Once in Every Lifetime

Hello chicadees! I apologize! It's been quite a while since I've caught up with things on here. Life has been extremely busy. I'm now working nearly 40 hours a week at two different jobs.

As a filler, I've decided to crosspost this entry from my last blogging venture Eating Cultures. 

(I dated this gentleman, and later ended the relationship due to mutual agreement from both parties. A fiasco ensue and we are no longer friends. However, I do hope that he is well and has learned to make friends.)

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Two things inspired me for today's post:

1. I met up with an old crush the other day (which was what reminded me of this phrase).
2. I remembered why I am a tea only person.

My biggest facination with the country of Japan is their cooking style (ahem... you are reading the blog of a foodie), particularly that of cha-kaiseki. This is the meal that accompanies a longer tea ceremony and it highlights the current season and the tea that follows. Asthetics are valued over taste (although taste is exremely important as well) and the presentation of the food tells a story.

If, no excuse me, when I stay in Japan, I hope to study this art form. (Actually, aside from governmental work, it is the whole reason I want to be in Japan.) But that's enough on that, I need to finish my story.

The boy I met with is a precious friend, and he could have been more than that. During our lunch meal I realized that any chance of a deeper relationship had fallen. A year ago, even at the beginning of the meeting that day, I would have considered him as a possible life mate. (Unlike most students, I do not think of relationships as a trivial matter. They are to be taken with the utmost sincerity ~ playing with hearts is not my style.) However, at the end, my mind had captured a phrase and would not release it: "Ichigo, Ichie."

"Ichigo, Ichie" translates to "One encounter, one chance."

The tea ceremony is a spiritual meeting. The participants as well as the tea master realize that, "ichigo, ichie," there will never be another encounter like this one. The zen philosophy calls to memory that every moment is a precious thing, and not to be wasted. (The kaiseki also follows this principle. Everything is consumned, including the rice burnt on the bottom of the pan ~ don't worry. It's served in a miso broth.)

Even for Christians, "ichigo, ichie" is an excellent philosophy. Each moment is precious; there will never be another like it. Life life to its fullest. Don't let the little things ruin your attitude. If we each savored every second, what would our outlook be like?

Tea Time

As for why I am a tea person? Coffee makes me dizzy and nauseated (even when watered down). My morning's aren't considered morning without my standard tea. While this varies daily, my current favorite being an herbal peppermint, in honor of the tea ceremony I will talk about green tea.

Matcha (ground green tea leaves) is served at all ceremonies, but the type varies: thin (usu-cha), and less common thick (koi-cha). Oddly, usucha is more bitter than its counterpart and is less expensive. If you have had any experience with green tea ice cream, than you have had a [super] sweetend form.

As matcha is supurbly expensive, I'll focus a little more on avaliable green teas. Essentially green tea is the same as black. They both come from the plant camillia sinensis. The most common is sen-cha (the typical grocery stores carry a lesser version of this form called ban-cha), and it is rolled and steamed when picked. The next type is matcha *points to previous paragraph*. Then you have blends. The two blends that are considered "true" green tea are genmai-cha and jasmine. Jasmine is a blend of green teas and, of course, jasmine flowers. Genmai-cha is sen-cha blended with toasted brown rice. Out of all the green teas, this one is my favorite as it has an earthy toasted flavor.

How to prepare a cup of green tea

Suprisingly, many do not know the difference in preparing a green vs. black tea. Believe me, it does make a notable difference.

2 tsp. - 1 1/3 tbsp of your favorite green tea (depending on how strong you want it to be)

1 c. of boiling water

1. Boil the water in a kettle, or in a microwavable cup.
2. Place the tea bag or strainer into the cup. Allow to soak for thirty seconds to a minute.
3. As you enjoy your tea, contemplate the meaning of "Ichigo, Ichie." :)

If you would like more information on the tea ceremony, I suggest checking out Untangeling My Chopsticks by Victoria Abbott Riccardi. She is an American who moved to Japan (with no language experience) to learn the art of cha-kaiseki.

Calligraphy of "Ichigo, Ichie."

First image courtesy of  ohihides on flickr.

Defining a Generation: the Myth of Adolecene

It's been a while since I've done a real post, and I thought it was high time I added another part to the Defining a Generation series.

 

The Myth of Adolecence

What is it? To understand this, you must understand from where the concept comes. Nearly four years ago, two 16 year old twin brothers started on a journey of self-growth. In 2010 they have interned for the Alabama Supreme Court, headed several state wide re-election campaigns, written two best selling books, traveled the world, and headed a series of forums and conferences. All by age 20. The "they" are the Harris twins, Alex and Brett, and they call their movement The Rebelution. 

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I would like to pause here and explain: I am a born-again Christian and I love my God. I enjoy talking about things I love, thus, I will talk about my Savior. This video (taken from one of the recent rebelution articles) explains where I stand in my religion... or rather my faith. I am by no means a religious person. In fact, I hate religion - it's my Lord I love and serve.

DugDownDeep_Carnahan.mov from Covenant Life Church on Vimeo.

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In 2005,  the Harris brothers wrote a series of articles on rebelling against the cultural norms. Many other teenagers caught their infectious spirit and thus was born a "rebelution." They proposed that American society was wasting their best asset, the minds and talents of teenagers. 

And they're absolutely correct.  As a younger generation we have vision and energy. We are ripe for innovating and shaping our culture. So why are we wasting it? Have we let society tell us for so long that we are "too young" and "too inexperienced"? Weren't some of the greatest men and women, the shakers and movers of history, teens? 

Child-like not Childish

The best type of faith (be it religious or not) is a child-like faith. I remember thinking about this topic one day late last autumn. Then it hit me. I had been taught all my life to have a "child-like faith." Never once had anyone seen fit to explain the difference between Child-like and Childish. My whole life I had thought there was no difference. How many others, I wondered, are trapped in the same mindset?

Have you ever spent much time around young children? Their world is filled with firsts - scintillating with exploration and adventure. Their observations are profound, and simultaneously simplistic. Nothing ceases to amaze them, and their discoveries are shared with any welcoming face. Life is wonderful. And that is that.

Role Reversal

Precocious kids are interesting creatures. Ever met one? That would be the girl wearing her mother's high heels and pearls, ordering others like she owns the world. She's ambitious and spunky - nothing (other than her parents "no") will hold her back. Her future careers goals include doctor, mother, lawyer, and princess. Perhaps a part-time job as president. 

What happens to that drive when she becomes a teenager? Why does our social standing revert once we reached that fabled land of "teenagedom"? Expectations go from major leagues to back yard baseball (if that). Adolescences are expected to be a wast of space; only consuming, never producing. (Notice a difference in the pictures I chose?) Teens, myself included, need to seize this crucial period and use it to mold themselves into adults. Paul said in 1 Cor 13:11 "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things."

So what does this mean? "Teenagedom" does not exist! We are either children or adults. Society has only fabricated the "teen years" to validate laziness. It's the reason why we're stuck with "Kidults," adults that never grew up mentally. 

I really recommend, non-believers included, Do Hard Things. It's a fantastic look into this topic and worth every penny. The Harris twins also recently published START HERE, an idea booklet for beginning the life changing ideas discussed in Do Hard Things. Pick it up and tell me what you think. It definitely is great mind fodder.

Meme of the Week: Photo Mosaic

Time for another meme! I really like the random flickr ones as pictures are so inspiring. Plus I adore the word mosaic... it's so wanderlusty. ^^

How it's done:

1. Answer each of the questions below.
2. Hop over to Flickr and type your answers (one at a time) into the search bar.
3. From the choice of pictures shown on the front page, click on the one that moves you. (I actually cheated a bit and went to the next two or three pages. I really wanted things that embodied my answers.)
4. Once the page with your picture opens, copy the URL.
5. Wiggle over to the Mosaic Maker, set up your mosaic, and paste in your URLs.
6. Click “Create!”

The questions:

1. What is your first name? Haley
2. What is your favorite food? Ramen ♥_♥ chances are if you don't like it, you've never had it (prepared properly). A steaming bowl of soul-refreshing wonderfulness!
3. What high school did you attend? Temple Baptist Academy (don't hold it against me lol)
4. What is your favorite color? I really enjoy earth tones, but due to spring I'm in love with Sakura/Plum.
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Liam Aiken. Really, who doesn't love Klaus?
6. What is your favorite drink? Other than water, that would be Ramune. The bottle is just too much fun.
7. Where would you go on your dream vacation? Kyoto... anytime of year.
8. What is your favorite dessert? Green Tea Ice cream. Amazing stuff.
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? Chef! Particularly one versed in tea kaiseki and Japanese traditional food (Chinese and Thai too).
10. What do you love most in life? Tokyo street fashion... maybe not love, but really find interesting.
11. Choose one word to describe you. Wanderlust (didn't see that one coming did you?)
12. Your Flickr name? Lady Weaver

Credits:
1. Haley Williams of Paramore, 2. Time for Ramen, 3. Old City of Homs 1912 Syria, 4. The Plum Blossom Festival, 5. Liam Aiken, 6. Ramune, 7. Kyoto - fushimi inari toriis, 8. Green tea ice cream, 9. Iron Chef: Gainesville, 10. Sweet Lolita in Shinjuku sanchome, Tokyo, 11. Wanderlust, 12. Portrait of the Artist as a Young Woman

It's funny how my heart seems to reside between the mountains and the big city. My whole life seems to be composed of polar opposites. If you copy this idea, leave me a link in my comments so I can see your mosaic!

PS Stick around! My next post will be part of my other series Defining a Generation.

Defining a Generation: As It Is

n memory of the 1765 Stamp Act - a monumental occasion in the history of America - and the equally revolutionary passage of H.R. 3962 into the Senate (whether you support it or not, it's a big deal... and that's an understatement), I wanted to do something a little different.  

Defining a Generation is a set of blog spots that I've had on my mind lately. Take a moment and watch this video:

 How finite do you feel?

One of the facts that stuck with me is the amount of information we consume and output. If we have five times the amount of words that Shakespeare had, why is it that our usage of them has been reduced to a few vulgar and trite mutterings? How is it that we have lost more than we have gained?

Can we blame this phenomena as "a product of circumstances"? Or would it be better described as a result of our laziness?

When I imagine an era I enjoy (Dynastic China/Turn of the Century America/Ancient Greece and Egypt/19th Century India and Arabia) I think of how hard life would be without the "necessities": air conditioning, electricity, internet, etc. Yet I also wonder how much happier and content I would be. Surely they lived more fulfilling and purposeful lives.

There is something in me that fights to be unique, a mover and shaker of the world. I have not been left here to fritter my existence...

Let him that would move the world first move himself ~ Socrates  

Jet Setting

Hey everyone!

I'm headed off to Arizona for a few days (look forward to pictures and food, or rather, pictures of food). I'll be back on the 16th... I'll be spending White Day in AZ!

(P.S. I'll do a post on White Day after White Day - March 15) 

Micropost: DISQUS

The random award for the day goes to this post: for absolute non-coherence to the purpose of this blog.

I'm working on improving my blog, one little html (mis)understanding at a time. Hahaha, I have no clue what I'm doing when it comes to html. *shakes head* It would be pathetic without wonderful sites like... DISQUS. It's relatively simple, and you only need about 5 to 10 minutes to change your commenting system.

Hey, I'm completely computer illiterate and I did it. Now your comments will nest beautifully... and you don't have to worry about any spam. :)
PostScript: I promise I'll do a real post later.

Leap Year

No, not in that sense. For me 2010 has been leap year, or rather hop year.

For those of you unfamiliar with my predicament, allow me to enlighten you. The day after Thanksgiving, I was driving to an uncle's surprise 50th birthday party... only unbeknown to me, I was the one getting a surprise. My car hit a tree and I broke both bones in my right leg.

Several doctor's visits, a surgery, and a pair of crutches later: I'm doing peachy! Except for the fact that I am tethered down by my extra metal appendages. So, I've been thinking of ways to help others who are in *similar* situations.

Weaver's Way to Retain Semi-Sanity

1. Make a list of things that you're thankful for: it's unbelievably easy to become disheartened when you're not out and about like normal. Write down three to five things each day of things that your thankful for, and be specific!
2. Watch your favorite childhood movies: Remember that quirky little movie that you loved when you were younger? Watch it! What about that series that you loved but don't remember much of? Find it! (Google it or see if your local library or video store has a copy.)
3. Find a new favorite movie: with all your down time (and trust me, you'll have plenty), look for movies that you've wanted to watch or have never heard of. Some times the best films are the indie ones! My favorite feel to a movie is the vintage fairytale: Stardust, The Brothers Bloom, Penelope...
4. Bake cupcakes: or brownies/a cake/muffins/ banana bread... bake a treat you haven't had in a while. Yes, it'll be hard getting the ingredients out on your own, but when their done you'll have yumminess! (It's even better if you have someone to help you ice and decorate them!)
5. Look at lovely things: weheartit.com is a wonderful site where you can find inspirational images and save them to your "heart." Find several things that make you smile and look back at them (constantly).
6. Eat healthy *yummy* foods: since you are down with (insert injury here) it is imperative that you keep your body functioning well! It does you no good to become sick while impeded by crutches or a sling. (I'm currently fighting a nasty cold, and earlier I had the stomach flu.) But do remember, sometimes it can't be helped. Being trapped in your "ivory tower" for a length of time will lower your immune system. Zinc, Vitamin D, and Vitamin C are very important!
7. Create a debutante's look: some circle lenses, a pair of luxurious falsies (to wink at the world), some eyeliner, and a pale pout make for the perfect dolly look. Experiment with make-up techniques to find what looks you love. Go avande-garde with it! The bigger and brighter, the better.
8. Buy a bridal magazine and plan out your fantasy wedding: while you may not have your Prince Charming yet, that's no reason not to be prepared! After all, you are a damsel in distress and he may see you and be instantly smitten. (Okay, okay. Truthfully, I'm a realist and thought this was the silliest idea ~ so of course I had to do it. While I didn't plan out my wedding, I did find the most beautiful Vera Wang deconstructed blush gown in the Jan/Feb issue of Bride mag.)
   
9. Invite over a friend for a sleepover: especially if you haven't seen them in three or more months. Make popcorn, have a sugar high, laugh at random silly things (aka Monty Python), look over old magazines, have a good long boytalk, etc. Incorperate #2 and #9 on this one!
10. Most importantly: devotions. Make a point to learn different attributes about your God. It's amazing how uplifting it can be to learn about Him when your down. 

While I have a list of about 25 more things, I will refrain ~ until a later date. How about it: do you have any more ideas for the medically inhibited?