Best Friend Quiz

Have you ever looked for something and haven't been able to find it? I was chatting with Nic the other week, and we ended up on the topic of personality quizzes.  The type of quizzes that take very little thought and is most likely going to sort your into Ravenclaw, even if you were sure you were a Hufflepuff.  This brought up a sort of nostalgia of when I was a kid and the quizzes were geared towards if someone was your best friend.  It is normally about 10 questions and if you can answer those 10 questions, you are that persons best friend.

I can not find that sort of quiz that I remember. On the bright side, the internet exists. There are some pretty intense best friend tests out there.  Some of them being over a hundred questions long. I can't believe how intense some of these test are.  TeenVogue was able to provide a simple 20 question quiz, that is deceptively deep.

My cat is one of my  best friends. Or maybe I am one of his, so I thought I would answer  the best friend questions of Dib. Surprisingly (or not surprisingly) not all the questions can be answered by cats. Below are the highlights.

I am helping.

•  What embarrasses you the most and/or what's been your most embarrassing moment?
• When I sneeze boogers all over my self and then eat them.
• What is your biggest fear?
• Being locked out of any of the rooms.
• How do you like to be comforted when you're sad or upset?
• I like to be held or hole up in my cube and left alone.
• What's your favorite thing you own and why?
•  My duck, it is special.
• Where do you hope to be 5/10/15 years from now?
•  Still alive
• If money was no object, what would you buy?
• Gravy, cheese, ice cream, feathers, yarn, opposable thumbs...
• When have you felt the most challenged?
• When Iggins joined the household.
• Do you have any regrets? If so, what are they?
• 4 feet of string and a weekend of laxatives and enemas.
• Which celeb would you want as your other BFF and why?
• Lil Bub or Tardar Sauce (Grumpy Cat ) or a blend of the two, because secret cat reasons.
• Which family member are you closest to?
•  Jon or the duck. Most likely Jon.
• What's the one thing most people don't know about you?
• I don't like ham or being held by my scruff.

ApocalyptiGirl : An Aria for the End Times

In a moment of insanity I decided to clean out my bookshelf. It was brutal. A part of my brain switched off and if the book was not sentimental, something I would read again, in my to be read pile or something my husband found sentimental or enjoyed, it got shoved in donate pile.  I am sure a little part of me is still curled up in my brain screaming in agony over the separation.

To quiet the screaming part of my brain, I decided to distract it with a graphic novel out of my ever growing to be read pile.  (Holidays have a way of making the to be read pile swell into cat squashing proportions.). The graphic novel I chose to distract myself with was ApocalyptiGirl. An Aria for the End Times by Andrew Maclean.

I am not even sure how to explain this graphic novel.  My brain scatters all over the place and refuses to format words when I try to put it in a category. If there was a category called Beautiful, it wouldn't be accurate, because despite the mesmerizing art style and engaging storyline there is something there that I can't put my finger on.   Something that feel sort of nostalgic, but also like a breathe of fresh air. Perhaps it is the most accurately title graphic novel, and it really is just an aria for the end of times.

I don't know, what it is exactly and when I put my finger on it, I am not sure anyone else will get it. I would highly recommend ApocalyptiGirl for anyone that is looking for something a little different, but different in a good way.

Yoda Doesn't Go There!

Cup of Tea Can't Solve This

I was once told that conversing with me is like being on a slippery slope, you never know where the conversation might land.  I don't think it is just me.

A: I forgot to tell you, but we are doing that Wellness thing.

Me: We are?

A: Yep, I am going to sign you up.

Me: You will have to re send me the email, I most likely deleted it.

A: No problem, It will be fun. You are doing this!

Me: I possibly might agree to this.

A: Great! I told D that in the spring when it is over, I am going to get the tattoo.

Me: What tattoo?

A: The Star Wars quote one. D thinks I should add Yoda next to it, but I think you should get it instead.

Me: Uhhh...What?  No!  I am not getting my first tattoo as Yoda.

A: It will be fun. We rock the Wellness Challenge and to celebrate we get new tattoos.

Me: I am not agreeing to this plan.

A:  It is all a part of the plan.  You agreed.

Me: Nope. Nope! Nope!

A: Jon will like it.

Me: There is no way that I would be able to go home and say in sultry voice, "You want to find my Yoda?" To my husband, and him not look at me like I am off the rails.

A: Well, I might not put Yoda there, but Jon could be into it.

Me: Of all the things my husband is into, this is not one of them, Where exactly do you think I am talking about?

A: .....

Me: Not happening.

A: How do you know Jon won't like it, if you won't try it?

And this is where my head ends up in my hands and I start clicking my heels and saying there is no place like home.

Beet It!

I am not sure that Pinterest experiments are supposed to look like you dismembered someone, but I could be wrong.  There is no way to parboil beets without it looking like something out of a horror movie. Add a little cornstarch and you have an okay fake blood that stains just like real blood.  

(Welcome to the magic of beets!)

Beets are one of those vegetables that are under-rated. They are like the funky cousin of the potato. Except I have never had a pickled potato, and would be a little wary on trying it. On the other hand I have devoured my fair share of pickled beets.  In case you didn't know, I like beets.  I really like them on my salad, which is where my earlier comment on parboiled beets comes in.  While my father was out visiting, we  (I helped from the next room and offered lots of encouragement) made a couple of jars of shelf stable pickled beets. 

I have no idea how well the beets turned out.  We made three jars and they all made that beautiful popping noise that indicated they sealed, but we didn't actually taste any of them. The recipe we used from Pinterest gave us free rain for creativity and I don't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. I love Jake & Amos Baby Fire Beets, and we decided to add red pepper flakes to the recipe.  It is unknown as to if this was a good idea, and I am not sure I have any friends that want to be guinea pig test subjects.  Thankfully we are going into winter weather, and the probability of being snowed into the house at least once is high, which will force me to try them. 

Arts and Crafts are Hard!

Awesome!

Arts and crafts are hard. I realize that is a really simple statement, but that does not make it any less true.  I have some friends that are incredibly talented.  My friend, Gat, in her spare time creates beautiful pieces of jewelry that I adore.  Each piece is unique and if you buy her a drink or two, she may be sweet talked into making custom pieces.  (I say this, because she totally rescued me for some Christmas gift by creating a couple of master pieces.) My friend, Joe made a really cool  coaster set out of old records and then a record play to hold them in. He acts like it is no big deal, and that any one could do that with a bandsaw and vinyl, but they are totally awesome. Seriously talented friends and much appreciated gifts.

Blows my mind. 

I know this sounds like the beginning of a sales pitch. In a way it is, and in a way it isn't.  It is a sales pitch for appreciation. I really appreciate time, effort and thought that is put into handcrafted gifts. I know that not every one is craft capable and some people don't have time for it.  That is okay.  As much as I like to try and make gifts for the people I care about, I also have become good friends with Amazon and Etsy.  The bulk of the holidays have passed us, which mean my stress levels in that area have dropped considerably and it is time to sit back and relax.  It is time to appreciate the efforts of others, before the weather turns pleasant and the world starts moving in fast forward again and we forget how awesome other people all. It is time to marvel at other ingenuity and creativity and be thankful that they deemed you were worth the effort to create something for.  For all those people that go the extra step and craft a gift, thank you!

Oyster War

I took an unintentional hiatus from reading comics.  It is easy to get caught up doing a whole bunch of nothing, and because of that my to-be-read bed side reading pile is looking neglected and structurally unsound.  If I a certain kitty that I know decided to step on it, the whole wobbly structure could collapse and smother me in stack of frozen screams or at the very least I would end up with a could of nasty paper cuts.

In an attempt to make some head way, I pulled out the beautiful hard back edition of Oyster War by Ben Towle that my husband had acquired for me.  I adore this book.  The story is full of whimsy, merriment and makes me want to learn a sea shanty or two.  There are jokes, misquotes and folklore that could entertain people of all ages, and if you are looking for a story with a moral, there is a fun environmental message mixed in.

On top of the story being a tasty morsel, the art style is like the perfect dash of lemon juice on fresh sea food. Refreshing with a little bit of a twist and makes everything flow together seamlessly.  Once I finished Oyster War, it made me want to reread The Cursed Pirate Girl by Jeremy Bastain, just so that I could continue tooling around with pirates. I would recommend this book to anyone that is looking for an enjoyable tall tale about pirates that flirtation with superstition.

Cleaning Up 2016 Messes

It is a new year and with a new year, people lament over the past year and look to make resolutions to make their lives better in the new one.  I don't make many resolutions at the beginning of the new year. Mostly because I am a creature of habit and on January 1st all I want to do is lounge around in my pajamas , drink a cup of hot tea and watch the Orange Bowl Parade.  I do not want to be philosophical about what I want to accomplish over the year, because what I want to accomplish doesn't typically change from year to year.  I want to strengthen my family bonds. I want to go on adventures.  I want eat good food and be happy. Those are the same things that I want every year, and I try to accomplish every year and I don't need a resolution to do it.

However in the spirit of making a fresh start for the New Year, I thought I would attempt to clean up some of my messes from the previous year. Sometimes life gets messy and bubbles up and spills molten cheese and possibly tomato sauce all over the place and it is often time much easier just to ignore the mess than to clean it up.  Today was the day to clean it up.  The "It" I am talking about is the microwave.   Sad to say, that unless I am actually using the microwave I don't normally think about the condition of it.  I realized that I had a golden opportunity to try one of those Pinterest experiments.

On Pinterest I found a super easy way to clean a microwave that consisted of two ingredients and minimal effort.  Pretty much it was a combination of equal amounts of  white vinegar and water and then you microwave it for 10 minutes to steam clean the microwave and you wipe out the residue.

It seemed like the perfect way to be cleanlier and lazy at the same time.  Sort of a work smarter not harder theory.  I want to say that this theory worked somewhat.  It isn't a perfect cleaning solution, but it certainly loosen the unidentifiable splatter matter and made the cleaning easier, and the smell of hot vinegar has a way cleaning out everything in my sinuses. Sort of a two for one thing going on.

While it isn't a perfect start to a new year, it is a pretty descent start.  I think this little experiment sums up my expectations for the new year. While you can look for the smarter not harder way to do some thing, no matter what eventually you will need to put some elbow grease into things if you want them done right. There is no easy way of doing the right thing. With that all being said, I hope that the new year is kind to you and that you expend you energy on things that are worth doing and are fulfilling.  Happy New Year!