larissa explains fuck all

Thursday, September 2
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30 Days and Counting

Starting October 1, I will be TV-less and boy, am I excited.

A year ago, I remember exploring the rise of people giving up television in favor of internet television. Recently, a study found that now about 800,000 American households now watch TV only via the Web. That’s crazy and interesting and that’s not why I’m giving up television.

Recently, my friends and I all discovered that we had the same issue: TV was taking up a lot of our time. Now, I don’t think I watch TV, much but the hours add up quicker than you think. An hour after work one day, an hour before bed another, and on and on. There are some days I come home and I’m so tired that all I can do is watch TV, and that stinks.

However, I’m not anti-TV. I think that it’s an invaluable medium that provides a good amount of entertainment or education. But when I find myself turning it on just to pass the time, I feel like a vegetable.

Here’s what I’m hoping to gain:

  • More time to get more stuff done! I want to learn harmonica, read more, stay in touch with friends….
  • More sleep. If I’m too tired to do anything other than watch TV, I probably shouldn’t be awake.
  • A new way to socialize. Again, I’m not anti-TV and I’m looking forward to getting together with friends to watch the latest Mad Men or Jersey Shore instead of watching it by myself.

This is not meant to be considered “an experiment” or anything like that. It’s really just a choice, and I’m choosing to opt out of owning something that has a negative effect on me. We’ll see how it goes.


Sunday, August 29
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Birthdays come with a lot of rules. You have to have fun on your birthday (this is the one that typically can be seen as a burden but luckily is supplemented by the next few rules). You get to tell people what to do on your birthday. You get to tell strangers it’s your birthday. You get to convince your friends to do things they normally wouldn’t do AND they can’t complain about it because it’s your birthday. #4 is my favorite. You get one day of the year to do WHATEVER you want so it has to count. This year, I pretty much only had one birthday wish: I wanted Baked Alaska. I have no idea where I heard of Baked Alaska, but I’ve been passively searching for this traditional American dessert for the last 5 years or so. It’s a composite of all of my favorite desserts in ONE, plus it takes it up a notch with the thrill of defying science by putting ice cream in the oven (!!!!). APPARENTLY I’m in the minority with my obsession with Baked Alaska, because while you can find 139+ places that have Banh Mi, there are only 3 restaurants in the 5 borough area that actually still make Baked Alaska. My BA came from Giorgio’s of Gramercy and contained: walnut sweet bread, espresso gelato, flamed meringue, and strawberry coulis. It was amazing and, BECAUSE IT WAS MY BIRTHDAY, Giorgio’s also threw in chocolate covered strawberries, a piece of Espresso Cheesecake and a piece of S’more Bread Pudding. Nice. Birthday boys and girls, if you want to test your hand at Baked Alaska and share this amazing dessert with deserving people, try this really simple recipe: Ingredients 1 layer sponge cake 1 qt. ice cream 4 egg whites 1/2 c. sugar 1 tsp. vanilla 1. Beat egg whites until nearly stiff, beat in sugar gradually, add vanilla and beat until stiff. 2. Place a board at least 1 1/2 inches thick between 2 pieces of corrugated paper; cover top with waxed paper. 3. Place round of sponge cake on board, heap ice cream quickly on top, leaving a 1 inch margin of cake all around; cover thickly with meringue. 4. Brown quickly in very hot oven (450 degrees). Serve at once with chocolate, caramel or fruit sauce, if desired.

Birthdays come with a lot of rules.

  1. You have to have fun on your birthday (this is the one that typically can be seen as a burden but luckily is supplemented by the next few rules).
  2. You get to tell people what to do on your birthday.
  3. You get to tell strangers it’s your birthday.
  4. You get to convince your friends to do things they normally wouldn’t do AND they can’t complain about it because it’s your birthday.

#4 is my favorite. You get one day of the year to do WHATEVER you want so it has to count. This year, I pretty much only had one birthday wish: I wanted Baked Alaska.

I have no idea where I heard of Baked Alaska, but I’ve been passively searching for this traditional American dessert for the last 5 years or so. It’s a composite of all of my favorite desserts in ONE, plus it takes it up a notch with the thrill of defying science by putting ice cream in the oven (!!!!).

APPARENTLY I’m in the minority with my obsession with Baked Alaska, because while you can find 139+ places that have Banh Mi, there are only 3 restaurants in the 5 borough area that actually still make Baked Alaska.

My BA came from Giorgio’s of Gramercy and contained: walnut sweet bread, espresso gelato, flamed meringue, and strawberry coulis. It was amazing and, BECAUSE IT WAS MY BIRTHDAY, Giorgio’s also threw in chocolate covered strawberries, a piece of Espresso Cheesecake and a piece of S’more Bread Pudding. Nice.

Birthday boys and girls, if you want to test your hand at Baked Alaska and share this amazing dessert with deserving people, try this really simple recipe:

Ingredients
1 layer sponge cake
1 qt. ice cream
4 egg whites
1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

1. Beat egg whites until nearly stiff, beat in sugar gradually, add vanilla and beat until stiff.
2. Place a board at least 1 1/2 inches thick between 2 pieces of corrugated paper; cover top with waxed paper.
3. Place round of sponge cake on board, heap ice cream quickly on top, leaving a 1 inch margin of cake all around; cover thickly with meringue.
4. Brown quickly in very hot oven (450 degrees).
Serve at once with chocolate, caramel or fruit sauce, if desired.


Friday, July 16
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I was able to play with Zach Lieberman + Golan Levin’s Manual Input Station a few months ago.

It made me realize how much real time interaction creates an exceptionally joyful experience because it really appeals to people’s curiosity and desire to play. When the user gets to control their own experience and then experiment with it, it creates a totally unique + personal effect. Some of my favorite work right now is reflecting this interest for discovery and real-time reactions through the use of technology, which is saying something because the original Manual Input Station was devised in 2004.

And what else I love is the simple way Zach describes his goal: “he wants you surprised”.


Monday, June 28
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Look, Ma, I'm Internet Famous →

2 weeks ago, I got my first taste of internet fame via a single-serve subject blog called Cool Planner Hair, Dude. Though it didn’t rival This is Why You’re Fat or Selleck Waterfall Sandwich, it was wild to watch a silly site get 1,000 hits in <24 hours. What I ultimately learned was that it takes about 6 days for a site like that to jump the shark (though I still am getting about 25 hits a day now), and that advertising people really are as narcissistic as they say. Fun!


Thursday, March 4
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You got it, cap from a Magic Hat bottle.

You got it, cap from a Magic Hat bottle.


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Saturday, January 23
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While looking for a bread recipe today, I came across this. Summer can&#8217;t come quickly enough. Blackberry Tom Collins Cocktail Recipe Ingredients 3 lrg. Blackberries 1/2 oz Fresh Lime Juice 1&#160;t Sugar 2 oz Gin 3-4 oz Club Soda 1. Put blackberries in a highball glass, add lime juice, and sugar and muddle (you know, smash it all together with a pestle or something similar) 2. Add ice, then pour in gin and club soda. Stir, garnish with a couple cut blackberries if you’d like, and enjoy.

While looking for a bread recipe today, I came across this. Summer can’t come quickly enough.

Blackberry Tom Collins Cocktail Recipe

Ingredients

3 lrg. Blackberries
1/2 oz Fresh Lime Juice
1 t Sugar
2 oz Gin
3-4 oz Club Soda

1. Put blackberries in a highball glass, add lime juice, and sugar and muddle (you know, smash it all together with a pestle or something similar)

2. Add ice, then pour in gin and club soda. Stir, garnish with a couple cut blackberries if you’d like, and enjoy.


Wednesday, January 20
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Under My Skin - Gin Wigmore

The song in my head today. But it keeps making you want to start singing some Cole Porter, doesn’t it?


Thursday, January 14
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The existence of affordable, interesting, and crazy random classes at the new Brooklyn Brainery makes me infinitely happy. I signed up for the Scents &amp; Sensibility classes, which excite me due to my newfound obsession with perfumes.

The existence of affordable, interesting, and crazy random classes at the new Brooklyn Brainery makes me infinitely happy. I signed up for the Scents & Sensibility classes, which excite me due to my newfound obsession with perfumes.


Wednesday, January 6
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Report: H&M Has Been Trashing Clothes Outside Herald Square

NBC just reported that H&M cuts up unsold clothes and curbs them. I’ve known about this for a while thanks to a lucky find one day where a friend and I ended up with a handful of accessories that were still new and with tags. I thought this was shockingly wasteful, especially in a city where homelessness is so prevalent.

I’m so glad that the media has discovered this. Currently, H&M is dealing with the backlash in real time on their Facebook page, but consumers are extremely upset about it. Furthermore, the company is claiming that this is “an incident”, while I originally found the boxES in March.


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Tuesday, January 5
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Noah and The Whale - Shape Of My Heart