hmmm...

i seriously need to take a look at the default css for my bloGGie. there's some extra padding in there, that makes lists, blockquotes (and practically everything else) spread out too much.

weird!

i'm pretty sure it wasn't always like that...

~*~

got any suggestions lil' blog?
:D

2nd post of the year!

you're amazed, right?

don't get too excited... i'm still incredibly boring.

:p

~*~

have you ever used a sewing awl before?

it's surprisingly easy, providing that you take your time... just thought i'd point that out... for no apparent reason.

~*~

i'm still trying to figure out why everyone is so excited about water bottles made from triton® plastic.

am i the only one that realizes that most recycling centers won't accept them?

nalgene everyday bottles are made from triton®.

camelbak better bottles are made from triton®.

since triton® is made from "secret" ingredients, it's listed as a #7 plastic, which is the category reserved for "everything else" that doesn't fit in the first six categories.

isn't that nice?

maybe you won't get bpa in your bottles, but at least you get to clutter up landfills... that counts for something, right?

do keep in mind that bpa is only one of what... a bazillion things that could leech into your bottles' contents.

even if it's a new plastic, it's still plastic... and the whole "new" thing is usually synonymous with "untested" and "potentially dangerous".

i'm not trying to put triton® down, i'm just saying that you should be careful. after all, i do have a camelbak better bottle, and my cute spork is made from triton®.

just remember to treat your stuff with respect... and maybe it won't kill you.

:)

~*~

sooo... have you ever used garlic, honey, and apple cider vinegar as a home remedy? (and, yes, i mean as medicine for a human critter.)

i cook with honey and garlic quite frequently, apple cider vinegar not so much, but i've never attempted to combine all three... honestly, it sounds a bit... unpleasant, as far as taste goes.

~*~

given that the holidays have recently past, it left the pantry with a few more contents than usual.

given that i tend to use whatever is on hand to prepare my meals, here's another ramen recipe, that probably isn't knew, but it's still quite tasty.

i'm not big on measuring things when i'm experimenting, and even though i've made this several times, i usually just add whatever amount i think is appropriate.

here's a little helpful advice (in case you actually decide to use this recipe): read all the way through beforehand.


ingredients:

1-pack of nissin top ramen (any flavor, since the seasoning pack won't be used)

1-can of campbell's cream of potato soup (low sodium)*

*if i'm not mistaken, it's a 7oz can; it's highly unlikely that you'll find one that has no sodium, which is rather sad.

freeze dried chive snippets (mine are in a regular spice bottle)

black pepper, course ground

a few cloves of freshly minced garlic

french's® french fried onions


this may seem frightening, but you'll need a pot (with lid)* and stove!

*a 2-quart pot is more than large enough.

**i'm using an electric stove, so that may make a difference, however slight, to something or other... probably... or not.

pre-cooking warning: cream of anything has the tendency to boil over, so be careful, and don't forget to stir things frequently. hopefully you know your stove well enough to make the appropriate temperature adjustments where needed.


empty the can of soup into the pot, along with three cans of water. (yes, use the soup can as a measuring device. one less thing to wash, right?)

bring it to a boil, then add your noodles*. (i like to quarter my brick-o-noodles beforehand.)

*in case you're a ramen noob, remove the seasoning packet before you dump your noodles in the pot.

reduce the heat to medium-high (on a scale of 1-10, it would be around 7.)

add minced garlic

add black pepper and chives

cooking time will vary, but i like to let mine cook until it has condensed to the point that it's more like soup than a typical and quite watery ramen dish (10-15 minutes). given that i'm probably at a different elevation than you, it's currently winter and all snowy outside, well below freezing, blah blah blah... there's little point in expecting your cooking time to be the same as mine; which means you'll actually have to stand around in the kitchen and look like you know what you're doing.

i generally use chopsticks to pick up/taste a noodle or two at various intervals, to see how soft they are. of course, only you can decide how soft you like your noodles.

after the cooking is done and you've removed the pot from the stove, add some french fried onion pieces on top, then put the lid on the pot, and let it sit for a few minutes. (oh yeah... i tend to just use my pot as a bowl, then put the leftovers in the refrigerator; less mess, and reheating is super easy.)


...hope it doesn't kill anybody.

:D

~*~

have you ever wondered what it is that causes a movie/tv show to receive a restricted rating?

in silly americaland even children's shows have high amounts of "comedy violence". isn't that great?

i was wandering around youtube the other day, in the anime section, and happened upon a show that i had never heard of. they have it listed as being pg-14. it's got horror, lots of blood and gore, murder (sometimes quite graphic), and lots of spooky supernatural things, but what it doesn't have is sex or nudity... so it's just good, clean family fun, right?

honestly, most of the early episodes do qualify as being "not gross or overly-violent", but they get progresssively worse towards the end of the series.

i'm sure the addams family would love it.

-sigh-

if it weren't for mai, the show wouldn't be worth watching.

~*~

speaking of youtube...

have you noticed the stupidly-high number of videos claiming to be "hd"?

that's high definition, by the way.

i'm not like super resolution guru or anything, but i do know that screen resolution and quality don't always go hand-in-hand. the sheer number of morons that up-sized videos, then posted them on youtube, claiming that they're in hd... it's truly annoying.

on a happier note, i can actually watch videos in 1080p on my pc!

i couldn't even watch 480p videos before... is that sad?

-sigh-

i really miss my old pc.

~*~

an eGGie observation...

h.264 makes live action videos look flat and bleh... but looks very nice for 2d things like anime.

xvid makes live action look good, but, as far as i know, can't be used for streaming video.

~*~

in case i haven't mentioned this before, hulu has a lot of korean tv shows available.

they even have a handful of chinese and japanese movies... with subtitles (gasp)!

i really like the fact that they've got so many super-old shows available... since most of the new ones aren't worth watching; not that i would anyway... and, yes, i do watch things other than anime, i just hate being bombarded with commercials, current events, and other annoying things. :P

i think it's nice to watch things from a time when people weren't so dependant on technology... were even more ignorant, and apparently just as stupid as they are today. sometimes it's even entertaining.

ah humans... what silly creatures!


here's some fun things for you to watch @hulu if you get bored...

• alfred hitchcock presents


• alfred hitchcock hour


• gammera the invincible


• killer klowns from outer space


• pretty cure


• princess jellyfish

~*~

guess what i have...

given that my room has no heat, i am once again doing eskimo impersonations. however, this year i'm slightly better equipped!

yes, i have insulated fleece glove-mitten things. (of course, nobody makes them in my size, so they're just a whole lot too big. they do have open fingers, even if i have to pull them up to my elbows so my fingertips can poke out enough to see them... and i tend to only get a few less typos than if i were typing with my feet... but they are warm.)

woohoo!

~*~

you know what you should do?

boil some fluoridated water in a teflon-coated aluminum pot, then dump it (while boiling) in an old nalgene® full-o-bpa bottle... then give it to someone that you don't like. it doesn't have to be immediately, of course, as you can save it for a special occasion... like, when they're really, really thirsty, and they'll probably drink the whole thing... then die at your feet.

it's good to plan ahead.

~*~

be good lil' blog!
:D

maybe this year will be better?

i sincerely hope so...

once upon a time, eGGie had a computer... then it died. the next one died too (about a week later)...

now eGGie has a new(er) computer. (let's hope it lasts.)

-sigh-

getting use to a different os is somewhat annoying.

i miss my 2k-tan, but some of the essential hardware drivers aren't available, so i can't revert to an older os.

-sigh-

~*~

i received some money for xmas too, and spent it about 5 minutes ago. (isn't online shopping the best?)

i really wanted to spend it all on practical things (and i did mostly), but i still bought some manga (that's graphic novels, for the uninformed). :D

~*~

you know what i'd really love to have?

a victorinox farmer pocket knife, with the addition of scissors... with lovely, lime green handle scales!

they can call it the farmer eGGie multi-function contraption!

...and, of course, it has to retail for less than $50 usd.

-sigh-

wishful thinking is sometimes fun, but mostly depressing.

~*~

i'll think of something better to write next time... and since i now have my berry own pc again, it won't be too much later.

be good lil' blog.
:)

more boring stuff...

do you own a rice cooker?

have you ever seen a rice cooker that didn't have a teflon-coated aluminum pot?

teflon and aluminum are on my growing list of things that i wish to remove from my diet.

have you ever priced a rice cooker with a stainless steel pot?

one, they're rare. two, i've yet to find one that received more positive reviews than negative.

i found a recipe, if you can call it that, for cooking rice on a stove. isn't that weird? (who uses a stove to cook food?)

it worked, quite well.

i used a stainless steel pot. cooked my sticky rice... and the only thing it stuck to was itself. color me impressed.

of course, there's still the problem of having to cook a minimum amount of rice, which is always more than i can eat with several meals.

-sigh-

old rice is pretty good in ramen... and refried beans... and...

yeah, i'm a big fan of using leftovers.

~*~

have you ever noticed how long the smell of garlic tends to stay on your hands?

i've washed my hands at least a dozen times since making dinner, and it's still there.

~*~

have you ever wondered what people were smoking when they came up with constellations?

i can think of precisely 2 that are understandable: the big dipper and the little dipper... the rest... how about no?

while, yes, i've played "connect the dots" before, doing so with stars seems rather... ambiguous.

do you think anyone would buy an eGGie star chart?

~*~

the female parental unit said she was thinking about buying some new games (for her nintendo ds), and is open to suggestions.

i found a few that sounded interesting, but were ridiculously expensive.

so, what's your favorite nintendo ds game(s)?

~*~

given the amount of trouble i've had with computers recently, and how often there are power outages here, it's little wonder that i've been looking at things a bit differently... as in, the vast majority of things i can see myself purchasing in the future don't require batteries or electricity.

i suppose it wouldn't be so bad if there was a library nearby or if the majority of my own books didn't qualify as school/reference/non-fiction.

-sigh-

i wish i had more manga.

hey, did you know that gun smith cats was re-released?

it's now formatted properly, and in only a few volumes (as opposed to individual chapters). the author even made a new series.

-sigh-

maybe they'll make a new anime too?

~*~

do you know what's great about dvd's?

alternate audio and subtitles.

given that i live in "region 1" land, the only options available to me are french and spanish...

do you know how to make an otherwise boring movie more interesting?

choose something other than english for the audio, then add subtitles. while it may seem weird, it does add a certain element that distracts from the fact that you're watching nonsense. (this is especially true for american cartoons.)

~*~

was that boring enough?

try not to fall asleep lil' blog!

:)

insert not boring title here...

to whom it may concern, this is being typed on someone else's computer.

on that note, i should have my own computer (that was manufactured within the past decade) sometime before 2011.

-sigh-

i find it exceptionally difficult to write using a computer that is not my own... probably something psychological... but i seem to have no problem watching hulu.

weird, that.

:P

in case anyone cares, two of the stargate movies are available on hulu for the next 18 days or so.

~*~

have you ever heard of chai tea?

did you know that chai/cha is a common name for tea in several asian countries?

i wonder what tea tea tastes like?

isn't it wonderful when a word gains new meaning because of silly foreigners?

~*~

has anyone seen "the borrower arrietty"?

they'd never show anime here at the theatre... much less one that's subtitled.

morons.

i love studio ghibli movies. i haven't seen all of them, but of those that i've watched... i was very impressed.

~*~

did you know that microwave ovens are illegal in some countries?

i didn't either until recently, which prompted me to read more about them. if the information is to be believed, it makes we wonder how little certain companies/governments think of the general populace.

~*~

have you ever heard of blue steel?

given that i'm not at all fond of aluminum cookware, i've been looking for alternatives. while, yes, i like stainless steel (and i do have some), blue steel also sounds nice... and it has certain positive properties that stainless does not.

~*~

the female parental unit received a digital camera for her birthday... it's amazing what they can cram into such a tiny package.

~*~

i'll try not to be so boring next time.

be good lil' blog!

:)

the amazing bush craft eGGie?

well... not yet.

i have a question (or two) for anyone who happens to have considerable experience with the topic at hand.

what i do have:

• a silky folding saw (with a spare blade)


• a few victorinox knives/multi-tools


• a pocket sharpening stone, and a lansky "puck"


• a home-made japanese-style hatchet (without a sheath!); it makes a really good draw knife


• a home-made fixed blade knife (again, without a sheath!); the blade is about 5" long

if i ever gain access to a heat gun (and various other things), i plan to buy a few sheets of kydex to fix my sheath problem.

back to the question(s)...

at the moment, i have enough money to buy a fallkniven f1 knife.

or...

i could get a regular axe (with a much longer handle), a mid-priced mora knife, and a few other things.

which would you prefer?

i've actually wanted a fallkniven f1 for a few years, but every time i have the money, no one has them in stock. as of today, i have confirmation that 2 online stores have them in stock (with a non-leather sheath!).

-sigh-

i guess the biggest problem is spending that much money on a single item... which also happens to be a knife. given how rarely i get any money, i like to spend it on things that will be around for a while.

the past few years i've been saving up to buy some outdoor/camping equipment (that doesn't suck), and i generally have to wait for sales and closeouts. the fallkniven will likely never go on sale in my lifetime, especially since it's so popular.

of course, i could say to heck with it, then spend all my money on clothes. (did you know that bdu's are available in solid colors other than green?)

yeah, i need some durable outdoor clothing too. while i do have some carhartt things; they're mostly for summer, since they're 100% cotton. (i'm partial to something that will dry a whole lot faster.)

-sigh-

stuff sure is expensive.

~*~

be good lil' blog!
:)

oh well, as long as i'm here...

did you know that hulu has stargate sg-1?

yeah, i know, old news... unless you've been without a computer for a while.

:P

i have to say, that's one of my favorite shows. i actually remember watching it... uh, from whenever it was that i actually watched television on a regular basis.

i want my very own stargate... so i can leave, and never come back. well, okay, that's a lie. i'd miss chocolate and sticky rice and probably goofing around on the internet... oh yeah, and anime too!

i wonder if they have anime on other planets?

i'd feel kind of sad for them if they didn't.

~*~

guess what!

i've become the proud? owner of 4 televisions (2 of which are black and white)!

woohoo!

yeah, they're all analog.

i care, really. not that i'd use them for much anyway, but they can connect to my vcr or dvd, so it's fine.

in case you haven't noticed, i get everyone else's old things... and occasionally they even work. amazing that.

~*~

i finally got to see zombieland... and wasn't impressed. sure, it was somewhat light-hearted for a zombie movie... but seriously, where's the plot?

in other news... the 2nd silent hill movie is supposed to be filmed sometime within the next decade... probably.

at least resident evil 4 is still on schedule.

:D

~*~

have you tried m&m pretzels?

those are just weird.

~*~

i'm trying to think of something that isn't boring... but it's rather difficult.

the demon furballs killed a mouse critter in the female sibling unit mark_2's room, then left it there. her room is so messy that she didn't even notice until several days later. it's amazing how such a small thing can stink so much.

would that be the power of cheese... or something else entirely?

~*~

what's the longest thing you've ever written for yourself (that's not work- or school-related)?

is it sad that i consider myself an amateur fanfiction author?

i generally have no problems writing twenty-five or even thirty thousand words... but beyond that? not likely. however, i've managed to surpass sixty thousand words with one story, and my silly-silly muse hasn't left me hanging... but my poor pc has.

sigh

i guess it's a good that i have long-term memory storage.

:P

~*~

hope that didn't bore you to tears... and if it did, get a tissue.

~*~

have a splendiferous day, lil blog!

yes. i'm still amongst the boring...

hello critters!

did ya miss me?

i sure hope so... and as sad as this may be... i miss me too!

let's see... my pc died last year.

the female sibling unit mark_1 gave me her old computer, but before i had a chance to use it, her semi-new one died, and i had to use parts from her old one to get the semi-new one working again... then she blew that one up too.

:)

her husband-person bought her a brand-new one, and then she gave me her blown up semi-new one... so now i have several computers that don't work, and the remaining parts are so not compatible it's just sad.

the female parental unit got a semi-new computer... which is how i'm posting this... but it's just not the same. time-share internet usage is for those other eGGies.

:(

theoretically and quite possibly... if the great froGGie wishes it so, then i'll get a computer from a completely different source (hopefully within the next month or so). it's still old but it does work. that counts for something, right?

~*~

i'll try to think of something less boring next time.

~*~

i missed you. lil blog.

:D

hello again!

i'd apologize for being slow... but that would be kind of silly.

:P

this one's kind of boring... and probably touches on things i've written before... better than nothing, though, right?

~*~

for the past few years i've been reading a lot about various products... how they're made, and what they're made from.

while not very exciting, it is quite enlightening.

do you know why aluminium cookware is generally coated or anodized?

because they still don't know if aluminium is safe. sure, in the short-term, many things are safe for humans... but what about over the course of decades... or longer?

what's really great is what they use as a coating: teflon.

teflon is a plastic.

what happens when you heat plastic?

the epa has already classified teflon as a carcinogen... so why hasn't the fda done anything about it?

because the fda is a business... and like any good business, they're more interested in profit, not your well-being.

~*~

how long did it take for lead poisoning to be recognized as a health concern?

a long time... prior to that, lead was widely used in both paint and plumbing (amongst other things).

~*~

would you ever consider insulating your house with asbestos?

of course not.

if you've read even a little about asbestos, then you know how dangerous it is.

however, even now, asbestos isn't illegal in the united states.

why?

because companies that use asbestos have deeper pockets and better lawyers.

if america's government truly cared, then they would shut down the companies, and imprison the owners/stock holders... in cells lined with asbestos.

~*~

at what point will it be public knowledge that aluminium should not come into contact with consumables, like food, water, etc.?

aluminium is a very common mineral... and, generally speaking, young people have little problem with trace amounts in their diet... however, as people get older, their ability to absorb aluminium increases.

while studies are conveniently inconclusive at this time, they have shown links between alzheimer's disease and aluminium.

maybe certain parties are hoping that everyone will forget what caused them to forget everything?

~*~

i've got nothing against aluminium, as a manufacturing material, but i try to avoid using it in the kitchen.

being that i'm always on a very limited budget, i tend to look for the best bargains. however, i prefer not to sacrifice quality. so, when i was looking for pots and pans, i chose steel (of the stainless variety).

is it safer than aluminium?

theoretically, yes.

the sad thing is, there are so many variances in the metals used for consumer products it's just scary.

personally, i feel that the biggest danger from cooking in a metal pot is negligence: cooking at a high temperature (for an extended time), leaving food unattended while it's cooking, etc.

of course, it's also nice to know where your cookware came from, and that the company which manufactured it has good quality control. unfortunately, it's hard to find things these days not made in china.

i've got nothing against china or the chinese people... but, i do have a problem with products that are being passed off as being of high quality and/or safe when they just aren't... then there's the fact that i'm not a fan of communism.

you think america's government is bad?

you're right, but china's is worse.

~*~

how many people are outraged because of all the jobs that are lost because american companies are having their products manufactured in china?

how many people are actually aware of the pollution created by the manufacturing processes taking place in china?

how many chinese people are experiencing health problems as a result of said pollution?

while technically a second world country, china is, in reality, a third world country. as such, many people in america, japan, etc. feel that the people living in china are beneath them. they don't mind using them for cheap labor... especially when there are so many to take advantage of... and they certainly don't mind destroying another country, while making a considerable amount of money at the same time.

~*~

how many people look down on americans?

how many of them have ever been to america?

not many... traveling is expensive, after all.

it's not fair to blame an entire country for the actions of a few... even if those few are in the government and/or military.

how many people blame the people of north korea for the actions of their "leader" or his predecessors?

i don't know about you, but i have no influence at all over america's government... and i've lived since birth in america.

why would they care about what i think?

why would i believe anything that they say, when their actions are always at odds with their election and public address speeches?

is there a government that exists for the sole purpose of helping its people?

of course not, otherwise it would be called something else.

i live in a country whose government cares not for its people... which is proven repeatedly, day after day.

sure, i understand that it's not easy trying to maintain a semblance of order... assuming, of course, that they are actually trying... history suggests otherwise.

~*~

do you know why so many americans want to help people in other countries?

because they've discovered that trying to help other americans is a lost cause.

~*~

i wonder what would happen if no one voted during the next presidential election... if no one showed up at any political rallies... if no one enlisted in the military?

you don't need to march on capital hill to prove a point.

hit them where it hurts: their bank account.

~*~

do you want to know why the united states dollar is so worthless?

because no one in the government actually cares about the problems they are creating for future generations... if they did, then perhaps they'd learn how to add and subtract.

america's national debt... is absurd.

here's a fun game!

in regards to america's foreign debt, guess which country owns the most united states treasury securities.

if you guessed japan... you're wrong!

japan is in second place...

if you guessed china... you're right!

what do you think they're going to do when america defaults?

countries have gone to war for a whole lot less.

~*~

according to the united states treasury, as of august 2009, over 50% of america's foreign debt is owed to asian countries.

~*~

why don't more american schools offer asian language courses?

if they actually wanted to, china and japan could demand that their languages be taught in american schools... it would be cheaper for america to comply than to pay what is owed, after all.

besides, wouldn't it be nice to enjoy anime and manga as they were originally intended... not having to wait years for inaccurate translations and pointless other nonsense?

while not quite a silver lining, it's not all bad.

~*~

be good lil' blog
:)