testing out a new app.

I just downloaded blogger droid for my phone. I have not been able to find a good app for mobile blogging. This one seems to be good because I am able post photos.

I'm excited. I think I have only scratched the surface of my phone's potential.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

I'm going to punch you in the face. *raises threatening fist*

Facebook and people's behavior on social networking sites never ceases to fascinate me. I want to discuss this strange form of communication that I have recently observed. Maybe I'm the only who finds it fascinating, but I'll tell you anyway. People are describing their physical reaction on their status updates as if we (the readers) need the description in order to fully understand the meaning of the post. I understand why people would want to attempt to describe their physical reactions and actions because tone can be difficult to read in a status update or tweet. I have had experiences where my sarcasm is not always read on Facebook and it did not end well. 

Perhaps you have come across this yourself. The description is written after or in between asterisks (*). For example, one would write, "I can't believe my boyfriend just kicked a puppy, *gasp*" or "omg. this club is lame and some lame guy is trying to hit on me *rolls eyes*" or "I'm so mad *stomps foot*." You get the point.

The language on social networking sites (particularly Facebook) is constantly being developed and built upon. Who comes up this stuff? Who decided that initialisms like ROFL (Rolling on the Floor Laughing) or SMH (Shaking my Head) should be used? Slang words are usually conceived by rappers, but who conceives Facebook lingo? Who decided that we should describe our physical actions in-between asterisks? I understand the occasional *sigh* or *grrrr* but add that to emoticons and initialisms and what we have is an entirely new language. The thing about language is that it is much more than just a set of words with definitions. Language carries a history and an entire culture and we use language to communicate and exchange knowledge. I am a big believer in that there should never be a set body of knowledge. Knowledge should constantly be challenged, changed and built upon and I guess one could argue that initialisms and asterisks on Facebook can be seen as contributing to the current body of knowledge. I find that a little disconcerting. We are throwing away full sentences and phrases and we are using silly descriptions like *smiles* and *hugs* to mimic face-to-face interaction without the intimacy of physically interacting with a human being. Mimicry is superficial and if we choose to only communicate on social networking sites, I believe that those relationships therefore, are superficial. 

As a student of Communication, I cannot help but wonder what linguists like Ferdinand de Saussure or Roland Barthes would say about how we currently communicate on Facebook. Perhaps it would look something like this:

"OMG. I can't believe how people communicate on here. It makes me so mad *grinds teeth.* People keep coming up with new acronyms and initialisms I am so confused @_@. Also, why do people feel like they need to tell me when they are hungry or sleepy? I don't care *rolls eyes.* I fear for the well-being of society because these are our future leaders. SMH. That is it. I'm quitting #facebook :P."

(P.S. This post is the result of too much caffeine and too much Facebooking.)

California Stormy Night with Banana Cupcakes

On this stormy night*, I baked Banana-Walnut Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting. I have been baking my way through Martha Stewart's 100 Cupcakes book and this I believe is cupcake #6. I have a long way to go. M-Stew's recipe is actually Banana Pecan cupcakes, but I didn't have pecans and I didn't want to make caramel butter frosting.

I think this may be my favorite cupcake so far, although they are a lot like muffins. I don't know when M-Stew came up with these recipes, but I like to think she did them when she was in the slammer. White collar slammer where I'm sure she made someone her bitch.

Here's the recipe for M-Stew's Banana Pecan Cupcakes with Buttercream Caramel Frosting.
(I substituted a couple of things because it's what I had on hand. Instead of pecan, I used walnuts, instead of buttermilk I used heavy whipping cream, instead of caramel frosting I made vanilla).

*By the way, when I say storm, I mean "California storm." No snow, no typhoons or hurricanes. Just a lot of rain and some wind.

It's been said many times, many ways... Merry Christmas

I hope your Christmas was just as enjoyable as mine was. I love Christmas, but I am glad it's over.
No more pressure for shopping for the perfect gift at crowded malls in suburbian hell.
No more stuffing your face with cookies and candy cane.
No more wrapping gifts.
No more trying to figure out if you were fair in your gift-giving this year.
Best of all, no more annoying commercials where the husband gives the wife some hideous, but expensive piece of heart jewelry or surprises her with a Lexus. No one does that in real life (wealthy people do not count as "real"). Commercials like that are a disservice to men and perpetuates the myth that women should be showered with extravagant gifts. This is a topic worthy of a separate post, but in a nutshell, those commercials are destroying society.

Not to sound like a complete Grinch or bitch, whichever you prefer, there are a couple of things that annoy me about how people behave during Christmas, or rather, how people are expected to behave. Why do we have to be extra nice during Christmas time or extra generous? Why can't we show that kind of compassion all year? Why can't people be cheery, giving and helpful all year round rather than emphasizing it to the point of annoyance during Christmas?

Anyway, Merry Christmas from my brady-bunch-esque family to yours.



This Christmas was very exciting for us because we have a new member of our family, my baby nephew Maxwell. Here he is at 3 weeks old on Christmas Day. He belongs to my stepbrother and his wife.

While we were having dinner, the baby starts crying and in the words of my sister, "He needs to learn how to be ignored."

He is going to look adorable in my Christmas gift. I got this onesie at a store in Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco and it was either this, a onesie with Bob Marley, one with tie-dye and I'm pretty sure I saw one with a marijuana leaf. Besides, the Beatles was a no brainer and it's official Beatles merchandise.

p.s. I kind of want to know what it's like to become a huge cultural icon that my my image and name is reproduced and printed on t-shirts and onesies. I could be like Che. 

about me

I started this blog to document random thoughts, rants, ideas, experiments, cooking, things I love and everything else you can think of. Some of these posts I write when I am in the most wonderful mood, irritated mood or really self-loathing. So, like myself, these posts are probably seem neurotic and I'm putting them out on the Internet. Enjoy the ride.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to post them on this blog or email me: aquino.sarah@gmail.com. I will respond if I can unless you are writing me a death threat, in that case, I will call the cops.

Cooking for One and Breakfast Tacos for Dinner

Do you ever notice other single people at the grocery store? Perhaps being single has made me aware of other singles while grocery shopping. The contents of their cart are a pretty good giveaway. If someone has piles of frozen dinners, fruit, veggies and meat for only a serving for one or two, that person is likely single. However, there are exceptions. My friend Molly, who even in her single days grocery shopped for a family of 6. I am the single shopper and unfortunately for me, this world is not meant for single people. It is harder for singles to purchase a home, raise or adopt a child, take vacations or do a lot of other things including cooking. Recipes are never made to serve just one person (or even two). Recipes are often for servings of 4 or more. My dilemma is when I cook, I always end up with too much leftovers I don't want to eat for the rest of the week. Cooking becomes too costly and too much of a hassle. So, what's a single girl to do? Are we doomed to night after night of take-out? Are we destined to live a life deprived of a home cooked meal?

I happen to like cooking especially in the winter time. I am not sure why. Perhaps it's because I'm stuck inside or I feel lonely during the holidays and cooking seems to fill some void or I am just more hungry. Luckily, when I bake, I have co-workers who will eat whatever crap I put in our break room. I actually find a lot of joy in baking for my coworkers but I can't really do that for regular meals. With that said, on behalf of the single shopper and the single cook, I am on a mission to find ways to cook for one.

Tonight, I had this brilliant idea that I would make my own tortillas, specifically Texas style. I have heard about breakfast tacos from coworkers and other people I've come across who live or have lived in Texas and breakfast tacos are suppose to be the best thing ever. The key to the tacos are the Texas-style tortillas because they are not like the thin tortillas you find at the store. I found a recipe from this blog called the Homesick Texan. I thought making your own breakfast tacos is good for cooking for one because you can make small amounts of the filling.

Here's the recipe for the Texas-style Flour Tortillas:

2 Cups of All-Purpose Flour
1.5 Tsp of baking powder
1 Tsp of salt
2 Tsp of vegetable oil
3/4 cups of warm milk

Mix together the dry ingredients and oil. Slowly add the warm milk.

Mix until you get a ball of dough. Knead the dough for about two minutes on a floured surface. Cover the dough with a damp cloth for 20 minutes. During this time, you can make the filling, grab a beer, pour yourself a glass of wine or Facebook.

For my filling, I put scrambled eggs, with chorizo, onions, bell peppers and potatoes (I just bought the frozen hash brown potatoes).

After 20 minutes, take the ball of dough and divide it into 8 even pieces. It helps when you roll out the dough into a long piece. Also, if the dough is too dry, put a little vegetable shortening on your fingers. That will help moisten the dough.

Roll the pieces into little balls and put them on a tray (make sure they aren't touching) and cover with a damp cloth. Let sit for 10 minutes.

For the moment of truth: Roll out the pieces to about 8 inches in diameter. For some reason I could not for the life of me roll them out thin enough and I can't roll them out to a perfect circle. 

Cook each side for about 30 seconds.

The result for my tortillas were more thick and like pita bread but tasted okay. The filling topped with salsa in the tortilla made for a really good dinner. Also, because breakfast for dinner is my favorite.

P.S. After writing this post, I just realized what I did wrong with the dough. I used baking soda instead of powder. I am not sure what difference that makes, but the next time I make these, I'm going with the baking powder and see how that changes things.

Day 30: The End

I've reached Day 30 of this photo project and I have enjoyed thinking up photos to post daily.
Thirty days does not seem very long, but when I think about when I first started this project and today, a lot has happened and a lot has changed. Some of the changes have been good, some I'm not so sure about, but I like to think change is overall good.

The great news is the semester is over and I no longer have classes to attend. For the first time since I started grad school so many semesters ago, I see an end. I'm thrilled but I'm also a little sad about it.

Now that I'm not in school, I am left with more free time than I expected and I have absolutely no idea what to do with myself, I even sorted through stacks and stacks of mail. I no longer have a good excuse to put off cleaning or organizing.

I'm hoping this stack of magazines and my Netflix queue will hold me over for a while.

(That Rolling Stone Magazine is from May.)

I know what you're thinking. I need to either a.) get a boyfriend b.) more friends or c.) get a pet. At least that's what I would I think if I saw this post on someone else's blog.

(p.s. I actually took longer than 30 days to complete this project due to my slacking off, but that's just a minor detail.)

Day 29: Keeping Warm

Me in full form when I am watching something online, facebooking, g-chatting or any other activity in front of the computer at home.

In a hoodie, a scarf and a blanket. My pj's are stuffed in my socks. It's cold. I'm cheap. It cost too much to make my house nice and toasty. I want to sleep with my scarf on but I'm too scared I might get strangled.

I should get a ski mask.

Day 28: Piano

Of all the days I hated when my mom made me practice the piano, I really wish I had one now. Playing the piano makes me forget about everything. Now when I feel like I want to forget about stuff and escape for a bit I bake or cook. I wish I were one of those people who liked to go for a run to clear their head or some other form of exercise. That would be awesome because then I'd purposely try to have problems, then I'd work out all the time and get smokin' hot.

This is not my piano. This is a really old piano that sits in the house next to my dad's church. A lot of the keys don't even work. My niece took this photo.

I used to think playing the piano was so nerdy and I'd try to hide it from my friends. I couldn't let it ruin my gangster image in junior high. Westside 'til I die.