Failure to post

Hm. Whoops.

Also, CBC Radio 3 has changed their player format, and now mine is gone from my sidebar. Le sigh. Revamping to come soon? Mayhaps.

Gobble gobble.

Mixtape Experiment 2009

Fourth annual music mixtape "experiment" starts today, folks.

EDIT: fixed the third link so it actually goes to last year's post. Also, finished listings are 2006, 2007, 2008[fail in posting tracklist]). /EDIT

If you'd like to participate, here's what you need to do:

1. Post a comment with a song (including artist) or two. Make it a song that you love, or can't get out of your head, or one you think the world should know about (for good reasons. Not like, "THIS SONG IS SO HORRIBLE I MUST SHARE IT"). Quality, people.
   
2. With your song(s), post some input/fun facts/insights! I'd like to make some "liner notes" to go with the mix.
   
3. If I can't find the song, (or if you want to make my life easier), I will comment back and ask for it. Alternatively, post a link/email it to me.
4. After some time has passed, I'll compile the songs into a sweet playlist and share.

Aaaaaaand go!

Jokes!

What happened to the magical tractor?

It turned into a field.


What does Snoop Dogg use to wash his whites?

Blee-otch


Did you hear about the red ship and the blue ship that collided?

All the sailors were marooned.

Wordle

This is fun. I know there are other tools that are similar, but Wordle.net lets you generate pretty tag clouds from text or a URL.

Open Letter to Rock Climbing Wall

Dear Rock Climbing Wall,

I plan on visiting you today. It's been a couple weeks, and my muscles seem to have returned to the right places, with no lasting pain, so I think it's about time. I appreciate that you made me more aware that there are indeed muscles in my shoulders and around my ribcage region. I also appreciate you being sturdy and whatnot, and not shaking with some type of twisted rock-wall laughter when I slipped, in my non-climbing shoes, and had to fall off the wall.

All of this being said, Rock Climbing Wall, I ask for a similar or better experience today. Because I even cut my super-length fingernails, just for you.

With respect,
Robyn

EDIT

p.s. I am sorry I did not actually visit today. My partner-in-climb was injured. Maybe tomorrow!

Lentil Soup

I make lentil soup as a meal fairly frequently, but it's usually missing something that makes it taste really good, you know? That something extra that makes it so you don't need to add an extra pound of salt to make it taste good.

Tonight, however, was a different story. Tonight's lentil soup was tasty. Also, I properly diced an onion for the first time in my life. *pat on back*

Ingredients!

-olive oil, to cover bottom of pan (and then some)
-2 to 3 cloves of crushed garlic
-half a white cooking onion, diced
-chopped carrots, about a double-handful's worth*
-two stalks celery, chopped*
-two tomatoes, chopped into large chunks, most seeds removed
-3 tins of lentils
-water or soup stock
-salt (herbed, if possible) and pepper to taste
-coriander and paprika to taste

* usually I use enough combined carrots and celery so it fully covers the bottom of the pan/pot

Utensils!

-knives, to chop things
-wooden spoon, to stir things
-largish round pot/saucepan, within which to cook things

Recipe!

1. Sautée garlic and onions in the olive oil until almost brown, at about level 8 heat (given 10 is max heat). Stir often.
2. Add chopped carrots and celery. Cook until almost fully cooked (i.e. you can break a carrot piece in half with the wooden spoon).
3. Add tomatoes to the pot. Cook for a couple minutes, until they start looking softish.
4. Pour in the tins of lentils (including liquid) and stir immediately.
5. Add water or stock, in an amount that suits your taste. Less gives you more of a stew. If you use water, crumble two bouillon cubes in as well.
6.Add salt and pepper to taste.
7. Allow the whole thing to come to a rolling boil at level 8 heat. Once it starts boiling, turn down the heat and let simmer for at least 10 minutes or so.
8. Add paprika and coriander and allow to simmer a bit more.

Ta dah! Serve on its own, or with toast, or with noodles or rice!

Knitting!

Oh goodness I am going to learn how to knit. It shall be fun. It may be disastrous.

Just going to start with a scarf. Although it would be really, really awesome to be able to knit this.

Music Shopping

So, I'm doing some comparative shopping for music online. And it's ridiculous!
amazon.ca has A.C. Newman's "Get Guilty" for $12.99. It's $18.99 at chapters.indigo.ca ! Six dollar difference!

EDIT: I clicked the wrong site. It's $12.99 (USD) on amazon.com, and $22.99 on amazon.ca . So there's still quite a discrepancy.

Any good concerts coming up? Joel Plaskett is releasing a new album in late March. I'm excited.

Three Confused Pugs

This video entertains me to no end.

So it's 2009...

Happy new year! A little late. Oh well!

Resolutions, the generalized edition:

1. Get in shape. Take some kind of fitness class.
2. Draw more. Consider portraits of people as an option.
3. Keep organized. Applies to many aspects of life.
4. Attend at least 12 concerts, to average one per month.
5. Write. This may or may not apply to this blog.

Those are the main things I've been thinking about, resolution-wise. Anywho.

The Library

I received a notice in the mail the other week, informing me that this was my third notification and that I was being charged for a book I never returned to the library (WHICH I could have sworn I'd returned). I had not, in fact, received any notifications prior to this point. Also, they were going to charge me $30 to replace the book (about double what it would have cost to get it from Amazon), plus "overdue" fines.

Needless to say, I was not impressed. I checked all the places in my house where I could have had the book. Not there; I had a pretty strong memory of returning it.

So, today I went to the library and went to the shelves. They had three copies of the novel on the shelf, two of which had the same cover as the book I borrowed. I compared the bar codes to the one I was being charged for in my letter: one matched.

Thankfully, the librarians understood and apologized for the problem, and cleared the fines from my account. This has happened to me before at a different library; it kind of sucks that it happens, but both times have ended well.

Busy busy

I hate not writing things here, as I enjoy reading blogs and feel bad when I don't write anything. On the other hand, I'm being fairly productive otherwise.

Some links for your amusement:

Live Webcam on a box full of puppies
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal (comic)
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
Digital Sand
A baby hippopotamus

Zombie Papercrafts!

Zombies are a big hit these days, or at least they are in my circles. In any event: Zombie Papercrafts! They are so great, and far simpler than the Wall-E one I attempted a while back.

Autumn

I had to rake leaves this weekend. I had a couple of options in the rake department, and have concluded that metal rakes are not optimal for raking large amounts of leaves. Large plastic rakes are ideal.

Also, it is FREEEEEZING outside today. That is all.