whether man

Associate's Degree

2010-01-17T12:04:00.000-08:00

I got it this last semester!! I am taking a semester off and hopefully getting a job before transferring to a new college after the summer.

I'm looking forward to attending a school with more options for art classes. Not sure what I want to do with it, as teaching art is not exactly a fun idea for me, but maybe I'll work in a museum or something like that. Which would be cool. Or be involved with a gallery.

Starting semester of community college!

2009-08-05T07:29:00.000-07:00

SO, I have signed up and paid for all of my classes this semester and purchased my books! This is an exciting thing, because this semester will mark the end of my time at the local community college. I'll be able to graduate with an Associate's degree. After that I can move on and take art classes for two years to get my Bachelor's degree in Fine Art. I am looking forward to that very much-- all the art classes without having to suffer through the more difficult classes such as math and science. Because this semester I am taking my last science class-- zoology. It has a lab that I'm NOT looking forward to taking, but it's only for one semester right? This too shall pass.

I also need to find a part time job and hopefully get insurance. Also, finally get my driver's license. :-( What a hassle.

School starts August 17th. So little summer left. Where did it go?!

Ohh, sandwich cookies!

2009-07-17T18:53:00.000-07:00

So, I made wonderful cookies today that are really out of this world. I used a simple butter cookie recipe, halfed the butter and substituted margarine for some of it, and then added two tablespoons of lemon juice. I wish I'd put in at least one more tablespoon since the lemon flavor got a little lost. I also put raw sugar on top of the half of the cookies, sandwiched them between faux oreo filling from Secret Recipes, and ATE SOME COOKIES! They were so awesomely lovely, the oreo filling squishing in a delightful way between the cookies as I bit into them. I'm pretty sure it will harden as the cookies sit. Anyway, sixteen of the cookies are going to be gifts for people; I put them in handmade origami boxes, so hopefully they'll appreciate it. One is for a lady who has been taking me to choir practice and is a neighbor of ours; the other is for a guy who's hosting a party tomorrow afternoon. He said we didn't need to bring anything but I figure a gift for the host will be a tasteful gesture. (Maybe literally? I'll have to see if he likes the cookies, first, though.)

so yum, cookies. *drools*

WEIRD dream

2009-07-15T07:50:00.000-07:00

So, I totally had this kind of awesome dream where I was in Japan, with my Dad (don't know where the rest of the family was) but it involved Time Travel, ultra secret computers and stolen technology, little sprites (think HP pixies, only about the size of a fly), a movie theater that I was visiting with a new friend, but turned out to be completely in Japanese with no subtitles and I was bummed about paying so much for a useless ticket, and the fate of the universe as I knew it was in my hands. Do you know, it's weird for me to have a dream where I'M the main character. I think it's because I know I'm not adventure type material, even in the back of my own brain.

Also, another portion of my dream involved this guy who was definitely some kind of sadist-assassin, who was ruining my friend's life, whose assistant transferred brains of people and left them in new bodies totally unaware of what was going on so that he could control them to do his bidding. And it involved this really whacky semi-hidden jumpdrive like object with a hose that was attached to the chest.

I'm going to have to do something with this. Once it is modified, because obviously things don't make sense once out of dreamstate. Like the brain controlling thing. Or Time Travel to the 1940's. Or the sprites, in the grand scheme of things. *sigh.*

I'm alone this week and next for the better part of the morning, due to family visiting other family and most everyone working. So I take care of the dogs and the house, and bake food and stuff. I'm going to look for a banana bread recipe since we have three very ripe bananas and they aren't good for anything else in that state.

Sick is bad

2009-06-20T09:14:00.000-07:00

I woke up yesterday with a sore throat. Not too bad, so I took some medicine and tried to forget about it, although it kept getting worse as the day wore on. I was NOT very happy, since I had the ACT to retake the next morning from where it had been rescheduled (due to a power outage at the college). However everything would have been okay-- I went to bed at 10:00, feeling more drained than ever, but ALSO my nose started to run. My ears tend to plug up when I am sick and I spent about two hours listening to the sound of my heartbeat echo in my eardrum. Also my mouth kept filling with saliva which made it very difficult to swallow with a sore throat, and my ears feeling like they would burst every time I swallowed, too. NOT FUN. At all. I don't recommend getting sick the day before a test when you are already tired and worried about it.

So I still planned to go to the ACT when I woke up, but I was feeling so rotten my Mom basically suggested skipping it and setting up another test date. That makes it twice I've been ready to take the test but haven't gotten the chance to do so. So I slept in instead, for a good four hours more than I would have done otherwise, I feel a little better, but still rotten, and VBS is coming up next week too. I'd better not get sick for that, since I am working there.

Oh by the way, at least our train mural is done. I can't wait to see it up on the stage. I painted four hours worth of it Thursday, alone, while listening to Newsboys and Caedman's Call.

VBS Mural

2009-06-16T10:15:00.001-07:00

I've been roped into helping design the VBS mural for the sanctuary, which is a train. (I'm doomed from now on if this turns out to look good, and I know it; everyone will be wanting my help with this kind of stuff. *sigh*) I used a projector and traced the main engine, but I came up with a passenger train and caboose design for the other parts of it. That was all done last night and I will be helping paint it this evening.

Also I will be making a jelly roll cake for desert this evening, with raspberries on top and a cream cheese and whipped cream and sugar mixture that is luscious. It is my one exception to my rule of NOT LIKING cream cheese frosting which in my opinion is too heavy and tastes funky and sour. This stuff is so light and fluffy it is a DREAM. I'd never go back to the normal cream cheese frosting ever again if I had the choice, and I'd love to see this on top of a carrot cake. I might even change my mind about the things if such a recipe were plausible. :-)

On top of that I have a new art project going on (well several at the same time) including two still lifes, one of which involves cherries and is simple, and the other which is more complicated and has a variety of textures and shiny surfaces. I've got a glass bottle, a clay vase with a dark brown stain, and a harmonica, which has lots of shiny metal parts. This should be interesting and a stretch of artistic ability, which I have been striving towards these last few weeks. I'm building up my portfolio for when I transfer and I'll have to have it ready by next semester probably around the middle. I'm not entirely sure; we shall see.

Chinese Lanterns Charcoal

2009-06-02T10:17:00.000-07:00

Mr. Leopall, I am posting this for you so you get a preview of the image. If it is not up to your standards, or you don't want me to use your photograph as reference, please note me back and I will not post it to DA.

Sort of a Creole Stir Fry

2009-04-23T12:54:00.000-07:00

So I like to cook. I also like to invent new things; so here is a recipe I came up with that is totally easy and tastes AWESOME, and is ready in under ten minutes.

1 zucchini, chopped up into chunks
1/2 cup shelled edamame (soy beans)
6-8 thawed, pre-cooked shrimp, de-tailed
1 T olive oil
Creole seasoning to taste
fresh ground pepper (also to taste.)

Dump the zucchini, olive oil, pepper and seasoning into a stovetop pan. Cook for about seven minutes, add frozen edamame until they heat up. Add shrimp last; cook until zucchini are slightly browned or shrimp seem hot.

This is a delicious meal when paired with a potato (I microwaved mine in the oven while cooking the zucchini). Also, I think couscous would work or even rice. If I had had some black beans I might have added them into the stir fry, or peppers, or even some carrots. This can be made to taste. But it was a good use for a zucchini when I do not like them that much and a pretty dish!

books read so far in 2009

2009-04-07T10:36:00.001-07:00

Books read 2009

The Runner -Voight
Homecoming -voight
Dicey's Song -voight
Solitary Blue -voight
Songs from Afar -voight
*
Come a Stranger -voight
Batgirl year 1
Have Spacesuit Will Travel -heinlein
Beyond the Shadows -brent weeks
Cromartie High School vol 1
*
The Cat Who Walked Through Walls -heinlein
Job: Comedy of Justice -heinlein
Western Garden Annual
Guide to Knitting
One Jump Ahead -mark van name
*
Good Husband of Zebra Drive -a. smith
Miracle at Speedy Motors -a. smith
Green Hills of Earth -heinlein
Uncle Tungsten -o. sacks
Harry Potter Sorcerer's Stone -rowling
*
My Family and Other Animals -g. durrell
Emily of New Moon -montgomery
The Giver -lowry
Double Star -heinlein
The Gate of Ivory- d. egan
*
Two-Bit Heroes -d. egan
Guilt-Edged Ivory -d. egan
The Ogre Downstairs -d. Jones
My Side of the Mountain -c. George
Farnham's Freehold -heinlein
*
Seventeen Against the Dealer -voight
Digger book 3 -u. vernan
Tunnel in the Sky -heinlein
King Lear -shakespeare

33 Books
1 Manga

34 novels

Not a very long list so far. Last year I read 161 books though! I'll get more time during the summer. I've got at least two authors with over fifty books each to read and I've got eight more I need to finish reading right now. Yes, I am bibliophile. I read just as much if not more online right now as well that I don't even factor in to my reading list. By the way, not all of these are new books either. Some of them are re-reads, but I count them anyway.

Twilight Imperium 3 (I WON IT! First time)

2009-03-26T19:30:00.000-07:00

By the way, not my image of TI3. That's from Boardgamegeek.com. :-D

DUUUDE! I just won Twilight Imperium 3 for the first time since we got it a couple of months ago! I am so happy. It is a tough game for someone who is not really that aggressive most of the time. Generally I have to work up to being able to play it especially since TI3 is also a very long game, although it is not so bad when the players know what they are doing. Also my brother, sister and I are the only ones in our family who play it.

So to give an overview of this board game, if you don't already know about it; there's a board made of hexes with different planets that are set out into a galaxy map. There are eight player mats to choose from with different races. Each race has a different ability, which is determined by military strengths and weaknesses and technological advances. Yes, that's right! There's a tech tree like in the computer Civilization games, and it is awesome. Also there are different roles that each player chooses for that round. Players can build ships and expand out into the galaxy step by step, until they expand too far. Then of course they may have to declare war on another player. Wars are handled much in the same way as wargames; dice are won for different kinds of ships and ground troops. Last but not least, there is a political system and a resource structure used to vote and buy things respectively. At the center of the galaxy is the capital (think Coruscant from Star Wars) that is the political center and gives the most overall votes to the player who controls it.

So-- to break down how I won the game after being behind and at 4 victory points total out of ten (when at most a player might be able to get 3 points per round) I got my secret objective card worth 2 points, got 9 technologies for another 2 points, and I also had a strategy role card that allowed me to get yet another 2 points. YAY! It was AWESOME! I had it all planned out, although I was worried that my brother, who was sitting decked out in full battle array, would attack me with his warsun (death star), destroyers, 15 ground troops and 6 fighters. I would have been toast.

However he didn't, and I managed to win for the first time. Hoorah! Huzzah! And all that jazz.

----------------
Now playing: Yo-Yo Ma - Bach: Cello Suite #1 In G, BWV 1007 - 1. Prelude
via FoxyTunes

IRONMAN is AWESOME!

2008-05-09T07:18:00.000-07:00

Went and saw it yesterday. Man, that was a mind-blowing movie! Haven't seen a film in theatre since Rattatouille (that was fun too!), but this was totally worth it to be able to see it in a GOOD theatre with good seats and a good screen and an excellent sound system.

Do yourself a favor and don't go to a crappy movie theatre to see this flick, it's worth it to see Ironman in a great theatre!

There's character development, a good storyline, and it's not really that cheesy, especially for a superhero movie. And the action scenes are good, and there's no lag time. Something is always happening. Tony Stark is hilarious, Miss Pepper Potts is hot, and the dialogue is great between all characters. Oh. And I want one of their computers . . .

I'm not going to spoil it for you, but if you want to know the basics-- Tony Stark's father helped build the atom bomb, sets up this world famous weapons manufacturing company, and Tony Stark becomes CEO at a young age because he is genius mechanic. His life is on the top of the world; he can have any girl he wants, be invited to any party, is on the front of every newspaper imaginable. Then everything goes south when he gets kidnapped, and Tony has to come to terms with who he is and his life in general. And that's ALL I'm telling you. GO SEE this movie!

Even though the Batman movie is coming out later this summer, it's going to have to work hard to pull ahead of Ironman, in my opinion. ^.^ I look forward to watching that, too.

**********

Also! Finished school, am still waiting for a report on one of my grades in my classes (I've got 3 A's and a C so far).

We also just sat down and watched the new Avatar episode DVD with my sister, who hasn't seen them yet, and that was fun as well. Avatar is picking up. Hopefully I won't have to wait so long for the next episode. >.<

AND I downloaded GIMP to my Mac, since I no longer have Photoshop (crappy elements 2 works on classic mode for Mac, which Leopard doesn't support.)

two animal drawings (charcoal and white pastel)

2008-02-16T09:00:00.000-08:00

*Cough*. Anyway, two new drawings for you guys. I don't think I've uploaded any pictures to my blog yet, but yes, I draw as well as read and cook. I hope you like these. I really enjoyed drawing them, maybe I'll do some more today after I'm finished with my cleaning!

Only a few people came to the artshow, but that's all right I guess. It was a new experience, and definitely interesting; I'm hoping some of my artwork does sell by the end of the month, though. I may have to figure out how to start an Etsy account, because that website looks very interesting. I'll just need to set up a paypal thingy, and I KNOW who to ask about that.

EASY Italian Minestrone Soup

2008-02-01T10:12:00.001-08:00

Well, I think it's delectable, anyway. And if you're wondering just what right I have to call it Italian soup, I'm 1/8 Italian through my father's side, and we inherited a lot of family recipes. So yeah, I make homemade facassa bread and real pizza and gnocci (I'd like to make ravioli, but we don't have a pasta roller-- for shame.) Everything that's important. And Minestrone is pretty important; for one thing, it's easy and is essentially just a mish-mash of odd ingredients.

Here's my version. I think it's just as good as Olive Garden's. Yeah, I'm bragging here, but it really is tasty-- even if I'm not putting all the same ingredients into this soup.

1 1/2 cups Tomato juice
1 quart water
~1 2/3 T beef soup base
1 can Italian diced tomatoes
1 can kidney beans, drained and washed
1-2 c chopped carrots (you can never have too many)
1/2 onion
1 c spinach
1 c fresh green beans (frozen might work too, I guess)
some kind of small pasta. I used bow ties.

ADD all but the last two ingredients to a big pot, let simmer 1 hour. Stir occasionally. Add green beans and pasta and simmer 30 more minutes. Serve.

That's it-- seriously. Now go take the taste of Italy home with you. This fed a family of five and there were still leftovers, but if you want to double it and freeze it go ahead.

And I'd post a picture, but I've already eaten the bowl I heated up for myself last night. If you don't like such thick soups, go ahead and add more broth mixture.

This video? Sweet.

2008-01-18T08:39:00.001-08:00

This is pretty cool. I mean, it takes three guys four days to film a D-Day scene that took Saving Private Ryan 1,000 extras and who knows how many days. ^.^ Definitely watch this-- see, if you have the proper tools and people who know what they're doing, you don't have to have a huge budget for a movie. Of course, there's no plot or story line to this, it's just showing what is possible with a bit of brilliant ingenuity.

Framing pictures for exhibit!

2007-12-27T20:26:00.000-08:00

yeah, and it's a lot of work; I've got them sprawled out on thing living room floor right now. And buying 18 by 24 inch frames? Not cheap. Five frames ran me about $120 dollars because they weren't on sale. Not to mention the 16 by 20 frames I had to get earlier this month as well.

I really, really hope some of my things sell. I mean, they're nice (www.agnespterry.deviantart.com) has a lot of them up in my gallery, but wow . . . . this is an expensive venture. But it's the next step toward becoming an artist: actually being able to support the supplies I buy for my paintings and the labor that went toward them.

Oh! And I think I'm getting the hang of this knitting thing! I have figured out how to do alternating rows of knit and purl without adding more loops; it all has to do with the way you twist your yarn while purling or knitting. Before I didn't realize this and kept adding loops by accident. And then working over that new row kept getting me very, very frustrated. However, now I have a very decent stockingette stitch going on. (I think that's what it's called?) Again, I am just learning this stuff. Every line I finish I think, this is one more line toward eventually making hats, gloves, or socks.

a review for Lying Awake, Mark Salzman

2007-12-26T22:42:00.000-08:00

Well, today I read the Laughing Sutra and Lying Awake by Mark Salzman. Laughing Sutra was extremely entertaining and I enjoyed reading it very much; it was a pure adventure novel. However, Lying Awake reminded me more of The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon-- with a very different ending. Lying Awake recounts the story of a cloistered nun who experiences many visions of God, but increasing headaches cause her to visit the doctor. It turns out Sister John has epilepsy, which causes her to doubt her faith and her reasons for becoming a nun. She must decide if she needs the surgery (in which case she believes her deeply in tune connection with God may be cut off, at least as far as visions are concerned) or if she will risk everything and be able to rely simply on faith instead of her knowledge.

On the other hand, The Speed of Dark is about a man, namely Lou Arrendale, who has been autistic from birth and is able to read many patterns. It is a part of who he is and he can calculate math problems with ease and solve many complicated forms. He has a life of his own and enjoys fencing and competes in matches. He is shy, but likable and like Sister John he is cut off from the world (albeit not by choice) except for the few friends that he has made. The Speed of Dark is considered sci-fi because a cure for autism is discovered and he must decide if he will take it. His life will be irrevocably changed if he does, for good or for bad. Lou also decides to go through with his operation.

However, the end result is extremely different in both novels.

*SPOILERS BELOW* (Pay attention to this. Character growth is very important in both books, so if you even slightly want to read either novel, skip to the very end or the tension will be lost.)

Lou's life is changed, but he seems to be a completely different, more self-assured individual. He cannot understand the past self that he once was and cannot relate to any of the members of his fencing team. Nor can he read patterns. Is he better or worse? Elizabeth Moon seems to leave this open ended, but I believe she essentially claims that Lou and his handicap are intrinsically entwined, a part of how he grew as a whole. Of course, Elizabeth Moon herself has an autistic son, so of course she would want to pass on a similar sort of message-- was the autism really a handicap at all, or was society just not able to comprehend Lou's special abilities . . .

On the other hand, for Sister John, her epilepsy is a problem for her convent and she comes to see that being able to see visions of God and her spiritual "high" may bring about jealousy and conflict at worst. At best, the other nuns must learn to work around her constant headaches. It is not just a matter of staying close to God, but it becomes a matter of selfishness instead of simply a cross to bear. After Sister John's own surgery, she discovers that God has in a way answered her own prayer to know Him better. Her experiences weren't based on faith at all, and now He is testing her endurance. Before, she had the grace of complete reliance, and now she must struggle more, but it is still all a part of growing in God.

END SPOILERS

So I still liked Speed of Dark better than Lying Awake; Speed seemed to have more substance to it, and Elizabeth Moon gets bonus points because she very much understands what Lou was going through because of dealing with her own autistic son. However I doubt Mark Salzman has ever had epilepsy, and he his Buddhist, not Catholic; some of the things Sister John experiences have a very Buddhist nature in them that were rather invasive to me. Yet if one didn't care about such things I suppose it could just be seen as more lyrical/poetical type writing than anything else.

But both books are still very much the read. Actually, all three books. Laughing Sutra was excellent too . . . . .

Narnia preview is awesome!

2007-12-21T20:23:00.001-08:00

I soooo can't wait for this to come out. It looks like it has a lot of cool scenes from the book in the previews, which is always a good thing. ^.^ Caspian looks a little old, but I think I can handle that. Too bad I have to wait another year for it, though.

Cookies! soooo tempting.

2007-12-21T13:27:00.000-08:00

Well, work today was long and boring; the bulletins took forever to fold and stuff because there were about 50 extra copies. At least there were only four inserts for each one this time. Linz is baking lovely smelling cookies in the next room, and I'm seriously tempted to go over and beg her for one or two. Mom has some boxes to return and she refuses to give them back empty, so she asked Linz to make some cookies-- so that means I may not get any. But it never hurts to try.

Christmas is so close I can taste it. The pile of presents under our tree has grown substantially bigger, I've wrapped all of my presents with the last of my purple paper with sparkle-y silver stars. I should check our little wooden advent tree to see if I have a drawer to open.

Mom finished shopping so there's a bunch of lovely new food in the house. That means there's more stuff for me to work with, too! I'm considering making cinnamon rolls for breakfast and surprising everyone, because we so rarely have them. We haven't had any this past year, for example, so I'm thinking it's about time.

Finished watching the new Avatar episode (well, new to me; I'm about a week behind), still can't envision Zuko in his new role. And yes, he is pretty sucky as a good guy, but only because the writers rushed his character development.

Comfort food

2007-12-20T21:08:00.000-08:00

It's cold weather again, although honestly there's only been a little bit of snow in my area. Mostly it's been wet and drizzly, and the wind blows right through the bare trees. Well, mostly bare. The pines moderate things, but not as much as they might. When it does snow, because we're in a valley, we get our inch of snow for about a week longer than everyone else. ^.^

Winter always means certain types of food that I never get to have any other time of the year--
like peppernutter cookies, beef stew, minestrone, lentil soup; oh, and grilled cheese sandwiches are the best on day-old homemade half-wheat bread when it's cold outside, especially with a bowl of any of the previously mentioned soups. Then there's pumpkin pie and gingerbread cookies and hot chocolate. Eggnog is pretty decent too, although we don't generally have it even during Christmas time. Dutch Baby Pancakes, all puffy and eggy goodness. Oh, and I just discovered that tea is actually pretty good this winter, too-- but it has to be loose-leafed tea, because it has a better flavor than dratted teabag things. I'll add that to the list. Challah bread seems pretty seasonal too, as well as crescent rolls, but those are mostly holiday breads like for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. Spaghetti, due to the fact that pasta and tomato sauce are both easily stored in pantry and becomes a nice, easy hot meal. Indian curries and basmati rice, although I can't cook that very much because I don't have the right ingredients most of the time-- and the nearest Indian market is sadly two hours away. Lessee-- oh, mashed potatoes are a classic too.

I think that about wraps up the favorite winter dishes for right now. I decided to make this blog because I had one in the past and yet lost it when Blogger when to Google accounts. So here's this new one. I will try to do better with it than aleatorica and keep it updated, which I think will be fairly easy to do since I have a lot more going on nowadays.