Okay. I’ve stared at this blog long enough. I never set aside time to specifically write in it, so screw it, I’m writing now. x_x Long overdue anyway.
First up: I’m engaged. Yeah that’s right. You guys have no idea how hard it is to write here over the last few months and try to say something meaningful without talking about the only freaking thing I want to talk about. Here’s how it went down.
So I planned way earlier this year to pop the question. Reason being that we’ve been going out for almost 3 years now, been friends for about 7, and I knew that living together wouldn’t be an issue. Surprise – it’s been awesome. Considering I uprooted this poor girl from everything she knew in Oregon to come live in the Dirty South, I figured I’d better keep her close and let her know that I’m serious about us. :)
With my job from over the summer, I had more than enough money to get a ring. The original plan was to go to Walt Disney World, be at the World Showcase Lagoon on New Year’s Eve, wait for the kiss at the new year and, amidst the fireworks, ask on a bended knee. The only way I could pull this off (and afford this), though, was bringing friends – preferably a couple. Kiki and Patches, ok.
Yeah, that didn’t work out for obvious reasons. And of course I don’t blame either of them. So, new plan – owaitwheredidtheymoneygo. New Macbook was needed. Crapcrap.
The my monetary savior came in the form of a Marta bus. A bump to my car inflated my bank account by almost $800, and I was back in the game. A call to my aunt, and I had a ring. More on that later. Now how do I propose?
Well, I still wanted New Year’s Eve. Tricia is addicted to food, so I had to bring her out for dinner. Then what? Began to go through ideas online… and then it hit me. Online. We met online, we cultured our relationship online, and I am an online freak. Why not draw upon that? I love to share funny videos off of Youtube. I had my answer. Make a video! Rather than try to describe it, I’ll share it:
Tada. :) So obvious, I have a moment there to present the ring. And here it is:
Now for why I called my wonderful aunt. She has connections and really knows this stuff. Through her and her expertise, I ended up purchasing this ring. White gold, with a .47 carat centerpiece diamond, 2 sapphires, and a slew of smaller diamonds, this ring is over 1 carat, yet I paid $1050, tax included. But. My aunt, being as smart as she is, bought it at the New York Diamond Exchange for wholesale. The ring itself is appraised for $1700, and I’m told such a ring would sell here in Atlanta for about $3000. I’m pleased. :)
Oh, and she said yes. Hyperventilating and excited, after a great meal at Stonecrest Steakhouse in Augusta, resting at home alongside me on the sofa, Tricia said yes. And best of all, she had no idea. :)
Well! I’ve babbled on enough about romance stuff. In the last month, my Xbox red-ringed and was returned yesterday, much to the pleasure of my brother and I (Modern Warfare 2 ahoy!), and I’ve been played far too much Maplestory with my friends, see? Yep. I’ve reformatted Tricia’s Macbook so it will run better, and I got a 3.75 GPA last semester.
Life has been pretty good.
And I’m done for now. Perhaps I’ll write later about stuff that everyone else hasn’t seen already. XD
Well, here I sit with OmmWriter again. I can certainly grow accustomed to using this program for blogging consistently, though this time I may have to take River’s advice and run it through a spellcheck, heh.
I don’t know if there’s much I have time to say this entry. It’s roughly 3AM. I spent the evening at a dear friend’s house, having fun and watching stuff online and generally keeping her company. Hope she enjoys the season DVDs of How I Met Your Mother that I left her for her viewing pleasure.
I’m not too concerned about the current time, though, for my sake. I am concerned for the girlfriend’s sake… You see, I am DONE with exams. Yeah, just like that. Feels pretty good, knowing that for this short span between now and next semester… I’m free. It’s almost a curse; now I’ve no idea what to do with my time. There’s been this accumulation of hobbies and activities I’ve wanted to undertake for the longest time, and I’ve had no time or energy to squeeze them in. Want to try knitting (gift making is fun), learning the bass guitar more solidly… Learn more photography techniques and basics…
Speaking of photography, I migrated my entire freaking iPhoto library over to Aperture the other day. I may have to legitimately purchase Aperture sometime soon… This is a niiiice program. Took me forever to migrate and get everything squared away, but now all my photos are organized nicely within projects and albums in this professional organization/touch-up software. I feel accomplished. But, even though they are there, I need to touch a few up before I go showing them to the world here. Sorry guys – do keep up though, I’ll have some soon!
While I did mention being done with school, I did get a surprise email from a professor, D. Fox Harrell, Ph.D, informing me and 3 others that he’d like at least one of us to demo our Project 1 (play with it!) for Digital Media Winter Demo Day 2009 – which is traditionally grad students only. Nerve-wracking, but I’ll see if I can make it!
So a few things to tidy up loose ends before I run off and sleep (getting drowsy eyed here…):
So this is unique. I downloaded a beta of a program called OmmWriter, and that’s what I’m using to compose this blog post. The idea appears to be that with this absorbing the screen, I can concentrate on writing to my heart’s content. Seems to be working. I’m writing, after all, aren’t I? The program takes up the whole screen with a serene snowy minimalist scene, and also advises I put on headphones to complete the experience. In my ears is a very ethereal tune, also quite minimalist. I could grow used to using this software for creative writing (certainly can’t use it for school – I need my resources in front of me!).
Moving on… I seem to say this with every post, but I should be writing more often. It’s a release, if nothing else. But with school and schoolwork and fraternal obligations, family obligations, girlfriend obligations… my own obligations take the backburner. So here I am. Over a month later than when I last wrote. A lot has happened since then, I assure you, dear reader. To wrap up my entry from last time, FYE did evntually call me, but their offerings were too little too late. I’ve since given up on them and botcotted the franchise.
Halloween was pretty grea. I want was Frank West, photographer from Dead Rising, complete with my Canon T1i. :3 Yep, I bought the thing, and consequently went so poor the only idea I had for a cheap Halloween involved making the camera part of the outfit. Came off rather well, though, and I got to play with my new toy all that night.
As a sidenote, maybe this program is -too- peaceful. I just conked out for about 30 minutes. @_@ Now my eyes are all out of focus and fuzzy. :S
I’ve been hard at work on project after project. Everything is finished now, and I have a few grades back too. Remember the Star Wars/Romeo+Juliet mashup I posted back then? 96%. I couldn’t be more proud. That class is going spectacularly. Tomorrow I share my final project in that class, which I will stick here, too:
Done in Second Life (blegh), we did an adaptation of a scene from Troilus and Cressida, a lesser-known Shakespeare play. Since Cressida is a bit of a whore, we decided to exaggerate her elements and adapt the pivotal scene to a club, with Cressida in a skimpy outfit, and Diomedes as a pimp. Completing the scene with some popular dance music and voiceovers, we had a blast, and the prof seems to like it. I’m hoping for another A – this class should be a shoe-in for an A. :)
Who saw UP? I bought the Blu-ray when it came out on November 10th, and after waiting a week (fraternity initation), I was finally able to watch it. Wouldn’t ya know, I cried. Dammit all to hell, Pixar has me. How can a single movie studio have EVERY. SINGLE. MOVIE. they make be so original and emotional? Fuck, I get teary-eyed at the short “Partly Cloudy” that came before UP (it’s just that perfect. I know exactly how that cloud felt…):
So after Thanksgiving, on November 4th, I was on the way to the fraternity for our Wednesday night meeting when my car was hit by a MARTA Moblility bus. x___x This was awful – held me up for the meeting, damaged my car a bit, and mostly pissed me off. I lost my temper, but mostly at the world than anyone in particular. Thankfully I didn’t scream at the MARTA driver, his supervisor who showed up, or the cop (who was very helpful). The car is still in perfect working condition, but now has a dent on the back left side where the bus merged without looking into me. Because they were at fault, MARTA had a 3rd party insurance claims adjuster come look at my car, and “assess” it. Days later, I recieved the assessment in the mail: $742.60. For a dent to be fixed, and the car to be painted. @.@ Fuck. It’s like the money fairy just came in a dive bombed my wallet! I still have no intention on getting the dent fixed right away – it’s not hurting me or anything, and getting the car repainted means I have to actually CARE about scratches and whatnot. AND remove my bumper stickers? No way. I’ll just keep the money. Wooooo! Plans are already underway for my newfound wealth… Big ones. But little things include The Beatles Rock Band (waaaaant), a new telephoto lens for my beautiful camera, and I might be getting a used DS Lite for Pokemon-ing. >.> And maybe, finally, that bass guitar. But big plans first.
Speaking of games, I’ve been playing more and more of them recently. An unexpected gem for me, personally, is how much fun I’ve been having with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. I honestly didn’t expect to enjoy this title THIS much! A short single player campaign experience, but it’s brutal yet beautiful in how it’s presented. Imagine a game so compelling that it makes you actually consider the damage and violence you propogate. It’s how I felt, and how my stomach churned uncomfortably as I watched terrorists mow down civilians in an airport in MW2.
And when Russia brought the war to Virginia suburbs and bombed Washington DC… this game is amazing. Not to mention the actual combat itself is spot on, and the multiplayer is so much fun. I want to have a LAN party with my Xbox 360 in Augusta as soon as I possibly can. Anyway, please, guys, watch this trailer if you’ve seen nothing else about this game:
Another fun game (this time, wholly expected as such) is Brutal Legend. This game is the epitome of METAL, and I loved the environment it set up. With the handpicked metal soundtrack, this game screamed epic, and it was. While I’m showing things off here, I have to link to a recent discovery I’ve had many a lulz at: KnowYourMemes.com. Take a gander at some of their informative material:
…Why not speak about me a bit more here? I don’t know what the purpose of this blog is, yet. Sadly, you think I would. I share some vague thoughts, some vague feelings, and youtubes of far too much stuff I find entertaining.
Something about me: I have found that, almost against my own will, I really enjoy Twitter. Why is completely beyond me. I wish my friends would use it, or if they have one, used it more often. It’s a short blurb into the insight of their mind that I wish I had, I guess. I try to contribute enough, but I suppose I could be doing better with it. I could say some things that are more insightful. I think I’ll try this.
Sometimes I don’t feel I’m creative enough on my own. I’d love to actually go somewhere when I have time, take pictures and video to my heart’s content, come back to my Mac and MAKE something with them. I think I’ll make this my goal for the month. I don’t know if I can accomplish it, but I’ll try nonetheless. Wish me luck.
I wish I had a more skilled hand at poetry.
I wish I had access to materials like a pottery wheel and clay. Lately I’ve wanted to try my hands at throwing clay again.
Maybe I just want to THROW the clay.
Maybe I’m beginning to ramble.
Maybe I need to ramble.
… Maybe I need to go to bed. :) More coming soon. Just… remind me.
… And if you read this, a comment would really make my day. <3
…Pay no mind to the title, simply a lyric from Placebo’s “Pure Morning” from their debut album “Without You I’m Nothing”. Picked it up last night from iTunes, and I’m enjoying it so far.
A number of times I load my blog and contemplate what to say. A number less I close it with far more work ahead of me. These past few weeks have been exactly that. What with Tricia moving in, fraternal obligations, but mostly class and project obligations… I’m been a busy fish. Working on a sonification project for Interactive Narrative/Fiction, our UI Design project, and just finished our Shakespeare Star Wars mashup, which I’d like to share here.
And opinions are more than welcome, either commented here or on the actual YouTube. :) I’m pleased with the outcome, especially Yoda’s bits and the Viceroy’s bits. :P
So I’m now sitting in UI Design and my weekend plans have been canceled. I’m okay with it – I understand why. I think I’ll end up sleeping when I get back to the apartment, but I’m unsure. I don’t know what else I can do – I’m actually more interested in doing nothing this weekend. :P
And suddenly it smells strongly of cut grass in here. Not the good kind of smell either, though I’ve never been a fan of the scent, but the sweaty gardener cut grass smell, and I’m getting a headache from this crap. I’ve actually been paying attention in this class now, but there’s only 10 minutes left. Maybe my next paragraph will be for the next class, but I feel like wrapping this up sooner than later.
I want, badly, some money. More and more often I find myself pining after something I can’t have, even though I would really like it. Even though I have the money for it, too, I can’t bring myself to buy it… like that Canon T1i. So… an alumnus emailed the fraternity with a job opening for a data entry specialist, and I emailed back my resume. 15 hours a week at $10 an hour? I hope they are okay with me. I’d love some spending money. I would buy that Canon T1i so fast. And… save for lenses. Like a Telephoto Zoom lense… or a tilt-shift lense. I had never seen or heard of tilt-shift before seeing this video last night. I am now fascinated with this, as this video is beautiful and perplexing at the same time.
This is Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. Yes. The actual thing. The lense changes perspective so strongly you think you’re looking at a miniature model. I. Want. To. Do. This. x.x Also, the music is so soothing.
Not to mention a plethora of other little doodads I could use, like an external harddrive or a new router. I just ordered a new thumbdrive from Amazon that’s the same size and shape as a key, so it will fit with my keychain a lot easier. Y’know, stuff like that. >.>
Fish here, writing for the first time in forever ago. Reason being is that school has started, and I was a busy fellow running and coordinating Rush for my fraternity, beginning classes, juggling a budding social life, rising from the ashes of said social life’s death last spring when I left for the summer. I am pleased to be back in Atlanta, even if it means dealing with some of the difficulties (traffic, homeless, idiots, etc). It’s good to be back.
Another thing one may notice is that I’ve replaced the blog. I had to update my Wordpress installation, which borked itself and I had to restart from scratch. I’m surprised and amazed I remembered HOW to even do it. As a result, though, things may take a bit of tweaking for a few days, but I’m overall very pleased with the new Wordpress (I upgraded from 2.5.1 to the current 2.8.4, so there was a LOT of newness in here for me).
I’m currently sitting in my Shakespeare course watching Morpheus Laurence Fishburne play Othello on the DVD my professor is showing. These stories are always so tragic. =/ This is just one of several classes I’m rather enjoying this semester – I’m taking a course in Interactive Narrative and Fiction, another in Constructing the Moving Image, another in User Interface Design, and another in Ethics in Computing. Very good semester, and all things I’m interested in. :)
My apartment is quite nice and comfortable, but needs a bit more decoration and furniture. I guess that’s why Tricia’s moving in (TOMORROW!) to take care of that sort of thing for me. ;D She’ll enjoy it, and I’m looking so forward to finally having her here – words cannot do my feelings justice.
So I can’t remember if I actually wrote about my new Macbook Pro that I love so very very much. Everything about this magnificent machine is to my exact desires – a 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 4GBs of DDR3 RAM, and a 320GB HDD for starters. I JUST purchased Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard for only a mere $29 a week ago today, and I’ve seen some significant improvements in the realm of how this computer runs and handles itself. I’m quite pleased overall. I’m now waiting for two dates for Apple-related excitement: September 9th is Apple’s standard media event for the refresh of their iPod line (here is where they typically release a new version of iTunes, hoping for some sweet improvements… maybe 64-bit?), and September 25th, when AT&T finally stopstries to stop failing so fucking hard and grants iPhone owners the ability to MMS-text message pictures for those not in the know. I have some sweet programs for my Mac now too – Things for Mac (and subsequently, Things for iPhone) have made task management and keeping up with things so. much. easier. for me. I’m kinda in love with being able to take a quick glance and see everything that’s due of me. ^_^ I’ve also obtained Adobe’s CS4 Master Collection, which is fantastic for the programs and talents expected of me in my major here at Georgia Tech. Photoshop and Flash will more than likely prove to be far more useful than anything else I can possibly have. I’ve also installed Aperture 2 for my Mac, in preparation for the DSLR I plan to get – Aperture 2 is a photo management and RAW image handler developed and sold by Apple, and it should work wonderfully for my needs. :)
But yes! A DSLR – specifically, the Canon EOS 500D (otherwise known as the Digital Rebel T1i), a fantastic 15 megapixel DSLR camera that also does HD video and has Live View, two neat knick-knacks for a DSLR. Every review I’ve read says this camera is best in its price class and seems perfect for my desires and hobbies. I can’t wait to purchase this camera and develop my photography skills, but I want to sell my current camera before I run off and buy this thing… and I need to find a buyer. Anyone who is interested and reading this, hit me up, PLEASE. :P
I wanted to say more than simply facts or… almost sales-pitchy things in this post, but I suppose I have to get all that out of the way before I go on with other things. I guess those thoughts will come later today though – class is almost over and I should wrap this up. :P So, until later…!
I have a week until I move in with Fish, and it’s my day off. I could be packing, but honestly I feel more like being terribly lazy. So I’m posting for y’all my latest creation that I ate a couple nights ago. It turned out pretty well, though I’ve tweaked my recipe a bit to make it more efficient and delicious.
VEGETARIAN PAELLA
This is a really easy recipe that you can complete with very limited cooking experience: you really just cut the veggies included, throw the ingredients together, let it cook, and enjoy. As long as you keep an eye on the pot while it’s bubbling so that it doesn’t overflow, and stir often, little can go wrong! Add a couple cups of shrimp or chopped chicken if you want to make it a main dish with some meaty flavor, or eat it as a side dish on its’ own. If it’s as a side dish, definitely use less rice than is called for in this recipe or you’ll have lots of leftovers. It has plenty of protein and veggies so you need not worry about it lacking nutritionally, and it also has tons of flavor!
Ingredients (serves 4)
1 can of chopped tomatoes
1 sliced cucumber
1/3 lb green beans
1 medium onion (finely chopped)
1 cup chopped artichoke (or canned, marinated artichoke)
1.5 cups dry rice (it should make about 3 to 4 cups cooked rice)
3 cups water
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon Saffron, or turmeric (a little less than a teaspoon, as it has a stronger flavor)
Vegetable stock (double the volume of rice) or chicken stock
5 teaspoons Olive oil
Salt (to taste)
Preparation
First, pour the olive oil into a large pan (I myself use a dutch oven, the big two-handled pot, just in case because I don’t have a large skillet), making sure the pan is level.
Add the green beans, cucumber, and garlic, and let cook for 3-4 minutes.
Make a space in the middle of the pan and add the tomatoes. Cook for about five minutes, then add the paprika.
Fill with broth and water and let boil for about ten minutes, then taste for salt.
Add rice, white beans, half the artichoke, and saffron, (and meat if wished) spreading evenly around the pan. Let cook for about another 15-20 minutes or until all the water has evaporated. Keep covered if you want the rice to be softer OR keep uncovered and cook for shorter time if you’d like it al dente. Stir often to keep the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Let it rest for a few minutes, but keep stirring to prevent sticking. Add the remainder of the artichoke on top before serving to add both an individual flavor and a touch of flair to the appearance.
I’ve decided again to make a fun meal at home, this time with an Italian flair. Meals with “Florentine” in the name are credited to Catherine de’ Medici, who brought spinach to France around 1550, and chose to name all subsequent creamy, spinachy dishes after her homeland of Florence, Italy. This makes for a fairly easy, delicious dish that can go well atop a bed of pasta or with a potato on the side.
Note: If you have never worked with chicken before, remember that it is a leading source of salmonella, so you will want to make sure that you’ve cooked your chicken thoroughly before serving, and that you wash your hands or any utensils between touching the raw chicken and any prepared items or dishware. The chicken in this recipe is cooked on the stove, not the oven, so if the very center just won’t quite cook through, move the chicken to the microwave for 2-3 minutes. Spread the love, not the germs!
Ingredients
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
All-purpose flour, for dredging
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter
1/4 cup green onions, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 1/2 cups dry white wine (or chicken broth: less bite but for a similar result)
Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge the chicken in the flour to coat lightly. Shake off any excess flour. Set flour aside to add to sauce later. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until brown, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a plate and tent with foil to keep it warm. If using a cut that will not cook through, transfer to microwave for 2-3 minutes before setting in foil.
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in the same skillet over medium heat. Add the green onions and garlic and saute until green onions are soft, stirring to scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the skillet, about 1 minute. Add the wine/broth and lemon juice. Increase the heat to medium-high and boil until the liquid is reduced by half, about 3-5 minutes. Add the cream and boil until the sauce reduces by half, stirring often, about 3-5 minutes. If sauce will not thicken to your liking, add some flour, a teaspoonful at a time, stirring vigorously so it does not clump. Season the sauce, to taste, with salt and pepper. Do not allow sauce to boil for too long and remember to stir often, so the sauce stays smooth. Add the chicken and any accumulated juices to the sauce, and turn the chicken to coat in the sauce.
Meanwhile, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in another large skillet over medium heat. Add the spinach and saute until heated through. Season the spinach, to taste, with salt and pepper. Keep spinach on light heat to prevent it from cooling while you finish preparing the chicken, but do not allow it to dry out and stick to the pan. Arrange the spinach over a platter. Place the chicken atop the spinach. Pour the sauce over and serve.
The recipe that I took this from, with some very select alterations on my part:
Since I decided to make baklava for my friend Alanna’s birthday, and both her mother and my friend Katie have requested the recipe, I’ve decided to post it on here! I had to compile the recipes of two different websites, plus add my own alterations based on my taste and various tidbits of comments and intuition gotten from the internet and the experiences I’ve had while making this tasty little treat.
Baklava is a sweet dessert of nuts, phyllo dough, and honey based from around the Ottoman Empire, popular from Greece through the Middle East. It’s been around for many centuries and in many variations, so the one I have written down is hardly a canon version — it’s just what happens to work best for me! I promise you that if you go through the effort of making it, you’ll find yourself with one of the most satisfyingly sweet and delicious desserts you’ve ever had, and it’s both easy and also great to show off to guests!
Baklava
You will want to start this recipe a couple days in advance, as the phyllo dough needs a day of refrigeration to thaw out, and the baked baklava is best after at least a day of setting to soak in its juices. Because of the fragility of the phyllo and the number of times you will have to layer it, expect the prep time before baking to be at least a half hour. I like to sit down at the kitchen table while putting it together, as it will take a little patience. Remember, working with a friend makes it much faster and easier!
Ingredients:
1 (16 ounce) package phyllo dough (usually found in the freezer section of the grocery next to the frozen pie crusts
1 pound finely chopped nuts: walnuts work best, though pistachios are also popular — go for whichever nut you like best! (Anywhere above a half pound is acceptable, depending on your preference)
1.5 cups (three sticks) melted butter
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2.5 cups white sugar (half cup will be used separately in recipe from the two cups)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract to your taste
1 cup honey (12 ounces)
1 cup water
(1 teaspoon of lemon juice if you’d like some extra zest)
(For more flavor, you may add a half pound or so of chopped dried fruit, like dates or apricots)
Note: Keep phyllo dough in fridge for at least one day to thaw from freezer, do NOT unroll it until ready to work with it, and always keep unrolled phyllo covered with a damp cloth to keep it from drying out as you work.
Instructions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter the bottoms and sides of a 9×13 inch pan (I like to use a pastry brush for buttering throughout the project).
2) Chop nuts and toss with cinnamon and 1/2 cup sugar**. Set aside. Cut stack in half to fit pan. Cover phyllo pile with damp cloth when not using it. Place two sheets of dough in pan, butter thoroughly. Repeat until you have at least 8 sheets layered (more if you would like a more solid bottom ‘crust’). Sprinkle 2-3 tablespoons of nut mixture on top. Top with two sheets of dough, butter, and nuts, layering as you go. You may need to stagger layers to fit the edges of the pan. The top layer should be 6-8 sheets deep. Do not have nuts on the top, only butter.
3) Using a sharp knife cut into diamond or square shapes all the way tot he bottom of the pan. If done in diamonds, do NOT cut from corner to corner; the design is attached at the bottom of this recipe. Do this before baking, as after it is baked the crust will be flakey and fragile. Bake for about 50 minutes until baklava is golden and crisp.
4) Start making sauce about 20 minutes before baklava has finished baking. Boil sugar and water until sugar has melted, stirring occasionally. *** Add vanilla and honey and let simmer.
5) Remove baklava from oven and immediately spoon sauce over it. Let cool in open air: Leave lightly covered so it will not become soggy, and DO NOT refrigerate.
6) Let sit for at least 24 hours so that the sauce can soak in. The more days it sets (up to a week), the better it tastes.
7) Serve! The pieces will fit nicely in partially flattened cupcake papers, and this freezes well.
** If you have chopped fruit to add to the recipe, add it to the walnut mix.
*** For zest, add a teaspoon of lemon juice to the sugar and water.
This recipe can serve at least sixteen people (plus the end pieces that you can sneak for yourself!), and will never cease to amaze family or guests who think you’ve worked twice as hard on it. You don’t need to use a mixer, hardly any dishes, and most of the magic is done by letting the baklava sit and soak up the honey-sweet syrup. So sit back and enjoy!
I am in for a long day today. It’s about a quarter to 8AM as I write this now, and I’m sitting at work, waiting to be able to clock on. I got here about half an hour early this morning. I guess it was nerves…
You see, I have a phone interview set up today at 5:30PM for a job to work at the Apple Store in Lenox Square Mall in Buckhead, Atlanta. I’m nervous and yet wholly excited if this all works out – I could have some extra income this school year and be able to afford little things here and there, not to mention the Disney trip I want to go with Tricia on this New Year’s… and helping her feel financially secure in Atlanta is a big part of it too. But… Comcast is still a bucket of fail and hasn’t reconnected the phone line they accidently cut (seriously now, who DOESN’T survey land when they dig??) and I have crappy cell coverage at home, so it looks like this phone interview will be done from the seat of my car in a quiet (cell-covered) parking lot…. somewhere.
So my MacBook Pro came in! The same day I got the initially email from Apple, too. XD That was this past Thursday, and I have spent every day loving this beautiful machine. I’ve got it just about entirely set up – the only thing left at this rate is for The Sims 3 to arrive with Splash’s package so I can install it and torture explore the Sims community. Meanwhile, I have the white Macbook all set up to be wiped and reformatted with a fresh install when I sell it to Talon come Thursday when he is paid. I’ll miss it, actually. That computer was a fantastic companion… so to speak.
Egads. Time to work. I’ll try to add to this later, but if I don’t, wish me luck!
So. I’ve returned the camcorder. I know, I know, very unusual for someone like me, right? I just couldn’t afford to have that right now. It’s not something I need, nor particularly want. My camera does video just fine, after all. Got my money back sans the 15% restocking fee, and back in the bank it goes.
WWDC’s Keynote Presentation was Monday, and boy was that exciting! Announcements about new Macbook revisions, new iPhone 3GS, and details, sweet details on Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard and iPhone OS 3.0 WITH release dates. :3 A week from tomorrow and I get a new iPhone OS… and I’m now saving to, somehow, amidst all the other hubbub, getting the (now branded) 13″ Macbook Pro! It comes with a free iPod Touch, which I’m selling to a friend, Emily, who picked me up a copy of Sims 3 Collector’s Edition dirt cheap as she’s interning at EA… And Cam wants to buy this current Macbook off me for $500 or so. I’m excited as HELL. :D
Other than that, I have no real news at the moment. My main intent in writing this, however, was to show off what I did today. I had a lot of fun doing it:
So, here’s a video that was posted on Fark.com, and it’s nothing special – fun, but nothing special:
So being the avid The Legend of Zelda fan that I am… I only thought of one thing: Cuccos. And I had to make a video based on that. Here’s the finished result – please comment and tell me what you think!
So after toying with software, I've come up with some win. Chatroulette + "The Brave Little Toaster" = epic nostalgia reactions. Hell yes.03:54:31 AM March 11, 2010from web
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