Today was a day of much-needed adventuring and business.
After sitting around the house for a week or so, it was nice to go out for a little.
Yeah, okay, I wandered around the mall for 6 hours, but it was better than sitting home alone doing nothing.
(Though...that could have been some valuable Fallout time...)

I found some parts for my Halloween costume, got some more tobacco for my hookah (which you can review on my other blog, if you click to my profile) and saw Jackass 3D.


Let me tell you, Jackass 3D was the best 11 dollars I have spent in a long time.
If you're into that kind of crap, I definitely recommend it. Plus, Johnny Knoxville is my "From-the-waist-up" celebrity crush. It gave me a much needed laugh, which I was thankful for.



Sometimes you just need to watch a guy get punched in the dick, you know?

Down To Business

As of recent I've been working on my baking/cooking business.
I really think that candy making just might be the way to go.

As of this moment I am working on making awesome molds for candies and I can not wait to get them started!

On top of that, I finally got my site up, and I have many other delicious things to work on.

But, I really need to make things to take pictures of so I have a nice portfolio on the site, and so people can really see where I am going with this.


So many ideas....


Click Here!

The Delicious Ice Cream Adventure (Ice Creams of Chincoteague)

Believe it or not, Van and I went to the beach last weekend. Yes, I know, surprising and comical all at the same time.
Luckily though, we did not go to the actual beach part of the beach. Meaning...the water and sand.
Instead we stayed on the nice little island and wandered about eating delicious food.
And that is exactly what I am here to talk about.

As much as I don't want millions of people flocking to Chincoteague, I feel as though it is a place deserving of millions of people.

It is a tiny, tiny little island in Virgina, and I must say that it is wonderful. Though, I kind of wish I could keep it a little secret because lets face it, the place isn;t what it used to be.

Back in the day, when I was little, it was the ultimate place to go for vacation.
There was the beach, a wildlife reserve, a few places to play mini golf, places to fish, a park, a carnival and some awesome restaurants. I could probably name most every store there from memory.

Granted, it still has all of those same things, but now theres even....more...
Everywhere you turn there is a souvenir or Tshirt shop. They've installed a Dairy Queen and a McDonald's. Its gotten a bit out of hand. But it still is a great place.

All of this aside, the main reason I was writing this, is to talk about the ice cream.
Delicious, delicious ice cream.
Ice cream.


First and for most, there is the Island Creamery.



My personal favorite.
Everything there is homemade, the ice cream, the fudge, even the waffle cones.
They always have a wonderful assortment of flavors. Birthday cake might be my favorite.

Van and I went there first. It was our first ice cream experience on the island.
I got my Birthday Cake icrecream on a cake cone, and Van got their variation of a Blizzard. Pony-tracks ice cream (vanilla ice cream, fudge swirl, peanut butter cups), with Reese's pieces and hot fudge all blended in a cup.

We had a very delicate rating system for each ice cream shop. Basically it went something like this:

Service:
Taste:
Originality:
Value:
Experience:

Yes, I realise that spells STOVE....
The rating goes from 1-10.

So, lets take a look at the Island Creamery.

Service: 9
The Island Creamery is always busy. Busy busy busy, with the lines out the door. But, they always move very quickly. Its actually rather impressive. On top of that, they're so friendly! Its great.
Only thing that is keeping them from getting a 10, is the fact that they had an employee there with piercings in her face. As much as I like piercings, I don't like them around my food. Other than that though, flawless.

Taste:9.5
Delicious. Simply wonderful ice cream. That's all there is to say. Its homemade, its tasty.

Originality: 7
They get points because its homemade and they have some ridiculous flavor es (margarita and cantaloupe?)
But, its really just an oddly large ice cream shop. No gimmicks or anything. They don't sing or mix your ice cream for you, but they really don't need to.
Though, I will mention that they do have a thing called the Round Up. 5 scoops of ice cream, 3 toppings, whipped cream and a cherry. If you eat it all, you get your picture taken. Cool enough.

Value: 9
Excellent. I believe that between the two of us, it cost around 8 dollars. I got a single scoop cone (but the scoops are so huge its like a double) and Van got a Blizzard..or something similar. We were stuffed by the end.

Experience: 7
Its cool to see them making the waffle cones there, to browse through their gift shop and to pick out your treats, but there isn;t any unique feel to the shop. Its Chincoteagues primary ice cream store, and that is really what they have going for them.

Over all : 8.3


Next place we went was called Muller's




Muller's was a very small ice cream shop that was set up on the first floor of a house. I assume that the owners live above it. I believe that most of their ice cream is homemade.

Service: 7.5
The staff is extremely friendly and talkative, which is always refreshing.
The only downside it had though, was it took a bit too long to get our food. They seemed to be disorganized, especially when it came to serving multiple customers.

Taste:9.7
Van and I both got root beer floats.
I must say that it was by far the best root beer float I have ever had in my life.
As far as the ice cream goes, I can't really say, as I only had vanilla floating in the most excellent root beer I've stumbled upon. But as I said, this was by far the most amazing float ever.

Originality: 9
The whole house was very quaint and almost Victorian looking. It had a really old-timey feel. Not like 50's old-timey, but even more so. It was wonderful.

Value: 8
Offhand, I can't remember how much we payed. I would be willing to pay 10 dollars for one of those floats though. I'm pretty sure it was under 12 for the both of us though.

Experience: 8
As soon as you walk in the door, you see all of the different things you can try. From peach and waffle sun days to a malted milkshake. They have such a selection and its such a nice little house. It was really great.

Over all: 8.4




After Muller's we went to Build Your Own Cookie



After playing a competitive round of mini golf in 97 degree weather, we decided...well...I decided that ice cream was a must. The closest to the golf course was BYOC, or Build Your Own Cookie.
Seemed interesting enough!

BYOC is literally a horse-trailer with 2 tables outside. The tables were both made out of stacked up 10 gallon buckets, a table top and an umbrella. You walked up to the window and picked the following
1 cookie, 1 ice cream flavor and 1 topping (more cost more.) You then got your treats, then stood at the tables. This is fairly normal for Chincoteague, as several places are stand-outside style.


Service:10
This is the one place that I will give a 10/10 for service. This lady did it right! She was very friendly when we got there and ordered, she was very quick also.
Then, while Van and I were outside eating, she came outside with two cups of ice water for us. She mentioned that eating these always made her thirsty. It was very nice of her. I was extremely impressed.

Taste: 7
The cookies were enormous and delicious, they were also homemade. That is the only reason I am giving this score a 7 instead of a 5. The ice cream was just Hershey's ice cream, which was disappointing, since you can get wonderful homemade ice cream almost anywhere on the island.

Originality: 8.5
Cookie sundaes? Awesome. I've never done that before. There is definitely nothing else like it on the island.

Value: 6
It cost us over 10 dollars for two sundaes. They were good,yes. The cookies were homemade, yes. But the ice cream was not. I could buy 2 cartons of ice cream and 3 boxes of cookies for that price.

Experience: 7.5
It was really fun standing outside eating ice cream. The staff was friendly and the cookies were great. It was perfect after that oh so strenuous mini golf.


Total: 7.8


Lastly we have the famous Mr. Whippy. Mr Whippy (aside from Dairy Queen) is the primary source for soft-serve ice cream.



Service: 5
Typical teenager working their summer job. I was certainly not impressed. Considering their large menu, they were not very patient while we were deciding our orders.

Taste: 8
I really enjoy soft serve ice cream. Mr Whippy is by far my favorite place for it. Sure, its not the most exciting thing ever, but it is still good. I got a vanilla cone dipped in cotton candy shell. It was pretty good, I must say. Van got an Oreo sundae. He seemed to also enjoy his.

Originality: 8
The over-all feel of the shop is very lodge-like. They have interesting toppings and flavors, cute names for their menu items, and their own ice cream truck.

Value: 8
Mr. Whippy is both yummy and inexpensive. It was under 10 dollars for both of us, and we got large portions.

Experience: 8
Aside from the service, the overall experience was good. It isn't as unique as an old fashioned ice cream shop, or standing outside to eat, but in general it is a good experience. The store was clean and the service was fast.

Over all: 7.4




In the end, I would have to say that The Island Creamery is my favorite for just good ol ice cream. They would be my number one pick each time. Fast service, awesome ice cream and a nice shop. But, if you're looking for the best root beer float in town, Muller's is the way to go!

I Do What I Must Because I Can

Another day goes by,

always with more things to do

An angry morning.

I have shanghaied the Culinary's computer lab in order to gain some form of Internet access. At least I can check my bank account now, since I lost my debit card AGAIN.

Thankfully it is all in order and my card is now cancelled with a new one on the way.

Someday I will make a dress out of all of my debit cards that I have gone through.

A visit to Stop N Shop proved successful, and again they twisted my arm into buying 10/10 candy bars. Dirty bastards.

Tonight I feel that I will be making a cake. This sounds like a good plan to me. Perhaps when I go home, after I clean up after Hurricane SpaceMarine and finish picking bids of Kameamea** Testosteroni* pizza out of the carpeting.

Ironically, my GPS has gone missing and I can't seem to find it, or the cord. It seems as through someone may have taken it out of my car. A bad decision on their part.

All things aside, my new job begins tomorrow.

I quit working at Mohonk Want To Kill Yourself And Everyone Around You House and will now be working at an undisclosed location, cheffing it up.

And yes, this means that I will not be finishing my externship, which means that yes, I will not be returning to the Culinary Institute, and yes, I am very happy about this.

Goal: write for Game Informer magazine.

*chicken, bacon, ham, ground beef, sausage, steak, pepperoni. Weighs about as much as a small pit-bull.

**with pineapple

Star Blog.

There is a tremendous amount of constant rain as of now and I cannot help but think "I do not exist" thanks to The Messes of Me by mewithoutYou. A good song, for those of you who do not know. Today will be one of those lonely days, because I do not particularly want to be driving around in this weather.

Now I would like to talk about one of my most hated companies: Starbucks.
Anyone who knows me knows that I do hate Starbucks, but also that I drink the shit when I have the money to. It really is quite a shame and I wish it didn't have to be that way. I have gone on many quests and searches to find a cheap, local alternative for the place, but every local alternative turns out to be even more expensive. But then again, when I go and get something stupid like a "Vanilla Bean Frappuchino" I look at it and wonder why I didn't just go get a vanilla milkshake from McDonalds for $1.58. I really don't know.
But, moving right along, Starbucks has unleashed a series of mutant possessed zombie coffee grinders. Yes.

The Starbucks Barista Blade Grinders

Yes, that would be it. You can see, clearly, that is is obviously of some demonic decent. Also the fact that they tend to turn on by themselves and refuse to shut off, sometimes when people are cleaning them. Someone get the Ouija board, these things have got something to say! Perhaps they require a blood sacrifice.
Apparently most Starbucks customers do not know how to properly handle appliance possession, so Starbucks has recalled 530,000 of them. Silly, silly people.




And speaking of silly people, lets touch on the story of 56 Star girl.


Some 18 year old girl in Belgium went to get her face tattooed (Because THAT was a good idea in the first place....) and ended up with 56 stars tattooed on the side of her face. The artist said that she had told him 56, the girls claims to have fallen asleep during the tattooing.


From first hand experience, I would NOT fall asleep while getting a tattoo, ESPECIALLY one on my face. Also, why would the artist continue tattooing her when she was asleep if she only asked for 3? For sure he knew that he would get sued, and the only plus side to her have 56 stars is that he would be able to charge more, but when you get a tattoo, you pay half of the amount before you even go to your appointment, so I definitely call bullshit on this girl.


The artist said that she looked in the mirror several times while it was being done and said that she liked it, and that everything was fine until her father showed up. Now she is suing the tattoo company and getting most of them removed. Way to go.

I'M ALL JACKED UP ON MOUNTAIN DEW!

I would first-off like to give a big "FUCK YOU!" to the Culinary Institute Of America.
At the beginning of every 3 weeks we have to print out a course guide, recipes, indexes, powerpoints, and other various sheets. Today I used approximately one third of a package of paper to print everything. Though, strangely, I should have used a good one and a half. After printing a stack of papers about 1/2 thick, I realized how much paper I saved by printing FOUR PAGES PER SHEET. Meaning I should have FOUR TIMES THE AMOUNT I JUST PRINTED. That would be about the size of a phone book.
Honestly. Do you think that just because we can 'afford' to go to school here that we also have money pouring out of our asses and we can just spend it on anything, like enough ink to black out the Amazon or enough paper to create full scale model's of the pyramids?
Uh, no.

And the sad thing is, we don't even use all of them. Half the we don't used a good amount of the things we print. And this is incredibly frustrating. With all the money we pay to go here, couldn't they at least give us a handbook or something? Even if we have to return it after each class? Because this is getting ridiculous. My printer was just RAPED by the amount of work it just had to do.


Bad. day.

I have a hangover and I didn't even drink last night.

fuck this shit.

The Best Thing That Could Be Happening

Here is my 50th post. Just to give myself a bit of a boost, I'm going to go through the goods and bads in my life. Lets check it out.

The Goods

1. 
   
   1. I'm actually doing well in school for the first time in a long time


2. I'm actually enjoying the time I have at school
3. 
   
   I have some of the most supportive friends I have ever had. We can just sit around and bullshit, talk about important things, or go out. Anything.


4. 
   
   My family and I are getting along really well, despite the stupid shit I sometimes do.


5. 
   
   I have an awesome boyfriend that treats me well


6. 
   
   I'm starting to realize that I deserve to be treated well. This is new for me


7. 
   
   I get along with all my roommates and we have so much fun together


8. 
   
   I'm starting to get my life straightened out


9. 
   
   I don't hate myself as much as I used to


10. 
    
    I make awesome angel food cake


11. 
    
    I wake up with a smile almost every day


12. 
    
    I;m learning to work around the big problems in my life


13. 
    
    I'm teaching myself guitar and I love it. I can actually play songs now!


14. 
    
    My health is in check. I'm not really ill or anything


15. 
    
    I've learned to ask for help when I need it, I've stopped trying to do so much on my own


16. 
    
    I've removed a lot of drama from my life, so it things are a lot less stressful


17. 
    
    I've learned to start taking more chances and live life a little bit more.


18. 
    
    I don't feel ugly all the time anymore.


19. 
    
    I haven't smiled this much in a long, long time.


20. 
    
    I quit smoking for the most part

The Bads

1. 
   
   I don't really eat as much as I should.


2. 
   
   I drink too much, but I'm trying to stop.


3. 
   
   Michelle lives far away.


4. 
   
   I'm running low on cash.


5. 
   
   I wish I had better relationships with my siblings.


6. 
   
   I've lost quite a few friends recently due to arguments and dramatic situations.

Over all I would say that things are going very well. I'm happy with where I am in my life right now. Things really look like they're turning around for me. And, when it comes to the bad things, I can fix most of them with time. I can't control when Michelle comes back, but she will, I can't do a whole lot about the not having money, but I can try, and if those friends don't want to be friends with me anymore, there isn't anything I can do about that either so I just let it go. But, I can stop drinking, with a little help, I can talk to my siblings more, and I can start eating more, which I have already done. I get up and eat lunch with my roommates almost every day now. So it's all going to be okay.

Woohoo!

"Don't be so humble - you are not that great."

I've come to realize that the people I admire most are complete assholes. For my writing class we have to write two papers on a person. One with good things about them, another with bad things. We had to pick three different people then narrow it down to the one that would be the best. My choices were:



Jimmy Urine
Marilyn Manson
Andy Warhol




Now, if those people aren't a couple of the biggest assholes you've ever heard of, then I am sorry that you have had to deal with more. Let us observe.



Jimmy Urine, who is known for kissing his fans for money, asking them for cash, and also for them to buy him things. Jimmy knows, and uses to his advantage, the fact that his fans will do just about anything. While I was at an MSI show, he took his microphone and claimed it to be magical because he could use it to make people do anything. And he proved his point by getting the entire audience to bark like several different sized dogs, meow like cats, and make buffalo noises, later says "Ah! So that's what those fuckers sound like!" He has admitted that his blatant disrespect for the crowd is simply for his own entertainment. Firing strings of insults into his screaming audience seems to get them more fired up. Perhaps "Mindless" really is a great word to used. He truly is an asshole and an amazing con artist. Though he seems to be lacking in intelligence, that is quite the misconception, considering that he has successfully gotten millions of people to practically bow at his feet, despite the distasteful things he does. And THAT is why I find him fantastic.

"Buy lots of our stuff. Give me some money, stop making more bands. Make an animated series I like to watch instead."

Marilyn Manson is an asshole on an entirely different level. Manson has an intimidating intelligence that give him the ability to put almost anyone in their place. His sense of humor is one that is undetectably sardonic. He tends to take the anti society route other than the anti-musician route. His way of going about things is incredibly offensive in a way that somehow manages to make the ones who are offended look bad. His words and actions reflect his dislike of society, the American way of thinking, and the general monotony of the public. He is an asshole, but for the right reasons.

"Anybody intelligent enough to realize what America is, is not going to sit
around and do nothing about it. They're going to be the same way that I am.
They're going to be the same way our fans are. They're going to be pissed."

Andy Warhol could almost be called an anti-artist. Though not part of Dada, Warhol had a way of showing people that everything could be bought, that money could fuel anything, and that to him, art was unnecessary while being completely necessary. No only could his painting be considered ridiculous and boring, but also his films. Warhol's film Eat is a 45 minute film that consists of nothing more than a man eating a mushroom.
Warhol took polar opposite things and made them equal. Two of his most famous paintings are a picture of Marilyn Monroe and a picture of a Campbell's soup can. Both vastly different, but both made equal. Andy Warhol considered money to be incredibly important. To him, making money was art and having a good business was the best kind of art. He admitted to being a 'deeply superficial person" and wanting to be "plastic". His vain love of money, his infatuation with the boring, and his ability to con people into eventually thinking that something as simple as a soup can could be art is really what made him an artist. And an asshole.

"I'd asked around 10 or 15 people for suggestions. Finally one lady friend asked
the right question, 'Well, what do you love most?' That's how I started painting
money. "

Now, these people are not the typical kind of asshole that just cut people off while driving or don't tip (though I wouldn't put it past some of them...), they're the kind of people that others see as assholes because of how they blatantly surface controversial and dist respectful viewpoints simply to stir other up. Each did it for his own separate reason, and each reason has a lot of truth behind it. Whether a pop artist, musical artist, or performance artist, each is a con artist and in the end, a brilliant, brilliant asshole.