No BEDA This Time

So as you may have figured out, I'm not doing BEDA (Blog Every Day in August). Umm, not just because I've already missed some days, but also because I know I'll be missing more days later. I'm leaving the country in about a week and a half, for a week and a half. But then I'll be back! Anyway, I won't have much internet access while I'm away. I'm already dreading what my inbox will look like when I get back. Anyway, no internet = no blogging. But I'll try and do some extra posting about my trip when I get back.

Does Being Evil Make You a Good Singer?

I love musicals. Like, a lot. I'm mean, I'm no theater kid, posting Playbills on my walls, but I like to watch them and listen to them. There's something I've noticed a lot of musicals have in common.

The villains get great songs. Anytime a character does something evil they get a great song. Some examples:

Oogie Boogie's Song - Nightmare Before Christmas
Blood in the Water - Legally Blonde
Rogues are We - Holy Musical B@man
Mother Knows Best - Tangled
Brand New Day & Slipping - Dr. Horrible' Sing-Along Blog
Be Prepared - Lion King
Kick it Up a Notch - Starship
What You Feel - Once More With Feeling
Cell Block Tango - Chicago

I'm sure there are more examples out there, but this is what I came up with quickly.

By the way I'm not saying that the heroes get bad songs, just that the villain's songs tend to stand out.

Homemade "Hostess" Cupcakes

So a while ago I found a recipe to make my own Hostess Cupcakes.

These

I bought the ingredients to make them earlier this week, and today I finally got around to baking them.

First I made the cupcakes themselves.

The recipe said there would be 24. I got 22, though one broke apart when I removed it from the cupcake pan, so I ended up with 21.

Fun story, I don't have a big cupcake pan that can bake 24 cupcakes at once. I only have a cupcake pan that bake 6 cupcakes at once. So while it should have taken about half an hour to do the baking part, it actually took about 2 hours.

Also I don't have a real cooling rack so I used this improvised one.

Then I made the filling.

There's more than there looks in there.

Once the cupcakes were cool I started to fill them. I used a plastic baggie and a decorating tip. Unfortunately, the tip was supposed to screw on the a real frosting bag, instead of just being stuck inside a cut out tip. The results were messy to say the least.

I got better as I went. It helped when I realized that it was better to turn the cupcake upside-down with the tip pointing up to do the piercing, rather then trying the shove the tip into the cupcake.

So those cupcakes sat quietly while I made the frosting.

Before

After

Frosting was also a bit messy, but it covered the mess of filling them.

Finally I just had to do the swirl. I had some store-bought tube frosting for that.

All of the cupcakes

One of the cupcakes

Anyway, onto more important things. Like eating a cupcake.

I may have been overly concerned with how much filling I was inserting into the cupcakes. Hopefully the other cupcakes got more.

Other than the lack of filling it was very yummy.

July 4 Celebrations

Wow, I just started blogging again and I'm already late posting.

Anyway, to my credit I was a little busy. Here's how yesterday went.

Get up.
Go to work.
Work.
Get home.
Learn plans for the evening.
Shower and change.
Come downstairs and learn that plans are now different.
Go to Grandparents.
Swim, chat, play etc. with some cousins.
Dinner.
Learn we are walking 30 minutes to the fireworks.
Look down at shoes.
See something similar to these:

Wish I was wearing something more like these:

Start walking.
Realize that the path is downhill on roads with no sidewalks.
Come the realization that the way back will be uphill in the dark...
...with no sidewalks.
Get to the park and set up blankets.
Watch the fireworks.
Feel really really happy because I love fireworks.
Continue to feel happy walking uphill in the dark on a road with no sidewalks in heels because I got to see fireworks.
Go home.
Sleep.

By the way, as tiring as the walk was, it was worth it. I love fireworks.

Unplanned Vacation

Wow, I almost missed today too.

So between getting sick, finals, packing, coming home, and having my wisdom teeth removed, blogging kind of fell by the wayside. But no more! I will be back on my regular schedule until I leave the country in August and will resume it again when I return later in August.

Student Discounts

As I am a college student, I somewhat by default live in a college town. Being a college town, many of the local stores offer student discounts. Not all of them will tell you about having a student discount however. Which, frankly, I find strange because it seems to me that part of the point of having a student discount is to encourage students to come spend money at your establishment.

Basically there are three types of stores.

1. Sees that you are of college age, and either asks if you are a student and want to discount, or just assumes and gives you the discount. This personally is my favorite type. The store makes it clear that they want your business and does what they can to encourage that. I went out to dinner with a friend a little while ago and when we got the check, the waiter told us he'd already applied the student discount. This level of service is awesome. I will definitely be going back, both because of this and because the food was really good.

2. Has a sign or is very public about the discount, but generally waits for you to prompt them about getting the discount. Honestly, this is fine. I respect that they don't want to lose money giving the discount to people who look college age but aren't, and they've made it clear that it's there for the asking. The best places will take you at your word if you ask for the discount, though some will usually ask to see ID, though if you're in a large group of students, they may just take your word for it. The point is they have this discount to try and get customers, and they know it. The best example of this is the local movie theater.

Then there's the last type.

3. Has a discount, but won't mention it, and sometimes even get annoyed if you ask, because people behind you in line hear you asking and know to ask. Why have a discount if you don't want to offer it? I mean really. If you don't want to do it, no one is forcing you. The main place I've run into this is a local ice cream store. To be fair, they don't need a student discount to draw in students. I think it's nice that they have it, but honestly, I'd rather they stop offering it than have them getting annoyed whenever I pull out my ID and ask for the student discount.

Late Posts

Right, so I forgot to post something yesterday. Um, sorry? I have finals and I'm sick. Which is, of course, perfect timing. So, sorry. This may happen again. And sorry for this being a lame post.

Here's an apologetic cat.