Disney Love. Update

This is a  little late but I have finished all the Disney movies I own. My thoughts you ask? Well let's be real, it all comes down to The Big 5. The ultimate, childhood defining movies of people in their early 20s.
These magical movies are:

• Beauty and the Beast
• The Little Mermaid
• The Lion King
• Aladdin
• Pocahontas

Okay let's talk about this. If you are a boy then The Little Mermaid probably doesn't do it for you. Maybe add the Sword in the Stone would be a good replacement. Some would argue that Toy Story should be on here, but Toy Story came out in 1995, I was 13, too late to make the list. Most importantly Toy Story doesn't fit well in the list, yes it has talking animals (but they were toys), adult jokes (maybe too many), but no songs. This is the deal breaker, Disney Classics were always about the songs.

On a side note - I have to say that Up is one of the best movies by Disney or otherwise. 

If you are wondering, yes, I put The Big 5 in my order of preference.

I Cook Food: Chicken tenders

I'm convinced these are healthy.

Chicken Tenders

• 2 or 3 chicken breasts
• 1/4 cup of flour
• one egg, scrambled up!
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• extra virgin olive oil  (about 1/4 cup)
• Flavouring of your choice: parmesan cheese, cayenne pepper, fresh herbs etc.
• salt and pepper

Cut the chicken breast into strips. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium high, make sure theres enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Coat the chicken strips in flour. Scramble the egg into a dish. Mix the breadcrumbs with flavouring of your choice into another dish. Dip the flour drenched strips individually into the egg to coat then the bread crumb mixture to coat. After coated fry until cooked through. Do in batches, adding more oil as you go. Once cooked place on paper towel to soak up extra oil. Stuff face.

Meatless Mondays

The Toronto Vegetarian Association has promoting carnivores to go meatless one day a week, particually Mondays, probably because Meatless Mondays is catchy and no days of the week start with 'V'. Since I love alliteration and vegtables, I will promote this as well! 

I Read Books: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

by J.K. Rowling

I'm assuming the whole world has already read and/or seen the movie so I'll skip the plot summary. I liked this book, although theres just one thing I can't understand. Why is Harry Potter so rebelious when he has so much to lose. Dude, chill out, and try not to get expelled so much.

St Patrick's Day

The Classy List

• Dinner dates
• Not getting hammered is acceptable and maybe even encouraged 
• Owning and wearing dress clothes. aka looking classy
• BBMing
• Talking about real world events. aka talking classy
• Having friends you hang out with sober
• Spelling words correctly
• Drinking copious amount of coffee
• Always following through with plans
• Signature scent aka smelling classy
• Heels/Loafers
• Not drinking the cheapest alcohol available
• Travels
• No cigarettes
• Poetry
• Board games
• Bringing wine
• Chai lattes
• Going to the gym
• British accents
• Themed partys
• Trust
• Scarves
• Above average diction aka talking classy
• Covering bills/rounds
• Sharing things

Exceptions

• Sleeping in Piles
• Wolfies
• Drinking the cheapest alcohol available

Disney Love.

Try defining your childhood by a pop culture reference.

Without hesitation I would define mine by Disney classics. I think I've figured out Disney's secret method to the madness:
Take one part amazing sing along-songs
one part love story
one part talking animals
one part adult jokes (this part is small enough to be ignored by the youngest, big enough to entertain the adults and then make the kids old enough to understand them feel cool) win win win.
Then take all the parts and squeeze it into a white bulky plastic VHS case. WIN.

So I recent obtained my childhood collection of VHS Disney movies. I plan to watch them all.

Disney Movies I've watched recently

• Peter Pan
• Pocahontas 
• Aristocats
• Aladdin
• Aladdin: King of Thieves
• Cinderella
• 101 Dalmations
• The Rescuers
• The Jungle Book
• Beauty and the Beast
• Hercules 
• Snow White
• The Little Mermaid
• Sword in the Stone

Korean Walnut Cake Love.

I was recently introduced to Korean walnut cake. Just west of me is Korea Town, and since moving to my new apartment, Korea Town and I have really hit it off. We are still in our honeymoon faze, I know, but really it's like they took all the great things about China Town and left out the horrible overcrowding, terrible smell, rotting produce and questionable animals hanging in the window.

I love lists so here we go:
1. Walnut cake - these things are delicious! you get 6 for $1.50 at Hodo Kwaja. I'm pretty you can only find this place by looking in the window because no signs in Korea Town are in english.
2. No english? Authentic stuff? Maybe.. but more importantly everywhere has pictures! And really who rather read and speak then look and point.
3. Karaoke bars - there are two that I know of in Korean Town and I haven't been to one yet but I can't effing wait!
4. Cheap quality produce from independent grocers. With tofu! These little places make China Town look like a cheap hooker.

Summer Love.

Happiness has four components. Experiencing each component individually will add positive value to your day and maybe your entire life. Experiencing all compenents simultaneously is purely and utterly beautiful.

Four components of happiness:

Sunshine
Friends
Patio
Cheap Beer

I have yet, and frankly hope to never, meet a person who can resist the ultimate combination of happiness. Summer, baby, I'm waiting.

I Cook Food: Cantaloupe Avocado Salsa

1/2 Cantaloupe diced small (mango will work)
1 ripe avocado
1/2 red onion very very small dice
1 hot pepper diced very very small
1 juicy lime
small handful of mint or a combination of herbs: cilantro parsley and basil would work.
Salt and pepper
Optional: 1/2 red sweet pepper

Combine onion and lime juice in a bowl so the onion can sweeten, then add the avacado and make sure it is covered in lime juice to prevent discolouration. Add the rest of the ingredient and enjoy with tortilla chips or on chicken/fish. So good.

I Cook Food: Peanut Sauce

3/4 cup crunchy peanut butter
1/4 cup coconut milk (or soy milk)
1/4 soy milk
1-2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp seasame oil
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp grated ginger
juice of half of a lime
hot sauce or minced hot peppers to taste
Optional: 1 tsp curry, 1/2 half half onion minced

Add all ingredients except from lime juice and hot sauce and microwave for 30 seconds, stir to combine and the lime juice and hot sauce. Really good with spring rolls

Wolfy Love.

Wolfy, I love you everywhere.

I Read Books: Predictably Irrational

Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely

This book warmed my little nerdy heart. Dan Ariely is a professor of behavioral economics at Duke University. This book explains that consumer behavior is rarely logical, and well irrational.

This book was brilliant so I'll go through the points that stuck out in my mind:

It's really hard for consumers to lose something. It rarely crosses our mind if we never had it to begin with but if we had it - don't let it go away. i.e. people in debt will not downsize their extravagant living.

Choices available STRONGLY influence are decision making. We almost always choose the most appealing middle option. We love the middle. Do we have free choice? Our behavioral patterns mostly imply we don't. Our free choice is relative to our available choice.

We love anything 'free'. yup.

Humans are social, we are much more giving, willing to do much more time and effort into work if it is for free than if we are paid.. that is unless we are paid a lot.

Options are distracting. We love to keep options open to the point that it takes time and effort away from things that are really important to us. Maybe we need to make effort to close some doors.

We have a tendency to add sentimental 'value' to market value of possessions. Owners will price higher than buyers.

Placebo have a greater effect on us than we think. Especially high cost placebos.

There is a great relationship between dishonesty and one step removed from physical money. People won't steal money. They will steal almost anything else.

Okay, lots of stuff in this book. I absolutely love the author. Dan Ariely writes on economics and behavioral science like it's fun, well maybe it is. Top ten.

I Read Books: Blink

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

This is the third book I've read by Gladwell (I've also read the Tipping Point and Outliers) and I have yet to be disappointed.

Blink is about our subconscious. Why we have immediate reactions, i.e. love at first sight, and what goes on in our mind when we have these reactions. Gladwell goes on to explain how we can alter this 'rapid cognition' although it will involve a ton of self disciplined education.

He explains how we tend to want to know as much information as possible when it comes to a decision. Wrong. Stick with the important facts and ignore the indirect stuff because that will just cloud our judgement.

I'm an indecisive person. Gladwell might have just helped me a little bit.

Less is more. Our immediate judgement on things are right more often then not so go with it. I'm down.

Drunk Dialing/Texting

3:59am... I just got into bed. I chugged a glass of water and took my contacts out, which are the two best things I can do at this moment. I forgot to grab my glass which makes this post very difficult to do but I think its time for a... wait for it... DRUNK POST.

I've been thinking about this for a while. Will the true hidden posting feeling come out, scream at the world "here I am!!". Watch out internet, babycakes.

Okay no

What I"m really trying to get at is drunk dialing and drunk texting. The two worst things you can do. I don't get it. I've never ever been one of these people. And trust me, it gets to the point where I feel left out. I have in the past made a conscious effort to call a friend when I'm drunk (because the world tells me this is funny and awesome) and every time I have failed. Every single time. In fact, there have only been two times in the memory of my drinking history that I have successfully drunk dialed and both times where to the same person, my grandma.

As much as I would like to be kidding right now, I'm not. Luckily (or maybe not) I've gotten the answering machine when I called (yes, answering machines still exist, my grandparents have one to prove this) and I was happy enough to leave a message.

I never got a reply on these messages. My hopes were that they receive them, thought it was nice I called and thought nothing else of it, but really who am I kidding? C'mon Diamond.

Drunk dialing should never be attempted. Sure it's a good story the next day. Sure it has the possibility of reminding an old friend you still think about them. Sure there might be a small opportunity to get laid (I have yet to hear of a successful story). But bottom line: chances are you have regrets.

I Read Books: Harry Potter

I've never really felt the urge to read Happy Potter. I was not pressured into it but I felt sort of left out, ya know, like the collective literary soul of intelligent and mindful people can't be wrong...

So I read Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

And yup, I get it. Rowling you are one classy lady. Harry, I will read on! Just not on the subway.

Anticipated South East Asia Adventure

I've recently decided I want to go on a great travel adventure once I graduate University. April 2011 has never seemed so far away. South East Asia - I'm coming!

My check-list thus far:
Taj Mahal, India
Golden Temple, India
Himalayas, Nepal or Tibet
Bangkok, Thailand (Phuket too)
Angkor Wat, Cambodia (see right)
Bali, Indonesia
Singapore

It would be amazing if I could make it to these places too:
The Maldives
Great Wall of China
Hong Kong

World List: Stockholm, Sweden

World List: Norhtern Ireland - Belfast and Giant's Causeway

Giant's Causeway was one of my favourite adventures. It was so beautiful in it's very special way.

World List: Scotland (8 Months)

I left Toronto on September 24,2008. Arrived in Edinburgh 6 hours later (I was lucky enough to find a direct flight) 2 days before my 21st birthday. Best. Decision. Yet.

It was 11 month before I returned to Toronto.

A lot of people asked my why I choose Edinburgh and to be honest I didn't. It was a process of elimination and I was very close to picking Dublin, which I'm sure I would have loved too. In this case the destination wasn't so important to me as the leaving part. Result: I don't think my imagination could have made a better trip abroad.