Tag Archive for 'moving'

aardvarks and apologies

Published on September 4, 2009 in Hobbies and Media. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , .

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…!

Vegetarian Paella

Published on August 29, 2009 in Hobbies and Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

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 clove of garlic finely chopped (or 1 teaspoon canned minced garlic)
  • 1 can white or garbanzo beans
  • 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

  1. 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.
  2. Add the green beans, cucumber, and garlic, and let cook for 3-4 minutes.
  3. Make a space in the middle of the pan and add the tomatoes. Cook for about five minutes, then add the paprika.
  4. Fill with broth and water and let boil for about ten minutes, then taste for salt.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.

Enjoy!

“Welcome to your Mac.”

Published on July 4, 2009 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

Photobucket

… So yeah, I finally ordered it. Brand new 13″ MacBook Pro 2.53GHz, 4GB DDR3, and 320GB HD. I’m fairly excited. Also, I got a free 8GB iPod Touch out of the deal and I ordered MobileMe (mostly for the Find My iPhone feature) at a discount, not to mention opted to have iWork ‘09 preinstalled (no more MS Office for meeeee).

Funny enough, each of those three things (MBP, MobileMe, iPod Touch) are all being shipped separately, but all should be arriving within this coming week. Which is good, considering I have a lot I need to do this next week, too. A week from today is when my brother and I are going to be signing for our new apartment in Atlanta at the Post Renaissance. We’re getting a 2 bedroom/2 bath place, and we have a bit of work to do in making sure everything is squared away. No cable TV for us, to begin with – I don’t feel like paying for the Comcastic rape that is their TV charges. Yuck. But we need to set up utilities and the like before moving in, including connection dates and everything. Then the actual “moving” portion, which will suck. But, nevertheless, I’m looking very forward to it.

Tricia bought a plane ticket, too, for September 6th. One way, and then she’s stuck here. ;) Looking forward to receiving her at the airport for hopefully the final time.

Well… I need to be going. Will be writing sometime soon again.

I’ll leave you with my favorite MJ performance. Sucks that he’s dead.

Adventures in Trishland

Published on June 14, 2009 in Uncategorized. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Moving. It seems like the strangest thing in the world to me, although I’ve done it plenty of times before. Four times for college, each to a different place (once to Bend, OR, then three different rooms on the University of Oregon campus).

Those times, I brought minimal things (increasingly so each time as I decided that I really didn’t need much, and even if I had before…I certainly hadn’t the time for extracurricular reading material and the such now) with the expectation that I could always go back home to the rest. Now I’m trying to move for good, but not to bring everything I’ve ever had with me. Trust me, I’m a pack rat. I only recently threw away a ton of my school papers and reports from when I was in elementary school. I hardly plan on bringing my dolls from back when, or most of my books (my poor, poor books) to save on room and general expenses from shipping all that across the nation.

But still. When you find yourself starting your new life by wrapping up your good dishes in your baby blanket (some things I can’t get rid of), you just..think.

Sorry, Fish, but the big ‘ol rice cooker has GOT to come with. Me without perfectly steamed rice would be a sad thing indeed.

I’m heading into eight days straight of working at 4:30 in the morning at the deli, a shift I’m hardly used to and therefore terribly slow at, overall. Especially when greeted first thing by customers who order specialized sandwiches only to be told at the checkstand the obvious that they have known for years (and trust me, judging from these women they had been pulling from the government for a good long time) — you can’t buy hot food with food stamps. I was cranky enough before the very items that put me behind in my opening schedule were brought back to me to be thrown out. Don’t get me wrong, I think that the food stamp program like other forms of government assistance are great for people who just need an extra boost. But I also work at the only real grocery store in this little town, so I can see on a regular basis which people don’t have the will to help themselves and get full enjoyment out of handouts. Makes life harder for the people who are genuinely trying and get less assistance because money’s spread so thin. I’m grateful every day that I have a full-time job, even if it’s minimum wage and hard work. I have plenty of college loans to pay off, not to mention the cost of moving and getting settled into a new city. Scary as that is.

Alright, for anyone who’s not heard of it: Eureka. All of the first season and some of the third (they’re working on trying to get the rest) are available on Hulu, so give it a look see if you want some nerdy comedy. About an ordinary, good-hearted, fight-first-ask-questions-later U.S. Marshal who goes off a back road somewhere in the Pacific Northwest (hints indicate it’s actually supposed to be Oregon-ish) and finds himself in a podunk town where everyone knows each other, there’s only one diner, the town sheriff makes house calls to just about everyone on a first name basis, and the local mechanic also doubles as a coroner, priest, forensic analyst, radio show host (etc. etc. etc.) and inventor of memory manipulation devices and hovercraft. Oh, wait– I didn’t mention that little Eureka is home to the most brilliant thinkers and inventors in the world, all of whom work in a secret government testing center developed at the beginning of the Cold War? Or that this poor unfortunate man regularly finds himself battling (often after the populace themselves accidentally created them) atomic weapons, ghosts, alien menaces, superhumans, and the frustration of being a single parent to a delinquent teenager in a town where fitting in usually means opening your eyes to the impossible, each and every day? I mostly get a kick out of the little things, like the “Cafe Diem” where their chef can fix literally any meal you’d want on the planet, even if that means cheeseburgers with wild mushrooms and blowfish in ten minutes or less.

So, Sims 3 looks awfully fun, at least as far as the clothing designer and interior decorator in me is concerned. Don’t have the game myself, but that’s what stealing usage of your friends’ computers is for. Loving that you can change the colors and patterns of anything you wear or buy in the game, and choosing your Sim’s likes and dislikes has never been more precise. What their favorite food is, whether they’re a good kisser or afraid of water…hehe. Unfortunately, that makes killing them off through drowning in the backyard pool a little unavailable. Oh well, I’m sure they’ve created bigger and better ways of letting us be morbid cyber-gods.

One of my favorite pastimes when visiting restaurants or shops is slowly becoming photography– not of the food or goods themselves, but as a setting for my always-hungry and endlessly-curious toy naked mole rat to express his views of the world. I got the toy years ago when visiting the Oregon Zoo, mostly spiteful at the time that they did NOT have a toy lemming instead. This was long before Kim Possible aired with their mole rat Rufus, so don’t get the idea that I have some Disney cartoon pet fetish going on. I also tend to find it troublesome to bring a digital camera around in my already burdensome purse, plus turning it on, focusing it, making sure the picture’s perfect…blech. I’ll save that for more serious pictures, but my handy dandy iPhone does the trick for the mole rat adventures.

That, and I just have an impromptu thirst for showing the truth of the world through beady little eyes.

For instance:

Whether he’s eating Swedish meatballs…

Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes and lingonberry sauce at Ikea

Or Thai curry…

Chicken yellow curry with white rice and Thai iced tea at Blue Ocean in Astoria.

Or just good old crab cakes, Mole Rat has a diverse palate and a love to try new foods.

With garlic bread and sweet potato fries at Doogers in Seaside.

…Just so long as they don’t look too much like someone put his relatives in the blender.

Soylent pinks is mole rat!

Mole Rat is always trying to stand out in the rat race…

Get me out of here!

And moonlights as a crusader, saving his kin from being tied to railroad tracks and other evil hijinks.

Why do you guys have comfy napkin beds, anyway?

In short, he’s a well-rounded, hip young rodent who plans to go places in life. But only if they’re a warm climate or he’s got a sweater on, cause being furless can only take you so far.

And that’s my update for the day!

Pruitt-Igoe

Published on May 14, 2009 in Hobbies and Media. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , .

It’s a sad story, but the complex just fascinates me in sheer scope. More on that later.

I apologise for not having written sooner – I was just getting back into the groove of it, too. :P But what with finals, immediately having to move out, and then immediately having to start work? It’s almost a surprise I haven’t dropped dead yet.

Almost.

So I’m all moved out of my fraternity. It’s a weird feeling, but altogether I’m so entirely glad I got to live there, and at the same time I’m so entirely glad I’m getting my very own apartment. However, the reality is sinking in of all the preparation I need to undergo for this immense move (after the home move in the coming month, which is even MORE immense). I need to have a kitchen table+chairs set, hopefully donated by my mother when she gets a new set for our new home. I hope to inherit a full-size bed from my grandmother for Tricia and I to sleep on in our apartment as well. The mattress is apparently so new it’s practically never-been-used, so I’ll probably get some sheets and a pillowtop for it and we’ll be set. :) Then I can use my futon for a sofa, and I won’t need to spend my money on toooo much else for the apartment.

I have other plans for my money. :)

For instance, I want to get myself a cheap $299 camcorder for dicking around and youtubing… and while I’m at it, a larger external HDD to store the raw video on! And my brother Cody has been teaching me bass guitar, and I’d love to get my own bass. I’m proud of myself; I’m actually improving. Though, my fingers hurt. I have the bass and camcorder picked out, so click the links for pics and such. I even have the bass guitar case picked out, and be sure to look at the sexy red interior in the next picture one you open the link. :P

So, my job. To earn the money for this stuff, I’ve been working a LOT. All at Contract Callers Inc. Yep, I’m a debt collector this summer. Well, sorta. Where I work there are two kinds of debt collectors: 1st and 3rd party collectors. 3rd party collectors introduce themselves as debt collectors with Contract Callers Inc, and are the hardball guys. 1st party collectors introduce themselves as part of the clientele company (in my case, Orlando Utilities Commission) and I forward delinquent accounts to the 3rd party types. I basically just ask for money; the other guys DEMAND the money. I like my job, but I’m new and still nervous with it. My supervisor, Beau, is a really great guy for reassuring me though. :P And it helps that I’ve known the head honcho boss for about a decade through TaeKwonDo. ;D

So, Pruitt-Igoe. I looked into this recently after noticing one of the films I watched in Ozge’s film course at Tech was put, in its entirety, on youtube: Koyaanisqatsi. Click the damn link, I think this movie is haunting and yet beautiful. It has no plot, no dialogue, just images. Powerful images. And the music…. however, most people will probably recognize it now as WATCHMEN used it for Dr. Manhattan. :P Kinda makes sense, though. XD

But the scenes with Pruitt-Igoe show just… the scope of this public housing project and how badly it ended up being. How we, as a species, build and build and build… sometimes without thinking, and it’s all for nought. Makes you think, y’know.

Give the movie a glance, at least.

I need to call Tricia back. :P Until next time!

It’s called the Deluxe.

Published on November 19, 2008 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

So it’s halfway through November, and I’ve not written anything personal or decent since about August. I feel pretty rotten for that – I guess school and the social life got the better of me. And ever since my grandfather passed away, I’ve been feeling glum… I saw him about a week before he passed, while he was unconscious. He didn’t really… look human at that point. I miss him.

So my family is moving. Yup, moving – I’ve never moved – that house has been mine ever since I was born. So this is kind’ve a big change. From the sounds of things right now, my mother and father have found a house design and a lot for it to be built on, both of which they rather love. The reason for this move is because my grandmother… really probably shouldn’t live alone. It’s lonely, and… many other reasons. So she’ll live in her own mother-in-law suite attached to our new house by a little breezeway. :) I think we’re getting this house paid for in straight cash, so hell yeah, no mortgage. For anyone that lives in Augusta and (still) reads this, it should be just over I-20 in Grovetown… I’ll see the exact location over Thanksgiving break.

Otherwise, not much has changed. I did end up picking up a PS3, and I’ve acquired a little over a dozen Blu-rays by now, too (my most recents being WALL-E and Tropic Thunder yesterday). I really love the picture and sound quality… And LittleBigPlanet was a surprise bonus towards purchasing the PS3. I’ve gathered all of the items and survived each stage without dying. XD

I could ramble on for hours about all the little things in life that have occurred… But right now I’m excited for learning the bass guitar. Cody is helping me out and being rather patient, which is great. He lent me his Ibanez bass and an amp, so I’m learning. Slowly, but I’m learning. I’m going to save up and hopefully when I’m better and I have some cash I can get this amber beauty. It’ll be a while, though…

I’ve got a Twitter page now, so if you have one, check up on me!

I wish I had more content to put here, but right now I just feel kinda lacking in the “writing creativity” department. Ah well.