Blurred Lines

Independence Day 2009

2009-07-06T18:05:00.000-07:00

Welcome to a late, long overdue post on my poor, neglected blog!

So last Saturday was the fourth of July, which means get-togethers, barbeque, celebrating independence, and fireworks. Last year, I mainly tried to take pictures of the festivities, which didn't turn out too well. Even trying as hard as I could, my less-than-steady hands were no match for a long exposure time.

This year, though, I was prepared; I brought the old, trusty, slightly broken tripod! It worked wonderfully, but my timing was off on a lot of the shots. Also, it started raining right after I got into position, so I had to move into the garage and try to shoot at more of an angle. You can see part of my parents' house in some of the pictures...

Overall, I got some pretty decent ones that I'm happy with. They're a lot less squiggly than last year's. This last one was of those things that you set on the ground and they spin and shoot up into the air, showering sparks everywhere. I think it's a neat shot.

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Now playing: Nicola Fasano vs. Pat Rich - 76 Ocean Drive (Apache Vocal Mix)
via FoxyTunes

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2009-03-17T20:36:00.001-07:00

Rules for St. Patrick's Day:

Drink lots of Guinness.
Have fun.
More Guinness.
Wear green!
Meet Smithwick, Bailey and Jameson.
Be safe.
Guinness!

Not necessarily in that order... You get the point.

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Now playing: Dropkick Murphys - The Rocky Road To Dublin
via FoxyTunes

Onion Rings

2009-03-15T22:43:00.000-07:00

The other day, I was invited to a friend's house for a Spring Break cookout. He grilled buffalo wings and I fried up some onion rings. Wings and rings! It was good times. And in typical tradition, I made way too much food.

The recipe is quite simple, but really? You don't need anything else. Onion rings shouldn't be overly complicated. I like them stringy and messy and delicious with lots of ketchup and these were perfect. The only problem was in using the fryer I borrowed from my mom. I put way too many in the basket at a time. It was pretty much impossible to stir and the result was a collection of onion ring bricks. We tore into them anyway and everyone loved it.

One thing I substituted: I used chipotle chili pepper powder instead of the cayenne pepper in the recipe. I just happened to have it on hand - it worked well enough. To be honest, I'm not sure if there's much of a difference as I'm not into spicy food that much.

If... no, when I make these again, I'll probably just use a large pan. You'd probably have a lot more control over the rings that way so they won't stick together. The recipe (with one onion) will serve 4-5 pretty easily depending on the size of the onion. Or you can use two like in the picture and have a ton leftover. They were good the next day, too. Oh, one more note, when she says to go nuts with the pepper grinder, do it! You need an awful lot before it shows up in the flavor.

Recipe courtesy The Pioneer Woman Cooks. Go check her site out; I've found a ton of recipes I've bookmarked to try sometime.

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Now playing: Gogol Bordello - Smarkatch
via FoxyTunes

Mr. T is the "T" in I.T.

2009-03-13T23:26:00.000-07:00

This is it, my friends. The shining pinnacle of everything awesome I've had the fortune to witness, compressed in a 3-minute, 23-second video.

There's nothing more to say.

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Now playing: Franz Ferdinand - No You Girls
via FoxyTunes

Typefaces & Misc

2009-03-11T21:06:00.000-07:00

This is one of the most awesome things I've ever seen.

When I was big into graphic design (seems like ages ago) I would search for hours on end for just the right set of characters for what I was making. However, I've never actually purchased any. All the typefaces I've used were available for free. I sort of feel bad about that; I mean, I don't even have Helvetica! That's pretty much a sin for typeface enthusiasts.

Thanks to David Malki ! for the link.

My love for typefaces goes hand in hand with my fondness of calligraphy. I've even created a couple calligraphy hands just for fun. At one point I looked into turning it into an actual typeface. It seemed like a lot of work at the time, but maybe there are some different tools available now. I might check it out again now that I'm all interested. If I have time. That seems to be in short supply these days.

In other news, HurleyCon went well! I didn't end up with my own table, but I helped set up, tear down, and I ran the concession table pretty much all day. My original plan was to sell chainmail jewelry, but my partner in crime couldn't make it, so we just scrapped the idea. Next year I'll be ready though. I didn't have enough time to make enough pieces for an entire table myself. I certainly tried though! (That is mainly why I haven't been blogging lately).

At the convention, I was able to hang out with some of the artists I knew, and I met some new ones. Several were coloring their artwork with watercolor and it looked amazing! So now I have a renewed interest in drawing and coloring. I got a watercolor starter kit to try it out and see if I like it. I sketched something up really quick and took the paints to it. For a first try I don't think it's too bad! The ink smeared from the eraser though, so it looks kinda bad. I definitely need to work on technique (especially evenness) with the paint. Also, I need to develop a feel for how much of a color I need to mix up for a certain part. Needing more purple when all you've got is red and blue and the section is only half done is bad news.

More news and maybe some pictures soon!

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Now playing: Polysics - I My Me Mine
via FoxyTunes

Vacation Pictures Episode 4

2009-02-14T21:24:00.000-08:00

So here's the final set of pictures that I'd like to share from our family vacation. This set contains a bunch of tropical flowers, most taken with the macro setting. I love that setting as some people know. Anyway, I don't know the names of some of the flowers, so I'm just gonna post 'em.

Oh yeah Happy Valentine's Day I guess.

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Now playing: The Fratellis - Flathead
via FoxyTunes

Google Reader Sharing

2009-02-03T18:54:00.000-08:00

Just added a new widget to the blog - Shared Items from Google Reader. I never really understood the point of sharing items from my reader unless I actually went around telling people about it. Now there's a little box on my blog that shows the five most recent items, so that's pretty cool. I come across a lot of neat stuff in my reader and I always end up emailing it to people.

It reminds me of an interesting article I read a while ago (5 minutes on Google and I couldn't find it, oh well) that compared Twitter with email and instant messaging. The basic premise was that email was a fairly heavy medium. Most people feel compelled to respond to email (that isn't spam anyway) since the author obviously took time to write out his or her thoughts and send them to a specific person. But there's also some pressure to take time for composition, spelling checks, revisions, that sort of thing. Instant messaging holds a similar demand, but the response must be immediate. This can lead to potential miscommunication and/or frustration. Putting something on Twitter (or, to relate it to this post - a Reader Share box) doesn't ask for a reply, at least not nearly as much as other internet social media. Simply putting it out there is usually enough; if the audience decides to respond, that avenue is open, but it's not expected.

I'd actually like something like this for YouTube videos. I'm always sending links to those to people I know. Heck, there's probably something already out there that does it. If not, maybe I'll look into how difficult it would be to make something like that. Could be a fun project.

tl;dr - I probably think about social networking way too much to be healthy.

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Now playing: The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army
via FoxyTunes

Vacation Pictures Episode 3

2009-01-31T07:26:00.000-08:00

It's no secret that I love taking pictures of clouds and sunsets. So this post really just couldn't be helped.

The sunsets on Oahu didn't really cooperate with me too well. The first picture up there was taking while driving around there one day, but we didn't really catch any great views on that island.

The other three pictures were all taken on Maui. I was worried that we wouldn't be able to catch a sunset since it rained a lot, but it always seemed to clear up just before the sun started going down. We didn't see any really spectacular, calendar-quality ones, but I'm quite happy with the shots I ended up with since I was able to enjoy them with my family.

Okay, so I didn't post once a week, but I still got 4 posts for the month of January! That counts, doesn't it? I'll work on discipline throughout February I guess. I've still got a round of photos from the trip that I want to post. Also, I've been gearing up for a convention in March where I'll be selling the chainmail jewelry I alluded to in a previous post. So I'll have a bunch of pictures of the pieces I've finished so far that I'd like to blog about.

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Now playing: Jason Mraz - I'm Yours
via FoxyTunes

Chrono Trigger

2009-01-15T19:46:00.000-08:00

I'm a big fan of role-playing video games. Especially 2D, 3/4-view ones. Chrono Trigger, originally released in 1995, is one of my favorites. Definitely top 3. So when I heard news that it was being re-re-released for the Nintendo DS, I was quite excited.

I've been playing it for a while now, and I've noticed some things that I really like, and some things that I'm not too keen about.

The good:
The art and gameplay are as good as ever. The animated cutscenes created for the PSX re-release have been included. The menu system doesn't take 5 seconds to load (this happened in the PSX version - not sure if it was just my copy but it was annoying). The use of the dual screens and touch screen is good. The battle menus are displayed below and can be operated by touch, but are still easier to use with the buttons.

The new content is neat. The first addition is a sort of minigame where you raise a monster and use it to fight in an arena. Your monster grows stronger through training, with more available areas being unlocked as you visit them in the main game. The battle system is fairly simple, with attacks going off automatically. Special attacks are triggered by giving your monster an item between rounds, which it may or may not use based on a "Trust" score. You can battle against the game or with a friend through DS wireless connection. Winning a bout versus the game will net you a prize - some of which are actually quite powerful.

There are also two new dungeons full of side quests. It's basically the same area in two different ages, so most of the quests involve travelling back or forth in time, acquiring an item, and taking it back to the right person. Semi-repetitive, but there's a decent storyline involved and some excellent rewards to be had.

The bad:
Really not too much to say here. As I mentioned above, the arena can hand out some extremely powerful prizes - I got a Prism Helm and Dress well before the Ocean Palace. I opted not to use them so as not to upset the balance of the game. The extra levels and equipment from the two new dungeons made the game play like I had powerleveled, which I really tried to avoid this time around.

The really big thing that irked me though - the retranslation. I didn't have any problems or complaints with the original translation, so I have no idea why they decided to change it. Names of techs and combos are almost all different. Personally, I think Triple Raid sounds a lot cooler than the updated "Triple Attack." A lot of the dialogue is changed as well, some of it to the point that the original feeling is lost. I remember when adding Magus to the party from the end of time, he'd say "Now we've got a winning team!" Now he spouts off something about not hesitating to kill everyone if they get in his way. I'm not sure which version took the creative liberties, but I really would have preferred it wasn't changed. It just feels like a betrayal to the spirit of the game to me.

All in all, I have no regrets in re-re-purchasing the game. Chrono Trigger truly is one of those timeless titles. I have no doubt that every generation of RPG players starting from the original release onward have been and will be captivated by the deep storyline, rich characters, amazing gameplay, and beautiful artwork and music.

And hey, maybe if SE gets enough good feedback from CT they'll finally make Chrono Break! One can hope...

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Now playing: Chrono Trigger - Battle With Magus
via FoxyTunes

Blog Anniversary

2009-01-12T18:55:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's already been a year since I started this? And this is only the 38th post... Well, like I said in my last entry, hopefully that's going to change this year. Anyway, happy birthday Blurred Lines!

I've started working on a new layout for the blog. I wanted to have it ready for today, but my weekend was a lot busier than I anticipated. My brother is involved in mixed martial arts and had a fight on Saturday, which he won. He's actually quite good. From what I heard, there was a professional scout in the audience who talked to my brother's trainer about him. Exciting stuff.

This round of pictures is composed of general scenery we saw in Hawai‘i. I'm never satisfied with my photos because they never quite capture the scene as I remember it, but I guess that's the difference between looking at pictures and actually being there.

The most exciting thing we did in Hawai‘i was probably the snorkeling trip. The weather didn't hold out for us to go parasailing or take the giant zipline down a mountain. My dad bought a disposable underwater camera, but the pictures sadly didn't turn out too well. The company running the tour rented out nicer cameras, but it seemed kind of expensive and I really didn't know what to expect. Next time though, I'd definitely shell out for the rental.

I got a lot more familiar with my camera on this trip. I played around with the settings a lot more, and quite a few of my photos benefitted from the experimentation. I think it's fairly evident in the pictures for the next round - sunsets, clouds, etc. A lot of the shots were taken several times, all with different settings. It really gave me a feel for how things turn out just slightly differently with all the different options.

Anyway, thanks for reading, and hopefully this next year will be loads better than the last!

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Now playing: ai otsuka - Birthday Song
via FoxyTunes

Holiday Season Recap

2009-01-07T18:43:00.001-08:00

-Statue of King Kamehameha I-

Hope everyone had fun over the holidays!

-Germaine's Luau Dancers-

One of my resolutions for the new year is to blog more. Looking at my post count for last year, I think at least one entry per week is doable. They might be shorter posts, maybe a few without pictures, just discussing current events or linking cool sites, but I would like to have more content here. Also! The blog turns a year old on the 12th! How exciting is that? I feel like I should do something special.

-Germaine's Luau Firedancer-
This was taken with the "Fireworks" setting - lots of light and long exposure.
They turned out to be some of my favorite pictures of the whole trip.

Anyway, the big news is that I spent Christmas with my family in Hawai‘i! We did visited some relatives and did all kinds of neat things. Lots of shopping and beach time, but we also went to a bunch of parks, did some snorkeling, attended a luau, and generally had a wonderful time.

-Manoa Falls-

I'm not sure how many pictures I actually took as I deleted ones that weren't that great as I went, but I ended up with about 500. I've got a bunch that I want to post, so I'll break them up into several posts. This one will be the more tourist-y type photos. The other categories will probably be landscapes, sunsets, and flowers.

Burger King serves Spam for breakfast!
It was delicious

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Now playing: Israel Kamakawiwo'ole - E Ala E
via FoxyTunes

Marathon Cookie Baking

2008-12-12T23:14:00.000-08:00

The other day, I baked 380 cookies. Three hundred and eighty. Cookies. I went through four pounds of butter. I ran out of flat surfaces in my house to cool them on. It was absolutely crazy and I loved every minute of it. The purpose of this all-day baking blitz was to make up trays to give to coworkers, neighbors, and family for the holidays. This was the first year that I covered everyone on my own, so it was a real challenge.

Laying everything out was key. I usually grab stuff from the cabinet as I need it, but this was no ordinary baking session. The only problem was that it took up precious counter space, so I ended up covering the dining room table with wax paper and using it for a giant cooling rack. No pictures of that, it was horrible.

I started pretty early in the morning (10:00 AM is super early unless I'm going to work) and I was rotating pans trying to be as efficient as possible. I don't think I'll be doing that again unless I get another timer. My timing scheme that was based on the time of the previous pan broke down disappointingly quickly, so I switched to a single batch at a time in the afternoon.

My (still relatively) new baking stone has been working wonderfully. It makes perfect cookies every time and I think I just might like it more than my trusty tin pans. I know I'm probably ages late in figuring out that stone bakes better than metal. Also, it fit 20 mini Snickerdoodles at a time. That was so awesome.

I also made Peanut Butter Corn Flake Balls again. They're simple, easy, and everyone loves them. You really can't go wrong with these things, it's amazing.

Here's a picture of a tray being assembled. The stack in the back is Salted Oatmeal White Chocolate. They're surrounded by mini Snickerdoodles, with the Peanut Butter Corn Flake Balls in the middle, and Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip cookies in the foreground on the right. Also there is a horrible box of plastic wrap ruining the picture in the background. Yay for forgetting to set up the picture properly!

Here are a few of the completed trays. I had 13 total, with quite a few cookies left over for my immediate family. They all turned out pretty well, although some were a bit drier than I would have liked. I was afraid of having too few so I doubled each recipe and tried to make the cookies a bit on the small side. This completely backfired. Recipes that supposedly yielded 20-40 (I estimated 30, so 60 when doubled) ended up making 140. More than twice the generous estimate!

My favorite out of the bunch is probably the Salted Oatmeal White Chocolate. They were crispy and chewy, sweet and salty all at the same time, which was really neat. Even though I couldn't find the right kind of sea salt locally (supposed to use the flake kind), it worked out. I'll definitely be adding these to the list of cookies to bake for special occasions.

Here's where I got the recipes:
Salted Oatmeal White Chocolate - Smitten Kitchen
Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip - Carmen Cooks
Snickerdoodles - Oven Haven

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Now playing: The Hives - Love In Plaster
via FoxyTunes

Guy Fawkes Night

2008-11-05T17:26:00.000-08:00

Remember, remember...

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Now playing: Ludwig van Beethoven, Philadelphia Orchestra & Riccardo Muti - Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67: I. Allegro Con Brio
via FoxyTunes

KC Renaissance Faire

2008-11-03T16:41:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, I went to the Ren Faire in Kansas City with my father and brother. We've been going for the past seven years or so, and the last few times I've dressed up for it. I'm currently working on my chainmail hauberk, but it's only about a quarter done, so I borrowed my friend's for the weekend. I made the tabard (the cloth part that goes over the armor) myself, all stitched by hand. I usually tell people that I prefer the rustic look it gives, but in reality I'm just scared to use the antique sewing machine my grandmother passed down.

The aforementioned friend and I planned out this outfit a few years ago, based off the Templar knight uniform. We ordered matching helmets, gloves, belts, and shields. The plan was for both of us to go at the same time, but schedules haven't worked out, which is fine since I'm pretty lazy about working on my chainmail.

I definitely have an elevated level of respect for medieval knights. This was hot and heavy and uncomfortable pretty much the whole time I was wearing it. The helmet alone weighed ten pounds, the hauberk was forty, and with the sword and shield I was carting around a total of sixty pounds of steel (with a long-sleeved shirt, pants, leather boots and gloves on as well). Still, I lasted about three and a half hours, at which point my arms were going numb from the pressure of the chainmail. I'll have to do some research and see if I can find a way to distribute the weight a bit better.
At around that point, we stopped at one of the clothing stores, and I bought a doublet, which I had been wanting for a while anyway. I ran (well, walked rather slowly) back out to the car, swapped shirts, and put on my hat. This outfit was quite a bit more comfortable.

Next year, I want to have my hauberk completed, as well as a coif (a chainmail hood) and a blue tabard with a fleur-de-lis design. The leather store where we ordered our belts has a neat set of ringmail greaves and bracers that I think would fit nicely. It'll be a ton of work, but I'm pretty excited about it. Maybe I'll post progress here to keep me motivated.

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Now playing: Queen - Brighton Rock
via FoxyTunes

Moving Back to Blogger

2008-11-02T19:09:00.001-08:00

I'm temporarily moving back to hosting this blog on Blogspot. There were a few things I didn't like about hosting it on a separate server, mainly the fact that paging went away. I've also updated the template (using one of the provided layouts at the moment) and added a few neat widgets. You might notice the Twitter update at the top of the sidebar - I've finally broken down and started an account. We'll see how it goes.

As far as the future is concerned, I'm thinking about finally making my site. Right now I'm leaning towards Python and Django, but we'll see. Short-term, I want to create my own template or at least heavily edit an existing one. Also, I'm not sure if my feed has changed because of the switch; guess I'll find out after I post this.

In other news, I recently attended KaizenConf, which was awesome. I'll be either posting a recap here or on The Pirates' Code. Maybe both. To sum up in a word though: enlightening. And the number of people in attendance who owned iPhones was staggering. But seriously, it was the most amazing event I've ever been part of.

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Now playing: The Raconteurs - Five On the Five
via FoxyTunes

Homemade Cookie Day!

2008-10-01T17:25:00.000-07:00

So I guess today is Homemade Cookie Day. Last night, my mom and I baked four batches of these (about 120 cookies) and we both took them to work today. They're pretty time-consuming to make with all the different steps, but man they are worth it.

And don't mind the photo - it's one I took from the last time we made these, about a year ago. I was going to take a better picture to post, but... I ate all the leftover cookies.

Recipe courtesy Bake or Break.

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Now playing: TOKIO - Joushou Shikou (#-= Anime Academy Radio =- Best of Anime/Asian Music! (www.animeacademyradio.net))
via FoxyTunes

Talk Like a Pirate Day 2008

2008-09-19T18:18:00.000-07:00

Avast me lads 'n lasses! T'day be Talk Like a Pirate Day 2008! 'Ave a mug o' rum, sing some shanties, an' above all, talk wit' th'boldness an' flavor o' speech tha' only comes from runnin' up th'jolly roger a time er two! Yaharr!

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Now playing: Klaus Badelt - Skull and Crossbones
via FoxyTunes

Camping Trip: Photo 02

2008-09-04T19:34:00.000-07:00

Seen on the bank of the river at Devils Den Campground. Kind of reminds me of those stock photos you seen on business websites.

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Now playing: The Hives - Hate to Say I Told You So
via FoxyTunes

Camping Trip: Photo 01

2008-09-02T20:31:00.000-07:00

Over Labor Day weekend, I went camping with my family in Devil's Den State Park in Arkansas. It was a beautiful campground with many things to do. There's a little river that runs through the campground, and while we were there, I came across this little fellow. He let me get right next to him to take some awesome pictures.

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Now playing: Klaus Badelt - He's a Pirate
via FoxyTunes

A Ninja Riding a T-Rex

2008-07-19T18:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was hanging out with a good friend of mine who is a very talented artist. We were both sketching as we chatted, and this is one of the things I came up with. It was a lot of fun as I haven't really drawn anything in a while.

I actually surprised myself with the linework - I'm pretty pleased with it. I'll probably end up inking and at least trying to color it. Well, a copy anyway. Working on the original is not the best idea for me. I usually mess up somewhere along the line with more permanent media.

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Now playing: Aqua - Cartoon Heroes
via FoxyTunes

Photo 7-9-08

2008-07-09T16:04:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while, I'll come across a cloud formation or sunset that is really awesome, and I'll want to take a picture, but I won't have a camera with me. That's probably the main reason I've started the habit of carrying one with me whenever possible. This picture is from one of the few times I happened to have a camera with me, though it's taken with a disposable through the window of a moving vehicle. Even so, I still really like it.

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Now playing: Dick Dale and His Del-Tones - Misirlou
via FoxyTunes

Fourth of July

2008-07-05T15:10:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a safe Fourth of July!

I spent the day at my parents' house, and we shot off some fireworks after it got dark. I brought my camera, which actually has a "fireworks" setting, so I took a bunch of pictures. The setting has a long exposure time though, and I didn't bring my tripod, so some of them look a little shaky. I'll have to remember that for next time.

I think the fountains look really cool as photographs since it shows them over time.

We had a total of four sets of artillery shells that we screwed down to a board. We were able to light all four at once, which was really neat. The photo at the top shows three of them exploding at the same time.

This last picture was kind of cool; my mom, dad, brother, and I all lit a roman candle at the same time and stood next to each other. I took a picture with my free hand (you can see my other hand holding the roman candle on the left side).

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Now playing: ai otsuka - Smily
via FoxyTunes

Photo 7-3-08

2008-07-03T21:35:00.000-07:00

A few years ago, we had a huge snowstorm (this was before we upgraded to ice only). I took my trusty disposable camera and went for a walk through the woods behind my house. What I considered to be the best photo was given to a friend of mine as a birthday present (only had one set of prints developed), but this one came in at a close second.

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Now playing: Bedlam Bards - Sail the Sky
via FoxyTunes

Minus Comic Ending

2008-07-03T21:14:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite webcomics ever ended today. "Minus" was a magnificent tale about a magical little girl, written and illustrated beautifully by Ryan Armand. Here's the description from the site:

Each minus strip is painted on a 15x20" piece of Illustration board. With this comic I am pretending I am making a comic strip for a newspaper in the early 20th century. A special newspaper that lets me use as much color as I want. I'm not much for comic strips so I don't know how long I'll be doing this one, so enjoy it while it lasts, I guess? It'll be updating every thursday until I suddenly stop! Making comics on giant paper is pretty neat though.

I strongly encourage you to read it from the beginning. Stick through until the end; you'll be glad you did.

Wow... This really makes me sad. I ordered a print of my favorite strip, #37. I really hope he turns it into a book, but until then, it was the least I could do for all the joy and entertainment this comic has given me. Thank you, Mr. Armand.

Minus will be missed, but never forgotten.

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Now playing: Bedlam Bards - Leaf On the Wind
via FoxyTunes

Photo 7-2-08

2008-07-02T22:37:00.000-07:00

This is a photo from my trip to France. Sadly, I can't remember the name of this particular chateau. It was really neat and connected to a small island in the middle of the river. We were able to go through it and walk around freely, so I wandered off a bit and took this picture. I love the storybook feel it's got going on.

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Now playing: The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Pt. 2
via FoxyTunes

Photo 7-1-08

2008-07-01T21:44:00.000-07:00

This is the Colosseum in Rome from my trip to Europe a couple years ago. It was truly a magnificent thing to behold, and was probably the highlight of my trip. I've always been fascinated by ancient Rome, and to actually go inside some of the places I had only dreamed of visiting was an awesome experience.

I love the angle I was able to capture for this photo. We were taking a guided tour, so most of my pictures were either rushed, or had scores of people in them. This one is mostly empty, except for the tops of two peoples' heads off to the right and an arm jutting out toward the bottom. Still, I can't complain; this is one of my favorite pictures from the trip.

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Now playing: Beirut - Scenic world (Version)
via FoxyTunes

Photo 6-30-08

2008-06-30T20:27:00.000-07:00

This might be my favorite cloud photo that I've taken. At the very least, it's the one I've used the most in various design projects.

Also, I'm going to dig up some old pictures and try to post one every day this week to make up for the long dry spell of no posts.

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Now playing: The Surfaris - Wipe Out (Live)
via FoxyTunes

Fresh Limeade

2008-06-04T21:26:00.001-07:00

The other day I found a recipe for lemon- or limeade that used the entire fruit, rind and all. It caught my attention, so I tried it out. It's really simple and a lot easier and quicker than the normal method of juicing the fruit.

I was a bit reluctant to use the peels of both limes, thinking it would be too much, so I used one and a half of the peels and added an extra half cup of water. The end result was actually kind of watered-down. Next time, I might even use less water than the recipe calls for. Also, I'd really like to try this with 2 cups of water to blend with the limes and sugar, then crush 3 cups of ice with a half cup of water and strain the juice and mix together. Kind of like a frozen limeade. It might need more sugar though... When I try it out I'll update this post.

Also, the warning about keeping leftovers is quite valid. I refrigerated the remaining limeade, and it tasted pretty bad the next day. I could easily see 3 or more people finishing it off in a sitting though - it's that good.

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Now playing: Daft Punk - Veridis Quo
via FoxyTunes

Red Velvet Cake Balls

2008-05-13T19:04:00.000-07:00

A cousin of mine graduated from high school this weekend, and I wanted to bring something sweet to the family get-together afterward. I had seen this recipe on Bakerella a week or so before, and thought they'd be perfect for the occasion.

I will give a bit of a warning: these take a while to make. Plan time to bake the cake, wait for it to cool, actually form the balls (I used my hands to mix in the frosting - worked well but made a mess), chill them, then coat them. Also, my entire kitchen was red from the all the coloring in the cake mix.

Sadly I didn't get any pictures of the actual cake in the middle, but they're quite stunning with the white outside/red inside contrast. Click here for some wonderful pictures and the recipe.

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Now playing: Round Table featuring Nino - Let Me Be With You (New Step Mix)
via FoxyTunes

Photo 5-11-08

2008-05-11T18:18:00.000-07:00

It was raining pretty hard the other day; we had tornado sirens going off and everything. After it let up, I went outside and noticed this leaf at the bottom of my front steps.

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Now playing: Jake Shimabukuro - Let's Dance
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Silly Walks

2008-05-05T21:10:00.000-07:00

I'm a big fan of Monty Python. And I was in a pretty silly mood.

Above: Yeah, that's me.
Below: Inspiration!

I might this shot again sometime. My leg's not angled, I don't have a cane/umbrella, and the bag's on the wrong side. I was originally going by the picture of him in the hallway during the actual skit, but I think this image looks closer, at least perspective-wise.

Anyway, it was a lot of fun setting up and trying to get the picture to take at the right time. I'll have to remember to stretch a bit more for the next go, though.

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Now playing: Franz Ferdinand - Do You Want To
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New Site Design!

2008-05-05T17:01:00.000-07:00

I've updated the blog a bit, might have to refresh if you don't see any changes.

The picture is of a tree in my front yard, taken around noon. No Photoshop levels/color adjusting required; nature saw fit to provide me with all that.

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Now playing: Israel Kamakawiwo'ole - 'Ulili E
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Ebb and Flow Necklace

2008-04-24T10:48:00.000-07:00

I first got into beaded jewelry through chainmail jewelry (which I got into through chainmail armor making, but that's a different story). It started with adding beads onto the chain to add color or focal points for the particular piece. After a little while, I started repairing jewelry (including beaded necklaces and bracelets) for my mother and her friends. From there, it was a pretty natural step to start making my own.

This necklace was inspired by a similar design on ArtBeads.com, located here. ArtBeads is an amazing source of jewelry-making supplies. If I'm looking for something particular and can't find it locally, I order it from them. I also find inspiration just by looking through their catalog. They also offer free shipping! Honestly, how can you beat that?

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Now playing: Arctic Monkeys - Balaclava
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Deep Dish Pecan Pie

2008-04-20T20:02:00.000-07:00

At work, we designate one day a month to celebrate everyone's birthday that falls during that month. Well, one of the guys in our group had a birthday this past week, but was out of town for the party, so I thought I'd bake something. He had mentioned liking pecans before, and I had been wanting to try this recipe anyway, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to try it.

Now, I'd never made a pecan pie before. Well, I'd never even had pecan pie before. So this was all completely new to me. Although, after being horrified at the ingredient list, I came to the conclusion that anything with that much corn syrup in it would have to taste okay.

The pie filling looked pretty gross. You know when you're at a lake or something, and there's a bunch of sticks floating near the shore, and you suddenly change your mind about wanting to go for a swim? That's what the filling reminded me of. So I covered it with pecan halves. I tried to make it look like pictures of pecan pie that I've seen in the past.

Matt from MattBites is a professional. I mean, literally a professional food photographer. I'm a huge fan of his work. But I still have no idea how he got such a clean cut on his pie. It's really amazing, and makes mine look terrible. However, looks don't affect taste, and this tasted awesome. Of course, I didn't really have anything to compare it to, but the guys at work and my parents all thought it was good. Also, I have no idea if whipped cream is a proper topping for pecan pie, but that and some cinnamon was awfully tasty.

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Now playing: Joss Whedon - Firefly - Main Theme
via FoxyTunes

New Wallpaper Project!

2008-03-31T20:12:00.001-07:00

I've recently been asked by a friend I met in the MMORPG Final Fantasy XI to create a custom wallpaper featuring his game character. I had started to make one for him years ago, but it was lost... somehow. Still not exactly sure where the file went, but we both kind of forgot about it.

Anyway, I'm pretty excited about this project because I've learned a whole lot since the last time I made a wallpaper, which was a year and a half ago... Man! What have I been doing these past two years?!

Below is my most recent wallpaper. It's from the anime Please Teacher!. I completely redrew the main image in Photoshop because I wanted the lines and colors to be smoother and more even than the raw scan was. Altogether, it took 9 hours to complete, and the background isn't even that great.

Also, here is the link to my profile on AnimePaper, the wallpaper site I post to. If you're a fan of that kind of thing, it's the best site on the internet for anime and game related wallpapers.

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Now playing: Andrew W.K. - Party Hard
via FoxyTunes

Garfield Minus Garfield

2008-03-16T15:11:00.000-07:00

A friend pointed this out to me - it's a regular Garfield comic strip, with the big orange cat and all his lines omitted. From the website:

Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life?

I am not afraid to admit: I lol'd profusely. Here's the link - Garfield Minus Garfield

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Now playing: Gackt - Vanilla
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Happy Pi Day!

2008-03-14T16:00:00.000-07:00

Today (3/14) is Pi Day (3.14). Festivities include calculating the area of circles and eating pie. So it's basically the 3rd best holiday out there, after Christmas and Talk Like a Pirate Day.

To celebrate this wonderfully geeky holiday, I made a peanut butter pie last night and brought it into work today. It was generally well-received, although it's quite high in calories. Probably almost dangerously so. But so are most things that taste good, right?

For the decoration, I stuck some strips of duct tape onto a piece of cardboard and cut out the shape of a pi symbol. Be sure to draw it backwards, which is actually more difficult than it should be. Carefully lift it off the cardboard and place it (sticky side up) over the finished pie. Then just sprinkle crushed-up Oreo cookies over it and lift the tape stencil off. Easy as 3.14159!

Peanut Butter Pie recipe from RecipeZaar.

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Now playing: Belle & Sebastian - We Are The Sleepyheads
via FoxyTunes

Photo of the Week #5

2008-03-06T18:07:00.001-08:00

This is my blog-writing gear: I don the feathered cap, and quill in hand, painstakingly transcribe my thoughts to papyrus. The document is then scanned and faxed to a small monastery in southern France where a team of friars take turns typing the text into Notepad. The file is then emailed back to me, which I copy and paste into Blogger. So if it seems that I don't post very often, you now know the reason.

Bonus alternate post:
One of my favorite hobbies is calligraphy. I picked it up a few years ago and have practiced off an on ever since. I'm not the best, but it's something I enjoy and I find it surprisingly relaxing. I am a big font fanatic, so I suppose calligraphy is a natural extension of that. Or is it the other way around?

I've found a few uses for it, which is always exciting. My graduation announcements were addressed in calligraphy, and I have filled out the marriage certificates of two of my friends. That was especially neat because it's something they'll have and cherish for a long time. Maybe sometime soon I'll post a few examples...

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Now playing: ORESKABAND - Chuck
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Photo of the Week #4

2008-03-06T17:55:00.000-08:00

There is a cat on my shed!

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Now playing: ai otsuka - Sakuranbo (Original)
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Photo of the Week #3

2008-02-21T15:30:00.000-08:00

Snow? No, no dahling; we don't do snow anymore. In the midwest, it's ice or nothing.

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Now playing: Beirut - Nantes
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Photo of the Week #2

2008-02-09T16:09:00.000-08:00

Amassing pirate-related stuff is a~~n obsession~~ hobby of mine. It will most certainly be the subject of many future posts. The lighting here turned out a bit harsh on the lower right edge of the table, but for the most part I like it. No Photoshop retouching this time!

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Now playing: The Unseen - Paint It Black
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Chocolate Cheesecake

2008-02-06T16:48:00.000-08:00

I make a pretty decent cheesecake. Or at least, people tell me I do.

I usually make it plain, with a few different fruit syrups and chocolate to put on top. One time I tried to be a bit different, and made the crust out of crushed Oreos. The end result was okay, but the process involved setting off both the fire and intruder alarms at my parents' house. At ten o'clock at night. That's a story for another time.

For some reason, I just can't help but play around with this recipe. Cheesecake is like a blank canvas - you can add pretty much anything to it, and it'll still be delicious. The cheesecake, not the canvas.

So I decide to alter the filling part and make a chocolate cheesecake. It actually wasn't that hard. I replaced some of the cream cheese with good quality chocolate and added a bit of cocoa powder. The result wasn't too strong, and it maintained the wonderful consistency of the original recipe. I'll provide both below, with the chocolate addition/substitution in parentheses.

New York Cheesecake recipe adapted from JoyOfBaking.

Ingredients:
- Crust

2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

- Filling

Four 8 oz. packages cream cheese, room temperature (3.5 packages)
1 cup granulated white sugar
3 tbsp. all-purpose flour
5 large eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
(4 oz. semisweet chocolate, melted)
(1 tbsp. cocoa powder)

- Topping

1 cup sour cream
2 tbsp. granulated white sugar
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Recipe:

Grease or spray with Pam a 9 inch springform pan. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
In a bowl, combine the crust ingredients, stirring well with a fork. Press the crust firmly into the springform pan, going up the sides about an inch. Cover and refrigerate until later.
For the filling, put cream cheese, sugar, and flour into a large mixing bowl. Beat on medium speed until smooth (about 2 minutes).
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each one.
Add the vanilla and whipping cream (and chocolate and cocoa powder if making chocolate cheesecake) and beat until just incorporated. Take care not to overbeat, as that will put too much air into the batter, which can cause the cheesecake to crack while baking.
Pour the filling into the springform pan. Place that pan on a larger baking pan with a rim, and bake in the oven for 15 minutes.
Lower the temperature to 250 degrees and bake for another hour and a half. The center should look a little wet and the whole thing should still be a bit wobbly.
Remove and place on a wire rack to cool.
Combine topping ingredients in a small bowl and mix together with a fork. Spread the topping on the cheesecake evenly.
Return the cheesecake to the oven to bake for another 15 minutes.
Remove and run a knife around the inside of the pan to loosen the cheesecake and help prevent cracking. Let cool, then cover with foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Top with fresh fruit or fruit and/or chocolate syrup.

The experiment turned out well. The chocolate flavor was pretty subtle, and it tasted sort of like chocolate ice cream. If I were to make it again, I might add more melted chocolate to the filling and see if it tastes a bit stronger.

Photo of the Week #1

2008-02-02T16:53:00.000-08:00

I think I'm going to try to post a photo of something, anything, at least once a week. And so, this is the first such post!

I took this as I was leaving work yesterday. The sky was a beautiful blue color, and these clouds were amazing. I suppose that's the trade-off with Missouri weather. We can go from 58 and sunny to 29 and snowing in a day* but you get wonderful cloudscapes, sunrises, and sunsets from time to time. I could definitely do without the random and severe weather changes, but this is a fair deal, at least in my opinion.

And yes, I did 'Shop this photo a bit. The colors weren't exactly how I remembered them, and I'd rather upload a file that's a few dozen kilobytes instead of a few megabytes, because honestly? That's way too many bytes.

Also! FoxyTunes is awesome, and the fact that social networking sites and things like Blogger can interact with it totally rocks my socks.

*This just happened last week. For serious.

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Now playing: Gogol Bordello - Start Wearing Purple
via FoxyTunes

Oreo Truffles

2008-01-29T17:38:00.000-08:00

So I've made these a few times now, and they are delicious. Seriously, I think these things have utterly ruined plain Oreo cookies for me. I will forever be disappointed by the cookie itself, and it's all thanks to this quick (and fun) little recipe.

Oreo Truffles Recipe adapted from Bakerella.

Ingredients:

1 whole package of regular Oreo cookies
8oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 package white chocolate or vanilla bark/candy coating

Recipe:

Split the cookies and, using a butter knife, scrape the filling off. Place the cookies and filling in separate bowls.
Using a food processor (or a more manual method if you're patient - I wasn't, ha) crush the cookies into a relatively fine dust.
Mix together the cookie crumbs and cream cheese, using a large spoon to mash it all together. Make sure it's combined well.
Using your own judgment, add filling until there are hardly any loose crumbs left. I usually used between one-quarter and one-third of the filling. You could use all of it if you wanted to though.
Form the mixture into balls and place on wax paper in preparation for the next step.
Melt the bark or coating as directed on the package.
Using a pair of spoons, roll the balls around in the melted bark until covered, then place back on the wax paper.
Let the coating harden, then refrigerate for about an hour (not necessary, but they taste better).

These guys will keep easily for a few days in the fridge (remember, there's cream cheese in there). Also, be careful who you share these with; they'll likely keep bugging you to make more!

About the Name...

2008-01-28T16:27:00.000-08:00

I know that the title "Blurred Lines" doesn't make much sense as the name of a personal hobby-related blog. "What lines are he talking about? And why are they blurry?" The reason for the name is mainly because I already have the domain, which I purchased a little over a year ago for a webcomic project I had started. Needless to say, the project hasn't gone very well since then.

The initial idea and concept popped into my head one day a few years ago, which I then planned out and refined for a while. However, by the time I finally felt I was ready to start serious work on it, I was in the middle of graduating college. That basically left me no free time for anything, much less working on storyboarding and finishing character designs. After graduation, my free time was swallowed up by job-hunting while still working full-time (that job was great for when I was in college, but I didn't have a future there at all). So now I've found the perfect job, but I've had to deal with a couple family crises since.

By this point, I'd almost have to start over from scratch as it's been quite a long time since I've really thought about the project. Sure I have overall plot and mostly-done character designs, but I've lost much of the passion I had at the beginning. It can really be frustrating at times. Anyway, that's the story of how my website got its name. I might post some of the content I have from the Blurred Lines project now and then, as this is a blog about my crazy pastimes. Heck, one day I might rediscover the desire to finish the project again and begin work anew. Who knows.

Peanut Butter Corn Flake Balls

2008-01-23T15:39:00.000-08:00

She was right; holy crap, these are amazing cookies. It's a much more fitting name.

These little guys are really easy to make (no baking!) and taste awesome. Not that I don't like to bake or anything (I love baking) but sometimes you just don't want to mess with the oven, you know? All these cookies require from you though is a little bit of boiling, some mixing, and that you get creative (re: messy) with some melted chocolate. I melted it in the microwave. How easy is that?!

Ingredients:

1c. granulated sugar
1c. corn syrup (I used light, not dark)
1 18oz. jar of peanut butter (creamy)
6 cups corn flakes
chocolate to drizzle on top (I used about 4 oz.)

Recipe:

Combine sugar and corn syrup in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat, stirring regularly, until it comes to a full boil.
Remove from heat and stir in the entire jar of peanut butter. Yes, the whole jar. I love peanut butter. Mix until the consistency is uniform.
Put the corn flakes in a large bowl (make sure you have enough room to stir it all around). Pour the peanut butter mixture over the corn flakes and mix well. Be sure to stir up the bottom of the bowl; I had a lot of peanut butter settle which led to a few cookies being more peanut butter than corn flakes (not that I minded).
Using a pair of tablespoons, scoop out the mixture, pack it a bit, and place on wax paper.
Melt the chocolate, either in the microwave or in a pot over a larger pot full of boiling water.
Drizzle the chocolate over the cookies (I dipped a spoon in the chocolate and used a whipping motion over the cookies. Looks great, but makes for a dirty countertop).
Allow time to cool.
Eat them!

I didn't take too much care to make sure they were completely sealed (or even covered properly) and they were good for a few days. Of course, they were gone before I could test exactly how long they'll keep for.

First Post!

2008-01-12T21:31:00.000-08:00

Okay, so if you read this blog, one of the first things you'll learn about me is that I am absolute rubbish at writing introductions. Seriously - it was the hardest part of writing papers for me in school. So forgive me if I just dive into whatever it is I happen to be writing about.

Good, now I don't feel quite so awkward.