I'll tell you one food I miss from my pre-vegan days and that is pizza. So last week, for the first time since going vegan, I finally got round to making my own pizza base and got out the Cheezly White Cheddar style that I'd bought from Whole Foods Market some time ago.
Now imagine that you could make a cheese substitute out of potato... Continue reading
Note before you read: Oil pulling is best done with organic cold-pressed raw sesame oil. It's way more palatable and less likely to induce gagging. I personally use the ClearSpring brand from Real Foods. Coconut and sunflower are also good. Do not use olive oil, trust me.
Note #2: Do not use the bicarb no-poo, it's REALLY bad for your hair. I now use Mistry's Shampoo, or you could try making a decoction of soapwort/soapnuts/shikakai or a combination of those. Both should be allowed to soak for about 10 minutes before rinsing with vinegar water. Don't use things that are alkaline on your hair and scalp. That's enough note.
I've been seeing a lot of websites extolling the wonder of the no-poo method for washing one's hair. The formula is: Continue reading
I mentioned in a previous post that I've been learning crochet recently. I found it a lot more complicated than knitting and it took me a while to figure out the technique, but I'm totally with it now. Here is the first thing I made that came out:
Headband pattern by epicdabundance.
Flower pattern by happyberry.
Made more:
Flower pattern by happyberry.
And a matching set for my niece and her dollie: Continue reading
I posted about a couple of continuity errors in my last post, and since I am reading the series again, this time I am taking notes. I am only up to book 3 at the moment, but I've already got a list for you. The widowed/forever single status confusion of Mr JLB Matekoni and Mma Makutsi, he did correct in later editions (although these late spouses don't ever get any mention again).
SPOILERS FOLLOW!
Okay, here we go!
Book 1 — The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency
Book 2 — Tears of the Giraffe
Continue reading
One thing since becoming vegan: I've become a lot more health-conscious than I was before (more health-conscious, not necessarily more pro-active). Ground flaxseed can be liberally sprinkled onto a chip sandwich and you won't even know it's there. I've also been drinking bush tea now and then. It's actually quite nice with one stevia tablet per mug. I've read a lot more about the benefits of rooibos (the proper name for the bush tea plant). It's supposed to make a really good toner, so I've been trying it on my face, but not sure if it's made much difference to my complexion (which, incidentally, is worse than Mma Makutsi's).
Speaking of Mma Makutsi, I've been reading the Mma Ramotswe series again, and I'm finding Mma Makutsi really irritating. Sort of like a Motswana Maya Fey. After everything Mma Ramotswe does for her, she is so damn selfish and ungrateful. Take take take take, and then dream that Mma Ramotswe is her subordinate. Go set up your own detective agency, Mma Makutsi, and see how far you get.
Another thing, I get the feeling the author is getting a bit jaded with the series, what do you think? I mean, seriously, what happened to Mr Polopetsi? Continue reading
I've been into knitting on and off since about the age of 8 — mostly off. A few years back I did make a scarf and a few arm socks (arm warmers, really), but the knitting bug is back and I've been a bit more ambitious this time round.
The book I used to learn: Usborne Knitting from Start to Finish.
Starting off with...
Pink and black scarf for Mimu on the left. I kept wondering why my scarves always curled. Unfortunately the book doesn't mention that stocking stitch will always curl to a greater or lesser extent unless you border it. For things which are going to be seamed though, it's fine. The collar on the right was supposed to be a baby hat, but it all went wrong. My moss stitch turned into ribbing and the rest of it was all of a muddle. It ended up turning into a dress, and when that failed too, it turned into a woolly collar.
I thought, never again with the hats, but found a simpler pattern and...
Here is a super awesome fantastic 100% vegan parcel of yumminess!
Disclaimer: This is an ad-lib recipe. I am a terrible cook. I hate cooking. Regardless, these are so super yum that I am willing to make that sacrifice.
This is a recipe my sister first got from BBC Food
I've adapted it to my tastes and inadvertently made it vegan-friendly. Yummy yummy yummy.
Here's a list of the resources I use/have used to study Japanese and my thoughts on them. Listed in the order that I first used them.
Pros:
Cons:
This is kinda old, but I thought I'd share it here for those who don't know. That site is only good for laughing at the silly stories now. The GLP referred to in the article is godlikeproductions.com. The original post is here:
http://www.godlikeproductions.com/forum1/message2111346/pg7
It all seems a little bait and it wouldn't surprise me if this was just someone trolling, but who realy knows.
Agent Pixied for posterity:
Full article here:
http://www.insanemedia.net/forum-shill-gets-busted-ats-and-glp-censor-n-7015a/2924
Short extract to follow:
A Forum Shill gets busted. Something very interesting happened over at GLP March 24th [2013] at 9:28 pm. Something that did not go unnoticed by GLP posters and many others around the interwebz. On page 7 of a thread titled "Medical Type Says Sandy Hook is Total BS", a user from "Kazakhstan" posted the following:
Re: Medical Type Says Sandy Hook is Total Bulls**t
[0x1a970000, 0x1ab00000, 0x27570000>
[rdpclip.exe, "iostatZd15.1"]
Continue reading
You were very fortunate to get an older version of the Babylon virus. The newer "improved" version installs a totally separate, disguised and totally unidentified program titled Browser Manager. While that is still on the hard drive, about:config resets will not work, as the last Babylon file, of 30 total Babylon files, cannot be reset, not by you and not even by Mozilla. When FFX restarts, this program re-installs Babylon, and you never knew it was there. — jaguar6cy
Please watch out when installing Skype! It seems the current installer is bundled with a malicious toolbar called Delta, which from what I've seen, seems to be by the same malware-factory that created the ebil Babylon toolbar.
What is sneaky about these installers (and I'm including the just-as-evil CNET malware installer here) is that, just like SecuROM, Continue reading
In an exclusive teleconference with EA, T$R's Steve has been able to leak us the following previews of The Sims 4!
In his dreams 😀
The Agent Pixies were revealed first by, I believe, AllGamesBeta.com. Please click the link to see the rest.
UPDATE: Official site is live: http://thesims.com
One thing I have to say, they don't look so puddin-faced as TS3 Sims. That was reason #1 that TS3 was a DNW for me.
Continue reading Have you deleted a custom eye colour, only to find that your sims are left with ugly Maxis brown eyes? Especially when you have splendiferious default replacements that you'd prefer your sims to have?
Here's a quick guide to fixing it.
You will need:
FIRST OF ALL: Backup your saved games. Go and do it now. Go on.
Done? Okay. Open SimPe and go to Tools > Neighbourhoods > Neighbourhood Browser, like so:
Select the neighbourhood of the offending sim, then let it do its thing. Then click Tools > Neighbourhood > Sim Browser
Click on Name to make it easier to search, then look for your sim. Double-click him/her.
Click on More > Open Sim DNA
This part is simple enough. You need to replace the eye values with the Maxis GUIDs. Here they all are:
Just replace the string in the dialogue with the GUID of the colour you want. I'm going for Light blue here.
Once you've entered the new values, hit Commit and then save your file.
Close the Sim DNA panel by pressing the little X above the Commit button. Now you should be back on your sim's profile. Click More again, and this time select Open Character File:
Click Age Data in the Resource Tree panel, then Age Data in the Resource List Panel. Click eyecolor (dString) and replace it with the Maxis GUID you used earlier. Then hit Commit and save the file.
Almost done!
Load up your game. Load up your Sim's lot.
Eww, there are those ugly Maxis brown eyes.
Select the Sim and send them to a mirror. Select Change Appearance (you don't have to actually change anything), then press the confirm button. Now check out your Sim's new default (replacement) eyes!
You can also change to a custom eye colour. Instead of the Maxis GUIDs above, just find the GUID of the custom eye you want. Open up the file in SimPe and do this:
Funny video:
First off, the title of this series is a misnomer. Greg does not seem to be a particularly wimpy kid. He is merely not one of the popular group. That's not the same as being the class wimp. I was hoping for a mini-me - you know, the uncoolest in the class, weediest, always chosen last in PE, the most likely to be made fun of, only tolerated because sitting next to a nerd has its advantages, etc - and instead was fobbed off with this travesty of a wimp. Rather than Diary of a Wimpy Kid, this should have been called Diary of a Selfish, Abusive Idiot with no Integrity or Loyalty. Because that's really what Greg Heffley is. Diary of a Narcissist.
The way he treats Rowley is absolutely appalling. With a friend like Greg, who needs enemies? In fact, I'd say Rowley fits the description of "wimpy kid" a lot more. And he is much more likeable.
Now for the story itself. It's written in an interesting way, and in some ways, reminds me of the first Clarice Bean novel. Except, of course, that Clarice is a very likeable character, whereas Greg is definitely not. There are parts that I chuckled at, but nothing laugh-out-loud. Kinney writes in an engaging and humorous way, but that's still not enough to detract from the fact that Greg is an absolute jerk, a complete abuser. There were no major plots to speak of, more just small narratives, no climax to the story or anything like that.
I feel really let down, you know. From the T-shirts, you'd think Greg is something a lot different from what he turns out to be. I'd have to give this 3/5 for the good writing. If only Greg wasn't such a detestable character, who gets worse with every book, this could have got a 5/5.
I first read this book at 19 and found it really enjoyable. Maybe I was just so desperate for something new to read that I would have enjoyed anything. Maybe I was just young enough to find anything credible.
Many years later I've re-read it and had many WTH moments. I've read shoujo manga with more sophisticated, credible plotlines than this.
First off, the author has an annoying habit of writing in very short paragraphs. I remember finding this strange even the first time I read it. Some paragraphs are only one or two WORDS long. Yes, words, not sentences. The narrator, Claire, also feels the need to explain the punchline of every joke, as though the reader is too thick to get it on their own.
The plotline is about as cliché as it gets (sorry, spoilers follow). Continue reading