Pardon my enthusiasm in advance.
HOLY SHIT, RESTAURANT WEEK IS THE BEST WEEK.
I went with some classmates to Maze by Gordon Ramsay for lunch; just got back, actually. Ryan organized it; he'd been talking about it in VFX with Eric (our teacher) and some other people, but I think I wasn't interested mostly because I don't really..know how to deal with fancy food? I mean I love watching Food Network, and the stuff they make on Iron Chef looks amazing (not that it was that big a deal; this lunch was probably comparatively way casual), but I..guess I don't really see myself as a fancy-food kind of person? I eat at diners and bakery-cafe-things. Thirty dollars, which is what we each paid for this lunch (including tip), is the most I've ever paid for one meal. I mean, this place is not much more expensive on normal days; maybe ten dollars over for the same meal. (I mean, look at his other restaurant at The London, the 'real' restaurant. It's $110 for the dinner and all the food looks kind of terrifying in an I-am-totally-not-a-gourmande sort of way.) But anyways, I hadn't been in on their plan until yesterday afternoon, when Ryan told me they had two open seats and asked if I wanted to go.
I was..really hesitant, actually. I've said already, I'm not one for fancy stuff. Fancy stuff tends to have ingredients I don't like, or at least things I'm wary of. I'm a picky eater. But I took a look at the Restaurant Week menu, figured it would be safe. And also I guess I wanted to have a new experience. So I filled the fifth spot at the second table - we went in two groups, with six people each, one at twelve and one at twelve thirty. Couldn't get larger reservations, I suppose. I like the people in my department. It's easy to talk to them because all we ever talk about is related to the industry or to classwork. So I was with Eric, Kyle, Justin, this guy Jesse who I kind of knew, and a freshman named John. Actually, I kind of had a mini-crisis before going because I didn't know what to wear. Stupid, I know, and doesn't sound like me. But I figured I probably shouldn't show up in my stupid sweatshirt and t-shirt or whatever. My family went to see The Nutcracker when I was home for winter break, and my parents had made me go out and get some slightly nicer clothes because SURPRISE you're not supposed to wear a sweatshirt to the ballet either. So I wore that. The jeans couldn't be helped, because I don't have any pants that aren't jeans. Same with my ratty sneakers. But it was fine. Like I said. It was the twenty-five-dollar-menu, not the over-a-hundred.
I also am pretty sure I haven't ever had a meal that lasted almost two hours. But that happened. Don't know about the guys, but I felt like with smaller portions it would be awkward to eat at normal pace, because I would have finished in several minutes. Whatever; this is how the French do it, right?
Alright, I guess I'm going to talk about the food now. I mainly want to talk about it here so I remember it, because man it was awesome.
We all ended up ordering basically the same stuff, probably because we were trying to stay on the safe side. All six of us got the same first course: "Hubbard squash soup; ragout of braised duck, black truffle". I googled this before I went (actually, before I even agreed to go), because I had no idea what ragout was and you can never be sure with food; for instance, sweetbread sounds cool until you realize Oops, it's weird squishy organs. (The other first courses were some kind of salad - the woman at the table next to us got it; it was arranged really nicely, kind of standing up and..I dunno, it was a salad - and marinated beetroot with ricotta and nuts and a wine dressing, which I didn't get because who's really expecting me to order beetroot, ever? The man at the next table had it, and the colors were gorgeous.) So this soup, I was kind of iffy about it before I saw it because I'm not a squash person, but oh my god. It came out in those shallow plate-bowl-things, just a little dollop of brown stringy-looking stuff which confused me, but Oh right, that was just the duck-and-truffle; they poured the soup in later. It was a very pretty orange; we all took pictures of our food, but the light wasn't great and I'm not much of a photographer so I'm going to see if one of them puts photos on Facebook that I can steal. And man, that stuff was delicious. The soup was a cream base, and I think the squash is more for texture than flavor, like the pumpkin soup Max and I made for Thanksgiving this year; it was also spicy. The duck-stuff..wow. I haven't had duck in a while, and I always have it Chinese-style when I do. I can't really describe it; it was really flavorful, just very..duck. I still have no idea what truffles taste like, but I'm assuming they helped.
Second course: "Roasted Amish chicken breast; braised red cabbage, bacon, thyme jus". (Jesse and Kyle got bouillabaisse, which is a seafood stew that I learned about in the fourth Harry Potter..) Man, this chicken was amazing. Extremely tender and juicy. I never eat chicken skin, but I did this time; it was awesome. The cabbage was a little sour, and really good. Kind of..soft and crunchy at the same time? There were also brussel sprouts, which I've never had before. That was probably the only part of the meal that I'm not really enthusiastic about; I mean, they were nice enough, but I guess I prefer..normal-sized cabbages to tiny ones? I've heard most people hate them, but I guess these were just too high-class to hate. The chicken breast came with a leg, and I tried my hardest to get the meat off with my knife and fork because it just didn't seem right to use my fingers for a thirty-dollar meal. No luck, so I just picked it off shiftily and hoped I wasn't too bad. It was worth it, though.
Dessert: "Vanilla custard with citrus fruits; steel cut oats and mandarin sorbet". So awesome. It looked like melted vanilla bean ice cream with pretty little slices of fruit, and..that's basically what it was? The custard was kind of pudding-y, kind of creamy. There were slices of orange and blood orange and these little cubes of..well, it was like Jello. Tangy; tasted like it was probably lemon and grapefruit. The sorbet was great. Very colorful dessert. Jesse, Kyle, and Eric got 'chocolate fondant', which came hot in a little cup with salted ice cream on the side. It smelled amazing, and looked kind of like a little souffle or something. I tried some of the ice cream when Kyle said he thought it was weird that it was salty, but it was pretty cool. (I think sweet and salty is in right now; at least, that's what I'm getting from the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck and some of Trader Joe's desserts.)
It was funny; the couple at the table next to us had come in later, so they were about a course behind us (and still finished at the same time, because I guess we were taking too long). But they had obviously been there before; I was kind of accidentally eavesdropping (oops), and they were talking to the host about the sous chef, and how they hadn't been there since blah blah something, and I think they had a problem with their food. At least, the woman did not look very happy with her chicken, and I was just sitting there eating mine like MY GOD HOW CAN SHE NOT LIKE THIS, IT'S THE BEST CHICKEN EVER. They were dressed nicely, and I'd guess they were around fifty or sixty - I'm not good with guessing ages. They didn't seem very happy, though. Probably because they were seated next to student rabble, and oh yeah, because there was something apparently wrong with the chicken.
But anyways. This was a good experience. It'll probably be a long time before I get to do something like this again, but it was definitely worth it. Maybe we'll go somewhere else for next year's Restaurant Week. I'm feeling a little guilty for dropping thirty bucks on lunch, so..don't know what I'm going to do for dinner. Probably water and crackers.
Olivia
Monday, January 31, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
The what-if game.
The multiverse is shaped by every single possibility that could ever have occurred; as time goes on it expands astronomically. So what if you had a week to live in your 'perfect' universe, as the you from that world? And at the end of the week, you had the choice to stay? All you'd have to sacrifice in return is your current consciousness.
I play the what-if game with myself a lot. What if we'd never moved from Minnesota, what if I'd been raised on video games instead of educational television, what if I was better at keeping friends, what if I didn't like art. And this particular scenario has played over and over, because how do you define your ideal self?
The problem is that your experiences shape your personality and your mind, and do you want to give that up to be 'perfect'? If the person I want to be was never a fatass, she would not have lost her self-confidence, but she also might not have decided that it's unfair to judge people by their appearances, which I'm sure I learned for selfish reasons. Then again, if she was confident and outgoing and made friends easily, she would not have spent liberal amounts of time socializing on the internet; she wouldn't have met the people I love, she wouldn't have read MSPA - okay, slightly less important but still a factor! She probably dresses well and drinks and goes to parties when invited instead of staying away because, as explained the day after when asked why she wasn't there, she 'can't do parties'. She probably wouldn't have retreated into books; maybe she's never read Neil Gaiman, maybe she hasn't discovered the glorious medium of comics, maybe she likes Twilight. She probably has a boyfriend. She probably knows how to use makeup and understands popular society's emphasis on leg-shaving. She very obviously isn't me.
The question: Is it worth it? Safe in the confines of a hypothetical situation, I can make lofty and moral decisions like How could I give up who I have become? How could I trade my dreams for the future in exchange for a different past? You can't have everything. Choose: social life in high school or internet friendships? Dresses and jackets or sweatshirts every day? Top 40 or Amanda Palmer? Smiling for photos or wanting to untag everything that pops up on Facebook? Partying or sitting restless and alone in your room, wanting to go outside but afraid to leave?
I'm not making my 'ideal self' into a stereotype; I'm saying that if I want some things, I have to give up others. If I want to be self-confident, I give up what led me to my internet community in the first place. If I want to go out clubbing with friends, I give up Saturday nights in Queens with my grandparents and my uncle's family. I mean, goddamn, if I never had allergies I would have gotten a cat a long time ago, and I wouldn't have Molly.
Again. You can't have everything. And I know that if I think about it, I really would not want to trade my life for something that seems better in fantasy. Because then I wouldn't be me. I would be gone. I guess that's what's so terrifying about doppelgangers, but in this case you are the doppelganger. It is you. (See, there is another Homestuck reference I would not be able to make because I would not have met the person who introduced me to MSPA, and even if I'd found it some other way, I might not like it.) Everything I value will lose its significance. Everything I do will be nullified. The people who know me will lose me, and who knows whether they will be better or worse for it? Maybe she doesn't think about these things, like I do; and I'm sure that even if she does, she certainly does not wish to be me.
And still, I wonder. If this scenario were actually possible - if I could trade lives with another me for a week, a month, a year, a day - would I have the same opinion? Would I still value the self in this world?
Would I want to come back?
Olivia
I play the what-if game with myself a lot. What if we'd never moved from Minnesota, what if I'd been raised on video games instead of educational television, what if I was better at keeping friends, what if I didn't like art. And this particular scenario has played over and over, because how do you define your ideal self?
The problem is that your experiences shape your personality and your mind, and do you want to give that up to be 'perfect'? If the person I want to be was never a fatass, she would not have lost her self-confidence, but she also might not have decided that it's unfair to judge people by their appearances, which I'm sure I learned for selfish reasons. Then again, if she was confident and outgoing and made friends easily, she would not have spent liberal amounts of time socializing on the internet; she wouldn't have met the people I love, she wouldn't have read MSPA - okay, slightly less important but still a factor! She probably dresses well and drinks and goes to parties when invited instead of staying away because, as explained the day after when asked why she wasn't there, she 'can't do parties'. She probably wouldn't have retreated into books; maybe she's never read Neil Gaiman, maybe she hasn't discovered the glorious medium of comics, maybe she likes Twilight. She probably has a boyfriend. She probably knows how to use makeup and understands popular society's emphasis on leg-shaving. She very obviously isn't me.
The question: Is it worth it? Safe in the confines of a hypothetical situation, I can make lofty and moral decisions like How could I give up who I have become? How could I trade my dreams for the future in exchange for a different past? You can't have everything. Choose: social life in high school or internet friendships? Dresses and jackets or sweatshirts every day? Top 40 or Amanda Palmer? Smiling for photos or wanting to untag everything that pops up on Facebook? Partying or sitting restless and alone in your room, wanting to go outside but afraid to leave?
I'm not making my 'ideal self' into a stereotype; I'm saying that if I want some things, I have to give up others. If I want to be self-confident, I give up what led me to my internet community in the first place. If I want to go out clubbing with friends, I give up Saturday nights in Queens with my grandparents and my uncle's family. I mean, goddamn, if I never had allergies I would have gotten a cat a long time ago, and I wouldn't have Molly.
Again. You can't have everything. And I know that if I think about it, I really would not want to trade my life for something that seems better in fantasy. Because then I wouldn't be me. I would be gone. I guess that's what's so terrifying about doppelgangers, but in this case you are the doppelganger. It is you. (See, there is another Homestuck reference I would not be able to make because I would not have met the person who introduced me to MSPA, and even if I'd found it some other way, I might not like it.) Everything I value will lose its significance. Everything I do will be nullified. The people who know me will lose me, and who knows whether they will be better or worse for it? Maybe she doesn't think about these things, like I do; and I'm sure that even if she does, she certainly does not wish to be me.
And still, I wonder. If this scenario were actually possible - if I could trade lives with another me for a week, a month, a year, a day - would I have the same opinion? Would I still value the self in this world?
Would I want to come back?
Olivia
Monday, January 24, 2011
Back.
So I keep trying to restart this blog, and it keeps not happening. I tried on my birthday, which was the first-year anniversary of the blog. I tried on New Year's. I've tried several times in between. Each time I write a long-ass post and get halfway through, and then read it and realize that it sounds stupid and give up.
So HERE WE GO. Lastweek month October on Olivia's Blog!: Here's what I've been up to since you last heard from me, if you care.
- The semester ended. The last couple of weeks were hell for me, because in addition to final projects I had this really terrible cough that was sparked by a cold and also probably the weather, and I ended up sleeping all the time. Last time I had a cough like that which lasted longer than a week was in seventh grade; I had that one almost the entire school year, and people liked to say I had SARS. People kept telling me to go see a doctor, to which I had to keep replying No I can't I have to finish my finals there is no time for health. Then Illustrator crashed on me as I was heading into the final hours of working on my VFX final, which was supposed to have a lot of graphics, and I ended up having to cobble some shit together in After Effects and apologize profusely to Eric, my teacher, and hide in shame in the corner of the classroom as we watched the projects, all the while coughing my brains out. He was good about it, probably because I was dying, and at least I passed the class. I basically ended up hating my animation class that first semester, because I'm mediocre at modeling and suck at pretty much everything else we did - there was no focus on animation at all - and my final project was full of sadness. So when I got home for winter break, I refused to talk about school for a few days, and just sat around with my cat.
- But I ended up passing all my classes, anyways, and I got A's in Creative Writing, Arthurian Literature, and History of Animation I. (All the classes that didn't matter..) And this semester will probably be better, at least if I think about it in patterns; I almost always do better in the second semester than the first, and last year was no exception. And hey, the first animation class of the semester, he gave us actual animation homework! And he told me specifically that mine was good, so I guess there's some hope for spring. (God, I love animating.)
- I'm applying for internships for summer again; I'm looking into more than I did last year. First due date is the application for Blizzard. It..would be really cool if I could intern at Blizzard. Or really anywhere.
- For the first time in my life since I was maybe eight, I have friends who I see regularly outside of school. I celebrated my birthday with people other than my family for the first time since I was twelve - my first and last teenage birthday. This may not be a big deal to most people but it is kind of a big deal to me. We didn't even really do much, we just hung out. But still. It was a big deal. And having regular-friends is cool. Yesterday we went to a sex shop because one of them wanted to buy a rubber dick to wear under her pants and make people uncomfortable, and she wouldn't listen to me when I said that was what socks were for. She thought I was squeamish in the store but honestly it was just sort of weird; there were thousand-dollar gold vibrators and just..why.
- There's a guy I like(d) and he has a girlfriend and that's okay. I mean sure I can't make myself stop liking him (and I did try), but it's okay. I'm okay with it. A relationship like that is honestly not something I would be able to deal with right now (or possibly ever), and that's fine. In November I went to a thing and I met some dude and after hanging out with him for a while I realized he was flirting with me and it freaked me the fuck out and I went home and had a panic attack so it's actually pretty good that this has only happened once, and it is good that my friend has a girlfriend. I am more comfortable this way. Don't know whether that equates to 'happier', but it's honestly fine with me.
- My psychologist friend recently decided that I have depression, and is urging me to get therapy. I am resisting her as hard as I can, because I have a serious issue with getting a professional to help sort out my problems. And honestly, I'm extremely hardheaded and have convinced myself that I will be able to wear myself down and make myself better. This probably will not work, but it is all I can deal with at the moment. And while it may be flawed logic, it is all that I am prepared to live with right now; I am not ready to step out of my comfort zone just yet, not in that respect.
- OH DID I MENTION AMANDA PALMER AND NEIL GAIMAN GOT MARRIED it's pretty awesome. Also the Dresden Dolls had a reunion tour and I tried to see them in New York on Halloween but tickets sold out in like..a few hours, or something, I don't remember. And then there was a show in Boston on my birthday but since it was on a Wednesday I obviously couldn't go, so it was like a birthday punch. Ah well. She's on a tour in Australia right now, and also the Tristan Allen EP came out some time ago, and I love it. He's this kid she found on the street who writes these amazing piano compositions; my favorite is Janos vs Wonderland, and I've gotten into the habit of listening to the album while I sleep. Also, her Australia album just came out, and it's pretty sweet. Most of the songs are pretty silly but there are also some really great and not-silly ones. And..yeah that's all on the musical-obsession front.
- Okay, who reads Homestuck? (WHY AREN'T YOU READING HOMESTUCK YET?) Do it do it doooooooo itttttttt. Seriously, please. Never have I been more emotionally invested in fictional characters. Well, except maybe for Pixar movies.
- And speaking of Pixar movies, I really do not suggest watching them while PMSing. Seriously. I'm in the habit of watching movies while I do my homework - really I don't watch them, I just like having some background noise as I work. A lot of people do this. But a week ago I was animating and found myself sobbing; Woody and the gang were about to be incinerated, and then Andy left them for college, and..fffft. I wasn't even paying attention, but it killed me anyways. (I really do love this movie.)
- I need to draw more. I'm going to try to, this semester.
And yeah. I think that's it for now. Now you're caught up with my life. I'm going to try to not make this blog a whole mess of annoying, self-deprecating thoughts like it was. Maybe I'll post some of the things I started writing a long time ago. Maybe I won't. We'll see. Hopefully I can get it back off the ground.
Later.
Olivia
So HERE WE GO. Last
- The semester ended. The last couple of weeks were hell for me, because in addition to final projects I had this really terrible cough that was sparked by a cold and also probably the weather, and I ended up sleeping all the time. Last time I had a cough like that which lasted longer than a week was in seventh grade; I had that one almost the entire school year, and people liked to say I had SARS. People kept telling me to go see a doctor, to which I had to keep replying No I can't I have to finish my finals there is no time for health. Then Illustrator crashed on me as I was heading into the final hours of working on my VFX final, which was supposed to have a lot of graphics, and I ended up having to cobble some shit together in After Effects and apologize profusely to Eric, my teacher, and hide in shame in the corner of the classroom as we watched the projects, all the while coughing my brains out. He was good about it, probably because I was dying, and at least I passed the class. I basically ended up hating my animation class that first semester, because I'm mediocre at modeling and suck at pretty much everything else we did - there was no focus on animation at all - and my final project was full of sadness. So when I got home for winter break, I refused to talk about school for a few days, and just sat around with my cat.
- But I ended up passing all my classes, anyways, and I got A's in Creative Writing, Arthurian Literature, and History of Animation I. (All the classes that didn't matter..) And this semester will probably be better, at least if I think about it in patterns; I almost always do better in the second semester than the first, and last year was no exception. And hey, the first animation class of the semester, he gave us actual animation homework! And he told me specifically that mine was good, so I guess there's some hope for spring. (God, I love animating.)
- I'm applying for internships for summer again; I'm looking into more than I did last year. First due date is the application for Blizzard. It..would be really cool if I could intern at Blizzard. Or really anywhere.
- For the first time in my life since I was maybe eight, I have friends who I see regularly outside of school. I celebrated my birthday with people other than my family for the first time since I was twelve - my first and last teenage birthday. This may not be a big deal to most people but it is kind of a big deal to me. We didn't even really do much, we just hung out. But still. It was a big deal. And having regular-friends is cool. Yesterday we went to a sex shop because one of them wanted to buy a rubber dick to wear under her pants and make people uncomfortable, and she wouldn't listen to me when I said that was what socks were for. She thought I was squeamish in the store but honestly it was just sort of weird; there were thousand-dollar gold vibrators and just..why.
- There's a guy I like(d) and he has a girlfriend and that's okay. I mean sure I can't make myself stop liking him (and I did try), but it's okay. I'm okay with it. A relationship like that is honestly not something I would be able to deal with right now (or possibly ever), and that's fine. In November I went to a thing and I met some dude and after hanging out with him for a while I realized he was flirting with me and it freaked me the fuck out and I went home and had a panic attack so it's actually pretty good that this has only happened once, and it is good that my friend has a girlfriend. I am more comfortable this way. Don't know whether that equates to 'happier', but it's honestly fine with me.
- My psychologist friend recently decided that I have depression, and is urging me to get therapy. I am resisting her as hard as I can, because I have a serious issue with getting a professional to help sort out my problems. And honestly, I'm extremely hardheaded and have convinced myself that I will be able to wear myself down and make myself better. This probably will not work, but it is all I can deal with at the moment. And while it may be flawed logic, it is all that I am prepared to live with right now; I am not ready to step out of my comfort zone just yet, not in that respect.
- OH DID I MENTION AMANDA PALMER AND NEIL GAIMAN GOT MARRIED it's pretty awesome. Also the Dresden Dolls had a reunion tour and I tried to see them in New York on Halloween but tickets sold out in like..a few hours, or something, I don't remember. And then there was a show in Boston on my birthday but since it was on a Wednesday I obviously couldn't go, so it was like a birthday punch. Ah well. She's on a tour in Australia right now, and also the Tristan Allen EP came out some time ago, and I love it. He's this kid she found on the street who writes these amazing piano compositions; my favorite is Janos vs Wonderland, and I've gotten into the habit of listening to the album while I sleep. Also, her Australia album just came out, and it's pretty sweet. Most of the songs are pretty silly but there are also some really great and not-silly ones. And..yeah that's all on the musical-obsession front.
- Okay, who reads Homestuck? (WHY AREN'T YOU READING HOMESTUCK YET?) Do it do it doooooooo itttttttt. Seriously, please. Never have I been more emotionally invested in fictional characters. Well, except maybe for Pixar movies.
- And speaking of Pixar movies, I really do not suggest watching them while PMSing. Seriously. I'm in the habit of watching movies while I do my homework - really I don't watch them, I just like having some background noise as I work. A lot of people do this. But a week ago I was animating and found myself sobbing; Woody and the gang were about to be incinerated, and then Andy left them for college, and..fffft. I wasn't even paying attention, but it killed me anyways. (I really do love this movie.)
- I need to draw more. I'm going to try to, this semester.
And yeah. I think that's it for now. Now you're caught up with my life. I'm going to try to not make this blog a whole mess of annoying, self-deprecating thoughts like it was. Maybe I'll post some of the things I started writing a long time ago. Maybe I won't. We'll see. Hopefully I can get it back off the ground.
Later.
Olivia
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