Potting

I started writing something today, but I haven't finished it yet. Until I have a chance to post it, here's a haiku about something else I did today (I re-potted a spider plant).

Digging through soil,
Wrapping up a compact mass
With more of the same.

-Kat

It's a Haiku!

Sometimes I look back on this past year and I am amazed at how things have changed.

I'm not used to it,
But good things can come of it -
Spontaneity!

-Kat

Fall

Today at a bus stop I noticed something beautiful.

The morning is still,
I see something in a tree -
Leaves are raining down.

-Kat

Dinner

Tonight I cooked again. I made hazelnut crusted chicken with a creamy gorgonzola sauce, but I couldn't find hazelnuts when I was shopping, so mine was really walnut crusted chicken. It turned out well, but I'd recommend being careful if making this in a small apartment - the chicken was getting smoky when I was cooking it and my smoke alarm started going off.

Ingredients

• 2 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 large egg whites
• 1 cup chopped hazelnuts, available on baking aisle
• 4 (6-ounce) pieces boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup Gorgonzola
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage leaves, plus extra for garnish – substitute 1 teaspoon dried sage and stir into sauce, if fresh is not available

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Mix flour, poultry seasoning and garlic powder in a dish. Beat egg whites in a shallow plate or bowl. Place hazelnuts on a piece of waxed paper or plastic wrap on a cutting board or work surface.

Preheat a nonstick skillet with oven safe handle over medium high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Turn in flour to dust the breasts, then turn in egg whites, then press breasts into nuts on both sides. Wash hands. Add extra-virgin olive oil to the pan and add chicken. Brown the nuts and chicken 2 minutes on each side then transfer to the oven and finish cooking the chicken through, about 8 minutes.

In a small pot, warm milk over medium heat. Add cheese and melt it into the milk. Stir in 2 tablespoons of chopped sage and simmer 5 minutes.

To serve, place chicken on plates and pour a couple of spoons of the Gorgonzola sauce over the center of each piece. Garnish with chopped sage.

-Kat

Baby Hat

I have a friend who is going to have a new baby very soon, so I made her this hat.

-Kat

Dreams

Always hold on to your good dreams.

-Kat

Thrift Shop

Once a month I work at a thrift shop.


Three books and a toy,
Two shirts and a pair of pants.
That'll be nine dollars.


-Kat

Abstraction

Today I learned something new.


The board is a simple, square grid, nineteen lines crossed by another nineteen lines in opposition. The pieces are smooth, perfectly round stones, half of them black and half of them white. That is the entire physical presence of this game. The board sits in the middle of the table and the pieces reside in matching wooden bowls, one on each side of the board.

When the game is played it takes on meaning much greater than the pieces of wood and stone can while they are still. Each tiny crossing point becomes a citadel waiting to be captured and each stone is an army of invaders. Generals man the board and begin taking territory for themselves. The tension is almost nonexistent as they begin conquering lands on opposite ends of the earth, but soon one side wants what the other has and they move toward each other.

Soon a battle has erupted. Each side continues taking turns, but they no longer move over a friendly map. Now the black and white stones are placed with deliberation as each side desperately tries to hold on to places to breathe. A fatal move is made and a small pack of white stones die. They are removed and their absence highlights the gains for the black side.

The game continues, a constant struggle on each side, gaining and losing ground with quick placements of the round stones that are battalions and the sky all at once. New land is taken and old land changes hands. Countless battles are carried out and the map is in constant flux. Then the game is over and the pieces are simple stones once again. They are swept aside and laid to rest in their bowls, the wooden board is put up and the war just fought returns to being an abstraction.


-Kat

Night

It's been a little while, but I finally sat down and wrote a new piece.


As the wind blows through my coat and I pull it closer to my body, I wonder why I took a job that left me walking alone in the dark late at night. Far away are the sounds of  a sporting event I cannot really bring myself to care about, but apparently it's going well - I've distanced myself considerably and I can still hear the cheers. I start walking a little faster, both to try to warm up and to get further away. It's really dark now, and I stick as close to the lamp posts as I can for fear of whatever unknown things might be in the shadows.

As I continue my solitary journey, passing between old and familiar buildings, I start seeing flashes of lightning all around. They're pretty far off at the moment, but they remind me of the predicted storms I heard about earlier and didn't pay much attention to. I wrap my coat closer to me again, although I am less cold than before, and keep walking.

I've made it pretty far now, and I realize I can't hear the cheering crowds anymore. Now it's nearly silent. It's late in the season, so there aren't many bugs out to create their evening music and there's still no one near me to disrupt the night air. A bit of thunder comes behind the most recent flash of lightning and I start to calculate whether or not I'll make it home before the storm hits.

The silence is deeper when it is punctuated by thunder, it's like the night is sighing between each burst of noise. Then, for just a second, lightning flashes right above me and lights everything up like daylight. The sensation is gone almost as soon as it has appeared, but it left it's mark anyway. I pay even less attention to my surroundings as I remember it and try to hold onto that memory and feeling so I can bring them back later.

I stop and look around me and realize I'm a lot closer to home than I had thought. Good, I think, I'll make it home before I get soaked. Then as I turn the corner to walk the last block home, the rain starts. I laugh out loud, thinking of the strangeness and simplicity of this evening walk, and then I break into a run to get to my door before I get completely soaked.


-Kat

Nighttime

Walking through the dark,
The wind blowing though my coat.
Out alone at night.

-Kat

Sleep

Sometimes I have a hard time falling asleep because I've got a lot on my mind. This is usually how I feel.

Tossing and turning,
There's a song stuck in my head.
I can't fall asleep.

-Kat

Tea and Books

This is a sentiment I feel pretty strongly, but have absolutely no time to act on now; so I thought I'd share.

-Kat

Another Review

I went to see a play this evening based on the shooting at Columbine High School. It was very good, especially in it's portrayal of the mental states of the shooters.

I just watched a man
Descending into madness -
Yelling and sobbing.

-Kat