It is a long story of why I know about this, and I apologize if this is short notice, but I think you should all check this out.
RedditGifts Secret Santa 2011
The basic idea is taking your workspace Secret Santa events and making it huge. Like across the world huge. People sign up, they write about what they like, being as specific or unspecific as they want. And by November 25th everyone gets a person to gift to.
You should all do this!
Also this should explain the link above that is going to make it easy for my soon-to-be Santa to find me and what I like! I guess you can use it too if you cannot come up with anything for me.... but I genuinely think I am easy to shop for. Very unlike Mom.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Twilight
A while back I decided that I have made fun of Twilight way too much for never actually reading/seeing any of the story. So Gwyn, Skanda and I sat down to watch through all of them. In one sitting. For those of you counting at home that would be 3 movies or 6 hours and 14 minutes.
I would have to say that I am plesently surprised. I thought it was going to be horrible. If you ignore the lame parts, and the very odd vampires and somewhat weirder werewolves, and you get over how lame and just horrible Bella is, it was a fun movie to watch.
For the record. I am all on Team Edward.
I would have to say that I am plesently surprised. I thought it was going to be horrible. If you ignore the lame parts, and the very odd vampires and somewhat weirder werewolves, and you get over how lame and just horrible Bella is, it was a fun movie to watch.
For the record. I am all on Team Edward.
Monday, November 7, 2011
A Day in the Life...
So I am going to take a break from the halloween posts to do an actual post about current life! I know! Something that has not really happened all that much this semester!
Job stuff: I had an interview last Thursday in town that went really well. I have another one coming up this next Thursday in Baltimore (too bad the Stillers lost..). I am thinking that come next Monday or Tuesday I will be able to sign in here and post about a decision I have made in this regard. And then I will have a bunch of time on my hands as well! and Ill be a lot less stressed!
Life stuff: I have recently taught Gwyn how to play Magic. It is a card game I played with Russ and Karl and others at Mount Spokane before school started on block days. We were always 'those kids,' but we loved it. And I still do. It has been fun to see Gwyn get supper excited playing it. She is picking it up fast. Last week was movie night 3 for this semester, we watched UP. And this coming Friday is a game night that I am super excited for.
School Stuff: I have a test coming up on Wednesday in my MEMS class. I need to study a bit, but it is going ok. The robot worked like a camp this morning meaning that I don't have to wake up early tomorrow to try to save it last minute before the lab. This week we implemented an adaptive path generation of gold pickups. The idea is that the robot will be in a maze of gold locations, and will have to pick up gold at each location and return to a drop off point. The gold is actually angle iron with blue construction paper attached (this makes the vision algorithm orders of magnitude easier). My part in this week was the 'collectGold' function. It looks to see if the gold is there, then it approaches the wall and sees if it has collected the piece or not. It is working beautifully. I think that I am going to bring in my camera and record it tomorrow or the next day so I can just show you what I am talking about.
Then my other class is soso... but it is starting in 7 minutes, so I need to go!
Job stuff: I had an interview last Thursday in town that went really well. I have another one coming up this next Thursday in Baltimore (too bad the Stillers lost..). I am thinking that come next Monday or Tuesday I will be able to sign in here and post about a decision I have made in this regard. And then I will have a bunch of time on my hands as well! and Ill be a lot less stressed!
Life stuff: I have recently taught Gwyn how to play Magic. It is a card game I played with Russ and Karl and others at Mount Spokane before school started on block days. We were always 'those kids,' but we loved it. And I still do. It has been fun to see Gwyn get supper excited playing it. She is picking it up fast. Last week was movie night 3 for this semester, we watched UP. And this coming Friday is a game night that I am super excited for.
School Stuff: I have a test coming up on Wednesday in my MEMS class. I need to study a bit, but it is going ok. The robot worked like a camp this morning meaning that I don't have to wake up early tomorrow to try to save it last minute before the lab. This week we implemented an adaptive path generation of gold pickups. The idea is that the robot will be in a maze of gold locations, and will have to pick up gold at each location and return to a drop off point. The gold is actually angle iron with blue construction paper attached (this makes the vision algorithm orders of magnitude easier). My part in this week was the 'collectGold' function. It looks to see if the gold is there, then it approaches the wall and sees if it has collected the piece or not. It is working beautifully. I think that I am going to bring in my camera and record it tomorrow or the next day so I can just show you what I am talking about.
Then my other class is soso... but it is starting in 7 minutes, so I need to go!
Halloween Party Post the Third: Decorations
Two weeks before the big day, my mother sent me a lovely box of Halloween goodies! There were cookies of Pumpkins and Ghosts, so Oreos, a few really cool plates, an awesome kitchen towel, a table covering, some 'fright tape' and best of all a pumpkin carving kit. Needless to say this was an awesome box to open.
I got to work right away getting the apartment decorated.
In preparation of the up coming party, Gwyn and I busted open the pumpkin carving kit the Thursday before. It should be noted that my mom sent the 'vintage' kit. Which was awesome! Basically it was retro designs, but awesome because they were Halloween themed. I picked out right away my favorite: Skelvis. Gwyn went for a Moon and Owl. Here is the process:
The day of the party, I ventured out to get some dry ice. What party is worth going to the weekend of Halloween with out dry ice? I found out very quickly that Pennsylvania has very different laws surounding the sale and storage of dry ice than in Washington. Back home, you can go to the local grocery store and get some pellets of dry ice. Sure not every store has it, but a lot do. Here you have to get it from a distributor (kind of like beer). So I had to track down this place to get the ice. But, as you all know, dry ice is amazing, so it was well worth it...
So other decorations included portraits that Gwyn made. I can not really do them justice. They were great. She took old black and white photos and made them all creepy... My favorite was a lady in a white dress, who had apparently just been bitten by a vampire as she had two puncture marks and a bit of blood on her dress. Maybe if I am lucky she will let me post them here. They were so cool!
There was lots of spider webs and festive bats and jack-o-lanters all over the place.
It was great. I love Halloween. I know that I really like just about every holiday, but I really had fun this year! And I have not even talked about the actual day itself! (Don't worry, that is coming up later....)
I got to work right away getting the apartment decorated.
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| The Most Decorated Door in the Apartment Building. |
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| Most Decorated table in the Apartment. |
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| Scary, I know... |
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| The Transfer. |
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| Lots of Cutting. |
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| Done |
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| And All lit up! |
The day of the party, I ventured out to get some dry ice. What party is worth going to the weekend of Halloween with out dry ice? I found out very quickly that Pennsylvania has very different laws surounding the sale and storage of dry ice than in Washington. Back home, you can go to the local grocery store and get some pellets of dry ice. Sure not every store has it, but a lot do. Here you have to get it from a distributor (kind of like beer). So I had to track down this place to get the ice. But, as you all know, dry ice is amazing, so it was well worth it...
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| Our lovely spread, made even better by the layer of fog. |
There was lots of spider webs and festive bats and jack-o-lanters all over the place.
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| Madame Curie Bottles and one of the portraits. |
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| Other goodies. |
Halloween Party Post Two: Party Costumes!
Every Halloween party has to have costumes. That is essential. Here is the run down of the attendees. I apologize if the pictures are less that good. Sorry.
Before going in to the rest, I need to make a bit of a defense for my own costume. Gwyn introduced me to a great show called 'Pushing Daises.' The story is about a pie maker who can bring people back to life after being dead. I was Ned, the pie maker, and Gwyn was Chuck the Dead Girl.
So this means I needed to make a pie!
If anyone was wondering, Denise one the contest with her Fruit Punch, sadly I did not take a picture of it :( The grand prize? Oh, it was my pie!
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| Mrs. Rohrer as 'Cereal Killer' |
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| Alex as an 'Iron Chef' and Mike as a 'Companion Cube' |
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| Caitlin as a Hipster Mouse |
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| Jane was Dug from Up, and you can see Denise as 'Fruit Punch' |
Before going in to the rest, I need to make a bit of a defense for my own costume. Gwyn introduced me to a great show called 'Pushing Daises.' The story is about a pie maker who can bring people back to life after being dead. I was Ned, the pie maker, and Gwyn was Chuck the Dead Girl.
So this means I needed to make a pie!
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| Before |
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| After (I am getting good at this pie thing...) |
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| Chuck and Ned (or Gwyn and Scott if you prefer) |
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| I am not sure what Andrew was supposed to be, but Sam was "the 50's" |
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| Tracey supporting the flappers. |
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Halloween Party Part the First: Food
Last Friday (the Friday before Halloween) Gwyn and I hosted a party in honor of the event at Gwyn's house. Costumes were required, Ghoulish food was suggested, and festivities were expected. There are going to be a number of posts about this, but first here is the food!
This Is also going to work as a recipe page, as I don't want to write up every single thing.
Werewolf Fingers:
Gwyn and I made these the afternoon before the party. They were great, nothing weird about them, just Peanut Butter Sandwiches. They were all gone by the end.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
1 loaf of Whole Wheat Bread
1 cup of peanut bitter
1/4 cup of honey
20 or so Almonds
2 cups Red (Strawberry, Raspberry... ) Jelly/Jam
Cut the crust off of the bread. Cut bread in to 3 long pieces per slice. round the ends of the pieces. Using a toothpick, or knife, press in to a piece of bread to make the knuckles. Spread peanut butter on an unpressed piece, pair with pressed and knuckled piece. Add a drop of honey to rounded end of 'finger' attach almond.
Once on presentation plate, heat up jelly/jam in the microwave to make liquidy, then spoon over 'stubs' of fingers to make them look like they are bleeding. Place rest of jelly in cup for dipping.
Vampire Fingers:
Mrs. Rohrer made these, they were a perfect contrast to our Werewolf fingers!
I think these were made by placing a small mount of cream cheese on the back side of a green pepper 'nail' and attaching it to a piece of string cheese. These were also a hit, they were gone before I could get one.
Demon Eyes:
I wanted to try this twist on the normal potluck staple of deviled eggs. This was the first time I had ever made deviled eggs, so I modified the tried and true due to a lack of certain ingredients. The food coloring made this happen. I boiled the eggs two days before and made the filling the morning of.
Prep Time: 40 minutes
1 dozen Eggs
1/2 Cup of Mayonnaise
1/2 cup of Spicy Mustard (I used Steel City Mustard Co.)
1 tsp Black Pepper
1 tsp Paprika
1 tsp Salt
A few dashes of Lizano
Lots of food coloring.
Boil the eggs. After cooled, peel, cut in half lengthwise. Reserve the cooked yolks in the fridge. In a large seal-able container, place egg whites, and cover with water. Add food coloring to make the desired color. As you can see I made a red-ish blend. This worked really well. The eggs did come out a little pink, but that worked fine for this. Let sit in refrigerator for at least 24 hours.
When ready to make, mix the rest of the ingredients with the yolks. Blend well. If you have a food processor or blender, use that. When I did this it was very much to taste and consistency. Once you are happy with the filling you have, set aside a 1/4th cup. Add food coloring to mixture to make desired color. I went for green. Place green mixture in a zip lock bag, cut the corner and fill the 'cups' of the egg whites. When all filled, do a similar process of adding color to the reserved mix, place in a different bag, cut corner (really small) and place eye slits. You can add paprika at any point for artistic effect. Next time, I am going to try to get a blood shot look.
Dexter's Blood Slides:
Gwyn and I had our first foray in to sugar sculpting with this one. If you don't know the referance: Dexter is a serial killer serial killer (he kills serial killers). As a trophy, he keeps samples of the people he has killed on microscope slides. We aimed to recreate these slides, to surprising results. Becarefull, everything gets sticky with this one....
Prep Time: 30 - 40 minutes.
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup Light Corn Syrup
2 tbspoon Water
Red Food Coloring
Put everything but the food coloring in a pot, stir well to mix everything together. This will be a gooey mess, but it is ok. Put on medium/high heat and boil. Don't stir, but keep the sugar from crystallizing on the edges by shaking the pot every once in a while. Once the mixture has been bubbling for a few minutes (5-7) and is clear with a slight tinge of yellow/gold, remove from heat.
Pour out on to a flat surface. You were supposed to use wax paper, but I didn't have any, so I used saran wrap. This caused a little bit of a problem, when the hot sugar touches the saran, the saran shrinks. This caused little ripples in the bottom of the sugar... it could have been better, but oh well. Either using a knife or just tipping the surface it is on, spread out the sugar. Let cool for a little bit (5-10 minutes). You want to put a pot of water on the oven and get it boiling right about now.
Then the fun begins. Place a pizza knife in the boiling hot water. You are trying to heat up the blade to make cutting easier. Using the pizza knife, shape the sugar. Press hard, and go fast. If you leave the knife in place for too long the sugar will melt to it. After every cut, place the knife back in the boiling water, this will keep the knife warm, and clean off any sugar. Be sure to pat dry the knife to prevent water from getting on the sugar. This may see like a big ordeal, but it was really easy.
Once you have your 'slides' place them in the freezer/fridge. Let them harden (20-30 minutes). Then place a drop of red coloring in the middle of each. Voila.
I would have to say that these are not really edible. They are pure sugar. If you are providing coffee, this would be a fun way to 'add some sugar.'
Swamp Samples
One of my favorite things of Halloween parties are the drinks. This one looks wonderfully gross when in a clear glass.If you want to make it a little more 'adult' you can add some citrus vodka. I was told this addition was great.
Approx Time: 30 minutes
1 Package of Tapioca (the pearls, not the pudding)
Gummi Worms/Fish
2 Limeaid Concentrates
2 liters of Sierra Mist/7 Up
Food Coloring
Sometime before (like the day before) boil the tapioca. Follow the dirrections on the box, something like 20-25 minutes. After cooking, divide in to two containers. Add food coloring to the batches. Make one blue, and one green.
Sooner to the event, in a large bowl make the limeaid as directed. Add the Soda. Add some ice to keep cold.
When making the drink, spoon in some of the pearls, pour in the soda/limeaid mix, then add a few fish and worms.
Ghoul Bile
This one was Gwyn's idea. And most people preferred this one. It might have been the cupcake vodka that was added if people wanted. Best part of this is that it changes color as you let it warm up.
Approx time: 15 minutes
20-30 maraschino cherries
Cranberry juice
~128 oz Orange Juice (two cartons)
2 liters of Sierra Mist/7 UP
With ample time before, in a ice cube tray, put one cherry in each 'cube,' then fill the tray with cranberry juice. Freeze.
Time of the party, mix soda and orange juice. For each drink place one or two cubes.
Mike's Cake
This was a cake that Mike brought. It was made with beets. Dad you would have loved it.
This Is also going to work as a recipe page, as I don't want to write up every single thing.
Werewolf Fingers:
Gwyn and I made these the afternoon before the party. They were great, nothing weird about them, just Peanut Butter Sandwiches. They were all gone by the end.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
1 loaf of Whole Wheat Bread
1 cup of peanut bitter
1/4 cup of honey
20 or so Almonds
2 cups Red (Strawberry, Raspberry... ) Jelly/Jam
Cut the crust off of the bread. Cut bread in to 3 long pieces per slice. round the ends of the pieces. Using a toothpick, or knife, press in to a piece of bread to make the knuckles. Spread peanut butter on an unpressed piece, pair with pressed and knuckled piece. Add a drop of honey to rounded end of 'finger' attach almond.
 |
| Gwyn's finger was a good reference. |
Vampire Fingers:
Mrs. Rohrer made these, they were a perfect contrast to our Werewolf fingers!
Demon Eyes:
I wanted to try this twist on the normal potluck staple of deviled eggs. This was the first time I had ever made deviled eggs, so I modified the tried and true due to a lack of certain ingredients. The food coloring made this happen. I boiled the eggs two days before and made the filling the morning of.
Prep Time: 40 minutes
1/2 Cup of Mayonnaise
1/2 cup of Spicy Mustard (I used Steel City Mustard Co.)
1 tsp Black Pepper
1 tsp Paprika
1 tsp Salt
A few dashes of Lizano
Lots of food coloring.
Boil the eggs. After cooled, peel, cut in half lengthwise. Reserve the cooked yolks in the fridge. In a large seal-able container, place egg whites, and cover with water. Add food coloring to make the desired color. As you can see I made a red-ish blend. This worked really well. The eggs did come out a little pink, but that worked fine for this. Let sit in refrigerator for at least 24 hours.
When ready to make, mix the rest of the ingredients with the yolks. Blend well. If you have a food processor or blender, use that. When I did this it was very much to taste and consistency. Once you are happy with the filling you have, set aside a 1/4th cup. Add food coloring to mixture to make desired color. I went for green. Place green mixture in a zip lock bag, cut the corner and fill the 'cups' of the egg whites. When all filled, do a similar process of adding color to the reserved mix, place in a different bag, cut corner (really small) and place eye slits. You can add paprika at any point for artistic effect. Next time, I am going to try to get a blood shot look.
Dexter's Blood Slides:
Gwyn and I had our first foray in to sugar sculpting with this one. If you don't know the referance: Dexter is a serial killer serial killer (he kills serial killers). As a trophy, he keeps samples of the people he has killed on microscope slides. We aimed to recreate these slides, to surprising results. Becarefull, everything gets sticky with this one....
Prep Time: 30 - 40 minutes.
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup Light Corn Syrup
2 tbspoon Water
Red Food Coloring
Put everything but the food coloring in a pot, stir well to mix everything together. This will be a gooey mess, but it is ok. Put on medium/high heat and boil. Don't stir, but keep the sugar from crystallizing on the edges by shaking the pot every once in a while. Once the mixture has been bubbling for a few minutes (5-7) and is clear with a slight tinge of yellow/gold, remove from heat.
Pour out on to a flat surface. You were supposed to use wax paper, but I didn't have any, so I used saran wrap. This caused a little bit of a problem, when the hot sugar touches the saran, the saran shrinks. This caused little ripples in the bottom of the sugar... it could have been better, but oh well. Either using a knife or just tipping the surface it is on, spread out the sugar. Let cool for a little bit (5-10 minutes). You want to put a pot of water on the oven and get it boiling right about now.
Swamp Samples
One of my favorite things of Halloween parties are the drinks. This one looks wonderfully gross when in a clear glass.If you want to make it a little more 'adult' you can add some citrus vodka. I was told this addition was great.
Approx Time: 30 minutes
1 Package of Tapioca (the pearls, not the pudding)
Gummi Worms/Fish
2 Limeaid Concentrates
2 liters of Sierra Mist/7 Up
Food Coloring
Sometime before (like the day before) boil the tapioca. Follow the dirrections on the box, something like 20-25 minutes. After cooking, divide in to two containers. Add food coloring to the batches. Make one blue, and one green.
Sooner to the event, in a large bowl make the limeaid as directed. Add the Soda. Add some ice to keep cold.
When making the drink, spoon in some of the pearls, pour in the soda/limeaid mix, then add a few fish and worms.
Ghoul Bile
This one was Gwyn's idea. And most people preferred this one. It might have been the cupcake vodka that was added if people wanted. Best part of this is that it changes color as you let it warm up.
Approx time: 15 minutes
Cranberry juice
~128 oz Orange Juice (two cartons)
2 liters of Sierra Mist/7 UP
With ample time before, in a ice cube tray, put one cherry in each 'cube,' then fill the tray with cranberry juice. Freeze.
Time of the party, mix soda and orange juice. For each drink place one or two cubes.
Mike's Cake
This was a cake that Mike brought. It was made with beets. Dad you would have loved it.
Remember, Remember
Happy Guy Fawkes Day! At the moment I am watching V for Vendetta, wearing my 5th of November Shirt. I was struck by how relevant the televised speech is to the current situation of America (and really the world). I know this is idealistic, but I hope the Occupy protests use this today. If you don't know what I am talking about, or just want a refresher, here is a link for a youtube clip. Also, if you have not watched this great movie, you should. Really. I think that every voting person should watch this film.
Anyway. Tomorrow is pie day at church! I made a pumpkin pie! And with the left over pie dough I made V cookies, and I wrote out Skanda's name for him. So for this has been a great fall weekend.
To those of you who I have not talked to lately, life is going well, just really busy. There is a ton going on. I am really looking forward to Thanksgiving and then Christmas, I am in need of a break. I have had two interviews in Pittsburgh (one of them was last Thursday), and I have an interview in Baltimore next Thursday! I can tell you right now that by the 16th or so of November I will have made a choice as to where I am going to be working. This is really exciting, but also unnerving.
I have been working on my Halloween posts. I have lots to show you guys. I have food. Costumes. Stories. They are on the way.
Anyway, my favorite part is coming up! "I want this country to understand that we stand on the brink of oblivion... I want them to understand why they NEED US!"
Anyway. Tomorrow is pie day at church! I made a pumpkin pie! And with the left over pie dough I made V cookies, and I wrote out Skanda's name for him. So for this has been a great fall weekend.
To those of you who I have not talked to lately, life is going well, just really busy. There is a ton going on. I am really looking forward to Thanksgiving and then Christmas, I am in need of a break. I have had two interviews in Pittsburgh (one of them was last Thursday), and I have an interview in Baltimore next Thursday! I can tell you right now that by the 16th or so of November I will have made a choice as to where I am going to be working. This is really exciting, but also unnerving.
I have been working on my Halloween posts. I have lots to show you guys. I have food. Costumes. Stories. They are on the way.
Anyway, my favorite part is coming up! "I want this country to understand that we stand on the brink of oblivion... I want them to understand why they NEED US!"
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