This is mind control and you know it...

12:53PM - southwest veggie pizza

what you'll need:
prepared pizza crust
salsa (pick your favorite)
half of one medium onion
half of one bell pepper
sliced olives
canned corn, drained
cheddar cheese, shredded

what you'll do:
preheat oven to 450. lay out the pizza crust and apply a layer of salsa as the "sauce". put as much or as little as you like. sprinkle chopped onion, sliced bell pepper, olives, corn, and cheese on top. we used only half and then added another layer on top of the first layer. bake for 10 minutes with the pizza on the rack for crispy (but not hard and crunchy) crust. serve with hot sauce.

(cross the river)

7:36PM - in the kitchen with kyle and karlen

we came up with a fantastic salsa recipe and i wanted to share!

Best Salsa Ever

4 lg ripe tomatoes
1 lg red onion
¼ bunch of cilantro (more if desired)
2 limes
2 fresh jalapenos
1 habanero
1 4 oz. can tomato sauce
1 md red bell pepper
1 clove of elephant garlic
2 tbl olive oil
salt
pepper
cayenne pepper
hot sauce
white wine vinegar


note: DO NOT add cilantro too cooked portion until very end. Chop tomatoes, onion, and garlic. Set aside half. Chop jalapenos, half of the cilantro, add to mixture. Add juice of two limes. Salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, hot sauce, and vinegar to taste. Set aside to meld.

With the other half of the tomato, onion, and garlic mixture, add chopped bell pepper and habanero. In a large saucepan, add olive oil, chopped vegetables, and tomato sauce. Simmer on low heat covered for one half hour, uncovered for one half hour until vegetables are soft and sauce is slightly thickened. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Once cool, add rest of chopped cilantro. Add cooked mixture to uncooked mixture. Season (salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, hot sauce, vinegar) to taste. Refrigerate overnight.

(cross the river)

10:45PM

dear everyone,

i have not posted anything since october but i felt it was time to break my silence and notify you all of something that is very, very important to me. i felt this was something that all of you should know.

newman's own black bean and corn salsa is probably one of the greatest foods purchasable in any grocery. try it with tostito's hint of lime tortilla chips.

thank you for your attention. that is all.
karlen

(2 crossed | cross the river)

9:22PM

( text )

(9 crossed | cross the river)

8:07PM

i'm not doing what i should be doing right now which is putting together a digital portfolio. i really want to brush my teeth. kyle is playing internet chess and talking to the computer. this kind of sums up my life in its entirety.

cheers.

p.s. mac dictionary is the definition of sweet ass.

(1 crossed | cross the river)

10:43AM

( morning )

(cross the river)

6:05PM

tiffany and i got tattoos today. we both got different renditions of jizo. yay!



that is all.

(3 crossed | cross the river)

7:19PM

kyle is reading emily dickinson to me. <3

tiffany and i were going to get tattoos today but she couldn't find explosions in the sky's the earth is not a cold dead place so we had nothing to show the tattoo man what she wanted. hopefully by tomorrow...hopefully. i'm getting my aubrey beardsley piece, finally.

tomorrow is jesse's birthday. happy 21st.

i love you all.

k

(cross the river)

6:44PM

today i spent the day setting up my cats in their new homes. suki is now living in largo with my aunt jean and momo is hiding in her kitty carrier in my bedroom here at my parents house. i also spent an hour and a half doing things to impress someone i have no desire or even need to impress (my aunt). example:
"karlen, that cat carrier is still pretty dirty. you should probably wash it again."
"...the cat is going to be freaking out anyway. i don't think it will care if the carrier is a little dirty."
"jean will care."
"is jean going to be riding around in the cat carrier?"
((pause - mother gives her you're-being-a-pain-in-the-ass look, daughter gives her i'm-being-a-pain-in-the-ass smirk))
"just clean it again."

i need a shower but apparently i don't have enough time before dinner because my brother will be here soon (says a half an hour ago). that's really all for now.

(cross the river)

12:16PM

yesterday morning around 9:30, kyle text messaged me:
"call me"
"right now?"
"word"
i called.
"come over"
"right now?"
"word"
i was there by 10 and he made me the best breakfast in bed i have ever had. we were inseperable for the next twenty four hours.

(cross the river)

12:46AM - seventeen all over again

i'm currently stealing internet from my neighbors so i can use my mac in my bedroom because even though i set up the router and mac the knife will connect to the network while i'm in the same room as the router, as soon as i leave that room it looses the connection. i hope you understand how irritating this is for me.

in other news, life has been pretty much awesome since i quit my job. this weekend is looking like it's going to be even more amazing than the last and i hope you will realize that that is next to impossible.

my throat hurts. tomorrow is daniela's and my 17th birthday party. w00t!

(1 crossed | cross the river)

10:55PM

my dad is apparently training for the day he has to live in the freaking jungle and has decided that air conditioning is so last summer. i can not get comfortable when i feel like i'm living inside a warm, wet blanket.

my life is currently in boxes and bags, divided between two houses. i can not find anything when i want it because there is too much other stuff in the way and i can not organize anything until someone *cough*dad*cough* stops dragging ass and gets a truck so i can finish with this ordeal. sorry i can't drive a freaking uhaul, guys. can you please just help me out?

i guess my mother is mildly offended with the frequency with which i use the word "damn". i didn't think it was all that much, but today she "kiddingly" said she was going to wash my mouth out with soap because apparently i'm eleven or something. i guess i have to watch that...

i'm kind of griping for no reason, really. i guess it's not so bad. it's just that when you're used to things being your way and suddenly you're thrust into a situation where everything has to be someone else's way and you have no choice it can be rather frustrating. my parents have actually been pretty awesome about this whole thing.

and, last friday, may 19th, my life took a turn for the amazing.


//edit//
one more thing i forgot to bitch about - my cell phone simply does not get reception at this house. this is incredibly frustrating, especially when coupled with the fact that since i haven't gotten the router hooked up to the modem yet, i have to use my parents computer to be on the internet. which means waiting...and nothing being the way i want it...and not having any of my necessary applications...oh, two months...

(cross the river)

1:30AM - me and the universe

dear karlen,
this is the universe. we've decided that this weekend is going to blow your mind.
we're not going to tell you in advance, though. the universe does not roll like that.

good luck and try to stay sane,
the universe.

(cross the river)

12:55PM

why doesn't anyone ever invite karlen?

(1 crossed | cross the river)

10:36PM

i should never leave dreary fits of melancholy as my last journal entries because, i figure, what if maybe it really is my last journal entry? if i were to die tonight and people were to read all my LAST journal entries, they would think i was some kind of mopey jackass. this is not to say that i am not a mopey jackass, i just think i should try to keep it to myself more.

the thing is, i really only ever post journal entries or write in my private journals when something is bothering me. when i have nothing to get off my chest, i guess i don't really have anything to say.

which should stop.

i've been trying to write in private blogs and paper journals with more frequency and mostly succeeding, however one might spell that. i don't really care too much for livejournal and perhaps that's why i neglect it so much.

in any case, if this were to be my last journal entry, i would want everyone to know that things are fine. i may complain, but there's nothing wrong with my life, really. i've been making decisions that i think are and will be good for me, i've got rather big plans for the coming year(s) and for all the boughts of moroseness (is that a word?) and whining, i'd have to say that, overall, i'm in a pleasant state. there is nothing particularly spectacular about my current situation, i'm not jumping for joy or smiling with reckless abandon. but i am calm, serene, and i think i should probably let people know it more often.

i'm not really miserable, guys.

sorry to bore you.

people are never interested when someone is happy.

(1 crossed | cross the river)

4:31AM - 12 days

	The Twelve Days of Christmas for canto_xii:
Day #	Who?		What they got you
1st	northbound_		a one-man puppet show using three simultaneous puppets
2nd	dances_alone		a strap-on
3rd	luvjen141		A pornstar slot machine
4th	luvjen141		pubic dandruff shampoo
5th	roswelll		an experimental vibrator
6th	sharkbites		A prepaid phone card to your favourite 1-900 number
7th	jeagrmeister		the complete works of the Marquis de Sade, on tape
8th	joli_et_morte		a dusty bottle of absinthe
9th	suit		A genital piercing
10th	kalieyes		syphillis
11th	roswelll		an inverse restraining order, requiring you to be 'coupled' at all times
12th	the_odyssey		The Marquis de Sade's sex drive
Take this Quiz at QuizUniverse.com
( or, take the 'clean' version at QuizGalaxy.com )

number 7 and 8 are actually kind of cool...

(cross the river)

12:23AM - TAG!

Tagged by pbrigitte

Instructions: List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they're any good, but they must be songs you're really enjoying now. Post these instructions in your Livejournal along with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they're listening to.

1. neutral milk hotel - where you'll find me now
2. the decemberists - grace cathedral hill
3. sunday munich - everyone else
4. sparklehorse - sunshine
5. vetiver - on a nerve
6. radiohead - fog (always)
7. danger doom - bizzy box ft. cee-lo (yea, i don't know)

i will tag tiffany, tim, and layla. seven is ridiculous.

(cross the river)

11:31PM

really think about this. i mean really. honestly. every aspect of it. what would happen if you put a few things in a backpack, got in your car, and drove right now? if you did not stop driving, if you kept going, if you left your house, your friends, your town, your life, for an indeterminate amount of time? maybe days, weeks, months. what if you made a new life somewhere else on a whim, just got up and went?

what would happen? really think. what would happen?

do you dare me to find out?

(2 crossed | cross the river)

8:16PM

i left work early because i am incredibly sick. i went to target and got orange juice, nyquil, tissues, and grasshopper cookies. the grasshopper cookies don't really help with the sickness but they're so tasty!

do you ever feel like everyone has the most fun when you're not around? i'm never part of the fun.

tomorrow is thanksgiving. i'll probably just pass out on my parents couch, eat, leave, pass out at home and work a 15 hour shift on friday.

i'm depressed.

(1 crossed | cross the river)

8:33PM

my throat hurts. i started christmas shopping. i'm working a 15 hour shift on black friday. i got a black chenille beanie and a new purse.

in other news, i found my ipod. i know, i know. it must have fallen behind the seat when whomever it was decided to climb aboard without a ticket. the itrip is still attached. i thought i had scoured the car for any trace of my belongings but i guess i just overlooked it. this is good news, although i feel like a bit of an ass.

thanks for making an ass of me, guys!
karlen

(cross the river)