Friends

05:10 am - Al tweets from Al’s Brain

http://yankovic.org/blog/2009/07/09/altweetsfromalsbrain/

http://yankovic.org/blog/?p=1332

Oh and if you don’t keep track of Al’s twitter, he’s been at the OC SuperFair for the “Al’s Brain World Premiere” party and meeting up with lots of friends.  Since you’re probably reading this and not there, you can pretend like you’re standing there taking pictures of them by looking at Al’s twitpic account.  Look!  It’s Judy Tenuta, John K, Laraine Newman, Drew Carey, Robert Ben Garant, and many more.

04:38 am - Imitation as Flattery

http://yankovic.org/blog/2009/07/09/imitation-as-flattery/

http://yankovic.org/blog/?p=1322

Weird Al shares his fond memories of the King of Pop in RollingStone.com:

Michael Jackson Remembered: “Weird Al” Yankovic on Imitation as Flattery

04:00 am - Form

http://xkcd.com/608/

silverwind

10:51 pm - Noting for the weekend.

Saturday mornings, Giles and I are at the gym at 9AM for Team Saturday!

Crazy team workouts, usually really hard with odd rules, and a lot of fun. ^_^

At 10AM (or roughly, after the T.S. workout) they're holding another free Intro class.


Anyone want to come watch Giles and I, and maybe cheer us on? (Or wince, or laugh.. y'know, whatever)
Anyone want to try the Intro?

We'll probably do lunch after, but might change plans around a little if anyone cares to come up for a visit. Let us know if you're interested? :)

11:41 pm

My mum’s maternal grandfather was Kenneth Robinson Boyd. She knows nothing about him or any of her family, and I’ve tried to find out about him on the Internet and such (she doesn’t remember him at all), but nothing. I’ve no idea of his birth and death dates. I did find, though, a mention of him as a descendant of the pilgrim John Alden here. I’m pretty sure this is my great-grandfather, as I have his marriage announcements saying that he was living in New York around that time, plus birth announcements he made for my grandmother and great-uncle.

What I was wondering is how to fill in the gaps between my great-grandfather and John Alden, and if the book is even accurate at all. Is it trustworthy? Proving my descent from K.R. Boyd is no problem, but the sites I’ve seen only trace Alden’s descendants to the fifth generation, and from what I understand he has hundreds of thousands of descendants. Help? Any advice would be great; I’m a genealogy virgin! :P

corto

11:29 pm - Thursday, July 9

~ the day before moving day for my folks.
We spent the evening helping move stuff over... clearing out fridges, and stuff. :)

And now it's sunny. :)
Thursday... I'm NOT off work... but it is a beautiful day.
Hot even. :)

Look what we unearthed.
It's my sis's for sure...
But we HAVE GOT to get this stuff on eBay.
Total original 1960's Barbie stuff... and lots and lots of it...


wearing
~ does a beige day. :)
~ no tie... just trousers, white tee and a surgical green comfy summer top.
planning
~ eh... got some new drama at work... and it will take the rest of the summer to sort it out.
~ but who cares... because I got to have lunch with one of my all-time-most-favorite women in the world. :) (High school best-friend, haven't seen for twenty years.)
wishing
~ for dawna to find that art, talent and the truth win in the end. :)
~ to truly wish for the best ever vacation to wrap itself around canuckgirl,
~ that caroline75 gets a little sleep...
~ and to thank zaxwrit for sharing.

///
A smarty pants dig at a guy, delivered without kindness, that makes a pun out of the old "size-matters" turn-of-a-phrase...
Ought not to be delivered by a fat girl, lest she receive the withering stare that pretty much means... "o'reeeeeely".

//
A boss's birthday ... really really nice cake.

[ :: the cake maker's web page :: ]
So listen...
~ any chance you'll click that cake link... maybe repost it and say "awesome cake girl starts new business, check her out" or something?
I'm thinking any kind of activity like that could get her up a notch on a search engine or two. She's a SIL of a co-worker...
and this could be a "use our awesome might for the forces of good" thing... :D
www.freewebs.com/sweetdesignscakes

/
Just sitting and being with someone that your heart, body, mind and soul considers to be a truly precious friend...
Is a pleasure beyond measure.

K... gotta go. :)

cooking

wldrose

09:56 pm

(sorry for two postings in one day but this I thought would interesting)

Turns out there is a bit of a food backlash about baby carrots because some company's  use Chlorine in the process.

After harvesting, the carrots are washed in chlorinated water, just like our drinking water, and cleaned to remove dirt and mud. Some finished baby carrots are washed, or dipped, by a further chlorine solution to prevent white blushing once in the store. There is no evidence that this is harmful, but it is worth knowing about!. However organic growers use a citrus based non toxic solution called Citrox.

"Manufactured" baby carrots , or cut and peel, are what you see most often in the shops - are carrot shaped slices of peeled carrots invented in the late 1980's by Mike Yurosek, a California farmer, as a way of making use of carrots which are too twisted or knobbly for sale as full-size carrots. Yurosek was unhappy at having to discard as much as 400 tonnes of carrots a day because of their imperfections, and looked for a way to reclaim what would otherwise be a waste product. He was able to find an industrial green bean cutter, which cut his carrots into 5 cm lengths, and by placing these lengths into an industrial potato peeler, he created the baby carrot.

The much decreased waste is also used either for juicing or as animal fodder. Perhaps most important, the baby-cut method allows growers to use far more of the carrot than they used to. In the past, a third or more of a carrot crop could have been easily tossed away, but baby-cut allows more partial carrots to be used, and the peeling process actually removes less of the outer skin that you might imagine

From The Origin and Evolution of the Baby Carrots

cooking

randomdream

08:16 pm - Harry Potter themed sweets?

If you were going to a Harry Potter party tomorrow night and wanted to make something sweet and fairly easy along that theme, what would you bring? The hosts are making a shepherd's pie and a chicken pot pie. They will also have butterbeer and jelly bellies with Bertie Bott's mixed in.

I was thinking cupcakes with creative icing but I never make cupcakes, have only one small cupcake pan, and think the icing would be a disaster. I'm guessing I'll be providing for 6-12 people. Ideas? Many thanks in advance!

rhiannonstone

06:35 pm

More words! You know how to play the game.

regyt associates me with squee, singing, leather, authority, & comfort.

Squee - I am often to be found in a state of squee. This is what comes of being pleased and delighted by so very many things in the world. Entries at the Urban Dictionary describe squee as the cry of the overexcited fangirl, and Wikipedia defines it as "a term to express cute overload." While some of my squee is indeed fangirl-related, and some of it is a reaction to things what are severely cute, that's not the full extent of it; it can be delighted excitement over just about anything. I decided last night that it's a portmanteau of "squeak" and "glee," but squee isn't always a noise. Squee is a state of being.

Singing - I have a terrible singing voice--this is not modesty, I've had musical directors and voice coaches simply give up on me--and it frustrates me, especially since I'm surrounded by so many talented (or at least respectable) singers. But I love music and I love to sing, so I do it anyway, all the time. Very rarely in public, though, unless it's with someone else or I am very drunk (or, as in one memorable semi-public performance of a patriotic song, high on endorphins). The microphone ties with the drums for my favorite Rock Band instrument, but I can be very shy about singing in front of strangers. Going to a karaoke bar is out of the question.

Leather - I don't have a particular attachment or attraction to leather (other materials occupy that part of my id), but I can't deny that the scent and taste of leather hold dizzyingly powerful associations for me, or that I love the way the few items of leather clothing I own look and feel on me (like the vest I'm wearing in this userpic, which is from a photo regyt took of me). It's also a convenient way to fly my particular freak flag (well, one of them), though since I usually only wear it in places where flagging is unnecessary, it's more of a way to identify others flagging. And unrelated to any sort of symbolism or other associations, leather is a classic and durable material, and some items are just meant to be made of leather. A leather jacket and a pair of leather boots have always been a part of my wardrobe, and always will.

Authority - I'm not quite sure what she means by this, but I am often told I exude authority, and other people tend to gratuitously bestow authority on me, either by giving me responsibility and allowing me autonomy, or by doing what I tell them and taking it for granted that I know what I'm talking about. I don't know where it comes from, it's not something I ever set out to achieve, but it has been a theme throughout my life. In 6th grade I was called into the school counselor's office for a totally random (as far as I could tell) lecture on using my authority wisely and not abusing my "leadership potential," and I just smiled and nodded and said the right things, and left not knowing what the hell she was on about. (Years later I found out that they were terrified of me forming some sort of cult, which is all kinds of funny.) I've never had a job for longer than a few months without being promoted. I am frequently mistaken for the boss, the professor, or someone's mother. I've recently been told by both superiors and peers that I have "a quiet authority" that makes people want to listen to me, and makes me a good educator.

There are areas of my life in which I feel I've earned authority, and areas in which I feel I haven't. Sometimes I'm uncomfortable with having authority, but that doesn't stop me from exerting it to my advantage. Mostly that just means not having to convince people leave me to my own devices, but sometimes it means taking charge of things so I can do them my way. Sharing authority is difficult for me--when I don't have it I prefer to let someone else take charge and just do what I'm told--but I can do it, and I'm getting better at it.

Comfort - Comfort is a pretty big theme in my life. I try to keep my physical environment comfortable for me and anyone I share it with, and I like giving and receiving emotional comfort when it's needed. I know many people consider "comfortable" to be boring and possibly even insulting, but if I feel comfortable around someone, it's a sign of a high level of trust and affection, and when someone tells me they feel comfortable around me, I consider it a compliment along the same lines. It's definitely possible to find someone both comfortable and exciting; finding someone boring, bland, or dull makes me the opposite of comfortable!

I feel like I should have a lot more to say about this, but I can't find the right words.</ul>

joyce

08:51 pm

We were in B&N the other day, and I read the description of the new Anita Blake book, and it actually sounds pretty good (hey, it's got Edward in it, and I have a soft spot for everyone's favorite psychopath). I'm debating whether I should catch up by actually reading the books or just reading Wikipedia (sad, I know). I've heard that the books actually get better again - the last one I read is Narcissus in Chains, which is a lot of catching up to do. So, worth catching up, worth reading Wikipedia so I can read the new one, or not bothering?

techsupport

polarbee

04:37 pm - I couldn't help myself

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

Current Mood: amused

cooking

panur_links

09:23 pm - how to save money on food?

I know there are a gazillion communities about it in LJ, tricks as to how to safe money buying groceries, etc etc... but I can`t find the correct keyword to search for it! I already tried "money" and "thrift" and.. well, english isn`t my first language, so that`s as far as I went. help? please, O wonderful comm of wonderful people who are just wonderful?

simply_sims3

phoenixfg

06:12 pm - Nothing special...just more preggo picspam

Here I go again. Kev is funky and Ash is worried about her political career. It doesn't matter that she's in labor! LOL! Pics here.

11:53 pm - What’s next?

http://lifetheuniverseanddonna.ca/20090709/whats-next/

http://lifetheuniverseanddonna.ca/?p=4909

I’ve decided not to pursue paramedicine.

It kinda breaks my heart, but there it is. In BC, it’s basically not possible to start as a paramedic with BC Ambulance anywhere near Vancouver. And that was okay when I was just a single girl with my dog. A couple of years in the middle of nowhere wouldn’t kill me, and might even be fun for a change.

But… that’s not the case now. It’s not just me, it’s the man I’m crazy in love with, and I can’t bear the idea of being anywhere from 6-16 hours away by car. Honestly, starting off as a paramedic in this province isn’t easy to start with — crappy hours, low pay, a ton of work… there’s a reason BC Paramedics are on strike.

Maybe someone should mention this to BCAS? Dear BCAS: You are losing awesome new paramedics because the cost of entry is way too high for not enough reward. Stop that.

I knew all that, and I was willing to deal with it… until Nick. Damnit.

Nick, of course, works in an industry that is very Vancouver-centric. He’s got a mortgage. His ties here aren’t easily relocated to whatever 2-bit village I could get hired in. And, he makes way more than I do — and will continue to, for the foreseeable future, so it’s not even a question of if he could come with me. That would be ridiculous. Seventeen steps back to go one step forward? No, that’s just dumb.

So I’ve kind of been putting the whole thing on hold and not really thinking about it lately. But, 1 month ago, my EMR certificate expired (so I’d have to retake that), and so … I have to start thinking about what I’m doing now. Because apparently paramedicine isn’t it, and I’m not too happy about floundering about aimlessly.

I have some ideas that I’ve shared with a few people, but I’m not quite ready to make public yet. I still very, very much want to stay in health care. It’s fascinating, and quite frankly I love it so much more than I could have anticipated in my teens. Which explains my high school science grades, since if I’m not interested in something, I don’t bother trying. (I can’t explain the good mark in math. That one just confuses me.) So my first goal is going to be to upgrade a couple high school science classes or replace them with entry level University classes. They’re basically the same ‘level’, but the high school upgrades are free… but take longer. Biology, for one — I never took it in high school, and it’s something that will help me no matter what I choose.

So, I’m kind of excited. It looks like no matter what I come up with, I’m going to be taking some classes in the fall. This is good, I miss casual education.

It’s a little rough, and I’m a little sad. But, I refuse to think of it as giving up my dream. I could get really, really resentful of Nick if I did that, and it’s certainly not his fault — he’s never once asked me to give up anything. This is all me, baby. But… I’m modifying it a little. I’m okay with modifying my dream if it means sticking with the best thing that ever happened to me.

cooking

verygwen

06:09 pm

If you had to move, what food related things would you miss most about your current area?

If you had to move, what food related things would you require in your new area?

cooking

ticklebruises

06:00 pm - CSA Bounty 07.09.09

Man, they give some good stuff. Getting snow peas again this week reminded me of the bag we got last week as well. A side dish or a stir fry may be in order to use all those up.

+ 1 pint of blueberries
+ 2 green zucchini
+ dill plant
+ bunch of red chard
+ bunch of kale
+ bag of snow peas
+ 2 small heads of lettuce
+ bunch of scallions
+ bunch of turnips

The dill plant seems really weak at the roots so I just may use that in flat Turkish like turkey meatballs for dinner tonight. Accompanying the meat balls would be some couscous and a cucumber/radish/red onion salad from last night. Vaguely Mediterranean tonight. Oh yeah, and we have some turnips left over from a couple of weeks ago. Who has a good recipe for mashed turnips? I've never done that before.

x-posted to my journal & csa_chat

Current Mood: hungry

note_to_cat

stealthbunny

05:41 pm

Dearest Tiki

You are... simply awesome.

And I don't mean that in the cool lingo way.

I am simply in awe of you.

Here you are, with a cancerous mass on your shoulder, due to go in for surgery next week, and you are worried about ME. (we spoke with our pet communicator this morning, as I wanted to make sure my 13+ year old Tiki was strong enough to want to go through the surgery. Her answer was quick and firm. Yes.)  You told me that I don't laugh enough, and that when you do cross over, that you will send me someone who will make me laugh more.

And then your brat of a sister got into an arguement with me (via the pet communicator) about wanting to go outdoors. It was clearly explained to her WHY she can't go out, she was pouty, and then when I was still on the phone, she pushed the screen out of the window and went anyway.

I spent over four hours in a crisis panic. You watched as I paced the yard, the neighborhood, the back field over and over again, calling, whistling, shaking the treat bag, clanging a spoon on Jazzi's bowl, and crying. Jazzi hasn't been out on her own in eight years. Her health isn't good. MY health isn't good. (Not to mention that I have friends who have driven hundreds - one of them a thousand! - miles to spend the weekend with me, and I was spending the first day searching for my bratty cat), and I was in complete panic crisis, health crisis, emotional crisis... EVERYTHING crisis.

When she didn't come back in time for her afternoon meal, you sat up and looked into my eyes, and I knew you knew what to do. I had debated this, but you have trouble walking on that one leg, and I didn't know if this was too much to ask of you, but your eyes held so much confidence and wisdom, that I decided to try. Normally, you squirm when I put your harness on, but you simply stood up and held very still, head held high, even though the harness goes right over the lump on your shoulder.  I picked you up as gently as I could and took you out and placed you on the ground under the window.  "Find Jazzi," I said. "Find your sister."

You sniffed around for a moment, then confidently limped around the corner of the house. Again, a brief stop to sniff, and then limped along the house a little further until you reached a spot where the skirting had a hole in it (We live in a mobile home), and you peered in.

And then, you took me to the porch, climbed the steps, sat in front of the door and meowed, as if saying "My work here is done."

I didn't know what to think. Were you too uncomfortable walking and giving up? Were you too scared to be out? Was I hoping for too much?  I asked you a few more times to find Jazzi, and each time, you looked up at the door and meowed.

I sat on the steps and nearly burst into tears again.

I heard some rustling from under the house, but each time, there wasn't any bell ringing or meowing, so I thought it must be one of the chipmunks or squirrels.... until a white Jazzi-paw poked out from one of the holes in the skirting and flailed wildly.

I quickly tied your leash to the porch and ran to pull aside the skirting, and out crawled Jazzi. I figure she ran in after a chipmunk and couldn't get back out again. She was filthy, with dirt even hanging off her whiskers, but she couldn't wait to get inside and EAT.

And so, my precious Tiki... I am in awe of you. Fighting cancer... and yet you find your brat of a sister for me, walking in a harness that chaffed right over the cancer-lump... heck, when even just WALKING is uncomfortable.

You are a hero-kitty. You can do anything.  You never stop amazing me. Fifty pounds of awesome in a seven pound package.

*

Dear Jazzi

And after that, you DARE to try and slip out the door again? You damn well BET that I'll throw a bucket of water at you for trying! And just because I was so pissed at you, you damn well BET that I not only threw that bucket of water at you, but hell YEAH I took you out on the porch and dumped ANOTHER bucket of wet stuff ON TOP OF YOU.  OUTDOORS IS NOT FOR YOU! TOUGH LOVE!  No more open window for you! Not until that screen is BOLTED IN. You've lost all open-window privileges, unless I am sitting right on top of you, and I might just mean the ON top of you part.

TOUGH LOVE, cat. TOUGH LOVE.

Current Mood: indescribable

willnobilis

04:38 pm - Um. . .I. . .uh. . .

NO! Just NO. Someone call the fashion police, stat!

Sometimes there is wrong and then there is "Oh Hell No" wrong. This is bordering on the latter for me.

Current Mood: bzhuh?

vulpine137

04:18 pm

*feels urge to kill rising*

willnobilis

02:53 pm - Things that amuse The Will.

People are still using the word "hamthrax". I am amused.

And in other news, baby seats are not rocket surgery. . .really easy to figure out without instructions if you are possessed with a modicum of common sense and/or are an engineer. Between newsenseofself and I, we have that pretty well covered. . .

And there is this: Attorney Manages to Sue Himself in Complicated Scheme.

Current Mood: amused

12:35 pm - Rocky Road Candy

Yesterday I was feeling like making something fancy. An unplanned 3-hour nap took away the cooking urge a bit, but I did eventually make this up, rocky road candy!

( Pics and recipe... )

uhrwerkmensch

02:40 pm - From My Hands

Off VNV Nations' new album Of Faith, Power and Glory. It's probably one of the most heartbreakingly, brutally beautiful songs Ronan's ever written.

cooking

ria_saakshi

08:22 pm - Garlic, Ginger and Chili Pork

Created to assuage a sudden craving for hot and sweet and very very fragrant food. Its somewhere between China and Thailand in inspiration - but mostly was formed as another excuse to cook with fruit. A good hot wok will give you a smokey, caramelised browned edge to the pineapple which is addictive. This said the pineapple in here could be easily replaced with apples or just ripe mango (needs to be fairly firm or will disintegrate into mush) and the broad beans by any green bean or vegetable.

Ingredients
2 Pork Loin Chops
large handful of Spring Onions, fine chopped
large handful of Coriander, roughly chopped
140g Pineapple, chopped into large chunks and well dried
100g+ Broad Beans, boiled for 3mins and double podded
minced Ginger (to taste)
sliced Garlic (to taste)
1/2tsp Dried Chilli
1tsp Sugar
2tbs Rice Wine
2tbs Soy Sauce
salt & pepper
1tbs Groundnut Oil

For the Marinade
1-2" Ginger
1-4 Red Chillies
1 Shalott
4 Cloves Garlic
1tbs Soy
1tbs Rice Wine

Method:
1. In between 2 double layers of cling film pound the pork chops till they are 1cm in height. Slice in to 1cm strips.
2. Combine all the ingredients for the marinade in a blender and blend to a coarse paste using a drop of water or oil to lubricate the blender if needed.
Marinade the Pork for a minimum of 1/2 hour.
3. Heat a wok to smoking and add the oil and when shimmering stir fry the pork and marinade till well browned. Add the pineapple, garlic and ginger and stir fry till starting to brown - season with dried chili, sugar, salt and pepper to taste.
4. Add the broad beans, rice wine and soy and fry for another min.
5. Add in Spring Onions and Coriander and fry till wilted.

Serve immediately with rice and side vegetable dish.

cooking

quietchildae

12:03 pm - Food trends

I'm always interested watching trends in food emerge. Right now, I'm seeing a lot of bacon stuff (which is totally cool, cause I looooove bacon.), and lots of herbal cocktails (another favorite area of mine). I'm seeing lavender start to become a trendy ingredient as well.

What are your favorite food trends, past, present, or wish you could see? What are your least favorite? What trends do you see in your area? I live in the Bay area, which is rather trendy to begin with, so I'm wondering if different geographical areas create different trends.

Discuss!

cooking

christhegoth

08:05 pm - Jerk Chicken, with proper Rice and Peas.

Seeeing as I said I'd try to keep up with Kay ( I may regret this ) have another little creation of mine :)



( Recipe under here. )

My website is here. The Jerk section is on the left menu further down.

Current Mood: drunk