Ramblings of a Tainted Mind

Reposting from lomein_the_dish:

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 03:54:27 GMT

.

Lorraine got videos a plenty from the hafla:

Stellaluna: I Cash Radii
-StellaLuna: The Dagger Dance
-Diana's Solo
-Jill's Solo
-Rose's Solo
-Kim Caudell's Solo
-Humaan/Kim-Chee's Solo
-Jawahir This clip is about 6 and a half minutes long because the band played 3 songs. There are some shots of the audience in this one.
-Bodhicitta Unfortunately, their second act was cut short due to technical difficulties (the CD player conked out!).

Thanks, Lorraine!

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 17:52:57 GMT

The hafla was awesome, lots of fun, and I love you all. I'm still on a happy buzz from all the fabulousness.

This Saturday!

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 22:35:29 GMT

Performers:

Stellaluna
Jawahir
Ed and Wade from Love Drums
Bodhicitta
Kim Caudell
Humaan (Kim-Chee!)
Allison
Sabrina

Please support the venue!

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 02:44:12 GMT

I'm supposed to be sewing my costume, but I'm taking a break.

I never told you guys about it, but we let Greyboy go with the gods last weekend. Corey gave him his last can of wet food, and his mouth was in so much pain he was crying out as he chewed. It was time, and since his results came back with him having feline aids a while back, we had been mostly just keeping him comfortable. I will miss him trotting up to me every time he saw us come home. And the way he climbed up the sliding door screen and peered into the window. Rest well, old man.

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 03:04:39 GMT

Sunday night Corey and I went cat fishing. I had a nice time, even though I had to keep taking naps in the truck--I can't stay up late anymore! I haven't gone fishing in a long time, and it used to be one of my favorite pastimes.

Highlight of the night was buying myself a new fishing pole, it lights up AND glows in the dark. I was all Luke Skywalker at the pond----SHooom!

The next day I made catfish tempura, which if you haven't tried, is simply an awesome way to eat catfish, in my opinion.

Bento-rifficness behind the cut. Just for people who think they don't have time to do the bento thing. Most of these took no longer than fifteen minutes to put together, except for the jambalya and the homemade Chinese dumplings.

Homemade Chinese dumplings (by the way, the dumplings on the bottom of this post are from a restaurant, the ones at the top are mine), steamed veggies, apples, provolone cheese pressed into a mold, turkey pepperoni, hard boiled egg, octodogs, krabmeat.

vegetables, cannelini beans, meatballs, kachori (pigeon pea-bake and serve), sheep cheese, hard boiled egg with nori decoration, strawberries, hot dog, inarizushi.

Potato samosa (bake and serve), kachori, inarizushi, frozen peas, crabmeat, shrimp, red bean cake.

Mediterranean jambalaya link,Nish Nosh Mediterranean crackers.

Leftover Chinese! Dumplings, white rice, shrimp and snow peas in black bean sauce. Dumpling sauce in the fish bottle. Clementine oranges.

Am I the only person that didn't know you can pop corn with a cell phone?

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:02:11 GMT

Edit: Apparently this is an ad, but I totally fell for it!

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 08:19:20 GMT

I worked on the 4th, and then the rain came down in buckets in the afternoon. By the time I got home, I found out that Corey and I were on our own for the cookout, everyone bailed last minute. I was kind of bummed at first, but it's really okay other than I have to figure out how to use up all the food and drinks we picked up. My knee was very unhappy and I was really tired.

We fixed the issue with my songs on Rock Band and played for a bit, then Corey started a solo guitar career and I was snoring by 9 PM. Not a very exciting 4th, I know! I have to work tomorrow as well. I really do love my job, but I'm a little concerned that things around here are going to go south. My house was never spotless by any means, but it's really difficult to find the motivation to clean up the house after working all day. Not to mention that we ripped up all the carpets with the intent to put flooring down, and now they are just sitting there all torn up. I have no idea when we will be able to get that done, and it bugs me every time I see it. I have to finish my hafla costume, and I don't know when I will do that either, but I'll figure it out.

In more positive news, I am currently about 20 pounds lighter than I was three months ago. I am more engaged mentally and physically, and it makes me a happier person. I've been learning more and more about how the little RC cars work mechanically, and how to fix them. My boss misses me when I'm gone, and I think that's a good thing. We are catching up on bills pretty well, although we are also making new ones, so we are currently still working to pay the pile.

I have some sort of bug bites/plant irritation/wart things on my left hand. They are itchy and peel off in a tiny circle. It's very possible that they are poison ivy or sumac that I picked up at the track, but I don't know for sure. By the way, you guys don't really read this stuff, do you? I mean really, who gives a crap about the undefined bumps on some chick's hand across the globe? Yet, I still write it down, just in case.

So, it's 3 am, and I'm ready to go back to sleep. Thanks for listening. Here's my 4th of July mini from my pogo.com account, because I think it's cute:

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:47:18 GMT

There's this woman who came by a few weeks ago, nearly jumping up and down because she thought Aries was so beautiful. I invited her in for coffee, but she just wanted to tell me how much she wanted a Friesian, etc. I told her how I bought his dam from a PMU sale and had her bred, but she was looking right through me as I spoke. I got the feeling she just wanted him because he was part Friesian, kind of like a pretty pair of shoes. I told her if she wanted to come by and see him anytime, she was welcome. She came back last week and offered Corey 1000 dollars for him. That is ridiculous, even if we were going to sell him which we have no plans to do. But I was really quite offended that she offered so little! He may be green, but he is gorgeous, smart and well-behaved--and he's half Friesian for gods sake!

She just came by again, to see what I thought of her offer. I said he wasn't for sale. She should be glad I didn't tell her what I really thought.

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 07:42:41 GMT

Because this came out really well, I wanted to share. It's my odd but tasty version of jambalaya, but with Mediterranean spices and Maftoul instead of rice. Really good! Also, I may never buy regular American eggplant again. The last time I went downtown with twisted_tulip, I bought two Chinese eggplant, and let me tell you, the flavor is so mild and slightly sweet, that it changes even the most finicky (read:Corey) eater's ideas about eggplant. I used one eggplant in the following dish, and one to make a mini eggplant parmigiana, both came out amazing!

Mediterranean Jambalaya?

1 Chinese Eggplant, peeled and diced
3/4 package of smoked sausage, diced (Eckrich was on sale)
1/2 lb shrimp, cleaned and tails removed
2 cups Maftoul(large couscous-available at Middle Eastern grocers)
1 large can of stewed Italian tomatoes with basil
one medium onion, diced
garlic
Greek seasoning (I use Cavender's)
olive oil
love

Sautée the onion and garlic in olive oil and a good shake of seasoning until soft.
Add eggplant and sausage and cook on medium until the eggplant is soft and sort of disappears. Remove the tomatoes from the can (keep the juice!) and smush them, then add to the pan.
Simmer everything while making the Maftoul

Use the reserved juice to make three cups of liquid.
Lightly brown the Maftoul in a new pot in olive oil.
When browned, add the liquid and bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes.

When the Maftoul is done, add the shrimp to the eggplant pan and let them cook a few minutes until pink and curled, then remove from heat (don't overcook shrimp!)

I kept the Maftoul separate from the eggplant mixture so that the couscous didn't get too mushy.

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 23:05:51 GMT

Black and white flyer for printing:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3157/2622957322_326e3a3c82_o.png

Spreading the dread love, bento-bento and raising the next age of craft geeks.

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 09:52:05 GMT

oh, and a wheel o' boobies!

Monday: The boyfriend of a girl at my work wanted dreads very much, so I told him I'd do them, but then gave the job to Rose, who I'm sure did a better job anyway.

Tuesday: I taught a class at work on making dioramas. I had three kids, both boys bailed out pretty quickly, but Cheyenne (Rose's daughter) has the makings of a true future geek! I am so proud.

Wednesday: I taught my free bellydance class at work. I have a nice group of ladies forming there, they are already making plans to come out to the hafla.

Thursday: Big day! I taught the RC gas car class at work, which was hot and tiring. I am dealing with some stress this week, both the big managers are out of town, and the modeler guy that works with me is a ((*$Y*&# when he thinks he can get away with it. I am pretty sure his days are numbered, though. Then at night I taught my Hermitage class, which is becoming a big, beautiful, bellydance mob! I love them, we always have a great time.

Rose making dreads:

He is very happy, and has great hair for dreads! Let's see if he has the patience. :-)

Cheyenne's diorama:
I'm so proud of her! She was completely into it, and came up with some very creative ideas. She would have been okay working on it for the rest of the evening if I'd let her.

bentos!:

Sushi, seaweed salad, asparagus, teriyaki turkey, flower hot dogs with pea centers. chocolate covered sunflower seeds in the Stitch cup.

Onigiri, krabmeat, hotdog flowers, shrimp, cucumber salad, grape tomatoes, grapes, portabello burgers, seaweed salad, tuna nigiri sushi, apples, turkey pepperoni, string cheese, caramel dip.

tamago (I received a proper pan right after I made this!), Korean pancakes, krabmeat, grapes, sheep cheese, carrots, clementine oranges.

Portabello burgers on Indian onion naan, octodogs, blanched string beans and carrots, hard boiled eggs, grapes and red bean fish-shaped bun.

And now, the much anticipated wheel o' boobies. I actually think it's the coolest picture I've seen in a long time. Enjoy.

High res picture ahead:

http://edtgerf.googlepages.com/2136633074_8fc6769327_o.jpg

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 22:56:25 GMT

Okay, I thought I was quite the downloading pirate of the internet, but I must see the Blankenship/Phillips episode of Wife Swap and I can't find it anywhere. It's apparently season 4, episode 8 or 9.

Anyone that can get it for me will get squishy love hugs from me, maybe more? Honestly, I am willing to pay for it, just someone please find the damn thing.

I must see it, it has my ex husband in it, and I hear it's pretty damn funny!

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 00:55:49 GMT

So, my new schedule at work means that I work from 10 AM until 6 PM, Tuesday through Friday. I take my lunch break at around 1:00. I'm noticing that at around 5 PM, I get a little mushy in the brains. My thought processes are not what they should be, and I need to think fast and well, because I do several things at once. It might be low blood sugar, so today I had a little granola bar at around 4:30 and that seemed to help.

Does this happen to anyone else? I can remember going all day without eating and feeling just fine. I'm really not liking this whole aging thing. But hey, it could be worse. My manager Judy is still fighting the troubles in her belly. I am going to bring her some sushi tomorrow, it's one of the only things she can keep down anymore.

Some bentos!

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 14:10:45 GMT

Yep, I still do them every morning. Here's today's:

Spanish yellow rice, teriyaki turkey, steamed asparagus, string cheese, grape tomatoes, molded hard boiled eggs, tiny corn muffin, carrots and organic grapes.

Corey wanted chili, so I made some turkey and corn chili, with a heart of cheddar cheese, tiny corn muffins, a failed corn shaped muffin, and strawberry mini newtons.

Leftover chinese takeout rice, shrimp and snow peas, dumplings. Hot dog flowers with pea centers!

Korean pancakes (shrimp and shredded veggie), sauteed Indian okra, sushi, krabmeat, baby corn, straw mushrooms. Fairy nori footsteps!!

Sorry for the wide pic, but it was cute!

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 00:24:18 GMT

From :

Pyzam Family Sticker Toy

Kingdom A&S.

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 00:06:46 GMT

Some of you that read my blog don't know that I am a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism (http://sca.org), an organization of geeky historians who enjoy dressing up in clothing from between the years 600 and 1600 AD. The reason you may not know this is because I haven't been very active in the group for a while, mostly because my husband was going through some surgeries on his hand, so we weren't able to really deal with the camping events, our favorite part of the whole thing. I even let our memberships lapse, because there didn't seem to be much point in paying for it.

My historical interests flow in and out like the tides; I'll be very gung ho about say, Turkish Embroidery for a year or two, and then leap into Ancient Roman costuming. In the SCA, you can do projects on things that interest you, and enter them into special events made just for the purpose. Lots of people get to see your work, and you get scored on your accuracy and attention to detail. The event that I went to this past weekend was this sort of event. Here's some of my geeky buds:

Aren't they cute?? From left to right: Marina, lepidopteragirl, vittoria0, anarawd, madrun.

I won't dwell on how crazy hot in was outside, or the fact that the power went out in our cushy cabin and a bunch of folks decided to pack up and go home. I will focus on the good stuff.

I got to briefly hang out with my SCA household, nearly all of them, which is a great feat--we are hardly ever all able to make the same event.

I was able to see how displays are done and how judging happens for the first time since I joined the society, and I'm much less scared to tackle a bigger project now.

On the way home, lepidopteragirl and I discussed the possibility of working on a Sephardic/Christian/Moorish cooking entry together. I think it might be really cool, if we can pull it off.

I am inspired to create some new hot weather garb, because what I have is not what I'd like it to be.

I crocheted a dread snood for myself, and you can never have too many snoods. Remember that.

Today's box.

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 13:39:31 GMT

Sushi rice, hot dog heart and pickled egg wings, furikake, apples, oranges, carrots, banana, pepperoni flower with pea center that fell out when I was setting up the picture!, shrimp and pickled egg white fishes, food coloring (next time I will mix it with the rice first!)

Qui non proficit, deficit. *

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 01:41:42 GMT

Right. So, I found out today that there will be some big changes at work.

When I went out to eat my lunch on the patio, Steve said he missed me on Friday, because people were bugging him about things that usually take care of for him. My boss is not one to go around slinging compliments, so I was quite rosy after he said that. Later on, there was much hub-bub as Steve was setting up the projection hardware in the theatre, and Kris and Patty and Steve disappeared for a while. No one was sure what was going on, but it was big stuff!

I had to go in later because I was supposed to set up the tables for the modeling class, and they all tried messing with my head and saying I was being let go. I could tell they were joking, and I said I knew my job was safe for now because Steve gave me a compliment earlier. They all found that pretty funny.

They are cutting the hours that the store will be open, because rather than have the place be poorly staffed, he'd rather be open less hours. Steve is all about customer service, and he likes three people on the floor, one behind the register, and hopefully me or Palmer at the hobby counter as well. Also, Steve and Kris and Patty never get a day off. I think their vacation last week reminded them of that, and they deserve a break. So the store will be closed on Mondays. Also, since so few people come out there in the weekday evenings, they will be closing at 6 on Tuesday and Wednesday. So far all of this is fine with me, I'm not worried about the store going under or anything, we have been building up steadily so far. I think that it's just a numbers game at this pint, he is not making a profit after paying the staff, so there's no reason to stay open. The night crew is sometimes so bored that they quit, because there's nothing to do but dust shelves. So now the night crew is going to be picking up some of the cleaning duties that we used to do before opening.

Then Steve was sitting out on the front patio and he told me that I was being considered for a managerial position. (bolded for the skimmers out there!) That's pretty cool, and I feel proud that I have made that sort of impression on them so quickly. I told him that I was concerned that there would be more yelling to deal with. I love where I work, but sometimes I am afraid that I will not react well to some of the reprimands that I've seen handed to others. Yet I feel strong enough at this point to hold fast and not get rattled. It would be a challenge, one that I'd like to consider.

So, I'll find out more this week, and I'll keep you all posted.

I know it seems that all I do is modeling, haha, but here's some progress pics of the diorama. The town still needs a lot of detailing, and the ships and the amusement park are not done. But I'm pretty proud of my ground cover!

You can click these to see them bigger if you like.

*She who doesn't move forward, loses ground.

Now that I've got your attention...

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 00:42:01 GMT

So, I am a comment whore if you didn't know. I've noticed that I'm not getting as many comments and conversations going as I used to, and my fragile ego needs some stroking. See, I know I can be a jerk, but I want to be a well-loved jerk!

So, let me know if you are still around, and also, if you feel that I haven't been reciprocating the love enough, or if maybe the recent bento and diorama pictures are just boring you to tears!

Are you a comment whore too? Let me know. I'm sure we can work this out. ;-)

P.S. If the boobie icon offends you, you probably don't need to go drinking with me, ever.

Buncha Bentos!

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 12:26:47 GMT

Apples and oranges, mini brownies and Babybel cheese, ramen noodles with a container of teriyaki sauce, teriyaki turkey, straw mushrooms, carrots, onigiri filled with ginger carrot tuna, gyro meat inside a tortilla held closed with mermaid drink sitters given to me ages ago by anarawd and saxondog. Pastrami roses, last of the curry rice, and a few Chinese veggies.

Teriyaki turkey, Chinese veggies, my first attempt at tamagoyaki (Yum!), My first attempt at Ko0rean pancake (Good, but needs more veggies next time.), Babybel cheese, unseasoned rice with furikake, octodogs, straw mushrooms.

Heart shaped eggs, frozen peas, ginger tuna stuffed onigiri, carrots, cucumber, flower weenies, teriyaki turkey, applesauce, baby corn, veggies.

Quick lunch for my weekend trip. I may make another just in case. Plain onigiri, baby corn, grape tomatoes and carrots.

Recital!

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 05:03:15 GMT

The show went wonderfully, and the little girls were much less scared and crazy tonight. I spent a good chunk of time (since we had to hang around anyway!) helping the little girls to not run in tap shoes and break their legs, not to cry, and helped out with their little costumes. One girl had a bad sunburn, and her sequin straps were bothering her, so she was running around with her top down! I really didn't blame her though. Another little girl had ringworm, which scared the beejeesus out of me, so I didn't touch her and the rest of the ladies thought that was pretty funny.

Our performance went well, at least I felt it did, and the crowd loved us, so yay! I had a couple more ladies approach me about classes, so that's good, let's see if the actually show up. Melinda thinks that the next few classes will be well attended.

I am SO proud of this group of ladies. They had fun, and managed to pull this thing together with me on very short notice. I don't have pictures, but there is supposed to be a DVD. I'm not sure what the format will be, so I don't know what I'll need to do to get our routine off of it. I'll keep you guys posted.

Thanks for all the good thoughts!

Dress Rehearsal.

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 13:24:21 GMT

Longest night ever! Have you guys ever sat through a dance school's recital? Long! And those poor little girls, I felt so bad for them, standing there, frozen and scared to pieces. They were teeny, like three or four years old I guess. The older girls were fun to watch, they were having a good time, even if they forgot the steps. There were fifty or so dances, and we were number 44! Now we have to do it all tonight again for real.

I think we did very well, and the fact that were are so different from everything else there is definitely a point in our favor. I had a couple of people say they were interested in the class, one because she was an older lady and happy that she could do it with her belly covered. The other was a young girl, who dances with the older kids (who were really amazing). She also said, after watching us dance, that I reminded her of Jennifer Tilly in Haunted Mansion, when she's a head in a crystal ball. This was the source of some ribbing from Melinda, haha. Since I hadn't seen Haunted Mansion (I hear it was pretty bad), I looked up the trailer to see.

Doesn't she look like Medusa without the snakes?

Anyway, I'm not sure if maybe I've lost some weight in my face, or if it was just because I had serious eyeliner on. People used to tell me I looked like Kathy Najimy a lot:

But now she's lost a lot of weight and looks much different. I like both women though, Kathy does a lot of charity stuff for women's causes, and her birthday is one day after mine. I just love that Jennifer Tilly can play up the hooch factor and still be cute as hell.

Right, back to recitals. I was in a recital when I was six or so, and I remember lots of stuff about it. I especially remember that outfit, which had a sequin candy cane on it, and the music was Candyman, from Willy Wonka. I remember being scared, and I'm sure I screwed up, but I don't remember. So I'm comforted by the fact that maybe those little girls will only rember the shiny outfits and that they were stars for a few minutes.

Tonight's the show, wish us luck!

Sat, 31 May 2008 16:02:24 GMT

So, my schedule this weekend is kinda crazed. Right now I'm doing laundry, and I still have to cook up some dumplings and turkey or the meat will go bad. Then I have to go to work and get the ground cover down on the War of the Worlds Diorama. I got the cemetery worked out, and the river is looking pretty awesome. The idea is that the alien ships are coming in, and the evil rays are making everything go haywire--farm pigs becoming vicious attack beasts, zombies rising from the grave, and strippers dancing in the streets and causing accidents. Basically, any excuse for death and mayhem.

So, here's the cemetery, rear view:
Yes, those are people BBQing on the roof!

Click to enbiggen!

Zombie!!

Carniverous pigs!!

So, then tomorrow is troupe practice intensive, but Melinda and I have to take it easy because we have dress rehearsal on Monday night right after work for the Hermitage class's recital, and then recital on Tuesday after work. Wednesday study with Rose, Thursday class, Friday troupe practice... It's good I don't have too much time to worry about things.

By the way, July 19th is our next hafla! I hope all of you locals can make it, it will be at Sherlock's Cafe:

http://www.sherlocksbooks.com/Operations/DrivingDirections.htm

Right, back to laundry!

Triple Bentos!

Fri, 30 May 2008 13:02:08 GMT

My manager at work has been having lots of stomach issues. I would have laid money down that it was her gall bladder, but the test came back negative. Anyway, we started talking about my lunches (everyone at my work thinks they are adorable, LOL). She needs to stick to kind of bland foods for a while, and I offered to make her some sushi the other day. Now she wants to pay me to make her lunches every day. I have no idea what to ask for, but I guess I need to ask for something, the way food costs are nowadays. I always find such unconventional ways to make money!

On to the bentos:

Onigiri filled with tuna/asian ginger dressing (I think my little bento ended up looking like a crab head on, with the onigiri as claws!) krab, cucumber and neufchatel cheese sushi, apricots, apples, oranges, grape tomatoes, raisins.

Tortilla filled with gyro meat and feta, curried rice, Chinese vegetables, apples, raisins, mini Fig Newtons, granola bites, turkey pepperoni sticks, string cheese. My manager gets more sushi, no gyro meat or curried rice for her!

Wed, 28 May 2008 12:14:34 GMT

chinese vegetable leftovers, canned baby corn under a crab container filled with soy/vinegar sauce. Carrots, turkey pepperoni, string cheese.

Pretty much the same, but his has Chinese beef in black bean sauce, a koi fish container filled with soy sauce, a film canister filled with wasabi peas, and a Stitch container filled with ranch dressing.

Today's bento:

Linguini in white clam sauce under asparagus coral and an octodog.

Note to all--Oscar Mayer dogs make bad octos! The best thing to use is cheapo cheese hot dogs for good curl!