Heaven?

Dear Readers,

So if you dim wits haven't gotten the memo I moved. To Chicago. I am in college now. Well not really college culinary school.
I only have 4 hours of class a day so I have a lot of extra time. Yesterday to pass the time I went out for a walk and found my new place in the entire world. Guess where it is!!
No it's not outside. Natures nice, but bugs suck and allergies are awful.
No it's not the huge McDonald's done the street because that would be to American.
No it's not the super awesome park with all the sculptures in it because that is a really far walk.
No it's not the kitchen because I am a women you sexist pig.
Okay are you out of goes dumb ass?
Its a book store!!!! If you haven't read my other blogs first of all you are retarded and second of all get on it. I have a very successful book blog, so that means I like reading. I have always liked store like Barnes and Nobles. Place where you can be surrounded by books, even the shitty ones. But the problem with Barnes and Nobles is it's expensive. I have bills to pay now. I have food to buy, so Barnes and Nobles doesn't fit in my budget.
My new favorite place is a used bookstore. The books are like 2 dollars for a paperback and 6 dollars for a hardcover. But the cheapness is not the best part. This book store is non-profit. All of the money they make they use to promote literacy in the Chicago area. Cool, right!?!?!? They have many programs for all ages. Mostly I think the children's programs are really cool because childhood is one time when reading is very important.
Besides being super cheap and really cool, the inside of the bookstore is exactly the place I would want to spend all of my time. There are old looking couches for costumers to lounge on.  All of the shelves are miss matchy and painted different colors. Stacks of books are scattered on the floor. Hidden jems are in every corner. It is absolutely perfect.
I was a little weary of finding places I like here, but now I have found heaven. I have found someone who took the paradise in my head and made it real. I am a soooooooooo fucking excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is easy to say that the volunteers there will be seeing a lot of me!
So I will leave you with this dear readers. Granted my new favorite place is not a library I feel this quote fits!
"I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library."
- Jorge Luis Borges, "Poema de los Dones"
Lindsey 

Couch Potato

So recently I have been watch a lot of television. With a lot of television comes a lot of commercials. I am going to share a few of my favorite commercials with you now.

So those are just a few, but they are great! They make me lol every time I see them. Remember to eat like that guy you know and live life by my rules. Enjoy them damn it!
Lindsey

A Little Science Lesson For You

Dear Readers,

My interweb has been broken for about a week. After a 43 minute long conversation with the Dell support people somewhere over in India it is now working!! Three cheers for Indian Call Center!!!
One week of college down! Woop Woo!! I am feeling quite studious, so it is time for a little chemistry lesson.
Incase you didn't know or you were dropped on your head as a child, baking is a science. It requires exact measurements so the correct chemical reactions happen. Without science bread would rise, cake would not have the wonderful spongy texture, and basically everything in the baking would would fall apart.

Well my first class in culinary school is a certification and basic culinary skills class. My chef is trying to encompass some of the science of baking, but he doesn't do very well... Now I am not an expert on chemistry, but I do remember quite a bit from my junior year chemistry class (thank you Mr. DZ!). My chef started talking about the pH scale and I knew some of what he was saying was incorrect so I did some resource on the blogosphere. Let hop onto the magic school bus and take a trip to science land!
So to the left is a wonderful diagram of the pH scale. The pH scale measures acidity and alkalinity. Most people know what acidity is. It tastes sour like lemons, sour patch kids, or war heads. That is common sense... or at least hopefully. The lower numbers on the pH scale represent higher acidity. Higher acid can burn through counters and shit.
7 on the pH scale is neutral. It wouldn't hurt you or anything for that matter. Water is normally a 7 or around there.
Higher numbers on the pH scale is know as basic. As the number increases the alkalinity increases and things become more basic. Soap is basic. Lye and ammonia are basic. Bases taste bitter. If you are bad child and a curse words has passed your pretty lips (unlike me) your mother might have washed your mother out with soap. If that is you, then you know what a base tastes like.
In baking and cooking you need to balance flavors. There are 5 basic flavors. Bitter. Umami. Salty. Sweet. Sour. I have no idea what the hell umami actually tastes like so don't ask. But as you can see the different pH has a different affect on food and its flavor.
Baking is a science. Don't forget that dumb ass. Live life by lindsey's rules and by the rules of science.
Lindsey

CHICAGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dear Readers,

Woop Woo!!!!!
I am moved!!
I am sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chicago!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Incase you didn't get this from all of the extended words and exclamation points I am really excited to be in Chicago.
So all I wanted to tell you is that I am in Chicago!
Lindsey

The Peculiar Sadness of One-Upmanship Cooknies

Dear Readers,

This leaving thing weird. I leave for college in two days. And don't get me wrong I am SUPER excited to blow this Popsicle stand and move onto bigger and better things, but while eating some delicious One-Upmanish Cooknies with a few friends I hardly see I realized how much I will miss these people. No doubt I think they are stupid and no doubt that there are days when I hate all of my friends, but I will miss hating them. I will miss these people.
The first of my friends to leave left on Thursday. I went to say goodbye in the morning, and it took me almost all I had not to break into tears. Now I am normally not the most sappy sentimental person, but there are a few things that get me. Between leaving friends and the end of You've Got Mail I believe I have cried enough tears to last my life time. And then after the first heart break I didn't get a break my next friend left Friday. I watched the end of a japanimation series with him on Thursday night, and it hit me that I won't see these people till Christmas. Four months...
It's not like I won't make new friends, but it is weird that these people I have seen everyday for four years will not be in my life anymore. Weird....
So between the continual goodbyes, late night eating feast, and working I haven't had much time to think. And now this no so busy late night is throwing me off. I am looking back at this last week, this last year actually and thinking about all of the new friends I made, fun times I enjoyed, and all of the times I have hated the world.
Oh the cosmic bitches, who ate lunch with me almost everyday. I love you girls and I hope that we never lose touch because you guys complete me.
There are all of the boiz that I hung out with this year. No mother none of them are my boyfriend. Yes were are friends and they are boys. Enough said.
There was the whirlwind of lasts. Last band competition, the last high play performance, the last year in speech, the last All-State, the last Tulip Festival, the last parade, the last Dutch Dozen performance. The last day of school. The last time I will see many people I graduated with. The last day of work at the pool and library. The last... So many lasts.
But lets not forget all of the fun. The leaving for lunch, the many many study halls, my new friends at landsmeer and the bakery, the choir trip, the desert dust storm in Iowa, the mass amount of books, the new laptops, prom, after prom, Perkins, bonfires, swimming after hours, concerts, iced coffee late at night, many poor decisions, many good decisions, shopping with boys, starting my blogs, graduating, deciding on college. So many good things.
Even the bad things now somehow seem good. Somehow all of the years drama seems to wash away while sitting on the couch late at night. Everything seems good, and hopefully it will be.
If I had a glass I would raise it, but since I am not of age and it is like midnight I have nothing to raise. As I lift my empty hand into the air I toast to all of the success and unsuccess that I have had over this wonderful year. I toast to the friends I have lost and the friends I have made. I toast to the books I have read and the recipes I have tried. I toast to every post I have made. I toast to every hateful thought I have had. I toast to every hope/dream I have had. I toast to the future friends I am going to make. I toast to all of the fun times and and times I will have. I toast to the bittersweetness of leaving. I toast to the peculiar sadness of One-Upmanish Cooknies. I toast to LIFE.
Lindsey

Fun. Adventures With Train

Dear Readers,

Normally I don't do anything on Friday nights. My life has been constricted to the pool and books, but last night I actually had some fun.
It is Sanford Employee Appreciation week (so if you are a Sanford Employee I really appreciate you), and they were having a free concert for the employees to appreciate them. My mother is a very appreciated employee so she received four free tickets to the concert. My mother gave the tickets to me so I could go with a few friends and I jumped on the opportunity because Train was playing. 
Oh Train. I have heard there music that is on the radio or in movies, so I was looking forward to hearing some new songs live. Well that didn't happen because it decided to rain. Let me give you a run down of the whole night and you will laugh at my very Fun. adventure.
My friend Virginia was driving. She came to pick me up from the pool cause I was working. Then we went to get my other friends, then we went on our way to Sioux Falls because that is where the concert was. While driving we started talking about the new song Whistle by the asshole Flo Rida, and the next song that played on the radio was Whistle. That was just the start of many coincidences.
My mother had so kindly printed out  map for us to follow, but we didn't go the same route so when we got to the city we were very confused. Thank the goodness for my new smart phone because otherwise we would not have gotten there. Once there we parked the car and had to shut off the radio in the middle of a song we wanted to listen to, but we wanted to get over the stage before Train played. While walking over we crack a few jokes about how the concert won't be Fun. (like the band Fun.) because its Train. Some crappy opening band was playing when we arrived. By some miracle the sucky band said there were only going to play one more song before Train came on because some bad weather was brewing and they wanted us to see and actually good band (I am not sure if Train falls into that category).
Train comes on and starts playing. They started with 50 Ways to Say Goodbye or something like that. I already mentioned that I was with some named Virginia. Well Train has a song called Meet Virginia, which is like super old and hardly known. But amazingly they played it, and Virginia started freaking out. After a few more songs, they announced they were doing 3 more songs because of the storms coming. Drops of Jupiter, Hey Soul Sister, and Drive By were my guesses and I pegged them all! So the best coincidence/cosmic fate/weird thing of the night was at the end of Hey Soul Sister they started playing part of We Are Young by Fun. All of our mouths were so wide upon in shock that a tiny army of toy soldiers could have marched out. It was crazy because we had just been joking about how the concert was not Fun. It was crazy.
So after the three more songs we all left. While waiting to pull out the car next to was listening to the same station as us, so we jammed out with some complete strangers. Right after we pulled out of the parking lot a down pour started. We got on to the Interstate. We were all kind of freaking out, but it turned out okay. We didn't die. The storm eventually stopped.
To keep ourselves awake because we were off the adrenaline high from the storm we stopped for some coffee at McDonald's. The McDonald's was a FANCY McDonald's. It was legit!! Super fancy! I bet the even had Fancy Ketchup.  But McDonald's coffee is shit. It tastes like syrup, so don't get coffee when you go there. Stick to the pretend healthy smoothies.
After all of that we finally made it home. Everything turned out just peachy. It turned out to be Fun.
Lindsey

The Strange Thing About Late Night Revelations

Dear Readers,

So you know when you just can't sleep. Your mind just refuses to rest. Its about 1:30 in the morning and your just about sick of being awake.
But then something happens. You have a late night revelation. Your mind jumps, and you find yourself wide awake again and ready to think in a deep philosophical way. Normally songs spark my late night thinking sessions. But it could be anything. Don't lie to me dear readers this has happened to all of us. We have all had those moments late at night were we feel like geniuses. We have all wanted to world to know our late night ramblings. Or am I alone in this...
I am hopefully not alone. Doesn't everyone feel like the they are the shit, the bee's knees, the cats pajamas, all that and a bag of chips, the best thing since sliced bread at least once in their life.
Well if you haven't felt this way, you have the right too!
A little bit of confidence busting in good for the soul, just like fired chicken and chocolate. Sometimes your ego needs a little stoking. Maybe staying up late and feeling like you know everything is what you need. Maybe its winning an argument. Maybe its doing what you want when you want to. Maybe its breaking small rules that make you feel like a bad ass. Maybe its finally deciding that you don't give a shit what others think of you. Whatever it is find your late night revelations. Stroke your ego. Maybe someone will call you stuck up, but hey you need it. Just like you need fired chicken, bacon, chocolate, grape koolaid in the living room, rap music, late night revelations, and a good ego stroking. You deserve this. So tonight dear readers not only am I the bee's knee but you are too.
Lindsey