Maine

Taken with a malfunctioning Minolta XG-7

The marks are from the film I used, it was pretty old.

Bald Eagle

Cadillac Mountain - Acadia National Park

Using the Macro setting on my telephoto lens

Long Exposure - me with a flashlight

Me with a flashlight, again, on my face

Dominican Republic

I just realized, I never posted a link to my Dominican Republic pictures from way back in 2010  :P

These are just some select photos, I believe between the two of us we had 500?

Domincan Republic

Submachine

Enter, the submachine.

SUBMACHINE


One of the best and most intriguing point-click games. It's a series with a story, there are 0-7 levels out now. Make sure to have your speakers on and turned up!

Here's a map of Submachine 1

Doctor vs. Sherlock

This is a pretty amazing mashup. I have to say, they did a most excellent job. Enjoy!

The website I saw this on was: Neatorama They have a great collection of Doctor Who awesomeness.

Rebekka - Chapter 1

     It felt like centuries had passed unfairly, under her closed eyelids. Everything beautiful, just and true had long passed and been replaced by the cold metal reality of modern times. Warm golden Sundays with laughter, tea, and friends, gone, save for the fleeting glimpses held in paintings and prose. What made these people forsake those happy times? Julie knew the answer, and it made her sick to think of it, to think of that time. Still, she clung to what little happiness she could and driving the awkward tool into the soft ground she overturned the dirt, her face looking grim.

      It had been unfair, what they'd done to her, but it was her rule to never think about that in the garden. She was haunted enough by unpleasant thoughts during the night after the warm sun went down and the darkness brought by night obscured any pleasantries or hopeful feelings from the daytime. For some people, the night can hold hidden excitement -- unknown surprises e.g. a present that is submerged in a bag of paper and ribbon. For others, the darkness just provides concealment for evil to lurk and blend, like a suspicious box left on your doorstep, or a closed door in an ominous setting. She shoved the thought aside with the same steely determination that had carried her through to this life.

     Pushing aside the dirt she gently lowered a small white cube into the hole she'd dug. She placed the dirt back in the hole, covering the cube. She patted the ground and set to placing the next hole a few inches over. By the time she was done, the sun was setting and it was time to get inside. Wiping her forehead with her arm she pushed the curly mess of hair that had fallen down into her face while leaning over. She wiped the dirt off her tools and placed them in her garden basket to be carried into the basement for storage. 

     Tonight, she thought, I'm going to read a book, have a glass of wine and relax. Entering her bedroom with her Bible she sat on a soft chair that sat low in the corner and had a small table she could set her drink on. She gently opened the front cover of the book and turned each page carefully over. It was over 100 years old, being one of the only physical paper books she could get her hands on. While it was extremely well preserved, it still had a fragility that that made her handle it punctiliously.

     Flipping through the pages she couldn't seem to settle on any one chapter to start with, her mind distant and blank, a feeling of dissociation weighing over her. Continuing to empty her glass, she started to feel heady with the taste of wine on her tongue and she closed the book rubbing her hands on the cover. Moving her hands over the spine she noticed a lump the piqued her interest and brought her back to the present.




....to be continued

Crunchy

You're like a little crunchy monster
across from me at the breakfast table
crunch crunch crunchy on your cereal
You stare at me with beady eyes

Milk dribbles down your chin
off your spoon
smack smack smack mouth open
You yawn big cave mouth

I can smell your morning breath
like a bad mannered miscreation
whiff whaf whaft your breath across the table
You haven't brushed your teeth

Your hair mussed and frizzy
from sleeping in your cave
growl grizzle grunt morning monster language
I keep to myself

Finished, you dump dishes into the sink
walk towards me
shuffle smack shuffle bare feet on tile
As you approach I stiffen

You get closer and suddenly
your arms around my middle
squeeze squeeze squeeze like python
Morning, you grunt. Morning, I reply

And 'cause you're my little sister
I can't help but love you
crunch smack whiff grunt shuffle
Little crunchy morning monster

Greek Yogurt

An explosion of Greek yogurt has occurred. Upon hearing of it a few years ago I didn't think much about trying it. But when reports started to come in of it's wonderful goodie-ness from many unexpected sources I resolved to give it a try... next time I had the chance.

At first I was overwhelmed by there sheer amount of choices there are for Greek Yogurt... not sure which to pick I wavered on the fence - finding excuses to postpone buying any.

After some continued polls, I did find the preferred brand but also found it much too expensive for the meager amount of green paper bills in my pocket. Especially since I would be spending it on something I might like.

Finally, I found Greek Yogurt at Aldi's for a wonderfully low price! Upon trying it I found the thick tartness to be quite wonderful and have been buying it every week.

This brought me to wondering what in the world Greek yogurt actually was made of. Enter Wikipedia:

"Strained yogurt, yogurt cheese, labneh, or Greek yogurt is yogurt which has been strained in a cloth or paper bag or filter to remove the whey, giving a consistency between that of yogurt and cheese, while preserving yogurt's distinctive sour taste. Like many yogurts, strained yogurt is often made from milk which has been enriched by boiling off some of the water content, or by adding extra butterfat and powdered milk. . . .

In Western Europe and the U.S., strained yogurt has become increasingly popular because it is richer in texture than unstrained yogurt, but low in fat. Since straining removes whey, strained yogurt is higher in protein and lower in sugar and carbohydrates than unstrained yogurt.


In fact, most of the recent growth in the $4.1 billion yogurt industry has come from the strained yogurt segment. In the West, the term "Greek yogurt" has become synonymous with strained yogurt due to successful marketing by the Greek Fage brand, though strained yogurt is a staple in many countries besides Greece, and most yogurt in Greece is not strained. "Greek-style" yogurts are similar to Greek strained yogurt, but may be thickened with thickening agents, or if made the traditional way, are based on domestic (rather than Greek) milk."*


So yay for the health benefits of Greek yogurt! And beware the "Greek-style" yogurt that will give you pimples. . . Just kidding!

*Reference:

Strained yoghurt. (2012, February 14). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 00:07, February 16, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Strained_yoghurt&oldid=476834774