#indepdendence

[trevorme]

Bastille Day / Jeanne Moreau

[blackswaneuroparedux]

Frozen Fjord

Aquavit (from the Latin Aqua  vitae - Water of life")  is the spirit of the Nordics. What whisky is to the Scots so Aquavit is to the Norwegians. It is a traditional -  produced since the 15th Century - Nordic alcoholic distilled spirit. Great for cocktails or on its own.

Linie  is the smoothest, richest aquavit you can sip. Distilled from  potatoes, with a robust caraway flavour, it's aged, per Norwegian law, in  oak. But the Oslo-based makers of Linie take it even  farther—literally—by sending their casks off in the holds of ships, on a  19-week voyage that crosses the equator twice.

Along the way, the  spirit sloshes around with the movement of the waves, and the  barrels—formerly used to store sherry—swell and contract in extremes of  heat and humidity, imparting the character of the wood and polishing the  flavor, so that the gold-hued liquor tastes rounder and nuttier. While  many aquavits overwhelm in cocktails, Linie mixes beautifully, providing  a layer of deep, warm, woody spice.

Here is a receipe I used to celebrate Norwegian Constituion Day (17 May) over the weekend.

1 oz aquavit ½ oz mezcal 1 tsp maraschino ⅓ oz campari 1 oz grapefruit 1 tsp simple syrup

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a coupe. Garnish with grapefruit peel (or you can use a dehydrated lime).

Skål!

[themontessoriacademyofarlington]

Early Childhood - Flower Arranging

Practical Life lessons are the some of the first students receive in the Toddler and Early Childhood classrooms. These activities serve as a bridge between the home and classroom environment. Each step of these lessons reinforce a sense of order, concentration, coordination, and independence while also fulfilling a child’s intrinsic desire to imitate the adults in their life. It is an opportunity for them to contribute to the beautification of the environment and to understand there is more to life than fulfilling their own needs.

[thescreendoormusic]

My favorite @anidifranco song. #youhadtime #anidifranco #anidifrancolyrics #musicsaves #indepdendence #music #1990s #1990smusic

[elbowsymmetry]

The Pineapple Dispatch

Hiccups resolved, our wonky-eyed, tender hearted, curmudgeony security officer waves us to the road leading west. Always west. Jostled human cargo, I wave back from in between coolers of Ugandan sa...

[girlreconstruced-blog]

Freedom, and it tastes so good.

After two months of being carted back and forth to drop-offs and spending 7 to 8 hours a day in the program house in Lado Sarai, our independent study period has finally started -- and not a moment too soon.  As great as the traveling aspect of our program has been, constantly being "checked in with" and told where to go has started to make me feel like I'm back in high school.  It's been frustrating to spend so much time every week in class, and then have only a few hours free on some afternoons -- it's generally not safe for girls to be out alone after 7ish here.  Most of our weekends have been spent travelling with the program outside of Delhi, or else working on big projects due the next Monday.  ,Now I have an entire month during which I am the master of my own life!  Aside from taking Bollywood classes (YES!) and doing research, though, my only responsibilities this month (aside from that 20 page paper I have to write...) are exploring Delhi and getting to know the city better.  Between travelling all over India (no complaints about that) and having a pretty heavy course load, I feel like I've barely seen New Delhi.  It's such an interesting city, and each day that passes, I become more and more glad that I decided to stay here for ISP.

I've dedicated these first few days almost entirely to exploring with some of my friends who are also in Delhi, including my new roommate, Megha.  In the three short days of ISP so far, we have managed to visit the Lodi Gardens, go to the book bazaar in Bharyaganj, ride through a protest in a cycle rickshaw, pass cameras set up to film Sonia Gandhi's visit to Old Delhi, eat on the rooftop of a building in CP, spend a day doing research, conceive of a trip to Rishikesh, and spend a serious amount of time walking around the Hauz Khas monument park.  Not to mention getting Cocoberry (India's answer to Pinkberry) on the way home -- nothing like raspberry froyo with pomegranate in it...

Suffice to say, I'm planning on taking full advantage of the "independent" aspect of independent study.  I'm also planning on working hard.  The nice thing is that I think I'll manage to find time to do both.

[delusional-wallflower]

I crave independence.

[thesocialmedianerd-blog]

On average, women may be better suited to solitary habitation than men, at least past a certain age. It’s not, however, because... women are more self-sufficient or inclined to solitude. On the contrary: Women are more likely to have strong social networks, which enable them to live alone without being alone. Men are more at risk of withdrawing into isolation that, at the extremes, can be miserable and indeed dangerous.

-- "Are Women Better at Living Alone?" by Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow, discussing sociologist Eric Klinenberg’s new book, Going Solo.