Granfalloon

But I KNOW I bought coconut flakes. I vividly remember looking at the various brands of coconut flakes in the store and not being able to choose, and ultimately going with the cheapest brand because they're coconut flakes and probably all taste the same, especially when sprinkled atop a baked bar. I remember the bag: baby blue plastic with the tear-off-supposedly-resealable top, and a little window displaying the flakes themselves. I REMEMBER IT. I remember purchasing the coconut flakes at the self checkout and going on my normal route home. BUT here is where it gets interesting: I DON'T REMEMBER PUTTING THE COCONUT FLAKES AWAY UPON RETURNING HOME. I remember putting the other things away, and I surely remember intentionally leaving the puff pastry on the counter so it could thaw. And then I did my normal evening activities and went to bed. Here's where things really take a turn: The next day, ready to bake, I begin assembling my ingredients: Flour, butter, brown sugar, con

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon     Comments: Suspenseful! Galápagos by Kurt Vonnegut     Comments: Not my favorite of Vonnegut's but it was fun. Selected Stories of Franz Kafka by Franz Kafka, Willa Muir (Translator), Edwin Muir (Translator), Philip Rahv (Introduction)     Comments: Damn!  The Metamorphosis  is way scarier and sadder and way less funny than I had remembered (first reading was in high school), and Kafka's other stories are also mostly scary and sad. A Child Called "It" by Dave Pelzer     Comments: Relentless. The King in Yellow and Other Horror Stories by Robert W. Chambers, E.F. Bleiler (Selected by)     Comments: Some really great stories, some boring ones. The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury     Comments: Breathtaking! The Road by Cormac McCarthy     Comments: I never wanted to put this down which is rare for me. Happy Birthday, Wanda June by Kurt Vonnegut     Comments: A very different Vonnegut experience. The

I got this idea from: Reflections From The Bell Curve In 2023, I will stop over-thinking about my future and enjoy what I'm doing now. I'm slowly getting better at this. And future can mean any future, including like this coming Friday. I'll let myself look forward to the weekend, but that shouldn't stop me from enjoying my morning walks to the bus stop and other mundane weekday activities. In 2023, I will start being more open to new projects at work, even if they are in areas that don't really interest me. I realized toward the end of 2022 how rewarding this can be when I helped out at a work event. I'm not super experienced when it comes to library programming and events, and up until last month I thought I wanted nothing to do with it, but I ended up having a good time and feeling very accomplished afterward, even though the work itself was a little stressful. In 2023, I will continue  cooking and trying out new recipes, then writing and drawing about the ex

Using the internet to find recipes is wonderful, yes? Well for some reason I recently decided that reading recipes on the internet, while great and convenient, was not enough for me. I wanted a more personalized experience for my recipe-reading. And I was hit with inspiration on how I wanted to do it in a very (for me) unexpected place: The Historical Society of Pennsylvania , a.k.a HSP, a.k.a. my own darn workplace. I recently had the delight of looking through Martha Washington's cookbook while helping out at HSP’s Young Friends open house in December. I was blown away by the intricacy of this little book, and fascinated at the simple beauty in writing down recipes that are important to you. So, I tried it out myself. Behold: The first page of Briana Giasullo’s Cookbook. Pictured recipe:  Date Night Rigatoni with Sausage and Kale  from Pinch of Yum Don’t mind the writos and messy design, please. This was all done rather quickly and on a whim, remember. But it was fun! And while I

I had the most riveting concert experience that I’ve had in probably a decade when I saw Rammstein at the Lincoln Financial Field on August 31, 2022 (immediately after attending a comparatively tame but pleasant retirement party, complete with dessert potluck and work-themed quizzo, for a beloved colleague). I thoroughly enjoyed the concert and honestly want to devour as much Rammstein-related content as I possibly can within the next few weeks… but I couldn’t help but get annoyed by a particular behavior I observed in a good number of concertgoers throughout the night. That behavior is the dreaded filming-of-the-ENTIRE-show-on-a-cell-phone. ( WHYYYY????!!! ) I absolutely hate being a 33-year-old curmudgeon, but I just could not let this one go–even upon waking up the morning after the concert with my ears still ringing and my palms bruised from clapping too hard (I wish I were kidding). Over and over I repeated in my head: Did they even enjoy the show?? I can understand taking a few p

For most of my life I’ve considered myself a little obsessive, in the sense that I have a tendency to get really deep into things that interest me. The first example that comes to mind is my favorite band, Modest Mouse. Anyone who knows me knows I’ve loved them since I was fourteen when I first heard the songs “Float On” and “The Ocean Breathes Salty” on the radio. After years of listening to my favorite songs repeatedly and seeing the band live about seven times (I’ve almost lost count), I still listen to their music regularly and keep up with their new album releases which, happily for me, still occur every five years or so. Oh, and I totally lost my cool and embarrassed myself when I met the lead singer, but that’s a different story. While Modest Mouse is definitely the longest-lasting obsession of mine, a number of other seemingly random interests have had strong impacts on my life, even if the obsession period itself was rather short. I probably wouldn’t be writing this right now

Are you an all-or-nothing type of person? Or are you more like me: a something-is-better-than-nothing type of person? I think I first embraced the SIBTN idea a few years ago, when I forewent the idea that every time I went for a run, I had to run at least three miles otherwise the run was useless. I traded the three-miles-or-nothing mentality for a more laid-back approach, in which I accepted that as long as I got outside and ran some distance–even if it was just around the block–this was still better than staying inside on my tokus. The bonus part of this is that probably 99% of the time, I’d go out with the intention of only running for ten minutes but end up feeling so good that I’d continue for at least another thirty. I also feel less anxious about getting out the door in the first place, because I don’t have to worry about feeling like a failure if I don’t hit my specific goal. It’s about time I take my own advice into the world of writing. I’m sure you’ve noticed by now that I d