The bonsai's first bloom.
I've heard that cutting off the flowers the day after they bloom encourages grewias to flower more, but I think I will hold off on any kind of alteration and just enjoy it as is.
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Bonsai Diary #2
I know it's only the second day of having the tiny tree but something very exciting happened.
The bonsai's first bloom.
I've heard that cutting off the flowers the day after they bloom encourages grewias to flower more, but I think I will hold off on any kind of alteration and just enjoy it as is.
The bonsai's first bloom.
I've heard that cutting off the flowers the day after they bloom encourages grewias to flower more, but I think I will hold off on any kind of alteration and just enjoy it as is.
Monday, September 1, 2014
Bonsai Diary #1
I am now in possession of an itty bitty tree. Well, it's not a tree, exactly. It's a Grewia occidentalis,a lavender star flower grewia which is more of a shrub, but it's been trained thus far to look like a tree.
I've also acquired a planter, some tropical bonsai soil, and some gravel for the tree. However I do not want to transplant it yet. I am, with all luck, moving this Thursday. Probably this stress on me is also stress on the tree, so I'm waiting for now. I also want to make sure that it doesn't die. I am notoriously bad at keeping plants.
In fact, I've tried to grow a bonsai once before. It was an Australian bottlebrush and the kit I bought required you to grow them from seed. Australian bottlebrush trees don't germinate right away, though. They need to go through a dormancy period of simulated winter. The kit recommended doing this at the coldest part of your refrigerator and for me that happened to be the meat and cheeses drawer. I followed the kit's instructions, and someone in the house knocked it over and scattered the dirt and seeds all over the cheese. They threw everything out out while cleaning out the drawer, and that was the end of that. I killed my bonsai before it even sprouted.
Fortunately this bonsai is already sprouted and fairly tall and, better still, a tropical plant so I don't have to worry about any dormancy period care.
The current plan is to keep the plant watered and keep pruning the dead leaves off and transplant after the move. Then, in a few months, once it's recovered, I can break out the wire and start trying to train it. Considering the plant already has a slight slant to it, I'm planning on aiming for a slanted-style bonsai.
This is assuming the plant survives the week. If it actually does, I'll give it a name.
I've also acquired a planter, some tropical bonsai soil, and some gravel for the tree. However I do not want to transplant it yet. I am, with all luck, moving this Thursday. Probably this stress on me is also stress on the tree, so I'm waiting for now. I also want to make sure that it doesn't die. I am notoriously bad at keeping plants.
 |
| The aforementioned itty bitty tree |
Fortunately this bonsai is already sprouted and fairly tall and, better still, a tropical plant so I don't have to worry about any dormancy period care.
The current plan is to keep the plant watered and keep pruning the dead leaves off and transplant after the move. Then, in a few months, once it's recovered, I can break out the wire and start trying to train it. Considering the plant already has a slight slant to it, I'm planning on aiming for a slanted-style bonsai.
This is assuming the plant survives the week. If it actually does, I'll give it a name.
Sunday, May 4, 2014
"The Town We Do Not Speak Of" Tea Sampler Set
I'm a big fan of Welcome to Night Vale even though I'm not completely caught up with the episodes yet. And I also really like tea. So the "The Town We Do Not Speak Of" Tea Sampler Set set at Adagio seemed relevant to my interests.
As many fans of WTNV know, Commonplace Books has a policy against selling unofficial merchandise -- eg, fan art prints, individual costumes, things like that that are in a legal gray area that larger copyright holders don't bother to prosecute or even look at. WTNV is a very small yet very popular venture and can use all the money they can get. I totally respect that.
Fortunately, Joseph Fink himself has signed off on the creation of "The Town We Do Not Speak Of" tea as long as it uses neither the WTNV logo nor the words "Night Vale" in them, which is the reason for the fancy-pants name of the sampler. So, we can enjoy this tea relatively guilt-free -- though if you want to support WTNV financially you should still either donate or buy their merch on their official site, Commonplace Books.
Anyway, the actual tea. The sampler set comes with six nice tins with pretty label stickers on the top. Adagio says that each tin contains approximately 5 servings of tea, so the whole set is about 30 cups of tea total. The set has 4 black teas (Perfect Carlos, Sheriff's Secret Police, Steve Carlsburg, and The Weather) and 2 green/white teas (Glow Cloud, Cecil [The Voice]). Because a lot of the black teas have some green in them the brewing temperatures are slightly lower than boiling, but for the most part I do not think it matters much. The teas that have no black in them do need care to not use boiling water with them, though.
As for the individual teas:
Cecil [The Voice]: I… am not sure about this tea. There's a bit of citrus in it and it smells spicy. I brewed this one twice before writing anything down because there were so many good reviews on the adagio website, because white/green teas are delicate and I thought I was brewing it wrong. While the smell in the box is interesting I found the taste of the actual tea to be pretty weak and bland.
Glow Cloud: Green, slightly fruity, satisfying without any additives. I really like this one, would definitely buy again. Probably my favorite of the samples. There's nothing else to say. All hail. ALL HAIL.
The Weather: Coconut is not my favorite thing but for some reason this tea is pleasant. I'm not sure if the sprinkles actually added anything but they were kind of cute. Anyway, while this tea tastes fine it actually looks very pretty, like confetti.
Steve Carlsburg: I'm usually not into black fruit teas but because this one is grapefruit I love it. I would not think that grapefruit, apple, and vanilla of all things go together but they really do. It's fine plain but you can't really tell there's any apple in there without any sugar. I'm usually not a fan of hibiscus either but in this tea you can't taste it. It's dominantly grapefruit and leaves a bit of a sour taste in your mouth, the jerk.
Sheriff's Secret Police: Okay, after smelling this one, I really expected to like this one more than I do. It smells amazing and spicy, but brewed it tastes kind of coffee-like, almost. It's more dominantly smoky/bitter than spicy. It's still good with cream and sugar. This tea has mate in it, so it's more heavily caffeinated than normal tea and a good number of those pieces fell through my tea strainer. If you can't deal with large amounts of caffeine or bits in your tea I wouldn't recommend it.
Perfect Carlos: "Perfect". A sweet and pleasant dessert tea that's dominantly chocolate with no surprises, really. Good with cream and sugar. I can't really think of anything bad to say about it except that compared to the others it's a bit boring.
There are teas in this set that I would definitely buy again and some that I wouldn't. However the fandom teas on Adagio are kind of pricey and I still find myself drinking mostly the assam in my cupboard rather than reaching for these. The tins are cute though, so I don't regret buying them. I just have to remember I have them and that I should not be "saving them for later" because tea does go bad.
As many fans of WTNV know, Commonplace Books has a policy against selling unofficial merchandise -- eg, fan art prints, individual costumes, things like that that are in a legal gray area that larger copyright holders don't bother to prosecute or even look at. WTNV is a very small yet very popular venture and can use all the money they can get. I totally respect that.
Fortunately, Joseph Fink himself has signed off on the creation of "The Town We Do Not Speak Of" tea as long as it uses neither the WTNV logo nor the words "Night Vale" in them, which is the reason for the fancy-pants name of the sampler. So, we can enjoy this tea relatively guilt-free -- though if you want to support WTNV financially you should still either donate or buy their merch on their official site, Commonplace Books.
Anyway, the actual tea. The sampler set comes with six nice tins with pretty label stickers on the top. Adagio says that each tin contains approximately 5 servings of tea, so the whole set is about 30 cups of tea total. The set has 4 black teas (Perfect Carlos, Sheriff's Secret Police, Steve Carlsburg, and The Weather) and 2 green/white teas (Glow Cloud, Cecil [The Voice]). Because a lot of the black teas have some green in them the brewing temperatures are slightly lower than boiling, but for the most part I do not think it matters much. The teas that have no black in them do need care to not use boiling water with them, though.As for the individual teas:
Cecil [The Voice]: I… am not sure about this tea. There's a bit of citrus in it and it smells spicy. I brewed this one twice before writing anything down because there were so many good reviews on the adagio website, because white/green teas are delicate and I thought I was brewing it wrong. While the smell in the box is interesting I found the taste of the actual tea to be pretty weak and bland.
Glow Cloud: Green, slightly fruity, satisfying without any additives. I really like this one, would definitely buy again. Probably my favorite of the samples. There's nothing else to say. All hail. ALL HAIL.
The Weather: Coconut is not my favorite thing but for some reason this tea is pleasant. I'm not sure if the sprinkles actually added anything but they were kind of cute. Anyway, while this tea tastes fine it actually looks very pretty, like confetti.
Steve Carlsburg: I'm usually not into black fruit teas but because this one is grapefruit I love it. I would not think that grapefruit, apple, and vanilla of all things go together but they really do. It's fine plain but you can't really tell there's any apple in there without any sugar. I'm usually not a fan of hibiscus either but in this tea you can't taste it. It's dominantly grapefruit and leaves a bit of a sour taste in your mouth, the jerk.
Sheriff's Secret Police: Okay, after smelling this one, I really expected to like this one more than I do. It smells amazing and spicy, but brewed it tastes kind of coffee-like, almost. It's more dominantly smoky/bitter than spicy. It's still good with cream and sugar. This tea has mate in it, so it's more heavily caffeinated than normal tea and a good number of those pieces fell through my tea strainer. If you can't deal with large amounts of caffeine or bits in your tea I wouldn't recommend it.
Perfect Carlos: "Perfect". A sweet and pleasant dessert tea that's dominantly chocolate with no surprises, really. Good with cream and sugar. I can't really think of anything bad to say about it except that compared to the others it's a bit boring.
There are teas in this set that I would definitely buy again and some that I wouldn't. However the fandom teas on Adagio are kind of pricey and I still find myself drinking mostly the assam in my cupboard rather than reaching for these. The tins are cute though, so I don't regret buying them. I just have to remember I have them and that I should not be "saving them for later" because tea does go bad.
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Recipe: Millet Fritters with Spinach and Cheese
I like food. I really like cheap food. I also like food that tastes good and is good for you, but most of the times when I'm making stuff the "cheap" wins out. Of the wide assortment of weird exotic grains that they're telling you to eat because they're "good for you" whole grains, one of the least expensive is millet. It's still about 10 cents more per serving than brown rice but compared to quinoa and amaranth it's still damn cheap. Also, at least in my opinion, millet tastes better, especially when fried. Even if it's mostly associated with animal feed, it's worth giving a chance.
With a lot of health food recipes I've seen, there's a call for other exotic ingredients to go along with the weird grain that may themselves be expensive. Like, what the hell is halloumi? Where am I supposed to get it? This recipe, aside from the millet itself, uses very common ingredients that you probably have on-hand. So, give it a try:
Ingredients:
1 cup dry millet
2 cups water
1 bullion cube (either chicken or vegetable flavor)
3 eggs
1 medium onion
1/2 cup spinach, frozen
minced garlic to taste
pinch of salt
flour
olive oil
mozzarella cheese (optional)
1. Cook the millet using the two cups of water and the bullion cube. I have a rice cooker so I used that and set it to the "brown rice" setting. If you don't have a rice cooker, use the directions on the back of the packaging or online directions if you bought in bulk.
2. Lay out the millet in a sheet to cool off -- about 30 minutes
3. While that's happening, dice your onion as small as you can. Thaw your spinach and break it up into pieces.
3. Crack open three eggs into a large mixing bowl and beat until mixed. Add the millet, onion, and spinach, and mix well. Then add the garlic and salt.
4. Add the flour a tablespoon at a time until you find that the mixture just sticks together well enough to form patties. They don't have to be big patties, about the size of a bottom of a drinking glass.
5. Heat up some olive oil in a pan with a lid on medium-low heat. Add the patties, making sure they don't touch, and cover, cooking for 5 minutes. Uncover and flip the patties over, cooking for another 5 minutes
6. Stick a fork in 'er, she's done. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese if desired. These keep a few days in the refrigerator.
With a lot of health food recipes I've seen, there's a call for other exotic ingredients to go along with the weird grain that may themselves be expensive. Like, what the hell is halloumi? Where am I supposed to get it? This recipe, aside from the millet itself, uses very common ingredients that you probably have on-hand. So, give it a try:
.JPG) | ||
| The fritters (left) as part of a bento. |
Ingredients:
1 cup dry millet
2 cups water
1 bullion cube (either chicken or vegetable flavor)
3 eggs
1 medium onion
1/2 cup spinach, frozen
minced garlic to taste
pinch of salt
flour
olive oil
mozzarella cheese (optional)
1. Cook the millet using the two cups of water and the bullion cube. I have a rice cooker so I used that and set it to the "brown rice" setting. If you don't have a rice cooker, use the directions on the back of the packaging or online directions if you bought in bulk.
2. Lay out the millet in a sheet to cool off -- about 30 minutes
3. While that's happening, dice your onion as small as you can. Thaw your spinach and break it up into pieces.
3. Crack open three eggs into a large mixing bowl and beat until mixed. Add the millet, onion, and spinach, and mix well. Then add the garlic and salt.
4. Add the flour a tablespoon at a time until you find that the mixture just sticks together well enough to form patties. They don't have to be big patties, about the size of a bottom of a drinking glass.
5. Heat up some olive oil in a pan with a lid on medium-low heat. Add the patties, making sure they don't touch, and cover, cooking for 5 minutes. Uncover and flip the patties over, cooking for another 5 minutes
6. Stick a fork in 'er, she's done. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese if desired. These keep a few days in the refrigerator.
Monday, March 3, 2014
Gallery Experience
On Wednesday I attended a gallery opening at a gallery my friend works for. Though the gallery is very new, I'd attended some gallery events before. However this was the first where I had actually had artwork in the show.
It's a very weird experience. My friend had asked me to send in my art, so I did. I didn't really think that much of it, even though I spent like 30 hours on the pictures and even longer on finding frames. Despite doing all this crap I never really thought of myself as an "artist". I was a writer, maybe, not really. The main reason I could never think of myself as an artist was because I never really prioritized making art. I prioritized school, which after elementary school had nothing to do with art, I prioritized writing, sometimes probably more than I should, but I always thought of art as more of a hobby than anything that could be anything more. I enjoyed looking at all of the art there and was very impressed by a lot of them (particularly Bly and Rowan Pope -- even though only Bly was in the show I've seen both of their works, and they're amazing). It felt weird because I did not have a lot of the 'art school experience' a lot of the younger artists in particular had, and also I have no fondness for paint and could not relate to a lot of the media troubles most everyone else had as painters.
Now that I've done it once I do want to try again, even though framing in particular is hell. It's the same as writing, I guess. Make more and more and more, and submit, submit, submit. Maybe I will post more art here, sometime. It's not like writing where putting it somewhere makes it unsubmittable, I think.
 |
| RAD!, currently in the gallery. It's a paper cutting. |
Now that I've done it once I do want to try again, even though framing in particular is hell. It's the same as writing, I guess. Make more and more and more, and submit, submit, submit. Maybe I will post more art here, sometime. It's not like writing where putting it somewhere makes it unsubmittable, I think.
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Ebooks Abroad
I have a lot of strong feelings about ebooks and ereaders. However, as I'm finishing up my studies in the Netherlands, I've come to realize how valuable and practical owning an ereader can be.
There are a lot of people who claim that ereaders are going to kill paper books, and that that's terrible, because there's no beating the feeling of having a book in your hands, and it's also terrible for used bookshops. There are lots of issues with ebook price fixing and the horrors of DRM. A lot of the issues surrounding ebooks are confusing and do not have clear answers because it's all new technology.
However, there is one thing that ebooks do remarkably well -- they give reading material to people who are not in the physical proximity to purchase it.
I do not speak Dutch. After over six months in the Netherlands, I can understand some things, and maybe read food labels. My understanding is not up to par to a native speaker or even a second language speaker. I had to keep stopping myself from going into bookstores because I knew that there would not be much for me there. While most bookstores had an English and other foreign language section (I do read French, so that was an option), these sections are typically small and have a very limited selection.
If I didn't have an ereader, my choice of books here would be between A Game of Thrones or Fifty Shades of Grey. With an ereader and an internet connection, I could browse and purchase from a bookstore or borrow from the library the same selection of books I had at home. This was a pretty amazing revelation, and something that I, and probably many people in opposition to ereaders, take for granted. For an immigrant or second-language learner, ebooks can be an incredible resource. With ebooks, people around you not being interested in the language you want to read do not limit your selection of reading material.
While some ereaders only support Latin characters, the new editions of Kindle also support Cyrillic, Korean, Japanese, and both traditional and simplified Chinese characters, with the number of ereaders supporting different scripts and the number of different scripts likely only to increase in the future.
While the current market for ebooks and ereaders has many flaws and virtues, this is a facet of it that every article I've seen on them overlooks. For anyone going abroad for extended periods, I would definitely recommend an ereader.
However, there is one thing that ebooks do remarkably well -- they give reading material to people who are not in the physical proximity to purchase it.
I do not speak Dutch. After over six months in the Netherlands, I can understand some things, and maybe read food labels. My understanding is not up to par to a native speaker or even a second language speaker. I had to keep stopping myself from going into bookstores because I knew that there would not be much for me there. While most bookstores had an English and other foreign language section (I do read French, so that was an option), these sections are typically small and have a very limited selection.
If I didn't have an ereader, my choice of books here would be between A Game of Thrones or Fifty Shades of Grey. With an ereader and an internet connection, I could browse and purchase from a bookstore or borrow from the library the same selection of books I had at home. This was a pretty amazing revelation, and something that I, and probably many people in opposition to ereaders, take for granted. For an immigrant or second-language learner, ebooks can be an incredible resource. With ebooks, people around you not being interested in the language you want to read do not limit your selection of reading material.
While some ereaders only support Latin characters, the new editions of Kindle also support Cyrillic, Korean, Japanese, and both traditional and simplified Chinese characters, with the number of ereaders supporting different scripts and the number of different scripts likely only to increase in the future.
While the current market for ebooks and ereaders has many flaws and virtues, this is a facet of it that every article I've seen on them overlooks. For anyone going abroad for extended periods, I would definitely recommend an ereader.
Monday, January 14, 2013
Rise of the Guardians and the Problem of Evil
 |
| source: collider.com |
But the ending of this movie bothered me very much, actually. First, let me give a quick rundown of the plot:
A guy revives and is declared "Jack Frost" by the Man in the Moon, and for hundreds of years is invisible to all mortals and causes snow days and general mischief. Elsewhere, Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, and the Sandman are guardians of childhood wonder and do things like give kids presents and hide Easter eggs and make good dreams to preserve childhood wonder and protect the children of the world. However this is thrown off by a bad guy, the Boogeyman or "Pitch", who exists to ferment fear in the minds of children, and seeks to destroy the Guardians because he wants to be believed in and feared. Jack Frost is chosen by the Man in the Moon to be a Guardian and to help the existing Guardians defeat the Boogeyman; however, Jack Frost also wants to be noticed and have a purpose so he sympathizes with the Boogeyman. After much havoc and drama, he sides with the Guardians, eventually becomes believed in by children, the Boogeyman is banished to his underground lair because even though "[kids] believe in him, [they're] just not afraid of him." All is well, and the story ends.
It's beautifully animated and a nice story, but by the end I honestly thought there would be some sort of reconciliation with Pitch, about fear being necessary. Because the Guardian's existence is based on belief, the fact that "I believe in you, I'm just not afraid of you" could have been very powerful. Fear needs to exist for bravery to exist. Kids overcoming their fears is a big deal. He might not have been a nice guy and brought candy and presents to kids, but he still could have been important, without need to banish him forever and ever.
I guess I shouldn't have expected it, there weren't really any hints of there being any good in Pitch, just that Jack Frost and the audience were sympathetic to his (selfish) need to be noticed. Pitch existed in the dark ages and made things terrible for all children, making them all live in fear until the Guardians existed. So there's really no reason he should be allowed to continue to do anything. He's just a terrible creature, inside and out.
Or... is he?
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