Late Night Poetry pt 4

Mild disclosure: I am experiencing a mild sugar high at this given time and I'm like 100% sure it is beyond evident...

Hello people of the internet!

How are you all? is life good? I hope so becauseeeeeeee it is time for some

LATE

NIGHT

POETRYYYYYYYYY!!!

With that intellectual intro out of the way here is some of my late night poetry:

La Lumière

Est-ce tu as froid?

Est-ce tu as sommeil?

Est-ce tu as peur d’avoir tort?

Tu as besoin de chaleur

Tu as envie d’avoir raison

Je suis désolé tu ne dois pas la lumière.

And here's a little translation for you all:

The Light
Are you cold ?

Did you sleep?

Are you afraid of being wrong ?

You need heat

You want to be right

I'm sorry you do not have light.

If you have been reading my posts for the last little while you will be aware that some of the stuff I write about deals with some pretty heavy stuff. For those of you who relate to the saddened babble I thought I would share with you a really great app that is offered on Apple devices, I don't know if other servers have it, but it is called Pacifica. Although I wish this was sponsored, it is not, so don't think I am being paid even a little bit for this promo, but this app is great! It allows you to record all the crazy feelings that fly through your mind throughout the day and the emotions that ride around on those thoughts.

Anyways... that's all for now,

Olivia

xoxo

Some Recipes

If you have ever read my personal bio (on the side somewhere,) you would know that I very much enjoy cooking.

Ever since I was little I have enjoyed being able to create something out of nothing, to me, even now its still just such an amazement to know something that I made will be consumed by others (and hopefully enjoyed.)

Without further adieu, here are some of my favorite recipes I have made:

Classic Cranberry Sauce (source: Food Network Magazine)   

 1 pound cranberries  (about 4 cups)
2 medium oranges
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon ground coriander
kosher salt

 1. Put all but 1 cup of the cranberries in a saucepan. Remove wide strips of zest from 1 orange with a peeler; ass to the saucepan with the juice of both oranges (about 1/2 cup). add the sugar, coriander, and a pinch of salt and 1/2 cup water. bring to simmer over medium heat; cook, siring occasionally, until the berries burst and the sauce thickens (15-20 minutes).

 2. Stir in the remaining 1 cup of cranberries; cook until softened, 3-4 minutes. remove from heat and let cook to room temperature, remove orange zest, transfer to serving dish and refrigerate for at lest 3 hours.

Side-note: when I made this I refrigerated this over night, and I would highly recommend that, because it gives the sauce enough time in the cold to congeal, making it more gelatinous.

Basic Dinner-Roll Dough (source: Food Network Magazine)
1/2 cup whole milk
3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/4 ounce packet of active dry yeast
4 1/4 to 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons unsalted butter , at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 large lightly beaten eggs

1. Warm the milk and 1/2 cup water in a small sauce pan or in the microwave until very warm (110 F.) transfer into the bowl of a standard mixer fitted with the dough hook; mix in the sugar,yeast, and 1 cup of flour until combined but still lumpy. Let stand until the mixture is very bubble, about 30 minutes.

2.add the butter, salt and 2 cups of flower; mix on medium speed until smooth and elastic, 2-3 minutes. mix in the eggs until combined, scraping the bottom and side of the bowl as needed. add 1 1/4 cups flour, mix until the dough is smooth and starts to gather into a loose ball, about 4 minutes. The dough should be slightly sticky; if too wet add the remaining 1/4 cup flour.

3. lightly oil a large bowl; scrape the dough into the bowl and turn to coast with the oil. cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place until doubled in size, about 2 hours.

Side-note: this is the base dough I used for the next recipe.

Sea Salt Dinner Rolls (source: Food Network Magazine)
Basic Dinner-Roll Dough
Cooking Spray
All-purpose flour, for dusting
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling

1. Make the Basic Dinner-Roll Dough. Let rise as directed. Lightly coat 2 baking sheets with cooking spray. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Lightly flour the top of the dough and pat it into a rectangle. Cut the dough into 24 equal pieces with a bench scraper or a chefs knife

2. gently roll each piece of dough into a ball; arrange on the prepared baking sheets. loosely cover with plastic wrap and let stand until puffy, about 45 minutes.

3.position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 370 F. . Bush the rolls with some of the melted butter and cut an "X" into the center of each roll with kitchen shears or a small knife. sprinkle tops with sea salt. Bake switching and rotating the baking sheets half way though, until the rolls are golden brown, about 25 minutes. let cool 5 minutes, then brush with the remaining melted butter. transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Yeah so those are 2/3 of my best recipes I have come across, I hope you give them a try and enjoy them as much as I do!

Happy cooking,
Olivia
xoxo






 

Late Night Poetry pt3

Hey so even though it isn't "late-night" as I'm posting this, I did happen to write this at night. 

Regardless this was some stored away poetry I wrote a little bit ago but was afraid to put out into the world. If you have been reading my blog for longer than a month then you will understand my hesitating on an emotional piece like the one below.

If you are new to this weird emotionally charged blog then I'll fill you in on what has been the past...

So basically the gist of it is, some people who read my blog, were um... less than pleased at what I had to say... but I did keep the post up, and I did send out an apology to hopefully soothe things over.

My point in the story was if you know me, please don't send your self into a tizzy over the words I have created, because like most humans, I feel emotion and this is my way of expressing some of my emotional turmoil.

Along those lines, please don't start playing the guessing game as to who this is about because A) I will not tell you. B) Please respect my request to keep this anonymous.

And with that intro out of the way... here is what I wrote:

Stop.

Stop making me feel unworthy of your presence;

You are not holy.

Stop the endless whining;

Life is not perfect.

Stop your discontent for the world;

Open your eyes and see there is more than the dark side.

For each time I thought this, I wonder if I am a hypocrite for thinking so;

My response is yes, I am.

I need not think of myself as any better than the next;

We are all the same on the inside.

I need to think before I speak;

Only letting encouraging words out.

I need to see life for the beauty it beholds;

Letting the optimist out from time to time.

Suppose we’re not so different you and I;

That is just what I needed to hear to change myself.

I hope you have a wonderful day, 

Olivia

xoxo

Monumental moments #1

Recently a friend of mine and myself have decided to start a (two person) writing group, so we can further our knowledge of writing and slowly become more comfortable with sharing our writing. (if you're interesting in joining our writing efforts, shoot me an email at oliviavanark@gmail.com.)

I mean personally, it's not that big of a problem for me, considering I shamelessly shove this blog down the throats of everyone I meet. I mean the mouth is basically free advertisement... AMIRITE?

Anyways, on to my first monumental moment of my life (AKA our first writing for the group):

The Impact of Writing in My Life:

You know the feeling of being around family, the one that makes you feel safe and like you belong? That is the feeling I get from writing.

It almost gives me a natural high from simply knowing that I am capable of  sharing my thoughts and emotions through a set of only 26 letters, that only get moved around to mean different things.

I am constantly thankful for the fact I am able to lay out my thoughts and ideas, but I suppose that can be attributed to the fact it am very, Very, VERY extroverted. So I suppose it is helpful I can successfully communicate what is going on in my chaotic mess of a mind.

The difference between writing and not writing for me is the difference between whether or not I will be able to communicate properly with people. Writing allows for all thoughts to be recorded and then rearranged into a logic order (unlike how they come to me in my head...).

Writing has slowly built up my confidence in what I am capable of producing with my own mind. I have seen the result of this in many different ways, such as: My work in color guard has become more expressive, I have become okay with people looking at me as I put myself on display and I have become okay with criticism. I honestly credit so much of that to my writing and how I have become okay with exposing what I have created.

 It seriously puts you on the spot of proving you either know what you're doing or not. I find that simply exhilarating, (and of course nerve racking, or terrifying if I don't know what I'm doing.)


That's all for now... Hope you're have a fabulous day,

Olivia
xoxo

Pet Peeves

I know I may of failed my deadline for my next post by just a little itty bitty bit, but better late than never I suppose. I thought I would write something a little more lighthearted for once, because my mood 1000% of the time will dictate on the mood of my writing, and ya know what? I'm feeling pretty happy. With that let's get to it: my pet peeves.

Lets kick of this list with something that annoys most:

inconsiderate people. I can say with full certainly that I'm not always the kindest and most thoughtful person; but I will never be found talking to someone full volume in a quite room, listening to my music so loud that its offensive to other people, or being rude to a waiter/waitress.

Short jokes.

When people insist on being correct, regardless of what the topic is. A good example of this is when people try to argue against someones opinion. Let me just set the record straight, I could careless if you think other wise but DO NOT tell someone their opinion is wrong if it simply doesn't match up with yours. You can always disagree but to shut down an opinion, its just silly and useless.

On a happier note let's touch on some things I enjoy about people:

When people hold the door open. Good job.
When people greet me with my name. Good job.
When people make eye contact or smile with me. Good job.
When people are empathetic of this that or anything else. Good job.
When people respect my and what I enjoy to do with my time. Good job.

I could literally keep that list going for days if I wanted to, but for the sake of the length of this post, I will limit it to what I have.

Comment what some of your pet peeves are in the comments! Don't forget to subscribe!

As always, have a beautiful day!
Olivia

Summer Hiatus: Complete

Mission Reboot: ready for action!

That's right, I'm back! I have been swamped for the past little bit, and currently have more ideas than I know what to do with!

Regardless, I am ready to continue on the adventure known as blogging. Along with my adventure comes a new promise..... I am going to start posting on a (semi-) regular basis! The frequency of my post will depend heavily on what is going on in my personal life that week, but I will do my best to adumbrate the zillions of thoughts flying through my mind day to day, for both your entertainment and my peace of mind.

On a more serious note, I would like to explain the main reason I decided to take a break from posting. It was mostly due to the frustration and sadness that people reacted to negatively to the post that were about how I felt. Just a reminder this is 101 of MY (better) thoughts, so if your offended by my thoughts, why would you read them? Of course I realize that now, that people reacted to my thoughts, and I thought the answer was to change your thoughts. Well, it's not! I have recently been given quite the lesson on learning to trust my own opinion and not instantly discredit myself when someone disagrees with me. Honestly I believe that there are LOADS of people out there that do the same thing as what I did, and discredit yourself in the name of peace, but is it worth it?

For a change of pace, I thought I would start a new platform for people to express some of their (better) thoughts.  So if there is something that you would like to share, just email it to oliviavanark@gmail.com and all you need to do beyond that is specify if you would like it posted anonymously.

Have a good day,
Olivia
xoxo

Sorry

I'd like to formally apologize for anyone I may of offended with my last post.
At the same time I'd also like to congratulate anyone who moved on in their life.
Back to the apology, I'm sorry that I didn't cover anything after the "moving on", unhappy stuff has either happened or is going to happen. It's the truth, it sucks, but it's the truth. Regardless of who you are or what happened between whomever, by ending a chapter of your life (in terms of relationships), it will be awkward and sad.

I'm sorry and
Goodnight
Olivia

Dangerous People

Yesterday I did something, according to others was stupid, but I did it regardless. I decided it was time for one of the poisonous people in life to be gone. I did the whole 9-yards, un-added on every platform available, and phone number deleted. And as I did this I asked myself if it was a good idea, and my justification was yes. Yes, it is okay to cut people out of your life that no longer make you happy. Yes, it is okay to save your memories with them, but if you know the happiness you once felt with them has fleeted, and will not return, why on earth would you keep that around?

I don't want to be lectured about what I've done. I'm finally proud of myself for taking charge of my friendships, and cutting out the people who only take from my happiness and not add to it.

If you have a relationship that you're tempted to go back to that you know will not be healthy, DELETE THEIR NUMBER! UN-ADD THEM ON FACEBOOK/INSTAGRAM/ETC!

If they never make you happy, why should they get to be around you?

Thanks for letting me rant, and have a good day!

Olivia

Xoxo

Music

You know that feeling when it feels like whatever song is playing crawls into your mind and camps out? It just inhabits the fresh vacancy of your mind and deeply dissembled feelings that you have shoved away and prayed will just disappear. I live for the moments when simple words can move you to tears and make those emotions flood back faster then you ever thought possible. I mean I can probably name off like 5 songs that can move me like that!

Sometimes, you just need to have those songs that make you feel that way, and if you don't please get on YouTube, Pandora, Spotify, or whatever it is that you use to find music; because even if you don't care for music, there has to be at least one song somewhere that can relate to however you feel right this very second.

Personally, I found my music when I was in about 2nd grade, listening to my moms old iPod nano, filled with on-hit-wonders of the 90's.I will never be able to thank her enough because, for every time I would sit there and let the melodies from the now-ancient device, my young mind would sit there and let my innocence filter out any un--savory content from the raunchy pop songs, I would slowly be falling in love with music itself.

Flash forward 9-ish years, I'm sitting here spilling out my messy emotions into lyrical patters, some call poetry, but to me poetry is that of a song that hasn't found it's melody yet. Regardless, music is the core of all the creative passion I feel in my life!

So I guess you could say one-hit-wonders of the 90's have thoroughly inspired me to do something as bold as to start a blog, where I can spill my emotions out to all of you via a screen and share some sense of relation amongst all of us crazy enough to take note of our emotions and confront them, either it be in your mind, on paper, or by means of a screen. I just want to say, I'm proud of you for confronting the lack of vacancy in your ever so dissembled thoughts.




Honestly, I am so thankful that I feel so passionately about something where it can move someone to tears, with only words. Sorry this post isn't anything fancy-dance-y, but this is me, and it hopefully is one of my better thoughts.

Olivia
xoxo

Late Night Poetry pt2

As said in my previous late night poetry post, sometimes I write some cool stuff at night. Today I decided to refine and edit, so that's just what I did.  With that, I present to you the somewhat cryptic Rubeola.

Rubeola

My mind was a void of empty space:

Ready for the fantasy of something that ended peacefully.

Ready for something that didn't involve tears.

Ready for happiness.

My mind previously left in shambles:

Yearned for something to counteract the insidious behavior of the previous inhabitant on my thoughts.

Yearned for a new thought to occupy my mind.

Yearned for happiness.

My mind was in need of self-healing:

Striving for a sense of security.

Striving for understanding of the complex emotions I felt.

Striving for happiness.

My mind was purely saddened by the thought of you:

Wishing for simplicity is the chaos you left within me.

Wishing for the anger to be assuaged.

Wishing for the happiness back, that you had so easily taken from me.

Have a good day,

Olivia 

Xoxo

Thoughts

  Do/did you have classes where the second the teacher would talk you mind would go numb? Personally, for me that class is science. The thoughts that flood my vacant mind, are those of rhymed whimsy. I can't help it, my right brain wants to run free and leave my left brain to learn, but sadly they are tied together like two kids participating in a three-legged-race. Whenever the right side acts up, it will command me to doodle or scribble all over the sides of my notes and or assignments. I like to think of those doodles as my compensating the "left-sidedness" of whatever we're learning. My doodles are anything from numbers depicting how many more dreadful seconds I have left until I'm free from the class, to poorly drawn flowers with swirls all down the margins of my paper(s).   

  On the flip side did/do you have a class where the second the teacher would talk, you would be sucked into the lesson faster that a valley girl to a Starbucks coupon? For me that is History. It's like a hour of story time, and from the minute my teacher opens her mouth I am sucked into a realty many years removed, but in that one class period, that lesson seems to coexist with that of the reality we are living. 

 Hope you're having a good day,
Olivia
xoxo 

A Little Bit of Late Night Poetry

    Sometimes when I can't sleep at night, I write, and sometimes when I re-read that writing in the moring, it's actually quite deep. So, without further introduction:

Elements 

I was the wind, always there and rarely heard.

 Words integrating uselessly without a second thought, and never comprehended.

I was the soft soil beneath their feet, pliable and moved when in the way. 

Only used to build people up and to not be acknowledged.

Add emotions to the wind and soil for a dust storm that disabled everything close to me.

 Embedding the nitty gritty that is my soul into everyone close to me,

 only to drive them away in a painful scene.

I hope you have a good night, 

Olivia 

xoxo

My First Post

      Hello, My name is Olivia, and writing is that of a release for me. I was born with the ability to convey what I think by using my words, and I intend to share whatever it is that is occupying my mind with you. Maybe if I'm feeling it that day you might even be able to relate to the insanity floating around my mind. 

And with that, I welcome you to 101 of my (better) thoughts!