Mishal's chewy chocolate chip cookies

          I worked from the original Toll House recipe and Alton Brown's chewy alteration to come up with this recipe. I was going for a more tender, chewy cookie. I switched out a small amount of the vanilla extract for rum extract because I like to put it in all my deserts (lol). For some reason, rum extract tastes more like rum than adding real rum to recipes (lol, again). Not to mention it's a dry county and I don't drink. You can do all vanilla or add your own twist (mint or orange are good alternatives).
          I baked the half-recipe this morning (made about 16 cookies) but I doubled it here for more goodness. Let me know how yours turn out. :)

Ingredients

• 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
  
• ½ teaspoon salt
  
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
  
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
  
• 1 ¼ cup packed brown sugar
  
• 2 sticks (about 1 cup) butter, sliced into chunks and softened
  
• 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  
• ½ teaspoon rum extract
  
• ¼ cup (approx.) milk [probably won’t use it all]
  
• 2 eggs
  
• 2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chip morsels

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 °F.
   
2. In a small bowl sift together the flour, salt and baking soda.
   
3. In a large bowl, mash granulated sugar, brown sugar and butter together with a fork until slightly mixed. [Adding milk by teaspoonfuls, if needed] Beat sugar-butter mixture on low speed until creamy.
   
4. Add eggs one at a time, beat well after each addition. Add flavor extracts.
   
5. Add flour mixture in 3-4 parts. You may need to add a few teaspoons of milk to maintain consistency.
   
6. Stir in chocolate chips.
   
7. Drop cookie dough by large teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet (or you can cover the sheet in parchment paper) about 1 ½ to 2 inches apart. Bake for about ten minutes or until brown on the edges. Let cool for 2-5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Should yield about 2 ½ dozen cookies (depending on size).

Oh, a year has passed?

          Well, it's a new year. It honestly feels like the last one had started three weeks ago. There was a lot of learning for me this year, not only in school but life in general (college tends to do that). I feel a bit out of touch, not sure why. Doesn't really matter, I guess.
          My laptop is in its last days. A sickly creature from the start...after 17 months, it's time has come. My brother will build me a new computer soon. It'll be an awesome desktop and cost will probably be half that of a decent laptop; considering mobility isn't really important and I can work in the library with a flash drive if I need to, a home-built desktop is totally cool with me. He plans to order the parts when he gets back from New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl. (He plays in the Razorback band.) Show your support for Arkansas with my Hogwild deviantART journal skin. :)

          Anyway, the laptop's graphics card is all but burned out, we suspect. As such, I can't play World of Warcraft. Instead of wasting my time playing that game (or getting frustrated in my attempt to play), I figure I'll get into my creative interests once more and hope that this old-before-its-time laptop can handle photoshop. So keep an eye out for a new journal skin or so. I think I'll get back to the 100 themes challenge. I've only done four so far but I have ideas for a few more. Feel free to suggest a theme or give a tip on how to go about one of the 96 themes left.
          Well, here's to a better year than the last.
-Mishal

Knowing yourself, the next chapter

          I've known for a while now that my personality has settled into the Myers-Briggs Type known as INTP or according to Keirsey, the Rational Architect. Such knowledge has been useful in being mindful of my weaknesses and focusing to develop my strengths. Lately I've been learning what my friends' types are and what that means for the relationship. It's common for conflicts to arise from differences in personality. For instance, my roommate has a strong "feeling" preference while mine is more "thinking". She may view me as too rational and maybe even cold at times while I may see her has annoyingly irrational because she's not thinking with her head. I value knowledge and competence, she may not so much. She has a strong sense of morality and justice, the world is in black and white. I see shades of gray. You can see where we might butt heads (and believe me, we do).
          This all helps me keep things in perspective. Contrary to popular belief, I am not the center of the universe and not everyone thinks and feels as I do. I hope to continue learning about myself and others so that we can all work together to our strengths and overcoming our weaknesses.
          So tell me about yourself! Take this test: http://similarminds.com/jung.html. Check out more info on your result at Personality Page, which has not only an overview of your personality but also info that may help in choosing careers, understanding your type in relationships and even direction on personal growth. Keirsey's website also has plenty of good information to work with: your personality, working with other types in work, school, family and love. Finally, Socionics has some fascinating information on relationships between the types: what to expect, what it is, strengths and weaknesses inherent to your type of relationship. I'd love to see how your personality matches up with mine.

Road Trip! (Week 2)

          Anyway, Sunday we head east to Yosemite Valley in Yosemite National Park. It was green and lovely as I remember. An oasis in an otherwise dry part of the country. Civilization ends, we go there. :P As soon as we get there we take a hike up Vernal Falls, 3 miles round trip, 1000ft gain and rated as "strenuous". I was so out of shape for that hike, my legs hurt for days. 1.5 miles up 1000 ft doesn't sound so bad until you've walked five minutes up a steep grade and realize you've still got a long way to go. The first half was challenging enough for me. It was paved and wide and only went to the bridge. The second was pure evil, it was called the Mist Trail because of the mist coming from the falls at one part. Many places the black-top was simply not present, you were walking up dirt and rock. At a couple stretches in the last quarter of the hike you're climbing steep steps cut into the stone. At the top I call it quits and decide to take a break, already deciding the climb was not worth it. David goes on with Dad to Nevada Falls, another 1000 ft and 1.2 miles up the trail.
          When we make it back down, we settle into our tent cabin in Curry Village and go to dinner. During the night, a bear apparently wanders into the Village. I never hear it but the ruckus the park service employees (I'm assuming) woke me up. A woman was yelling "BEAR! BEAR! BEAR!" A gun (probably blank) was shot off, that or fireworks. I honestly think I was as scared as the bear. I kept praying, "no bear, not here, no bear" or something like that. It took me probably twenty minutes just to calm down, I was so terrified. My parents and David hardly noticed, they might have heard the shots and then gone back to sleep. I don't appreciate being such a light sleep in these situations. No wonder I'm a nervous wreck. :O
          Next day we float the Merced River (part of the reason I want to name a future daughter Mercedes) but it was so cold. They had opened it up just a few days before we came. I think Dad said that if the sum of the water and air temperatures is at or below 100 degrees Fahrenheit then people aren't allowed to raft it. I blame the heavy winter snows. They made it way too cold, and high. I was eaten alive by mosquitoes when we tried to take a break on the shore. Those suckers bite hard. I still have red marks but at least I knew not to scratch them and they stopped itching after five minutes of being left alone.
          That night I sleep a bit better but those beds were too firm and hips did not appreciate, though Mom liked them. Tuesday we decide not to take a small hike or ride but leave straight away on home. Rising out of the valley into the mountains was beautiful; cool, clean, high air, rolling granite with evergreen and slightly marshy meadows so inviting, not a cloud in the sky. Beyond the rain shadow, the landscape is much bleaker. Dry, crumbling mountains. Descending into the valley below, the heat is stifling. Only an open 450 degree oven has felt hotter to me. Yet, life still thrives. Some water makes into parts of the valley. Outside Bishop, grass and smooth-barked trees with silver-backed leaves around the river and hosting roaming cows in places.
          We stop in Barstow, stuck there and not farther down road by a reservation. We make the most of it by dipping in the pool and seeing Despicable Me (Tuesday discount FTW!). The first little minion that appeared reminded me of Matt for some reason, not a bad one to be sure. Gru, the main character, seemed like a surly version Cris, who I know would never so miserable. That was strange. Lol. Next day we endure a 12 hour drive to Albuquerque. This time Arizona was much more pleasant. It was probably the rain (which had sadly caused flooding for them the preceding weekend), the greener landscapes and Williams. Williams as a town near the Grand Canyon. We took train ride to the Canyon. A couple of cowboys pretended to rob the train except they gave us all cola instead of taking anything. We ate at the best Mexican restaurant you'll ever visit. Three times, we've been; three times we've walked away calling it the best. It's the best. I can't remember the name though. :( It's near the train tracks if you're ever in the area.
          Hopped up on a red bull cola, I take the wheel for five hours, getting us to Grants. My dad drove the remaining 65 miles after that. Thursday I hang out with Laura. I sit on a literature class in which they were discussing a very deep book about sexual oppression and obsession. I think. The conversation was a bit awkward to listen to and I tried to focus on reading new articles on NPR's website instead. We hang out at the hotel for an hour after that before visiting Laura's place. We meet her cat (sweet and shaved to look like a lion with boots and tail with fire at the end), her dogs, and her brother Ken. We have dinner at a New Mexican restaurant. It was good but after all those chips the portions were HUGE. Actually, even without the chips there was too much. Laura, my parents and I joined her for an evening concert and David hung out with Ken for the rest of the evening. They seemed to hit it off pretty well after about 12 years of not really keeping in touch. The concert was pleasant. It was held in a church. Rich woods made up the wall behind the pulpit, the rest of the church was a simple white with columns, tall windows in the lower part and at the higher part of the walls were stained glass windows. The ceiling was the point of interest for me, though. I'm not sure if it was painted illusion or it really had sky-blue velvet. The 8-pointed star lamps were really cool.
          Friday we book it back to Texas. We can finally relax. Saturday, one of my mom's sisters came (her half sister Alma) flew in. Sunday, my mom, Alma, (her full sister) Silvia and mother (Melida, David and I call her Abuelita) fly out to Utah to visit Abuelita's ailing sister. There's some...colorful family history there but I'll spare you.
          So now Dave and I are hanging out at the house, going from relaxed to a bit stagnant. Inception was good at least. There's only so much the internet (including WoW) and TV can do in terms of entertainment. Not much else to do since it's expensive to do much of anything (don't talk to me about parking at Six Flags). We made a nice dinner tonight: David did steamed chicken with herb mixed we found in the pantry, potatoes au gratin on the stove, and shredded zucchini squash. We even baked a butter yellow cake, frosted with butter-cream frosting and liberally colored with festive sprinkles (the tiny little round ones that come in blue, red, white, green, etc).

Road trip! (Week 1)

          The baptism was an understated affair, that's just fine with me. :) I'm thankful for everyone that could make it in person and appreciate those that were there in spirit. Immediately after we head on back to Texas. It was a long drive but we made it around midnight I think. We got Sunday to rest up and get some things together. Driving Monday, I almost couldn't believe that Mexico was only a few miles away. I wondered at how human borders aren't always defined on the landscape, why we try to keep something in or out. We get to El Paso and Dad mentions that crossing into Laredo is very dangerous. They shoot people there and the police are owned by the drug cartels or something. Suddenly borders seem like a good idea but the ones there may not be very effective if Laredo/El Paso is a major conduit for trafficking drugs. :(
          Tuesday we pass through Arizona. I'd decided I liked that state the least, the desert there is particularly un-pretty and the atmosphere is unhealthy somehow. It felt wrong. Anyway, we hit California and stay in a lovely (i.e. really really up-class expensive) town Rancho Mirage. I'm certain the hostess at the Marie Callender's sat us the farthest back corner because we looked so frumpy. The room was nice, though, as were the pool and hot tub. :) Wednesday we make it to the Bay Area. I see my grandmother and uncle for the first time in seven years. They insisted if we hadn't sent them our graduation pictures in high school, they wouldn't have recognized us. We'd both grown so much. It was also decided that David looked like our (late) great uncle Gene (I think that's his name). It's the oval face and lop-sided smile. We had a great dinner (raviolis with rosa sauce I think), apple pie and ice cream, a game of hearts (I "won" with over 100 points).
          Next day we go for a round of miniature golf, 18 holes of fun. The golf place is one we'd visited many times when we lived in California. It was fun to play through it again (even if I "won" yet again with a par of over 50). Friday we hit up the California Academy of Sciences. We'd been there once before but it was renovated a few years go with a green roof (lots of cool plants, including poppies, were growing up there), and naturally there were new exhibits as well. It was a lot of fun to walk through them all and absorb mounds of information present. If I could afford it, I'd love to bring even a few students when I become a teacher.
          Saturday we went into San Francisco and checked out Fisherman's Wharf. The pier we started at was crowded (they all were actually), a farmer's market was going on. I wished so badly for thick wad of cash to buy gifts for you all! There were knit hats that looked like bears, jewelry of every kind, home decor like painted plates, light-switch and outlet faces (?), glass figurines (I saw several dragons), wind chimes, and so many other things. Street performers were intermittent, a group of friends playing around on unicycles, musicians from one-man bands, a man with either an accordion or guitar (he played a lovely melody and was kinda cute, lol), a bass player...the food looked great. Everything was touted as organic. It smelled as good as it looked. Peaches, tomatoes, oh so tempting. Fresh meats like fish, beef, not sure I saw chicken. We even found salmon candy. Very strange. We didn't buy it. We tried some cheese, it was amazing. I believe what we tasted was made from sheep's milk. It had a gentle flavor and texture, like this bit of white cheddar I'd tried a few stands before. It was worth over $20 a pound and we had nowhere to store it so we didn't get that either. :/ There was more inside this one building in front of the water (it might have been an old warehouse or ferry station), fish shops, a mushroom shop, coffee shop, chocolate, bread, pastries, sandwiches. I got kind of hungry but we didn't eat there. Instead we ate a few piers down. Mom insisted David try some crab (he liked it) and I got an amazing veggie pizza slice. I can still taste it, not greasy but not dry with fresh (real) cheese, onions, olives, bell peppers, mmm! So good.
          After lunch we do a bay tour on a ferry (Alcatraz was sold out for the day). Got a good dose of history passing an old fort, the bay bridge, art museum, Alcatraz. I didn't know that San Francisco's hills weren't always covered in green grass, evergreen and eucalyptus. It was yellow grassy hillside like the rest of the Bay Area (makes sense...).
          I take interest in a lot of things, hence the reason I say "I find it interesting that..." so often. I took note of the changing landscape as we headed west. The San Antonio/Hill Country area is unusually green, it's so far inland that often even the larger hurricanes that hit Houston barely sprinkle on most occasions. As we traveled north and west though, it did get drier. The light green gave way to darker, dirtier green to a brown I find quite ugly. Eventually the desert gives way to manufactured oases, to dry hills, to hills of dry golden summer grass, to farmland in the San Joachim valley. There were vineyards, orchards, farms, even cattle feed lots. In between it was rolling hills of that same golden grass. As we get closer to the Bay Area, more variety in the vegetation appears. If only the change in air was as pleasant. The air is clear through much of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona but as you near Los Angeles it gets dirty and hazy. It's quite sad, really; a state that tries to be so "green" has some of the worst air (and light) pollution I've witnessed. I often thought on this trip that my memories of this state were greener, more beautiful and pleasant than the reality. Then or now. Despite the mild disappointments, I still cherish them.

To sleep, perchance to dream

Inception
A review: as spoiler free as I can manage
          If you haven't seen this movie, drop what you're doing now and go see the next showing at a theater near you. It is by far the best movie I've seen in a really long time (perhaps ever?). The music lent well to the various moods. I remember noting a light percussive beat in one scene evocative of a ticking clock (time is translated interestingly in dream world(s)). I loved the cinematography: epic and grand but also intimate as well, giving the feel of an almost-reality.
          The actors were great, they drew you in even if their roles were a bit short. The one that is focused on most is Leonardo DiCaprio's character, a man that is breaking but more on that when I talk about the story. Next come Paige's character, who delves rather deeply with him within the dreamworld. The others play their roles but they're mostly tense and action based. Everyone doing their job to ensure "the job" goes right.
          About the story: it's the most original one I've seen in a movie but feels like one could have dreamed up, like a new theory or thought that stands to reason and makes perfect sense. Dominic "Dom" Cobb (DiCaprio) gets a job offer, the reward would be his freedom to go home to his two children (you'll have to watch it to find out why he can't go back) but the catch is that it's illegal. He'd have to sneak into someone's dreams and implant a thought (inception). He agrees (if he didn't that'd be it right?). As they delve into the dreamworld, they are beset by unexpected hurdles and the not-so-subtle threat of Mal (subtle name, ha!), a woman very important to Cobb.

School, love, life, and Canadians

          So how has life been for you? I moved into my apartment two weeks ago. It's modest but it's mine (and Desireé's but she's not here :/). I got a nice, firm twin mattress and box for under $170 (new!). That was nice. Desireé moved her stuff in this last weekend and while she was in town we got a sweet futon for $50. Pretty awesome too. I still need a dresser and a desk as all my stuff is in piles on the floor. I'm not that kind of messy so it's annoying.
          Saturday after moving in I went to a wedding. I didn't really cry except when the bride's father (also officiating the wedding, he definitely got teary during the ceremony) got out the couple's True Love Waits cards and talked about how they made promises to keep themselves pure until marriage. There was something beautiful about that, in it being such a rare thing these days. I never signed those little cards but I have and will continue to hold to that principle. I've lost nothing and missed out on nothing because of that decision.
          The rest of the weekend was uneventful, church and failed plans for a picnic. Monday classes begin and I show up to work and class a few minutes late. Great start, eh? [dangit, I said "eh?" more on that later]. I'm a TA for physiological chemistry I again. Again, I love working with the students. They seem to be better this summer than during the spring. The questions are better and it's more laid back (despite the crazy heavy schedule of cramming 16 weeks of class into 5). Calculus is...calculus. I have the same professor for this course as I did the first time I took cal 2. So far, he's shown himself to be a personable and fun teacher (sort of) but I feel his patience with me is low. More on that later.
          Monday I also got my internet connected. It's the slow version (unless I got the wrong modem) so I'll have to upgrade or quit WoW and browsing with multiple tabs open to deviantART (image heavy) and youtube and twitter and facebook, etc. (lol, yeah right). Anyway, I log onto facebook and the first thing I see is some big news. It's not news I really wanted to learn about through facebook but such is life.
          About the "eh?": After getting back into WoW, I got into Vent again to talk to my guild mates. One of the guild mates, whose main character is Evisona (gnome warlock with a mohawk now black but was way cooler pink) was also on Vent. He's a new guy (well at least since I'd been gone) and I quickly noticed his interesting accent. He's actually from Manitoba, a province in Canada. He's pretty cool, like just about all the Canadians I've met so far, but he would say "Eh?" all the time! It wasn't long before I started using it, too; in my writing and even speaking. I put the blame squarely on him. Canadians are invading my life, at the university, at the martial arts school I occasionally attend, in WoW (several, actually), even my favorite shows (all the Stargate franchises were/are filmed in Canada with several Canadian actors in the cast and crew). The only Canadian I can think of that I may not like so much is Keanu Reeves but no one cares about him. :P
          So school went along. The first day of lab, the students were pretty quiet (lab safety lecture was all we did) and I wasn't sure how they liked me. The next day was much better, they were quick to ask questions and we all felt much more at ease. By the end of the week we settled into a comfortable relationship so it's all good.
          Calculus, was not so great. I thought I was doing okay. I did my homework and put some equations and theorems on my allowed "cheat" card for the first test. I felt good about the test, too but I got it back yesterday and it was a 68%. That doesn't quite cut it for me, or this course. I need at least a C as required for my physics classes, a B to boost my GPA and that A seems a bit out of reach considering my entire grade rests on 5 tests worth 20% each. Not cool. I did the math and my average test score for the next four test would need to be 83% just to get a B, 95.5% to get an A. Not much wiggle room. I suppose not having taken Cal 2 since last summer doesn't help. I kind of wished I had taken Cal 3 last fall with Arrigo (who I had for Cal 2 and is the best math teacher I've had) instead of physics or teaching methods. Oh well, nothing I can do about that, gotta deal with it now.
          In other news, I'm working a friendship with someone that I'm not really sure how it's going. There was some awkward confusion surrounding it but hopefully it's all straightened out. My only desire for that friendship (as with any of mine) is that I can serve them in any way they need me to. I love all my friends so dearly. I've noticed that most of them are men but I'm not complaining. ;P Joking aside, I truly am grateful for them. God has used them all to help fill a void I wasn't really aware of until a few months ago. Some are encouraging, others give wisdom, some help me with things, they're all a blast to hang out and have fun with. I would gladly do anything for any of my brothers and mentors, they only have to ask. I count this new friendship (not a new person but as a friend of friends) among my beloved brothers, pure and simple. I hope he'll come to understand that.
          Great news! Our beloved Lady of Perpetual Responsibility, Grace, returns from France in a couple days. We're all so excited for her to return (with some good French food and wine, j/k). I'm sure she's ready to be home, too. I've been keeping up with her blogs from France (which have been pretty detailed :D) but it'll be nice to talk to her directly about it all (maybe after she's rested from the return trip).
          What else? I started keeping a proper diary. I'm writing in the one where I used to only write about guys I was interested (which were far and few between) but it all started with a little note chemistry (I've already told you about my love for the abstract subject). I've since added entries almost daily. They focus a lot on the internal: what's on my mind, what I'm feeling, what God's doing with me. Not so much about the external events and things I write about here.
          Speaking of God, it's time for church. I really need to updated Gems in the Rough, I have about 5 ideas I've started but not finished. Well, lots of love and happiness to you! Hopefully I will write again soon. Probably not.