Brian Cunningham's Blog: A Piece of Liquid

and a fire

2009-11-08T09:53:00.007-05:00

heard a story on this american life about a woman who was living out her dream to live where laura ingalls wilder grew up (here)

seemed about right. what book has or will change my life? walden? leaves of grass?

i don't know that yet. i do know that this box of tea is pretty significant to me, though:

and last night amy said next year at this time we should be surrounded by trees and not be living in these condos. she is right.

BRIAN OUT.

Costumes

2009-11-02T18:35:00.002-05:00

Found old pictures from various Halloweens!

Me as a Care Bear, Joey as a honker (1984?)

Me as a Ghostbuster, Tim as a Carebear, Joey as a California Raisin (1988?)

Joey as Dracula, Tim as a Tiger, and me as a dinosaur (1989?)

Me as a Leonardo, a Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtle (1990)
(my costume is way better than the Raphael behind me)

Me as Waldo, with my prize-winning look-alike pumpkin. The prize was the painted pumpkin to the right. (1991)

Me as a robot (1992)

I "dressed up" (2005)

Amy as Miss Piggy and me as Kermit (2009)

If I ever find more pictures from other years, I will add them to this entry.

BRIAN OUT.

It's been a very fall-y fall

2009-10-19T21:26:00.006-04:00

200 PICTURES, HERE!

Ten of them:

BRIAN OUT.

Foxes Deserve a Poem

2009-10-05T08:39:00.004-04:00

Foxes Deserve a Poem

Jarring my bones
with a desperate grin,
the fox steps into sight.
It's bigger than I thought foxes could be
and has visible ribs.
It is beyond trust.

Wrote this while talking to Tyler about how awesome the cover art is for Brand New's latest album, Daisy:

BRIAN OUT.

Updated Brain Age Data

2009-10-03T08:40:00.006-04:00

I am a huge nerd, and yet my average brain age after nearly 250 tests is about 1 year older than my brain's actual age. I'm dumber than I should be, still. See my past results from April here.

So here's the rundown.
My current actual age is approximately 25.84.
My average brain age after 242 tests is 26.5.
My median brain age after 242 tests is 23.
My mode brain age after 242 tests is 20 (the lowest possible score).

This perfect brain age of 20 business is pretty annoying, because that means the game assumes that a brain is in its best condition at 20. There is nowhere better to go below 20, and although this may make sense if you think about the average person's brain and it's abilities over the years, it doesn't mean that taking a test and doing the best possible is different from just doing really well (both of which can result in a score of 20). I've gotten scores of 20 enough times to know that sometimes I do better than other times. Perfection and doing really well are not the same, and this leaves a fault in the game, and I protest this data to some degree.

But on the plus side, I've improved my average brain age by 6 months since April!

Here is a graph for the past 9 months or so (242 tests) of data:

BRIAN OUT.

September so far: Robbed, Mountains, Tweets

2009-09-17T08:17:00.007-04:00

OK, update time! it's been almost a month, woops

first headline: WE WERE ROBBED
basically: left the car unlocked in our parking spot (like 15 feet from our front door, mind you), and our stuff was stolen (tomtom, ipod, wallets, other stuff). it sucks, although we are still functioning and seem to be free of identity theft. woo? for the first week we were suspicious of everyone we saw in a half mile radius.

and, thanks to the internet, i have become aware that i'm not the only one getting robbed lately. Mindy Kaling, writer on The Office who also plays Kelly, had her laptop stolen: @mindykaling: Enemy who broke into my house and stole my laptop, I can see a situation where if you returned it to me we could start dating and get married. Think about it

and THEN Thrice retweeted something from Poison the Well, who had ALL of their stuff stolen while on tour: @Poison_The_Well: Well, everything we own was stolen this morning... http://tinyurl.com/oyr8b8

So, I guess we don't have it so bad? Total economic crisis these days. Expect to be robbed and maybe you'll be okay.

Additionally: Amy and I have been climbing mountains
Hey, we went camping in Acadia National Park, did you know that? Whilst there, we climbed Cadillac Mountain. Click these pictures to see more pictures from the trip (each directs to a different album):

The next weekend, we climbed Mount Major, just like we did last year. Same routine for pictures:

And then, the NEXT weekend (also known as last weekend) we climbed Mount Chocorua, which took us almost exactly 5 hours round trip and was crazy awesome. Pictures:

I guess I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves. And the captions, heh.

How about some life documentation in under 140 characters?

In backwards order:

i'm not scared of big animals, i swear [less than 20 seconds ago from web]
Ahh yesss! radiohead's album, the bends [about 11 hours ago from txt]
JONAS is my new favorite show [11:49 AM Sep 13th from txt]
work at the library day [7:55 AM Sep 11th from web]
i got 999 problems and the date ain't one [11:16 AM Sep 9th from web]
holy crap tomorrow is important! [4:15 PM Sep 8th from web]
tron. [4:39 PM Sep 7th from web]
someone broke into amy's car and stole our STUFF! wallets, tomtom, ipod... what else? crap [7:35 PM Sep 6th from web]
finally the dogs are asleep. three dogs at once is INSAAAAAAAANE (said like RAAAAAAAANDY) [9:15 AM Sep 4th from web]
watching rocko's modern life! it's like i'm on summer vacation 15 years ago [8:24 PM Sep 2nd from web]
ooh give me a good guitar and you can say that my hair's a disgrace [ 8:47 AM Sep 2nd from web]
so the comcast guy only pretended to put the cable filter on, and thus we still get cable for free. can't decide if this is good or bad [4:16 AM Aug 30th from web]
it wasnt supposed to rain until tomorrow. it wasnt. [3:42 AM Aug 29th from txt]
Best chili ever tonight, made at our campsite. also a tasty blackberry peach grunt. also, hiked cadillac mountain. today was a GREAT day [4:35 PM Aug 28th from txt]
outside the tent its 40... sandals with socks dont fail me now! [3:47 AM Aug 28th from txt]
54 deg is a lot colder than i remember... come back hot sun! hooray for socks [2:47 AM Aug 28th from txt]
I want to live in a town with a cool weird name like norridgewok [4:25 AM Aug 27th from txt]
First smells of a camping trip: ripe bananas and warm coffee blended perfectly by the fans of the car [ 3:06 AM Aug 27th from txt]
eating too much tabouleh and spelling it how i want [4:42 PM Aug 24th from web]

See, I document my life, just in various ways outside of this mothership of a blog.

BRIAN OUT.

the next step

2009-09-17T07:58:00.003-04:00

i am waiting for the next step, like the dough is rising and it's only a matter of time
it is inevitably going to be bread; warm, perfectly cooked through, with a crunchy and delicious crust
the bread metaphor is the title of this piece.
i'm trying not to rush it
well, i'm glad i don't have to , i guess
it's going to happen when it happens, right?
blah;
start again.
i dreamed a male moose who'd lost his antlers was slowly coming at me
and i backed, trembling, through a vagrant's tent in the meadow
i didn't step on him, but the moose might have
i wondered if i'd have to dart behind trees to keep a barrier between the beast and i
as i was about to enter the woods, i was aware of the dream
and consciously stopped it, despite an inner need to complete the scene
i had to fight to pull away, to enter the bed reality.
i'm glad i did. i was scared out of my mind.
although, even in the dream, i pulled out my camera and started recording a video.

sometimes i want to move away from this country, just forget about all the conflicts and idiocy. really, why do i stay? is it really the comfort? is it really the false sense of security? will i miss my things, my family? or is there actually something i like about this place?
is there?
also i don't really speak other languages confidently. i'm sure i could get by and eventually thrive, but taking the next step is often difficult for me.

BRIAN OUT.

Like a Coral Reef

2009-08-25T07:00:00.004-04:00

Cool night, so we drove.
The music was loud and occasionally our soundtrack.
To check out the stars, I lay my head on the shoulder of her seat, eyes directly under the center of the moon roof.
The light pollution seemed low, and the stars were per usual stunning, but I was really struck by the trees, scrolling by at a new angle, lit up by the high beams.
They were like a coral reef, as I imagine one would look through a glass bottomed boat.
The shadows were dramatic and shifting rapidly, and there was no chance of observing a single branch.
Then I stopped and we drove around and got burgers.

BRIAN OUT.

Most of August, as seen through Twitter

2009-08-21T21:06:00.007-04:00

I've been better at updating on Twitter lately. Here are all of my tweets since my last post (sorry, but they will remain in reverse order):

its official, my dog is not afraid of lightning
about 1 hour ago from web

wooo excused from jury duty because my mailing address is in a different county from my permanent address!
about 7 hours ago from web

what's that you say? i've got beans in my ears
1:15 PM Aug 20th from web

new @astallaslions album is insane. it's the music they play on the elevators in heaven. heaven's elevator music is breathtakingly good, btw
5:01 AM Aug 19th from web

i'm getting an ultrasound today for some mysterious abdomen pains. i don't want to know the gender!
6:15 AM Aug 18th from web

what danger is there if you don't think of any?
4:29 AM Aug 16th from web

happy 50th birthday kancamagus highway
1:20 PM Aug 14th from web

les paul died! he did so much more for music than create a sweet gibson. multitrack recording! http://bit.ly/lRFQ4
10:49 AM Aug 13th from web

i sketched my soul
1:13 PM Aug 12th from web

cancel cable: check!
12:50 PM Aug 12th from web

aaaaaaaaaagh jury duty why
6:51 AM Aug 12th from web

you crawl under people's houses, you hear things...
3:04 PM Aug 11th from web

Not much is missing. I've been drinking lots of water to ease my abdomen pains, which seems to work well. I'm on my 4th liter today. Water overdose, say what?

Select pictures to fill in the rest of the blanks:

chicken with 40 cloves!

amy and i went to a drive-in and saw funny people and the hangover

CINNABLOB!

definitely the most attractive sourdough boule to date. amy assembled the dough, that must be why

Leela found the coolest spot in the apartment.

BRIAN OUT.

Moonshadow

2009-08-06T08:10:00.000-04:00

Pictures from my night:

Thank you, full moon, new tripod, and 15 second shutter!

BRIAN OUT.

Search Engine Traffic

2009-08-04T08:18:00.003-04:00

So I setup Google Analytics to track traffic to this blog, just to see what random strangers may be coming across all of this stuff, and you can see what keywords visitors from search engines used to find the site. I've only had Analytics running for this site for like 3 days, but already things are getting interesting:

Keywords (or keyword phrases) that brought people to this blog:

brian cunningham computer systems - comment: I bet this was a search some other Brian Cunningham did when he was checking his Google standings for his website and decided to see who this other Brian Cunningham was with the briancunningham.me domain that somehow has a better Google page rank than him. Now let me take a moment and imagine being the Brian Cunningham with a computer systems operation. "I'm going to start my own business. I know about computers. I put together my sister's computer! And that PC for my girlfriend's mother! They think I should do it for a living, because they don't understand anything about computers. I do. Buying hard drives in bulk, helping dumb people and making a good chunk of change on the side, this will be a piece of cake. I could do this for a living, I can compete with Dell and Apple!" Two months later: "Hmm no one seems to know I exist. I should start working at Best Buy and get the word out." Another month later: "I should start a rock band!"
dog training brian cunningham - comment: Interesting, could be the same situation as above, with a person testing out the ranking of their site. Probably is. I search for "brian cunningham blog" all the time, knowing that that's my best chance of finding myself in the first page of Google's results. It makes me feel good. OK, imagination time! "I have a semi-successful dog training operation. It started out great, 15 people and their dogs, but the last session only had 3. And no one has signed up for my next scheduled session. Better use the Internets to get the word out. First step, start a website! How do I do that?" 3 hours later: "OK, free site builders rock! I have sweet GIFs of dogs barking and running in circles. My site's wallpaper is a pattern of dog bones, so on topic and cute. Posted an ad on Craigslist to promote the new site." Next day: "Uh oh, I have 300 emails from my ad! Oh well, I guess I can't complain about turning customers away, that means the business is a success! That'll show grandpa! He never believed in me. Let's see what we've got here. Do I want to work from home and make $10,000 a week? Oh. My. God. An offer? But what about the dog training? I'm gifted with getting them to heel, I really am. But $10k a week, I don't know. Let me go through some more. Jesus. $15,000 a week? I can't believe how great my ad is working out for me!"
dog poison recipe - comment: Uh, what the hell? Does this mean that someone was searching for a recipe to kill dogs? Uh, what the hell? They're going to find my website with the dog poison cookie recipe I made up and possibly use them to kill dogs? Guilt. I feelz it. But wait, I found sites listing the ingredients that are toxic to dogs, and and, so, it's OK because those will probably come up first in a search like this? And it's not like I want people to poison dogs. I said so in my first dog poison cookie entry. It's not recipes that kill dogs, it's people, right? Right? I'm not going to imagine being the person who did this search.

and, finally:

brian cunningham murderer - comment: This is a great one, because it could go two ways; the searcher is either looking for Brian Cunningham the murderer, or they are looking for the person who murdered a Brian Cunningham. Either way, it's kind of unsettling, thinking of either murdering someone or being murdered. Heavy stuff. But the searcher probably didn't know the Brian Cunningham that was murdered too well, or else they'd already know the story. Maybe they went to high school with Brian Cunningham. Whoa, maybe someone I went to high school with heard a rumor that I was murdered, and they are casually investigating! I wonder how the rumor got started. "Hmm, where's that Brian Cunningham guy? He didn't come to the 5 year reunion, and we did? What is he, some kind of jerk?" Another person leans in, someone who secretly hates me, spilling a little of his drink. "I heard he was murdered, actually." "Oh my god really? What happened?" "Well, you remember how he was always with that girlfriend of his?" "Sure, what a slutty bitch she turned out to be." "Seriously, a step above crackwhore. Anyways, her father found out that she was a slutty, slutty whore, having sex with like, 5 guys a week, so he decided that it was Brian's fault, being the first person she dated and all, so he took his bow and arrow-" "-wtf a bow and arrow? What kind of guy is this?" "Oh, big time conservative gun maniac. I heard he tried to suicide bomb a pro-choice rally." At this point a small group has begun gathering, including the slutty, dirty, skanky whore they're talking about. But she doesn't realize they're talking about her dad, oblivious to the fact that he is an insane Christian armed to his teeth. She'd been too busy making out with the guy who works at the bar cleaning the toilets. "So he pretty much hunted Brian down, like his prey. He had camoflauge on, and painted his face dark green, the whole thing. He found out where Brian lived and hid in their trash barrel, which was also where they threw out their dog's crap. He waited overnight, and then next morning when Brian got back from walking his dog, he said 'This is for my slutty daughter' and shot him with an arrow from like a foot away. He was immediately arrested, since there were several witnesses, it being a condo complex with lots of people on their way to work." The slutty girl, suddenly remembering her first victim, quickly went home and opened up Google and typed 'brian cunningham murderer,' desperate to know who could've done such a heartless thing. Then she found my blog and saw a picture of a moose, which also happened to be the name of her pimp (Moose), and remembered that she was supposed to be walking the streets an hour ago. Moose was gonna be pissed!

BRIAN OUT.

Dew

2009-08-01T15:32:00.005-04:00

Pictures from my morning:

BRIAN OUT.

Dog Poison Cookies #5 and Garlic Sourdough

2009-07-28T18:07:00.007-04:00

Today has been the most uncomfortably warm day of the year for me. How did I embrace the situation? Why, I baked cookies and bread in a hot hot oven, of course.

With a family party fast approaching this weekend, I really need to make sure my Dog Poison Cookies are ready to go for a large audience. I'm not expecting to bring people to their knees with joy or anything, but I want them to at least be as good as the other cookies that'll be there. So I went back to my recipe for V2 and made some adjustments I had thought about in my last cookie post.

Basically, more sweetness was added in the form of light corn syrup, an idea taken from those chewy version three cookies. I secretly also hoped this would reduce the dryness encountered in both V2 and V4. I also lowered the amount of raisins and increased the amount of chocolate.

OK, so this recipe actually turned out so good that I kind of wonder if I should hesitate to post it online. I mean, what if I end up running a successful bakery operation and people are crazy for these cookies? Do I really want them to be so accessible, thus cheapening the value of my special product? The answer, of course, is yes. Sharing is the best thing we can do, whether it be in the arts, food, or just every day physical things. So please, feel free to pirate these cookies. But give me credit for inventing them; I don't want anyone taking credit for these and making millions.

Dry:

4 oz Whole Wheat Flour
1.5 oz Flax meal
4 oz. AP Flour
4 oz. oats
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

Creamed:

6.75 oz. (1 cup-remeasured) brown sugar
2.5oz (around 3/8 cup) corn syrup
1 stick butter (room temperature would be best)
1/4 cup (1.6 oz.) canola oil
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla

Extras:

3.5 oz. raisins
3.5 oz. chocolate chips
3 oz. chopped macadamia nuts

Preheat to 375F.
Sift/mix together the dry ingredients in a bowl (not your mixer bowl).
Cream the butter, sugar, and corn syrup in mixer or by hand if you're superman.
Add egg, mix well.
Add vanilla, mix well.
Add dry, mix well.
Add extras, mix well (but not so long you smash the raisins or break up the nuts too much).
Drop and bake as desired. I did fairly large droppings, probably around 3-4 Tablespoons each, and bake time was around 15 minutes total. Rotate the pan(s) after about 7 minutes and check after another 5.

I think I'm done playing with the formula for these for a while. A little crispy/crunchy, a little chewy, a lot delicious. That sounded lame, but really, they're good.

I'm still baking lots of sourdough too, in case you haven't been religiously following The Windowpane Test, my other blog. Today, in addition to the really good cookies, I made what may have been my best bread EVER. Going on a memory of excellent roasted garlic boules at Beach Pea Baking Co. in Kittery, ME, I decided to have a go at it with a 20% whole wheat sourdough. Instead of roasting the garlic, I just smashed about 10 cloves and pan fried in a generous amount of good extra virgin olive oil. Other than a major deflation that shocked my core during the scoring just before baking, this bread came out freaking awesome.

I actually have another boule from the same dough in the fridge, retarding overnight. So tomorrow I'm going to bake another bread, hopefully this time without the deflation. I am pumped. This bread is lingering in my mouth with a sour garlicky goodness that is so nice it could be all I eat for the rest of my life. Humble, I know.

BRIAN OUT.

Dog Poison Cookies IV

2009-07-27T18:51:00.003-04:00

Roman numerals look cool huh? Here's the latest revision on the recipe. They came out pretty good, but... well, actually, they were in my opinion the worst yet. They need more sweetness, which I think was a major thing missing from V2, and I realize now that at some point I reduced the amount of sugar in the chocolate chip cookie recipe I'd been working on this year, but did not account for effect the switch to whole wheat would have in doing so. I think I have figured out what I want in the next recipe: more oats, more chocolate, more sweet. Everything else should stay the same, I think. I'm planning on bringing these to a party this weekend, so I may have to do a few experimental batches this week to get the formula just right.

Here's the recipe, anyway. I'm mostly posting so I can reference it in the future if I need to. Posting recipes on my blog has proven very helpful lately, by the way. Instead of constantly crossing out notes on my original recipe, I can just refer to the latest edition via laptop and adjust as I see fit. I type out the new recipe as I mix it, and it will be ready for next time. But this morning I had a major problem caused by a typo I made in my sourdough pancake recipe, in which I put a T instead of a t for the amount of salt (causing me to use 300% of the salt I'm supposed to!). I edited the post so it's correct though, so no more poisonous pancakes for me.

Dry:

4 oz Whole Wheat Flour
1.5 oz Flax meal
3 oz. AP Flour
2 oz. oats
1 teaspoon salt
1 t baking soda

Creamed:

6.5 oz. (1 cup) dark brown sugar
5.5 Tablespoons (2.7 oz.) butter
1/4 cup (2 oz.) canola oil
1 egg
1.5 teaspoons (0.3 oz.) vanilla

Extras:

3 oz. raisins
3 oz. chocolate chips
3 oz. chopped macadamia nuts

Mix and bake as in V2.

(EDIT 7/31/2009: See new and improved version of my Dog Poison Cookies here)

BRIAN OUT.

Our Lovely (wasteful jerk) Neighbors

2009-07-27T12:39:00.004-04:00

Our next door neighbors are terrible. I mean, of course you're going to get annoyed when living right next to someone, especially when regular old neighbor things happen, such as screaming arguments about how the man drives drunk, or getting barked at by their untrained German Shepherd every time you leave the condo, only to hear the owners bark right back at the dog "NO!" in a lame attempt to cease the unsettling and always startling noise. Of course these things happen, and you get used to them and over time can effortlessly ignore them.

Their humongous pickup truck, fit to tow a humpback whale, starting up at 6am every morning blends in with the birds. And you know he needs that huge truck, by the way, so he can drive his their weekly 3 garbage bags the 20 yards to the edge of the curb (no need for a recycling bin, they don't bother sorting). Which is all you ever see them do with that truck, other than storm away with it in the middle of accusations of drunkenness. The SUV is much easier to get used to, it leaves at 8am, right after its driver scolds their dog for peeing in the backyard, even though she just stands on her back porch waiting, retractable leash allowing the pooch explore the vast universe it knows, a 5 by 10 foot patch of dirt and struggling seedlings of grass. It's kind of fun that they're my neighbors in this respect, because later in the afternoon when the man gets home, he tends to his shitty grass, wondering why it isn't coming in better.

The first really annoying thing we noticed about them was that they leave their outside light on at all times. The switch is right next to the front door; I know this because our condo is a mirror image of theirs. We keep ours off, it's pretty easy. For illustration purposes, I took these two pictures, one right after the other, to show just how ridiculous leaving the light on is.

"hmm can't find muh keys, muh keys, hmm, good ting da lights is on"

"oh wait i'm a moron, it's a beautifully sunny day, muh keys were in muh mouf da whole time"

Maybe their switch is broken... no wait, on Halloween they pretended they weren't home and put paper up in their windows so no light could come through. The outside light was amazingly off that night. Spooky!

With the recent heat and humidity, I can understand many people wanting to use air conditioners. I don't personally like them that much, for several reasons:

Huge waste of electricity
Air seems sort of stale, unpleasant
Heavy lifting
Locks you into the decision to use AC, even on nice days where not even a fan is necessary

But, of course, these light-leaver-oner neighbors of mine use an air conditioner, even though the windows in these condos are vertical and therefore you cannot easily get a good airtight seal as required for proper AC use. But, okay, whatever, a few other people in these buildings use AC, I've accepted it.

here is my neighbor's wonderful box of luxury

During the day, from 8am to 3 or 4pm, (7-8 hours), my neighbors are not home. I know they aren't home because they each have their own gas guzzling vehicles, and they each are gone. They park in the two spots right next to Amy's car, which are empty in this photo:

So, they're clearly off living their weekday lives. Wonderful for them. But as I sit in my office, every few minutes, my wall vibrates and I hear this horrible sound, a metallic whirring mixed with a high pitched whine. Can't imagine it from my description? Here you go:

It's like my neighbors are saying, "Just in case you weren't enjoying the humidity enough, listen to our cold, empty apartment. Isn't the sound excruciating? Too bad it's so darn hot and you can't close your window to quiet things down, huh? We'll be home in 6 more hours."

To conclude, I'll share a piece of conversation I once overheard. The guy had pulled out his cell phone to call a friend.

"Dude, turn on Fox News. They're talking about some great stuff. Fox News... Fox News, I don't know what channel."

Vote democrat.

BRIAN OUT.

Farewell Martin van Buren

2009-07-24T18:09:00.002-04:00

Most of the acoustic guitar parts in my recordings were done on this guitar.

taken August 2004

But as the five years have passed, I haven't really used it much, especially lately with my lack of recording. Henry David Thoreau talked about luxuries in Walden, and the rarely opened TKL hardshell guitar case was propped up against the wall in my office, mocking me while these words condemning unnecessary things filled my mind. So, in short, I sold it on Craigslist in exchange for a handful of money.

Yesterday, before the man who bought it came by, I took Martin Van Buren out (that was the uncreative name I gave it) and played it for the last time. It was bulkier than my old Yamaha (a gift when I was around 10 I believe), and to be honest, it still felt new and foreign in my hands. The sound was a clear winner over the Yamaha, but everything else about it seemed wrong. I never considered thinking about that before, because I had invested $700 into it halfway through college, and I didn't dare consider the money wasted.

This morning I made a video of myself playing parts of "Hurry Up" by Paul Gilbert on my Yamaha. I guess I was trying to reassure myself that I can survive with a cheaper guitar, and that I made a good decision.

As pleased as I am with the Yamaha's performance with that song (minus the two blatant wrong notes near the end... although I guess I can't blame the guitar), I still know that something will be missing in my future musical projects. Here is one of my favorite songs I wrote and recorded entirely on the Martin, called "Overture for the Queen":

BRIAN OUT.

Bugs

2009-07-21T08:54:00.000-04:00

My camera (Samsung S85 snagged for very cheap off of a Woot) may not look like much, but I've been able to do some pretty cool stuff with it over the past... 11 months? Has it been less than a year?

With the thriving vegetation all around, I've been able to find some pretty cool creepy crawlies lately and thanks to the super macro feature on my camera, I've been able to get very close and get clear shots. Well, sometimes they're clear, at least. Here are a few, as well as some other recent pictures:

stupid fast bees

this was like an evil inch worm or something

niiice and slow

slimy

moth outside of my apartment. it had a 3-4 inch wing span. i thought it was a bird at first

lamb chops amy grilled. delicious

quinoa salad amy threw together. also delicious.

camo grasshopper in the wrong environment

some flowers on the side of amy's mom's house

BRIAN OUT.

I saw a flock of moosen!

2009-07-16T08:04:00.002-04:00

In case you're wondering how my morning went (sorry about the bad images, didn't have a tripod):

Buck. It was territorial. See video below.

This buck was mad at me. If you listen closely you can hear him kind of huff at 0:28 and 0:34, right around the same time he's flitting his tail angrily. I retreated, but then just before exiting the clearing checked over my shoulder and saw two moose, so I stayed.

Saw this just after the buck scared me away.

Two Moosies in the Moose Spot off the Kancamagus Highway

Not worth looking at unless you zoom in. This is the same moose spot as always. There's a moose in the opening just to the right of that dead tree on the left. It's that thing that looks like a blackish blob.

Frog at Amy's Mom's house.

Potential campsite off Kanc?

BRIAN OUT.

A List

2009-07-13T09:04:00.002-04:00

It started with Into The Wild (the movie with Emile Hirsch) and my brother Tim. The urge to be in nature. To find wild animals that we've never seen before but have lived so close by. The movie was great, but I think Eddie Vedder's excellent soundtrack is really what got me to hold onto the idea. Tim puts it on as we approach the White Mountain National Forest, and it has been a prominent soundtrack for my activities for the past year. There is really no better music for driving, or, I imagine, for hiking, biking, or sitting still. The air should be moving, or you within it, though.

The Friday before last I went home and Tim and I watched a movie about Dick Proenneke (watch some of it here), a man who left civilization for the wilderness of Alaska, where he built a cabin by hand and lived in it for over thirty years. By no coincidence, I have also been listening to a free audiobook version of Walden by Henry David Thoreau (get it through the awesome Librivox project). Living off of your own efforts, directly. It has been a long time since I have found an idea that speaks to me so loudly. Perhaps not since I was courting Amy (if "courting" is even the right word), a time when I knew I had found something new and full of potential.

Just after Christmas, Amy and I stayed in a Yurt at Frost Mountain Yurts, and other than firewood and propane, we were left to our own devices for fueling our activities. I brought my guitar. Amy brought some knitting. Leela ran in the woods. Reading, knitting, hiking, singing. Even though it was just two nights, it was by far one of the best vacations of my life.

All of these things have been collecting and swelling in my mind, and they lead to important questions. What good is a subscription to cable TV? Why are there five guitars in the room with me? Why do we enter into legal borrowing situations like student loans and renting an apartment? I feel as though I am going to undergo some changes soon, and today I want to put together a list of luxuries I would like to take with me through it all. My hope is that within a year or so, I own very little more than what is on this list.

a guitar
good books that I feel a need to own (Walt Whitman, Kurt Vonnegut, etc)
adequate TV, with DVD player
notebooks or other paper to write and draw on
a good chair
a good table
mp3 player
sturdy laptop computer
bed
kitchen supplies (this is a list unto itself, and I will pare it down another time)
digital camera
digital media that is organized and compact (ie, DVDs stored in large wallets and not displayed in the commercial cases)

I am not done. But I want to spend some of my work day at the library, so I will work more on this list later. Sorry.

Panoramic Photos

2009-07-11T15:56:00.007-04:00

Autostitch is effing great. Here is a collection of panoramic images it allowed me to create. Click to view full size.

Wagon Hill (Durham, NH)

Kancamagus Highway (facing southwest)

Moosing Spot (off Kancamagus Highway in Livermore, NH)

Scenic Overlook at sunrise (off Kancamagus Highway in Livermore, NH)

Frankenstein Cliff (off 302 in Bartlett, NH--I think?)

Frankenstein Cliff

Near Sabadday Falls (off Kancamagus Highway in Waterville Valley, NH)

Bear Notch Road Scenic Overlook (Passaconaway--or maybe Bartlett, NH)

BRIAN OUT.

Dog Poison Cookies Versions 2 & 3

2009-07-11T14:34:00.004-04:00

The best thing about experimental baking is that even if the results aren't what you had in mind, or if they just plain don't come out right, as long as everything is thoroughly cooked and not burned, it'll usually taste good. Unless you're going to get really experimental, that is...

Since I really want to perfect these Dog Poison Cookies of mine, I have been trying out a few different things.

Version 2: Oats

I felt like they were pretty great on the first try, but I wanted to make it a bit heavier and healthier, so I added some oats and made other small adjustments to the first recipe.

Dry:

4 oz Whole Wheat Flour
1.5 oz Flax meal
4 oz. AP Flour
4 oz. oats
1 teaspoon salt
2 t baking soda (probably should have kept at 1)

Creamed:

1 cup brown sugar
1 stick butter
1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg
1.5 teaspoons vanilla

Extras:

4 oz. raisins
3 oz. chocolate chips
3 oz. chopped macadamia nuts

Instructions:

Preheat to 375 degrees F.
Mix/sift the dry stuff in regular old bowl.
Cream the butter and sugar in large/mixer bowl. Add egg and vanilla and mix well.
Add dry, mix well.
Add extras, mix briefly.
Bake 10-15 minutes, checking and rotating after about 7 min. Mine took about 15 minutes with two sheet pans in the oven at once.

These came out really great. Almost exactly what I wanted. I'm worried that the extra baking soda caused a strange sharp taste, but otherwise these had nice full mouth flavor. I'll admit that they were a little dry, no doubt due to the vast increase in dry ingredients, but that should be easy enough to remedy. Also, the chocolate was a little lost in these I think, and perhaps they could have been a touch sweeter.

(EDIT 7/31/2009: See new and improved version of my Dog Poison Cookies here)

Version 3: 100% Whole Wheat
(modification to chewy chocolate chip recipe in King Arthur Flour's Whole Grain Baking)

This recipe is a complete tangent from my evolving recipe above. I wanted to follow specific instructions for using all whole wheat flour, which increases my chances of getting things healthier, so I went with this recipe. Note: It requires overnight refrigeration of the dough.

Ingredients:

Creamed:

1.5 sticks butter
7.5 oz. brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon kosher salt (1/2 teaspoon table salt, probably)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3.6 oz. corn syrup
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 eggs

Dry:

9 oz. whole wheat flour

Extras:

5 oz. chopped macadamia nuts
6 oz. chocolate chips
7 oz. raisins

Instructions:

Melt butter.
Mix butter with sugar, heat a little to dissolve sugar well, let cool.
Add everything but eggs, flour, and extras.
Add eggs, mix well.
Add flour, mix well.
Add extras, mix until evenly distributed.
Put in fridge OVERNIGHT.
Preheat to 375 degrees F.
Drop dough onto cookie sheets in desired size.
Bake smaller cookies (about 1 Tablespoon each) for 12-13 minutes, checking and rotating halfway. For larger cookies (about 3 Tablespoons each), bake time was about 16 minutes in my oven.

These "chewy" cookies were indeed chewy, and had a new tang that I wasn't sure was great or just good. May have been caused by increase in raisin ratio, but more likely it was the vinegar. They were also fairly sticky, a big turnoff to the fingers. I love their taste, with such great dynamics between the chocolate, nuts, and raisins, but they aren't really what I want in these cookies. The texture just isn't right. I think the next version will be a convergence of versions 2 and 3 in this post.

(EDIT 7/31/2009: See new and improved version of my Dog Poison Cookies here)

BRIAN OUT.

I am ALF

2009-07-02T08:59:00.008-04:00

Gordon Shumway in "We're So Sorry, Uncle Albert"

Thanks to Hulu, I've been watching lots of ALF lately. Remember ALF? He's back. In streaming video form.

In case you don't get my reference above:
"It's ALF. He's back. In pog form." - Milhouse

ALF was on when I was between the ages of 3 and 7 (1986-1990). This was that weird period in life where I have no real reference points to recall concrete memories. As the series was ending, I was just starting school, and with specific grades and different classmates and teachers, it is easier to remember certain things. I remember playing with blocks and kissing a girl named Jessica in kindergarten, I remember bringing 100 grapes to show and tell in 1st grade, and I have plenty of other memories that I can recall easily from every year of my early schooling if I just think about where I was and who I was with. But before kindergarten (which was the school year beginning in 1989) I was just hanging around at home with my family, and I have trouble remembering any specifics without looking at pictures or finding old toys. In watching ALF, I'm finding that there is another reference point from my past.

Because Hulu goes to commercial right after this, it was hard to get a good screenshot, sorry

I'm not going to exaggerate and suggest that I actually remember any of the episodes specifically, but I do remember all of the characters quite well, how the house was laid out, and most of ALF's characteristics (the "HA!" with the hand slapping the table especially). I remembered before watching any of it that Mrs. Ochmonek was played by the woman who later played Jerry's mom on Seinfeld. I remember loving the show, however, and I think my older brother Joe had a sweet ALF lunch box.

He thinks he killed Uncle Albert

For so long I was always annoyed when people got nostalgic about being an 80's child, because most of the stuff they talked about were shows I didn't watch and music I didn't listen to. Up until I found ALF on Hulu (actually, my younger brother, Tim, who was only 2 years old when the show went off the air, told me about Hulu hosting it), I just kind of felt like I had no recollection of the eighties, and everyone else just had a better memory than I do. But now I feel like I've unlocked another huge chunk of my life, just as I did when I found that Tidy Cat.

You can't see all of them, but he's watching 3 TVs at once. And wearing a shirt.

Since Amy has been working at a yoga studio 3 nights a week, I find myself needing to kill time while alone and not working. Typically, I fill this time with cooking/baking, watching DVRed TV, and random time sucks on the Internet. Now I've found ALF, and it is really, REALLY difficult to stop watching. Once an episode ends, I just click right on to the next one. And after watching a lot of episodes, I realized that since I don't really have any reason or means to leave the apartment very often, I'm not much different than a hairy comedy monster hiding out from the Alien Task Force.

Sentenced to 30 days without TV, ALF puts on his own Dance Fever in "Can I Get A Witness?"

Aside from walking Leela around the neighborhood, I really am here all day, every day, just like ALF is in the Tanner house all the time. I just mill around this apartment, fighting off temptations to eat the neighbor's cats and trying to entertain myself with various media. It is therefore at least a little bit ironic that I've been filling so much time watching a show about someone else who is trapped in a house and constantly succumbing to the pressures of boredom.

"HA!"

I have absolutely no shame about watching so much of this somewhat short-lived show. It's so funny and nostalgic, and I couldn't ask for much more from twenty minutes of television. So, if you watched ALF as a kid, or even if you were older, I really recommend this opportunity to relive some quality situational comedy. It's really a great show, which some truly excellent puppetry by the voice of ALF and one of the show's creators Paul Fusco. And Max Wright, the guy playing the patriarch, Willy Tanner, is hilarious. He elevates the conflicts between human and alien to a perfect level of humor.

Willy and ALF arguing over who should run the neighborhood watch in "Someone To Watch Over Me Pt. 1"

Watch ALF on Hulu, NOW.

BRIAN OUT.

Dog Poison Cookies

2009-06-30T18:57:00.009-04:00

"What are those?" you ask? Why, they are my first cookie invention, a variation on chocolate chip cookies with macadamia nuts and raisins added. I thought of them after discovering that grapes (and thus, raisins) are bad for dogs. I then did some research to see what other foods could harm dogs, and the confirmed list also includes cocoa (chocolate, as we all know), onions, and macadamia nuts. Aside from the onions, the list of food that is harmful to dogs sounded like they could make up quite a nice symphony. Thus, Dog Poison Cookies were born.

I do realize that the name is pretty rough, perhaps causing people to think I hate dogs, or, if in the wrong hands, would inspire people to harm a dog, but seriously, I love dogs and these cookies are not intended for them even as a joke.

I'm going to change things around a bit the next time I bake them, but just so I can keep track of things easily, here is the recipe I put together:

Dog Poison Cookies (more PC name: "Not For Dogs Cookies")

Dry:

4 oz whole wheat flour
5 oz AP flour
2 oz flax meal
1/2 t salt
1 t baking soda

Creamed:

1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 stick butter (softened)
1/4 c canola oil
1 egg
1/2 T (1 1/2 t) vanilla

Extras:

3 oz raisins
3 oz chocolate chips
3 oz macadamia nuts (chopped coarsely)

Preheat to 375F
Mix the dry stuff.
Cream the creamed stuff.
Mix both together, then add the extras.
Drop hunks of dough onto greased/parchment lined baking sheets
Bake 12-15 minutes or until they look good.

Oh, and, I should mention that they're incredibly tasty. I feel very, very guilty.

(EDIT 7/31/2009: See new and improved version of my Dog Poison Cookies here)

BRIAN OUT.

Song from the Tail of the Tidy Cat

2009-06-24T16:48:00.010-04:00

On a visit home this past weekend, I found a childhood friend of mine.

A shabby little black cat that just happens to look very similar to my first and only pet cat Jokey (no pictures available... yet). It came in the mail one day, and I don't know why. I'm guessing my mom ordered it with proofs of purchase for Tidy Cat kitty litter. I know it was part of the promotion of Tidy Cat 3, information I was able to confirm by two eBay listings for the same cat. The ones on eBay are in much better condition:

But mine is still better. Now, you may be thinking, stuffed cat? So what? Everyone has favorite stupid stuffed animals from their childhood and they don't bother talking about it. Well, this cat's true significance comes from its tail, in the form of a song. You can hear it if you squeeze this little box device thing at the end of the tail.

When I was about 7, I would squeeze the tail and press it against my ear and listen over and over, getting some sort of comfort from the fluffy tail against my ear and the swinging tune. It is really one of the defining things in my life. Even if I haven't heard the song in years, I can always find the tune in my head if I want to. I know it better than Jingle Bells, or any other song, for that matter.

The crazy thing is, as far as I can recall, the battery in the little tail device wore out at least 10 years ago. Probably more like 15. But when I pulled it out of a box I found in the attic and pressed it, the song played without issue. I got two more plays out of it before it seemingly died. I got back to my apartment and set up my microphone to record it, but couldn't get it to play, but after waiting a few days, I was able to get it to play the song all the way through if I held the button down the whole time.

For your entertainment:

Now I have it preserved forever, and I am going to listen to it on repeat for the rest of the night. I really might do that.

BRIAN OUT.

Look at these towels

2009-06-14T13:58:00.004-04:00

Seriously, look at them.

BRIAN OUT.