Thursday, May 17th

I hate bugs

mood: highly amused



The funniest thing I've seen all week, hands down.
PikaPikaChick on 05.17.07 @ 06:04 PM CST [link]


Changes

music: none
mood: procrastinatey

I (and Dan!) have made some fairly significant changes in our lifestyle over the last few months and I'd like to record them here for posterity.

  • We're sort-of vegetarians.
    Why? We have different reasons. For both of us it's a health thing. We've moved on from the "meat as the main event" way of thinking. I've made my own seitan now (with real whole-wheat flour, not that sissy wheat gluten flour) so I feel like I've really crossed that vegetarian line. I'm not sure when/if I'll ever go back to meat again. The last small amount I had caused much pain and toilet time. If I do I'll be eating more realistic portion sizes. Nothing larger than a deck of cards. I've also started paying a lot more attention to the welfare of factory-farm animals. When I think about the conditions they're in it makes me ill. Then there's also the environmental and economic impact of eating meat. I'm not going to be joining PETA or becoming a vegan anytime soon, but I've taken pause to consider my actions.

  • No plastic grocery bags allowed
    They're being banned left and right anyway. Their environmental impact is impossible to ignore. I'm planning on sewing my own reusables. In the meantime it's paper, please. We've started keeping paper bags in my car so when we go to the store we just take them with us and reuse them until they fall apart.

  • Looking into biodiesel
    I saw these at the Living Green expo a few weeks ago and was very surprised (and impressed) by how affordable the actual kit is. It's something we need to work up to though. We need to insulate and heat the garage (or mow it down and build a new one... or move) and buy diesel vehicles. We're considering pitching the idea to several friends, neighbors, and family and creating a biodiesel co-op of sorts.

  • No more pirating music
    I just felt bad about it. I don't listen to mass-produced radio rock anyway.

  • Becoming more self-sufficient
    Looking more into survivalism, but not in the scary hide-in-a-hole-and-wave-guns-around kind of way. I don't have, nor do I want, any firearms. Check out ReallyReady.org
    PikaPikaChick on 05.17.07 @ 01:36 PM CST [link]

    • Tuesday, May 15th

    OH EM GEE OH EM GEE OH EM GEE

    mood: horrified

    Top 25 Censored Stories of 2007
    PikaPikaChick on 05.15.07 @ 04:55 PM CST [link]


    Great joy swept over the land

    mood: ecstatic

    Motherfucker and all-around terrible human being Jerry Falwell dead at 73
    PikaPikaChick on 05.15.07 @ 03:19 PM CST [link]

    Monday, May 14th

    Mucho randomo

    music: whatever this crap jazz is here at Dunn Bros.
    mood: motivated

  • I'm on a training week for work, which means I don't have to go to the office. The next five days will be filled with much coffee and web video training on stupid crap that I already know but need a stupid piece of paper saying that yes indeed, I do know how to do my job that I've been doing for over 2 years now. Stupid.

  • Why is it so hard to find free wi-fi in my neighborhood?

  • Why is that guy at Isabel's Coffee Cafe on Cedar Ave. always such a crankypants? Dude, you own a coffee shop. You have nothing to be angry about.

  • I made this chocolate cake thing for my bro-in-law's birthday on Saturday. Dan and I have named it The Face Melter, Uglycake, and Splatcake. Even though I cook a lot I still haven't done a lot of baking or pastry-related culinary arts. Splatcake taught me a lot about what I'll do next time I make it. Here's what I did: Started off with two round cake pans and a box of brownie mix. Partially cooked the brownies. Should have cooked them longer so they were more set. Added a box of chocolate cake mix on top of the brownies. Baked them to fluffy goodness. Should have used parchment paper in the pans. VERY IMPORTANT STEP that I missed. Took part of a can of chocolate/chocolate chip frosting and mixed it with Cool Whip to make a mousse. This went between the two browniecake layers. Should have carved out a hole in the lower layer for this. Frosted the outside as best I could since it was all sliding around on the mousse. In the end the top layer split and I said fuck it on frosting the outside so it was pretty. All agreed it was super-duper awesome chocolate death anyway.

  • The MNRG Wheelies were a riot. Very excited about traveling to Dayton, OH for our first away bout.

  • Coffee is good.

  • Nothing can make me cry like a little bitch like a Final Fantasy ending. I finished FFX2 FINALLY since I really couldn't have done anything else in that game besides finish out the Bevelle cloisters. Whoops, forgot about that when I saved my New Game Plus data over that. I seriously need to revisit FFX now because I STILL don't quite get who/what Tidus was. I guess I'm just slow.

  • OK, back to training. Microsoft, I am your bitch.
    PikaPikaChick on 05.14.07 @ 10:35 AM CST [link]

    • Tuesday, May 8th

    Meat

    music: Metallica
    mood: grossed out

    FDA/USDA Joint News Release: Scientists Conclude Very Low Risk to Humans from Food Containing Melamine

    Um, I think I'll pass.

    The first substantial amount of meat I've had in a couple of weeks was today in the form of a Smart Ones Swedish Meatballs frozen meal. Ever since then my insides have staged a revolt. I guess I'll be sticking to this vegetarian thing for a while longer. Maybe permanently.
    PikaPikaChick on 05.08.07 @ 04:00 PM CST [link]


    Le sigh.

    music: Metallica
    mood: crushed

    There goes that idea.
    PikaPikaChick on 05.08.07 @ 02:41 PM CST [link]

    Friday, May 4th

    Discovery

    music: Brother Ali
    mood: hungry

    Chocolate Malt-O-Meal + coffee = MOCHA-MEAL.

    And it is awesome.
    PikaPikaChick on 05.04.07 @ 08:35 AM CST [link]