U= Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies (Old Recipe)

http://www.foodcookingrecipes.net/Ultimate-Chocolate-Chip-Cookies-Old-Recipe-Recipe-10739.htm

3/4 Golden Crisco shortening.
 I don't remember what I was baking, but I was baking something and my mom told me I needed to use shortening. My little brother wanted to help me bake, but just so he could lick the bowl once I was done. he always tries the ingredients, and when he tried the Crisco, he ran to the sink and started downing water. I guess Crisco doesn't taste too good by itself.

1 1/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar.
Recently, I had a couple of my best friends sleep over. We were making cookies, because earlier that day I had found these gingerbread cookie cutouts, but instead of just a normal standing figure they were ninja cookie cutouts. They're so cool, so we just had to make cookies. But my friends and I weren't very smart, so we didn't really pay attention to the directions, just to the ingredients. We just put all the ingredients in a bowl and started mixing. The brown sugar clumps were so hard, the we couldn't really mix the dough. We endind up taking that thing you use to tenderize meat, and hitting the dough with it to get the brown sugar clumps to go away.

1 Egg.
I have always hated eggs. I like sandwiches with egg, cheese and bacon/sausage, but I just can't deal with plain eggs. A couple years back, I started reacting to some foods, so I went to get an allergy test. Turns out, I have a very mild allergy to eggs.

2 tb Milk.
last weekend, I babysat for a two year old named Ryan. He was such a sweet little boy, and really easy to take care of. We were eating dinner, and he started crying though. I asked him what was wrong, and he tried so hard to get the word "milk" out, but he was crying so it took me a little while to figure out what he wanted. Once I figured out he wanted milk, his face immediately lit up. He was so happy when he got his milk that he blew me a kiss. That little boy loves his milk.

2 ts Vanilla.
My little brother bakes with me a lot. One time ehe commented on how good vanilla smells, and he asked what it tastes like because I have always told him not to taste it. Sarcastically, I told him to "chug it". Adam being Adam, poured some onto a spoon, and then ate the whole spoonful of vanilla. He freaked out about how bad it tasted, it was pretty funny. When he asked me why I told him to try it, my response was "You should know when I'm being sarcastic by now Adam."

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour.
One time I was at my friends house, and we were baking cookies. She was way more into baking than I was at the time, and she told me to add an extra half cup of flour. She said it makes the cookies fluffier. I always add extra flour to my chocolate chip cookies now.

1 ts Salt.
One Aprils Fools day, I gave my little brother salt instead of sugar. He was  so mad, but it was just too funny.

1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips.
One time when I was baking chocolate chips cookies, my friend and I thought the recipes said 16 ounces of chocolate chips. In reality, it said 1, 6 oz bag of chocolate chips. Those cookies were literally all chocolate.

1 c coarsely chopped pecans.
I like almonds, so if I'm baking I always use almonds. If the recipe says pecan, sorry but I'm going to use almonds.

Famous Poem Starters

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?"
"... Excuse me?"
"It's Shakespheare."
"Okay.."
"It's a compliment, you know."
"Sure it is."
"It is! It's like this: 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day' and who doesn't like summer? Summer days are those days that we get to lounge around, not a care in the world. Those long days filled with swimming, and bike riding and popsicles and just anything and everything. And the weather, the weather is beautiful. Do you get it now?"
"No, but you're weird, in a kinda cute way."
" 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?' Because you make me feel like a don't have a care in the world, you make me feel like I can do anything and everything, and you're beautiful."
"Wow. Thank you."
"Can I take you out sometime?"
"I'd love that."

Nursery Rhymes ARE Relevant to Life

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~pfa/dreamhouse/nursery/rhymes/dream.html

What did I dream?
I do not know;
The fragments fly like chaff.
Yet strange my mind
Was tickled so,
I cannot help but laugh.

 I day dream, much more than I should. I sit in class, and one word will set me off in my head. The word "hill" will bring me back to camp, and I'll start daydreaming about camp. The phrase "Oh my G-d" will make me start singing "Baltimore Crabs" in my head, and I'll start daydreaming about the musical. Sometimes, I get so into a day dream, that I start smiling or laughing out loud. I love day dreaming- though I know I daydream too much- because I never remember my dreams I have at night. I like to imagine, and daydreaming is how I let my mind wander and imagine. It may never actually happen, but seeing all this stuff happen in my head is pretty cool.

              

                    

I don't have a good voice.

When I sing alone, I get scared.

My heart races, and my voice shakes.

I love singing though.

I love choir, I love being in musicals.

My auditions are always awful.

Freshman year, was Phantom of the Opera.

My voice shook, cracked, squeaked, and I forgot the words.

Of the most embarrassing moments for me.

I came out of that audition holding back tears.

I knew I wouldn't make the show.

I still had dance auditions the next week.

I didn't want to go.

But I did.

And I gave it my all.

I decided that I would make sure no one thought I had no talent.

I was going to dance, and I was going to dance well.

And I did.

Next week, the call-back list was up.

I wasn't on it.

I knew I wasn't in the show.

I was so disappointed in myself.

My singing audition went so badly.

At the end of the week, the cast list was put up. 

I almost didn't go to look at it- I knew the waterworks would come when my name wasn't there.

I skimmed through the leads, sure I wasn't there.

Next, the ensemble.

If my name wasn't there, I didn't make it.

My name was missing.

Tears were coming, I could feel it.

But then I saw another section-

A list of dancers.

And there I was.

My singing audition was absolutely awful.

But I gave my dancing audition my all.

It paid off.

being in the musical has done so much for me.

It gave me confidence in my dancing.

It gave me friends, that became family.

It gave me teachers that I'm close with, and I can trust.

And it even made me a little comfortable with my singing voice.

Amanda Talar

http://blog.timesunion.com/amanda/a-real-superpower/23417/

http://blog.timesunion.com/amanda/this-is-gonna-be-good/2/

Amanda Talar is a young women who is "a (late) twenty-something" writing blogs for the Times Union. She was helped out by Kristi Gustafson Barlette, as she says she's a "product of On The Edge", Gustafson Barlettes blog. Talar can "find humor in almost anything", and does so in her blog. The article I read by Talar was entitled "A Real Superpower". This is such a sweet article, it makes you want to smile. It's about love. Talar grew up with a single mother, so she never saw her parents being affectionate with each other. "I found myself observing friends' parents, other family members, boyfriends parents etc.- often taking notes on what I would/wouldn't want for myself." Talar is fascinated by love. She still finds herself watching couples she sees out in public- which I can relate to, because I do the same sometimes. "I've literally got your back, simple and true love. Now that's a magical power." The way Talar worded that is great, because it gives a whole new meaning to "I've got your back". It's not just about helping friends in need, it's about supporting the one you love- which is a fantastic lesson that I took from this article.

NYT Tuesday

A contemporary mind to create,
To rebel- passion in an artistic philosophy.
A Ballet.

Who had raw energy, and style?

Decades of committed dancers, interpreting a tradition.

Popular culture, symbolic of the favorite works.
Atmosphere of love, passion, musicality, and understanding.
New and open, an extraordinary past leaves for a tremendous present.
A Ballet, with the dancers split evenly- the symbolic reflection of the past or the stunning strengths of the present?

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/04/arts/dance/lourdes-lopez-to-succeed-edward-villella-in-dance-company.html?_r=1&ref=arts