Fun in Flatland

Hahaha!

2009-10-13T09:46:00.000-05:00

Dullsville anesthetic.

2009-07-16T22:28:00.006-05:00

I haven't been interested in posting on the blog lately. Not much going on that I feel would be interesting for you guys to read. I'm not cooking much, I'm not taking many pictures lately, and I haven't gone anywhere. Bye for now. I'll be waking up soon.

2009-06-22T21:21:00.004-05:00

Peonies

2009-06-06T07:50:00.002-05:00

I'd like to have these planted in my yard. This group of five cut flowers is still looking nice after 5 days.

"Okay.. quiet please"...

2009-05-12T00:00:00.003-05:00

I went out for a walk today and came across this. I didn't have the good camera with me so I used the cell phone to capture the dozens of people standing around behind the scenes of this shoot. I want a job standing around behind the scenes of a t.v. shoot! Actually, no I don't. I'd be bored out of my mind. I would need to keep busy by checking for continuity of the shot or something.

In this first picture the action is taking place across the street near the brick archway.
Watching the taping at one of the monitors.
The chairs have Roomates written on them. I just looked it up and Wicki says it has been canceled?
In this picture the action is to the right of the lighting set up. When we left they were doing a 4th take on the same scene.. I think it was probably more like take 15 or higher.

Flatland has its own cute overload

2009-04-23T22:47:00.001-05:00

What more can I say?

Gotta clean that sh*t up

2009-04-21T12:37:00.003-05:00

I wonder if my neighborhood will allow me to have a burn pile in the back yard??

My office:

My office after cleaning:

Silliness

2009-04-16T17:55:00.002-05:00

Field Runner on the iTouch. I played this the other night, it's a crazy way to spend some time. I detached from electronics yesterday and most of today.. I'm going outside!!!!

Now shipping..

2009-04-06T21:20:00.002-05:00

Your CD has been gently taken from our CD Baby shelves with sterilized contamination-free gloves and placed onto a satin pillow.
A team of 50 employees inspected your CD and polished it to make sure
it was in the best possible condition before mailing.

Our packing specialist from Japan lit a candle and a hush fell over
the crowd as he put your CD into the finest gold-lined box that money
can buy.

We all had a wonderful celebration afterwards and the whole party
marched down the street to the post office where the entire town of
Portland waved "Bon Voyage!" to your package, on its way to you, in
our private CD Baby jet on this day, Thursday, April 2nd.

I hope you had a wonderful time shopping at CD Baby. We sure did. Your picture is on our wall as "Customer of the Year." We're all
exhausted but can't wait for you to come back to CDBABY.COM!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Sigh...

--
CD Baby

Edamame.. you'll laugh till you cry

2009-03-26T13:49:00.003-05:00

UPS visited the house while I was away. I love brown.. too bad he doesn't just show up on a whim though.. you always have to buy something first. Eh, details, details.
Here is my totally goofy key chain I got from ThinkGeek.com
3 Beans in a pod. Each one is retained by a thick elastic band, pops out of the shell and gets pulled back in when you release. Only the middle bean has a face. Mine seems to have tears streaming from its face... tears of happiness. It seems to be a theme of the packaging too.

Kind of like playing the lottery.. you never know what face you will get when you order the oh so fun to squeeze edamame key chain.
Totally unrelated is my new DVD from Jerry "Motorman" Palladino.
Never fear dropping your motorcycle or making that tight u-turn ever again!
These guys make the huge Electra Glide motorcycles look like nimble little fish slithering through a course of cones. Visit his website and see the tip of the week, and watch how they handle those large scoots.

Hello Sunshine

2009-03-24T18:37:00.007-05:00

I'm still in California & still being well fed ☺
Maybe there will be one more of these in my near future...

The recipe for this is easy. Toast a frozen waffle, spread on a generous dollop of low/or non fat cottage cheese, cover the cottage cheese with fresh or thawed berries.. presto! Sometimes we sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on the berries, but often they are sweet enough. This makes a great breakfast, or dessert. We often make this for dessert if we've had a light dinner.

My mom has a green thumb.

After I took this picture I realized that these flowers are the manifestations of my mom's personality: sunny, colorful, and cheerful. Thanks for everything, mom! ♥ ♥ ♥

California blogging

2009-03-20T12:42:00.005-05:00

Went to lunch with mom then over to the Dogwood Market

This is part of the wild flock of parrots that lives in mom's neighborhood. They come here to bathe in the water on the roof of our building. I think this group is mainly Conures.
Cooking Mama doing her thing..
"Cracker," I took this picture for you.

Sooo disappointing isn't it?

2009-03-08T21:19:00.006-05:00

Here you are coming back day after day hoping to read some witty blurb I've fabricated and I have the same ol' motorcycle photographs and nothing else.

I swiped this picture just for you since you deserve to look at something other than motorcycles for days on end. Thank you lol cats for the picture.

Next week: motorcycles

All you need is a Ninja and a dream

2009-02-22T22:35:00.005-05:00

Speaking of having a Ninja and a dream.. have you seen the 2009 650 Ninja?

Read and see a few more pictures here.

You can quote me on that

2009-02-22T22:16:00.004-05:00

Reach out and touch spinach. Things go better with cactus. Motor oil, I want it all. Only a fool breaks the feather. It's a new sponge everyday. Semper Vapour.

My favorite so far: All you need is a Ninja and a dream. Amen to that!!

Concoct your own slogans here.

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T16:25:00.001-05:00

Correction posted

2009-02-09T20:49:00.003-05:00

Regarding the previous article:

Anonymous said...: Ben Jaques is the author of ColorsDraw, a Java based repainting application for paintings done in Colors!. Colors! was developed by Jens Andersson. Check http://colors.collectingsmiles.com/about.php

Thanks anonymous.

More drawing with the DS

2009-02-08T22:41:00.007-05:00

Back around Christmas time when I wrote about doodling on my Nintendo DS I may have mentioned that I was waiting to install another drawing program that was a little more sophisticated than what was included in the Brain Challenge game. I finally got the R4 card for the DS.. along with the software to program the micro SD for it as well.

I crossed over to the dark side to use a PC momentarily to program the micro SD card I need for the R4. This process was easy once I watched this little video that some guy made and posted on the web page where I bought the R4. My assistant was along on the assignment as note taker.. together we make an unbeatable team!
Finally up and running this is the first screen you see when you power up the DS. Big THANKS to these guys who made the how-to videos on the R4 card because they saved me from lots of frustration and head scratching in figuring out how to make this run.
Ahh, the Colors program at last! Colors was made by Ben Jacques, and this is his website. If this application interests you and you have a DS or iPhone/ iTouch you can buy the Colors app thru the Apple iTunes store. If you have a Nintendo DS you can download a "lite" version from here.
Once you start the program you see this welcome page. Below is a picture of the color picker, pen size slider, and stylus pressure slider. On the upper part of the DS screen is a diagram of the various tools accessed by the toggle switch or buttons.
Here is a quick sketch of one of my birds. One neat thing that this program does is it records your pen strokes while you draw. After you save the drawing you can press a playback button to see a little movie of how your drawing was made. I can't show that part yet because I don't have the right program on the PC to change a .drw file into an .avi file.
Somewhat blurry, but you get the idea. If I come up with an interesting drawing I'll film it with my digital camera so you can see the movie that the DS records. In the mean time take a look at the Colors gallery and the amazing art that people are creating on their DS, iPhone & iTouch.

Daily Parelli

2009-02-05T13:06:00.005-05:00

I have crawled out from beneath my rock to find that Parelli Natural Horsemanship has a blog.

Visit Daily Parelli to learn what Natural Horsemanship is all about.

Parelli logo used without permission and copied from Daily Parelli website.

Tweet!

2009-02-04T21:19:00.003-05:00

Make twitter. The magazine also has a blog.

The image is from the twitter blog background.

Thanks to Poopeeshmoopee's twitter for this. :))

Top 100 foods- and no, you can't haz cheezburger.

2009-02-04T17:59:00.004-05:00

To see a larger picture of this click here.

Thanks to Absolute Valency for posting this.

How to waste pass time creatively

2009-02-04T16:16:00.003-05:00

The symmetry tool in this drawing program called Sumo Paint is pretty cool. I made these on my laptop w/o the use of a tablet and stylus. Drawing with a stylus would be much easier. I managed to spend plenty of time doodling online the other day. Check out Sumo Paint and become a slacker like me.

And speaking of being a slacker... the Santa Fe pics aren't up b/c I've not downloaded them from the camera. I'm mildly paranoid that if I post nice pictures some troll will grab them and use them for themselves. Paranoia or valid concern???

I just got slapped in the face

2009-01-29T10:16:00.005-05:00

01/28/2009 23:19:37

"When people don’t express themselves, they die one piece at a time. You’d be shocked at how many adults are really dead inside - walking through their days with no idea who they are, just waiting for a heart attack or cancer or a Mack truck to come along and finish the job. It’s the saddest thing I know. "

--Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson

fancyfree isthisblood (via strangeland) (via noppppp)

Found on Ultraviolencia via iheartit via Absolute Valency via Fabulous Valency

Another addition to the blog roll

2009-01-25T22:38:00.003-05:00

I'm really liking this blog. I hope you guys like it too.

I've been traveling again, which is why there hasn't been much blogging going on. I'd like to post from the road but I find that flying with the laptop to be more trouble than it's worth, so I press on without the technology and make mental notes about future blog posts and accompanying photos instead. Boring, no? Here is a tease from this trip:This is the San Francisco de Asis church in Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico as painted by Georgia O'Keeffe. Stay tuned.. more pictures coming.

If you like love garlic

2009-01-10T12:53:00.004-05:00

Then you will love this...um, if you also like Feta cheese.
Here is the scoop: Take a cube of Feta cheese and cut it up into cubes -doing so makes it easier to blend in the garlic while you mash the cheese with a fork. If your cheese has been out of the refrigerator for a little while this isn't necessary.
Squeeze in 1 or 2 cloves of garlic on top of the cheese. Start mashing it up with a fork. Add a dollop of mayonnaise - this is only to hold the mixture together so go easy with it. You don't want the cheese crumbly, but you don't want this to turn all creamy with the mayo either.
Serve on tomato slices. That's it!
I have recently used the Feta/garlic mixture on pasta with pitted and chopped black olives. Think nice olives, not canned. If you have a market with an olive bar look for pitted Niçoise, or herb covered black olives. I'm sure the green olives would work also if you prefer those. Yum!

Hi Guys

2009-01-03T20:49:00.005-05:00

I'm back in Flatland after visiting my mum in California. I had a nice Christmas and quiet New Year's eve. How 'bout you? I took some pictures that I haven't downloaded yet, so sit tight and think about your diet resolutions for the coming year while you wait. ☺ I'll be back soon with the photographic update
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UPDATE!
As I mentioned above, I went to ~~Mexico~~ California to visit my mum for Christmas.
The weather on Christmas day started out rainy, but as you see the sky cleared up and the weather was really beautiful for the remainder of my stay.

Here is our mini Christmas tree
When I was a kid my grandmother would send us several Santons De Provence each Christmas. We would get different people every time until the entire village was recreated. My mum arranges the hand painted ceramic figures around the base of the tree.

And speaking of my mum.. here she is! Well only part of her since she is in ~~the witness protection program~~ No. ~~her green card expired~~ No. I just thought it'd be funny. The invisible mum sure can cook though..
here she is rustling up some Cornish hens. They are stunt hens - no actual hens were hurt in the making of this blog post.

~~Delicious!!~~ I mean that fake food really looks good doesn't it? Just like going to little Tokyo and seeing the imitation food in the restaurant windows.
I bet Cooking Mama is fun, but I have the real thing- and that is waaay better than what you get with the Wii. Here we have a breakfast for dinner on mom's nice Portmerion dinnerware.

When I wasn't eating or cooking, or eating or cooking, I would play with my DS. I got the Brain Challenge game, and the relaxation section has a koi pond where one can play with the fish. The fish follow the stylus and you hear blurbling water sounds as the stylus moves. I needed more stimulation...

I preferred to go to the creativity section to doodle. I can draw my own fish here if I want.
I really am an extraordinary artist don't you agree?
Then I'd go challenge myself at maths or logic games and be reminded that I am an extraordinary dunce at math. Here my "coach" is telling me I've done a good job. Thanks! I'm still earning a C or worse. Just like grade school all over again. Sigh. Sigh. Siiiigh!
Mom got a blooming tea for Christmas. Here is one of the teas we tried. It was a very pretty flower when it expanded and tasted like green tea.
We didn't spend all our time sitting on the couch playing with the DS or cooking and eating. Occasionally we would get out and take walks to the post office or grocery store. Sometimes I would go out and take some pictures like I did here on my way back from taking out the trash.

And from our walks around the neighborhood...
One house we pass on our walks has lots of garden gnomes all around the front yard. The owner takes time to pose them very carefully based on what they are holding in their hands. This one was my favorite -obviously he is the lookout for the rest of the group.
New Year's Day! You can't be a few miles away from the rose parade and not tune into to watch it! Poor picture unfortunately, but a really pretty float.

Meep!

2008-12-04T14:14:00.002-05:00

I have a new Christmas ornament

Let the awwww begin

2008-11-06T21:05:00.002-05:00

Big news: I am 4 weeks old now!

Single scoop of lime please

2008-11-05T19:47:00.002-05:00

Okay, here is something to look at while I think about my next post.
2009 Kawasaki Ninja 650

HI MOM! ;)

uh....

2008-11-05T19:34:00.002-05:00

Are you tired of looking at the meaty lasagna? Me too, but at the moment I don't have any great photographs to post or ~~lies~~ stories to tell. So what's a blogger to do?

More culinary experiments in Flatland

2008-10-27T21:16:00.005-05:00

Alternate title: Is that a meaty lasagna you have there or are you happy to see me?
I had the notion to make a lasagna with polenta instead of pasta. Here is a cooked polenta with sun dried tomatoes, herbs and cheese. I have spread it on a foil lined cookie sheet for it to cool off and firm up. When it was cool enough to touch, I flattened it with my hands to spread it out and make it evenly thin all around.
Vegetarians avert your eyes. This is Angus ground beef 86/14, quite lean, with thyme, oregano, bay leaf, salt & pepper.
The pre-cooked onions and mushrooms, and 2 cloves of garlic.
Onion and mushroom mixture added to beef. Not pictured is the tomato sauce I poured in a few minutes later. Cook till most of the water has evaporated.
Time to make the layers: begin with polenta base
add meat & sauce mixture, dot with ricotta cheese..
cover the ricotta cheese with mozzarella slices. Repeat.
Stratum lasagnum: Polenta, meat, cheese, polenta, meat, cheese. This is not on the weight watchers menu.
Final layer covered with grated Parmesan. Place this in preheated 350 degree oven for 25 minutes or until the mozzarella is melted.
This is the polenta I used. I didn't notice I bought a flavored variety- it was good, but I wonder how the plain polenta would have been.
Be sure and have some wine while you cook. ;-)
It's okay to peek, especially in the name of photography for blogging!
The final product. Melty, cheesy, meaty, & good.

I'm hungry..

2008-10-27T10:50:00.002-05:00

..and I need feathers, or someone to knit me a scarf and hat. Please?

A few videos worth watching

2008-10-25T12:45:00.003-05:00

There isn't much I can add to what Bill Moyers has so eloquently stated in his T.V. journal. So without further ado please go and visit Bill Moyers Journal and watch the video about the making of the movie Playing for Change, then go to the Playing for Change website and get more information if you are interested.

A book written just for me

2008-10-25T11:36:00.004-05:00

Brought to us by SPOGG the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar. Hopefully I will benefit from reading this book as I'm sure my blog is overflowing with punctuation and grammatical errors. Help me SPOGG!

Here is the link to Amazon.

Unplugged from the internet today

2008-10-22T22:50:00.003-05:00

I got this book earlier today and just finished it. What a sweet story!

If you want to read a blurb about it you can clicquez this link to Amazon.com
.......

I keep looking at this and wondering what to do next. I have made changes to the figure in the lower right, but haven't photographed it yet because I'm too embarrassed to show it. I am stuck. help!

Don't do crock

2008-10-21T21:47:00.004-05:00

Crocs... they're ugly on me and ugly on you too Steve-o. Ugly, ugly, ugly.
They are comfortable though, I'll give 'em that much.. but uglyyyyyyyy!

Sorry doods I didn't take this picture and I'm unable to give proper attribution.

Reality (my reality)

2008-10-19T22:23:00.003-05:00

See more HERE.

Started another painting

2008-10-16T14:22:00.002-05:00

I don't know where I'm going with it yet.

The colors on the left side are left overs from the camera painting. I tried to mute them somewhat with white. The green was going to be used on the camera background before I changed my mind and went with the orange. There is a female figure penciled in on the bottom right. If you click on the picture you can see it a little better. I'm stuck at the moment.

Camera 3

2008-10-12T20:13:00.006-05:00

Orange background after deciding that I didn't want to try and mix up a chartreuse-ish green. I don't want to appear like I am copying ideas here, but I knew that orange would make this pop nicely. I'm still undecided as to the shadowing on the lens but tonight I made it more purple so it would have the same feel as the rest of the camera. Maybe the trick is to make the side of the camera where the strap is a bit darker too. I'd like to know what ideas you have, so feel free to dispense your 2¢ in the comments section. Tanks!

...oh dear

2008-10-09T14:24:00.004-05:00

anyone want to place a bet on how this will turn out?

Keep coming back for more suckage.

Camera

2008-10-08T22:30:00.006-05:00

Far from finished. This is the camera from the picture in the previous post. Done in the similar style to Raymi's painting although I'm not sure since I have never asked her how she works. Mostly I want to say that she inspired me to try painting. I like her style. She seems to go for it without too much fussing or sketching-- again I don't know if this is true or not since I've never asked, but in any case watching her paint made me ask myself "what the hell am I so hung up about?" Click the link below to see her chair painting. Click on her name above to go to her main blog page.

Raymi's chair

A sturdy travel companion

2008-10-08T14:29:00.002-05:00

This is my first serious camera purchased for me by my dad before I went to live with family in France for a year. It was a big deal for me to get this since I'm sure we didn't have that much money for such expensive things. I'll cherish it forever.

End

2008-10-06T09:39:00.005-05:00

The poll is now CLOSED. Thank you for your ~~perspir~~ participation.

Things that had nothing to do with the other post are moved into a post of their own and given an extrodinarily long title.

2008-10-05T22:23:00.002-05:00

Remember these?
Not my EKG, but prolly more like my brain waves as I attempt to RElearn some crochet stitches for the 1000,000,000,000,000,000,00 th time!!! AAAaargh!

Food porn update

2008-10-05T22:20:00.001-05:00

90 minutes later through the magic of modern day technologies I am able to share with the entire blogosphere my recently procured food stuffs: Grilled vegetables salad, General Tso's surprise, pan fried noodles with vegetables. I had a little bit of the Gen. Tso's and grilled vegetables and am saving the rest for tomorrow.

I hope you enjoyed the amazing, hot, fresh, up to the minute blogging . I mean, I dug out my Etch-a-sketch, and ran out for dinner. Now I need to take a break from being so staggeringly awesome. Later.

What did you do today?

2008-10-05T19:25:00.004-05:00

I'd love to have more of this again tonight. This was yesterday's lunch/dinner. Very yummy!

General Tso's surprise- all vegetarian too. I enjoy a ride on the veg-o wagon from time to time.
Yesss! I just found the to go menu I brought home... they are open till 10:00 P.M. tonight. I'm going to bail on this post and go get some munchies.

The Poll is still open.

2008-10-05T13:46:00.007-05:00

Cooking and art/processes are tied at one vote each. It's not too late to cast a vote! Thank you ♥to those of you ♥who have voted. ♥♥♥♥♥

:::Update::: Breaking News:::
TWO votes are in!

Meet a friend

2008-10-03T21:36:00.001-05:00

Here is one of my bird friends. Isn't she pretty?

Oh people..

2008-10-02T21:57:00.006-05:00

Why do I bother?

I'm tempted to end this blog and do my own thing elsewhere so I don't get any expectations from you visit the blog several times a day but say/ do nothing type people.

☹ ☹ ☹ ☹ ☹

I'm looking for inspiration

2008-10-02T09:33:00.003-05:00

Don't be shy click on one choice, click on vote, then click view to see the results.
No one will spam you [Mom], you won't be hijacked to some bad website [Mom], it won't give your computer a virus [Mom]. And you will be helping me out by inspiring me -- especially if you choose to write other ideas in the comments section. :-) Thanks!

Lime bars- a culinary thrill in the making

2008-10-01T15:37:00.006-05:00

Here is the crust for the lime bars. Butter and sugar-- gulp! Very good.. and I have to remind myself NOT to pig out when the bars are done. For those at home taking notes I am using an 8x8x2 pan.
Here is the lime, egg, more sugar, and a little flour mixture that is poured into the crust. The brown speckles come from coconut that I swiped from a coconut tapioca pudding mix. [Thievery in the kitchen is good.]
Uh oh.. not enough crust-o. Check out my diagram of crustological stratum. B.t.w I hope you all appreciate the extra time spent photo-chopping pictures on this blog.
The pudding which is now minus a few pinches of toasted coconut.
Hey now, nice tan!! This looks nothing like my fellow blogger's version of lime bars. Check it out, and don't tell me it's due to the fact I don't have a green parrot in the photo.
The tan is due to the fact I blog and surf the web while cooking. This, boys and girls is a no-no. Just look at the evidence:
Since I have no Severe macaw to sample my dessert and tell you how delightful it is I will have to take on the responsibility myself. First impressions.. Ow it's HOT! Kidding. It is very cake like at the edges and quite moist towards the middle. Very limey, and not too sweet ( I couldn't stand the thought of adding 1 1/2 cups of sugar so I made the filling with only 1 cup.) As if 1 cup of sugar isn't enough already. I'm sorry I didn't have the lime zest to throw in there, but limes were too expensive when I went shopping for them.
I have to say that Nellie and Joe's key lime juice is pretty good to use in this recipe- and for key lime pie for that matter. It is unsweetened and contains some lime floaties too (don't ask me what they are as the fluid isn't clear)--- okay this sounding like a toxic waste liquid. Back to the lime bars... The final vote: very yummy, but don't eat too many -remember there is a whole stick of butter in that crust!

Lentils are falling

2008-10-01T15:21:00.002-05:00

Why is it one seldom if ever hears a weatherman say "hail to the size of lentils"? I suppose it isn't as dramatic as pea sized, or nickle sized.. or even hail the size of golf balls!
I had lentil size hail. Ho hum. I'll let you squint at my photograph to spot it.

More fun in the kitchen

2008-10-01T12:17:00.001-05:00

I'm going to make lime bars today.
Meanwhile a thunderstorm is looming at the edge of my neighborhood. It has gotten very dark all of a sudden.

We're both damp :)

2008-10-01T12:13:00.002-05:00

My friend and I had a spray bottle shower.

She has a brief post about the event on her blog.

One day in May

2008-09-29T22:30:00.005-05:00

I haven't done much the past few days except roast garlic, bake beet & carrot crisps, then eat lots of garlic and beet & carrot crisps. Being avid readers of the Flatland blog you know this already- so let me tell you about one day in May when I was in the Bay Area at the family compound, lounging poolside behind high stucco walls.

I soaked up the bright sunshine, and filled my lungs with warm, dry air as I prowled around the estate with my camera. However I had this odd feeling that I was being followed..

He assured me however that his fair coloration would not draw attention as we wandered about the property together. He was right. He was a pasty-blond kitty and blended in nicely with the surroundings.

Since the fauna had found me, I moved on to the flora..

Then kitty and I sought shelter from the hot sunshine and played guitar hero together. He really had an advantage over me with those dexterous, pink paw pads. My score was abysmal.

Beets and tree leaves

2008-09-28T21:45:00.004-05:00

I enjoy finding new blogs to read because I often learn new things when I do. Thanks to reading the Parrot Musings blog I have learned about a new cook book titled How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman.
The first thing I tried were the beet crisps I had read about on Parrot Musings blog. The beets turned out very good... just not crispy enough. I think next time I will make thinner slices in spite of Mr. Bittman's advice to keep them at 1/8 inch thickness.

Here they are very lightly coated in corn oil and spread out on a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper.
12 minutes later they are out and ready to be turned over. I let them go 12 more minutes and then turned them again... still not enough crunchiness going on. I think a wire mesh cooking sheet might also be a good idea, but I'll start with a thinner slice on the beets next time.
While the beets were baking the sun was lighting up the tops of the trees and I ran out to take a few pictures. We had some passing showers this afternoon and I thought the bright green of the leaves were so pretty against the dark sky. Unfortunately the contrast between sky and trees isn't very clear in these shots. You'll have to take my word for it :)

Going outside

2008-09-28T15:35:00.002-05:00

I took my little friend outside today to enjoy some bright sunshine that was peeking between the dark gray clouds. She really enjoyed it and wasn't worried at all, in fact she ruffled up so much she reminded me of a little puffer fish all inflated. She basked for a little while even raising her wings but not fully extending them. Then the first airplane flew over and that made her wary, then another one flew over a few minutes later and it was much closer to the house, so that pretty much broke the calm we had. Still, she wasn't very worried so that's a good sign. I took her back in while it was still a nice experience for her.

I'm working on touching her all over her body, under her wings, to prepare her for wearing the harness. I want to introduce it to her over time so it won't worry her and then we can look forward to regular outings.

Craving some Allium sativum L.

2008-09-28T15:12:00.003-05:00

I have this Middle Eastern herb mix called Za'atar that I like to mix with olive oil and some fresh garlic puree that we buy from the Lebanese Taverna market. I eat the herb/garlic mixture on a pita bread. Today I didn't have the garlic spread so I cut a clove in half and pressed it into my mixture of herbs and oil. I spread this on the pita and put it under the broiler till the bread got a little crispy on the edges.

So good and garlicky.. but apparently that wasn't enough to satisfy my craving for garlic. So I put these guys in the oven with a nice drizzle of olive oil and a dash of salt. They are SO good...I've eaten 5 cloves already! Something tells me I'm going to ~~smell~~ be very aromatic this week.

Wet bird

2008-09-27T22:20:00.002-05:00

How does that saying go.. angrier than a wet hen? She wasn't angry, but I'm not sure she liked her spray shower initially so I didn't push it. She was okay sitting by the window and preening later on though.
She is finally getting used to the cameras I keep sticking in her face too, poor bird. I won't use the flash because I'm sure it's very uncomfortable for her eyes. She definitely has moments when she does not want to be petted- an odd characteristic for me to get used to when I think about how snugly my cockatoo was. When V is uncovered in the mornings she is very social and chirpy, even pacing the floor of her cage to be let out. This is the time she really likes her head rubbed, although tonight she was quite affectionate and let me rub her head and chin for awhile before settling down for the night.

And what lies at the end

2008-09-25T20:16:00.003-05:00

Hey kids today I learned the answer to one of life's mysteries. The answer to that question asked time and time again after a brilliant burst of sunshine peeks out between clouds heavy and dark with rain. "What lies at the end of the rainbow?" A construction crane.

Outa the 'burbs (at last)

2008-09-25T13:01:00.002-05:00

As we're standing around watching these little dudes run around pecking at flies and bits of sawdust my vet says to me, "we call this redneck television".

Who's out there?

2008-09-22T21:48:00.000-05:00

Ready to dumpster dive?

2008-09-22T20:47:00.001-05:00

Since I have lots of pictures I want to upload I'm going to experiment doing it via Flickr to see what happens.

What's your name?

2008-09-22T09:45:00.002-05:00

If I were born to Sarah Pallin my name would be Beans Harpoon Pallin. Or so says the Pallin name generator.

Nothing

2008-09-22T08:26:00.003-05:00

I've got nothing to post this morning, however I will be taking a drive into the country later on today. Stay tuned for photos.

Moroccan Lamb and Lentil Stew with Minted Yogurt

2008-09-19T21:22:00.003-05:00

"Cumin, cinnamon, and tart-sweet prunes give this exotic stew North African flavor. Depending upon how much lamb you include, you can make either a lentil stew with lamb or a lamb stew with lentils. The eggplant dissolves into a puree that naps the lentils and thickens the sauce. Serve the stew on its own or accompanied by couscous or rice."

Ready.. set...
ingredients list and directions are at the end of the post
I thought I was silly for keeping chopsticks around, but they turn out to be very handy for mixing things such as the oil in fresh jar of peanut butter-- or this: yogurt and mint for the stew. The chopstick allows you to whisk in ingredients easily I think especially when you have a small container and not a lot of product to blend. Here I only have 1/2 cup of yogurt and a generous handful of mint.
After the cooking process: the eggplant with cinnamon sprinkled on top.
Everything mixed together. This dish is not very photogenic!...
..not even with natural sunlight on my dish. It is very tasty however and at dinner I served it over couscous with the mint yogurt on the side. Now for the recipe...
Copied without permission from Lorna Sass' Pressure Perfect.

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped onions
1 1/2 teaspoons whole cumin seeds
2 cups water
1 cup dried brown lentils, picked over and rinsed
12 pitted prunes*
1 to 2 pounds boneless lamb shoulder, trimmed and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 1/2 pounds eggplant, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus more to taste
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice
*check them for pits!
For the minted yogurt:
1/2 cup plain yogurt [you will want more!]
2 tablespoons minced fresh mint or 1 teaspoon dried mint.(you can empty a teabag)[her advice]

Heat oil in a 6-quart or larger pressure cooker. Add the onions and cumin seeds and cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently for 1 minute. Stir in the water, lentils, prunes, and lamb. Set the eggplant on top. Sprinkle with the salt and cinnamon.
Lock the lid in place. Over high heat bring to high pressure. Reduce the heat just enough to maintain high pressure and cook for 12 minutes. Turn off the heat. Allow the pressure to come down naturally, about 10 minutes. Remove the lid, tilting it away from you to allow steam to escape. Skim off any fat that rises to the top. Stir well to blend in the eggplant. Add more cinnamon and salt, if needed. Stir in the lemon zest and enough of the lemon juice to balance the sweetness of the prunes.
To prepare the Minted Yogurt, stir the yogurt and mint together. Serve each portion of stew with a generous dollop of minted yogurt on top. [blend the yogurt and mint together ahead of time so flavors have time to mix]

I may as well keep cooking

2008-09-19T20:59:00.005-05:00

I need to add more liquid to the mega vegetable soup that was made a few nights ago ( because I was a pig and had too much, leaving the non-chicken-eating dude with little leftovers). This is a perfect way to use up all the vegetables I have left over. This time no chicken, but little squashlettes, green beans, potatoes, lots of carrots, celery, onion, salt & pepper, oregano, bay leaves, thyme. I still have a ton of carrots left, so V, Aristoitle, and I will be enjoying them.

My windows aren't that clean.. so what's happening?

2008-09-18T10:49:00.009-05:00

While I was typing the groovy bird eating broccoli post I heard a loud knock at the window followed by a thud to the deck. Poor little goldfinch! So far there have been no fatalities only very stunned birds. This one got placed under the potted tree until it recovered.
V was in her house when this happened, so I was able to go outside right away and pick the finch up. I washed my hands with lots of soap and hot water afterwards, got my camera to get these pictures then showered and threw my clothes in the wash. I'm not taking any chances with disease from outdoor birds and V.
Some days I have two or three birds hit the windows. Not all of them occur over the back deck, so I don't go looking for them. Poor little birds.

Green on green with beans

2008-09-18T10:49:00.003-05:00

I've tried something new with the V today. This morning for breakfast she got a serving of Bean Supreme.. a mix of beans, grains, nuts, and raisins. You add boiling water to the mixture and let it steep, then drain off excess water and let it cool before serving. I also added some cooked carrot from the mega vegetable soup from last night as well as some pieces of fresh kale and broccoli. She is such a good eater! Sometimes all it takes to get her interested in her food is changing the location of the bowl!

I moved her up to the play gym of her cage and put the bowl up there too. After looking down at the food for awhile she climbed off the perch and sat on the edge of the cage and tried her new food.

Here is a broccoli eating action shot with a heavy dose of 'art sauce' applied to the background using photoshop. Groovy man, groovy.

A little chicken and mega vegetable soup

2008-09-17T20:42:00.006-05:00

Welcome to the Flatland kitchen where appliances get dusted off periodically and put to use. This evening we dust off the PRESSURE COOKER! Wait!... don't turn the channel to another blog just yet. This is the lazy person's guide to good soup, and I'm one of the laziest non cookers I know.
First get together your preferred cast of characters. My choice tonight consists of: leeks, onions, celery, carrot, mini saucer shaped zucchini, garlic, potatoes, broth, peppercorns, bay leaf, salt and chicken. Dust off the mandoline and go to town slicing away at the vegetables.

I didn't add any legumes that might make a foam on top of the liquid, but if you do add them be sure to avoid over filling the pot. I came right up to the 2/3 mark on the inside of my pot- that is liquid and vegetables combined*.
Then bring the pressure cooker to its high pressure setting ( on this pot it is the second red ring), and run to the other side of the kitchen to observe from a safe distance. Kidding! Although as you can see in this low quality pic the pressure is higher than the 2nd ring so I let out some steam by pushing down on the valve stem with a wooden spoon until it sat just at the second mark. There were no explosions this evening.
This is how things look at the end of the cooking time (12 minutes!) plus the natural release time (maybe 10-15 min) which means turn off flame, remove from hot burner and wait till pressure valve stem falls to the no pressure setting. I don't know the exact timing of this last part as I was surfing the web.
Ah! If only you had blogger smell-o-vision. Deeelishus!
*In the beginning I was unsure about the meaning of this mark, thinking it was liquids only.

Like pre-school but without the children

2008-09-17T12:09:00.008-05:00

Back to the drawing board after a long time of not working on this project.
I think color highlights will be a good way to make parts of this piece stand out. I start with the water soluble wax Caran D'ache crayons but they are too stiff and large for the small areas I want to color.
The Staedtler Karat Aquarell pencils are perfect for this project. The point can be sharpened just as a traditional pencil, but the difference between normal color pencils and these comes with the addition of water. Here I am using droplets of water that are on the edge of my cup. It is just enough liquid to make the colors soluble.

A wet, fine tip paintbrush helps blend the colors but in most places I leave them rough looking and not blended. The gesso background is keeping the results from looking like watercolors- which is normally the case with these pencils. I like the look so far...
I just don't know how much to fill in. In the beginning I thought a few areas of color here and there, now I'm not sure how much more to do. Any suggestions?

Nice colors in sunlight

2008-09-15T13:00:00.005-05:00

It's really difficult* to get a good picture of the little green. :)
*using a point and shoot, one hand, no tripod, and a squirmy bird.

Sunday night to end- mortal eyes admire the light- captured with a phone

2008-09-14T21:52:00.007-05:00

A warm and breezy evening and a beautiful sunset.

While I watched the sunset colors change the moon came up, veiled by clouds.

Colors dance in West
moon begins to share its light
silent horse draws near

Old post and a trip to Reykjavik

2008-09-13T11:45:00.006-05:00

I just edited a really, really old post. Most of my readers haven't gone through much of my archives so I don't know what made me to do that. Speaking of old posts.. in June I had mentioned getting some concert footage posted of the Nátturá concert with Sigur Rós and Björk
but YouTube warns about posting stuff like that so I don't know- maybe I'll play it safe and just show some photos I took of the webcast instead.

The venue: Botanical Garden on Laugavegur
Sigur Rós. Lead vocalist Jón Thor Birgisson

The guys in white are members of a marching band

Makes for an eerie, interesting sound

Björk at right joins Sigur Rós
Björk caught in a cross fade

I took so many pictures of Björk but she was always a blur of motion, or she had her eyes closed and mouth wide open. She might approve of this one.
Sigur Rós means Victory Rose in Icelandic.

Takk!

Like moths to a flame

2008-09-12T20:20:00.005-05:00

Here they come.. no not the waves, the contestants for the annual Darwin awards. This year the contestants are entering the competition from Galveston Texas.

"Onlookers pose for pictures as waves generated by Hurricane Ike crash against the sea wall in Galveston, Texas. The main body of the storm, now rated as Category2 with winds above 100 mph, was expected to hit Galveston late today.
September 12, 2008"
Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Times. Photographer Larry W. Smith/EPA

"Steve Owen, right, and his son Austin, 13, are swamped by a wave from Hurricane Ike while standing on the sea wall in Galveston, Texas." September 12, 2008
Photograph: L.M. Otero / Associated Press. Los Angeles Times

The hawklette has arrived

2008-09-10T17:50:00.002-05:00

Very tired after her trip from the aviary to the vet and home. She is perching up high in her cage and napping. You can read her point of view on the day on her blog.

Misc. from the day

2008-09-08T19:57:00.003-05:00

Hey look at this cool sculpture I discovered.

It happens to be the spare tire on my trailer! :D
Vegetable overload for dinner with steamed broccoli, zucchini a la mom's recipe, and portion of fresh egg noodle pasta. So healthy!-- don't worry there is ice cream in the house.
In bird news: this little kook was all over me again today. I was able to hold her upside down in my palm, then on her side while she continued to nibble on the bird necklace I wear. She did not want to go back to her cage when I offered, so I had her and the V together taking turns petting them. I don't know how to articulate this, but I always feel so fortunate when animals choose to come to me or stay with me.

calcium carbonate

2008-09-07T22:59:00.003-05:00

The stormy day

2008-09-06T21:25:00.002-05:00

We got lots of rain today. Here are two birds taking shelter in the redbud tree outside my kitchen window. One bird is at the top middle of the frame and had the better shelter. The lower bird flew off after enduring large droplets of water running off the leaves when the wind blew.
The storm passed and left us with pretty cloud formations and nice colors in the sunset.

My green hawklette

2008-09-05T17:30:00.001-05:00

Would you do this?

2008-09-05T17:06:00.003-05:00

I would do this. A thin layer of polar fleece under a dry suit should do the trick, don't you think?

From the last issue of Iceland Review 46.02 2008

A glass of champagna?

2008-09-03T21:11:00.003-05:00

Dinner by candlelight this evening, courtesy of my power company. For some reason the experience made me think of the Saturday Night Live skit, The Continental. Watch it if you have a few minutes Christopher Walken is great.

Christopher Walken - The Continental @ Yahoo! Video

So long

2008-09-02T14:12:00.004-05:00

How long?
I am embarrassed to admit that I had to go back to my book to remember how to make the stitch.

I am crocheting this with a Tunisian Purl and Tunisian Simple stitches. I decided to vary the simple stitch with the purl due to the way the simple stitch curls. The simple stitch looks really nice and it is faster (for me) to make but I didn't like the way it rolled up. I started this project to practice so that I could make a baby blanket. Maybe I've practiced enough?

Sunday, August 31st. Goodbye.

2008-08-31T23:04:00.004-05:00

My greenwing macaw friend went home to his new family today. I was really lucky that I was at the aviary early enough this afternoon to be able to pet him and say goodbye. His new family is really nice and I think he will be just fine joining their flock at home. As he was being carried to the door he was looking back at us with his head feathers all ruffled up as baby macaws are so good at doing, and that was my last goodbye look at him.

Making toys and drawings

2008-08-31T12:42:00.004-05:00

Yesterday I made two new toys for you-know-who. I hope they are lovingly chewed up and enjoyed to the last thread and splinter. As I was making the toys I was thinking of my big greenwing macaw friend and the large toys I would make for him if he were mine . He would need lots of very large blocks of untreated lumber to chew, and the cotton ropes would have to be a larger diameter too. I hope he does well in his new home. His personality is so laid back I'd hate to see that change.

This drawing is coming along. I don't work on it every day, and when I do I place some tracing paper over the top and draw on it first to get into the groove, so to speak. Sometimes going away from a piece causes one to loose the fluid feeling that happens when in the middle of work. Starting up again after even a short break can be awkward and can look really different than what has already been drawn.
At least this is what happens to me sometimes on these kinds of drawings. Even though this is a free form drawing I would like for my hand to feel the same when returning to work. If you ski, skate, or ride a motorcycle think of the feeling of making a smooth, fluid, series of 'S' turns where the movement happens without you having to think too much about the input. The effortless fluid feel is what I am referring to. Does this analogy make sense?

A few nights ago

2008-08-31T12:23:00.004-05:00

We finally got a good soaking rain a few nights ago.
Do you see a cat's paw in the picture? That is my assistant who stops and looks at the same things I stop and look at.

smile

2008-08-30T01:09:00.001-05:00

Head rubs bring out a smile in everyone, even little macaws.

All is well

2008-08-28T12:58:00.003-05:00

This little goldfinch hit my window this morning and ended up in a crumpled heap on the deck. I picked her up and she got cozy in the palm of my hand. The very tip of her upper mandible took the hit, but she will be okay.

Ready to go back outside.

I spy

2008-08-27T21:06:00.001-05:00

Like father like daughter? Maybe.

2008-08-27T13:55:00.004-05:00

On the left is my dad's old sketchbook. I took it out to look at his drawings and get inspired. I really like his flowery drawings and this one became the inspiration for some of my recent doodles. He liked to use the smelly, alcohol based markers, and they were so fluid that they would soak through two pages in his sketchbook. Often he would make drawings on the inkblots that bled through evolving one drawing into a series, or making a different doodle on each page.

I think I will fill this page up then see where the muse takes me.

2008-08-26T22:44:00.001-05:00

The changes to this painting

Wadda you think

2008-08-26T21:54:00.002-05:00

Pirate for Halloween this year?

!!!

2008-08-24T23:12:00.009-05:00

I borrowed the cake pics from here but here is the official web site:
Pink Cake Box

High gas prices = creativity in transportation

2008-08-23T23:04:00.003-05:00

I really wish I had a welder here at home because I would like to make modifications to a motorcycle along the lines of this vehicle, only with more imagination.
Luckily there was no human or other living creature being transported in the passenger.. chariot?

I made a self portrait. Looks like me, no? I like the cheesy grin. Thank you to the Haagen-Daz Help the Honey Bee web page for this. They made a nice web site you should go check it out and if your speakers are on you can hear the birds chirp.

P.S. on the bird cage... no dice. Returned to the store unfortunately.

Feel my pain

2008-08-22T13:22:00.003-05:00

Violet's new cage is here. If you have ever cursed an Ikea instruction set- take all that cursing back! This gem is way ~~better~~ worse. Made in China.. need I say more? Sigh, sigh, and sigh.

This part is particularly endearing with its backwards printed numbers. I may end up with a Picasso like cubist sculpture when I'm done but hey, that could be cool!

Hoof trim comparison- August '08

2008-08-21T21:00:00.005-05:00

This horse was trimmed only 4 weeks ago. As you can see there is a lot of new growth and the feet are starting to self trim. Left unattended these hooves would look very ragged but they would probably chip back to a 'proper' length on their own. We have had very little rain lately and the ground is very hard. As a result my horse's feet are very hard and he has very little thrush in the clefts of his frogs. I took the hoof wall length down, beveled the edges and didn't touch the frogs or soles.

Sole view of Right and Left front feet before trim (top) after trim (bottom). Click on pictures to enlarge view.
You might notice that the heels on the right foot (left side of photo) are not the same length. I trim his heels down to the level of the sole and no further. If I were to make both heels even I would end up rasping his sole quite a bit which would cause him to be sore. If his feet were like cubes with even sides things would be easy, but his hooves are like tilted cubes with one side always askew. I do make sure to bevel the edges well especially if I see separation starting, or in the area where there are chips as in the case with today's trim. Beveling the hoof wall eliminates the leveraging forces that would worsen splits and separation.

Studying these pictures is very good for me because I am catching details that I don't notice while I am working. Looking at the hind feet I can see I need to bevel the hoof more at the quarters- inside and outside. The toe could be maintained more as well. My horse has difficulty keeping his hind legs raised for me so I usually work very quickly, and in compromised positions. I can see that working this way is causing me to miss some important things.

Hind sole view. Before on top, after on bottom:

I apologize for the less than perfect pictures. My hands get shaky with the exertion of trimming. There are more hoof comparison stories listed in the side bar. Thanks for visiting!

Primer time

2008-08-21T13:31:00.005-05:00

This is a block of Aquarelle paper that I am applying gesso to. It will be an experiment on a smaller scale since I keep getting side tracked with my 16x20 canvases that I'm still noodling (obscure painting term) with. This small page will be a test run for my ideas. Along with making the paper smoother the gesso also adds a flexible durability to the surface which I like.
The gesso is already dry and since I can't tear myself away from this project just yet I'm going to start with a light wash of orange. Have you heard that orange is the new black? Um, okay I don't know that for a fact, but I do know that you don't come here to read about fashion :p Bye for now.

Doooodle

2008-08-20T23:59:00.000-05:00

Mystery project day two

2008-08-20T20:54:00.003-05:00

This morning two pieces of the mystery project are clear. The only things visible are the brush strokes in the gel medium.

I used the secret weapon for this piece, and as a result the surface is very smooth. I really like this effect quite a bit.

Flatlander gets off of floor. Evolution at the basic level is achieved!

2008-08-20T00:32:00.008-05:00

Hi there! I'm working at a table now like most people normally do. I can't say that sitting on the floor was too bad, but it did make for some stiff legs after awhile. Anyway, here is the latest painting carnage:

First, something different. What is this mysterious, opaque something or other?... come back again later and find out what becomes of this piece
and this piece. I guarantee you will be surprised!
One of my new brushes- it's nice! Perfect for this acrylic medium.
New additions to the midnight episode 2 piece..

Close up on some details

Stopping here for tonight.

What would you like to see more of on the blog?
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	Art and your process
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	I will tell you in the comments section
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