Muffin Bokeh

I've had some less-than-great news. The job I was being trained and settling into has been cut short. I was told they were "looking for more speed" and older staff were asking for extra shifts and the manager in charge of the rota said she'd prefer to put them in so there were "no shifts left" and it "was a case of last in, last out" or something along those lines. I'm quoting to resist the urge to biased paraphrasing.

I could be paranoid and come up with my own conspiracy theories as to why I got let go (as of yet, I don't know if anyone else was) but I'm just more annoyed in how it was handled. I was in Monday, it was quiet, told I could go home early - which has happened before. Tuesday the general manager called me and gave me the news and that I didn't have to do my shift on Thursday. Quite the kick in the teeth ... had my last shift and didn't even know it.

So I'm many respects I have been distracted, and in a bout of irony I am now trying to distract myself from said distraction. Some photographic evidence of said distractions I'm baking form.

Pistachio and plain chocolate muffins.

Notoriously difficult to de-shell, the pistachios left a little to be desired - a hint of the flavour is there, but more next time for sure.

Nonetheless, they're delicious - and photogenic.



A breakfast variety are soon to follow.

If all else fails I'll do a cookbook dedicated to muffins. Breakfast, snack, sweet, savory, treat, dessert; the cupcake has had its time, now it's all about muffins as far as I'm concerned. I have a recipe for carrot cake muffins, I may try to come up with one for Black Forest Gateux (spelling, anyone?) or Brazilian chocolate cake (it involves cola I'm told).

In describing my baking endeavour as a muffin party, my filthy mind notice tbd innuendos available on the subject. Working titles include - "Dirty Muffins - Baking for the Filthy Minded" or "Bluffin' with Muffins"

This is what happens with all play and no work ... make Lisa something something

Adhesive Personalities

There's been a lot on my mind as of late, for one reason or another. The best way to put it at rest is to deal with one topic at a time. Today subject is one of the longest running; and recently I came up with the catchy name - Adhesive Personalities.

It was pointed out to me recently how some people appear to "latch", something I was already aware of. Some people are more prone to it than others - we're all bound to get attached at some point to someone; outside of the obvious romantic relations. But there are some personalities that instinctively attach themselves more frequently. I don't want to generalise and say "every chance they get", that's not realistic considering I'm not a psychologist or anthropologist; just an avid people-watcher. So these are just observations on a relatively narrow field of "study", for want of a better word.

But beyond how other people with this personality act, what's been on my mind recently is how I react to this personality. And what I've noticed is I just run the opposite direction. Completely unpredictably at that too ... I somehow doubt that's a word, but however. Once I notice a pattern of dependency, and that I'm on the receiving end I tune out. Why? That's what I've been wondering about. I've found I can related lot of my habits or behaviours to experiences years ago, I think I can pinpoint the person-place-time but I don't dwell on it anymore. But in this case, I will draw an example from that time.

I'm not making much sense, I'm well aware. I'll try to explain, I used to get attached. Still have a tenancy to, but it's short-lived because I notice myself doing it. And people don't like to be clung to, they push that person away. It's only natural, it's the "I need my space" argument. So having been on the receiving end of that, I think I'm quicker to act on what I consider the inevitable. I wouldn't exactly call it pressure, or responsibility but it feels close enough to that when you're on the receiving end of someone's dependency. Again, it's based on personal experience. It gets messy, and granted feelings get hurt; but there's two sides, as there always is, and it's not fair on either side. I'm figuring that's just how the world works sometimes, more often than expected; but all we can do is learn from it. But just how many times it has to happen before any sort of lesson can be extracted ... that's up for debate.

Crayons on Brown Paper and Snapshots of Time

Humidity is an odd thing. It makes me feel like I can't breath and gives me a headache. But a warm humid night is a rather nice night to be locked out of the house (it didn't last long, don't worry). Plenty of wind making the clouds glide across the sky. It's so strange how they're orange at night having been white all day; light pollution is a strange concept.

While the weather was not my friend today - I got my photos back from the day in Marley Park. There's plenty of green, plenty. I started to assemble them into a book for a friend of mine; the idea being one roll of film to show her around life here in Ireland (she's in New Zealand) contained in a little book with accompanying text; more than captions, an illustrated letter of sorts. I was planning this when she sent me a birthday present, but barely had time to change my socks never mind go out and shoot a roll of film just for the fun of it. So far I covered the front cover in brown paper. Always loved its texture and understated quality; it's really quite pretty I think. In my last job I bought enough to keep a constant supply for presents; brown paper and ribbon - the right people appreciated it at least.

Alas, this air pressure is reeking havoc with my head. Bed is calling, as is an early shift in work. Update on the book later.

Contrasting Colours

After much reflection I think there was a definite subtext to my day today; that being colours. What's entertaining is that my laptop is set to English (USA)-speak, so it thinks the word "colour" should be spelled "color". Philistine.

There have been a few colours as of late I have been attracted to. Brown - embodied by the fact I bought 110euro brown leather boots (availed of the student discount though, so only paid 93) and grey - 50% to be exact. The photographer in me loves it. It makes colours pop - it's the only background to accurately view colours too - it's why I love overcast days so much, that's the colour of the sky. The sky was 50% grey today, and it's well and truly Spring - almost Summer. As a result, everything was green. Everything. The leaves on the trees, the grass, the mountains. My 35mm and I went to the park. Photos to follow - I would think it to be pointless to try to describe such a visually appealing day without photos. So more about the green, green Earth in later scribblings.

In contrast to the wonderful green of today; we also have its opposite colour. As both Art and Physics tell us; the opposite to green is red. But to say they are "opposite" colours is juvenile; on the contrary they are "complimentary" colours. A term far more endearing. I'd like to think of them as codependent rather than at-odds. So what was red, I hear you ask? Well, I don't literally - that's just a narrative technique to move my ramblings along. Well I've dyed my hair red. Chestnut, to be pedantic about it. I've been blonde for 21+ years, and encountered enough assumptions of "dimwitted-ness" or "ditzy-ness" for the time being. Nothing drastic, or permanent; but after trying a wash-in-wash-out deal, I figured I'd go in for the whole haul, as they say. The 20+ washes haul. I've had the underside of my hair coloured, but this is the first time I've done a whole head of colour.

Reactions are as follows:

11.45PM - Hair is wet. Can tell it's darker so far, but it's firmly wrapped in a towel.

12.00AM - Run towel briefly over hair - there's a definite red hue to the shine I can see so far. So I'm sure to have secured a tone that should match my colouring. I've referred to blonde, ginger, copper and auburn hair as being "on the Gaelic end of the hair-colour spectrum".

12.30AM - Hair is drying out. Yep, it's red. Not firey or striking, but rather subtly distinctive - if such a thing could exist. I do recall the colour of the "conkers" collected from under the trees in Autumns of years ago - so I guess the box was correct. The fact my hair is so fair probably means I picked up a lot of the red tones. When does anything turn out like the picture on the box? There's a philosophical question for you ...

Why did I start a blog? I think to much, simply put. And in a rather digressive way. As my Dissertation proved, no matter how much I write (7,862 words) I'll still want to say more. Confirmation of this, as well as the resultant photographs of todays outings, to follow.

12.40AM - How will it look if I arrive to work with curly, deep-red hair?