home james

it's been quite the month. and i'm now more than a little ready for a break!

finished up with classes on thursday and then worked all day yesterday followed by some christmas parties around campus.

finally finished episode one for our admissions webisodes which is pretty exciting! (except I can't show you until January :)) I was specifically instructed not to wikileak anything which I think i can handle. Except, if you are so lucky to see me in person during the next two weeks you just might get a sneak preview.

this morning i had to drive two of my friends to the airport at 4:30 for their flights home. so you figure, waking up at 4:00 should do it... nope apparently my body decided that 1 am (after going to bed later than 11:30) would be enough sleep. so with my grandma stampfl genes (hi grandma!) i got out of bed and did what any normal person would do at that hour.. shower, mop the kitchen floor, clean things, edit some video and wash some dishes. Right. I'm so going to pay for that in a few hours :) hellllooo caffeine.

pumpkin bread & snow

actually made these a few days ago but they looked warm & tasty for this post. it's blizzarding outside! i think we have about a foot of snow already & they're expecting another foot or something ridiculous. luckily my morning class was cancelled so it was pretty much the best night to stay up until 3 am working on flash project. perfecttt.

flying home in 4 days. so thankful I booked those plane tickets-- can't see the car for the second time in a week.

Italian Adventures: Part I

[italian adventures -- RIT blog post]

taking the cheap and easy way out on this one. stories to come after week 3 settles down.

small teaser.

i'm a week behind on homework and classwork. not fully unpacked & in the middle of laundry. also my car is buried under 12+ inches of snow which has not and will not stop for days.

but here is a small teaser of Italy.. (stories to come later when my eyes are not burning from jetlag)

eco bella bakery

symbols & icon design final business cards. [front&back]

two weeks from sunday...

... i'll be [here]

week ten

somehow week ten never ceases to amaze me in how busy/stressful it is. leading up to it i'm always very on top of things and all of a sudden week ten comes and BOOM.

so this past weekend...

my computer exploded. no really, like the logic board and everything. and it's week ten and i didn't have the majority of my files. saturday morning it just went boom and nothing worked. the guy at the apple store pulled out a screw driver and said something to the extent of "man this doesn't look good" it's currently at the apple store getting fixed (2nd time there in 2 weeks, first time was to replace the cd drive..) they said i'd have it back by tuesday and today is clearly wednesday... they have not called. tomorrow morning they are getting a lovely good morning now WHERE IS MY COMPUTER message. anyway, they couldn't get any of the files off for me. i have some parts of things but i've spent the majority of the week tweaking and redoing things i've already worked on. plus there were enormous amounts of traffic getting there which was annoying and time consuming when i needed to be working on final projects.

but life goes on...

first, i have this awesome friend tyler (who maybe reads this blog? hi tyler!!) who happened to have an extra computer because RIT kids are cool like that. and it has cs5 and everything so i was able to recover one of my files! hooray! especially because the labs close at horribly inconvenient hours.

the drive to the apple store was kind of relaxing because there were so many gosh darn red lights that i just got to sit there and think and not be annoyed.

friday was IV, praise night and awesome conversations with friends because the other two musketeers are fantastic like that.

saturday was roommate girls night with hilary duff (we watched A Cinderella Story) and then my goofy friend came over for a late night chat.

sunday morning was church (complete with a willy wonka set due to a children's play that is to be put on later) and brunch after church. plus lots of new people came which was AWESOME. then IV meetings planning for big campus christmas parties.

even the lady at the gas station was nice and chatty.

i'll let you in on a little secret (i wrote most of this post last sunday and forgot to post it) i apparently also wrote this next statement...

"is it weird that i'm not stressed out for all of the final projects and tests I have? probably."

HA. i take that back. stress overload.

it's also real cold here. but apparently only for me? my body temperature all day has been about 2 degrees and despite having 4 layers on (one of which was underarmor) i was still about ready to shrivel up and die. how nice. everyone else had a t-shirt on.

anyway... lucky for me i have 22 more things on my to do list before break officially starts. and no, the things are not "brush my teeth" ... real hardcore to do things.

top five fridays

life is quite time consuming as of late.
good, but time consuming.

i've come to the realization that things are never quite "finished" with things. but i can say without hesitation that this year is a whole heck of a lot better than last. times a million.

two weeks from today I'll be flying home for a nice 23(?) hours at home before headed off to Wisconsin. i'm getting back into the i-don't-really-have-a-house mindset which is good but occasionally unsettling. should be an interesting next couple of months.

i realized yesterday that i have not made a list in weeks-- which is weird for me. i list everything. what i need to do, what to eat, everything. so to get back into that...

top 5 things i currently love (in no particular order)
1. Coffee-- not so much the caffeine, although that might have some pull, but the concept of it. it's so nice during weeks 9/10 to just go out and grab some coffee in the middle of a day (or middle of class). it helps keep my head on straight.
2. friends/roommates. all for multiple reasons. but they are just awesome and deserve a good pat on the back.

3. church-- the new church i've been going to for a few months now, more specifically. i feel like i actually belong there and all of that neat stuff! if only it was sunday everyday.
4. backup harddrives.. it's especially nice when your file just corrupted to have the peace of mind that you saved it in 12 other places. helps reduce panic attacks.
5. this song which i might have possibly had on repeat all week...

toy story cheese

life is rather busy.

class, homework, friends, meeting.. and repeat.

i met a cartoonist this past week, he was pretty goofy. i decided we could be best friends. he drew a cow on the board. and had a cartoon about steamed vegetables, what more could you want. google "leigh rubin".

can't believe next week is week NINE. that means 3 weeks left until thanksgiving break! got my flight booked and everything. wee bit of homework to do this weekend. if you define an 8 page paper & animation as a wee bit. cooking fun artsy meals has been put on the back burner for significantly less time consuming ones (ie. applesauce and veggie burgers) or that lentil soup that took me 2 whole weeks to finish. i need to remember the beets i'm store in the back of my car..

wegmans had toy story cheez-its on sale this week, it has made me quite a few friends.

fantastic. how are you?

legacy of letters

Legacy of Letters from Luca Barcellona on Vimeo.

discombobulation

flying from Rochester to Maryland on the last day of finals week, driving from Maryland to Wisconsin a day later for thanksgiving then flying out of Milwaukee to JFK the day after thanksgiving to Treviso, Italy for the first week of winter quarter.

if that was confusing, don't worry, i'm confused too.

so i guess the main point is.. i'm going to italy in a month!

anyway, i just got my computer back from the apple store after a few days last week and drove back from syracuse where i was for the weekend so i'm all jumbled. i'm in java's working on a paper but figuring out flights at the same time is rather distracting.

details from this weekend at a later time. when life slows down wee bit.

noah's ark

black swan

Aren't these fantastic?

An added bonus is that my very own cousin was in dance company scenes. Pretty awesome, right?

[link]

the united plates

[John Holcomb "The United Plates"]

brick city weekend

this weekend was fantabulous and went by oh so quickly. pictures are out of order so it's just like speeding through the weekend backwards.

went to pittsford twice. once for dinner at Aladdin's! very tasty Mediterranean food. then again on sunday for brunch (brunch that alison declared was the best thing she had ever eaten and made quite a few sound effects throughout the meal to inform us of this). walked a good ways along the canal, didn't see any locks, we'll have to go the other direction next time.

saturday was the hockey game. much excitement involved. a packed rink -- 10,556 people came all wearing orange.

the glass panel broke. delayed the game.

and then after being up 4-3 the other team tied with 1.3 seconds left. went into an OT & no one scored. first tied game i've ever been to.

other than that ate some graham crackers, walked around campus, got dibella's sandwiches and visited the public market on saturday morning.

and now it is monday of week seven...

i pushed snooze on my alarm for 30 minutes today.

letchworth state park

visited a craft fair down around letchworth state park this past sunday. kind of disappointing in terms of actual art that we saw there but nevertheless it was a gorgeous day and you can't really complain about walking around a state park in the fall.

the enormous line of cars made for good picture taking time.

there were thousands of people swarming the park which made an already 70 degree day even hotter.

there were fantastic old cars driving about and nice orange trees.

and an amazing view of the river going down between the cliffs. pretty huh? don't lean too close to the edge. i wish i had gotten a better angle but i wasn't about to jump the fence.

be careful please.

Dear Everyone I know and love,

Please be careful.

Avoid high rates of speed, drugs, alcohol, too much sugar, high cholesterol, large knives, anything bad for you, skunks, snakes, large animals or anything else potentially threatening to your well-being. Don't drink and drive. Or drink and walk. Or drink and talk for that matter. Unless it's milk and you're talking about the cookies you'd like to dip in it. Let's just all vow to not leave the house after 11 pm, deal? Nothing good happens then.

And see the speed limit signs? They are not just a decoration. Let's pay attention to those. No texting either. Or singing while driving or talking/typing/calling. In a bad mood? Don't drive. FOCUS people.

Love,

Me.

ps: this may or may not have been brought on by the fact that there have been 3 deaths at RIT within the past 2 weeks (4 within the last month). I do not enjoy receiving what seems to be weekly emails. while somethings could not have been avoided, others could. just praying for all of the families/friends that lost people :(

you mean i can eat cool whip for breakfast?

some mornings my usual bowl of oatmeal with raisins gets a little on the redundant side. i got all of the ingredients to make [this] except coming home from my second wegmans run of the weekend i realized i forgot cottage cheese. go figure, main ingredient.

so i improvised a bit. and yes, i did eat cool whip for breakfast. it was fantastic.

Ingredients:

1 small cup plain yogurt

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

2 spoonfuls of cool whip

cinnamon

apple cider spice (or nutmeg)

1/4 cup water

handfull of ice

optional: teddy grahams or graham crackers crushed on top

Instructions:

Blend everything. Enjoy.

i fully intend on having another one of these babies tomorrow morning for breakfast. quick, tasty and just right for fall!

butternut squash black bean eggrolls

rainy monday nights after 9 hours of class are not generally good candidates for intensive cooking.except i've had this recipe for a good long while and i finally located all of the ingredients.. so i gave it a shot. baked butternut squash black bean eggrolls. found the original recipe [here] but changed it to suit my needs.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 lbs peeled, diced butternut squash
2 tbsp canned diced green chilis (i threw in the whole darn can because what am i going to do with an extra tbsp of chilis?)
2 tsp cumin
dash of cayenne pepper
salt & pepper, to taste
1 cans black beans, drained and rinsed (recipe called for 2, i only used one can because that sounded excessive)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro (didn't have it, didn't miss it)
juice from 1 lime (i bought one of those fancy lime in a bottle things and squirted it out, no fresh juice around here)
1 package egg roll wrappers (i only had a pack of 15 and it worked out perfectly)

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the butternut squash and cook until tender, about 5-10 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for about 10 minutes, until softened. Add the garlic, green chilies, cumin, cayenne, salt and pepper, and cook for a few more minutes. Add the black beans, cilantro and lime juice and stir to combine evenly. Remove from heat.

Place the butternut squash and the onion mixture in a large bowl and mash to combine. These will be best if the mixture is left a little bit chunky.

To assemble the egg rolls, place a wrapper on your surface with one corner pointing down (diamond position). Place a some of the squash mixture onto the wrapper, and use a pastry brush dipped in water to wet the edges of the wrapper. Fold the bottom corner up, then fold the outside corners in, and roll it all up.

Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Put eggrolls on sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, turning halfway through. The recipe said something about water and cooking spray, i used none of that.

pretty tasty if you ask me and not a bad monday night dinner considering i now have leftovers for the rest of the week! good news.

the sometimes

sometimes when homework seems to be getting in the way of life, i like to go impromptu bridge wandering.

especially on fall days like today.

because sometimes balancing on tracks is more fun than reading for art history.

and getting scared because it sounds like a train is coming up right behind you (even though it was an airplane, mom) is more exhilarating than waiting for my homework to do itself-- that's how it works, right?

and sometimes pictures like this are worth it, even if just below that rickety wooden slab is a pretty large 10 foot drop into water...and you're using someone elses camera.

just sometimes.

Peanut Butter Tofu Protein Bars

I've been looking for a super high protein something that is portable because who doesn't like to eat breakfast while biking to class. I'm usually awake early enough but it's nice to have something to throw in my bag for a quick energy boost.

I recently found this peanut butter tofu protein bar and thought I'd give it a shot.

Ingredients:

1 cup oats (I used a cup and a half because I didn't have enough protein powder)

1 cup vanilla protein powder (I made mine with one of those individual packs and it worked fine)

1 tsp salt

16 oz firm tofu

1/4 honey

1/2 creamy or crunchy peanut butter

4 egg whites, beaten

1 tsp vanilla

stevia, to taste

Step one, gather all ingredients and take a picture.. or not.

Mix all of the dry ingredients in a bowl, set aside.

Put all wet ingredients into a blender or food processor. Blend.

Mix all ingredients together and dump in pan. At this point it kind of looks like cookie dough.

Bake at 325 for 25-30 minutes, mine took closer to 35 minutes.

Enjoy with a glass of milk -- more protein!

Highly recommended, I pretty much followed the recipe I found on Dashing Dishes with a few tweaks but I might have to try it again and experiment even more.

so i should probably tell you...

...that i'm a huge graphic design dork!

oh wait, you probably knew that. and i didn't really need to make you wait until friday for that brilliant observation.

but.... what you didn't know is that at this very second (unless, of course, you're reading this a million minutes after the fact) i'm meeting with my first official client!

okay so the story is more like i hunted them down kindly proposed needed a new logo. but regardless i was still overly excited. probably slightly more than i should be. it's a LOGO for goodness sakes. i'm going to be so sick of those darn things after a few million attempts but for now in all of their simplistic & conceptual glory, i'm in love.

a real logo that i can put in my portfolio (granted that it does not come out looking like clip art) and then perhaps i can get a real job. just exciting stuff, ya know? no cardboard box houses for me, thanks.

what makes me even more giddy and warm feeling inside is how much i'm enjoying the design classes right now. try to teach me sociology all you want but i'd rather whip out some concepts any day. who needs a balanced education anyway?

did i mention that it's a logo for a bakery? that sells cupcakes and other delicious things? and that it's vegan? PERFECT.

okay, carry on. you may resume your friday now.

baby carrots

NPR Story

pumpkin spice

sometimes wednesdays of midterm week require grabbing a pumpkin coffee & scone with a friend. good thinking.

one more class until the weekend! and what a busy weekend it will be.

look out for exciting news on friday morning! (i've never really made people wait for exciting news so we'll give this a try!) anxious now?

how about now?

Eggplant Parmesan & Zucchini Spaghetti

Last week Kara and I made some pretty tasty dinner (as I mentioned previously in a post) except I forgot to take a picture so here are the leftovers! Still not bad, right? Added some spinach on the side this time.

Zucchini Spaghetti might be my new favorite invention. Aside from mashed cauliflower, of course.

Ingredients:

• 2 eggplants, (about 2 pounds total)
• 3 egg whites
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1 cup fine dry breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, (1 ounce), divided
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 cup slivered fresh basil leaves
• 2 1/2 cups tomato sauce
• 3/4 cup grated part-skim mozzarella cheese, (3 ounces)
• 
  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat two baking sheets and an 8-by-11 1/2-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Cut eggplants crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Whisk egg whites and water in a shallow dish until frothy. Combine breadcrumbs, 1/4 cup of the Parmesan, salt and pepper in another shallow dish. Dip the eggplant slices into the egg-white mixture, then coat with the breadcrumb mixture. (Discard any leftover breadcrumbs and egg white.) Arrange the eggplant slices in a single layer on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes, turn the eggplant slices over, and bake until crisp and golden, about 15 minutes longer.
3. Stir basil into tomato sauce. Spread about 1/2 cup of the sauce in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Arrange half of the eggplant slices over the sauce, overlapping slightly. Spoon 1 cup of the remaining sauce over the eggplant and sprinkle with half of the mozzarella cheese. Add a layer of the remaining eggplant slices and top with the remaining sauce, mozzarella and Parmesan. Bake, uncovered, until the sauce bubbles and the top is golden, 15 to 20 minutes.

From EatingWell

MINI Countryman

Mashed "Potatoes"

I've been wanting to try a cauliflower for the longest time, they've been on sale dead center staring back at me in the store for longer than I can remember. But they just appear so large and overwhelming and I'd rather not be eating cauliflower for the rest of October.

Finally I broke down and got one. It was HUGE. Seriously massive. I've been bringing it to class for a week (probably a good cup a day), plus eating it for dinner and some snacks all just raw. And I still had over half a cauliflower left! That baby multiples in the fridge.

I was kind of in the mood for something a wee bit warmer now that all of the leaves have dropped and at the market yesterday they were selling 20 lb bags of potatoes.. so my mind was on mashed potatoes. I thought to myself that cauliflower is white too so why not. Today, after getting one of my projects finished, I decided to experiment. I saw some recipes online involving caramelized onions, whipped cream, etc. none of which I had. So I went to work.

Ingredients:
1 Cauliflower (or half/three quarters, whatever)

water

1 tbsp butter

skim milk

salt/pepper to taste

basil leaves

Directions:

1. Cut cauliflower into florets and stick in a microwave safe container with water for 10-12 minutes. Stirring occasionally to avoid explosions.

2. Transfer cauliflower to a blender, add butter, skim milk (enough to not burn out your blender) and salt/pepper at this time.

3. Blend.

4. Add basil.

5. Eat and wish you had more cauliflower on hand.

I made the mistake this time of putting too much milk in but I anticipate making this again in the near future so that will be fixed.