What American accent do you have? Your Result: North Central "North Central" is what professional linguists call the Minnesota accent. If you saw "Fargo" you probably didn't think the characters sounded very out of the ordinary. Outsiders probably mistake you for a Canadian a lot.
The Midland
The West
Boston
The Inland North
Philadelphia
The Northeast
The South
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

For those of us who can't have real pumpkins...

There's virtual pumpkin carving.

Oh I'm a wanderer, yeah, I'm a wanderer...

create your own personalized map of the USA.


I think that's everywhere I've been(correct me if I'm wrong).

H/T to The Dork

Very, very interesting...but stupid!

It's official, the latest version of iTunes is definitly not empathic. In fact it may well be posessed. The older versions of iTunes seemed to be at least somewhat empathic; I could be thinking that I'd like to hear a song and it would be the next song that played(I suppose that may also point to posession), or at least it would pick music that could make me feel better.

The new version is just strange. I've had the flu all week and my brain, nerves, and emotions have all been a little bit on edge. I was feeling better today for the most part and was eating again(only light stuff) and now I'm still up because I'm sick again. In the time since I started feeling worse(5-ish hours), and out of 1600 songs, iTunes has played "Jumper" by Third Eye Blind three times, "Sounds of Silence" four times and "Brick" by Ben Folds three times. I'm mildly worried about my computer being preoccupied with playing songs about suicide and abortion. I'm having a really hard time trying to get it to randomly select any of the upbeat music that it normally goes with.

Just a tad odd.

Five things

Five things in my freezer:
1. Ice cubes
2. Vermonty Python Ice Cream
3. Pizza Rolls
4. Half of a chocolate orange
5. Socks

Five things in my closet
1. Scrapbooking stuff
2. Trauma kit
3. A box of sweaters and other clothes that I don't need just yet
4. Shower caddy
5. The legs to my bed

Five things in my car
I don't have a car up here, so this is kind of moot, but I have a good idea of what might be in the car at home.
1. Jumper cables
2. Lots of bottled water
3. Tool kit
4. A jacket
5. Maps

Five interesting things in my backpack
1. My stress ball
2. Digital sudoku
3. Headphones
4. Sketch pencils
5. A laptop mouse

Asparagus Ice Cream

Ingredients

* One bunch asparagus
* 1 cup sugar (to make double sugar syrup)
* 1/2 cup water
* 1/2 cup Amaretto
* 2 eggs (at room temperature)
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 600mL (1 pint) cream
* 200mL (1/2 pint) milk

Method

Dissolve 1 cup of sugar in the water and bring to the boil. Remove the woody part of the asparagus, and chop into small pieces. Add the asparagus. Return to the boil and take off the heat.

Make the custard. Whisk the eggs and sugar together. Gently warm the cream and milk. Add the cream/milk to the eggs while stirring. Strain the custard back into the pot over a gentle heat. Stir until the custard will coat the back of a spoon.

Blend the asparagus and almond liqueur.

Add the asparagus purée to the custard.

Churn as per the instructions on the ice cream machine.

It's Getting Worse!

Okay, so I took this test about a year and a half ago and got a score of 88, or High-Nerd. And now I just don't want to know what happened...

I've only seen 50

My friend Matt emailed me this and I decided that instead of emailing it, I'd just post it here. I'd really like to know what the criteria was for picking these movies, there's nothing over 25 years old on this list.

Supposedly if you've seen over 85 movies, you have no life. There are 163 movies on the list, bold the ones you've seen and italicize the ones you've seen part of.

Rocky Horror Picture Show
Grease
Pirates of the Caribbean
Boondock Saints
Fight Club
Starsky and Hutch
Neverending Story
Blazing Saddles
Airplane!
The Princess Bride
Anchor Man: The Legend of Ron Burgandy
Napoleon Dynamite
Labyrinth
Saw
Saw II
White Noise
White Oleander
Anger Management
50 First Dates
The Princess Diaries
The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Scream
Scream 2
Scream 3
Scary Movie
Scary Movie 2
Scary Movie 3
Scary Movie 4
American Pie
American Pie 2
American Wedding
American Pie Band Camp
Harry Potter
Harry Potter 2
Harry Potter 3
Harry Potter 4
Resident Evil I
Resident Evil 2
The Wedding Singer
Little Black Book
The Village
Lilo & Stitch
Finding Nemo
Finding Neverland
Signs
The Grinch
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
White Chicks
Butterfly Effect
13 Going on 30
i Robot
Robots
Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
Universal Soldier
Lemony Snicket's: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
Along Came Polly
Deep Impact
Kingpin
Never Been Kissed
Meet The Parents
Meet the Fockers
Eight Crazy Nights
Joe Dirt
King Kong
A Cinderella Story
The Terminal
The Lizzie McGuire Movie
Passport to Paris
Dumb & Dumber
Dumber & Dumberer
Final Destination 1
Final Destination 2
Final Destination 3
Halloween
The Ring
The Ring 2
Surviving X-MAS
Flubber
Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
Practical Magic
Chicago
Ghost Ship
From Hell
Hellboy
Secret Window
I Am Sam..
The Whole Nine Yards
The Day After Tomorrow
Child's Play
Seed of Chucky
Bride of Chucky
Ten Things I Hate About You
Just Married
Gothika
Nightmare on Elm Street
Sixteen Candles
Remember the Titans
Coach Carter
The Grudge
The Mask
Son Of The Mask
Bad Boys 2
Joy Ride
Lucky Number Slevin
Ocean's Eleven
Ocean's Twelve
Identity
Lone Star
Bedazzled
Predator I
Predator II
The Fog
Ice Age
Ice age 2 The Meltdown
Independence Day
Cujo
A Bronx Tale
Darkness Falls
Christine
ET
Children of the Corn
My Boss' Daughter
Maid in Manhattan
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
Frailty
War of the Worlds
Rush Hour
Rush Hour 2
Best Bet
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
She's All That
Calendar Girls
Sideways
Mars Attacks
Event Horizon
Ever After
Forrest Gump
Big Trouble in Little China Town
The Terminator
The Terminator 2
The Terminator 3
X-Men
X Men 2
Spider-Man
Spider-Man 2
Sky High
Jeepers Creepers
Jeepers Creepers 2
Catch Me If You Can
The Others
Freaky Friday
Reign of Fire
Cruel Intentions
Cruel Intentions 2
The Hot Chick
Shrek
Shrek 2
Swimfan
Miracle
Old School
K-Pax
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
A Walk to Remember
Boogeyman
The 40-year-old-virgin

I'll tag Thursday, Holly, Victor,and Jenny.

You Are Guinness

You know beer well, and you'll only drink the best beers in the world. Watered down beers disgust you, as do the people who drink them. When you drink, you tend to become a bit of a know it all - especially about subjects you don't know well. But your friends tolerate your drunken ways, because you introduce them to the best beers around.

What's Your Beer Personality?

Your Linguistic Profile:

40% Yankee

35% General American English

15% Dixie

5% Upper Midwestern

0% Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Chili-Lime-Avocado Ice Cream

Just because I haven't posted any weird ice cream recipies in quite some time.

1 quart ice cream, softened (lime or coconut works best)
2 avocadoes, pitted and peeled
Zest and juice of 2 limes
2 t. sugar
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup sweetened flake coconut
1 or 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded or not (depending on how much of a kick you’re going for)

While the ice cream is softening up, mince the peppers in the food processor with the lime juice and zest. Process well until the mixture is paste-like. Add the sugar, coconut, and avocadoes, and continue processing until the mixture is well-combined. Spoon the ice cream into a freezable container, and stir in the coconut milk (this will help to soften it up even more). Work in the avocado mixture, stirring until the ice cream turns a lovely shade of avocado green and seems evenly mixed. Freeze for a few hours or up to a week. Serve it to your friends.

Yet another meme

Jenny tagged me to do the book meme.

1. One book that changed your life.

The Five Love Languages

2. One book that you’ve read more than once.

Ivanhoe

3. One book you’d want on a desert island.

The Napoleon of Notting Hill

4. One book that made you laugh.

Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night

5. One book that made you cry.

The Return of the King

6. One book that you wish had been written.

I have no idea.

7. One book that you wish had never been written.

A Tale of Two Cities

8. One book you’re currently reading.

A Modern Guide to Etiquette(which is, ironically, from the 1940s)

9. One book you’ve been meaning to read.

Orthodoxy

And I suppose I shall tag Thursday, Mary Liz, Mattias, and Emily.

Quotation Meme

Thursday tagged me to do this meme, so here goes.

The Directions:Go here, to the random quotes generator, and look through random quotes until you find five that you think:

a) reflect who you are
OR
b) what you believe.

The Results:

1) "It is impossible to go through life without trust: that is to be imprisoned in the worst cell of all, oneself." ~Graham Greene

2) "Moral excellence comes about as a result of habit. We become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts." ~ Aristotle

3) "There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes." ~Doctor Who

4) "I believe in getting into hot water, it keeps you clean" ~G.K. Chesterton

5) "Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value." ~ Albert Einstein

Sorry, but my children bore me to death!

That would be the title of a lovely piece of dreck that ran in today's issue of the Daily Mail. The author is a mother of two who is trying to make the argument that "women must not be enslaved by their children." Instead she more or less comes across as saying that she finds it perfectly acceptable to leave the children in the hands of a nanny while she pursues her career because she, in fact, finds such chores as reading bedtime stories and going to park to be, in a word, boring.

She notes that women who have made raising their children their career look down on her for working, while she raves on and on demeaning their chosen profession and writing about how horrible their lives must be since they are stuck at home with no one but those ever boring children. "...many women have spent years studying and then working so that we would not have to do a job as menial as full-time motherhood." Webster's defines menial as "[something] lacking interest or dignity". While I'm sure that most full time mothers would tell you that it's not always fun to raise children, I'm also fairly sure that most would disagree that it lacks either interest or dignity. Admittedly, your dignity probably does drop a bit, especially when dealing with screaming kids while grocery shopping, but that hasn't seemed to deter any of the mothers that I know from having several kids.

She tries her very best to justify her boredom with her children by saying that her neglect of them will cause them to grow up to be well-adjusted adults because they have learned early on how to take care of themselves. She insists that stay at home parents smother their children and that this causes them to grow to be dependent and narcissistic. While I agree that totally smothering your children is bad for them, I would also say that not spending time with them is equally bad, if not worse for them.

On the plus side, if you ask her, her children have adjusted well and learned to cope with her lack of involvement.

"My children have got used to my disappearing to the gym when they're doing their prep (how boring to learn something you never wanted to learn in the first place).

They know better than to expect me to sit through a cricket match, and they've completely given up on expecting me to spend school holidays taking them to museums or enjoying the latest cinema block-buster alongside them. (I spent two hours texting friends throughout a screening of Pirates Of The Caribbean the other day)."

"They stopped asking me to take them to the park (how tedious) years ago. But now when I try to entertain them and say: 'Why don't we get out the Monopoly board?' they simply look at me woefully and sigh: 'Don't bother, Mum, you'll just get bored.'

How right they are."

Have Yourself a Merry Shih Tzu Christmas

A lovely product from our friends at The Danbury Mint. You have several different breed options. Isn't it just what you've been needing?

I'm Free! I'm Free!

The play closed last night and the last issue of the newspaper hits the stands tomorrow! I can have a life!(I'm already bored)

Something

It's 2:15 in the morning and I'm wide awake so I guess I'll write something.

It's production week for us theatre people out here, that means weird hours and the bizarre form of silliness which comes with the obligatory messed up sleep schedule. I'm the assistant stage manager and prop master for our production and, despite the random bits of stress, am enjoying it greatly. This semester's production is My Fair Lady, which means that we're at the end of those few months out of every two years that the theatre and music people put aside whatever differences they might have and try to put on a worthy show.

Since this production requires an orchestra and our theatre on campus isn't built to accommodate that we're using a historic theatre in town. I'm really enjoying using a real theatre with it's amazing lighting, 30-fly stage and cushioned wood floor.

Considering we're opening on Thursday night, I think it's coming along quite nicely. We had our first dress rehearsal last night and everything ran smoothly; there we're no prop problems and everyone hit their cues spot-on.

I may, however, be forced to offer our timpanist as a sacrifice to the theatre gods. In the middle of one of the musical numbers that he wasn't playing for last evening a timpani roll occurred. Not because he read his music wrong and jumped the gun or any such excusable mishap such as that. No, he and one of the other percussionists were tossing m&ms to each other and he missed catching one and it landed on the timpani. Suffice to say, the conductor wasn't all that happy with him.

Sweet!

I just found a website that has the Liturgy of the Hours! Admittedly, it's not that amazing, but it is rather cool. Universalis.

Another One of Those Music Things

Instructions: Go to your music player of choice and put it on shuffle. Say the following questions aloud, and press play. Use the song title as the answer to the question. NO CHEATING.

How does the world see you?
Surfin' USA- The Beach Boys

Will I have a happy life?
Aqua Boogie(A Pyschoalphadiscobetabioaquadooloop)-Parliament

What do my friends really think of me?
Laura-Flogging Molly

What do people secretly think of me?
Tequila-Brian Setzer Orchestra

How can I make myself happy?
When I See You Smile-Bad English

What should I do with my life?
The Scientist-Coldplay

Will I ever have children?
The Shadow Proves The Sunshine-Switchfoot

What is some good advice for me?
Slide-Goo Goo Dolls

How will I be remembered?
Get Your Hands Off My Woman-The Darkness

What is my signature dancing song?
Devil's Dance Floor-Flogging Molly

What do I think my current theme song is?
In The Mood-Glenn Miller Orchestra

What does everyone else think my current theme song is?
Never You Mind-Semisonic

What song will play at my funeral?
Down to My Last-Alter Bridge

What type of men/women do you like?
Take Me As I Am-Tonic

What is my day going to be like?
Iris-Goo Goo Dolls/You Wanted More-Tonic (It tried to play Iris first, there was something wrong with the file tag.)

Data. Your friends will always be there to look

out for you when you're unaware of certain

things, but keep in mind, you're going to

outlive all of them ;)


Which Star Trek Character Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

The Liberal Baby Bust

"In Seattle, there are nearly 45% more dogs than children."

"Meanwhile, single-child families are prone to extinction. A single child replaces one of his or her parents, but not both. Consequently, a segment of society in which single-child families are the norm will decline in population by at least 50% per generation and quite quickly disappear. In the USA, the 17.4% of baby boomer women who had one child account for a mere 9.2% of kids produced by their generation. But among children of the baby boom, nearly a quarter descend from the mere 10% of baby boomer women who had four or more kids."

Full text here.

(Thanks to Mom.)

Happy Pi Day!

Yes, it's that time of year again. The day where we all sit back and enjoy the glory that is pi.

3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209749445923
078164062862089986280348253421170679821480865132823066470938446095
505822317253594081284811174502841027019385211055596446229489549303
819644288109756659334461284756482337867831652712019091456485669234
603486104543266482133936072602491412737245870066063155881748815209
209628292540917153643678925903600113305305488204665213841469519415
11609...

Or maybe that's just me...

More Food

This is how the Riesling ice cream is supposed to be served.

Anise Cookie Baskets with Riesling Ice Cream and Fresh Fruit

Ice Cream
1 1/2 cups cream
1/2 cup half and half
2/3 cup sugar
4 large egg yolks
1 cup late harvest Riesling wine

Cookies
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon finely chopped aniseed
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon grated orange peel
3 tablespoons egg whites
1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 1-pint basket strawberries, stemmed, quartered
1 cup small pineapple wedges
1 kiwi fruit, peeled, cut into wedges
Fresh mint leaves

For ice cream:
Bring 1/2 cup cream and 1/2 cup half and half to simmer in heavy medium saucepan. Whisk sugar and yolks in medium bowl to blend. Whisk in hot cream mixture. Return mixture to saucepan; stir over medium-low heat until custard thickens and leaves path on back of spoon when finger is drawn across, about 4 minutes, do not boil. Strain into bowl. Mix in wine and 1 cup cream. Chill custard until cold.

Process custard in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Transfer to covered container (ice cream will be soft) and freeze. (Can be prepared 1 week ahead.)

For cookies:
Preheat oven to 325°F. Lightly butter and flour heavy large nonstick baking sheet. Whisk first 6 ingredients in medium bowl. Whisk in egg whites and flour.

Drop slightly rounded tablespoon of batter onto center of half of prepared baking sheet. Drop another slightly rounded tablespoon of batter onto center of second half of prepared baking sheet. Using back of spoon, spread each mound of batter to 6-inch round. Bake cookies until brown on edges (centers will be slightly pale), about 8 minutes.

Working quickly and using metal spatula, lift 1 cookie off sheet. Immediately turn cookie over onto inverted custard cup. Gently flatten cookie on cup bottom; crimp sides of cookie. Repeat with second cookie. Remove cookies from cups. Rinse baking sheet under cold water; wipe sheet dry. Repeat process with remaining batter, first rinsing and drying, then buttering and flouring baking sheet between batches. (Cookies can be prepared 3 days ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature.)

Place cookie baskets on plates. Fill each with 3 small scoops of ice cream.

Top with fruit and mint leaves.

Something Slightly More Normal Than Last Time

Riesling Ice Cream
1 1/2 cups cream
1/2 cup half and half
2/3 cup sugar
4 large egg yolks
1 cup late harvest Riesling wine

Bring 1/2 cup cream and 1/2 cup half and half to simmer in heavy medium saucepan. Whisk sugar and yolks in medium bowl to blend. Whisk in hot cream mixture. Return mixture to saucepan; stir over medium-low heat until custard thickens and leaves path on back of spoon when finger is drawn across, about 4 minutes, do not boil. Strain into bowl. Mix in wine and 1 cup cream. Chill custard until cold. Process custard in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Transfer to covered container (ice cream will be soft) and freeze.

Prune and Caraway Ice Cream

6 cups half-and-half (48 fl oz)
2 tablespoons caraway seeds, toasted
3/4 lb dried pitted prunes (dried plums; 2 cups)
1 cup vodka (8 fl oz)
1 1/2 cups sugar
8 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla

Bring half-and-half with caraway seeds just to a boil in a 3-quart heavy saucepan, then remove from heat and let steep, uncovered, 30 minutes.

While caraway seeds steep, simmer prunes, vodka, and 1/2 cup sugar in a 1-quart heavy saucepan, partially covered, until prunes are tender, about 15 minutes. Cool slightly, then purée mixture in a blender, scraping down sides occasionally (use caution when blending hot liquids), until smooth.

Whisk together yolks and remaining cup sugar in a bowl, then add half-and-half (do not strain) in a stream, whisking. Pour custard into 3-quart saucepan and cook over moderately low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until it registers 170°F on thermometer, about 8 minutes. Immediately pour custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a metal bowl and whisk in prune purée and vanilla. Chill, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes.

Freeze custard in ice cream maker (in batches if necessary), then transfer to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden, about 12 hours.

I Know What I'm Watching Tomorrow

PBS is running a series of Monty Python's Personal Best. There will be six episodes, one for each cast member. They begin airing tonight with Eric Idle and Graham Chapman, at 8:00 pm CST.

I Have Met Mine Foe and His Name is O Chem

You Are an Espresso

At your best, you are: straight shooting, ambitious, and energetic At your worst, you are: anxious and high strung You drink coffee when: anytime you're not sleeping Your caffeine addiction level: high

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

I really don't think I'm ever anxious and high strung; I might be twitchy at times maybe...

Happy Birthday to Matt!

Happy birthday to Matt over at The Shrine!

The June 2006 Conference Lineup

As usual the University of St. Thomas in MN will be playing host to two of the greatest Catholic conferences of the summer.

The Eighth-Annual Minnesota Catholic Home Education Conference and Curriculum Fair
The conference will be held on June 2-3 and this year's theme will be "The Ministry of Education". We'll have a great set of speakers including Kimberly Hahn, the amazing Dr. Ted Sri and a host of others. There will also be the usual fieldhouse full of vendors (the used book sellers are the best!). And best of all, you'll get to see me there!

The 25th annual G.K. Chesterton Conference
Themed "The Best of All Impossible Worlds", it will be held June 15-17. Their lineup of speakers includes Carl Olson and Joseph Pierce, and shall have talks such as "Chesterton and Dickens" and "Chesterton and CSI". Registration begins in April, I plan on attending this year.

I made the first step in giving the blog here a facelift. The sidebar has been updated(and there was much rejoycing. Yay!). I got rid of the tagboard because I just couldn't stand the popups anymore; the links list has been updated and resorted; lastly I added the link to my Facebook page so y'all can go see that.

So Much For a Simple Project

Not that I'm really surprised. I got the kink worked out of the hose over the weekend and I just knew that it was too easy of a fix to the car up and running. Andy went to go try running some water through the system to see if it would work and to test for leaks. There's a rather large hole of some sort or another in the bottom of the radiator.
On the plus side one of the salvage yards in town is pretty sure they have all of the parts I need to fix it all up again.

I Have No Idea How I Got This Answer

How evil are you?

Hat Tip: The Whapsters

You scored as Chemistry. You should be a Chemistry major! As if that isnt clear enough, you are deeply passionate about Chemistry, and every single chemical reaction and concept fascinates you. Pursue that! Chemistry 100% Mathematics 92% Psychology 83% English 83% Engineering 83% Philosophy 75% Biology 75% Dance 67% Linguistics 67% Journalism 50% Anthropology 42% Theater 42% Sociology 33% Art 25% What is your Perfect Major? (PLEASE RATE ME!!<3) created with QuizFarm.com

Just a Little Weekend Project

Yeah. So one of my freshmen hit a deer the other night on her way back to campus. She was of course going 55 mph when she hit it and it took her a couple hundred yards to realize that she'd hit something(older car, no airbags and such). Being as I'm apparently the only person around here who knows anything about cars(thanks Dad!), I get first shot at working on it.

Getting that radiator hose unkinked is the one thing I will definitely be getting done today. I'll probably also be out and about looking for a new radiator, hood, grille, and other sundry parts that may be going in on future weekends.

See the nice curve that the radiator has to it?