So, I have a friend of mine who, despite being super smart, is only just turning 18 this year. It's been ages since anyone I've known has turned 18. And then I have an idea... and here you witness the birth of all things evil.
-- -- -- -- --
Imagine this:
it's the morning of your eighteenth birthday, and you've been looking forward to a lazy morning in bed. But instead you receive this card:
The clue reads:
You’ve been given no truth you must complete this _ _ _ _
To clear the trash you must find a _ _ _
To win the marathon you must _ _ _ _ _
To move on you cannot remain _ _ _ _ _ _ _ary
It only takes you a few minutes to work it out. Of course: Darebin Train Station. You grab a coat and make a dash for the door wondering what you'll find there. (Only to be stopped by your sister who seems to suspiciously know that you should have breakfast before you head out. This is rather annoying but you decide to have breakfast anyway.)
At the station you find this:
Department of Missing Birthdays
Missing Birthday Report
Case ID: 93821
Birthday-Person: Dougal D
Date of Birth: 17 June 1993
Pending Age: 18
Date: 17/06/2011
Status: Still missing
Overview: In the early hours of the 17th June 2011, the birthday of Dougal Davis (17 going on 18) was stolen from his residence at 6 Riverside Road, Ivanhoe, Victoria 3079. Suspected culprit is the evil (but cuddly) penguins of Eeeville.
Intended action: divert problem to Department of Penguin Spotting
Communication:
Dear Dougal,
We are sorry to hear that your birthday has been stolen. Unfortunately we are over run with missing birthdays at the moment. (Boss has his foot on my neck about some Miss Wong who has only had 4 birthdays despite being 19 going on 20. Yikes! You know what I mean?) I have asked the Department of Penguin Spotting to send you some information regarding where you might possibly track down the evil (but cuddly) penguins of Eeeville and retrieve your birthday. Otherwise the earliest date of your case being examined by the DMB is August 2013.
Regards
Ms J Summer
Problem Divergence and Client Distraction Sector
Department of Missing Birthdays
--- --- --- ---
Department of Penguin Spotting
Information Access Report
Request ID: Quack! Who cares!
Requestee: Department of Bureaucratic Bastards (aka Missing Birthdays)
Information on: evil (but cuddly) pengins of Eeeville
Important: send response directly onto Dougal D, otherwise it will be lost in the bureaucratic system of the DMB and he won’t hear from them until at least 2013. <insert rolling of eyes>
Communication:
Dougal,
We don’t actually know where they are, but we just did a house search in Eeeville. No penguins found but we found some interesting documents. We think they may be clues to the location of the members of the gang, but since the Department of Cryptic Solutions has been out on coffee break since 1992 we don’t actually know what locations they point to.
If you can work out this first one send us a text with where you think the clue points to. We’ll send a team of non-flying bird watchers over and send you back a confirmation. And you can totter off and we can drop you a package with some more information. Yeah okay?
If you have trouble with any of them text us the document number and we’ll go and bash the Department of Cryptic Solutions over the head of some help.
Contact details: 04********92
Happy goose chasing
Ms J Winter
Head Quackers, Department of Penguin Spotting
--- --- --- ---
Document: #1
Evil Shuttleworth Penguin
After repeated attempts to get published in Penguin Books Australia: Anthology Of Best Short Stories resorted to attempting to get published in Penguin Books Australia: Anthology Of Mediocre Short Stories. When she was still refused publication she turned to a life of crime and now spends her days roaming around with the evil (but cuddly) penguins of Eeeville committing horrors such as birthday stealing and scrawling graffiti of her awful stories in public spaces.
We suspect the following document belongs to her and may lead to her location.
The legend of a man, a tool, two weapons and a sound
By Shuttleworth Penguin
This one's a bit more time consuming, but not much trickier. It reads: "Ivan was a great warrior but couldn't work a rake or hoe. He could pull the strong on a stiff wood bow and from twenty paces make a bell sound ring-a-ling. He was killed last week by the club of a troll." So you head to Ivanhoe Bowling Club.
At the bowling club you find this:
You have found…
Evil Shuttleworth Penguin
Was caught here trying to imprint one of her stories into the Ivanhoe Bowling Club lawn using grass killer, but luckily we have stopped her. She won’t say anything about your missing birthday though…
--- --- --- ---
Document: #2
Evil Ghosh Penguin
Was once a good maths student but dropped of his course after failing complex analysis. With no integrals to keep him off the streets he quickly found his way into the gang of the evil (but cuddly) penguins of Eeeville. Now he spends his time stealing birthdays in the hope that if he prevents everyone from getting older they will not discover that he cannot count above twenty.
We believe this may be a scrap of maths he has been agonising over for months trying to solve and will reveal where he has run off to after finally finding the answer.
i make egg and _ _ _ _ _
two makes blanc and _ _ _ _
three makes handle and _ _ _ _
four makes path and _ _ _
You stare at this one for ages, text for a clue. And realise you have to find the complex solutions to some maths problems, except it seems that whoever wrote this clue had somehow gotten i and -i mixed up. Who the hell wrote this?! Eaglemont Railway is the solution. You hop on a train and head over.
At Eaglemont you find this:
You have found…
Evil Ghosh Penguin
Was caught here trying to hack the ticket machine so that it would accept complex values of money. Luckily we stopped him before too much imaginary money got caught in circulation. He won’t say anything about your missing birthday though…
--- --- --- ---
Document #3:
Evil Clark Penguin
After being rejected as a candidate for being mascot to Clark Rubber, he was never quite the same again. He was recruited up by the evil (but cuddly) penguins of Eeevil one day when he ran into them while stalking a certain platypus and trying to spread scandalous rumours as to ruin his celebrity. He now spends his time stalking down new birthdays to steal and bad mouthing platypi.
We found this among his possessions. Perhaps it will reveal where he will next be snooping around.
You're just about to ask for a clue when you work it out: Outlook Drive. You find it on the map and start walking over. (It's a long walk. And you are starting to think about when this will all end and when you can have some lunch.)
At outlook drive you find:
You have found…
Evil Clark Penguin
Was caught here stalking the Clark Rubber Platypus and abduct him so that he could replace him in the mascotting world. Why he doesn’t just try and get a job with Optus, we don’t know. But luckily we have stopped him. Can’t get a word out of him about your missing birthday though.
--- ---- --- ---
Document #4:
Evil Carter Genguin
After completing her chemistry major, she suddenly found that she had too much time on her hands and was suffering from withdrawal symptoms from lack of daily exposure to toxic chemicals. She was last thought to be hiding in the evil (but cuddly) penguins of Eeeville’s basement lab concocting a formula for the formation of evil penguin alter egos and for dissolving birthdays.
When we raided her lab she was no longer there but we found the following formula scrawled on a window and half scratched out…
You think this is a stupid clue because you can't solve for x and y and find a non-trivial solution. And your guess keep getting sent back as wrong. You get another text, "Hi, I happen to be passing through Outlook Drive on the way to Ivanhoe Park Playground. Would you like a lift?" It's a relief to finally not have to walk any further.
At Ivanhoe park (low and behold!) there's another clue:
You have found…
Evil Carter Penguin
Was caught here trying to trial her new formula for evil alter egos on young children. Luckily we managed to stop her before too many youths turned evil (a couple got away). She won’t admit to possession of any birthday dissolving substances though.
--- --- --- ---
Evil Wong Penguin
Was left with bitter rage when she did not win the Miss Penguin Pageant and joined the evil (but cuddly) penguins of Eeeville when they promised to help her with a revenge plot. She now spends her time stealing birthdays and trying to uninvitedly partake in Penguin Parade on Phillip Island.
We found the following among her possessions. It might lead you to where she is plotting to instigate her revenge attack.
Two penguins met at a corner and paraded down the street. What were their names?
(correction: fouth row of right grid should have 'U' right of the 'T')
God! How many more could there be? The day is wearing out, so your friend drives you to the corner of Russel Street and Scotts Parade. And and pick up (what you are told is) the last clue.
You have found…
Evil Wong Penguin
Was caught here parading up and down the street. She was a bit of an eyesore so we have removed her now. She was inconsolable after we let slip that she is perhaps not as pretty as she thinks she is, so we weren’t able to question her about your missing birthday.
--- --- --- ---
A communication from
The Department Of Penguin Spotting
Dear Dougal,
Well that’s it! You’ve found the whole gang! Don’t worry we’ll find some nice petting zoo to keep them off the streets and stop them stealing people’s birthdays. (Penguins! You know what they’re like!)
The question left to answer is, where have they hidden your birthday?
There’s one last document we found when we raided Eeeville. Since we found all the penguins we don’t really care about it anymore, so here you can keep it as a birthday present… uh… or at least a present to make up for not having your birthday.
Happy quacks to you
Ms J Winter
Head Quacker, Department of Penguin Spotting
There's no time to solve this last one and you are whisked home.
In the house you find a trail of black and white feathers and penguin foot prints and...
You walk in your bedroom door and...
*WHOOOOSHHHH* A bucket of confetti is tipped over your head!
(You really want some lunch now. Someone else had better clean up all that confetti on your bedroom floor!)
A note from the author: What happened next for me was I had 10 seconds to give my birthday friend a hug and then RUN for my exam getting to the Royal Exhibition Building in a nick of time. Don't worry. I passed the subject.
There isn't a sweeter word in the English language than holidays. It strikes joy into the heart of every university student everywhere, and particularly in this university student. I finished my exams a week ago and I can safely say I have done very little, achieved absolutely nothing and I am LOVING it. I will have to snap back to reality soon and find a job.
I've been looking for a job for a while now. I've had a few interview and I have a few more in the coming week. I'll be quite excited to be employed once more. I miss having an income. Because of my job hunting, I had to delay Sydney for a little while. I feel guilty going and spending money while not earning any. But rest assured, I will be going. I'm determined. I haven't visited my family in a while and having spent 10 years there growing up, I do miss it. The Melbourne-Sydney rail link cannot come fast enough.
I do plan on having a mildly productive break. I will hopefully be working, but I also plan to continue with Italian while I have a few weeks off, and learn piano again. I've already convinced myself that probably none of these things will happen but at least I've tried... I also plan on filling my time by volunteering at a few charity events, while also planning events for the Oxfam group I'm a member of.
I'm going to savour every moment of these holidays because before I know it, it'll be semester 2 and then it's back to university all over again.
I hope all of your exams went well and you are happy with the results. I'm happy with two of mine... I could've done better on the third but what's done is done. There's no point in stressing about it now.
3 months it's been since I last visited this place. An unkept corner of the internet which except for me had no real patronage, no real life. A ghost town..... or so I thought. Moving back I see words, not mine, on the walls, comments to-ing and fro-ing, more than just a few spatterings of posts.
This place is not the ghost town I once thought it was, and I have to say I admire the effort that Jinghan (and others) have put into keeping the blogging live and active. I can't really say the same for myself.
For the last 3 months, I have settled into my new place with my school best friend (which is still sometimes annoying because he is exceptionally lazy), gained a job for which I can pay rent/grocceries for (listen to Electric Avenue for an insight into the mindframe of such an endevour) and and and.....
that seems to be everything and more of my homelife. I mean there's the occasional get together with university friends, old school buddies, bands, gigs, tutoring and a heinous amount of computer games. But in this hour, inbetween my last exam and the results release date, I feel stuck, as if set in an invisible glue in which I cannot do anything more than resigning myself to apathy (read being lazy with my free time). Which, funnily enough, was what I was waiting for throughout my exam period.
It's a mini rut, nothing more. I just have to wait for it to be over and then I can start posting again (due to the free time) with much more to say than just a general "bargh" (the aforementioned lack of interest in my 3 month period).
Somethings that I can hint towards writing at in the future:
- Strange experience of Creative Writing (Uni stuff).
- School friends / University friends (home/uni stuff, mostly just friend stuff really).
- Some crazy story in the theme of my return, last year, to blogging here.
- Some complaining about people who are too lazy to write an entire blog. Who go on to writing a list instead.
- Cooking yourself (Being awesomely independent).
Dreams about being a writer (aspirations and uni)
And a whole lot more promises that will not remain empty for long.
Anyways enjoy the holiday break,
Dan
What's a good Steam Train Adventure without honey oat fingers? These are a favourite of my birthday friend's and we made them the night before nicking off a few soft crumbling slices while they were still hot from the oven.
This was one of the first things I ever baked. Honey oat fingers are dead easy and gorgeously yummy and can be kept in a biscuit tin for a while and still taste yummy. I usually double the recipe since this covers a large baking tray and doesn't disappear as soon as I leave them on the kitchen bench to go take off my apron.
Oh... and never multiply the recipe by 10 and think this is a sensible idea... (it was an interesting day in my life.)
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup plain flour
- 1/4 teaspoon bicarmonate soda
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1 cup coconut
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 150g butter
- 1 tablespoon honey (or golden syrup)
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg*
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon*
(*my improvisation, but highly recommended)
Method:
Heat open to 180 Celsius (160 Celsius for fan-forced). Sift flour and bicarbonate of soda into a large mixing bowl. Add the rolled oats, coconut and sugar. Mix well. Microwave butter for 10-20 seconds at a time until partially melted. Place honey in a small saucepan, add butter and heat gently until butter is melted. Pour melted honey mixture into dry ingredients and mix well. Press firmly into a greased slab tin. Bake in oven 12-15minutes, until golden brown. Cool in tin. Cut into fingers when cold.
Note from Jinghan: You can skip the micro-waving step, but I find it is much quicker and easier so I added that in. Also I found that if the mixture is about 0.5cm thick in the tray when you first press it in it comes out a nice thickness; the mixture rises when it bakes and then condenses a little when it cools. Try thinner if you want them to resemble cut biscuits.
"June seems to be quite popular for birthdays."
"It's makes sense."
"How so?"
"Spring."
"June's not spring! ... Oh wait..."
--
It's been three days since my last exam and I still haven't started studying for my next one. Instead I am making nefarious plans for the birthdays of various friends. Tomorrow is my friends birthday and we know that if we do not drag her out she will spend the day studying. It is therefore our responsibility - nay - duty to drag her out.
What is the best time for a sleep over? In the middle of exams? Sure! Why not?
*text-message-bleep*
"Good morning! It's misty outside! It's beautiful! Say happy birthday to G-- for me. I'll see you girls at breakfast."
"Arg. Morning. What mist? There's just the sleep in my eyes."
Eventually the two of us roll out of bed. And lo and behold: it is actually misty! There's a beautiful pastel shroud over everything, and the birds are twittering away and it's about the temperature of the top-shelf of my fridge. We drag our arses to the train station leap into the warmth of the train when it (finally) arrives and head to Box Hill to meet the boys for breakfast.
The shop that we were planning to have breakfast at seems not to have opened yet. Damn. We bully our friend into writing "WHEN DO YOU OPEN?" on his news paper and to hold it up to the glass of the restaurant. The kitchen hands either are un-amused or deliberately ignoring us. My newspaper friend is highly embarrassed. But the rest of us find it highly amusing.
We sit down to breakfast and gift exchanging. I notice a birthday card hidden in the folds of the news paper.
"Uh.. I'll just go get some money from the ATM," my friend says only slightly shiftily.
"Gee, you took your time. Did you rob a bank or something?" we joke, when he gets back (with a now-signed card.)
The restaurant is empty except for a chinese couple who seem to think 10am is a great time to order a large bowl of noodles in steaming soup. (Why not?) We order fragrant tea, red bean filled "pancakes" and Chinese "doughnut sticks" which we break apart with our fingers and drip into hot sugary soy milk* licking the oil from our fingers afterwards. Inertia keeps us in the restaurant for quite a while.
We take a metropolitan train to Belgrave. The scenery outside the window shifts from suburban streets to eucalyptus covered hill sides. The train horn blares and echoes as we pass under a tunnel and we all delight in the novelty of the sound.
I have always loved the idea of the end of the train line. When you've been catching the trains for years and years between those same few familiar stations, it's like going to the edge of the world. Belgrave is everything I hoped it would be. The end of the platform just disappears into a gate and becomes a path. You walk straight through onto a path that winds it's way through peaceful trees until you get to the Puffing Billy ticket office.
Oh I didn't tell you that we were going to Puffing Billy, the stream locomotive, did I? That's okay, we didn't tell my birthday friend where we were going either. And coming from Perth, she had never heard of Puffing Billy anyway.
Here is where our previous inertia gets us into trouble. The tickets for the train we were supposed to be catching are sold out. Just catch the next train? Problem: I need to get home by 5pm to receive some other guests at home. And the next train won't see me home until 6pm.
We by tickets for the train anyway.
We watch the first train depart. Delighting in the mass of white steam rolling out of the locomotive engine. And the puff and wheeze of the valves as the train pulls away. We wave at all the little children hanging out of the windows of the carriages.
With extra time on our hands, we find a cafe in Belgrave and order burgers and milkshakes and eggs benedict with hollandaise sauce... oh and fairy bread. The waitress smiles to herself as my friend adds this final item to the order.
Stuffed with food we head over to pick a carriage to sit in. We discuss the mechanics of railway gauges and sit on the window sill hanging out legs out the side of the carriage even before the train starts moving.
And when it does: it is amazing. Rolling hills, stark white gum trunks reaching out into branches that are hung with strips of fallen bark, houses with verandas perched on slopping ground - all to the backing track of a soothing chug chug.
We get to Lakeside, where the train will rest for 45minutes before taking us back to Belgrave. One of my friends makes a excited comment about aqua bikes and speeds off towards the lake ahead of all the rest of us. We race across the lake, almost get called out of the lake for bumping into each other, and are warm and out of breath by the time we get back to shore.
We look at the time. Three minutes before the train leaves. We make a dash for it, arriving huffing and puffing and cram into a already full carriage near the engine.
We are more subdued on the way home, our limbs are limp and everyone is occupied by some private thought. I hug the window frame and watch the steam roll out of the chimney of the stream engine and onto the ferns and flowers beside the track. It reminds me of perhaps a scene from A Midsummer Nights Dream. I keep my eyes peeled for a sign of Titania, Oberon or Puck.
It's dark by the time I get home. As I'm walking up the street I get a phone call. "Hello?"
"I'm on your street. What number was your house again?" It's one of my guests that I was supposed to be receiving an hour ago.
"Thirty Five. Haha, actually I'm only just walking home right now as well."
"Oh actually I think I see you ahead of me on the street."
I turn to look behind me. A figure is making their way up the street. And we head to my house together and laugh about it with the other guests.
I go to bed tired but happy. A truly adventurous day full of joy and peril. Who would have thought it's the middle of exam period?
--
*油条 a traditional Beijing breakfast food, it's basically deep fried dough. I like how the soy-milk offsets the oiliness of of the "doughnut sticks" if my friends did not enjoy this, they were too polite to say so.
Two. Two Orange and Poppy Seed muffins left. Two days since my last exam and I haven't started studying for my other two exams. Two's a funny number.
"Hi, how's life?" I ask a friend from school that I haven't spoken to for a while.
Life's been better to her. Already I'm calculating what I should do with my last two muffins. I need to save one for my friend whose birthday is tomorrow... but maybe...
"Hm... What's your address at the moment?" I ask, "I think you need cake and a hug."
And so I turn up with cake, tea, a fairy tale and a hug.
"I have to fend off my family to get this too you," I joke as I hand her the box with a single cake in it.
We we talk about nothing in particular. She reads out loud to me like we used to do at lunch times back at school. And I am happy to know that he boyfriend is looking after her and that she has plans for the future. I watch her break off little chunks of orange and poppy seed muffin and eat them.
My friend (whose birthday is tomorrow) comes over in the evening to sleep over. I am not sad at all to bestow her with the last orange and poppy seed muffin. Indeed, they have lasted quite a while, and have been eaten by quite an interesting range of people.
Little does she know that my friends and I have grand plans to take her out for breakfast and then on the train to Belgrave for a ride on the Puffing Billy steam train the next day. But that's another story...
Are you feeling sad? Lonely? Happy? Affectionate? Here, have an Orange and Poppy Seed muffin.
I go to lunch with my friend in Box Hill. After lunch my box of Orange and Poppy Seed muffins are as heavy as they were before lunch because out stomachs are heavy with Chinese soup noodles, crispy dumplings and sugary red bean pancakes and we just cannot fit any more food in.
On the way home we go through Canterbury Gardens. The trees are half-bare and half filled with winter's breath and the Australian grass is at it's greenest at this wet cool time of year. (As opposed to the distressed yellow grass of summer.) The gardens has a large slope that dips down and swells back up like a green grassy tide.
I look at my friend and grin with childish spirit in my eye. We dump out bags on a bench.
Ready?
Set.
Go!!!!!!
We run down the hill screaming and laughing. He staggers up the other side of the hill. I skid and roll over in the damp grass because I can't think of any other way to slow myself down and lie there laughing at myself.
We wander around the park the long way back. And race up to the band stand. I dance around the surrounding bench like Liesel in the Sound of Music gazebo. I stop to contemplate my height and how safe it would be to ...
I pounce at my friend from above. But he saw it coming, and catches me in a hug. And it is my turn to be surprised. It is a warm, comforting and unexpectedly intimate hug. And I come away blushing and smiling.
We go home for (yes) cake and I pack him a few to take back to his family. I almost forget to bring cake to Friday Night School* for a friend, and we run back up the driveway to retrieve one.
"I shall have this for desert after dinner," she says stowing it away in her bag. I smile at the remembrance of how I met this particular friend while just catching her eye contact and saying "hi" on the train one evening after Friday Night School when another friend had not been able to come. It's funny how friendships start.
At the end of the day there are still two and a half muffins left. What good fortune a batch of Orange and Poppy Seed muffins can bring.
[to be continued...]
--
*Friday Night School, a voluntary homework-help program I have been tutoring at for more than 4 years now.
I'm walking to the tram stop, my bag bouncing against my hip with the weight of orange and poppy seed muffins.
"Hello," a quiet voice says.
My friend comes up behind me so quietly and unexpectedly that it takes me a little while to respond. "Oh hi! I wasn't expecting to run into anyone at uni today. How are you?" Oh and more importantly. "Do you want some cake?"
If he noticed the flaw in my logic, regarding not expecting to run into anyone at uni and still brining a box of cake with me, he is too polite to say anything. And we chat about exams, past and prospective as we tram to uni. When we part ways I think I notice a stray poppy seed at the edge of his smile. I smile to myself as I head off.
I need to buy some presents for various birthdays coming up this month and I find myself at the Oxfam fair trade store pondering over little fat fingers of fair trade chocolate, a stack of scrumptiously named teas and various handmade crafts. I end up taking some chocolate to the counter, but while the lady behind the counter is distracted answering a phone call I notice a cute little fabric owl that fit perfectly into the palm of my hand.
"I hope you don't mind my asking, but what is this for?" I ask the lady when she has hung up the phone and taking my purchases across the counter.
"It's a tape measure, see?"
I'm seduced by the charm of the little owl who has a curled up tape measure hidden under it's wing. "Actually, forget the chocolates. Can I get this instead?"
On my way out, I catch sight of a beautiful cloth-covered box and cannot help having a closer look. It is not too expensive either and I could fill it with some nice little scrolled up messages for my friend...
I return to the counter sheepishly with the box. The lady smiles as she takes it over and asks me about my day. "Would you like a bag to put that in?"
"Yes, that would be really great. Actually... I have a box of muffins that I made with me at the moment, would you like one? They're orange and poppy seed."
She gladly takes one and put its on a tissue in the back room. "Thankyou! Have a nice day," she says as she hands me my purchase in a pretty brown paper bag.
Loaded with bags I'm walking up to Flinders Street Station to meet a friend. I can't help noticing a Big Issue seller sitting outside Young and Jackson's Hotel writing something in a notebook. The ink curling of the his pen into some private contemplation on the paper. It reminds me of all the times and all the unlikely places that I have done the exact same thing. I almost cross the street when the pedestrian light turns green, but instead I turn back and approach him.
"Hi, could I have an issue?"
He puts down the note pad and pen and get up to do business with me.
"Thankyou," I say as he flicks through the magazine to show me his favourite articles and then hands it over to me. "Actually, I was also wondering if you would like a muffin. I made a box of them and I'm just sharing them around today."
He gladly accepts and balances the muffin on top of his coffee cup. And asks me about my day. He tells me about himself, how he played music for a while, but never had the chance to finish his arts degree and is thinking of going back. He tells me about all the areas in Australia he has been to, and all the bush land he has camped in, and how he hopes to go to the UK to travel some day. And he tells me about all the good work the Big Issue is doing. And we talk for a good 20minutes before I see my friend across the road.
"Thankyou for the cake!" he says.
"Thankyou for the magazine!" I say.
But what I really mean is: thankyou for the conversation.
I make my way to the other side of the street to be greeted by a warm hug. "How has your day been?"
"It's been great actually, it just keeps getting better and better, and I think the trend is continuing," I say smiling at him.
He smiles back.
"Oh, I have cake, by the way."
[to be continued...]
Note from the Author: My other cakes can be found in the first year blog: Sugar and Spice, Victorian Sandwich, Chocolate, Microwave Chocolate Mug Cake, Sour Cream Carrot Cake
The alley between the park and the library is boggy this morning. I wish I had worn my sturdy mud-licking hiking boots instead of my pretty suede boots. I tread carefully and try and stick to the firm ground.
I shed the cold winter weather as I walk through the double doors and tug off my scarf as I make my way into the library. It's by habit that I head towards my favourite spot to study at the desk with the over-spill books before the glass wall. It's by habit that I scan the book racks that I have to walk past in order to get there.
muffins
It's a pink square book with flowers and sugar dusted little cakes on the cover. I can't resist. I sit down at the desk and flick through the book: Choc-chip banana, spicey apple, frosted pumpkin..
By the time I get to Orange and Poppy Seed, I've had to start tearing up little piece of my maths exercise book to keep tab of the cakes I want to make.
I can help feeling a little warm bubble of cheer upon finding a recipe for orange and poppy seed muffins. Orange and poppy muffins from Chill Out have kept me alive this semester. Tuesdays, you finish class at 3:15pm after a long day at uni only to realise you have another two hour class at 4:15pm before you can go home at 6:15pm. Somehow some day my friend and I split the cost for a muffin in this tiring hour gap between the end of energy and the end of the day. And every since then it became a tradition.
"Hey are you doing anything in particular?" We'd ask someone.
"Not really."
"Come share a muffin with us!"
Dreaded Tuesdays became Tuesdays that I would look forward to.
It's not until several days later that I find time to buy ingredients. I beam at the check out assistant as he scans the packet of poppy seed and the brown sugar and the raisins. He's probably bored by people buying poppy seed and brown sugar and raisins, but to me it's the most exciting thing in the world.
I have to go back to get oranges a few days later because we didn't have any oranges at home.
I'm listening to the Beatles as I bake. Oh honey pie, I'm in love but I'm lazy, so will you please come home to me...
--
recipe from muffins - sweet and savoury comfort food, by Cyndi Duncan and George Patrick
Ingredients:
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel
2 eggs
2 cups plain flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup milk
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup chopped pecans
5 table spoons poppy seeds
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 C conventional, 185 C fan-forced). Spray muffin cups with non-stick cooking spray. In large bowl, cream sugar, butter and orange peel. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Combine flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Add to creamed mixture alternately with milk, beating well after each addition. Fold in raisins, nuts and poppy seeds. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake 15-20mins, or until lightly browned. Makes 12 muffins.
(Well actually I managed to make 16 with my standard sized muffin-tray, so that's 12 big muffins)
--
The come out of the oven warm and smelling beautiful. There's just the right amount of poppy-seed crunch and light sweetness and the faint aroma of orange zest.... Oh, and the best part of baking is packing them in a box the next morning and taking them to uni to share. Even the worst semester can be redeemed by a good batch muffins.
[continued next chapter...]
When you've had a day that started with a stressful driving experience where your supervising parental yells at you for making driving mistakes leading to your being distracted by their yelling leading to your making more driving mistakes leading to their yelling more...
When you've had a day that ended with you realising that you didn't get as much work done as you had planned...
Well it wasn't a great day and left me a little bit moody. The sort where you don't really know why you are moody and so you start conjuring up everything "bad" that has happened to you in the last three weeks and instead of solving the mystery of why you were moody you end up fuelling the moodiness. And really deep down you know the reason is just that you've had a bad day and you are tired and sleeping and waking up again usually solves everything - but now that you've fuelled the moodiness you can't sleep and you are angry at yourself for not being able to sleep.
...
I wake up to a new text message:
"Hey, sorry I wasn't able to reply to your text last night. It's okay to be sad for no particular reason sometimes. I hope you are feeling better this bright beautiful winter morning."
I peak out my window. Hm... it does look rather cheery out there. But I'm not in a mood to get out of bed. Just the act of putting my big toe out from under the covers is enough to confirm my decision not to exchange my warm snuggly bed for the cold cold day.
Now, here is a word of advice about what you should do on these cold cold winter mornings:
- Get up and get dress and splash cold water on your face. This may seem like a contrary move, but once your face has realised how cold real cold is the morning air will feel just perfectly comfortable.
- Eat and drink something hot. Toast with vegemite and tea is my current morning choice. I never feel as grumbly after breakfast. Other good ideas include making scrambled eggs in the microwave, hot milk on wheatbix with honey and cinnamon, hot oats, slightly warmed cake... mm...
- Don a trench coat and go for a walk. This may also seem like contrary advice. But once you've felt the sunlight in your eyes, galloped down the street to some song on 100.3 Nova, flirted with someone's cat while listening to Mozart on 3NBS and danced around the gazebo to Mahler you will not feel cold anymore. I promise.
"You were right, it is a beautiful morning. I went for a walk and I'm warm and happy now."
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