Roommates : Oven Mit

Getting our ducks in our row has been quite silly. Gathering all needed utensils, tools and gadgets has led to some innovation and compromise. 

The Importance of Being Cool

As I grow older and closer to maturity with my parents, I realize how flippin' cool they are. Not in the like "we still go to hip concerts and buy our kids whiskey on the weekend" way but more so in the actual cool way. As a parent you donate the rest of your life from the moment a six pound screaming bundle of joy is born to slinging diapers, paying for soccer camps and taming raging teenage hormones. And holy shit, that's pretty cool. That commitment to another hungry, and sometimes hangry being is probably the hardest thing one could ever do. So thanks Mom and Dad, for being so cool.

Oh yeah, and this happened

I fear stopping my education, that I won’t acquire continuous insights, random facts and weird foreign names. What if graduation means I don’t come across new books or pieces of art? I fear not being told stories, I fear not wondering about new things. What if I get stuck in my ways? What if I think I’m always right and there isn’t a professor to tell me I only put in a C-worthy effort? I fear the lack of stimulating conversation and goofing off.

Now my education is up to me. My graduation allows me to choose even more precisely what I want to know. But what if my personal education leads me astray, what if I become irrelevant? What if my personal education leads me to follow intellectual trends too closely and encases me in popular knowledge?

Now my education is up to me. Just as it is not up to me. Life isn’t going to toss me textbooks any longer. Life is going to toss me paying loans, dealing with human relationships and managing my multiple interests. Life is going to challenge me with new jobs and tasks. Life might even challenge me with stagnation and frustration. Life is my professor and I’m going to need a tutor.

Now my education is up to me. I’m pledging as a B.A., B.S. that I will continue to question and wonder about the arts and sciences. I write this with a sense of utopian exploration hoping that my personal education leads me to move forward, seek positive change and look for reasonable solutions. Because now, my education is up to me.

Waterfalls and Red Rocks and Calcium Carbonate

At Havasupai the water is the most crystal blue you could ever imagine. The Grand Canyon explodes with the reddest rock on Earth. The luscious green vegetation envelopes this cliffs and complements the blue and red to van Gogh's artistic satisfaction.

 My weekend spent in the wilderness couldn't have been more serene, more challenging or more glorious with sunlight. The 10 mile hike to the waterfalls of Havasupai not only gives you strong glutes but also rejuvenated my love for the outdoors.

Saturday was spent wading and climbing over the rocks of Beaver Falls.

Did you know? The water is naturally blue because calcium carbonate deposits found in the red rocks.

 The 10 miles back to the car were exhausting, hot and so gratifying once I was greeted with a victory collapse in the shade next to the port-a-potty.

A Little Taste

This weekend I went to Havasupai. Here's a little taste of the waterfall wonderland that's there. 

More to come soon...

Dear Comedy Writing

Now I'm not quite sure I've made it quite clear enough yet but I will now. Besides being a traveler, student, worker and general person, I'd also like to be a comedy writer. Like, I'd get to hang out with Liz Lemon all day, shoot the shit, be hilarious and then get paid for it. Like, I'd get to drink Snake Juice with Amy Poehler. Normally, I would say this is ridiculous and a compulsive dream dreamt by most awkward college educated women BUT what you don't know is that I have an 'in'. Now is the best time to strike. The time is now for a lady to develop her sense of humor and get rich; look at Girls, zero to going-to-the-Grammy's in one season flat. It's now or never and I'm ready to throw my two cents into the Fountain of Funny...

It's a manila folder containing my most finest jokes and it starts like this:

Dear Kristin Wiig, (editor's note: she seems the most approachable of the contemporary SNL female dynasty but sending the letter to the entire holy trinity of female comedians is a must)
I would be a great addition to your posse. You see, I'm really funny and have a lot of charm. Sometimes my friends pee their pants and I don't even have to open my mouth. I worry about their dysfunctional bladders but Bernie says he's been giving Mildred her kidney medicine so she should be on the up-and-up. Although it can be quite embarrassing to go out with my ol' gal pals and their Poise panty lines, I have learned to take it more of a compliment and testament to my hilarity than anything. Attached is a list of jokes, scene ideas, my resumé and general quips that I think would add a wealth of toot-scootin-to-boot to the comedy writing process.
Just consider instating me, please and thank you.
Love,
Rebecca L. Asser

Now all I've got to do is cross my fingers, toes and legs and wish real hard.
editor's note: shout out to the most greatest Emma Kelly-Knickerbocker for helping conjure up this most finest idea.

New Yawk Chilis

Breaking US ground with a lovely New York layover spent reminiscing in Indian food paradise with a delightful old friend!

The Colorful City of Lights

A quick afternoon exploring the colors of Paris with a colorful friend.

Je Te Dirais 'A La Prochaine', Montpellier

Chère Ma Petite Montpellier,
These last ten months have been amazing with...

The dirty nights at St. Roch Church...

Surprising beauty...

The markets...

Tunisian treats...

And the best of friends...

Now my next part of my adventure sends me WWOOFing at a goat farm in the north of France.
Merci pour tout, a corner of my heart shall always be found here.
Love,
Rebecca

The Smells That Will Linger

They say that smell holds the strongest key to memory. That being said, Montpellier will be difficult to forget. As my time in Montpellier is winding down I find myself nostalgically walking through its windy streets and alleyways. Walking with friends at night and walking with my groceries during the day I stumble across scents fragrant and foul. Here I've compiled a list of the daily things I've been smelling for the last 10 months.
- coffee
- the stink before rain, rain and the refreshing after-rain
- pain au chocolat and bakeries
- poop, pee, sewer, garbage and exhaust
- Frenchy body odor
- chrysanthemum, hydrangea and sperm trees
- curry and garlic
- l'herbe qui n'est pas de qualité
- "the oaky afterbirth of wine" - Michael Scott
- salty beach air and the swamp
- people smoking cigarettes outside of bars, restaurants, classes and the health clinic
- lavender laundry

Pescetarian Paella

12 large shrimps
2 kilo of mussels
8 sea snails
saffron oil
paella rice
1 red bell pepper
2 tomatoes
lots of garlic
1 onion
1 bottle of cheap white wine
salt, pepper and oregano
bouillon
fresh parsley

First cook the mussels by boiling a cup of water, a cup of wine and splash of saffron oil and steaming for about 15 minutes. Let cool. To cook the sea snails do the same but add a clove or two of garlic.

Remove the mussels and sea snails from their shells and place in a large pan of butter and garlic on low heat. Boil water and add a bouillon and wine. *Follow the quantity ratio on the package. Add the rice to the pan with the seafood, toast the rice (two minutes) and then slowly mix in the boiling bouillon water. Let simmer.

In a separate pan add all the veggies with oregano, olive oil, garlic, onion and saffron oil. Sauté. Once the rice is nice and fluffy, mix everything together and top with fresh parsley.

We all tried this and survived, even enjoyed it. Bon appetit!

Dear WWOOF,

Bonjour les Hôtes de WWOOF,

Je m'appelle Rebecca Asser. J'ai 20 ans et en ce moment je suis

étudiante étrangère à Montpellier III. J'étudie la sociologie et le

français. Je suis tombée amoureuse avec la mode de vie et le

paysage français et voudrais bien allonger mon séjour en explorant et

travaillant un endroit spectaculaire de Nord.

La possibilité d'être un petit morceau de votre vie colorée serait

quelque chose qui peut m'intéresser. J'avais toujours aimé la cuisine,

faire du sport et musique et la vie simple. Ce sera la première fois

que je ferai un aventure comme celui-ci. Mais, il y a que le temps

présent pour apprendre, essayer et faire! Je finirai mes cours le 15 mai

et j'ai la fin de juillet prévu comme départ. Serait-il une place

chez vous?

Comme WWOOFeuse, le travail serait quoi? Avez vous des vélos

disponible? Et l'internet?

Merci bien et à bientôt?

Rebecca Asser