticky.

4. To use, roll out the dough on a clean surface that has been dusted with the sugar until the dough is about 1/8 inch thick or thinner.

5. Drape over frosted and chilled cakes (roll it onto the rolling pin, then roll it out on top of the cake. Don't attempt to just pick it up and put it on there because it will crack) or cut designs out with cookie cutters to put it on cupcakes or cookies. The sky is the limit!

My first time making fondant didn't go exactly smooth. I left in the fridge overnight before I used ut, which made it much harder to roll out. Also, I hadn't figured out that you need to roll it onto the pin to put on the cake, so there were some cracks in the surface, which I tried to cover with piping letters over it. It turned out looking like playdough, but tasted delicious. My friends were very satisfied with the cake.

My second time around with the fondant went much more smoothly. Right after I mixed it into a dough, I put some red food coloring into it and worked the dough with my hands just enough so it was a pink and white tie-dye looking design. Then, I rolled it out and cut circles out of it with a plastic cup. After that, I put them on cupcakes that had been dirty-iced (meaning, iced with frosting so the fondant will stick properly) with buttercream frosting. The result was a delicious batch of yummy, pink cupcakes. (It made a lot more than this, I just used fewer in the picture. Sorry the lighting in the picture is so bad).

So, that is how to make fondant. I am going to experiment more, for sure, and I will let you know what other amazing fondant adventures I have.