Keep on keepin' on

Ay yo interneters.

Just wanted to bring you a little bit of cheer on this lovely Friday night. Well technically it's Saturday morning. May the brain-dead-ness begin.

I just wanted to remind you that, when hardship strikes, don't resort to that curl-into-the-fetal-position-and-hope-to-disintegrate type of feeling. Because after a few weeks of constant stress, that will be what you want to do most.
Just remember that hardships define who you are. Anyone can remain cool and composed and benevolent and lovely when their life is all smiles. It's those people who can be all those things even when their lives are hell; that's what defines someone as strong. Don't you wanna be strong?

And also, don't let your mind betray you. Yeah, it does that.
It's so incredibly easy to delve into a well of self-pity when it's 1:36 am and you just start to study for your third test. Don't. Self-pity is the mother of despair. Don't bother trying to think happy thought; at that point, it will just be frustrating and difficult. Instead, just make your mind as blank as possible for a few moments, collect yourself, and return to whatever you're doing. Hey, it'll refresh you, and when the number of sleep you get each night is less than the number of pounds you're gaining, nothing is way better than whatever your mind wants to come up with.

I'm sorry. I'm moody.

Anyway, here's a little something to cheer up your weekend.

http://iwastesomuchtime.com/on/?i=53487



You rock it, interneter. You rock those hardships. :)

Enjoy loveliness and remember to muse!

Just a little Cheer

Hi peeps!

I just saw this baby otter wandering around on the internet and decided that he needed to be shared with my lovely internet strangers. Enjoy.

http://iwastesomuchtime.com/on/?i=49707



See, the internet can have positive benefits too! There are so many ways you can harness the power of the world wide web to motivate yourself.
Try fitness tumblrs, funny stories, or youtube videos of super athletic people.
It really gets you moving.

Okay that's it, hope you all are having a lovely sunny weekend!
Enjoy loveliness and remember to muse :)

Banana Cake

FOOOOOOODDDDDDDDDDD!

I'm not even going to attempt to describe my love-hate relationship with that simply edible entity.
Instead, here's a 3-ingredient recipe for simple and cute-looking banana cakes!

http://get-thinspiration.tumblr.com/post/30959948461/healthyhallelujah-justbreathe831

If you haven't yet, read the last post (Refresh Yourself) and try your hand at baking! Let this be your "something new". :)

*From Healthy Hallelujah:

No fuss, 3 ingredient banana cake

- 1 banana
- 2 eggs
- 2 scoops of protein powder

Mix everything together in a food processor. Cook for 20 minutes at 220 degrees Celsius (430 degrees F) or until lightly brown on top.   

Now, I don't know about you, but I don't own any protein powder. I'm thinking you could probably substitute flour with a pinch of baking powder. But hey, I haven't made this yet....I guess my period of begin refreshed has ended, seeing as how I'm becoming reacquainted with procrastination so quickly. 

WELL I hope you give this a try! Enjoy loveliness and remember to muuuuuuuuse! :)

Refresh Yourself

Hello earthlings!

For two days this week I have been dazedly observing some sort of miraculous occurrence; I went to bed before 12:00. Both nights.
STRANGE RIGHT?! Seriously though, I had developed a legitimate routine of getting into bed at approimately 12:48 each night. Not exactly healthy when you need to wake up at 6.

But seeing as how this strange, strange thing will most certainly be short-lived, I'm going to take advantage of the time that it does exist and tell you, to the best of my abilities, how I did it.

I refreshed myself.
Hence the very creative post title.

 No but really, trying something new, or simply forcing your mind to do something a little bit differently, completely refreshes your mind and can easily lift your brain out of that cavernous pit of procrastination and self-despair. You all know what I'm talking about; we all know the inside of that pit better than we know our pillows.

For me, the catalyst was beginning to read for pleasure again. Reading is great. It's like the smart-people form of distraction, and it sharpened my brain while giving is a respite from soggy math homework.
I also found some new music, and this helped to enliven my zombie-like state of being. "One More Night" by Adam Levine. That's my jam.

So step out of your normal routine. Try something new. Hopefully, if all goes well, you'll see a spike in your productivity and creativity and general well-being.

Hm. I guess this is a sign from Mother Nature to literally spice up your life. Because new is only new more so long, you know?
Is a good life the life where there is no normal?

Ha. Let THAT be your unofficial thought provoker. :)

And here's a picture, just for good measure.


http://www.goodnaturedllc.com/wp-content/uploads/whole-spices(2).jpg

Enjoy loveliness and remember to muse!

Inner Creative Demons- Thought Provoker #4

Good 10:54, folks!
Oh, something I've noticed is that the time displayed for my posts are off by about several hours. So when I write a post about being sleepy at 7 pm, it's really not 7 pm. I'm not THAT lame.
At least that's what I would like to hope.

Isn't it fun sometimes to just let your inner creative demon run free, running around scrawling sappy-descriptive passages that have no meaning whatsoever? Don't disregard these creative urges. Use them! Sometimes the most random, impromptu pieces of writing will spark a genius idea for something actually worthy of presenting to an audience (whether or not they're behind a computer screen).

Plus, for me at least, descriptions are just the most fun. I subconsciously do it in my head sometimes.
Hey, it's satisfying. Don't judge.

So, in celebration of all of our inner creative demons, today's thought provoker will be a picture! Have fun with it. You know you will.

http://enpundit.com/starry-night-light-installations-by-lee-eunyeol/

This is the work of photographer Lee Eunyeol. No copyright infringement intended! 

Aaaand enjoy loveliness and remember to muse. :)

WHY STRESS IS BAD because you really didn't know

Note: GIFs come from whatshouldfigureskaterscallme.tumblr.com


Although I've only had 2 weeks of school, me and stress are like best buds now. Seriously. I overloaded myself on schoolwork and extracurriculars, and the most sleep I've gotten in two weeks is less than seven hours. No lie.
Which, by the way, may explain why this post is somewhat more grumpy and stupid than the rest.
Although I'll admit, that buttermilk post wins the stupidity prize, any day.
Hehe.

You're probably thinking, "Ew gross, I don't want to hear about this girl's anxiety problems." But I'm sharing this with you because I think I've finally figured it out.

How people become stressed:
You go on some sort of break.
You're relatively refreshed, whether you know it or not.
You come back to normal life and think, "Hey, I can handle this
and this
and this
and this
and this,
I'll just be like kind of a person who has everything and has it all togther.
I'll like learn from this experience or something.

Basically:
YOU OVERESTIMATE YOURSELF AND THIS IS BAD.


^is this you?
WRONG!

...Because your refreshed and thoughtfully-ignorantly-planning-your-own-demise self has no idea what it will actually be like to do all those things you mentally (or maybe actually) signed yourself up for. Don't do this to yourself!
I know it can actually be really difficult to turn away from this self-over-estimation. Heck, I haven't even done it yet. All I can give you are some tips that sound like they came from a school planner.

Horrible Tips if You've Already Done the Above (like me)

Plan your time. Do it realistically. And by this I mean plan for times when you might get distracted if that's something that happens every day.

Get some priorities. When your schedule crunches your soul into a thousand tiny pieces, at least know which pieces you're going to save.

Refresh yourself. You brain is like a knife. You gotta sharpen it to increase it's efficiency!



I hope you enjoyed those tips that, quite frankly, made absolutely no sense. 
I need some sleep.
Goodnight and remember to museeeeeeeeee..................

Back to Business

Hello again gorgeous internet strangers! Sorry that I haven't posted in an obscenely long period of time...you see, I was at summer camp, and then I went to California, and then I *insert excuse here*, so that's why I didn't finish my summer homework. I MEAN POST ON MY BLOG IN A LONG TIME. If my summer homework taught me one thing, it's that denial ain't just a river in Egyt. (--Mark Twain). Also, try not to embrace your screwedness when you find yourself cramming or furiously doing something at some ungodly hour. No denial. No embracing the screwedness.

Yes, school has started. And it's just like I never left. Which I really didn't, given the 26 pounds of summer homework given to me by my lovely, demanding, get-no-sleep Georgia school. Man, I missed getting only five hours of sleep.

AHAHAHAHA JOKES ON ME.



Anyway, my lazy bitterness aside, the start of the school year always gives me plenty of new thoughts to pretend to be occupied with. Something about being crammed into a low brick building for eight hours with 2700 strangers makes you think about people and how they act. So, without further ado, I present to you: My Thoughts During Five Minutes of School!

Time for third period!
Woah, look at her shirt! It's so pretty. Man, I wish I had a shirt like that.
...
We're supposed to write an essay by tomorrow?? YOU KIDDIN' ME WOMAN?!
Oh wait it's only a page. That's no too bad. But I'm gonna tell my little brother that it's an essay cause then he'll be scared for high school.
Hehehe.
He.

We're supposed to write about our identity? I DUNNO.
Who am I anyways?
....
HEY LOOK! Her hair is the exact color of a squirrel!
That is SO cool.
.....
Oh yeah, essay. I wonder how people respond to their expectations. Do I work to become my expectations, or do I live to defy them?
...I'm kinda hungry.
I wonder if that girl's parents fight at home. Maybe they do and nobody knows.
Everybody has a secret.
WHAT'S YOURS? SECRET- deodorant.
HAHA that's not even how it goes.
...
Get out a sheet of paper? NOOOO that's too much work.
Hey I like this teacher, she's cool.
I wonder if she thinks our faces look funny when she's teaching us.
...
What are sponges made of?


I have to say, that's as accurate as it gets. Think what you may of it.

Enjoy school kiddos, or summer if it's still hanging around for you. Anddddd of course,
enjoy loveliness and remember to muse. :)

Buttermilk and GIFs

IT'S THE FIRST DAY OF SUMMER!
Which is really the longest day of the entire year. Wouldn't you think that the summer solstice would occur in the middle of summer, not at the beginning. Well.

How have all of your summers been so far? Fun? Productive? Filled with soft fabric and yummy beverages?

I want to share this really easy way to make a buttermilk substitute with you guys. Because I have nothing better to do and I can. :)
By the way, buttermilk actually has no butter in it. Real buttermilk is, hypothetically, the liquid left behind when you churn milk into butter.
But something tells me that buttermilk companies don't churn butter every time they make some buttermilk. I dunno.

Okay, before I decide this is too weird to post, here goes.

BUTTERMILK SUBSTITUTE


Add a tablespoon of white vinegar (or lemon juice) to a measuring cup.

Fill the cup up to the 1-cup line with milk.

Stir and let sit for 5 minutes.

Ta-da!
Now before you leave and question my sanity, let me inform you-- buttermilk has health benefits! Okay so that probably didn't really help my case....
It's good for digestion, and it has calcium, phosphorus, and potassium. Yum.

BUT WAIT. Don't make it just to drink it. 
I tried that. Not good. Let's just say........
Okay it was just really sour. JUST not good.

But if you need it for a recipe, this is perfect!
I'm sorry this is such a random post. It's not even past midnight.

Here's a GIF that accurately illustrates how I feel when I ask myself "Where did all the time go?" 





And I don't doubt that this is you right now if you read my entire post. Buttermilk. I am entirely too weird.
Anyways, enjoy loveliness and remember to muse!

ENERGY~

Good morning internet strangers!
Guess what I realized today? Possibly the most important factor to your productivity and anti-procratination is energy. Resisting the colorful clutches of random time-wasting websites and turning instead to something semi-productive (organizing a few books, dancing around) and then to something truly productive (hunkering down with the books) is much easy when you have the energy to do so.


Plus you're also less likely to flop facedown on the bed and refuse to do anything at all.
^ That happens to me so frequently it's indecent.

So, energy. We all know it's easier said than done. I can't reach through my laptop and shake your face and go "ARRGHHHH HAVE ENERGY!!!!" even if I want to, so instead here are some tips on how to energize yourself.

How to boost your Energy-- the fun way

• Play some upbeat (or slow and classical, whatever floats your boat) tunes and dance to them. Or stretch or do yoga or do some random hoppy motion. MOVEMENT = ENERGY.

• Wear something bright or poppy or so lovely that it makes you smile just to look at it. Just trust me on this one.

• Apples! Thay have natural caffeine. Enough said.

• Scented lotion. If you're not particularly fond of scented things, don't try this one. But if not, pick a fresher scent-- usually something floral or fruity. Spices may tend to make you drowsier.

Okay, I hope that helped! Go try them out!
Enjoy loveliness and remember to muse~

Large Rubber Mallet

Merry 12:52, citizens of earth.

You may or may not have noticed that I haven't posted in a while-- sincere apologies! I'm not quite sure if I've actually been busy or if I was merely pretending to be...I do have a small mountain of work accumulating next to my bed, but that does not, by any stretch of the imagination, mean I've been busy.
I did get a job though. Sort of. :)

Since my blog has a total of zero pictures on it as of today, I've decided to try to post pictures more frequently. You know, to add to the tasteful part of "Just tasteful musings."

Without further ado, here is picture number one:

http://www.alltradetools.com/catalog/1319-1353-large/831304-16-oz-rubber-mallet.jpg

It's a large rubber mallet! Seems appropriate enough. Aren't rubber mallets just dandy?

And here is a short article that I wrote about large rubber mallets in general. 

Top Ten Practical Uses for a Large Rubber Mallet

10. An umbrella (rubber is waterproof!)

9. Super thick drink coaster

8. Living room decor

7. Portable paperweight (it has a handle!)

6. Negotiating with undesirable people

5. Replacement garden gnome

4. Picking up all the field mice and bopping them on the head

3. Making mosaic tiles out of glass bottles

2. Dropping three pounds quickly (just let go of the handle)

1. General Stress relief

Hope you enjoyed! Enjoy loveliness and remember to muse!

Thought Provoker #3 + Time

Summer is absolutely wonderful and terrible at the same time.
Not summer, actually. Just large quantities of free time in general. See, the problem with having a lot of free time is that it has the potential to magically transform into a heap of productivity and output and satisfaction, but this potential also increases all the guilt that comes from wasting said free time by about x274.
And it's not like I usually go with the first option.

Yeah, free time is dangerous too. It gives you a false sense that, yes, I CAN waste time because I finally have time to waste. You know what I realized? One, if not unique, particularly powerful mindset to have when a lot of free time presents itself to your procrastinating mind is to think of the time as an advantage. Don't just use the time. Work extra productively, because now time is finally on your side.

It's like in this book I read when my age was in the single digits. When rowing his canoe down the Yukon, Jason rowed extra hard when the current was in his favor to make the most of it. He could have thought, "Hey, the river's doing the work now. Imma just rest a little bit."

But he didn't.
And putting inn that extra effort when most people would tend to slack off is what defines greatness in the end.
And hey, who doesn't want to be great?

With that said, here is thought provoker/writing prompt #3!
It's completely unrelated to time or summer or productivity, in case you were wondering. Unless you want it to be-- these are meant to be gateways to interpretation, don't forget!

What secrets ride on butterfly wings? 


Take it literally, think about it figuratively, do whatever you want. And have fun :)
Enjoy loveliness and remember to muse!

Thought Provoker #2 + WRITING!

Hello again :) I hope all of your summers have been filled with yummy fruit and colorful clothing!
Summer is generally the time when I get inspired the most to change my lifestyle for the better. Last year I finally relized why; it's because the thought of a new start in the fall, a new chance for people to go "Wow, you look so much better!" is an incredibly motivating force. Use the thought of new beginnings to inspire you!
Just make people speechless. :)

In the meantime, here is thought provoker #2! It's more of a statement/prompt instead of a direct question. Observe:

She had the disposition of vinegar.

Hopefully this will help some of you victims-of-a-frustratingly-boring-imagination out there be creative and maybe make a new character for that novel you never wrote. Hey, who knows.
If you want, you can share your writing in the comments. Vinegar. Is it a multi-faceted condiment? I would like to think so.

Anways. Here, as promised by the pretty messy-looking title, is a WRITING resource! No, it was not necessarily to capitalize the word WRITING!.

www.poeticpower.com

This site is amazing. They have triannual contests for both poetry and essay writing. Enter into any of their contests, and there is a pretty high chance you'll get published. Their publication is free, no obligations. DO IT. And no, I'm not getting paid to preach to internet strangers on their behalf. :)

Well, good luck to all of you if you decide to enter! And regardless of if you're a writer or not (this is officially my trademark sign-off as of now), enjoy loveliness and remember to muse.
:)

Thought Provoker #1

Merry afternoon!
Wow, that looks even weirder in text than it sounded in my head.
Anyhow, as promised, I will be posting arguably frequent thought-provoking questions! You know, to get those creative juices, if not flowing, at least trickling over the arid expanses of your productivity-starved minds.
Just kidding, that only applies to me. Probably. Maybe.

Without further ado, I present to you thought provoker #1:

What happens when you mix bubbles with thunder?

Okay so I know it's not the best (don't judge!) but it came to me during a particularly nasty rainstorm when I was blowing particularly adorable bubbles inside. And as an artist, as a writer, as anyone, remember this: the thoughts that occur during especailly particular times are the most creative of all. Basically, let yourself be inspired. Don't worry about what comes out. I mean, bubbles and thunder? Really? But who knows, it just might give rise to a brilliant poem somewhere in the vast, pixellated expanses of the internet.

If you do happen to write somehting brilliant, credit for the prompt would be very much appreciated :) Only if you repost the prompt, that is. Muchas gracias.

So yeah. Seek out your thoughts at particulary particular moments, and trust your own uniqueness (or weirdness in my case) to be brilliant. That is all.
May you all have a day filled with yummy beverages and soft fabric!

Late-Night Frustrations

Well it's not really late-night, but this is just giving you an idea of my mind when fried by countless hours of difficult math.

SOOOO here I am, bored and frustrated, trying to finish 30 problems of really really hard problems that I don't understand. And it's due tomorrow. And I have two finals to study for tomorrow. Oh, and, tomorrow is also the last day of school, which is convenient, seeing as how I need to get 2 teacher recommendations before school ends and also find my stupid library book which is NOWHERE to be freaking FOUND and might possibly be at school.

Hahaha stress-free summer MYBUTT.

Anyways.
See kids, this is why you don't procrastinate. Or SHOULDN'T, at least. Because we all do. It's okay, the end is in sight! Only five more problems, then the frustration of getting them all wrong when I submit them online, then finals studying, then trying fruitlessly to find my book, then getting my teacher rec paperwork, then worrying about my SAT subject test (that I, by the way, need to self-learn about seventy pages of in a week) and then maybe sleep.

I'm sorry if you read all of that. Please forgive me.

If this kind of late-night-depression-cramming ever happens to you, here are some tips. 


1. Music. It's good for the soul.

2. Social interaction. Nothing feels better than knowing someone else is up besides you at the same ungodly hour. Not that I consider 10 pm ungodly in the slightest, but, you know. For future reference :).

3. Funny distractions IN MODERATION. Actually, skip this part. IT"S TOO DANGEROUS FOR PROCRASTINATORS LIKE US.


Well, goodnight. I think.

Procrastination Inspiration

Good (lazy) afternoon, internet strangers :)

So I have a story to share about a rare and incredible something that happened to me yesterday.
Last night, I sat down with my SAT biology textbook, and studied, UNINTERRUPTED, for a few hours.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now would be the time to puke a rainbow.

Impressive, huh? Nowadays even fifteen minutes of straight work without getting sidetracked into a vicious cycle of procrastination is somewhat of a rare occurence. Just know that if you spend much more time procrastinating than actually getting things done, you are by no stretch of the imagination alone.
Since such periods of true work are so rare, I actually was able to learn something odd from the experience. (It's funny how I view being productive as a freak event, isn't it? *wry smile*)


I learned that, if you bury yourself deep enough in the work that needs doing and struggle earnestly for some tangible goal, work can be, dare I say it, addicting.
Wait, wait, hear me out. I don't mean addicting as in, OMG I must work or else I'm going to die. It's more of an increase in the desire to do things, as well as an increase in the drive it takes to actually do the doing.
Do the doing. Ha.
But really, just getting things done for a relatively extended period of time can motivate you to do even more. Then you're out of the procrastination cycle, and the further you are from that downward-spiraling toilet of self-hate, the more productive you can be.

Basically, there's an upward-spiraling toilet too.
And if you can drag yourself far enough out of the down-toilet, for just a little determined bit, the up-toilet will pick you right up.
 And that, folks,
 is as close to true inspiration as you can get.
:)

Digital Lifering

Do you ever feel absolutely devoid of creative thought, trapped in the painfully boring confines of your own mind?

Me too, internet stranger. Me too.

SO,
I decided to do something that may help myself, as well as the millions of internet users out there who, I'm sure, are suffering from want-er-of-general-creativity's block, and make.......A BLOG!

With that said, welcome to Just Tasteful Musings.



I'm hoping that this blog will be a deep but bubbly blog that simply gushes creativity with every view. I want to HELP all of you find your inner artist, or speaker, or whatever amazing thing you're destined to be. Join me. I intend to post, as regularly as I can, unspeakably simple but useful DIYs (do-it-yourself), super scrumptious resources, and little thought provokers.

Ready?
Ready.
Go.