How to be a happy and healthy (aspiring) baker

oh how easy it is to have the "ho-hums". I'll never be successful, i'll never keep all my fingers, i'll never sleep again/have money to do anything/be skinny/see the Eifel tower/marry James Franco. See?! this is how these things spin out of control! So today, I was stewing in my worries and oh bothers, when i realized this was not going to get me anywhere. it's not gonna get me to the laundromat tonight, or to bed early, or to school, or into my whites. What i needed was a good kick in the ass, some perspective. I needed to do something i was really good at and that (for some reason unbeknown to be)makes me quite happy. I made a list!
How to be a happy and healthy (aspiring) baker:
1. Take you iron pills. basically, take care of yourself. if you know you need 8 hours of sleep to function, make sure your schedule is conducive to doing so. Take vitamins, drink tea instead of coffee for 2 days (it can be done!) drink water constantly and try to eat some fruit and veggies. Pizza with spinach works! it's not sausage! there are green things on top of my cheese and bread! Clearly, I don't have this whole "healthy lifestyle" down yet, but baby steps, my dears.
2.Sharpen your knives. you're less likely to lose a finger if your knives are sharp. do you need any more motivation than that?
3.Grab a beer after class/work and talk shop. it's important to vent. it's important to surround yourself with people who have similar interest and encourage you. It's important to buy your classmates drinks....they will remember it in the kitchen.
4. Don't talk shop all the time. it's also very important to clear your head. Shop can be talked about for hours, but it gets old. and your friends get sick of hearing about it. and yes, your co-workers and fellow kitchen mice are what gets you by on a working basis, but outside relationships are just as important. don't lose sight of the goal, but don't lose sight of your friends and those that have helped you get this far.
5. Read. Read. Read. this one time, i was sick, and i went home upstate so my mom could make me soup and i could be coddled. both very necessary. anyway, on the way home we stopped at the library, and here i picked up Jamie Oliver's "Jamie's Kitchen". I went home and ate the whole thing up (bah dum chiing). i was enthralled in the book, the stories each dish were telling, his passion for good food, the pictures. Just reading a cookbook, an article, a biography of a chef, helps immensely in the knowledge of food and preparation. and knowledge is power, kids.
6. Bake at home. the fact is, if you love something, you're going to want to do it all the time, so of course you'll be baking at home! I know, I know, new york kitchens are sad little things with weepy walls and bugs. this is true. but be creative! store cookie sheets under the bed, place cooling racks on the TV. you'll figure it out. but bake everywhere.
7. Count to 10 and keep working. this is what this little robot has to work on the most. i get so caught up on criticisms, or bumps in the road....i completely freeze. i can't think straight. and i normally end up crying. so! count to 10, take deep breaths, and i swear to god it works. Perspective comes creeping in, suddenly you understand how to handle the situation, or that the criticism is just going to make you stronger and wiser. Just chill out, little guy....
8.Taste what you make. "oh but i don't want to get fat! my drinking pants have become my everyday pants!" oh i know these cries all to well. there's quite a simple solution in fact. DON'T EAT THE WHOLE DAMN CAKE. ahem. sorry. taste what you make, chew slowly, think of improvements that can be made. then, if you're still hungry, have some more! go ahead! but if you keep eating because you think "well what if i never have another chocolate souffle in front of me again?" you're wrong. you will. and it will taste waaay better if you aren't wearing your drinking pants.
9. Find Inspiration. In everything. in what Paula Dean makes, at Buttercup Bakery, what your mom makes when you ask for you favorite food. In music, in movies. I find it everywhere; not necessarily "oh this song inspires me to bake x and perhaps drizzle it with y." But i do get inspired to just keep going. to learn as much as possible, and to have fun with it. because if you're not doing it because you love it, then why the hell are you here?
10.Just try really, really really, hard. cause that's all you can do. if you try your damndest and it doesn't work out....well then, you didn't try your damndest.

And with that I bid you good evening! Many apologies for the lack of updates, my computer will be fixed by..(hopefully sooner that this)..memorial day weekend!