I've got my eyes on you ....

So I am finally trying to teach myself how to use my Bamboo stylus and photoshop that I bought almost two years ago now. And while I have picked it up with the goal of working on my drawing, I have quickly come to realize that drawing in photoshop is really all about painting. I did my first successful tutorial today. Here's the result of my training.


 


I learnt how to do this following the attached tutorial. It wasn't terribly easy to follow and there is terrible music associated with it, but I think it came out relatively successful!

Tutorial link

Next up I suppose I should try for a full face!

The Sixth biggest snowstorm in Boston

Of course it hasn't snowed in Boston for the last two years and sure enough on the weekend that I plan to go to New York, it snows. Yes, in case you have not yet heard, it snowed in Boston today. Now apparently it's not quite as good a snowstorm as the one in the 1970s, but it didn't stop people from cross-country skiing down the street.

We of course are part of the unlucky lot that has to park on the street. Yes this was our car today.

This is the first time that I've actually crawled on top of my car in order to shovel it off. And after a mere 1 1/2 hours we were able to retrieve our car.

What was even more mind-boggling about the snowstorm was that they actually had a street ban. Yes you couldn't actually drive your car. If you did, you could get thrown in prison for up to one year. And so as you could imagine the streets were relatively free, and everybody was walking down the middle of the street. Which is kind of creepy because it kind of looked like there had been a zombie apocalypse. And of course everything was closed, except the pubs, the pubs were full… Very full!

A year ago today ....

After having lovingly ignored my blog for the better part of a year, I randomly decided to look at it today. And sure enough, it was exactly one year today that I last wrote on the blog. Looking back and feeling somewhat sentimental about it, I felt a need to post. Last year, I was busy eating and reflecting on crackers ... this year, instead, I spent my night doing this....

Okay, so clearly this is not me. First off, I don't live in a giant white box, so this photo couldn't possibly have been of me. Secondly, this person is maintaining an upright position for arguably long enough not to take a blurry photo. Nonetheless, I am working to acheive this. Yes, my long time yearning to do a handstand has recently been rekindled. And with only a few practices under my belt I do feel like I am seeing good improvement in my abilities to not completely topple over, or throw myself helplessly against the wall. Maybe one day soon I will be able to post a video of a triumphant 5-sec handstand, although no promises at this point. But taking a step back, I am hoping that starting 2013 with inverted-dynamic postures rather than a cracker box in my hand is a positive signal for an exciting year ahead .... (and of course, one with better abs!)

Crackers vs. Chips - America's New Gluttony

Always at a loss for things to snack on, we recently came upon CrackerChips at the grocery store. You might ask at this point, what are CrackerChips? And after having devoured several boxes of CrackerChips, I have come to the following conclusion, they are the new gluttony of America. Mostly a cracker, they are meant to be consumed like a chip, meaning that we are now increasing the effective rate of cracker consumption. We are training ourselves to eat crackers in a similar manner to chips. But crackers aren't supposed to be eaten like chips - you are only supposed to have a few at a time, whereas chips are meant to be eaten in larger quantities. So what are the potential impacts of this hybrid snack:

1. Our chip-like consumption behaviour will likely spillover to the cracker market, as a result both increasing the size of the existing cracker market as well as creating a new market.

2. And, we will probably need to get bigger belts.

3. The belt market will prosper.

4. Cobbling will make a rampant return. (note: cobblers make both shoes & belts!)

5. Universities will flounder due to the large number of people opting to go to trade-schools for cobbling over universities.

6. Lack of people going to university will mean fewer skilled people for financial jobs.

7. The stock market will crash with no one to effectively manage it.

8. We will go in to an even deeper economic downward spiral.

9. Personal budgets will be stretched, people will need to start watching what they buy.

10. To be more economically effective people will look to cracker-chips to get the best of both world (crackers and chips) on a shoestring budget.

11. The vicious cycle of cracker-chip gluttony repeats.

So I ask you all to heed this warning next time you reach for and fully consume a box of cracker-chips in one sitting. You too may fall victim to the alluring and powerful magic that is the cracker-chip.

Official Site of the Trailer Park Martini

Pressed for time? .... Fridge unstocked? .... Liquor cabinet full, but no idea how to create a good combination? .... Welcome to the trailer park martini!

What is a trailer park martini you ask? Well it is the perfect recipe for the person who always makes sure that their liquor cabinet is well stocked but that their fridge is not.

It is for the busy yuppy on-the-go that is calorie conscience but that also wants to enjoy a few cocktails on a Friday night, and who finds it easier to stock many packets of Crystal Light than easy-to-expire fruit juices.



Trailer Park Cosmo Recipe
- 1 oz vodka
- 1 oz triple sec
- 1/2 oz lime juice
- 3 oz any flavor of Crystal Light (Fruit Punch, Raspberry, and Lime are the original bases)

In essence it is cosmopolitan martini, but with the cranberry juice swapped out for Crystal Light. Sounds peculiar ... but tastes fabulous. If you don't tell people it is Crystal Light they would never know.






As part of the trailer park beverage series, I would also recommend the following concoction for amaretto sours:

Amaretto-in-the-ghetto Sours
- 1 part amaretto
- 2 parts Lime Crystal Light
- sugar rimmed glasses

Here's to a Happy New Year's Everyone!

Drink Responsibly.

The "i" in Sprint's iPhone stands for "irate"

So I tried to buy an iPhone …. I say tried because they are obnoxiously expensive. But when I look around at people on the street, everyone seems to have one; so I thought, there must be some way to get an iPhone at a reasonable price.

And in fact there is, if you want to have a 2-year contract then the iPhone is only $199 vs. $650 if you don’t get a contract. And this is all fine and dandy if you plan on living in the US for at least 2 years, but unfortunately (or rather fortunately) we are planning to move back to Canada in a year and a half, so a two year contract doesn’t make much sense because of the high exit fees.
So I phoned the Sprint people to see what they could do for me. And the answer is ‘not much’. In fact the phone people are enabled with absolutely no power whatsoever to negotiate. I highlighted that I was willing to move to a more expensive plan, and that if they didn’t work with me to come up with a solution that they were basically leaving money on the table, but alas the 12-year old from Kentucky that I was talking to had no ability to do anything different than offer me one option.
And while this frustrated me enormously, what was most appalling is the lack of willingness to listen. Now I know their jobs have to be excruciatingly boring, but seriously …. Try actually listening to people ….
Here is a verbatim from our conversation to highlight what I am talking about:
Me: So is there any way that I can get an iPhone for $199 without a 2-year contract.
Salesperson: Yes. You can get an iPhone for $199, which is the reduced rate when you sign a 2-year contract.

Seriously…..
I am astounded recently with our society’s inability to listen to others. I have recently enrolled in improv classes and one of the key things that we are learning is how to listen to people and pick up cues to move the scene further. Again, I am constantly amazed at how little other people hear. I think society has done a significant disservice to everyone by not focusing on “listening” as a core educational skill that needs to be taught and practiced.
If society had I might have an iPhone.
That’s my rant for today.

Why didn't this occur to me earlier ...

Dear loyal blog-readers, it has ben a while.

I recognize that I am not the most consistent blogger, and I often come up with excuses for not being a better blogger like "well I spent all day at a computer" or "nothing interesting ever happens" or the best "it is all IT's fault. If they didn't lock my BB then I could blog from the road.". Well, it just occured to me ... I can blog from the road. I don't need "the blogger app", I just need google, which I have on my BB. And so I write my fisrt blog from ... Poolside!

Yes. I have a pool. And. It is awesome.

Next step ... Figure out how to upload photos from BB in order to flaunt pool shots to blog-readers, to emphasize why they should be jealous.