I am one of those people who loves to cook. It's a hobby. I know I'll never make money off it or turn it into a career, but I do enjoy cooking. As any of you who have ever visited, lived in, or heard about a college dorm room know, cooking is very difficult in the dorms. Most don't have kitchens at all. My dorm does have a kitchen, but it's about 3 feet wide, is continuously sticky, and it smells of indefinable substances cooked long ago...not to mention I'd have to tote ingredients and cookware up and down 6 flights of stairs to get there. And I already have to make that hike every week on laundry day.
So, you can imagine I get excited when I find a recipe that's easy to make (ex. requiring nothing more than a microwave and refrigerator) and actually tastes good.
For this reason I share with you today my recipe for microwave cheesy eggs. It's perfect for the college dorm student, but it's also great for those days when you get off work/school with an urge to write, sit down to complete it, and don't look up until 11 p.m. That's when you realize you've forgotten to eat today. I know...I've been there.
In those tricky situations, here's the quick and simple recipe (using a standard 700 watt dorm room-regulated microwave, of course!):
Microwave Cheesy Eggs
Step 1: Coat a microwavable coffee mug with cooking spray.
Step 2: Add desired amount of eggs (I use 2) and a splash of water or milk. Scramble.
Step 3: Cook eggs on High for 1 minute. Stir. Cook eggs for another 1-2 minutes, until they are no longer runny.
Step 4: Top with cheese of choice (so far I've tried provolone and a shredded Mexican cheese blend) and return to microwave for another 30 seconds or until cheese is melted - Be Careful Not to Burn Eggs
Step 5: Season to taste and enjoy!
This is what your finished product should look like:
I have intriguing news for all who live near the South Eastern part of Wisconsin. I have been invited to represent my college at the Annual Student Invitational tomorrow, March 19th.
The Student Invitational has been conducted the past eight years by the Foot of the Lake Poetry Collective. They invite regional colleges to nominate students for a reading. There will be one poet, one fiction writer, and one nonfiction writer from each.
I have the great honor of representing my college in the fiction section, where I will be reading a short story.
If you want to come out and hear me read, here are the details:
Eighth Annual Student Invitational Reading
Tuesday March 19th
beginning promptly at 7pm
at the Riverwalk Art Center
downtown Fond du Lac, WI
After the featured readers there is also an open mic segment. So if you've been working on a poem, here's an opportunity to read it amongst other writers.
Every second Tuesday of the month, the Collective does other readings and events as well - all in Fond du Lac. So if you can't make it tomorrow, but want to check out the other events, go here.
As some of you may know, I am an artist as well as a writer. For the past few months I've been doing more art than writing due to an exciting illustration project...more to come on that in a few months.
I also recently read a biography on Jackson Pollock, famous drip-painting/action-painting artist from the 40s and 50s. (You can see some images of his work here ) Pollock was notorious for seeing the work of other artists and instantly saying that his work was better and more innovative. Though many people remember witnessing these outbursts (most often when Pollock was drunk) he still questioned himself. He would often ask if what he was creating could even be considered art. He couldn't sketch - couldn't draw realistically at all - and he noted to his friends that if he could draw a hand, he wouldn't be creating his drip-paintings.
Pollock, called the greatest painter of his generation, contributed so much to modern art. Yet he was also questioning whether his art was worthy.
I think this mindset amongst artists - musical, visual, or literary - is common. I call it the Artist Effect. This Effect causes all of us to question ourselves and the worth of the things we create. If you've ever had that sinking feeling while rereading your writing or looking at your painting next day, when you say, "Wow, this isn't nearly as good as I thought it was," that's the Artist Effect.
The Effect often sucks. You doubt yourself, your worth, and your ability to ever create something another human being would want to view. It is in the thicket of the Effect that artists tear their canvas from the frame, and poets shred their newest verse. It's not fun to be under the Effect, but it seems to be an important part of every artist's life. Without internal struggle, nothing would improve. Without Pollock questioning his artistic ability, he wouldn't have pushed to create his drip-paintings. Without your sinking feeling, you wouldn't have the mindset to come back to your writing with new eyes - revision eyes. The Artist Effect is what makes it possible for us to push through what has been done before, and create something new instead.
The next time you look at your writing or art and think it's the worst thing ever created, step away. It's natural to feel sad, to beat yourself up a little, but don't let it get too strong. Walk away from it at that moment, settle down, and come back in a few hours or the next day. The shock of your horrific writing will have worn off and you can look at the piece anew. See what the real problems are: Too many cliches? Not enough sensory detail? Did you forget an entire story line? Fix them. The Artist Effect is like the artist's conscious. It lets you know something is wrong. But at the same time the Effect is beneficial, you can't let it take over. For example, don't turn to alcohol like Pollock did. Instead, listen to, but then rise above your inner critic to make your work the best possible.
For an illustrated, comical interpretation of the Artist Effect, check out this post on my Pinterest.
Today, I want to share a video clip from YouTube with you guys. It's called The Power of Introverts Ep 1. It belongs to a series of videos based on Susan Cain's book Quiet.
Now, I've never read Cain's book, so I don't know what she's advocating there. Being in college, people simply show you insightful videos they've found online at any given point of the day to procrastinate writing their research papers. Here, we are just going to talk about the video and its concepts.
Though I've never read the book, I found this video intriguing. In my experience networking with other writers, 9 out of 10 times those fellow writers will be more introverted than extroverted. This does not (as the video points out) mean they cannot function in crowded social settings. It does mean that, eventually, they need to be on their own.
And this makes sense. To be a writer you have to be okay with silence and solo time. You have to be able to close your door to the rest of the world and sit with your laptop for a while, writing...alone. For most of my writing friends and me, this is the highlight of our day. We get a break from having to act social, and instead we get to ponder our plot lines, characters, and the mysteries of the universe.
So, after you're done watching the video, nodding along because, "Yes. My parents did apologize for my shyness when I hid in their necks instead of greeting perfect strangers," and "Yes. I do hate small talk about the weather when I'm trying to focus on what is happening in this meeting," consider what this means for yourself and your stories.
For you: Stop trying to conform to what others expect of you all the time. If you're naturally extroverted and love socializing, then do what makes you happy and find people to be around. Be bold and don't apologize for it. If you're naturally introverted, don't feel like you're obligated to be social every day, all the time. If you want to sit at home at night and watch movies, do so. Don't let the peer pressure get to you. Tomorrow, when you're rested, there will be something else to do with friends. It'll be better on the psyche and projects of both personality types in the long run when they act and think at their own pace.
For your stories: Contemplate what your character feels. Is she naturally introverted or extroverted? How does this complicate things? Remember that there is no pure introvert and no pure extrovert - we all fall somewhere in the middle with both personalities mixing within us. If she meets or is forced to interact with a character of the opposite personality, what conflicts arise?
Knowing how your characters act when they are alone and when they are around people will bring depth to your story. When you know the innermost desires of your character, you can portray him the way he will naturally act (bringing believability to your writing). Make sure they stay consistent, though. Just as no one chooses to be more introverted or extroverted, your character cannot change his personality from scene to scene. If he is an introvert, even if he decides to come out of his shell more often, he will still need alone time to recharge. If he is an extrovert, that alone time may prove intimidating or boring. These same rules of nature apply to his author as well. Be yourself, and make sure your characters do the same.
(I got this video from dwlFilms. Their YouTube channel can be found here )
