What-What?! Week of February 23rd

So, ordinarily I start working on my blog post about Wednesday of every week.  As I’m starting to write this, it is Saturday.  This week, in my capstone class we had our first major paper due; the history and overview of our client, Monterey Language Services.  This paper was pretty easy, especially in comparison to our next paper, which is the external analysis of the industry and competitors.

The other thing I’ve been working on is my portion of the community scan for my ethics class; I’ve been working on a map of Seaside and Sand City, with all the food pantries and other services highlighted on it.  The result has been pretty horrible; Sand City is one vast swath of nothingness, and Seaside is lacking some pretty basic resources as well.  In the image above, you can see what's there; what you don't see, is that all of Seaside north of Coe Avenue has nothing in it, other than what is at CSUMB.  Mostly it's golf couse, anyway.

Crafts: Paper Dolls

Last night, Saffron asked if we could find some paper dolls to print out for her to play with.  Looking on Google, I found many interesting and horrific ones; there are lots of skanky, big-headed, tiny-waisted, Bratz wannabes.  On the other hand, I did find some steampunk paper dolls, as well as some other historical ones, which is pretty cool considering that I’ve been reading the Felicity Merriman series of American Girl books.  The bestest one I found, though, has got to be the Girl Genius paper doll of Zeetha.  Get a load of all those daggers!

If you’re interested in this or other GG paper dolls, the Foglio’s have a whole page devoted to paper dolls.

Below is the one that I wound up printing out.  I was looking for one that wasn’t colored, because printer ink is expensive.  It was only after I printed this doll out that I realized it's Lucy from the Narnia series.  The website that this is attached to is actually kind of awesome in a geeky, not overly-Christian way.

 

If I wasn’t worried about ink, though, I would’ve printed out these great dolls from the 70s.  I love their clothes!  Particularly that yellow/green dress thing.  I dig those puffy Renaissance sleeves something fierce.

Writing: Tazo’s Redesign

One of my other projects that I’m slowly chugging away at is a paper/infographic critique on Tazo’s recent packaging redesign.  I think the greatest problem they face is that all their teas now look something like Wal-Mart’s Great Value brand.  The new design for the chai tea concentrate mix is particularly bad; it is very difficult to read the text, especially since Tazo opts not to pay high shelving fees, so the product lands on the highest or lowest shelves.  Look for a more complete critique and graphics soon-ish.

Geeky Stuff: Things to Buy
I have spent this week finding things to spend money on.  Don't ask me why, but they have just appeared this week.  Things I have found include an awesome orange/turquoise purse (makes me think of Jen from Epbot), and teacup-shaped muffin cups.  So cute!

Art: Octopus and Crab Art
I spotted this great piece of art while trolling Cracked; there is an artist name on it, but I can't make it out. :(



(images via all the places.)

What-What?! Week of February 17th

Many, many things happened this week.  Happily, most of them were okay. :)

We took the kids to the the state beach in Marina, which didn't go very well; it was quite windy, and it is not okay to go wading at that beach (there are signs).  So, we walked on the sand, picked up a few seashells, then left.  My daughter was scared of the surf, and the sand (it was "slippery"), and was generally miserable.  The other kids enjoyed it, though.

Then we went to REI, which is one of those stores where it is easy to spend money.  I saw these boots in the store, and Peter wound up ordering them online later that day.  They are very comfy:

Holiday: Valentine's Day

For Valentine’s Day this year, Peter got me a bunch of stuff from Think Geek, including a math T-shirt, TARDIS socks, a Firefly sticker for the car, and chocolate dice.

 

Food:  Stir Fry Sauce, via The Pioneer Woman

 

This week, I made some quick pork stir fry; I used some sliced pork, a steamer bag of asian vegetables, and Ree Drummond’s sauce from her Simple Sesame Noodles recipe.  I put it together in maybe 15 minutes, start to finish.  Though the rest of it was good, the sauce is the star of the meal.  It has become my go-to sauce for everything asian, because it is quick to put together, goes with everything, and is very friendly to eyeballing amounts.  For most things, I generally add some flour or cornstarch to thicken it up a bit.  I highly recommend this sauce recipe!

Household:  StyrofoamCeiling Tiles via Epbot

 

These are brilliant!  While I knew that they existed before, I had never realized how easy and fast it was to put them up.  Whenever Pete and I get a house, I’m totally doing this; I especially love the circles in circles one.

Video:  Life after Death by PowerPoint

We watched this in my capstone class this week; it deftly demonstrates all the different ways to screw up a PowerPoint.

On a serious note, whenever I create a PowerPoint, I cannot help but think of the article I read a few years ago, “We Have Met the Enemyand He is PowerPoint”.  My favorite quote: “Commanders say that behind all the PowerPoint jokes are serious concerns that the program stifles discussion, critical thinking and thoughtful decision-making”.  Graduating from business school now, I see this.  I see a lot of students that use PowerPoint as a crutch, dazzling audiences with prettiness, rather than actual substance or thought.  Last semester, I was in a group with a girl who’s strategy to get an “A” depended on just that.  It was disheartening, to say the least.

Anyway, on to the vid!

 
See you next week. :)

(Photos via The Pioneer Woman, Think Geek; vid from YouTubez).

What-What?! Week of January 6th

First up, our recipe: Sausage, Kale and Potato Soup, via The Pioneer Woman
This has become one of my go-to soup recipes for the winter.  Instead of using crumbled sausage, I usually use Aidells Chicken and Apple sausage, and brown them lightly for some nice flavor.  I leave out the red pepper flakes, and use whatever milk or half-and-half I have sitting around.  Even with substitutions, it has always come out delicious!
The verdict:

• Husband:  Peter likes it just as much as I do. :)
• Kids:  The big kids just aren’t in to soups, and they particularly don’t like kale.  I always plan on feeding them something different when I make this.

(photo via The Pioneer Woman)

Item Review:  Bulleit Bourbon

Pete and I picked this bourbon up from Bevmo about a week ago.  Funny enough, the brand is owned by Diageo, the same company that owned the winery Peter worked for eons ago.  It came highly recommended from friends, and is well rated by experts as well.  That said, I’m not sure I like it as much as other bourbons I’ve had.  It has an almost overpowering oaky flavor, probably due to its long aging process.  I’ll be the first to admit that I could just be me, though, as I haven’t had bourbon at all since before Peter and I were married (almost 6 years).
(photo via www.thewhiskeyexchange.com)

Blog: Epbot’s January Art Roundup

Jen over at Epbot just posted this fantastic Art Roundup.  This wrapped Millennium Falcon reminded me of my childhood, stealing my brother’s Star Wars toys, as well as Peter’s experience falling from a bunk bed onto their Millennium Falcon (yeah, what a horrific shame D: ).

The Oswald piece that she posted is a bit frightening to me, rather than cute.  I think it’s the one big eye.  It just looks evil. D:

She posted a great piece by Amy Mebberson, who I know more from her Pocket Princesses series.  While I find that some of her comics are a little derived, there are clever strips, and I do enjoy the idea of the Disney princesses interacting with each other and the funny moments that could ensue.

The one thing that I have to make a dig at, though, is the steampunk Art Nouveau Batgirl, but then I’m just kind of tired of steampunk.  I don’t think this had to be steampunk to do this, and have it be so good.  On the non-steampunk front, I was quite delighted by these Art Nouveau princesses.  They reminded me of quite a few movies that I need to watch with my kids. :)
(photos via Epbot and Pocket Princesses)

News:  Patrick Dempsey buys Tully's Coffee
Patrick Dempsey (who most people know from Grey's Anatomy, but I know from Enchanted) stole Tully's Coffee out from under the likes of Starbucks and BaristaTV, buying the bankrupt company for $9.15 million dollars.  I know I'm very interested to see what he does with the brand, and how it competes against all the other players in the coffee industry.

And now, I leave you with a war that never happened, thanks to Wikipedia.

Until next week!