....zzzzzzz....
...GAH! WHA! WHA?!
WHERE AM I
WHAT MONTH IS IT
OH CR*P I AM WAY BEHIND ON EVERYTHING
Translation: I am both lazy AND I have been sick, and I really need to update. Sorry. Stay tuned.
Showing posts with label dogs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dogs. Show all posts
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Thursday, November 26, 2009
感謝祭：kanshasai, meaning "Thanksgiving Celebration"
Those are relatively tough kanji, actually. The last one, 「祭」is まつり、matsuri, meaning "festival", which you may have heard before in Japanese media. :3
I was going to make the traditional list of "things I am thankful for", derp derp, but that would be a very long post, including such things as clean water, pugs, and Canada.
Instead, here is a list of groups whose hard work I am thankful for.
Founded as Point Reyes Bird Observatory in 1965, PRBO Conservation Science is dedicated to conserving birds, other wildlife and ecosystems worldwide through innovative scientific research and outreach.
I was going to make the traditional list of "things I am thankful for", derp derp, but that would be a very long post, including such things as clean water, pugs, and Canada.
Instead, here is a list of groups whose hard work I am thankful for.
11/19/09: Wilma, rescued by the ASPCA
The first and oldest humane organization in the Western Hemisphere, the ASPCA works to rescue animals from abuse, pass humane laws, and share resources with shelters nationwide. The United Nations Children's Fund was created by the United Nations General Assembly on December 11, 1946, to provide emergency food and health care to children in countries that had been devastated by World War II. It has since evolved into the world's largest advocate for children in impoverished and war-torn nations, providing long-term humanitarian assistance to children and their mothers.
Founded as Point Reyes Bird Observatory in 1965, PRBO Conservation Science is dedicated to conserving birds, other wildlife and ecosystems worldwide through innovative scientific research and outreach.
If there's another cause you favor, you can always find a charity of your own to support. :D
Or if you've got a few minutes, you can donate your clicks to a good cause.
Happy Thanksgiving, 感謝祭おめでとうございます。:3
Saturday, October 18, 2008
ワンワンなど (short post)
犬、inu
(hiragana: いぬ)
dog, canine
ワンワン、 wan-wan
(hiragana: わんわん)
Japanese onomatopoeia for a dog's bark
わんちゃん、wan-chan
an endearing term for a little dog, similar to "doggie" in English
A little softie dog, based on a pattern by the clever Runo, Japanese dollmaker. You can find the pattern on her blog, right here.
Back soon~
(hiragana: いぬ)
dog, canine
ワンワン、 wan-wan
(hiragana: わんわん)
Japanese onomatopoeia for a dog's bark
わんちゃん、wan-chan
an endearing term for a little dog, similar to "doggie" in English
Back soon~
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
the obligatory "Om Nom Nom"
Because it's birthday season, I can get away with composing a few snacks that are normally banned from the premises. I always aim for the same three: cake, lemon squares, and puppy chow. (Taiyaki would be the fourth if I had the skill to make it.) In any case, I have recently discovered that "puppy chow" is not in everyone's vocabulary, let alone in most standard cookbooks.
We shall rectify this situation!
Puppy Chow (puh-pee CHAow), noun: A homemade treat composed primarily of chocolate, peanut butter, and crunchy cereal. Intended for human consumption only. Do not feed this stuff to dogs, or to diabetics for that matter. (V. sweet)
And now, a recipe. Please note that puppy chow, like krispy squares, is in every respect a homemade sweet. Amounts and flavors can be fudged, tactics are customizable, and clean up will be necessary. Let the mess begin!
Ingredients! ...and commentary!
One (14oz) box crispy corn cereal squares
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 and 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 cups confectioner's sugar
You can use any brand of sturdy, puffed corn cereal, but the traditional one is Chex. (Chex rhymes with Quex.)
The butter is necessary to make the chocolate/pnut butter mix liquidy enough to coat the cereal. If you use more chocolate, you'll want to add a little more butter, too.
Vanilla extract is optional. It makes a subtle difference to the chocolate element of the flavor range.
If you use crunchy peanut butter, the coating step becomes more difficult by several orders of magnitude. It can be done, but not pleasantly.
Other flavors of chips make for exotic chow. I have heard of great love for butterscotch and white chocolate.
Be liberal with the powdered sugar. It's the key to getting the pieces to be "pieces" and not "clumps."
Directions!
0) Get a big pot and a slightly smaller pot that fits inside it. We're rigging up a double boiler. (If you have an actual double boiler, go get that instead.) Put some water in the bigger pot, then nest the smaller pot inside of it so that the water comes up against the bottom and about an inch up outside of the little pot. Put the whole thing on the stove and turn the heat to medium-high. This is all so that when you melt your chocolate, it actually melts and doesn't burn like it would if you just put it in a single pot directly on the stovetop.
1) Melt the chocolate chips. Add the peanut butter, vanilla, and margerine when enough of the chips are melted that you can stir the mixture together. Keep melting and mixing until smooth.
2) Remove the mixture from heat and add the cereal. Stir the cereal around in the mixture to coat all the pieces as well as you can. It helps if you use a flat spoon and use kind of a "folding" motion. Don't be afraid of all the crunching that this step produces; most of the cereal survives crushinating.
3) Get a big container with a lid that you can shake. Big tupperware works well... so does a paper grocery bag. Anything large that can stay shut. Put a thick layer of confectioner's sugar in the bottom of your shaking device, then dump in the sticky mess of coated cereal. Cover it with another layer of sugar, then close it up tight.
4) Shake it like you mean it. No, but seriously. Shake the container very, very well. Your goal is to get the surface area of the sticky cereal bits into contact with as many sugar particles as possible.
5) Open the container and check your chow. If there are any huge clumps, break them apart, add some more confectioner's sugar, and repeat step 4. If everything looks okay, try a piece. It should look like processed dog kibble, but it will taste awesome.
6) Store in an airtight container andhide the container from your voracious family keep it in a cool, dry place. Serving size is about 1/3 cup of chow, and this recipe makes about 10 bazillion servings (something like 40~50, actually).
We shall rectify this situation!
Puppy Chow (puh-pee CHAow), noun: A homemade treat composed primarily of chocolate, peanut butter, and crunchy cereal. Intended for human consumption only. Do not feed this stuff to dogs, or to diabetics for that matter. (V. sweet)
And now, a recipe. Please note that puppy chow, like krispy squares, is in every respect a homemade sweet. Amounts and flavors can be fudged, tactics are customizable, and clean up will be necessary. Let the mess begin!
Ingredients! ...and commentary!
One (14oz) box crispy corn cereal squares
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 and 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 cups confectioner's sugar
You can use any brand of sturdy, puffed corn cereal, but the traditional one is Chex. (Chex rhymes with Quex.)
The butter is necessary to make the chocolate/pnut butter mix liquidy enough to coat the cereal. If you use more chocolate, you'll want to add a little more butter, too.
Vanilla extract is optional. It makes a subtle difference to the chocolate element of the flavor range.
If you use crunchy peanut butter, the coating step becomes more difficult by several orders of magnitude. It can be done, but not pleasantly.
Other flavors of chips make for exotic chow. I have heard of great love for butterscotch and white chocolate.
Be liberal with the powdered sugar. It's the key to getting the pieces to be "pieces" and not "clumps."
Directions!
0) Get a big pot and a slightly smaller pot that fits inside it. We're rigging up a double boiler. (If you have an actual double boiler, go get that instead.) Put some water in the bigger pot, then nest the smaller pot inside of it so that the water comes up against the bottom and about an inch up outside of the little pot. Put the whole thing on the stove and turn the heat to medium-high. This is all so that when you melt your chocolate, it actually melts and doesn't burn like it would if you just put it in a single pot directly on the stovetop.
1) Melt the chocolate chips. Add the peanut butter, vanilla, and margerine when enough of the chips are melted that you can stir the mixture together. Keep melting and mixing until smooth.
2) Remove the mixture from heat and add the cereal. Stir the cereal around in the mixture to coat all the pieces as well as you can. It helps if you use a flat spoon and use kind of a "folding" motion. Don't be afraid of all the crunching that this step produces; most of the cereal survives crushinating.
3) Get a big container with a lid that you can shake. Big tupperware works well... so does a paper grocery bag. Anything large that can stay shut. Put a thick layer of confectioner's sugar in the bottom of your shaking device, then dump in the sticky mess of coated cereal. Cover it with another layer of sugar, then close it up tight.
4) Shake it like you mean it. No, but seriously. Shake the container very, very well. Your goal is to get the surface area of the sticky cereal bits into contact with as many sugar particles as possible.
5) Open the container and check your chow. If there are any huge clumps, break them apart, add some more confectioner's sugar, and repeat step 4. If everything looks okay, try a piece. It should look like processed dog kibble, but it will taste awesome.
6) Store in an airtight container and
昨日、七夕でした
今日は私の誕生日でがんす。♪(´▽^ )ﾉ⌒☆
I have officially been here for 24 years now. That's six years more than I was aiming for. イエイ〜！
On a completely different topic, here is a graphic of an inuhariko that I've been vectoring. I turned the vector into a stencil and painted it out on an old piece of wood, so now it's at least something concrete, if not an actual figurine.
Inuhariko (犬張り子 in Japanese kanji) is the small figurine of a dog, traditionally made of a paper/plaster combination like papier mache, intended to ward off evil in several regards. For expectant mothers, an inuhariko was said to ensure a safe birth and a healthy child. For children, inuhariko (sometimes wooden toys instead of delicate paper figures) were expected to keep the child safe by frightening off evil spirits and dangerous creatures. Other dog-like figures, such as shishi and komainu, share this demon-scaring skill in Japanese mythology. In modern times, inuhariko charms and images are used as a general wish for safety and good fortune.
I'm too old to need an inuhariko watching over me, but its always nice to have a little luck. ^-^
PS: I'm thinking I'll put this guy and some other graphics on t-shirts or something, 'cause I've always wanted to try it. Any sites better than zazzle for this kind of thing?
I have officially been here for 24 years now. That's six years more than I was aiming for. イエイ〜！
On a completely different topic, here is a graphic of an inuhariko that I've been vectoring. I turned the vector into a stencil and painted it out on an old piece of wood, so now it's at least something concrete, if not an actual figurine.
Inuhariko (犬張り子 in Japanese kanji) is the small figurine of a dog, traditionally made of a paper/plaster combination like papier mache, intended to ward off evil in several regards. For expectant mothers, an inuhariko was said to ensure a safe birth and a healthy child. For children, inuhariko (sometimes wooden toys instead of delicate paper figures) were expected to keep the child safe by frightening off evil spirits and dangerous creatures. Other dog-like figures, such as shishi and komainu, share this demon-scaring skill in Japanese mythology. In modern times, inuhariko charms and images are used as a general wish for safety and good fortune.
I'm too old to need an inuhariko watching over me, but its always nice to have a little luck. ^-^
PS: I'm thinking I'll put this guy and some other graphics on t-shirts or something, 'cause I've always wanted to try it. Any sites better than zazzle for this kind of thing?
Monday, April 14, 2008
Friday, April 4, 2008
Downtime
My apologies for the lack of updates. My pet dog (who is really more like my child) Crickette is coming down to her last days, and I’ve been doing my best to keep her comfortable. I’ll be back when this is over.
Friday, February 8, 2008
California
I flew out west last week to visit my aunt and uncle in Sacramento and get away from Missouri for a while. I enjoy spending time with the Golubs; we just kind of click.
Sacramento is really spectacular, even in the rainy winter season. I’ve always loved heading out for a walk along the American River, especially with the Golub family dog, Kingsley.
Kingsley is a beautiful malamute with unusually light coloring and a gorgeous, grumbly voice. He is also the most mellow dog I have ever seen in his weight class.
This time around, the big adventure was a journey down to Oakland to take a flameworking class with aunt Mari. If you live anywhere in the bay area, I envy you for many reasons. The most recent of these is the Crucible.
The Crucible is awesome. It is full of interesting things and interesting people to tell you how to use them. Things like glass and fire, and people like Tara Murray.
.jpg)
Boron glass + fire + patient instruction from teachers = marbles!
I love marbles. Big, imperfect ones that you make yourself (and take a few burns for) are definitely more interesting than the ones that come from the store. My favorite one is this vortex marble.
It came out a little not-so-round, but it’s cool to look inside and see the rippled colors all twisted together. (And when you get really good, you can make ones like THIS.)
I also met Robert Mickelsen purely by chance, as he was touring the Crucible with the likes of Kaj Beck and a whole assortment of other glass artists.
I love California.
Sacramento is really spectacular, even in the rainy winter season. I’ve always loved heading out for a walk along the American River, especially with the Golub family dog, Kingsley.
Kingsley is a beautiful malamute with unusually light coloring and a gorgeous, grumbly voice. He is also the most mellow dog I have ever seen in his weight class.
This time around, the big adventure was a journey down to Oakland to take a flameworking class with aunt Mari. If you live anywhere in the bay area, I envy you for many reasons. The most recent of these is the Crucible.
The Crucible is awesome. It is full of interesting things and interesting people to tell you how to use them. Things like glass and fire, and people like Tara Murray.
.jpg)
Boron glass + fire + patient instruction from teachers = marbles!
I love marbles. Big, imperfect ones that you make yourself (and take a few burns for) are definitely more interesting than the ones that come from the store. My favorite one is this vortex marble.
It came out a little not-so-round, but it’s cool to look inside and see the rippled colors all twisted together. (And when you get really good, you can make ones like THIS.)
I also met Robert Mickelsen purely by chance, as he was touring the Crucible with the likes of Kaj Beck and a whole assortment of other glass artists.
I love California.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Sweet Home, My Aunt's House
Ah, Chicago, my hometown... sort of. I was born in Oak Park, which is a quiet little suburb of Chicago. For all practical purposes, I'm a Chicago girl. That's not to say I can find my way from Randolph Street to Wrigley Field, mind you. I know the downtown only in particular bits and pieces.
Anyway, it's good to be back. As per the yuletide tradition, we've driven into town and are staying with my aunt in Oak Park. She's redecorated again -- it seems like every time we set foot in her place, the kitchen has been remodeled or the furniture has been rearranged and upholstered. I can't quite figure out what compels her to do it. A hobby, maybe? Expensive hobby, anyway. The house looks great, but it looked great before, and the time before that, and before that, too.
To go along with the remodeling this time, she even adopted a new dog. It's name is Monique. It is fat, it is friendly, and it has poo breath, making it the perfect companion to the other dog, Rosie, who is skinny, skittish, and smells like poo all over. (These are all compliments in the dog world, mind you.)
And, wouldn't you know it, I came up with the best plan for a mailbox doll on the way up here. All my nuigurumi supplies are back at home. Bah humbug.
Anyway, it's good to be back. As per the yuletide tradition, we've driven into town and are staying with my aunt in Oak Park. She's redecorated again -- it seems like every time we set foot in her place, the kitchen has been remodeled or the furniture has been rearranged and upholstered. I can't quite figure out what compels her to do it. A hobby, maybe? Expensive hobby, anyway. The house looks great, but it looked great before, and the time before that, and before that, too.
To go along with the remodeling this time, she even adopted a new dog. It's name is Monique. It is fat, it is friendly, and it has poo breath, making it the perfect companion to the other dog, Rosie, who is skinny, skittish, and smells like poo all over. (These are all compliments in the dog world, mind you.)
And, wouldn't you know it, I came up with the best plan for a mailbox doll on the way up here. All my nuigurumi supplies are back at home. Bah humbug.
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