Risk

No, not the board game. Although I have spent many Christmas/New Year holidays with our family friends playing the game of strategic conquest (when you get two older brothers and their friends together, you're not playing Boggle, I'll tell you that much). And if you're any kind of Seinfeld fan at all, you already love this scene from the label maker episode. "The Ukraine is weak!" 

For this post I'm thinking of risk more in terms of putting yourself out there. In terms of exposing yourself to possible downfall or heartbreak or letdown or danger. This kind of risk is not a game...real people are involved in this one.

This idea of risk started to bounce around in my head ever since my brother Alex, who is a lawyer, brought up the concept of "Assumption of Risk" a long time ago. Maybe it was his first year of law school, I don't know, but it stuck with me. Apparently it was in a torts class (I guess that's a category of laws, but to me it sounds more like dessert) and basically you can cite "Assumption of Risk" as a possible defense to not get the pants sued off of you. Hopefully I'm understanding it correctly. For example, if you're playing a soccer game, someone slide tackles you, and you tear your ACL, the slide-tackler does not have a responsibility to pay for your medical bills. By suiting up in that soccer jersey and stepping on the field, you assumed that playing the game involves a certain level of risk. And since you love the game, you happily accepted and played in spite of that risk. You take responsibility for the fact that it's your own fault for joining in if you get hurt during the normal play of the game.

I also think of this with playgrounds. By climbing up on those monkey bars, you are taking on that Assumption of Risk. You might fall (and dang does hitting those wood chips below ever hurt!) but you also might finally conquer that farmer's flip you've been perfecting for your entire kindergarten career.

People are like monkey bars. You need to acknowledge the Assumption of Risk when it comes to people. Anytime you have a friendship, relationship, or interaction with another human being, you're risking something. The closer you get, the more you jeopardize in the process. The possibilities for love and friendship are worth it, and so most of us see fit to take that risk. But what happens when it all blows up? We all know the feeling of free-falling to a thud on the ground below the monkey bars, only to have the wind knocked out of us once we get there. It's not pleasant. People can hurt. People can leave you gasping for air. When that initial impact passes, do you yell curses up at the monkey bars? No. You pick yourself up, walk it off, and try that farmer's flip again. When you open yourself up to people, you take that risk. It's not anyone's fault, it's just never a sure thing with people. You give them the power to knock the wind right out of you. Hey, remember that you can do the same hurt to others when they trust you! But the beauty of it all is that next time it might not end up that way. You can learn from every single fall and every single scrape and bruise those wood chips leave on your knees. You risked it, it didn't work out as you'd planned, but you're still going forward better, smarter, and readier than before.

One of my all-time favorite literary characters is a sad little guy named J Alfred Prufrock. T.S. Eliot wrote a whole poem from his sad little perspective. J Alfred is so consumed with his fear of taking risks that he is completely paralyzed. He says he measures his life in coffee spoons and obsesses over the question: "Do I dare eat a peach?" Dude, when you start to have an existential crisis over fruit, you know you need to lighten up.

What I'm trying to say here is that we can't end up like my friend J. Alfred Prufrock. I can't sit on the sidelines of friendships and relationships for fear of getting burned or getting my feelings hurt. We can't sit on the grass while the rest of the world is playing on the jungle gym. I read somewhere that "life is between the trapeze bars," that in order to really live, you have to risk a little too. I'd rather have my life measured in jumps and falls than in coffee spoons. Safe is nice, but safe can become a crutch.

I'm working on facing those monkey bars again. The world is just too full of interesting people and exciting opportunities to not climb back up that ladder. And if I do say so myself, I can execute an outstanding farmer's flip.

Sippin' Champagne

Hay layyyydiessss! Or guys too. Some guys enjoy drinking girly sounding things like strawberry champagne smoothies. Not that there's anything wrong with that. (Yep, you got it. Yet another Seinfeld reference. I can go on if you want.)

Yep, you're super perceptive and inferred from the above paragraph that I'm going to show you my new favorite drink: Strawberry Champagne Smoothies! Great reading comprehension guys! Usually I would say, "Hey friends, make this for those dainty special occasions that call for an adorable champagne toast!" Well, our circumstances were not as glamorous. It was a boring Wednesday night. Susan was on Pinterest. Anna had some strawberries. That's what happened.

Here's the (short but sweet) list of ingredients:
1 bottle of champagne (we chose a classy $7.00 variety from Dominic's)
1 16 oz container of strawberries
2 TBSP honey (preferably out of a container shaped like a teddy bear, believe me it's better that way.)
1 blender (or really fast and really strong person to stir manually, but just get a blender to make this work.)
2 ice cube trays
2 days (so plan ahead!)

First step. Pour HALF of the bottle of champagne into the blender (save the other half in the fridge for later!). Then, wash those strawberries! Who knows what's on 'em - they've been living side by side in the fridge with your roommates' leftover pasta and old sour cream containers. After cleaning them and cutting them up, throw your sparkly clean strawberries in a blender to join that half bottle of champ you added earlier. Finally, to finish this first step, add in that honey to top it off. Then blend it! (Make sure the cap is tightly on before you press that blend button. It's in the details, people.)

Now you have a good looking pitcher of stuff on your counter! To finish the first day's work, get out those ice cube trays and pour the delicious mixture into them to make little smoothie ice cubes once you put them in the freezer. (Now on the down low, do the classy thing and drink the extras yourself. Hey, if you supply your roommates with a drink this good, you deserve it.) 

Oooo. Champagne-y. And Strawberry-y.

Such a careful pourer. I can't be trusted
with tasks like this. 

Fun ice cubes amongst the Pizza Rolls

Yep. This happened. 

Next step in your list of instructions: Go to bed. Those ice cubes need time to freeze, so the best thing you can do is sleep. The next time you give me a list of things to do and include a command to go sleep for awhile, I will listen. What can I say, I give good directions. When you wake up the next day, there's a nice little extra incentive to get out of bed waiting for you in the freezer. Now isn't that nice? Take your cool new ice cubes and pop them out into the blender again. Bring out that other half bottle of champagne and throw it in with the ice cubes. Blend that together, and voila! You have now made strawberry champagne smoothies for everyone to enjoy! Now all that's left to do is find an occasion for which to have a fancy toast. We went with: It was Thursday. A worthy occasion, in my opinion. 

The strawberry ice cubes and the rest
of the champagne, just before the last step.

This recipe will also make your roommates indebted to you and
you might get a favor someday in return. I'm giving these away for free, people. 

Ingredients For: A Successful Finals Week

I've had a pretty solid finals week these past few days. Not too dramatic, but just enough scholastic stress was involved to spice up my life a tad. (Yep, I had this song in mind when I wrote that last sentence.) Here are some insider secrets so that you too can have a successful week of final exams.

Oh this stuff. Let me tell you. Dry shampoo is a necessity in times like these. Let's be real: I'm not putting the time into my appearance this time of the semester like I usually do. The hair is NOT being washed as frequently as some could deem socially acceptable. (I don't see this as laziness; rather, it is a shampoo-fund-saving technique.) Take this miracle-worker, give your bangs and roots a spray or two, comb it out, and voila. Much better. You can now push the limit of grossness just a little further before finally showering.

This stuff is like candy. And Lord knows I love candy. Not only is Airborne Vitamin C chewable and delicious, when you eat one (or seven....oops) it gives your immune system that extra little boost you need. While I honestly can't say I feel that much of a difference, I can say it makes me feel like I'm somehow being proactive. And that's important.

Please disregard the Chicago Bears blanket in the background. It's my roommate's, and I'm ashamed that it is even getting face time on my blog. On to the important stuff: snack time. Snack time (usually circa 1 or 2 am) consists of getting creative with the stuff you have left in your cabinet. I had leftover frosting from Christmas cookies last week and generic brand graham crackers who needed a friend. I introduced the two, and they became besties. Gotta say, it, of course, reminded me of a certain Seinfeld episode. Look to the cookie, my friends. Look to the cookie. 

This is my favorite recent discovery. It is a thing of beauty. Rainymood.com. It is a website that simply gives you the gentle pitter-patter of rainfall as background noise to your study sessions. It is amazing. Now, to take this up another notch, pair this with This playlist on 8tracks.com which is full of instrumental study music, and you have yourself a VERY great backdrop for productivity. Or procrastination. You choose. Lauren (remember the punny roommate? She's the one who got her whole left side cut off. She's all right now) is to be credited with this playlist find. It's a keeper. 

So there you have it! All you need to succeed for finals! Ways to cover up your lack of hygiene, things that make you think you are healthy, completely irresponsible food choices, and some fabulous life soundtrack music. Oh. And I suppose during finals week you also need THOSE...

...your notes. Meh, I'd say they're optional.