Chicken and mushrooms

Today I tried out my latest idea. The essential idea is balls of mushroom and chicken, with cheese in the middle, and deep fried. I used feta cheese, chopped garlic and green onions, and that was mixed with mayo to create a paste. Then chopped up some mushrooms and chicken, and smashed it all together to form balls. After that, added creole seasoning. This was the great flaw of the entire process. The end product turned out to be too salty, so I shouldn't have added the creole seasoning. Anyway, I refrigerated that for a while, then floured and deep fried. First attempts, like I had feared, quickly fell apart. The cheese-mayo paste was useless in keeping the structure together. Luckily I found a metal gravy spoon that was perfect for holding the chicken-mushroom ball, so was able to retain the shape as it was fried. Since this was severely inefficient cooking one at a time, I only did two like that and baked the rest in the oven.

The results, as I mentioned were too salty. However, other than that, they were good. I noticed a saltiness difference between the baked and fried versions. The fried ones tasted significantly more salty than the baked. I'll have to remember that for future experiments.

Probably won't attempt this specific idea again. Though the idea seemed good, it just wasn't satisfying. I still think there's potential for the combination of chicken, mushroom, feta cheese, garlic, and green onions. Perhaps a pizza would be the best method (also adding olives, tomatoes, and spinach). Or within a nice bread, like a croissant.

Think I'll make my spicy beef and vegetable soup next week. Quite healthy; and tasty too. I'll need to take in more nutrients than I have been if I want to do more training. Mostly working on running.

An uneventful Halloween again. Perhaps I'll actually make a costume for next year. I'm thinking Iron Man. And I'll also try to think of a design for a Transformer, which was a request. I'm sure I could do it, but I usually get very lazy about my creative projects. I have a few requests from years ago yet to be fulfilled.

Tricks

So today we discovered that Camille can hold my hands, climb up my legs, stomach, and chest to have me suspend her upside down, then continue the rotation to essential do an assisted back flip. This also works with Bianca as well, but is a bit harder due to the differences in height and arm length. With Camille, I can also lift her up as she ascends, so that instead of ending upside down, she climbs onto my shoulders. I wonder if she would be able to jump off onto the ground from there. If I'm about 5' 7", then my shoulders should be around 4' 6" or so. That's relatively high considering her height, but she would probably do it. She's like a monkey.

I made some hash today. I think that's what I'll call it. Red potatoes, zucchini, yellow onion, green onion, garlic, olive oil, garlic salt. Chopped up and cooked in a large frying pan, then added cheese when done. Made a large batch and ate some for lunch. Then brought the rest to Edward's house. Edward and Soc tested it and liked it. Bianca and Camille didn't try any. Since the refrigerated and reheated batch got good reviews, I consider this latest creation a success. Yay.

Here's a picture of myself and Bianca. Taken by cousin Marlon during the last party. Marlon recently took up photography a few months ago, and has better gear than me. I worked through it in Photoshop a bit; cropped, color adjustments, brightness and contrast, then some excess editing for effect. Best picture I have with Bianca. I visit them often, but we're usually too busy playing so I don't even bring a camera. Think I'll do some portraits of them next week.

Television

During dinner, Bianca sang along with a commercial on television.
"You watch too much tv. How many commercials can you sing along with?"
"I don't know. Sometimes I want to say, 'Star Furniture! The sale of the year!' "

So our friends' kid's birthday party was at Zube Park. When did Sam Houston Tollway become $1.50? That's crazy. Filipino parties are nice. There's always good food. Sometimes there are oddities like beef swimming in pig's blood (which I have yet to try), but there's never a shortage of good food. Zube Park has a miniature train for people to ride on, which goes through part of the park. I rode this train twice, watching over a kid. I think it would have been more fun if I were allowed to stand up and attempt to maintain a surfing pose for the duration of the trip.

Pink, red, yellow, and green

My new recipe!

Ingredients:
salmon, red potatoes, squash, zucchini, garlic, green onions, garlic salt, lemonade, olive oil, shredded cheese

Directions:
-Slice red potatoes, squash, and zucchini into thick half-circles
-Finely chop garlic and green onions
-Place the salmon into a baking pan. Surround salmon with red potatoes, squash, and zucchini. Spread chopped garlic and green onions throughout.
-Pour about one cup of lemonade into the pan. This is for flavor and to keep the salmon moist.
-Drizzle olive oil over salmon and vegetables.
-Season everything with garlic salt.
-Bake in oven at 375º for 25 minutes. Take out of oven to remove most of the liquid. Leave enough to fully cover the bottom of the pan. Return to oven, and bake until vegetables are all fully cooked.
-After vegetables are done, add shredded cheese on top. Whichever cheese you prefer. The best combination for the dish is probably mozzarella or swiss. Bake until cheese melts.
-Serve warm.

Amount of each ingredient used is dependent upon your personal taste. Be sure that your salmon has been scaled, and that you thoroughly wash all produce.

Comedic love poem

i'll be yours,
if you'll be mine.
be there for you
anywhere, anytime.
and if you decide
to keep me by your side,
you need not worry at all.
i'll catch you if you fall,
hold you tight
if you're scared at night,
wipe your tears if you cry.
and if a villain should try
to treat you poorly,
they will regret it sorely.
for their head will meet
my fists and feet.
and they will bleed
until their pupils recede.
then none will ever dare
to holler at you or stare.
we'll be happy and feared.
it will be lovely, my dear.
i'll be yours,
if you'll be mine.
be there for you
anywhere, anytime.

Rejected

"Dear Andrew (wanderng),

Thank you for taking the time to apply as a contributor with iStockphoto.com.

The iStock administrators have asked that you upload new samples based on the feedback provided below. You're welcome to return in 3 days, upload some new samples and we'll re-process your application.

Comments from the iStockphoto Administrator:

At this time we regret to inform you that we did not feel the overall composition of your photography or subject matter is at the minimum level of standard for iStockphoto. Please take some time to review training materials, resources and articles provided through iStockphoto. The photographs provided in your application should be your best work. Try and impress us, we want to see how you stand out from the crowd.

We welcome you to return in the number of days specified and upload 3 fresh samples of your work and we will re-process your application.

For more information on Composition and Impact, please see:
http://www.istockphoto.com/article_view.php?ID=13

For more information on Suitable Stock Photography, please see:
http://www.istockphoto.com/article_view.php?ID=146



Thank you for your time and effort.

Best Regards,
iStockphoto.com"


...

So, these are the photos I submitted for samples. I think these are better than some of the photos they have up there. Oh well.

Old pictures

Working on editing my old film scans. The scanner picked up a lot of dust/scratches/artifacts in the images, so I have to digitally brush over those areas to make it look right. It's very tedious, and takes a long time. But when I finish, I can make a nice poster-sized print.

Here is one of the pictures I'm working on.

















I believe this was from the end of winter in 2007, UT's ART building.

Others are night shots from around Sugar Land. I have to clear out more room on my computer.. because it keeps telling me the virtual memory is low.

This morning I sent in an application to sell photos from istockphoto.com .. if that goes through, hopefully I can make a bit of cash through that. Stock photography is taking photos that will be used by other people/designers however they see fit (within certain copyright limitations) in their designs/photo illustrations. Problem is, I never really take photos with the intention of them being used for stock photography. I photograph complete compositions, that are often not ideal for further post-processing. Still, worth a try and maybe I'll get a wider audience looking at my work.

I had an idea of organizing photography road trips. Gather some photographers, and drive. Stop whenever somebody sees something worth taking a picture of. I have a few people that are interested. So after I get a job and acquire the necessary funds, we'll get the actual plans going.

Kids

The other day, Bianca told me I should vote for McCain. Why? Because Obama made a promise to raise taxes. Bianca said we don't want more taxes because it's extra money that we have to pay. That sounds logical to me. But should I really cast my vote in the stead of an 8 year old?

Camille's birthday party was today. Her birthday was on September 23rd, she turned 6. I got her a stuffed animal. A big one. It's a horse. I think it's funny to give kids gifts that are bigger than they are. It was a prize from Dave & Buster's, and it took a long time to earn enough tickets for the stuffed animals I had in mind. Mostly won tickets playing the Jumpin Jackpot. Very tiring. I finally got the jackpot in the end. I rule. Then when I asked about the horses, I asked if there were any in the back of a different color, as I didn't think black or gray would go over well with Camille. And the lady tells me there's a slightly smaller one, 2000 tickets cheaper than the ones on display. So I got a nice brown horse which is still very large, and wasted about two hours in Dave & Buster's. Oh well. Gave her the horse a week or two early. She really liked it. Said she slept with it and took it with her in the bathroom. Now I can't touch that horse. Germs.

Her birthday party was at Bounce U. It's an indoor place with large inflatable.. things. The same stuff that they make moonwalks from. There was a large slide, an obstacle course, a boxing ring with oversized boxing gloves, and an arena for throwing foam balls at each other. I tried several times to run up the large slide, but couldn't make it to the top before the slippery surface caused me to fall. The adults had a relay race that I participated in. Through the obstacle course, climb up the stairs of the slide, slide down, and run back to tag the next person. For the first set, I was paired with my cousin Edward. He went first, and gave us a lead in the beginning. But my opponent gained the lead at the beginning of the slide. There's only enough room for one person to go up the stairs of the slide at a time; it's a narrow opening beside the slide part, with inflatable steps and a strap along the side to go up. I was pretty sure it wouldn't be legal to drag his leg to pull him down and climb over him, so we lost. Next relay race was of two teams of three, but all the kids were playing in the obstacle course. It was declared by one of their parents, that the kids would simply act as more obstacles of the course. A little crazy? Maybe Filipinos just have a strong belief in the toughness of their kids. Nobody got injured, and my team won the race. Hooray.

So later on the adults were teasing me. They were all talking in Tagalog, and I said to Edward, "They're all talking in code." So one of them translates the previous story into English. And Mau tells me, "I'll teach you something. Say 'maganda ka'." I happen to know 'maganda', so I guess the other part and reply "very beautiful"? (It actually translates to "you are beautiful.") She says "Ooh thank you!" and one of the guys asks if I think she's pretty. Which is not something I thought would be good to answer either way. Then they start telling me she's single, BUT has a kid, and that I'm "looking for a girlfriend, right?" For some reason, Edward chimes in and says that I take really good pictures. Which leads to them talking about how Mau should pose for some nude pictures, and that her photos would need some digital rendering. They're a fun, silly bunch. Definitely didn't expect that line of dialogue at my 6 year old niece's birthday party.

Pinata

Why is it that ham comes from pigs, but hamburgers are from cows?

Applying to a lot of jobs through careerbuilder.com and I find that there are very few openings available to people with no experience or degree. I probably should've taken the oppurtunity I had a few months ago. Oh well.

Maybe I should look for jobs in other fields. I think welders get a decent wage. I can weld.

With my abundant free time, I'm considering finally making myself a Halloween costume. I was telling Bianca about my idea to make a costume using papier-mâché, and she said I could be a pinata. My original plan was to make molds of my head and have an extra head or two coming out of my shoulders. But the pinata along with a baseball bat as a prop would be a more humorous approach. However, I would be much less mobile. And I might be subject to random whacks to my person.

Bianca has a surprising knowledge of colors. Two years ago when I asked what her favorite color was, she said fuschia. What kind of 6 year old kid knows of the color fuschia? The other day, I asked her what color her shirt was. I expected her to say blue. But she answered with the more accurate answer, turquoise. I definitely didn't know these things when I was 8. My world only consisted of the primary and secondary colors, plus white, black, brown, and pink. There was nothing beyond or between that. Perhaps in time, I shall train her to be an artist.