Rain rain go away

When it's rainy and cold out all I want to do is curl up with a good book and drink tea. I loved these teapots I found on Plumo. They are all so beautiful.

As kingfishers catch fire...

Red Bird by Swan Papel

"As Kingfishers Catch Fire, Dragonflies Dráw Fláme"

by Gerard Manley Hopkins

As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies dráw fláme;
As tumbled over rim in roundy wells
Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell’s
Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name;
Each mortal thing does one thing and the same:	5
Deals out that being indoors each one dwells;
Selves—goes itself; myself it speaks and spells,
Crying Whát I do is me: for that I came.
Í say móre: the just man justices;
Kéeps gráce: thát keeps all his goings graces;	10
Acts in God’s eye what in God’s eye he is—
Chríst—for Christ plays in ten thousand places,
Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his
To the Father through the features of men’s faces.

When I studied this poem in school last year, it was the poem I had the hardest time understanding. Ironically it has since become one of my all time favorite poems. Although it is still very difficult for me to understand, I can’t help but love the idea that every object and creature in the universe has a purpose to live out ("finds tongue to fling out broad its name"). Each and every being in the universe ‘selves,’ or enacts its identity. Hopkins idea of inscape represents this divide and unique individual identity that each and every creature possesses. Inside of each of us, our inscape is crying out "Whát I do is me: for that I came." That is beautiful.

Lilacs

Today someone left a jar of lilacs on my porch. I love lilacs. As I sat at my computer trying to focus on my torturously difficult chemistry homework, I was distracted by pleasant smells coming to me from that jar of flowers. Instead of burdening my mind with more quantitative nonsense (it hurts my brain even to talk about it), I thought I'd blog about this lovely jar of flowers. In all honesty I'd probably find a reason to blog about anything if it meant taking a break from homework.

Lovely little things

{via Alicia Bock photography}

I think these pictures are beautiful. I want to be in all of these places...at once. That would be nice.

A family of deer welcomed me home from school today

These three deer were munching on grass in my yard when I pulled into my driveway today. I see deer everyday, but this little family (minus pops) was especially adorable.

A bit of color on a cloudy day

I came across these photographs today and they made me happy. Today has been cloudy and cold, so these photographs brought some much needed color. I found them thanks to The Niletuzun Gallery of Italian Photography. The artists name is Franco Fontana.

Tuna Salsa

I got this recipe for tuna salsa from some Mexican friends of mine. They call it tuna salad, but since I have a different idea of what tuna salad is, I opted for a different name. This recipe I have to say is absolutely delicious and (bonus!) it's super healthy!! I don't have exact measurements, so I just add stuff till it tastes perfect. I will however give approximations of how much I use of each thing. I use this as a dip for fresh vegetables. Ok here are the ingredients.

1 can of tuna drained

1/2 to 3/4 cups of your favorite salsa (preferably a very liquidy one)

a handful of chopped cilantro

a handful of chopped green onions

1/2 to 1 tablespoon of olive oil

lime juice (to taste)

(salt can be added, but I omit the salt because I feel that the tuna is already salty enough)

Blissful monday?

Today as I sat out on my porch overlooking the mountains, I was able to be completely peaceful even in the midst of a typical hectic monday afternoon. Sometimes taking a break from all of the craziness of everyday life can be the most productive thing to do. Often I feel like I'm wasting my time, or I'm being lazy when I'm not constantly doing something. It takes conscious effort for me to sit back and tell myself that it's ok to take a break. Right now I am reading a wonderful book. I'm sure you have heard of it--"Eat, Pray, Love"--yeah it's pretty well known. It is a memoir of sorts by Elizabeth Gilbert. Although the book is not intellectually stimulating per say, it has the ability to transport the reader to far away lands. Yesterday I was in Italy; today I am in India. It is amazing how real everything seems as I sit transfixed by this book. I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for something light to read. I will make one suggestion though. When you are reading the Italy section, have a snack before you start reading. You'll know what I'm taking about should you choose to read the book. Have a wonderful monday! Cheers

Welcome

This blog is dedicated to anything and everything that I see and hear throughout my days that I find beautiful and inspiring--books, music, films, art, miscellaneous treasures, fashion and food. Oh food!! This is perhaps my favorite thing to talk about. I absolutely love food. I love cooking it, I love looking at it and most especially, I love love love eating it! I will be sharing photographs and recipes of many of the things I cook. I eat very healthy, but I refuse to sacrifice the taste of food to the nutritional value, so you can be sure that although this food is healthy, it is in no way unsatisfying. Ok ok, I'm already getting carried away talking about food. That happens a lot. I guess as my first posting and as an introduction to my blog, I would just like to say welcome!!