Daily Art - "Funkalicious"

Daily Art - "Infinity"

The Ramen Chronicles Part II

In the continuing saga of young people left to cook for themselves (Part I is here), I've discovered another way to prepare a simple pack of chicken-flavored stove top ramen.

I prepare the noodles as I did in Part I. The spices are what differs. I keep the pepper, but replace the oregano with Italian seasoning. You can buy a bottle of Italian seasoning at the grocery store, but for those of you out there who like homegrown herbs, it is a mix of basil, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, savory, sage, and thyme. I add quite a bit, but spices are meant to be added to taste. Experiment on your own. The mix of spices and the pepper add a lot of flavor and make it delicious.

Daily Art - "Patriot"

Daily Art - Fossile Stone and Amethyst Necklace

This beaded necklace features pale amethyst, fossil stone, gold glass pearls, and Desert Sun's cracked glass beads. It is 20.5 inches long with a gold-plated lobster claw clasp. You can buy this necklace on my Etsy! I have a sidebar widget with my Etsy shop. Go check out my stuff!

Daily Art - "Hand of Zeboim"

Simple, but the seaweed look prompted me to name this after the Dragonlance sea godess Zeboim.

Daily Art - "Antique"

Daily Art - "Feathers of Winter"

Daily Art - "Phoenix"

Daily Art - "Birds of Paradise"

Daily art - "Tropical"

Daily Art - "Flower Explosion"

Humor

My boyfriend and I were watching a movie together tonight. A friend had recommended it, calling it the funniest movie of all time, the best thing ever, and so on and so forth. After only half an hour, I grew thoroughly bored with it. My boyfriend said, "It's more amusing than it is funny." There are so many different kinds of humor out there that can be considered "funny." An old Marx Brothers film isn't exactly the same kind of comedy as a late night comedian, but I've laughed at both. Slapstick comedians center their acts around harmless things that society has learned to laugh at. Then you have the crude humor on the other end of the spectrum, which is honestly very immature. The only redeeming feature is the rare good delivery. Then there's humor targeted at a specific group - female humor, male humor, republican/democrat, married/single, etc. Female humor isn't only funny to women. My boyfriend happens to love The Golden Girls! But some people are more touchy than others. I know a multitude of different people, from feminists to fanatics to geniuses. The feminists wouldn't be caught dead watching male-aimed humor, let alone find it funny. Every iece of comedy has its own wavelength; you just have to be on the right channel to recieve it as it was intended to be - funny.

A Video Blog

My boyfriend and I run a site called The Dragon's Claw. It's a fantasy fansite. Anyway, we just did our very first video blog! Go watch it.

http://the-dragons-claw.webs.com/apps/blog/

Etsy Finds - DebbyAremDesigns

If my geeky boyfriend was Jewish, I would definitely buy him this circuit board menorah.

Biscuit Recipe!

I make these every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas. This is one of those recipes I didn't need to tweak in the least bit. It's from my 5th grade cooking class, believe it or not. :P

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1/2 cup butter
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Mix sifted flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together.
3. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse corn meal.
4. Add buttermilk and stir until well blended. The mixture will be moist and lumpy, but you should not see excess flour.
5. Use a table spoon to spoon the dough onto lightly greased cookie sheets about an inch apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes until the edges start to brown.

Daily Art - "Clockwork"

This is my fractal for today, created and named after Sotha Sil's clockwork city in the game Morrowind. Below the fractal is a screenshot of Sotha Sil in his city, which I found here.

New Blog Name

Since several blogs have the name "Order of Chaos," I decided to change mine to "Logically Illogical," which is how I answered my boyfriend when he asked how my reasoning makes any sense. :P

A Piece of Art a Day...

...Keeps the creativity coming. I think sometimes motivation is more important - and often more lacking - than inspiration. I've been doing at least one fractal a day since I began. Usually, I end up doing two or three because I get into it. I'm going to try to do at least one art piece a day from now on, whether that is a fractal, a poem, jewelry, or a drawing. After all, I had to draw every day I had art class in school, and the days I didn't quite feel like it didn't yield results that were any less artistic. The hardest part is beginning. I've sat at my computer for an hour before with a blank page, wondering what to write. When I start, though, it takes off, and that hour of trying to start was worth it. By the way, i attatched the fractal I made today. :)

My Latest Fractal

I'd say I'm doing well after four days of making fractals. :D Definitely view that full size.

A New Fractal

This one I made all by myself without a tutorial to walk me through it. I feel I've learned a lot in the past couple days. :) Click on it to see it in all its full-sizedness.

"Freeform"

This blank page
Set out before me
Is so much like a blank canvas
That the words begin to form images;
Every line echoes
With such artistic flare
That it is an art form
Even the blind
Can see clearly.

Apophysis

Yesterday I started testing my fractal making ability in GIMP, which doesn't allow for much manipulation on my part. At a friend's suggestion, I downloaded Apophysis. I'm figuring out what things do and I've had some pretty awesome results so far. The photo below is called Wings of Autumn because it has a feathery, wing-like look and it has parts that look like wheat.

Fractals

I downloaded Gimp (www.gimp.org) and now I'm playing around with fractals. This is a fun new experience. :D

New Moon

The nearest movie theater has a LOT of screens. Eleven of them were dedicated to the New Moon midnight premier. Of course, eleven of those were also sold out by 10:30. A single screen was playing the movie at 3:00 AM, so my boyfriend and I went to that. Our friend Emily got us into the books before a movie was even in the works. Where it's not an epic masterpiece of writing, people relate to the characters and setting. Being clumsy enough to trip on air makes it easy for me to relate to Bella. When the Twilight movie came out, we went to see it at midnight. Kristen Stewert became one of my leaast favorite actresses and I continue to hate how Robert Pattinson portrays Edward. The way he speaks is all wrong, and I don't find him attractive in the least bit. Still, the movie was mostly accurate to the book and it was enjoyable. New Moon was my least favorite book, but we went to see the movie for the hell of it. The effects were better, though there were more inaccuracies in the plot. Aro was as creepy as possible, which kind of worked. I think they could have done a better job with hair dye, considering Jane had her roots showing with her straw yellow hair, and Rosalie looked like she had a bad day at the salon. Unless they were going for the stupid look, in which case it was perfect. I enjoyed it despite its flaws. Eclipse is my favorite book, and I definitely look forward to seeing that. Until then, I'm done discussing this series. :)

"Time"

Every memory in this place

On every shelf,

Every wall,

Is covered with the dust

From decades of disuse

And an eternity

Of broken dreams

Burned to ash

On the pyre

Of time.

Etsy Finds - Moon's Creations

You can has uber cutseyness! :D

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5046413

Past Lives and Religious Connections

A belief exists that our old soul is reincarnated partially into our next life. Through hypnosis, some people search for their past lives and try to make peace with themselves. My boyfriend is a dedicated Christian, and he does not believe in reincarnation, yet he believes in spirits. Ghosts are merely energy. Their energy can be measured by scientific equipment. There is a law of science that energy can niether be created nor destroyed, only redirected. When our consciousness crosses over into the afterlife (Heaven, Hell, or any other place), it crosses into an entirely new plane of existence. Where, then, does our body's energy go? Isn't it possible that some of that energy is recycled into forging new souls and thus creating the "past life" effect?

I don't think there is one single theory that reigns supreme. Just because Christianity does not explain reincarnation and would classify it under the work of Satan does not mean that reincarnation does not exist to a degree. There are many connections between ancient religions and mythologies, including Christianity. I believe that all reliegions refer to the same diety and angels by different names. For example, the Bible's Revelations describes an angel sounding a horn to herald the end of the world. In Norse mythology, there is a god Heimdall who sounds a horn at the beginning of Ragnorok, the Norse end of the world. Twins are present in many ancient mythologies; Castor and Pollux (the Gemini twins of Greek myths), Freya and Freyr (Norse), and Apollo and Artemis to name a few. I believe it is possible that the many ancient cultures saw the same immortal beings that the Christians believe in, but named them differently and termed all of them "gods." As for the many differences, people have embelished things and made up tales since the beginning of time. People need something to trust in and follow, as well as an explanation for the simplest of phenomena. If people saw an immortal being create water, for instance, they would most likely consider them a god of inundation or rain.

Now that I've gotten completely off track, I'm going to stop. Keep in mind that my views may be entirely wrong, and you won't here me telling anyone that I think I'm right. I'm merely sharing my view of my findings.

Etsy

I finally turned 18 on October 23rd. That means I finally have access to the money-making parts of the internet. I signed up my jewelry and craft business Dragonistic on Etsy. Go check it out! http://www.etsy.com/shop/dragonistic

Delicious Icing for Gingerbread Cookies

I was making some Betty Crocker gingerbread cookies last night, and on the side of the box, there was a recipe for icing. I modified it and now I'm sharing it. Enjoy. :D

1 cup of powdered sugar
2 tablespoons of water
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Mix ingredients together until smooth. It came out very thick and paste-like for me.

Christmas Cards for Soldiers

Being super active on Facebook, I get tons of invitations a day. Most causes I get are things I don't stand for, so I ignore them. One for Christmas cards for the soldiers is actually worth checking out and joining. You can join it here if you want. For those of you who aren't on Facebook but still want to hear more, the following italicized text is straight from their page on Facebook. I highlighted important info so you can quickly find it later.

The holidays are often a difficult time for those deployed. Often times there are troops who recieve little to nothing during the Christmas season.



Our goal is to have a card for each deployed soldier during the holidays extending them warm wishes and appreciation during what may feel like a lonely time for them.

Often times kind words from strangers are the very motivation that they need to stay focused in their mission of defending this country. We would like to ensure that by giving them a simple holiday card.

We would like to collect as many cards as possible by November 27, 2009 so that soldiers who wouldnt other wise recieve mail or benefit from generous care packages are not forgotten. They do so much for us, a simple card is the least we can do to brighten their day and holiday!


We all have left over cards from holidays past. Why not put them to good use and send over some much needed morale and support?


It truly doesn't matter what type the card as long as its seasonally appropriate, the troops will love it. If you wish not to send a holiday card a thank you card or note cards of warm wishes are always greatly appreciated!



Enlist the help of your children, pictures are always a welcomed addition as many troops have children of their own at home.

Just remember to write a small personal note for the holidays and even a thank you! Also, include your name and a contact information such as email if you would like to hear back from the soldier who recieves your card or picture.


Thank you all and please ask anyone and everyone you can think of and thank you all for the help and support of this program! All the ideas have been welcomed and greatly appreciated!


You can mail cards to:
Amanda Sullivan
Attn: Operation Christmas Cards

PO Box 102
Shrewsbury MA 01545

or email any questions you have to me.
cullanartstudio@aol.com

Thank you and God bless our troops!

We would also like to extend a special thanks to Bill Moore, who is a disabled Air Force Veteran. He runs a local chapter of Operation Homefront and has agreed to "find homes" for any cards that we may not have expected! THANK YOU BILL!!!
www.operationhomefront.net/maine

I think it's a great idea and I'll definitely be participating. :)

Fantastic Fries

I'm a fry fanatic. I'm one of the world's pickiest eaters, and since I like fries, it's fun to compare the fries that different restauraunts and frozen food companies offer. The first frozen brand I'll recommend is McCain. Right now, I have some of their seasoned crinkle fries in the oven. They're crispy, flavorful, and delicious. They are very similar in flavor to the seasoned fries that you can order at Denny's. McCain has many other fries and potato products as well, but those are for another day. :)

Death Panda

I'm watching a documentary on metal right now and I saw this little Death Panda thing. Here it is for all of you to enjoy. :D

"Moon Glow"

To the left of me,
A window;
Through the window,
Trees,
Dead and lifeless,
Aged through years
Of wisdom;
And through the trees,
The moon,
So full and glowing,
Shedding its warm light
Into the room.

Nifty Computer Wallpapers

Check out www.visualparadox.com for some of the coolest 3D wallpaper images I've seen. I check back regularly to see the new additions. :D

An Awesome Muffin Recipe

This is a recipe I found almost a year ago on www.allrecipes.com. If you like it, go and give it 5 stars to make its creator happy. :) And an addition from me: add in about a tablespoon of cinnamon.

Ingredients



2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil

1.Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C).



2.Stir together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a large bowl. Make a well in the center. In a small bowl or 2 cup measuring cup, beat egg with a fork. Stir in milk and oil. Pour all at once into the well in the flour mixture. Mix quickly and lightly with a fork until moistened, but do not beat. The batter will be lumpy. Pour the batter into paper lined muffin pan cups.


3.Variations: Blueberry Muffins: Add 1 cup fresh blueberries. Raisin Muffins: Add 1 cup finely chopped raisins. Date Muffins: Add 1 cup finely chopped dates. Cheese Muffins: Fold in 1 cup grated sharp yellow cheese. Bacon Muffins: Fold 1/4 cup crisp cooked bacon, broken into bits.


4.Bake for 25 minutes, or until golden.

It's Follow Friday on Twitter!

That means you should follow my Dragonistic Twitter to get updatses on my jewelry business. That one is at www.twitter.com/dragonistic. You should also follow The Dragon's Claw, www.twitter.com/thedragonsclaw, for fantasy and sci-fi news. Thanks a bundle. :D

Jewelry Shopping

Jewelry component shopping, rather. I'm browsing my favorite bead site, http://www.firemountaingems.com/. They have a unique feature that allows you to view their mail-order catalogs on the site and shop online by the page. It's pretty awesome. :D

Artwork

The Ramen Chronicles Part I

Being under 25 and left alone occasionally to cook for myself, ramen noodles are a regular occurrence. Unlike most people, however, I don't just boil water and add a flavor packet. I'll be posting some of my ideas and thoughts as I make my ramen.

First of all, brands.
-Nissan: great noodles, a little lacking on flavor
-Maruchan: tons of flavor, but the noodles can be mushy and a little slimy
-Smack: not sure if you can still find it. Firm noodles and a good amount of flavor

Here's how I prepare a package of chicken-flavored Nissan ramen.

The package calls for 2 cups of water brought to a boil. As soon as large bubbles start rising to the surface, I put in the noodles. I also add a pinch or two each of oregano and black pepper. As the noodles soften and pull apart, I dump in the flavor packet. It helps it cook into the noodles. Finish cooking the noodles and enjoy!

"Dreamer"

Smoke of ages whispering,
Stars filling its fog
With pinpoints of illumination
In the dead of night,

And then the Dreamer
Comes awake,
The dream lives with him
As he frees himself swiftly


From the bonds of slumber.

Facebook Gaming - Mousehunt

In Mousehunt, you must use various traps (comprising of a weapon and a base) and cheeses to capture mice when you sound the Hunter's Horn every 15 minutes. The mice in this game aren't your average field mice. They range from the irritatingly common dwarf mice to the elusive black widow. You begin in the Town of Nawnia as a novice hunter. As you progress through the game, you unlock new areas with more unique mice and trap components. In many areas, trap components and cheeses must be crafted from items that are dropped by certain mice. There are also hunting tournaments to enter.

The app page: http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=10337532241

Prince of Persia Trailer!

This will be awesome. :D


Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time in HD

Trailer Park

MySpace Video

Tim's Scrambled Eggs

This is a recipe I created for my boyfriend. I'll have it posted on All Recipes once I have a definite cooking time and instructions, but for now, here it is. :)


You need:
-3 eggs
-1/2 cup of milk
-1/4 tsp of pepper
-1/4 tsp of celery salt
-1/4 tsp of salt
-1 chopped cayenne pepper
-1/4 cup of corn


Wisk together the eggs, milk, pepper, salt, and celery salt. Stir in the corn and cayenne pepper. Coat the bottom of a medium pan with butter. Pour in the egg mixture and prepare. Like I said, the instructions are still being worked on. You can prepare this like scrambled eggs (which I do) or like an omelette (which is what I tried to do the first time).

Site Updates

I just updated my Dragonistic site and the site I run with my boyfriend, The Dragon's Claw. Now I'm going to take a moment to promote my work. :)


http://www.dragonistic.webs.com/
http://www.the-dragons-claw.webs.com/


Please watch my commercial for more info on The Dragon's Claw.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bREWsv0rJsM

The Last Poet

Breaking dawn sheds light at last,

The sun’s rays ending the night of
Fluid imagination,
The ancient hand withering
As the parchment crumbles
And the ink disintegrates,
The words bidding farewell
To their master.

"Repetitive"

I'm not so sure that I wrote this with anything in mind, but reading it a few years after writing it, I think it reflects Dragonlance pretty well.

Here we stand amidst

the comings

of dragons, of war,

A forgotten tome's history

doomed to repeat,

A suffrage returning

with famine, with plague,

to eat away at us

As we turn to the blank sky

in vain

praying to idols

that no longer care.

Oddmall

Well, we drove six hours and back from Oddmall in Hudson, Ohio this weekend! I didn't do as well as last time, but overall I had a great time. Someone even took my picture to feature in her blog. I bought some soap, hand creme, chocolates, and a dragon print, autographed by the arist. My boyfriend Tim and I got to talk to some of the friends we made last time and made a few more on this trip. Right now, I'm exhausted, so this entry will be cut short. if youw ant more info, go to www.oddmall.info or check out my personal website, www.dragonistic.webs.com.

Artwork

This is a colored pencil drawing I drew for an ex-boyfriend. I wish I had a better picture, but seeing as the drawing is on 24 X 16 paper, sending it through the scanner is very much impossible.

"Flicker"

As the shadows of dawn
Begin to dance along the floor,
One final star lingers in the grey void
Of the atmosphere,
Keeping a silent vigil
Over the steady fall of
Snowflakes,
Before it finally flickers
And dies.

Some Artwork

This is called "The Dragon Guard." I painted it for the 2009 Festival of Ice, a festival in my home town of Clarks Summit where the businesses sponser ice sculptures to be created outside of their stores. The Clarks Summit bourrough building is all decoraated every year. The 2009 theme was the midde ages, so I volunteered to do a painting to be hung inside the building.

Facebook Gaming - Castle Age

We all know that Facebook has applications for just about everything. Among those apps, you can find some pretty awesome games...if you look hard enough. Here's a tip: Zynga sucks. They're popular, yes, but their games aren't unique in the least bit. They seem fun until you try something truly unique that doesn't involve just clicking a button over and over again. Anyway, I've decided to regularly share some of my favorites. Up first is Castle Age.


Castle Age is pretty average as far as questing is concerned. Click a button to raise your "influence" to 100%. There are also subquests and four levels of influence, but they all work the same. Unlike some other games, you must equip different characters (called Generals) to gain influence for different quests. One thing that stands out is the battle rank system. You can battle other Facebook users for battle points, which unlock nifty items at certain points. My favorite feature is the monster feature. Items are gifted between players and combined using the Alchemy page. Once you have enough items, you can summon a monster, either a dragon, boss, or hydra. These monsters require a lot of effort and team work to defeat. I searched for groups on Facebook and found a dragon nhunting group, so now I am in an army of 20 people that goes around killing off monsters. Overall, I recommend checking it out, and if you like it, feel free to add me on Facebook so I can join your army. :)


My Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=692220024&ref=profile
Castle Age page: http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=46755028429
The group I joined: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=136978248289

Caught up with Death Note...

Time to move on to Code Geass. I had seen more of Death Note than I realized, so that didn't take me long. I missed the vast majority of Code Geass, though, and since it isn't on TV at the moment, I'll be watching the whole series. This could take a while.

Dream Homes

These are just a few houses I found while wandering among the infinite pages of useless crap the internet has to offer. Enjoy. :)

Jellyfish - http://www.sub-find.com/jellyfish.htm

Giant freakin tree house - http://zuzutop.com/2009/10/the-worlds-greatest-treehouse/

"Where Were You," My First Published Poem

Where were you
When the horsemen rode?
Where were you
When I met the fourth?


Where are you
As I lay in pain?
Where are you
As I close my eyes?


Where will you be
When my breathing ceases?
Where will you be
When my heart fails?


Will you be with me
As I enter death?
Will you be with me
As I leave this world?


I see as I stand in Heaven
The others that have died,
I see as I stand in Heaven
The reason you weren’t there.

Thoughts on Gamers

We all know someone who can play a video game for 24 hours straight and not get bored. Maybe you are one of those people. I've done similar things at LAN parties. But that isn't what bothers me. I'm irritated by the gamers who will forfeit sleep, food, work, and relationships just to get in another hour of gaming. Games can be paused, saved, and put aside for later. Life can't. You can't just minimize your social life and reopen it when it suits you. My boyfriend is one of those people. If I make food for both of us, I eat alone while he sits at the pc. When he does decide to eat, I'm already done, the food is cold, and he sometimes continues to get up every few minutes to monitor his game. I think what irks me the most is that he sees no problem with this. He cannot comprehend why I consider every day tasks more important than a game. Another thing that bothers me is when a gamer will not deny that they suck at a game. Sure, sometimes we all get screwed over by a crappy feature or a glitch. But when you blame every one of your downfalls on the game itself, that's not the game's fault. As we speak, my boyfriend is in another room playing Age of Mythology. I've heard nothing but complaints about the current mission - everything from "I don't know how they expect me to do this" to "They are absolute idiots," referring to the group of soldiers he commands. Video game characters only do as you tell them. I did the mission with no problems on the same level of difficulty.

I think it's about time to wrap this up before I get angry and kick my boyfriend out of the house. I guess it's better that I rant on here and not take it out on him personally. I'll return with more once I've reminded him that I made him breakfast. :P

A Week in My Life

This week will give you a good idea of my life, and seeing as this is my first blog post, I'd say that's a good place to start. If you've seen my profile at all, I'm a craft fanatic. I've spent my life making everything from cookies to wreaths to wooden gumball machines. This weekend is the second ever Oddmall, a craft fair in Hudson, Ohio. I travelled six hours to the first with my mother and my boyfriend Tim. That was in May. I did well, met some awesome people, bought some cool stuff...overall had a great time. The website is http://www.oddmall.info/ for those of you interested in what the show has to offer. My business is Dragonistic, vendor #1.

On Monday of this week, my mother bought me a laptop as a belated birthday gift. Im typing from this shiny new HP now, as a matter of fact. Yesterday I used it to watch about 12 episodes of Death Note. I've never been one for anime - in fact, I hate the vast majority of it. Death Note and Code Geass are the exceptions. Congrats to the writers for creating something even I enjoy.

Just browsing the internet, I found some pretty interesting things over the past couple days. One slice of awesomeness I encountered was this comic book character costume. I have no idea who she is, but it's very well done. On the same site I found a link to an artist's website. Jeffrey Thomas has a collection of "Twisted Princesses," his take on classic Disney figures. Personally, Jasmine is my favorite. One of the most amusing things I found was http://www.regretsy.com/, a blog of horrible items for sale on the craft site Etsy. Before you check that out, be warned that there is adult content on the site. I love the comments of the woman running the site. It's hilarious.

I think that's about all I have to say. I'll keep finding fun things and writing about them as time passes. Thanks for taking the time to hear my crazy ramblings. :)