Time to Shake Things Up

OK. I'm settling again. I can feel the rut I am digging for myself.

The Plan:

1. New Job. I hate my job. And I need full-time work anyway.
2. Volunteer at the Library. I love the library and I can use the experience.
3. Clean Room again. K, so not really radical, but I should do it anyhow.

Now. To bed.

<3 G

I Found One!

Reading: Paper Towns John Green

Fairly recently I discovered John and Hank Green. I had heard of them before of course (I'd even read Looking for Alaska and An Abundance of Katherines), but hadn't really known much about them. Then I watched all their videos, got completely sucked in and joined the thousands (millions?) of made-of-awesome people who consider themselves Nerdfighters. One of the things these Nerdfighters do is put little notes in John Greens books at book stores and libraries for others to find. This either recruits new Nerdfighters or is an awesome surprise for a current Nerdfighter.

So there I was on the bus, reading Paper Towns (which had finally come in at the library) and this fell out

Yes! A Nerdifghter note! This means there is a Nerdfighter here. Somewhere in my crappy little town. So now I am trying to figure how I might find this person because if there are people that awesome nearby, I need to meet them.

In other news. I am loving this book. Review to come once I've finished it because if there's one thing I've learned from John Green's books it's that they can end very differently from the way they start.

DFTBA <3 G

Never Pay for Cards Again

Reading: OOTP JK Rowling
I am always amazed when people come through my register and drop ten, twenty, thirty dollars on greeting cards. True, some are kind of cute, but usually it's nothing special and at five-bucks a pop, you want something a little neat. I myself, haven't paid for a card in years. I make all mine and so can you. All you need is a printer really and an internet connection.

What You'll Need:

• Printer
• Internet Connection
• A computer program that allows you to work with graphics and fonts. I use Photoshop, but you could use something as simple as Microsoft Word just as well. For a free PS-type program check out Gimp.
• Cardstock (optional)
• Glitter (optional)

1. Get some inspiration.
   Visit your local Hallmark, do a google search, look at some of your own cards. Scrapgirls has a full gallery devoted to cards that members have created (here) and Hallmark has some of theirs up on their website (here).
2. Get some supplies
   You can make a basic card using clip art you find online, or already within the program you are using and some nice fonts or, if your feeling a little more creative, there's a bevy of digital scrapbooking freebies and fun fonts available online for anyone to download (I have a slight font obsession, and as a result have more than I know what to do with). If you want some more details on fonts you can checkout this post. A basic Google will give you a tonne of results, but a lot will be crap to be honest. I get most of my supplies from Scrapgirls, Shabby Princess and Digifree.
   
3. Assemble your card.
   Last step. Put it all together and print it out! Easy peasy.
   

If you want, you can enhance your card with some glitter or bit of ribbon afterward. It's simple and fun and looks pretty damn impressive and best of all, you're only really paying for the paper and ink.

♥ G

Carrie Vs Gen

Reading: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix JK Rowling

Like thousands of other women, I have fallen in love with Sex and the City. There's something about Carrie, vapid and unrealistic as her life can be, that I can relate too. I have however noticed that as fun as the show can be to watch and as much as I love spending a half hour in Ms Bradshaw's fabulous world I always come away feeling dissatisfied with MY life. In the (recent) past I had a lot to be dissatisfied with, and I suppose I still do, but I'm a lot happier now than I was before and a lot more grounded too, in my opinion anyway.

I'm house-sitting for the fam an thought I'd take advantage of the access to my mothers complete set this afforded me. Sure enough in the time it took to change discs I found myself wishing I had weekly brunches with friends and an endless parade of fabulous events to attend in equally fabulous couture. A certain amount of envy is to be expected, but I have trouble seeing the good things I have.

I won't stop watching, but I'm hoping that now I'll be able to keep things a little more in perspective and remember to never FTBA.

<3 G -- Post From My iPhone

Mmmmm Crackers

Reading: How To Ditch Your Fairy (Justine Larbalestier)

What does one do when one has (delicious) cranberry goat cheese, but no crackers and no money to buy crackers? Well, if like me, one does have flour, milk butter and salt, one makes crackers! That's right. This morning I made my own crackers. And they were delicious. Here's the recipe I used from the Towards Sustainability blog. Thanks for the recipe Julie.

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Basic Cracker Recipe


Ingredients

2 cups of plain flour
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons softened butter
approximately 1 cup of milk

Method

1. Preheat oven to 150'C/ 300'F.

2. Add the salt to the flour, and in a mixing bowl or food processor, cut the butter in until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs.

3. Slowly mix in enough milk to form a soft, but not sticky, dough.

4. Divide the dough into two or three portions and roll out one at a time, until paper thin. You can do this on a lightly floured workbench, or you can do it straight onto a large, ungreased cookie sheet, as I do. This recipe makes enough for my two 10" x 15" trays, so divide your dough accordingly.

5. Using a sharp knife or pizza roller, cut the dough into crackers. Prick each one two or three times with a fork and transfer carefully to the cookie sheet if you rolled it out on your bench.

6. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until lightly browned and crisp. Allow to cool on the tray and then store in an air tight container for up to a week.

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I am happy to report that they were delicious, if uneven due to my lack of a rolling pin. I sprinkled them with sea salt and they went perfectly with my goat cheese. Mmmm goat cheese. I even shared them at work and no one died. I may never buy crackers again.

<3 G

Crazy Bones!

Reading: Harry a History (Melissa Anelli)

Yes! Crazy Bones! I don't know where it came from but something reminded me of these colourful, contorted little characters. Though shorter lived they were, in my opinion, better than Pokemon. I mean yeah Pokemon were bigger. Yeah they had games and cards and movies and a tv show, while, as far as I know, Crazy Bones were confined to the things themselves, the latter was so much more fun. They were colourful and cute and 3-dimensional. Also the game was far less complicated. Throw Crazy Bone. Knock down opponents Crazy Bone. Collect your booty. I never actually played 'for keeps' because I only had a few Bones and was very attached to them (I even built them a house), but I spent many a recess camped out on the tarmac with my friends and occasionally my sisters comparing and occasionally trading. Then they got banned. School yard gossip said teachers were concerned about a game in which kids threw little plastic figurines at each other and then went home with another child's toys. *sigh*
I cannot even imagine the hell the teachers must have gone through with Pokemon. Older kids were cheating younger kids, fights were started over cheating and game rules and then there was Collectors Corner A corner of the schoolyard dedicated to trade, battles and just showing off. It was the thing to do and I remember being to nervous to go alone. I always went with my braver friend. It felt like going somewhere exclusive and somewhat shady. It's amazing what a 9 year old's mind can conjure up . I can think of several things that felt so real at the time, but thinking back were ridiculous. That's the power of imagination.



<3 G